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Friday, May 30, 2025

Five Little Things

 We've been watching the Great Crested Grebes on the lake for the past few weeks.


Nest building



Sitting on eggs


Catching Food.  Lets hope we see some chicks soon.  I love their stripey, humbug appearance and the way they travel on a parent's back. 

Family History


I've been finding more family history on line.  I knew about this family but didn't have details of where they lived in- between my great great grandfather Alexander Young being born in Loughborough, Leicestershire and later census details of the family in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.  It seems he married my great great grandmother Rebecca Webb in Lenton, Nottingham.  They married on 1st March 1857.


On the 1861 Census the couple are living at 145 Little John Street, St Anne's, Nottingham.  Alexander was a tailor and you can see from the other entries that most people worked in the textile industries in Nottingham famous for both lace and hosiery.  Alexander was the son of John Young who moved to Loughborough from Kirkaldy, in Fife, Scotland some time in the 1820s.  John, my 3x great grandfather, married Maria Parkinson, my 3 x great grandmother, at All Saints Church, Loughborough in 1826. Ten years later they had  five of their children, including my great great grandfather Alexander, baptised at the Dead Lane Primitive Methodist Chapel in Loughborough on the same day.

In the garden the sweet peas are doing well, as are the strawberries.


Also in the garden a very relaxed fox.  

They visit early morning and late evening.  We thought they only had one cub this year as they were bringing one cub at a time into the garden but last night both parents arrived with two cubs.  Apparently they do separate the cubs to keep them safe from predators when they are very young.


It was too dark to take any photos of the cubs but it was a joy to watch them run and play around the garden.


As well dabbling in family history I've been reading.  I took these two books back to the library this morning.  Both read and enjoyed.  I did wonder about the new Elly Griffiths and if I would be able to read it as it has a time travel theme and I don't usually read anything that is time travel, fantasy or science fiction but I stuck with it and did enjoy it in the end as the writing is so good.


After leaving the library we popped into the Emma Bridgewater factory shop for coffee, the garden at the side of the factory was looking lovely.




There were some beautiful roses and the ones below caught my eye.

So pretty.


Well I think that is more or less a Friday five.  I'll be back in June.

14 comments:

  1. A lovely five on Friday Rosie. Family history is so interesting to research. My Dad recently told me that we had an ancestor who fought at the battle of Hastings: on the wrong side! Love the look of the Great Crested Grebes. The rose is so pretty - like a raspberry swirl ice cream! Have a lovely weekend. x

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    1. Thank you Simone. that's a lovely description of the rose, there were a few of them planted in metal containers and all very pretty. Wow, the Battle of Hastings - one of the dates always remembered from history lessons which I always loved. I read somewhere that there is a new TV series about the lead up to the battle between Harold and William, maybe worth a watch. I'm hoping to see some Grebe chicks when we visit next week:)

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  2. A lovely set of photos Rosie and great news about the Great Crested Grebes nesting. Glad you have found some more information in your family history research. Your sweet peas are far more advanced than mine! Love the rose at the end. Have a good weekend.

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    1. Thank you Caroline. There have been lots of cygnets and goslings this year on the lake but those are the first Grebes I've seen nesting. Also Goosander chicks on the river nearby, apparently there have been Mandarins too but I haven't spotted those. The sweet peas have grown quickly and earlier this year, mostly just pink and white though. You too have a good weekend:)

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  3. That rose looks a bit like the new Kings rose they announced at Chelsea, both so pretty. Those crested grebes are a hoot with their hairdos, lovely to be able to follow their nest building progress, let's hope you get to spot the chicks soon. You'll have to go and visit some of the addresses you've uncovered in your research and see if the properties are still there after all the years. 😊

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    1. Thank you CK. I did wonder about the King's rose as the factory have a new design of the King's Rose on some mugs in the shop. The Grebes are great aren't they with their punky crests. I'd love to see some chicks, just hope they aren't all predated - it's so precarious for all the little ones. I looked on line to see if Little John Street still existed and there was a website of photos taken just before the houses were demolished. I have found one or two houses of ancestors still standing and try to photograph relevant churches too:)

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  4. Lots of lovely nature photos which are so good. Spring is definitely in the air for you with summer starting tomorrow. Thanks for sharing, take care & hugs.

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    1. Thank you Susan, yes Summer tomorrow and it feels as if it is not far away, it's been warm and sunny today although very windy. Glad you enjoyed the photos. Take care:)

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  5. Thank you for the lovely read and photos. Always love the wildlife ones but everything else is enjoyable and interesting. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thank you Denise, glad you enjoyed the photos:)

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  6. What a great five. I have noted down both those books. I didn’t realise Elly Griffiths had a new series. Isn’t it good when another piece of the puzzle clicks into place with family history. B x

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    1. Thank you B, the Kate Webb book is the last in the series so far. I love it when things fall into place with family history, especially places and connections with others:)

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  7. It is so interesting finding out new information to fill in the gaps in family history. You seem to have quite a lot of information about your family so far.
    That rose looks as though it has been carefully handpainted to get that effect doesn't it.
    Such a wonderful experience to have both parent foxes visit your garden with their young family.

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    1. Thank you Beverley. Yes, I've got back quite a way with some of the family lines, I've been doing it on and off since the late 80s, it's so much easier now lots of records are on line. The rose is a beauty isn't it? It is a joy to see the foxes and the badgers too:)

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