"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! July 31st-August 2nd, 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: Until next weekend, flourish in all you do!
in The Tree House by Pip Sheppard G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
closed by Pip Sheppard

I have to admit, I listened to (and watched) it three times.  Some days ya just gotta laff!  cheeky

Janie-Come-Lately here! Pip, thanks so much for continuing to host this chat. Before the virus hit and everything shut down, I enjoyed sitting in the coffee shop reading everyone's comments on my laptop. I live in a ghost town in Michigan without reliable (or affordable) broadband, and some stuff is just too hard to do on a smartphone. Fortunately, a local foundation and phone company partnered up to install public WiFi hotspots around the county. Only 20 miles away, and can be accessed from one's vehicle!

Sorry to hear about the poison oak. We don't have any, but I have always managed to avoid it when camping down south.

Cold and rainy today, contrasted with yesterday, a muggy day spent cleaning the garage and preparing for delivery of new windows for the sun porch. Yay!

And in November I got to see a collection of family letters archived in the UGA Libraries! Mostly about doings on the farm, but some fascinating (and sad) Civil War letters as well. Filled in a lot of gaps in the tree.

Y'all stay safe and well, wherever you are...
That video is super hilarious
Never too late, D! Glad you made it.

I bet that you reveled among all those old letters. I would have, too, even if they weren't family members, even about the doings on the farm. It opens up a whole world to read letters from back then.

The poison oak is clearing up, but I still have to try NOT to scratch. I'm just gong to have to be more careful.
Oh, I did, Pip! Got copies, too. A sad business, though: my 3x great-aunt Eliza (recipient of the letters) lost her husband, 2 brothers, brother- in-law, 3 nephews and lord knows who else in the war. Her brother who survived, though, wrote a very nonchalant letter inviting her to his wedding and asking her to swing by town on her  way and buy him a hat! The wording is humorous.

Glad to find y'all again. I didn't know the chat had a tag, and wasn't sure where to look! Now I know!
Pip, thinking about how you got that poison oak, it reminds me of a day three of us (ewomen) were hiking and got several miles out on the trail.  We all had to use the great outdoors restroom so we did.  And wouldn't you know, mup the trail comes two men we had passed some time earlier!  In the rush to pull up our pants, one got a bee stuck in her pant leg.  Well that kinda hurt (not me, thankfully).
Now that’s a (kinda) funny story, but I feel sorry for your friend!
Now it's turned into one of our hiking adventure stories!
Perfect!
Lucky it was in her pants leg, not where Pip may have got his poison oak, like my brother working on the road, got his poison ivy.

50 Answers

+23 votes
So for this newby: since when did Wikitree's weekend start on Friday?
by Michel Vorenhout G2G6 Pilot (307k points)
I prefer actually sleeping at that time! For a couple of weeks during our covid lockdown, 3am was roughly the time I was going to bed due to a multitude of reasons. (Not fun!)

Hard enough getting a 6am wakeup routine in place now!

As students we used to say a similar thing (when it was still too early to grab a beer):

No problem, it is past 5pm at some place on Earth!

As far as I know it always started by noon Eastern Time which is 4 pm GMT. When I was the weekly hostess I was told the time was to allow people all over the world to take part in it.  

Thanks Pip for hosting abd doing such a great job.
Random fact about time. American Samoa, because of the international date line, and daylight saving time. Is 25hrs behind Samoa. Must be weird to constantly travel a day ahead or a day behind. So, if you are in Apia, and your day Friday, just isn't working out. You can go east to Pago Pago and it will be Thursday and you can just have a do over on Friday.
I love that!   You can really catch yourself coming and going!

crying Just about when I think of a list of things we cannot show Aliens From Outer Space is completed, along comes another one to add to the list ... I mean to say there are things no Earthling can really explain even to other Earthlings so that it makes sense to THEM, and at that point you can imagine what it would be like to try to explain it to a (mythical, or hypothetical, or as yet unacknoweded) Alien From Outer Space 

Also a funny coincidence: If you look at latitude and longitude (especially latitude in that case) Madrid (the spanish capital) is western of Liverpool. So travelling from Madrid to Liverpool makes you go eastward. But when you use the timezones, you travel westward, as UK has GMT and Spain has CET.

Spain was actually until 1942 in the same timezone as the UK. But Franco wanted to have the same timezone as Hitler's Germany. Among others he didn't want to have timezone problems coordinating bombings.
I actually just learned that a couple days ago Jelena.  By the way, the date line itself is goofy. It is not a straight line at all. There are a few goofy timezones.
I know. On New Year's Eve I love to follow the countries entering the New Year. Somewhere in Oceania there is a timezone that changes the hour at x hours 15 minutes European time.
Paul, there's a really good explanation for the jiggles and jogs and other quirks in the what'sis Line, but this is a Family Values program  ... there's any number of these tales and all these tales cover the known facts ... that the Raconteur may not KNOW the facts does not seem to impede some of them ..
+28 votes
Happy Friday everyone!  Is it warm were you live?  We're at 35 (95f) all week with high humidity.  Thankfully work has picked up so not much time to swim.

Genealogy wise - just working on my 6th great-grandfather and working on the basics for an academic paper about his migration to America from England.  Nibbling at it bit by bit.

The baby is grabbing things now and trying to make sounds like talking - he coos and grrrs and he is a very tranquil and easy child.  I heard my wife say, "You're my favorite child.... for now."  I got a good laugh.

I hope everyone is well and I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts.
by SJ Baty G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
SJ, I’m glad to hear you still have work. Just remember: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” But with kids it’s lots of play, as long as you remain a child at heart.
What a fine age with the baby.  For now . . .
SJ, your baby sounds very sweet.  About the weather -- it's summer here in the Northwest (coastal) corner of California. That means, temps between 60s to low 70s F (15-25 C) in the daytime, overcast with some sun. I know it seems too cold to most, but we enjoy it. I do not envy your 95 (35)! We can go inland about 5 miles (8 km) and find hot weather -- if we want to.
Hi SJ! Kiss that juicy baby for me on his chubby cooing, grrring cheecks (and hugs to your two older children). Glad work is picking up for you. I'm still incarcerated in my home and go out only for needs because Arizona had been a surge state. We should have been shut down until at least June 15, prefereably July 15, then we would be really bending the curve by now. Oh...well...

Do we get to read the academic paper on your 6th GGF? I'd be so up for that because you really know your genealogy AND history!

Best to you and all the family!

Dang, Carol! Are you asking for another paper to read? laugh

I would be happy to read anything written by SJ! I'm positive I would find it vastly more interesting than some of the reviews I've had to do! Plus, I wouldn't have to submit a reviewer evaluation! That's the pain in the arse with doing these reviews!

Pipster, do you have poison oak or ivy? I think I sent condolences for oak. Either way, condolences. It's not the Batman Poison Ivy, right? Virtual hugs, Hipster
Yes it's warm. A cool day is 90F (32C) but we've had a streak closer to 98 (36) with a heat index close to 110 (43). This comes with lots of humidity. We are now watching the hurricane probably coming up the eastern coast of the USA.
I live in the southeast US. You know what they say here, it's not the heat, it's the humidity. So very true this past week. The temp has really not been too very high--mid-80s high most days--but stepping out in it is like walking into a sauna.

LOL Cindy, for now...  I read it to my wife and we're laughing now.

As for the paper it is simply going to be the history of the 6th great-grandfather Samuel Merrifield and the correction of a centuries old family legend about his origins.  The whole story is quite incredible when you look at all the players and there is a bigger story to be told after the cousin and I finish telling Samuel's story.

