Busy Busy Day

While, after returning from getting Younger Son home from work at 6:30 am, I was able to get a good nap in, it has been non-stop ever since today.

After cat, dog and chicken chores were finished, I headed to the memorial service for my cousin's daughter. (Well technically, for all you genealogists, the service was for my first cousin, twice removed.) The 21 year old had a small toddler son, and loved Batman. So in her honor, all were asked to wear their Batman gear. For those like me with no Batman stuff, they were ready.

Yup, Batman ribbons. The service was sweet, and very moving with the wee son toddling up and down the aisle as his great uncle sang, and another eulogized his momma. Cut down at only 21, it makes you aware that if the Lord is nudging you to do something, do it!

Also, all her uncles give great hugs. Such a loving, supportive family remembering her with great love.

I had to rush away because I had volunteered to help with distributing food at our church when the food truck was there. It was a great time to serve others, as well as fellowship with my church family. I am more and more becoming a part of the parish.

Oh, and did I share the parish's hay sculpture for the Harvest Festival?

Saint Teresa of Calcutta. How perfect. It looks just like her.

 

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In Memory of Those Who Gave All

In my family tree we have quite a few veterans. Probably even some I have not confirmed as having served. The veterans outnumber the fallen, but on this Memorial Day, when we honor the fallen, I would like to mention a couple from my mothers branch of the family tree who did make the ultimate sacrifice during war.

Although he is listed in the letter above as Paul Gilbert, his name was really Paul Davis. After GGrandma Ada Samis Gilbert died, GGrampa Roy married her sister Delia whose husband had died. Her son Paul enlisted as Gilbert instead of Davis, honoring GGrampa but also causing me great difficulty finding military information on him. As you can read, he died during World War II, on October 18, 1944 in Lorraine, France. He has a grave marker with his brother and parents in Michigan. I believe his body was returned after the war and is indeed buried there. I don't know if he was a part of D Day. But I do remember watching a movie about the landing, or perhaps a documentary. My mother mentioned something about wondering if cousin Paul was there. Either way, he was in the thick of battle. And I salute him.

The other member of my family who fell in battle is Gilbert Samis.

Gilbert Samis is a double cousin. His mother Sadie was my GGrampa Roy's sister and his father Frank was the brother of GGreat Grandma Ada, and Delia of course. According to a news clipping he fought in Mexico during the Spanish American War. He came home to help his father run a restaurant, but enlisted in February 1917 once again. He was wounded in battle at Chateau Thierry, France, recovered and returned to action. Sadly, just over a month before the Armistice, he was wounded again at Arogonne Forest in France and died of his wounds on October 28; just two weeks before the war ended, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. I have always been so saddened by those who died within days of the end of war.

So in memory of these two family members as well as all the others who gave their lives, I give a heartfelt, humble thank you.

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Finding Family

What a great day Monday.

I and a cousin went to a local history museum near the area where a lot of our common ancestors lived. Normally they aren't open on Mondays, but she when was there in Saturday the lady said she would let us in to do research in their archives--obituaries, cemetery records, books and death certificates.

I do love a good old-time obituary. They were so detailed and personable. That was where I spent most of my time studying.

I was delighted by one finding. I had been wondering about my Great Granny Hurley's family. They were my nearest immigrant family, from Ireland. I often wondered if they were Catholic or not. I kind of assumed they were, but wasn't sure.

I only found two Hurley names from my tree. And they didn't mention the services. Most of the others were too recent to be in my tree. However....all the Hurley obituaries that were found, had the funeral services at .... St Patrick's Catholic Church, in Parnell. I feel my chances of being right are stronger. And so close to St Patrick's day.

And now we have another cemetery to explore.

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Spinning and Knitting, With a Side of Genealogy

Saturday was a bit chilly in this neck of the woods. A glorious low of 31.5 was recorded on our thermometer. I love the cooler weather, but I, or rather my Cemetery Walk alter ego, Calico Jane was scheduled to sit outside the Hesperia Library spinning that morning!

