"Weekend Chat" - All Members are Invited! (31 July - 1 Aug 2015)

Question

 

Welcome!  This is an ongoing "Chat" post that can be added to throughout the weekend.  All members of WikiTree are encouraged to join in, especially first-timers!

Say Hello and introduce yourself... where are you from and what are your interests?

Do you have any tips to share?

How can we improve WikiTree?

What do you enjoy most about WikiTree?

How do you spend your time when not online?

What's the weather like in your neck-of-the-woods today?

What did you do for fun when you were 18... music, cars, daring feats?

Do you have a unique pet?

Any great recipes to share?

... anything that you want to talk about!

Post answers here, comment on answers, up-vote things you like or agree with and have fun!  To receive notice when future Chats are posted, add Weekend_Chat to the list of Tags you follow.  You can edit your list by clicking on "My Feed" on G2G, then click to "add or edit".  Separate words with and underscore.

Comments

I live in the Gold Country of California in a town named Fiddletown.   It got it's name because in the late summer the streams dried up, the gold panning was poor, so everyone just 'fiddled" around.   That tradition still exists in Fiddletown!

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That's funny Robin.  My mother has been known to twiddle her thumbs and say, "fiddle-sticks!"

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And for those of us in the Bay Area, Fiddletown would truly be "out in the sticks".  

One of the things people don't realize about California is how really big it is.  So there can be tons of places like Fiddletown that you've never heard of and would take several hours to get there (about three hours from me in Sonoma County pretty much due West from Robin).  

Any fires out your way, Robin?  We can see the smoke plume from the Rocky Fire over in Lake County, even though again, that's about an hour away from where I live/work. I know lots of people who live or have summer cabins up that way.

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Hey Vincent!! Neaner Neaner!!! I only did 42 more and got it. counter works fine. Whats not working is Week end chat updates on my nav page.

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No fires here so far....but, some smoke from the fire down near Yosemite.

Answer 1

Hello fellow WikiTree-ers,

I hope you are all well and enjoying good fortune :)

We've spent a lot of time outdoors this week.  It's been warm and sunny with a pleasant breeze.  All of the plants are growing like crazy and everything is green, green, green.

A dirt road runs along part of my back-yard, and people often drive on the grass to allow another vehicle coming the other way to pass.  They have other options but it's easiest where I mow and manicure.  After much deliberation we decided against any type of fence and instead went the positive route... we planted flowers every 6 feet on the edge of the lawn for about 100 yard stretch.  It's polite, doesn't endanger anyone, looks nice, and seems to work.

Turns out this is the summer my eldest son is interested in snorkeling (diving around underwater with a mask and flippers).  We've gone several times and are now dive-buddies.  I could not be happier than when I'm out in the lake with my boy.  I'm excited for future activities we will share.

My youngest son rescued a kitten.  He found it meowing under my grandfather's old farm-house all skinny and shaking.  It's not more than a handful, just a little puff of fur with blue eyes.  We know the mother as an identified feral cat who has been around for months.  We bathed the kitten and brought him to the vet.  The vet said he's about 6 weeks old and clean from parasites.  He got his first round of shots and came back home.  My son named him Fennick.

I want pictures of our area from the sky and was considering attaching my camera to a kite.  Has anyone here tried that before?  How did it work out?

I'm always open to any tips people wish to share regarding mosquito repellent, especially home remedies.  Years ago a product by Avon called "Skin so Soft" was supposed to work well and be healthier than sprays, but Vermont mosquitos are world-class, hearty, and too hungry to bother slowing down just because someone doesn't smell good.  There is an island I can see out my window as I type called "Mosquito Island".  I'd like to know how to eliminate them from my whole yard and never see another.  Any advice is appreciated.

Hints for new people this week -  If you like pictures and want to have some fun, check out the Photo of the Week contest.  You can read advice others have given on a wide variety of topics in G2G by checking out the tags Tips, Mentor_Tips, and How_to_WikiTree.  To keep up on the latest news from the WikiTree Team you can see Announcements.

Reminder for all of us - Exercise regularly even if it's not regular exercise.  While WikiTree-ing or doing anything on the computer for extended periods, we have to remind ourselves to frequently move about.  Every time I notice 10 minutes have gone by I encourage myself to do something such as stand up and sit back down 20 times and do 20 big circles with my arms.  The next time I might do 50 push-ups with my hands on the wall, then 20 toe-touches.  Of course it could be chores that need to get done.  It really doesn't matter so much what, just as long as it's something.  Sometimes my body tells me exactly what it needs.  We all need to be healthy for ourselves and others and staying physically active is a big part of that.

