Technology Comes With a Price

I mentioned yesterday that I'm a techo geek.  I love messing around with any kind of technology.  Technology affects every facet of our daily lives indirectly and directly whether we like it or not.  Even the Amish who shun technology are affected.  I'm sure there are many examples of technology at work that I could use but you know one that I like is I do a lot of home canning much like the Amish.  I use a pressure canner just like the Amish to process my home canned foods safely.  The thing is the pressure canner would not even exist if it were not for technology.  When most people think of technology they really mean a lot of the newer technological advances mainly electronic that have cropped up over the last few years.  These technological advances are absolutely amazing and yet many of them are coming with a high price tag.  Consider:

• video games - These range from hand held devices to consoles and any other version.  Children are spending so much time playing these games three things are happening.  Their imagination is decreasing, their social skills are decreasing and their weight is increasing.
• computers - At the click of a couple of keys the computer brings a multitude of desired information into our homes.  More and more communication is done online to the point some have figured out they can survive quite nicely without ever leaving home.  Honestly there are very few things you can't order online including groceries delivered right to your door and you can do all your banking online so there is no real need to have to interact in real life.  The downside is computers can also bring in all the ills of real life society as we are quickly finding out.  
• online social networking - There are many examples of online social networking (eg. Twitter).  We are reduced to conveying our thoughts into 140 character tweets.  It becomes a way of communicating without leaving home so again it can be quite isolating.  This is not necessarily a good thing for those prone to depression or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) especially when there are sites that feed into that depression by encouraging suicide.  Social networking has widened the path for child pornographers and social predators as well as increasing the chance of identity theft and/or other online scams.  A growing problem is assaults/murders/rapes and break-ins as a direct result of revealing too much personal information via social networking.  Some have paid a huge price by revealing something, usually pictures on a site like Facebook that is incriminating to the point they lose their job and some have even had legal problems as a result of information revealed. 
• health problems - Increased use of technology has led to an increased sedentary lifestyle.  We are seeing increased levels of obesity especially in children and complications of obesity like diabetes.  Those in northern climates are showing an increased level of Vitamin D deficiency which was always a risk but with staying indoor for longer period of times it is now a real problem.  Cell phones are creating a radiation risk that can cause health problems to the point one Canadian MP wants warning stickers put directly on cell phones.  It doesn't help that children as young as 5 regularly use cell phones even though their bodies are still developing.  Gadgets like Walkman's and iPods have contributed to an increase in hearing problems at a much younger age.    Some have even said that the increase in daily use of the electronic technology is one contributing factor to the increased incidence of ADD/ADHA as children lose the ability to focus. 
• family values - The constant bombardment of electronic technology is erroding family values.  Quite often a family consisting of two adults and two children aka the average family can go through the enitre day with little to no real interaction.  What is happening is 4 people living in the same home each goes their separate ways losing any semblance of a common goal of working together as a family unit.  That's a real shame!  Texting and emailing or instant messaging cannot take the place of real life, face to face contact.  Calling on the cell phone is great but not if used as the primary method of communication. 
• personal satisfaction - Electronic technology has lessened the personal satisfaction one is able to achieve.  The reason is this technology feeds into instant gratification.  Unlike reading or even watching television, most online activities or other newer modes of communication gives instant results. 
• loss of physical resources - I do a lot of genealogy research.  Instead of spending a couple of hours on the road one way, delving manually through stacks of musty, dusty stacks of resources after spending a few hours finding them then paying upwards of $1 per sheet to print I can sit in the comforts of my family room in my pj's and housecoat sipping on a lovely latte I can find a considerable amount of information without leaving home.  I can download images and print for a lot less than $1 per page.  At the same time the lower cost to me combined with personal convenience is contributing to the loss of physical genealogy resources.  This applies to other physical resources as well like libraries, information centres and services.  Heck, even the utilities refer you to their website rather than helping you on the phone! 

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Need For Roots

Roots

September 24, 2010

One of my favourite quotes that can be found in the footer section of this blog is:

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings."--Hodding Carter

This quote has a profound meaning especially when it comes to genealogy but also parenting.  As parents it is our responsibility to give our children a firm foundation on which to build their lives.  However giving them roots means so much more than a value based foundation (eg. love, honour, respect).  It means nurturing good family relationships with extended family members so our children know their family history.  Too often people flounder as adults simply because they do not have a firm foundation based on values and family history.

