Some Fruits of Enjoying Family History Work

One of my volunteer jobs is working in the Silverdale Family History Lab for a 4-hour shift each Tuesday. Some days there are a number of visitors needing attention and some days my companion, Ann, and I don't see another soul darken the doorway. This gives me plenty of time to work on my own family puzzles.

And puzzling it can be to discover where we come from and who we are.

Hazel Lorraine

This past couple of months I have made a small and thrilling discovery about my own extended family. I discovered that one of my grandfather's cousins was named Hazel Lorraine. I didn't know we had anyone with the same name as me, so that was a fun find. Then I received an email from a distant relative by marriage in the familysearch database asking about information on Hazel Lorraine, so we had a little email discussion. He suggested I look at Hazel's obituary, which he said was "very nice." So I did, and it was. [Side note: That guy I had the discussion with, it turns out, isn't even related, due to an error in the middle name of Hazel's husband, but it was a fortuitous conversation anyhow, and here's why.]

Gayle, my mother's second cousin, with grandchildren

I read through Hazel Lorraine's obituary (she died in 2003) and was surprised to find that she was survived by a daughter, Gayle, who lived on Camano Island, Washington. I lived in the Stanwood/Camano area for 13 years in the 90s and early 2000s, so I found that fascinating, and wondered if we had ever crossed paths. I continued reading, and saw that Hazel was also survived by a granddaughter, Becky, from Camano Island, WHOM I ACTUALLY KNEW!! She was active in the community, our children had been on little league teams together, and her husband even coached my son's baseball team one season. What a wonderful family they were! I remember meeting  the cousin-grandma Gayle sitting on the bleachers in the chilly Camano Island breeze during that spring. We all even had an end-of-season barbecue at Becky's beautiful home. 

I sat down to write Hazel Lorraine's daughter a letter, thinking she would be about my mother's age, but discovered as I was searching out her address that she had died a few years ago. I intend to write to Becky, my third cousin, soon. I did facebook her, but I could tell she doesn't frequent the site much.

And there you have it. This was a testimony to me that our work in finding our roots connects us to our family members who came before, enriches the relationships we may already have, and helps us make new connections with people who have our common ancestors.

Now to find more information on Hazel Lorraine's grandma, Ida!!

Clayton's Book

Clayton is turning 2 today and I made him a little book so he can practice different words. All it took was a few magazines and photos, colored card stock, and clear contact paper. I almost hate to give it away!

Clayton!

Clothes.

House. Mailbox. Tree. People.

Big red barn. Cow. Chick. Egg. Goat. Piggies. Bunny.

Food.

My family.

Church.

Birds and animals. (Bad pic; the book is nicer.)

Balls. (Don't google this.)

American flags.

Clayton is 2!

Brownie in a Mug

Today I was not sugar-free. I try to be most days, and I succeed quite often. But not today.

After my work and chores for today I felt like a treat, and of course we had none. I didn't feel like making a big to-do so I settled on our son Justin's desperate measure: Brownie in a Mug. Justin has since changed the recipe, but I find this one satisfactory.

Thanks to Elise at simplyrecipes.com for the photo.

Here's how to make it: put all these things in your mug, mix them up, and microwave from 40 to 90 seconds.
Ingredients:
1/4 C flour
1/4 C sugar
2 T cocoa
2 T veg oil (I used coconut)
1/4 t vanilla
2 T water

Suggestions for serving include ice cream or whipped cream (I didn't have either). I just poured milk in and ate it with a spoon.

Do you have a go-to emergency treat? Please share it with me!

Vermiculture

My 5-year-old granddaughter was lamenting our family's lack of animals: “What happened to your kitty?” “Where did the chickens go?” “You mean you don't have ANY animals anymore?” "No, none, Sweetie." But, alas, I forgot to tell her about the WORM BIN.

For over a year and a half I have had a worm bin so that we can transmorph (is that a word?) transform our food scraps into a healthy soil additive. Worm castings, as they're called, are a great addition to the garden or even to your houseplants. There is no odor, just nice (mushy in our case) dirt.

It doesn't take much to start a worm bit, either. You can keep it outside, like I do, or in the garage or under the sink in the house. Whatever works for you. Here are the ingredients for a simple bin of your own. 

