A weekend with BOTH Grandmas

This weekend was the most fun I've had in ages...lol These two lil punkins made their grandmas laugh and feel proud over and over!

lol...this is where we spent the most time: throwing stuff in the water, taking stuff OUT of the water, adding hot water, filling buckets with (stones and) water, splashing water and holding wet kids in blankets till they wanted BACK in the water...

Sunday, we'd been munching on cashews Gramma Colleen brought, and 3 or 4 spilled on the deck. While we were eating lunch inside, we noticed a CHIPMUNK!! Talk about EXCITING!!

We went for a walk that started with both kids in the wagon, but then, Dilly noticed "Mud!" so we hadta stop and feel it. It was caught above the storm drain on the hill part of their road, and WOW, nearby was a manhole cover with a HOLE in it. We all looked down there, and somebody had a pebble that needed dropping through the hole. Oh WOW--

"Gamma--I HEAR it! I HEAR IT!"

So we spent about 20 minutes picking stones and dropping them in the hole. This picture was the last second Mace was actually IN the wagon. Life just doesn't get better than this.

For the Grands...

A truly GREAT craft project

You too can make one of THESE!! Just follow the instructions.

Spanish Flu vs. Swine Flu

So MANY thoughts go through my head while listening to the "Swine Flu" news lately, mostly because I've been studying history so intently in the past couple years.

THIS ARTICLE speaks of how and why the Spanish Flu swept around the world, and certainly, sanitation, communication, and medical knowledge are different now. WWI and troops going abroad or coming home helped spread the virus. Here in America, there were new immigrants crowded in tenements who were deeply affected. But, they'd lived through epidemics in Europe (cholera, for one, which was raging when GGrandfather Paul was born), so perhaps it was just life to them, until they looked back on it.

I think, too about living in Minnesota, where the state epidemiologist for years was a man named Mike Olsterholm. He was frequently given air-time on MPR. The man was ridiculous about the Bird Flu--"WHEN, not IF!" His major mantra was "pandemic", while little was mentioned about how much different our world is since 1917. He always sounded like he couldn't wait for it to happen. I wonder if "Bird Flu" just didn't sound as scary as "Swine Flu" does. Are we jumping on the next bandwagon, here?

On the third hand, our society has become nuts with "germ free, anti-bacterial" products--HERE'S a typical scare commercial--and it makes me afraid that we haven't allowed our kids to build immunity to normal stuff.

A week ago today, we were endlessly hearing about the Somali pirates, and there was no mention of epidemic, pandemic or flu in the news, but suddenly, it's huge? C'mon! There are 306 million people in the USA--40 have been ill, 1 was hospitalized, and all have recovered. How does that make a 'possible pandemic'?

There's a quote about writing a novel, the gist of which is that, if you introduce a gun in the first chapters, you have to use it by the end of the book. Maybe the 'gun' here is the massive vaccine stockpile at the CDC, and the story needs a pandemic to use it.

Whew--I dunno. Maybe we really ARE sheep.

(Next day)
Isn't it possible that, BECAUSE we're looking for this disease, we're finding it? I mean, flu spreads. We all know that. And most people wouldn't go to a clinic or doctor with the flu--you just stay home.
It stands to reason that now, if you don't feel good, you WILL go in? So, Oooo, it'll show up!

What if we tracked--I dunno--a cold? Couldn't we pretty much follow how it spread, if the investigation was intense enough?
(I need a rolling-eyes icon here, or a family nurse to comment...)

The Minnesota Zoo, with grandkids!

An Easter outing--some things are just so much fun!!

Moments before this picture, that big fish came right up to the glass, and Dilly kissed it...lol THEN I got my camera out.

I'm not positive Josie's all that interested in otters, but they were worth a look, especially from the safety of dad's arms...lol
Dilly was a little unclear on the concept--"Wha...stick my face...where? Why??" But the kid is game, and tried it anyway...lol (Yes, I think her lip WAS over the edge there--ewww!)

This little "cave" looked pretty scary to Mason. It's in the Tropical house, and you have to be the right size to go inside, see? It's actually an L shaped little hall that brings a kid back out just to the left of where Mase is. He wasn't at ALL sure it was ok, but big Sis did it, so....

Thanks to my kids, their spouses, and the grands for being so wonderful. We had a great time today!

