Wedding Wednesday - Everything Old is New Again

Wedding Wednesday

Everything Old Is New Again

"From this day forward

our thoughts and actions

will be for each other...

our plans mutual, our joys

and sorrows shared...

as we become

one in Christ."

Isn't that a lovely wedding program cover? I recently attended a wedding where this program was used. A beautiful calla lily on the front, with this loving sentiment.

This was a wedding no one thought would happen.

Let me back up a bit, and give you a little history.

My brother-in-law comes from a large family. He is one of the babies of the family (plural, because he has a twin brother.) Among his sisters, is Rachel. She is 15 years older than my brother-in-law. She never had children. And in 1993, she lost her husband, Eddie, to cancer. He was 52 at the time.

Fast forward to 2015 (22 years later), my Mom passed away, and just 2 weeks after her death, her childhood best friend, married to my Mom's brother, passed away. Aunt Phyllis was just a few days short of turning 78. Leaving my Uncle Bill a widower.

In the winter of 2015/2016 my Uncle Bill moved from his home state of Indiana, to live near my sister and my Dad. He felt more at home here. My sister provided him with private quarters on her property, and he always was a few short feet away from family if needed.

Late in the year 2016, my brother-in-law got the idea of introducing his sister, Rachel, to my uncle Bill. The thought was that the two might find some companionship with one another: someone to go out for coffee with, or to a movie. But there were sparks, and within a matter of weeks the two were engaged! And on Saturday, May 20th, the happy couple were wed. (I'm hoping for some copies of the nuptials soon.)

Left side:

Wedding of Rachel Lafon and Billy Dreher

May 20, 2017  at 2:00 p.m.

Bethel Pentecostal Holiness Church, Organ Cave, WV

Officiated by Rev. G. Wesley Comer, Pastor

P

H

O

T

O

Matron of Honor - Wanda Ford, sister of bride

Best Man - Walter Beane, brother-in-law of groom

Ushering and Giving of Bride - Ronald Dunbar, brother of bride

Right side:

Song - He Touched Me (Bill's favorite)

Entrance of Matron of Honor and Bride

Prayer

Lighting of candles in memory of Phyllis and Eddie,

who were a part of our lives and will always be

part of who we are.

(Song: When Our Eyes Meet Again - Gloryland Quartet)

Charge and Giving of Bride

Declaration of Intent

Scripture - Colossians 2:2

Lighting of Unity Candle (Song: The Wedding Prayer)

Vow and Ring Ceremony

Pronouncement

Prayer

Presentation and Recessional

Song: I Know Whom I Have Believed (one of Rachel's favorites)

The honeymoon is over, and the happy couple have settled down in the home where Rachel lived alone for so long. And they seem such a happy pair!

We wish you both all of the best, and may happiness and love be with you forever more.

(By the way, the Matron of Honor is a widow, and the Best Man (my Dad) is a widower, hmmmm, wonder if we could play a little matchmaking here?)

Tuesday's Tips - Write It ALL Down

Write It ALL Down

No, I'm not kidding. I have notebooks full of notes I have taken over the years from my Dad's conversations with me. He is like a living, breathing history book! (My Grandpa was born 1866, and was a fairly old man when my Dad and 2 more brothers came along - like 71 when Dad was born!) My Dad used to sit and listen to his Dad tell him about the family history, and how things had changed since he was born. Can you imagine, that by the time my Dad was old enough to pay attention, my Grandpa would have been closer to 80! The things that changed in his lifetime to that point!

Okay, so everything you're told you won't be able to prove. That's true. Even if Cousin Bertha tells you that great-grandma Myrtle made tea out of deer droppings, doesn't mean she really did! Now Cousin Bertha  may even swear on her grandchildren's heads that what she tells you is true, well, always take it with a grain of salt. But record it anyway. Keep a few notebooks for your oral family histories. Who knows, you might one day come across great-grandma Myrtle's recipe book, and find in there that she made a tea out of deer droppings, just not for human consumption! She made a tea of deer droppings to pour onto her garden. Manure tea is rich in nitrogen and helps to replenish the soil of its loss. So, technically, Cousin Bertha didn't tell a falsehood. She simply didn't know the whole story. And suddenly you can put the two pieces of information together and can make an informed note in your genealogy program regarding the deer droppings tea. (Oh, and by the way, Google it and you'll find that deer droppings really can be used for adding nitrogen to your garden! But purchasing fertilizer is a little more convenient!)

I have notebooks that I use for general notes. This notebook I carry in my handbag, or backpack all the time. It goes with me everywhere. You never know when you'll run into someone who can tell you something new! Once I get home, I transfer that information into a special notebook. I keep notebooks for each of the family lines I research. After I transfer the notes into their proper notebooks, I then take a red pen and draw a line crossways over the note. That lets me know that I have transcribed it into the proper notebook.