1. Plastic storage bin with ¼” holes drilled on the bottom and up the sides
2. Newspaper, torn into 1” strips (give or take), enough to fill the plastic storage bin
3. Food scraps (No meat/dairy, and it's said egg shells and citrus peels are no-no's.)
4. Red wigglers (worms) available at fishing stores, other people's worm bins, or special wormeries.

Place food scraps at bottom of your bin. Fill bin with dry newspaper. Pour water in until paper is damp but not soggy. Place worms in bin, preferably in the middle of the newspapers about halfway down. They will go toward all the food scraps at the bottom.

To maintain, add food scraps regularly, about once a week. Add newspaper strips and dampen when level of paper becomes low.

To harvest worm castings: Push all materials (food scraps, castings, worms, newspaper) to one side of plastic bin. Fill remaining side with fresh food scraps and newspaper strips. The worms will migrate in a week or 2, when food on the “old” side of the bin runs out.

What to do with harvest: Side dress plants in your garden; apply lightly over entire garden area; add to potted plants for nutritional boost and added organic matter.

Dealing with Childhood Trauma 2: Homemade Yogurt

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a yogurt maker at the thrift store, and bought it. Along with homemade sourdough bread, homemade yogurt was another of my mother's inventions during the back-to-basics phase of my younger years. Enough said about that. Since I have been eating whole-milk Greek yogurt with fruit in the morning, I thought it was time to try it out myself.

Well, I have learned the hard way that a product is only as good as its ingredients. I studied the yogurt-maker directions and bought some organic whole milk and pressed forward with my yogurty plans.

The instructions said you can keep the stuff in the maker 4-10 hours. I tried it for 4 hours, it was delicious and just a little runny. Last time it was more like 9 hours, and it was fantastic. I thaw out my frozen fruit, put a couple of dollops of yogurt on top, with maybe some granola sprinkled over. 

You may see the recipe on my online cookbook at http://myfamilyrecipes.livejournal.com/ 

Pioneer Trek II

Well, Allan and I did it again--we participated in our second pioneer trek as a ma and pa. We got matched up with really great kids, and every one of us came through it just fine. Here are some photos courtesy of our Trek Photographer Eric Morgensen. Note that we walked to our bus pickup place along the Seattle waterfront. Tourists were taking photos!

Here's an article about it published in the Bainbridge Island newspaper. http://www.bainbridgereview.com/news/266939401.html

One Hundred Things

Allan and I have been talking for the last year or two about downsizing, meaning finding a way to live in less space with fewer things. In order to do something like this, we need to get rid of some of our many possessions now. So, once again, I am getting rid of 100 things.

As you know, I have done this before. In fact, I have done it several times. But, since I have done it several times, it's time to cut just a little bit deeper. And I now have the perfect excuse: the Toppenish House, or TopHouse, as we refer to it. TopHouse has a modest kitchen, 2 small bedrooms, and a finished attic containing 2 rooms. There is very little storage space, meaning we will have to either not store so many things or create more storage. I prefer the “not store so many things” option. Plus, this means when it's time to move we won't have as much to move. Win-win!

I will keep a running list of the number and type of things I am getting rid of, so stay tuned. 

How about you? Do you have a plan for de-cluttering? Or do you have the luxury of plenty of room and storage space? How do you manage your possessions, your hobby materials, your clothing and linens, your tools and kitchen things? 
[Here they are, my 100 Things: 5 shirts; 1 pr capris; 2 jeans; 2 sweaters; 1 blouse; 1 formal dress; 2 cookbooks; 1 sign (total: 15) 1 shirt, 1 pants, 1 pkg decorative baggies, 2 bottles, box, stack papers, bubble wrap, another stack papers, 5 egg cartons, 3 trinkets, bag of shopping bags, 2 shirts, 6 books, door handle, 12 jars, banana box (total 55) ferry schedule, stack of papers, 4 boxes, fencing, 4 hankies/rags, 8 underclothing, toaster, cd, 6 bottles, cosmetics container, act fluoride rinse exp date 2004 (really!), 3 more egg cartons, first aid container, 2 expired ointments, stethoscope, 2 coats, snowsuit, almond crumbs, plastic bin, air pump, kitty litter scooper, banana box, 4 magazines. Over 100 things in 8 days (July 2-July 10)!]