Strange things are afoot

Several weeks ago Toby and I made a very strange discovery in our yard. Some one or something had been shredding our trees.  One fairly large Quaking Aspen in our yard was particularly hard hit. 

Exhibit A: Razor sharp marks in the trunk of the tree approximately 3 feet off the ground.

We were baffled by the discovery and sought several opinions and came up with several theories of our own, including, but not limited to...

A cougar
A man with a razor knife
A young buck rubbing the felt off his antlers
A very large cat (not a cougar)
And last but not least -- a Chupacabra

Now before you go thinking the Chupacabra is the least likely suspect, consider these facts...

There had been reports of a dog and several chicken myseteriously killed in the middle of the day and what other creater would stand less than 2 feet tall and be able to put razor sharp claw marks into a tree...I mean seriously.  I'm surprised the chupacabra wasn't our first guess! Once we'd determined it COULD be a mythical creature we shared our curiousity with others.

The occurances continued and at last Toby's dad installed his trail camera to the side of the garage to see if he could catch the culprit once and for all.

Several days later he shared the following photos with us

Culprit #1 - A racoon that I like to call Swiper. Caught red handed shredding our weeping cherry tree!

Culprit #2 - a young buck I like to call George, not actually caught in the act of distruction, but he might be thinking about it.  you can never tell with deer named George.  (p.s. George also likes to sleep outside my window some nights.)

Culprit #3 - "A dude with a golf green hairdo"
No, Wait! It's just Toby's brother checking out the trail cam.
Before we convinced Toby's dad of the fact it was, in fact, just Jared he was convinced we need to get a whole lot more trail cams to catch the mysterious creeper in the yard!

We had a good laugh, and the tree is healing, slowly...i think. But I have to admit I'm a little sad that there are no Chupacabras in the neighborhood.

I Could Have Told You Vincent the World was Never Meant for One as Beautiful as You

For longer than I can remember I've had a poster print of "Starry night" hanging somewhere in my house, years ago it hung in my bedroom, now it hangs in the hall. I'd love to upgrade it to a nicer quality print but haven't found. Now I'm afraid any print wouldn't do it the justice it deserves.

The highlight of my day in London was seeing a "real Live" Van Gogh up close and personal and I am nearly without words to describe how amazing it was. For as long as I can remember I've loved Vincent Van Gogh there's something about his life and his paintings that speaks to me. Today I came face to face with him in the shape of his masterpiece "Sunflowers".

All I can say is WOW.

I found myself standing 3 feet away from this painting marveling at the paint strokes and the numerous layers and shapes that went into creating a real work of art. There it was hanging in front of me in Room 45 of the National Gallery on a lovely purplish, grayish wall -- I've not quite decided what color the wall was, but even the wall was beautiful. It spoke to my heart and made me happy. Maybe it's because I don't have that particular gift, or maybe it's something entirely different, but there's just something unexplainable about seeing the real deal.

I stood for a few moments watching a young lady sketching the painting in her sketchbook and was more than a little envious of the thought of sitting there long enough to somehow make it my own. It was amazed at the number of people gathered around the painting taking in the strokes and the colors, but I had to wonder for how many of them was it actually an experience as opposed to something to do on a rainy afternoon?

For me, it was an experience.

The only thing missing...my very best friend.

A Lovely day in London Town (or Hanging with my Pepys)

I made finally made it to London today!

We rode the rain in from Stanford -le-Hope, Essex and landed at Fenchurch Street Station. I had conceded already that I likely wouldn't see much with my aged parents in tow (both are in their 70's after all) but had told myself that whatever I saw it would still be more of London than I'd seen before today...so with that Attitude I went.

My cute Auntie and Uncle spent last evening trying to map out the best route that would include as much bus travel as possible to save the parents from having to do too much walking. I had given her a preliminary list of the things I'd like to see, but again, realized it was likely not to happen...but enough of the back story.