I do have some notes that have never been transcribed, simply because I wasn't sure where to make a notation of them. Such as, someone once me told that they knew someone with the same last name as mine, and wondered if we were related. I followed up with the phone number that I was given, but the number was no longer in service. Still, I held onto the note, as it gave me a name, and a reference for time frame, and where the person had lived as a child. Should the name ever surface in my research, I'll be able to cross it off in my general notebook.

This is the kind of notebook I purchase. You can get them cheap at a Dollar Store for $1 each. But if you watch at some of the big box stores, you can pick them up for around 50¢ each. (Last fall I bought a whole case for $12.00.)

Okay, so I know this sounds like a lot of handwriting. But if you're good with texting on your SmartPhone, you might be able to simply take a note down in OneNote, or Word, and then send that to either your printer, or, start a file system on your computer. Then you could simply download the note into the correct file folder on your computer. Just make sure that you continue to back up your computer monthly to prevent losing your notes!

Sometimes, at family reunions, I feel like I haven't really had a chance to mingle with everyone, as I'm running around making sure I get photos of everyone, and writing my little notes down! Family reunions are a great time to get information! It would be much better to simply take a digital recording than writing down the information. Again, your SmartPhone or iPhone can do this quite well. Simply record the note, and then transcribe it once you get back home. Of course, how many recordings you can make will depend upon how much memory is in your SmartPhone or iPhone. If you are also taking photos with your phone, you may have to choose between which is more important to you, photographs of everyone attending, or notes! Which is, again, why I always carry a notebook!

If it seems sublimely ridiculous when someone tells you something, don't automatically take it as an impossibility!

My Dad told me that when he was a boy, his Dad did not own a car. (He'd had one once, when they were first available, and had a bad accident with 2 of his children in the car with hi, and everyone was injured to some degree or another.) So, Dad told me that when they went to church, or traveled to see anyone, being in a rural area, his Dad would hitch the old horse to a wagon, and the boys would ride in the back, while his Mom and Dad rode on the only seat. Dad said he would get so embarrassed riding past anyone's house, especially other boys home's where the family owned a car, that he would hunker down in the back of the wagon, and hope no one could see him. Well, I'd heard that story so much as a kid that I just couldn't imagine! We're talking the 1930's and 1940's here! Well, low and behold, my very first job as a nurse had me working with a woman who later told me that she grew up with, and went to school with, my Dad. She started laughing one day, and when I asked what was so funny, she told me that her best memory of my Dad was when his family would ride past her house. She said, my Dad would try to hide in the back of the wagon so she wouldn't see him.

Okay, so I learned my lesson! Everything isn't always the truth. But sometimes, what you think isn't the truth, is the very thing that turns out to be factual!

Regardless of whether you choose to take notes, or do digital recordings, get those verbal stories saved! You will find most of them are priceless!

Who knows, you might even be able to write a fantastic book one day and get those memories down for future family members. What a great way to get to know your ancestors!

Memorial Day Monday

Memorial Day

Today We Remember

The Monroe Bean's

Those Who Have Served

Cathy F. Beane

USA

Christopher S. Adwell

USA

Phillip Beane

USA

David L. Beane

USA

Richard Harriff, Jr.

USMC

Donald Ward

USA

1917-2000

Edsel F. Beane

USA

Emmette L. Beane

USN

1910-1988

Jack Beane-Ashley

USA

Jeffrey S. Beane

USA

Kent Hall

USAF

William M. Beane

USMC

1917-2014

Johnnie L. Henry

USA

Lama W. Beane

USA

1899-1952

Earl Leon Loper
USA

1900-1946

Robert Loper

USAF

Walter Beane

USN

William M. Bean

CSA

USA

1832-1890

Lois V. Beane

USA WACS

1938-2015

(no photo)

Robert Lively, Jr.

USA

Thomas N. Bean

CSA

1823-1911

(no photo)

James F. Bean

USA

1830-1899

(no photo)

Frank J. Holland

USA

1919-2004

My sincerest apologies for anyone I forgot to list here. For sake of time and space, I have only listed my paternal family members who have served. And if I have left anyone out, again, my apologies. For my maternal family members, again, there are many who served, and whom I did not list. Again, my apologies. Time and space limited my efforts. But if you would like a more comprehensive list, you can always send me your requests.

Please take a few moments today to remember those who have served, and who continue to serve, so that all may be free. We salute you each and every one.