I wish you all the best,

Happy WikiTree-ing!

 

Comments

When I lived in Tampa, Florida it actually got cold enough once to need to turn on the heater.  I didn't even know if I had one.  :D  But there it was, you only had to to flip the little switch on the wall thermostat from AC to heat and sure enough I had heat. :D

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I lived in Jacksonville when it snowed.

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Jacksonville is a different climate than Tampa.  For instance in January it might be 75 in Tampa and 55 in Jacksonville.  With my job I had to be there quite often and any of us that went there did so only reluctantly.  That was considered "up north", south Georgia we called it! :D

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Actually there was snow in Tampa one year as well.  It didn't stick but it got cold that night.  Must have been the night I had to see if I had a heater.  This number might be wrong but it seems like there was $3 billion in damage to the orange trees that year. There was newscasts showing ice hanging on oranges that were just ready to be picked but were yet on the trees.  Not only was that crop lost but the orchards as well and all those citrus farmers had to change occupations.  For a long time dead orange groves could be seen along the roads.  The frost line "below which it is never known to freeze" had to be moved from above Tampa to down near Sarasota.

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That was the year! the big snow in Buffalo where people couldn't leave their houses, baby boom in 9.  I think Johnstown PA flooded again that year due to the melt. And the citrus crop in FL was completely destroyed. I was there.  When I moved there, my sister said it rained every day at 3 pm. It did. It would be raining all day and stop, and at 3 start up again.

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In Tampa it is almost everyday beautiful and sunny.  But from about May until September at about 15:30 it gets dark and within minutes it's raining cats and dogs for about 20 minutes or so and then it stops.  The sun comes back out and you carry-on.  It's like a cooking pan with a glass lid, as the sun heats up all the ground water that is in all the lakes and swamps around Tampa by 15:30 it's about 92F and this causes so much quick evaporation it cools the clouds and they burst and drop the water back down to the ground like clockwork.  It's rather pleasant.  It was always entertaining when this happened at Buccaneer's games where umbrellas were not allowed into the stadium and there would be 82,500 very dripping wet people.

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We used swamp coolers when I was in Niger. I was amazed how much they helped, but of course we were on the fringes of the Sahara, so humidity wasn't a problem. Around here, a swamp cooler would probably make things worse...

Greg

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Greg, I'm on the fringes of Death Valley. Aug is our humid month.

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You notice when 10 minutes goes by?  I miss hours.

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It's a challenge for sure, but I glance to the little clock in the corner constantly.  Today it's 20 minutes on, 20 mowing the yard... roughly :)

Answer 2

It has been so hot here for the last week that doing almost anything outside is draining.  I have been working on 3 bikes that I picked up cheap for the grandchildren and hope to get them all in working order by the end of the weekend.  I spent most of yesterday upgrading 3 of our computers to Windows 10 with mostly good results.  Today is one of our paydays so we will spend most of the day (and money) paying bills and buying food to last us for about 4 weeks, so with that and the outdoor projects already scheduled for this weekend I don't plan on being on WikiTree much until at least Tuesday.

Comments

Let us know how it goes with Windows 10....my husband and I have old netbooks that we traveled with before we bought Pads.   He updated one yesterday and we are playing with it!

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I updated my Lenovo laptop to Windows 10 after getting a rave review from an acquaintance who had been a tester, and my experience was a near-disaster. Apparently some device drivers on my laptop aren't compatible with Windows 10 (something I would have known if I had reviewed the caveats on the Lenovo website ahead of time), and the thing kept crashing. I was greatly relieved that I was able to Windows 7 -- and everything works like it did before the installation.

I might try Win 10 again after I learn more about the device driver conflicts, and figure out what's necessary to avoid them.

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The only "problem" I encountered with the changeover was on one of the computers the old programs that were on the old desktop did not display on the "new" desktop.  All three computers were running the same Windows 8.1 Home version, but with two of them I used the "MediaCreationTool.exe" software to download and install and they worked fine, with the other one the download started by itself overnight and that is the one that gave us problems.  The problem was minor and all is working fine now, it is just going to take a little time to figure out the different ways of doing things.

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Part of my problems yesterday was probably caused by my ISP.  I just had the service tech out and he had to replace the junction box outside our home and our internet is now working much better.  The old stuff was about 20 years old and we had 3 main lines coming in with 6 going out.  We now have only 1 line going in and 2 lines going out but our speed increased by more than 10x.

