SAFF

We just returned from Asheville, North Carolina from a whirlwind 3 day trip. We wanted to see the leaves at their peak, we did. I wanted to attend the Southeastern Animal fiber Fair, we did and I wanted to buy good North Carolina Apples...Mission Accomplished.
We got there on Wed and checked in to our site. I had booked us really early so that we would get a good site. We wound up on vendor row and across from this fellow



He and the puppies were quite curious about each other.
That night we watched the weather forecast and found out the only pretty day we would have would be Thurs. So Thursday morning we took off to the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the leaves.



As usual, pictures do not do justice to the view






so I won't even bore you with those. Just let me say it was perfect!
since we never do the things as we have them scheduled why start now? So we took a long ride up to Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain peak of the Appalachian Mountains.



We ate at the highest restaurant on the East coast and then decided to hike what they considered an easy trail. Ha!



this was my view of most of the trail.



I don't think I looked up too often.



But we did the whole trail and felt very proud of ourselves. I got to put a new medallion on the hiking stick. Cool.

As they predicted the next day, Friday, it rained and rained and rained. We went over to the fair that morning and just looked.









I did not buy a thing. I think I had what is known as yarn blindness...so many yarns and colors that your brain cannot take it in. Have no fear, I recovered that afternoon.

We were very interested in the spinning wheels. Although I had tried it once in a class I tried it again with a different wheel and it really was fun. New craft? We shall see.

I am already making plans to go next year. I want to take classes in things I have never done...dyeing, rug hooking, felting...spinning and see more leaves and Oh yea, we did buy apples at Justus Apples.

Kaye Heins, Detective

I have been an active member of the ancestry.com website for a number of years.It has been a very valuable tool in my research. The latest improvement to this site is a section called Recent Activity. In this section Ancestry lists people who have looked up the same person you have been researching. Then you have the ability if you want to contact that person and share information....More about sharing later.
From this section of the site I was able to connect to a distant relative on the Heins side of the family who had some new information for me. Also a distant cousin filled in a gap in my knowledge of my family that I had been researching since I started this hobby.
I had the name of my great grandfather and I knew he had a wife that was my grandmother's mother. But I could tell from the birth dates of the other children there had to be a first wife...or else she had children when she was 5.I had asked in a few areas but no one knew he had a first wife and had never done the math to figure out that all the children were not hers. Then out of no where I get an email saying that his first wife was this person, her parents were these people and that she had been born in this place and died in that place..Never would I ever been able to find her had not the kindness of a stranger willing to share information been shown to me that day. Why would I look for the death of this woman in Texas when she was born in the early 1800s in Kentucky?
Other resources I use, I have had to find on my own or I have been given as a tip by other researchers. One site that I check in on every day is called Myfamily.com. This particular groups of people either come from Pulaski County, KY or have relatives that still live there, like me. But the absolute best part of this site is that they share pictures.
I never knew my dad's father. He died a couple of years before I was born. In all the pictures I have ever seen of him, he was old and bald. But on this site, thanks to some very giving people, I now have a picture of my grandfather as a young soldier in WWl and one of him even younger with hair! The man had hair, dark curly hair like mine. Oh wow!
I am very fortunate thatI have relatives that are still alive that will confirm or flesh out what I have discovered. As you know I am not shy bout asking questions or confirming facts.

So much for resolutions....

I had resolved to work more on this blog and update it at least once a week since I could use it as a log of my weekly activities. Not that many people read it and those that do are sure to be interested in my every move and thought, right? The lurkers deserve to be bored!
I had not done much on the genealogy part of my hobbies.I had gone about as far as I could on my mother's family and my father's side. Far enough to get one individual in the DAR and me started on the process. Plus I was in contact with numerous relatives from that side of the families that I never knew existed.
However, I had come to a standstill on the Heins side.
Then I decided that there had to be information out there, I just had to find it. I mean they lived in this very town. How hard could it be? So I asked for help from a number of people. Those that responded were a great help. More on that later....
I went to the local German cemetery here. From there I got lots of names but very few connections just names. Then I went to the new amazing library in downtown Charleston and started digging. I found burial records that listed names, date of birth, date of death, where buried, next of kin and cause of death. (It is all too sad to find the death of a young child listed as dying from "teething".)
From that information, I just kept looking. The library has baptism records, some marriage records and some burial records on microfilm from the local Big German church.
Geez those microfilm readers have not changed since I was in college in the 60's, and I do remember the 60's but that is another post.
The library had city directories from the 1800's that listed addresses and occupations for some of the relatives.
Names, names and still no family connections. I know they are related, they all came from about the same place in Germany with the same last name, but how are they connected?

