YOWZA!

I don't know what's going on, but for some reason, blessings are raining down on me the last couple of weeks. like today--I stopped st Staples to buy a box of real expensive paper. I use in to print out the genealogy books I create for people. They had one box--it was open and roughed up, no plastic wrap on the paper, but the pages weren't bent. I took it up to the counter and the clerk thought that I was bringing it back for a return because it looked so rough. smile emoticon I asked if they had more in the storeroom, nope. I laughed, "I hope there are 150 sheets in there like it says." "Do you want to count them?" I said, "No. I'll just trust there are." He said, "Let me give you $10.00 off." Okey Dokey!

Then, I went to Cartridge World to get some black inkjet refills, but I didn't have any empty cartridges to turn. The clerk knows that I keep them in business, so she said, "I won't charge you for the empty cartridge fee because I know, you've come in before needing one refill and given us three empty cartirdges." WOW! $3.00 off, not much, but.......................

Then I stopped at the garage where I always take my car, because I have finally saved up enough ($700) to get the last major repair done on it--rear suspension. I asked my guy if they do the kit to take off the etching on the headlight covers. He said "No, we never have, but that guy right over there is trying to sell us kits to do that." I said, ":Well, I know it is pretty expensive." The sales guy says,to me, "How old is your car?" I said, "It has less than 50,000 on it, but....it's 18 years old." He goes outside, looks at my car, comes back in and says to my service guy, "You know--that would be the perfect car to use as a demo for the kit." So--I am getting an $89.95 fix for my headlights for---free!

I called to have a local painter come in and give me an estimate on painting my living room/kitchen/hallway walls and ceiling. I could do the walls, but the popcorn ceiling--well let's just say, I don't wanna. My ceilings haven't been done in 18 years and anyone who has visited me, knows--they are a fright! I had a figure in mind for labor and he came in right at it. Plus, I had a gallon and a half left of the wall paint I used last time, which he is going to match and buy another gallon and use mine too! Plus? He said he'd do my bathroom ceiling as a bonus, because it would take him less than an hour. !!

Plus--and here is the icing on the cake. A woman from OLSHA called me last week and said that for low income families, like myself, they are coordinating with DTE to help lower electricity bills and if my refrigerator is older than 2005, they will put in a new refrigerator and recycle mine. SAY WHAT!!?

I refused and told her that my refrigerator was fine and to give mine to a needy family with kids. She replied, "We have lots of new refrigerators and plenty to give to all our Livingston County low income families."

I again said, "No thanks. I'm fine." and she said, "I'm going to send you the form to fill out anyway. You look it over and please take advantage of this. Okay?"

It will be the same size as mine, but more energy efficient. Mine is 18 years old and does make a strange sound, soooo---maybe I should take them up on this? I don't quite know yet if I'm going to. It doesn't feel right--like I'm an old, poor woman on food stamps, or something (which I am, but--that's beside the point)!

Anyway--so many blessings after 4 1/2 tough, long years. I don't want to get too excited, but maybe, just maybe...2016 IS going to be a better year?

=========================

and then.............grandson Stephen graduated from Michigan State.

Helene, Susanna, Karen, Stephen, Mark, Marcus, Madeleine

and then...............

Grand daughter Helene got engaged..

and then.................Mother's Day.  Out for brunch with Pam, Karen and Madeleine.

 Such lovely daughters

Pammie is chocking me, Karen is pretending she doesn't see and Maddie is yelling, "Elder abuse!  Elder abuse!"

=================================

and then:

Had a bit of excitement around here. My girls pulled out my refrigerator to clean behind and under it. There was no way I was going to let someone come in here to bring in a new refrigerator and see all the dust behind mine. They got it all cleaned up and the fridge pushed back into place. Two hours later, I went into the kitchen to make supper and walked onto a flooded floor! YIKES!

I pulled and yanked and got that big, heavy thing out of its place, then panicked and called my neighbor. She came over with her daughter and grand girls and we figured out where the water shut off valve was--two of them no less. One grand girl crawled back under the sink to shut one off, I WD40'd the rusty one behind the fridge and finally got that turned off.

