"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! May 22nd - 24th, 2020 [closed]

+28 votes
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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.

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Enjoy yourselves and spread the love!

WikiTree profile: Pip Sheppard
closed with the note: Wonderful to hear from EVERYONE!
in The Tree House by Pip Sheppard G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
closed by Pip Sheppard
Laurie, we're still wearing masks when we go out! Not taking a chance with out underlying health issues.
Thank you for hosting Pip. I am reading "Everybody Was So Young" by Amanda Vaill. It tells the true story of Gerald and Sara Murphy who at the center of the literary scene in Paris in the 1920s. They were famous for their fabulous parties that included Dorothy Parker, Cole Porter, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Pablo Picasso.
Pip,

"Traveling a few counties over to look at a few properties"  sounds a bit like going to look at a litter of puppies...... you always bring at least one home.

Hope things dry out for  you.
You know Pip, I think I am a trend setter. My next door neighbors bought The Old Timey Sheppard Human Powered Mower.
@Paul: Whuuuut?!? For real?
For real man. Their teenager saw my kids mowing. Their mower was smoking pretty bad. So they asked me how much my mower cost and where I got it from. Next day, they got one.
A real man mower for sure. Thanks for being an ad for my environmentally friendly mower products, Paul!
In the few weeks since I bought it, I am noticing that I am getting in better shape. I do the hard parts and let the kids do the easy parts.
Thanks for hosting, Pip! I'm happy you and yours are well. Are you hoping to purchase any of those properties?
Of the three, one looks particularly good. We’re going to have an agent take us to the three, and we’ll decide if one of them is worth pursuing.

50 Answers

+24 votes

A good Friday morning to you all. Memorial Day weekend.

We had some nice weather this week in Central Pennsylvania, and after a little rain scheduled for today, 5 more days of sunshine are forecast. 

I completed some more researching and sourcing this week. In reading a history of Rockingham County, Virginia on the web, I ran across a story of my 3rd great grandfather, Alexander  Kyger. During the Civil War, the Northern Union Army went through Virginia burning barns that held supplies that could be used by the South. When they came to burn his barn, he pleaded with them not to. The line below taken from the story explains how he convinced them not to burn it.

“When he offered a keg of brandy as a bribe, the thirsty soldiers gladly accepted, and the Kyger barn escaped the flames of 1864.”

That man could think fast.

Stay safe and hope you enjoy the weekend.

by Rodney Long G2G6 Pilot (849k points)
Good morning, Rodney!

Great quick thinking on the part of the ggg-grandfather! His was probably one of the very few barns not burned during the conflagration that year.
Attached is the quick little story

[localhistory.rockingham.k12.va.us/the-kyger-barn.html]
Now, that's a fascinating story!

I recall there being a Dunkard Church at Sharpsburg, Maryland, a scene of fierce fighting.
Did not know it was Memorial Day weekend - thanks for the heads up!
Happy long weekend!  I think it would be appropriate to raise a glass of brandy to recognize Alexander Kyger.  Cheers!
It is amazing how quick thinking changes the course of one's whole life.
I love Civil War stories.   Your 3rd great grandfather had his wits about him.

Enjoy the incredible Pennsylvania forecast.
Hi SJ, Memorial Day is early this year. Another thing, the observance of this holiday has changed some over the years. Now it is observed the last Monday in May. I am not sure how old you are, but back in the 50's when I grew up, people called it Decoration Day. You have a good rest of the weekend.
Hi Laurie, hope you are having a good weekend. Yes, raising a glass would be appropriate. Cheers back to you. Stay safe.
Hi Anne, hope you are having a good weekend. Stay safe.
I love Civil War stories also. You enjoy the weekend, and stay safe.
+24 votes

Today is.....

           

NATIONAL VANILLA PUDDING DAY

May 22nd is the day we recognize National Vanilla Pudding Day. Enjoy it with a delicious dish of cold, creamy vanilla pudding.

The puddings we enjoy as desserts today are not what was commonly known as pudding at ancient dinner tables. Most medieval puddings were meat-based and seasoned with herbs and spices. Even sweetened, they were usually served hot. Toward the end of the 18th century, puddings were more likely made from a grains or day-old bread with nuts, fruit, or meats. These puddings were used to stretch meals for a large family.

The creamy pudding we are more familiar with today is related to the custard, minus the eggs.

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but spouses who are chemists are the inventors. When you are Alfred Bird and your wife is allergic to eggs, that is very true. In 1837, Bird invented an egg-free custard powder using flavored cornstarch.

My-T-Fine produced the earliest packaged pudding in the United States in 1918. This and other puddings like them still required cooking on the stove. The instant version came along in the mid-1940s.  On its own or as an ingredient in a larger recipe, pudding can be enjoyed in a variety of flavors.

HOW TO OBSERVE Vanilla Pudding Day:

You can celebrate by enjoying vanilla pudding on its own or making another dessert. A few suggestions include:

  • Layer fresh fruit and pound cake to make a trifle.
  • Poke holes in a cake and pour the pudding over the top to make a poke cake.
  • Use vanilla pudding to make a parfait.
  • Make a pudding pie.

We even have a few recipes for you to try.

Homemade Vanilla Pudding
Moms Chocolate Chip Cookies
Strawberry Delight Cake
Dessert Pizza

by Dorothy Barry G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
Woohoo! I love puddings of all kinds, even plain ol' vanilla. I grew up on banana pudding made with vanilla. No covered-dish supper was complete without a BIG helping of banana pudding.

For dieters: one sugar-free vanilla pudding, one sugar free-banana pudding, lots of bananas, sugar free vanilla wafers, topped with sugar-free Cool Whip.
Yum pudding .... Vanilla, Chocolate, whatever
Pudding is my favorite! As a teenager I used to make homemade vanilla pudding, but seem to have lost the knack.
Puddings (US kind) are great. I no longer use a mix and just make my own.
Enjoy a big dish of pudding and help a farmer not have to dump his milk and his source of wages.  (Spoken as a former dairyman's wife.)
Pip,

You forgot the cherry on top. Gives banana pudding a bit of pizzazz.
I love pudding.  Might have to run to the store.  You know, to get ready for the BIG picnic (not).
Thanks for sharing! Love pudding!
Yes, and we're almost in strawberry season.  Though I had some with rhubarb the other day, and it was also a delicious combination.

Betty, I wish my wife liked cherries. Then I would get some on top!

Laurie,

Isn't rhubarb excellent? I do a rhubarb peach dish that is amazing. I grow it in the yard. Easy peasy.
Another excellent choice...
Today is also the 40th anniversary of Pac-Man. You know some of you played the game! I sure did. He's also a playable character in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros series now.=D
I'm heartbroken ... Meals Delivered doesn't include such delectable delights ... I am truly heartbroken
I had oatmeal cookies and chocolate pudding for dessert tonight. I do have some vanilla pudding though. I will have to eat it a day late.
+24 votes

Welcome to the weekend. Our rain started Monday with rain (little wind) from Tropical Storm Arthur, and has continued through the rest of the week with rain, clouds, and generally dreary weather. It is supposed to be sunny on Sunday.

COVID-19: Folks seemed to be better at social distancing and wearing masks when I visited the grocery this week, but it might just be the day/time that I went. On Sunday (sunny and warm) our local news had pictures of tons of people without masks very close together at the crowded oceanfront beach and boardwalk. On Monday the Governor made a statement that beaches are still closed. On Tuesday the City said that parking garages and lots will be open at 50% capacity. Yesterday they announced that beaches will open today. We, of course, will avoid this.

