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My childhood with Great-grandma Rose, when she travelled up to Hamilton City, Waikato and Bay of Plenty where she visited her son – Alan (Shorty as everyone called him), grandsons and great grandchildren.

After my grandmother – Hilda (Biddy as everyone named her) passed away with breast cancer, I continued to see great grandma Rose down in Christchurch, New Zealand until a year before her death in 1986, the day before our late father – Raymond’s birthday.

Rose’s life was instead a mystery to everyone before I was born, and I grew up to get to know her through her daughter Jessie and Keith (senior) down in Christchurch. Between 1982 and 1985, I told Rose that I am doing genealogy, and in the first year, she refused to tell me about her family lineage. I went ahead to do tracing Osborne’s families, and they came out to Christchurch and settled in Oxford, Eyreton, Kaiapoi, and several other small farming areas. As I mentioned in the previous blog, her father was Thomas Osborne, and her mother was Mary Jane Cherry of Oxford. Thomas and Mary had ten children (including Rose) in the second marriage of Thomas. Thomas had married previous and had five children in the first marriage. Mary Jane Cherry had two children from a different father for I don’t have the record yet.

One day I was stopping at Oxford and visited the town Hall there 1983. A gentleman noticed me several times, and I thought it was odd for him to saw me without saying anything. Then he approached to me if I know any Osborne and Cherry even Rose, and to my reply to him, yes Rose is my great-grandma through my father’s side family. This gentleman was Havery, and he invited me to the cafe for a genealogy chat. Harvey came from the Cherry family, and his family lived near Rose, brothers, sisters and Thomas’s home. Harvey asked me if I know what happened to Thomas or the children after moving out to the Christchurch Receiving Home. This Christchurch Receiving Home was a temporary housing to many orphans, female children under 16 years, waiting on foster homes or sent to a service. My reply to Harvey, yes, I understood, BUT I was not clear on why this has happened because Rose refused to answer me. From time to before Rose’s death, Rose mention the name of the family, where they were living, the reason why she tried hard to get all of her brothers and sisters in one house along with her other older family member, the pact from Rose to her brothers and sisters on to stay in touch until they died etc. I recalled Rose refused to stay in any Rest Home if anyone who was from Oxford, because of the bad past, shame and family spat.

My question was why Rose and her brothers and sisters were sent away to somewhere after their father – Thomas’ mystery ending of his life. The answer was Thomas took his life by committing suicide in the home where the children sleeping and Rose was in the other room. Thomas could not cope and manage with a large number of children and no income in 1912. Mary Jane died in 1911, and the previous year young Martha was born. I revisited Rose and mention to her about Thomas. Rose spoke that their father was a good man but went depressed and found life unbearable. Rose and I visited rarely visited to a special person at the home – Norman Eric Kirk’s wife – Lucy Ruth Kirk BUT I did not realised that Norman Eric was related to the female Cherry family as well. Because Norman Eric’s father was a Norman Kirk and he married to a Vera Janet Jury of the Jury-Cherry family. Note Norman Eric Kirk was a New Zealand Prime Minister between 1972 and 1974. His death made a huge impact on every New Zealanders. Rose does not speak highly of Ruth (Lucy) for some reason because of the past in Oxford, New Zealand.

As you Oxford is a small town with a population of 600 people before 1900. The earliest population in 1861 was only barely 25 people, and in 1881 there were 513 or more people. There was a disaster – the Great Fire in Oxford on January 14th, 1898.

Let recap the Cherry’s sisters – Mary Jane and Emily Alice Cherry. Their parents were James Cherry and Sarah Jane Jones. Sarah Jane Jones was born in Tasmania in 1846 to Samuel Jones and Mary Ann McGilligan. Samuel Jones and Mary McGilligan were convicts as well. I must explore the records under the convicts in Tasmania when I can do in my own times.

Going through genealogy to update my ancestry for the last few days. I am a deaf genealogist for more than 28 years, and I came across many dark secrets, shocking revelations, newfound cousins for we did not realise through friends instead of cousins. Of course, I just found out there were two more links from the Deaf community, which I never thoughts until they mention the name of their ancestors through Facebook. Even discovering that we have several famous cousins dating back to England, Ireland and Europe. Blimey wow!

Let me tell you something exciting stories which fall one of the new cousins of their fifth/sixth male generation back which link to my fifth/sixth female generation back as a brother and a sister of the same line to one of my ancestors – Cherry family.
Emily Alice Cherry married her husband of Canterbury, New Zealand and this husband’s families had the most fascinated lives such as convicts, a famous couple of the well-known city in the South Island, several sad stories, a con man, a whaler, and a captain.

