"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! February 14th-16th, 2020 [closed]

Question

New Members Saying Hello (our favorite!)

Puzzles and Tips 

"Today Is" 

Movies & Music

Where in the World?  Share your photos!

Members Checking in via "All About the Weekend Chat"

Click here if Interested in Hosting the Weekend Chat and earning a Guest Host Sticker? 

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

Pip thanks for hosting! Sorry to hear the flu bug caught you, but hope you'll feel well enough to attend the event you mentioned last Friday!

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Feel better soon, Pip!  Seems like this flu season has been a bad one.

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I hope you feel better soon. The flu is brutal.

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Greg, I made the decision last night not to attend. Looks like I’ll be missing church tomorrow, too. 

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Pip, I'm not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but I predict that your church will be praying for you.

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Thank you, Greg!

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so sorry you're ill.

if you're interested...melaleuca oil then oregano oil to the bottoms of your feet a few times a day. the melaleuca removes the slimy outer protective layer of virus cells then the oregano kills them.

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Sending you lots of cyber hugs, hope you feel better fast!

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Hello, I'm a New Member-- I active at looking at my ancestors daily. My Paternal ancestors go back to 1671 (North America). Wonder if anyone is interested in my ancestors history.

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Hi, Tom! Welcome to our community. I see you have already connected your family to our Shared Tree! I can think of a few project in which you might be interested.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:France
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Canada

Check 'em out!

Answer 1

Thank-you Pip

Temperatures here in Central Pennsylvania for the weekend will be around 30F, then gradually climbing to 40F for next week. Not too bad for the middle of February.  No precipitation on the radar so that is a plus.

Something happened this week that I never experienced before. I submitted some edit suggestions on some Find A Grave memorials, and the profile manager on the memorial came back and transferred the memorial to me to maintain. I never had that happen before. I think I read somewhere that you Pip had that happen to you also. Is that normal that they do that? I certainly do not mind, it just surprised me.

May you all have a great weekend, hug your children, and make sure your significant other has a Happy Valentine’s Day. Do other countries besides the USA have an equivalent holiday? Travel safe.                

Comments

Hi Susan hope all is well. Yes, when I was in the Marine Corps stationed in Southern California, I ran into snow in Flagstaff Arizona years ago. It seemed strange to me at the time.

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Hi Natalie, hope all is well. I go over to Lancaster County sometimes and get baked goods from those ladies at the farmers market. Those ladies are the best bakers in the world. Have a great weekend Nat.

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Any time I find a Find a Grave memorial for an ancestor I email the manager and say more or less:

Hi, thanks for being the manager of this memorial.  If you're a descendant, 'hello cousin!'  If not, I would be interested in taking on the responsibility if you are inclined to passing me the torch.  Thanks for all your contributions!

So far, every request I've sent has been granted except when the manager is a cousin and in those cases, we exchange emails, notes, and begin a new collaboration.

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Wow, thanks for telling me that SJ. I think I will try that.

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I live in Lancaster County, Nebraska. You know we pronounce Lancaster the correct way.

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Hi Paul, hope all is well. What is your Lancaster County in Nebraska famous for? Our Lancaster County here in Central Pennsylvania has for many years been home to a large community of members of the Amish and Mennonite faith. It has become commercialized over the years as many area's have. A horse and buggy is still there mode of transportation though.

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Our Lancaster County is only famous for having the capital city Lincoln in it. I think it's known for some salt flats. We do have a really cool Germans from Russia museum.

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Everyone, is this "Lancaster is pronounced" similar to the one about "I say toe MAH toe, and you say toe MAY toe"?

In my eclectic past I went, once, to a caucus in NV (slightly insane process, that) and I said something to the Sig O about Nevada and the woman standing in front of me -- total stranger -- whipped around and said I'd pronounced "Nevada" wrongly and proceeded to pronounce it "correctly"

I am sorry to say (LOL) I gave her a Look and said "I say 'Nuh vad dah', and you say (whatever it was, which I promptly forgot) and it's all the same thing as it is about toe may toes. It's a regional thing."