Genealogy: Still lost in the Reeds. I expect to finish the 3rd (of 15) of Simon's children this week. Simon now has profiles for 5 children, 25 grandchildren, and 229 descendants, including 5 sets of twins. I'm well over 1000 contributions for the month.

Most interesting find of the week - a 4th cousin who performed with a midget troupe and was a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz, eventually marrying (notable) Karl (Charlie) Becker.

Stay safe everyone.

by Kay Knight G2G6 Pilot (592k points)
Very interesting story Kay! Thanks for sharing!
Interesting stories buried in the Reeds!  Do you keep track of them in a space page, or simply let them live in the wiki?  

I hope you have some needed sunshine.  Stay well, Kay.
Kay, our daughters live on the coast of South Carolina, but the storm skipped past them. They still got a lot of rain (there was flooding in Charleston).

Great find on the Munchkin!
@Azure - the real story behind the munchkin is that divorce seemed to run in that family, what a pain!

@Laurie - I just let the Reeds live in the Wiki. When I'm working down (as now), I will create a list of children under Research Notes and then add the link to the child profile when it's done, sometimes adding a work in progress note if it looks like it will take some time. The Family Tools for Descendant List are great. I've been using Family List for descendants to get counts. Once I saw the twins pattern, I sorted that list by birth date, and am now keeping track of twins in a LibreOffice doc (so far I have Floyd and Lloyd; Edna and Edward; Valta and Dalta; Jason and Mason; and Hazel and Mabel).

Kay,

Regarding the Open Beaches.     My husband and I seem healthy,  but we are certainly in the  "endangered" age group.   Our approach;  it's up to us to decide what's safe.    Crowded beaches aren't on the list nor are indoor  restaurants.  We frequently use the nearby trails that seem to have  "casual" usage.   However,  I quit petting the dogs on the trail crying......

+23 votes

Very early this week, aren't I? Well, don't get used to it.

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps! Man, I've got a lot to cover this week. Let's start from the beginning. 

This week saw me finally getting a picture of my 2x great-grandmother, Gertrude Stevens. A half-cousin posted the picture on Familysearch. I asked her about it and we talked for a bit. She's in the middle of the front row. Here's a thread about it for details: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1038561/shared-photo-walter-howard-senter-and-family

Gertrude is with her second husband and their family in the pic. Her first husband was Wilfred Felker and he was my great-grandfather's father.

Now that I have this pic, I have to find more for the other 2x great-grandparents I am missing. If they exist. Getting your pic taken in those days was way more expensive than today where you can just take your phone out and take a pic.

All of this led up to my blog about tombstones for #52Ancestors: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2020/05/52-ancestors-week-21-tombstone.html

Yes, that is a Back to the Future reference. C'mon. You know I had to do it. I HAD TO!! We were all thinking it. I originally was going to write about Jeremiah Felker, my 3x great-grandfather. But, that got sidetracked by Gertrude's pic. It all worked out, though!! What I forgot to mention in the blog was how much my mother looked like Gertrude. Kinda funky!!

The genealogy fun didn't stop there, true believers! This week we ventured to Home Depot and another floral shop to get veggies for the garden and flowers for the cemeteries in Haverhill and Amesbury. Like I said before, I'm within driving distance of several cemeteries where my ancestors rest.

Along with seeing almost everyone in masks (Good job, NH and Mass!!), we gathered some nice flowers and headed to Haverhill, first. It is closest. We cleaned up Vincenzo, Marco. Maria and Olympia's grave. I washed the plaques at the foot of the graves and saw in Italian "Buona Riposa". I asked my dad what it meant and he said it basically means "Rest in Peace".

I always thought it was odd that St. Patrick's cemetery was the Italian cemetery. While we were there, we swung by Giuseppe's and Clementina's. Everything looked clean there. One of my dad's cousins was probably there recently. I should note that we used Haverhill city water to clean the stones and it was kinda brown. Might have just been in the pipes too long.

We then went to Amesbury to do some cleaning for my grandfather on my mom's side's grave. They updated the date of death on the stone to 2017. I said to my mom we need to upload a pic to find a grave because....well...look:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/129782690/robert-e_-hamel

One of the images had just 1923- No death date. It was like that for four years!! So, it was made when he was alive. Ugh. That's another issue altogether.

I was cleaning up the plaques again. This time I had the pleasure of meeting tiny little friends. Small bitey ants. I had gloves on and the little buggers (so censored.) were going to town. I did my thing and said a few words like I did at my other grandparents' grave. I looked at my grandma Natalie's name and smiled. I said "I found a pic of your grandma."

I heard a voice in my head saying "Well, she wasn't lost!" It sounded exactly like her. Make of that what you well!

And that's it on the genealogy front. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

by Chris Ferraiolo G2G6 Pilot (756k points)
Hi, Chris.  You are close to Haverhill, MA?  As it happens, Ed Lebeau and I are seeking information about a relative who was wounded in the Raid of Haverhill in 1708.  He later died in MA of those wounds.  Right now the government office where there might be records is closed.  Later on would it ever be possible for you to look for docs for us?  Ed could provide more details on what we are looking for.  It's been a tawdry family scandal with an illigitimate baby, perhaps the father or this son or another son (all named Pierre of course) could have done it.  Then there was a lawsuit by the abandoned mother (perhaps because the son died in MA or if it was the father he just reneged on the promise of marriage) asking for expenses for the birth and support of the child!
Hey, Cindy!

I am close to Haverhill and I also need to get to town hall myself. Haven't been able to because they are closed. Are the records you are looking for online? Might want to check Familysearch as the records for Massachusetts are AMAZING. Not as amazing as Minnesota. But, amazing nonetheless. Check 'em out. Certainly does sound like a movie doesn't it?
Thanks for sharing your interesting story and blog! I'm constantly on the lookout for photos of ancestors.
Same here. In some cases, it might be tricky.

It depends, you know?
I have some Irish ancestors in New Brunswick who can only be found in the Quebec records. So I learned that Catholic is Catholic, even if you had to travel miles and miles for the formalities, in a foreign language. I wonder if some of the early Italian immigrants may have found their first community among the existing Irish Catholics?
As usual, a great blog, Chris! BTW: Do you know what Confederate graves with government stones are pointy on top? To keep Yankees from sitting on them! (An old Southern joke.)

The first photo on your blog? Now that's a honest epitaph!
Your father is correct. "Buona" means "Good" and "riposa" means "Rest". "Buona riposa" means "Have a good rest" when one is referring to the eternal rest. "Riposa in pace" also means "Rest in peace".

@ Laurie: Perhaps that's the case. St. Patrick's in Haverhill has historically been an Italian cemetery. So many Italian names on the stones. St. Joseph's in Amesbury meanwhile has a lot of French names.

@ Pip: Thanks! I thought that was why World War I helmets were pointy, though. As for the epitaph, that's from Back to the Future III. I used this stock image of a tombstone as a template: https://previews.123rf.com/images/epantha/epantha1208/epantha120800003/14841814-close-up-of-a-blank-tombstone-with-copy-space.jpg

@ Anne: I suspected as much when I read it. The stones look much better now that they are cleaned.

I saw your note about the Pac-Man anniversary above.  When it first came out in 1980, home computers weren't yet a thing.  We played these modern games (Pac-Man, Space Invaders and DK) on heavy consoles that replaced some of the tables at the local pub.  We spilled loads of beer, playing those games, but rarely tipped over a console - they were huge.  I still take on Pinky and Inky sometimes.  You know, when Tetris gets dull.

I remember those arcade cabinets. I liked the tabletops better for some reason.

I actually saw them at Dave and Busters not too long ago. Surprised that they were still in working order.

