"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! August 7th-9th, 2020 [closed]

+26 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: See you next weekend. Please stay safe!
in The Tree House by Pip Sheppard G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
closed by Pip Sheppard

Melanie, I think your mother imbibed the same beliefs as mine.

 She was a nurse and one other very firmly held   superstition was that  red and white flowers together meant death.  She obviously wasn't alone  http://www.plant-lore.com/red-and-white-flowers/

When we married in my father in law's church, all the flowers but those on one window were done by us. This was a memorial  window and traditionally  done by the patron's family.  (the family who 'owned'  the living https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advowson ). This window had been decorated with red and white roses. She saw it on the morning of the wedding, freaked out and we had to  add other coloured flowers  from the other arrangements to 'break' it.

When my mother died, we were very careful and  chose for the coffin, a sheaf of  flowers, pink, blue, yellow and white. They were beautiful and  definitely not red and white. We hadn't reckoned on my father's macular degeneration. When  he saw them, he saw them as red and white and yelled at us to remove them.

@Melanie: uh..... no. You’re scaring me!

@ Pip laugh laugh laugh

Also -- I was mis-remembering about the TV show.  The expression was "she who must be obeyed", and the show was "Rumpole of the Bailey".  Rumpole referred to his wife this way.

Hi all, old theatre person here. Apparently, it's only unlucky to say the name of The Scottish Play while in the actual theatre building.   That said, a director friend, while working on TSP, fell off a ladder while focusing lights and broke her arm. You have to go outside, turn around three times (or spit?) and say (????-I don't remember) to break the jinx.
Thanks for keeping this running, Pip! Kilts are awesome! But my husband, who is German on both sides, has to settle for a military (Army) tartan. That's ok. He still looks hot!
Many theatre people won't wear/use peacock feathers on stage. Supposed to be unlucky - something about the goddess Hera using peacocks to spy on her husband's infidelities.

My Yankee grandmother would never leave a hat on the bed or open an umbrella inside the house. And my Georgia dad, on hearing a screech owl, would run outside and chase it away...to some southerners, white, Black or Native American, a portent of death.
New shoes on the table.

Mum was the same over umbrellas inside.

(My theatre friends have always preferred to play safe than sorry.)
Nice choice, the Army kilt. I bet he like dashing in it!
I know I am a but late. Here are a couple from Hawaii that My parents and my grandmother's followed. Never sleep facing the ocean. Also, never place your bed between a door and a window. Never take lava rocks from Hawaii.
True! It's more trouble to remember the correct antidote, than to err on the side of caution.

45 Answers

+20 votes
I wanted to order my mother's birth certificate since pre-adoption birth certificates are now a thing laypeople can get in New York City (and state as a whole!) but it requires going to a notary. I'm not so sure about going to a notary with COVID-19 going on. Bleh. I guess I get to wait longer to prove my mother is who I already figured out she is, courtesy of DNA and wonderful relatives who were looking for her.
by G. Borrero G2G6 Pilot (124k points)
Certainly hope that you can get the birth certificate. You might be able to find a notary in a local bank -- I know that ours have pretty good protocols set up for dealing with the COVID-19 situation.

I ordered the marriage record for my grandparents from New York State in February 2019. They cashed the $22 check sometime last fall. I still haven't received it. I did have luck with birth/death records which I was able to get from the county (for $22 each). which only took about 8 weeks.
G, I find it difficult to even get the courage to go to the library or courthouse here due to COVID. And I'd really like to go as so much of their stuff is not online.

G. there are many companies that will notarize documents for you online.  You email them the docs, email your ID, and then come on video chat with them.  They review the docs, notarize them, and then send them to you by email.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=online+notary&t=brave&ia=web

Forgot to mention, I notarize documents in the US from clear over here in Spain.  Works great.
Our libraries are still closed, courts started to reopen in early July but not much happening yet
+21 votes

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps!

Thanks go out to Pip for the shout-out. He is a gentleman and a scholar. Or....something like that. I don't know. =) 

The reason why he went all Scottish-happy on me is because of this week's 52Ancestors blog: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2020/08/52-ancestors-week-32-small.html

Check it out! And speaking of blogging, I've been made in charge of the bloggers team on Wikitree's Ambassadors project. If you have a blog, please share below and I will make an archive of all the genealogy blogs. ALL of them. Why not, right? Looking forward to seeing some creative content from everyone!

Not much else has been going on on the genealogy front as my brother and his family have been visiting. We did talk about how Italian the kids would be. I explained how their maternal grandfather's family is from Sicily and how their paternal grandfather's family is from Calabria and Campania. So, at best they'd be at least 50% Italian. Just gave them a rough estimate. They seemed happy with that.

We also started watching a PG-13 version of the classic 1980 film "Blues Brothers". Right away the older one recognized Princess Leia. He's a Star Wars kid. Then he was shocked to see her blow up a building. Whoops. HAHAHA! 

RIP Carrie Fisher. You were amazing.

But, yeah. Blues Brothers in PG-13 is just weird and so wrong. XD 

Enjoy the blog and have a great weekend! Stay safe out there!

by Chris Ferraiolo G2G6 Pilot (756k points)
Really nice work on this week's blog, Chris. And I have to agree with you: Blues Brothers should only be seen with all of its original content. Otherwise, it ain't the Blues Brothers!
My brother and I can quote entire scenes from that movie. =)

Blues Brothers only film I saw the two [EDIT:  men] in, but I don't recall Carrie blowing up a building in that film or any other film  -- I don't recall ever seeing her in any film except Star Wars ...  I will say that I thought the film Night of the Living Dead was the utter classic and like almost everyone was totally pis ... um -- irked when the hero and heroine, barricaded in safety, got et and like just about everyone else I booed long and loud 

Blues Brothers also holds the distinction of being one of the only good SNL related movies. The others being:

Wayne's World 1 and 2

Coneheads
PG-13 Blues Brothers is just plain wrong.  I assume it ran about 25 minutes?  That was the first R-rated movie we let our daughter watch.  And yep, Susan, Carrie blows up a building.  And later attempts to gun down Jake and Elwood (ok, really just Jake).
It was three hours plus ads. We managed to cut it down to 2. It was on American Movie Classics.
3 Orange whips
Blues Brothers? ****. They still owe you money, foo.
+20 votes

Today is....