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What rate of speed for the new and the old connection?  Here 20 years ago I had a telephone line, Windows 3.1 and Netscape Navigator and it costs a fortune because you were charged by the minute.  And it wouldn't really even load an image but I think that was because of Windows 3.1 and I think I only had like 64 mb of memory or something like that if that small amount is even possible.  Now I have a coaxial cable and that is 50 mbps and costs about 15€ a month on top of a mandatory TV-cable contract which I find a bit unfair because I never, ever watch TV and hardly ever have.

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Ours is a DSL that requires a phone line.  We have a phone number for it but no phone is, or has ever been connected to it.  Even if we did connect a phone to it we could not make any long distance calls.  This is not a problem for us because we both have cell phones and they have unlimited talk and text with no charge for long distance calls.  The problem was that there were too many wires in the box and with all of the rain that we have been getting here they were shorting out.

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Sorry Vincent I forgot to answer you question about the speed, I am not sure what units he used but it went from 56 to 758.

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758 mbps?

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I am not sure, he had the speed number from when he checked upon arrival and the new number after the repair.  I do know this everything is working much faster even when we have 2 computers online with multiple windows open and watching an online show on our Smart TV.

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http://www.speedtest.net

maybe you can check it with this link

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All this talk about Windows 10 made me look.  The Nederlandse version isn't coming out until October :(  The bright part of that is that all the serious deficiencies should be ironed-out by then! :)

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Vincent the only problem that I have had is with the download on one computer, And I attribute that to both a poor internet connection and not using the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft.  I recommend that everyone use that when they download the Windows 10 software.  And yes it is free.

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Vincent, you could check to see if they have an "insiders program" for your area, You would then be able to download a pre-release build and check it out early.

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I think I'll wait this out.  I have Windows 7 and it's very good.  I remember the good ones like Windows 3.1 and Windows XP.  But I also don't forget the lousy ones like Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows Vista.  One problem I have is I always to forget to insist on an English language version of Windows and I've always either had a Dutch or Spanish version (good for my language skills, not so good for my computer skills  :D)!

Answer 3

I put in a lot of interesting profiles the last two week but you might want to read about William Billy Parker-5420

• Birth: 1819

Cambridgeshire, England Death: Jul. 11, 1894 Victoria Capital Regional District British Columbia, Canada

Frontier Prospector. Born in Cambridgeshire, England. With all the excitement over the decovery of gold in California, he moved there to find his forture in the late 1840s. He had little luck and with fellow miners desided to move to British Columbia, Canada. His party roamed from one mining camp to another, when they discovered gold in the Williams Creek area near Barkerville in 1862. Barker decided to go search for his own gold down river, close to Stouts Gulch and there he dug out about 60 ounces of gold. He filed a claim which turned out to be the richest in the area and a mining settlement soon set up around his claim. It was estimated he pulled out roughly 37,500 ounces of gold and to deal with the stress of having that much gold, it was said Barker smoked as much as 30 cigarettes a day. He died with symptoms of Parkinson's disease and cancer at age 75 in Victoria, Canada. (bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)

Burial: Ross Bay Cemetery Victoria Capital Regional District British Columbia, Canada Plot: Block F, Plot 13, E 16

Images: 1
View by popularity, date, or upload date. Add new image. William Barker Image 1

• +Popularity
• E-Car

 

Comments

Your profiles are awesome.  Thanks Chris!

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I shouldn't be surprised that somebody did a profile on Billy Barker. My family visited Barkerville when I was a kid, and I was fascinated.

Greg

Answer 4

Also another interesting profile:

Amelia was born in 1812 at one of the largest fur trading posts of the Northwest Co. at Fort Assinboine. Her mother, the daughter of a Cree Chieftain, her father an Irish Canadian fur trapper, employed by the Hudson's Bay Company.When Amelia was 12 her father William was promoted to the rank of Chief Factor at the fur trading post, Fort St. James, located on the southern tip of Stuart Lake. ~~Amelia was refered to as "Little snow bird", by the men of the fort for her light skin, grey eyes & dark hair.

Pictures of her daughters.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Connolly-968
http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cree_native-2

Images: 2
View by popularity, date, or upload date. Add new image. Lady Douglas Image 1

• +Popularity
•  

 

Answer 5

Hi Everyone!

