Author: carolanneyeomanson

Have you ever wanted to know about what happened in Westminster during the English Civil War? Join London tour guide Jack Yeomanson on a special walk from Parliament to Green Park where he’ll tell you about Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Charles II, their wives and the sheer tumult that England suffered during 7 years of war, the 11 years without a Monarch and the subsequent restoration of the King in 1660.

Find out much more information by visiting http://www.blueumbrellawalks.com where you can book tickets for £12 per adult and £9 per concession.

It’s a fascinating walk which I can highly recommend and would suggest you head along for.

I’m sure I’ve written about my love of Ancestry before but it’s grown a lot deeper recently and will probably keep growing as long as I have breath or Ancestry keep showing my records.

I’ve been looking again this morning and what do I find. Crying child Smith is what the child is listed on it’s Birth Certificate as? I take it that the poor child cried a lot from that but fancy having that on your Birth Certificate or your Papers when you become an Adult and needed them. Bearing in mind this was the fifteen hundreds.

This child grew up to be my 10th Great Grandfather by the way. How do Ancestry prove it? I did my DNA test and it came back with where it was found as I think I’ve said before but when they should you who your’e a match for or whatever on your tree they show you how you are connected and come forward from there. So my DNA is a match for the Duke of Monmouth and his Mistress Lucy. They then show me how I go up from him on his side and down from Lucy and the match is from ‘their’ child. It connects to my Grand Mother on my Father’s side and therefore me. They give me the full list of people in our connection via a drop down bar. Although I’m not in line for the Throne like someone we all know lol. Thank goodness. I mean could you imagine Queen Carol ROFL.

I’ve decided to take a break from the run of the mill family stuff and look deeper into my background and go back into the sixteeth and fifteeth centuries where I have matches. That’s really fascinating. It’s where I meet people like my 11th, 12th and 13th Grand Parents and learn about them. The people with massive Titles, the people who had nothing and the people who went to the New World. Australia, America to seek their fortunes.

There was a knock on my front door not long ago and a man and his wife stood there. Hi ya. He said. It was my Cousin from Australia who had come to see me. We met over Ancestry. Never knew each other existed before.

I also love the thing they provide called Thru Lines. I can go on there and find out who I’m related to through the lines of my past family. I found someone who lives three street away from me.

So that’s why Ancestry has become such a big part of my life. I can also show my son about his Ancestors. It’s true. Ancestry isn’t for everyone and I appreciate that but for me I love it. It shows me who I came from. My background, my History and appreciate how many of my family perished in Concentration Camps and to find out the true details of one special lady who was an SOE agent.

The Newberry Knitters are – the best way to describe them is a force to be reckoned with! These are a series of books that I write. Light reading is the way I would describe them and I’ll continue as long as I can come up with ideas. At the moment there are still three more to be written.

Let me introduce you to the ladies.

Molly Simpson is the leader of the group.

Alice Kemp, Lily Wintergreen, Hermione Jarvis, Dolly Belle, Ethel Leicester, Mary Otter, Victoria Clitheroe, Noddy Tweed, Alice Kemp, Violet Masterson, The Reverend Bakewell.

The books are set in a country village and the Knitters meet in the Church Hall and knit for Charity. In the first book, one of them wins the National Lottery and they decide to go on a Cruise. That’s all I’m saying !

Later you will meet the village Doctor and a host of other Characters who don’t live in the village and you will learn about the past lives of the Knitters.

If your’e expecting quiet, nice stories about a group of older ladies who do nothing with their lives but knit, you are so wrong. These ladies are pure fun, with a side order of turning themselves into Detectives when they shouldn’t. Back stories that – shall we say are sometimes ‘shocking’ and where the Knitters go – trouble is sure to follow.

You can find the Newberry Knitters series on Amazon Kindle written by Carol Yeomanson.

This is a question so many people have asked me? Well come on Carol. You must know how you write your own books for goodness sake. Well here’s the honest answer.. I haven’t got a clue. So now you know the truth. I haven’t got a clue. I’ve been an Author now for well over twenty years. I was the kid at school who loved writing stories and I haven’t got one single inkling of how I get ideas for my books.

I start off with a notebook and a pen. Well two actually. One is my Doodle book Where I doodle things. Like we used to at school. I write thrillers and mysteries so I know that’s what I’m looking for. I did write one erotic book in the early days and I know erotica wasn’t for me. I then work out where I want the book placed. Who I want the main character to be. A ‘sort of story’ but then it might work or it might not. I’ve ripped some up before now believe me. Yes, I’ve cried – I’ve lost my temper because I can’t get the blasted thing right. Then someone said Talk to your characters during the night. Ask them what they want you to do with them.