 

 

 

 

Mackinac Island

Too pretty for words

BERRIES, OFF ROADING, AND CUPCAKES

Picking these berries led to a more adventuresome activity...off-roading in our big red truck.
We thought we would just follow the dirt road



to see where it lead, Whoa Nellie!

We wound up on a snowmobile path



and had to travel quite a distance on the road that wasn't a road



to get off. but it was fun, rather bumpy and not nearly as bad as the last time we dummied up and did this in Wyoming.

Back into civilization on another day we found a bakery, that is always a good sign, that was run by an order of monks. This is their church...think you can meditate here?



The monks are known for their cupcakes...about the size of a cereal bowl. When we arrived we were the only ones in the store. By the time we left, there was a line all the way out the door and more people waiting in the parking lot to get in.They have quite a business in this wilderness area.

The last day in this area we traveled a mountain ridge to the top of the world it seemed. We learned why it was called Copper Harbor and just stood in awe of the beautiful scenery....







Have I told you how wonderful the weather was while we were there,cool at night in the high 40s and low 50's and in the 70's during the day. You people in Charleston were sweating it out in the 90's.



More to follow................Whoa!

Whoa there, Nellie

I have been home almost two weeks from our extended travels.
This is the first chance that I have gotten to look at the pictures we took and try to get my mind wrapped around the fun we had,the sights we took in, and the general happiness we felt from being back on the road again.
Of course, being totally addicted to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook has not slowed me down one bit...Whoa, that's a lie.



We had planned our trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan




a couple of years ago. But we didn't make it then due to problems with the camper,leaking water, repairs,etc.This time we were determined.I. didn't want to leave my car in the garage for 2 months so we took the car to the Daughter and left it with her and traveled northward from Oshkosh...
Oh you don't know about Oshkosh? It is the biggest fly-in in the US. For about a week there are all sorts of planes in this small town in Wisconsin.Big planes,



little planes, experimental planes, flying wings, planes that actually look like a beach chair with a motor.



Planes, planes and more planes.

It is crazy. Erwin and his friend go every year for a week of male bonding, airplanes and beer. They have a blast. This year was even better because the weather behaved. It was actually cool the whole week. They work the flight line doing who knows what and enjoy being on the pavement in the sun for days.

In the meantime, I am in Chicago having a wonderful time with a great friend and her family.(..Babies, they have babies and kindergarten fun!)and visiting with Serge and Buddy. Movies, knit shops, make up store, Macy's and chocolate.

We left Oshkosh and all its planes behind and drove to a small town called Lake Linden in Michigan

.

So pretty. The weather has been cool up there all summer so the flowers





and grass and trees are gorgeous.We had a nice site right near the Lake



and spent a few days exploring the area.

We especially liked Lac la Belle and the Bear Belly Bar





Have you ever heard of thimble berries? They are a type of raspberry/blackberry that grows along the side of the road up there. The bear really like them I am told, but this Tiger



had to pick some like the natives Yupers.

It's all about the yarn

Geez I am getting old and decrepit. My hip hurts, my back hurts,etc. I cannot bend over...I cannot sleep, Geez!

Going shopping for yarn seemed the only therapy that worked. So off we go.

(Oh I am in Illinois for a few days with a friend I shall refer to as Wise Woman.)

We had done this a year ago almost to the day. It was interesting to see how some shops had improved, Have Ewe Any Wool in Elmhurst, some had declined, Chicks with Sticks in Forest Park, and some that no longer exist, a local yarn shop.