The rain just keeps coming here in New Mexico. I love it. Everything is uncommonly green, rather that they usual drab brown and gray landscapes.

This  week I started a Bumgardner Name Study. It currently includes the surnames Bumgardner, Bumgarner, and Baumgarten.

There are 11 other variations of the name on Wikitree and I am unsure if I can include them all.

So, call to all Wikitree Bumgardners please add your profiles to the study.

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Bumgardner_Name_Study

There is a debate on who should be included in the study. If wives should be included or if only people with LNAB should be included for DNA purposes. I am going with all names Bumgardner to include wives.

Thanks to all the great Wikitreers out there that so graciously provide assistance whenever needed. You are appreciated!

Comments

Have you ever made a tumbleweed snowman and if not Christmas is in only a 100+ days or so you might think about getting busy with that and we'll want photos of course! :D

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Christmas 100 days away. Oh the horrors! Don't remind me. I'm never ready. I am enjoying the summer, rain and all. I can't begin to think of winter yet. Shoveling snow is not my favorite thing to do,

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Thanks for posting Amy, great to hear from you :)

Aren't the volunteers incredible?  I'm very appreciative of them too.  So many of them do much more for people than we will ever hear about.  They are selfless and generous.

Have a nice weekend!

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Those of us who are fans of the San Francisco Giants are in full support of your Bumgarner project :)

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Snows in New Mexico?  I thought it was perpetual summertime out there?

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Vincent, I traveled to New Mexico in July of 1969 and can tell you we went from 100 degree F weather in the city to snowing at the top of Sandia Mountain.

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We get quite a bit of snow. I am in the mountains at about 7,000 feet. It's not unusual for us to get 2-3 feet in the course of a winter. In 2006 we got about 3 feet at once. We were snowed in for about 5 days.

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Hi Kyle,

You can create a profile for Madison and add him to the study! That would be awesome. I am in the process of creating a profile for James (Bumgarner) Garner.

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Sounds like you'll be having a regular snowman, forget the tumbleweed one!

Answer 6

Summer is very nice in Amsterdam.  It's very nice and pleasantly warm, I think it's about 25 today which is about 75 fahrenheit. It's full of flowers, smiling people and nice sounds.  From my back windows just below my living room and where I mostly hang is a canal directly below my window.  There is usually a bunch of ducks in the water and I throw them bread so that I always have fresh bread for myself.  My neighborhood is full of churches and one in particular has a carillon which is a series of bells which can be played to music.  Otherwise the bells ring every fifteen minutes to let you know the time.  1/4 of the jingle for 15 past, 1/2 of the jingle for half past, 3/4 jingle for 45 past and the whole jingle on the hour followed by a tolling of the big bell to count the hours.  The church that plays the bells is actually the very first purpose-built protestant church in the world, it is from 1614.  Older protestant churches than that are actually converted Catholic churches usually.  There is another much older church as well a few blocks away, that one is even called the Old Church and is from the 12th century.  My neighborhood is also full of "characters".  Here's a video of one and of the Zuiderkerk. Imagine it was no different than when the pilgrims of Plymouth where here before they went to Plymouth.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyNhpi2LRPk

Comments

Hi Vincent,

 

The warm weather brings out the Amsterdam people, to (and in) the fountain in front of my house in the Watergraafsmeer. The city centre is too busy for my taste, with all the "characters"...

See you around in the monthly leaderboard!

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Ik denk 't ook.  Ik blijft rustig in mijn woonkamer boven de Snoekjesgracht!

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I find the older I get the more peace and solitude I enjoy.

Answer 7

Hello Keith (my WikiTree mentor ;) and everyone else. I've just survived my first full month on Wikitree and it's been quite a ride! So much to learn but so many nice people willing to help.

Last Sunday I made a major breakthrough. I had been stuck on my g-g-grandfather John Hickey, you can see the story here http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ethier-157. And the sharp-eyed will notice the profile name. It turns out that John Hickey, who I had traced back to Oswego, NY, was really Jean Ethier from Quebec and now I have a whole new family line. Très excitant!

For those not lucky enough to be working in the Quebecois area, it is very different to the anglophone areas I'm used to. I would like to say a public thank you to Danielle Liard (Liard-1) who has patiently answered so many of my G2G questions.

Well, must do some work so I'll sign off with a Avagoowegend!

Chris

Comments

Yay!!! Congratulations!!

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Awesome!

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Nice find on the name switch Chris.

