Family, Antiques, Sodas, and a taste of Christmas in London

Shameful!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged. 

Too busy?  Too boring?  Forgetful?

Maybe when I share things on facebook I think I've shared and that's good enough?

Probably a combination of all plus more.

 

 

Family
 

Twas fun to have nieces Leah and Ashlee here for a few days

 during their whirlwind tour of England.

We enjoyed having front row seats to War Horse together.

Yes, the stage was right there...

dead bodies and debris under it, which others couldn't see until they moved

part of the stage at intermission.  I thought Leah and Ashlee were going to have a horse head in their laps as it fell injured...and the gunshot when the officer put it out of its misery was a bit too close for comfort.  Rick was all but in the trenches with 3 British soldiers....Whew!
 Great production! 

 

...but don't take pictures in the theatre...you get in trouble....

 

Ardingly Antiques Fair

Yes, again.

 

 Came home with things that are quintessentially British...like...

A sugar shaker...

(which now has cinnamon sugar in it)

 

 

A toast holder....

(which is a desk organizer for me)

 

 

And of course, more serving thingys....

(1 and 2 are sugar cube servers, 3 is an egg server,

 4 is a sugar spoon...complete with holes to shake the sugar out)

 

 

I really wanted to get this sign for Rick, but couldn't justify the expense....

(150 pounds or about $225)

 

 

Sad.  It was made for him!

 

And I've now tasted ginger beer....

it's like ginger ale on STEROIDS!  So strong!  But delicious!

No idea what Kaola is...tried googling it but it kept switching to koala bear.

 

And speaking of sodas, (yes it is soda, not alcohol)  here's something else new I tried....

 

 

Dandelion & Burdock.

Almost had a weak black licorice taste....but maybe not.

Googling says it's in the root beer/sassafras family...maybe sort of.

Cannot explain it, except that I really liked it.

 

Christmas in London

 

Since Halloween is only somewhat celebrated here...

 (if we didn't have Institute that night we could have gone trick or treating with friends

 to Paul McCartney's home...maybe next year?)

 

And Thanksgiving is not celebrated....

 

Christmas comes in November and no one gets upset!

 

We went to the lighting of Regent Street on November 9...

complete with fashion show, concerts and fireworks!

Fun!

 

 

 

A few days later was the lighting of Oxford Street, which we didn't make it to,

but finally took the bus down it last night.

Love the big balls across the street, lights and icicles in every tree,

fun window displays....

 

 

And also went to Covent Garden...

didn't realize all the little shops close up at night.

 

 

But let's not forget Harrods at Christmas!

The window displays are SPECTACULAR!

Starting with a train engine, each window afterwards is different train car,

reminiscent of days gone by...

a life of luxury few ever saw...

or see.

Beautiful!

 

......

rats

....

won't upload video

....

will try later.

 

 

 

So, I get the best of both my lives. 

 Get to experience a small part of Christmas in London,

yet get all of Thanksgiving, Nathan and Serita's wedding, Christmas,

and our kids and grandkids at home.

Life is good.

 

Warning to grandchildren....

 

Get ready to be hugged and kissed to pieces!!!!

:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



More Old Churches and Cemeteries

Love doing this!

 

Poor Rick. 

 Married to a woman who loves hanging out in Cemeteries.

 

Cemeteries here are a little tricky.  IF you still find cemeteries that aren't turned into

 parks or parking lots, humidity and moss wreak havoc on headstones. 

If they exist they can be difficult to read.

But I keep trying.

Because I like it.

And Rick indulges me.

 

Hampshire

 

We've gone back to Beaulieu, Boldre (say Bolder), East Boldre,

South Baddesley, and Lymington...

chasing after Gregory ancestors.

(Ann Gregory married John Wilkey.....for those of you a little rusty)

 

We found George Henry Broom and his wife Anne Gregory in the Beaulieu Cemetery.

 

 

Ann holds a special place in my heart, one of those

incredible spiritual experiences that helped me figure out who her

parents were and why she was raised by her grandparents.