             

        

NATIONAL RASPBERRIES N’ CREAM DAY

Enjoy fresh berries in cream on August 7th during National Raspberries N’ Cream Day. With the raspberry season in full swing, what better way to celebrate than with this simple and delicious treat.

There are several days on the calendar celebrating raspberries. We just finished National Raspberry Cake Day last week. You will find three delicious recipes on that page alone to enjoy.

At one time, raspberries were a midsummer crop. However, new technology, cultivars, and transportation make it possible to enjoy these sweet berries all year long. Because of these new technologies, raspberry growers now have an extended selling season.

extended selling season.

Did You Know?

  • There are more than 200 species of raspberries.
  • Scotland grows an abundance of raspberries. Raspberries love their fertile, well-drained soils.
  • However, Russia produces the most raspberries in the world at 120,000 tons per year.
  • Besides red, raspberries also come in purple, gold and black colors.
  • Unlike other fruits, raspberries don’t ripen off the shrub. If picked green, the raspberry will not sweeten or soften.

HOW TO OBSERVE Raspberries N Cream Day.

While enjoying raspberries at the height of their season, explore recipes. There are so many ways to enjoy raspberries. Preserving them in jams and jellies is just one way. Another delicious treat this time of year is ice cream. Baked goods are always a family favorite, too.

However, eating berries fresh off the shrub is one of the greatest pleasures around! Visit a pick-your-own farm and experience warm, juicy berries popping in your mouth on a summer day. 

Please enjoy this Raspberry Cream Layer Cake Recipe !

by Dorothy Barry G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
YUM! Raspberries again. This is something we can make, even on our diet. Just tweaking the ingredients a bit.

TODAY IS look at it and weep long and loud because I ain't got no ice cream -- and no way to get any -- well not easily and not very soon ... oh, well, we will turn necessity (deprivation?)  into a Virtue (which one?) and go stare a pix online ... 

I never thought my whole life that I would actually -- in my doddering years -- LOOK at prepared food dishes online -- food I can't get at and don't have and ... crying  

We haven't had ice cream in months! Not that there isn't any. We go with a list and get out as fast as we can. Ice cream somehow doesn't make it on the list. The diet, maybe? cheeky

Ice cream is one of the required food groups in our house, often vanilla with fresh raspberries, blackberries or serviceberries. Excess fruit gets frozen and eaten all winter.

Supermarkets are mostly fully stocked, occasional weird shortages mostly of prepared food that we don't eat anyway.
Hmmmm.  Never tried that before.
You mean freezing berries? If so, its simple, rinse them gently, let dry on a flat surface anything will do, then put them into plastic containers not plastic bags, shallower containers work well because when you thaw them the bottom layers don't get squished by the weight of the ones above.

Or you can carefully scoop out berries while they are still frozen if you don't need them all.

I have harvested as much as 10 litres of blackberries from one plant, serviceberries are ready about mid June here maybe earlier or later depending on where you are. They make great pies and jam.

Raspberries are more tender so you have to be careful, you can freeze them on a flat plastic plate or metal cookie sheet and then put them in the containers when they are frozen, or just in the container right away if they will be used for pie or jam and appearance doesn't matter.
+20 votes
It's a hot one. Colorado should be in the 90's today with an unfortunate chance of wildfires. We are in a drought as well. We already had a wildfire burn up to the street I live on but that was in June.

I haven’t had much of a chance to work on genealogy as I am doing the census. My assignments have all been in the suburbs since last week when I got to go to old cabins on US Forest Service land. I was hoping to get that again but no. It is an eye opener to see how the census works. The real focus is on the count and the philosophy is to count them all. So when we get rejected too many times, we have to find a neighbor to tell us how many people until we clear all the addresses from the system. Yesterday was an easy day as I was given a new home development where most homes were under construction. But this was across the street from one of the school shootings a couple years ago. I cleared most addresses and it was clear that the residents had all just moved in. But the level of suspicion was very high So getting confirmations was difficult. Even the sales office refused to talk and took their business cards off the desk when I arrived.
by Gurney Thompson G2G6 Pilot (443k points)
I worked on two census counts 1970 and 1980.  I was assigned a location of mostly summer homes along a lake.  There were only a few year round residents.  I ended up
having my husband come along on a few trips because of the
situations, to feel safe.  I'm not sure how I would feel as a young woman in the same situation today.   Two young men, my grandsons, deliver pizzas for extra money.  Their
boss will not send women out on the routes, kitchen work only.  He feels it is too dangerous, no matter about "women's rights".
Gurney, I sure wish i could send you some of our rain. Lately, it's a pop-up every day, some time during the day.

You'd think that with federal law stating they MUST respond, they'd just go ahead and do it. I have noticed that here in North Carolina, most responses have been online. We are only at about 60% so far, according to the Census maps.
I was going to ask if the federal census was mandatory. Is there a due date for responses? And penalties for not participating?