At which point she dew her (not very tall) self up righteously and I gave her a very toothy smile and said "Different strokes for different folks." and walked away.

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Yes Susan, it just depends what emphasis you put on which syllable. It all depends on what environment you grow up in.

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Well, thank you Rodney, I was worried that there was some Arcana that was important for a WT PM to know so I thought I'd ask. Regional dialects I can deal with.  

Answer 2

Today is....

               

NATIONAL CREAM-FILLED CHOCOLATES DAY

Chocolate lovers rejoice as February 14th is National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day!  On the same day, approximately 58 million pounds of chocolate will be purchased. Much of it will be in heart-shaped boxes, filled with bite-sized chocolates with ooey, gooey centers. Quite a few of these cream-filled goodies will be exchanged and shared on Valentine’s Day.  

Chocolate makers offer a wide variety of cream-filled goodness, too. Take your pick from marshmallow cream, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, coconut, hazelnut creme and even creme de menthe. How about coffee cream filled chocolates? Nearly every fruit you can imagine can be made into some sort of creamy center. 

What’s inside those hard chocolate shells? Well, many chocolate makers provide a map so you don’t accidentally eat one that doesn’t sit well with you. One way to completely avoid the mystery is to create your own gift box with flavors you select. Some chocolate makers offer this option. Not only do you select the chocolates your love likes best, but it’s a personalized gift, too. How chocolately sweet is that? It’s also a terrific way to avoid biting into a flavor that will ruin the evening. 

Another way to make cream-filled chocolates extra special is by making your own. 

No matter how you celebrate, be sure you bite into a cream-filled chocolate or two that you like!

HOW TO OBSERVE National Cream Filled Chocolates Day:

Enjoy your favorite cream-filled chocolates. Give a box to someone you care about or make a batch of home-made chocolates. Share your celebration with us today, Valentine's Day!!

Comments

Doesn't chocolate cure the flu? I'll have about 20 please! 

Answer 3

I broke through a brick wall late last night! 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wilson-34550

My 5-g-grandmother Elizabeth Wilson married Samuel Thurber at Providence at about 15 years old. I only had her father's name James Wilson from a pension application. There was a problematic possible birth record to James and Ruth Wilson, but I could find no further information about either James or Ruth.

Last night I was hunting through every land record involving Samuel Thurbers from Bristol County, Massachusetts, for a totally different reason. I didn't expect to find Providence people there, but all of a sudden I am staring at a deed where Samuel and Elizabeth and George and Nancy Potter, all of Providence, conveyed land that had belonged to Nancy and Elizabeth's mother Ruth and grandmother Ruth. Both Ruths were easy to identify, and I have a whole bunch of new ancestors and cousins to research!

(It's a mixed blessing though -- Elizabeth's mother posted intentions to remarry in 1770, meaning the considerable amount of work I did trying to show Elizabeth's parents were James and Ruth Wilson who came to Falmouth, Nova Scotia around 1763 was wrong. That James didn't die until 1771.)

Comments

Congrats, Barry! It's a great feeling, isn't it, to finally get that breakthrough. It does make for more work, but it is satisfying nonetheless. Good for you!

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Congrats!

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Incredible success.... I won't call it luck since it's due to your persistence in searching records.   It's encouraging to here stories like this.

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Congrats Barry, some of my favorite moments in genealogy!

Answer 4

Greetings and Salutations, Fellow WikiTreers!

It's been a challenging week, weather-wise in wintry Indiana! I think our neighbors to the Northwest got it harder than we did, but a few days ago, ice, sleet, freezing rain, and snow all decided to remind us that it's still winter-time and they wanted the final word. Forecasts predicting the latest snowmageddon blasted the airwaves and groceries stocked up on and consequently ran out of bread, milk, and eggs as the panic set in.

