Only one charity shop? What's got into Floss?

Could it be these handsome young men?

I had a project which kept me in the house for most of this afternoon - I was using some online software to make sense of a family tree, based on the certificates and other documents kept by my mother's family.

To be honest, we have no idea who any of these young men is. My mother suggested we pick the best looking and claim him for an ancestor. Thus, I am proud to tell you that I am directly descended from the suave chappie on the top right. My mother and I were in no doubt..?
However, we do know who this couple are - my grandma's parents. My mother remembers her grandmother well.

There are few photos, but many certificates and one or two family records. This sad little page records the birth of the man in the photo above - he was one of the last children in his family, and one of the few to survive. His mother wrote down times as well as dates for some of the births and deaths...I also spent a little time today mending my father's jumper. I had to go to the downstairs sewing table to find the right thread.Inside are a lovely collection of vintage and modern sewing things - just whatever my mum and grandma needed (they shared a house, and therefore sewing equipment, for years.)

This thread was perfect, even if the photo doesn't show it!Even though the charity shop had nothing of interest, I did find this charming bracket looking for a home on my parents' basement window ledge yesterday. Apparantly my mum bought this back in the '80s, and my grandma was horrified and refused to have it anywhere! It's been given to me now, and will hopefully find a good home in France.I'm very touched to have been given this award by sweet Sarah, of Red Gingham!Thank you so much, Sarah! I suspect that most of you already know her lovely New Zealand crafting, thrifting and family blog, but any who don't have GOT to get into visiting it...

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Now, I am allowed to award this to five more fabulous blogs. I hope it's OK, but I have a plan for this award... Every now and then, you know how it is, I stumble across a lovely new blog that somehow I've never seen before. I'd like to give this award to one of those blogs today, and save the other four for new discoveries in the future. I hope that's OK, Sarah?

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So my fabulous new(ish) find, which wins the Fabulous Blog award, is Della Grace's Life. Della is the self-styled 'Queen of Random', but her random posts have a tendency towards the vintage, the thifty, the charming, the frighteningly youthful... Go and find out for yourselves!

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Sarah also tagged me (actually, Mandy says she's tagged me too, but I can't find that post, Mandy. If it's the same tag, will you accept these answers, please?) The challenge is to list six unimportant things I love. I've listed six before, but this time I'm going to list six unimportant things about Edinburgh that I love, seeing as Edinburgh is my home for the week:

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1. Long summer evenings. It's not dark at 9pm. It's not TRULY dark at 10pm. There is a pay-back in the winter but it's probably worth it.

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2. The science and technology room in the National Museum of Scotland - the boys can spend literally hours in there with all the activities.

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3. The charity shops!

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4. The dates and mottos carved on many of the old buildings.

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5. The tablet (ask for further details if you don't already know!)

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6. The Botanic Gardens.

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Thanks so much for this tag - it was fun! I've already tagged my six, so I think I'd better not send this one any further, I'm afraid.

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More charity shops tomorrow, perhaps, as I've finished my trawl through the family archives..?