"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! April 16th - 18th, 2021 [closed]

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Members Checking in via "All About the Weekend Chat"

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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.

Enjoy yourselves and spread the love!

Comments

The Weekend Chat is HERE, my fellow WikiChatterers! And, greetings from Cathey’s Creek where the sun has shone with temps in the 70s, nice enough for me to mow grass, split wood, and finish off the last of that pile of river rocks.

On the Home Front: Yard work is in full swing here, and I’m trying to stay ahead of it. I am determined to be regular about mowing so that I don’t end up with long, thick lines of thatch choking the yard. Some of the mowing has to be done with a push mower which is great exercise, but tedious (detail work, back and forth, back and forth). I still have three trees to plant, having gotten three others into the ground in the back 40.

Our creeping phlox is magnificent right now, as is our double-blooming Japanese cherry (which blooms only once, so the name is a misnomer). Still waiting on our irises (which ARE double-blooming) to show up. Our trees are filling out nicely and pretty soon we will be all by ourselves, surrounded by greenery.

Last weekend, my step-sister and her husband were up (bringing Dad home from Atlanta), and they’ll be here tomorrow for Dad’s birthday… #93! He still gets around quite well. My wife and I ran into him at the grocery store yesterday (he likes to go himself, feels more independent), and later he was off to the chiropractor in Asheville. We love visiting with the folks from Atlanta, laughing through our conversations and sharing our newly acquired bottles of something, whiskey or bourbon or…

I’ve ordered another kilt, my first order in nearly six months. This one will be in the Douglas tartan. And, while I’m on Scottish things, I did finally finish The Steel Bonnets, by the late George Macdonald Fraser. That history of the Borders was fascinating and a new area of study for me. Lots of good genealogy connections within and without clans and across the national line.

On the Genealogy Front: WikiTreer Jackie Prentice and I were yakking about stuff yesterday and decided to check out the Scotland:Needs Bio, which is actually a second cat for the subject (the other being Scotland:Needs Biography which is packed with profiles). There were only 24 profiles listed in the first cat, so we thought we tackle them and see if we could start to empty it.

I clicked on one link and found a fella who had one source, no parents, no siblings. (Why would someone create this profile in the first place?) Quite quickly, I found the parents marriage and five more siblings with at least one source. Mostly, that’s where it all ended, exhausting FS and ScotlandsPeople for more information. So, I bio-ed the entire family.

I finished with my half-uncle, William Hamilton Berryhill (where he got the name Hamilton I’ll never know). So, the first step toward finishing the PIP (not me) Voyage is done. Now, I need to pick a new profile on which to expand in all the right ways.

Projects: I’ve been added to the Scotland Project’s Bio Builder Team. I also, joined the Ireland Project because of all my Ulster ancestry. I’m on the Bio Builders Team there, too.

Count your blessings. There’s good about, even in the midst of travel and gathering restrictions.

Enjoy the Chat!

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Thanks for hosting Pip!

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More than happy to, SJ!

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good mornin' Pip.

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Man, you can make ten comforters with all the kilts you got in your collection. I know I'm one to talk. I've shown you my Marvel collectibles, trades and all kinds of stuff. Keep up the good work. I've been adding Palmettos to several South Carolina profiles. More details in my main post.

Thanks for hosting!

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And to you, Tommy!

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Chris, when I get a kilt, my kilt maker sends me the left over pieces. One of these days, I will get a quilt made of them! 

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Thanks for hosting the weekend chat, Pip! Our first iris bloomed day before yesterday so yours will probably follow soon. Happy Birthday to your Dad!

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Greetings, Pip, from the Fringes of the Weird Cosmos ... your good cheer is the high point of pleasure in contrast to news in the Media ... thank you for that 

HOME FRONT -- Well, let's see, WEATHER is as usual, arid. Some hazy skies. Occasional cloud cover in from the sea. Occasional overcast but ... no rainfall.  Occasional warning of 1% or even, one day, 3% chance of snow ... mind you, it was clear skies no clouds lots of sunshine .... hah !! I guess the only thing missing was the other 97% of factors that "make snow" ... hehehe ... not that I want to have them here, I had all the snow, ice, sleet, hail I could ever have wanted those 20+ years in Reno 

Winds gusting some days, complete with our sneezes and wheezes.  Dust and pollen and whatever else rides the winds  blown at us -- some days no winds to speak of or not more than a mild breeze of 3 mph or less ... 

Food Delivery is usually on Friday, but our delivery man said today that NEXT Friday he and his 2 kids and spouse will all be getting their medical exams and shots and whatever else and so he won't be here next Friday and DO we want the FOUR boxes .. oh, heck YES, we'll take the 20 "TV dinners" so Sig O is in the kitchen figuring out how to store the goodies in the freezer and fridge ... having bought online at the start of the week our meats and other items and so having a full-ish freezer and fridge ... 

GENEALOGY -- At the moment there's 1,321 Contributions for this month. I Created 56 profiles, some of which were orphaned, and in the creation there of, I established relationships, Adding 84 relationships as spouse, parent, or sibling ... 

Due to collaboration with others, them bringing to my notice some factor, I was able to correct some errors on some profiles 

Revised into inline ref style some number of profiles -- now have 3,821 profiles and counting, and THAT is after orphaning some I created ... I may end the year 2021 with 4,000 profiles ... hmm ... 

And in creation, and revisions, I added a humongous amount of sourcing, so much so, that when I'm starting to fall asleep, I see visions of citations flitting across a field of profiles ... why bother with counting incontinent sheep fertilizing grassy fields when you can count clean tidy compact citations gamboling happily among the profiles ? Hmm? 

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Pip - I'm with you 100%. It's like having a baby and tossing it out on the curb and driving away when you create a profile and abandon it like that. Poor helpless thing. I stumble across these now and then, and spend way too much time giving it some TLC. I don't know that I've ever simply created and run (although my memory can get a bit fuzzy, so who knows), but I highly commend those who create profiles out of their family area and stick with them at least long enough to add spouse(s), children, parents, and even a short bio. Even better when they pursue a connection.

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Thanks for hosting Pip !   Happy birthday to your Dad, he sounds like a great guy. May he live long and independent!

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Thanks, Loretta. We ate at his house and a a great time tonight.

Answer 1

Good morning Pip and later, to everyone! I can't believe I am the first to post this morning.

We are having a very dark, dreary day here in north central Texas. Yet another front making its way through with thunder showers all day. Tomorrow morning it will be 40 degrees so a late cold front.

I spent the week still digging and then organizing my DNA matches for my Smith 2X great grandmother who had no parents or siblings. It appears that DNA has nailed it and I have a new Smith and a Foster family to add to my tree. Finding this has answered several questions in that family as they were also intermarried into the family in several ways. It looks like a Smith maze but fits so nicely!

I am looking forward to the Thon next weekend - looks like many members have signed up so should be fun.

Have a great week and will see many of you in the Thon!

Comments

You ARE first, Ginny, and that IS unusual, but I'm glad to see you up and about early. We're having sunshine and in the high 60s today. I know that what you often get is what is coming our way. Typical for April around here.

I'm looking forward to the thon, too! Seems we haven't had one in so long. Here's a chance to clean up stuff and make our Tree all that much better. See you there!

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And thus "firsties" has come to Wikitree. =P Good to see ya, Virginia. At least this isn't "first comment on a YouTube video". I hate people who shout "FIRST!" on those. So annoying.