I have not done much genealogy involving Quebec but I need to in order to track down one of my next challenges.  I can see the lights of Montreal on the clouds at night from my lawn.

Answer 8

I'm up in your neck of the woods this week Keith....Littleton, NH. No humidity, I love it!!!

Comments

Great to know you're around Doug, thank you.

I can't imagine north-eastern Vermont is on your travel route, but if you did come rolling through you're invited to stop on by.  Great place for camping, swimming, etc.

Enjoy the day!

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I appreciate the offer. Unfortunately, I fly back to Virginia tomorrow.

Answer 9

My contribution to the greater good right now involves reading Mary Beth Norton's excellent book on the Salem Witch Trials, "In the Devil's Snare," which I have already referred to in a couple of my profiles, but plan to use extensively in fleshing out existing profiles and setting up new ones where needed.  I even made contact with Mary Beth via email and showed her some of the work that I'm doing on WikiTree using her book, and she was grateful to see her work being used and appreciated by the genealogy community.  

In my personal life, I have a new job which I'll be starting Monday after next.  Better money and hopefully more stability than I've had in recent years.  Crossing fingers because in my business you never know.

Comments

Congratulations on the new Job Kyle... It'll be great!

Answer 10

Hello all,

I just opened my favorite Belgian beer (La Chouffe) to say Hi. I'm enjoying WikiTree here in Amsterdam, this month as ever adding sources to existing profiles. The sourcerer's challenge helps to point to profiles that need our help. My area is The Netherlands (from 1811) and the province Zuid Holland form 1700. This week, my cycling holiday was stopped one day ahead of schedule, this gave me some time to write down how to find dutch sources:Space:Strategy_to_find_dutch_sources

Also, finding profiles to merge is one of the things I like on WikiTree. When I add a profile with a new surname, I look up the Genealogy page and sort it by name and by date, to see possible matches for my new profile and existing ones. The profiles with only a year or "Netherlands" as info are looked into, to add sources.

As WikiTree is a web-app, I understand that improving the Genealogy page is hard. Sometimes I miss options to add columns (like marriage info or just a place) and filters in this view. The people search does not always help. Are there ideas to expand the search options with second person or place? See the IGI search or the advanced search at the dutch Wiewaswie

I like WikiTree for the direct way to edit data and publish it right away. Also the to-do page gives me structure in the profiles to work on. In the 20 months since I joined, my "Compact tree" only needs 24 profiles to complete. I like to have sources before I add a new profile, so this task will not be completed as some archives were destroyed by fire.

I hope you all are well and understand my text, English is not my first language and hard to express the finer stuff... And, my almost drowned my beer.

Thanks! Bart

Comments

Bart, Don't worry about your English, it is fine.  I am glad that you have found WikiTree working so well for you.

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Thank you, Dale. It just takes more time.

I see I missed to mention one fun part: the "Connection to AJ". It gave a kick to see that by linking a profile to its parents, I went from 42 to 36 steps.

Answer 11

I just got this in my email

Casting Update

Good Day from the producers of PBS's Genealogy Roadshow,

I want you to know that we have received your application for this upcoming season of Genealogy Roadshow and have started the process of reviewing all the applications.   This will take some time as we received around 10,000 applications over the last few months.
 
A producer will be in contact with you and keep you informed as to the status of your application to be on the TV show Genealogy Roadshow.  Unfortunately NOT everyone's story will make it on to the show, as we only have 8 to 10 stories per episode and 10,000 applications.  The process to review all these applications will take 3 to 4 months.   Our producers will be in contact with you via E-mail regardless if your story get chosen or not.     
 
If you have any questions please send us an email to: information@genealogyroadshow.org
 
THANK-YOU FOR SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION!

I forgot that I applied.

 

Comments

I guess I might have to shave. :D

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You'll have to keep us posted and let us know if you get on the show.  I'm excited for you Dale.

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How exciting! I hope you get on the show.

Answer 12

Hello everyone. I'm sitting here with the wood fire going flat out. It's winter here in Australia, though the daffodils are in full bloom.

I'm working on a Cemetery from my ancestors home town and finding it very addictive, much to hubby's disgust. It's funny how you think "I'll just do one family name" and end up way down the list adding parents of the females, wives etc. It's like a crazy maze of pathways in a secret garden.

How can we improve WikiTree? A suggestion for searching in Wikitree, "search by country". I know a lot of profiles don't have place of birth or death but it would be handy.