The fridge still stands in the middle of the kitchen while the floor dries out. I think when they cleaned behind the fridge, my girls took TOO much of the dirt & dust off the tube so the water could leak out. HAH

Yes, OLSHA and DTE, I WILL take one of your new refrigerators after all!

and then...............

I took my car in for her last major repair--rear suspension.  NOW--everything on the under neath part of my car is new and she still doesn't have 50,000 miles on her engine, but 18 years old. :-)

and today.

So--the refrigerator repair guy is coming out to disconnect the ice maker tubing, so it will quit leaking. No charge to me because I have the DTE Service Plan! YAY!

WOW! Called Comcast to downgrade from my newest line-up, that I upgraded to in January, as I didn't watch many of the channels and it was costing $10.00 more a month than what I paid before. The CS lady gave me a $20.00 a month discount and kept me at the same Preferred package. So I still have all the ESPN channels. WOW!

(and, I even got a Mother's Day card from Jennifer!)

I Think, Spring is Here.

I don't want to admit and I am almost embarrassed to admit I am hiring someone to paint!!  Yes--the ceilings, but I am perfectly capable to paint the walls.  It might take me a few weeks, but I COULD do it.  But hiring that done too.

Hank stopped in yesterday evening.  Such a nice man.  I fell instantly in love because he looks so much like my BIL Chuck, who I adore.  Hank is a bit taller--around 6'6"!  Skinny as a rail and no wedding ring, but--I think too young for me.  He is friendly without being overly chatty--kind of quiet AND he doesn't ever use tape around the edges.  He just cuts it in using his very steady hand.  That proves to me he is a professional painter because I know, those guys NEVER use blue tape to cover the window edges, doorways, etc.

One coat of primer and two coats of paint on the ceilings, and only need one coat on the walls  With that much paint on the ceilings, they will be easier to clean because those little plaster thingies that hang down, won't catch the dust anymore.  YAY.

He will buy the paint because he has a 10% discount at Home Depot.  I will need about 3 gallons--at $30.00 a gallon.  

I had an estimate figure in mind.  Had decided if he came in on that figure or under, it was a go.  If not?  Sorry.

He came in exactly on the labor figure I had in mind, PLUS I am also getting the bathroom ceiling done--kind of as a bonus because he figures it will take him way less than an hour.

He is backed up because of the weather and apologized that he can't get to me for a couple of weeks and I told him--whenever you have time.

I adore him!  His personality, his mannerisms, the calm, quiet way he talks.  A local painter with great reviews.  

Maybe next year I can get this over crowded room done as well.
==========================

Speaking of John.  Huh?  Lol. 

Last spring, John and Maizey would stop in if he saw me outside.  We'd sit on the porch and chat.  Then during this past winter, he'd occasionally call and want to know if they could stop in on the way back from their walk, to get warm.  Then it got to be every single day--usually in the morning.

Now--John and Maizey stop in TWICE a day!  Once in the am and around 8:00 at night--just when I am sitting down to watch my programs.

He tells me that Maizey won't walk by my house--she won't walk up the service drive either.  She gets to the corner and sits down and refuses to move until he starts walking this way.  At the end of my driveway, she sits down and won't move.

Really?  Who is the leader of this dog walking stuff? Apparently Maizey?

John is a nice man.  He does like to be helpful.  He is DRIVEN to help others.  He helps even when people don't want him to help!

Possibly being the 7th child in a family of 13, gives him a need to be recognized?  He wants to be liked by everyone?  He goes over and above board to be helpful.

Like when he snow plowed 16 driveways in early March and injured his foot/ankle and now has to wear an air cast.  He didn't need to plow that many driveways--some places have husbands that plow their own drives.  He seemed a bit obsessed and crazed that day.

He's a nice man, but sometimes his "company" comes in to visit at an inopportune time for me.  Shall I say anything to him about it?  Of course not!  Because, he is a nice man.
================
This guy is not only hungry, he is very loud!  Sharp, shrill chirp, surprised me and startled me and made me jump.

Poohey Phooey On This Weather

As I was drifting off to sleep last night, God whispered in my ear, "Remember?  You've wanted to paint the ceiling in your living room for years?"

