"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! April 2nd - 4th, 2021 [closed]

Question

New Members Saying Hello (our favorite!)

Puzzles and Tips 

"Today Is" 

Movies & Music

Where in the World?  Share your photos!

Members Checking in via "All About the Weekend Chat"

Click here if Interested in Hosting the Weekend Chat and earning a Guest Host Sticker? 

CHANGE TO BEST ANSWER PROCESS:  After much discussion we have come to the conclusion that all answers in the Weekend Chat are of equal importance and weight.  So we are going to discontinue the Best Answer portion as it adds points and then takes them away from posters and is causing some hurt feelings.  So in the interest of everyone is equal and valued we will delete any best answers given which will deduct those points because it has been pointed out that to give everyone best answer is also not a viable option. 

Weekend Chat is for everyone. It's a place to catch up on what people are up to and to share what you've been doing.  New members can say hello, introduce themselves, ask questions, and meet each other.  Our seasoned members can share progress or successes from their projects, give tips and advice, or chime in on hot topics.

Post as many answers and comments as you wish. It doesn't hurt anyone to post a lot and enjoy the multitude of topics.

Enjoy yourselves and spread the love!

Comments

Oh, my goodness ... okay so far I find out the history of the cap, 1794 to say 1841  a head dress of the Glengarry Fencibles when they were formed in 1794 by Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry, of Clan MacDonell of Glengarry. MacDonell, therefore, is sometimes said to have invented the Glengarry – but it is not clear whether early pictures of civilians or Fencible infantry show a true glengarry, 

Speculated "best use of" is to identify your foe if the two of you are swinging at each other ... visual clue 

And the feathers three white ostrich feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the motto Ich dien (German: [ɪç ˈdiːn], "I serve"). 

And I suppose it can't be faked with goose feathers ... but why it symbolizes Wales but has a German motto ... there's a history to that no doubt ... 

Thank YOU Mark, once I work my way through this I'll have a much better appreciation of the "traditional" (male) clothing for Scotsmen  

---

Mark, yiu look better in a kilt than I do. I’m jealous!

---

Pip, no need to be jealous, that photo is from 1963 when Mark was just past being a babe in arms ...   well, maybe 14, 15 from the looks of him ... 

Now? He's probably just as "gray and wrinkled" as most of us at Chat 

---

I was 12, at the time.  Grey, wrinkled, worn out, the ghost of my former self, now.

---

  Well you LOOK 14, 15 in the pix --  but I will take your word on it, you ought to know, after all 

That program you were in must have been a major calorie-burner, you don't appear to have a lot of "baby fat" on that face, which is why it looks so "old" ... 

---

Half an hour of dancing 7 days a week, with a 2 hour lesson every week, in addition to doing a paper route every morning and walking a mile and a half to school.  I was a skinny kid with fat calves.  A friend called me Alley Oop, although the forearms didn't qualify.

---

Mark, I know exactly what your talking about. Oh to be 12 again.

---

 you ARE a survivor, aren't you!?!?!?  

Wow.  

---

Mark, I'm thinking that ornamental sword could do a lot of damage -- real ones would, certainly .. I guess if you walked away on both feet, uninjured ... gah 

It is normally recognised as the war dance with some ceremonial sense in the Scottish Royal court during that period. The old kings and clan chiefs organised the Highland Games as a method to choose their best men at arms, and the discipline required to perform the Highland dances allowed men to demonstrate their strength, stamina, and agility. 

---

If you were 12 again, Pip, no one would pay heed to you, and none of your family experiences since the age of 12 would still exist, and only you know how many people THAT would obliterate ... dozen's, at the least 

Answer 1

Today is....

             

NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY DAY

On April 2nd each year, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day celebrates a classic food favorite. The average American will have eaten over 2000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate from high school.

Peanut butter was considered a delicacy in the early 1900s and was only served in New York City’s finest tea rooms. In a May 1896 article published in the Good Housekeeping magazine, a recipe “urged homemakers to use a meat grinder to make peanut butter and spread the result on bread.”  That same year, in June, the culinary magazine Table Talk, published a “peanut butter sandwich recipe.”

It is thought that Julia Davis Chandler issued the first reference to peanut butter (or paste) paired with jelly on bread in the United States in 1901. Her article is found in the Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics. In the late 1920s, the price of peanut butter declined, and the sandwich became very popular with children.

According to the Peanut Board, during World War II, both peanut butter and jelly were part of the United States soldiers’ military ration list.

In 1968, The J.M. Smucker Co. introduced Goober, a jarred product that combined alternating vertical stripes of peanut butter and jelly.

HOW TO OBSERVE Peanut Butter And Jelly Day

It may be a good day to try something different.  The following are a few peanut butter and jelly ideas to help you out!  ADD TO:

• Cupcakes
• French Toast
• Pie
• Sushi
• Cookies
• Donuts
• Pancakes
• Fudge

Comments

I know peanut butter is immensely popular but I find it to be one of the most foul smelling and tasting food products in existence, why anyone would adulterate chocolate with peanut butter is incomprehensible.

---

I think Americas strange fascination with Peanut Butter, was because it became extremely popular to grow, when they stopped growing so much cotton. Now they love corn. Did they have any other particularly popular crops between peanuts and corn??

---

There's some studies been done on taste and flavor and odor ... think that was for salty and sugary, sweet and sour, and each person was to classify, think it was 5 or 6 different qualities about the substances ...

NATCHERLY, women and men differed on their ranking or rating of the items, and I think I recall there was some differences among age groups ...

there was another study done on texture, color, and viscosity? something like that ... usual gender and age differences seen

There was another study about cultural differences ref to some common foods ... forgot what the foods were at this point and again there were some differences in gender and age

---

Ben; I don't know, I live in Canada, was born in England, have only visited the US as a tourist.

I have run into some very odd food at times in the US. Here in Canada peanut  butter is I think just as popular as it is in the US.

My older brother took Marmite sandwiches for school lunch every day for probably 2 years. Not exactly the same as Vegemite but close enough.

---

Well, google "what did the south grow besides cotton and peanuts" and ... 

The cash crops of the southern colonies included cotton, tobacco, rice, and indigo (a plant that was used to create blue dye). In Virginia and Maryland, the main cash crop was tobacco. In South Carolina and Georgia, the main cash crops were indigo and rice.  The primary food crop of the South was corn.  However, farmers also grew rice, sugarcane, wheat, tobacco, hemp, and flax. Some southerners encouraged the growth of industry. 

---

I once read that, as mentioned. It was given to soldiers during WW2. Due to it's high caloric and fat content.  I also read that it will pack in the pounds. I used to eat it a lot of those sandwiches when I was powerlifting.

---

That was interesting Susan. Thank you. Sounds like a great deal of tabacco, which I guess makes sense. You had to have something to chew while waiting for real food. lol

---

Say, Ben, the cotton and the tobacco were used by the plantation owners to purchase their household supplies and other items needed for the plantation and the surviving account books of the merchants testify to this. 

 Peanuts were a lifesaving measure along with rice, as foods even the poorest to obtain 

Africans were the first people to introduce peanuts to North America beginning in the 1700s. Records show that it wasn't until the early 1800s that peanuts were grown as a commercial crop in the United States. They were first grown in Virginia and used mainly for oil, food and as a cocoa substitute.

This sort of situation went on until Juneteenth, Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, a Union General rode into Galveston, Texas to announce that the Civil War had ended, and slaves had been freed.Jun 19, 2020

At that point in time, and during the War, a great many people, free or slave, discovered hunger, malnutrition, starvation ... an entire economy in a large section of the United States collapsed 

Many causes were at the root of food shortages: a drought in 1862 drove down food supplies; slaves who worked on farms and plantations were fleeing to Union lines; Federal troops were gaining control of more parts of the Confederacy; and, with the Confederate military having priority in terms of transportation, food ...   In addition to the destruction caused by battles, soldiers on both sides slaughtered animals, seized property and provisions, ruined crops, and tore down fences or outbuildings to obtain firewood. 

