A frustrating day!

Last week, I took out a free seven-day trial of the genealogical site, Find My Past, and, as it ends tomorrow, I was determined to spend today doing some research on my family tree. I have no intention of taking on the £200 subscription as I already have one with Ancestry and another with My Heritage, but Find My Past is the only site with access to the 1921 census, which I think is very unfair. I was up at a reasonable hour this morning, and I was able to make an early start. 

Sophie had her own list of things she wanted to do today, and in between my research, I helped her with several loads of laundry and sorting out the freezer. We are both passionate about not wasting food, but even we had to agree that there were some tubs of leftovers in the freezer that had to go! New Year, new start! I also sorted out travel insurance for the three of us, and European breakdown cover, and Sophie ordered herself a new phone and put some of her unwanted clothes on Vinted.

I spent as much time as I could doing the research, going through my ancestor list and trying to solve some problems. I think that with some of my ancestors, I'm never going to find out all of the facts, which is hard to accept. I spent all day going between all three websites, as well as looking at the parish records from the Medway area, and I achieved absolutely nothing. Find My Past wasn't particularly helpful and certainly didn't have any new and useful information. I felt so frustrated! I just have to accept that my great-great-great grandparents, for example, didn't care too much about how their names were spelt, where they were born or when! Arrgghh!

Keith was also frustrated, but for a different reason... his football match was cancelled again even though today has been sunny and dry. Their home game is frequently cancelled for the smallest of reasons, so Keith had to accept he wasn't going out to watch football today, and had to make do with Newcastle versus Sunderland - they're sworn enemies!

By the late afternoon, I'd had enough, and I was able to curl up on the sofa and start watching the 1946 film, Great Expectations, one of my favourites. By 6pm I was sitting in the kitchen with Sophie and playing Scrabble with a glass of Sherry. Bliss! We turned the television off, listened to some music and chatted about France. We'll be there next week!

Dinner was a delicious chicken casserole, served with roast potatoes and parsnips, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. Keith had prepared it all this morning and it was perfect food for a chilly January evening. I checked the weather forecast for our area of France and it looks like we may have a little sleet or snow!