My workplace gave us permission to work from home, as it was expected that the height of the snow and ice would fall during evening rush hour. I took advantage of that to head home, hunker down, and await the blizzard. And wait. And wait. And around 4 PM, a fluffy snow started to fall and as usual, the panic far outweighed the actual results. In the end we might have got a quarter inch of ice with maybe 2 inches of fresh snow. But today, the temperatures dropped to 2 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chills at around negative 11. Still took me the normal time to start the car, scrape the ice, and warm it up and arrive at work at the usual time. So while the fearmongering is alive and well, it seems we've missed the brunt of the difficult weather in the area once more. And the forecast is predicting 50 degrees plus next week, so the roller coaster ride continues...

From a genealogical perspective, I got gangster actor E.G. Robinson connected to the global tree, so one more Academy Award winner in the books. Several of us contributed to connect Robert Conrad who recently passed away. So the next challenge is to tackle a connection attempt for singer James Brown, who surprisingly didn't have a profile until the other day. I'm already prepping family members to add to his tree so that we can expand his family and at least get him a large group of cousins who will hopefully be connected (one day).

I'm also thinking from a Fulkerson perspective that we're up around 2150, so everything's staying on target for the 2200 goal by end of year. Still leaves me with another 50 to log by end of month to stay on my 100 profiles per month. I'm still excited to believe that WikiTree could become the primary source for Fulkerson material once we get profiles logged and populated with as much information as is possible. One step at a time.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Comments

Yesterday we had -10 windchill with ice and snow, and on Sunday we expect a sunny 60 degrees F.

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Scott, my wife regularly comments on how people get terrorized by weather reports. We just watch the grocery store parking lots for our warnings. Old timers around here are pretty savvy about the weather.

Great work on Robinson and your Fulkersons!

Answer 5

Happy Valentine's Day from beautiful southeastern Arizona! The weather here continues to be lower than normal temps. Both the Whetstone and Huachuca Mountains had snow on Wednesday morning, but none on the ground here. It's currently 39 F, but going into the 60s today. Great forecast for Sunday (into the 70s!) but cool temps again for this upcoming week.

WikiTree: Sorry I didn't have time to do anything.

Life: It's been a very busy week. I procrastinated in creating documents for my healthy community meeting but got them ready in time for Monday night's meeting. Attended our senior center activity planning meeting on Tuesday afternoon and also spent time on Tuesday creating a flyer to attract new members for the healthy community group. Spent Wednesday at the Cochise County Healthy Summit where I met a lot of interesting people. On Thursday afternoon, I met with the Scout coordinator to plan when our "Curb Numbering" project can be implemented (early April). The town recently revised its code about address numbering. Many residents here are low-income and can't afford to comply. Our healthy community group and the Scouts will work together to get address numbers on either mailboxes or curbs.

Writing: I've revised Chapter 13 of my next novel multiple times. Yesterday I printed out the latest version and asked my 82-year-old friend (who lived on a farm without electricity or running water when she was a child) to look over what I'd written about a springhouse, churning butter, and making cheese.

For this upcoming Saturday's fiction writers meeting, I needed to research something and then write 500 words. I had multiple ideas on the topic to research, but each one I selected didn't work out as I wanted. Last Saturday I finally found my topic -- the first steamboat to navigate the Muskingum River. This is something that I'll be able to use in my third book (if I ever get so far! lol).

Hope all of you have a great weekend!

Comments

Diane, I know this is heresy in some circles, but there is life outside of WikiTree!  So, don't apologize. You have been very busy, and you are not wasting you time as far as I can tell from all the activities you are involved in. And yes, you will get to third novel! I'd love to hear what your 82-year-old friend thought of you writings.

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Thanks for the vote on confidence on writing a third novel, Pip!

I'm so glad I asked my friend because I messed up on the churning butter portion. I thought butter was made just from the cream skimmed off the milk, so I'm glad she set me straight! She didn't make cheese as a child, but I watched a youtube video on how that was done in the 18th century. My springhouse portion was all right according to her.