Untilled fields, feral cattle that were once "domestic", and other animals once used for food (chickens, pigs, etc) being scarce, if you could dig up potatoes and peanuts and if you could find the nuts from the trees and if you could find enough grain on the stalks to grind up to a paste to make pan bread ...  you would live long enough to go out and find more the next day 

Handful of peanuts, handful of nuts, a raw egg, some fruit a bit past ripe still on the tree or vine, ... 

---

It is very interesting. We have a documentary at home about a George Washington Carver, who was apparently the person who recommended to farmers to start planting crops of peanuts. Can't remember why they were looking for a new crop, but I guess, I'll have to watch the doco again.

---

George Washington Carver (January 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor. He actively promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was the most prominent black scientist of the early 20th century.

George Washington Carver | Real Life Heroes Wiki | Fandom

>  G.W. Carver is a true hero because he experienced tragedy, slavery, and still made new discoveries that helped farmers and changed lives around the world. He discovered all sorts of products made with peanut, soybean, and sweet potato. With ingenuity, he helped farmers with their failing crops.Mar 13, 2013

> George Washington Carver: Biography, Inventions, Facts - HISTORY

Answer 2

Well Dorothy, you beat me toit, but today is also: 

National Ferret Day!

These fussy friendly mischievious  rascals are often mistaken rodents, they are acually in the weasel family,but are one of their worse enemies, they were and are used to root them out, hence the the term "ferret them, it out". One of the ways to celebrate to do some ferrer art, or use the hashtag #National Ferret Day on all your social media actions today.

One word of caution, they make great pets, but , plan to have a precotious two year old on your hands for years.

#NationalFerretDay

Comments

Ferrets are bandits, James, better than most Border reivers! Prepare to lose anything small enough to fit under a chest of drawers (and disappear forever).

---

Obviously you met my youngest son when he was little.

No quite as hairy, but just as bad. People I know that have them learn quickly to "ferret out their hiding places". But swear by their friendliness and affection.

And, as a sidebar, they can be trained to use a litter box.

---

Sometimes, looking at the "holidays" you mention, that I think it would pay to "ferret out" how your mind works ... but then I've had others say the same to me about my mind so ... You da Man, James ... 

These "holidays" actually exist, right? You aren't pranking us, are you? 

---

Bore da, James. I had family members with a ferret years ago. They loved that pet and he was akin to a puppy. I believe they called him 'Frank' after the character in the old MASH series in honor of Frank the medic who was referred to as 'Ferret Face.'

---

Well Susan, as I ferreted this out it was right after Peanut and Jelly day on the list. As I said, Dorothy beat me to that one, so here it is.

Not to give away my stash, but just look up weird and bizarre and unique holidays by date.

---

Prynhawn da Carol, they can be quite a handful, but like our Jack Russel, yes they do keep the vermin away.

---

We had a ferret once - he was an albino with shiny red eyes. We called him Pinky, after Pinky and the Brain. Pinky was a terror, running around his cage and making those odd "dook" ferret noises all the time. when we let him out, he'd nip a bit and dance around and made everyone laugh. I was told they were climbers and would pounce from even door tops, but I never saw that from Pinky. He'd climb the furniture and jump around, but I guess he never saw the value in pouncing on us. He did thieve quite a bit, but we were generally one step ahead of our little mischievous pet and usually found most of our stuff.

Sadly, poor Pinky got older and had some issues. He developed a tumor in his abdomen that ate through his kidney and lower intestines. His insides started filling with fluid and he looked like a cartoon balloon character. We tried a couple of times with the vet to do something reasonable for him, but the options were pretty limited. One day, we woke up and he was lying in the bottom of the cage. We buried poor Pinky in the backyard and gave him a paving stone to cover him. I will definitely say that he was an unforgettable pet and we would seriously consider another maybe one of these days.

---

Having lost much loved pets myself I know the feeling well.

As I said earlier, you to must have met my youngest son, Pinky and Jacob seem to have had the same energy levels. He's 40 now and hasn't slowed down yet. But you still got to love um.

---

 No, James, the field of endeavor is all yours.  I do a bit of Gen-Talk and some items online here and there and Dorothy does Yummy Tummy Goodies (talk about Temptations !!!) and so on ... you pilot a boat about the wilds of Wales and offer up some of the most peculiar "holidays" and so far ...

The one that blew me away the most was the ones following Valentine's Day .. start a small war with those 

---

Glad to help, a good laugh is some of the best medicine you can get, and it's free.

I'm still learning to work effectively in genealogy, and bringing a little light smiles to the chat while following you guys who really know what you're doing, seems a fair trade, I hope.

Answer 3

Happy Easter to all!

I am busy cleaning up some old imported profiles, adding sources, removing old links, changing gedcom headings to something pleasant.... all that housekeeping you need to do once in a while. It's too cold to go outside anyways. Listening to the top 1000 of my favourite music style, longing for the moment we can enjoy the music outside in the sun with 1000s of others again.

Comments

Howdy, Michel! No hint of easing the restrictions where you are?

---

Slowly, slowly. Interestingly, they are doing a lot of experiments on public meetings, measuring stuff like aerosol transmission and responses of people. But... hospitals are full, really full, so I personally do not expect many restrictions being lifted soon.

Unless you are a member of a group that tells others they are exempt from anything earthly...

---

That last link was horrifying! Not even a little over the top; way over the top!

---

  A visitor beats up on the reporter, and the minister, preacher, priest, whatever he is designated, gloats over the attendance figures, and the probability that someone or more than one there has the Covid and shares it with the others ... it is enough to make a stone angel weep 

---

Oh sure, people die because of vaccination.... *rolleyes*

Thanks Michel for the minute in Dutch though :)

---

 Dunno, Jalena, but if the Media is reliable (?) more die from Covid than die from the vaccination to provide some immunity from Covid -- 

Covid is the 3rd leading cause of death in US at this point -- makes me wonder if it is more frequent than murder

---

In Germany we are (from the start of the pandemic) at around 80,000 deaths of Covid19. Yeah there were some brain thrombosis in connection with the AstraZeneca-vaccine, but the relation to the number of vaccinations that was 1:150,000 to 1:200,000. So super rarely. But these Covid and vaccination deniers in the video take these cases as proof that vaccination kills...

---

Somewhere there is a list of all the known events, circumstances, substances, conditions and diseases that are proven to be fatal to some portion of humanity. Look on the list there's the annual emergence of the "flu" and now, on that list, is placed Covid 19 (& variations) ... 

 

Answer 4

What a change in the weather. We will be in the 80's the next few days after our snowiest March. Too bad I’m loaded down doing tax returns.

Genealogy wise, I am still just reviewing old family profiles to correct original sourcing errors and extending the family where I see that I stopped.

Comments

Hi there, Gurney! Won't be that warm here for a while.

We've been waiting for ONE document (begging for it, actually) to arrive before we can file, and time's a-wasting!

---

Couple we know, complaints about not getting their share ($1200, and next one etc) and 

"Did you file a 2019 tax return?"
No, they says, we didn't have no taxable income.
"You have to file an amended 2019 tax return to get the handout."
But we didn't have no taxable income !!
"Do you want the handout?"
Yes, they says, BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE NO TAXABLE INCOME  ... 

This is 1+1, file the return get the handout what is so difficult to understand about this ???? 