Looking forward to the thon too. I'll be co-hosting a stream or two with Sarah. Should be fun. No late night streams for me, though. Not that again....

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 Sounds like a brick wall fell into crumbled dust, there. Congrats on the new Smith/Foster line(s) 

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Thank you Susan! I know I've got it but not quite ready to add the additions as I want to complete the DNA organization and maybe gather a few more matches.

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Congrats on the breakthrough in Smith !   I have had one of those using DNA a few years back, with some help from a 3rd cousin,.... it's a tough name to research.

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 Keep being First, Virginia, keeps Pip on his toes 

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I have never given any thought to being "first to the chat" and I can assure everyone it is an anomaly. Don't hold your collective breaths that it will happen again soon!!

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  Well, Virginia, NEVERTHELESS, you are holding the brass ring, and the crowd is cheering you, and the Mayor is coming at you with a big smile and a soft hand shake ... AND since you are not Competitive the rest of us has a chance to be First (in the future) to respond to Pip's Chat door opening ...  if I ever got that much positive acclaim from an accident, I'd be floating on Cloud 9, smiling broadly ... 

PS // Googled Cloud 9 to be sure that is what I meant, yes, it is a feeling of well-being or elation —usually used with on still on cloud nine weeks after winning the championship. 

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For the first couple of years after I began hosting the Chat, we had a member who waited by the computer to post his message as soon as I started it off and even try to do it before I got my own message posted. He actually beat me once. I’m haven’t heard from him in a long time. Miss him.

Answer 2

Happy weekend all, and Happy Birthday Pip's dad.

Today is Rubber Eraser Day. The millenials will be scratching their heads going what is that!

But for us "old Crustys" it was a lifesaver.

How many times did you not have to rewrite homework  cause you could erase it.

We all make mistakes, used to be there was no little x arrow to make it go away, you had to work at it, and if you worked to had, you wore a hole in the paper, and had to start over again anyway.

Comments

James,  I looked up Dracula and garlic....learned something I didn't know.  Also started researching Cajun spices.....might mix my own and try it on some homemade wallpaper paste, of which, I got the recipe from M Ross.  My first Cajun experience was in 1973 at the Commodore Nightclub, in Vancouver, when Doug Kershaw performed.....did you know him?.....Unforgettable!  

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The first time I saw Doug was in the late 70's in a club in the French Quarter. The energy he put out wore you out. The lady I was with got so in to it she hung a piece of her "clothes!" On his bow. This caused a flurry of various shall we say "intimate" clothing launched at him. We were invited back to his dressing room and partied greatly through the night.

Cajun cooking and Creole cooking go together like gravy and rice, but Creole does not have as much of a bite as Cajun.

To the common language barrier,try speaking Cajun French to someone from France. You might as well be speaking Klingon.

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James,  I think you must be living in a part of the country that time forgot I don't think I've had any salad cream for decades .Theres a garlic farm just down the road and they grow some of the hottest chillis in the world  on the Isle of Wight. No vampires seen in recent years.

  Not quite as strong but this is the time of year for wild garlic . If you've got any nearby woodland nearby, theres a good chance you'll be able to find some. (just follow your nose!)  Wild garlic pesto or soup or even mayonnaise will taste a lot better than wallpaper paste. 

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Helen, I can't speak for James but my daughter who lives in North Carolina took pictures of the parking lot at a local WalMart when she visited Ohio recently to prove to her friends there that we had parking for Horses and Buggy's. Her friends where shocked! We have a large Amish community nearby and they do not own or drive cars even now so we need hitching posts and Buggy parking but just 10 miles away there is no such parking because it is not needed. Some areas are like the land that time forgot.

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Good morning Helen, I've lived from Souf- En (my mother was an Essex Girl, no explanation needed) to Cambridge to Shropshire and on to Wales. In that span was 12 years on a narrowboat, on from mom and pop shops to the big boys sald cream takes up more space than the other flavors (sorry, flavours). The problem up here in north east Wales is there are no real woods, but I keep a good supply of garlic just in case.

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We have a large Mennonite community about 80 km west of my home in Waterloo county, they don't drive cars, road signs like this are on almost all roads. It's quite interesting to see a horse and buggy followed by a tractor trailer.

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Good afternoon M., we lived in Cherry Hill, N.J. in the late 80's, and used to go to Amish country on the weekends, there was an all you can eat place, I think it was a n old huge barn, they had to take me out in a wheelbarow. The food never stopped coming and the deserts were killer.

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I gave up and googled "salad cream" ... hmm ... Salad cream is a creamy, pale yellow condiment based on an emulsion of about 25–50 percent oil in water, emulsified by egg yolk and acidulated by spirit vinegar. It may include other ingredients such as sugar, mustard, salt, thickener, spices, flavouring and colouring

Had to google emulsion also,but what the heck ... from what I read it can look a lot like the Italian Salad Dressing mix -- has a lot of the same ingredients ... barring the egg yolk 

Europeans had such interesting foods and then they came over here to what became the USA  and had to "Americanize" based on available resources ... 

Did the same when they settled in Canada, i do not doubt 

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Well Susan, congratulatios, you have finally actually discovered the secret English recipe for wallpaper paste, they both taste just as bland and boring!

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 James, NOW you are just being ... not sure what.  

 But I did not look for wallpaper paste on google.  I never ate it, in any case.  

 What with wondering why the teacher thought hiding under our desk -- while facing an entire wall of windows -- was going to be protection enough to keep us alive and deciding she didn't know S from S and we were going to die if those windows exploded .. 

But as an adult (now) I was curious about that "salad cream" ... we have mayo and we have salad dressing -- that's here in the US -- I do not like the taste of salad dressing -- I do like the taste of mayo 

Famous brand name associated with this salad cream, BTW, the one said to have the 57 Varieties? That one.  Brits and Canadians and others of that ilk can come here to US and be sure to find this condiment 

Answer 3

Thank You for hosting the Chat Pip,

This week.

Monday, Nothing much done around the household or on WikiTree. I did get a new Ham Radio but I did not even do much with that except unpack the box. I just felt lazy, sometimes that happens.

Tuesday, Diane had a doctors appointment and after we were done there we bought 3 ceiling fans as well as some other stuff for our projects this week. I also ordered my quarterly Over The Counter supplies form my health insurance plan and just to treat myself I also ordered another new Ham Radio along with some parts to go along with the radio. Again another light day with genealogy, but sometimes it is good to take a short break and recharge.

Wednesday, Yet another friend and classmate passed. Former Geauga County Sheriff Daniel McClelland died Wednesday morning after a year long illness. We actually lost 2 former Sherriff department officers because Dan's dog and K9 partner died just a few hours after he died, Midge was the smallest K9 in the world. See https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/210073-smallest-police-dog . My list of friends keeps shrinking. I did start a profile for Dan, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/McClelland-2188 , but it may take some time to get it up to standards. Dan served the Geauga County Sheriff's department from 1976 thru 2017 and his last 13 years were as Sheriff. Dan went to Chardon High with me as well as his wife. He and his wife went on to college at Kent State as did I. He and his wife had a daughter about the same time my daughter was born and they lived in the same town as us so his daughter and mine were also school friends. We saw each other socially and I ran into him at many of the public service and scouting events I worked at. I did get the second new radio I ordered so now need to learn how to program it. I also became a great grandfather for the second time when the oldest granddaughter gave birth to her son in North Carolina, Just another reason to visit that state next month.