No, actually I had forgotten.  Which is so stupid because I have wanted to paint the popcorn ceiling in my living room, kitchen and hallway for about 7 years!!!  At the time when I painted all the walls in this place.  But I didn't have a tall enough ladder and I was told, that kind of finish is difficult to paint.  Get it too wet and it starts falling off in sheets!

The minute I woke up this morning, I knew.  "Carpeting is off the table right now.  Get this place painted!"  Seeing as how I can no longer (comfortably) do it myself, I am going to hire it done!!
=====================
I had an odd experience this afternoon.  On my way to Walmart to get groceries, I stopped in at the local carpet place to return the samples from Monday.  The owner was there.  I asked, "Do you carry Stain Master flooring?"

He said, "It's in a lot of carpets. I 'd have to know which brand."

"Stain Master carpet."

"Well, they use that in Shaw, Mohawk.  What color do you want."

No.  Stain Master is a stand alone carpet brand."

"I've never heard of it," he said.

I retreated to my car and thought, "Either I am going nuts or that guy mis-understood and thinks I was talking about a stain resistant product they put on carpets!"

Considering the fact that he has owned that business since 1974, I figured it was me.

So, I went back to Lowe's, which is next door to Walmart and talked to the guy I talked to yesterday.

"Is Stain Master a carpet brand?"

"Yes.  We have four rows of samples.  That's what you looked at yesterday."  and he looked at me like I had lost my mind.  So I had to explain my encounter with the carpet store owner.

"Oh.  That business only carries the very top brands of flooring.  He probably doesn't even know Stain Master exists."

That also explains why, on Monday when I was at the carpet store, when I told the guy what I wanted, he showed me two "perfect" colors, one beige and one gray, and these are only $6.95 a square foot.
With padding and installation, we can get you set up for around thirteen hundred dollars."

I think he was trying to push his beige and/or gray carpeting!!!  I don't like either color.
===================
So--then I drove on over to the Walmart parking lot and found a handicap parking spot right in front of the "Home" door.  Hung my tag on the mirror and off I went.  The sun wasn't shining, but it was a nice day.

I started down at the cat food end of the store and worked my way, across the back of the store to the grocery section.

There I was just a walking down the aisles, singing Doo Wah Diddy, Diddy Dum, Diddy Dee, snapping my fingers and shuffling my feet and having a great time.  I checked out, over full cart, walked back down to the exit and stepped out into a torrential, cold rain!!  By the time I got my "seventy-eleven" bags loaded in the trunk and back seat, I was chilled to the bone!

I got home and it was still pouring so I backed my car in, near the porch, came inside and got warmed up and just sat, watched TV and waited for the rain to stop.  Time?  3:41

At 5:00, I went out to unload.  After seventy-eleven trips in and out, I was just about to shut my trunk when John drove by, stopped, backed up and asked, "Would you like help?"

"Oh heck no!  I so enjoy carrying in 10 bags of Diet Pepsi liters, 15# of cat litter and all sorts of heavy stuff in the dang cold rain!"

Instead I said, "No.  I got it.  Thanks.

I got everything put away in the next few hours...except...10 bags of heavy Diet Pepsi liters that are still sitting by the front door.

Fiddle Dee Dee.  I'll worry about it tomorrow!

I Found Martha!

I am using fake last names.

William John McDuff (Mc= Irish, Mac = Scot) was born in County Down, Northern Ireland, except it wasn't Northern Ireland at the time. Martha McClurg was also born in the same County, same year-1826.

William's father's name was William, so sometimes, William John used the name John McDuff as his signature.  So, when I put in William John McDuff, up popped Martha as his wife.  WRONG INFO put in by someone as confused as me, but didn't follow it through to the end.

To make matters more confusing, Martha McClurg married John McDuff, in the same County.

I had to go back to Martha's parents. to see where they lived and there I found her name.

There was information in an Ancestry.com member referring to Martha and John.  YAY.  I clicked on that family tree and---it was marked Private.  No way to access it.

Back then, Ireland was pretty much divided between Catholic and Protestant.  The McDuff's were Presbyterians.  Many genealogists don't want others to know if, way back then, their family was Catholic or Protestant.  Perhaps one of the members of the McClurg family had fought with the IRA and they wouldn't want that known to the public.