(Photo from Funny Memes of 2017, no photographer listed)

And before someone slams me for not knowing that Memorial Day and Veteran's Day are two different holidays of remembrance, let me just remind everyone that Memorial Day is to honor those who served and died in their service to our Country, while Veteran's Day is to remember those who have served, or are serving now. Yes, I know that, thank you. It is my personal preference to honor ALL  both living and deceased on BOTH HOLIDAYS. We can never thank our Veteran's enough. Both those who paid the ultimate price and those who serve today.

My life has been that of a military child, (both my parents served and their photos are above), and I was a military wife for 12 years. When that marriage ended, I married a military Veteran. So, please no bashing here. I have been there during the good, the bad and the ugly. And I have considered all of them heroes. I once stared down the barrel of a gun because of a crazed person. It scared me to death! I could never do what our veterans have done, or are doing! We have active duty men and women who stand tall in the face of lives threatened and stare death in the eye. And they don't waver. If you can't call them heroes, then you don't deserve to live in this Country. And that's how I feel about it.

So, whether the holiday is for those who have died, or those who are living, matters not to me. I celebrate them ALL. And I salute them. EVERY ONE.

Sunday Sing-A-Long

That Old Country Church

Gaither Homecoming Group

Do you have fond memories of church when you were growing up?

I come from a long line of Christian families, and am myself a licensed minister, as is my youngest brother. So, I have so many fond memories of church, the music, and singing along! And so each Sunday I will be sharing the southern gospel music I grew up with.

I hope you will both enjoy this, and be blest.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Shopping Saturday - The 15th Century

The Farmer's Market Today

Did you ever wonder what marketing differences our ancestors had when compared to us today?

Wikipedia has this to say, "According to etymologists, the term 'marketing' first appeared in dictionaries in the sixteenth century where it referred to the process of buying and selling at a market."

Of course, we must remember that in the sixteenth century there weren't any super markets. Farmers would bring their produce to a central location. This might be within a keep, or even without the walls of a keep. The local 'laird' would have his cooks purchase from the first "pickings". This would mean that commoners would then purchase from whatever was left. But more often than not, they would barter.

For instance, a local cheesemaker might barter for eggs, and a bucket of grain. A weaver might barter for cabbage and carrots with a few yards of cloth.

And, of course, there were those who purchased with coin. During the 1500's, however, the commoner had very little coin. Coin was earned, and spent, by those who held titles and lands. The commoner was used to, for the most part, bartering.

Bartering is still alive and well in many places today. I have seen those at our local farmer's market that barter. I've seen someone who needed baskets for their strawberries barter a gallon of fresh strawberries for 3-dozen quart baskets. I've seen someone who bartered fresh, brown eggs for a quart of honey. I've seen greens bartered for squash.

This practice is, perhaps, one considered to be a favorite amongst the local marketers. Of course, then the public arrives, and the cash flows.

But of one who needed a new vest? Or a dress? Well, there were few dressmakers or tailor's in rural society. However, they were found in the larger cities. But you wouldn't see a finished garment hanging upon a rack! No. Indeed, it was more likely that you would drop by the local dressmaker's and make an appointment to come back in for a measuring. At that time, you would be taken into an area where you would undressed down to your chemise, and then a tape measure would be produced and your measurements would then be recorded. After you were measured, the dressmaker would sit you before a portfolio, from which you would then pick out a pattern you liked. Fabrics would then be produced for you to choose from. And if a suitable fabric was not in the shop, you would have to either get the dressmaker to choose a fabric for you, or pay extra to have what you wanted shipped in. The process of getting a dress could take anywhere from a few weeks, to a matter of months. A similar process was used for the purchase of men's clothing from a tailor.

And what of the country maid who required a new dress? Chances were, that if you were a country maid, your garments would have been handed down and remade to fit you either from an older sibling, or even from your mother. Many a child wore the a dress made from her mother's skirts.

If you were poor, you may have only linen cloth to choose from. This was a coarse material woven on a hand loom. I have made this fabric myself with an old wall loom (it literally leans against a wall when in use). This does not produce the same effect as linen woven on a large loom with a foot shuttle. It, instead, produced a wider weave, that was used for heavier threads. Often, if you purchased coarse linen, you would also purchase, or make, yarn to knit a Galway shawl.

Galway Shawl

This was a type of shawl that crisscrossed over the bosom, and was tied behind the back. It was a way of keeping warm. In the winter a cape could be worn over it. And in the summer, the sleeves of the linen dress could be rolled up. A chemise (an under slip) provided modesty so that the legs would not be seen from under the linen skirt. And an apron wore over the skirt would also provide modesty. A woman added color to her clothing using what Mother Nature provided her with. Beets, nut shells, nuts, bark, etc. So that, even if you were not wealthy, you could still get a new "shift" now and then.

And, as I said, children wore hand-me-downs, or the mother's old shift was used to make one or two smaller ones for the children.