Answer 6

It got COLD last night here in Northeast Ohio. Wednesday night it started to snow and it is still snowing at this time. It was in the teens this morning with an expected low of 5 F tonight. The good news is that tomorrow the snow should start to melt again. I have done nothing of note on WikiTree this past week, just continuing to add sources, correct suggestions, and even do some short biography's. We are giving a futon to a needy person later today so that we have room to move the bed one of my grandsons uses into one of our spare bedrooms. He is buying a new bed for himself. The weather has been so bad that they have done nothing to the new homes that were delivered about a week ago but I expect that to change next week.

Comments

Dale, if you continued to add sources, corrected suggestions, and did some short biographies, I would not call that "nothing of note."

Answer 7

On this day:

1918: The Soviet Union switches to the Gregorian Calendar. (I use the German Wikipedia-page here, because it has a handy table when several countries and regions switched the calendar. Scroll down to find it.)

1977: In Brussels, for the first time a telephone card is used to phone from a phone booth

1990: Out of Voyager 1, the picture Pale Blue Dot was taken. Enlarge the picture in the Wikipedia-article to see the pale blue dot.

Comments

I remember the first time I saw the Pale Blue Dot, some 20 years after it was taken. I do get behind the times occasionally, especially in the area of science. Great selections, Jelena.

Answer 8

Happy Valentines Day Everyone. 

Weather:  Here in Catoosa County Georgia last week's weather can be summed up in one word.   Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.   Good thing the temperatures stayed well above freezing,  because shoveling the snow equivalent of 6 inches of rain  wouldn't be happening at our house..... we'd just wait for it to melt. 

Genealogy:     Nothing sensational this week.  Been working on my Robinson brickwall.   Didn't accomplish much,  mainly creating what I call  "defensive profiles".... where family trees posted on the internet have gotten the records for several people mixed up.  It adds clarity if you can see all the entangled sources posted to their correct profile, even if that person isn't your ancestor.   But it can take a lot of time to connect these new profiles  to the  "Big Tree".

Got to go for now!

I look forward to seeing everyone's posts!

Comments

Peggy, I feel your rain!  Whatever you get, we get about a day later. And we're with you: shoveling ain't happening here, either.

Answer 9

Firstly: Happy Hallmark Day, Wikipeeps!

Could have said "Happy Singles Awareness Day" but that might have been much. How are we all doing? Hope things are good!

On the genealogy front, I posted a blog about one of my greatest discoveries: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2020/02/52-ancestors-week-7-favorite-discovery.html

This one was a deep cut to my childhood. When I was growing up, my family and I spent weekends in the summer at a marina overlooking Newburyport from the Salisbury side of the Merrimack River. Turns out I am related to the guy who owned that marina!! Details in the blog. It was so wild. Never saw that coming! 

On the DNA front, I am trying to figure out where this 400+ cM match for my great-aunt falls. I THINK I know where he might go. But, I'm not sure. I want to look at his DNA matches to be sure. Instead, I asked one of his DNA matches to see how she matches with him. I've talked to her before about stuff and it might be less awkward.

In any case, I deferred him to a pro genealogist named Dana Leeds. Maybe she can help him figure things out. Here's hoping. 400 cMs is pretty close to my great-aunt. 200 or so with my dad and 75 with me, I think.

Looking at the shared matches, I have an idea of where he might go. But, I need more than that. Like cold hard facts. That would be nice.

On the non genealogy front, winter seems to be coming and going in odd phases around here. Not complaining because I hate shoveling. But, winter is almost over. So that's a good thing. Just wish it snowed a LITTLE more. Not saying it needs to be a ton. Just enough because it helps the garden. It's the circle of life, guys!

Have a great weekend!

Oh and can someone let me know if this works? I did a Tour builder of where my family was in Haverhill in the 1930 census. I think I did it right. Some places, it seems, has been torn down: https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/builder#play/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgIDg8ITh4wkM

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot. Red markers are direct ancestors. Blue are cousins.

I picked 1930 for obvious reasons. It's the first census where all branches of my family are in Haverhill (And Newburyport). 1920 had my dad's maternal side there. Not his paternal side.

I've started doing a bit for the 1950 census.

Comments

Never too late, Paul.