---

Funny thing is that the stimulus was always based on the 2020 return so that is where people can go to claim it if they never got it. Filing is free on the irs website for W2 income or no income only. 2019 was used to estimate and get money into the economy quickly.

---

Beats me, Gurney, as to which is what ... I think you are correct, however, think I heard Sig O say something about that .. he's been listening attentively to the news reports and checking websites 

ECONOMIC STIMULUS 

I do recall the Obama stimulus, and how Sig O had it spent before it was mandated -- and me "warning" him how we might not get it, something might happen -- and how it was in fact grabbed by the fed govt to pay down on a school load debt ... what the govt gave with one hand the govt also took back with the other hand ... 

What I do know is that one needs to file an income tax return regardless of whether one earned an income; and a 2019 tax return at this point in 2021 would be "amended" --  I think he may have mentioned the 2020 tax return (on the phone) to them  -- 

There was a report that the 1st handout wasn't spent on anything that would pump up the economy, but on other things like debt and food and gasoline and rent, etc ... same thing happened with the one Obama handout that I recall --  

---

Gurney is correct.  Several weeks ago (before a couple of weeks without patience enough to deal with a slow computer with a page  holdup) I gave advice to people filing this years tax return to know IF and/or WHEN they received the stimulus check if they use tax preparer services.   I spent a long time and gas helping a neighbor find out that information from her bank when I took her in.  The preparer can get a credit on this years report if you did not receive the check.

---

 Probably a good practice for everyone is to file some sort of tax return on each year, even if there was no taxable income ? I am of the opinion it would be a wise thing to do.  There used to be something called the "short form" didn't there? 

---

I forgot to say that I work for HR Block. (I'm not a CPA but I do take training and complete about 3-4 returns a day.). A couple of clarification items.  If no return was ever filed, you file a regular return.  The IRS is still accepting returns and giving refunds for returns years 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017. The 2017 return expires in April 15th. You only file amendments if you already filed a return and noticed a mistake.  Also the IRS will accept returns back seven years to 2013 but will not issue any refunds if they existed.

---

Thank you for your service help Gurney.  I enjoyed AARP's volunteer services until we had a Form K from a bankrupt company and the volunteers were not allowed to file it, even though it had very clear instructions  where to include it on the 1040.

Answer 5

This weekend could be the start of the transition between furnace and air conditioning.  Pushing 80 degrees this weekend.  Ah, but in the 30's and 40's overnight.  Luckily we have a pretty easy thermostat to use.  Will have to wait and see just how hot it gets during the day.

Still adding more profiles using Find A Grave as a starting point to find names and dates.  It has changed my mode of entry a bit.  Using the old Jewett book it was generation by generation.  Input a rudimentary profile for each kid and then, a few weeks/months later, run across their more detailed entry in the book and add the info.  Now, I just plow through each family, generation after generation until the sources run out.

One thing that puts a smile on my face is when I run across someone that has roots in the area around here (Colorado/Wyoming) or where I grew up.(Washington).  Had one of those a few days ago as his burial spot was in Cody, Wyoming which is where my Brother/Sister-in-law live.

Comments

And just when I thought you were through with that Jewett book, Bob! However, that was a good plan, create them and then add later. Otherwise, you'd never have gotten done.

---

 Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, it was in the 80's yesterday and I'm thinking, well maybe I can switch over now, flip from Heat to Cool ... but ... it's not even mid-April and it COULD turn cold again ... so maybe I should wait another week or two ... 

The Executive Decisions one has to make - you can end up wrangling with yourself for a month over yes / no 

---

Bob, is what I do, use the memorial site info as a baseline and starting point -- or barring that, when there is no burial site, use the birth / christening or the death / burial as the form --   

I recall one person where I had nothing to start with except a mention of them in four separate obituaries of other persons ... took "forever" to track down enough to profile them

Answer 6

SCOREBOARD -- 4,000+ in Contributions for March, but if you ignore the 1100 or so Texas Sticker thingies, that puts it to less than 4,000 and maybe less than 3,000 ... 

Bout 3,750 profiles at this point in time ... 

GENEALOGICALLY -- Have not heard back (yet?) from the Contact who believed she was related to a Stokely ... and her message provoked me into making an examination of what I had, and by consequence I was able to remedy a blunder I'd made compounding one made by the "famous" memorial site AND that, in turn, caused the Contact to reassess her own position and she skedaddled (I guess) ... but that was last week's excitement 

This last week time spent on some family with many kids who produced 25 or more kids among them ... I looked at a family list on the woman (a cousin) and there were 90 some desc and I'd contributed 70 some of them what with spouses added ... no wonder it FELT like it was "taking forever" ...nearly 3 days of it ... 

HOME FRONT -- Told on Wednesday afternoon by neighbor that the rickety fence would be repaired, and in fact that the entire fence around that property was to be replaced. "Oh? When?" and the reply was "Tomorrow."  Tomorrow came (that was yesterday, Thursday) and other than seeing a couple of pickups and a couple men and big-ish truck deliver and bigger-ish load of lumber, I heard nary a sound of nail, hammer, saw etc ... hmm.  

Caught up with a few of them yesterday afternoon, quitting time for them, and ASKED about this matter ... they do it in sections, they don't use nails, they use screws, and the wood is pre-cut to fit ... hmm? (These kids these days don't know about "scratch" building anything, they're spoilt) (Also keeps the labor and materials / equipment costs lower; labor is time and time is money)

AND the upshot of yesterday is that today will see the fence finished. We are talking about a LOT OF FENCE ... 40 to 50 ft across the back of the plot and down bother sides that's 90 to 100 ft long each side and then there's the two bits in front, running parallel the street, that are maybe 6 or 7 ft long ... 

AND they did it with only 3 men (1 is a Site Supe) -- home construction and renovation stuff sure has changed its tune ove the last 50 years 

BEST OF ALL, the neighbor re-homed that dragon hunting killer menace disguised as a dog. It was as big as big as a mini Shetland pony and maybe a smidge bigger -- I kid you not -- She still has the other dog, knee high size, but that one (so far) is not an aggressive dragon killing hunter like the one she re-homed -- NO ONE needs a domestic pet dog that big in the urban area -- dog that size is for cattle herding and other animals as big as cattle or roaming a junk yard at night or other such guard duties 

DROUGHT conditions, again, this summer / fall. NOT enough rain in the State nor snow in the mountains for NorCal. Paper says SoCal is okay for water -- Gov. has not yet declared on the drought, but the water districts in NorCal are imposing restrictions ... 

Creepy phlox is blooming, we only have a patch of about 2 ft square-ish, -- the roses doing okay.  I like a bit of color from flowers 

Comments

Susan, you ought to be used to this by now. A project always takes longer than promised. The delivery of supplies was the first big job and took all of the energy out of the workers. At least they got it done the next day. That would be a record around here!

Congrats on your superior March contributions! Every little bit helps! Even those stickers make profiles more appealing.

---

 Yep. Says a lot for the business management skills of the owner, he / she has more than one job going at a time, and more than one crew out doing the work ... they use hand held devices to stay in touch, crew, supes, and owner -- saw that same sort of management skill in the crew that did the roof 

Delivery of ANYTHING ordered online or otherwise has been dicey for the last 12, 13 months ...  

What impressed me most was the "pre-fab" idea even if it wasn't pre-fab from a factory, the wood was pre-cut and etc -- makes me wonder if the owner could make use of a 3-D printer? 

Currently cutting edge use of the 3-D last i heard was to "build" a mini-home walls floor and roof at least .. one of the companies at least in is the Austin TX area or was there 

Youtube on it  3D-Printed Home Can Be Constructed For Under $4,000 - YouTube

---

Deliveries have been dicey, even lately. We ordered some specialty items that needed to be COLD. They said the box would arrive Wednesday. It got here this morning. We rushed to unpack it and get stuff in the freezer as the packing ice had already melted!

