The brain cells are rehydrated!

Hi readers

I have to confess that, when I wrote my last blog post, I was completely frazzled. My brain cells had shrivelled to tiny little mites of dust & I was barely functioning. I have remember the things I wanted to blog about over the weekend. All I needed was two days of peace & quiet & it's all come back to me. The highlight of my week (possibly the year or just generally a highlight of my life) was being at Leigh's house on Wednesday when her one year-old Zoe walked SEVEN steps by herself! Leigh tells me it was her longest solo walk to date & I was so excited because, despite all my friends having had about 20 kids over the past 25 years, I have NEVER been around for The First Walk! So, I was beside myself & I am shocked & mortified to think that I didn't write about that earlier. Okay, okay, so she'd already taken some other steps by herself but this was the longest distance! Get it? See why I am so excited? Oh... well... I am excited & I will just hold that thought to myself. Here's the Wonder Girl herself (below)
My other exciting news is that today, after about four hours goofing off on ancestry.com, I found some amazing information about Mr Beauchamp Wainwright. You may well wonder who this man is. In about 1985, whilst a student nurse at Mona Vale Hospital, I nursed Mr Wainwright after he had a car accident. At the time he was about 90 years old. We struck up a friendship & after he was discharged, I visited him at his home where he gave me his cap badge from his Royal Flying Corps uniform circa 1917. I keep that badge with me all the time. It is one of my most treasured possessions. I have been researching Mr Wainwright, figuring it wouldn't be hard to find information about his past & indeed, it has been quite easy (easier than Williams!) Today I found a photo of him, aged about 23 years old. Can you believe it? I was flabbergasted. He is the handsome devil in the bottom left corner. These photos were taken after the men gained their Royal Aero Club licences prior to joining the RFC.

I also found information about his migration to Australia in 1922 and previously, I found an interview with him where he described being captured by the Germans behind enemy lines & becoming a POW, which probably saved his life during WW1. Anyway, it was just incredibly fascinating & I had to force myself away from the computer to take Lil down to the beach. I just love history so much. Who would ever have thought? I think it's amazing that I have links to three men who fought in WW1 - Beauchamp flying his Sopwith Camel, my uncle Dougal who died at Paschendale and my grandfather Josiah who was there with the US Marine Corps. I wish I was clever enough to think of a fantastic story & write it... I do remember Mr Wainwright telling me that he had been a fighter pilot & that they didn't wear parachutes & their aeroplanes were made of paper. I just found MORE information about him saying he was shot down by a German on 28 August 1916 near Bapaume, France whilst flying a Morane type N Serial Number A173. Here is a photo of the 'plane (in case you're interested!)

On this note, I absolutely HAVE to stop! I am obsessed! I can't stop myself & I realise I will have to drag myself away so that I can get on with my life. Cheerio!