Still in Brisbane and catching up with friends and relatives - it's amazing how much time that can take up. Sunday we had a leisurely lunch with my partner's cousin at Redcliffe and it was a beautiful day. Great to see all the boats out sailing and fishing and I can't believe all the development that is happening out that way.
Monday I did something I have always wanted to do - order replica medals of my grandfathers' military service. Mum's father (Henry Price) was in WW1 and Dad's father (John Martin Gunderson) was in WW2 which highlights a generation discrepancy that most people don't have. Mum was the last of ten children where as Dad was an only child. Anyway every ANZAC Day I say I wish I had some family medals to wear and talk about to family and friends as an ongoing reminder of their military service. I collect the replica medals on Friday from National Medals.
Monday night was my talk on Researching Mining Ancestors at Southern Suburbs Branch of the Genealogical Society of Queensland. It was their AGM and a cold night (for Brisbane) so it was a relatively small audience but still keen to research their mining ancestors. It was also good to catch up with old friends.
Tuesday I should have written this blog but I was determined to write my two papers for the 2012 Australasian genealogy congress in Adelaide. That was my focus and I knew that if I started looking at emails and blogs I would be distracted. I'm happy to say that I have reasonable drafts for both papers which I will fine tune before submission next week. It looks like a great congress with some interesting speakers and papers so I can't wait!
Wednesday I indulged myself with some research on my partner's family. His mother (Elma Eldridge) was a Queenslander and there are others researching the family and while I have been given the basics of the family tree, some of the detail is missing. So I worked on his mother's direct family as the others are from sibling lines.
Wednesday night I gave my talk to the Queensland Family History Society and an almost full house listened to my suggestions for researching Victorian ancestors. As I am a Foundation member of QFHS it is always good to see other Foundation members at meetings and remember how we all met back in 1979 to establish the Society. I only start to feel old (older) when I see other people and how they have changed over the years and I know that I have also changed but internally I don't think I have.
Tomorrow I am going to the Ekka (Brisbane Exhibition/Royal Queensland Show) and that will definitely bring back memories as I haven't been in decades. I hope the weather holds and the crowds/queues aren't too big - I'm not as young as I used to be!!