Family History

I've been in the mood to get my family trees sorted out. I started an ancestry.com tree, but I haven't wanted to spend $15/month for the full membership. So I'm filling in what I know, and at some point I'll be able to link up my trees with other family members who've been doing their own branches.

I've been doing more on the DuBois side, because that history is all in New York and it's fun to get it untangled now that I live in New York too. Also, growing up, I was more interested in all the Irish ancestors and annoyed with the DuBois line and the constant mispronunciation of the name. But now I think it's pretty cool that I had ancestors who came to the U.S. in the 1600's and decided to settle in the Catskills after someone's wife was kidnapped by Indians. I've also finally solved the mystery of why my Father's Grandfather and Great-Grandfather married Irish-born women. There was a stone quarry in the town the DuBois's lived in, so a lot of Irish came to work the quarry in the late 1800's.

Not that I've completely forgotten my Mom's side. My cousin Mary has set-up a Yahoo group for folks to post pictures and stories, which is really fun. Don't you love this picture of my Nana in Asbury park?

She has an amazing diary from the 3-4 years before she got married. It's very short entries each day, but there is something on every day. Plays, vacations, bowling, going out for drives with boys. I'd love to get that online too. I'd tried typing it up years ago, but it was back in the dark ages of computers and I didn't get very far. I've seen people enter old diaries in blog style, which probably makes searching it easier. I'll have to take a look at it again and see what I can do. Or see if any of my cousins wants to tackle the job.

Take me out to the ballgame

Dan and I are still arguing over whether the kids will play baseball or lacrosse every spring. But I've drawn first blood. Lacrosse won't take kids until Kindergarten, but T-ball will start them at 3 or 4 years old. he he he

So here's Nathan, ready to hit a home run.


Turned out to be more of a dribbler up the third base line. And there were a few foul tips and bunts. He's a bit slow on the fielding plays too. And I think he's trying to bowl the ball. Maybe lacrosse is better. And maybe I should bring the video camera next time so you can all experience the charm of 14 boys and girls who have no idea how to play baseball.

Red Sox Round-up

I'm watching the Sox on the YES network (Pride Power Pinstripes... Puke), and Jacoby Ellsbury just slid into second, then did a fantastic little skip jump when he realized the ball got thrown into the outfield, so he took off and stole third too. I may have found a new love. Not that I'd ever forget Tek.

My baby's growing up!

 

The tooth fairy has been ready and waiting to make a delivery here, and the wait continues. Nathan's bottom two teeth have been wiggly for a few weeks, but there is extra urgency now that their replacements have shown up. We need to get the stragglers out to lessen the orthodontist bill down the road.

The string tonight seemed to help him get a grip for more pulling and wiggling. Backseat dentist's will recommend tying the string to a door and giving it a slam, but there's too much danger of trauma or leaving a piece behind. So we'll skip that.

It may help that his friend Nadia (with the same birthday as him) just lost the exact same tooth we're focusing on. C'mon peer pressure! I was very happy to hear that her first tooth netted her .25 and a tooth fairy box, because I've heard of people giving $20.00 or toys and didn't want to pony up that much. We are going with a shiny gold dollar for each tooth, plus a box for the first one. We'll use the box for the tooth exchange now, and then when we're done, I may take it to store the teeth in for a keepsake.

Mrs. Butterworth can take a flying leap

Have you been in suspense wondering about the output of the McFarland Sugarbush? Well, wonder no more. We've gotten a little over three pints so far, much better than I expected. Although we have to re-bottle things now that some of the sediment has settled, otherwise there's some weird black sludge inside. Yuck. I bought cheesecloth to strain it, but I don't know if Dan remembered to use it while bottling.

For comparison, I took this photo of a big sugaring operation up the road that can make 80 gallons of syrup a day. Here's their evaporator.



And ours.


And here's our finished product. I don't think it's quite fancy grade, it's a bit darker with stronger flavor. But still very nice. And it smells so nice while it's boiling down.