My Ashford Traditional wheel hasn't been used much, especially on the road. But I finally have a car that I can (barely) get it to fit into. I had to spend some time Friday getting it tuned up and remembering how to adjust it. But it spun like a dream after profuse oiling and fiddling.

Luckily, it was a great morning. While the local history and genealogy folk were gathered inside, I filled half a bobbin of light gray Shetland wool. I was well bundled against the chill, armed with hot coffee, wool socks, a hand-spun, hand-knit wool scarf, sweatshirt cardigan, and two knit tops. Only my foot in the shoe was cold. The other was kept warm by tredling along.

After a couple hours I went in to the gathering. I discovered my Cross family line that lived in Beaver Township left me related to several people who there, including some I went to school with. My family just keeps growing, even if a certain grandniece continues to take her own sweet time.

Back home and back to knitting. With the Gray Spiral Blankie done, and the Purple Swing Cardi off the needles, I needed to pick my main project to work on. I have been working along on the Lilac Lace Cardigan, but it is a project that requires careful watching. (And it is Lilac, not Lavendar as previously reported.) Now that the Lions somewhat embarrassing game is over I do have the Scoreboard Cowl to work on as well, but that usually is done by the day after the game.

The Raspberry Creme shawl resurfaced, as well as the Rustic Blue Silk Triangle Scarf. I may frog that and start it again. After seeing the one in the local yarn store, I think it needs to be redone at a tighter gauge. I'm not quite sure if I just need to knit tighter, or use smaller needle. Thus that sits in time out while I mull that project a bit more.

But now, back to my Scoreboard Cow. I'm sure glad I purchased the extra skein of silver colored yarn. And because I don't have many pictures in this post, I decided to include one of the cutest Little Farmer in the world.

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Offically Open

 At long last, we had the Grand Opening/Open House at my place of work yesterday.  From the starting of the Open House until a while after the Ribbon Cutting, we were packed.  Even after the main crush of people thinned out, we had people coming until closing.

 We had much more food than this.  Once it all came in, you could hardly see the table cloth!  And there was another table of cookies up by my desk.  I tried to avoid that one though. 

 A great contingent from my church were here, as well as family members from both my family and Sandy's family.  She is my fearless leader, boss lady, and partner in crime.  

 We had a lot of positive feedback, and a lot of people came who had not been here before. 

I think we all went home and to bed, happy and excited.

Thanks, boss lady for the job.  We are going to take Fremont by storm.

Gray & Blue and Black & White

What a full, fun day.  My friend Sandy, her Hubby and I attended Western Michigan Genealogical Society's latest Got Ancestors seminar.
The speaker, Tony Bourroughs, was entertaining, and I learned so much.  Even though much of his sessions dealt with black genealogy, so much will apply to my search.
And since I didn't take any pictures today, here is a picture of a gnarly tree.  After all, what is genealogy, but studying the sometimes gnarly family tree.
(Does anyone recognize it?)

Hey--I'm an Award Winner

Some of my readers here may also occasionally peruse the blog I co-author with my supervisor at t the local history room, The Cemetery Divas. We have had a lot of fun with it even though it is less than 2 months since we started it. To our great surprise this past week, we were nominated by a reader for the Kreative Blogger award. If you haven't gone to my sister blog, check it out.

Genealogy Seminar

Last Saturday was the "Got Ancestors?!" event hosted by the Western Michigan Genealogical Society in Grand Rapids. Sandy and I both attended for the day, and had a great time. Learned lots, laughed lots, got some forms and a magnifying globe.

The speakers were George Morgan and Drew Smith, the Genealogy Guys who even taped their podcast as the last session. Seriously: educational and fun time.

And I also knit a lot on my travel sock. Went from about an inch of ribbing to the heel flap. Nothing like knitting for focusing on a speaker.

