10 14 2012 - Fall Errands Galore

We had decided that Saturday the 13th was a day of errands.

We needed to go to the dump and drop off bags collected since June.

Then to Renew Salvage for some 2x6 and 2X4 lumber to build some raised beds for next year and a compost bin.  While at Renew we also found an old end table. We have an old enamelware table top we wanted to put on a table to use out on the deck.

http://renewsalvage.org

We had a neighbor build an overhang for the garage side door while we were on vacation last month, so we stopped at the Sherwin-Williams store to pick up some Pine Needle stain.  This is the same color we used in 1998 to stain the house, garage and woodshed as each was built over the years.

We then drove to the Taft cemetery in West Dummerston on Route 30 and took photos of 3 stones for Find A Grave requests.  I always enjoy taking photos of cemetery stones for folks who live far away and can’t get here to Vermont to see their grandparents, great grands or older memorial stones.  These requests had been made back in November and December of 2011.

After we had finished photographing stones we drove to Newfane to Duttons to pick up corn on the cob, butternut squash, acorn squash, tomatoes and lemons.  

We then drove to Dover to Brown’s Sugar Shak to pick up some maple syrup.  Picked up a couple quarts then came home.

After the truck was emptied and the garden cart filled with goodies to bring into the house, we took the spindled top shelf off of the table and the spindles were pulled out. Then Kirsten screwed the enamelware top on to the maple table.

New Table created by Kirsten

old table on the left and new table on right

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Sunday the 14th of October, 2012

Today we got up and I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast with a few blackberries tossed in for good measure. Just perfect with our new syrup we picked up yesterday.

After breakfast was over, I pulled out a cutting board, sharp knife and a big steel kettle.  I cut up the tomatoes I’d bought yesterday, added the CSA onions from a couple weeks ago and some of the garlic I had grown last year.

My garlic is pretty tiny, I think that is because there was a mix-up with the place I bought it from last year (they sent the first order to someone at my address but in Brattleboro) then took 3 weeks to get another order sent to me at my address.  So it was late November  before I got the garlic planted.

However, the garlic is pretty big on flavor, so I like to add it to stir fry or todays Tomato Sauce.

this year's garlic 

CSA onions

Tomatoes ready to stew

I made a light tomato sauce with tomatoes, garlic, onions, minced carrots, minced celery and olive oil, it actually boiled down into a lovely stew mixture.  Will split in half and freeze part of it and add some rice to the rest for tonight’s supper.

As things start to calm down for Fall chores, it will be time to get back into family history and some of my vacation homework from September as well as the earlier May vacation.  

10 7 2012 - Weekend Warriors

On Saturday the 6th, we decided we needed to dig the potatoes out of the containers, empty all gardens and plant the garlic.

First we started by getting the potatoes:

home grown potatoes

We strained the dirt through a rat wire strainer we’d made many years ago and collected all the potatoes.  I grew red, white and russet potatoes.  Some of the potatoes didn’t grow, but we got a 3rd of a pail full.

Radish Seeds

Next I noticed some odd pods.  Turns out a bunch of my radishes had gone to seed and I had radish seed pods.

I collected them and will dry them to either grow for next year or to try sprouting this winter.

Kind of spicy - but very tasty.

Finally, we pulled all the basil up and emptied out the containers it was growing in as well.

We made pesto with it, but it was kind of bitter.

However each time this summer we made pesto it was delicious and will grow more next year.

Next, we raked the raised beds and took the two kinds of garlic I had bought from Green Mountain Garlic.  Belarus which is a hard neck garlic and Silver white which is a softneck garlic.  Not sure of the difference, but we planted both in a raised bed and we’ll find out next spring/early summer.

bed on the left now has both kinds of garlic in it

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Then on Sunday we stacked a cord of wood.   This is the cord we needed to get stacked plus we had some we had pulled out of our electric cut from when the Electric Company sent some tree guys to come clean it out.

Kit and Tink

Tink Turner and Kit Dalrymple came over from Marlboro and Kitsie and Claire Maleney.  

Kit made a great supervisor at age 85 while the rest of us grabbed the two carts and pulled wood over to be stacked.

left is this years wood the right is building up next years

The entire cord was stacked and I made a veggie Chowder.

I put in onions, garlic in a pot with some coconut oil to cook.  Then I added some potatoes and water.  After the potatoes became soft, I added some Tuscan sunset seasoning (italian type) and some vegan chicken broth.

I cut up some baby spinach and added some corn.  We were all pretty hungry and ate the entire pot down before I remembered to take a pictures.   LOL!

When I woke up on Monday morning I found my legs were pretty tight and sore, but we got a good amount of our fall work done and that feels good.  It helps to have friends and family to help get a job done.