---

 Well, if nothing else all the years since 2001 have taught me not to take ANYTHING from granted, don't be complacent, have a back up system and keep back up items in the cupboard in the garage and  ... and 2020 brought all that Apocalypse and Y-2000 and other such talk more into focus 

---

HOME FRONT -- FENCE -- SITE 3 PM local time -- site is abandoned by workers and the one long section of fence running tween our house and the neighbor's is still there and LEANING 

I'm hoping this is not in the category of "meteor strike" and they quit because of some dispute or the dog or something just as thwarting for the replacement of the fence 

ANYWAY the remaining hell hound got into OUR yard and lunged at and barked at Sig O who is mighty upset about it, very much so, and the neighbor came running over and chased it around OUR yard and finally captured it (it's almost half her size) and carried it away ... 

IMO -- very much IMO -- I think she needs to get rid of that dog too, but ... Sig O thinks she loves it and won't re-home it also 

I guess having a irritable large-ish dog that sees you as a threat WHILE ON YOU OWN PROPERTY adds a frisson to your Life? 

Yes, 

I would rather be bored into ennui 

Answer 7

Hi Folks,

Thank you, Pip, for hosting and starting us off.  We're back to winter, here in Bramans Corners.  We had some wet stuff for April Fool's Day that mostly melted, then the temperature dropped, last night and we got some beady flurries that are still hanging out.  The crocuses are back to buds, and the birds are looking for handouts.  The garden beds we uncovered last week are frozen, again, and the boiler is roaring away.  It's only 25 degrees F outside, with a slight breeze.

We're going to town, today, to pick up a leg of lamb, for Easter.  We feel a bit more comfortable with masked mingling, now that we are both fully vaccinated.  We have made plans to get together with some neighbors, who are also vaccinated, in a few weeks.

I've been working a bit on the Felter and Seibel families, of Durhamville, Oneida County, New York. and Buffalo.  Slow going.  Another project is tracing the family of Dr. Joseph Braman, the namesake of our little hamlet.  I poked around a bit in Coupar Angus and Kettins to chase down more info on my sole confirmed Scottish connection.  I found a few leads, but nothing solid.  I'll be back.

My S.O.'s book club read a little book called "The life stories of undistinguished Americans as told by themselves" Edited by Hamilton Holt, from 1906.  She loved it, so I read it, too.  I enjoyed it a great deal.

Thanks for the connections!

Comments

Hi, Mark! Sorry you had a "fake" spring there. We're in the 20s at night here with highs in the low 40s, so (without the snow) we are having to make sure our birds have enough to eat.

Our second shots are scheduled this week, one day apart. I'll be glad when that's done! At least we'll feel a little safer.

Answer 8

Buenos Dias from the Old Pueblo! It's 8am, clear skies, 67F (19.4C) with an expected high of 89F (31.7C)!

Family visit in Milwaukee: I'm baaaack! I returned from Milwaukee on Tuesday and drove from Phoenix to Tucson on Wednesday. I have been unpacking, laundering and crying, which I needed to do. I saw my mum and her dementia is very severe. That is not my sadness. My kid sister is absolutely resistant to placing her in a memory care facility and it is tearing her children and husband apart. My niece (the senior nursing student) sent me a text so that my sister wouldn't overhear us. The text would break your hearts. I forwarded it to my brother, the retired sheriff, who has medical power of attorney and he immediately implemented papers for placement (again). Mum needs full total care. I have asked my brother to arrange for family support as well. My brother-in-law's father, now 85, has diabetes, heart disease and being treated for a kidney tumor...and my sister expects her husband and children to be there at her beck-and-call for our mother. Really, just too much! I am now in almost daily calls with my brother, nieces and nephew. I know I'm not the only one going through difficult times with a loved one with Alzheimer's in the midst of a pandemic. But I have to add an out of control (and that's part of the problem for my sister...she cannot control this and make my mother the fun, Bingo playing person she was).

Genealogy: While in Milwaukee, I worked a bit on my daughter's Scottish ancestry. I believe I am close to linking her tree with one of the Gourlay's on Wikitree! She was quite excited to see her tree and she spit for me for Ancestry. I also wrangled my kid sister to stop from chasing mum and showed her our maternal tree (she and I have different biological fathers). My sister was quite enthusiastic, especially seeing how far back our Cornwall tree goes. Now she wants to move to England since we have roots there. If only...

I might have mentioned that I completed my Mastering Genealogical Documentation and received a certificate. Now I am enrolled in Mastering Genealogical Proofs, which will start this month. I have joined the Clean-a-thon and am looking forward to that. I'll be back to adding lines to my tree this week in between University work and working on publications. Oh! And next week Saturday, I will be doing a presentation for our Pima County Genealogy Society DNA SIG (via zoom). The topic will be a  'proof' I did for a 'surprise' cousin that also addresses genealogical standards for confidentiality. No rest for the wicked.

Happy Easter! My sincere best wishes for the Easter weekend. I hope everyone enjoys it in their own unique way.

Pipster! When will you be in Tucson? How about a Margarita (or ten). I look forward to meeting my Wikikin in person. Thank you for doing the chat.

And M...I'm always looking forward to our virtual vacay!

Comments

Carol, you have had a very busy and emotionally wrenching week. I'm glad you are home, even if some of the struggles are on-going. You hang in there!

We have not scheduled our trip yet. Seems my younger brother cannot go (it was going to be just the three of us guys), so my wife will be with me. This'll be fun. I hope to get together with all of y'all that can. I'll keep you posted.

---

Hello neighbor! {{{Carol}}} extra hugs for what you're dealing with! I'm at a loss for words to convey the sympathy I feel for what you're going through!

Congrats on your certificate. I thought about going for "First Family" for my Muskingum County Genealogy Society application. It just appeared too daunting and time-consuming to go that route as it requires "true copies". There's already never enough hours in a day! LOL

Let me know when you have arranged Pip's visit. I will travel the hour to Tucson to join you both.

Happy Easter!

---

Hi Diane, my lovely neighbor to the south! And {{{Diane}}} back atcha! I truly appreciate your kind words and concern. And there are no words...for anyone in any of these family situations. What's that McMurtry line from Terms of Endearment? Something like, 'that which doesn't kill us makes us strong.'

I understand your situation with time working on 'First Family.' The Documentation classes are 7 consecutive weeks for 1 hour (excluding reading and assignments). I know when they begin and that they will end. The work is doable. The downside is that one of the classes will have homework over the Clean-a-thon weekend and I will have to scramble to do both.

I will definitely let you know when our Pipster is in Tucson. It will be so great to meet everyone in person (and get real hugs because we are vaccinated).

You take care and have a Happy Easter as well!

---

What a heart-wrenching situation to be in, Carol. I'm so sorry. Wishing you strength and wisdom through it all.

---

Hello Frances, thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts. I am a strong proponent of sending healing intention.

Answer 9

Sorry to let you know Pip, but National Tartan Day is on Tuesday the 6th of this month, so wishing you a happy one ahead of time.

#NationalFerretDay

Comments

I'll celebrate on Wednesday at church. Ain't nothing going on around here for that I've been thinking for a while now (with a pandemic interruption) of starting a St. Andrew's Society or something like that here in Brevard. I bet I can get enough folks to have some good events.

---

Went to several Tartan shops in Scotland a couple of years ago, and found the Brook's family one, and our coat of arms, funnily this was before I found my family, but, knew my birth name.