The family legend begins:

In correspondence dated 1867 John C. Merrifield of Detroit, Michigan wrote that Samuel Merrifield was born 12 August 1720 at Croat, England. (information from Jan Hornick, March, 2012). This information (date and location) was repeated in the book Frederick County, Virginia, Settlement and Some First Families of Back Creek Valley by Wilmer L. Kerns. Kerns does not list a source for his information. Croat is not found on any maps of England. LeAnn McRoberts (website cited below) refers to another source that gave his birth place as Croat, Bolton Le Moors, Lancashire, England. She found that the river Croal is located in the parish of Bolton Le Moors (now called Bolton), so it appears that Croat is a misspelling of Croal.

Subsequent searches for his birth records found nothing.

Our ancestor appears in Virignia, one of two men with the same name.  One was a headright passenger (an indentured servant), his headright claimed by Valentine Sevier, and the other Samuel, a convict.  The convict's age was older than our ancestor and the two were believed to be different men.

Long story short: I found the birth record of Samuel; he later named his first daughter Dinah - the same as his mother, and named his sons Samuel, Richard, and Thomas, the same as his brothers and the same as his father and grandfather.  The names are a perfect fit, only he's a little older.  And then, I found a criminal conviction - in the same neighborhood where he lived.  The conviction coincides with the convict in Virginia's import date.  So how was he also a headright claim?  Hmm...

He probably claimed a younger age at his arrest to gain leniency in sentencing.

I searched and searched and then turned to Valentine Sevier.  Iffound his birth, only a mile or so away from Samuel.  Valentine also had a criminal conviction and he was also shipped to Virginia.  There, we find that Valentine filed several headright claims for different passengers (including our Samuel) and he collected a fortune in land grants.  We believe that Valentine was committing headright claims fraud by lying that he shipped indentured servants who were really prior criminal imports.  

There is very little research on this phenomenon (headright claim fraud) and has long been suspected by colonial historians.  There are too many headright claims for the population size; either a lot of people died from disease on arrival or soemone was getting paid when they shouldn't have.  I eventually plan to research and check other records to see if this is a one off or if there was systemic fraud throughout Virginia and possibly other colonies.

Either way, we found a very good history of Samuel's crimes because one of his conspirators was later sentenced to death and he gave a full 4 page written confession before he was hanged.  In it he described all of Samuel's bad deeds.  We found similar documents for Valentine Sevier.

It was after I found the documents above and made the conclusion of headright claim fraud that I found the paper written by my cousin about Samuel.  In the paper, my cousin had an incredible amount of court and land records for Samuel and had written a paper on him - a paper that is almost ready for publishing.  But he was stuck at the problem of the two Samuels; he speculated that they might be the same but was missing evidence of a link.  I contacted him and shared my research and it was a Eureka moment for him - he agreed with my hypothesis and he found more records to suport it and I found more also.

And this criminal past is probably the reason for this family legend of a birth in Croat, England on a date that was also created.  We find the same thing for Valentine Sevier, a fantasy birth date and location.  However, Valentine (or his family) concocted an entire fantasy genealogy for him that describes him as the son of a displaced Hugeuenot Nobleman who fled from France and then came to London as a war refugee.  

The descendants have an entire (fake/fantsy) genealogy for Valentine that goes back and connects to Spanish Nobility and all of those profiles exist today at Family Search, Ancestry, Geni, and even here at Wikitree.  It will be difficult and ackward as the descendants really belive in this legend.

And it goes on - Valentine Sevier's son went on to some notability.  He was a famous Revolutionary War Officer, later the first Governor of the Lost State of Franklin, a Congressman, and then the first Governor of Tennesee and then reelected several times (he even has his own Wikipedia page).  The family went on to become quite powerful, quite notable, and very large.  And the fantasy Huguenot Nobility genealogy persists today, even on Wikitree.

Our paper is only to tell Samuel's story and correcting the family legend.  But in telling it we will have to explaiin our research and the Sevier family is going to be in for a shock when they realize that their patriarch is a convict and not the son of a war-refugee Nobleman.  It will be an interesting journey as we go...

Just found records for this ancestor (Samuel) that he was a veteran of the French and Indian War - my first documented ancestor in that war!  What a great way to start a Saturday morning with coffee!
SJ Baty, that was absolutely fascinating ... read it twice now, and aim to read it the 3rd time
Super, SJ. I've got a one and only French and Indian War ancestor in the direct line, and one uncle, but that's all. I'm surprised there weren't more. Time to place that sticker!
Hi SJ,

Just read your full account! Fascinating! You are doing double duty and well! Your ancestor, plus clarifying information for Sevier's descendants! Thanks for the extra details. This is truly a gift for your children AND grandchildren. It is cool to find an ancestor who fought in the French & Indian War. I 'might' have a 4x great uncle who was in that war, but I still lack evidence as to his life. I know he was born! That's a start. One secondary source indicates the French and Indian War, but that's not enough to convince me.

What really struck me in your narrative was the crook, Valentine Sevier, who was making money off of headright claims! We covered 'indentured' servants in the BU course, but nothing like this detail. Hmmm...what's the expression? History never repeats itself, man always does?

Nelda and all!-- I also live in the US's Southwest. Some hot days (101-104): I'm willing to say it's hot-but-not-all-that-hot. Over 104 degrees, yes, we all slop thru the humidity, -idity, -idity. Everyone heroically tramps through the extended "birds' eye" of damp air (musicians, take note), resigning reluctantly to its packed-on-, smacked-on skin discomfort. 

If you can't feel free of "heat with humidity," the next best thing is a dip in the Pacific Ocean (low waves to mediums, and plenty of them [ watching out for the GIANTS] ), and for athletes an unending sandy shore in SoCAL guides them to swim parallel to the waves when the water's deep enough.  

I live in Arizona now, and it's a great thing in summer months to be able to find joy in reading, embroidery, and painting. The indoor reclusives enjoy it most of all, I s'pose. The real athletes find a university gym to go to to play the tougher games.

If I had a trusty travel partner, I'd make several summer trips to the Pacific's coastline. It's the best. Truly The Best. So find someone and go!!

I love the way we can integrate our heritage with the history of the time.  

Great job!
Our summer is like what most people from the North do in the winter - stay inside and do indoor activities.  And we have mountains, so hiking in cool weather is accessible even when it's 100+ in town, like today.  (Tucson for me where fortunately we don't have too much humidity until it rains, where are you, Roberta?)
SJ Idon't know what's more adorable, a cooing, gurgling baby or the doting parents....  ;-)
Cindy, I'm in mid-state Phoenix. People choose to think it's dry here, but no, that doesn't match my experience (of decades) with it. I don't complain but I pretty-much stay inside the house summers to avoid the humidity. I've many times thought of moving out of Central AZ.
I've heard people say Phx is much more humid than Tucson.  Right now we are at 19%.  But it could get higher when we have monsoons, which we haven't had much lately.
+27 votes

Today is.....

              

NATIONAL RASPBERRY CAKE DAY

National Raspberry Cake Day is jubilantly feasted each year on July 31st. Therefore, today is the day to enjoy raspberry cake. Because it is a cool and refreshing dessert. And, is indeed a summertime favorite around the United States.

Raspberries are the edible fruit of the plant that belongs to the genus Rubus of the rose family. Raspberry plants grow on woody stems and are perennial. These amazing plants grow in all temperate regions of the world, too, making them widely available. Producers also cultivate the raspberry as a commercial crop, bringing them into groceries and other markets. The raspberry was once a midsummer crop. However, through innovation, new technology, and transportation, producers now grow them all year long. 