9-30-2012 - Dad and Gram Church

My Father, Lloyd Elsworth Church - 1930 - 1991

My Grandmother, Beatrice Viola Moody - 1899 - 1983

9-30-2012 - My Gram Church

Nog’s Travels this weekend - 9-30-2012

We got up about 6:30 a.m. and worked on some family history before I went downstairs and made Grilled Almond Butter and sauteed Cinnamon Apple Sandwiches for breakfast.   They were amazing! 

Here is the link:

http://fatfreevegan.com/blog/2011/10/17/grilled-cashew-butter-and-sauteed-cinnamon-apple-sandwich/

After breakfast I pulled out a big kettle and husked 3 dozen ears of corn.  Put 6 ears in the kettle and started to cook corn.  After pulling all the corn out and letting it cool (after a dunk in ice cold water) I also cooked up some green beans I had picked up at Dutton’s Farm stand this week.

I took the corn off the cob and put it into quart size ziploc bags.  Filled up 6 of them.  Cut up the green beans and put them into a quart ziploc bag as well.  So another bag of beans for soups this winter and 6 of corn.

If it ever dries out, I need to dig potatoes and plant garlic for next spring.

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I was reading in a genealogy blog earlier this week about making goals in the history research.  It is too easy to start with one person and suddenly find yourself out about 3 or 4 generations away from the person you were going to work on.

Decided to try to source my Great Uncle Charles R. Church whom I just found a week ago in the Oakland Cemetery in Brockville, Ontario.  Great Uncle Charles is the youngest half brother to James Turner Church, my great grandfather.  He was born 1 May 1873 in Kitley, Leeds, Ontario, Canada, his mother is Nancy Donahoe and his father is Joel V. Church.

The birth record gives his brother Uri’s name but has his birthdate which shows up in future census records in Canada.

In 1881 he is listed as being a Methodist, and is going to school.

In 1891 he is working on his father’s farm.

In 1901 his is listed as a Farmer’s Son, born in Canada.

24 Mar 1902 he married Mary Helena Coad in Brockville.  Her parents were Joseph Coad and Margaret Connor and we found them last week buried in Toledo, Ontario in the Cemetery on the Hill. 

in 1911 he is living in Kitley, Ontario as a Farmer.  He has $2,000.00 in Insurance and has had insurance for 22 years.

1965 he died and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Brockville, Ontario.

I think the 1921 Canadian census may be coming out next year, so I’m looking forward to updating some of the Canadian Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Grandparents in my family tree.

After I finished sourcing Uncle Charles Church as far as I can at this point, I began working on Great Aunt Mary Helena Coad.

I’ve also been updating the Coad’s in the Cemetery on the Hill in Toledo, Ontario by adding photos for the stones.  The person who entered them into the Find a Grave website has transferred the entire family to me. 

Kirsten and I found memorial stones for Mary Helena Coad’s parents, grandparents, some of her aunts and uncles in the Toledo Cemetery to photograph a week and a half ago.

And finally, in an effort to learn a bit more about Loyalist/Tory history, I am reading “Shadow Soldiers of the American Revolution”  Loyalist Tales from New York to Canada by Mark Jodoin.

http://books.google.com/books/about/Shadow_Soldiers_of_the_American_Revoluti.html?id=HWOQufUoDnYC

Mark Jodoin, David Wilkins

0 Reviews

The History Press, Jul 3, 2009 - 158 pages

In 1778, New York state patriots forced colonists loyal to the British government to flee north into what became Ontario and Quebec. Many of the defiant young British Americans soon returned south as soldiers, spies and scouts to fight for their multigenerational farms along the Mohawk River, Lake Champlain and the Hudson River Valley. Eventually defeated, they were banished from their ancestral homelands forever. Mark Jodoin offers an enlightened look back at ten young men and women who were forced north into what became Ontario and Quebec, sharing the struggles that these Loyalists faced during our nation's founding.

I’m hoping to find a good Canadian History book to learn even more about my Canadian Grandparents on both sides of my family.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks for reading.

Day 15 - Homeward Bound

We woke up about 7:30; it had been raining hard off and on during the night. Took showers, drank some coffee, Kirsten had granola and the last of the soy milk, I had a wrap with hummus, pesto, baby spinach and mushrooms.

We packed up our gear, tossed out all the fresh veggies and fruit since we were headed back across the border to the USA.

Left the motel about 10:20. As I went in to get our bill there was a cop in there talking about another person.  Apparently something happened during the night (we heard nothing - well at 3:00 a.m. I woke up because a door slammed somewhere) and the desk clerk asked if the person was going to leave.  “Oh Yes.” the policeman said.  “We’ll be around and if you need anything, call the office we’ll be here in a flash.”