Pac Man in Smash Bros for Wii U: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFb6hCFwe2w

Remember that glorious time known as the 1980's? When you could go to a restaurant. Eat with your family. Then the adults would turn the kids loose in to the video game section. When you could sit across a table that was either Pac-Man or Asteroids. Play some Joust or Dog Dug. Those were great times. I'm not talking about Showbiz or Chucky Cheese. Just a random trip down memory lane.
As a child I remember going with my grandparents to the cemeteries and washing the grave stones.  I always got to wash the little lamb.  I always wanted to do the big angel but you had to get on a ladder for that and I was too young to be allowed to do that.   

I have visited these same graves as an adult and none are dirty.  I have to think the cemeteries are using hoses to spray them down when they water the grounds.  or the built in sprinkler systems now are washing them.  All I know is they are now not dirty like they used to be.
+22 votes
The weather this week has been particularly nice. One day did get a bit warm (about 85F/27C). A big jump that made it a bit warm for digging.

I did find and fix the really big irrigation problem. The new big garden bed is about 3/4 done and should be ready for planting by Sunday.  The herb garden is almost ready for planting. This is a new garden this year. Still need to add irrigation to it but that will come after planting. the next big home task is to get the field mowed. I listen podcasts while working. Currently l'm listening to "What You Missed in History Class."

Genealogically, I've been corresponding with another researcher about one of our shared lines and starting the process to collect DNA from enough different lines back to the proposed MRCA couple to see if the triangulation will help narrow down the parents of my three greats grandmother. Also need to see if there are any matches outside the proposed MRCA in order to see which sides the shared DNA comes from. In the meantime, I've been going through notarial records for marriage contracts for Québec ancestors where available. In one case it gave me a list of people with their relationship to the couple. Others were mostly boilerplate. I need to transcribe and translate the long one. A couple I haven't seen yet have been filmed by FamilySearch. One hasn't been digitized and the other requires being in Salt Lake to view the digital images. Next up is looking at the other records to see what might be useful genealogically.
by Doug McCallum G2G6 Pilot (527k points)
I love listening to audiobooks while I do other chores, I'll have to add in some podcasts as well!
Sounds like your winter weather broke and you're making progress on all fronts.  

The men in my family all listen to audiobooks and podcasts.  I prefer my information visually, like e-readers and (gasp) books.

Howdy, Doug! Glad you finally found that irrigation leak. That took some looking, didn't it?

You've been making steady and sure progress on your Québec ancestors! Keep on keeping on ( and keep us posted!).

Sounds like you're certainly keeping busy David.  Spring projects are incredible for the spirit ..... even before Covid.
+23 votes

Happy weekend all.  Hope everyone is having a good May and staying safe.

I've been really focusing on my Swedish ancestors as my tree does not go back far in the Swedish lines.  Research has paid off again this week and I've found two sets of 4x great-grandparents and some 5x, 6x, and some probable 7x great-grandparents.

I've been adding a lot of sources and re-writing biographies.  I just finished the bio for my great-grandmother Ingrid "Inez" Amanda (Carlsdotter Svensson Hyllengren Helgren) Herling (1878 - 1964).

Weather is very nice; we leave the windows open 24/7 now.  Water is up to nearly 20 degrees (68 F) so it is nearly time to swim.  Of course, the beach is Covid closed for swimming sad

In other news, looks like great-aunt has Covid and my sister-in-laws two cousins (brothers) both died.  One was about 2 weeks ago and his brother felt symptoms last Friday, felt pretty bad by Monday morning, went to the ER on Monday morning and was dead by nightfall.  He was 50 years old. 

I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's weekend posts.

edit to add: I've just realized that I've found 8 new 4x great-grandparents in the past 2-3 weeks.

by SJ Baty G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
edited by SJ Baty
=( Condolences to you and yours, SJ.
So sorry about your family members, SJ. I do hope your great-aunt recovers.
SJ I'm very sorry to hear about your family.  My sympathies.
I am so sorry to hear about your family.
So sorry for your loss, SJ. Thoughts and prayers with you and yours.
So sorry for your losses, SJ.  

Your lovely great-grandmother had enough names for royalty!  Glad you're making progress.
SJ, that is just magnificent work on Inez' biography. You're been really knocking it out finding more ancestors. Great research on your part.
I am so sorry for your losses. My heart goes out to you and your family.
Sorry about your family members. Hope that your great aunt does well.
Brother just called.  They've ruled out Covid for Great-aunt.  That was the original diagnosis because she had shown the "broken glass" characteristic in both lungs on an MRI but the test came back this afternoon negtive so it looks like she has just plain-old pnemonia.  Not out of the woods yet but this is good news either way.
You've done incredible work on Inez's profile.  

Glad to hear your aunt doesn't have Covid..... hopefully, she'll soon be home again.
That's good news, SJ. We'll be praying for her this Sunday (we at St. Pat's).
That is good news! =D
SJ prayers and cyber hugs.  So very sorry about your family losing members to the virus.  Please stay safe.
+21 votes
Well lets see, On the Homefront it has been warm and dry all week, it did start raining this morning but that is fine. Monday the 2nd oldest granddaughter showed up. She got a new better job. Her laptop was not working right for her so we traded one that I refurbished for the old one, I almost have that one back to factory condition but things got busy. We also had our second virtual Radio club meeting. Tuesday I took some time with the profile for the family member who passed. Wednesday the granddaughter moved most of her stuff out and the grandson switched bedrooms so that was busy. Thursday I cut the grass and started relocating the book cases and computers into the small bedroom. That room will become an office/radio shack/guest bedroom, I hooked up my radio yesterday.

On the genealogy front Annie Glenn died and as the profile manager I had to update her profile and Open it up, John Glenn was a distant cousin of mine. I managed to reduce my watchlist to about 4500. I say about because that number changes several times in a normal day. I also discovered that Glen Buxtom the original guitar player for Alice Cooper did not have a profile yet. That is surprising because his sister is a member. Since he died in 1997 I went ahead and created a profile for him. His father already has a profile on WikiTree and I connected his grandfather to the big tree so as soon as I can gain access to link Glen to his father there will be another notable connected.

I hope everyone has a safe and healthy weekend.
by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
Sorry for your loss of a family member.

So, Dale, if I show up at your home with a dead laptop, I'll be in the good? cheeky

Great job on making those connections. You really do stick to it when you are on the hunt for them.

I was sorry to hear about Annie Glenn, Dale.  My Dad worked with John Glenn on Gemini, and Annie did wonderful work in the community.  The Virus took her, at the ripe old age of 100.  A live well lived.
Pip, On the topic of computers, I will do my best but I hate to say this, sometimes I just cant fix them. I also do my best with the connections but I am sad to report that I have 23 notables on my watchlist that are not connected if not more..
Thank you for all of your work on the profile Anna Margaret "Annie" (Castor) Glenn. She lived an inspirational life.
Anne and everyone for that matter, I did not do all of the work on the profile for Annie Glenn. Others helped. I did create the profile about 4 years ago and kept it on my watchlist only because she was married to a distant cousin of mine and resided most of her life in Ohio.
Dale prayers and cyber hugs to you and your family.  So sorry for your loss. Stay safe and well.
+21 votes
Good Morning, Pip and Everyone,

It sounds like rain is almost everyone from the posts already here. Our Memorial Day weekend has about an 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms with possible hail for much of the weekend. Yes, it is spring/summer in Texas!! Will probably cut down on crowds being out and about and large outdoor gatherings which could be good for not spreading Covid 19.