You'll LOVE this!

Minutas cantorum, minutas balorum, minutas carboratum desendus pantorum....

OR......"A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants"...LOL!

Todays' Quiz

OK....first question: who was this man? NO SCROLLING till you answer.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RIGHT! It's Axel.

Now, 2nd question: If a feller wears his hat this way, what was he?

RIGHT, boys and girls! A DOOFUS! (But, what would dad have said??)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok, so here, we see Axel and _______. How did Axel pronounce her name? And, for extra credit, what's he holding in his right hand?

Now, eat yer breakfast 'n' drink yer milk! Oh, and go play his theme song HERE!

Josie at Grammas house

Em, Scott and Josie stopped in Saturday night, and the little Punkin found stuff to play with in my livingroom beyond dustbunnies...lol

That blue statue has little birdhouses dangling from a curled wire between its' hands, and Josie really wanted them OFF!

Someday, someone'll take a pleasant picture of me with my mouth SHUT...but this time, it was the spirit of the ocassion, ok?

Gratuitous joke

What's the difference between us and a pigeon?
A pigeon can still make a deposit on a car.

LOL

Futzing withit

WOW! There are so many great FREE photo editors online lately! I re-did the masthead on FOTOFLEXER cuz they offer re-sizable 'decals' you can stick on a photo or, like here, on words. The font is also something I found there.

Another free program I like is PICNIK --it's done with humor, and has a LOT of really cool possibilities like making a color photo into a B&W line drawing, and then, leave one area of the pic in color, not to mention the hundred other things you can do!

Larry sent me one the other day called SUMO which seems to do almost all the stuff Photoshop does, only in a simpler way. You can smudge an edge with any one of LOTS of 'brushes' (the fancy term for the shape the cursor takes), and just re-size 'em for different effects.

Gawd, I think I have 8-10 different photo editors in my "favorites" file. Each one does something better than the others, so mostly, I start on one program and take it to another for tweaking, and then another to add an edge or re-size it. I definitely use PAINT (my quick workhorse) and PAINT.NET , too since I'm most familiar with them.

They all take a few seconds to load (except PAINT)...but they offer so much FUN, it's worth it!

Garden of Eatin'

I'm not saying I'm going to DO this, just that it's something to think about!

Saturday

When you start with a recipe that calls for 4 cups of flour, 2 cups of brown sugar and 1 cup of white sugar, you should EXPECT it makes alot, right?

(See what you started, Becks?)

lol

Just in case--

From Archie McFee and company, here's an EMERGENCY YODEL BOTTON !

You're welcome.

NEW Josie pics!

LOL...I don't need to brag, but

THIS is one CUTE KID!!

A remedy your grandma never suggested:

Indoor air in winter in Minnesota has a moisture content lower than the Sahara. The furnace is on, doors and windows are sealed against the cold, and static shocks are a fact of life.
Breathing that air makes your throat dry, and you wake at night with a dry cough that seems to propagate itself. What to do?

I found sugarless gum works! It doesn't melt like a coughdrop, it keeps saliva flowing just a bit, and you wake with nice minty breath!

You're welcome!

Q: Was Josh-my-son involved in the NEW I-35 Bridge?

National Geographic is airing the 35W Bridge project show on Thursday the 15th at 7:00 pm....check it out!!

And then, if somebody would RECORD it, his mom might get to see it, too :^)

You want pictures?

Wow, it's 2009!

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( As the years go by, I often think--wouldn't grandma and grandpa be tickled with the little kids? )

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Looking back, that this blog has been devoted predominately to KQ, since she's been around longest...lol But lately, I've been more aware of how familiar the two little ones look to their mom and dad at the same age:

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Wishing a wonderful New Year to each of YOU!

What do we "deserve"?

You deserve a break today

The schools our children deserve...

Do the Detroit automakers deserve a bailout?

Women Deserve Better

Customers Deserve More from Microsoft

Kids Deserve Justice

Animals deserve better

The war we deserve...

Did Brooke Burke Deserve to Win 'Dancing with the Stars'?

We get the government we deserve...

For some reason, I've been noticing the word "deserve" lately. Could be curmudgeonly of me, but I think that to deserve means you've earned something, beyond just being a good compliant American consumer.