Comments

Daffodils in full bloom huh!  And other yellow things.  I live in Nederland but I was a child in the USA and also there the yellows, not only daffodils but other yellow flower stuff, and then the flower trees and then the reds, and then everything else!

Answer 13

Say Hello and introduce yourself... where are you from and what are your interests?

I was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and moved to Fort Erie, Ontario (across the Niagara River from Buffalo, NY) four years ago to get as close as possible to my then-fiancée-now-wife, who lives in Pennsylvania. (We're currently working on the process to get her into Canada as a Landed Immigrant.)

I have a bunch of interests, the most useful of which is probably designing T-shirts. (People will almost invariably smile, laugh, and/or make comments when I wear one of my designs in public, but most of them have never sold a single copy to anyone besides me.)

Do you have any tips to share?

I have a really easy time sourcing from my parents' generation back another generation or two, because the Canadian censuses are freely available up to 1911 (grumble grumble has locked up the 1921 census), and the BC Archives have free BMD records from colonial times up to 1903 for births, 1938 for marriages, and 1993 for deaths. But further back than my grandparents, I end up in other jurisdictions, which, I am learning, are much less helpful for researchers. (I suppose governments have to make up their deficits somehow, but demanding outrageous fees to see records seems a bit, well, mean-spirited.)

How can we improve WikiTree?

Well, I only learned this week that I'm supposed to be using genetic, not adoptive family links. No doubt there was a great deal of discussion about this which I haven't found and read yet, but I was kind of shocked, not to mention disappointed, to find out that WikiTree doesn't consider all of my family to be, well, family.

Just about the only thing that I liked about (grumble grumble) was that it could take, and differentiate, between the two. I get it that some people want to trace their family trees for medical reasons (way too many of my ancestors seem to have had heart problems, for example), but, darn it, my sisters are my sisters, even if we don't share any genes (or at least, not that I know of), at least as far as I'm concerned. Actually, adoption has been extremely common in my family, and my family tree would be pretty bare if I had to excise everybody who was grafted into it.

What do you enjoy most about WikiTree?

No "bait and switch" offers to show me new matches, historical records, or whatever as long as I cough up a pile o' dough, only to find out that the supposed matches aren't even the same person. (Or if it is the same person, it's a record in a family tree on a different web site, so it's not like we can link together and share the way people can on here.) I really, really, really hate it when other sites keep doing that. 

(I suppose I might not mind so much if I had piles of money to throw around, but I don't. And part of my deal with my sweetie is that I'm only allowed to do this as long as I don't let it become an obsession. And the line between "hobby" and "obsession" is whether I spend any money on it.)

How do you spend your time when not online?

Ha! I'm a helpdesk tech in real life, so if I'm not online, I'm probably sleeping.

What's the weather like in your neck-of-the-woods today?

After the first genuine heat wave of the summer, the temperature has moderated slightly, so now I can get to sleep before midnight.

Do you have a unique pet?

When I was in school, I had a tank of fish, most of which kept disappearing, except for one who was getting suspiciously large, so I dubbed him, "Animal: the goldfish that ate Wolfville".

Any great recipes to share?

Here's my party piece:

Cous cous da Mia Nigerien

Ingredients:

500 g (1 lb) stewing beef, cut into cubes

2-3 red onions, cut into pieces

2-3 large tomatoes

1 red pepper, cut into pieces

1 green pepper, cut into pieces

30 ml (2 tbsp) fresh ginger, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

10 ml (2 tsp) Harissa* hot sauce

5 ml (1 tsp) chili powder

5 ml (1 tsp) paprika

Brown beef and onions at high heat in large frying pan. Blend tomatoes for a few seconds to get an even consistency (some lumps are fine.) Add tomatoes, peppers to dish and stir. Turn down heat to simmer. Add in spices, and simmer for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. The consistency should be similar to a thick spaghetti sauce when it's ready to serve. If you get the spicing just right, the overall effect will be somehow sweet, rather than just hot. Serve with cous cous prepared according to directions. Since cous cous cooks so quickly, you should only add the cous cous to the boiling water about 5 minutes before you are ready to serve.

Substitutions:

Can use powdered garlic, ginger, but will need more to get the same effect. Can use large can of stewed tomatoes instead of fresh. Put stewed tomatoes into a separate bowl and mash up with a potato masher before adding to frying pan.

* The Harissa is key. It never tastes quite right without it. If you can't find it in your local deli/foreign food store, Amazon has it.