He left and the desk clerk and I finished our business.  I told her about the funky sink drain and the faucet that if I was an old lady I’d never be able to turn on.  The faucet required a muscular yank to open, and then it would be on full bore; the drain was slow, so inevitably you’d end up with a couple of inches of water in the sink...  She assured me that she’d get maintenance on it, “They are going to be really busy today.” she said and thanked me for letting her know about the sink.

We headed up the 401 to Prescott.  As we drove over the bridge to the USA there was a freighter from the Canada Steamship Line going under the bridge heading towards Montreal. Very cool to see. Forgot to check the mileage when we left the motel; on the bridge we were at 3506.

As we traveled on the bridge, we found ourselves kind of swishing all over our lane.  Not sure if it is the Subaru all wheel drive on the metal mesh of the bridge floor; we’ve never had that kind of a problem on the bridge before.  We might read up on that and what to do for the next time we cross one of the big bridges.

We came off the bridge and landed in the line with customs. Right in front of us was an AMX from Ontario.  It was in beautiful shape.

We started checking how long it took some cars to get through Customs:

10:38 - car in gate

10:39 - next car

10:42 - next car - sent around to be checked over.

Then we noticed several flocks of geese flying over customs. Do they have to declare anything?  Are they American Canada Geese or Canadian Canada Geese,  hard to tell.

10:43 - next car

10:46 - next car - sent around to be checked over.

10:47 - next car

10:48 - next car

We went through at 10:55.  Customs official asked us to put down the back window, then asked if we were US citizens?  Was all the stuff in the back ours? Have a good day.  He was going off duty so we had a quick time through.  

We drove up Route 37 towards Waddington, NY and  stopped there to get gas and use the bathroom in the grocery store/gas station.  The next time we are in the area, I’m thinking about stopping at many of the little town halls and libraries in St. Lawrence County to look for any references to James Turner Church, Cora Pike, George Joel Church and see what I might find.   More homework for me before we get up there in that area next year.

As we continued out Route 37, we found a ’57 Chevy being worked on and a great old sign on the front of the garage.  The guy had just torn out the ceiling since it was infested with mice.  Other than that, he said, it was in great shape.  It had some huge engine designated by a big number, and a Hurst shifter.

In Massena they have several lovely water towers and as we waited at a stop light we noticed smoke pouring out of the top of the Burger King - must be burning off all that grease and fat from the burgers, as we left we found Bobs Motel.  Not looking very healthy like many of the businesses in that area.

We continued driving through the St. Regis Indian Reservation, so much poverty there.  Even the casinos looked run down but they are building a brand new one with fancy trees and a fancy driveway leading to it.  Seems like their reservation is not placed quite as well as the Seneca Nation which has a casino in Nigara Falls, NY.  Several other older casinos and about half the businesses looked abandoned.

We continued on to Fort Covington, NY.  Little less poverty here, saw a lovely dark green church which turns out is the Senior Citizen Center.

We continued on and found many wind turbines in Chauteguay, NY.  They are right on the Franklin and Clinton County line.  

As we moved onto route 190 in Ellenburg, NY we found a lovely old shed that needed its photo taken. Turned around at the transit station and took photos.  A fellow who wanted to leave the transit station kindly waited for us to finish taking the photo before pulling out. 

We drove a couple hundred feet down the road and found the wires covered with starlings.  Kind of reminded me of the old Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds".

We drove down route 87 in the rain for about 30 miles, then got off to drive down route 22.  This route travels along the shore of Lake Champlain giving us views of the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York.

We traveled over the new bridge at Crown Point, NY and arrived in Vermont about 2:30 p.m.  We changed drivers and found a great view of the new bridge with big signs that say no stopping - so of course we stopped for a bridge shot.

We pulled into a fishing access and met a green heron in the waterway.

We continued driving towards sunshine and trying to leave the gray clouds and rain behind us, we ended up going out Route 4 past Castleton to Rutland, my old college stomping grounds.  Check out the lovely curves of the road ahead of us as well as the sunshine.

Saw some the Irene flooding aftermath coming through Vermont, including Jamaica where all of Water Street and several houses were swept away.  The bridge replacement in South Newfane is progressing, and they have installed some curbing.  Watch the curbin’, girls!  That is what KT’s driver education teacher used to tell them.  

We got home at 6:02 p.m. and unpacked the car.  It has been a fun trip, and we both have learned more about our families.

Day 14, our final day in Canada - or - Women with a mission!

We spent some time last night doing some homework to find the Lillies Baptist Cemetery in the Rear of Yonge and Landsdown township.  It took a bit, but Kirsten nailed the directions down in her map.

