Backing Up Data, Digital Cleaning and the Baby HP

I spent the day learning to RIP music CD's to my computer and then sneak em over to the iPod Touch.  I had some of my favorite CD's here in Tana, dug em out and decided today was the day to accomplish this. 

I needed to clean up my little discs for my camera, I have been taking so many photos that 2 of the 3 were full up.  I never delete the files on my discs until they have been loaded to my computer and then transferred to my external hard drive. 

I also wanted to do a back up of the data files on my computer.

Whew, that was a lot of file management stuff!

So, I :

1.)  Ripped about 12 CD's to the computer.  Transferred same to iPod Touch.

2.)  Did a data file back up to the external hard drive (see it there on the right of the computer?  Black small box.)

3.)  Cleaned up the camera discs.

4.)  Cleaned up Tana's desk space, see:

The computer is currently sitting ON the desk, it usually sits on that shelf where you see the chill pad and a bunch of cords.  However, a few weeks ago, some gremlins decided it would be great fun for the curser (via mouse or touchpad) to take a poof.  As, in, sorry Carol, this computer will not exhibit ANY curser, hahaha, you figure out how to turn it off!  

I unhooked everything, brought the computer out and Man had to take the battery out to stop stuff.  I wanted to rip those CD's (very hard to use the CD player when the computer is on the shelf.  So, the Baby HP (that is what I call this current computer) sat here on top of the desk all that time.  I am yearning for my nice big monitor, and the external keyboard, so, in the next day or so, I will hold my breath, pray a lot, and move the Baby HP back down on the shelf.  If you hear wails and moans and groans, you will know something is still quite wrong with the Baby.

Now, onward to -  something!  Maybe input! That would be good!  I feel almost organized, ALMOST!!

*Here in Tana I have just about given up hopes of hiding cords.  Just tain't gonna happen!

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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Relatively Speaking, Anne's Keeping it TOP Secret

Anne, cousin and friend, over at Gene Notes tells me she is ready for her issue of Relatively Speaking - Cousins That Blog.

Her next issue of our project is due tomorrow AM. I cannot promise, Anne, that I will check it out at 2 AM like I did last time. However, since she is keeping it top secret, you can bet, I'll be reading as soon as the dogs have been fed and taken out for their business, and I have my strong German coffee in hand. 

Her only hint is that it was inspired by e-conversations with cousins Carol & Karen.  Oh, dear, lets see, what outrageous things did we chat about last week??  Holding my breath, well, maybe not!  Don't think I can hold it that long.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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Birthday Observances, Donald Turner

Donald Turner was born January 30, 1914 in Albion Township, Butler County, Iowa to Ralph James Turner and Hattie Mae Jaquis.

Donald married Mae Cuvelier on May 25, 1937 at Nashua, Chickasaw County, Iowa.  They had one child, a son.

Donald passed away on January 23, 1997 at Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa and is buried at the Riverside Cemetery at Shell Rock, Butler County, Iowa.  Donald has a memorial at Find A Grave. 

*Photo of Donald Turner, age about 6 years, courtesy of Helen Gallmeyer DeWitt

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, A Day at the Bog

As I mentioned the other evening, Man and I found this neat bog over at 98/42 and Weeks Bay.  On the way over we drove through Magnolia Springs, discovered this magnificent display of live oaks.  The photo does not do justice to the beauty. There were several long blocks of these fabulous oaks.

We then drove over to the Weeks Bay Pitcher Plant Bog so we could walk the Kurt G. Wintermeyer Trail.  We had no idea where the board walk would lead us or what we would find.  It did not matter, we just let us lead us to those discoveries.

The Trail and Bog are part of the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.   I have only scratched the surface of their web site, so, if  you surf over, allow yourself some time!  You are going to need it.  The photos are wonderful.  Be sure to read the page About the Reserve.    And of course, you are going to want to visit this page just chock full of photos of the Wintermeyer Trail.   I said to myself, SELF, THAT is what you could see in a month or so.  Breathtaking.