On our home front, we discovered that there has been a water leak in the back of a closet which backs up to our garage where there is a utility sink and a vent drain in the wall. So, this is the closet in my sewing room so everything had to come out. We also have a large gun safe so we have to have movers come get it out. And no, we are not expecting an invasion but my husband is a hunter and for safety purposes, we have the safe! Once it is moved the contractor will come in and tear into the wall more than my husband has and hopefully fix the problem.  Then, new sheetrock, paint and new carpet or flooring for the closet. Whew!!

On the genealogy front - Last week while working on some GedCom clean-ups, I had a lady who was totally unconnected. I found sources, found her husband and her parents and got her connected. I also adopted she and her husband as a merge was required for them. Then, I contacted the PM for the parents, told him what I had done and orphaned them. I was happy to see that he immediately adopted them. That was a good feeling - the whole process!! Now, I am back to adding profiles and family for one of my lines and have mostly had success with a few exceptions. I have one family lost in 1900 and I know exactly where they were living - guess they were skipped so that is a problem as they were in the 1880 and then a skip to 1910 so am having to piece together their children who were not born yet in 1880 and were gone by 1910.

I hope everyone has a safe but fun holiday weekend.
by Virginia Fields G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
What a pain, sorry you had to deal with all that crazy!

Ginny, it appears we're going to have rain all weekend long, too. This was supposed to be the weekend for the White Squirrel Festival and Memorial Day parade, cancelled long ago. sad The rain would have certainly damped the festivities.

Truism: One little thing goes wrong and the hole house has to be torn down and begun again! surprise

I hope you get the mess from the leak cleaned up quickly.  

I'm sure the PM was happy to adopt a sourced, cleaned and connected profile!  Nice work.
Thank you, Laurie!!
Oh Pip!! I certainly hope this is smallish scale repair and not the entire house!! Things do seem to multiply more than we want - one thing leads to another and then another, etc.
Ginny, that's not how you want to clean out a closet! Oh and in a sewing room where projects set aside for years might surface and keep you busy.
Kay, you hit the nail on the proverbial head!! Don't know if I will ever get around to any of them but at least they are re-found!!

LOL Kay....

Ginny,    our recent roof leak was around a chimney.... which disrupted my office for months until we found and fixed the leak and repaired the ceiling.   Hopefully, not many of your things were damaged..... but  I, personally don't have a soft spot for my  "sewing projects".....devil

Unfortunately water has the ability to find a way around and into place you don't want it.   Good luck plugging the leak.
+21 votes
It seems strange to read about grass eight inches high when ours is just about ready for the first mowing.  I can remember when until about 10 years ago we seldom mowed before Memorial Day, even when it was always on May 31. ( Pre
three day weekends by government decree.)  I will miss going to the cemetery this year.  With my broken hip, walker, rough ground to traverse, carrying flowers and water, I foresee BIG problems.  I will be about four weeks from my fall and do not intend to hurt myself in any way.
I'm hoping my daughter will be able to do some of the graves.  I have from a Revolutionary War veteran ggggrandfather straight line of seven generations to my
nephew buried there.  I'm the last person left that decorates the family graves but hope my two children and a grandson who wants to get married and live in the area forever will take it on when I am buried there.  My kids and I always helped my mother when she was alive so they are familiar with the plots.

Edited update: younger grandson just went to put lilacs on his grandfathers grave.  I can be content.  Saturday morning.
by Beulah Cramer G2G6 Pilot (565k points)
edited by Beulah Cramer
Sorry to hear about your broken hip. My mom just got hers replaced last October and is doing great. Did you get a replacement?
Beulah. so sorry to hear about your broken hip. I hope your recovery is going well and you are good as new soon!!
Sorry to hear about your injury.  I hope the kids will help this year, at least, and that you're back in the saddle this time next year.
Beulah, sad as it will be to miss the visit to the cemetery, you are being smart about taking care of your self. You'll be back in business soon, I'm hoping.
I wish you a speedy recovery. Please take care of yourself. Your kindness in taking care of the graves must be a real inspiration to your family.
They called it  hemixxxxx.  The socket broke and dumped me.  I had a winter coat, sweat shirt and t-shirt and fell on my right side, not a single black and blue mark.  I must have hit my head on the step as I had a two inch gash on the top of my head.  Left hip was
broken and left knee killed me with pain as I lay on the sidewalk.  Afterwards my therapist explained the femur slide out of place so the bones in my knee were out of place and it hurt so.  I moaned "my knee, my hip" all of the
ambulance ride and e.r.  After my hip was set my knee no longer hurt and is fine.  I'm getting home therapy and doing very well.  And intend to stay that way.  Herb and my parents, from heaven, will understand.

Beulah,

I certainly understand your mobility issues.   Last year I had two hip replacement operations  (3 months apart)  and before the surgery  I needed a wheel chair for shopping.   Fortunately, my surgery was successful but I'll always be thankful for being able to walk again.  

Regarding the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers,   most of my family hasn't visited the grave of my 6 great grandfather  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wood-3158  Obediah Wood but a local historical society honors his grave on Memorial Day.   

Our cemetery is only three miles away,  When I was 2-12 years old it was less than 1/4 mile away and we walked to it.  My mother always took us kids because she had no one to leave us with. After we moved back to the farm we walked a mile to it.  As  she got older and I had a car I took her every year I was around.  She had a strong family bond with my father and his memory of his mother.  I don't put
flowers on my grandfather's grave.  He wanted to shoot me like a dog when he found out I was a girl.  Lucky me, he had smothered his first grandchild, born out of wedlock .  He was a miserable example of the loving grandfather my
husband was to our grandchildren.
I hope my hip turns out as well as yours did.  It was a total surprise to find myself on the ground that day.
Oh my, Beulah!  Cyber hugs and prayers for healing!  It is so easy to fall and break something.   So sorry you have had to go through this.
+23 votes
The weather is beautiful today in Colorado.  Sunny and temps in the 70's.  I think Sunday will be cool and thunderstorm but not bad for a weekend.  So this is when gardens should go in.  That's what I'm doing.  I tried to visit some parks but the city parks are mostly closed.  The state parks are open.  The national parks are in between.  I guess I just don't feel like fighting the people.

On the genealogy front, I am headed to the cemetery to take pictures of the missing headstones in my cemetery project.  I am up to 1150 profiles complete out of just under 1500 and almost a 1000 connected to the worldwide tree.  I am trying to get as far as I can before I start working for the Census next month.
by Gurney Thompson G2G6 Pilot (443k points)
That is so impressive, Gurney. I'm working on connecting my cemetery profiles to the tree as well.
Gurney, are you finally finished with the snow in Colorado?

You're doing a great job with that cemetery. What a project!
Our part of Colorado should be done with snow but it is still possible.  The ski resorts could be open if allowed.  They have plenty to operate for another month.
What is the cemetery project. Did you go to a cemetery and make profiles from the gravestones? What an interesting idea.

@Nancy - There is a Global Cemeteries Project on WikiTree 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Global_Cemeteries

I think Gurney and I are both on the Southwest Region Team of United States Team

If you are interested, add Cemeteries to your Followed Tags and answer the Project G2G Post

You got the idea behind the project pretty well. It is a great way to learn about local history. There is a funny story on my visit. I found some interesting headstone made from welded together trash. I started talking to this lady so I asked her what she was doing she told me she was visiting her and what her last name was. So I say, Oh you’re Joe’s daughter. She about fainted. I had explain what I was doing but she was just shocked that I knew about her dad.
+21 votes

Hi everyone

Hope you all have a good weekend. 

Hey Pip I read Lady Antonia Fraser’s biography of Oliver Cromwell about 30 years ago, not sure I ever finished it and after several moves it no longer sits on my bookshelves. Not reading anything to deep at the moment Historic Houses of Britain by Mark Girouard, a bit of medieval history and Sifi fiction.