Thursday, Another slow day. I was under the weather and just felt like doing nothing, so that is what I did. I have heard conflicting reports about my friend the former Sheriff's death. One person who was a caregiver to him said colon cancer but the news stations are reporting a brain tumor. Do we believe the media or the caregiver? Either way it is a sad ending. I have heard that his dog will be buried with him but I am not sure about that either. He will have calling hours on Monday but I am not sure if I will go because I know it will be a big crowd for that with anyone who is anyone important in the county wanting to go.

Friday, We are having a new door installed today so my participation may be spotty until later this afternoon.

Stay safe.

Comments

I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend, Dale.

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Dale, I am really sorry for the loss of another one of your high school mates. We're at that age where this is becoming a more regular occurrence. Sad.

I've had several days where I do very little, genealogy wise. This will probably be another one of those with the chores that need taken care of, trees to plant, more wood to split, etc.

Congrats on the birth in your family. I hope you are planning a trip to see the little one. Get a photo!

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Pip, I already have a picture of him but I will probably get a lot more taken when we visit on Mothers Day. Yes I will be in the neighborhood that weekend, in Kannapolis.

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Hi Dale, my sincere condolences to you on the death of your friend and classmate. I will remember you and him in my daily meditations.

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Sorry Dale, my fingers are too big for this little tablet and I hit the star by accident.

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It is a sad day when a friend passes on and it's hard to remember all the things you shared when you are sad about the things you didn't get to share

Answer 4

Good Afternoon Pip and fellow WikiTreers.

Weather here in Blighty is starting to look up. Still getting some over-night frosts but there have definitely been some warmer days. From Monday non-essential shops could open, along with outdoor attractions, hairdressers, beauty parlours, pubs and restaurants. The latter two though only if they can provide outdoor seating.

This meant that on Wednesday the local heritage steam  railway where I volunteer was able to open for the first time this year and I spent the day in the Ticket Office mentoring a new member of staff.

On the genealogy front I have not made any progress with own ancestors, but I have joined the England Team and with guidance of Steve Whitfield have tackled my first profile from the WikiTree Orphan Trail. Steve has patiently guided me through various issues I found with that profile, and I was quite pleased that I correctly spotted there were two daughters with the same first name, one who died aged only 5 weeks. From the tips I have already picked up I am revisiting some of my profiles and improving the sources and biographies.

Comments

Martin, I am so glad to hear that you folks are opening up. I have an acquaintance in Scotland who was several depressed in Scotland, what with a five mile travel restriction (that has just now been lifted). He's thrilled.

I'm not surprised about finding two children with the same name. I have seen it often enough when one died a later one got that name. I usually put a little notice at the top to indicate this is what happened.

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No pubs open here in Wales we have to wait another 10 days. But hairdressers have been open her a while now.

Lot more traffic now the schools have reopened.

Glad the Orphan Trail has shown you where to go with your own family.

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NO PUBS?!?!?!?!?

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Martin, my dad was a Great Western Railway (the English one) fanatic, we had the railway layout in every house the family ever lived in, and it came to Canada with us.

After his death we sent all his GWR memorabilia to Didcot, they were very happy, he had station blueprints back to the 1890s.

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My great grandfather was Great Western Railwayman. He spent his entire working life at Bristol, starting as a van boy aged 14 and retiring as Cartage Superintendent. I now have two letters of thanks that were sent to him by the board for his work during two national strikes and  a silver card tray relating to the 1926 General Strike. These may well go to either the Swindon or Didcot museums.

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We have the Great Central Railway heritage mainline in Loughborough, Leicestershire. I was pleased to find that some of my forebears worked on the construction of the line.

Answer 5

I've been away for a while!  When we returned to school in September it was a new school for us.  What we didn't realize is that they take a 3 hour lunch (siesta).  It is the craziest thing - we take out kid to school at 9, pick her up at 12, take her back by 3pm, and then pick her up again at 16:45.  So, to have 1 3/4 hours of school in the afternoon they take a 3 hour lunch.  Good grief.  The huge downside is that (for us) it is a 30 minute commute - EACH WAY - to the school.  So we're losing 4 hours every weekday just getting our kid to school and back.  We tried to change schools but because of these silly covid restrictions we're locked in.  Only 6 weeks to go! 

We're on 10 day Easter break and a chance to catch up.

Nothing, and I mean nothing to report on the genealogy front.  I almost forgot that Wikitree was about genealogy! 

I remember that there were some replies to my last weekend chat message, I intend to find that post and reply.

Weather is colder this year than last with lots of grey days - a welcome change in a place where it is ALWAYS sunny.

Look forward to reading some of the other answers!

Comments

SJ, we're glad to see you back. I know with all those little ones running around you don't have much time for other things (like genealogy). Kids will eat all of your time (and now with school added to it...).

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Hi SJ! So great to hear from you and get news about your children (even if the commute to and from school is a pain). How is the baby? He must be 1 going on 2 by now? We try to do our best on Wikitree while you are away, but it is difficult without you! Hugs to you and the family!

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Hi Pip & Carol.  Baby turns 1 in just a few weeks and #2 will be three at the end of summer and the first born is at six and a half.  It is a very (VERY) busy house.  It seems like every other day I'm at the grocery store and they're just growing like weeds.  The 6 1/2 & 2 1/2 are fully tri-lingual - one of the pluses to living in a foreign country.  I'm still only semi literate in my second and third languages and while I do see progress, it seems to take forever.  The kids learn it like its nothing.

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Welcome back.  Been a long time no see. 

Answer 6

Good morning from Tucson, AZ.  We're going to have a cool day here (in the low 70's).  Mostly it's been getting hot, enough so we will move our hiking into the mountains for the cooler air.

Since I have NOTHING on my calendar today, I'll do some more work on my husband's business including the taxes, working towards getting his estate consolidated so I can pay those bills too.  Then I plan to treat myself with some WikiTree!  I finally feel more motivated to resume some of my to-do's on the Acadians project.

Comments

Gee, Cindy, you talking about cool days in the 70s! That's a warm one for us! 

My calendar is full, but not for WikiTree, unless I can get some in tonight. Outside chores.  We got our taxes done... finally... last Tuesday. 

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Hi Cindy, I'm sharing that 70's weather with you. Perhaps we can go for coffee one of these days! Glad my taxes are done!

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Carol, I was just thinking about coffee with you!  I'll email you with some dates.  I will be nice to meet a fellow WikiTreer.  The co-leader with me on the Acadian project is going to be here in May and I'm going to visit with her too (we've met before).  The WT community is very friendly.  And eventually we will get PIP here too!

Answer 7

Hi from southern Ontario;

Chez moi/at home: weather has been cooler again, the furnace is still off, but as we have a gas fireplace that is turned on in the mornings. I'm hoping for rain, the garden needs it. This weekend I will plant romaine seeds outside they don't mind the cold, and I'll plant tomato, cucumber seeds under the gro-lights in the basement, they can't go outside for another month. 

We have a grandchild here unexpectedly for a few days. 

Vacations: We have booked a week away at a very nice cottage for a week in late July, plus 4 days at an Eco-adventure camp in September, they are in a dark skies preserve and have an observatory, and lots of other things to do. Zip line and ax throwing but those are probably not for me, but canoeing, kayaking, biking etc will all be fine.

 Now all fingers will be kept crossed until we know we will be able to go. Also we're going to stay at my nieces Bunkie for a week in August, that will happen it's on private property and it's family owned. 

Books: I'm still reading Gaijin, and have now realised it is based on fact. 