Well, let start with a woman born and raised in England. She was a good woman but for one little problem was she stole a pecking apron. The staff reported the constable as it was called in these old days. From there, she was arrested and went on a trial. The court charged her on transportation to Norfolk Island for seven years. Her name was Sarah G. Fast forward, she had three daughters, and a son with different fathers for no one was sure over the actual parentage lineage. It sounds like tramping over the muddy water. Her daughter – Mary married the chap in Tasmania for his father was a convict back in Ireland and sailed to Tasmanian for seven years. He was also a conman, exclusive character with many misdemeanors because the surname was difficult to track down where he was in trouble with the law. Mary’s husband Charles was a criminal over stealing woods, a barrel of salt, money, drunken and fighting in Tasmania, and his life was not a good experience due to his criminal for a long time. Mary died while being separated and John remarried to another woman on a permitted through the court, so he received a grant to married the woman who was a widow from her previous marriage. Now John’s father – Charles was also fraud fellow with many disguised names, and he came from Bologna, Italy. We, genealogists, have trouble tracing his surname for there were too many to track and find the clues together.

Right, here is another mystery and discovering of Charles and Mary’s children. Let focus one male child called Joseph C, F.and he became a captain with a wife and four children in Australia. One day, Captain Joseph C. F became a captain after several months as a … and he took his men on the ship – Creole along with the cargo. They sailed out for Dunedin, New Zealand by leaving Launceston, Tasmania but the fateful day/night the vessel went aground near Tasmania. There were no survivors as all. Captain J lost his life and left a wife with four children. https://www.fishingboating-world.com/n/photo/176493

Now, Captain J had a brother called John J. F, and he was a whaler/timber cutter along with his best mate – George Mason. Both of them decide to travel to one of the whaling stations, New Zealand on a vessel – “Vansittart”. John J. F and George Mason decided to settle down in Canterbury, near Christchurch. One of the whaling stations is Peraki Bay and here is a picture of the bay.

https://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/new-zealand/1950/canterbury-centennial

Each of these men got the land purchased by one of the Māori iwi and John J. F married to a Māori woman. Anyway, there was something fishing about John J. F. and his background back in Tasmania if he had done a crime or something else. Mutu’s hapu (a group of the family clan) related to the Māori chief – Tutemakohu, and KokerePokoriri, who fought the war in the South Island.

Under John. F and Mutu, had got a large number of children. In this family, there were so many tragedies over the years, such as drowning, missing, crimes. One of their children married to our Osborne/Cherry’s side family – Emily Alice Cherry. Emily had got a sister called Mary Jane Cherry who married to the Osborne family of Oxford, near Christchurch, New Zealand. With our Osborne and Cherry family, Mary Ann’s husband Thomas committed suicide because he can not cope with over 10 children. After all, Mary Ann died passed away and leaving our great-grandma Rose the eldest child in Thomas’s second marriage. The Osborne children were sent to the State Home (Orphan Home in Christchurch, New Zealand). Rose was under 18 years old, and she kept in touch with her brothers and sisters but nothing to do with the other children from Thomas’s first marriage but often ran into them.

Waking up in the early hours of this morning by seeing the sun peeping through the windows while our dogs waiting for their daily run.
What a joy to have a blessing day after working with a person who is deaf, speech impaired and CP yesterday.

A quick check on the plan list as there are so much to do before the Summer arrives and I will get too busy. A couple fruit trees need to be planting before flower buddings out in the field and several blueberries shrubs will be planting near the old vegetable garden. A small group of shrubs requires to be planting in the large central garden.

An hour break came and have a cuppa while watching a Deaf Bible group over Zoom. A delightful break gave me a well deserved while Rusty managed to do the bricklaying down the edge runner by the driveway for he did not tell me as his battered hip will have to wait for the surgery. Our dogs ran around and keep coming back to me while I watched the Deaf Bible group.

A quick to hang the last load of washing on the line. Plus a colossal bedspread hanging on the line and over the ladder outside. Head over to the plot where I marked the area for the apricot tree in the old house area and next to the current apricot tree. Viola an apricot tree planted has done with a little help from Rusty for he was doing well BUT not a massive job. We rested through lunch for there was nothing much on television because there were too many rubbish shows. I head over to another plot further out in the field for the plum Hawea tree, so this tree can be a companion to our current plum tree for I forgot the name of the plum tree. Sigh! Hours fly out, and I stopped for now until another day to complete the tasks. Here are the several photos I took today. I can look back how much we have done so far since we moved here 2014 November. The video was taking too long to upload.