Housewares were often bartered for as well. A wooden bucket for a boiling pan or fry pan. A pony for a couple of shoats (baby pigs). Chickens for geese. And so forth.

How very simple we have it today. We have our choice of where we want to shop. And we purchase according to our budgets.

Do you share any of the trades crafts your ancestors might have had? And if so, what are those crafts? Could you make it in a society where you might have to make everything yourself? Please share your comments below! We love hearing from you!

Friday's Faces From The Past

Alfred the Great

King of Wessex

849-899A.D.

My 28th Great-Grandfather

Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex by his first wife, Osburh.

Alfred was one of only two Kings of Wessex (England) to be called "the Great" (the other being King Cnut the Great).

Alfred was anointed as King at the tender age of four by Pope Leo IV in Rome in 853. This was NOT an actual coronation, but was meant solely to symbolize the coming expectancy of his role as King, as his father was very much still ruling at the time.

Alfred fought against the Viking invasions alongside his father during those bloody years. And in April 871 King Æthelred died, and Alfred succeeded him to the throne, as his younger brother.

In 868, Alfred married Ealhswith, daughter of a Mercian nobleman, Æthelred Mucil, Ealdorman of the Gaini. The couple went on to have 5 (proven and documented) children, but there may have been a sixth. One of which happened to be my 27th great-grandfather, Edward the Elder (869-924). He ruled as King of the Wessex from 899, upon the death of his father, until his own death in 924.

Although some Christians venerate Alfred as a saint, due to his tremendous reform, not only in politics, but in education, and the church as well, an attempt to have him canonized by Henry VI of England in 1441, was not successful.

Wikipedia.org has these interesting remarks regarding Alfred's burial, grave and remains:

"Death Burial and Remains

Alfred died on 26 October 899. How he died is unknown, although he suffered throughout his life with a painful and unpleasant illness. His biographer Asser gave a detailed description of Alfred's symptoms and this has allowed modern doctors to provide a possible diagnosis. It is thought that he had either Crohn's disease or haemorrhoidal disease.[7][131] His grandson King Eadred seems to have suffered from a similar illness.[132][g]

Alfred was originally buried temporarily in the Old Minster in Winchester; then, four years after his death, he was moved to the New Minster (perhaps built especially to receive his body). When the New Minster moved to Hyde, a little north of the city, in 1110, the monks were transferred to Hyde Abbey, along with Alfred's body and those of his wife and children, which were presumably interred before the high altar. Soon after the dissolution of the abbey in 1539, during the reign of Henry VIII, the church was demolished, leaving the graves intact.[134]

The royal graves and many others were probably rediscovered by chance in 1788 when a prison was being constructed by convicts on the site. Prisoners dug across the width of the altar area in order to dispose of rubble left at the dissolution. Coffins were stripped of lead, and bones were scattered and lost. The prison was demolished between 1846 and 1850.[135] Further excavations in 1866 and 1897 were inconclusive.[134][136] In 1866, amateur antiquarian John Mellor claimed to have recovered a number of bones from the site which he said were those of Alfred. These later came into the possession of the vicar of nearby St Bartholomew's Church, who reburied them in an unmarked grave in the church graveyard.[135]

Excavations conducted by the Winchester Museums Service of the Hyde Abbey site in 1999 located a second pit dug in front of where the high altar would have been located, which was identified as probably dating to Mellor's 1886 excavation.[134] The 1999 archeological excavation uncovered the foundations of the abbey buildings and some bones. Bones suggested at the time to be those of Alfred proved instead to belong to an elderly woman.[137]

In March 2013, the Diocese of Winchester exhumed the bones from the unmarked grave at St Bartholomew's and placed them in secure storage. The diocese made no claim they were the bones of Alfred, but intended to secure them for later analysis, and from the attentions of people whose interest may have been sparked by the recent identification of the remains of King Richard III.[137][138] The bones were radiocarbon-dated, but the results showed that they were from the 1300s and therefore unrelated to Alfred. In January 2014, a fragment of pelvis unearthed in the 1999 excavation of the Hyde site, which had subsequently lain in a Winchester museum store room, was radiocarbon-dated to the correct period. It has been suggested that this bone may belong to either Alfred or his son Edward, but this remains unproven.[139][140]"

****Did you guess correctly for the location of the 'Those Places Thursday' location? If you guess Notre Dame, in Paris, France, you would be correct! The gargoyle sitting on the left of the photograph, as well as the Eifel Tower seen in the distance, would have been a give away to anyone who has visited the city. Paris is a beautiful city at any time of year, and if you ever get the chance to visit you should!

This song always makes me wish for one more visit!