Family history: I've been falling down rabbit holes again, it started with the Question of the Week asking about artists in the family, so I decided to investigate a person some of my cousins think is our 5x GGF, and a well known English artist.

I didn't think he was the 5x GGF, as the person that made sense and has the correct relatives and descendants is described as a miller on the marriage record. So now I'm sure the painter isn't an ancestor.  Though when 2 people named Joseph Wright were born about 30 km and 5 years apart and both married people named Hannah 2 years apart, it is easy to see how people could mix them up. 

I'm up to 121 profiles on my Alton Cemetery plus 11, I think from last week.

Covid: we got our first vaccination on Monday, at the Mississauga campus of the University of Toronto. It was an incredibly organized and efficient process, about 30 minutes from the time we arrived to when we left, and our second shot is booked. 

There will be a press announcement today and my guess is that we will be under curfew starting on Saturday. 

And I hope none of you have meldrops -Definition: “A drop of mucus at the nose", whether produced by cold or otherwise. 

Comments

M, with a new vacation booked, we're going to be looking forward to another Virtual Vacation! This is great!!

Another curfew?!? I heard recently that here in the US we are gong to have a glut of vaccines, what with people not getting them (or refusing to get them).

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Hi M, Your vacation sounds like fun and a great way to deal with 'cabin/covid pandemic fever'. I hope for all of you it comes about. I've taken a break from Sho-gun to re-read the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (HeLa) as I am building a Global Health syllabus that starts with human subjects protections in research (particularly clinical trials). This story is what not to do relevant to bioethics and so much more!

Congratulations on your first covid vaccines. I am really pleased for you. It is wonderful to hear that it was a smooth process. I am hearing from nurse colleagues across the USA that the process is smooth once registered. The issues is people finding ways of getting registered here. We are getting the job done though.

Looking forward to the virtual vacay next!. All of you must have been up HOURs before I arose at 8am Tucson time!

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Pip, we have not had a curfew in Ontario, Québec has been under a curfew for weeks, it has just been extended.

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M.: I am glad that you had a positive experience getting the vaccine. In Toronto, I was done in under 25 minutes as well and that included the 15 minutes that you must remain seated (with a timer) after getting the vaccination. Anne

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 Do NOT forget to take your cameras with you, we are looking forward to a vicarious virtual mini vacation while looking at your photos (try saying vicarious virtual mini vacation really fast. Ouch.) 

Answer 8

Virtual Vacation!

This week we are staying close to home, my home that is. These photos were taken January 6, 2021 at Rattray Marsh about 30 mins drive south from my house on the shore of Lake Ontario. 

It is one of our favourite places to walk in 3 seasons, in spring it is carpeted in wildflowers, in fall the trees turn red and gold, in winter it is equally beautiful, in summer it can be buggy and there are too many people but its still lovely. 

Most of the trails are on raised boardwalks that protect and keep the natural area undisturbed. 

It is the last remaining lakefront marsh between Toronto on the east and Burlington on the west. It is classified as an environmentally significant wetland. It covers 90 acres which includes a very rare natural cobble beach. 

In the early 1970's a developer wanted to fill it in and build monster homes, that obviously didn't happen. It is now protected. Beaver, swans, deer and many bird species call this place home. The trails are part of the Lake Ontario Waterfront trail, about 600km along the north shore of Lake Ontario. 

From the beach you can see the Toronto skyline, this picture was taken just before 5pm when the light was starting to go. It's about 20km from Rattray Marsh across the bay to downtown Toronto, with the CN tower.

Lots of Canada Geese coming ashore for the night.

Comments

M, those boardwalks remind me of so many Lowcountry parks and such. It's so marshy in places people wouldn't be able to walk around and see what's there without them.

We have had a few honkers (Canada geese) passing through our area lately.

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M! Gorgeous photos and virtual vacay as per usual. The marsh/duck photos remind me of Horicon Marsh in my home state of Wisconsin. And speaking of Wisconsin and your photos, have you read A Sand County Almanac? It was written by Aldo Leopold, who was an ecologist and professor at the U of Wisconsin-Madison. I still have a copy of his book. It was required reading when I was in high school, which was when dinosaurs roamed the earth. If you haven't read it, I think you would enjoy it very much! Thank you so much for this Virtual Vacay!

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Carol, Aldo Leopold and I are old friends. His Land Ethic is near and dear to my heart.

Others are John Muir and a lesser known but very important William H Whyte whose work in a review was described this way " Whyte was concerned more with the “nature,” or rather the open spaces, that most of us will encounter in our daily lives – the strips of land here and there near our homes – than with the great wilderness areas that most people will never see. He didn’t have this focus out of mere predilection but because he knew that these smaller bits of land – “tremendous trifles” as he put it – were in the end more important to the everyday lives of people than the spaces further afield’.

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Hi M, we are certainly on the same page with Leopold, Muir and Whyte. Whyte is a little bit more known in our research circles as a sociologist relevant to public spaces and urban neighborhoods. Several sleep researcher colleagues and I are having a 'mini' article published in Chest on sleep among minority, underserved, incarcerated, homeless (vulnerable populations). One section addressed was urban neighborhoods with high traffic, high crime, etc. and I seem to recall the co-author for that section cited Whyte. When I lived in Tempe, there is a small one mile square section nearby called the Town of Guadalupe inhabited primarily by Pasqua Yaqui who migrated from Mexico about 100 years ago. Their cemetery was right down the street from my home and I loved November 2nd (Day of the Dead). I volunteered at their clinic and we implemented neighborhood spaces that would encourage walking to help reduce high rates of obesity and diabetes in this population. Activities included leashed dogs, planting native trees for shade, native plants along the walkways, etc. One of our seasoned nurses drew from Whyte's work! Open spaces to local spaces, their contributions are being revisited (at long last) with climate change, conservation and 'healthy neighborhoods.'

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 Super fragelistic expi ala docious (is that spelled corectly?) photos. As per you usual fine touch. 

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Super calla fragelistic...I can't spell without a dictionary either.

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Carol, after 7 years and 9 courses, I am pleased to think of myself as an urban ecologist.

One of the most important features in crowded urban areas is access to green space. Whether it is created after the fact by the addition of amongst other things, pocket parks or by careful planning of recently created dense neighbourhoods.

It has become even more obvious during Covid that lack of access to parks and green spaces has had a significant detrimental impact on the people who live in densely populated urban areas.

William H Whyte was 'bang on target' to be concerned about the people who will never have the opportunity to visit the many places I have presented in the virtual vacation.

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Thanks again, M. for another wonderful VV!

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Thanks for sharing , M, beautiful !

Answer 9

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps!

It's currently snowing out there. In mid April. In NH. We broke the planet. We broke the bloody planet! It's all right. All the more reason to stay inside. It's thankfully not accumulating much. It is, as we say in New England, a "wicked pissah".

On the genealogy front, I posted a blog about my progress breaking down the wall that is my 2nd great-grandmother, Domenica: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2021/04/52-ancestors-week-15-brick-wall.html

The funeral for her daughter holds some clues. BUT! I'm not certain as a lot of the relatives were on Vincenzo's side. Though, it does merit some investigation.

Other than that, I'm on the team working on the accuracy of Cheri Passey's tree. So many South Carolinians. I've been putting Palmetto stickers on basically everyone on her first 30 and on her relatives on each branch. I have a funny story about palmettos. A friend of mine, who lives in New Jersey, tried to grow palmettos in her state. It survived the cold New Jersey winters. Not sure if it still stands but those palmettos are hard to kill.