It is interesting to look at tree roots.  They may be gnarly, intertwined and far from visually appealing.  In many cases you won't see them at all.  Yet the roots of a tree can extend a distance greater than three times the size of the tree's canopy.  It is the roots that nurture the tree while providing strength and support.  So it is with people...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Fashions and Hairstyles of the 1920's

There is just something that appeals to me about the Roaring Twenties.  This was a phase coined to describe the 1920's in North America, London, Paris and Berlin.  The time period was nestled between the end of World War I and the Wall Street Crash of 1929 that ushered in The Great Depression.  The economy flourished.  Several life changing inventions, discoveries and new technologies (automobile, moving pictures, radio) during the Roaring Twenties would change the world forever.  Jazz music became quite popular.  The mood was lighter and cheerier.

As someone interested very much in genealogy the Roaring Twenties is a fascinating time period.  The fashions and hairstyles are quite interesting, reflecting the changing roles of women in society.  Here's a great video of the fashions and hairstyles.  Enjoy :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Who is Jack Schitt?

[from my email files, oldie but goodie]

-----
WHO IS JACK SCHITT? For some time many of us have wondered just who is Jack Schitt? We find ourselves at a loss when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt'

Well, thanks to my genealogy efforts, you can now respond in an intellectual way.
 Jack Schitt is the only son of Awe Schitt.
Awe Schitt, the fertilizer magnate, who married O. Schitt, the owner of Needeep N. Schitt. Inc.
They had one son, Jack. In turn, Jack Schitt married Noe Schitt. The deeply religious couple produced six children: Holie Schitt, Giva Schitt, Fulla Schitt, Bull Schitt, and the twins Deep Schitt and Dip Schitt.  Against her parents' objections, Deep Schitt married Dumb Schitt, a high school dropout. After being married 15 years, Jack and Noe Schitt divorced. Noe Schitt later married Ted Sherlock, and because her kids were living with them, she wanted to keep her previous name. She was then known as Noe Schitt Sherlock.... Meanwhile, Dip Schitt married Loda Schitt, and they produced a son with a rather nervous disposition named Chicken Schitt. Two of the other six children, Fulla Schitt and Giva Schitt, were inseparable throughout childhood and subsequently married the Happens brothers in a dual ceremony.The wedding announcement in the newspaper announced the Schitt-Happens nuptials. The Schitt-Happens children were Dawg, Byrd, and Horse. Bull Schitt, the prodigal son, left home to tour the world. He recently returned from Italy with his new Italian bride, Pisa Schitt. Now when someone says, 'You don't know Jack Schitt', you can correct them.

Sincerely, Crock O. Schit

-----

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Mac vs PC

You have likely seen these humorous commercials involving the Mac verses PC debate. I think they are hilarious! As a bit of a background, I learned computing on Unix then had to learn Mac. Our second home computer was Windows 3.1 based and we worked our way up from there. There were a lot of things I liked about Windows but over the years there were a lot of thing I didn't like especially when I had to run several security software applications just to deal with security issues in Windows. A few years ago I made the switch to Mac and now have an iMac with Duo core that is partitioned for both Windows XP and Mac. The Windows partition is never allowed online and is essentially used for genealogy. I use Legacy Family Tree Deluxe which still is not available in Mac format and I have not found a program that I like better so need Windows. I use Mac for anything online and most daily computing activities. Ok, so back to the commercials.

I find these commercials humorous on a few levels. First PC which actually means personal computer is implied to mean Windows and for the most part that is what people mean. So by definition any home computer regardless of the operating system is a PC including a Mac. It's an exercise in semantics! Now if you look at the characters in the commercial there is the old, geeky, conservative Windows verses the new, preppy, progressive Mac and they make use of every stigma possible to get that across in the characters. The concept of complex and easily broke (Windows) plays nicely against simple and unbreakable (Mac). And just when I thought they couldn't get any funnier they come up with animated Christmas versions designed after the older children's Christmas classics. Too funny!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

on the road

Historical Plaque
July 17, 2008

Recent Road Trip Continued:

If my husband hand his druthers, he would have made the long journey without stopping except for refueling. I'm quite content snapping a multitude of photos unless it is after dark where I will nod off a little sometimes. Our first stop after getting the tires on the car was the rest stop on I-94 at Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was such a hot and humid day that stopping was not refreshing but it was a must. Of course the camera was with me so I happily snapped a few more pictures while waiting for my husband. This sign is one of three identical signs erected in the Kalamzoo region giving a brief history of the area. I have to tell you the area is beautiful!