(As of October 2018 the links I had used in this post have changed and have been removed.)

Because it is winter, everything is brown, we had to look quite hard to discover some of last years pitcher plants. By the way, pitcher plants are carnivorous plants.

Even more of a delightful surprise was what we found at the end of the boardwalk, ok, it was Weeks Bay and Fish River. However, Man and I got a bit of a science class while we were out on the dock watching the world go by, err, one fisherman go by in his rather small boat. A guy and a gal came out, they are part of a team studying water quality and other neat stuff about the water. There is a permanent water sampling station there, here it is, all this antenna looking equipment.

They also hand collect water, a very sophisticated affair, this collecting is.  The water was very muddy, I won't try to figure out or explain why, but, remember, we have had 20 inches of rain around here in December 09 and January 10.  You can learn more about this and see some neat graphics and much much more at this site, and if you visit the "O" Fish River Station you can see some of the readings.  Nope, ole Carol does not understand much of it, but, it is interesting to look at.

All in all, it was an interesting few hours. A time of respite.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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Splogger-Splatterer, Round Two

Here is another site that we believe is splogging ole Carol

withox.com

Now, remember, if you click on it, and he/she is a bonafide splogger, you are helping him/her out by filling the ca$h pocket book, which is just what they want.

Because of the situation with Man's mother, I don't have a lot of energy to spend searching this down right now, so, I left a few comments over at Google search and I am posting here.  Actually, I think it would be too funny for words, if this would get picked up on the splogger's web site and people would see it there.  Well, that is probably asking too much!  LOL

I cannot print/publish what I think about these "users".  Creeps and thiefs are the nicest words I can come up with at the moment.  Please refer to my previous post I wanna be a splogger-splatterer for more information about splogging and this fine graphic, which I toss out at the creeps at withox.com

I might get to be a splogger-splatterer yet. What is that phrase about "a woman scorned"?

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

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52 Weeks To Better Genealogy - - Library challenges

Amy of  We Tree has this great program of 52 challenges, 3 so far this year have been about learning what your local public library can do to help you in your research. For example, this weeks challenge reads in part: Learn about your local public library's inter-library loan (ILL) policy.

As many of you know, Man and I are RVing part of the winter months away. So, since I am not home, I am going to take a slightly different approach, lumping several of the challenges together and talking about a library that I adore.

Let me introduce you to the Mid-Continent Public Library.

But, first, a little of my own experiences with Inter-Library loans and genealogy books. Usually if I am interested in a genie book when I do a catalog search for it, I find it is a “restricted” book. My experience, and yours could be different, of course, is that Family Surname books and many other family history specific works are not included in inter-library loan programs. Many of the libraries feel these works are too valuable to allow out of their library buildings. I can see that as a valid attitude.

It is pretty frustrating knowing that that book is out there at “XYZ” Library in “QRS” town. Course, if “QRS” town is 2248 miles from where you live, chances could be pretty slim you will ever get there, and that book is on the restricted list. "Blast", you exclaim!

But are you aware that there is one library that maintains a “lending” library of genealogical works, and they just LOVE lending out those books, family surname books and more! Yesssssss indeedy, that library is the Mid-Continent Public Library. They maintain a special collection of books, genealogy books, that they will circulate.  This collection has around 10,000 books!

Now, before you get so excited you hyperventilate, lets get this straight, not every book in their regular collection (which numbers about 60,000) is in this special collection. They may have 2 copies of the book and one will reside in the special collection. However, I have found books listed in the circulating collection that do not seem to be in the regular collection. Thus, you need to know what to look for when surfing around in their online catalog.

OKKKK, so, you are gonna surf over there and check this out, right?? But, of course. Here is an example of a book that you can inter-library loan from Mid-Continent Public Library.

See that last line? Note the words, Circulating GE Book Special Collection. That is the clue you are looking for.  To see this graphic better, please click on it, using the back button to return here to Reflections From the Fence.

The library many years ago had special booklets available with all the books in that collection listed, this page talks about the current collection and how to access it.  The booklets are no longer available.