It's a slippery word. What, if anything, do I deserve? A good job...a healthy family...shelter...happiness? I want those things, for sure, and strive for them, but do I DESERVE them?

Ok, how about convienences....like working appliances, hot running water, decent tires for the truck? Again, I want those things and work to maintain them, but most of the world lives without thinking about 'em. Ever.

Do we deserve respect? Good schools? Safe streets? Adequate medical services? The internet?

Sigh. I have no answers. It's just something that's been bugging me lately.

In the words of Jack Benny:

I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.

It's cold. It's December. It's Minnesota.

Well, that pretty much sums it up...lol

I was about to leave snarky comments on the blogs of Daud and Daud-in-law about how they haven't posted anything in just ages, but then, I haven't either. We here in the northland get sorta sloggy in winter. We start to move slower. We believe that stuff about holeing up and keeping warm. We concern ourselves with adding humidity to the air in our houses, and finding air leaks, not reporting on it. After all, like Garrison says, we live where the weather is trying to kill us. We need to stay on our toes, just slower.

In other news thats not new...the Czech Government has finally added the books we needed! What I think we've found is that Heschs didn't live there (in Niedermuhl or Oberschlagles) until after 1819 or so, since that's when they start showing up in parish records.
The Paul and Veronica Hesch family showed up in Schamers parish, in the village of Weissenbach (south of Niedermuhl). The kids sound right, and like Larry says, if you have a preponderance of evidence, then you assume it's right until you find something to change your mind. OK!

Their children were Martin (born the same day as Josh only in 1790), Joseph, Mathias, Theresia, Franz, and Wenzel finally, in 1802.

We think it was this Martin who moved to Oberschlagles, where son Johann was born and who eventually married Maria Schlinz, and had a son they named Paul who became our great grandfather. Whew.

EDITORIAL NOTE: This woulda been the PERFECT connection, except that two of Paul and Veronicas' kids died in infancy--Mathias and MARTIN. (I found the info shortly after I wrote this...how odd to mourn for a child who died 217 years ago, huh?)

The saga continues!

You're welcome.

A FUN Thanksgiving with the family

We had a lovely Thanksgiving at the Murphys, with excellent food and company. We took a walk down to the lake after dinner, and then had pumpkin pie and creme brule--YES! A blow torch works GREAT!

Later, Josh and family showed up, and eventually, I tried getting a picture of all three grandkids. Since none of them is a "sit-still-and-smile" kinda kid, I use the "click-many-times-and-hope-for-ONE-good-one" method. (Actually, Mace seems willing to sit and smile, but it's more his amazement at how fast the other two move, I think).

We thought corralling em on Scotts lap might work....

Ok, maybe. They're all in one spot, anyway.

Kendall thought Josie might need a toy to help her to sit still....

LOL...you can see how well my "method" is working, right?

But, see? I DID get a nice picture of Scott!

Back to fun stuff!

Last week, Larry found a Suetterlin font online, and of course, we both have it on our computers now :^) One thing it's good for is helping to figure out the original handwriting in those church record books. I found that if I type what I think I see, and it's the same, then I've sorta double-checked myself, ya know?

You'll recall (no doubt!) that the first HESCH we found in the books was a Johann Hesch who married Agnes Blaschko in Cimer (Schamers) in 1839, right? Well, I didn't totally translate the record till this morning...I had the first parts pretty "right", but the witnesses had scrawled their signatures, so I just stopped there.

Turns out, there were 5-6 people in town who witnessed most of the marriages--the local storekeeper was one--evidently, because they were citizens who were in town during the day, they were called on to be witnesses. Why does this matter? Cuz I was able to compare and cross-check their repeated signatures. Some were a LOT clearer than others written by the same person.
If you click on the picture, here, it should biggify. The original records were written across 2 ledgerbook pages, so it's below in three parts.

Grooms' info:

------------------------------------------------

Brides' info:

------------------------------------------------

Witnesses and priest:

Pretty COOL, huh?

Recession.....or Correction?

I was driving through town to see a client last week, thinking about the economy. I started paying attention to the amazing redundancy of businesses along the street...hmm. Nail salon, restaurant, tires, auto parts, restaurant, convenience store, coffee shop, smoke shop, restaurant, craft shop, drug store, batteries, electronics, hair salon, interiors, furniture, movies.....