Also, I had found 5 of their children and thought I was done.

A few years later, I stumbled upon a 6th.  While not even looking.  She wanted to be found.

 

Frank Gregory and Lydia White were found at St Mary the Virgin Church in South Baddesley.

Frank was also raised by these grandparents.

 

 

 

If you want to understand these ancestors better, look them up at

 

whitefamilytrees.org

 

We went to many cemeteries, and took lots of pictures...not all are identified yet, but hopefully sometime.

 

Lunch in East Boldre at the Turfcutters Arms.  Charming place.

 

 

 

Yorkshire

 

Last week we went north to Yorkshire....

Allerton Mauleverer, Green Hammerton, Whixley, Kirk Hammerton.

 

Twas awesome!

 

Ann Hughlings Pitchforth (referred to in other blogs), has a sister,

Sarah Hughings who married Samuel Jackson.

(one of the billion and two Samuel Jacksons in Yorkshire)

 

They lived in this house and brewery, called Providence Green:

 

which he purchased from his brother, who inherited it from their father, Samuel Jackson.

Poor investing in railroads is what appears to have caused it's sale.

 

We were directed to the house by a couple of people, but never found it.

(Personally, I think I talked to the owner in her car and she led us on a wild goose chase.)

 

Oh well, we need to go back because we failed to snap photos of all the headstones

that we found at the Independent Church in Green Hammerton.

 

 

 

This is now St Joseph's Catholic Church.  But until 1961 it was the Independent Church of Green Hammerton, of which James Jackson (Samuel's uncle) was the Reverend.

 

He christened all of Samuel and Sarah's children in this church, and most of his own 13-14.

 (still working on that)

 

If you walk through the door to the left and go straight out the back, you land in a

teeny tiny cemetery that has mostly Jackson headstones.

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we somehow didn't get the photo of Samuel and Sarah's headstone, but there is a piece of it to the left by our new friend Eleanor in the green jacket (she was trying to help me read it).  See the windows in the back?  They are Eleanor's and look directly into this little cemetery.

 

Let me tell you how we miraculously met Eleanor.

 

We couldn't find this little church....only address we had was "on the West side of the Green" in Green Hammerton.  We drove down it and kept going onto a dirt road.  A woman was walking her dog.  We stopped and asked if she knew where the Catholic church was and she started telling us.  Then she said, "My house is actually attached to the church, and my neighbor has the key."

That simply...

We asked the very best person in town.

She met us back there.

 

 

Notice the attached house.  Notice the bricks are the same size as the ones on the church, except the very front redder ones.  My personal feeling is that our new friend Eleanor lives in the house that Uncle/Reverend James Jackson lived in with his wife Mary and many children.

 

Just a word about Samuel and Sarah Jackson's children:

 

1.  Ann....Died 3 days after giving birth to her only child and a year after her marriage.

2.  Samuel....Immigrated to New Zealand, became a successful and well known lawyer in Aukland

3.  William....Immigrated to New Zealand, became known as Major Jackson, head of the Jackson Rangers during the Maori war.

4.  Thomas Jackson...Immigrated to New Zealand, had command of a ship at young age of 21.

5.  John Hughlings Jackson, known throughout the world as "The Father of English Neurology".  Anyone who has studied neurology should know his name. He has been mentioned in another post with a 'blue plaque' showing where he lived in London. 

 



 St Martins Church in Allerton Mauleverer.

Jackson burials are these 5 above-ground monuments and one other.

 

 

Although a cold day, we had sunshine during part of it.

Looking forward to more adventures in the new year!

 

 

 



More Firsts in London

Visiting Teaching in London

 

Rick and I are Home Teaching companions in our Britannia Ward, but I hadn't been assigned as a Visiting Teacher in our Hyde Park 2nd Ward until this month.  Quite a new experience.