I take a lot of pictures of historical signs and markings. I always take pictures of and in museums unless forbidden. It just comes second nature with doing genealogy. My camera tends to be one of my most valuable assets on any given road trip not just for documenting history and genealogy but for capturing those special moments. I take pictures of everything including the food we eat as you can see on my cooking blog. Why? I do this for three reasons the first being I get pleasure of just simply being able to capture that special moment or scene. Second it is an ideal way to document any trip for scrapbooking later. Sometimes the mind fails so a quick photo reminder helps. The third reason is historical value. True it is difficult to see what we are doing today has a whole lot of historical value but in the terms of genealogy it does much the same that diaries and bibles now hold when we are doing genealogy research. At some point some of the sights will be no more. Today's photos will become a way for our grandchildren and their children to understand what our lifestyle was like, what it meant to live in the 21st century and what it meant to be us.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

honey, I'm home :)

The Island
July 17, 2008

Last Thursday we planned on leaving for a very special road trip to Wisconsin for one of our kid's wedding. This has been a long and frustrating process filled with copious amounts of red tape so there was no way we were going to miss this monumentous event! We had planned on leaving in the early morning however my husband who had our boat out on the annual boat trip could not get the boat back to the marina where we have a slip because of the horrible thunderstorms the evening of their departure. He got the boat to a safe harbour and secured it for the night then came home with the other guys. The next morning we had to go and get the boat before leaving on our trip. Since we had to bring it across Lake St. Clair he needed another rider with him and asked if I wanted to go. Well, heck yes even though he had a back-up just in case. We drove to our marina to park the car where a friend met us to drive us to where the boat was. My husband was rather excited but did not hint at the surprise. We left that marina putzing rather slowly given we were supposed to be on the road to Wisconsin but the day was nice so I figured a leisurely boat ride would be a pleasant start to our road trip. He slowed the boat to a crawl and pointed - see that island? Then he calmly said you might want to take a few pictures. I asked him why. Well it turns out my 3rd great grandparents, the ones I have mentioned before farmed the property on shore but this island was owned by descendants and is still in the family now although there is no longer a cottage on it. The only way to reach the island is by boat. He found all this out through talking to a few of his friends! Here I thought he made no never mind to my genealogy. It turns out that through him I will be able to get a bit more on that line so it was a beautiful way to start the day.

I took a lot of pictures then we went up onto plane to reach cruising speed for over the lake. I didn't even mind that the lake was a bit rough. Finally we turned up the channel and headed towards the marina. Having to get the boat set us back almost 3 hours but it was worth it. We are going to take a trip to the island later this month for better pictures. I'm in seventh heaven!

Ok, so a little bit more on our road trip now the figures are coming in. The total round trip was 1170 miles with stopping 3 nights in Wisconsin and 2 nights in St. Ignace, Michigan. We ate one fast food meal (McDonald's) while waiting for the tires to be installed. Other than than we ate some very lovely meals of which you can follow on the next few entries on my cooking blog. We saw some amazing sights. Much of the roads travelled were total eye candy! Within the period of 6 days we took in Lakes St. Clair, Michigan, Huron and the Straits of Mackinac. We were very close to Lake Superior so the next trip we will see that as well. Total cost for gas was $210 at 23.25 miles per gallon. Total images downloaded today from 2 digital cards was 829. Six of those were short videos. We saved $50 on the room in St. Ignace so that cost a total of $168.30 but that came with a free roll of coins each for Kewadin (casino) where we cashed out at $49.35 to the good on the rolls and $300 up on blackjack so basically the room and meals in St. Ignace cost us nothing with a little extra left over. Total meals cost about $214 including tips. Total souvenirs cost $35. I brought home about $100 worth of cheese from Wisconsin and $50 worth of whitefish and perch from the Upper Peninsula. Total cost of the trip $427.95 less the winnings and including the fish and cheese. Total cost of seeing the smile from ear to ear on the kids face as they said their vows totally priceless!

We have beautiful new additions to our family (children and pets). It has been such a struggle that anyone without love and faith would have given up a long time ago. They didn't and now hopefully things will settle down to where the focus is not on all the rules and regulations but rather on the family and love where the focus should be. I have to brag just a little as they make a beautiful couple! And that is not just in looks but in temperments and attitude. There is just a melding where you can see the love in even the simplest things. We are truly blessed to have been able to share this very special time with the kids.

I'll be posting a series of entries on the entire trip starting tomorrow.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

death certificates

Wake
May 10. 2007

The spring has been wet and stormy so unfortunately we are not doing as much boating. I had high hopes this week but each day the humidity built leading to unsettled weather in the late afternoon and evenings. Today was no different and even though it hasn't stormed yet it likely will. The air cooled a bit so we cleaned up one of the garden beds. The wet between high humidity and bugs has really put a damper on garden work as well slowing the refinishing of the kitchen cabinet doors. We are hoping to get a bit of work done this weekend since it is our holiday weekend.

