"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! March 15-17, 2019 [closed]

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"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! March 15-17, 2019 [closed]

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New Members Saying Hello (our favorite!)

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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!

WikiTree profile: Pip Sheppard

closed with the note: Another supper Chat! Thanks to all for your participation!

asked Mar 15, 2019 in The Tree House by Pip Sheppard G2G Astronaut (2.7m points)
closed Mar 18, 2019 by Pip Sheppard

Show 6 previous comments

Laurie, don't you just love clay? We are in the middle of bentonite clay. When they were building our house they got two Bobcat's and a pickup stuck and had to bring in a tow truck that could pull them out without getting into the clay.

have one leak I need to fix this summer. We've known about it for years but since I plan to landscape in that area I need to fix it. When the house was built there is a square hole in the foundation in the basement that is just below grade. It was framed inside with 2x4s. We didn't have a problem until the evil rabbits burrowed and found it. Now water comes in if we get too much rain all at once or the downspout drain gets disconnected. We found it when the cats chased a full grown rabbit through the house. It was hidden behind insulation.

commented Mar 15, 2019 by Doug McCallum G2G6 Pilot (531k points)

34 Answers

Page:

Answer 1 · 2019-03-15T15:20:12+0000

Today is......

NATIONAL PEARS HELENE DAY

March 15th is National Pears Hélène Day. This food holiday is about the delicious smooth French dessert combining warm poached pears, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Pears Hélène is a dessert made from pears poached in sugar syrup and served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and crystallized violets. It was created around 1864 by Auguste Escoffier and named after the operetta La belle Hélène by Jacques Offenbach.

Over time, Pears Hélène simpler versions have been developed by substituting poached pears with canned pears and the delicate crystallized violets have been replaced with sliced almonds. These modifications have made it easier for more cooks to prepare this must-have dessert.

FUN PEAR FACTS:

There are more than 3,000 varieties of pears grown in the world.
Washington, Oregon and Northern California grow more than 95% of the pears sold in the United States.
California grows 60% of all Bartlett pears in the United States.
Pears ripen best off of the tree.
Pears are an excellent source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C as well as copper, fiber and potassium.
Pears are less allergenic than many other fruits.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Enjoy this delicious recipe: Pears Belle Helene recipe.

Answer 2 · 2019-03-15T15:20:49+0000

I live and pass by every day cemeteries in Jonesborough when I go to the Jonesborough Senior Citizen Center to do activities in the morning and till about 2:00 p.m. and eat lunch their during the week. I can some times stop and take a walk and take pictures of gravestones of my relatives in the cemeteries and right down the information on the gravestone and add here to WikiTree my self and some time when I go to church by myself because of my sister being out of town and I can go to my Leonard's Family Cemetery which is just above the church we go to since it is near East Tennessee State University where my mother home was above the college. I can get some pictures of some new headstones that been add to some new graves there also and write down the information on them also. Then I can add that information to my Leonard Family Cemetery free space page since I moved up here in November 6th, 2018.

Welcome everyone to the St. Patrick's WikiTree Weekend Chat.

commented Mar 16, 2019 by Living Barnett G2G6 Pilot (501k points)

Answer 3 · 2019-03-15T15:24:09+0000

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps!

I know I'm early. I was just in g2g surfing around and I saw Pip posted. Soooooo.....Here I am. How are we all doing? I'm good here. On the genealogy front I've found a way to look into the Thrulines and see if they are accurate. I have Ancestry open and then I have another tab with Familysearch. If the sources add up, you're golden. I added a few siblings for my 3x great-grandmother. I might add some more later. She had a few siblings. Not as many as other branches in my family mind you.

And that brings me to this week's #52Ancestors prompt. That was pretty cool typing about the large families. Pip said I should write a book. I probably could. =)

On the non genealogy front, the Avengers Endgame trailer dropped. So going to see that. Looks good! Won't be spoiling anything!

Before I go, here are two things genealogy peeps should check out:

Amy Johnson Crow's newest podcast: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/new-dna-tools-announcement/

Blaine Bettinger's newest series of lectures about adoption angels. Check them out! https://dna-central.com/webinars?fbclid=IwAR2vt8WYAewKFm3MHohOq6aqO0wYhPTKk4Nd3vks9lYG3epWkYPnCoRmgrg

Answer 4 · 2019-03-15T16:14:24+0000

Hey, Pip! Thanks for hosting! The countdown continues.

Greetings WikiCousins!

Crazy nasty week. Lots of rain, then a little snow and a whack load of wind. I think we caught the edge of the storm that brutalized our neighbors to the north and east. Did this qualify as an equinoctial gale? The wind tipped over one of my piñon trees, which seems to be leaning on relatives for support. Although it seems pretty stable, right underneath it is my dog's favorite place to stop for a piddle. I step away at leash length and tell him to linger at his own risk. I haven't fired up the chainsaw in a while. Hope it works.

No major genealogical events for me, mostly just fooling around over morning coffee and breaks between tax emergencies.