More interesting facts about raspberries include:

  • An individual raspberry weighs 0.11 – 0.18 oz.
  • An individual raspberry is made up of about 100 drupelets.
  • One raspberry bush can yield several hundred berries a year. 
  • A single raspberry has a hollow core once it is removed from the receptacle. 
  • Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, manganese, and dietary fiber.
  • Raspberries contain vitamin B1, vitamin B3, folic acid, magnesium, copper, and iron.

And since raspberries are sweet, they bring a wonderful flavor to cakes.

HOW TO OBSERVE: 

Enjoy the following  Raspberry Cake recipe.  Above all, share it with your friends and family! it is possible you might like these recipes too:

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

Fresh Raspberry Cake

by Dorothy Barry G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)

Beulah, what can I say? Our birds have the same clock as your birds. smiley

Might need to make one. I love raspberries and they are one of the main food groups, right up there with chocolate
Pip and Dorothy of the Ruby Red Boots!

I love raspberries. I've been stuffing my face with raspberry shortbread (fresh organic raspberries and shortbread from Trader Joe's) this past week. YUM!

I'm allergic to strawberries! Even the smell makes me ill. My family is always telling me they will make strawberry shortcake for me when I come to visit. I wonder why???
Melanie,

Scone, biscuit, or croissant, they're all the same to me. Just slather them with butter. I could eat a dozen.
mmmm sounds yummy!
Melanie,

Scone, biscuit, or croissant, they're all the same to me. Just slather them with butter. I could eat a dozen.

-

Except, to me a biscuit is not something on which I would slather butter.  (You would call my biscuits "cookies" (which originally meant "little cake").)

Croissants, now .. those I would have no problem eating!

Melanie,

Did you know that little girl in the add was Jodie Foster? For real!
Melanie,

I just discovered naan. I eat them with everything. I'm a carb loving American. I can eat bread and pasta until I explode. I don't but I could. Which led me to bread baking. Which led me to sourdough starter making. Which led me to depression. Which led me to eat bread. And so I've come full circle.
Betty, Love naan. Have you had a Peswari naan? I also understand the sourdough leading to depression. I get reasonable results with white flour but my whole wheat and rye vary considerably in quality.
@ Betty -- have you discovered the "cocktail" size naan? They come in a plastic (or whatever) box - and I semi-toast them and use as scoops for dhal/dahl/dal (lentils).

I love naan, chapati, AND paratha.  I buy naan because I don't have a tandoor oven for getting the shape right, and baking them flat and pulled just never worked for me.  Paratha can be a challenge, but are worth the time and effort.  (I really like spicy methi paratha.)

Papadams/poppadums/whatever spelling the manufacturer chooses to use are an addiction.  If I have 'em, I eat 'em.  (Moreso since the day years ago I discovered I could microwave them instead of cooking them in ghee/oil.)
+29 votes
Life and love goes on. The Covid insanity loses again. On July 25th I attended the wedding of my hubby's best friend. Hubby got to be the best man. The bride was lovely in a beautiful off-white gown with a matching veil and face mask. The groom wore a tux with tails and a matching black face mask. The family audience (limited to 50) sitting six feet apart each wore a variety of face masks. The rings resided in the groom's pocket. No ring bearer. The wedding cake got shrunk into individual cupcakes to avoid spreading germs. The father of the bride handed out gift cards for a local restaurant. That way individuals could get a dinner without the need to have everyone together at a reception. I cried, naturally. I always do.
by Betty Fox G2G6 Pilot (183k points)
I'm glad you got to go, Betty. I would have cried, too. I'm just a big crybaby when comes to these kids of things.
I cry when I watch weddings on youtube. That's how bad it is. And those reuinon clips of the sailors coming back home. Oh my gosh. I can't watch those.
Glad you able to attend!      Next weekend I'll attend a family wedding that was originally scheduled for June 1.  

They have lot's of plans to make it  Covid safe too,  even though there will be 80 people attending.  (Which was really scaled back.)

Weddings don't USUALLY make me cry but sailors or soldiers returning home sure would!
Betty that sounds like a Classic Wedding in our New Age of Covid ... well thought out and well done ... kudos to all who planned and implemented it
Wonderful story Betty.  I was once traveling with some Austrlian senior citizens in Asia.  We had an occasion to do a side trip that I thought too risky.  As I'm shaking my head "no," Joe Choc, aged 76 was shaking his head "yes."  I was surprised and he said, "Why not?"  I gave my list of death by fire, kidnapping, getting lost, extortion from criminal gangs and so on.  He grinned like a kid and when I finished he said, "And if any of those things happen, think of the stories you'll have for your grandchildren!"

We went and it was one of the most memorable days of my life.

We had our third child in April in the midst of this crisis and the whole time in the hospital I thought of how we will tell him stories of his birth, in this mad world.  We will tell him his children how their father was born.  I kept thinking, "stories for your grandchildren."

I plan to title my book "Stories for your Grandchildren."  It will have the genealogy of the family and some of my crazy adventures too.

Your wedding story today reminded me of that wonderful day in Vietnam, nearly 25 years ago.  Thank you for sharing.
So glad that the insanity lost. It sounds like it was beautiful, and certainly will be extra memorable.
Glad they got to have the wedding. Sounds like they put a lot of thought into how to do it safely. What a world we live in right now!
Betty--Sounds like FUN!!
The human spirit will figure out how to deal with this virus and all it brings with it.   

Stay safe!   But also figure out how to live your life safely.
+28 votes

Happy Friday from the Palatinate.

On the Home Front: It's the last 2 weeks of school vacation. It's 36 ° C outside, but it's a pleasant 25 ° C in the pool. So what will happen? We'restayinghome.

On the Genealogy Front: A long time ago I had the opportunity to research various archives. I found a lot of documents. I had so many people to look for in the archive of Kirchheimbolanden that the administrative staff made the marriage room available to me. There I had about 20 old document books at once. I simply photographed all the pages with names of relatives. Now I have about 2000 photos. And I will now assign this to the name.
And I just noticed why there are so many. My ancestor was the mayor. That's why I find his name so often in the documents.


But enough for now, off to the pool.

by Lothar Wolf G2G6 Pilot (110k points)
Enjoy your swim, Lothar. (I say that enviously.)
Lothar,

I love it when I find a city official as an ancestor. It's like a treasure trove of information. Unfortunately, most of my ancestors are on the other side of the law. Splash for me as well as Pip.
Sounds like you're accomplishing a lot for your family history.   At least you have digital documents and don't have to do a lot of scanning.

I had one ancestor who was a mayor.  The town population was 500  in 1910 when he was mayor so I haven't been boasting.

Enjoy your swim.

smiley That is a treasure of genealogy, Lothar. Keep it safe from vermin, fire, flood and so forth. 

Oooh! Where in the Palatinate?

One of my ancestral branches has its roots in the area just south of Bad Kreuznach in little towns called Feil Bingert and Altenbamberg. I visited there in the spring of 2000. It was so beautiful, I wondered why my ancestors ever left and moved to-- bless them!-- Buffalo, New York!!!
Oooh! Feilbingert is only 80 km (50 miles) away. A cousin of mine lives in Bad Kreuznach. But she wasn't born there.
There are many reasons to emigrate. Back then there were certainly more essentials than today. I don't want to leave here. But sometimes there are these days ...
I'm green with envy.  How lovely to have access to those old books.
Oh, that's hot, but the pool sounds great. The marriage books are a great find.
Wonderful resource!   Sometimes I find a lot of family explanations in witnesses listed for births, marriages, and deaths.   Those records can be a treasure trove of details.  