Those Places Thursday

I have so loved sharing those places with all of you! Thomas McEntee came up with the correct answer last Thursday! Yeah Thomas! Sorry, no prize, but maybe we can start doing that soon if enough people get involved!

Today I'm going to take you someplace else.

This photo is taken from a post card. (Yeah, don't you wish I could photograph like that? Me too! LOL)

It's what you can't see that I want you to tell me about. I know you will notice a very famous landmark in the distance. What I want you to tell me, is what famous landmark is this photograph taken from? There are clues. So, if you've been to this city, you should be able to figure out where the photographer was at when taking this pic!

Let us know where you think the photograph was taken from. Check back tomorrow for the correct answer!

Wedding Wednesday

Ethel and Paul's Wedding Day

22 February 1947

This photograph was taken on the day my Aunt Ethel and Uncle Paul were married. Left to right are my grandparents: Irene (Banet) Dreher, Henry Dreher, their daughter - Ethel (Dreher) McCutchen and Paul McCutchen. They have all passed on now. Dear, sweet souls, and I miss them every one.

Grandma was a little firecracker. She could be sweet when she wanted to be, but she could let you have it when she was mad! LOL

Grandpa was a master carpenter. He built a little of everything. But his cabinetry was simply beyond belief! This man was also a scholar. He studied his Bible daily. And read the dictionary like many of us would read a novel. He once told me that when you give up learning, that was when you lay down and die. He learned something new everyday. And he was very into politics! During the Watergate incident, he would send my Mom newspaper clippings and ask her opinion of this or that. Yeah, if you wanted to get him started on a lengthy tirade, simply ask him what he thought of Richard Milhouse Nixon!

Aunt Ethel was a nurse for many years. Believe it or not, she became an LPN through a correspondence course!  In her later years, she worked as a volunteer in a nursing home. Uncle Paul, what can I say about him? He loved the outdoors. He was often seen in buckskins and going to Mountain Man rally's.

The photograph above was taken just a little over 70 years ago. Weren't they all simply gorgeous? That was when Men were Men, and Ladies were Ladies. (I keep saying I was born in the wrong time era! LOL) I love how the women dressed in the 30's and 40's and 50's.

Tuesday's Tip - Use a Dehumidifier

Here you can see some of my prized genealogy books that were nearly ruined in the last year.

I thought my study felt damp, but DH couldn't seem to find a reason why. That is until he opened up the closet to take a peak in there. Seems the hot water heater is actually behind a panel in the study closet. I am not electrically intelligent, so I can't begin to tell you what was wrong with it, but for some reason it wouldn't not shut down when the water got hot. It kept heating. The result was the steam was venting out into the closet, and seeping into my study!

That steam sent so much water into the air that once it was fixed, we discovered thick mold on almost every book in the room! Papers were limp. (Thank goodness I had all of my records in archival sleeves, because those weren't affected at all! Take that as a plug to always use archival sleeves for your important records!)

I will tell you, the books are now all free from that nasty green fungi mold. And you might ask how I managed to save them?

Well, I came across a wonderful article on biblio.com (you can read it here). As you can tell from the article, denatured alcohol saved my precious books! I was so happy!!! (And I'm still doing the Happy Dance! Oh yeah...Go me...Oh yeah...Go me!)

I purchased a small dehumidifier after the water heater fiasco. And that has helped preserve my books as well. (You wouldn't believe how much moisture is removed just on a regular day, but when the humidity is up outside who would think it wouldn't get so high in here as well!) But it does. In the summer, I have a window air-conditioner that helps get some of the moisture out as well. So, I feel blessed to have a double action going on in here!

Make sure that the room that you are storing research books, or photo albums, or your precious research, is kept dry by use of a dehumidifier, or keep an oscillating fan going so that it blows across the books or research and prevents mold or mildew buildup. And check your books frequently so that if you should have this problem, you will catch it in time!

Do you have a passion for books? If so, you will want to read the article on biblio.com to protect them!

Now, I have a question for all of you? Do you use any kind of organization for your books? Do you group them by subject? By author? By genre? Dewey Decimal System? Let us know in the comments what kind of system, if any, you use?

I put my books on the shelf by genre, and then I alphabetize them. (Well, I have a pretty large collection of books, that seems to grow every few days! LOL) It helps me a lot when I'm doing research, as I can go immediately to any book I know.

Do you keep a log of the titles and authors of your books? Do you write down the names of friends or colleagues who borrow your books? There are some great forms to print online that will help you.
I haven't always kept a log. But I do now. It is on Goodreads.com . Which I absolutely love. Because there I not only have the books I read, but my input on them, and I can even look up the authors of present day writers and find out about them. It keeps me on track. And it helps me make a goal. This year, my goal was to read 52 books for 2017. It is only May, and I have already completed 37 of the 52! So I'm actually ahead of myself!