Slight hitch in the proceedings today. Dan went to boil down about 7 more gallons, and it went much faster than usual, and he left it unattended at the wrong time. So now our pot has a burned mess inside. Not quite sure if we'll be able to resume operations.

Dr. Seuss Made me Cry

Sarah was a loving, generous, playful person. And although we shed many tears, there was also an outflowing of love and generosity from all her friends and family at the funeral. I hope it has helped to comfort my dear Aunt Erin and my cousin Patrick and his family.

Sarah loved books, and especially children's books. To honor her, people who came to the wake and the funeral brought books and toys to donate to the elementary school. I think there were probably a hundred books there, and her best friend Phyllis used them to decorate the reception hall, a much needed burst of color and humor after the funeral mass.

Here are some of her favorite books, some books that she gave my kids, and some books that she shared with others.

Superdog: The Heart of a Hero This is an amazing gift. Not just because the story and the illustration are so good, but because the Superhero dachshund shares his name with my childhood dachshund, Dexter. Although my Dexter was much happier lying in the sun than rescuing stranded cats.



A Teeny Tiny Baby was another great gift, that really celebrate new motherhood. My favorite page is when the two week old goes to the botanic garden and the guard says..."Ahhh, and already he's seen the forsythia", because it just expresses how wonderful the world is when you see it with fresh eyes. And now it will continue to remind me of Sarah because of how the sight of the blooming forsythia welcomed us to Maryland and brightened the tables at the reception for her.


The Legend of the Curse of the Bambino It's a kid's book about the Red Sox. What's not to love.


The Giving Tree I've always had my doubts about whether this is really a children's book. It's always seemed to be more for the parents, a reminder that as we give our love and help to our children, it may not always be appreciated, but that we can be happiest when we give without expecting anything in return. My mother had this book for a long time, and I think it helped her when she needed to grieve the illnesses and loss of her mother. It was the center theme of Patrick's eulogy, as he remarked on Sarah's unceasing generosity to her four young nephews and all her friends.



Where the Wild Things Are One of Sarah's prized possesions was a signed copy of this. But even without the signature, it should be in every child's bookcase. I love it because when Max says "Let the wild rumpus start" I give Nathan three pages worth of wild jungle music

Oooomba laka laka, Oooomba laka laka, Oomba Oomba Oooomba laka laka

there's more, but it doesn't really translate to English.



Phyllis talked of two books in her eulogy. She first talked of how the day we heard the news was definately a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

And then she did an amazing job of reminding us all of the fun that Sarah brought to our lives every time we saw her. Who else makes regular pilgrimages to NYC to go to a children's book store? Or decides to memorialize her vacations by taking pictures of an Ernie doll at famous tourist attractions? And who else gives a book to a best friend that has adorable pictures of how best friends still love each other through bad hair days, green spotted faces and pepperoni earrings?


Bad Kitty One last book. I saw it on a table at the reception and thought it was delightful, and funny, and sneakily educational. I later found out that it was her newest favorite, and her co-workers at Barnes and Noble had given it to Patrick to read to the boys. There's going to be copy in my house as soon as possible too. It's an absolutely perfect book to remind me of Sarah.


And finally, a last word from Dr. Seuss.

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

What the @$%*!! is Dermatomyositis!

I didn't know my cousin Sarah was sick, another auto-immune disease. So now I'm completely blindsided and shocked and heartsick to find out that she died last night.

She'd been a silent reader of the blog. I was hopeful that she'd be able to come and visit sometime, I've missed her since we moved away from Maryland. Having her and Aunt Erin around when Mom died and the kids were born was very important to me, and helped so much when most of my family was too far away.

And now I'm soooo sad that I'm not in Maryland, because I want to comfort my Aunt in person, to be there for her as she was there for me. Because as if this wasn't horrible enough, my Uncle Richard died just last month. I didn't get down for his funeral, but Dan and I are trying very hard to make arrangements to go down for Sarah's.

Can I tell you how much I want to scream swear words into the night.