I also posted about this painting my grandfather drew. It's currently at my father's office: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1219570/question-of-the-week-do-you-have-any-artists-your-family-tree?show=1220132#a1220132

On the non genealogy front, I'm just watching the snow fall as I watch Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 5. The show is good. Only one ep left and I hope they end on a good note. 

Not much else to report. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll be on the live cast for the clean a thon next week. So keep an eye out for that. And if you have a chance, join in on the fun for the year of accuracy!

Comments

Another reason to move to the South, Chris, what with all that snow. Really!

I love that painting you posted. Are there others out that that your grandfather did?

"You can almost see the tumbleweeds..." I had to grin at that. I have several of those blank charts hanging out in my lines. (And hate them!) Great blog, Chris!!

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Yeah, no kidding. So over this snow. But, the good news is it's not sticking on the driveway.

The painting is cool and there are others. I'd have to take pics of more. But, that is the coolest one. The others are landscapes, mostly. Some are of sailboats.

I figured people would love the jokes. I hope you get your blank charts resolved. I have more way higher up on the tree. Basically in the 1700s and one in the 1800s. This one is the closest to me and the one I want to solve the most.

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Snowing? Brrrrr...... in Germany it was cold this week too, but at least here in my region it didn't snow. We're too far down, in the Eastern mountains it did snow. Again a reason why I'm happy to live at 150m above Sea Level.

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It was snowing a bit in Switzerland last week for my cousins who live there. Mother nature has lost her mind. Or we broke the planet. I dunno which. Crazy thing is that in about a month we'll be putting the air conditioners together!

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 well, if you are going stir crazy there's snow angels to make and snowmen and snowballs that are cannon ball size and will stack nicely like cannon balls did ... oh, and snow cones flavored with maple syrup ... let's see ... well, that would be enough outdoor activity no doubt 

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The snow is all gone now as expected. =D So much for the Springtime wonderland.

Answer 10

Sounds like you have a full set of British ancestry or will have if you find some Welsh ancestors.

Here in sunny North Wales it has been a good week. Shops reopened on Monday although I have not been anywhere other than those essential store I had been visiting before.

My son received notification of his first vaccine appointment so next week we will all have had a first dose.Just before his birthday on St Georges Day the patron saint of England.

Would have been nice to have been able to go out for a drink and a bite to eat but here in Wales we need to wait until 26 April despite everything we have done. Not close enough to England to pop over the border.

I am doing a 1000 piece puzzle and have got the basics in place now so to fill in the detail. It is built up of 9 smaller pictures so I have been placing the frames for each one.

Not much on the genealogy front has changed but my cousin who joined is now showing on my profile as a DNA match we also match on Gedmatch so I know my maternal grandmother's line is good. This cousin was unknown to me until I started researching and found my grandmother had more brothers one of whom had 3 children. He was a victim of the influenza epidemic and never got to see his youngest child who is the direct ancestor of my cousin.

Comments

You are very welcome. I've got their names and I'll check on the cemetery info. If you have , dob, date of death, if not I'll see what I can dig up.(sorry)

This will be a good start for my Cemeterist project.

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If you put in St. Laurence Church, in Church Stretton, Shropshire, England, you'll get to there website. I'll give them a call Monday.

There phone is 44 1694724224, the Commander is an artist snd said she will try to do rubbings if yhey are badly faded.

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Names: Edward Seabury 1784, born Cardington, buried 11 September 1853, Church Stretton

Sarah Cadwallader Seabury, born 1787, Eaton under Heywood, Shropshire, England, buried Church Stretton, 16 March 1855

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Got it, you might check out there website, didn't know if you saw it above.

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Thanks, yes I did, I didn't see anything about headstone records. Was there something you thought I should be looking at?

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Just a look at the church, I'll e mail you when I get something. Have  good wekend.

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I finished it yesterday afternoon so sharing it with you. There's a new series of the programme starting this evening. Will be interesting to see how they managed the current situation and apparently made it more true to life.

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Bore da Hilary, have you got an extra bag of patience and sit down you can spare?

James

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Awesome, Hilary! I can only recognize Call the Midwife! I love that series!

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We have watched Call the Midwife from the beginning to the end, from when it was first broadcast in Canada. And many reruns.

No I didn't live in London but so many of the customs and particularly clothing of the time are so familiar that it seems like my childhood come to life.

My dad was a GP and that makes it all more familiar.

Answer 11

Today is....

                

     NATIONAL EGGS BENEDICT DAY!

On April 16th, National Eggs Benedict Day celebrates a long favored breakfast or brunch dish. Eggs Benedict consists of poached eggs with Hollandaise sauce and Canadian bacon or ham on English muffin halves.

There are two different stories as to how Eggs Benedict came to be.

• In 1894 stockbroker Lemuel Benedict ordered “buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and a side of Hollandaise”  at the Waldorf Hotel. They were so impressed with the dish that they put it on the menu, substituting ham and English muffins in place of the bacon and toast.
• In the early 18th century, Pope Benedict XIII liked an egg dish so much that he requested it time and time again. Many believe that Pope Benedict XIII had an illness that added to his desire for this particular egg dish, hence the name Eggs Benedict.

Some restaurants serve their own versions of Eggs Benedict. Mix it up by substituting the ham for salmon or corned beef. Add sliced tomatoes or steamed asparagus. Replace the English muffin with thick, crusty toast or thin, crisp bagels. There are so many ways to be creative in the kitchen. The important elements with Eggs Benedict are properly poached eggs and a perfect hollandaise sauce. When the yolk and sauce blend with all the other ingredients, this meal is divine. 

HOW TO OBSERVE National Eggs Benedict Day

Treat yourself to a delicious breakfast of Eggs Benedict at home or your favorite breakfast restaurant. Learn how to poach the perfect egg. Then whip up a delicious hollandaise sauce, too. It’s one of The Seven Mother Sauces used in cooking. Find out more about the types of sauces used and how to make them. Try making the recipe below or share one of your own. 

Eggs Benedict

Comments

Hi Dorothy! Love eggs, not so crazy about the Benedict, unless it's Cumberbatch!

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Haven't quite got the courage up to try to make these, but they sound good.

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I love these, but I only get them when eating out. Thanks, Dorothy, for another great post!

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I'd take the eggs and muffin, hold the sauce -- might take sausage not bacon ... hmm not ham either .. I like sausage, peppery sausage ... and scrambled eggs on a muffin ... yes 

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I tried it once. Do NOT like Hollandaise Sauce!

Just today I made for myself an egg dish named 'The Jonesy', on the menu at a truckstop I used to stop at regularly in Cameron, Missouri. A bed of crumbled biscuits, thin layer of peppered cream gravy, sausage patty layer, eggs over-medium layer, then smother in the same gravy. Sometimes I add Jalapeno Peppers. Cheap to make and tastes great. Don't ask me about the calorie or fat content, I only do it 3 or 4 times a month, though.

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Yep, bicuits and gravy, a Southern states special ... with a side of sausage or bacon or sometimes a slice of ham, the dinner plate covered with it, and coffee strong enough to sterilize your tonsils, and a toothpick and a mint in foil ...  you CAN have a side of eggs, scrambled or over easy, yes, but who needs it ... I didn't.  I have eaten biscuits and gravy in 15 different states in this US ...

take a few slices of beef jerky and some hot water, simmer over the fire, when the jerky was soft, use the water for gravy by stirring in the flour and salt & pepper; and biscuits were soda biscuits usually; then, pull out the tin pie plate and add a bit of the jerky, a few soda biscuits and ladle up the gravy  ... breakfast or lunch or dinner or all three, it filled the belly, said my daddy

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I'd swap the bacon with spinach and have eggs florentine. If you forget the butter in the hollandaise you can almost convince yourself that it's a healthy breakfast.

