Sun, Jul 29th

Following a wonderful meal last night, some may think I might have had a little to much to drink and had been suffering from the after effects of the night before. Especially when I allowed Dawn to use the gadgets she had picked up yesterday in John Lewis labeled, 'Haircutting for Dummies.' It was the plural of dummy that I didn't understand. If I was sitting in the chair while Dawn had the hair trimmer in her hand behind my back, who was the other dummy? I hoped to God it wasn't Dawn.

All joking aside, she did a pretty good job on me. And I didn't mean for that to sound the way that it came out. She did a good job cutting my hair, I should say.

The rest of the day was spent doing the usual weekend chores before settling down to watch the 'Da Vinci Code' on Sky Movies.

Just for the record, Dawn said she won't let me try out the trimmer on her hair as she ain't no DUMMY!

Sat, Jul 28th

What a long day. First we had to ride into Welwyn Garden City so we could do some shopping at the Howard Centre. I needed some new trousers and shoes for work. Dawn also needed a curling iron for her hair. She said that it's getting totally out of control and needs something to get it back in order. While we were there we also picked up some tops in M&S using the money Dad and George gave her for her birthday. After a quick bite at ASK (they had a pretty good Salad Nicoise), we dropped into Morrisons on the way back.

We then spent a couple of hours with Tiny before popping into town to celebrate our anniversary. Monday will be 11 years since Dawn responded to my email looking for penpals on an MSN bulletin board. (Which by the way, having finished the first draft of the Scotland diary, is the subject for my first book to be published called 'Our Story.' Well that's what it's called at the moment.).

Anyway, we had a nice Chinese meal at Peking House and talked about all the things we had done over the last 11 years. It was amazing how many things we covered. It certainly proved that "Nothing is as certain as the unforeseen. " No one could have predicted that a simple email from Dawn saying "Write back and we'll chat some more" would lead us to where we are now.

Mon, Jul 23rd

All weekend she had been leaning over the keyboard and mouse on our computer at home taking mock test after mock test in preparation for the theory part of her driving test. And, to be honest, she wasn't that confident that she'd pass. But we all knew Dawn better than that. I dropped Dawn off at Hertford North on the way to work this morning and spent the next couple of hours anxiously waiting for a text message on my cell phone to tell me how she'd done at the Driving Centre in Stevenage. I didn't have to wait too long though. Shortly before 10.30am I received a brief message saying "I passed."

I called Dawn as soon as I got a chance and not only did she pass, she did excellent. She got 100% (35 out of 35) on the multiple choice section and 84% (63 out of 75) on the more difficult hazard perception test. Now for the practical part. Well done, Dawn!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sun, Jul 22nd

Today we both continued where we left off yesterday. I got my nose stuck into Harry Potter while Dawn continued to read the highway code, and take some mock tests on the computer using a CD that I had bought her six months ago.

After lunch we took a little break and had a ride up Holloway to see Dad and George for a couple of hours before returning home to continue where we'd left off earlier in the day.

Around 6pm, with my eyes a little moist from reading the penultimate chapter of Deathly Hallows, I finished my marathon weekend reading session. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and best of all I did not have it spoiled by reading something in the media.

Over the next 40 minutes I then rushed around the kitchen making the evening dinner, and putting together a tuna bean salad for our week's lunches. Dawn had a telephone appointment with Brady so I was up against the gun to get it done in time.

Oh yea, when we went to bed Dawn was again reading her highway code. As for me, I picked up another book. This time I was reading Bill Bryson's autobiography Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.

Sat, Jul 21st

Today was Harry Potter Day. My copy of the much eagerly awaited final book in the Hogwarts series arrived at 7.50am. The postman, whose face was void of smiles, could have been Servius Snape himself. But, then again, his job for the day was delivering copies of the book. Another postman delivered our regular mail an hour later.

Needless to say, my whole day was devoted to reading the book. Apart from doing our weekly grocery shopping at Morrions in Welwyn Garden City. Dawn, on the other hand, did some of the weekend chores and called he sister Kelly in Greenville, SC, before she got stuck into learning the highway code. Monday she has the theory part of her driving test so she was doing her usual eleventh hour cramming.

Mon, Jul 16th

Today was Dawn's birthday and despite her having to go to work I tried to make it a memorable one.

When we got up she opened her gifts and cards. Brady and Jim gave Dawn a book and a couple of CDs. One was a Bruce Springstein double album, the other Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I too gave Dawn a couple of books, a blouse, a pair of pyjamas, and a small Hertford plate to put on our bookshelf alongside the anniversary ones from Cambridge and Scotland.

However, Dawn's biggest surprise welcomed her when she got home. I'd left work early today so I could make this evening a little more special. First I picked up some more rounded pebbles for the front yard, then I fixed her Daddy's picture frame (The Pink Lady) and touched up the woodwork before hanging it on the wall again. Then I touched up the paint work around the light fitting in the bedroom that Dawn had been waiting for me to finish.

In the kitchen I placed a nice bunch of flowers in a vase on the counter, and on the stove were some fresh mussels for dinner. I'd never cooked them before. But they're one of Dawn's favourites so I thought I'd give it a try. Last but not least I'd bought her a brownie for dessert.

Oh yea, I also printed out the Scotland diary. I had promised her I'd finish it by today, so it wasn't right that she couldn't read this too.

Happy Birthday, Dawn.