To determine how to order a book from the Mid-Continent Public Library Special Collections please read this page carefully , please read about the "queue". If the book you were requesting from the Mid-Continent Public Library Special Collection is out on loan to another patron, they will put your request in a queue.  This means of course, that you might have to wait for several months to be first on the list. The wait is worth it!

The library encourages those that compile and author new works that are genealogy based to donate to the library. According to this page,  "Donations of new or gently-used books are always welcomed. You may send them ... at the mailing address below. Please indicate that your donation is for the Genealogy from the Heartland Collection."
 
Might I also humbly suggest, that if you write or compile a family history book, consider donating to this library. When I did so, I sent one copy bound, the other copy UNbound. They would hard cover bind the copy for the special collections program, hard bound books ship better than soft bound. By donating, your work can be shared with family researchers years after your have passed to your greater rewards. What a good thing.

You can start your online study of this great library and the collections here, Genealogy and Family History at the Mid-Continent Public Library. You will find some history about the Genealogical collection on this page.  The library has an in depth web site, spend some time there, I have just scratched the surface.

*Amy's challenges are introduced week by week at GeneaBloggers.  Surf in, have a look, try one out, even if you don't blog, you will have fun and I know you will learn something new.

**As a side note, one of the benefits of being an Rver and a family researcher is that I can arrange stops in campgrounds near libraries such as the Mid-Continent Public Library, which Man and I did a few years ago. I had a great research week! Great facility, nice staff, I can highly recommend it.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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A Bloggers Best Friend Award from Family Tree Writer

Last evening, after a rather trying day for Man and Moi, one of the emails I opened was from Sherry over at Family Tree Writer (Link not functioning as of January 2019), awarding Reflections From the Fence the Bloggers Best Friend Award.  Some of you may remember my saying that I firmly believe that our Maker gives us gifts we need, WHEN we need them.  Sherry's email was a nice boost at the end of that trying day.  Thank you Sherry. 

If you have not read her blog, you just must!  Have you seen her post, Volunteering – Carnival of Genealogy?  It won her a nice award from Jasia over at Creative Gene, for her entry in the 88th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.  No doubt about it, that was one fine piece of writing.  Inspiring!

The developer of the award 'Bandit' "A Blogger's Best Friend Award" says it shall be given to your most loyal blog readers. Thus, the award should be given to a follower of yours who takes the time to comment regularly on many of your posts. In addition his or her blog should be creative, funny and always entertaining. Upon receiving this award, pass it along to two fellow bloggers who fit this criteria.

I choose to pass this award on to the gang over at Cemetery Explorers and Karen of Ancestor Soup.  Both fine supporters of Reflections From the Fence and Moi!  Both deserving, congratulations and thanks for being my friend.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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Wordless Wednesday, Sorta

Taken yesterday at Weeks Bay Pitcher Place Bog, Fairhope, Alabama

Interestingly, Linda over at Flipside has a similar photo today on her blog.

Man & I are dealing with some serious medical issues with his mother.  Without our fabulous sons and their families we are not quite sure how we would be able to deal with this from 1000 miles away. 

A final decision has not been made, however, it appears we will be heading north soon.  We are taking this day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute.

We are watching weather reports now, cannot run with Big Butt and Tana this weekend, they are forecasting a nasty ice storm for Tennessee. Will not put ourselves in that kind of danger.

More later on our interesting visit to the bog yesterday, it is a fascinating place, even in the winter months.

Thank you to Sherry over at Family Tree Writer for bestowing the Blogger's Best Friend award on Reflections From the Fence, I shall address it as soon as possible.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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I Ain't Owned By Noone, Don't Owe Ya Either.

In my email early this AM, email that starts out:

"First and foremost, please accept my compliments on your beautiful blog."

Why thank you. Blush Blush

Next is a list of web sites this person has an official affliation with. No I am not going to post them here, I am not out to slam them in that manner.