---

Didn't know the Brooks family had their own tartan. Nice.
My Brookses (Mum's father's family) come from Staffordshire - at least as far back as I've been able to get. It's a common name, of course.

---

The Brooks' we come from are through the Cave family in Northamptonshire, Ralph Cave was the High Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1530 under King Henry Vlll. (Too posh for me)

---

 I have the Northamptonshire Caves in my family tree too. Sir Thomas Anthony Cave, Baron Of Stanford (1517- 1558)

 Don't have Ralph yet though. I wonder if they connect?

---

Sorry, I got the Nevilles and the Caves mixed up.

Richard Cave K. G. is had a son, Anthony (1517-1558), Anthony had a brother Thomas (1497- 1558). Anthony was born in Chicheley Buckinghamshire. Thomas was born in Stanford, Northamptonshire, where the family estate is still today.

You can check the Cave Family Society website.

They have an in house researcher.

---

Great resource! Thanks!

---

You are very welcome.

---

Frances; both my parents are from Staffordshire, my mum from north Staffs, Newcastle under Lyme, my dad from south Staffs, Bloxwich/Walsall. Both families are traced back to the early 1700s.

---

Interesting!    I wonder if we have any connections?

---

I don't have any Brookes in my tree, where in Staffordshire did your Brookes come from?

---

Stourbridge - Lye - nail-making Black Country. Other names - Westwood, Chellingworth, Greenhill, Wooldridge, Hawkeswood, Elcock, Hammersley, possibly Burton.  

---

Stourbridge is almost at the south end of the Black Country, and my ancestors were closer to the north side.

My father's family on both paternal and maternal sides were involved with metal manufacturing in Bloxwich, Walsall, Darlaston and Wednesbury. All in the Black Country.

On his paternal side lots of nail, chain, stirrup  and lock making. Take a look at my 3 x GGF, he and his father plus most brothers, uncles etc were involved. I always wondered why he had the nickname Fogger, after looking it up I realised why the family moved quite quickly up the economic scale.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ross-20039

On his mother's side, they were owners of what was for a long time Britain's largest nut, bolt, and carriage parts manufacturers.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Richards-13904

Have you seen this?

http://www.sedgleymanor.com/trades/nailmakers2.html

---

Wow. Interesting!
 

This is one of mine. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brooks-18755

---

Yes, I have. I used that as reference for my own profiles. Quite an eye-opener!  
Well, I'm off to bed. The proverb comes to mind... 'Of the making of many books (WT profiles) there is no end, and much study wearies the body.' Ecclesiastes 12:12 Solomon knew what he was talking about.

Answer 10

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps!

There is a LOT going on on the genealogy front this week. Let's get the train a rollin'.

First up. I have a blog about music for #52Ancestors: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2021/03/52-ancestors-week-13-music.html 

Writing about just one ancestor who was a musician was hard in my case because a ton of people on both sides of my family were into music. We've got my grandfather who loved John Philip Sousa. My great-grandfather sang to my mom in Italian. My brother plays guitar and is teaching his kids how to do piano. My father played the sax in a band with his cousins. Further back we have ancestors who played instruments like John Sargent Fisher. So, what I did was I just outlined my greatest hits. Oh! My uncle Bob dropped an album and my cousin is a DJ. So, ummm....music is everywhere in my family. It would suck to be in that town in Footloose.

Now, as for why I am a little late with the comment. Well, I was diving into this metal box: https://twitter.com/Cferra1227/status/1377996647301578753

What's inside? Well, I'll tell you!

1. The funeral procession list for Maria Tedesco (my great-grandmother). It listed all the people who were pallbearers and who gave flowers. I recognized some names as they were Vincenzo's cousins on the Coppola side and some of Maria's family who came from Woburn, Mass to pay their respects. I scanned that document as I saw some other names I recognized. Some I didn't.

2. Birth certificates for: Marco Ferraiolo (my grandfather), Caterina Coppola (my 2nd great-grandmother), Concetta Coppola (Caterina's sister). My dad's hospital card was even there and listed him as "Baby Ferraiolo".

3. The last will and testaments for my grandfather Marco and my great-grandfather, Vincenzo.

4. Deeds for a house in Haverhill.

5. Pictures of a motel my grandfather owned.

6. Bills

7. Pics of my grandparents during their dating years.

8. The marriage certificate of Vincenzo and his second wife, Fortuna.

9. Military discharge and hospital papers for my grandfather when he got the Purple Heart. There was also a hospital record for when he had cancer. I didn't want to look at that for obvious reasons.

10. A blank Naturalization form was with my grandfather's war stuff. I thought that was weird.

There were a bunch of other documents. Mostly bank stuff. But, it was still a good dive into that stuff. OH! There was also a news article about my grandma Ollie's parents anniversary. That was cool.

I scanned a lot of docs and I think I got all I needed to out of the box. Everything else was mostly bills, deeds and bank statements. The wills were interesting in that they were both typed. 

Other than that, not much else to report. On the non genealogy front, I am gonna enjoy the sunny day. It was raining and gross yesterday. Now it's SO much better. Hope everyone has a great weekend and Bouna Pasqua! (Happy Easter) 

Comments

Another treasure box! Seems you and I have struck gold, Chris. So very COOL! I'm still dividing up my dad's stuff before starting the scanning process. He's going to have lots of docs on his profile when I'm done. I might have to use a free space page for lots of it.

---

I even organized the contents for whoever is going to dive in there again. I put things into stuff like:

Military

Births

Articles

Funeral

There were some Naturalization paper applications but they were blank. So weird.

---

Ciao Chris,

Do you have a relative named Paul Tedesco? He would be quite old, possibly deceased by now. I believe he was from the east coast and he was married. I met the Tedescos when we were teaching for the U of Maryland-Asian Division in 1990. They had a contract with the military to offer college courses on military bases in Asia and Europe. Paul taught history and, as I recall, did his dissertation on the Baldwins of Woburn, MA. His wife, whose first name I cannot recall, taught computer use. They were great fun.

---

Chris, just for the heck of it, I googled Paul Tedesco, PhD and came across his obituary in 2019. There is a photo so I know it is him. I am including the URL. You can see the quality educator that he was.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/wickedlocal-thepress/obituary.aspx?n=paul-h-tedesco&pid=194395020&fhid=15200

---

Ciao, Carol!

I do not have a relative name Paul Tedesco, Paula? Yes. She is a DNA match. The thing you have to remember is that Tedesco is a very common Italian last name. Probably the most common in Italy. Though, the Tedescos in my tree had people in Woburn Mass as well. I don't know if this Paul is connected to me as his parents aren't listed. I can check, though.

Thanks! Looks like he really was a quality educator! I am connected to this Tedesco: https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=131434656

---

Hi Chris.

did you get a clue about what the document was needed for you posted about a few days ago? This "for administrative use only"-document

---

Yup.

It was most likely for social security oddly enough. For who? I have no clue.

---

 Chris, you ARE taking time to eat and sleep and relate to other humans, yes? 

---

Wow. That's a lot of work ahead of you then! Keep you busy!

---

Lol. Yes, Susan.

Answer 11

Greetings to all from beautiful southeastern Arizona. It's already 53F and our high will reach 83F. Similar gorgeous weather will continue through the next week. Yes, spring is finally here!

Since I'm not a native to Arizona, I don't know the names of some shrubs here in the apartment complex. One is a lovely dark green with purple flowers. Been enjoying looking at its blossoms for several days.

It was an extremely busy week here, so didn't get much revised on my next novel. Also didn't have time to work on WikiTree. *sigh* Always feel bad when this happens, but know how life can get in the way.