Just curious as our next Canadian census is 2021, 5 years ago the response rate was over 98% mostly online.
I call it an obligation as a resident of the United States. I have seen reports for this year that our participation rate is about 70%. I don’t know how high it will go but we are supposed to stop on Oct 31st.  I have heard that it may be ended sooner though. I can already see my case load dropping. From just the interviews I’ve done, I don’t see us getting above 90%. That means that at least 10% of the people have a VERY negative response to my being there. This includes slamming of doors or the more subtle event of looking at you through a window and going away. I've had two threatening events so that is just below 1% of the actual people I talk to. On the positive side, more than 50% are genuinely nice. And the rest and reluctant responders meaning that I get a first name or a last name and very little info after a headcount.

M Ross.  Title 13 requires a response in the USA.   There are fines and possible imprisonment if you do not answer the quesitons.  However the Census Bureau does not have an enforcement arm and there have only been two "recent" cases attempting to prosecute for failing to respond.  The last one was thrown out by a judge.

https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/privacy_confidentiality/title_13_us_code.html

+16 votes
Pip, Thanks for hosting. I did a little on WikiTree but it was mostly with Beavers from North Carolina, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Beaver-1435 . Not only are they cousins but my daughters Mother in Law was born a Beaver, so a double connection there. We will be going to a funeral next Friday for the family member I mentioned last week, Graveside service only but that person has not profile on WikiTree yet, I do not know enough to start a profile. I did sadly open an Unlisted profile for a Notable this week, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Goddard-2245 , He holds the Guinness World Record for longest career as a weather forecaster. Other than that I am watching the road in front of my house getting paved but I have just about reached the limit of computer time due to my eyes.
by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
I can't believe I don't connect to that Beaver, Dale, seeing as how close geographically there were to my families!

I think I'm not doing my eyes any good looking through all those birth certificates in Barcelona. I'm good for about 20 minutes and that's it. Time for a break.
Pip, some of the relatives from this Beaver line not yet on WikiTree, that I know of, are Carl Beaver of Baltimore; brothers, Guy Beaver of Rockwell, Gene Beaver of Salisbury, Bob Beaver of Salem, Va.; sisters, Mrs. Thelma Bost, Mrs. Ruth Lyerly, both of Rockwell, Mrs. Jackie Bernhardt of Salisbury, Mrs. Myrle Yerton of Kannapolis, Mrs. Gray Lenzt of York, S.C., Mrs. Frances Holshouser.
Those mentioned above were children, brothers and sisters of his grandson. so there is hope yet for a connection to you Pip.
+20 votes
Hope that everyone is well and staying safe. For those along the path of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Isaias, hope you escaped unscathed. We had a small amount of rain and some wind; the local tornadoes all missed us and we didn't even lose power as others nearby did. We did have a large tree limb come down in the front yard. It missed the car in the driveway, but both of those maple trees need to be taken down. One of those trees is the support for a long wire ham radio antenna, so my husband is considering alternatives.

Wish we could share some of our rain with those in Colorado and the west. We had a thunderstorm yesterday that gave us 4" of rain in 6 hours.

Our daughter contacted the church where her son attended preschool day care, asking about something for those older children now in elementary school which will be held remotely. The good news is that they will have a program for these older kids with before/after school day care and during the school day where they can attend remote school with adult supervision.

I had a good conversation with my first cousin who has updated her DNA test with 23AndMe. She does a lot on finding and contacting other cousins. We can narrow down where they fit because we have tests for my cousin, myself, her brother, and our half first cousin. So of course there was quite a discussion about how one unknown person fits in who matches all four of us equally. The match can't be from our half first cousin's father and none of their siblings were the right age in the right place. That pretty much leaves us with another unknown child of our grandfather.

Other than that, continuing to work on my other project.
by Kay Knight G2G6 Pilot (592k points)
Kay, you really did dodge a bullet with that hurricane. I was thinking of you as it moved north. Both of my daughters along the South Carolina coast came through with flying colors because it was too far out to affect them much.

I'm with you on sharing the rain!
+20 votes
Greetings from Everett, Washington!

To all of you, a blessed week.  Here in Everett it rained yesterday.  I moved some boxes in from the carport containing photos and genealogy papers.  My husband has sorted through all our junk, and his parents' junk, even some boxes not opened since 1970.  About a ton and a half of stuff has been hauled away.  I still have a lot to go through, to photograph with my phone so as to have a last look, to transcribe (some here on Wikitree) and recycle.  Less stuff means less anxiety about holding onto things.

The best news in months, maybe years, is that he FOUND my great-grandfather's 1851 Oregon Trail diary.  It's a little brown leather book, about the size of a wallet. Yes, it's been published (Washington Historical Quarterly, 1928).  For months I had been invoking the intercession of St. Anthony of Padua, finder of lost things, and had made attempts periodically to try to remember where I had seen it last.  I wanted to have it scanned, and had begun a better transcription than that which was published. Thus it was put away in an accordion portfolio with other antique photos and family documents, stored in my husband's bedroom; the portfolio was put in a box, the box put in the back room, and other boxes stacked on it, and so forth.  Now it reposes safely in the home safe, along with my Ph.D. diploma, and my heart rests at ease.  Nunc dimmitis.

Pip, he also found his kilt!  And he has been wearing it every day.  It's a utility kilt, dark green canvas, not tartan.  All he needs is a sporran for his tools.  He has learned that utility kilts now come in tartan so is thinking of ordering one.  Which tartan?  Well, he's mostly German, Irish and Lithuanian, so maybe one of those tartans that everyone may wear--I've heard that Royal Stewart is one of those.  What do you think?  This may be the incentive to dig up a Scots ancestor for him.

Yesterday four of us Mukilteo Historical Society board members had a dress rehearsal for the Zoom meeting we will hold with the general membership next Thursday.  Husband and I got our Power Point slides ready on the topic of the 1918-1919 flu pandemic and shared it, with me narrating.  This will be recorded and I will send the link. Mostly the dress rehearsal was about sharing and passing the host function from one to another. Also, how to help members comment with the Chat feature.