The Cemetery Divas

My Boss/friend/co-worker and I finally took the plunge and started our new joint blog. The Cemetery Divas is sort of in conjunction with our job in the local history room. We plan on talking about our family search, tips and thoughts on genealogy, and an occasional rant on why some people have horrible obituaries. Examples: No dates, every person they ever met in the survivors--and special friends named Bambi or Trixie. It makes you wonder if its a dog or a secret lover.
But I digress. If you have any interest in family history or local history, click on the link above or in the side bar and check it out sometime.

Blog Fodder

My co-worker/boss and I are soon to start a new venture. I have managed to get her started in her life as a fiber addict, taking her to her first fiber festival a few weeks ago, and encouraging her in purchasing a floor loom before that.

I kept talking about the fun I had blogging and she started one.

And now we are about to embark on a joint blog for the Local History Room where we work. We help library patrons research their family history and county history. I think it will be a fun project. We will explore some of our own genealogy, local cemeterys, fun history tidbits, all sorts of things. Hopefully we will be linked on the Library Web site, and I will be adding a link here after we get it established.

Hope to see you there soon.

Family Time--Part 2

What a delightful evening yesterday.

After spinning guild (and I am so glad to be able to bring my wheel together with my friends and spin once more on Mondays), I dashed home to grab my salad to head off with Hubby and his brother Carl and wife Lottie to attend a family reunion.

We had gotten a phone call from his last remaining aunt--a regular pistol of a little old lady who doesn't know the meaning of rest.

Now mind you, she had been in the hospital off and on with surgery, heart problems etc all this past winter. But she got it in her head to plan a Walsworth cousins reunion. So the rest of us had no choice but to gather. And gather we did. There were only 3 missing, and those were all out of town.

You must realize that for years she and her husband organized and ran bus tours across the country. I truly regret that I never got to go one one. And apparently when she had family dinners she also organized the entertainemt. After we ate our abundant meal, which was held at her church, someone asked where was the music. So she trotted over to her son. The retired school principal and superintendent meekly did as she requested and with his sister played a few rousing hymns on the organ.

What fun. We then posed for pictures.

I even got one with her and her 3 flowergirls.

In Honor and Memory of Heros

On this Memorial Day, I remember and thank those who fight and those who have died.

As this scratchy picture states, this is Gilbert Samis, a distant double cousin of mine who died in World War I. He was the son of my great-grandmothers brother and my great-grandfather's sister. According to the newspaper articles about his death he volunteered and served first on the Mexican border, and then after being discharged, joined the infantry again to fight in France. He died late October 1918, just days before the Armistice.

This is the grave of my half great-uncle Paul Davis. He also volunteered, enlisting in 1939. After serving in various locations, he died in October 1944, serving as part of Patton's drive to Germany. He died fighting for his country and others.

Other members of my family also fought and although they did not die, I also honor them for their service. This is my dad in the middle with Uncle Don and Uncle Howard on either side of him.

Now my nephew serves in Afghanistan. I admire his courage and keep him in my prayers.


For all who have served and died, served and survived, and who will some day serve. I salute you.

Oops, I Forgot to Mention

On the way home from the Spin-In on Saturday, I also stopped by to say howdy to some of my family.

The cemetery on the way holds 2 sets of my great-great-grandparents, and one pair of great-great-great grandparents. I couldn't find my Gilbert family who have the flat stones, that are flush with the ground. They were my great grandparents and Great-great-grandparents that include my Civil War ancestor. I always have felt a special place for GGGrandpa Armenus Gilbert, as he is the first ancestor I found on my own and confirmed. I even named my dog afer him. I did find Great Granny's parents and Grandparents. A cousin recently replaced a couple of the stones, so I hadn't found their graves until this year.

Meet My Bunny

First work day of unemployment (or at least from my full time job) and how do I spend it? Picking up my angora bunny.