My autumn sage plants showed buds on Saturday. I'm so glad my friend got me this one which is hardy to 0F, so I didn't need to replace it this year. I decided to purchase more plants this year since the hummingbirds love those. I bought another two varieties (hardiness 5F and 0F), a flat of snapdragons, and a seed packet of moss roses. It was so windy by the time I got home that I waited until the next day to plant anything.

Been through a nightmare with renewing my driver's license. After several calls to the local MVD, I finally spoke with a person who said I needed an appointment and transferred my call. Another 10 minute hold, then I was disconnected. Decided to try scheduling appointment online. Put in email, received confirmation and entered this. Okay. Next put in phone number. Took over 30 minutes and 3 attempts to get text confirmation. Then I had to fill out a pre-application and confirm I would bring the necessary documents with me.

When I went for my appointment, the MVD had 3 sections cordoned off -- 1 was for people without an appointment! WTH?! Never had a passport, never had a need. When I traveled to the Bahamas ages ago, only a driver's license was necessary.

My birth certificate (issued by the County) isn't acceptable to get the Federal Travel ID. Instead, I need to have one from Indiana's vital records. Since my current one expired on the 13th, I went ahead and just renewed it.

Back home, I went online to find out the document requirements for Indiana. When I went to scan my existing AZ license, realized I'd never installed printer software because my laptop didn't have a CD. Got the software downloaded and installed then scanned my license, so I could attach it and submit the form.

I now have my fingers crossed that Indiana will accept my request. On the County certificate, it listed my father's name as Veron. Actually it should have been LaVern. I entered Vern to be on the safe side because that was his preferred name.

The other thing that kept me so busy this week -- I created a Book Trailer for The Mathews Family. I'd never made a video before. Since I'm familiar with PowerPoint, I just used it. OCD as I am, the link is to my 3rd attempt. In my first version, I had the 1812 Overture as background music. Thought it was a bit overpowering, too fast-paced, and made reading the text difficult. Since Increase played the violoncello, I changed to a Bach cello solo. I also figured out how to reduce the music volume. Now I'm trying to find the best way to promote my video. There's always something new to learn!

Well, I've rambled on long enough. Thanks for hosting, Pip! I forgot to mention that I joined the Muskingum County Genealogy Society. It's another place I'd like to visit when I reach Ohio.

Hope everyone has a wonderful, enjoyable weekend!

 

Comments

Diane, at least you still have a DMV. Our office was closed last week and is awaiting another contract. If we would need anything done, we'd have to drive to Hendersonville (30-40 minutes away) to do so. All you went through?  There's just got to be a better way!

You did an excellent job with the video!!!! I'm impressed. Yes, the 1812 Overture would have been a bit overwhelming. The Bach was better, a nice choice.

---

Hi Diane...WOW! And I thought I had a week! I am so glad I got my new driver's license pre-2020! Your experience is a living nightmare. I hope your birth certificate comes through from Indiana. Your Book Trailer activity sounds exhausting, but you must be very pleased to have this done and to have done this! Kudos!

---

I was lucky when I had to renew my driver's license last fall. I was able to do it all online and the eye doctor faxed over my exam results from last summer,  so everything was done online and I received my new license in the mail. I will have to go back at some point and get my "real id" so I can fly, but I don't think I will need it anytime soon.

---

Really great job on the Book Trailer - I agree with Pip wholeheartedly - the Bach was a very good choice.

---

Michelle, I was able to get my driver's license without a problem. It's the "travel id" that is proving to be the problem because it requires the birth record to be issued by the state and not the county. Bit ridiculous in my opinion. I'm really thinking I'd rather drive than fly to Ohio, but thought I should get it in case I change my mind.

---

Frances, thank you! Listening to the Bach, I could imagine Increase playing his violoncello. Thanks again!

---

You're welcome!

Answer 12

Good morning from a sunny and cool Texas! Typically, we have had our pre-Easter cold front with 30's the past two nights but slowly the days are warming up again. Easter Sunday will be close to 80.

Besides my Greeting duties, I have found quite a few collateral lines that need children added so the list is growing and that is one of my missions this month. I have also been gathering DNA info on one of my Smith lines and I have a conference call with a DNA expert on Tuesday morning - I am really looking forward to this help!

In a few minutes I am off to one of the daughter's to direct traffic the next couple of days. One teen and two four-legged furries - a Lab and a Miniature Daschund who is still a puppy. The teen grandson has a hockey tournament this weekend so there will be a lot of coming and going and laundry in between so a busy weekend. The occasion for daughter and son-in-law is their anniversary today and her birthday on Sunday so they are going on a short trip. I cannot remember the last time they did this. My anxiety will be that the grandson is now driving so I will be extremely alert until he is safely back home!

I hope everyone has a safe and blessed Easter.

Comments

You DO have a busy weekend ahead, Ginny. I hope you enjoy yourself. Let us know next week how you survived (and how the conference call went).

Answer 13

Hi from southern Ontario;

Chez moi/at home: weather-variable is a good description, Tuesday was beautiful almost 20C, lots of sun, so I spent most of the day gardening, we have crocuses and iris reticulata in bloom. Now; the temp when I got up this morning was -6C, the pond is covered in ice again, tonight will be about -8C, with a windchill of -10C. I turned the furnace back on when I got up. That's the way spring goes here!

History of word usage: The clap! I was quietly reading the newspaper on Tuesday, and found a book review for 'Strange Bedfellows', about the work experience of an STD contact tracer. It includes a history of STD treatments, including one for gonorrhea. The offending male member was 'clapped' between two wooden paddles, or a pair of books, or sometimes between hands in order to expel any unwanted disease. And that's all I'm going to say on that topic. 

Other reading: With libraries closed I'm still rereading books from my own library. This week James Clavell's Gai-Jin. I could order books through Amazon or other places, that comes with its own set of problems. We have several Amazon warehouses and distribution centres within few kilometres, one of which has been closed by the Ministry of Health as over 50% of the workers have Covid.

Family history: I'm still mired in my Alton cemetery project. It works well for family members who are already on WT or on my Ancestry tree, as I already have information and sources for them. People who are more distant relatives and need sources to connect them to the family are proving quite complicated. I looked for FS sources and the records there have been conflated with a family from Worcester, Mass. Of course, the Ontario family traveled 1000km with almost no roads to have each of 7 children born there in the late 1840s. It's a 49 hour non-stop journey by bicycle today. And I certainly wouldn't want to make that journey at 8+ months pregnant even by car. 

Covid: There's good news and bad news, the good news our local health unit has decided to use their own software to book vaccination appointments, instead of the very poor provincial system. We have our first 'jabs' booked for April 12, Hooray!

The bad news, a new 4 week provincial lockdown starts at 12.01 am tomorrow Saturday. It won't make much difference to us as we still haven't moved out of the grey zone, one step up from lockdown. Though if we lived 500 metres further west, we would not have been locked down at all. Our government seems to be ignoring scientific advice and basically saying the plan decided on several months ago is the plan and we aren't going to change it no matter what happens.

Comments

Re: King Rat, according to Wikipedia, the book was based in part on Clavell's experiences as an Australian POW at Changi Prison in Malaya in the latter part of the Second World War.

My husband's 1C2R was a POW, 1st Battalion, The Royal Rifles of Canada, Rifleman Peter Crombie Burns was taken prisoner by the Japanese Army with the Battalion, on Christmas Day 1941 at Hong Kong. He survived and came home.

---

I think the "Clap"  ... well compared to the mammogram ... 

Some male said what was the problem with the mammo and I said well, consider this, there's these two plates, cold ones, and the object has to be laid between them and then the ratchets are screwed down and down and down and it's amazing how FLAT that object can get, even a D cup like Dolly Paton's ... 