I miss going out to eat.  I am subject to boredom, anxiety and depression, and I want to trust my neighbors.  Yesterday I had a terrible headache from, I think, looking too long at my phone. Yet this morning I feel more hopeful than I did when I checked in on this chat last weekend.  This is one of the landmarks that keeps one day from blending into the next.  And I am so, so glad we are biting the bullet and removing the clutter from the house.
by Margaret Summitt G2G6 Pilot (315k points)
Oh my gosh! That Oregon Trail diary!!! What a find.

And good for your husband wearing his utili-kilt. My wife is dying for me to get one, too. You may have just tipped the balance in her favor. As for a tartan for your husband,. there are several universal tartans that he could wear. And, I think that the Royal Stewart would work. Seems that that particular tartan is used for so much, especially for ads and such. I bet he can find one. BTW: The place I get my kilts from has a German National tartan he could get in a casual kilt pretty cheaply. It's made out of poly-viscose material and can be made to measure.

I would LOVE to see that video on the 1918 flu!
Margaret, I just got an email that my German Heritage kilt is in the mail.
The Oregon Trail Diary sounds precious.  Not only do you get to keep this treasure, you get to lighten your load of other not-so-wonderful-anymore-past treasures.
The video (actually a slide show) is coming. Husband has departed for the grocery store, NOT wearing the kilt (apparently he doesn't want go to about in public wearing it).
Margaret, tell your husband to get a tartan kilt, and get him wearing it top church. Once he hears all the compliments, he'll feel good about going public. It worked for me!
So great that you found the diary. It sounds like there might have been some other treasures in the portfolio in the box.
Hi Margaret-St Anthony of Padua! My dad was Anthony and his parents named their house Padua.

 I didn't know the connection, doesn't seem to have helped my dad find things, though he was the one who obsessively labelled the boxes of 14,000 slides I inherited maybe it's more to do with helping others find things.
+20 votes
Good Morning Everyone!

Thank you Pip - I always look forward to your weekend updates on Cathey's Creek. I never made it to the chat last weekend and no really good reason. I seem to have been buried in a Kenney line Ireland to Louisiana. This is my husband's niece's line which is attached to my part of our tree. It seems that at least one and maybe two generations, are probably wrong so I was trying to sort it all out. Can't get to the needed research with all the libraries closed so it is now at a standstill.

Other than that, I began more fully sourcing the 300+ profiles I added during the connect-a-thon. This will be ongoing for a while.

We have two grandsons starting virtual school next week - one junior high and one high school, then another college. So, I can't visit them in person but decided I would be the "cookie MiMi" for a while. I am gathering my cookie recipes and plan to deliver a batch per household each week. Maybe the sugar and/or chocolate will keep them awake and focused!

Speaking of focus - I wonder if anyone else is having trouble staying focused on whatever research or project  that you have planned. I think, because there seems to be all this time at hand, it just does not seem to be as urgent as normal and so, does not get as completed as it should.

I hope everyone has a great week - stay safe and well!!
by Virginia Fields G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
I love the idea of cookie care packages!  Maybe I'll do that for my three granddaughters.  A fortune in postage to send baked goods, but I think they would enjoy it, just like yours will.

Hi there, Ginny! I, too, have problems focusing, even with all the extra time. part of it is my hyperactivity, but for some reason I do WikiTreeing for about 30 minutes and I have to get up. When I first started a couple years ago, I could sit there for hours. Things intrude, but I think that the pandemic is making me restless. 

Greeting is not a problem because I can do other stuff (like ordering kilts surprise). And, of course, doing that duty requires me to stay with it, not matter how long I'm on. 

I think part of it is looking at how much I have to do, getting all my extensive collateral lines added, that I just get a little overwhelmed and back off.

Great idea on the cookies! If I go back to school, can I count on cookies from you? cheeky (I'm mulling a return to school... online.)

Online school qualifies for cookie packages, Pip!!

I think you are right that some of us are feeling a bit overwhelmed with the age thing advancing and still so much to do! While focusing on one thing six other things dance around in our heads and then off we go.......

Thanks for the comment and keep me up to date about that school plan.
+18 votes

On this day:

1782: George Washington designates the original version of the Purple Heart

1876: The dancer and spy Mata Hari is born

1947: The Kon-Tiki expedition of Thor Heyerdahl ends on a reef

by Jelena Eckstädt G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)

1495: The Ewiger Landfriede ("everlasting Landfriede", variously translated as "Perpetual Peace", "Eternal Peace", "Perpetual Public Peace") in the Holy Roman Empire is proclaimed at the Reichstag in Worms.

1888: Theophilus Van Kannel is granted the patent for the revolving door in the United States.

Jelena, I remember that my dad (years ago) had a copy of Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki (a first edition). I read it while I was in junior high school. The book is now lost to me. I think my mom got rid of it. She was good at getting rid of stuff.
Then your mum was better than my mum is. When my mum finds something that she doesn't know what it is for or it doesn't work anymore the way it should, she often says: "Hmmm, this part can be of use some time," and puts it somewhere. And the best is: months later, something else doesn't work the way it should and she gets it to work again somehow with the part she kept earlier.
I remember reading about the kon-tiki experiment.
+18 votes
Finally caught up with the latest LiveCast.

Decided I should join the Ambassadors Project as a blogger and regular panelist on Mondays with Myrt who promotes WikiTree.

Currently watching Find My Past Fridays new Hampshire records this week and discussion of the Mayflower. As someone from Southampton I am interested in the connection.
by Hilary Gadsby G2G6 Pilot (313k points)
Good for you, Hilary. You'd be a great ambassador. I saw one of your appearances on Mondays with Myrt.

Thanks Pip

It was mentioned in the last month's catch up and Azure is now the Project Leader so I have joined and all my promoting of WikiTree will continue. 