I am working on my G Grandparents this weekend as part of the biobuilders challenge for May nine done five to go. I had thought they were pretty much done but surprise surprise found something to add to each one.

Time to put the kettle on, Tea for him and coffee for me

by Janet Wild G2G6 Pilot (329k points)

Janet, I've been reading this book for about three years now. And, I've had it a lot longer than that! Ugh! Another book that I've had for less time is Treasures of the English Churches, by John Martin Brown. Lavishly illustrated, it starts with the earliest churches and works its way forward. I'm only about 30 pages into it.

+21 votes
Greetings from Everett, Washington!

The big excitement yesterday was that I saw a mouse sneak under the door of the closet upstairs.  Well, excitement for us 4 humans; but Peppi, our 16-year-old Yorkie, was just confused.  Peppi used to vigorously attack molehills and once he made a shambles of my bedroom in pursuit of a squirrel.  But he was awakened from a sound nap to be put inside the closet to sniff out the mouse, and he no longer knew what to do.  Poor Peppi.

The mouse had fallen out the open trap door to the attic.  Husband took charge, having us block the exits, remove the contents of the closet, and then, with leather gloves, he reached for the small creature, which squeaked and tried to climb the wall, then squirted out the door jamb.  It trapped itself between the bookcase and the wall at the end of the hallway.  Husband picked it up.  "Poor little guy."  Then he put it inside a large bowl and gave it to me to hold.  I showed it to son and daughter but daughter wouldn't look.  The men took it downstairs and released it in the carport.  Me, I would have taken it further from the house.  Then we cleaned up the whole area.  Daughter was good at vacuuming.  

My back hurts but will recover from cutting 22 out of 28 blocks for a quilt of 9" squares made of red, white and blue "101 Dalmatians" fabric.  I got an email today from the Project Linus coordinator.  We are not meeting again at least through June, although we can see her by appointment to pick up supplies.  I have about 10 quilt tops made but have no space to lay them out as I always used the table at her house.  I suppose I should just tell her I need batting, batting, batting (and backs) and once I get them ready to go, I can take them home and quilt them.  She is going to be inundated with the work the volunteers have finished once this is all over with.  I have to be more hard-nosed about finishing things and getting fabric out of the house.  Yesterday I made a choice not to hand-sew the hundreds of tiny hexagons my mother-in-law left us from the early 1950s and I'm glad I worked on the 101 Dalmatians instead.  

Tomorrow we will once again have the opportunity, by appointment, to confess and receive Holy Communion.  We appreciate the long hours our priests put in, and all their traveling.  

This week I made profiles for the drag racers "Dyno Don" Nicholson https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Nicholson-7627 and Ronnie Sox https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sox-23 heroes of mine from the age of fifteen.  The immigrant ancestor of Ronnie Sox was his 4th great-grandfather Heinrich Sachs, who arrived in Charles Town harbor in 1744 with nothing, not even his clothes, the ship having been raided by pirates.  Heinrich Sachs walked down the gangplank into Charles Town wearing a burlap sack he was given.  

Here in Everett there is occasional rain and warm sunny afternoons.  The purple columbine is still blooming.  We sleep at odd hours and don our day clothes in the afternoons.  We live as moles anyhow; now we are just more slovenly than ever.
by Margaret Summitt G2G6 Pilot (315k points)
I really enjoyed the hunting story. It seems as if your husband has great reflexes if he can catch a mouse with his hands.

Hi there, Margaret from Everett! I remember the last quilt my mom was working on. It's had HUNDREDS of little triangles and rectangles and squares. She spent months just getting all those cut out. I believe she got all her larger squares done before she died. I now have all those squares. My wife will make a throw out of them. Here's one of them:

Our church has started back. We have Holy Communion service twice on Sunday to keep us 10 or less (we are a VERY small church).

Don't feel bad. We are equally as slovenly.

Pip, that will be beautiful.  Were all of the blocks the same
colors and pattern or is there a variety of colors and designs?
This is beautiful, Pip.  It looks as though strips are built onto the corner squares in the "log cabin" method and then attached to the center cross figure.

Last night I got out my mother-in-law's 1950 book on making quilts and looked at all the diagrams. I still want to dive into all those little hexagons.
Margaret, they were all pretty unique in some way. She used left-over pieces that she had collected over the years (you know what that's like, right?)

Mom had them separated in rows, how she wanted to put them together, so some of the squares were close matches.
Are the hexagons possibly for a "Grandmother's Flower Garden"?   A real pain to adjust to so many short seams and the fitting.
Beulah, I’ll have to look in my mom’s books to see which one she was working on and what to call the squares.
Pip, the hexagons were for Margarets collection.  I'm pretty sure she has heard of the design.  I'm not sure of your mothers.  I think she just liked a block she saw and adapted it to use up her marvelously collected left overs from other projects.  And a well done mixture.
Yes, they were for "Grandmother's Flower Garden." Almost all hexagon patterns are for flowers.  The one I was looking at in the book last night was a flower design; there was also a non-flower, diamond design that made my head hurt.

You can orient the flowers with the tops pointed or the tops flat. With tops pointed, you need to make small diamond-shaped spacers of a contrasting color out of your hexagons.  With tops flat, you just outline every flower in hexagons.  The second way is simpler but I like more complexity.

Once I foolishly started a tessellation based on a non-repeating design I saw in a magazine, based on the research of British mathematician Roger Penrose.  Two contrasting colors, two diamond shapes, which produced wonderfully complex five-pointed stars and decahedrons (ten-sided polygons).  I gave up machine piecing it because I was making so many mistakes. With the arrival of the internet I was able to see that what I started was only a small fragment of the endless design, and it didn't even include the center.  Eventually (about 20 years later) I extended it to about 40 by 60 inches, put a border on it, and called it good.  Except now I have to go back over all those seams again to make them stronger.  And I have no idea how I'm going to quilt it.

This is a confession of my OCD tendency.  Also it shows my love of complex systems. Hence genealogy.
Your mouse story gave  me a chuckle. Where are you that you can go for communion and confession by appointment? that is a great idea. In our parish in New Jersey, all we can do is go online and do a spiritual communion by watching a recorded Mass online.
Our priests are of the Society of St. Pius X.  One priest is flown in from Idaho about every 2 weeks. Our chapel coordinator arranges for him to hear confessions and give Holy Communion to two families at a time in the chapel, all day Saturday.  Then he makes sick calls in the Seattle area on Sunday.
Margaret my husband says I can wake the dead with my "critter scream."   We used to live close to a lumber yard.  One year they moved a bunch of old lumber and mice went throughout the area.   I had 2 Alaskan Malamutes who thundered through the house hunting mice.   

I took the children and moved out until the plague was gone.   My husband was very tired of my critter scream....

Beautiful quilt!
+21 votes
Hi, Pip and WikiTree friends!  The weather was a bit cooler in Tucson AZ this week - Wed a high of *only* 88 so I was able to have a wonderful 10 mile hike closer to home (when it's hot we drive an hour up the mountain to hike in cooler temps).

I've spent a lot of time working with Ed Lebeau and a new WikiTreer trying to sort out (for the second time) an interesting, messy, family situation.  There are two sons both named Pierre born 5 years apart (why why why do the french do this!).  Also the father is named Pierre.  ONE of them fathered an illiigimate baby but then didn't marry the mother.  Possibly the older son who was in the the Raid of Haverhill in 1708 and then died of his injuries.  Possibly the younger son as some genealogists have given him this problem but we think he had two marriages and traveled all around the midwest.  Or more recently we found a lawsuit against one of these men asking for medical expenses and child support - a new theory that it could have been the father has been proposed.  So we are turning over many stones to understand who did what.  Naturally the records we need either don't give the ages of the Pierre involved, or are missing altogether.  Such a twisted story that has consumed much of my time this week.