All but one of the death certificates I ordered a couple of weeks ago have arrived. Now folks do a lot of complaining about government services but I have to tell you the Office of the Registrar General for Ontario is very nice to deal with and their service is usually well under the two week mark. I go fill out their forms online here, make the payment then wait for the certificates to arrive. The only thing I really don't like is ordering a birth certificate for someone like my great grandmother requires I prove they are deceased meaning I need their death certificate. By default I have to order the death certificate first, photocopy that and send the photocopy back to them as a second step when ordering the birth certificate. Essentially what this forces you to do is order both the death and birth certificates even if you have other proof of the death. A search before ordering a certificate is $15 within 5 years but in most cases if you are fairly certain this really isn't necessary. So each person without a search ends up costing at least $22 for the death certificate, $45 for the birth certificate and $22 for the marriage certificate. These are documents you definitely want for your parents, grandparents and greatgrandparents. Earlier than 1869 you have to go to church records and between 1869 and about 1875 some records might not be available. They are primary sources created at the time of the event so these are must have pieces of documentations for your direct lines.

There is a lot of information on these documents some of which you have to read between the lines as in addresses. At the time the document was made that was the address which may or may not agree with other records. Each piece of information on the document gives a clue. Birth dates and dates of death are confirmed with these documents but even then there can be errors on the documents. Little tid bits that by them selves mean little but end up being one more stepping stone to finding more information. Sometimes as with these certificates the cause of death is not notes. I really would have liked to know that. But now more questions are apparent and that is what each of these documents will do, some more than others.

I'm off searching while I wait for the next set of documents to arrive...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

the elusive search

Breathless
June 15, 2008

I'm seriously out of sorts. About 2 weeks after buying this house last year, one of our kids moved in with us through no fault on their part but due to waiting for the proper paperwork for a visa to move to the US. So my husband and I have never really adjusted to being in this house just the two of us. All of a sudden there is no one to share those little ups and downs of the day with. There's no spontaneous chit chat. The house is so quiet not that there was any noticeable noise before but rather the awareness someone else was in the house.

A week ago last Saturday our soon to be newest family member made the long journey here. After a couple of days they made their way to Montreal for the final hoop to jump through at least to get into the US. Now there are hoops to jump through to be able to get back into Canada but that is another story. After arriving back here they settled in awaiting the coveted visa that arrived early Monday morning. In the meantime I pulled out my genealogy binders. It's always good to have a diversion when stressed.

I'm at a pulling my hair out stage in a couple of lines. It is really bothering me because I know the information is there just that I must be looking in the wrong places. I'm not one to settle on using only internet resources either. I want the primary source aka the person was living at the time of the event and signed or there is a trusted signature at the time of the event. That means a lot of leg work and traveling as well as costs.

I opened up the binders while slightly cursing under my breath then typed in the name and did a small google not expecting to find anything. This time however, I found someone looking for information on the same person but they had one little tid bit that I didn't. It really was a minor tid bit and one that could easily be over looked but I decided to follow through. This would mean some serious leg work so in the meantime I ordered the death records for four grandparents. In Ontario you have to prove the person is dead before ordering the birth records so essentially at $22 per long form each you order the death record (here) which can be quite revealing. Then you order the birth record at $35 each and send them back a photocopy of the same death record they sent you along with a guarantee contact. So you are basically spending $57 per person for birth and death records but if you do a search before ordering any certificate tack on an additional $15. Of course the prudent genealogy researcher is going to get the marriage records as well at another $22. Are you seeing a trend here yet? Serious genealogy research is expensive. Thinking back to these 4 individuals and a total cost for information from the Office of the Registrar will cost me $158 without the expense of gas for traveling to take photos of the tombstones assuming there are tombstones which is always a crap shoot. But when I look at how much money I have already spent on these two couples ranging from ordering microfilm, traveling, getting records like wills and oh so much more, well I really don't even think I could come close to estimating the costs. I once thought about $1000 per person in my database of almost 7,000 people but now I'm thinking it is a lot more than that. But it's only a hobby!

Wrong! It an obsession as the soon to be newest member of the family found out. The question was "will you ever be finished?" The immediate answer was "No". I am at the stage where back-ups of my database and photocopies of all written work are kept off site in a safety deposit box. On site everything is backed up on three computers, three flash drives, several CDs with written work being kept in a fireproof safe unless being worked on along with two flash drives and the CDs. Sound anal? If it does see the second last sentence of the last paragraph then do the math.

Now I'm not so patiently waiting for more records to arrive :)

Garden Gnome
©2007

footprints

My Footprints

Footprints are the tangible marks we leave behind. Depending on the medium they may be lasting but even if there is no lasting visible impression there is always an effect. It might be very minor and easily brushed aside but still the effect remains. I don't often talk of my childhood not even with my family. When I was growing up Easter was as now church oriented. I can always remember the excitement. It was never about chocolate or bunnies or baskets but it was about tulips. They had to be up and ready to cut for Easter Sunday at least enough to pin on a Sunday dress. Wearing a red tulip meant your mother was alive while a white meant your mother was passed on. I had the honour of wearing both. To this day the footprints of both intertwine my heart and influence me, their footprints never leaving. It's been one heck of a journey...my own and not one shared with anyone, not even those closest to me and the ones that I love the most. Two tulips, one red, one white......