Enjoy your day!   Swimming is a great exercise.
My eyes are sore from all the old writings. Cooling off in the pool is the best!
+25 votes

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps!

How is everyone doing? On the genealogy front, I have been made a WikiTree Ambassador. I'm not sure what this all entails. BUT! I do wonder if it involves traveling around the world making treaties and promoting Wikitreeania's policies abroad at the behest of president-for-life Chris Whitten....

I'll have to talk to Sarah and Azure about what they want me to do. So, yeah. Ambassador. Awesome. It apparently means I get to promote blogs. And look what I have here:

https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2020/07/52-ancestors-week-31-large.html

This week's blog is about "Large". Vague prompts are vague. Large can mean just about anything. So, I went with large parties starting with my great-grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary which occurred in November of 1963. Lot of things happened that year. 

On the non genealogy front, my brother and his family are visiting. Don't worry. NH has said masks are for when we go out. And of course doctors' offices have them. We seem to be doing better than some other states.

Everything is going good. Been really warm here in the valley. 

I forgot to say that Melanie Paul helped me figure out how I can present two ladies who had long lives but had similar names. Mary Rose and Rose Mary Coppola. Getting through that mess was crazy. That family is so weird.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

by Chris Ferraiolo G2G6 Pilot (756k points)

There are way too many blokes named "Chris Evans" in this world.  It simply isn't big enough to hold them all!  cheeky

Lisa, the Centauri are to be watched from all angles. The Shadows with their weird biomechanical engineering in their starships are kinda scary. Vorlons are kinda stuck up.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambassador

It is an honor to be sure.  Well deserved!

@ Mel: Yes, that name is very common. Like Joe Jones or Steve Smith.

@ Paul: I see your Centauri and raise you the Borg. =)

@Laura: Thank you! =DD
@ Mel: Yes, that name is very common. Like Joe Jones or Steve Smith.

-

I'll see your "Steve Smith" and raise you a "James Smith" IN ENGLANDcheeky

Chris,

Weren't the Borg defeated? The Shadow didn't die. :)
Hmm....That they were. But, it took one ship with tech from the future to do it.

And I think Mel wins. Wow. LOL.
I scoff in the direction of the Borg. The Replicators from SG-1 would take them out. Heck, SG-1 could take them out.Especially with Jack O'neil.

On your other topic. What about Sven Svenson in Sweden?
I think the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog could take SG-1 and the little replicators too. Muhahaha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-KVLrXWCt0&list=FLsLp3WvncES73f1ID2w4IFg&index=1673

On your other topic. What about Sven Svenson in Sweden?

-

If I look hard enough, I might have one or two of those -- I know I have at least a couple of Sven ancestors, or their siblings.   cheeky  (But my James Smith was still pretty hard to track down.)

+26 votes

Thanks for hosting again Pip.

Weather here in Catoosa County is what's expected.   Highs are 90 degrees with lots of sun interrupted by  scattered pop up showers.   We're starting to hope more of the showers reach us.    I went for groceries and was absolutely drenched in the parking lot  but got home and the rain gauge was empty.

Genealogy:   Another distant cousin from Arkansas (that I didn't know) joined WikiTree and contacted me when he started uploading his GEDCOM.   It's great to have him on board.   Haven't accomplished very much this week.

Projects:   Still working on the kitchen  project design...... counter top material seems to be the greatest decision left.   Our research caused us  to drive all around the area to lumber and granite supply stores.   We're only adding a 16 inch by 7 foot counter top,  but it separates the living area from the kitchen so it will be little used but very visible.

Got to go for now,  but I look forward to reading everyone's posts.

by Peggy McReynolds G2G6 Pilot (470k points)
Susan,

You've certainly moved a bit more than me!  My husband's grandfather had a huge shop in his basement with a chalk board that said   "Think Make,  Not Buy".   This stuck with my husband but it may just be his way of justifying buying tools.  We too have harvested curbside throw-a-ways  and we routinely go to garage and estate sales and pick up furnishings that just need a little care.    So our home is rather eclectic.

I will confess that I bought the world's ugliest foot stool for $5,  because it had a solid wood support that I liked..... my plan was to rip off the  bizarre upholstering  (the foam is WAY WAY WAY too high for the frame  and cube shaped)  but here we are 2 years later with no progress.    Some day I'll be shamed into fixing it.
Open plan for business was in the 80s/90s it just seems like forever ago. For houses it may have been earlier We built ours in 1994 and open was not what the architect wanted to do but we wanted as much light as possible in the kitchen. The kitchen is in the north side of the house.

Anyway, counters are nice. They give more storage space which you can never have enough of in a kitchen.

Oh, yes, Peggy, well curb side discards, dumpster diving, urban salvage, call it what you will ... major life achievement is having furnished apartments with beds, tables, chairs, area rugs, linens of all kinds, lamps, end tables, cook-ware, table-ware ... I was ever astonished at what was thrown away ...  

laughI dunno but what this was all part of that Trickle Down Economics although I suppose the Suits would be horrified to hear that 

Yes, Doug, it DOES seem like forever for the open area plan ... hmm ... this place was built 1972, 830 sq ft and the front door faces NNW ... I day dreamed of a skylight over half the kitchen area but figured with my luck it would leak ... the kitchen-dinette area isn't really large enough to be either one ... but that's when one of us humans goes in there to do something, the other follows on their own errand and so does several curious cats meowing at us and the next thing you know someone gets a spatula waved at them and hears complaints about how the d*n kitchen isn't big enough for two people ... Someone exasperates with "Can't you WAIT?" ... and the cat meows, still hopeful -- and the human replies, "No, I was just ... " 

I've tried sneaking in there, but have not found an hour in the 24 that does not get suddenly "peopled" with at least one cat 

Well, ANYWAY, we put in a lamp, floor lamp, has FIVE branches on it and "Let there be Light" is frequently said ... does wonders to chase off the gloom .... Light over the sink, and a ceiling light over the important cooking area ... with a ceiling fan we had put in ... shades of Southern Living ... one in the kitchen, one in the front room, and one in a bedroom .... 

Frankly, I'm glad I retired from urban salvage for the household in 2003 ... this place has NO ROOM for another bit of furniture or furnishing ...  

Peggy, we've had lots of rain every day here at my house in north Gilmer County, but my close friend who lives in the south part of the county got no rain until yesterday. Definitely been hit and miss.

Oh, I want to re-do my kitchen! And everywhere else! I got on a kick back a couple of weeks ago when I was not feeling very well of watching HGTV. Last time I had saved up the money for a major home improvement project, though, I ended up having to cancel the plan because the dog got attacked by a bear and the vet bills used up my home improvement budget. But I can dream...look forward to seeing your pics when yours gets done.
We redid our small U kitchen with overhead cabinets and countertop "island" to the dark paneled den to remove the wall and put in a large (75" x 42") Island with an L kitchen. As a result there's LOTS of countertop dominating the room. I looked all over for countertop material (a job in itself) and ended up with a Cambria quartz. (But I was concerned about granite since I can tomatoes.) Good luck on your search.
Nelda,

My priority would have been the dog too.....  Tell me more about the bear attack.... was he at home or exploring?   It breaks your heart when they are injured or sick.