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I really like Eggs Benedict, without the eggs! The best part of it is the Hollandaise sauce, which is actually quite easy to make.

Answer 12

Buenos Dias from the Old Pueblo. It's 63F (17.2C) and a tad overcast with an expected high of 76F (24.4C). I wouldn't mind a bit of rain!

It's been a week! Last Friday evening I requested a trial run of the DNA proof I was doing for our Pima County Genealogical Society (PCGS). I had finished a lengthy message to a group of research colleagues about 4pm. The trial zoom was scheduled for 5pm. When the time came, I was unable to connect with my PCGS colleague. I ended up going to a friend's home Saturday morning and imposing on him for the use of his computer to do the presentation from 8:30-9:30am. I had to take this lousy Dell to the Geek Squad. It turns out that for whatever reason the 'Airplane Mode' self-connected. So now were back on internet connectivity, but last Friday night to Saturday morning was a nightmare!

In other news, it looks like we have found memory care placement for our mum. My brother has worked hard with the social worker to find something that will be best and suitable. He, my sister, niece and mum will be going on Monday to check out the senior living and mum's status will be assessed to determine level of care. She will have her own bedroom with living area and can have her own furniture brought in. My brother keeps in touch almost daily. BTW...he's been a retired sheriff for a number of years, but was just appointed to the local Police and Fire Commission. It would be terrific if they had him doing some community/law enforcement training as he has an incredible skill in this area. It's needed now more than ever.

Separate from the zoom presentation on my proof for our DNA SIG, I have been working on connecting Richardson kin. For the longest time, Elizabeth Hadley Richardson (Papa Hemingway's first wife) has been bereft of her Richardson ancestry. I'm very close to connecting her Richardson line with the existing Richardson's on Wikitree. We share PGM ancestor Ezekiel Richardson, who came to Massachusetts with Winthrop's fleet. I worked on her Hadley line about six months ago (unbeknown to me at the time that is where her Hadley name came from). That line held a number of homeopaths and their store is still located in Boston! In other genealogy news, I begin my first Mastering Genealogical Proof with Cyndi Ingle this Wednesday. I have my book and keyboard is poised!

Pip! Thank you for wrangling the weekend chat! Here's wishing everyone a productive and healthy week! And here's to the Thon next Friday - Go for the Gold Mighty Oaks!

Comments

Carol, I know that having your mom in a care facility will be a relief for you (and for your kin). It was for us, especially my mom and younger brother who were doing all the care-giving at home with my dad. He was already into four years of Alzheimer’s (since he retired with disability. It was a very difficult four years (I was there for most of it), and we almost breathed a sigh of relief, as sad as it made us, to have dad being taken care of outside the home.

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Hello {{{Carol}}}! I could feel your frustration about the computer not working. Amazing how dependent we've become. I'm the same whenever something goes wrong with mine.

My Eb Buckingham first married Catharine Putnam (he married 3 times). Their son Catharinus was a Civil War General. I adopted Rufus's children because they were orphan profiles and 5th cousins. Guess that would make us related to some nth degree.

I already knew a lot about Eb and his family because he and John Mathews (Increase's older brother) were both surveyors and participated in joint ventures. Later in life they had a quarrel, so I'd like to read more of John's papers at Marietta College when/if I go to Ohio.

Awesome that we're related through the Fullers! Will have to call you Coz from now on! LOL Wish I could break through the brick wall for Margaret Hunt! Toying with the idea of writing a novel about her. Was she born on the wrong side of the sheet? How do her and John seem to appear out of thin air? LOL

Hope everything moves smoothly now that you've found what sounds like a great place for your mom. Have a great weekend {{{Coz}}} and a much better week!

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Hi {{{Coz}}}! I did more research into the two Buckinghams by searching archive.org for the family genealogy. I now admit I was mistaken and the rejection of my proposed match was correct. *egg on face!*

According to that genealogy, there were 2 Ebenezer boys who lived during the same time. The older one born in 1772 died in 1796. Mine was born in 1778. Doesn't make sense to me to have 2 sons with the same name, especially when the first was still living!

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Hi {{{Coz}}}! I have seen children with the same first name on several occasions! Sometimes a child with the same first name died and the second child was given that name. Other times they have the same first name, but a different middle name. Genealogy...gotta love it!

Answer 13

It's Springtime in the Rockies!  That means, weather wise, sun, rain, wind, snow, warm, cold, etc ... yep we get it all.  Snowed a bit yesterday evening and last night.  Stuck mainly on the grassy areas ... so, very little or no shoveling required.  Supposed to get a bit more tonight ... 3 or so inches.  That might mean shoveling.  Then on Sunday morning it might be in the low 20's ... We have some Asiatic Lilies that are sprouting and will need to be covered.

Genealogy wise, I'm still pluggin' along.  One of the things I'm working on is how I format Find A Grave sources.  I had my own way of doing that for years but now I'm using the WT format ... {{FindAGrave|xxxxx}} ... and I go searching for my old entries and fix 'em up.  Also, on the old dogs and new tricks list, I "discovered" that double clicking on a word or number on a text page will select it ... then it's just Ctrl c and Ctrl v to get it into a profile ... ie FAG numbers.

Ran across a 'funny' source on FamilySearch ... a person I was working on married an Olive Rosetta xxx (can't remember her last name).  Found the marriage source but it had her name entered as Oliver!  Got that 'R' in the wrong spot.  And, it wasn't FamilySearch's problem as there was a document on the source with that spelling ... gave me a smile.

Comments

Poor Bob, I had to laugh at your description of a Colorado spring!

I still come across FindAGrave citations I did early on that need the same treatment. I have no idea how many I placed. Must be a lot, I’m finding them here and there. BTW, I learned that if your triple click in a FS citation, it highlights all of it for the Control C and V. Makes things so much simpler!

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I probably should get a new keyboard but would probably just wear the lettering off the C and V keys like the one I have now.

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Haha. Kay, my poor keyboards get so much abuse, especially when they don’t read my mind.

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I love the copy and paste feature.  It cuts my poor agility so
much on those cold starts, until the coffee and acetaminophen have had time to kick in.

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I don’t do any WikiTreeing until I have at least two cups in me, Beulah!

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Ah, morning coffee is a must.  My daughter has converted me over from just black to adding French Vanilla Coffee-Mate ... yum.

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The first year I was teaching school there were two overweight teachers vieing for leadership in losing weight at the coffee get together.  They both tried to get me to drink mine black like they did.  It never stuck, it tasted just horrible to me.  (I grew up never having coffee, because my mother hardly could feed us regular food without expensive coffee added to grocery money she didn't usually have.)  But I was the winner.  They both regularly pigged out on massive meals and never lost weight with black coffee, and at 5-8 and 125 lbs., I did just fine and never had to worry about that, to me, sour taste.
I

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Oh, Bob, you’ve really got to try the Vanilla-Caramel. To die for!

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Beulah, I am the ONLY family member aside from one of my daughters who flavors coffee. I usually keep several choices around for whatever mood I’m in. I’m trying to get the FDA to declare coffee an essential food group. I was successful with bacon.