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Ahh, Norfik. I had a friend down in Norfik. Or was it Quinzy? Maybe it was Swahmscott? I don't know. Point is they got this Dunkies down there that's better than the one in Wubun.

And that's how you Boston, WikiTree. *bows*

Please watch this Super Bowl ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85iRQdjCzj0

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Then there's Monty Python... "Ah, no, no.  My name is spelt 'Luxury Yacht' but it's pronounced 'Throatwobbler Mangrove'.

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Lisa! I love the Month Python quote. Between the movies, the series, and a couple comedy albums I had of theirs. I never get bored of them or their quotes.

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I don't think anyone does, Paul. So, would you like some spam, egg, sausage and spam?

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I want the Spam.  I want to eat it in the Castle Anthrax. Please light the Grail beacon. Otherwise I shall fart in your general direction. By the way This parrot has expired.

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No it isn't. It's just fighting for the fjord.

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On I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok. I sleep all night and I work all day

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OK Paul and Chris,

You guys are too funny.   Now I'll have the  "lumber jack" song stuck in my head...... I guess it could be worse,  just think of  "Baby Shark, Baby Shark".

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Thanks to the Meaning of Life. I avoid canned salmon

Answer 10

Happy Valentines Day.

Weather: it has been pleasantly warm bordering on hot and muggy in Florida. It looks like it has been cool and rainy at home.

Genealogy: I have set aside work on my family (need the external keyboard, cannot type fast enough on the laptop), but have worked on a couple families found via the data doctor 133 suggestions. It has been slow going due to slow and spotty campground WiFi.

Just today my laptop (running Linux Mint) lost WIFI signal and then quit recognizing that there were any WIFI connections available.

Comments

On and off, it's been a pretty mild winter for us, Kay,. I can imagine that it would be bordering on hot and muggy in Florida. Sorry to hear about your wifi trouble. Frustrating, I know!

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I bought a mechanical external keyboard for my laptop. I just gotta hear those clicks and love the feel of the heavier keyboard taps.

I've had a problem with another laptop dropping Wi-fi signal. It runs on Windows10, and now it won't even recognize when it's directly cabled into the internet! Good luck! I understand how frustrating it can be when you can't get connected.

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Kay,

I'm with you on wanting a full keyboard  (hopefully ergonomic) ...But a lap top is certainly better than the  notebooks and phones.   Just showing my age....  wait until the "texting generation" have the eyes of a 70 year old.

Answer 11

Greetings from Everett, Washington, and happy Feast of Saint Valentine!

Last night I presented a genealogical discovery at the Mukilteo Historical Society, regarding a previously  unknown Upper Skagit wife of an early settler who connects to Mukilteo's Fowler founders. This presentation was a great success, made without notes, and answering questions about the early settlers.  

What agony my husband and I went through about 4 hours earlier, when the computer ATE the Power Point after it was finished. Poof, the entire folder gone.  He reconstructed it from the photos I had.  

Yesterday was one day when I was working to a very tight schedule, and the timing had to be just perfect.  Copy the agendas and minutes for the meeting.  Shop for daughter's dinner and prepare lunch and dinner for her to take to work.  Take daughter to work.  Prepare Power Point.  Bring son to daughter's workplace so they can watch the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie together.  Have dinner with husband.  Make the presentation at the meeting and take minutes.  Then return to the theater and pick up son and daughter.

Dinner with husband was the highlight, a quiet time when we could just be together and talk about things.  I was thinking of how God has richly blessed us.

Today is not nearly so hectic; however, I need to shop for fish for daughter's dinner.  Supermarkets have not yet put the fish on ice at this hour of the morning, so I have some chat time.

I am gratified and thankful for the responses to my appearance as Member of the Week, and I want to thank everyone who has asked questions and just pitched in and improved profiles.  The people who worked on Aunt Lucille Robe and Aunt Dorothy Robe were an unexpected bonus.  Thank you!

It's not raining so much this week.  Snowmageddon will not return this year. I see daffodils pointing upward not yet in bloom.  In some places the English cherry trees have blossoms.  And, I don't need headlights on when I drive around at 7 a.m.

