Dansette Birthdays and Genealogy

It seems like an age since I last blogged. It has certainly been a couple of weeks.

A Cold

I caught a cold and yes, my thoughts immediately turned to the awful virus. For the past 12 months or so, I have stuck rigidly to the rules, even shielding for the best part. For those people who don’t know what shielding is. It’s a form of protection for those deemed vulnerable to the virus and meant that you stayed in your home (self-isolating) for a period of time as recommended by our medical health teams. So after all of that plus two vaccinations later, I catch a cold! Being a man, catching a cold means we are very ill. I did have a test for the virus which, thankfully, proved negative.

Ancestry

I have found myself back on the ancestor hunt again. I will probably spend a month or two subscribed to Ancestry and see what information I can find of the people who helped make me who I am. One thing that fascinates me about ‘family history’ is that over several hundred years or even more, had one ancestor married someone else or if a great great great great great grandmother been born a grandfather, then I wouldn’t be here today. It really does hit home how so many variables come together to give us the life we have today.

Return To Normality

Life for many of us seems to be slowly returning back to near normality. We are the fortunate ones and no one appreciates it more than I do. Getting back inside the pub and meeting other people again over a beer feels so good. We really don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone. The live music and the open-mic nights are still something missing from my social calendar. I’m sure it will all come good, but in the meantime, I’m happy to enjoy the occasional night in the local pub.

Happy 60th

We celebrated my wife’s 60th birthday last week. Although we have only lived here for three and a half years, we have made so many new friends. It was good that they turned up last Saturday in the pub gardens, a complete surprise for my wife, organised mainly by my daughter and her family and the landlord and his wife at the pub. There was cake too, a fantastic specimen of a beast it was. Such a shame we had to eat it! She wanted a Dansette record player, one of those box things from the late 1950s and 60s that seemed to be a feature of every household at the time. They cost a small fortune now, all refurbished and looking like new. Me and my daughters all chipped in and purchased one for her from a collector. She is very pleased.

Nice To See You

It was so nice to see the family again, both daughters and the grandchildren. As it was a holiday here last Monday, we went for a drive to the beach about 40 miles away. Would you believe it was the first time it had rained for a few days. The kids didn’t mind, they played away on the beach while we all watched from the car eating cheese and pickle sandwiches. I spent most of Tuesday taking the carpets out of the car and vacuuming the sand from it. It really does get everywhere, but hopefully, most of it is now stored inside ‘Henry’ the cleaners tummy.

Who Thought?

Who thought I would get a blog post from writing about why I haven’t written over the past couple of weeks? Thanks for reading and as always, it is very much appreciated. I’m off to dig my old blues vinyl records out and give them a spin on the Dansette. All great fun.

If you’d like to discover your genealogy, more here: Find My Past

I'd love to hear from you

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

52 Comments
  • Trev, glad you are feeling better and enjoying life again. I enjoyed reading your post! All the best! <3

    • Trev
      June 5, 2021

      Thank you very much, Cheryl. 🙂

      • Gibson Square
        June 6, 2021

        You’ll be coming back from the pub to find your wife and her friends dancing around their handbags, while listening to the Dansette music.

        • Trev
          June 6, 2021

          Lol, that’s a possibility. Thank you ????

  • John
    June 5, 2021

    Hi Trev, it’s good to see you back! I’m glad that you are OK, and don’t have that terrible virus. Things here are almost back to normal too and it’s wonderful. And happy birthday wishes for your wife! We are now the same age. Be well! ????????

    • Trev
      June 5, 2021

      Thank you, John 🙂

  • Peter's pondering
    June 5, 2021

    I’ve just looked at the cost of Dansettes. Phew!

    • Trev
      June 5, 2021

      I know. Thank you, Peter. 🙂

  • Herb
    June 5, 2021

    Very cool. Happy birthday to the Mrs. as well.

    • Trev
      June 5, 2021

      Thank you, Herb 🙂

  • susiesopinions
    June 5, 2021

    I won’t tell you what I am doing. Beach, 92 degrees
    Walking. Ocean breeze. Sorry

    • Trev
      June 6, 2021

      Nice. ????

  • SueW
    June 6, 2021

    What a wonderful joyful post.

    Happy Birthday Debbie! I hope you wrote a few celebratory poems.

    Trev, A Dansette what a blast from the past. I imagine you’ll both get a lot of pleasure from it.

    I’m so glad you’re enjoying going to the pub again, freedom at last. And seeing the family after all this time must been the icing on the birthday cake! ????

    • Trev
      June 6, 2021

      Thank you, Sue. It certainly is a blast from the past. It was lovely to have the family visit and the sun came out too so it turned into an extra special day. Thank you. ????

  • Anonymous
    June 6, 2021

    Belated Happy Birthday to Mrs Trev! It is wonderful to be able to go out and about and meet up with family and friends at last and a ‘big’ birthday is the perfect reason to get lots of people together.

    • Trev
      June 6, 2021

      Thank you. ????

  • luisa zambrotta
    June 6, 2021

    Welcome back on WordPress, dear Trev ????

    • Trev
      June 6, 2021

      Thank you, Luisa. ????

  • Don't Lose Hope
    June 6, 2021

    Glad you are feeling better. I was missing your entertaining posts. Belated happy birthday to your wife. It sounds like quite the celebration, and a celebration she deserved!

