The man I remember as my great grandfather was a fit, bespectacled man with thinning white hair and a kind smile. Wearing a starched white shirt, black pants, and a dark tie, he sat on the grass in a lawn chair one hot, muggy, Wisconsin afternoon, proudly watching his children and grandchildren enjoy spending time together. Even over-dressed for a…
Family
Willie the cat
Whenever things get tough and I start to feel sorry for myself, I like to think of our cat Willie. He has suffered greatly since the day he was born and has many handicaps, yet he’s the happiest, most contently creature I know. Willie was bitten by his mama shortly after his birth, a tragic mistake that should have taken…
Everything old is new again
When I changed my blog from a write about anything that suits me blog to my author blog, many of my posts were put on hold because they had nothing to do with my book. They have everything to do with my life, however, so I’ve decided to re-post some of my favorites. Hope you enjoy them as much as…
The Complexity of DNA
It felt like I was a liar. All my life I had been telling people I was half German, possibly more. After all, my mother’s family and ancestors were all German for hundreds of years, and there was also German on my father’s side of the family. The other side of my family was mainly English and French. When my…
More Childhood Photos
I’ve spent months going through my late father’s boxes and boxes of photos, slides, and negatives. There were so many that it was overwhelming to even consider trying to scan them and convert to digital media myself. We sent them out in groups of about 1000 each to be professionally scanned and, in some cases, restored. I found a few…
Journey to the Countryside
A few weeks ago, my husband and I had the pleasure of visiting relatives in New York. It was a trip like none other for me, for it gave this city and suburb girl a taste of living on a historic farm. The house was more than 150 years old, and the barns were even older. The visit also triggered my creative juices and I came home ready to do some writing!
My favorite photos are those of the barns. Majestically rising from the hills of the Genesee Valley, they are the crown jewels of this part of the countryside. Despite the fact that it was the middle of September, there were still many blooming flowers. I think we missed the beginning of the fall color by about 10 days.
Here are some of my favorite photos. Click on each photo to see a larger version of it.
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- Beautiful barn with a cupola and stone foundation.
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- Different angle of the barn with the cupola.
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- This beauty stands proudly in the field near the farmhouse.
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- This barn has a face.
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- I love the textures on this barn.
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- This is the backside of the barn with the face.
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- This barn looks intriguing no matter where you stand.
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- There was a small bridge that connected the farmhouse to the barns over a small creek running through the property.
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- This was a smaller barn higher on the hill from the other structures.
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- No farm would be complete without a pitchfork.
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- The view in the waning afternoon. Love the old fence.
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- The farmhouse was immaculately restored, complete with a lovely covered porch.
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- The property was filled with gorgeous blooming flowers, including this hydrangea.
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- This daisy-like flowers were spread out along the banks of a pond on the property.
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- Beautiful, large sunflower.
Where in the World
I recently had a DNA testing done through Ancestry.com. As an avid genealogist and the family historian, it seemed like something I should do to validate my research, proving—as much as that’s possible—my roots. When I first thought about it, it didn’t seem seem like there would be much variety in the results. I am half German from my mom’s side of the…
Down the Rabbit Hole
Genealogy research is a messy endeavor. I started out with the mantra that my research would be thorough and complete, and that my pedigree chart would only contain the most accurate information available. Somewhere down the road the latter part changed to probably mostly accurate information available. Now, if it looks like it could be good information but needs to be…
Photos from the Past
Fresh from our family archives is a photo of the village of Grimm, Russia, taken from the side view of a typical home. I suspect the home belongs to a relative of ours, although I cannot confirm that detail. In the foreground, the roof of the home is in disrepair, with part of it actually missing. A small mud and…
Finnish Dreams
When I was growing up, one of my favorite friends was a Finnish girl named Leena (pronounced Lay-neh). Actually she was half German, but that side of her family might as well have been non-existent because that family lived and breathed Finland. Her one hundred percent Deutsche father was some kind of salesman and traveled regularly. I saw him perhaps…