See-saws ... and Roundabouts, but no Swings!

This week has proved a real see-saw so far as the weather is concerned, with showers and longer periods of rain alternating with days of bright - and eventually warm - sunshine.  And I suppose you could say that my week has followed this example.  I had few definite plans at the start of the week and, for the most part, the wetter days followed my usual round of personal family research, census transcription and a variety of church worship and meetings ... all very predictable.

So far as these go, the only real highlight was the arrival on Wednesday of a CD of Suffolk baptism transcriptions that I'd ordered last week.  This completes a set of eight, representing all four deaneries where most of my family lived, from the mid-18th century up to the start of the 20th.  Its arrival enabled me to verify many events in one particular parish whose records I hadn't so far examined in the numerous visits I've made to the record office over the years.  The cost of the CD is matched by that of about two visits to the actual archive, not to mention the amount of time required.

The other tilt of the see-saw was a fairly exclusive visit to a stately home in Norfolk.  This was organised several weeks ago by the Norfolk Family History Society.  I'm not a member of the society, but on learning about the trip, I contacted the organiser and asked if I could join the party.  This was quite acceptable, provided I agreed to pay for an unused seat on the coach by way of a fair contribution to the overall cost.  Given the exclusive nature of access to this particular estate, I was content to comply.

So it was that, at lunchtime on Tuesday, I drove through the gates of Hockwold Hall.  These days it's an auspicious wedding venue, where a quality event seems to be virtually guaranteed, and the proprietor and his family made us very welcome.  The hall itself dates back to Elizabethan times, and the variety and life stories of its occupants down the centuries made for a very interesting narrative, which accompanied our tour of the garden.  The warm sunshine provided a complete and welcome contrast to the previous day's cold and miserable rain.

Also on Wednesday came a small tilt of the balance from the true ordinary: this was a thrice-yearly meeting to make preliminary decisions about the content of the church magazine, of which I'm one of a team of three co-editors.  The immediate result of this is the need to arrange an interview with one of the church members, and plan what questions I shall pose to my 'victim'.

Left until last is any mention of the 'elephant in the room' of the last few weeks: the local council elections that took place yesterday.  Suffice to say that I didn't win the contest I was involved in, and nor had I expected to do so.  As to the details and the aftermath, I shall leave further comment until another time ... when I've had a chance to process them properly.