    • Trev
      June 6, 2021

      Thank you and yes, it was a lovely celebration. ????

  • Rosaliene Bacchus
    June 6, 2021

    Always a pleasure hearing from you, Trev. I laughed out loud when I read: “Being a man, catching a cold means we are very ill.” I immediately thought of two men in my life that share your malady 🙂 Belated birthday greetings to your wife. What a wonderful surprise for her! Life hasn’t yet returned to normal in my tiny corner of the world, but I’m less fearful about being around my neighbors without a face mask.

    • Trev
      June 6, 2021

      Thank you, Rosaliene, I always appreciate your kind words. ????

  • Yetismith
    June 7, 2021

    So glad it was “only” a cold. Those English colds can be wicked. My poor Mum got howlers. Glad life is reverting for you.

    • Trev
      June 7, 2021

      Thank you very much, Yeti ????

  • Amanda
    June 9, 2021

    Glad to hear you’re enjoying things getting back to normal

    • Trev
      June 9, 2021

      Thank you, Amanda. Yes, slowly but surely, fingers crossed for everyone getting back to some sort of normality. 🙂

  • Glitter and Sparkle
    June 10, 2021

    followed ur lovely blog

    • Trev
      June 10, 2021

      Thank you for following and for your kind words too. 🙂

  • Deborah Agustin
    June 11, 2021

    Happy birthday to your wife though this may be a late greeting.
    That was fun reading.
    Blessings and stay healthy and safe.

    • Trev
      June 11, 2021

      Thank you, Deborah ????

  • sundaymorningwithsandy.com
    June 14, 2021

    Happy Birthday to your wife! I am approaching that number myself. I was hooked on ancestry a year or so ago and learned so much about my fathers family, but I hit a brick wall and have to wait for the next census to come out next year. You never know where you’re going to get a blog post from! Sometimes off the cuff works best. xo

    • Trev
      June 14, 2021

      Thank you, Sandy. I do enjoy researching my ancestry, but like yourself, I hit the brick wall but around 1775 in Wales. Good luck with yours and thank you again. ????

  • Poesias y Sentimientos
    June 19, 2021

    Hola mi buen amigo,entro para saludarte no se tu idioma.se que escribirás muy bien,
    Se feliz y te mando mi sincero cariño desde ???????? España.

    • Trev
      June 19, 2021

      Muchas gracias por tus amables palabras. ????

  • Anonymous
    June 21, 2021

    What a splendid present!
    I’m also glad that horrible cold didn’t kill you!

    • Trev
      June 21, 2021

      Thank you ????

  • iammrsshecky
    June 28, 2021

    Glad you are feeling better. Men do get taken out with colds for some reason. It must be genes *wink*.
    I love those record players. I got a new one that looks old on my 60th too ( a while back). Just listening to the needle on the record is great! Happy Birthday to your wife and I’m glad opening up is finally here too.

    • Trev
      June 28, 2021

      Thank you again. Yes, the needle and the vinyl together with the smell of electronic valves brings back memories. ????

  • Pkn
    June 30, 2021

    Good morning sir

  • JosieHolford
    June 30, 2021

    OK – so you got a cold. Not so bad. You had ’em before and etc.

    But how the heck did you catch it?

    Seems to me you can’t be protecting yourself adequately. (Only pointing this out because I would hate for you – and anyone actually – to contract the COVID lurgy because they lowered their guard. It’s not time to do that yet.)

    Be safe you silly old sod.

    • Trev
      June 30, 2021

      Thank you, Josie. Someone managed to pass it to my wife and she gave it me. We had Covid tests, negative, we’ve both been vaccinated too. It’s just one of those things, especially a man cold. ????

      • JosieHolford
        June 30, 2021

        Yeah but no but yeah etc. Thinking about the best part of Covid time 2020 was that Covid protection meant flu and cold protection too. Got to keep the guard up until the beast is finally slain.

        • Trev
          June 30, 2021

          I don’t think it’s possible. A virus whether it’s Covid, flu or a cold can catch you. The vaccines protect us against Covid so you can still catch a cold or even flu.

          • JosieHolford
            June 30, 2021

            This is true. But it was possible to avoid Covid so it is possible to avoid colds and flu. Not easy but possible. Anyway – hope you feel better soon. A nasty cold is not to be sneezed at.

  • vermavkv
    July 23, 2021

    Nice post..
    Belated Happy Birthday to Madam..
    Thanks for sharing..

    • Trev
      July 23, 2021

      Thank you very much ????

  • Anonymous
    August 10, 2021

    Such a sweet, heartwarming tale. It’s indeed amazing how you can blog about why you haven’t been blogging for long ????
    Ancestry hunt is certainly fun and we may discover such interesting facts about ourselves on the way. Really enjoyed your wonderful post, sir! ????

    • Trev
      August 10, 2021

      Many thanks ????

      • SamSahana
        August 10, 2021

        The pleasure is mine ????????
        Again, the comment is mine. It says “anonymous” for reasons I can’t figure out. ????

  • Yume no Kamen
    November 3, 2021

    Lovely blogsite :]

    Thank you for the follow, very kind

    • Trev
      November 3, 2021

      Thank you, Yume. ????