Kay,  will post pictures in a few months..... counter top  is certainly challenging.   Can't match the existing granite very closely, so looking at lots of other options.  Fortunately,  my husband can do all the work.  (He keeps mentioning he needs a wife that's a heavy lifter.)
Peggy, our dog was at home, asleep on our upper deck. A mother bear with two cubs wandered a little too close to our house for the dog's comfort. The dog ran down the steps and barked at them. Mother bear swiped a paw across the dog's abdomen. Dog was very fortunate that no internal organs were nicked. Lots of stitches and antibiotics. Somehow in the scuffle with the bear, the dog also tore the ligaments around the knee of her back leg. So, after her wounds healed from the cuts on her belly, she had to have surgery to reconstruct her knee joint. The dog is free to roam during the day but sleeps in a secured pen at night now.
Scary events.   We try to keep them safe but there are no guarantees.    Thanks for the "story".....  pets have always been a big part of our lives.
How many home projects do you think have been born of the covid staying in place?   Maybe we should have a photo contest of covid projects!  

We had new windows put in. We did not do that ourselves.

My covid projects have been going through boxes of stuff and throwing out things I no longer need...  Nothing too exciting.... although my husband seems to enjoy taking out the trash!

Laura, I did up a bunch of stuff for donation and ... the Sig O got curious and opened up the boxes and extracted a whole buncha stuff some of which is certainly in his room ... 

the Mission Goal to remove it utterly from the property was thwarted -- but just think how successful it would have been had I been trying simply to move it from one room where it was stowed to another room where it will be stowed? laugh laugh 

Yes, and we all thought that American Samoa has time on its hands and problems with that 

+25 votes
I'm finally getting used to the weekend starting on Friday morning!  I think this is the earliest I've posted.  Got trees trimmed this morning (only 95 degrees during this task, going up to 111 later today).  A beautiful cool hike in the higher mountains yesterday.  And things are looking up in my family.  My Cali daughter found a place to have her girls physically in school this fall and her husband got his full pay restored, my other daughters boyfriend got a job even better than the one he was laid off from and she herself starts teaching soon (with a paycheck).  My daughter in law starts medical school this coming week.  Everyone is good.

Genealogy always keeps me busy and inside during the heat.  I've been consolidating work started in the Connect a Thon - checking back on comments made then to see if anyone responded.  And a big win on a particular set of duplicates with different parents.  Lots of research leading to possibly no known parents.  And got this confirmed by the esteemed Stephen A White (a renowned Acadian genealogist) this morning!  It always exciting to think he is willing to answer a question now and then on behalf of WikiTree.
by Cindy Cooper G2G6 Pilot (324k points)
Cindy, great to hear that all is well with your family. Nice to get some good news in the midst of this lockdown.

It took me a week of plodding to get the stuff finished up from the Connect-a-thon. Now I've started working on some other families, including one that is giving me fits in Puerto Rico. Very few of the census records have been attached, so I'm having to create profiles for what I have, and then going page by page to hunt down the children and their families. I still haven'y found a birth certificate for the immigrant parent in Spain, but I'm crawling through the records.
I've found that sometimes crawling through is methodical and satisfying and other times it just seems time consuming and frustrating.  I can never predict which.
How true, Cindy. I started with enthusiasm,  but now I’m just blurry-eyed!

111! Yikes! 

angry (he's not mad, he's hot!)

Phew 111! Sure hope it wasn't humid. Sounds like good news on the family.
Very dry - only 17% humidity.
Great to hear your family members are  "landing safely"!   

Hopefully the temperatures improve soon.   Fortunately,  genealogy is an indoor sport.
+27 votes
The weather today is glorious in Colorado.  Yesterday was my first day working on the actual count with the US Census.  I was assigned the mountains near me so spent the day driving around looking for cabins on US Forest Service Land.  Thank God for GPS since there was no phone service and I have to use GPS coordinates to find these places.  But I found them all.  Look for the footbridge and hike uphill about 100 yards.  The cabin is labeled residential use cabin owned by the US Forest Service.  Damn if it wasn't.  Outhouse and all.
by Gurney Thompson G2G6 Pilot (443k points)
Ok. I just got back from a day of enumeration. Yesterday was a great day. That picture of a road make sit look great. Think of a dirt road with a 15% grade and on the switchback there is a pullover. There is a path there so you follow it up the hill. There are pavers but it is still overgrown. That's where I was going. But that was fun. I would say most of them were fishing cabins but I did talk to a few year round residents. Very nice. So here's the deal. The census appears to have cross referenced all known n

Building permits and postal addresses with surveys that are returned. Our job is to find these places and make sure they they should either be counted or not. This first round is just about leaving a notice and hoping they call the phone number to erase the address from the list. The next round and the final round after that are about trying again and then finding a neighbor to answer the questions in their absence. It sort of answers the question about the quality of the data because I have to get people to estimate their age if they can. Of course, for the census standpoint, the actual count is the most important so getting an answer to other questions is ok if they are estimated or not answered at all.
So today was a big eye opener. The mountain locations were friendly. Suspicious but friendly. The suburbs were outright angry today and hostile. Lots of threats, slammed doors, yelling at me for just entering info on the phone and trying to leave a visit notice. I am covered with census identifiers.
So you are doing both enumeration and checking cartographic ground truth. How great that they are integrating the other data. It should help on coverage, benefiting genealogists of the future.

The first map database was used for the 1970 census. In 1990 they combined the Census Bureau database and data from the US Geological Survey. In 1989 they released a test dataset using a new format. I wrote some software to validate the topology of the test dataset, most memorable find was the dead end road - on both ends, which should have been named "you can't get there from here".

"...the dead end road - on both ends..." I think I've been on roads like that!

Gurney,

What an incredible task to be involved with.    As you know,  we scour over census records, some over 200 years old,  hoping the information is exact.    Have fun in your adventures,  we trust you're the best available for the job.

Kay and Pip,

"You can't get there from here"....laugh      I've been there and it often involves low water crossings. 

Gurney's adventures are certainly great to hear!    (From the safety of home.)

I forgot to answer the question on which mountain region. So this is the Rocky Mountains east of the Continental Divide. The main river that goes through Denver is called the Platte River. If you follow it to its headwaters, that is my western border. So I am going to towns like Nighthawk and Deckers.  Sedalia is the town where I do the cemetery work and this is the entrance into this territory. I've already passed a few places where the old timers struck gold and then platted a town and started selling lots back in the very early 1900's. So some of these cabins are the original miner cabins still sitting and being occupied on US Forest Service land.
Great work, Gurney!

I lived in the mountains of Colorado for 20 years, and your spot on their behavior. Suspicious at first, but usually friendly after figuring what you're up to. Sorry to hear about the suburbanites, but sadly, I'm not surprised. I lived in Evergreen for 10 years, and then moved down to west of the Springs, in Divide, Woodland Park, and then back to Divide. Then lived in downtown Denver for 4+ years. Now in Lakewood (suburbia).
Gosh these posts are better than what is on TV!
You go, Gurney! Far braver than I... don't have the intestinal fortitude to have doors slammed in my face, let alone run for office. Census takers have far greater challenges these days than those enumerating our ancestors, whose main issues seemed to be spelling, writing legibly and getting the farmer with 12 kids to remember not only all their names, but their ages!
+23 votes
I will be doing less and less on WikiTree from now on. The reasons for this are personal but let me say this much, I just got back from my eye exam and the news is not good. I will be seeing specialists in the near future and probably surgery is in my future but for now the new glasses should help my left eye at least. Diane finally got her eyes checked and she needs glasses as well, Her right eye is worse as well. She has been banned from driving until August 10th and I have to restrict my driving after dark so this should prove interesting. I watched a PBS show about the 13th Duke of Argyll and after some research I discovered that he is a distant cousin. He is also the head of the Clan Campbell so I guess that is the Clan I would belong to. He has a profile on WikiTree but it is unlisted. there is a profile for his father, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Campbell-14669 so that is how I found the link. I am going to cut this off now. I will be lurking but not chiming in much to reduce the eye strain on my "better" eye for the next few weeks.
by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
We’ve missed you, Dale. Really sorry to hear about your eye difficulties. I know that is worrisome for you. I’ve got to update my prescription myself. Things that were once so clear are getting fuzzy. I hope that whatever the doctors can do will stabilize you sight.