You know that feeling when you thing I’m loosing it!!!

So I talked to a 15th Century Lord thinking I’m definitely in need of help here and suddenly I could hear this voice come into my head telling me what to do next with him.

And there was my answer.

That book will be published before Christmas!

So that’s how I write my books. I’m sure every Author out there has a different way, but this way works for me. I’m hoping (she says) depending on my wonderful Editor who is also my son and who’s favourite phrase when he edits is Were you drunk when you wrote this Mother?? to have three books out there by Christmas.

I’ve got an Air Fryer but personally I can’t see what all the fuss is about but maybe that’s because I’m a very old fashioned girl who loves to cook, especially old fashioned things like her own bread, but we do use it even after making my confession in my blog.

So this is quite a good recipe to try.

AIR FRYER BANANA BREAD

150 ml sunflower or vegetable oil

150g caster sugar

150 self raising flour

1tsp baking powder

2 eggs

2 over ripe bananas

50g pecans

50g chocolate chips

1. Oil 1 litre loaf tine and line with baking parchment
2. You will need to make sure this fits in the ir fryer basket. If it doesn’t use a muffin tin or shape tht will work with your machine.
3. Heat the air fryer to 160C. Combine the oil, sugar, flour, baking powder and eggs in a bowl. Mash the bananas. Mix into the batter. Mix in half the pecans and all of the chocolate chips. Pour into the tin and top with the remaining pecans and bake for 45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. Check after 20 minutes in case it’s begining to brown too much. If it is cover with foil.
5. Leave to cool before serving.

Firstly let me point out that I’m not a Wine Expert by any means. I do like to think though that I’m not to bad when it comes to choosing wines and my son is very good so I’m mostly led my him. We both love Duck though. Yes, alright enough with the Quack Quack jokes and Bet your’e a right little Quacker Carol. No I’m not. I’m seventy years old and when I was in my teens my drink of choice was a Babycham with a cherry on a stick in it.

So if Jack and I have a couple of roast duck legs with a red wine sauce (so who needs to worry about cooking the sauce from scratch). Use a bottle from the supermarket if you want to). We would go for Piron Beajolais-Villages.

Next a Palumbo. A red hug in a glass type wine at £6.99 which we both love.

But in saying that, I live by one rule. Whatever wine you love or you can afford – drink it! If you want white wine with Duck then drink it! In our world why spoil a perfectly good meal because someone tells you that you MUST drink an expensive red wine with Duck because thats what the rules say?

So enjoy your Duck and drink whatever you want.

Cheers!

My son is named Jack Henry. He is Jack after my Father and Henry after his other Grand Father. Sadly, Henry died before I met my husband so the little I know about him is only what my husband has told Jack and I, but it’s my Father I really want to talk about.

My Dad was fifty four years old when I was born. I was always told that my Mum and Dad wanted to call me Veronica. Luckily I had a lucky escape there. He died when I was thirteen years old from lung cancer. What I really remember so well, and will stay with me until I die is the night of his death. I know, we all remember the night of a loved once’s death, but for me it was different. It was the way my Mother treated me.

That’s right. My Mother. The one person who should have loved me, comforted me, held me, but no. She didn’t. When I tell people how I hated my Mother – they say you can’t hate you Mother. Oh yes I can. Believe me, I can, I do and I always will because of that one night.

We had a telephone call, which I gather was to tell us that Dad was dying and for her to go to the hospital. My Uncle came to get here and they left me with my Auntie. No one told me anything. Just that I was with my Auntie, so obviously I was happy and smiling. Well, you tend to be when no-one tells you anything and I adored spending time with my Auntie Flo. Much later everyone came back, and what did I do. Happy and laughing, I said Hello Mum – how’s Daddy. Did you give him my love???.

With that, she gave me one look – lifted her hand, smacked me so hard around the face, that she send me spinning across the floor, that thankfully another man who was with her caught me.

“He’s dead” she hissed “You killed him”

I went hysterical. I was thirteen years old. In my eyes I had killed the Dad I adored. My Mother had done what she always did. It was all about her. People surrounded her. I stood in that room, shaking, biting my nails down to the quick. Thankfully I had other Family Members who created a shield around me. That shield lasted for a very long time. As they say forever and a day and forever is forever.