Do you have a favorite genre of book that you enjoy reading more than any other?

I don't. I just love to read to learn. I read a lot of biographies. I enjoy anything that can help me with genealogy! I enjoy some romance. I read Christian materials (I am a licensed minister in this state.). I am kind of odd, in that I enjoy reading travel guide books. And even more than that, I enjoy reading technical manuals. When I was married to my first husband, when he first went into the military, we had no money for books. We didn't have a car. So I couldn't get to a library, because public transportation didn't run in that direction. So I was without books to read! I reread the few I had brought with me to our tiny 2 room apartment. And when I was about to read those books for the 4th or 5th time, I started grabbing soup cans, and bean bags, and even macaroni and cheese boxes, just to find something, anything, to read. (I met an old cowboy in Texas; he had a whole library of westerns; I had a whole library of romance novels. We swapped books 4 or 5 at a time. He introduced me to Louis Lamour, Max Brand, Ron Hanson, Larry McMurtry, Dee Brown (amazing books on American Indian History, he wrote "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee". Broke my heart!), and of course the great Zane Grey! And so many others! I usually have any where from 2 to 4 books in various rooms of the house. The books don't leave those rooms, and I mark my place and read some more the next time I go into that room. DH thinks it's impossible to read 3 or 4 books at the same time. But I find it quite relaxing, and challenging!

Do you mark your place with a bookmark? Or do you turn down the corners of a page? (Shame on you if you do that! You weaken the fibers of the page doing that. Always use a bookmark. And if the book is written prior to 1965, be sure to use an acid-free book mark.)

Protect your precious books. Whether you have them in hard copy, or in digital format. (Back up your ebooks monthly!) And you'll have a library worthy of passing on when you are ready to do that.

Do you shop flea markets and garage sales for books? Do you shop in used book stores? I do all three. I was very lucky to find a first edition of 'Alice Through the Looking Glass' that I gave to my Mom one year for her birthday. (Alice in Wonderland was her favorite story!) you never know what you'll find.

Do you enjoy the smell of old books? That's the whole reason why I love to go and spend hours in a used book store! DH and I can go in a used book store and be lost for hours! We come out having spent $2-$300 almost every time!

Do you have a hobby you enjoy more than books? Let us hear from you!

Oh, and what book am I reading in the study this evening? The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck. Excellent read so far!

Mappy Monday

I cam across this medieval map of England on the National Geographic site. It looks awesome. Of course, you aren't able to read it. I know that! That's because the map is for sale. And at a reasonable $19.99.  It measures at 22.75" x 29.25". A good size for framing or simply pinning up to a board while doing research on your ancestry. I think I'm going to order it.

I have recently discovered my family, through 2 of it's various and sundry lines, goes back to medieval England, and even further back than that. (Dahling, the kings and queens of Europe are well documented don't ya know?, she says with her snobby nose in the air. -tee-hee!)

National Geographic has a lot to offer for your genealogy quest. This is the first piece I'm ordering, though. Just because it's what I can use right now. I think it will be fun to pin the places my ancestors lived.

But I'm really torn between this map, which is relevant to the research I am currently working on, or a huge scholar world map. It's about a $40 difference. I have room in my study for either, or for both.

Help me to make a decision here! Which one do you think would be more beneficial? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

Sing Along Sunday

I've decided to put a bit of a twist on my Sunday posts, and feature some of the songs I used to love to sing to (and still do when I turn on the radio and hear them!). So here's a little one that I used to sing along with, let's just a few years back. (Don't want ya'all to think I'm too old! LOL)

Seasons in the Sun

Terry Jacks

1974

Shopping Saturday

Shopping Saturday

Is this you? Do you go out one your days off from work, and spend, and spend, and spend some more? Do you see something on sale, and automatically think "It's such a bargain, someone I know can surely use this!" And then you buy it, put it up at home, until you need a gift for someone?

That's never been my thing. I don't enjoy going shopping. Perhaps that's because as a kid growing up, my Mom (whom I loved so much!) would drag my sister and I along with her when she would go shopping. Usually 1 to 2 times a week. At any given time during the year, you could open up a store from all of the things my Mom had purchased!

After she was married with a daughter, my sister used to live for Saturday's when she and Mom would go shopping! At one point, both my Mom and my sister told me that they worked just so that they could shop all they wanted to!

Mom passed on two years ago. But before she did, my sister finally got the idea that maybe there was more to life than just the stuff that filled it.

