Celebrating National Spouses Day

National Spouses Day falls on the 26 January and is all about taking the time to thank our partner. So I am dedicating this post to my husband, Barnet Boy (BB) who is a website designer, folk singer and ‘phillumenist’, among other things! Read on and find out more!

Celebrating National Spouses Day

I want to start by saying how much I appreciate Barnet Boy on a daily basis. He does really well looking after me given my range of illnesses. But he also gives me the freedom to do what I want to do with just a gentle steer if he feels I am overdoing things. He is also a great dog and cat Dad to our brood.

I first met BB when he published one of my books. He has written several books himself and we got chatting by email when he asked me to review one of his books. We were pen pals for more years than I care to remember. He commissioned me to create a painting to front his website. Some time after my first marriage broke down, BB and I met for the first time. We have now been married nearly 10 years.

But hey, enough of all that mush, this is National Spouses Day, and BB is so much more than a husband and animal Dad. He gets up to some really interesting stuff. So let’s take a look at it.

Website Designer

I asked BB (aka Graham Irwin) to say something about how he got into website design. He says:

Having been a programmer, then an IT consultant and a management consultant, I then decided to turn my hand to website development. In retrospect it’s probably not the most obvious career move, but it’s something I enjoy. I am not trained in design, so my websites tend to be easier to use rather than flashy.

My clients often become friends – one even became my wife! My longest standing client is Martin Farrell, a meetings facilitator and coach. Over the past almost 20 years we have redesigned his website 4 or 5 times, more recently working with a graphic designer. He has recommended me to several of his friends and colleagues.

Folk Singer

Yes, BB is a keen folk singer with his own YouTube channel. I asked him to describe how he first became involved in folk singing. He says:

I got my first guitar when I was 16 and I think the first song I learned to play was On Top Of Old Smokie. It soon became apparent that I needed a better guitar, and when I was 21 I bought myself a 12-string guitar. Living then in central London, I started attending local folk clubs and eventually plucked up the courage to sing at one.

I have been intermittent in my playing and singing, but two years ago I purloined a spare room in our house as a music room where I can practice daily. I still have my 50-year-old 12-string, and also have two electro-acoustic guitars, a mandolin, a keyboard and a melodeon. I also have a couple of effects pedals and have recently bought a recording kit.

I have many favorites of his songs  but I asked him to pick his favorite. He selected this one.

Phillumenist

For many of us, collecting is a popular hobby. People collect all manner of things, from autographs to stamps (which I collected as a child). Barnet Boy collects matchbox labels. Long before cigarette lighters and central heating (flicks of switches!), matches were a more common household item, which made them an easy item to collect. Matchbox label collecting, along with match box collecting, is also known as ‘phillumeny’ and a matchbox label collector a ‘phillumenist’.

Some of the designs on the labels are beautiful. Some are rare and can be quite valuable. BB says:

I started by picking up discarded boxes on the pavement but gradually the matchbox label collecting hobby grew to swapping with fellow collectors and buying interesting labels from dealers. Over the years, my collection has reached over 5,000 matchbox labels from all corners of the world.

Until I met him I didn’t realize matchbox label collecting was even a thing! You can see his matchbox label collection here. He is interested in selling his collection by the way if other phillumenists are reading this blog.

Amateur Genealogist

When I got together with BB I was introduced to the whole world of genealogy. He had been researching past relatives for some time. What I find interesting is that nothing happens for months and months and then he gets a lead. And suddenly he has added yet more relatives to his family tree. He is meticulous about checking dates and accuracy. In his own words:

I first became interested in my family history when I came across a typed family tree produced by a great aunt a fair many years earlier. 

Working in Fleet Street I used to pop along to Somerset House in my lunch times to look up my ancestors’ births, marriages and deaths. It was a time-consuming task and I often returned late from lunch!

The most interesting ancestor I have found is a third great grandfather who came from Cork in Ireland. He was ordained a Church of Ireland priest and while he was a curate got his fiancée in the family way and they hot-footed it to Dublin to get married. He seemed to have difficulty getting a job and joined the East India Company as a chaplain. Sadly he died after only a few months in India, age 41, and his wife returned to Ireland.

So that concludes my celebration of Barnet Boy on National Spouses Day. Between my artistic endeavors and his various hobbies it is an interesting life we share.

Before you go

My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Thank you for reading!