Answer 14

Greetings from Everett, Washington.

I am happy to report that I am out of quarantine.  I am still coughing up meldrops which are the color of mel (honey) and full of battle casualties, including those heroic Killer M leucocytes that did yeoman service. They all deserve medals but instead get a decent burial in my stomach where the proteins will be recycled into more proteins, ever vigilant.

Yesterday I left for the local supermarket in my car. The fire department had blocked off the street.  So that's where the fire was, I thought.  Yes, my husband had heard what sounded like explosions in the night and then sirens.  Today we learn that in the house fire a 40-year-old man and his 7-year daughter were killed.

This was a neighbor who led an unusual, DIY kind of life in an A-frame in back of another house, where he raised exotic animals (once I encountered his kangaroo while driving) and also emus as well as less exotic critters. He had an enormously jacked up Jeep with no muffler. Early Thursday morning some relatives and neighbors wanted to get into the woods to search for the emus but had to wait because of the human fatalities.  The emus have been recovered from what I hear. Emus don't make distress cries, do they?  Anyhow, were I to take a walk this morning in this lovely sunny weather, I would be reminded of all that.

I remain more puzzled than ever about masks, transmission and statistics.  My daughter's sinus and nasal problem flared up Tuesday. She went to the same clinic where I got tested and she tested negative. Huh?? We came down with the same symptoms about the same time (she a day earlier) and I'm positive and she's negative?? She is fine today.  So where and when did this COVID fairy tap ME on the shoulder and no one else in the Summitt family?  We all go to church together; we stay far, far away from other people...I alone went to the hairdresser's once, and both I and the hairdresser wore masks the whole time. It makes me believe we still don't know enough about transmission.

Wikitree has become a grind.  This is why I generally stay away from competitions.  I trace an African-American family as far back as the 1870 Census, where it deadends, then bring it forward as far as the 1940 Census, where it deadends among the living, and repeat, repeat. The unconnected branch is long and narrow and still no connections in sight.  

My husband is working from home until he can go back on the 21st; my son is at home until that date also.

Husband and children finally got to see Godzilla vs. Kong in a theater last night.  It was everything they predicted. It's strange to hear my son say "MEH" about a Godzilla movie. I have yet to ask my daughter what she thought of the theater experience.  She is scheduled to return to work May 7.  

I have been slowly finishing a quilt.  Just need to create more space.  It is strange to have only one dog in the house now.  My best to you all week.

Comments

So sorry to hear about the man and his daughter who died, how terrible.

Don't pay too much attention to the test results.  The PCA test is only accurate at 25 amplifications.  Sadly, for political (and funding) reasons, the test is repeated out to 40 times giving a lot of false positives.

Here in Europe influenza is down 97% in the past year.  The missing flu cases were mislabeled as covid.  It is impossible that the masks could block all the flu but not covid and the common cold.  My kids brought home colds six times in the past 12 months.

Get lots of rest, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, get lots of fresh air, exercise.  Keep your immune system up and you'll have a happier life for it.  I used to worry about covid but not any more.

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I am with you, cousin SJ. I don't worry anymore.  The test was done while I was having symptoms, so I must have caught SOMETHING.  I plan to follow your advice about the sunshine, fresh vegetation and exercise.

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Tell me if you've ever heard about colloidal silver.  I read an article about it when covid broke out and I researched it, ordered some, and I'm completely sold on it now.

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> website Colloidal Silver: Uses, Benefits and Dangers

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I have not heard of colloidal silver. Not terribly interested, sorry.

I learned yesterday that on Memorial Day (May 31st) I will be having my first LIVE public speaking gig in over 2 years. The Pioneer Cemetery event is on! The Mayor of Mukilteo wants this to happen!  Me in costume as EmCee. I have been testing my pipes and am discovering they are not ready. Also, were it to happen today I would try to do it with a mask on.  At least I know that the program will focus on the soldier we did not know of before.  I bring the cookies, mini oranges (for the Japanese graves) and probably some fresh flowers for our soldier friend.

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Margaret, I’ve had the same difficulty with African-American families. I can go back to the 1870s where I hit a dead end, usually. Sad.

Hunting for escaped emus in the woods... I can only imagine!

Would love to see your quilt when you get finished.

Answer 15

Hi from a dazzling April day in England. Haven't had much to say lately as it's been the same and the same and.......... Last Monday we were given more latitude and we are now  allowed to leave the five square miles that is our town. For various reasons not many hospitality businesses have so far taken the opportunity of serving in the open air but we had lunch booked today in one of our favourite rural pubs, it is, after all, our 61st wedding anniversary, though how we have survived Covid I simply don't know. Stubbornness, I suppose. Lunch was homely but the steak and kidney pudding was wonderful, lots of tender steak and plenty of kidney, superb suet pastry, really special gravy, perfect mash, and enough greens to make one believe it was doing us good! Everyone was cheerful but it's obvious they'll need more staff to continue running the place out of doors, it's takes twice as long to serve each dish.

Spring has really sprung at last, it's that wonderful time when the bright green leaves are just appearing everywhere, slightly lemony and so very bright. It reminded me of a gorgeous morning nearly twenty years ago. We had landed at Heathrow early in the morning after a long working weekend in Chicago. It had snowed the morning we left (Picture me that morning outside the hotel in the dark running around with trousers and jacket over my pjs throwing snowballs at nothing. The English, I have discovered, are allowed to be a bit eccentric. We never get enough snow) but in England the drive home down an almost empty motorway was a promise of summer to come. One of those mornings I will never forget. today was like that and more. The council didn't do much hedge and verge trimming last year which has led to an abundance of hawthorn flowers, white as snow, and an excess of bright yellow gorse. Nature does seem able to outpaint the hand of man. When we reached the coast out muddy grey/green sea was a sparkling Mediterranean blue and to cap it all as we approached the local airfield a spitfire took off banking right over us and disappearing off up into the wide blue yonder, just like a movie. Must find out what it's doing here. rumour has it you can take a trip for about £3000 which is a lot of dollars.

What a wonderful anniversary. I am so grateful for the extraordinary sacrifices millions of young people have made so that people like us can have a few more years to enjoy our lives.

Wikiwise I'm still writing up bios and making new connections among the English middle classes, I've joined up so many loose ends that we must all be closer together, mustn't we?

Comments

Happy Anniversary! I hope you have many more years to share together!

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Hi C, 'Spitfire' as in WWII Spitfire? Wow! That's a nice anniversary gift. And I will add my Happy Anniversary to you as well. Have a great day!

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C, your description of spring where you love is enchanting. I wish I was there to see it.

Happy anniversary to you and your hubby. What an achievement!

Answer 16

Greetings from Brightlingsea, Essex, England.

Life took a step closer to normality this week in England. The non-essential shops can open, Hairdressers are back in business and pubs are back in business only if they can operate outside.....  Though I have not been rushing anywhere this week, I probably am most in need of a haircut.   Am hoping to hear about my second "jab" in a couple of weeks, be good to get that done.

Weather has generally been dry this week apart from Thursday when we had some showers. Nice when the sun has been out. Its been cool generally.

In regard to Wikitree have done over 100 contributions this month which I am pleased with. Been looking at my connections to the Goodyear family of Stourbridge, Worcestershire and filling in gaps with them.

The union flag has flown at half mast this week on the Town Flagpole in Victoria Place,  on account of the death of Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and a church service this evening in St James Church in Victoria Place also  to commemorate his life. A number of Members from the Royal Naval Association will be attending in recognition of Prince Philp's service with the Royal Navy.