So, do I ever go shopping? Not if I can help! I'll go so far as to make out a detailed shopping list and send dear hubby after groceries. Yep. I HATE shopping. I hate comparing prices, so I can get the better deal. I hate having to walk among the masses of people who are rude, crude and socially unacceptable. What do ya mean I'm terrible? Seriously? You can't tell me that you haven't had someone "waft" past you in a store and smelled their funky behind! Oh yeah, I'm going there!

Have you ever looked at those stupid pictures taken at that blue big box store, yeah, you know the one I mean. Well, let me tell you, if you think pictures are fake, go find yourself a bench in there and just sit for an hour. Smell what walks past you. P-e-e-E-w-e! Stinky people!

And the clothes some of them wear! I know your butt has grown some since you first bought those spandex workout pants in 1980. But you don't have to wear them to the store and show me...

let's just pretend I'll take your word that you can still fit into them!

Or worse, the kids screaming, and the Mama's screaming back at the kids! Come on ladies! If you can't control them from screaming, then lock them in the trunk while you shop! (No, I'm just kidding! I am NOT telling you to do that! Seriously!) But hire a sitter if you have to!

And there's the shoplifters you see. Come on! Camera's everywhere and your security team doesn't see it? But let me try to walk out the door, having paid for an item, clutching the receipt in my hand, and a very loud "Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!" and flashing blue lights go off, because some clerk forgot to take the alarm tag off of a pair of $1 flip flops! Yeah right.

So, you folks go ahead and go shopping on your days off from work. This ol' country woman will be sitting at home. Her tired tootsie's propped up, watching Netflix. Sipping on a lovely margarita! And laughing at you all.

Do you make a list when you go shopping? Or do you simply wing it? Let us know!

Friday's Faces From the Past

My 17th Great-Grandfather

King John of England

1166-1216

John was born 24 December 1166. He was the youngest son of King Henry II of England and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.  He married (2nd) to Isabella of Angouleme, who brought substantial land claims to the marriage. (Isabella was my 17th Great-Grandmother.)

John and Isabella had 5 children together. Henry III, Richard 1st, and daughters, Joan, Isabella and Eleanor.

Richard became 1st Earl of Cornwall, and it is through Richard that I am descended.

King John of England reigned from 6 April 1199 until his death on 19 October 1216.

He is said to have only been 5'5" tall, stocky, and with a shockingly red head of hair. It is said that he loved reading, and never traveled without, with what to many seemed, a full library of books. (Perhaps therein lies my fascination in reading books. No matter what kind!) It is also said that he could fly into a rage over anything. He would become so infuriated that he would bite at his own hands and fingers until he brought blood. John was essentially raised by his wet-nurse, and neither of his parents spent any time with him. They were both away from him for several years at a time as they travelled about. This could explain his anger and rage, and self punishment.

Perhaps John is most well known today, not for his military prowess, which was great, but for the fact that as he was escaping the enemy in 1216, he led his men in a rush through a swampy area called the Wash. As his men and horses fought to get through the sucking mud and traverse around the many areas of quicksand, it is said that he lost his precious cargo of the Crown Jewels. They are believed to have been in a rather large trunk, and lost in the muddy swamplands. (This event was recently a study on the The Travel Channel's "Expedition Unknown" starring archeologist Josh Gates.

Other artifacts were, indeed, located in the swampy marsh, which confirmed that English traveler's did traverse the swamp. But the crown jewels were not located.


*****Re: Those Places Thursday - Were you able to figure out where yesterday's place was? Or what the name of the statue was?

The statue was Perseus with the head of Medusa, and while this isn't the only statue by the name, as several individuals sculpted one, this one is located in Florence, Italy.

Those Places Thursday

Can anyone tell me where this statue is located?

I can tell this bronze sculpture was made in 1545 by a very well known sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini.

Take a close look at it. The statue is of a man, holding a severed head. But not just any severed head. A woman's head. Look closely at what looks to be curly hair. Only this is not curly hair, but instead it is writhing snakes!

If you will recall your Greek mythology (what do you mean you didn't study Greek mythology?), you will recall the name of the woman with snakes instead of hair. And you will recall who slew her.

This statue stands in the Piazza della Signoria.

Oh, I do believe you may be getting warmer!

If you know the name of the two characters, and/or the location (city, country) of this statue, please be sure and leave it in the comments below.

If you don't know any information, please come back tomorrow to read about it!

Ciao bella!

Wishful Wednesday - A Functional Home Office

Source Unknown: Found on Pinterest at various contributors sites

I have wanted a nice home office, ever since my dear hubby retired and I gave him the bedroom I had been using for an office, for him to have an office.

I have another bedroom, that has been used for storage for some time now, and I am hoping to get it into shape in the next couple of months. but any organization will go slowly, because as I said, it's been used for storage. So, in the future, about part of it will become storage, and the rest, my home office. I've already decided I would hide the storage. It will be placed in bins behind a wall made of 6-foot bookcases. That will leave me with about 2/3 of the room for office space. Enough that I can work freely.