Liquid Gold

 

I was hoping our neighbor would come by with the offer to tap our trees in exchange for receiving a gallon of finished syrup at the end of the season. But he seems to have retired. So instead, Dad dug four buckets and taps out of his barn and brought them here last weekend. We drilled on Saturday, broke a drill bit on the last tree, and now we're waiting. Daytime temps have still been around freezing, so the sap isn't flowing too strongly. But when I got home from work today each tap was dripping a little.

We don't really have the facilities for boiling. If you do it inside, you end up with steaming sap covering the walls and peeling off wallpaper. I'm thinking that I'll try to boil most of it off on the grill on the weekends, then finish it inside. Ideally, we could get as much as 4 gallons of syrup, but that would only be if we had the time and energy to boil down 160 gallons of sap, and I don't see that happening. I'll be happy with a few pints, and the fun of doing it.

My All-star

This is the finale of nearly five months of skating lessons. Nathan actually preformed much better than I was expecting, and hit most of his marks. Only one of the falls was unintentional. He's the only skater with a red shirt and black helmet, so it's pretty easy to follow him in the wide shots. Enjoy.

Feed Me

Dan's blogging again. It's all about the bread now. Just don't tell him I accidentally tried to melt his starter in the oven again today.

A Recipe For St. Patrick's Day

Irish Bread from Father Brian’s Mother

4 cups unbleached flour
3 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
6 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 stick of butter NOT oleo, softened
2-3 cups buttermilk
1 cup raisins
1 tbsp caraway seeds

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in soft butter. Add seeds and raisins. Mix well. Add 2 cups buttermilk. Mix gently – if dry, add more buttermilk 1 tbsp at a time to make nice soft dough. It will be sticky.

Turn onto lightly floured board. Shape into round with floured hands. Cut a deep cross in top. Place in buttered 8 or 9 inch black fry pan or 8 or 9 inch layer cake tin – Not Glass. Bake at 350 degrees 45 min or until it tests done.

Some folks sift dry ingredients- my mom did – I never do.
Some folks use baking soda – I don’t, unless the buttermilk is fresh. I usually use buttermilk when it is thick and glops out of the container – about 3-4 weeks old. You can tell if it is going to be good, it actually “talks” to you when you are shaping it on board. You can “hear” it rising – truly.

Good Luck. Have the kettle up for tea, with plenty of butter and jam at the ready. Enjoy.
P.S. Try it toasted (not a conventional toaster) in toaster oven. It’s super, can also be frozen.

This is the recipe my Mom always used. I love the extra notes from Fr. Jeffries mom about putting the kettle on. But I noticed as I was typing it out that it never says to split into two loaves, which is what I always do. I think it works either way. A single loaf fills the pan and leads to an even looking crust. Double loaves turn out as a more free-form circle with a crunchier crust, like scones. It's also nice microwaved for a few seconds to give the butter something to melt into. I always use baking soda, because I don't read ahead in the notes where it says I don't need it. And I never, ever, ever use caraway seeds because I hate the taste of them.

Super Duper Trooper

From the local paper:

Visit from trooper State trooper Patrick Roda visited Mrs. Martin's pre-kindergarten classroom at Lawrence Avenue recently. The children have been learning about "Our Community and Jobs People Do." Posted 03/13/08.

Nathan is #18. When Officer Roda (otherwise know as William's Dad), asked the kids if they knew what he does, Nathan raised his hand to say they "under arrest bad guys". I wonder if he told the officer that he thinks George Bush should be arrested if he ever comes to New York. It's perfect timing that he's learning about community helpers this week, because he has his first dentist appointment next week. After Mrs. Martin has him whipped into an anti-cavity, anti-sugar frenzy he'll be thrilled to see the dentist. He was especially impressed with the effects of coke on an eggshell.

If you really want to know everything there is to know about where I live, you should read this paper. It really gives a perfect impression of what it's like to live her. Especially the venting and complaining in the Sound Off section. Just don't laugh at how little there is in the Events Calendar.

