Sorry for the long silence dear readers. It certainly hasn’t been because I have been idle. Although I am continuing to stay at home, I have been around the world virtually, Zooming into homes across the planet. I am pleased to announce that I have enough support to continue to present my ‘History Interpreter Online’ series of Zoom family and social history talks. This is deliberately a small group so we maintain a friendly, chatty atmosphere but we do have room for a few more, either as occasional visitors or ‘season ticket’ holders.

I’ll start with the exciting news. I have had the great honour of being awarded a certificate of achievement by the Society of Genealogists. These are awarded annually ‘in recognition of efforts and activities that have made some exceptional contribution to genealogy to the benefit of anyone wishing to study family history’. I know I am in some very illustrious company, so it did come as a bit of a shock. The precise citation is, ‘For long-term services to family and local history and encouraging the involvement of young people in history and heritage.’ The ‘long-term’ bit makes me feel very old but I suppose I have been seriously researching my family for 43 years so I guess it is justified! I am looking forward to the face-to-face presentation, which can hopefully take place in August next year.

Despite the ‘long-term’ research I have managed to add 9x 10x and 11x great grandparents to a branch of my tree this week so there’s always something new to discover.

Of course, it is impossible to ignore the fact that, in general, things have been on the gloomy side. Christmas, as expected, will be different this year. I had planned to visit the descendants right at the end of the school holidays, giving family members who are in school as much time as possible to develop any nasties they may have picked up. The freedom that we have to visit for five days around Christmas Day itself just doesn’t work for me, especially as we would have a 600 mile round trip to make and the world and his wife will all be travelling on the same days. It is a very long way to go to wave to your nearest and dearest from the other side of a chilly field, which is what it would mean if we went in early January. Although I would go to the ends of the earth to see my family, my head says that, having been so careful for nine months, it would be stupid to be reckless now. So, I will, regretfully, continue with my ‘just because I can doesn’t mean I should’ stance and make the most of what technology will allow.

It is, of course, that time of year when not just visiting but also seasonal gift giving is in our thoughts. Many of us are unable or unwilling to visit shops in person at the moment, so we are seeking other alternatives. Living, as I do, a distance from a shopping centre, relying largely on online shopping is the norm, although I do love the atmosphere of the shops at this time of year. I usually try to find a garden centre with displays of decorations. I am planning a swift visit to acquire a Christmas Tree but shan’t be lingering any longer than necessary. The added consideration this year is that gift purchases will need to be sent directly to the recipients or be easily postable. I am hoping to patronise as many small independent online shops and sellers as I can. If I was more talented, I would be hand-making gifts. I am also hoping that folk may want to relieve me of a few more books. I am happy to gift wrap these and send them straight to the recipient if you are looking for gift ideas. My fictional offerings are described here and for non-fiction you need to look here. I don’t charge for postage to the UK. Or you could gift a season ticket to my talks!

Zero progress on a potential new novel I’m afraid. My writing has been devoted to finishing a new course for Pharos and an article for Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, due out next year.

The next thing to look forward to will be getting the historic decorations out of the loft.