I have a son of my own now. We have a shield and our shield will be our forever shield.

I make no secret that I cruise with Jack, my son and for years now we have cruised. We have been with a lot of Cruise lines but this year we feel that we have been badly let down by P and O. Probably badly let down is an understatement.

We booked our Cruise to go on the Aracadia a long time ago. We’re the kind of people who always book a long way ahead and then book Private Tours because that way we can see the places we want to see and don’t have to worry about whether or not we can find two seats together on the coach or having to worry about sticking to the coach rules. We’re just people who like to do our own thing.

So we’re going to Greece among other place and we booked three private tours, which were expense but the cost didn’t matter because it’s worth it because we wanted to go to these places. Suddenly, out of the blue, about twenty something days before we’re due to go, bearing in mind, it’s just coming up to start deciding what we’re taking, my son get’s an e mail. Your port days have been changed due to operational difficulties. Pardon? Out of the blue. Why? So we try to contact P and O. They ignore us. We try to find out what time the new port time are so we can change or try to change our tour times. P and O ignore us. When we do contact our Private Tour Companies they say if we cancel rather than transfer, we lose our money. Simple as that. We try to find our what these operational difficulties are. No response. In the end we ring P and O and try to speak to them face to face. Ahhh…..hmmmm…………is all we get. Well at least we go manage to get new port times but what are the Operational Problems we are? Ahh – sorry we’re not permitted to tell you. Says William on the other end of the phone.

Anyway two of the Companies have been very good and transferred us over with no problem. The third was booked up until Christmas we gather and we couldn’t get hold of him, so we contacted the Company he worked for. I wish we could get hold of him said the loved person on the end of the telephone. He has absconded with all our money. However, we will take responsibility for everything and refund your money, The private tour was actually one that Jack is doing to Olympia on his own because it’s a Historic Site.

The other thing that has sosured P and O for us is the way they’ve put all the prices up so much since we booked. Now there’s a drinks package. Who did they get to come up with that one. Dick Turpin? I mean even he had the decency to wear a mask! Every tiny think you have to pay for which we find you don’t have to on other Cruise Lines but I notice other people are having trouble with P and O. We heard one couple saying they went on a Cruise around the Netherlands and ended up in a port in Belguim as well. As yet, we haven’t been given a embarkation time. Maybe Jack and I have been spoiled by other Cruise lines who have always been more organised than this before, all I know is that we would never go P and O again.

Jack and I have great faith in watching the t.v. vloggers on You Tube and we couldn’t believe two of our favourite who were sailing with one Company. They went into their Cabin, tried to open their fridge door, and found the fridge was locked!!!

It won’t stop Jack and I cruising. That is for sure. We just won’t cruise with P and O again!

Exactly, how do you mend a broken doll?

This was one of my stand alone novels that earned me a five star review. It’s available now on Amazon and Kindle.

Amy is happily married to Ricky until he is tragically killed in an accident and his body is found face down in a swimming pool. However, as she delves deeper in the death of the man she loves, she discovers that there is more to him than ever met the eye. A twisting and turning thriller that sees Amy thrown into the middle of an international espionage ring who will stop at nothing to obtain the secret that she holds and causes her to question who she can and cannot trust and who to avoid. A broken individual, Amy discovers that she is the doll who needs to be mended, and it’s down to many people to try to repair this broken doll – but who are they and can Amy ever really be mended?.

If you would like to read How Do You Mend a Broken Doll, you can find it on both Amazon and Kindle and as always I would love you to leave me a review and more than anything I hope you enjoy it.

One of the things I love doing is crafting and I’ve got a shop on Folksy called Violets and Lace crafts. I sell on kinds of things on their with one exception. Anything hand painted mainly because a paint brush and I have been mortal enemies since the day I started school. I went one way and the paint brush went the other. I sell in the UK and accept Bank Cards and PAY PAL and everything will be in the post within three days although it may take a day or two if the post clashes with a Bank Holiday.

So what do I make? I make a lot of hand made jewellery. I make baby blankets. I make too many different things to list to be honest. There are also some craft accessions such as pipe cleaners – in other words you never know what you might find.

So please, pop into Violets and Lace Crafts and take a look. You never know what you might find.

The link is

http://www.folksy.com/shops/violetsandlacecrafts

So please if you are looking for a gift for someone, please pop in to Violets and Lace Crafts. You never know what you might find.