So NOW imagine if you can having your boy bits laid down between those two plates and then flattened out 

Said male person made a horrible face of horror and disgust and backed up several feet and said profane things and walked away muttering he now knew more than he wanted to 

---

A D cup is a conservative estimate.

---

   Well, I figured Dolly's were inflatables beyond the D cup size -- she lets out the air, then places same in between the plates, after being hauled into place by a tech who has seen far too many such things and has aching feet at the moment, and then she is required to stand there bovine-like while being tortured physically, mentally and emotionally. 

Reminds me of the time I complained and the tech said well, yes, sorry, but we don't have much to work with here ... true, true, but is it politic to SAY SO?? 

---

I remember a joke circulating as to the way to practice for an up coming mammogram.   That indicated you laid on the driveway and had someone drive a vehicle over your breasts several times until you passed out or the gas tank was empty.  Don't let these jokes deter you from watching your health and getting a mammogram.  They usually are easy or at least tolerable and may save your life in the long run.

---

  THAT comment, Beulah, gets my Laugh Outloud Award  for the whole dang week that was 

... you laid on the driveway and had someone drive a vehicle over your breasts several times until you passed out or the gas tank was empty.  

I will say I have a lot of pity for the mammo tech ... one after another, day in, day out, it looks like the sort of experience nightmares are made of ... 

---

Clavell's Gai-Jin has always been a favorite of mine. In fact, I got my son to read it when he was a teen.

Glad to hear your vaccination is scheduled. I felt so relieved to have mine finished.

---

Now if only I could get my hair cut by someone other than my dear Robbie. In my area hair salons have been closed for a year, except for about 8 weeks last fall.

---

Hi M, 

Here is what I found about King Rat on Google under Wikipedia: King Rat is a 1962 novel by James Clavell and the author's literary debut. Set during World War II, the novel describes the struggle for survival of American, Australian, British, Dutch, and New Zealander prisoners of war in a Japanese camp in Singapore.

When my colleague and I were on the bumboat trip to the island that grows medicinal plants, the guide pointed out the location where these prisoners of war were held and told us about James Clavell basing King Rat on his experience in that Singapore prison camp. I can't account for the difference in locations, only what I heard from the guide and what I read posted above. The important thing is that King Rat came out of Clavell's experiences. I enjoyed that book, but for whatever reason, Sho-gun is my favorite.

And now, finally, to the virtual vacay! I've been dealing with family issues by phone since yesterday afternoon.

---

Carol, arranging for family member care in any manner, but especially by phone or email has to be one of the most tiring and stressful tasks I have ever done.

Take care of yourself!

Answer 14

Thank You for hosting the Chat Pip,

Weather, It was very nice until Thursday when we got more snow on the 1st of April than we got for the entire month of March.

Home front.

Monday, Absolutely nothing but work on my watchlist and watch TV

Tuesday, Noticed that one of my old friends from School died, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bishop-9707 . Michael was not only a Notable recording engineer but a very generous person who was always ready to help me. I have one reel to reel tape that he mastered for me while recording and providing the sound setup for one of the church services I helped put on, This is one of his projects that was never released to the public. I went to the doctors and he said see you next year, keep doing what you are doing. I take that to mean that my health is just fine, for now. The doctor who is also the county coroner and was my fathers doctor as well said that even though my fathers death was not directly due to Covid he believes that the isolation caused by the virus was a major reason for my fathers death, he just gave up.

Wednesday, My daughter and Diane got their first Covid shots.

Thursday, Did nothing outside except take the trash down to the street. The one son and grandson stopped in to borrow tools to fix a car and my sister stopped to give me some mail that came to my father pertaining to the money I inherited but with the weather we got we decided to just stay home.

Friday, With the snow melting by this afternoon we may venture out today but no major plans

Genealogy, No real things worth mentioning. Just adding sources, fixing formatting, and reducing my watchlist. The watchlist is now about 1737 but hopefully will be even lower by the end of the weekend. I did open an unlisted profile for a notable see the link above for Bishop-9707 but I am having problems finding any new information for his profile yet.

Comments

Nothing like bad weather to kill a week, huh Dale? Sorry to hear about your classmate. I come across one occasionally, and it makes me sad.

Your son and grandson didn't hook you into helping them with the car?

---

No Pip, I did not have to help this time, they just wanted my tools.

Answer 15

Greetings from Everett, Washington! Good Friday begins quietly. Services are this afternoon at 3. On Easter Sunday we are looking to celebrate with other families from our chapel, where there will be much drink, and food. My daughter and I will fall off the wagon with a resounding crash.

This morning I let Billy, the Pom/Chi who adores me, into the back yard, where a Stellar's Jay lit on the grass. Birds fascinate Billy, so he took off after it. His little snort of frustration followed the bird's flight. I imagine what it would be like for Billy if he could fly. He would be like one of those Boeing Dreamlifters, so bulky you wonder how he could stay airborne. He went into the further reaches of the yard, so I took my walking stick and followed him.  What do you know--under the salmonberry vines, which are not yet in leaf, some Sweet William was showing yellow flowers. I sure didn't plant them and I didn't even know they were there. My mother-in-law must have put them there years ago.

Speaking of whom--she is stable, speaking in monosyllables when she does speak, and my husband visits her every Tuesday/Wednesday. They pray the rosary together and she moves her lips to the words.  

The CPAP machine has really improved my husband's blood pressure.

This coming Thursday is the general meeting for the Historical Society. Our speaker will talk about local hiking trails. I was assigned a 5-minute warmup topic about the history of a trail park in the city of Mukilteo, dating from the early 2000s. It's a sad fact that our historical society has very little in the archive for events since 1940 or so. I reached out to a former mayor for his recollections and he was very helpful.

Oh, and the Historical Society received a $1000 grant from the U. S. Lighthouse Federation for the interior painting. Not knowing when we will be reopening the lighthouse for tours, we suppose we ought to get this painting project done as soon as we can. I still have not heard whether there will be an event in the cemetery for Memorial Day.

I continue to work on the Connectors Challenge for Black Heritage for April.  That's all (all!) I've done for the last 3 weeks or so. My watchlist is horribly bloated. I hope I can bump against someone's brickwall from the other side.

Yours etc., Margaret

Comments

I hope the reunion of friends, family, and fellow congregants goes well and no one carries home any sickness

---

Margaret, we’re/are you able to attend any services this week? Our church is so small that we can distance ourselves easily.

Answer 16

Happy Friday!

Pip, thank you for hosting!

Sounds like Mother Nature played an April Fools' joke on many of us in the U.S. this year. After all the rain last weekend and then again mid-week, we had some strong wind Thursday night into Friday that brought in what someone described to me yesterday as "cold from Antarctica." Temps should just NOT be below freezing in the northern Georgia in April. Brrrr.... I hope the cold was not enough to hurt the apple blossoms which are magnificent this year.

My bathroom plumbing is still needing repair. Plumber won't be here until Monday afternoon, now. Our situation is not urgent, thank goodness.

My physical therapy continues and I am continuing to post lower numbers on the weight scale. I hope my A1C is following suit but I won't know for a couple of months yet.

Susan's WikiTree "scorecard" for March was much more impressive than mine, as I am sure were many others', but I managed 1,781 contributions, was number one contributor to the Hildreth, Dees, and Curenton surnames, and created 73 new profiles.

Have a blessed Easter weekend!

Comments

Nelda, after the rain, we’ve had morning temps in the 20s. Lots of frost; we’re worrying over our plants that got fooled by the warmer weather.

I forgot to check my surname count for last month. Thanks for the reminder!

Answer 17

Greetings and Salutations, Fellow WikiTreers!