Greg

 

Comments

Oh! I forgot to say that I finally got a break in searching for family links for Sir Thomas Slade, the naval architect hailed as a genius in his generation who designed, among other ships, the HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar. I found a reference to his sister, and that led to a string of notable descendants, all of whom are commemorated on Wikipedia. Unfortunately, in adding her, I hadn't realised that the system would create an "Unknown" father. I don't like adding profiles until I can get a a name, and at least one date. I was hoping that following that sting out would give Sir Thomas a link to the main family tree, but no luck yet.

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I just got so incredibly hungry reading that.  I'll have to eat immediately then come back.  Wow that sounds good.  Thanks Greg!

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It's just an attempt on my part to recreate a dish I encountered during my travels. I hereby disclaim any responsibility for any negative reaction that anybody gets from trying to serve it to anybody who's actually from Niger. ;-)

Greg

Answer 14

I haven't been doing too much family tree stuff these days as I'm wrapping up my PhD. Just awaiting my defense at the end of August, but there's still lots to do in the meantime: experiments, editing papers, making posters, & getting ready to head to some scientific conferences this summer. Also I finally received a job offer, so I'll be heading to Europe for 2 years to work in the Netherlands. I'm looking forward to the work (fascinating, cutting edge science & tech) plus exploring and adventure. Lots of work to do to "wrap up" things here in Canada before I go, but I have some time still.

I'm hoping that I can include a little family history research in my time in Europe. Part of my family went through Germany (German-speaking refugees escaping Russia), and I think that the family split up there... I know that my grandfather had a cousin over in West Germany at one point, and I'd be curious to look them up, or their descendants. I have a few clues (some old documents & post cards), but nothing certain yet...

 Speaking of family history research, my conference schedule will include a trip to Boston. I may have time to check out the NEHGS Library -- do they have many unique (non digital) resources there? (Ideally relating to Vermont, Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI, Alberta, Ireland, or Germans from Russia??)

 As for family tree things, just today I received another email from a distant cousin whom I'd previously connected with through WikiTree... he's still trying to find a photo of an ancestor of ours who died in 1933.  One is probably out there somewhere, but I'll have to ask around. I'm guessing that one of my dad's cousins on that side might have one...

Comments

You just need to get a gig in Germany for when your time in the Netherlands is up.

Greg

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Well, flights and train rides are pretty quick over there. It's not quite like going all the way to Ontario, Greg!

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Exactly! You don't have to worry about border controls or shots or anything! ;-)

(My brother used to tease me that I didn't visit him very often when I was living in Vancouver and Burnaby [he lives in North Vancouver], because it was kind of a long haul on the bus. He would snidely inquire whether my passport was still valid.)

Greg

Answer 15

Hey everyone! I'm Kate, and I'm a social work honours student living in Christchurch, New Zealand but my ancestors come from all over the UK and Ireland with a pinch of German/Polish heritage. I'm interested in geneaology & history (obviously!), reading, movies, travelling, animals, current affairs etc etc. 

I'm relatively new to all of this but one tip would be to sometimes take a punt on a vague lead. My grandmother told me she thought her grandfather had been pretty educated and he had gone to a university somewhere in Kildare. A few google searches and emails later I found his name on the roll at Maynooth University in Ireland. 

I'm pretty new to wikitree so I don't have too much feedback yet.

When I'm not online I'm usually studying or spending time with family and friends or my cats!

Today in Christchurch it's 12 degrees and a bit cloudy. I've sprained my ankle so I'm looking out at the weather from a nice warm couch!

When I was eighteen I spent far too much time drinking and buying clothes!

My unique pet would be my cat Goose who is a magnificent long-haired silver tabby and is super affectionate. But unfortunately since she was a rescue she is super afraid of everyone else and hides whenever anyone comes over to visit. It's like having an imaginery friend!

Thanks for reading! 

 

P.S. Anyone have tips for swollen ankles? (It's elevated and I'm icing it but any tips to speed up the process would be great!!

Comments

Hi Kate, thank you for posting.  Nice to meet you :)

The old saying used to be RICE, rest, Ice, compression, and elevation.

The newer version we have been using for a decade is MICE, mobility, ice, compression, and elevation.

Wrap it with some pressure, just not enough to cut off circulation.  You can squish your toe-nail, see it turn white underneath, then watch the blood return.  it should only take a few second.

Chill it with ice as cold as you can stand as often as you are willing.  All day and night for days is not absurd.

Elevate it when possible.