I would LOVE something like you see above. With plenty of bookcases for all of my books, and research. A desk where I can sit facing the door, and place 2 chairs in front of it for clients. Nice oriental carpeting to set it all off.

A place for the printer, within easy reach of the desk, yet out of sight.

And a closed cabinet/hutch for all of my office supplies (printing paper, ink cartridges, pencils, pens, scissors, etc.).

What is your Wish for this Wednesday?

Tuesday's Tip - Binders or Digitize

Tuesday's Tip

Binders or Digitize?

Nothing can be more frustrating, especially when you first out working on your family's genealogy, than trying to second guess yourself. "Am I doing this right?" Used to always be my mantra. Always afraid that I would lose something. Or that I would file it wrong, and never be able to get it back!

Well, about everything that could possibly go wrong with your genealogy journey probably happened to me, at one time or another.

At one point, I was printing out vast reams of paper, trying to get every article, document or photograph I could find regarding my family genealogy. Then I became paranoid, as I was simply putting everything into bankers file boxes (you know the kind that are knocked down and you fold and crease them into a somewhat file box shape?)

I thought, well, I'll start going through those papers (when I had about four or five boxes full of loose papers and copies) and put them in binders. So, I ordered in a bunch of 5-inch binders. And I simply started out punching holes in the pages. I didn't get too far, (thank goodness), that I thought maybe I should digitize these papers before I put them into the binders. So, back to the scanner, and I began scanning.

Before I knew, I learned about printing onto acid-free archival quality printing paper, using quality inks. Most of my printing had been done on plain, ordinary printing paper. So, back to the office supply store. As I scanned and saved papers to my computer, I also reprinted them, and realized, I should probably put those pages into archival page sleeves instead of punching holes in them.

So, back I went to the office supply store (I was getting to know these guys by name!). I wish I could say that I now had everything under control. But soon, I realized that I had all of the digital copies listed as Scan 001, Scan 002, etc. So I went back into each scan and began to name them after the person they were scanned for. Such as my gr-gr-grandfather. Suddenly I had WmBean-1, WmBean-2, etc. These files meant that now I would have to open each scan up to see what the file was for regarding William Bean. Time consuming. Very, very, time consuming, I was beginning to realize.

I decided on sub-folders. This is what worked for me. So, now I have folders on my computer that look like this:

I can go almost instantly to any photo or document I want, regarding just about anyone in my genealogy.

I start with a folder that lists the last name of the family I am researching. Let's use my Bean/e ancestry as an example.

There is a file folder marked "Bean/e". Inside you will find out patriarch folder, titled "William M. Bean" (now that "e" on the end is quite important, as it let's me know I am looking under Senior's name, and not his grandson's, which had the "e"). So, I am looking William Bean folder. If I click on it, inside you will find all of the research I have done for him. But there are other file folders inside of William's. There are 13 folders, each containing the research I have done on each of his 13 children. Likewise, inside of each of their folders you will find the same thing.

It might not work for everyone, but it's how I stay organized with my digital files.

Let's look at the path you would have to follow to find information on me, and this should give you an idea of my organization. To locate a file on me, I would follow this path:

"Bean/e > William M Bean > William M Bean Jr > John M Bean Sr > Walter M Beane > Cynthia A Beane"

Now, my family tree consists of over 16,000 individuals. I can hear you thinking, 'How does she remember where to begin looking for everyone at?' Simple really, I don't remember. I do a search. And the file on that person will come up. And I proceed from there.

As for the paper files, I use a similar system. But that will be for another day.

And back to original question: Binders or Digitize? I do both. I have huge binders full of every record I have, having printed everything out, as well as saved them digitally.

The digitization means that I can transfer files to others safely and quickly, without ever touching my hard copies. It means, I can take my laptop with me when I go to the library, or courthouse and refer back to the information I have if needed, while searching for new materials.

It also means, that God forbid, my hard drive crashes (I had a laptop hard drive that literally MELTED once!) I could put the files back together. But for heaven's sakes don't rely on your laptop for keeping those digital copies safe!

Today I save on my laptop. And twice a month, on the 15th, and first day of each new month, I backup my files (genealogy program, as well as notes in it and photographs in it, and photographs or documents not in it). I back up to an external hard drive. And to the Cloud. Then I back up the genealogy tree, just with notes, to a thumb drive. Yes, I may go a bit overboard on making sure my files are safe. But I nearly lost everything when my computer crashed and melted. Since then, I do my very best to keep everything protected. And we will go over that another day as well.

I hope this has helped you! If you find this type of information helpful, please let us know!