No Fiddlin' on the Roof just Quiddler on the Deck . . .

It is summer mode here almost -- that is -- when the "chores" of the day are done and shortly before dinner we retire to the deck to play a game of Quiddler or two. We have been doing this for several years and have gone through numerous decks. Once in awhile we change the game to "Dominoes on the Deck" but usually get back to Quiddler.As for the roof, well it has been decided that no more visits should be made to that part of the house by either of us -- we'll bring in help for that in the future . . .

If you like word games and cards then Quiddler is a good choice -- and it is a good game for two . . .

As maybe you can tell it is a far better choice -- deck over roof -- anytime. Now it still is the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and we have highlighted several of our family member's participation. Every single HILES participant that we have mentioned was on the side of the Union, and for the most part that was true. But probably the most interesting that I have found -- to date -- is the experience of my Great Grandfather Samuel Martin -- my dad's mother's father:

 

Samuel Martin had a very interesting life and career. There are several newspaper articles and pages from various books highlighting the events. He was born in Kragero, Norway and began life as a sailor at an early age. He eventually made his way to Racine, Wisconsin where he maintained a residence for most of his adult life. He was a Captain of several sailing vessels on the Great Lakes. 

But in 1862 he found himself in the Bahamas area (the Civil War started the year before), here is a brief bio from the book "Norwegians on the Great Lakes":

So in effect Samuel Martin was in the Confederate Navy whether he joined or not. It is hard to imagine life in those days under those circumstances. As a child I visited his home in Racine many times as the house had been passed down to one of his daughters, Carrie. For more visit www.danhiles.com

The search for family continues every day. Most days I have contact with one or more "cousins" and little by little we get closer to maybe finding who brought our HILES branch to this country -- and from where. Everyday there are new "tools" being introduced for our help in this. This week was no exception and in future posts we will explore some of them. Social Networking also is playing a huge role in bringing researchers together to compare notes and branches.

And lastly, our cat -- Ms Kitty -- has a new collar. Not one that she actually likes but one that she has tolerated this week. Somehow she developed an open sore on one front leg -- and of course she licks it constantly -- so first we tried the "cone" and that was not going to work. We then ordered an inflatable collar and that works just fine -- her medicine can be applied without her licking it off . . . hopefully she will only have to endure this collar for a few more days. Auggie our dog acts like he is jealous of all this . . .

And so it is, another week has vanished. The weather has acted in between Spring and Summer and it might rain tomorrow -- but it's still is a "slider" Saturday Night . . .

See you in a few.