Fence Puzzle

It poured rain most of the week. There was some sporadic sunshine early in the week and then today as well -- but the other days were downpours. It has always been our experience that for contractors and rain the two do not mix well.

But the fence shown above was installed almost completely in the rain. On Tuesday at around 7:30 A.M. a large crew of men came and began dismantling the old fence and carting off the rotting wood.

Shortly after that new holes were dug and all new lumber brought in to begin the new fence. To us it was amazing to watch 8-12 men in full rain gear go about their task with expertise and purpose. Before the day was over the the main fence was in and the yard completely enclosed.

Redwood Residential Fencing did the work and beautiful work it was. The fragrance of "new" wood filled the air and the quality job spoke for itself. For us and the four other neighbors, we are pleased with the results.

Dates from the Tree

The holidays are upon us and many birthdays and anniversaries fall on Thanksgiving this year:

Best wishes to all!

Where the Search Took Me this Week

I was all over the tree this week looking for connections and tidbits. But mostly I found myself working on Gail's side of the tree and was able to uncover some interesting people and facts.

One of the families that I found was that of the Bob Shaffer family.

Growing up Gail mentioned that their family was close to the Bob & Aggie Shaffer family and in fact even stayed with them part of the time when Gail's father was hospitalized.

Gail has fond memories of their daughter Arlene who is pictured along with her father to the right.

Arlene and Gail are 2nd cousins and the connection can be seen in the chart as well.



There is a huge amount of material to be uncovered on the many Shaffers that populate her tree, not to forget a huge amount of Calhouns that find themselves there as well.

Speaking of the Calhouns, Gail's Gr Gr Grandfather, Rufus Calhoun had many siblings.

One that I just found a picture of this week is that of Thomas Watts Calhoun seen to the right along with his wife, Mary.

Thomas & Mary are the Gr Gr Gr Uncle and Aunt of Gail.

So far, most of the Calhoun men from Rufus' and Thomas' generation have full beards.

Rufus was a Sea Captain and we have visited his home in Port Townsend, Washington.

It appears that Thomas was a farmer according to the 1880 Federal Census that I saw. He lived to be 92 and appeared with his 87 year old wife in the 1930 Federal Census living in Seattle.

It will be interesting to uncover more about the family of Rufus and his siblings -- there were at least eight of them -- a sea captain, a Doctor and a farmer so far.


Retirement Activity

One of the things that is very important when one is retired is to find meaningful and fun activities in which to engage. I could spend most of my time doing genealogy and be perfectly happy even eating some of my meals in front of the computer doing research.

Gail on the other hand does not share the same passion about family history, but she does engage in several activities that keep her engaged during the day, She does great needlepoint work and we have those exhibited throughout the house.

One very challenging activity can be seen on the left. This is a current project that is very daunting when first viewed.

Several years ago we started purchasing Liberty Puzzles and have loved them ever since.

The Garden scene is beautiful and the almost 700 precision laser-cut wooden pieces are fun to work with.


The real challenge to this puzzle is that the frame is part of the puzzle and does not necessarily have straight pieces as in normal borders. So every little bit I hear an exclamation that "I found another piece!"

This puzzle will take quite a while to complete but Gail can leave it set up and work on it when she feels inclined to . . .

Online Shopping

It is the holiday period, the time to be serious about doing our shopping. We will spend very little time in the "brick & mortar" stores opting to do our shopping at several favorite online sites and then watching UPS and Fedex trucks rushing throughout the neighborhood.

We use Amazon it seems almost daily for so many of the things we used to run to department or discount stores to buy. Amazon in our area seems to be using the postal service more than they ever used to -- which has worked out to our benefit in one way -- the mailman can not fit packages into our street-side mailbox, so he brings everything "to the door" and we like that.

But, coming up this next week, besides all the family birthdays and anniversaries is one of our favorite holidays -- Thanksgiving.  Where will you be spending Thanksgiving and what will you be eating for that dinner.

We will be having maybe the second turkey of the year along with all the fixins that go with it and watching football -- maybe visiting with friends and family -- so all in all a pleasant time.

We hope all of you enjoy this great holiday as well!

But, tonight it is Saturday Night and that means burgers pork chops (for a change),

See you all in a few!  (After Black Friday)