Hulu watching

Have you heard of Hulu.com yet. It's free T.V. (with limited commercials), a lot of older shows, but also new stuff. Right now I'm watching the first episode of Remington Steele. My favorite show as a teenager, and I never saw the premiere and therefore never understood how Remington conned his way into Laura Holt's firm. I feel like I want to alternate with episodes of Veronica Mars (not on Hulu, alas) to see two views of young, sassy, female P.I.'s.

Doesn't this look like the perfect network line-up?

* 30 Rock
* The A-Team
* The Addams Family
* Arrested Development
* Battlestar Galactica
* Battlestar Galactica Classic
* Benson
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* Dilbert
* Doogie Howser, M.D.
* Dr. 90210
* Facts of Life
* Fame
* Family Guy
* Fantasy Island
* Firefly
* Futurama
* Hell's Kitchen
* Heroes
* Jack of All Trades
* King Of The Hill
* Kitchen Confidential
* Kitchen Nightmares
* Knight Rider
* Kojak
* Lost in Space
* The Mary Tyler Moore Show
* NewsRadio
* The Office
* Outer Limits
* The Tick
* Top Chef
* Who's the Boss?
* WKRP in Cincinnati

Say! I will eat them ANYWHERE!

I started this post a few minutes ago

I seriously didn't plan this. I made ham last night. So there were leftovers today. And usually when there is some leftover ham, I scramble up eggs for the kids to have with it for dinner. And a few months ago, I discovered how much they like to have food coloring added to their eggs. So, on Theodor Geisel's Birthday, my kids had green eggs and ham.

And then I found out from Wikipedia that his b-day was the 2nd, it's just that Nathan's pre-K was celebrating it today. So just forget I said anything.

Claire's class was "studying" clowns last week. Isn't she adorable? I wish I had a picture before all the paint wore off. She has a wonderful teacher, and each week they pick a theme. They've done triangles and pets and snowmen; all their artwork and stories revolve around the them each week. It's really cute.

If she wasn't already dead, I'd kill her

Egad, I finally finished the book. The mystery of the black veil got revealed in the last 10 pages, and it was a complete cop-out. I blame Jane Austen. I forgot that she was writing a parody, and I now suspect she put in the bit about the black veil because she agrees with me that it's presence in the novel was stupid and pointless. If she was writing today, the characters would have been discussing the finer points of The DaVinci Code.

I suspect that the author didn't plan out her story and was writing later chapters after already having published early pieces, and backed herself into a corner. Even the death of the major villain happened behind the scenes as she struggled to tie up all the loose ends and get the heroine married off. How else to explain that the Italian Countess Laurentina had murdered Emily's Aunt, and then secluded herself in the French convent that Emily just happened to be staying at after her father's death.

And if you must know, Emily thought it was a corpse behind the veil, but it was actually an old waxwork statue that a former resident of the castle had put up as a penitence for his sinful ways. The End.

The terrible twos

 

She looks like a sweetheart, but she's really a demon sent to torment me for the trouble I gave my Mom when I was two. There is no saying no to her. She won't accept it. I can be firm, I can cajole, I can soothe, I can ignore. No matter what, she will insist on getting her way or she will have an unending crying fit.

Today's she's being sweet though. And yesterday, she even let me braid her hair, so now I'm looking for new hairstyles to try out on her.

Boo

I'm reading a new book. Actually, an old book, and it's proving to be a bit of a slog.

Here's the backstory. I love Jane Austen, especially Persuasion. The current marathon on PBS has led to me also re-reading all the novels, even Mansfield Park, which I've never enjoyed as much as the others.

Northanger Abbey, if you've never heard of it, is actually more of a satire of romance novels than a romance novel in it's own right. Throughout the story, the heroine is comparing her own experiences to the heroines of gothic novels. She's especially impressed by The Mysteries of Udolfo, and talks about it to her companions at every opportunity. And here I am, two hundred years later, reading about Catherine reading about Emily.