Just before I finish off and I would like to acknowledge that tomorrow it is our NZSL (New Zealand Sign Language) Week which postponed from the first week of May 2020 due to COVID19. BUT WAIT – there is another awareness week. This awareness week is the International Week of the Deaf. From tomorrow I will post daily blogs/themes so you can learn from us – D/deaf people.

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It had been a madhouse despite the lovely fine weather so far today. This morning I was rushed off as we went out to a local town after making a few enquiries despite one delayed message.

Our girl dogs woke me up before 7am without realised that they woke Rusty up earlier before 6am. Rat! There was something outside as their ears pricked the sounds through the windows or floors. Dragged me out of bed to let the dogs out for their runs plus their toileting leaving Rusty to stayed in bed.

It had been raining since last evening, BUT it was only 6mm of rainfall so far while I carried a cup of coffee into the courtyard and waited for the dogs returned from their runs. Sighs! Dogs came back and demanded their breakfast now than later. Our routines are different between Rusty and me, I gave two chicken wrap sticks to the girl dogs, and some nibble treats to Joseph, the older dog. Then couple tux biscuits for Jazz and Joseph plus a lump of puppy meat from the tin can for Nova. Enough and enough for them until Rusty got up to feed them more treats and biscuits. Rusty loves providing them more than me.

Reading online newspapers – more worst news and nothing brings us some good news. We got tired of too many information about COVID19 cases for we do NOT worry too much. I am just staying calm and moving forward without too much stress, or there is no need to fear because I know God is always with us. But really God does have plans for us each day which brings the mad or cheerful day.

Oops, there goes the sirens go passed and our dogs howling. Sigh! Another accident or emergency medical urgent for the hospital?

Finished sending a couple emails in regarding the funeral coming up next week – remind note for the Minister on booking another interpreter for the Deafblind lady who lost her husband during Level Four – note it was NOT linked to COVID19. And a ‘thank you’ email to a different lady before we head out to the local town. Driving toward the local town, we saw the banged car, which was ‘written off’ near the railway line. There was a bad accident, and the traffic was closed several days ago. We knew that area very well, and there have been many accidents there.

Arriving home at last! Praying that our dogs do not make any mess while we were out as they always make chaos such as digging up the courtyard garden, ripped pillows, chewed out the inside lining of the old sofa which reserved for Joseph to sleep on, chewed up the firewoods and many more. Mmm, not bad for there was less mess. If you are wondering why we could not keep dogs outside the house where there is fence off around the large boundary. Well, you never know if someone is walking with their dog along the private farm road, a farmhand guy who doesn’t mind our dogs riding on a motorbike, a stranger who can not read the sign ‘Beware of Dogs’ on the gate by thinking it is okay to enter the property. Our neighbours do not mind for they know I am deaf and our dogs are great to raise alarms by barking if someone tries to entering someone else’s properties.

A quick lunch and then do works in the office at our home during Level Two. You can not blame Aucklanders who have caught the second wave of COVID19. Still waiting for video chat as he replied by saying he is busy and apologised. Finally, a break so I can do the gardening by planting a couple hellbourne shrubs in the shaded area next to the carport. Putting the final touch of mulches on top of the ground until dogs ran out to greet me. Dogs walked back to the courtyard gate for Rusty told me that he needs the courtyard gate opened while he does the sanding the window trims plus painting the frames. A dogs’ way of communicating me so I can follow them to wherever there is someone at the driveway gate, Rusty may be in the barn. There is no use for anyone to shout or yelling at me for I can not hear them far away without the dogs.

Back to work and still waiting for the video chat while I do a different approached – genealogy research. Oh boy! what more I discovered in the genealogy this afternoon. Gotta share the family lineages to a newfound cousin, BUT it is vast information and a large number of children in the families. Relax and wonder how I will reduce the downloading by sending off to this newfound cousin.

Blast! Nova bought a couple large piece of broken window glasses in her mouth. Stupid girl!!

It is never ending for us in our home.

Mm, perhaps I will post the newsflash after making contact with the founder tonight. Watch this space!!

As a deaf person who can not hear any sound in the middle of the night to the early hour of the morning…

I normally use my special vibrating pager alarm clock under the pillow which attached to the clock at the bedside table. Now I would not need the vibrated alarm clock regularly. WHY?

As you see we have got three dogs – the young pup is nearly eight months old. Nova is the name and she love waking me up every morning in her unusual ways of getting attention to a deaf owner. When she was barely a baby pup and she did not realised that I can not hear her barking in the middle of the nights – let alone my partner has to do it. Then she hear the loud buzzing and high pitch sounding coming out of my hearing aids when I put my hearing aids on or to take off before going to bed. She has found a way of waking me up for I can not find a picture to show you. It is similar to the photo above from the website I found.