Cheers,

Herb

answered Mar 15, 2019 by Living Tardy G2G6 Pilot (765k points)

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Answer 5 · 2019-03-15T16:16:42+0000

Good Morning Pip and Gang!!

Beautiful sunny but cool morning in North-Central Texas! We will be wishing for this in another month or two!

On the Genealogy front - I am still adding profiles on my husband's line and began entering some on one of my son-in-laws. Having to research that one as I go. Doing that for the grandsons.

Also will be in the April Clean-A-Thon on the wonderful Super Sweepers team. Should be fun and not as frantic as the Scan-A-Thon!!!

Was so sorry about the travesty in New Zealand - heard it late last night on the news. Prayers for all down there.

Another funny from my file - Do you ever wonder why your family is missing in the census records or the information is wrong and you think it must be the census taker? Well, here is another viewpoint.

1850 Census Panola County, Texas (exact copy as on the original)

"I CERTIFY THESE TO BE 64 PAGES & A PIECE OF PAGE INHABITANCE. I DONE AS NEAR IN A CORDANCE WITH MY OATH AS I COULD DO IT. THE PEOPLE WAS HARD TO GET A LONG WITH.

H. Swearingen, Asst. Marshal

And now you know!!!

Have a great week-end and Wiki-On!!

Answer 6 · 2019-03-15T18:10:04+0000

The weekend is here and the weather has improved. I got home from my class on Monday before the storm hit. We had more than a half inch of rain before the temperature dropped below freezing and then a couple inches of snow on top of that wonderful ice. Oh, and the winds were mostly in 20-40 mph range (32-64 kph) but occasionally a bit higher. Some places were much higher. The ice on the driveway looked like frozen waves. So happy to have sunshine and slightly warmer temps.

Genealogically, making headway on the project for next year's reunion. This has lead to finding a number of duplicate profiles and bad data on WT for some of my lines that I hadn't been paying attention to. Those will get merged/fixed. Some of the information is so obviously impossible that it make my head hurt. Of course, none of these have any sources.

On the food/garden end of things, more seedlings sprouted and more seeds to be planted this weekend. To add to the onions and leaks, we now have peppers sprouting (plus some flowers for my part of the garden). We did have a couple days work on the vegetable beds that were finally dry enough to work on before the storm hit. Still some more work but mostly need to wait on soil tests to see what amendments are needed. We've also started watching the Great British Baking Show. Makes me want to bake. Pip, you shouldn't watch that one. It would undo everything you did to fit your suit for the wedding.

Answer 7 · 2019-03-15T19:12:38+0000

Thanks for hosting Pip.

We finally got our truck, and the weather is great in Florida. We are missing cable TV, however, since it’s still basketball season. No WiFi and only a limited data plan, so not much genealogy. I see that I have some follow up to do with a couple of contributors (one of whom is new) about citing sources. Since I’ve done descendants of ggg grandparents there are cousins finding and connecting with them, and adding on the spouse lines.

Okay, time to visit the hot tub. Have a great weekend.

Answer 8 · 2019-03-15T19:42:46+0000

Yay! Thanks for hosting Pip!

First, I want to send out my deepest condolences to those affected by the tragedy in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you haven't seen it yet, Cartoonist Shaun Yeo has captured the sentiment beautifully in his rendition of the national bird. Hearts across the world are breaking because of this senseless, horrendous tragedy. Sending prayers from Texas.

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On a lighter note, I officially "logged off" from work at Noon and I am now fully engrossed in fixing template errors. Oops, I think I just broke Aleš' new server for WikiTree+... It's not responding! (Whew! Back up now. I had a mild heart attack). Have you seen the new speeds yet? Reports are loading with lightning speed! Three cheers for Aleš!

Natalie posted a Categorization update to the group this morning and I am happy to announce that in less than three months, the Categorization Project has managed to whittle down over 8,000 category errors! I'll throw out a little shameless promotion...

Speaking of Nat, I have to toss out a recipe: Instant Pot Salted Caramel Cheesecake! Yes please!

One the Global front, Cemeteries that is, we recently finalized and launched the new Elements Team. With Susie's supreme guidance, all I can say is 'Watch out FindAGrave! WikiTree will be replacing you shortly!' Is it too soon for another promotion?

I am taking off the rest of the weekend (well, in a few more hours at least) to work at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. This is the last weeked, so we are hoping to finish out a strong season!

Pip recently pointed out that I was missing glasses and a pocket protector, so I guess I will wok on finding a new picture to upload...

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

Answer 9 · 2019-03-15T19:43:44+0000

Nothing much out of the ordinary going on here in my north Georgia neck of the woods. My husband is taking physical therapy. While we were inside, someone outside was spraying for bugs and the spray got all over our car so I immediately drove over to the automatic car wash to get it off. The driver of the car behind the car which was behind us lost control of his car just after he'd paid for his wash. He hit the car behind us, veered up over the curb, and started down an embankment. A chain link fence brought his car to a stop. No one was hurt, thank goodness. The driver was an older guy and we figure he hit the gas a little too hard or hit the gas rather than the brake. Anyway, that's about the most exciting thing that we were witness to this week.