"But, my dearest Catherine, what have you been doing with yourself all this morning? Have you gone on with Udolpho?"
"Yes, I have been reading it ever since I woke; and I am got to the black veil."
"Are you, indeed? How delightful! Oh! I would not tell you what is behind the black veil for the world! Are not you wild to know?"
"Oh! Yes, quite; what can it be? But do not tell me--I would not be told upon any account. I know it must be a skeleton, I am sure it is Laurentina's skeleton"

Now, with that kind of a build-up, aren't you dying to know what's behind the veil as well. So, I decided to read Udolfo for myself, and downloaded it to my little PDA. According to my Microsoft reader, I didn't get to the black veil until after about 1200 pages of descriptions of mountain scenery, gondola parties, and many, many, many moonlit walks where the heroine laments her parent's death and the separation from her lover. (I think in paper versions, it runs to about 700 pages) I Didn't even get to the mysterious castle until Volume 2. And now, even after Emily has seen what's behind the veil, she is so shocked and disgusted, that the author hasn't had the courage to reveal to me what's going on yet. So I'm still in the dark about the veil. But at least the action has finally picked up, and there's been an attempted kidnapping, poisoning, and more than the requisite amount of fainting ladies. I'm on page 1700 now, I have no idea how much longer it goes.

I just wish it hadn't taken quite so long to get to this point. I did love her scenic descriptions, but when I kept expecting something "horrid", and kept getting lute players instead, it was a bit of a letdown. Hints were dropped early on of the mystery, but Emily's delicate sensibilities always kept her from investigating, which leaves me in the dark too. I want someone to edit it into a "good parts" version, with just the sword fights and the the ghostly sightings that have been coming fast and furious in the last 100 pages.

Who needs Hallmark?

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I'm going to lose my mind.

Since we haven't used the washer in over a week, we didn't notice that the pipes there had frozen too. And they cracked and were gushing water when I got home from work today.

All the spare towels are at the in-laws waiting to be washed, so I'm seeing how long it will take to soak up with paper towels.

This Old House February 2008 issue

Where to begin........

The broken dryer - that's not really a house issue, since it's a dryer we rescued from our last landlord's basement.

The burst pipe - that's more interesting, but not a surprise, since the pipes under the sink had been freezing up every time we had a sub-zero windy day. Just a matter of time before they broke.

Although the combo of the two was funny, since it led to me feeling like a college kid as I went to the in-laws this morning to use their shower and drop off a load of laundry.

I like the more humorous break-downs, like locking myself out of the bathroom, as I did tonight.

Here's the deal. This is the latch/doorknob for our only bathroom as seen from the inside....

Pushing down on a the exterior button raises the L-shaped piece in the center, which then raises the horizontal bar so you can get in. The horizontal bar pivots where it's attached to the small section on the far left.

Unfortunately, the screw on the far left sometimes gets loose. Especially when we have company who aren't used to the latch and get rough with it. When the pivot point gets loose, the horizontal bar doesn't lift on the right-hand side, and it's impossible to get the door open. When my aunt and uncle visited this summer, I had to get Nathan to crawl through the window to open the door. And let me just say that he wasn't too bright about following directions, since he thought I just wanted him to unlock the door, and then crawled back out the window before opening it properly.

I was not about to drag him out of bed and into the 11 degree, snowy night. Unscrewing the latch from the outside and vigorously rattling a screwdriver around eventually got the horizontal bar lifted. I just wish I knew a permanent fix to this. I tighten the screw every few weeks, but obviously I was too late this time. And I'm trying to imagine how people have been using this door for a hundred years and not had this problem as constantly as we have. (I think the door was once an exterior exit from the house, and the hardware and cut-out for the latch certainly look authentic.)

Taking all the hardware off has shown me areas where the wood is worn down, which I think may be causing too much stress on the hardware which is loosening the screw. Not sure if there's a way to fix it without removing the latch completely. And since I'd like one room in the house where I can get privacy, that really isn't an option.