Once we landed at Fenchurch station we walked a couple of blocks to "The Monument". If you don't know what "the Monument" is, don't feel bad, neither did I until a few days ago (which here leads to my title tie in). Back in the year 1666 there was a great fire in London and this fellow Samuel Pepys (pronounced Peeps, like the easter treats) wrote an entire history about it (yes,I'm a nerdy English major). The monument was built to commemorate the event. It's very tall -- without digging out my paper I can't tell you the exact dimensions, but let's just say it has a tight, winding staircase that ascends for a celebrated 311 steps (something to do with distance and where the fire started -- like I said I don't have my paper right here.) So for 3 quid I got to climb all 311 steps up to the top where they have a little lookout area where you can get a pretty good view of the city...the Monument was built in the late 1700's so Im sure back then it was a magnificent view! It was pretty cool...although I have to admit by the time I reached the 100th step (yes, Toby I counted them all) I was about ready to die from exhaustion! But it was worth it! When we (my uncle Alan and I) got back to the bottom they gave a a certificate that basically says I survived climbing the monument. What a fun way to start the day!

After the Monument we wandered over to the Tower of London (and yes Norm, the ravens were still there). I saw a few Beefeaters and laughed a bit at their outfits (I seriously thought they were kidding -- um no, that's what they wear everyday!) Next on our agenda was the London Eye, so Mary trotted us off to find the nearest bus heading that way -- this is where we encountered our first hiccup. Mom didn't want to go on the Eye, and Dad had never said one way or another. So we got off the bus at the Festival Hall to use the Loo and discovered Dad did want to go on the Eye after all, but mom's afraid of heights. About that time it started to rain and Mary had checked the queue and it was at least a half hour long or more, and I wasn't about to leave mom sitting in the rain for what could have been 2 hours time (sorry, not happening).

So we skipped the Eye and walked in the rain for a bit to find a bus (by this time it was litterally pouring). We waited in the rain for a bit till we caught the bus to Trafalgar Square. And sought sanctuary in the National Gallery (and sanctuary it was). Mary and Alan were going to go the the Cafe for a coffee, and Dad decided to go along (he was thirsty). I had hoped Mom would go too so I could go enjoy the gallery on my own terms...but Mom decided to come along and I have to admit it was nice to have her there. She doesn't get to do a lot of things so she walked along with me and we took in the atmosphere together. It was pretty neat to share that with here. Her Idaho farm girl roots and life as a stay at home mom for the last 40 years haven't given her a whole lot of opportunities. So she got a cultured today -- we even spent time looking at a brilliant painting of a horse just for her (okay, not really just for her -- it really was brilliant!) I think she may have enjoyed herself -- which is saying something, she's more of a homebody than me so this trip has been a real stretch for her---she's way out of her comfort zone. We saw some really beautiful paintings and could have spent days, if not weeks looking at everything in the gallery, but we only had 2 hours and that include gift shop time, so I contented myself with the Impressionists and a few Italian and French artists on the first level -- we saw maybe 9 rooms worth of paintings and there are something like 68, not including the special exhibits! You could spend an entire week just wandering the museum and not see everything! Mom had a smashing time in the Gift shop -- we both bought postcards galore and sundry other trinkets to remember our visit.

By the time we came out of the National Gallery the sun had come out and it was a BEAUTIFUL day (I think I may have got even a little sunburn). It was decided we'd go to McDonald's on "The Strand" for a very late lunch. Mind you it was a posh McDonald's with double decker seating and the Cadbury Flake McFlurry I had was pretty good, but nothing to write home about.

After lunch we wandered towards Covent Garden to take in the atmosphere there and even I decided my back and legs had been used enough for the day and that I'd echo the cries of the parent's and call it a day. (if you're an Art lover and you've ever spent any time in a museum you know what I mean.)

So we tracked down the right bus, after wandering past a few of the grand theaters. We saw where the Lion King, Betty Blue Eyes, Shrek and Legally Blonde were playing. I also saw a couple of adverts for a few I'd never heard of "Love never Dies" which is a sequel to Phantom of the Opera (not sure how that works, but okay) and apparently they've made a musical of the movie "Ghost" (not sure how that works either).

Long story short. We found the right bus and made our way back to the Train Station. We were all pretty worn out. But I have to admit it was a lovely day!