Comments

Hi there, Margaret! We’re getting blooms early this year, and we still have two more months of frost and such to go. They are a welcome sight after months of winter drab.

I always look forward to seeing your delightful missive each week, Margaret! I admire your drive and wit.

Answer 12

New name, Pip? "Pip Achoo !! Sheppard" ... Well, I suppose if you took to eating a garlic clove morning noon and night and wore one of those face masks what cover nose and mouth ... never mind. 

A Masked Pip Stinking of Garlic is "over the top" ... it would however serve to "clear the airs" you breathe since most would not stick around long enough to share theirs with you ... no, no, never mind. Not enough sleep or something. Brain whirls, and out comes nonsense.

WEATHER -- warmish and dry and likely we will end up spending the spring summer and fall in drought conditions. Again. All that warm dry air is affecting the Sierra snow pack adversely

GENEALOGY -- decided that given the number of partisan stormy squalls that occur in g2g, I could save my arthritic fingers from tiring out by NOT participating when the usual complaints roll in. A simple solution which might lower my blood pressure, reduce the aches in my hands,  etc  

AND that would leave me more time (of course) for applying myself to my Watchlist to catch UP with myself. I keep getting distracted. 

You would think that the number of PM chasing those pesky rabbits would cause those pesky rabbits to fall over in exhaustion, but ... they don't ... I keep imagining a huge continent, all grassy and bushy and millions of rabbits and 1000's of Wikitreers coursing across the veld in pursuit of a desperate rabbit 

Comments

Lately, I’ve assiduously avoided any rabbit holes. All it does is put behind in other stuff. Actually, I’ve had to put the other stuff to the side this week. No sneezing, Susan, but the aches and pains!!! I type this from my “sick couch!”

Answer 13

Hi all!

Greetings from a windy Germany. The big storm we had from Sunday to Tuesday was really big. There were no big damages though, but this was in my opinion because for the first time people really took seriously what the meteorologists said. The railway shut down long distant connections early on Sunday and the shorter distant connections then on Sunday evening to avoid that trains are stuck in midst of their way because of fallen trees. Many counties closed the schools on Monday, many employees let people do home office, so there were not that many people on the street.

On the personal front, mum had the date with her surgeon and he told her: "We have to do another surgery, the way it's now it makes no sense." This is what I expected in a way, but I wanted to hear it from him.

Genealogy: I have a low point currently with the Siemens-project... I "took a few days off" of it, didn't really do much about it.

Comments

Jelena, now did your mom take the news?

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She said: "Doc, let's do that asap." He wanted to chat to a colleague who would then be the leading surgeon, but he will assist him, and when that is done we get a call of him when to come for surgery preparation.

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Good for her! Hope this gets taken care of soon!

Answer 14

Currently, it's -10˚ C and sunny in Fort Erie, heading for a predicted low of -13˚ C tonight, but a high of 1˚ C tomorrow. (Given this message from "Environment Canada", I'm not sure I actually believe that.)

I was mostly absent for a couple of weeks because I was away on a work trip. The work went more smoothly than I expected, but I came home jet-lagged and peopled out. But I took most of this week off as comp days, and have been trying to get caught up on my Slade Name Study (which is the One Name Study I'm concentrating on this month.) As I've been going through my spreadsheet and tallying up sourcing levels, categories, and so on, I've come to realise that the Slades from the Slade Genealogy site, ThePeerage.com, and Wikipedia are in way better shape than the Slades in my own Watchlist who aren't from one of those other sources. That's probably because I've been working through all those other Slades for a couple of years now, looking for profiles that I can improve in one way or another to make the numbers improve. So adding my other Slades into the spreadsheet is turning out to be a good way to identify those profiles which need some TLC (which is most of them).

For Valentine's Day, I decided to work up a spreadsheet similar to the one I've worked up for my Slade Name Study for the light of my life and the delight of my eyes, listing the WikiTree profiles sharing her Last Name At Birth. Fortunately for me, there aren't a lot of people on WikiTree with her Last Name At Birth, so it wasn't a multi-month project. 