We began the day knowing that we needed to find the Lillies Baptist Cemetery for 2 greats uncle William Church and his wife and several children.  That was about 30 miles away to the west.  I also needed to get to Blue Church Cemetery about 11 miles East of Brockville and St. James Anglican Cemetery in Maitland and finally Great Uncle Charles and his wife right here in Brockville.

So, we ate cold pizza for breakfast, drank some bad coffee and headed west to Lillies Baptist Cemetery.  Weak coffee is such a disappointment.  The route we took was exactly like yesterdays, but where we went right yesterday, today we went left and found it!

Sometimes I can zone right in on who I am looking for and that was the way of it at Lillies; walked right to them without any hunting.

It was starting to sprinkle, so on top of a garden bench for sitting, a bag full of brushes, rubber spatulas, powder, trowel, clippers, my notebook and a pen for writing the info and the Double Spotlight, we both had to carry umbrellas.

On of the stones was sunk down into the ground, so while I was writing up some of the other stones, Kirsten dug the dirt and grass away from the stone so I could get a copy of it with the dates.

As we were photographing the stones, the caretaker came over to see what we were doing and to stare at the hole Kirsten had dug.  We told him we would fill it back in when I finished photographing my family members.  I think he was a little stunned that we dug because his eyes kept sliding back to the hole.  Frankly I don’t like to see my ancestors stones sliding under the grass, but  we did fill it in.

He kept chatting at us and asking questions, told us about some other Church family members who were buried in the cemetery and finally Kirsten took off to photograph them while I finished taking photos of the stones I had come to see.

We left Lillies Baptist Cemetery and headed south to the 401.  We needed to get up to Maitland, Ont for two cemeteries and they were about 65 km away.  

Now the lovely thing about the 401 is that there are rest rooms (OnRoute they are called) about every 28-44 km down near Windsor and out past Toronto, but up here as we get closer to Quebec they are stretching out and so the Mallorytown OnRoute is the last  one for 77 km.  We stopped at the OnRoute for a couple minutes, then continued on up the 401.  It is a subtle message from the Canadian goverment; rest all you want along the lake, but once you enter the seaway, you’ve gotta hold it.  Why?

We got off at Maitland and it happens to be Church Street.  Now amazingly enough, this was the street we needed to find Jerusha Skinner, her father and her sister-in-law.  Jerusha Skinner is the 2nd wife to Dr. Basil Rorison Church. She died in 1833.  He and his first and third wives are buried up in Merrickville and we found their grave stones a couple years ago.

We also found Jerusha Skinner Church’s sister-in-law next to her.  I really liked the artwork of a chopped tree on top, hadn’t ever seen it before.

We left for the Blue Church Cemetery to look for Knapp and Guernsey family members.

Here is the view from the Blue Church Cemetery across the St. Lawrence to New York.

One of the things we’ve noticed is the marble stones up here are melting away fast and the granite stones are getting covered quickly with thick orange lichen.

After we found everyone we wanted, we called the Oakland Cemetery in Brockville to see if they could tell me where Great Uncle Charlie and Aunt Mary were buried.  Dale offered to show us as soon as we got to the cemetery.  So we drove down Route 2 through Brockville and past it to Oakland.  Thank goodness we called.   There are over 20,000 people in the cemetery with room for another 20 or 30,000 plots especially with cremations now.  The cemetery is over 100 acres in size.

Dale jumped into his bright red Dodge Hemi truck with one of those rear air foil things, to keep the truck on the ground, that Hemi is so powerful.  He tore off through the cemetery and it was all we could do to keep up in our little Subaru.  He led us right to Uncle Charlie, and told us a little about managing a cemetery.  

Uncle Charles is James Turner Church’s youngest half brother.  He married Mary Helena Coad.

We stopped back at the office to get the section and plot number, then headed back into Brockville to find the Brockville Museum.  

The Leeds and Grenville branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is in the basement of the museum.  They have lots of genealogical research books as well as some books to sell. There were some cemetery books I’ve been wanting.  They also had a copy of the Kitley 1795 - 1975 book that I had wanted to peruse.  I’ll get a copy of it through interlibrary loan, then scan the pages I want with my flip scanner and source the book.

We left the museum and headed back to Boston Pizza for an early supper.  Ordered a caesar salad and penne with alfredo sauce and baked cheese.  Kirsten got nachos with guacamole on the side.

We were back in the room by 5:30 and have accomplished everything on the list for today.  Tomorrow we head back to the USA.  It has been a lovely trip and I have lots of homework to add to my family history and more stones into Find A grave.  Only in Canada; we see curling, twice, on the TV.  

This blog has been fun to write, again thanks Sandra Leigh for inspiring me.