Another cousin joined recently and the England Project has been helping him to discover more about his grandfather William Green whose wife Amy Florence Buckle was my grandfather's cousin.

He has been struggling to find anything before his marriage to Amy but now that .pdf birth certificates are available it may be worth him investigating. Living in Australia makes it more expensive to get a full certificate.

We also need to investigate further whether I am related to his wife.

More Hampshire parish records are being added at Find My Past unfortunately just transcriptions but they may hold the key.

The Mayflower discussion was because of the 400th Anniversary this month. There is I believe some controversy as to exact dates https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18629074.mayflower---speedwell-arrived-southampton-400-years-ago/?ref=fbshr&fbclid=IwAR3Tgcw9OXxJW5aTAjub4SJi142c3dBlsi6uA3y2JD02rdB6q1hXqqaa1h0 .

+19 votes
Hi all.  Water is warm (26c/80f) and we've been enjoying a lot of swimming.

Little baby is just wonderful, he is always happy and is now quite mobile, flipping over at will and crawling around the room.  At his well baby checkup the doc had never seen such a tall baby in Spain - I guess he holds the record for this doc.

In talking to the doctor we're learning about all kinds of problems with the medical system - everything is backed up because of the Covid lockdowns and exclusions and people can't get basic and preventative treatment.  Doc fears many will be worsened or die because of the prohibitions against regular care.  I've gone full spectrum of fearing the virus to the other end of the spectrum where I believe it is being exploited for political leverage.  I'll not say anymore on it but I find it very frustrating.

Nothing new on the genealogy front - worked on the Merrifield page a bit but have been very busy with project work and kid rearing.  

Hope everyone is doing well; looking forward to reading everyone's replies.
by SJ Baty G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)
Already crawling, SJ?!? That was quick. I have a feeling that you'll need to keep and eye on this fella. He sounds like a go-getter.
The wife has dreams of Olympics; she "trains" him daily.  Doc was surprised when he flipped himself from back to tummy and tried to scoot off the table.  He warned her to never leave him unattended even for a minute lest he climb right off the bed!
+17 votes
Thanks, Pip for giving us another sign that it's the weekend, and a whole lot of other peoples things to think about.

We need rain in southern Arizona!  The monsoons are going to be non-soons if that doesn't happen soon.

I've been working this week on Canadian location names.  Steven Tibbits and Barry Sweetman put together a spreadsheet (very handy tool for those who don't know about it).  Canada was a little sketchy, especially for the 1600's and 1700's where I spend most of my time.  So Gisele Cormier and I worked on getting the accurate names and dates and then Steven and I spent one marathon night putting everything in.  Boy did we learn a lot!  He also roped me into doing the rest of Canada, and then next week I'll do the Pays d'en Haut and Michigan and Indiana with him.  So much back and forth.  France had it, but the British invaded and claimed it but gave it back to France in a Treaty, but then attacked and took it again.  Over and over.   In 1605 the French had claimed the land in (current day) New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but in 1621 the English king just gave a big swatch of it to a Scotsman, which is how it came to be named Nova Scotia.  The French got it back a few years later after the Scots couldn't get settlements established but somehow that name stuck.
by Cindy Cooper G2G6 Pilot (323k points)
Cindy, Steve has as knack for stuff like that, what y'all have been working on. You've hooked up with a good one. And Canada will be all the better for researchers because of your work.

I wish I could send you some of our rain. I'm a sharing kind of guy but can't figure out how to accomplish this.
+17 votes
Hey y'all! (with my Southern drawl)

Thank you for hosting, Pip! You make me jealous with your talk of kilts. I may have to investigate one of those earasaids. I have some Scottish ancestry through my Moncrief/Moncrieffe and Campbell lines. Probably from my Kilcrease/Gilchrist line, too, if I could ever trace it back far enough.

Here in north Georgia the weather today is ideal for summer--sunshine and low-to-mid 80s temps. I love living in the mountains. We have deer hanging around most of the time under the apple trees which are loaded with apples this year. I'm encouraging my husband to get a particular young man who has worked for us before to come with his two boys to pick the apples when they are ready. They could leave us a bushel or two and have the remainder. Really, my husband should not be out there on a ladder since his balance in the house isn't very good at all anymore. Speaking of mountain critters--we had a small bear pay us a visit yesterday morning. Judging from the size it was probably a yearling. I ran back into the house to grab my phone so I could get a photo, but it had already scrambled over the fence and disappeared deeper into the wood before I could get back. I guess it just didn't like the dog barking at it.

The WikiTree highlight of my week was getting a Suggestion 591/592 which led, through a series of steps, to a nice surprise. The suggestion led me to connect one of my 3rd-great-aunts to the profile of her daughter which was already on WikiTree but had been orphaned so I adopted it. This led to the orphaned profiles of a couple of her children, which I also adopted. The profile of one of her children was not an orphan and it was for someone still living so the profile was locked privacy. The surprise was that the profile manager of this locked profile was Susan Smith with whom I had just talked to on Weekend Chat last weekend about our "small, small world" and how eventually we all connect somewhere. It turns out one of Susan's cousins is married to this 2nd cousin 2x removed of mine. I know some of you find these connections with other active WikiTreers all the time, but I haven't so this was a very special event for me.

Other than that, on WikiTree I am still primarily working on my Hildreth family. Received special help this week from Natalie Trott, Jonathan Crawford, and Melanie Paul on military stickers and background images.