Much to Mom’s Relief we we’re not whisked off to Russia by an Ersatz Cabbie

We arrived at Heathrow!

It was nice to stand up after so long. I have to admit there was something a little magical about seeing the signs for “litter bins” and “toilets” – a sure sign I had actually arrived in the UK. We walked what seemed to be at least 3 more miles (avoiding as many stairs as possible for Mom’s sake – and she doesn’t do escalators either) and arrived at customs (or whatever they call it, you know the place where they check your passport). Two delightful blokes checked my passport; they were ever so funny, there was a short one and a tall one. The short fellow had dark hair and more of a Scottish accent, while the other was a tall, rather gangly fellow who looked like he could have been the long lost brother of my friend Sara – there was something very Griffin about him. They checked us in, gave us the green light and I FINALLY GOT A STAMP IN MY PASSPORT!!!

We worked our way down to Baggage claim and retrieved our luggage and then made our way to the pickup area. We had been told that there would be a man there to pick us up, and just like in the movies he’d be holding a sign with our name on in. Sure enough as we made our way I spotted the fellow (a rather good looking bloke, mind you with a David Tennant type accent). I spotted him first and made my way over to him, he asked if we were the ones he was looking for (more or less) then crumpled up the sign faster than you can say Jack Robinson – I had secretly hoped that I could keep it as a souvenir – or at least snap a picture, but that wasn’t going to happen. We made our way to the “Car park” to his car and along the way saw several old time “London Cabs”. The cabbie made light work of our suitcases and we hopped in the car and started our journey to Corringham. We soon found ourselves on “Europe’s Largest Car Park” – the local’s term for the M25 – lucky we were headed in the right direction, the opposite side of the road was stopped for what had to have been miles!

We arrived at Auntie’s at about 1:30. She was “ever so pleased” to see us and greeted us each with a kiss on the cheek. Once we were all in, introduced to our rooms, we settled in on the couch in the lounge. We had a abit of supper (at least I think that’s which meal it was) or ham sandwiches (bread, butter and ham) and fresh tomatoes from Alan’s garden, along with some “Victoria Sandwich” cake. From that moment on, pretty much we sat about fighting off sleep so as to stave off the jet lag. A little later we had dinner—we had some delicious pork with fresh green beans and carrots from the garden, new potatoes, all slathered by gravy. We also had a sliced of homemade apple pie with a bit of ice cream (yum!)

The rest of the evening was spent in the lounge listening to Mary and Dad chatting.

Houston, We Need a New Suitcase (Make that Dallas)

On the first leg of the journey I told my parents that they needed to be to my house by 9:30, they pulled up at about 10 minutes to 10…luckily I had asked our ride to be there at 10, knowing that whatever time I told my parents they’d be late. But everything worked out well. The Salt Lake airport was a breeze, nobody got stopped and we made it to our gate with plenty of time. After much debate I decided that I would bring my laptop and my Canon which added a bit of weight to my luggage.

At gate #1 mom soothed her frustration by rolling my second skein of yarn into a ball. We grabbed some lunch, waited a little while longer and boarded our flight…on Leg 1 we found ourselves on the very last row of the plane and all I could think was “it’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic “ though I think that plane may have turned me into one! It was a good flight though as far as flights go, but the view from my window seat was terrible—all I could see was the engine. It was rather like I imagine it would be to fly in a sardine can!

We arrived in Dallas on time and found ourselves walking into stifling heat (108 degrees!). We walked for what seemed like ages and then found the Skylink (looked a bit like the Monorail at Disneyland) and hitched a 10 minute ride to the other terminal for our next flight – I hadn’t been told there was a free roller coaster ride included with the price of admission!

It became evident about halfway through the Dallas airport (after the roller coaster ride on the Skylink) that the backpack I was carrying was far too heavy to carry any further. So once we found a spot to sit for our layover I ventured over to the overpriced luggage store in the terminal and found myself buying a small rolly-bag to stash some of the heavier stuff in so’s I could manage the rest of the journey. (I knew I should have listened to that little something that said – TAKE THE ROLLY-BAG!” but I didn’t).