I haven't been reading much.  I did discover the TV series This is Us so that's been my relaxing time except for falling asleep during critical moments like when the father died or somehow missed when the daughter got engaged.  I think I'm about to learn how the triplets' father died.

Hopefully this weekend I can indulge in my own genealogy work to get all the Isle St. Jean Acadians from one of the parish registers entered.  It's the 300th anniversary of PEI and so we are trying to locate and enter all those early inhabitants as possible.
by Cindy Cooper G2G6 Pilot (323k points)
What a mess, Cindy. If you ever get this one figured out, we'll want to know.

This is Us is one of our favorite shows, too. Every time we see an ad for it, we bookmark it on our TV.
I love "This is Us." I finished the final episode a few weeks ago and have to wait til they have more. There is a facebook group that is always posting details that I didn't notice. 3 Pierres. Sounds like you are very patient and persistent in your research.
Luckily I still have many episodes to go, thankfully.  I felt that way after each season of Big Little Lies - wanted more right away.  I can only watch that one at my daughters house when I go take care of her girls.  Binge watching is dangerous at my age, though, because it's hard to get up as early as the three girls and last year they had a Cocoa Caper in the pantry while I was sleeping in.  Cocoa all over their faces by the time I got up.   I'm on to their tricks now and hope to get Season 3 if they are able to film it.
If any of the descendants of the various possible fathers have taken DNA tests you will be able to untangle it more easily.
An interesting idea.  I'll check the son who lived to have a family.  The likely father of the illigitimate baby died at age 22 before marrying the mother or anyone else.  The baby itself died at about 6 months old, so no children to test there, wouldn't ya know.  But it could be helpful in confirming that the other son was really the father of the children we think he had.  I'll bring that up to our working group.
+21 votes
This week has been very rainy and stormy in Kansas with lots of lightning. I was able to watch the NGS (National Genealogical Society) LIVE! webinar on Wednesday and it was very good.  I hope that more online conferences will be held in the future.

Next week we are opening the library on a limited basis.  Offering public computers, printers, faxing, etc. and to be able to pick up books.  The stacks will be closed for awhile so staff will be busy filling orders.
by Michelle Enke G2G6 Pilot (416k points)
I forgot to mention that my iris are blooming.  I have over 100 blossoms of yellow, lavender, dark grape, cream, russet, and white iris.  The smell is heavenly!
My Iris are also putting on a wonderful show this year!   Maybe they know how much they're appreciated :)
Yes, I love Iris.  I will have to divide most of them this summer so will be looking for homes for them.
Dang, Michelle! We are STILL waiting on our iris (and lilies).

Has the library been closed the whole lockdown? That would be a bummer, especially if it, as the Charlotte library, has a large (or small) genealogy section.
Pip, the library has been closed to the public since mid-March, and the hourly staff were furloughed.  As a manager, I was there to answer phones and do other essential work.  I did not work from home but most other supervisors did.

I manage the genealogy / Special Collections department and have been answering reference questions, too. All my staff will be helping to pull books over the next several weeks and our area, along with the children's area, will be closed to the public.
I separated some irises last summer, and did not expect much this year but I so have some beautiful lavender and burgundy ones. Love irises, not much work and they can be so pretty.
+21 votes
Happy weekend, everyone!  Finally got to relax a bit this week but I have a grant deadline next week and a little more to do for that, so it's not over yet!  But after that I can just focus on my three research students, and maybe start thinking ahead to the fall.  I'll be teaching two classes I've taught a bunch before, but I have to plan in advance for a potential (likely?) switch to online or hybrid classes.

Meanwhile, the house is still kind of a wreck, so I'm hoping to do more decluttering this weekend.  And I have a little bit of poison ivy to pull in the front yard.  I hit it with some Roundup the other day (the only situation where I'll use chemicals on the lawn) and I want to get it out once it's dead.

On the genealogy front, I've managed to get sidetracked from my Philadelphia Robertson quest for the past three days.  I tried to go sideways and research Anna's close in-laws, hoping for clues about her mother.  Instead I've ended up untangling the ancestors of her husband's grandmother Sarah Runyan in New Jersey.  (Big families, repeated names, and conflated records...)  I've got her ancestors mostly back another several generations.  Nice when they start connecting up to existing profiles!  I need to clean that up a bit and then get back to my Robertsons.
by Lisa Hazard G2G6 Pilot (263k points)

Lisa, is your school still considering online classes for this fall? 

Yup, there it is! I'm a descendant of the New Jersey Runyons, too. The hard part for me is solidifying the connections of those who moved to North Carolina. We are 9c1x. MRCA John Vincent Runyon.

Well howdy, cousin!  I'm still sorting out the connection from John Runyon to his father Benjamin (son of John Vincent Runyon), but the geography makes sense.  Looks like John Vincent Runyon and his brother Thomas both moved to Hunterdon County, so he's got to be the grandson of one of them.  Unsourced trees have him as the son of Benjamin and that seems to make the most sense, but I haven't got actual sources yet.

We have no idea what we're doing in the fall and we're being asked to prepare to be fully online, face to face, or some hybrid of the two.  Luckily my fall courses don't involve labs, so for me it's not as complicated as for some other science courses.
Please don't eat my comments, Wikitree. Please....

Hey, Lis!

I had a video chat with my brother and sis in law this week. I forgot to ask what her school is doing for students. They are supposed to come up this July. We'll see how that goes.

Sounds like you are doing great work on the genealogy front!
Thanks, Chris!

Silly genealogy brag of the weekend:  I just discovered (thanks to connecting to some existing Wikitree profiles) an ancestor living in New Hampshire in the 1600s.  And with that, I have now documented ancestors in all 13 U.S. colonies.
That is amazing! I just have colonial Mass and NH.
I live in Hunterdon County,New Jersey. Is there anything here that you might need help with. I am new to collaborating so not sure what that would be, but am willing to learn.

Thanks, Nancy!  Not sure what I need at this point, but I have a whole branch of the family (Rachel Boss 1801-1863 and family) from there.  I just researched them and added my direct line and some siblings to WikiTree this week.  I've got the basics pretty well covered now, but if you happen to know of any other good sources/stories feel free to add them in!

Chris, it helps that I have one grandparent from the southern US and two from the midAtlantic with some more distant branches in New England.  Lots of geographic coverage up and down the coast.  New Hampshire was my one holdout until this week.

I looked up Rachel’s marriage. It does not say what town they were married in. I don’t know a lot about the history of this area, even though I have lived here for 32 years. Lots of farms and mills, with towns that grew up around them. We have a local weekly paper that goes back to the 1800s. The Delaware Valley News and the Hunterdon Democrat.

I have a book put out by our local historical society.The Early settlers of Holland Township. It is a compilation of articles from  a local newspaper, The Milford Leader, written in the 1890s. It traces the land that is now Holland Township back to the mid 1600s with some stories of the families that settled here.
+18 votes

On this day:

1960: In Valdivia (Chile) happens the most powerful earthquake ever recorded

1980: Pac-Man is shown for the first time publicly a few months before the official release

1990: Yemen is unified

by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
Good, stuff, Jelena! My weekend reading is enhanced by your posts.

I'm about 2/3 through the proofreading. Interrupted by a visit from my brother. Estate matters to discuss. Still plowing ahead!
Thank you Jelena for your continued  broad spectrum posts!