Garden Gnome
©2007

Persistence Pays

Roses
January 5, 2008

My husband surprised me with a bouquet of roses so I'm sharing their beauty with you. These vividly coloured roses found a place in the centre of the dining table bringing the room to life. What a contrast they provided against the greyness of the past few days. He always has such good taste :)

A lot of information can be gathered from one source even if that source is only two lines! Yesterday after a few days of searching through ship manifests I found my great grandparents! They travelled from their home in Leicester, England to Liverpool, England some 151.16 km northwest as the crow flies. The departed on June 18th 1909 aboard the Empress of Ireland owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway. There were a total of 1189 passengers. The SS Contract Ticket number is given. [A clue for searching antique shops.] No British Bonus was paid to the steamship booking agent. They arrived in Quebec on June 25, 1909 at 2:30 pm with twenty dollars in cash. His and hers occupations in England were given. This was already known but one more piece of confirmation. My great grandfather continued that occupation in Ontario however the ship's manifest indicates their final destination was to his father's. They settled in that community and remained there until their deaths (confirmed information). His father's occupation in Ontario is given something I already knew but this confirmed it. What isn't known is if my great grandfather worked for a brief time with his father (likely) and I'm assuming they lived with his parents until they were settled. She did not continue in her occupation in Ontario but rather set about having a family but from the date of the birth of their first child, they waited to get settled. The religion was listed as Church of England (Anglican) for both and that remained the same in Ontario for my great great grandfather. Some of the children and my great great grandmother converted to Baptist. I'm not sure why but in due time this information will be uncovered as well. So this record gave me new information as well as confirming information already known.

This record did not uncover the reason for immigration but knowing the underlying dynamics of English families I can say that my great grandparents immigrated because my great great grandparents had already immigrated. What I don't know is the exact date or ship by great great grandparents arrived on nor do I know why they immigrated or why they chose the area they did in Ontario to settle. So I'm now going through the ship manifests for the approximate year of immigration based on my great great grandfather's obituary notice. That means I will have to check the year before and the year after if I don't find them but all indication points to 1907 as the year of immigration. Hopefully when I find the record there will be some indication as to why they immigrated to Canada. Again I can make educated guesses based on information collected but I'm looking for actual proof.

I ordered the war records for two of my great uncles from another line on Monday. Apparently there can be a lot of great information including letters home in these records. My great great grandparents [noted above], a different line had two sons who served in WWI. One was reported missing but was later found in a French hospital. So when we get back from vacation, I will order both of their records as well. There should be some pretty interesting information some of which will provide more clues. And so the search continues...

The Search Continues

Snow on Fields
January 1, 2008

January holds the promise of a new year ready to fill with love, laughter and memories. For the most part it is cold and dreary perfect for indoor activities. This is the time of year I swing into high gear for genealogy research and will continue at this pace with the exception of our winter vacation until planting time. Don't get me wrong as genealogy is always on my mine but this is the time of year to attack those brick walls from a fresh perspective. Sometimes what is needed especially with research is to step away. December is such a busy month that it provides a bit of a break from thinking about my elusive ancestors.

Most of the time in January will be spent doing online research at Ancestry.com, the PRDH and Library and Archives Canada. Most of the research involves visually scanning microfilmed records not online family trees that at best are usually full of errors. I tend to keep very odd hours and get little sleep. The frustration level increases each time I draw a blank on one of my brick walls. In terms of genealogy, a brick wall is where you get to a person on one of your lines and suddenly you are at a standstill. There are no leads other than perhaps the name and the time frame. It is as if that person never existed! At the moment I have two brick walls of concern. One couple is my third great grandparents and the other my fourth great grandparents. What is frustrating about both is they were both French and Catholic. Anyone doing genealogy knows you can't get much better than that for records. Even more frustrating is I can trace down from the founding ancestor of my third great grandparents and upwards from me to my third great grandparents. And I've only been searching for the past six years for information on this one couple. The only thing I'm missing is the connecting generation. But I uncovered a very minute lead on my fourth great grandfather so perhaps it will lead to something.

The past few days I have been trying to find the ship my great grandparents and great great grandparents came from England on. [These are not related to the grandparents mentioned in the last paragraph.] I already have a lot of information on them but still haven't found the ship. According to the information I have my great grandparents married in England then emigrated to Canada arriving at their final destination in June of 1909. Well that narrows it down a bit considering in 1909 there were 203 arrivals from England. Each ship's manifest lists the names of the passengers and crew. For each manifest there can be upwards of 40 or more images to scan through in the hopes of finding your ancestors. That means scanning upwards of 8,000 images! The writing and quality are not the best at times but it is better than going through rolls of microfilm at the Archives and printing at home is a lot cheaper. If you would like to see a sample of what these records look like click here. That means massive eye strain from long hours in front of a computer screen viewing images with the full knowledge that perhaps the date is off by a year either way that could mean visually scanning upwards of another 16,000 images and I still might not find them.