Once the new bag was bought (along with a new luggage tag and souvenir #2) life was a little better. We had a 3 hour layover in Dallas and it’s funny to think how fast the time flew by. I paid a visit to the money changers and got a handful of pounds and then we ventured to the MickeyD’s for happy Meals with about 10 minutes to spare (lesson learned—Daddy does not like apple dippers---no real surprise there.) Once we were on the plane we found ourselves seated on row 30—the first row of the cheap seats with a big screen TV (hereafter known as a life sucker) and nowhere to put our carry on bags (except in the overhead bin).

Mom spent the whole flight (mind you this was an overnight flight when most people choose to sleep) watching the overhead screen showing the progress of the flight. She got a real kick out of it. The flight had individual screens for each passenger that popped up from the arm rests…I quickly discovered that I could play Tetris (!!!!) and then I they had the new version of Jane Eyre on the new releases. I tried to convince Mom to take a nap, but she was as keyed up as ever…so I got through the film mostly undisturbed, no worries, I think it was definitely watching again. I snoozed for a few minutes off and on, but I’ve always had a hard time sleeping while I travel. One would think that on a flight of 9 hours you could get a little reading, napping or crocheting done, but a certain travel companion of mine is rather chatty…she can’t sit still or be quiet…even the 18 month old behind me was far less high-maintenance than she is. (Even as I type this she is talking my ear off!)

London Calling...

Those of you who know me well know that traveling stresses me out...mostly its the getting there and back again that stresses me out. Not quite a month ago my dad called and asked me if I still wanted to go to England with him. I was a bit in shock...my dad has talked about going back to England for the past several years and I've always said I'd love to go along...but I never thought it would actually happen, because as we all know life has a tendency to get in the way of even the best laid plans (and our family has never been very good at plans!)

Long story short, In 4 days I leave on the adventure of a lifetime (at least so far as my lifetime is concerned!) I'm heading to England to spend 15 days with my parents and my Auntie and Uncle who live in Essex. There are presently no plans set in stone besides getting there and getting back but I'm hoping for some memorable moments. I hope to see London with all the interesting thing she has to offer -- The British Museum (and the Cat mummies), London Eye (are you kidding me!), I may even try talking my dad into going to the Doctor Who Experience. London itself has a lot to offer, so I'm sure I'll have to make a return trip one day.

However, the thing I am most looking forward to is getting to know my dad, on his home turf. I think it will be interesting to see where he came from. I think it will also be grand getting to know my Auntie and her family (I've only met her once, very briefly). So for me this truly is the opportunity of a lifetime. After all the health problems my dad has had over the past year I have come to realize that he's not going to be around forever and I have learned to appreciate every moment spent with him more than I ever have before. So even if we all we do is learn more about each other I think it will be well worth the trip.

Happy 35th Birthday to Me!

Today marks the beginning of my 36th year (and as it happens I am exactly half as old as my mother).

June's Highlights

In no particular order:

Bowling with Ashlyn -- my 15 year old niece and I went bowling. It was only her second time ever we had fun and even got a couple of strikes.

Home Alone: Toby spent a week on New Orleans for work leaving me all alone in the pink house (alone is a relative term, Gus was there but he ignored me a lot).

My last Primary Activity: I got released as the Primary secretary in our ward and got to have one last hurrah with the kids at our Scripture activity.

Meeting a "cousin": last year Toby and I decided to sign up for a membership to Ancestry.com so we could both do more family history research. Shortly after joining I created a family tree for the elusive Patrick McDermott and his family hoping that I might find a little more information about there family. A few months later I got a message from a woman named Shirley who happens to be married to one of Patrick's Great-Great-grandsons. She said she had information on the family and we emailed back and forth for awhile sharing what little information we had each gleaned about the family. We lost touch for a little while and I began focusing on Dad's side of the family. A few weeks ago Shirley reappeared in my inbox and she said they were coming to Utah for a family reunion and asked if we could meet. I of course agreed and invited Mom to come along. We spent most of on Saturday at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City talking about our own mysteries and discoveries. It was fun to meet them and make a little bit of a family connection. Shirley thinks I should write historical fiction about the McDermott family--I think that could be very fun.