Y'all have a wonderful weekend!
by Nelda Spires G2G6 Pilot (554k points)

Oooo, Nelda! You DO have a Scottish connection through your Moncrieffe line. Sir Ian Moncrieffe of that Ilk was the Lord Lyon for several years. Quoting from my shop's website:

"The name Moncreiffe comes from the feudal barony of Moncreiffe in Perthshire. The lands of Moncreiffe take their name from the Monadh croibhe which is Scottish Gaelic for Hill of the sacred bough. The plant badge of the clan is the oak and this presumably comes from the sacred tree. Moncreiffe Hill dominates the south-east Perth valley and was a stronghold of the Pictish kings. This connects the clan with the lands of Atholl and Dundas, both of which were held by branches of the Picto-Scottish royal house."

Here is the muted tartan (the mills must not be making the standard one right now. Here is the link to the clan society. Very cool!!

And yes, it IS a small world. Nice connection to Susan!

Pip, thank you for the links. The Moncrieffe tartan is very bright with all the red and green. I'm sure I would like the "muted" one better, but the page on the shawls said this tartan is 13 oz. but that 11 oz. is best for shawls, but they don't have a Moncrieffe tartan in 11 oz. I honestly did not realize there were so many different tartans. Seventeen different Campbell tartans in 11 oz! When I did "Gilchrist" (my maiden name) in the search, I came up with tartans for Ogilvie. I suppose that somehow means the Gilchrists are somehow part of that clan (a "sept") and not a clan of their own.  All five of the Ogilvie 11 oz. tartans I saw were beautiful. Obviously one needs to do quite a bit of research before deciding to invest in a kilt. Need to get my Gilchrists across the Atlantic!
+18 votes

ON THE HOME FRONT I just spent the week watching (in bemusement) a neighbor clean up not only our feral yard cats (Sig O feeds the little beggars) BUT ALSO the neighborhood of feral cats by trapping them and taking them to the spay&neuter center and when done (usually the same day) bringing them back to wherever they were catched, to loose again ... given her dedication this should reduce by attrition the feral cat population around here ... we had usually two traps in the front yard and one in the back yard ... 

She was in and out of our front and back yard like -- I won't say like a cuckoo clock bird, that's ... but I don't know of anything else that pops in and out ... 

Been slim pickin' the last three nights, as most, if not all, of those who frequent our yard have been "done" ... must be pretty traumatic for the cat, don't see how it could not be, because we are "short" on the cat count at the morning feed ... however, once the furor dies down, --  I expect it to, because there was only one yesterday but she'd already been done, and only one this morning ... I expect to see most back and meowing for food ... we meow back and talk human at  them to "accustom" them ... not so sure it's effective of anything but making us feel good laugh

Once they are spayed / neutered, the vet will clip off the tip of one ear so you can see they are non-reproductive specimens of the cat species -- I REALLY object to saying "fixed" when talking about spay / neuter ... 

 GENEALOGICALLY -- I took a look at my Surname Contributions on backward in time from last month and something like 200+ in the surnames I worked on (MY top 10) and more 300+ most months although they don't show up in the frequency count (your top ten) ...  

now in 2020, so far and counting, for the YEAR, actual profiles, Smith (95), Wright (93), Huffman, McClendon, Baker, Medlock, Howell, Brown, Bennett, Pate ... 622 profiles worked on so far this year Jan 1 to Jul 31 ... and not counting the one that did not get into the top ten -- For 2019 quite a few more than that and 2018 was from May 1 to Dec 31

AND here it is only 7th August and I need only 24 more "contributions" for the Club 1000, and have - I lost count - something like a dozen profiles I did in the last 2 days or 3 days -- I need to "deepen" the sources on them 

And I still have not finished revising the profiles created in 2019 (or last edited at that time) but hope to before the end of the year cheeky ... ahhh, if I'm not distracted too often ... 

Stay safe, sane, sober, serious, sedate (or sedated), sensible, maybe a little sportive, ... 

by Susan Smith G2G6 Pilot (652k points)
I've been wondering where your contribution count stood--you've been very productive. My count is fairly high for it to just be the 7th day of the month, but not nearly as high as yours. It's been a fun week for me--thanks for your contributions to the fun.
Yeah, Nelda, that was a definite blast, I think we all walked away knowing a great deal about Shrimp Gumbo, with -- or without -- the Shrimp -- and apparently sometimes without the Gumbo, although I have to wonder ...

I am still undergoing pangs of desire for a jes' fine dish of gumbo ... o' my lonely palate ...
Susan, I hit over 4000 contributions last month, mostly due to the Connect-a-thon, but all some Appreciation Team work, + greeting garners around a thousand a month. I standing on 687 right now, so you've got a good lead on me.

As usual, I've gotten a little distracted and once again started working on my wife's family. Oh no! These old ones REALLY need some attention. If only we could be warned about doing our best right from the start. But then, I still had so much to learn when I joined.

Pip I noticed that for myself, Ms Smarty, done genealogy for decades, hello Mama ... at WikiTree I am learning to do a Good Job of it, and Do It Right ... There are times when it's a teejus as picking nits off a furry friend, though 

(BTW, I suppose if you don't notice or forget she's out there, and lock up, she can pound on the door and get your attention?) (You should hear what one of us says, when the other one forgets or didn't notice and locks the other one out ... oooo, it do get "hot") 

+17 votes

Buenos dias a todos from the Old Pueblo! It's 10:30am and 96F (35.6C) in Tucson with an expected high of 104F (40C). No rain in sight and my rain dances have not helped.

Thanks Pip, for hosting, you are a caballero! Yup, still working on a proposal for a sleep training program, but it's a good one. Keep your fingers and eyes crossed.

I'm still not going out much, perhaps once a week for groceries, or for eye or ear appointments. No travel. It's a wretched time; however, I want to protect my health and the health of others. The surge is still going strong in AZ. I live alone, and the isolation is, well...depressing.