I would have liked to have seen that PBS show on the Duke.
Pip, I believe that it is available to stream from their Streaming channel. I will try and check on that later. From that show it has renewed my desire to travel to Scotland in the near future.
The show is "Great Estates Scotland' and it is Season 1 Episode 4.
Thanks, Dale!
Dale!!! I'm so sorry about your vision diagnosis. dang dang dang!!

May you find other ways to express your interests!
Dale, very sorry you and she both having vision problems ... total bummer
To all, Thanks for the comments. I would like to add that this has been a bad day all around. We got news that a family member is in hospice care and my insurance does not cover anything on my glasses. Just to add injury to insult the place I went to will not accept the credit card I hoped to use for my glasses, a different location of the same company used a card from the same company for Diane. The only good news is that her glasses will run about $800, that's for 2 pair, and mine only cost about $169 for 2 pair. I am not as vain as she is but then again I have worn bifocals for about 60 years and this is her first time with glasses.
It's unfortunate you'll need to cut back on Wikitree.  Hopefully,   your vision will stabilize and allow you to participate in the WeekEnd chat.  We would certainly miss hearing from you if you don't.  

I just got two new  pairs of glasses and the  "add ons"  certainly sneak up on you.  Hopefully, Diane will discover what  "add ons"  she really wants  and next time the cost will be lower.  

Sorry to hear about your family member in hospice.
A small bit of good news, I called my insurance provider and I will get at least $100 back after I send in the form they are sending me. Also Diane made a mistake with our checking account, she has been putting about $110 a month less in the register than what we actually deposited . I wondered why the online account had a much larger balance than the checkbook register for the last couple of months.
Well, that's a partial relief. Dale, you are too good a Notables profile creator to lose. Hang in there as long as you can. Glad the insurance company is trying to be reasonable. $100 back is a chunk!
Dale: I am wishing you all the best as you rest your good eye and take care of your other eye.
Hi Dale,  we rely on our eyes so much!  Take care of yourself!  We care!
Sorry to hear about the vision issues, Dale. They have to take priority, though; may it all work out for the best.
+25 votes
Greetings from East Texas, where it hasn't reached 100 degrees yet today :)  Nice breeze this morning, watched a giant butterfly moving about the zinnias.  I'm busy packing, for the last time, I hope! The mountains are calling and I must go, as they say.... I'm a multi-generation Texan, but have always loved Colorado, and think that's the best place for my outdoorsy family. I know someone who recently left CO for Alaska, so I say I'm taking their spot :)  The RV is ready to return to Texas for visits!

On the genealogy front ... just busy working some Mississippi lines, sure wish I could find the photos from my cemetery trip there when I was 12! Also, I finally added my basic tree to FamilyTreeDNA, so that should be useful.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!!
by Elaine Martzen G2G6 Pilot (163k points)
Don't forget your face masks, we are not yet free of Covid ... safe journey, happy home and other good stuff be yours
Welcome to Colorado! Which part? I moved here from Texas 38 years ago.
Thanks, Doug! We are looking the the Greenhorn Valley area ... affordable, should be able to grow a little orchard (allowed to water 1 acre if you own 35 or more acres, is my understanding) We’ll do another scouting mission in a few weeks, still haven’t purchased yet.

And thank you for the well-wishes, Susan!! Yup, good on masks, and we rarely leave the house/property, anyway!
Make sure you get the water rights. They don't necessarily go with the land. That is, water rights can be sold away from the land just as mineral rights can. Colorado has some of the most arcane water laws. So, make sure you understand the water rights that come with any property. Also, if you buy 35 acres, check how many building rights you have. Those can also be sold away from the property. Pueblo County won't be near as crazy as Boulder County.
Colorado sounds like an exciting move!   Doug is giving some great advice about researching water rights.
That’s so wild about the building rights! Yes, we’ll carefully check into that, and the water rights. Luckily, my husband is an attorney, otherwise I’d feel very lost with all the regulations. (not that he knows everything! tips greatly appreciated!!) We even considered NM due to these issues, but think CO is the place for us :)
When I moved here in 82, it felt more like home than home did (grew up in Massachusetts but went to school in Texas).

We had an argument with a drilling company about mineral rights. They insisted we owned them but it clearly states that the owner of the section retained all mineral rights when he created the subdivision. Get a company from another state that doesn't learn about the local laws and things get very confused.  Water is the trickiest. Until recently, it was illegal to catch rainwater in a barrel for your garden. Now you can catch a barrel's worth or some other small amount.   Anyway, your husband will have lots of fun. Hopefully they will be senior rights but any water rights are good to have. It sounds like they are typically leaving an acre-foot of water. Colorado publishes a guide to water rights (an which court manages them and where).
E, I hope the move goers smoothly. Would you believe that even after nearly five years here, we still have boxes that have not been unpacked.

That's where you'll find those cemetery photos, in a box.
+24 votes

On this day:

1498: Christopher Columbus lands on the island of Trinidad

1919: The republic of Germany adopts the Weimar Constitution

1944: The author of the "Little Prince", Antoine de Saint-Exupéry disappears somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea

by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)
I well remember out studies of the Weimar Government in my Modern German History class as an undergrad. One of the best classes I ever took.
Jelena, I thank you for your third notable notice above. I do wish I'd known about the "Little Prince" when I was a child. I hope all of you parents of younger children (not yet teens) make sure to give your child/children a copy of "The Little Prince."  It contains so much that parents don't think of saying but somehow that doesn't keep them from being close to their children. Having a book like that "around" gives free reign to a child's first idea of meaning in life.
+23 votes

Buenos dias from the Old Pueblo. It is 100F (37.8C) and a big overcast in Tucson, AZ today. We have had excessive heat warnings (up to 111F - 43.9C) this past week and more to come. I am hoping for a good soaking rain soon like we had about a week ago.

Pipster, thank you for hosting and I am very sorry to hear of your Poison Oak. Just the thought is making me itch and want to run to the medicine chest for Witch Hazel! Hope you are enjoying your family time, though.

I got first-time ever hearing aids yesterday and I am amazed at how much I have been missing (and some that I would care to miss). The audiologist even hooked them up to my android so now I can be one of those irritating people who walks around and looks as though they are talking to themselves.