I doubt you ever played Pac-Man!
Pac-Man came out around Xmas the year I graduated from high school.  We had no idea how much the technology would change daily life.  We just crammed as many friends as we cold into the old white VW Beetle and drove to the pub in a pack to play it on the newfangled video consoles.  Good times!
Peggy, I actually played Pac-Man when I was visiting my uncle on Bermudas. He had a restaurant then and on first floor there was a room with a pool table and a Pac-Man console and some other stuff too. But that was the only period when I played Pac-Man.
+18 votes

HOMEFRONT AND WEATHER ARE placid pleasant and presently mild -- that is subject to change --  

I AM ADVISED that this forthcoming Monday is a Holiday, Memorial Day a day of Remembrance and if nothing else we have the many to remember -- those known to us and those unknown by us -- since the year 2000.  It seems to me that the world as I knew it has changed radically these 20 years 

laughI have come to the conclusion that the conditions which determine whether we have some rain snow sunshine ice and etc are basically invisible forces, and they gambol through the heavens ... well, humans are known to credit the Invisible and Intangible when all other understanding fails them ... I have merely joined the ranks of the awed 

We are STILL awaiting delivery of our masks and gloves ordered before Mar 25th ... and still being told the order is "in route" ...  

LOL on GENEALOGICALLY -- going gung ho on revisions to my Watchlist ... something like 2,015 there and something like about half of them last attended to in 2019 (Aug through Dec) so I gamely with determination slog onward ... 

What irks me, mildly, is the overflow of "Contributions" beyond the 1,000 is ignored, as in: it is not carried over into the next month ... but having topped 1,000 two or three days ago, am I to sit and molder and grow moss for another week and some? No !! Chin up etc I soldier onward.   Yeah, and just thinking about the fact I have already revised everything from May 2018 to most of Aug 2019 is enough to tire me out ... 

I am almighty puzzled by this post here Lessons Learned - WikiTree G2G because I can't figure out if it is a laud, or a complaint, or some sort of hybrid child of the two. Is this a mourning song for Collaboration?  I would not like to see such URL contributions or excerpts or whatever discouraged.  Eh, well, I suppose someone will address the post and in doing so perhaps will uncover the meaning or intent therein

I was also vastly "entertained" by another discussion in g2g about ... ah, an "off-topic" response focused on Policy & Style which -- it was averred -- may have adversely affected the potential or possibility of an useful answer to the post ... to be fair, there were was merit in each side ...  

Stay safe, clean, calm, confident, careful & cautious, sober and ... whatever ... 

by Susan Smith G2G6 Pilot (652k points)

laugh Well, bless you, Dale, you are a frequent saver ... probably.  I think that's what the computer tracks. 

In any case, I commend you. Sounds like you are more active than I am and that's all to the good for WT. 

ah, dale, you are definitely more productive -- I looked at my 24 hr count just now for 22nd May and it was 61 clicks in Family Activity Feed ...
I am still doing the Math related to 6000 or 16000 contributions. 200 contributions a day x 31 days = 6200 contributions. That is very difficult to imagine. 517 contributions a day x 31 days =  16027 contributions. That is almost impossible to imagine. My congratulations to anyone who can accomplish this.
Anne, Don't forget you get 2 contributions for every merge you propose and also 2 for every merge you complete. You also get contributions for every profile adopted so those could add up fast. If I wanted to game the system I could easily do 5000 more by the end of the month but I believe in quality first.
Susan, I try not to save every change. I only save when I have added every source I can find for the profile unless I have too many tabs open and run the risk of closing something too soon. As I mentioned merging duplicates and adoption profiles build the numbers up very fast so working on cutting down the number of duplicates can also run the numbers up quickly if you wished. I prefer to be surprised at the start of the month with the badge awarded so I almost never check my ongoing count.
Maybe that is why I occasionally run across a profile that has several empty pages when you check the changes log.
I assumed it was just some one's fingers not keeping up with their brain (like mine often) and they don't see something they thought they printed and tried again because of the lapse of time needed for it to show up.  A quick way to accumulate useless points doing nothing except push save repeatedly.

devilAnne, there's a number of comments I could make about the astronomical point counts in Contributions ... but there's any number of things I could comment about Politicians, Cats & Dogs, two cooks in a kitchen and ... 

I think DALE has begun to describe the Contribution Gamer's game to us ... he's quite knowledgeable as is PIP and a number of Others ... my imagination decorates them all with the long grey beards of Wisdom ... devil (accumulated experience) 

PS /  Not being a Contestant in Contribution Games, laugh I just looked and I will start my 9 days remaining in May (counting today) with 1,202 Contributions due to editing, revising, formatting and etc ... I do the work, I save the results -- sometimes I create a new profile, adding someone's kid, or their other spouse or two ... had one female that had something like five? seven? spouses and I didn't even TRY to profile THAT ... I just listed names, marriage/divorce dates and URL and kept going .... 

Anne, the member who accomplished this is retired and spends loads of time working on WikiTree. But, 517 contributions a day is way to much for me, and I’m retired, too!
You’re still ahead of me, Susan. I only broke 800 last night during my greeter’s shift.
Oh, Pip, it's just you've been busy chasing moths in your flying kilts ... settle down and stop fluttering around and you can DO it!!
+18 votes

Hi Pip and thanks for hosting!

I think my mother and I have survived the great invasion of the miller moths of 2020. The weather has been dry and hot even at night it was only getting down to 55-65 degrees (F). The vacuum has had pride of place in the middle of the living room floor and our dog, Susie, is on constant watch. Last night it finally dropped into the 40's and it will continue to do so for the next few days hopefully so that we can get some relief. It's been crazy and I'm such a girly, girl screaming and flapping my hands at them. There is no logic to my behavior, but when they come right for your head and ... bleh. It's pretty hilarious! 

Not much to report on the genealogy front, just plugging away at things.

Changed the surname from Unknown to Nieswand for one of my JW Holocaust victims, per her German Wikipedia page. Helene (Nieswand) Gotthold (1896-1944).

Connected one of the notable JW profiles to the tree: Nathan Homer Knorr (1905-1977)

Per your recommendation, Pip, I posted about my Budd brick wall in G2G and on my blog: Our Budd Family Line

by Azure Robinson G2G6 Pilot (539k points)

Azure, I had to google miller moths ... the best that can be said about them is that they are not as large as the moth we encountered which was as large as a sparrow and then some ... in it's "worm" form it was about 6 inches long, bright emerald green and had a long red stripe down its back tail to nose ... neighbor woman saw the larva and screeched and jumped upwards a foot and some and something like two feet back from it (didn't know a woman that age could DO that) all the while screaming kill it, kill it .. she had a morbid fear of snakes ... it ate our entire bed of primroses all of the plants ...  it was the Evening Primrose Caterpillar 

On the other hand we didn't have 1,000's of them fluttering around and the Media has described THAT happening in Colorado -- I think calling it an "abundance of" somehow misses the mark laugh

Miller moths are around us as well. The cats have been ignoring them this year. They are definitely an annual Colorado event and some years are worse than others.
Azure,

Better to have Miller Moths than stink bugs!

I noticed your post about the Budd brick wall, and looked at your (very nice) profile for Lewis Budd. When I saw that, I figured you had already exhausted all of the Chautauqua county historical society resources and NY newspapers from fultonhistory.com.
Azure, as an owner of lots of wool items, including several kilts that would be ruined otherwise, I chase moths of any kind through the house until death claims them by my hands.

That last photo on your blog page is classic. A great pic!

LOL Azure   (Ok maybe you don't see the humor.... but your description of the invasion and reaction was perfect)....

I'll admit,  we've never been invaded by miller moths.   But now I'll be on the look-out.  Thank the heavens for Susie on Guard.   She obviously needs extra treats.

