Ancestry.com

My boys gave me a membership to Ancestry.com for my birthday. Well, it has been a journey trying to fill out my family tree.  My mother's family and my dad's family all grew up in the same part of the world, Cherokee County, Alabama.  I have traced to my great-grandparents on both sides, and that is where it seems to end for now.  Benjamin Franklin Roe, 1845-1912, and Sarah Jane Roe, 1845-?.  On Mom's side: William Marion Archer, 1848-1948, and Mary Keener, 1865-1912.

However, on Marcia's side, I was able to go much further back. Her grandparents were Roy and Sydney Jones. That is where the Joneses end.  Sydney Keller Jones's line continues back seven more generations to Georg Keller, 1670-1750, in Germany on her father's side.  Marcia's great-great grandmother was Eva Kern, David Keller's wife (1775-1850).  Her parents were George Kern and Juditha Kern. Juditha Kern's father's line goes back six more generations to Steffan Kern, 1542-1583. Katharina Hanssen's (Steffan's wife's),  father was Lorentz Hanssen, 1525.  On her grandmother Bessy Newton Lowe's side, it goes back eleven generations to John Newton, 1572-1633, in England.

So far I have identified 184 people in the Roe/Jones family trees.

This is a picture of the Roe side. The Jones side is much bigger. It won't fit on one screen.

Duct Tape Wallet

My old wallet was wearing out, so I used it as a pattern to make a new wallet from duct tape.

It is a tri-fold wallet.  The only thing that is not duct tape is the picture holder that was in the old wallet.

I even have a few dollars in it. So far, it is working very well.  We were in Wendy's yesterday for lunch and the lady said, "Is that made out of duct tape?"  I said, "Yes, it is.  I made it myself."  It didn't take very long to make either.  I guess I have less than 30 minutes in it.  It was kind of fun.

House Cleaning

Today, I decided it was a beautiful day to do some house cleaning.  Bird house cleaning, that is.  I took down all of my bird houses and cleaned the old nests out.  While I was at it, I re-painted those that needed it.  When I took the roof off of one of the houses, I found a little tree toad. It was cool outside today, so, the toad was lethargic. I brought the bird house in and took his picture (see below).  Then, I returned him to the tree and continued my bird house maintenance. After, I finished, I checked on the toad, and he was in the same spot I left him on the tree.  I hope he finds a good place to winter in.

Six bird houses.

The toad was in the house on the right.

Fall is upon us.

Tree toad hiding out in bird house.

Released back to the tree.

OK, now what?

In the Tree

Recumbent Snoopy is now in the tree in our front yard.  He will weather the fall and winter and be ready for spring.

Recumbent Snoopy Bird House

Here's the classic recumbent Snoopy on his dog house.  Having completed my first Snoopy bird house, this one went much smoother. I reduced the size of the door a little and did the bottom (3/4 inch pine) a little differently. By removing the two front screws, the bottom will hinge down for easy clean out. The rest of the project is all made of 1/2 inch plywood.  The ears were cut from one piece and then split so they are mirror images of each other.

Completed:  9-28-11.

Snoopy Bird House

Here's the World War I flying ace in his Sopwith Camel.  "Curse you, Red Baron!"

I have been thinking about this bird house for several days, and finally decided to take it on.  I looked up images of the WWI flying ace online and free handed something like this one from memory.

I cut it out, assembled it, primed it, painted the roof, and sketched out Snoopy all in an afternoon. Then I set it aside to dry for a day. 

Here's the bird house ready to be detailed.

After it had dried, I got some new paints and finished it up.  Next spring, this should make some birds a new home. 

I am visualizing some new houses even now. This was fun.

Completed: 9-25-11

Our New Floor

God gave us a new floor. Last week I recieved a check from the school district for my sick leave. I was not expecting that. I thought I had already received that compensation, so it was like new money to me. So, we have been needing a new floor for years, just didn't have the money. We went to Lowes and picked out a laminate floor.  Today, a Lowes installation team installed our new laminate floor in about five hours. Chris and April are the owners, and Frank 1 and Frank 2 are their helpers. They are from Guatamala. They were all fast and efficient workers. Glad I let Lowes install this great floor.

Frank 2 with the last piece going in.

Kitchen/dining area

Entrance Hall