Hmmmm...how to get to an appointment.... The bus will be one hour with one change.  The Tube will be 40 minutes, of which only 6 minutes is on the tube, the rest walking before and after.  Nope...won't drive myself, not sure I ever will here.  So I walked.  It was a lovely 28 minute walk there and a lovely 28 minute walk back, with a delightful 1 1/2 hour visit with my new friend who has been lost for about 26 years, and wants to come back. She just needs a friend and some support. A little sad I will be gone the next 6 weeks....hopefully she'll get brave and venture to the church on her own....

 

Very different from walking down my circle to visit teach, or driving a block away because I'm going to be late if I walk....

 

Another person on my list has moved, one hasn't responded to a message left on the door so don't know if she really lives there, and one is active but busy and may often be a phone call....or a walk similar to the one described above.

 

Remembrance Day in London

 

I'm used to standing and singing "The Star Spangled Banner" a time or two in July at church in the US.  It was interesting on November 10 to stand at the beginning of church and observe two minutes of silence for "Remembrance Day" and then to stand and sing "God Save the Queen" for the closing hymn.  Loved sharing in the pride of their country...and my motherland....I am, after all, half British!

 

Missionaries

 

Rick and I had left the ipad turned on in between General Conference sessions, not sitting by it, when all of the sudden I heard some familiar voices.  There were some of our awesome London missionaries being interviewed (followed around for a whole day actually) on the program between sessions.  So fun to know and love them!

 

Missionary Lessons

 

Being a Utah Mormon certainly has its disadvantages....meaning little contact with the missionaries and even less of a chance to teach with them.  One evening while manning an empty Family History Centre, I listened in to my first ever Missionary discussion in the room outside.  I sat at my computer with tears streaming down my cheeks at being allowed to eavesdrop.  It was beautiful.  The questions the investigator asked were so thoughtful, seeking, full of desire to know and understand.  The missionaries were so in tune and shared their knowledge, feelings and testimonies beautifully. 

 

A short time later two missionaries serving in our ward asked if I'd sit in on a lesson with them.  I must admit I was a bit nervous...I don't always express the things I know and feel very eloquently.  This young girl was from China, doing schooling in Spain, but was visiting in London for a week.  She was drawn to the missionaries on the street.  It was amazing to sit in on the lesson, share my thoughts and feelings, and see her trying to understand the feelings of the Spirit she was having.  She believed in "destiny", and was trying to understand and comprehend how a living God explained her feelings of destiny.  So sad she was heading back to Spain the next morning.  The missionaries got her contact info to pass her on to the missionaries there.  I'd love to know if she continued.

 

We have baptisms almost weekly just in our Britannina YSA Ward.  And the majority of them have been Chinese.  Most of them come here as students, and are taking the gospel back with them.  Who said missionary work wasn't spreading to China?   A few weeks ago a Chinese man who was baptized only 2 months ago baptized two Chinese girls.  Another touching moment.  One of my Family History Consultants who is Chinese and has only been a member 4-5 months was so excited to hug me and tell me her father and sent her a list of ancestors and permission to do their temple work.  AND her parents are reading the Book of Mormon.  A Japanese girl who has a Harvard MBA has finally gotten permission to take some ancestor names to the temple, and her parents are also reading the Book of Mormon. The work is moving forward in an amazing way....

 

which brings me to another first for me....

 

 

The London Hyde Park Stake is Represented

by 110 different Nationalities!

 

As I told our new Relief Society President, I'd come here expecting to hear everyone speak the perfect English accent as she does.  Boy was I wrong.  Really, 110 different nationalities speaking more than 110 different versions of English.  Why speaking more than 110?  Because even if  you're from East London you speak differently than someone from West London, or Portsmouth, or Liverpool.....

 

I wonder if there is any other place on earth where one stake is so multi-cultural.

 

Last week we had a stake multi-cultural event.  Over 400 people attended to try foods, see performances and native costumes, etc.  All this in a cultural hall probably a third the size of a Stake Center cultural hall in Utah.  Awesome and amazing!  And very crowded.

 

 

Whew, that's all the new first I can think of today.   Life is amazing!