This is a town of 60,000 in central Minnesota. According to google, there are 217 restaurants here, 95 nail salons, 51 convenience stores, 63 that sell furniture, 31 that sell pet products, 19 office supply stores, 16 electronics stores, 16 sporting goods stores, more than 50 banks, and 82 hair salons. I couldn't tell how many gas stations there are, and I found about 11 car dealers that were actually IN St Cloud.
The list goes on of course. Many of these businesses will fold, or "downsize" in the next months. If we can set aside the devastation of hundreds of lost jobs, perhaps there is a small silver lining to this economic cloud.

America in general has been living large for too long, I think. We feel guilty when we realize that we use so much of the worlds' fuel supply, but there's no way to change that on a personal level. We expect a huge variety of cheap food and products from all over the world. Yes, that shirt was made in Bangladesh, probably by a barely surviving sweatshop worker, but how can you pass up buying it for $4.99? It's cute! Every aisle in the grocery store makes me blush at our excesses, too. How many kinds of cereal do we NEED?

Yeah, I'm blowing off steam, but I do think this recession is an opportunity for us to become more responsible world citizens. I hope it's enough, ya know?

Two things, ok?

Here are two things I'd like you to consider, tho I know I'm speaking to the choir...lol
This is from my favorite (only) radio station, NPR and Minnesota Public Radio. It's from Saturday, 8 November 2008, by Scott Simon. I suggest you LISTEN while you read it.

The second is a news story that seems to me indicative of our new president. It's from a newspaper in the Phillipines.


Over and out.

YES, WE CAN!

I'm amazed and humbled and puzzled this morning.

We actually elected Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States. I have not felt this much hope since JFK was president, when I was 10 years old. This country did the right thing for a change.

My amazement isn't that a black man was elected--he was/is CLEARLY the better of two candidates, with an honest vision for the country and a clear, brilliant mind to back it up--my amazement is at the subtle pervasive racism of every news report: "The first black man elected President", "This proves that anyone can grow up to be president", "6 of 10 white women voted for him..." A woman was interviewed on NPR last night--she declared that SHE wasn't prejudiced, but that she didn't think America was ready for a black president.

ARGH! Regardless of his skin color, this man is exactly who we need at this point in history. He so beautifully explained his hope and vision for the country while not rising to McCains baiting and catch-phrasing.
As one of my oldest clients said yesterday, "McCain is the past, Obama is the future."

YAY for us, America! It wasn't just our election--the world saw this as an indication of our willingness to worry about more than our own precious hides for a change.
Thank Gawd a man like Obama was willing to run, and to take on the task ahead.
Thank Gawd for the savvy of the campaign, the momentum that built, the cool heads that prevailed when darts were thrown.
Thank Gawd that so many people VOTED--we honestly turned the tide of history yesterday, NOT because he's black, but because of what might have happened if we didn't.

Newer Genealogy

This photo has always made me laugh--there we were, in Dad's garage, trying to build a musical instrument from a kit. It had to be 90 degrees cuz even today, I remember being really uncomfortable. Dad and I were trying to follow the instructions while debating what they meant by "the neck"--this was a simple lap dulcimer, and it really had no neck!

But that's not what makes me laugh--it's that Josh and Em, in the background, were allowed--encouraged!--to pound nails at dads' bench. They each had a chunk of scrap 2X4 and were busy filling it with precious nails, a verboten activity I would have LOVED as a kid...lol.

When J&E did it, dad was proud of how MANY nails they could fit on one scrap. Yeah, we built the dulcimer successfully--and to think, it's almost 30 years old already!

Translatin' for you

I have recently (like yesterday) figured out how to create a pdf file.

I know, I know....it's high on YOUR 'gotta learn' list too, but once again, Bird's ahead of the curve!

The scoffers and slackers among you might possibly be saying "Yah well, who needs pdf files anyway?" and "What are they good for?"

WELL! Lemme show you! THIS file should show you translated entries for all eleven Hesch kids we found in the church books in Bohemia.

NOTE: When you click the link, you'll get the pdf on a service called Scribd--but what you WANT is that pdf to open with Adobe Acrobat--so click the "download" button, and then click Adobe Acrobat pdf.

You'll need to use the "Counterclockwise" button once the Acrobat pdf opens--I can't do EVERYTHING!!