Seriously my eyes look like I've been crying as the lids are swollen coupled with allergy shiners accented by lack of sleep circles. I should look right purdy by the time we leave for vacation. The good news is we are meeting up with some of my husband's relatives aka genealogy mecca :) My family knows I'm alive because I still cook for them and occasionally do the happy dance having found a new clue or the really excited, yelling "I found it". My husband stands in total awe that the blob aka his wife who is so engrossed in genealogy can actually show signs of life over a "name" or some other "clue". And so it goes, the search continues...

Taking a Breather

Frost
December 26, 2007

Our Christmas celebrations were wonderfully filled with family and lots of love. All the hustle and bustle paid off so we were able to avoid the last minute shopping thing. It was a lower keyed Christmas as far as gift giving with more gifts geared towards a need instead of a want. Just the way it should be. Grandbaby who is officially a year old kept us in stitches mimicking every move. Soon to be born grandbaby was anxious to get into the action so booted poor Mom several times and decided that high under the ribcage was a perfect place to be most of the time. We enjoyed a lot of good food as well. It was a most excellent Christmas!

The thing about the Christmas holiday season is it merges with the New Year's celebrations so for us there is usually something going on almost daily. We awoke on Boxing Day to a heavy fog that settled on the trees to form a nice layer of frost. It definitely was a photo opportunity! Now Boxing Day is apparently the day to shop but for us it is a "do nothing" day. That's kind of a misnomer but really it is a day we don't go anywhere unless absolutely necessary which it rarely is. We spend the day in pj's, check out our presents and welcome anyone who stops by. Meals consist of left overs so it is a pretty laid back day.

I was gifted with MacFamily Tree, a genealogy program for Mac so I played with it for awhile. My main genealogy program is Legacy but it is Windows based so I have to reboot in Windows. With MacFamily Tree I imported the gedcom then can use that to check the dates, names etc while doing online searches on Mac something I can't do with Legacy because the Windows partion isn't allowed online due to security concerns. MacFamily Tree has some very nice features. I was also gifted with a 500 GB external hard drive for the Mac. Two of my kids helped set it up and showed me how to use it. Trust me between genealogy, pictures, Photoshop and scrapbooking I'll be able to fill that drive in no time flat. My kids knowing this helped me do a bit of computer housekeeping.

I took a breather today. It has been so busy the past few months I haven't done near as much genealogy as I should be doing and I'm lagging in learning more about Photoshop. The snowglobe from my last post and the soon to be posted New Year's post are my own creations using Photoshop then ImageReady to turn into animations. I've come a long way from this time last year! I'm now using Photoshop for digital scrapbooking so this morning I took the time to work through another tutorial for a reflection technique. This afternoon I turned my attention to genealogy once again chipping away at the brick walls. I uncovered one key little bit of information that may end up being nothing but it might be just what I need to crack that one line. So I'm pretty excited. It's always about the hunt with genealogy. Uncovering that one little key is a feeling that can't be described!

Pondering

Abandoned Farm
July 13, 2007

My digital camera is always close by even when I'm driving as I never know what might strike my fancy for a photo opportunity. So it was a few days ago as I was heading into town. I've been by this old farm site several times and have taken several photos but was waiting for just the perfect sky for a nice photo. I couldn't resist when the opportunity presented itself. All that is left is a dirt laneway leading to bare track where the house set, the front porch and a huge shade tree. I can't help pondering...

As you know I have been extensively researching my ancestors. I would have loved to find even these few remnants of my third great grandparents home. Sadly there is nothing remaining despite a very diligent search. The old abandoned farm makes me wonder and ponder so many things.

Who lived there? I imagine a family farm with young children running carefree during the summer after doing their chores. Their parents were hard working, honest folk tilling the land, raising livestock and keeping their faith. I see a family gathering with extended family for a summer picnic shaded from the heat by the huge shade tree. The children likely climbed the tree and swung from a homemade swing hung for their entertainment. During the storms the children likely hid under their beds as they heard the winds whip about the house causing both it and the tree to groan eerily.

The laneway - The laneway likely was at best little more than two ruts leading to a simple farmhouse. At first it would have been ruts caused from a horse and carriage. Later automobiles widened the ruts. It would have been almost pure mud during the spring thaw and rainy autumn seasons. At some point someone added gravel to counteract the mud but there is little of the gravel left now.

