All the Leaves are Brown . . . NOT yet . . .

We almost turned the furnace on at least once this week -- I can hardly believe it.  We resisted but for sure we used the a/c more than once. It will be nice -- in a way -- when the weather is one way or the other, once again. We still have over a month before daylight savings time ends this year.

Our yard waste container is filled with a lot more leaves than previous weeks but there are a lot to go. Growing up this was the time of year that that great smell of burning leaves filled the air in most suburban neighborhoods -- that is something of the past nowadays. Maybe that might be a good "candle" scent or maybe someone has already done that . . . I just "Googled" that and there are candles with that scent . . .

The photo on the top left is from Stanley, Idaho -- Redfish Lake area and they have already received their first dusting of snow this season -- unbelievable (we have tree folks living there -- Hi to Gary & Laurii). Next on the right is a photo from Michigan near Traverse City showing off their fall colors -- beautiful -- we have some cousins up that way (Hi to Lila & Dale!)

The bottom photo is somewhere where the leaves are almost all down and brown . . . and then a peek at our Healdsburg weather as I write this -- we do have the a/c on . . . maybe some sprinkles tomorrow.

Dates and Anniversaries (from our tree)

It has been a strange week for me partly because I am having "webinar withdrawal" as the Legacy folks are on their annual Genealogy Cruise . . . but we do have a lot of folks celebrating birthdays this week and a couple of marriage anniversaries:

If you click on the above you can see the many folks celebrating last week -- including yours truly and Dino.
Dino and I are 69 years and one day apart -- yet we seem to get along pretty well. It is amazing that an animal just two years old could be so smart, mellow and mature beyond his years -- most of the time.

This week's "Anniversary" spotlight goes to Gail's Great Grandparents -- Thomas & Isabella Bouldron :

Both Thomas and Isabella (Tate) were born in England and came to Iowa around 1870. They were married in 1882 and a few years later moved from Iowa to Kent, Washington. Thomas was a carpenter and built many homes in the Kent area. They had three sons: Blaine, Walter & Frank. Walter is Gail's grandfather.

The In-House Celebration this Week

Dino and I celebrated our birthdays on the same day -- Tuesday (it cut down on the cake expenses . . .)

Actually we had a Chinese dinner feast from Royal China Restaurant in Santa Rosa -- very good! We both received many gifts and we enjoyed the "party" that included Marv & Nancy Hiles. 

Dino's gifts are actually easier to explain than a couple of mine . . . Dino got a nylabone turkey leg and an orange chewy thing -- he loves them both as can be seen -- after dinner he watches for me to finish and then immediately brings the turkey leg over for me to hold for him while he gnaws away -- and I go into a paralytic trance. 

The garden frog -- that's another story, it sits and stares at me and Dino and Gail and we are almost reluctant to move it to the outside . . . we're old.  The other gifts are genealogy related including a new tee shirt that Gail is reluctant to be seen with me wearing it . . . (she gave it to me though) -- it reads: "I Seek Dead People"   ( I am a Genealogist ).  I have worn it out albeit under another shirt and only exposing the writing when we feel "okay to do so" . . . 

Thank you all for the cards, emails and gifts -- it made my birthday a great day!

Still Working on Photos . . .

I am continuing to go through the old scrapbook photos. I have actually cut the pages down to picture size where I can and then scan each photo -- handily I have a portable scanner that I can use while even watching football (thank goodness that the Niners won on Thursday night).

After scanning each photo I edit them as best as I can. Often I wind up cropping them and then adjusting the "colors" though most of these old photos are black and white. But compared to the original usually they are really enhanced. 

The problem continues of identification -- and in the left photo -- I believe sitting on the steps are my Grandparents -- Dayton & Hildred, but the two other women -- I do not know who they are.

In the middle photo are pictured six very dressed up girls and one nicely dressed boy -- my Mother "may" be the 3rd girl from the left -- but I am not sure AND I do not know any of the others.

In the far right photo I am fairly certain it is my Mother (the older girl) and maybe her younger sister Jean. But then again I am not sure -- is there 7 years between the two?

Genealogy on TV

This week brought the premiere episode of the Genealogy Roadshow on PBS. They are only going to have four shows this season.  This show was located in Nashville and folks "lined up" like on the Antiques Roadshow and posed questions regarding their family history.

I liked the variety of the scenarios and the responses from the experts. The show was fast paced and entertaining. In the last scenario a young woman who had not known her father nor even seen a photo of him was presented with a good insight (and photos) of her Dad.

So I look forward to next Monday night on PBS when the location featured will be Detroit with several folks learning some things about their family's history. 

And even though WDYTYA is over for this season, there is news about the upcoming 2014 season. The first inkling into who might be featured was released this week -- Queen Latifa. Apparently she was hopefully going to be on the first season but her schedule was such that she could not.

Now she is interested and maybe more okay with whatever turns up about her family history. Click on the above to read the article about her decision.

So True . . .

Often it is one spouse that is involved in Genealogy and the other one "puts up with it all" through the years. That is somewhat the case here as I work on family history is some fashion pretty much every day, Gail not so much. As was mentioned in one of my favorite blogs, "Clue Wagon", this week, one of the things that can happen is that you finally convince your spouse to participate in a DNA study and it comes back that you are cousins . . .

In Clue Wagon, Kerry wrote a Genea -- Horoscope issue and under Sagittarius she listed the above scenario -- which actually happened to Gail and me . . . check out Clue Wagon it is a refreshing blog.

And Herman is so right on too! Can't you just see that scenario happening across the genealogical landscape which according to the latest numbers I saw this week that there are some 80 million people working on their family history as a hobby . . . does that mean there are 80 million dis-interested spouses . . .

That was a bit of our week -- hope your week was good. It is Saturday night -- burgers tonight -- and as pointed out to me by my sister (on her birthday call to me) that has been a family tradition for many years.

Growing up we each had baths on Saturday night ( I can't be sure but it may have been the same water) and then we had our pajamas on and we had burgers and chips (Jay's Potato) and the only night we got "Pop" usually Pepsi or I remember Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer also. And we listened to the "Barn Dance" from the Grand Ol' Opry and later it was Perry Mason on TV . . .

See you all in a few!