an exciting find!

Last week, I was so excited to finally, after many years of searching, find the birth and death dates and grave of my great great grandfather (on the Nye side), Joseph Sears. When I was a little girl, my grandmother showed me this little teakwood carving of a New England sea captain. She told me it is a replica of this grandfather, who was the captain of a clipper ship which sailed to the Orient. Since he was gone for long periods of time, he had this carving made for his wife to remind her of him. My searches on census records found him and his family (wife Hannah (Lincoln) and two daughters, Lydia and Mary Josephine -- my great grandmother) living in Provincetown, Mass. The next census record, shows Hannah, as a widow, with her two daughters. I was never able to get more information on him, until now..........because, just this year, a volunteer with "findagrave.com"took photos of graves in the cemetary pictured below. Because of previous research, which gave important pieces of the puzzle, I know that it definitely is his grave. And from this picture, I learned for the first time, that there was another daughter, Olive, who died as a baby, and is buried next to him. Joseph Sears was born in the Azores in Portugual,as was all of his crew, who boarded in the same house in Provincetown. My father remembered how his grandmother (Mary Josephine, daughter of Joseph Sears) hated foreigners -- probably from memories living around all those Portuguese sailors. (A geneologist, who uses the same geneology search engine as we do, had run into this branch of my family tree. Even though he discovered he isn't related to my line, he kept the infrmation he found and e-mailed me, telling me where to find the grave photo on the web, and the site at which he found Joseph's death records. I am so thankful to him. (He's from R.I. too)Joseph's grave is in the Winthrop Street Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Provincetown.

Here a painting of the cemetery from the 1800's. It'll be exciting to visit that cemetery when we go to the Cape on one of our upcoming retirement trips.

kids just wanna have fun -- now and then

All the kids had so much fun at Kyla's 6th birthday party. Here's Kyla and cousin Dario playing one of the detective games.

Later on that weekend, Aiden and Dario discovered Uncle Ta's boxing gloves and had a bit of fun before the punches started to hurt.

Reminded me of a time way back in the 1950's when my brother Charlie and I were into boxing.

projects completed!

It's been so hot this summer, that I wasn't sure I'd ever get a fall garden in. Got a load of garden mix soil from the dirt yard. Carl worked it in with a shovel (we'll use the tiller in the spring), and got it all planted in an hour -- lettuce, red and green cabbage, broccoli, chives, cilantro, dill, yellow crook neck squash. Most of it will be unaffected by the few bouts of really cold weather we get in the winter.

My most fun summer project, which was finally completed this weekend, is this twin size quilt I made for sweet Ava (stitch in the ditch for the main body of the quilt, and hand quilting around the flowers in the border). I told Ava every time she pulls the quilt over her, that Grammy is giving her a hug.

Our first retirement trip

Just got back from a wonderful week in Bemidji, Minnesota, where we enjoyed crisp, clean air, cooler temperatures, the most gorgeous scenery (lots of lakes and forests), and best of all, spending time with Mark, Courtney, and Colby.

We helped them move into their new place, which is like a mini resort, with scenic views from all of these great windows.

What fun it was to go for a canoe ride right in their backyard. This very large pond has beautiful water lilies, catfish, and a very large beaver damn.

We spent an afternoon in Itasca State Park where we enjoyed canoeing on Lake Itasca, right where the Mississippi River starts. Here we are sitting on a log over the mouth of that mighty river.

We had lunch at a historic pine lodge that was built in 1910. Besides enjoying the waterfront view, and the hummingbirds, we had fun watching Colby sample french fries, a pickle, and whatever else he could get his hands on.

Colby's getting to be such a big boy at 9 months, going canoeing with his parents, almost walking, and climbing up on the sofa. We loved being with him and his mom and dad so much.

Everyone needs a sandbox

Summer, 1953 (6 years old)-- I spent hours playing in the bare patch of backyard that was officially my "sandbox". Oh, the things that came out of that sandbox, both good and bad. I would add leaves, twigs, water and stones to handfuls of dirt, and create culinary delights. Once, I threatened a kid down the street with a poisoned mud pie that I'd leave on her front doorstep. On one of my digs, I discovered a finely chiseled Indian arrowhead. I imagined a bronzed Narragansett Indian brave silently stalking a deer in my backyard. Another time, my brother Charlie and I decided we would dig a hole that would be so deep it would reach the children in China. We worked many, many hours, til we could fit inside that hole. While I was crouching in the bottom, digging out more dirt, my brother swung a hoe from above, and it caught me right on top of my skull, resulting in a trip to the emergency room, a couple of stitches, and a spot of my scalp where the hair doesn't grow. We never did reach China, but I never did give up my fascination with playing in the dirt.

Just this morning, after the retired hubby and I finished our exercise in the park, I told him to go inside, ice the knees,and wait for me to fix breakfast because I'd be outside just a few minutes watering my tomato plants. The lure of the sandbox proved to be too much. An hour later, there I was, tomatoes plants unwatered, (hubby asking, "What are you doing??!!") and me playing in the dirt. Since I'm too big to make mud pies and such, I call it "weeding". The soil was so nice, softened up by recent rains. I attacked a weedy patch of lawn, freeing the runners of San Augustine grass from the choking weeds. There's something calming, soothing, and liberating about digging in the dirt ...... can hardly wait to put in my fall garden.

Old folks having fun!

I like to play "house fairy". The grandkids get so exited when the "house fairy" knocks on their door, checks out their rooms, and gives them a treat for having a neat room. It's the same "house fairy" that came to their mommy when she was little. (Watch out, Dario, Aiden and Ava --"house fairy" will be coming your way soon.)

Grandpa's idea of fun is a day out in the garage in the sweltering heat, cooled by an electric fan. He loves to restore old clunkers. This one is almost done, but needs a lot of cosmetic work inside and out.

But the most fun we have is time with the grandkids, who are growing up way too fast. We recently spent the day at Emily's playing with her precious little ones. Last week we took Kyla and Elayna to a children's theatre production. In another two weeks we get to spend lots of time with little Colby in Minnesota.

Retirement, Chapter 1

On July 13, Carl officially retired, after working 40 years at the same place. After a nice send-off from his work, he was free as a bird. During the first week, some of the ground rules and routines were established. On the first full day of retirement, Carl followed me out to the yard, asking ,"what are you doing?" and "why aren't you ready yet?" We were about to go on our first joint errand as a retired couple. "Honey", I replied, gently, but as firmly as I could, "Please don't ever, ever say those words again. You are now in my territory. I'm the chief CEO of this corporation. I've been running it for more than 30 years. You are now in my territory, and you are just a peon." I thought he took it pretty well. He shrugged his shoulders, walked towards the back door, and said, "I guess I'll just have to do my own thing til you're ready". When I came back inside, here's what he was busy doing.
Our first errand consisted of getting Carl some real work-out clothes and new running shoes (see photo below). On Mon., Wed., and Fri., we hit the track at the city park first thing in the morning, putting in 3 miles, and do lap swimming at the city pool on the in -between days. I wish I could bottle how good I feel after doing this. (Unfortunately, it doesn't last all day, and I'm drooping like a wilted flower come mid-afternoon.) After a leisurely breakfast, we then do our own projects (Carl's is in the garage), meet again for lunch, and so forth. Our first two weeks of retirement have been relaxing and fun, and Carl has been great about obeying the rules, so far. To be continued...