Comments

Hey, Greg! I added you to my cousins page! Try to get warm! Nice work!

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Stay inside Greg!!!    Glad you have some time to  "decompress" from your trip and work on genealogy.

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Glad to see you taking some time off for just you and yours, Greg.

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I keep talking about how spreadsheets help me organise my research, and they do. (Or at least, they motivate me by letting me see which profiles need work.) But even the built-in tools on WikiTree can help, too. 

For instance, the Dynamic Tree tells me that my tree is complete (at least as far as direct ancestors go) for four generations (back to my second great-grandparents). Beyond that, things start to get a lot patchier. In the fifth generation, I'm missing:

• the mother of Thomas Goodes
• the mother of Selina Webb
• both parents of Margaret Crozier
• both parents of Mary McDonald
• both parents of William McMillan
• both parents of Margaret McKeller
• the mother of George Welch

So the next time there's a free weekend for Scotland's People or FindMyPast, I know who to research.

Answer 15

Hi! Last weekend, Pip mentioned he was sourcing North Dakota profiles, 'just 'cause'.  Well, that started the unofficial 'Connect the North Dakota Governor Challenge', 'just 'cause'.  So in the week, 17 North Dakota governors were connected, 13 remain unconnected but they are tough ones.

Comments

S, if I’d have known! Send me the link, and I’ll see what I can do (upon recovery). This has been a fascinating work, ND profiles. I’ve knocked out about 40 or 50 so far.

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Really? Where's the thread? Normally I track challenges like that and add them to the Places to find unconnected profiles page.

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no thread, just me working on it.

here is the earliest Governor not connected 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Miller-32586

Answer 16

Another goofy weather week ... snow to start, nice this weekend and then snow again on Monday ... I need Spring!

Valentine's day ... we very seldom go out for dinner on Valentines day ... way too many folks with the same agenda.  So, I cooked dinner tonight and, instead of our usual glass of red wine, it was Prosecco ... good stuff.

Genealogy-wise, I finished the tenth generation out of the Jewett book I'm working from ...  just one more 'easy' generation to go.  Easy as in not too many family's are listed.  The book was published in the early 1900's and, I'm thinkin', that he just went with what he had at the time.  Still good stuff.

Comments

We're with you on staying home for valentines dinner..... We bought some expensive  frozen fried shrimp from Costco  and prepared a easy meal....  that was better than most restaurants nearby.  (The wine cost less too.)    Enjoy the nice weekend weather!

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Bob, are you going to republish the book, aside from adding to it in WT?

We didn’t go out for Valentines either. My wife’s birthday is this coming week. I make sure to do something special for her each year.

Answer 17

Away for the weekend with a group of friends. Have a follow-up checkup at the hospital on Thursday.

Realised that if I cross everything off my tasklist for the month then the contribution count will significantly exceed that compared to last month. Tidied up the number of Free Space Profiles I have, and also the process of improving my Roll of Honour page continues

Within the last couple of days, I had been adding a number of cousin profiles and a discovered a pre-existing unconnected notable with a wikitreer attached which helped them get connected.

Comments

Richard, your contributions going up will make up for mine going down the past month. Actually, since December, mine are way down. Lately, I just haven’t had the heart for it.

Hope your weekend with your friends is enjoyable! You’ve had a tough road lately. I’m glad to see you back into life!

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Happy to balance it out for you  (I'm not actually trying to get a high count, I just happened to have identified a lot that should be done and going through that list)

It definitely was enjoyable, the general consensus was that it was too short (however 99% of the group had to get back to work either yesterday or today)

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They are always too short, aren't they? Glad you had the chance to get away and have a good time, Richard.

Answer 18

Haven't been on here lately but back track every so often to keep up with the gossip, opps, I mean news!!!! Pip you do an awesome job on your intro posts to the weekend chat. If you save all your posts, you might be able to write a book some day with so much useful information shared.