Signing off. chat again next week

Comments

Going to be a period of adjustment, here, I'm accustomed to seeing QE2 with her consort Prince Philip 2 steps or so behind her ... next year we'll see her and not him and that's when it will "come home" he's passed away

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Always glad to hear from Brightlingsea, Chris.

I watched the service on BBC this morning for Prince Philip. My wife and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who was who. Hard to tell sometimes with all the masks.

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And so many versions of royal titles, even in the same immediate families.

Answer 17

Greetings and Salutations, Fellow WikiTreers!

It's been a quiet week - trying to catch up on yard work for the first time this Spring, so I managed to cut the front, sides, and about half the back before I lost daylight. Plus those silly sticks started to make their way under the mower, and I needed more light to finish clearing the yard. Oh well - there's always tomorrow.

Today's actually my birthday - I'd say I'm turning some nice young age "again", but the truth is I'm now 57, so woo hoo... sorta. My son and daughter-in-law are coming with my grandson, so we'll have a mini-celebration tonight. Not sure what all is planned, but just having family around is plenty for me.

On a tragic note, we had a mass shooting at Fed Ex here in Indianapolis, and at least 8 innocent people were killed plus the shooter. I'm just finding out that we knew one of the victims through someone else we know. My heart and prayers are going out to her and her family, as I know this has to be incredibly hard to deal with. This is going to be a difficult weekend, as this is the first mass shooting we've had in Indy that I can recall.

And from a genealogical perspective, I've been working on cleaning up all the things I pushed aside to get to Fulkerson-3000. So updating recent passing information on Notables, cleaning up some Data Doctor suggestions, and doing work on some Hugo Award Winners. Playing Connect-the-Dots with families hoping to add to our global tree. Hoping that I'll make a dent in the pile that's there, but I remember the story about how do you eat an elephant - and I'll keep chipping away. One bite at a time.

Stay safe everyone!

Comments

Happy birthday, just realised I'm old enough to be your Mum!

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Hi Scott! And Happy Birthday to a fellow Aries. My birthday was last Saturday, April 10th! I am 'almost' old enough to be your mum (just turned 76). I saw a great FB post this past week saying that women in their 70's should be called 'Queen-agers.' I like it! You aren't quite old enough to be a 'King-ager.' Maybe another 10 years. Meanwhile, maybe you could be a 'Prince-age.' Have a great day!

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Happy Birthday, Scott!!! Happy Belated Birthday, Carol!! I, too, am an Aries. I will be 68 years young this coming Monday.

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And Happy Birthday to YOU, Nelda! Aries rule!

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What "silly sticks" .. you mow a lawn, where cometh the sticks? Are they branches from a tree? Must be branches. Lawns do not grow sticks. 

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happy birthday, scott. 

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Belated birthday wishes! Hope your day was perfect in every way.

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Happy birthday to you , happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Scott..........ta, te, de, dah, te, tah !

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57? You e got a lot of years ahead of you, Scott, God willing, and I hope so. My stepdad’s 93rd is tomorrow. April is a good month for birthdays in my family. My g-aunt Emma Neal shared a birthday with you.

Answer 18

Greetings to all from beautiful southeastern Arizona! Some of my snapdragons have bloomed, along with 2 of the 3 autumn sage plants, which has made me happy. I love seeing the flowers when I step onto the patio. Been cloudy, but I doubt if the rain will reach the ground here.

WikiTree: My merge request for Ebenezer Buckingham Jr. was rejected. Reason: different birth and death dates. I'm really aggravated by this rejection. This Ebenezer Buckingham is connected to my profile's correct parents and siblings. The quoted source is ""Buckingham Family", page 161 <archive.org>" without any link and also states unmarried!

I think the only thing I can do is to go ahead and connect my Ebenezer Buckingham Jr. to his parents!

Haven't had time for genealogy or writing this past week because I was too busy cleaning for my required apartment inspection. I really let things go for too long!

Just got home from a Friends of the Library meeting. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Hi Diane! A big {{{Diane}}} hug to you. I totally understand Wikitree and genealogy getting in the way of work! Is your Ebenezer Buckingham-1476 the descendant of Thomas Buckingham? If so, that makes us cousins. If not, just for the heck of it, I looked at your tree and you have an ancestor, Ruth (Richardson) Fuller. That would make us cousins through Thomas Richardson of West Mill. This is the Richardson family I have been working on to link Elizabeth Hadley (Richardson) Hemingway this past week. Sorry you are struggling with a merge. I would be irritated as well (and have been in the past).

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Diane, I’ve had a few of those rejections of merge requests, even when they appear to be obvious. I just forge ahead. What else to do?

You have apartment inspections? Is that the same as dorm inspections? 

Answer 19

On this day:

1346: Stefan Uroš IV. Dušan is crowned King of all Serbian and Maritime Lands

1828: The painter Francisco Goya dies

1921: The actor Peter Ustinov is born

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Peter Ustinov was once in a German talk show with the Italian opera singer Cecilia Bartoli. The moderator asked Cecilia to sing a little bit of a song, she said: "I usually do that in my car." And then they were doing a duet about a car that won't start. See here

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Peter was memorable in whatever roles he played ... I often had the urge to pinch the cheeks (gently) of the younger Peter but ...

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1346 was my assignment for the day. Thanks, Professor! That was a good one.

Answer 20

Good evening from central Germany,

the Covid numbers rise and rise, the people that can take decisions to help get the numbers down say stuff like: "With the British mutant (B117) you have to get used to higher incident levels" or "Well, the university hospital in our city currently has only 14 people on ECMO (the artificial lung machine). We still have some machines free, we can still care for people." After I heard that, I decided to shut Twitter down for tonight, it's better for my mood and my blood pressure.

Personally, we didn't do that much. We sowed some seeds to grow our own herbs on the window, but that's it. Again I hardly went out this week, actually I only went shopping today and yesterday I threw some bottles in the glass collector. Mum is doing ok, nothing special.

Genealogy-wise, I connected my grandaunt (like I like to call her, actually she's the wife of my grandma's cousin) to her ancestors. I was curious if that would shorten my way to my Texas cousin who is my gateway to the depths of the Tree, but it turned out the way via my grandaunt is one step farther. Actually this week was a week of interconnections. Profiles that are all connected to the Big Tree got other connections that shortened the way between them. Beside that, I didn't find anything special.

Stay safe, keep your distance and have a great weekend.

Comments

I haven't watched TV news or listened to radio news for almost a year. I do get a real newspaper which mostly has more balanced coverage of news Covid related or not, and lets me read news stories that are often surprisingly positive.

My online news consumption is strictly on a need to know basis.

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Positive news stories.... ?  That would be sweet :)

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Jelena, is there any target date for things opening back up where you are?

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We have incidents-targets: When the incidents goes under 100 for three days in a row, more shops can open - or they can offer click and meet. Book a meeting in a shop and then you can be there for a certain amount of time. Currently most shops can only offer click and collect. Order something in a shop and go there to take it. If the incidents went under 50, gastronomy could open again, at least outside. Also our local authorities who are responsible for tracking the infection chains could start work properly again. As far as I can see it with the current state of political will to get the incidents really down, I think we will be between click and collect and click and meet for quite a while. They simply don't (want to) understand that a real lockdown is on the long run even better for the economy. There are quite a bunch of scientists who say #ZeroCovid would be possible if we actually started practicing it even on county level. Oh well...