Hoarse and High

Yesterday evening found me hoarse and on a high. Why, you ask?

Firstly because I delivered a full day seminar/workshop/, Family History in the Modern Era, at Wyong Family History Group. I don't think I have done so much talking since I was a teacher. Last night I thought I was in for a cold but this morning my throat is all better so it was as a result of yesterday's gabfest.

My drug of choice must be "talking with a group of committed and enthusiastic learners" because I was just elated when I got home yesterday. The twenty odd or so people who put up with me for the whole day were just inspirational, they were so interested in the topics and shared a thirst for learning.

At the beginning of the day I posted some guidelines for behaviour so that we had a mutual understanding of how the day would proceed.

Rules for the day

The attendees really took the first point to heart, they commented, questioned and shared right through the day. I didn't add "Have fun" to that list but that wasn't needed as there was lots of laughter and bonhomie in the air. A couple of times I had to ring the Society's little bell to restore order and get back on track. We covered most of what I had prepared but went off on a few tangents to clarify questions. One of the popular requests was for a demonstration of creating a blog so this I did although it wasn't planned. I wouldn't be surprised if a few ladies (there was only one male in the audience) from Wyong become geneabloggers very soon.

Session 1

Having quite a decent period of time allowed me to play around with my planned schedule, it was also great that the attendees (who were all seated early) agreed to start early and shorten lunch and afternoon tea breaks so that we could have more time on the job.

Session 2

Thanks go to all the attentive attendees, Wyong FHG President Kerrie Metcalfe, Trish who was appointed to be my minder and IT Guy and sausage sizzle chef Roger for their assistance. The  slice girls deserve congratulations for the sweet treats served, I'd love to have the recipe of that slice based on rice bubbles that was so delicious. The lovely gift you gave me as a memento of the day is most appreciated.

Session 3

 I was thrilled to be invited to present this seminar for Wyong Family History Group in National Family History Month 2014.

A Gold Star Day

Major intersection outside Willandra

 I was so proud of myself this morning, I managed to navigate to the venue for my talk without making one wrong turn. Willandra  the venue, is on a major intersection and not directly accessible from the road. Thanks to the handy map supplied by Maureen Copley from The Ryde District Historical Society I made no blunders and arrived in a stressfree state to give my talk.

On arrival I expressed interest in this historic building so Historical Society President, Janet Eastment, gave me a quick tour and overview of the history of the building. I was excited to have this chance as for many years I drove past this building on my way to and from work. Now my curiosity has been sated.

My purpose this morning was to talk to the Ryde Family History Group about effective Google searching and, for me, it was a most delightful and satisfying experience. Group members were bright and chirpy and willing to contribute to the dialogue by asking questions and adding information.Thank you for being such a wonderful audience I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with you.

Some of the lovely people at Ryde

At the conclusion of my talk I was presented with one of the group's publications "Women of Ryde" which contains biographies of prominent women from the Ryde area. Details of the Society's publications can be found here: http://www.rydehistory.org/html/our_published_books.html.

After a cuppa and chat I wandered out into the garden where I gave my camera a bit of exercise before heading home. Following are few pictures of Willandra.

View towards the Parramatta River, originally Willandra had a much larger plot of land

As I love taking pictures of doors I snapped Willandra's to add to my collection

Willandra owned by Ryde Council is home to the Ryde Historical Society and the Art Society