Not much on the genealogy front. I continue to work on my Cornwall family and am still 'cleaning up on the Lawrence aisle.' I am going to post some information that one of our teachers from our local genealogical society DNA SIG sent for your viewing pleasure. Some of you will find it redundant because it was posted on G2G a day or so ago, but some might be new:

First, there was an article published in the New York Times about the GEDmatch hacking: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgxwJXLfpcRCGQpqmJCwXfdBPZxnJ?projector=1&messagePartId=0.1

Everett also posted the following: "Here are a few news items regarding Ancestry.com and GEDmatch in case you missed them:"

  • AncestryDNA has extended the effective date for dropping matches less than 8 cM from “early August” to “late August.”  Ancestry’s decision to drop these matches was discussed at our last DNA SIG meeting.  This Zoom meeting was recorded and is available in the Members Only section of the PCGS website under “Videos: DNA SIG”  If you are interested in preserving your matches < 8 cM, you will need to take action before the end of August.
     
  • Bloomberg.com reported yesterday that “Blackstone Group Inc. acquired a majority stake in Ancestry.com Inc., the business known for family history research and DNA testing.  The deal is valued at $4.7 billion, Blackstone said in a statement Wednesday. It’s the first acquisition by Blackstone’s largest ever private equity fund.  Silver Lake, and Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund GIC Pte  have been the majority owners since 2016. After the deal closes, Blackstone will own about 75% and GIC will still hold about 25% of Ancestry.com, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.”
     
  • An interesting perspective on Ancestry.com and the Blackstone acquisition from Roberta Estes: 
    https://dna-explained.com/2020/08/05/blackstone-group-acquires-majority-interest-in-ancestry-com/
     
  • Ancestry announces their new AncestryHealth offering: 
    https://www.ancestry.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/ancestry%C2%AE-launches-ancestryhealth%C2%AE-powered-next-generation-sequencing-ngs?mc_cid=da6c8420b4&mc_eid=ca554ded02

Jelena! I am going to add another German family member or two with records from marriages. Once done, will you check them out to see if I got them correct?

Please all stay safe and healthy! Have a great and productive weekend! Virtual hugs to all!

by Carol Baldwin G2G Astronaut (1.1m points)

Howdy from the Tar Heel State, Carol! My brother is still looking at homes around Tuscon. His furlough from American Airlines is spurring him to get busy on a new location. 

Appointments: doctor for shoulder today; eye doctor in three weeks for new glasses (yes, my prescription has changed). 

We ARE going out to eat tonight at a place that takes social distancing seriously. This will be the first time we've eaten out in ages. The grocery stores were becoming a treat, and that's bad!

A quote from one of your links: "Add the pandemic to this mix, and you’re seeing more people falling back on genealogy, because they have more time." I've seen this in my greeting duties. There has been an uptick in new memberships, at least on my shift.

No articles to review? cheeky

Carol! I will, no problem. :)
Hi Pip,

Let me know if your bro relocates to Tucson and where. This time last year, I had about 25K flight miles and I don't work for an airline! This hope prison is getting old.

I would expect more people joining wikitree and other genealogy sites during this time. I can only hope that if wikitree, they do bios and sourcing.

As to articles, I wrote to the journal editors and asked them to hold off for 6 months. I'm working on a proposal now related to a sleep training project and have a paper of my own that I should have gotten done a month ago.

Have a great weekend!

Why call it the tar heel state? Sounds sticky and messy for feet to me!
Hi Jelena!

Danke! I'll get them done later tonight or tomorrow. I'll send the wiki IDs. I should have studied German instead of Spanish and Latin in high school!
Lol Carol, if we knew at 10 years old what we will go through in life we would take other decisions. But on the other hand, I think it is the mixture of talents, experiences and knowledge that makes us ourselves.

@Pip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin Try America's Dairyland! Now that's a proper nickname. The Badger State! Packerland! Ya know?

+18 votes

Hi from southern Ontario

Our weather has been much more pleasant this week every day below 30 C and one night down to 13, I had to put a blanket on the bed! But we go back to hot and steamy on Sunday. 

We had 3 days of rain, some really intense thunderstorms; that had a silver lining. When my dad died in 2015, I inherited his 14,000 slides dating from the early 1950s to the 1990s. That really means none of my 6 siblings wanted them! 

The nonstop rain meant I had the time to finish sorting and sifting them. About 5000 were pictures of trains-he was a train fanatic, luckily, they were stored in different boxes and the balance are family photos of events, weddings, birthdays, baptisms, lots of vacation pics, some of places I remember going to as a child. I have pared them down to about 2000, and those I will have to look at on an old fashioned projector, after that I may have to plunder my inheritance to get them scanned. And some not all! Will get attached to family profiles.

I also found time to sort through 4 shoeboxes of old printed photos, many of which I have never seen before. One is of my grt grt grandfather on my mother's side . 

I tossed some and will scan the rest. 

I have a good scanner, theoretically it does slides but I have never understood the directions. 

Finally finished pruning the magnolia that had the wasp nest in it. We have zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes ripening daily, plus blackberries that have to be picked every morning before the birds get to them. 

Also finding a little time to work on my cemetery project with 2 cousins. It's my husband's family and his cousins. 

Almost all of the family arrived in Canada between 1780 and 1840. They lived in very small towns and intermarried with other local families. 

His father's family were some of the first settlers of Alton, Ontario, in the 1830s, only about 60 mins drive from our home. It is fascinating to see his relationships with just about everyone buried in the cemetery before 1950, and a lot who have been buried there more recently. His 2 X Grt grandfather married the girl who lived on the farm across the road, her family was intertwined with everyone in the village. 

The village had about 400 inhabitants in the late 1800s and has the same number now. Our project will show how almost all those buried in the cemetery before 1950 are inter-related. I have taken pictures of every headstone. 