As for us, its another nice day with temps in the 40's and sunny all this this weekend. Glad we haven't had any more tornados like the one in January. It had winds up to 90 miles per hour. Am waiting patiently for spring to arrive, never liked the cold air. Before I go, wishing everyone a great Valentine's evening and weekend!!

Comments

Hi, Sandra! Great to hear from you. My wife has said the same, that I ought to collect my musings for a book for the kids.

We figure we are here in he mountains for another couple of years, as long as my stepdad is around. Then we’ll be moving to a warmer clime. We are not particular fond of the cold either!

Answer 19

Thank you, Pip, and Happy  Day!

This week was mostly spent working on mining disaster categories and getting the Olympics category proposal in. Did  you read the post? My partner-in-crime, Isabelle Martin, and I have worked on Olympics on and off for over a year (I know, right? All of that for the little bit we submitted?)  Our goal was simplicity.

Since the Olympics will be held later this year, anyone reading is invited to create profiles of Olympians of old, but not too old. Records should be fairly easy to find for athletes up until about 1950. More contemporary profiles will be more difficult to connect, since family may be living. (unless, of course, they are in your family or you're willing to keep the family in your watchlist!) Stay tuned for a possible Olympics Challenge in the summer. 

I spent Valentine's Day with my valentine, of course, and we went to Worcester, Massachusetts' finest seafood restaurant for lunch, which was followed by a dessert of some fine chocolates. We took a walk in the city and it was FA-REEZING cold. My face was numb and my mascara was running due to my watering eyes. But it was fun anyway!

May you all have a great weekend! 

Nat

Comments

Oh, Natalie! An Olympic challenge! What a great idea. I’ve got to hand it to you, all that effort (often unheralded) that you and the Categorisation Project put into making things more organized and simplified.

Since my wife’s birthday is only five days after Valentines, we bundle then together for a special day. I am safe to say this here as she does read my posts (unless I share them), but I got her a gift she has been eyeing for a bit. She’s knows me well enough not to get something for herself if she knows that I know! I can’t wait to give it to her! There’s nothing better than getting gifts for her and to see the look on her face when I give hem to her.

I DID read your message on M&W categorisation. It looks overwhelming, and I wish I had more skill in that area. I’ll be looking at that for you to see what I can do.

Stay warm!

Answer 20

Happy weekend, everyone!  Long week here and I'm really looking forward to relaxing for a couple of days.  Today was fun, though.  Regular class was partly preempted for Darwin Day celebration, including a keynote address from a Nobelist.  It was a really good, inspiring talk and I'm glad we sacrificed some class time for it.  Lab projects are moving along and we got through the day without any critters getting loose in the lab.  Not a bad end to a rough week.

On the genealogy front, I haven't done much directly on Wikitree but I've still been chipping away at that mystery cluster, trying to connect a couple born in about 1700 to my tree.  I'm building a really quick&dirty private tree for them at Ancestry using the hints and other people's trees and my best judgement.  If I get something that looks promising I'll source it better to see if it holds up.  It's a slog, though.  They had 12 kids, and most of those kids had 7-10 kids, and they must have had whopping good luck, resources, and/or genes because they all seemed to survive to adulthood and have even more kids.  And with that many people, and lack of info for some of them, odds seem pretty good that my connection won't be obvious.  But I can at least give it a shot.

Comments

Lisa, I would have loved to have heard the address. Wouldn’t happen to be online anywhere, would it?

I’ve had a few families, just a few, like the one you are working: 12 kids who have 12 kids each, who have 12 kids each. It sure blew up my Watchlist! Best of luck with your research!

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Good luck with that rabbit hole, Lis! Sounds like one of the families I have to work with.

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Pip, Friday's talk isn't online, but I found this shorter version on another site: https://www.ibiology.org/cell-biology/developing-gfp/

So yesterday I found a pdf of a "Descendants of David Potts" book from about 1901.  I'm not treating it as absolute truth but it's helping me check the stuff I'm finding on Ancestry.  Still nowhere closer to figuring out my connection, though.