Anyway, sure enough, after a few years of marriage, Martha and John McDuff DID come to America, landing at the Boston, MA harbor.  That is why she and her husband are shown dying in MA and she being buried in Pine Grove cemetery in Whitinsville, MA.

The mystery of Martha solved.  She ain't my girl!

Okay then.  Who did William John McDuff really marry?  I found a hint of sorts.  A woman named Annie McClean.  Off on my hunt for her and her family.  I found her!  They lived in England.  Not impossible for William John McDuff and Annie to find each other and marry in Ireland.  I searched and searched and finally found an Irish census, just about the right time and there she was!  Married to a John William McDuff, and none of their children were in the tree I am researching.  Wrong guy.

So--poor William John McDuff.  I can find no wife for him, but I do know he had at least one child, because she is the direct ancestor to the people on the rest of the list.

"Only the facts, Ma'am".
==================
 My SS hit the checking account yesterday and I was going to go grocery shopping.  

I was not in the mood to go grocery shopping.  I was however, in the mood to go to Lowe's and look at more carpeting.  AHA.

Found a Stain Master that I really like with a sort of sale on and if I order it by May 11th, I get an upgrade to the best pad they sell.  This would be so comfortable under my feet that I probably will never wear anything but bare feet for the rest of my life.

Not only that, but--they will mail me, 4 foot square samples, free of charge, to give me a better (bigger) sense of the color.  I only requested 3 samples.  I think I like the one that is sort of grayish/greenish/bluish.  I will show them to you when I get the samples.

THEN--we can all decide together!!! :-)
==============
A kid from my hometown drew this picture.  It made me laugh out loud!  Some guy went into the Chase bank in Byron, (population 800), and passed a note demanding money.  Then he ran outside, got on a bike and rode away.  The County sheriff arrived an hour later, because that's how long it takes to get any law enforcement to Byron.  The kid drew the pix showing a John Deere tractor with police car lights ablaze chasing the robber.  

The reason this is so hysterical to me, it is so true of our little town.  The bank manager should have called the nearest farmer and they would have caught him just up the road.  He was found the next day in a town 30 miles east of Byron.

4-27-16.  "Never Forget"  The first bank robbery in Byron's history. LOL
  

HELP!!!

I am not a home decorator by any means!  I have a sort of Emerald Green carpeting in my living room, den and bedroom.  It look(ed) great, but at 18 years old, the carpeting in the living room is awful now.  

There are many places where it is worn through to the jute!  It feels crunchy under foot.  The last time I had it shampooed, the carpet cleaner guy said, "This really isn't going to help too much."

I only need a 14 x 14' piece, 196 square feet.so I am hoping to get a remnant or end of roll, or whatever they call it.  Yesterday, I went looking, just for the heck of it.  YOWZA!

I certainly can't afford a new couch and chair, so the blue has to stay, with the cranberry accents.

I have NO idea what color to get!

I brought home a hanger of small samples.  How I am suppose to tell how those small pieces will look on the larger area, is beyond me!

Remember when Berber was so popular?  Well, now it isn't and it is dirt cheap!  There was a sample of the Berber, kind of a light off white/beige, with a teeny fleck of cranberry and blue in it.  But ya know, that would be so impractical, because my outside door opens right into the living room.  Plus, Berber doesn't feel exactly soft and comfy under bare feet, which it my mode of foot covering while in the house.

I know I am not suppose to buy carpeting to match furniture, but I have no choice.  So--if any of you still have carpeting in your home, help me out here?

Gray?  Beige?  Try and match what is already there?

Who Are You? Who. Who. Who. Who.

I have been immersed in a genealogy conundrum for the last two days!!

I found Martha, who was married to William John.  Yippee!  Back another generation.

As I pursued my search, there are three accounts of Martha and William John.  One search reveals they had four children.  One search reveals they had only one child--a daughter.  One search reveals HER parents.  YAY.

Which search is correct?  I go digging for Martha, because I already know all I need to know about William.

What's this?  Martha, born in the same town as her husband in Ireland, dies and is buried in Massachusetts?  That's odd.

I find her MA death certificate and even a photo of her tombstone.  Her death certificate has her maiden name and those of her parents.  Correct.  It states her husband's name as John.  Hm-mm.  Maybe William John called himself John, to distinguish between him and his father who was also William John?