Sun, Jul 15th

Today was a red letter. And not because Dawn called Jim Kerr to wish him a happy "Zimmer Frame" birthday. No, today, as I had promised Dawn a week ago, I finished our Scotland diary. Well I should qualify that by saying the first draft of the Scotland diary. All 47 pages, 28735 words. It's a mini book. But at least it'll mean we'll never forget the great time we had.

I also found time to get into the kitchen to make a pot of Spaghetti Bolognese and some oatmeal muffins. Then it was up to the bedroom to wrap Dawn's presents for tomorrow. But, you'll have to wait until then to see what she got.

Oh yea, we also hung our wedding photo back up in the bedroom. It looks so much better now that we've have the room plastered and painted. Notice the white shirt on the corner of the bed? That's for Tiny. Every night when I come home from work I lay my work shirt there so Tiny can lay on it. Not only does she lay on it then, but it's where she lays when we go to sleep at night, too.

We also loaded some more photos to the Flickr website if you want to check them out. See link to the right.

Sat, Jul 14th

This morning we ran out to do some errands. First it was to Jollye's in Crews Hill to pick up three bags of litter for Tiny. It's the only place we can get the one she likes. So, while we were there, we dropped into the Morrisons at that end to do the weekly grocery shopping instead of coming back to Welwyn Garden City.

When we got home I spent most of the rest of the day writing the Scotland diary. Dawn did bits and pieces around the house before talking to both her sister Kelly and mom Brady.

We then popped into town to celebrate Dawn's birthday a couple of days early. We had a brief walk around before she decided on having some Indian at Shahenshah Indian Cuisine. We enjoyed the food and ambiance of the place a lot more than we did Bollywood's back in February. Then it was back home to let the food go down before calling it a night.

Fri, Jul 13th

Another long week came to an end today with us moving a little more forward. Yesterday I had my first review meeting at work and was told that my bosses were happy with me. That's something to be pleased about. We also had an electrician call by and give us a quote to replace a ceiling light with a ceiling fan in the bedroom. We had hoped to have a quote from a gardener to trim our hedge in the back yard. But he didn't turn up. I also updated our family tree on Rootsweb and have now entered over 500 names. If you want to check it out, the link is on last week's posting.

My great-great grandmother : Eliza Umpleby

Here's a photo of my great-great grandmother Eliza Umpleby. She was born February 22nd 1850 in Ripon, Yorkshire to Thomas Umpleby and Esther Brooks, and was one of eight children. She married John Lynch, an Irishman who came to Yorkshire from County Clare around the 1850s due to the potato famine. The two were married on January 10th 1869 in Stammergate, Ripon Yorkshire and had 12 children.

Their eldest, Mary, moved to Ealing in west London probably around the early 1890s where she met George White who had also moved there. In his case, from Odiham in Hampshire where he'd been born on March 27th 1870.

The two were married December 5th 1893 at the local Parish church. My grandfather, John George White, was born two months later at 19 Venetia Road, Ealing, followed by his brothers Hubert and Edward.

After the turn of the century, the family moved to Holloway, which was where my grandfather met my grandmother Adelaide Cooper. They were married Christmas Day 1926, and my father was born almost 9 months later to the very day.

Dad was an only child, but he made up for it when he met and married my mother, Annie McDonagh on December 22nd 1951. They had four boys, George, Phillip, David and me.

Sun, Jul 8th (pm)

After utilising Dad and George's assistance in getting our fence up. we had a ride into Hertingfordbury to visit St Mary's Church. We wandered around the headstones looking for one with either Cooper or Furr inscription. My great-great-grandparents (Eli William Cooper & Lavinia Furr) were married there in May 1873 and we were hoping to find a grave or two of interest.

Then we walked inside and fell in love with the typically quaint-looking country church. The tower may have been rebuilt in the 1880s, but a church has been on the site for around 800 years. There were several old tombs and plaques of dignitaries from the past. However, it was the stained glass windows, wooden beams, and small alter at the end of the naive that really won our hearts. I bet the church looked wonderful for Eli and Lavinia, and was a beautiful venue for them to consecrate their love for each other.

Sun, Jul 8th (am)

Wimbledon is coming to a close and we thanked our lucky stars that we didn't get any rain yesterday. We popped into town, and then did some grocery shopping at Morrisons in WGC. Back at the house, I then removed the water pump and water-filled rectangle box from the front yard before laying some small round pebbles in its place and all around.

Today we finally resurrected our fence partition between us and our next door neighbour. We had a ride up Holloway to pick up Dad and George before bringing them back to Hertford to give us a hand. As you can see from the picture, it was a family affair as the three of us got the three pieces into place. Dawn of course had the camera to capture the event for posterity.

Sun, Jul 1st

Today we planned to pick Dad up and have a ride into Hertingfordbury to visit the church that our ancestors were married in during the 1870s. We were also going to fix our fence after six months. However, as the weather forecast was so bad we decided to postpone it until next week. Guess what? The weather turned out fine.

Instead I did more research online into the family tree and found out that my grandfather was living with his grandmother and step-grandfather (Nathaniel Hatcher) in Odiham, Hampshire instead of with his parents in Ealing. The reason this intrigues me is that as the eldest son I always thought it odd that he did not receive property from his father in his will when his two younger brothers did. Well, in 1901, not only was he not with his parents, but an uncle of his and one of his dad's cousins were living with his dad instead. My grand father's age at the time was seven years old. Go figure.

Oh yea, here is a link to him on the web:
http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=PED&db=pjw_tree&id=I010
Have fun looking at where we came from!