Hearts for Hiles, Adams, Bouldron, Baker

This has been another very mixed week in terms of weather. We had one really summery day (in the 70s) and then some rainy, cloudy and varietal days. The weather impacted some project plans but we have time . . . speaking of time, it is the time to celebrate that February Holiday and remember our loved ones. In the event you need a pictorial, here is a collage of some found on the web:

I got to wondering about this day that seems to creep up on me every year and thought about how far back in time have we been celebrating this day. Did our ancestors send cards and buy candy for their loved ones. I think it could have happened though I have no evidence of that other than "us" if you think about it.

I looked up some history of the day and was surprised to see some details. I went to www.history.com and this  is some of what I found:

So it looks like for my HILES branch, who have been here since the early 1700s and probably just before that, it was the custom to exchange hand-made Valentines -- it would be nice to have some of those . . . then it looks like for Gail's branch of the tree, they arrived here in the mid 1800s, there should have been abundant mass produced Valentines and we don't seem to have any of those either.

From the above article it is interesting to note just who it is that purchases the majority of the cards -- no real surprise there . . .

Then there are the folks from our tree that celebrate a birthday on the 14th of February, plus we have around 150 other February birthdays -- a few highlights would be -- from Gail's side, her Mother, Myrtle, her Father, Jim and her Grandfather Walt. From my side of the tree my Mother, Ruth and my Grandmother Helen celebrate February days.

Birthdays aren't the only thing we are celebrating this February. In last week's post, I posted a picture of a hand with a ring on it promising more details coming -- and so here are the details: Congratulations to Lisa, my daughter, and to Robert (Bob) Baker. They have announced their engagement with more details forthcoming. We wish them the best!

Here is another look at the ring -- very nice! It is an exciting time for all.


NO CONNECTION TO THE PREVIOUS . . .


Also in the news this week was a story that does not "relate" to the previous story BUT may apply in hindsight to others in the tree . . . not mentioning any names though.

In the above article from Time News Feed, is an interesting slice of life for some folks in ICELAND. Apparently it is now important to "do your homework" with respect to whom it is that you are dating there.
I believe that some folks do/did the sleuthing here but maybe not for the same purpose though I suspect that for some in our tree, it is just too late. There are so many ramifications of the above that it is mind boggling.


It is Quiet Here . . .

While writing this post and going about the everyday duties here at home, it is certainly quiet and calm here and I can concentrate on getting my thoughts on paper . . . but that is not true for Gail -- she opens the local  tax office here in January and it is open for the tax season. The other (nearly) nine months the office sits vacant.  For some unknown reason -- the landlord of their building chose the start of January to remodel the offices next to their's with earsplitting pounding and even cracks in the wall appearing in her office. Now at the end of January and the first of February (which are the very busiest for the tax season) the landlord is having new roofing applied -- I visited the office the other day and it was almost impossible to hear one another . . . and today to top off the matter there was no electricity and no phones when Gail opened up for business . . .

My guess would be that some form of compensation needs to be forthcoming . . .from the landlord. It is hard enough to concentrate when preparing taxes without the roof and walls being pounded on . . . we'll make sure that things are "quiet" when she gets home . . .

Dino's Day


Dino continues to "grow" in all ways. He at times seems to be way beyond his age of 4 1/2 months. Other times though he still is a "pup". Every day we try to take him on short visits to the outside world -- today it was to the grocery store and then to Gail's office (since I tried to call with no luck). After shopping for items for tonight's dinner menu and visiting with the tax professionals it was back to the house for lunch and for blogging. Dino takes it all in a quiet manner. I can feel the clock ticking the months away . . .

And so goes our week. We look forward to maybe the start of our next "project" in the coming days, weather permitting. And since it is Saturday night we look forward to a special dinner -- tonight  we break all traditions and will make home made pizza -- Dino and I picked up all the ingredients earlier today. We just have to make it all happen and hope that it is as good as "the pizzeria pizza" . . .

Have a good week, see you in a few!