Next part of the email states: "I would like to know if you would be interested in writing a post about - - - - - - - " and a statement of what one may find on the free pages.

OK, free pages are always a good thing.

But, here is the clincher, this one sentence,

"If time is an issue for you, I could provide you with a text written by me, and if it finds your approval, feel free to post it."

EXCUSE ME???? You want to write MY blog post?? Can you read,

I DON'T THINK SO?

If you will take a gander at my right hand column, you will note there are a lot of widgets, photos, lists, and a few awards that I treasure.  Note, you will NOT find any widgets to take you to Ancestry or Footnote or any pay site.  WHY??

Simply, because then I am not beholden to any one or any corporation.  If you pay me, I have a certain responsibility back to you.  I take your $$, I feel that I need to support you in a positive way.  If I don't take your $$, and you mess up, I can say so, you mess up BIG time, I get to say so BIG time.  I have before.  And, I might again.

So, considering my stand on taking $$ or making $$ with my blog, do you really think I am gonna copy and paste something you write for me and post it here??  First of all, it would be so obvious.  I have my own writing style.

OK, as Man pointed out, this email does say "if it finds your approval".  Nice disclaimer.  Covers the bases.

BUT, asking me in the first place to take your words about your web site and pasting them into one of my posts - - -

I DON'T THINK SO!  Yep, that one sentence really sent me on a tirade.  You just read it.

* Yes, I have written blog posts about products, products I paid full price for. I did receive as compensation for those posts a nice thank you note from the vendor and permission to use their graphic which was obtained BEFORE the post was made. One was iPod Touch and GedView and the other was GedView MIA's and a work around, GoodReader

**  There are a lot of bloggers out there that use $$ making widgets, this is not meant to slam you, your blog/sandbox, your call, your widgets.  Please don't take this personally, this post is only meant to state my stand, my point of view, my way, my blog, my sandbox.

*** Red angry face graphic courtesy of http://www.bigoo.ws/  (As of 2019 I cannot affirm this web site is safe or active, so I have removed the hot link. If you choose to go there, I urge you to be careful.)

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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A Bloggers Best Friend Award from Ginisology

Well, mmmmmm, mmmmmm again, what a nice surprise for Carol, from Gini over at Ginisology.  I am a bit speechless, yea, can you believe it, Carol, speechless.  Thank you Gini, you said some very nice things in your award post.

The award rules go something like this:  I have to give this award to my most loyal blog readers. The award should be given to a follower of yours who takes the time to comment regularly on many of your posts. In addition, his or her blog should be creative, funny and always entertaining. Upon receiving this award, pass it along to two fellow bloggers who fit this criteria.

Cousins and friends and fellow bloggers Karen and Anne escaped the first time I was so honored. BUT NOT THIS TIME!!
 
Karen writes over at Genealogy Frame of Mind (have you seen her current series, "Stumble"?) and Anne actually has two blogs, Generational, where she shares her outlook on life in general and Gene Notes, her genealogy blog (her post today on the 1918 Flu Epidemic had facts I did not know).
 
Both gals are friends, good good friends, both are cousins of the  "nth" degree.  Both are true supporters of  Reflections From the Fence. 
 
Congratulations Cuz Karen and Cuz Anne. 

* Smiley face graphic thanks to http://www.cybergifs.com/

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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Relatively Speaking, Have You Seen - - ??

Wild One email is, well, out of control, numbers too large to count, piled up as tall as a mountain, interesting, sad, happy, and sometimes a great lead to web sites packed with goodies.

So many times one of us happens across a web site and the emails start to fly, "Have you seen this site?"  "NO, send URL".  Sometimes these emails occur when a web site is updated, sometimes it is a web site someone else mentions, as in, "Have you ever heard of this site??"

Now, you know, we are all gonna go surfing over to have a lookie see ourselves.  Punch in our favorite surname in search boxes, let the fun begin!

Last week it was Karen who started the activity, something about old newspapers that someone mentioned to her. Nope, was not Ancestry, nor any of the other pay sites that have papers.  It was a free site.  I remembered The Chronicling of America project, Library of Congress.  Their home page is here.