What actually Nova do every night to the early hour of the morning? She use thumping on me just like jumping, licking my face, gently paw on my face or to press her nose to my face to check if I am really awake, stroking my blanket as if she was pulling the blanket away from me even to walk over me from foot to right shoulder where I do get constant pain from my neck, shoulder to right elbow for many years. She knew her routine time pattern for toilets, meal times, or stranger lurking out there.

If you are wondering about two other dogs – one dog is a senior aged of nearly twelve years old and the middle black dog who she is nearly four years old. They are well behaved and they press their noses to my face. Often Jazz the middle one, would use her paw to pull down the blankets from the top of my shoulders.

Imagine me getting up three or two times in the middle of the night to the early hour of the morning. I would become a bad mood if I do not have a proper sleep or have increasing pain on the right side. Then I would let my boss know that I am home resting. Usually my partner do this BUT not at the moment due to his double hernia surgeries and during the Lockdown from the start of Level Four and it is my turn. I am grateful that my partner help me and support me during the day even when I am working from home. Currently nearly two weeks since his surgeries, I am full on to do the jobs around home such as collecting firewoods, let the dogs out for runs around the fields, prepare meals for all of us including dogs, washing etc and working from home. I am also grateful that my second workplace let me have a month leave instead of two week leaves since I met the persons (I am supporting)‘s case manager last week.

Dogs give us pleasure of funs, mischiefs, sense of humours if they behave strangely or different ways they do, give us comfort and cuddles in bed or on the sofa.

There has been a lot of talk about Universal Design in New Zealand, unfortunately, not to many designers, property developers, architectural house designers and Building designers were not aware of the Universal Design for all People with disabilities including older adults. The other problem is a high cost to installed for every people BUT ended up not accessible design to meet the price they can afford. Any people with a disability adapted, add special equipment or to remove their home layout design to make more accessible home at their own cost or by the funding under the Ministry of Health/ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) they sourced.
A question to ask you… Do you have any idea and look out there is everyone are the same which can function themselves in many ways of doing activities and working? Have you thought about people/children with disAbilities can’t do function the same way as you? What about your grandparents, even great grandparents?

We were lucky to found a home with several custom equipment like handrails, low steps, heating, easy to look out through the windows and the driveway already there for us. Because of my deafness and age within another 5-10 years or more, it is essential to meet our needs. It saved us the cost to install the equipment or ramp when one of us get older and finding it difficult to access or manage thing around the home. We have got three dogs to keep an eye on me as working/pet dogs in the vast property.

Back in 1997, Ronald Mace led the team in the North Carolina State University to a working group which were architects, product designers, engineers and environmental design researchers. The working group created and developed the seven principles in Universal Design in 1997.
The purpose of the Principles is to guide the design of environments, products and communications.

But first of all before I typed what are the seven principles in the Universal Deigns.

I want to give you an idea of how people with disabilities manage in their own life even myself in society anywhere in the world.

Imagine a block of apartments with a lift/no lift – the size of one apartment is smaller than an ordinary house of two bedrooms. The bathroom, including the toilet, is small than average size, the kitchen is a ‘u shape’ layout narrow. When a wheelchair user rent an apartment but this person missed out the ground floor because everyone is there already. then this wheelchair person has to go up in the next level if there is any lift available. The wheelchair user found it is difficult to manoeuvre around the kitchen, the bathroom otherwise to go forward and backward without turning around as in 360o. Or having a shower in the cramped bathroom, there is no space to get out/get on the wheelchair. If there is a fire happening in the next floor up, the wheelchair user is unable to get out if the neighbours do not realise a wheelchair user is living in the same apartment.

What about any Deaf people? It is okay to live there, BUT there is no flashing light system in the apartment and the flashing light system come in with a doorbell, fire alarm, break in security, baby crying, a phone ringing, and security gate entrance from the car park. As well no visual contact like the security system when someone is visiting a deaf person via television screen or a small screen by the door as an intercom.

Today I went to one of the buildings in Frankton, and I discovered this building was not a friendly accessible for refugee people with disAbilities (wheelchair users, anyone finding it difficult to walk up stair/downstairs). There was no lift due to the size of the old building. The other problem was the lack of car parks for staff even for the people with disAbilities and their mobility car park holders. I spoke to someone who was in the same building, and the response was it was cheaper rent. Still, they did not think about any refugee people who may have disAbilities or finding it difficult to walk the stairs. Sigh! Other barriers from the landlord who owned the old building. 