The local shop had been closed for 2 years we found out..Wise Woman you need to get out more!

We each had our own agenda. Wise woman was looking for a yarn to match some that she had bought years ago; I was looking for a bargain, any yarn, any size, just not full price. We had a great time here...Sale and a sidewalk sale at that, too cool.She bought, got a great deal, just not what she went in for. I bought Great sale, met my criteria.

We looked in Wool and Co in Geneva, but we were overwhelmed by the choices.
When does it happen that too large a selection is just totally overwhelming? What is the magic number? I had this feeling that all the yarn was staring at me asking to be released from this prison and set free, weird, I know.

We had been in Have Ewe Any Wool last year. It was upstairs, not a good idea and was larger and messier than I would have liked, but the owner was friendly and helpful. She has since moved her shop downstairs,( acting on my suggestion, totally I am sure) to a smaller area with better lighting and a friendlier atmosphere. This is one of the best shops I have been in so far this trip. My knit groups at home would love this place and the owner.

With me being cranky and old, we left the rest for another day.

Last year, I swear I would have spent my last dime in Chixs with Stix, but this year it just did not do it for me. My mood? Their lack of inventory? I don't know. but I visited it on a different day and left sort of disappointed, did not even by a stitch marker.I think they have re arranged the store maybe, I don't know. I found it very funny that the women were complaining about the cool summer. What is that about? I LOVE IT! Last year when I was here it was 90+++. Not conducive to being around wool,let me tell you.

More yarn shops on the horizon I am sure.

Good therapy. I feel much better already.

Knitting Info

According to a knitting guru, these are the essential tools needed in a knitting bag:

measuring tape
notebook and pencil
copy of pattern
crochet hook
needles- a set in the size currently in use, one set larger and one set smaller
needle gauge
post it notes
darning needle
stitch holder
stitch marker
row counter

What? No Altoid tin? No crossword puzzle book? No photo of what you are not really sure? Receipts for groceries (like you are ever going to return them). Dog biscuit..dog ball dropped in all slimey and gross...three pennies and most important of all, YARN, hello!Several balls of yarn, several kinds of yarn, unidentified yarn ( Where did that come?? from type yarn)
All the above starting with the Altoid tin have been in my knitting bag at one time or another.

What's in your yarn bag, America?

Howe Indiana

We had a wonderful time in Kentucky visiting with relatives then on to Indianapolis to visit with more relatives. Now we are in Howe Indiana at a campground we have stayed in numerous times. At $14.00 a night, it cannot be beat.

The weather has been absolutely perfect, even on the cool side. Last night it got down to 51 degrees!

Yesterday was too pretty to stay inside, so we went on a geocacheing expedition around here. I love this geocaching thing;we go places that we would never think of visiting and find pretty picture taking sites.

Example:


We would have never visited this place. It is an archery target range provided by the county, but inside it reminds us of home...


The trip was success


There are targets set in the woods and archers use $1000 bows and arrows to shoot them...sort of shocked me when I turned around and saw this


We walked across miles of boardwalk spanning the marsh and heard all kinds of creepy crawlies in the bushes. Actually saw the tail end of a snake as it slithered along, saw cute chipmunks scampering in the brush and beautiful flowers in the pond....
all in all a good day to be outside.


Later, we went to the little commercial town of Shipshewana for another cache and found a small festival going on. If you are interested in Bluegrass, watch for this young group of boys calling themselves The Rocky Roads. They are brothers aged 11, 13,and 15. They are really something. During their appearance at the Beanblossom Bluegrass Festival the 15 yr old banjo player was given a banjo worth over $3000 by one of the best pickers in the nation....and we saw them when.

Some cuties

 

We are now in Kentucky visiting my family. I am doing a lot of genealogy research here, since the majority of my family settled here in the early 1800's.

Unadorned sad foot....pre birthday..............

 

HAPPY FEET !!!!!!! OLDER, BUT HAPPIER! (No those are not MY hairy legs, get over it.)

 

Not one yarn shop in this town,can you believe it?