We had our monthly genetic genealogy SIG last Saturday and it was wonderful with some 38 people on zoom. We finished the 'pros and cons' of the Big Four: Ancestry, My Heritage, FTDNA and 23andme. What was most useful was the review and discussion of the My Heritage GEDmatch security breach and the Phishing that is being done on the genetic genealogy sites. The information was very useful. I had mentioned to the group that when I was taking the online Boston University genealogy course that we covered and discussed these breaches. I've added a couple of URLs with stories about these:

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/hackers-gedmatch-dna-privacy

https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/22/gedmatch-investigating-dna-profile-law-enforcement/

And for your viewing pleasure wherever you are, I am including the presentation that Blaine Bettinger did at RootsTech earlier this year. I attended a day-long seminar presented by Blaine in early February (my last outing prior to Covid pandemic) and it was awesome. In addition to his science background, he is an attorney. You might enjoy his presentation on DNA and Law Enforcement.

https://www.rootstech.org/video/dna-genealogy-and-law-enforcement-all-the-facts

Have a great weekend. Hugs to all!

by Carol Baldwin G2G Astronaut (1.1m points)
edited by Carol Baldwin
Super update Carol!  Hugs to you too!

How was the course at Boston U?  Was it a one off or part of a course?
Carol, I remember having some hearing difficulty a couple of years ago and got those cheapy aids. They really did help until I got to a ear specialist. All clear now.

My dad has one of those aids that can wire into a control my mom used to wear so he could hear her when she wasn't close by. Then she quit wearing it because he complained that he heard too much!

Mom used to say she couldn't hear well, which appeared to be true. But, we also noticed that she could hear whispers in the next room. No hearing aids for her! (And, we whispered quieter and further away.)
Hey Pip,

I went to an ENT specialist. Bilateral hearing loss. These aren't cheapies. I am amazed at how much more clearly I can hear. If I don't want to listen I shut them off!
Hi SJ,

The BU course was genealogical principles. It was 7 weeks and very intensive. Some of it was not new to me (using census, death, etc. records). I did learn how to use slave schedules and trace records as best possible for African Americans. I also learned the technical aspects of writing a 'proof'. I did not like that we could not use our own family to trace records. The course was very 'proscribed.' The ethics component was a good reminder and this is about the time there were a number of DNA scams occurring. BU has a longer course (15 weeks) that can lead to a CG. I just didn't have the $$$ My next gig will be a course offered in England for UK genealogy. I have a lot of ancestors in the UK. Plus, I found out they will let us trace our own families. It is also at one's own pace. I have to check on cost first, though.

You and the family take care! Carol
Wish I had a pair of those. Turning them off would be a blessing.
+20 votes
Hi everyone, Hope everyone's week was good.

Pip, Thank you for hosting again. speaking of rain we've been getting an adequate supply this week. Mostly at night or when we don't feel like working outdoors. :)

I feel your pain. The first year we were in the Ozarks I got my introduction to poison oak. Hope you recover quicker than I did. Needless to say I stay away from it as much as possible. Makes better kindling in fire pit than compost material.

This month, Using my sorted watchlist first by privacy and then by oldest edit date first I managed to update all open profiles with either 2015 or 2016 last edit dates. Maybe I can work through them and start next year with mostly 2020 last edit dates. Could someone remind me not to adopt anymore old gedcoms left behind by ex-Wikitreers.

Harvesting pickling cucumbers and herbs this week. So far we've been eating the cukes before they make it to the pickling jars. The mint is about ready to spread too far and will get cut back if it stops raining enough to dry out a bit first.
by Pat Credit G2G6 Pilot (183k points)
Great update Pat.  But what's a cuke?
Cuke is a cucumber.
I'd never heard a diminutive name for cucumbers before!
What type of pickles? My husband only eats dill pickles, and I've never been very successful with them. I do best with my mother's saccharine pickles which are made just a pint at a time from cukes sacrificed as babies (thumb size) for pickles.

Reminder to Pat: Do not adopt any more old gedcoms.

Our mint took over an area near our home and we had to cut it way back. It's as bad as wire grass.

Our mint took over an area near our home and we had to cut it way back. It's as bad as wire grass.

-

Mint dries well.  You can also make mint sauce, or mint jelly. (Americans don't usually eat much in the way of lamb, though, and mint sauce and mint jelly are best with lamb). 

I'll have to try that. We'll definitely have more mint before the summer is over.
Usually make refrigerator pickles which are ready to eat the next day. They last at least a month but we usually eat them faster than that.
Pip, thanks I was just thinking about that today.
Put mint in lemonade! Make mojitos! ;-)
I dry the mint for tea. It goes good with stevia leaf. It's even good with anything chocolate.
+21 votes
It's been a very busy week. Just finished up a week long class on Scottish Research. I might have to take it again in 3 years when it comes up again in the schedule. There is just so much to learn, especially in the less well known sources. Learned a lot and learned how much more I will need to learn.

Didn't get much genealogy done but did get a lot done in the garden which has just started producing tomatoes. Beans and summer squash are also producing. The garlic has cured and should be enough until next year's harvest comes in. Last night we finally got measurable rain -- 0.4 inches (1cm)
by Doug McCallum G2G6 Pilot (527k points)
Mmm, tomatoes! I love walking around the garden plot, eating the cherry tomatoes :) Congrats on the measurable rain ;)
Yummy. Just love the season when lunch is the decision between a tomato sandwich or a cucumber sandwich.

Ha EW be sure to check first for bugs, nice warm yummy treat fresh off the vine  ... speaking from experience, here ... 

Kay: no decision. Cucumber sandwich wins (for me!). cheeky

Doug, now there's a course I'd really like to take, Scottish Research.

Glad to hear you've got things coming in. You sure had a time with late snows and such. Keeping the rabbits away?
+22 votes

Hi y'all.

Fallugia paradoxa that I grew from seed.  I'm pretty stoked about it.  Common name shall remain unmentioned because chilling effect.

Cheers!

by Living Tardy G2G6 Pilot (762k points)
I love that plant. Have several in the yard.
They are used as ornamentals all over Albuquerque, and they grow wild in the lower elevations of the Sandia and Manzano Mountains.  I read online that they can bloom the first year from seed, and indeed they can!  I'm not 100% sure they are winter hardy at my elevation.  I have also learned to my sorrow that packrats find them quite tasty.
We have had some winter damage in really bad winters but only those that grow especially dry have had issues. Don't know how our northness would relate to your elevation. We are about 5100 feet but we're just over 40N (40 runs south side of Boulder and we are north of Boulder).
I'm at 7500' and 35N, Zone 6B.  I don't know how that equates to lower and farther north, either.  They don't grow wild in my immediate area, and it seems I have to drive about five or six hundred feet down the mountain before I see them growing along the road.  Still, they might fare OK in the right sunny spot.  As long as they stay small enough for containers, I can bring them inside if needed.  I have to do that now anyway, to keep them from nocturnal rodents.  I reckon I have a couple of years to figure it out.

Chilling effect LOL wink   Beautiful flowers.

Ha, Herbert, I googled the Scientific? name and found out the common name ...
Ah, Herbert! You can't hold out on us like that!!! I'm going on the hunt like Susan.
Two months ago, I would not have thought twice about it, Pip.  My, how things have changed.  Maybe I'm getting woke?

Please don't, Herbert. You wouldn't be you! smiley

+18 votes

crying Oh, Pip. Chiggers and poison oak ...  ouch

surprise I hope also, it has bothered me since I read up on kilts and underwear (and had my sensibilities shocked), that you wear at least a bikini brief? Otherwise you could find yourself adding to Local / Regional Urban Lore about Coming Out.  Videos on YouTube and photos posted on Facebook?  