It's brrr cold here in Indy, but the winds are changing. Hoping for some slightly warmer weather in the next few days. I got volunteered to assist at the Saturday Easter Egg Hunt activities for the church this weekend, so I've got to be up bright and early Saturday morning and out at the church to get things started. We're doing a photo booth and our master technical guy (not me) has a complex process to be able to capture everyone's information, prep for their photos to be taken, receive and process the photos, then transmit them out to your phone or email all within a very short period of time. I'm one of the data handlers who looks up the carrier information and preps all the fields for the photo transmission. We spent Monday reconfiguring one of the meeting rooms for the event, and Tuesday doing a dry run-through, so now there's just Saturday for the main event.

I also noted my Driver's License was about to expire, so I made an appointment with BMV to go get it renewed. I could have just done a "regular" license, but since in October they're requiring you to have a Real ID in order to fly, cross borders, etc., I opted for this. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I showed my passport, social security card, and two utility bills, and was pretty much done. Eye test, picture, and payment went smoothly and I should have the fancy new ID in about 2 weeks or less.

From a genealogical perspective, I've been looking into some Notables, but really haven't spent a lot of time other than keeping up in more or less maintenance mode at the moment. My main goal has been to reach the Fulkerson-3000 profile. As of today, I've entered Fulkerson-2973, so as long as I have at least another 27 Fulkersons to enter, I think I'm going to make it and fairly soon. I'm certainly hitting a few branches that haven't been built before, and that's slowing me down just a tad, but in the end, it will help perhaps draw a few more Fulkerson researchers over here. On a sad note, the Fulkerson.org website seems to have closed its doors. I may petition the previous owner to allow me to rebirth it, but we'll see. I have been able to use the Wayback Machine to reopen the version from February before it went down, but I don't want to rely on that forever. I may consider snapshotting the whole site and downloading a copy to DVD for posterity. Just frustrating to see good sites go down, but the original owner passed away several years ago and his family was nice enough to keep it online (although they did not do a lot of ongoing maintenance), which I do appreciate all their efforts to even do this.

Hope everyone stays safe this week!

Comments

Scott, you are so lucky to have had a passport to get the "new id"! It saved you a lot of grief.

Sounds like the egg hunt will be a lot of fun for the kiddies!

---

Scott, how did the hunt and the photo ops go? You survive?

We have no DMV right, so we’re going to have to wait to get our Real IDs. It’s always something!

---

The photos went well. We had a total of 31 families come through in less than 2 hours, and as usual, the process needed a little refinement. It sort of went like this.

We had greeters out front, who met those wanting photos and helped them fill out a short form, including their name, those in the photo, email, phone number, and carrier. They were given a unique number and their name and number were added to a master list.

The greeter brought the input form to the input team (2 persons) who put the data into a form onto the computer system.

I was the middle person, who looked up their phone number, documented all the carrier information including the SMS data that would be needed to send out the photos from a computer via text message.

While we were inputting this data, the greeter took them and had their photo taken. The data was captured on a memory card, and the greeter would be given the memory card and add to it the unique number for that family. It would be brought in to the upload person, who uploaded the pictures into the folder established by the input person.

The final person would note the establishment of the folder, note that photos were in it, and perform the sending function to send out the photos via email or text or both.

We had a shave off a few rough edges during the process, but it did work. I ran out of "free carrier lookups" right at the end, and had to resort to less speedy methods to get that data, but while it took just a bit longer, I was able to figure it out.

---

And we're now up to Fulkerson-2977... the countdown continues...

Answer 18

Virtual Vacation! Today we are visiting Bonavista, Newfoundland, our visit there was in June 2016. I took these photos.  

Where John Cabot first set foot in North America in 1497, his first words were “O buono vista!”, the place he landed is now called Bonavista. It is one of the oldest and biggest of the hundreds of inshore fishing communities, “outports” It was not connected by road to the rest of the province until the 1960s. 

A full scale replica of his ship the 'Matthew' is usually in the harbour during the summer months, but was being repaired while we were there. It was built for the 500th anniversary of the voyage. 

Newfoundland became Canada’s 10th province on 31 March 1949. Prior to joining Canada in 1949 there were only 195 kilometres of paved roads in Newfoundland and Labrador before Confederation with Canada in 1949. Almost all of these were in the area surrounding the capital city of St John's. No road existed across the province. The paving of the Trans-Canada across Newfoundland was completed on November 27, 1965.If you lived anywhere else you went by boat from one village to the next. A train operated across the province from coast to coast from the 1880s, but with no roads that allowed access to the train, it wasn't very useful unless you were going across the island. 

The Cape Bonavista Lighthouse operated from 1843 to 1962, it had 6 revolving lights that required 15 minutes of cranking the counterweight every 2 hours to keep turning. 

These icebergs were seen from a headland just east of Bonavista, 2016 was a banner year for iceberg viewing, in this area they are all the same shape. There were icebergs in Bonavista harbour when we were there, it was a bit foggy and the pics were substandard. 

The ice is about 10,000 years old; it takes about 3 years for them to float down from the Greenland coast to Bonavista. 

Bonavista harbour-on the right of this picture (below) are several white 19th century clapboard buildings. These were the home of Ryan Premises, the biggest fish salting complex in the area, it was also the only place to buy supplies, fishermen were paid for their catch in 'scrip' defined as company 'funny money' that could only be used at the company store. 

When Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949 one of the concerns of the people who lived in the outports was that they had no experience with real money. In the Bonavista museum there are newspapers explaining how to use money and how to open a bank account. Another problem was that were very few banks outside the more populated areas. 

The town/village of Bonavista sits on a bay and the settlement grew up on a flat area close to the shore. These pics show the setting and traditional homes, and their wood piles. Firewood can still be cut from Crown land for domestic use, cost $25 Cdn for 5 cords. 

A traditional cod drying rack. 

Comments

Thank you, M., for another great VV.

---

Brr -- Most of the pix I've seen here in Chat, not just yours, seem "wind-swept" -- 

But the PHOTOGRAPHY is ultra fantastically good IMO nothing off center blurred and etc and I stare at them for some time in pleasure

---

Great pictures and another wonderful guided tour! Thank you!

---

What a beautiful place! Thanks for all the photos, M. I look forward to these every week!

---

As always, M, outstanding photos and guided tour! Your virtual vacays are such a pleasure and mental health break. I so very much appreciate them and you! Thank you!

---

Thank you again - love your photos.

Answer 19

On this day:

1805: The Danish author Hans Christian Andersen is born

1926: Australian Formula 1-driver Jack Brabham is born

1982: The Falklands War starts

Comments

Thoughts about today's topics:

How comes it that so many "John"s are nicknamed "Jack"?

I always forget that the Falkland War was only a few months long... Oh what a drama it was when at Football (Soccer) World Cup 1982 England and Argentina met...

---

MY problem with that war in the Falklands was WHY? I'm used to reading "strategic position" and must have missed it in the reports ... and wasn't there a Royal involved in that?

---

Googled "Why is Jack the nickname for John" ... Why is Jack from John? The name Jack dates back to about 1,200 and was originally used as a generic name for peasants. ... Of course, John was once used as a generic name for English commoners and peasants, (John Doe) which could be why Jack came became his nickname.

Taken from The Origins of 10 Nicknames | Mental Floss

---

I read about Andersen yesterday, Professor. Thanks!

Answer 20

Well Pip it was a joy to take you through the Trail and I am glad you remembered how to respect the wife of the decendent of the 'Laird of Thane' (possibly, when I can prove the connection) Doffing of Caps required when I enter the room.  Anyone has any questions about the process of the Tartan Trail I am here for the next few hours

Jackie

Comments

Doffing the cap is a whole lot easier than bowing at my age.  I also pumped the Tartan Trail on my profile page, too!