What was the house like? Given the location, I suspect the original house was a wood sided, two story house somewhat on the smallish side with no indoor plumbing. There would have been an outhouse and summer kitchen. The house would have been heated with wood and food would have been cooked on a wood stove. The house would have been cold and drafty in the winter, hot and muggy in the summer and rather pleasant during the spring and autumn months. As the farm passed through the generations the house may have been bricked. The old wood porch was replaced with a concrete one. Indoor plumbing and wiring were installed and the summer kitchen renovated into a larger kitchen.

Abandonment? As the farm passed from generation to generation as many farms in this area do, at some point either the remaining family passed on or sold the old homestead. Whoever the farm passed to decided to tear down the old homestead several years back expanding the workable land. Somewhere one or more elderly persons were fondly remembering the old homestead likely with a tear or two.

And life goes on, generation after generation always changing but leaving memories behind...

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Family

I'm going to deviate from my normal listing of blessings over the past week. This past week has been one so blessed with family, I wanted to share that instead. Throughout our move the number one blessing has been family. They have been there through the frustrations of the sale, the packing, the unpacking, and the settling in. They have helped get outside work done, hauling stuff to the dump and have give unsolicited but pretty good advice. This weekend all the kids and their partners were home for a family reunion on Saturday. Most of them came home early to help us with the house, stay overnight to travel to the family reunion and turn things into a family oriented weekend.

Anyone who has read my blogs knows how much family means to me. I cannot stress this enough. You can have all the money in the world but if you don't have family you have nothing! My husband's grandmother age 94 was at the family reunion. She was able to meet and hold our granddaughter her great great granddaughter. A younger family member is doing genealogy as a class assignment focusing on certain portions of her family at one time. I was surprised at what information she had! It was all done by hand and word of mouth with the help of other family members who gathered whatever information they had. To me it was a genealogy mecca! It was a wonderful blessing to see such a young person interested in genealogy to the point of gathering not only pictures but primary and secondary information. How wonderful to see a young family member so interested not only in the history of the family but also the future embracing all what genealogy is about.

This past week has been all about family. From the laughs, the tears, the fond memories, the food, the support, the bonding...it was all about family. We are so blessed beyond words to have such a wonderful family. Sure there are a few skeletons and family hush hushes although surprising very few given the size of the family on that size. What is amazing is the absolutely wonderful stories of their lives from the elder members and how some of those things influenced future generations. Two world wars, a depression, immigration and starting a new life in Canada with no family other than themselves to depend on. Believe me I was all eyes, ears and talk picking for any information I could find while enjoying myself.

I watched my now adult kids and grandbaby interact with their aunts, uncles, great (everything) and sit with a mesmerizing look on their face as they listened to their great great grandmother sharing bits and pieces with them. I saw the respect in their faces for other family members. I saw the shear joy of them being around other family members. I saw the laughter and sharing. And I saw blessing flowing so freely. Family...is everything! And what a true blessing it is.

Discovering

Mute Swans (Cygnus olor)
June 29, 2007

Last Friday was a day of discovery in our new home. As I did my morning walk about to check out the surroundings, I discovered many and I do mean many garden decorations peaking out in unexpected spots. I took pictures of the ones I wanted to keep knowing that later in the day all would be gathered up to make room for my Gnome Empire. My gnomes are so thrilled at this prospect! It's interesting seeing bits and pieces of the previous owner.

Throughout the day as we discovered more of these items, we would stop and ponder the meaning. Why did she put that particular item there? Most were broken in some way yet she found a home in the garden for them. The most peculiar and thought provoking item we found was part of a tombstone of which when I finally get to my genealogy supplies I will do a rubbing to see the inscription. Then we discovered other parts to the same tombstone. I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps this tombstone had been vandalized at one of the cemeteries so she brought it to her gardens to protect what was left of it. The next time I talk to her I will ask because I'm sure there is a story there!

I had been concerned that the Mute Swans wouldn't stop by. They were a frequent sight at our old house and I never tire of watching them gracefully glide through the water. Mid-morning my fears were put to rest as this family visited the dock area. As soon as they saw me they headed right to the dock so she must have fed them. We discovered a few potential problems and as we worked through the day we made note of these. All of the problems can be solved. Some like a potential rodent problem will involve persistence but things like electrical can be solved immediately.

So it was a great day for discovering about our surroundings, our new home, the previous owner and ourselves...

Welcome March 2007

March Came in Like a Lion
Zone 6A, Ontario, Canada

March came in like a lion yesterday with freezing rain, snow flurries and high winds. Today isn't much better. The sun came out for about 10 minutes this morning then all of a sudden everything got very dark and we had a nice snow squawl with white-out conditions! Right now the sun is trying to shine but the skies again look ominous and the winds are now fiercely howling. It's typical March weather changing minute by minute and never knowing what to expect, very bi-polar if you ask me!