So I copy the photo of the D.C. and the tombstone and store them in the appropriate picture file for the genealogy I am working on.  Cool!

Wait a minute!  Here is another search that shows Martha, married to William John, died and is buried in the same cemetery as her husband in IRELAND!!!

I do believe my exact words were, "What the hell?"

So--back to the beginning.  Instead of just looking at each search on my computer screen, I print them out--the better to see my dear.

They both make sense.

The one from MA shows her buried in Pine Grove Cemetery--along with a son, named John.  This is the account that shows she had four children: one being John, but not showing the daughter that I knew thought she had--with William John.

The other account shows her buried in the cemetery in Ireland, with her husband WILLIAM John.

But...how can this be?  The same first name, the same parents listed!  "What the hell?"

Questions:  Okay--why would this woman, leave Ireland at the age of 60 something and go off to MA?  Perhaps to live with her son, John?  Why wouldn't she stay in Ireland with her daughter?

Check out immigrations.  She is not listed.
Check out census reports for MA.  She IS listed, but she is in MA BEFORE her husband died?  I think not!

AHA!  Maybe I have the wrong person!  Maybe she is not the wife of William John?

Start another search on William John.  Three searches tell me she IS the wife of William John from Ireland!  There is proof of her birth and his.  Proof of their marriage.  She has the same maiden name as the women in MA!

Egads and little fish hooks!
==================
When doing a genealogy, the facts MUST be correct.  I can not interject my thoughts or ideas in a person's life.  I did that once and I was so incorrect it was embarrassing!  I HAVE to take the facts from my searches to add to the person's "life story" or I am assuming things that may not be true.  

These searches on ancestry come from information put in their family trees and uploaded to ancestry.  Human people=mistakes!

Census are correct.  Wedding registrations are correct--although sometimes the person preparing the registration will spell the names of the couple incorrectly!  Death certificates are correct!  These are all government documents and they have to be correct.

What do do?  What to do!
====================
I cannot put any definitive facts about Martha into the genealogy report until I know for sure.

It doesn't make any sense to me that Martha ended up in MA.  But there is that DC!  It makes all the sense in the world that Martha stayed in the same town in Ireland as her hubs and died there and is buried next to him.  Her daughter, that I know for sure (?) is her daughter, stayed in that town all her life too.

BUT...there is that Death Certificate from MA.

It can't be possible for Martha, with the same maiden name, and parents and married to William John or John, with the same last name, the same marriage date and date of birth and death, to be buried in two different places!

I do believe that I need to do more searching on Martha.  Perhaps she ISN'T the correct wife?  Then why is her husband and her married last name the same?

ARGGH!!!!!!

Calm Day

Another lovely day.  Gray, rainy, cold weather which makes for a perfect day to stay inside and do my thing, --didn't even open my eyes until 10:00am,  AND--I don't feel a bit guilty about that.

I spent about 3 hours on the genealogy and found a lot more stuff about my friends ancestors.  Then, I spent a couple of hours working on a cute Toddler sweater that Chris is designing and I am test knitting.

John stopped in tonight and we had a nice chat, while Maizey his dog and Maggie my cat, eyed each other and then took a snooze, nose to nose.  So cute.

I can hardly wait until Sunday and May 1st.  My favorite day of the year.  Of course, May 1st would be much more lovely if the weather would just warm up.  We are still below normal  highs and below normal lows.  48 during the day, 36 at night.

My porch side garden looks a bit spotty this year, but the wild flowers are coming on strong.  May Apples, Trillium, Violets.  Jack-In-The-Pulpit will come along around mid-May.

I like this one of Maggie hanging out in the computer room window the other day.  I like how she has her arm up on the window sill.  If her little legs were crossed, she'd almost look like a human.  LOL

I saw this posted on FB and I had to share.  You ALL know what this means and why it's true in my case.

and this one, entitled The Weight of Grief.

Sure describes it well, doesn't it.  My sister said she felt the rocks in her stomach.  I felt the rocks filling my head, after Fred died.  I couldn't think straight for weeks.  It's really difficult to try and get back up, when you are bowed low with this amount of weight.