Category Archives: Blatherings

The Cloning of Solomon Hays: A Beginner’s Guide to Genealogy

Posted on July 16, 2013 | 2 comments

Click Cover to BUY for Kindle!

I wasn’t sure what to think when I decided to read this book. I have been tracing my roots for a very long time and I don’t seem to be learning anything. At least I wasn’t. I was also frustrated with books claiming to be help guides, but only touch on the most basic things and mostly irrelevant.

Since buying this book I have added an entire branch to my tree that had previously been tormenting me with its elusiveness.

Ms. Collins opened up doors for me regarding things I should have known, but didn’t. Her down to earth style of writing is more like having a pleasant conversation with her than reading a book. She gives you the facts, then backs it up with practical experience. She explains important things in a manner that any beginning tree climber can understand and offers useful information for people who have been at it for a while but need more guidance.

I didn’t find any slow spots and I even figured out how to highlight and bookmark on my Kindle so I could refer back to things. I think the best thing about this book is that it made learning fun and it had earned its retail price before I even got half way through.

I strongly encourage newbies and even others like me who have some skill under their belt, but need to fine tune it, to add this book to their library. I have read several other books on this subject that were so dry I could not even finish them. But this is going in my book log of favorites right along with my W. Daniel Quillen titles.

Thank you, Ms. Collins for a delightfully educational guidebook.

2 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Book Reviews, eBooks, Genealogy

Posted on June 4, 2013 | 2 comments

That’s it. I admit it, I am a total slacker. It has been too long since I posted anything here, but I have a good reason. Well, for a while I was at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. I went to have an ablation to stop those pesky v-tach episoded. Well, that was not as successful as I’d like, but the meds I am taking seem to be working.

I also got a new ticker box–they upgraded my old pacemaker/defibrillator to a new bi-v device. I have three wires now in my chest instead of two…wooohooo! And if being in Boston for surgery wasn’t enough, I had surgery on the day of the bombing. My husband was actually in that block only an hour or so before the explosions. God sure is looking out for us.

So with all that going on, I fell behind in EVERYTHING. I have been working very hard to get caught up and that is my reason for not posting. I have, however, come up with five new story ideas that I will probaly never get written.

I sure do miss writing…

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Posted in Blatherings, Just for Fun, Writing

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Posted on May 2, 2013 | 7 comments

karenjones-27 Today would have been my mom’s 70th birthday. She died five days ago. I’m not sure how the rest of you feel, but I Hhave some mixed emotions. Sounds crazy, huh?

My relationship with my mother has been strained, to say the least, but I discovered something recently. I don’t know if this is normal or not, but in the last week I learned that my childhood/life wasn’t so bad. My mother and I fought horribly and there was a tremendous amount of tension between us for as long as I can remember, but since last Saturday, I have remembered a whole lot of things that I had either forgotten or blocked–misplaced anger? NancyBaar-2

We used to live in this little itty bitty (and I mean garden shed small) house at the entrance to the trailer park where my grandparents lived. It was a duplex…I kid you not. So, we had these two guys who lived in the other half and one of them worked at some kind of store and every so often he would bring home these boxes of Charms Pops, you remember the ones in the shiny-colored clear cellophane, and they would give them to my mom for me. She never said no.

Well, Christmas rolls around and our house is so small that we have no room for even a small artificial tree, but my mom was a fanatic for Christmas and refused to be held back. So I wake up on Christmas morning and there is this mound of presents for me and sitting on top of the stack is this 6 inch high Christmas tree statue–all my present under it. I was delighted.

NancyBaar-5 I also remember when I turned 10 or so, she gave me the choice of where I wanted to go for my birthday dinner. She listed off some places and ended with “The Golden Arches.” She said it with so much awe that I thought it must be the most wonderful restaurant in the world. We got all dressed up in our very best clothes and we headed out. When we pulled ito the parking lot, I was shocked and then I just giggled and giggled. She was quite proud of herself and it was one of my best birthdays.

I hope that wherever your slippers are sitting right now, Mom, that you are at peace and that you know that I have always loved you, know matter what…I guess even I didn’t know how much