Keep it moving.  Preferably without strain from the ankle it'self.  Use your hands to bend it each way and to rotate it.  The more the better.

Olympians have used this method to compete less than an hour after damaging their ankles.  I've used it and diagnosed it myself countless times.  It works for 95% of injuries like this.

I hope you have relief soon :)

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Thanks very much for that Keith I'll definitely give it a go! Had never heard of MICE so it's good to be up with the play :)

Answer 16

Hi everyone! I'm in the Washington, D.C. area, where it was sweltering for the week my grandkids (and their parents) were here... but actually better than the previous week. Anyway, I just wanted to share that I was more successful this trip than previous ones in getting my grandson involved with WikiTree (it helps that he's decided Ancestry no longer fits in his budget). I helped him download a gedcom from Ancestry, uploaded it to WikiTree, & now the gedmatch review is done & it's submitted, just waiting for approval at this point. Guess I can't say "I don't work with gedcoms" anymore!

He's a bit impatient, so I told him to go do the pre-1700 self-cert while we were waiting. Since I was on the page to get the link for him - http://www.wikitree.com/quiz/pre_1700 - I retook the test myself. Loved the revamped quiz (I took it when it first came out... I think before the Style Guide had been completed & before Stop Drop Roll  - that one made me laugh out loud). Just wanted to say good job to everyone who worked on the Style Guide, the mediation process, the revised quiz, and the gedcom help pages.

Cheers, Liz

Comments

Liz, I think we may have crossed a few paths on the old genforum boards. And maybe a few other places over the years.

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Hi! On Nolands or Awbreys? I recognize your name but can't recall from where. Run a "kin check" and let me know if WikiTree thinks we're related: http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Relationship

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Neither Nolands or Awbreys. I have Jester, Teague, Morton, Thornton, Davis, Green, Alfords, Kees/Keys, and a couple dozen more.

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Well, Cousin. we are 18th once removed, apparently. Common ancestor Thomas Holland. Never heard of him!! but he's your 17th ggf and my 18th. That was kind of fun.  My research on the Pedens is only at John.
http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Relationship

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http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Special:Relationship is one of my favorite toys on WikiTree :D

Another good one is the "Surnames" link in the the dropdown menu under the profile's WikiTree ID... I can't see yours because your tree is private, but mine's at http://www.wikitree.com/treewidget/Noland-165/10  - doesn't look like we share any surnames, though.

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I opened my surname list. I didn't realize it was that locked. Can I make a suggestion on your Hall's? Have you checked Barnabus Hall in NC. He m. Penelope Bullard in Probably b. abt 1750ish. His sister Jamima m. Thomas Bullard.  The Bullards were all around Sampson, Bladen and Robeson and probably a few more before heading to GA and AL. I descend from Jemima and Thomas. Before I add much more family,  I'm going to work on my watchlist. I have adopted alot of profiles that desperately need work.

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ooh - thanks for the Hall suggestion! And for opening your tree... Now I don't need to go searching for which Thomas Holland we're connected by!

Cheers, Liz

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Someone so far back (and not my work) that unless they were titled and had a lot of money, makes their lineage questionable. And my feelings on those nobles and royals are That and $5 might get you a Starbucks. And I don't drink Starbucks either. One name in my line that I did recognise from the work of Brian Thompset was Joan Beaufort, and I may have the wrong Joan Beaufort in mind too.

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Actually, he's just a couple of generations off on one of the profiles I worked on for the Magna Carta project, and he looks legit. And my "confidence" levels in the connections from me to his granddaughter are good enough that I'll claim him :D

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As I said, this isn't my work. I found Alexander P. Morton had been added and added my lines to him. My mother and her sister have worked on the Morton's and Davis's inch by hard earned inch back since the 60s.

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If it sounded as if I were trying to discredit or disparage the work done on Thomas Holland, that wasn't my intention. I found Alexander P. Morton, right dob, right pob, right possible pod, with only 1 child listed, white Open lock. I have AP's kids. the Things I did question, I asked the PMs for verification on. Then I saw some very questionable things on Jane Peden tht I had been involved in attempting to solve on genforum years ago. And that was who was actually Jane's Morton husband, John or James?  And the profile on Jane here needs some work. Everything my mother and aunt found pointed to John, especially the ship's passenger list.

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thanks for clarifying Lynette. Cheers, Liz (17x-gr-grand of http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Holland-31 )

Answer 17

Watching "Who do you think you are" about J. K. Rowling