And for those discussing Scots history you should try Outlander the television series, mostly historically correct, and a good depiction of life in the highlands in the 1700s. 

by M Ross G2G6 Pilot (708k points)
Wow, what a treasure trove to find all those photos.  Before you throw anything out, consider eBay.  I'm always amazed what sells there.
M, I can't figure out how to do the slides thing either, though I have read the instructions. For me, it's just better to send them off and have prints made. Good find!

My wife and I binged watched Highlander. The only thing we hate on watching series is waiting on the next season. This has happened with several series that we've watched. Frustrating.
Pip: Outlander not Highlander!  

SJ: The train pics are technical details of bridges and tracks, most of them have already been sent to the Great Western Railway Museum at Didcot, Oxfordshire, England
One of the best pictures I found was of 'my castle' when I was about 10 and we still lived in England, my best friend had a country cottage where the family went for weekends. The cottage was in Ludlow in south Shropshire, I don't really remember where it was in the town but it was in easy walking distance of Ludlow castle built about 1400 I think, maybe earlier, my friend and I spent hours playing in the castle, it was great fun.

It wasn't until we went back many years later that I realised it was a real castle, of course now it is a tourist attraction run by the National Trust but then it was crumbling walls and stone stairs and probably not at all safe.
+17 votes
Happy weekend, everyone!  Much happier here now that we have power back.  We lost it for just over two days after Tuesday's storm.  Given that the initial estimate said we wouldn't get it back until Sunday I'm not complaining too much, though.  I have friends who still don't have power; the whole state got hit hard.

Not much else going on, really... catching up on some work stuff, thinking about course prep, and poking the cat (who is still a Very Good Boy) every few hours.  While I was charging tech on the power inverter in my truck on Wednesday, I noticed an active yellow jacket nest right over the garage door, so we've got someone coming out to deal with it this afternoon.  Haven't had much time (or power!) for genealogy yet this week.  Maybe this weekend?
by Lisa Hazard G2G6 Pilot (263k points)
Lisa, I was thinking of you as the eye passed just west of us. Glad you 'weathered the storm' safely. Losing power is no fun. A friend of ours also lost power for 2 days. We were fortunate, probably because previous thunderstorms this summer had tropical storm force winds and did some natural tree trimming.

Glad the kitty is being a Very Good Boy.
You guys got pounded, Lisa. Glad to know you are safe.
+16 votes

Today, August 7, is the name day of

Fritz, Cajetan, Lahja, Juline, Donato, Friedel, Afra, Kajetana, Friedo, Lian, Donat, Gaetano, Albert, Liana, Kajetan, Gillian, Liane, Kai, Julianne, Liyana, Sixtine, Donatella, Federico, Juleen, Friederich, Fero, Friedemann, Anouk, Fred, Freddie, Juliane, Fridolin, Friedrich, Freddy, Caio, Fiete, Gaetana, Sixtus, Donatus, Iliana

August 7th is the 219th day of the Gregorian calendar (the 220th in leap years), so there are 146 days remaining until the end of the year. The first half of summer is over.

And there are still 138 days until Christmas.

by Lothar Wolf G2G6 Pilot (110k points)

Thanks! Brought back many memories of Uncle Fritz

I doubt there will ever be a St. Pippin. laugh

Pippin the Elder or Pippin von Landen (* around 580, † 640) was Frankish Mayor of the Palace under three Merovingian kings from 615/625. He is the progenitor of the Pippinids and through his daughter Begga became the ancestor of the later ruling family of the Carolingians.
I can live with that! Thanks!
+17 votes
Hello from the Palatinate

There was a thunderstorm last week and temperatures have dropped. The pool was only 19 ° C. And today it is already unbearably hot at 35 ° C. Fortunately, the pool is back at 26 ° C. It is too hot for research. I have tried to name my many documents. But I can't think and transcribe at these temperatures.

The street has become empty. No children can be seen. Many families have gone on vacation. It is now being considered to test these people for COVID when they come back. The holidays are about to end. We are afraid to send our children to school.
by Lothar Wolf G2G6 Pilot (110k points)

Lothar, this morning I was sitting on the back deck getting a little sun and by 11 a.m. I was back inside to get some heat relief. Even in the heat, I do have to get outside to do some work. Couple of hours should suffice.

Everybody is afraid here, too, about school reopening.

+16 votes
Greetings from sunny and hot Colorado!  We're in for another string of 90 degree days.  The good news with that is the tomato plants love it and we're having a good harvest ... lots of cherry tomato capresse!

So, Pip, I understand your outside work ending after a couple of hours.  I think I'm 5-10 years older than you and I poop out around an hour in!!  Something for you to look forward to ... lots of extra time for WikiTree!!

Schools here have decided on all remote learning until mid-October.  Boy is that causing a fuss.  Up in Wyoming, where my daughter lives, it's optional where the families decide on at home or at school.  The county they're in has been pretty safe ... I think, grade school is all at school ... or at least it was a week ago.

Genealogy ... sometimes you just run into sad stories.  Did a family this week that had 12 children ... early 1800's.  Five of them died early, four before they were one year old.  Then, their last child, a son, was killed in the Civil War when he was 18 ... sad.

Enough of that ... dinner tonight is going to be short ribs cooked in the pressure cooker.  Neighbor just gave us a couple of zucchinis ,,, the wife wants to make some zucchini bread but first I'll take a bit and have some fried zucchini with those ribs ... maybe some capresse also.

Take care all!
by Bob Jewett G2G Astronaut (1.2m points)

Hi there, Bob! Thanks for the recipe and the photo you sent. (I could have eaten my computer screen!)

Once in a while I run into a family like the one you mentioned above. I created a family about a year ago that sent four sons off to the Civil War. None came back except to be buried. 

We do the zucchini thing often, but the other night we fried some eggplant (ground pork skins for a batter - no carbs) for the first time. It was great! Now my wife is looking up eggplant recipes like crazy. I'm looking forward to that!

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