Rhododendrons and foxgloves

I’ve had a lovely visit today from two of my cousins. They had each brought a large ring-binder file, both containing primary source family history documents (such as birth, marriage and death certificates) from their respective families, which I will go through and incorporate into my own Ancestry family tree. 

I have also started a new Ancestry family tree for one of the two cousins, who has recently retired. When his father died he left his son a ring binder full of all the information and family stories he had collated, which is one of the two files I have just been given. I will input the information into the new Ancestry tree for my cousin to save him time (as I’m a fast touch typist) and then he will take it from there.

Smithers – who is sadly bereft of cousins of his own – was his usual solicitous self, supplying us with morning coffee and then serving a delicious lunch. My cousins were highly amused to learn of his alternative monicker!

A quick trip round the garden after the chaps had gone produced this photo of the rhododendron bed outside the family room. It’s the view I see when I'm sitting at the dining table, which I think this year has been enhanced by all the self-seeded foxgloves.