I haven't been doing as much genealogy as I should because I've had other commitments. This is the perfect time for doing research inside given the weather conditions outside. A few days ago, I received a couple of emails from a cousin also doing research. Each contained a picture, one of a family member's homestead and the other of a family group photograph. I would have been able to get a picture of the homestead myself but not of the family group photograph. This is why it is so important to make whatever contacts you can when doing genealogy research. Genealogists love sharing especially tid bits, family stories and pictures. Quite often these little jewels will appear in your inbox or through a phone call as the person is going through some of their data and is generous enough to share the information. So keep those lines of communication open and active!

Photoshop Shimmering Water Art

Shimmering Water II

I've been using the same picture of the water to see what different effects I can get using Adobe Photoshop. This latest effect is called slats. It is a perfect effect for certain images that will be scrapbooked. The technique presented a few problems but finally I got it to work. When the slats were finished I pulled a colour from the picture. It looked fine but I thought it would look better with a couple of filters and beveled edges. Looking at it this morning it could use framing as well.

Scrapbooking is a natural extension of genealogy. Most genealogy conventions have a booth section where you can buy genealogy resources. There is usually at least one scrapbooking booth. Needless to say, I got into scrapbooking as well using the traditional method. Then I started using fonts in Microsoft Word to create custom titles. Somewhere along the line I discovered I could make custom designed paper and then started into using digital with traditional scrapbooking methods. From there I picked up up scrapbooking software not realizing everything Adobe Photoshop could do. Silly me had been using it for resizing my photos only. I started discovering what I could do with this program when I wanted to learn animation. I have to say I'm amazed. Once I get a couple more techniques figured out and become more comfortable working with it, I'll move onto my first digital scrapbook layout using Photoshop. I will also be able to tweak all the photos being used for genealogy. Who said and old dog couldn't learn new tricks?

Overlooked Genealogy Resources

Sunset on Ice
later view, last night

We received an early morning call today letting us know an older family member on my husband's side had passed away. Visitation is this afternoon and this evening. The funeral is tomorrow morning at 11 am. I was going to post this picture on yesterday's entry and for some reason decided against it. So this picture is a tribute to her, knowing we will meet again!

Too often when doing genealogy research an important genealogy resource is overlooked - other family members. We let the valuable information slip right through our hands. Now why would that be? Sometimes the answer is quite simple especially for those not growing up or even knowing their biological family but other times the answer is more complex. Do yourself a favour - put any of that aside and pick those family tree branches! Send out information seeking letters. Most genealogy programs even have a function to set this up with a form letter and your contact information. I sent out ten of these on one branch of my family tree and got back only one but that did not discourage me because the one I got back gave me a heck of a lot of information. I also got a phone call from an elderly member of another branch when I did the same thing. We had a lovely chat and I found out so much about my great grandparents, all family stories but all very valuable information.

As a researcher trying to get the most of your research time, do not discount the family stories. Even if there are family problems, you can likely still gain information. You might end up being the peace keeper or the bridge that makes the difference. At the very least, you might gain just even a little tid bit you didn't know about your elusive ancestors.

I recommend using letters, interviews, digital cameras and tape recorders. As always please keep the feelings of your extended family in mind. Ask once and if you don't get an immediate reply consider something may be going on in their life that prevents them from answering. Always ask if a family member minds being recorded as some do not want that. I will tell you this is really a nice thing to have the recordings of your ancestors and other family members but don't push those who don't like the idea. The same applies to digital cameras. If at all possible get that picture but don't force the issue. Your job as a researcher is to get all the information you can without breaking any bridges. Do not discount the valuable information old Aunt Tilly might tell you!

Ice on Water

Ice is amazing. It can be so beautiful yet cause so much damage and so many problems. This picture of the ice on the water was taken this morning as I pondered over my morning coffee.

I'm still feeling under the weather so another rather inactive day was forced on me. I decided to go through a small pile of genealogy papers. In the pile there were two thin spiral notebooks of my earlier notes from back about the time I upgraded my software in 1999. I tossed these aside then grabbed them up again and started flipping through the pages. I knew all confirmed information had been entered into my database but what, just what if I had missed something? All entries were written in my normal style complete with date of entry then follow-ups to the entries in other ink colours. It sounds confusing but the system makes sense to me. True enough everything of importance at that time had been entered into the database and carefully noted in red the date entered but I found a lot of little notes and my questions jotted beside so of my entries. Seeing these notes and questions with fresh eyes means more questions. So now I will spend my genealogy time doing a double check between these notes and my database, adding in new questions. Each question may lead to more information unlocking the past!