My niece Sophie turned 1 in June. I still can't believe she's been around an entire year. It seems like just yesterday when I held her for the first time. She has turned into a very busy, very happy little munchkin.

Camping at Capitol Reef

Obsess Much?

Yesterday I dragged my 15 year old niece Ashlyn into into this funky little consignment shop inside of an old bank building (we were on our way back from a bowling adventure and we had about a half an hour to kill before my youngest niece's 1st birthday party).

I'd been itching to go into this shop since I first saw it, but never really had the time (or excuse) to stop in. So, I said, "We're going here" and she didn't object.

Inside was pretty much what I expected it to be -- a little chunk of vintage paradise. They had tons of fun stuff to look at: old cameras, handmade flowers for your hair, “vintage” kitchen tools, old toys, refashioned chairs, and much more. I think Ashlyn thought I was a little odd for wanting to poke around in every corner of the store—she said the coolest thing she saw there was an old fashioned telephone (which I didn’t see) so maybe it wasn’t a complete waste of time for her—but again, going to a consignment shop with your aunt may not be the best idea of fun for a 15 year old!

As we were exploring I came across this “vintage” yellow bicycle that they were selling for $35. It was love at first sight. When I saw it I said to Ash, "I need this bike!" (I think this may have been the point when she decided I was in fact not just kind of weird, but really weird!)

Then my sensible side kicked in and I remembered that I was just the day before cursing the bike hanging in the garage after running into it for the 19th time.

But it was Yellow, and Old, and had one of those old bike seats, and it was only $35!

But we were running a little late since I’d poked around so much so I hurriedly convinced myself I didn’t need to buy the bike, after all I don’t really have $35 to spend on a vintage bike that would need new tires, and who knows what else...

But the yellow bike had spoken to me (screamed out to me, really it did)—but my sensible side won the first round and I walked away.

Even as we were getting in the car I said to myself I should have bought the bike. Then as we were driving away I said to Ashlyn, I should have bought the bike. She even suggested a quick u-turn (twice) but twice I didn’t turn the car around (sigh), so now I may never know what happens to my yellow bike.

I could kick myself for walking away. I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about the yellow bike. I even drove back over to the shop after the birthday party, but sadly they had closed and hour earlier.

I'm pretty sure I'm still obsessing about the bike. Especially considering the fact I've now composed an entire post about the bike. Did I mention I could kick myself for walking away?

Sadly, the earliest I could make it back out there would be Wednesday. Who knows, by then the lovely yellow creature may have given up on me. She may have called out to someone else who will have lifted her up by her shiny silver handle bars without hesitation, promising her a wonderful new life.

U2

Hands down my favorite rock band is U2. I acknowledge I'm not alone in this. It all started back in high school with a introduction to the "The Joshua Tree" with its classics and then the infatuation grew to embrace other albums like "Rattle and Hum" and "The Unforgettable Fire" -- the first time I heard the song "Bad" I was hooked. The love grew and I came to appreciate not only the music but the poetry that U2 creates. Some of my fondest teenage memories can be brought back to life be hearing their songs. And Toby will tell you its no secret that I have a bit of a crush on Bono -- I can't quite explain it, but I can't deny it either--to this day to love listening to Bono.

On May 24th I got to see U2 in concert again! And I must say it was pretty much the coolest concert I have ever been to. The band was in rare form and sang many (if not all) of my favorite songs. It was definitely a night to remember--from the stage to the lights to the music it could not have been better. Back in 1997 I went to my first U2 concert at Rice Eccles Stadium. It was pretty amazing to see the band live for the first time--but I think this concert was even better than the last.

I took my good camera along and got some pretty great pictures--like the one at the top of the page -- this is Bono singing All I Want is You with an extremely cool green guitar (happy sigh!) I also had a great time hanging with Toby, Liz, John, Norm and Becca. Thanks for getting the tickets Lizzie! It was awesome!

