Oh dear. This is imagery I didn't really want in my head.

So, this week - in the peace and quiet while the rest of my household are on an epic post-A-levels trip across Europe - I managed to finish the first draft of my second book. This will be called Extraordinary Ordinary Women of South Wiltshire.

Five weeks post surgery tomorrow, & tonight is the first night I haven't wilted like a flower and gone to bed before 10pm. Let's see how I feel in the morning...

The Vagina Museum is just one month away from closing. Forever. A perfect storm of circumstances means that we may have to close our doors permanently and cease all digital activities. But we're not going to go down without a fight. Save the Vagina Museum. www.gofundme.com/f/btscc2

"BARNAGOO!" Back in the days when newspapers had street sellers, they'd stand on their pitch and yell the newspaper names out to the public. In Cardiff, that was "Western Mail and Echo". It was a common shout when I was a student in the 1990s. But the words often mutated with regularity.

In the 1790s a London woman named Eliza Denyer developed a modest reputation as a restorer of medieval manuscripts. She was forgotten by scholars and, in one case, her restorations were deliberately replaced by a man’s. I recovered her story & tracked all her known work here: tinyurl.com/2ktztx2e

Happy Int. Women’s Day! Maud Heath’s story was forgotten for 100s of years by the trustees of the charity she established in 1474. Instead they celebrated what they assumed she had been (e.g. an egg seller) rather than a women who facilitated regional trade! www.wiltshirehistory.org/news/the-rea...

One week post op. Incredible bruise from the cannula still. My veins are so shit. Still not quite ready to rejoin the world, but getting there.

I have a solo gig in Sheffield this Sunday, co-headlining with trad singer Jill Pidd. It’s a new venture and we want to get the word out, can you help by sharing? Thankyou! wegottickets.com/event/649011

Day 3 post op. Lucy: 1; Epigastric hernia: 0 Far less background pain means I am feeling brighter & shuffling around a bit more. And can also cuddle my daughter, which pleases her greatly.

New book announcement! Women Artists & Designers at the National Trust by Rachel Conroy with an introduction by Sandi Toksvig shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/women-artist... Spanning six centuries, this book looks at some of the many women artists and designers represented in its vast collections.

✨ Document of the week ✨ Hard to believe now, but there was once a time where people didn't know how to make instant coffee in a microwave, and needed a recipe and directions. This little gem is from the Toshiba Book of Microwave Cooking, published in 1981.

If I said the words "direct ancestor" to you in a #familytree context, what would you think I meant? I've hit upon potential clients not completely understanding the term when I'm talking to them about styles of diagram and focuses of ancestral research.

Until 1944 there was a #marriagebar on women teachers in the UK. But in 1923, 58 married teachers from the #Rhondda took their LEA to the court of chancery over unfair dismissal. Elizabeth Price, of Clydach Vale, led the charge. But who was she? thewomenwhomademe.wordpress.com/2025/01/31/e...

Authors, if you see this, it's a sign to post the 1st line of your book. "I always say that I collect interesting women, both personally and professionally."

Attempting to create a pizz callus on my index finger to enable better double bass playing (I prefer arco, always). Probably would help if I hadn't managed to crush the knuckle between the instrument and a heavy door on my way to rehearsal. Ouch.

Free genealogy drop-in session on Friday at Chippenham Library from 4.30. Even if your ancestry isn't local, I can help, suggest, guide, and natter about social history. Professional of many years standing, love to give back to my community, meet people and talk about ordinary people's history.

It's that voice. That smug, grating voice. It makes me grind my teeth. I'm going to need an industrial retainer for the next four years.

Daughter was given a new wheat bag hot water bottle for Xmas that was just too cute to ruin in the microwave. Mum to the rescue: charity shop kids' fleece leggings (£1.49), & wheat from whole foods shop. Job done. One boring & un-cute bed heater.

In our latest blog, John Chandler with insights from local historians Lucy Whitfield and Chris Dallimore reflects on 'True Happiness' in Chippenham. www.wiltshirehistory.org/news/true-ha...

Still ill. Still coughing. Sofa, crisps & streaming A House Through Time it is.

Today's fun has been introducing the 17yo to Keith Harris and Orville. The words "What" "the" "actual" and "fuck" were uttered.

Loving playing my double bass. But goodness me my fingers hurt.

Tried sobolo. Yum!

Today has been brought to you bt the words Grade and Eight. Totally wrung out, and I wasn't even the one taking it.

This evening's free drop in session had a request to try to find someone still living, who had moved away. Which I can do, but feels very difficult ethically, even for the very best of reasons. The whole idea is still making my skin crawl somewhat.

More CPD for genealogists this week. On behalf of a client, I've had to order certificates from places I've never ordered from before (namely more recent records from Scotland & NI - much of my work falls into the viewable parts of their databases) & navigate their systems. Every day's a school day.

1st uni offers for 17yo daughter. She wants to study history with German, based on massive interest in 20th century European matters & cold war. She's in (subject to conditions & grades) at Manchester & York. Dead proud, me.

Watching Handmaid's Tale with daughter (planning ahead, perhaps?) Every ad break is like emotional whiplash. Someone jumps off a bridge unable to deal with the crushing reality of living in Gilead... but it's happy happy Christmas and there's chocolate. Ritualised SA followed by fragrances. Fml.

As an ex-journo, I have always avidly kept up with the news. As of 9am on Wednesday 6th Nov, I shut down all the news tabs on my computer and phone, and X too, and haven't re-opened them since. Too much nasty orange horror from across the pond. Made my head hurt. And my teeth grind.