I sent the link to Karen, yes, this was what she had heard about.  So, as is the norm, since I was there, I decided to spend some time snooping.  I started with the Adair County News, Adair, Kentucky and found an article I had been looking for.  Then, I skipped to Minnesota newspapers, and typed in, Lashbrook, but of course.  Nine hits.  Looked at all of them, but of course.   First six were interesting, but nothing I did not have, however, number seven was a fun hit!  It did not tell me anything startling or new.  The article talked about Man's great-grandfather, Wallace Lashbrook, who was for many years a traveling salesman.  Knew that.  Actually, have it documented pretty nicely in my data base.  So, why was this a fun hit??

First here is the paragraph that mentions Wallace, or W. H., as he is frequently found in records:

The fun part was the graphic at the very top of the article, I just love the drawing, don't you??

Source:  St. Paul Daily Globe. (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, May 26, 1888, Image 10, here is a direct link.  Whomever "Charlie" was, he must have run across a lot of commercial travelers, that is one long article, quite a few names.

Yes, being part of a genealogical support group, such as the Wild Ones can be a very good thing, besides friendship, you get great leads to genie-web sites!  And, by the way, revisits to web sites can be a VERY good thing too, you just might find something newly added or something that the indexers or the OCR did not pick up the first or second time around.

Now, excuse me while I go link this fun color/graphic to Wallace's multimedia event area on my data base.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

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Let One Brick Wall Crack

You know the routine, after years and years of looking; hours, uncounted hours of research, some on spec, you tumble onto a document or series of documents that have all the answers.  I had a small wall tumble today, here is the doc, please be sure to click on it to see it in the enhanced version.

Here is a transcription:

"The Commonwealth of Virginia

To the Sheriff of the County of Isle of Wight - - Greeting:

We command you to summon Exum L. Eley, Shff of Isle of Wight & as such administrator of Graves Niblett decd; and Virginia C. Niblett, widow of said Graves Niblett decd, William E. Niblett, Walter G. Niblett, Solomon Niblett and Robert Niblett (the last four being infant heirs of said Graves Niblett, decd.)"
 
Full names are a blessing and a rarity when reseaching in the Isle of Wight County Virginia.  Lookie at all those FULL names.
 
Oooops, now I have another brick to tumble, I have FIVE children in my data base for this couple.  OK, the genie-happy dance will be postponed temporarily - - NAHHHHH - - I earned one.
 
Do you hear someone singing, "Dancing on the ceiling,", is that Carol we hear??
 

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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A Bloggers Best Friend Award from Flipside

Well, Linda, of Flipside, how sweet, what a nice surprise I found in the comments on the Erwin C. Pickleman post.

The developer of the award 'Bandit' "A Blogger's Best Friend Award" says it shall be given to your most loyal blog readers. Thus, the award should be given to a follower of yours who takes the time to comment regularly on many of your posts. In addition his or her blog should be creative, funny and always entertaining. Upon receiving this award, pass it along to two fellow bloggers who fit this criteria.

Now, I am in a pickle, cause cousins Anne and Karen read every single one of my blog posts, right gals??  And, I don't want to hurt any feelings, so, they get an honorary award, I mean, they are cousins!

But, my two choices for this award, tonight, are Greta, of Greta's Genealogy Bog and Joan Hill of Roots'n'Leaves.

Both truly fulfill the requirements of the award.  Beautifully written blogs, insightful, moving. 

Congrats to all, the recipients and my honorary recipients and bestest friends, Anne and Karen.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

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Birthday Observances, Erwin C.Pickelman

Erwin C. Pickleman was born 23 Jan 1897 in Birch Run, Saginaw County, Michigan to Leonard Pickelman and Mary Eicher Pickelman.  His birthday has been found recorded as 21 January and 25 January, however, his obituary states date of birth as 23 January.  The date may be stated in his death record,  I have not looked at the original record.