Top Ten Favorite…Places to Eat (and the Foods I Crave Fort-Nightly)

In no particular order:

Tucci's Cucina Italiana – Spaghetti and Meatball or Pasta Farfalle (a new find, but I've a feeling I'll crave it fort-nightly)

Costa Vida – Sweet Pork anything (Yum!)

Chili's – two words, Memphis Rub

Cracker Barrel – Grilled Pork Chop with apple sauce and green beans (delish!)

Pila's Kitchen – Scrambled egg sandwiches, homemade fudge, real home cooking (Never heard of it? You might say it's a "private club for members")

Jamba Juice – Pomegranate Paradise

Olive Garden – Minestrone soup

Hagermann's Bakehouse – Roast Beef ala Chris with an oatmeal cranberry cookie (mmm!)

The Cheesecake Factory – Shepherd's pie and anything chocolate

Mimi's Café – I have yet to have something here I didn't like, but my #1 favorite is the buttermilk spice muffins

Happy May Day!

Does anyone else remember dancing the May Pole Dance in Elementary School? Maybe if we reinstituted this ritual Spring would actually sproing?

In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

• March 2nd – Sliced my finger open on a soup can. Very clever.


• March 5th - Saw "A Tale of Two Cities" at Hale Center Theater. Loved the Story, loved the music, and loved the production!


• March 6th - My nephew Jon turned 22. (I can remember when I was 22, so this is very strange. And the sad this is I haven't seen him since I was about 22. But that's what happens when he lives in Pennsylvania and I don't.)


• March 8th - Our ward put on a yummy dinner and a production of "Women at the Well" for our Relief Society Birthday celebration. I was impressed by all of the talented singers we have in our ward.


• March 9th - Hairspray! @ the new CenterPoint Legacy theater in Centerville. The production was great! So many talented actors: the guy who played Seaweed was an amazing dancer and the man that played the mom was Hilarious! It was a fun show. We caved and bought season tickets for the new theater and this was our first show. It was wonderful and the new theater is really nice. My favorite part about the new theater…I didn't feel like I was sitting on the stage, like I did at Rodger's Memorial.


• March 11th - We squeezed in a chance to see The Scarlet Pimpernel at Viewmont High School. The production was pretty great for a high school play, but the kid playing Chauvelin took the cake. His voice was amazing (and Chauvelin has hard songs to sing, very impressive). We did get the giggles (at intermission) because he struggled a bit with the French accent and at times sounded a little more like Bela Legosi in Dracula rather than a "Citizen" – but that aside he was really brilliant in the part. The role of the pimpernel was good too. I can honestly say I love the Scarlet Pimpernel in all of its incarnations.


• March 12th - I got to spend a delightful evening with my beautiful hazel-eyed niece Sophie Sue. She's 9-months old this month and is such a happy little cutie-pie. The only time she's not happy is when she's hungry. We hung out together while her mommy and daddy went to the Bountiful temple. Sophie and I also went with my Lizzie to a wedding reception for one of the girls we grew up with. It was at "This is the Place Park"; we drove in the dark and the rain with a hungry Sophie, but made it there safely and enjoyed seeing a few old friends. It wasn't until after Lizzie had dropped me off that I realized I didn't get my cookie in all the hungry baby confusion (Sophie was hungry again and I got distracted in the car on the way home) so I hope John enjoyed the cookie for me later. It was fun to hang out with 2 of my best girls!


• March 14th – Highlights of the day: Genealogy discovery of a 4th wife for Tilden Luck – ordered the Marriage certificate to prove my discovery; Chips, Salsa and Conversation in Heather's basement (Love her! enough said)


• March 16th – My cousin Ron went to the temple for the first time today. I can't believe he's all grown up and preparing to go on a mission to the Philippines!


• March 17th – St. Patrick's Day – I seem to recall eating cookies.


• March 19th – Ventured out to a movie – saw Red Riding Hood (I give it 2 stars)


• March 21st – Mom and Dad's 42 anniversary! (Wow, Congratulations!)


• March 26th – Wii games with Cooper and Mason. Genealogy phone call with Mom.