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Oh, we would like to visit the Chatham Islands one day, and anyone wants to learn the experience of people living there, what life was like in the pre-1860s.

Why would the deaf blogger/researcher want to learn the experience of living there? Mm, the researcher is in the middle of doing researching one particular woman who travelled from Scotland via London and Queensland to Canterbury and Otago before the 1900s. For some, reason, Ms Mitchell chose to travel to the Chatham Islands and got married to a German chap was looking for a bride through newspaper advertising. This woman knows a few people through her brother who was a minister, involved with the church in Queensland, Australia and Charteris Bay, Canterbury.

The researcher was reading one of the diaries, and the diary was fascinated life by a young man – Mr Spencer. He lived in the island for one year because his contract expired and the life was very harsh due to lack of foods, meats and the weather conditions. This Spencer man came from a Spencer family who came out from London, the UK to Christchurch, New Zealand.

How does the connection between Ms Mitchell and the Spencer family back in London, the UK? Ms Mitchell was a servant to the Spencer family according to the census record in 1861 in London, UK. There is also a connection to Scotland and a Mrs E Spencer came from Scotland where Ms D Mitchell came from Scotland.

The Chatham Islands bear rugged landscape, and several small islands are surrounding the main two inlet islands which inhabited.
The Chatham Islands is a 920 sq km, also called Rēkohu (by Moriori) and Wharekauri (by Māori), and Pitt Island is a 7.7 sq km, also called Rangihaute (by Moriori) and Rangiāuria (by Māori).

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Jack the frost came in the early hour of this morning. Brr what a chilly rude waking us up as it was -1.5oC in the morning!

Our dogs huddled together except our older dog – Joseph slept on the other side of the bed. Wondering why my ass were partially cold for the blankets and duvet was only resting on top of the bed due to dogs hogging blankets to themselves.

Checking the time for our dogs go out for their daily runs and off they took off through the open door and chilling airs crept in. Just in the nick of time before the children and a couple teenagers were walking down the private road then across the main State Highway Road where they waited for their school buses. There is a special rule for all school buses as we are in Level Two now. The buses carried limit number of students per 2 metres/1metre spacing inside the bus.

Walking around the house in my dressing gown and pondering where to start for I am currently working from home in Level Two. Texts alerted in my work mobile from the Deaf Persons and their requests were when the bank are opening, what is QR barcode tracking and contact tracking? Mm, time to make a video and off to change into ordinary clothes before entering the home office. Blast, the home office was cold, sigh as it was time to turn the heater on.

Young mischief pup – Nova running around with her favourite toy and barking at poor Joseph as he was sleeping in his dad’s chair until he growled back to Nova as to hushed her to be quiet.

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Hours had passed as I was working in the home office until the beautiful sunshine came out at last.. Stepping outside in the courtyard and sat down in the chair to enjoy the warmth and comfort of sun ray as vitamin D played an important role for health. Watching the bees dancing over the shrubs in the garden and what a sight to see them buzzing over the lavender shrubs. Pleasure and enjoyed for the moment of time… The sun going down sooner and it was time to go back inside before mad hours start…. Until Nova decide to pick out the firewood to chew…. Oh bother her!

Nearly time to stop working for another day and let start making a heating fire for it gonna be a cold freezing night. Let the sleeping dogs lie on the sofas as it is their favourite places while Nova munchies a piece of fire wood! My partner – Rusty makes the fire for heating the house while I check final emails and reading newspapers in the office. Rusty yelled out “Mummm”, did you buy Lotto?” My replied was “Yes I am going to get one through online.”. Sooner gonna make the tea – Satay Chicken with rice tonight.

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While waiting for the repair job at one of the people I know who will be able to fix the problem.

Standing outside abide by the lockdown rule – 2 metres from the door of the house yesterday.

Admiring the colour leaves on many trees – brown, orange, yellow, fade green and burst red colours.

You may hear the wind and other strange noises in the video for I can hear a bit through vibrating echo sound of the wind.

All I can see the leaves on the branches bending forward and backward for I know which way the wind were blowing.

There were so many fallen leaves on the ground for many people clean up the leaves by rakes or even mow over just like my partner who mowed the fallen leaves on the ground. Bear not!  It is good for the soil as composting – did you know that?

 

One thing that took my mind off was having the tooth extracted and had a nasty pain for I can not ask for a glass of water from the person I know. I had the tooth extracted done before I started working yesterday. What a way to start having a toothache during the lockdown!