Almost for as far as I could see were the familiar yellow vehicles. I realize that this has nothing to do with Healdsburg, genealogy or current happenings around town, but a slow photo op week -- or so I thought.
I Did Get Out (about 20 feet or so)
I did manage to get out into the front yard today, just far enough to shoot a picture of the flowering (dogwood?) in the front yard. The whole street looks green and fresh just like you expect Springtime to look. On the inside too I managed to shoot the remaining bloom of the orchid that we have only seen bloom every few years.
We had rain a couple of times this week which was fortuitous because the yard was just about screaming for watering which meant climbing over the stored things in the garage to get to the water valves . . . we are saved for a week and that just may be enough time in that the garage is once again slated to be done over as we move things back into the house . . .
And Why Do the Garage?
Because our kitchen project is 99.5% done! Wow! It is almost unbelievable -- the project started (well really last year with planning) but officially on January 16 (two days after I was admitted to the hospital)
and it is fast coming to a pleasant conclusion. We had a painter here on Friday doing the smallest of touch
ups and that is it for the moment. Friday afternoon was sooo nice in that Dino and I were alone in the house for the first time in a while.
In the above, the top row of pics are of the "old" kitchen -- nothing of that is left except for the walls and windows -- oh and that far large chandelier . . . below are some of the pictures of the "new" kitchen which has many desirable features -- one of which you can see Gail utilizing -- mostly for fun at the moment -- it will come into real use when she gets home for the "season".
We are planning to finally move out of our back room apartment kitchen tomorrow -- yes! Little by little we will begin making use of the new facilities but that will probably be another week or so. We have been able to once again watch TV on our bigger screen set which is really nice.
Another Hiles (Bumgardner) Ancestor . . .
Neither my Mother nor my Father really were that keen on talking about our ancestors. For my Father I always figured that he was hiding something about the family (which I have not uncovered as yet) but for my Mother it puzzles me a bit. It may be that she just did not know some of the things that I have uncovered about her side (Bumgardner) or she just did not think it important facts enough to share.
Specifically, I am referring to George Franklin Bumgardner (my Great Great Grandfather). He was born in Bath County, Virginia in 1808 to Adam & Mary (Gibson) Bumgardner. He married Sarah Olive Rider in 1829. It was about that time that they made the decision to "make the move Westward".
The Rider/Ryder family and the Bumgardner family have intermingled quite a bit over the years. But George Bumgardner and three of John Rider's sons rode 600 miles on horseback from Virginia to the Mississippi River and to Muscatine, Iowa scouting out possible places to live and farm.
George and Sarah decided on Muscatine as the place to settle and they arrived there about 1837. George became a prominent citizen and was very well respected. Among his achievements were: first school teacher in Muscatine, city surveyor, successful farmer & Reverend.
Above are some of the things relative to his life. On the left are snippets from his obituary. He died at 65 years of age from Typhoid Fever, which seems young compared to today, though we see examples of some of the same younger deaths today (last week we talked about Grand Uncle Charlie dying at 60).
George had 10 children and most of them had large families as well. Iowa has a lot of Bumgardners descended from George. A lot of detail can be found on my website: Hiles & Related Family Genealogy
Above you can also see a brief timeline that shows some of the world events occurring during George's life.
What amazes me is that my Mother did not "brag" about George -- he being a Reverend and all. And it may be that she just did not know -- after-all he was her Father's Grandfather -- maybe Dayton kept that secret.
But I do know that we never once made a trip to Iowa as kids to visit family or family places there. Just like we almost never made any trips to Wisconsin for that reason either . . .
Miscellaneous This Week
Gail and I had a quiet Easter -- we did not get to cook the holiday meal that we remember as kids having along with an Easter Basket and eggs and chocolate and marshmellow things and stuff like that -- but the Easter Bunny did leave things for us never-the-less -- two books for me and a time-piece for Gail.
We were just getting low on reading material -- mostly because our back log is packed somewhere. So the two books will make for interesting reading. Especially the Willie Nelson book for me . . .
I also have started the very labor intensive transition from my old computer to it's replacement -- I almost feel guilty -- but not so that on the outside one could tell . . .
Lastly this Week
It was the sound of baseball all over the tube AND all over our back yard. We are lucky to have two well used diamonds behind our house. I can sit on the deck and peek through the arbor and see a game as if I was in center-field . . .
You'd think it was the Fourth of July -- what with all the bunting and all. It was really nice though to see so many folks supporting the little leagues in our community. They moved the fences closer to us and who knows -- maybe a free souvenir or two will be coming our way . . .
Most of today's action and scoring though came from "passed" balls and base stealing . . . it will be fun to see the advancement.
That was a peek at our week. Have a good week as well and see you in a few!
No comments:
Post a Comment