He married Miss Laura Mary Catherine Sonntag in Saginaw June 9, 1919 in Kilmanagh, Huron County, Michigan.

To our knowledge Erwin and Laura had five children, Edwin J., Lucinda M., Marie E., Harry C and Loretta E.  We believe that their children have all passed.

Erwin died 18 Sep 1944 in Saginaw County, Michigan. His obituary stated, "He worked at the Chevolet Grey Iron Foundry for 22 years."

Erwin was laid to rest at the Bethlehem Lutheran Cemetery, Saginaw Township, Saginaw County, Michigan.

*Photo of Erwin in his military uniform, World War I, courtesy of Erma Ella Kuehn Callahan, deceased.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo

Today Man and I took advantage of a bonus weather day and went to the zoo. The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo.  Also known as the Little Zoo That Could, there is a short Wikipedia article here.  We found the zoo to be well kept.  It is a small collection, about 300 animals, however, the size did not disappoint.  We enjoyed the afternoon. 

Yep, I took lots of photos again. I don't have a count, just a lot. The required fencing presented some problems for photographing, the camera focused on the fence, leaving the animal out of focus, need to review the camera directions book, I guess. 

Here are a few of my favorites. I don't have the names of all of the animals.  First up,  an African Grey Crowned Crane.

I guess bears in Alabama don't have much of a chance to hibernate, so, they sun bathe instead?  Many of the larger animals were doing the same, it was almost as if they were saying, OK, we are tired of all this nasty weather too, AHHHH SUN!!

Lemur at play, they were quite playful and active, cute. Right.  Ya, until you hear them scream, what a blood curdling, extremely LOUD noise.  I actually thought they had amplifiers in the exhibit. I thought wrong. Amazing!

And, last, one of the most popular residents of the zoo, and resident who has been there the longest. This is Chuckie the Crocodile.  I noted how crafty he is, sunning his body, which is also cooled via

the stream running under his belly.  Chuckie escaped his exhibit during Hurricane Ivan, no, he did not escape the zoo.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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52 Weeks To Better Genealogy - Challenge #3 - Assess yourself!

Thanks to Amy at We Tree for this great challenge.  Thank you to GeneaBloggers for posting the challenges each week.

Week 3: Assess yourself! You’re great at researching everyone else’s history, but how much of your own have you recorded? Do an assessment of your personal records and timeline events to ensure your own life is as well-documented as that of your ancestors. If you have a genealogy blog, write about the status of your own research and steps you may take to fill gaps and document your own life.

Lets start with timelines. I don’t do them. Now, don’t get me wrong, they are great, lots of fun, interesting as all get out, but, I don’t do them. If you have one, I really enjoy looking at them, so, don’t be shy, share!

Personal records: Actually, I am doing pretty good here. Years back, because Man and I love to travel and RV and due to the lack of space in any RV, when linking multimedia events became available in RootsMagic, I started scanning, and linking and scanning and linking. I set as long term goals the following:

1.) A photo or image for everyone in my data base. Now, this is not really gonna happen, but, I sure try!

2.) Scan every document I have. Yep, every last single one. This allows me to take my documents along with me when we travel. This is still a project in progress, there are a LOT of documents.

3.) Tell our stories, the life stories of Man, the kids, grandkids, Carol, parents, grandparents via images and text.

Number 3 fits this challenge, so, how am I doing? Well, not bad overall. But, specifically as far as records of Man and Moi, the vital records are scanned. Of course, there are lots of photos, from infancy to now.

As far as images that tell our stories, pretty good here as well. Diploma’s - yep, military documents - yep, I have even scanned Man’s high school letter for tennis.

I think maybe the most unusual document I have scanned for myself would be my flight log when I was a student pilot a few (errr, a LOT) of years ago.  See, it is right there on the 5th line from the top, my first SOLO flight!!  (And, no, I never got the full license.)

I have included in our life story photos of the houses we have lived in, I even found that I still had some of the deeds, so, I scanned those. I have gone to Google maps or Bing maps and retrieved satellite images of those homes, using the image that is the closest available.

