Category Archives: Uncategorized

This morning I came across an article on the CBC on the theme of how despite the pervasiveness of e-readers, sales of printed books are booming, and how while older readers preferred e-readers the prime readership for printed books was … Continue reading →

I’ve been a bit lethargic the past week or so, it’s been hot and sticky in the afternoons, with intermittent showers that bring little or no relief from the heat, meaning that I really havn’t done any work outside in … Continue reading →

Normally, when you start with family history you begin by building a family tree stepping back via your parents, your parents siblings, your parents’ parents etc, and along the way you might find some interesting tidbits, like the time your … Continue reading →

Yesterday. I tooted a news story from RNZ about how a nineteenth century vibrator had turned up in charity shop in Nelson. Now when anyone mentions vibrators, one does tend to think of sex and sexual stimulation, but this wasn’t … Continue reading →

When we first visited Bologna back in 2003 the airport was a small regional airport, and you got there by bus from the city centre. From memory the driver put your bags in the storage area for you and the … Continue reading →

Like everyone, our travel plans over the last few years were disrupted by the pandemic. We had planned to go to South Africa in March 2020. For obvious reasons that didn’t happen, and while we got most of the money … Continue reading →

I’ve been reading Daniel Mason’s The Piano Tuner as my evening reading – a change from outback noir crime novels – when I came across Steven’s Consumption cure. Even though I’ve finished with Dows’ Pharmacy for the moment, I’ve acquired … Continue reading →

Earlier today I tooted the following doodle by Charles Collinson Rawson Charles Collinson Rawson was a migrant from England who settled in Port Mackay, now simply Mackay, in Queensland in 1867. As well as being a grazier, a Justice of … Continue reading →

J was down in Melbourne for a meeting in Heidelberg ast Thursday. Chatting over breakfast this morning she said ‘Did I tell you that I saw a view that’s similar to Streeton’s Golden summer?’ Not terribly surprising, even if the … Continue reading →

I’ve been down an internet rabbit hole with this one. I was reading Peter Hopkirk’s ‘Trespassers on the Roof of the World’, which summarises the adventures and misadventures of late nineteenth and early twentieth century travellers to Tibet, which for … Continue reading →