Chillin', Snow -- It Could Happen . . .

But it most likely will not (snow here that is). But the nagging worry of a frozen pipe still exists as the weather has become quite harsh -- for Healdsburg standards. Anytime we hear the term "wind-chill" relating to our town's weather has to mean something is not right . . .

This 25° temp was around 8 am so it was colder in the night. Late yesterday (Friday) it rained quite a bit in the late afternoon and evening -- if it had waited and rained in the night, it might have been snow. Even so there is no prediction of snow here.

I did have to walk very cautiously out on the back porch this morning as the wet left a thin layer of ice across the deck AND Dino's outside water bowl was a large chunk of frozen ice. The weather this year has been interesting as usual at least we don't have to use a snow blower or shovel anything.

Our new electric blanket arrived this week (we swore we would never get one) and it sure is welcome, toasty and warm as we sleep with a window open at night . . .

Webinars This Week

After having NO webinar last week due to Thanksgiving this week made up for that by having two -- one on Wednesday and one on Friday, both excellent.

On Wednesday it was a trip down memory lane with respect for working on genealogy and including the web and other electronic aids. Barbara Renick talked about the different era's of genealogy and technology.
And concluded with what is "going on" in today's environment -- very nicely done.

And then equally as beneficial was the webinar on Friday: all about the many features and things that we can do with the "Flip-Pal" Scanner (which I do have and use).

Legacy Family Tree has published their webinar schedule for 2014 and at this point they have 52 scheduled and they usually have additional ones added later. If you'd like to check that out and sign-up here is a link to get you started:    Legacy Family Tree Webinars

Newly Received Pics 

It is always nice to receive pictures of our relatives and I have been lucky to have received quite a few to scan from my brother, and now Gail received 5 here-to-fore not seen pictures of her family, from her sister.

The top row is of her Dad, Jim (Millard) Bouldron from the Army days and in the 40s. The lower pictures are of the Rahman's. From the lower left, Gail's Aunt Violet, Gail's Mom Myrtle, Grandma Jenny Jensen Rahman, Gail's Aunt Gladys Rahman Dawn & lastly, Gail's Grandfather Henry Rahman.

We hope to receive other family photos to share as well.  Feel free to send what you want to and I can scan and return any originals that you wish -- then many folks can enjoy them.

Birthdays & Anniversaries ♥  ♥ 

Another Anniversary, the 72nd  •  •  •

I actually was not around for this event, but it is a significant National event and one that -- it just so happens I appeared nine months later.  And every year we are reminded of the consequences of this war. For the younger generation the marking of the tragedy has been almost replaced by the 9-11 anniversary.

I believe that after Pearl Harbor occurred my father tried to re-enlist but was not able to do so because of an accident that took one of his kidneys (while on a previous active duty with the Army). As I have mentioned before there was a huge fire in St. Louis in the 1970s that unfortunately destroyed millions of veteran's service records -- including those belonging to my father.

I do though remember my father talking about serving in the Army in Hawaii, but I do not know any of the details -- one piece of evidence about that is that my father had only one tattoo, and that was the word "Honolulu" written in the crook of his arm . . .

It is amazing how much the world has changed since December 7, 1941 and for that matter since September 11, 2001.

Found in a Newspaper Blurb

At various times during the week I often take time to search through old newspapers looking for any tidbits that I can find associated with any of our relatives. And this week was no different though I found a little piece of information about one of my Aunts -- actually a Grand Aunt of mine (ours).

Aunt Carrie Martin Palmer, my Dad's mother's sister lived for many years in the house at 1745 N. Chatham St., Racine, Wisconsin. The house originally had been her father's -- Captain Samuel Martin.

Later Aunt Carrie left the cold climate of Wisconsin and settled into St. Petersburg, Florida -- where we also visited her -- once. I remember almost every Christmas that our family received a large wooden crate filled with mostly Florida grapefruit and oranges -- which in Illinois were out-of-season -- and so we enjoyed that a lot.

But in November of 1948 she apparently still lived in Racine as I found this little piece of information about her -- I do not recall the story -- maybe either my brother or sister does . . .

Apparently Aunt Carrie during a visit to our home had the misfortune of falling down our stairs -- it may have been the steep stairs I recall leading to the second floor in the "little" house. Aunt Carrie would have been 69 years of age in 1948 (she lived until 1964) and I'm sure that she must have recovered from the fall and then maybe soon afterwards moved to Florida . . .

I never know what I will find next in the papers so I keep looking . . .

And Lastly, Two and a half weeks to go . . .

That's right just 18 days until Christmas, and it is really speeding by. I just hope that the USPS can handle the volume as does UPS and FedEx. And the latest info is that Amazon is developing "drones" that in the future will be able to deliver (they say often within a half hour of ordering) many of their smaller orders -- right to the front yard of the recipients. That will be so interesting. and they expect to do that in a couple of years.

And by the time you read this -- even fewer days to go. That is a bit of our week. See you all in a few!