Don’t worry this blog isn’t going to be all event notifications.

I love webinars because you can participate from the comfort of your own home and you can be involved as much or as little as you would like and the Legacy Family Tree ones are free. I did several of the Legacy Family Tree webinars last year and enjoyed them and found them useful.

This 24 hour webinar marathon is being held in the United States but it will be available at times suitable for Australian participants too. Sydney, London and Eastern US times are listed on the website. In Australia the marathon starts at 8:00am Sydney time on Friday 13 Mar 2020.

It’s a good idea to register early and check that the webinar software works on your computer. I hope you can get some good value learning from this webinar marathon!

Over the last few years I’ve only written a few blog posts. I don’t want to give up blogging altogether but I need to work out a way to make it fit into my current life and work habits. I’ve noticed that since I’ve been mostly working on other people’s family trees my blogging has dropped off. I used to blog mostly about my own family history and don’t feel free to blog about my client’s history without asking specifically and that can take time. I like to blog when the mood strikes me or something piques my interest which I would like to share so by the time permission has been given I’ve lost the urge.

Technology and the way we use it has changed dramatically since I first started blogging nearly 20 years ago. I wonder how many people read my blog on phones these days instead of on laptops or desktop computers…….. I don’t read as many blogs as I used to. I use Facebook a lot and read a lot of articles linked to from there and watch a lot of videos too. I have considered making genealogy videos about my own family history and about the tips and tricks I continue to learn as I keep researching and attending webinars and seminars.

I love the Youtube vloggers that I follow and watch their content avidly, always happy when a new video comes out but I don’t know that I could fit regular vlogging into my schedule. I don’t have the equipment necessary however I could use the new equipment at Makerspace Adelaide where I am a member and volunteer. I would like to do the occasional video though and they may be genealogy related or one of my other hobbies and interests (which I will still post here).

I now have four grandchildren and two of them with special needs. Ilijah is on the autism spectrum, he’s just started school this year and the youngest Naomi has Osteogenesis Imperfecta also known as Brittle Bone Disease. I help out with babysitting where I can and also transport to medical appointments and sporting events. Josiah the eldest is a talented and keen footballer (Aussie Rules).

I still get some cousin contacts via my blog so I definitely don’t want to take it down or stop blogging altogether I just need to come up with a format and style which works for me. I won’t make any promises about new content because life so often gets in the way but I will say, “watch this space”.

I visited my Mum yesterday and we were reminiscing about shops in Gawler St, Mount Barker, South Australia near where I grew up. Mum mentioned something about sewing and I had an instant flashback to walking past an open door in Gawler St as a child and hearing the loud clattering of many sewing machines running. Mum said these were industrial sewing machines at Rossiter’s Boot Factory and I would have only been about four or five years old 1973/74. We looked at lots of other shops and the changes around Mt Barker but the memory of the boot factory stuck with me so I did some research this morning.

The factory opened 14 May 1945. On 14 May 2019, seventy four years later Mum and I were standing where the factory used to be talking about it.

Map of old Mt Barker businesses

Mt Barker Blacksmiths And Other Businesses

The Mt Barker factory was a branch of the Unley factory and today is Rossi Boots. Here is some of their history.