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Saturday, August 17, 2013

Flowers, Shrubs & Trees Shaken

If I did not know better I'd say we were going to have a Realtor's open house -- but we are definitely not going to do that at least not in the near future. But the house smells sooo good with the aroma of applesauce wafting throughout. Last week we mentioned that it was "apple pickin' time" and so it was -- we did not get all of them, but enough to process some of them:

On the left are the newly picked apples and on the right is the pot slowly cooking on the stove. The apple and cinnamon combination is special -- I think it put Dino to sleep, but then again a lot of things do that.

What Else was Going On This Week

It seems that I worked on "other peoples trees" a lot this week. As I have mentioned before I have 16 public trees on Ancestry.com and I try to go through the process of working on each one during the month. Some, I wind up spending a lot of time on especially when there are "gems to harvest" from the branches. 

I found a tree -- not unlike the apple trees in our yard -- that had a ton of "low-hanging" fruit on it and I did the pickin' and it just takes time, but the rewards are there, at least for me at the start and hopefully later for the folks from that tree.

I did though climb some of the branches of our tree and it seems that the Gillett branch produces a ton of pickable fruit. This week I found myself working the Mahitable Gillett branch a lot. I never met a girl named "Mahitable" before -- I have to wonder where that name comes from . . . (I looked it up and it probably comes from a comparable name in the Hebrew meaning "God Rejoices")  I can only think that the unfortunate little girl was not rejoicing . . . 

At any rate, Mahitable Gillett was born in New York in 1838 and moved with her family to the Midwest and ultimately to the Viroqua, Wisconsin area around the 1850s or so. On April 27, 1858 she married Henry Goss in Viroqua and together they had at least seven children -- one of who was Mary Helen Goss, born on 31 Aug 1876 in Viroqua. 


Above are some of the ways that Mary shows up in the genealogical charts from Family Tree Maker & from the Hiles Website.  Mary and many of her siblings seemed to "find their way" West (as in many families). Mary met and married Charles Hoehle ( I wonder if that is pronounced like HILE, maybe) and they had five children. 

Charles and Mary it seems,  lived in several areas of California with Mary's final resting place -- San Diego in 1970 -- our paths could have crossed at some point and at the time I would never have guessed that we could be related.

Looking at the above Mary and her siblings are all first cousins, 2x removed -- which means two generations apart from me (and my siblings). I also am looking at finding photos of all the folks above which really helps to envision the families.

A Quick Break -- Around the Yard

As the sunny days heat up the region the flowers keep blooming and a small trip around the yard helps to rejuvenate and motivate and allows me to go back inside and work . . .


Dino put on his "squinty" face while I took the snaps -- he eagerly jumps up when he sees me grab my camera and follows me around . . . the above petals will not last forever and many of the petals find their way into the pool . . . such is life.

In and On the Media This Week

I actually listened to two webinars this week. Both were excellent and I learned from them and also purchased products relating to them . . . the opportunities for doing family history today is staggering. When I started back in the 70s and 80s the internet was just starting as well. But I do know many people that started before that time and then everything was done by snail-mail and in person.

Television as well is getting better with respect to showcasing "genealogy". Hopefully you have seen some of the four episodes of "Who Do You Think You Are?"  that have been presented this season:


Each one of course has been uniquely satisfying in that the process of finding "one's story" is demonstrated and illuminated with scenes from the person's history unfolding for all of us to observe. This next Tuesday night will feature Chris O'Donnell and his story . . .

Whenever I Think Maybe a Reunion Would be Nice . . .

Of course I think of the logistics of making all that happen -- staggering. And given the response of just the facts of "genealogy" it compares to my thinking a few years ago about attending a high-school reunion -- NOT. And so it goes -- but if some of you would like to put "one on" I'd be "all-in" so-to-speak.


One of my all time favorite cartoonists, Jim Unger and his HERMAN.  If he is still producing HERMAN it does not appear in our local paper -- but I sure wish it did. I can remember vividly the cubicle gatherings from those around my desk area to "ponder" the latest HERMAN. 


And Lastly 

I watched this YouTube video and enjoyed it -- you might as well:


 I'm trying to include it here -- but if it doesn't play, just go to YouTube and play it there . . .














That was a bit of our week. Hope that you had a good week too! Burgers tonight -- see you in a few!


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