Reminds me of when the cicada killers invaded our back yard and we bought badminton rackets to kill them..... but I won't turn this into a story all about me. devil

@Peggy Oh yeah, I've been giggling like crazy over the whole situation. Gotta find the humor in life, especially frustrating situations like this. Susie is now dubbed the Moth Hunter. or I should say Moth Killer! as soon as I open the door in the morning to take her for her walk, she's on alert and eats them up. Thankfully not too many this morning! Only about 15 or so. She's getting lots of love and treats for being the protector of the house (and the car since she goes crazy for the ones around the car too!)

@Pip - Kill them, KILL THEM ALL! devil

@Kay - Thanks Kay for the heads up about the FultonHistory website.

@Susan - That is so crazy and crazy funny! 

+19 votes
Happy Friday to you!  I hope you are well.  

Our weather is cool and wet, which is wonderful, because there are a handful of mallard ducks napping beside my pond.  Also, this is dry-summer-forest-fire territory, and water levels were at record lows in March - the more rain we have the less smoke the rest of you will have to deal with in July/August.

On the WT front, we've had some new members join the Canada Project, a side-benefit from folks having more time at home.  I've also been focusing on my personal projects, cleaning up some of the space pages etc, and wondering how others use space pages.  

Do you find them useful?  Generally are they personal, private or shared, or are they collaborative?  Do you have any beefs, or some examples that you admire?  I welcome your thoughts!
by Laurie Giffin G2G6 Pilot (104k points)

Laurie, we haven't seen our mallards on about three years. We miss them.

I have only one free-space page, and it is now connected to a project, so it was the exact thing I needed to do. It was the first of many on that subject, but other things got in the way. 

Laurie,

Enjoy your ducks,  soon you'll get to see the ducklings.  

I've only used Free Space pages for personal use,  but I've recently joined the Greeters project and they seem to share information through the Space pages.   Azure has created several very helpful  "aides" for the Greeters.   It's impressive how versatile the Free Space pages are.
+16 votes
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

Buenas tardes from the Old Pueblo. It's 1:30pm and a balmy 91F and sunny in Tucson this Friday. Last night, I went out and got a photo of Mercury and Venus, but did not get the sliver of the moon. Lovely

Thanks, Pip, for hosting. I hope you are doing well.

I was sick as a dog last night! I woke up about 3am heaving from both ends. It was not covid. It was very much like food poisoning, but cannot figure out what I might hav eaten to make me so ill. No fever, cough, shortness of breath, nothing. I couldn't even hold down ginger ale at room temperature! Just sick akin to food poisoning. I'm fine now. I'm fasting for a bit and just drinking water.

Now to genealogy. We had our final, follow up genetic genealogy course with the instructors from the Pima County Genealogy Society. I was very supportive. We will be receiving our certificates in a few weeks. Small world, one of my classmates asked if I knew of any Connecticut Baldwins. I sent her my 'wiki-information' and we have a shared line with John Baldwin. When the pandemic eases up, we will meet for coffee (or ginger ale) to discuss. I've added a set of Cornwall grandparent ancestors (Robert Pearce & Joan Joll) to my tree this week, and did a bit of work on my Lawrence PGM kin. That's it for this week because I have another paper to review by Tuesday, now a poster to complete by next Friday and I'm still working on a paper submission for publication. No rest for the wicked or the sick from food poisoning!
by Carol Baldwin G2G Astronaut (1.1m points)
Eek! Carol, I've had too many bouts with food poisoning. The last was so bad that I had it estuvo saliendo de arriba y abajo simultaneously (sitting you know where with a trash can in front of me). Ginger ale didn't work for me either. My wife wanted to call EMS, but I said, 'No." Silly me, I should have let her, at my age and heart condition, just to be safe.

Small world is right. Good for you. And good for you getting a new set of ancestors in Cornwall!
Hi Pipster,

We're twins now when it comes to 'saliendo arriba y abajo al mismo tiempo' (on the loo with a Lowe's bucket in front of me). I just spoke with my daughter and she's sure it was food poisoning. Yes, if you have a heart condition, listen to your wife. You should listen to her anyway and agree with everything she says in English and Spanish!

Still not eating. I'm worried about what might have brought it on to begin with. Plus, not eating will not affect me for several days, at the least! Oink...oink

Yes, my 'virtual' visit to Cornwall via ancestors on Wikitree is a nice diversion. And the OPC genealogists that I have communicated with via email and fantabulous! I'm going to travel to Cornwall maybe next year after the pandemic!

I also just got an email from a new 'cousin'. He found the profile I did for Henry Baldwin-5 my 7th GGF and his 8th GGF. He just moved from MO to MA and lives near Woburn! He's a scientist and were going to chat about these Baldwins one of these days!

Take care...y diga 'saluda' a su esposa de mi parte

Hipster
Food poisoning is more common than most think!!   If it's short and intense,  you've probably nailed it.

Glad you've bounced back.

Enjoy your genealogy success.
Hi Peggy,

Thanks for your kind wishes and for the confirmed diagnosis. I cannot figure out what else it could be! Short, intense and really nasty!
Sounds like food poisoning for sure!  Been there, done that; it's always memorable and no fun.  Hope you can figure out where you got it so no one else suffers.  (Important tip: avoid the campus cafeteria during spring break when there's no customers and the Chinese food sits in the steam trays forever.)
Glad you're feeling better Carole!  I'm not big on fizzy drinks, but I enjoy ginger tea (like hot tea with a few slices of ginger instead of a teabag, and a little honey if your ginger isn't candied).  Its great for upset tummies, sore throats, and short tempers.
Hi Lisa,

The thing is that I have been sheltering at home and teaching online. I do my own cooking and have not ordered out in 2 weeks. When I am on campus, I don't it in the cafeteria. That's the strangeness of this all!
Hi Laurie,

That's why I was hoping the room temperature ginger ale would prove helpful. It's not all that fizzy at room temperature. I was so sick though that I don't think anything would have stayed down. Thanks for the suggestions, though. I keep ginger in my frig for when I cook fish, but I was so sick there was not way I could have even left the bathroom to steep tea. I got to bed about 2 hours later and was up heaving again just before I started falling asleep. So...I've been fasting and drinking water. I'll try a bit of the ginger tea tomorrow with some manuka honey!
Why the flag?  Please explain yourself.
Hi Beulah,

I am not sure of you question on this update page. What flag and where is it posted? I'll check with Pip, our weekend host, to see if he can help. Have a great weekend!
Pip,

A member named Beaulah left a comment at the bottom my messages. She asks Why the flag? Please explain yourself.

I'm not sure what she means by flag. Can you help with this. Her comment is at the end just before I responded to her. Thanks!
There was a red warning flag at the bottom of Carol's answer about two hours ago.  I could see absolutely no reason for it, thus the question.  It has now been either eliminated by the person who put it there or by a wikitree leader.  This happens occasionally.  There are some who think newbies press it
thinking it means an approval for the article.  Who knows?
That's probably what happened, that or they were using a phone or iPad and the words are so close together. There wasn't a reason for the flag that I could see.
Thanks for your feedback Beulah and Pip! Have a great weekend!
Food poisoning is no fun.  And it can kill.  So be very careful.

Salmonella is called get sicker quicker and is a well known culprit.  Undercooked poultry is a common cause.  But so are other not so well known things.  Some of the food poisonings take days to show up.  

Moisture is a big culprit.  So things like mayo get a bad rap but often it is tomatoes or onions that actually are a problem.  

If it is indeed food poisoning you want those toxins to come out.  So as uncomfortable as that is, it really is your body trying to protect itself from further damage.  

It is always a good idea to at least talk with your doctor.  Some food poisonings need medication.  

Stay safe and I do hope you feel better really fast.

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