I have photos of our camping gear/rigs/tents/trailers.

I have photos of our pets, current and those that have gone to the Rainbow Bridge.

I have photographed my antiques, my dolls, my most treasured items. I have recorded those items in two places on my database, with the person who the item originally belonged to and with the person who now owns that item (usually me).  Having these photos on my computer also allows me to write blog posts when I am not home, such as this post about my great-grandmother, Lorena.

I have even scanned greeting cards sent to Man and I for birthdays or anniversaries.  These are linked in my data base in custom fact called "Greeting Cards".

Our stories are found in the text files. A year or so ago, I wrote down my memories of where I was during important historical events, like 9 - 11, or the day Kennedy was shot, or the first man walked on the moon. I have been recording memories and stories of my family. Blogging is a form of memory recording.

Left to do, there are more photos and slides to scan, that project is ongoing, I work it in spurts. I need to record more of our stories.  I discovered that I have never photographed all the Christmas ornaments I stitched, and have made a to do note to accomplish that.  When we return to the stick built, I will once again walk around the house, examining my treasures, have they been satisfactorily included in my data base.

The Wild Ones all call this adding color to our data bases, for now, I shall say that I am about 80% on the color for Man and Moi. The images area I am pleased with, but those text files/memories still need some work.

Color me Carol

Hope you picked up an idea or two to improve YOUR data base and family history color.

*Linking of multimedia events may have been available in Family Origins, pre-RootsMagic, my memory is cloudy on this.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.
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5 Quotes Challenge

"Quote, unquote"

Cousin Anne, over at Generational, tagged me for this different kind of challenge:

Go here and browse the random quotes until you find five that you think reflect who you are or what you believe. Hint - use the bottom to select categories. Kind of fun! Repost and tag five friends (if you want).

Gotta say, I found a new favorite web site!

I had a tough time getting down below 10 picks, but here are a few on some of my favorite subjects, family, dogs and computers.

1.)  If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. 
George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

2.)  Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
Jane Howard, "Families"

3.)  Marriage. It's like a cultural hand-rail. It links folks to the past and guides them to the future. 
Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, Our Wedding, 1992

4.)  Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
Roger Caras

5.) The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up there's no law against wacking them around a little.
Joe Martin, Porterfield

And, then there is this one, which some will argue really fits me:

Part of being sane, is being a little bit crazy.
Janet Long

I'm not tagging anyone specific, but encourage all of you to wander over and have a look at the Random Quotes site.  Provoke your thoughts for a while.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

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2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Sunny Days - Beach Time

Monday and Tuesday we had SUN!  We were glad to see this happy fella (or is it a gal??).  Knowing that the cloudy skies and more of Mother Nature's crying/sobbing sessions were due back by Wednesday, we took advantage of the bright blue CLOUDLESS skies!  Spent the mornings lazing around, enjoying our coffee, breakfast, surfing the net, just enjoying!

Come lunch time we headed out, found a great place to eat both days, one even happened to be a hot spot and I played with the iPod Touch a bit.

Then we went to the beach.  BOTH DAYS!!!.  We walked, and sat, and I took photos.  Sucked up the sun, lazy, soul refreshing afternoons.

We happened upon his fellow who was digging (?) or is it fishing (?) for bait. 

He was on the hunt for sand crabs, also called sand fleas.  I found this great photo over at Wikipedia. A very interesting article is here.

This is how he uses that bucket.  A HUGE amount of physical work here, pulling that bucket through the wet sand.  He did this for well over an hour.  I felt exhausted just watching.

Monday, with no school, there were some families enjoying the beach, flying kites, making sand castles, enjoying each other.

And, Man, well, he took a short nap!

And, today, as promised:

AHHH, life as a RVer!

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

*Photo of sand crab courtesy of Woody Thrower, on the Wikipedia page referenced above.

**Graphic of wild and happy sun thanks to http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/

***Graphic of rain thanks to  http://www.aperfectworld.org/index.html  (Link questionable in 2019)

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