• March 27th – My sister Andrea turned "almost 40" today (crazy!) She'd say she is 29g or something, I've lost track or just how old she thinks she is, but I love her anyway.


• March 28th – Received aforementioned Marriage certificate for Tilden Luck and Caroline Elizabeth Wood. Early evidence seems to show that Miss Wood may, in fact, be the older half sister of Tilden's third wife (my great-great-grandmother) Harriett Drawbridge!


• March 31st – My cute, crazy niece Karlie turns 10 today. She's only been in my life for about half that long but I love her like she's been around forever. She's one of the most energetic kids I know. I'd love to have just a little bit of her energy! Happy Birthday cute girl!


• Other highlights: The smell of Spring on Temple Square; Starting my very own granny square afghan; Finishing Little Women (only took me 3 years to get through it) – my favorite chapter "An Old Umbrella"; Primary Leadership Training at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square; Getting a wedding invitation from an old & beloved friend

Mary Beal and her Mysterious Friends

My paternal Great-grandmother Mary Beal kept what we've affectionately dubbed "the birthday book." In it she kept track of names and dates of the people she knew and loved. Many of the names in the book are just first names with dates without years, others have full names and dates with years. Over the last little while I've been attempting to help my mom untangle some of the mysteries that lie in the book.

It has been really interesting finding links to the Birthday book as I search census records and try to pull families together from the seemingly random names in the book. It's not hard to distinguish that the Beals and the Lucks are ours, but it gets tricker when it comes to deciding where the Eldridges and the Thomases fit in or if they really do. And now I've got two separate strings of Goodsells that I haven't been able to link to the Luck/Beal tree yet.

My Dad's side of the family seems to speak to me, so I feel a bit of connection with Mary Beal and the people in her birthday book. Are they all members of her family? Could some of them be close friends? Who are these people and what did they mean to Mary? I'm determined to do all in my power to unravel the mysteries of the Birthday book.

According to Vincent van Gogh...

"Great things are not done by impulse,

but by a series of small things brought together."

Grandma's Feather Bed

Mom won't care for this one, but I had to share. A friend posted this on her blog the other day and it brought back a lot of fun memories. What child of the 70's and 80's doesn't love John Denver?

Cornish Pasties

Cornish Pasties (pronounce PASS-tees)

Crust.

1 1/4 cups shortening (crisco)

3 cups flour

1/3 cup cold water

1 egg beaten

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Filling

1 lb round steak in 1/8" cubes (Mom uses hamburger, Turkey burger works well too)

2 diced potatoes

1 small onion, chopped fine (I used a handful of dried onion, rehydrated)

1 teaspoon chopped parsley (good without)

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons butter

Cut shortening into flour until small beads appear. Stir in water, egg and vinegar. Roll into a ball. Refrigerate until chilled. Roll out. Using an 8" plate as a guide, cut out 5 circles. Set aside.

Combine steak, potatoes, onion and parsley. Sprinkle with salt and pepper Toss. Put a mound of filling in the centre of each circle. Dot with butter. Fold half of circle over mound. Press edges, Cut slits in top. Put in baking pan and bake at 400* for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325*for 45 more minutes.

These go really well with a glass of cold milk (and they're good cold the next day too)

1 Down, 51 to Go

Here's a quick rundown of my first week of 2011:

SATURDAY --

Went on a WILD and CRAZY yarn gathering mission with Toby. We headed to Layton, had lunch at the Olive Garden, then hit 2 Michael's stores, Robert's and JoAnn's to find yarn for various crochet projects. What a fun way for me to blow my Christmas cash (I'm nerdy, what can I say). I've got a couple of afghans and fuzzy animals on the docket this year.

SUNDAY --

1 o'clock church. It was so nice not to have to be up at 7 o'clock to make it to church on time.

MONDAY --

New Year's Day (observed) at least where I work. I got to spend a chunk of Monday with my niece, Nicole. Picked her up at the airport, bought her lunch and sent her on her way back to Provo for her second semester at BYU. Chatted with my Mom on the phone for a bit.