My genealogical research is going pretty well. I managed to accidentally create another duplicate, though, drat! This week I was continuing to add, source, and write brief profiles for children of ancestors (my aunts and uncles.) I did work on the DataDoctors challenge one day.

Answer 10 · 2019-03-15T19:47:24+0000

Hello all - thank you for hosting Pip.

The weekend is here all ready ?? I am just shy of 1000 contributions again this month thanks to Gail Morin Volume 2. For the clean-a-thon this year I signed up with the Canada Clean up Crew; my first time working in my home country. Sorry Dorothy and Loretta for changing teams.

Looking forward to wishing Pip congrats on attaining Astronaut !!! And if I missed it already .... Yeah Pip !!

We went 1 hour south today from home where it was raining and when we got home we were having snow. Huh, how does that happen?

Have a great weekend all.

Answer 11 · 2019-03-15T21:00:39+0000

Hello fellow chatterrers!

Its hard to tell you about the weather, today its been changing every 10 minutes, which must mean Spring is Around the Corner. My thumbs are getting greener in anticipation.

On the WT front I'm trying to categorize my people into locations, so the first step is to help with the clean-up of New Brunswick. Learning is always fun, and @Steven Harris just gave me the link I needed - the DataDoctors lists make a good checklist.

On the personal front I'm thinking about summer, and road trips. It wasn't so long ago that road trips were synonymous with vacation, and I can feel the horizon calling ... just one question: do you think its still possible to find a campsite without a reservation, or am I destined for Walmart parking lots?

answered Mar 15, 2019 by Laurie Giffin G2G6 Pilot (104k points)

@Laurie, I have heard that it’s harder to get campsites. For popular destinations you definitely need advance reservations. Weekends can also be difficult, especially for state and COE parks. Traveling, I usually try by noon to find a stop for the night. On the way to Florida I got the last site in a very popular RV resort on I95 in Georgia at about 10 am. The northeast has such a short season that weekends can be difficult. I am planning to find a campground for a few days in the Finger Lakes, close enough to visit the library at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York which has the only copy of a church record (for my Mayflower connection). That, of course, might also involve visiting some wineries.

I use an app called RVParky.

commented Mar 16, 2019 by Kay Knight G2G6 Pilot (597k points)

Answer 12 · 2019-03-15T21:18:30+0000

Hi there Pip and peeps,

It's been a while since I last posted in these chats - mostly because it was too cold - but finally the weather is improving and temps are now staying above 0 degrees (Celclus!!).

Anyway I have a couple of new and interesting items relating to my mothers search for her biological family. So far the new cousins that my mother has met have been from her fathers side. he died back in 1996, so clearly they can never meet. So mum has met one first cousin and one second cousin. and they all got along just fine.

This week, mum finally met a half first cousin from her mothers side. and he knew her mother - his aunt - and had lots of pictures.

My mothers original birth certificate had indicated that she was born in 1937 but was adopted in 1940. We have ben wondering what happened during the years in between. This week we finally discovred that mum was put into foster care when she was 1 week old, and finally adopted when she was 3.

For the last 20 years I have been thinking that my grandmother tried to do right by her daughter and raise her himself, because my mother remembers visiting these people every summer holidays and I thought that my grandmother "threw" my mother away when she was 3 years old. It turns out that is not true at all. My mother was actually fostered out from 1 week of age and adopted when she was 3 years old.

I am very busy with other projects so I have not been here as much as usual. This may continue for several months - at least until the summer.

Answer 13 · 2019-03-15T21:40:34+0000

Happy weekend! Though for me it's the end of spring break, which means this weekend I'll need to panic and do all the work stuff I've been ignoring for the past week. Saw Captain Marvel last weekend (but picked the wrong theater... if we had gone to the other nearby theater we might have gotten to see Brie Larson in person!). Wednesday we got to see Fleetwood Mac (not the same without Lindsey Buckingham, but still awesome), and I've been doing lots of skating. And genealogy!

On the genealogy front, I've been doing lots of work with clusters of Ancestry matches (clustered by DNAGedcom's CLM tool). Still haven't figured out Elizabeth Savage's parents, but I have some more leads. And I have a huge cluster that I thought was Lavenders but has turned out to be associated with David Lavender's wife Nancy Goin. If I can sort it out I may be able to identify her mother's family; right now I only have her first name.

I've also added in more DNA confirmation on WikiTree using third cousins of my uncle. Between that and the third cousins of my mom, I've got DNA confirmation done for 7 of 8 sets of maternal great great great grandparents, and 4 of 8 sets of paternal great great great grandparents. I've now done everything I can do until more matches show up or I can do actual segment triangulation (which I'm slowly working on).

Next up... not sure. Whatever grabs my interest, I guess. I keep bouncing around. So much to do!

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"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! March 15-17, 2019 [closed]

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34 Answers

Today is......

NATIONAL PEARS HELENE DAY

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