Wonder is that no one complained about frostbite. Or I saw no complaints in what I read, which were admittedly rah rah about kilts ... rather than a sober assessment of advantages and detriments 

We have had Weather around here. Outside the house. Inside was okay. Clouds have showed up and traveled across my view and gone away -- and the monitors (airport and downtown) get excited and declare we have 10% or 42% or whatever chance of rain and you go look and there's a sunny cloudless sky ... right. If the probabilities were not computer generated I'd have to wonder what the tech was "taking" -- given some of the forecasts I have to wonder anyway .... 

We still get the Meals delivered, thankfully (both of us) and with deep gratitude ... 

I have spent a fruitful week profiling and editing and sourcing and connecting to other PMs lines ... Clicked my way to nearly 3000 Contributions which 3000 will disappear at 5 pm local time ... Currently -- as usual -- bouncing all over my WatchList picking up on what should have been done back when --  surpriseweird that when you looked two years ago, you found nothing on x and you look again this week and there's "tons" of stuff on x ... 

angel I'm impressed that the discussion about the Standards Of Conduct in G2G has generated some Controversy. Especially in the portion about how to deal with Controversy. I am an aficionado of Irony.  Logically, if the end goal is to eliminate, avert, suppress Controversy in G2G, then it is not relevant as to intent. Anyone can identify Controversy by the time they are 12 yrs old. 

laugh Think I will leave it there, despite the dozen other paragraphs written AND deleted herein ...

Is it possible to get a mental hernia from self-censorship?? 

by Susan Smith G2G6 Pilot (652k points)
LOL!!! If one did get mental hernias from self-censorship, I'd have a super-herniated brain. Sometimes I think I use my "back-space" more than any other key on the board.

Your contribution total is always astounding, Susan! Congrats on another great month!

Hah, Nelda, cheeky does that mean if I turn in a piddly 100 to 999, crying I will be evicted to cross the icy flows of the cyber river is my shawl-covered shame clutching my Club 100 badge ... laugh ??

I think my real underlying casus belli here is that those lovely excess of points (over 1000) do not roll over onto the next month ...

I once saw a character in a fiction book who said oh, well, someone said something about Cassius' belly and that was why the fight started ...

Have you ever googled Cassius' belly trying to find out what that was or who he was? I know more about Cassius Clay than I ever wanted to as a result ... BUT finally stumbled over ''Cassius' belly'' ... I heart google 

 

Susan, a true Scotsman never tells. cheeky

Ha, Pip, after a high kick and a "fling" or two -- talk about major athletics !!! -- the Scotsman in question will not NEED to say one way or the other -- a pix is worth a 1,000 words ... yes, and posted on Facebook and Twitter maybe and YouTube and ... ask your Sig O. See what SHE says about the possibilities laugh 

I've seen a few of those "accidents" online, Susan, and they can be funny as the dickens.
+19 votes

Weekend already.......and I'm not here yet.....good....lay low and read all the comments....maybe could ask if anybody has restored a vintage automobile.....see lots in my travels.... well have you?  Always like to read  the last post and give an upvote, especially if its still a zero......just clicked a zero and got 5 upvotes......that's right....5surprise.....off and running like a kid in an elevator pushing buttons.....ever do that? Got third of the way up the column and dropped to 2 at a time.....then 1frown......must be the gravity......of the situation......then Pat came on......only had 1 upvote left......come on everybody, help me out.....push the up button all at oncecheeky.

by John Thompson G2G6 Pilot (346k points)
Nope, never restored a vintage auto, but I once dated someone who did. Does that count?
Most definitely, Nelda, that starts you off with eleven upvotes......100 if you admit to driving it.
John, we never got that far in the relationship...

I once helped someone restore a Model A or T or whaever ... even learned how to crank it and then drive it ... laid out a long sheet of butcher's paper and laid down each part in the order of which they were removed and ... oh gah greasy kid stuff it wasn't but I cleaned them all with gasoline -- and smelt like a gas station for hours later ... and THEN we put it back together and woohoo it cranked over lovely and we put putted around the neighborhood waving at all those who stared at us ... oh the joys of youth 

Let me see now......got to be careful here...... try this one.....is that because you drove off in it?.....What kind was it anyway?Edit; This comment to Nelda......Susan, comment to you coming up next.
John, I don't remember exactly what year the oldest car he had was--a 32 Ford maybe? It was all for show. Stayed up on a trailer most of the time except when being exhibited and winning ribbons. He had a regular pick-up truck for hauling the trailer. But he also had a Corvette, silver, old, but not that old--one of the long, sleek ones from the 70s, not the really early ones--that he drove when we went out. It was immaculate, always. As was his house. One of those who put plastic down on the high-traffic areas and his vacuum marks had to be perfectly straight. He was a nice person and a good square-dance partner but the break-up was ultimately a good thing. I just don't have the gene to be that precise and perfect.

Susan,   Joys of youth.....aren't they great.....ever wonder what we'll be doing when we grow upcrying ?.......Used to clean parts in gasoline 'til I learned better.......parts laid out......now all in a bucket.......they tell me where they want to go......first drive, here we go......Anybody?......

Nope, never restored one, but I once owned one that I regret selling to this day. Really regret.

What was it, Pip.....really want to knowcheeky......sets my heart on fire!

1969 Mustang! I'm still kicking myself.
No, never restored a vintage car, but I did rehabilitate the bumpers of a late 1980s Buick Century, with 600 mile an hour tape.

What is 600 mile an hour tape, well I got it from a friend who worked for Air Canada, he said they used to cover damage on the leading edges of plane wings

Its heavy gauge aluminum foil adhesive tape and very shiny, several layers cover up rust very well, the bumpers looked great for several years, by which time the rest of the car was falling apart.
Nice lines to that car, Pip.......those were the days !
M Ross, You made me think of racing stripes.....I always though they increased the stationary speed of a vehicle.
We always called them go faster stripes, cars had them and so did Adidas running shoes!

yes .........                               Well, I guess that worked.

+23 votes

Currently processing a few different emotions

  • Shock: Discovered this week, that one of the Gallipoli fallen that I had connected back in 2017 has had a duplicate unlinked profile created in April with a misspelt LNAB (that's on top of discovering that someone had duplicated the profile of Faisal I (which I had connected during last year's connect-a-thon) recently
  • Surprise: The slightest of progress with my Italian cousins (confirmed DoB for one child, name of spouse and a resulting second generation child), suggestion arising to a Brazilian migration
  • Lastly, frustration: Can't say why (relating a topic which would accrue my third strike and promptly close my account)
by Richard Shelley G2G6 Pilot (245k points)
edited by Richard Shelley
Deep breaths, Richard, deep breaths!
Richard: We are so lucky to have you. Your attention to detail and ability to find errors are both real benefits to WikiTree.
+25 votes
This week has felt so long. I'm getting over a kidney infection, and I am just drained. On the genealogy front I've started adding some ancestors from my Dad's Belgian roots.

Update: Trying to do some research using Ancestry.com, and something's going on with the site :(
by Chandra Garrow G2G6 Mach 7 (70.1k points)
edited by Chandra Garrow
Oh, Chandra, kidney infection had one of those and the bladder infection with it ... nasty experience ... and of course they say drink lots and lots of water and it hurts lots and lots until the infection is gone ... you have my utmost sympathy

Hope you feel much better, Chandra. We can't lose members of the Greatest Gang!

I was using Ancestry yesterday with no problems. This was today?

Yep, it wasn't letting people access certain trees and records. I tried getting into mine and it kept saying "this page is temporarily unavailable". It didn't take them long to get it fixed though, it was working perfectly 15 minutes later. Thanks for the well wishes!

Hope you are feeling better Chandra, take it easy, maybe some Wikitree time and the feet up on the sofa? wink

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