TUESDAY --

Back to Work. Still learning the new job.

WEDNESDAY --

More work.

THURSDAY --

More work.

FRIDAY --

More work.

SATURDAY --

13 years ago today I met a true friend. Until that day I never imagined I'd be someone else's Diana Berry. I still consider myself very lucky to have such a wonderful friend as Toby.

Today aforementioned best friend and I went to Hale Center Theatre to see Born Yesterday which was a delightful play, along the lines of My Fair Lady. Ditzy blonde being taken advantage of by a slimy millionaire who uses her to make money -- she's his business partner, but isn't bright enough to read, let alone understand the contracts he has her sign. They arrive in Washington D.C., millionaire decides blonde is too ditzy to mingle with Senator's wives so he hires a dashing reporter to smarten her up. Long story short, plan backfires, girl gets smarter, dumps millionaire and moves on with life with the dashing reporter, because she can.

I made Cornish pasties again today from a recipe sent to me by my cute English daddy. Yum! (Made previously on Christmas Eve Eve -- I'll post the recipe later.

Started work on yet another crochet project -- little sister is a monster Doctor Who fan and she found a pattern for a crochet version of Doctor Number 10 which she requested that I make for her. Too bad the Doctor won't be making an appearance in time for her birthday in 5 days.

Seriously? New Year's? Already?

2010 flew by -- 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months -- all gone, again. Whoever said time flies faster as you age knew what they were talking about. Over the past 12 months there have been a lot of ups and some downs, luckily my part-timer's doesn't allow me to remember too much of everything.

Here's a taste of my year (in no particular order):

• Attended 2 family reunions
• Saw a few movies -- #1 favorite Voyage of the Dawn Treader (3rd installment of the Chronicles of Narnia), Leap Year and When In Rome were also flicks worth seeing.
• Saw several musicals -- The Lion King at Capitol Theatre, Tarzan and Crazy for You at Tuacahn, The Wedding Singer and The Drowsy Chaperone at Hale Center Theater. #1 favorite The Drowsy Chaperone -- if you love silliness, you would love this one.
• Became an Auntie TWICE -- welcomed Sophie Sue and Ryan Keith to the family this year. (Yay for Babies!)
• Made a couple of key Family History connections -- though Patrick McDermott is still a mystery
• Got a new position and a raise
• Saw Sugarland in concert with Toby, Jared and Amber -- good times!
• Gained a greater appreciation for The Wizard of Oz after attending the Utah Symphony's "Oz with the Orchestra" in which the talented Utah Symphony artists played the soundtrack for the entire movie. It was SO cool. It definitely made me see the movie in a whole new way. Music is amazing.
• Finally saw Gone With the Wind for the first time ever. Ironically, if Scarlett had burst into song once in a while the story would have moved quicker.
• Discovered a love of hummus (at the California Pizza Kitchen)
• Got sucked into the latest adventures of Doctor Who (I can still remember watching this (sneakily) on Sunday nights when I was supposed to be in bed and Dad was watching it on PBS in the living room. (don't tell, but I cried when the 10th Doctor regenerated into the 11th -- we'll miss you Number 10)
• Read a few books: 3 volumes of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Hunger Games and The Book of Mormon
• Daddy got sick, then got better!
• Got to see most of my family for Thanksgiving, and a few more for Sophie Sue's blessing day.
• Took my Mom to one Funeral in Idaho
• Spent my birthday adventuring to Franklin, Idaho on a Family History Quest to locate any information on where George Foster might be buried. Not much luck, but it was a beautiful day.
• Played a lot of card games, learned to play Othello
• Bought a new laptop
• Went to the Zoo with the family and actually spent an entire day there.
• Blew up the vacuum cleaner bag (what an adventure that was)
• Made two baby quilts, several baby afghans, a church mouse and several batches of cookies -- though sadly, didn't get around to the infamous cinnabuns this year
• Went 4 months without biting the nails, sadly the end of the year stress got the better of me, so my streak will have to begin again in 2011

...and sundry other things that my brain is blocking at the moment...more later (perhaps).