Meet Mr Mocha S Bunny. He is a satin angora that I got from Chickasaw Farm in Chase, in the northern corner of the county. As you can see he is a lovely bunny--I guess the color is called fawn. Ithink he looks like a Siamese cat with long ears and long wool. As you can see below, the oldest crop of this year's barn kitties felt that they were the welcoming committee and were checking out the new neighbor. Curosity may not kill these kitties but if they don't watch out, it could loose them a toe or two.

I decided to bed Mr Mocha down and let his rest tonight. I will need to be able to start handling him soon to comb him out. I already discovered I may have a problem with a 24 inch X 24 inch cage but only about 20 inch arms.

I love the neighborhood where I got Mr Mocha. I took advantage of the trip to stop at the cemetery that holds 3 generations of grandparents, beginning with Great Grandpa, who I knew, and going back to Great Grandma's parents and Grandparents. There were a couple new stones for 2 of them since the list time I was there so I wanted to be able to get some pictures of them as well see if my Great Grandpa Armenus had a flag on his grave. When I first discovered the family plot, there was none, even though he was a veteran of the Civil War. I always felt a special spot for him as he is the first ancestor I discovered on my own. (Much of my genealogy has been verifying what was know on my fathers side and already researched by my aunt and cousin.) The graves were especially tricky to find, even now because the stones are all flat and becoming overgrown by sod around the edges. And the family stone faces the north, while the vast majority there face north or south. After some searching, while Mr Mocha sat in his carrier in the shady car, I managed to finally find them. This time the flag was there, although the grass overgrown there. I may have to make a return trip one of these days to snip grass and I would like to plant a perenniel or two around there. But it is quite dry, so not sure if it would be worth the hassel if I can't get there to water them.

Anyway, Mr Mocha is safe in his cage and so far, the kitties still have all their toes.

Gen Chat

Since Knit Night is no more, at least for me, I am getting back to Gen Chat in the Local History room at my local library. We just had three of us tonight. Apparently it has been a small crew lately. Sandy reminded me about the monthly meetings a few weeks ago. Tonight was the first meeting since the holidays. It is a great time--I never opened my knitting bag! She also told about the Genealogy conference this summer she is attending. I was jealous.
I found some tidbits on my Irish Hurley's. I want to dig a little deeper on the possible connection I found in the UK census during one of the recent genealogy classes.
On the knitting front, I have been eagerly awaiting my invite to an online knitting community called Ravelry. I should be getting my invite in a day or two now. Hopefully I can work on my organization on Thursday when I am off. I can get a lot of Internet time done at the library using their high-speed connection. Well I am off, I want to work on that luscious pink Shape It scarf. Ahh, here is a label; it is Platinum by Plymouth Yarn--20%,30%, 50%rayon. So soft.

Genealogy on the Internet.

I had a great time at class--Genealogy on the Internet. I had my laptop with me. Unfortunately I wasn't near a plug so I could not keep up with all the web sites as we went along before my battery got low. I did save a few in my genealogy favorites list and will be adding others to get me going. Most I had on my old computer, but never was able to transfer my favorites over to my laptop.
It was good to see Sandy again, as well as her family (except for the puppy princess.)
And I even managed to knit a few rows on my latest pair of socks.!

Leaving the Nest

A little time to post before I attend an afternoon genealogy on the Internet class at the local library. I haven't had much time to work on it but with unemployment looming in my future again, I may have time to spend on research again.
News on the family front. Oldest son is soon going to be moving out. We had gotten subtle hints, like Oldest Son asking about the cost of propane. But when someone at the local farm equipment shop mentioned to Hubby that Oldest Son was going to be his neighbor. When confronted, he admitted as much. His boss bought the house with a barn and a few acres. Oldest Son gets to live in the house, and apparently the barn will be rebuilt to house some young heifers. It will be a few weeks, because the water is turned off and he has no idea what is there as far as appliances and furniture and such. I may have to go shopping with him, as well as rummaging the attic.
All youngest son cares about is that there is a washer and dryer. No more doing brother's laundry.
Better go for now to eat and get ready for class.