Jul 31

The Wolston Reunion

Posted by Simon

The second part of our England trip was a family reunion in Wolston our “ancestral home.” Its where my mother parents, the Ismays, lived. And many of our relatives on the Ismay side still live in the area.

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The Ismay’s house in Wolston

Four out of the five brothers came to the reunion:

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Simon, Tom, Matt and Andrew

outside St Margaret’s the village church

We had a Sunday luncheon at the Queens Head an excellent pub in Bretford with our Aunts and Uncle and many of their children and grandchildren. What a nice family:

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That is Joe in the middle

We of course took the obligatory outdoor group photo and it came out really well:

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The Ismays of Wolston

with their significant others and offspring

Almost of all of the photos in this section were taken by Eddy K. He is Matt’s long time friend and one of the worlds best photographers. Thanks Eddy!

Click here to see many more pictures of Wolston and the surrounding area.

Click here to see many more photos of the family reunion.

This will be a link to the canal boat section when it is finished.

Date July 31st, 2007 Filed in Family, Travel
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Jul 31

A Great Gift

Posted by Simon

Many years ago Lillian gave me a front end loader lawn ornament with spinning wheels.

front end loader

It was a big hit in the neighborhood and proved to be very durable.  But after five or so years it was looking a little long in the tooth.

For my Birthday a few weeks ago Lillian gave me a “Tractor Farm Spinner” from the same company.  When I installed it yesterday it made me smile all day.

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Great Gift Lillian.

Premier Kites has a web site.

Date July 31st, 2007 Filed in Family, Ideas, Recommendations
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Jul 31

Walking Hadrian’s Wall

Posted by Simon

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It rained a bit during our hike and it was cloudy most of the time but we had a wonderful time.
When the sun shone we took lots of pictures.
The best part was the scenery:
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The worst part was the soggy fields:
Hadrian's Wall 2007
The wall has grown into the land and has become part of the
environment:
Hadrian's Wall 2007
Much of it was rebuilt by John Clayton in the 19th century:
Hadrian's Wall 2007
Mickeldore Travel organized the trip for us and booked some very nice B&B’s. Walkers Baggage Service moved our bags for us each night.
All we had to do was walk, carry our water, lunch and rain gear:
Hadrian's Wall 2007
Date July 31st, 2007 Filed in Travel
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Jul 30

Maxim for July 30, 2007

Posted by Simon

The Three keys to success are:

  • Practice,
  • Practice
  • and Practice.

Unknown 

Date July 30th, 2007 Filed in Weekly Maxim
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Jul 29

England 1, The Overview

Posted by Simon

It has been two weeks since I have written for the blog.  This is the longest I’ve gone without writing since I started last April.  Nurit and I were in England (without the laptop)

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to celebrate my 60th birthday by walking along Hadrian’s Wall

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and have a family reunion with my mothers family (Ismays) in Wolston.

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It was a bit rainy (the worst July since 1952 or something) but we had a very good time.  Over the next few day I’ll post some pictures on Flickr of the trip.  Sections are likely to include:

  • Hadrian’s Wall
  • The Grand Reunion
  • Signs of England
  • Other Highlights: Canal Boating, Cambridge and the Lake District
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Of my brothers only Jim was not able to attend and his son Robert came and represented him well.  Here are the rest of us outside St Margret’s Church in Wolston our families ancestoral home:
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aging gracefully
Date July 29th, 2007 Filed in Family, Travel
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