I've been tagged.

OK!! So I am attempting to reply to the tagged thing. Of course Jenny looked up the folder, and the 6th one and the 6th photo AND She bought the costume for William and took the picture and put it on my blog so who really knows if this really follows the rules--certainly not me. But it is a cute picture!! So I tried!!!

Luck 'o the Irish

My Mom used to tell me I was Scotch, Irish and Dutch and didn't amount to much. I was looking at the Cutest Blog on the Block pictures when Susan came over and she put an Irish border on my blog for St. Patricks day. (Sigh!! I'll not likely figure these things out for myself.) However, I thought I'd post stories about your Irish ancestors.
The Adairs were Irish but I don't know much about them back that far. But Stan's Grandmother, Mary Helen Dowling was very Irish. Her dad, Peter John Dowling, was born in Dublin, Ireland about April 1838. He couldn't remember when he was born in the early 1900's. He was an exciting character. He was a seaman and was fighting in the Civil War on a ship. He was injured and was discharged from the navy. He got well but they wouldn't let him reenlist so he enlisted under an alias, (made up name, James Grant.) He served on the USS ST. Lawrence.
He then went to Oregon, and married Mary Finney or Feeney, also born in Dublin, Ireland. They had 2 children, Mary Helen Dowling and Peter Dowling. Mary Helen Dowling married George Stanley James for her third marriage. They were the parents of Kenneth and Virginia James. At one time, according to Dave and Judy, there was a family Bible for the Dowlings at Grandpa James' house and they found the name Patrick Scott in it and decided to switch positions of the names and name their baby for that person. The Bible is nowhere to be found now.
To continue the story of Peter John Dowling. Around 1900 he was getting pretty old and applied for a Civil War Penchant. We have copies of his correspondence with the government lasting several years trying to prove that he was James Grant. The pension was for $6 that's right six dollars a month and was still being sought in 1912 when he died.
Well, now you have an Irish Ancestor story for St Patrick's Day. Peter John was sending money to his Father in Ireland when he was in the Civil War but we do not have his father's name. It might have been John and someone in his family might have been Patrick Scott, but that's all we have to go on.
Vicky and I are going to a Family History Expo in ST. George--maybe I can find more information about him.

Picture of the bassinet sheets

When I took Stephanie to get the fabric for a baby quilt I discovered that she had only one sheet for the bassinet. So we decided to make some sheets and she took pictures of them. The white round thing at the bottom is the baby still in her tummy. She didn't want to be left out. Yes, we made a blue one, and two pink ones and two print ones. The quilt is in the background. Thank you, Stephanie, for the picture and sending it to me. (You didn't really think I figured out how to post a picture did you?)

I learned to make crib sheets when Susan, Laura, and Carolyn were little. We had two cribs but only one crib sheet per crib. And we had no money to buy any. Someone had given me a dress with a long skirt that was very full. I think I measured five yards. It wasn't in style and I was probably pregnant anyway so one day I decided to take the skirt off the dress and see if I could figure out crib sheets. I measured the length of the mattress and added 10 inches to go over the ends; then measured the width of the mattress and added 10 inches to cover the sides. Then I cut out 5 inch squares from each corner and sewed the sides together so it fit the top of the mattress and down the sides everywhere. I folded the squares into triangles and sewed them into the corners to go under the mattress so it would stay on the corners. Then I hemmed it all the way around the bottom. I got three fitted crib sheets out of the skirt as I recall so I had 2 sheets for each crib and one extra. Course they were all blue and I had all girls but I was quite proud of myself anyway.

And I remembered Anna Marie Jensen Barnhurst who had those cute little twin girls. Everyone was making new dresses for their girls for Decoration day or Fourth of July and she had no money for fabric. But her little girls weren't going to not have new dresses when everyone else's did. Besides she was a seamstress ( remember? The one who sewed for the Mormon family in Denmark and joined the church and came to Utah all by herself?) so she took the white fabric from her temple robes and made dresses for her girls.

We seem to be going into hard economic times so let's share all our creative ways of saving money. It really is kind of fun to find ways to make things nice without spending money.
(Susan can be creative with cooking and I'll do her sewing. Hee Hee) Remember the blue and gold sweats you got to make for your Christmas presents? And Tracey has been trying new recipes using food storage. Let's share at least our successes.

Gardening Contest

Hey! I've been devouring the seed catalogs Jenny ordered for me. Let's have a gardening contest this summer. Now don't say "Oh, Steven or Cathy will win so why bother." We can have all sorts of prizes : Most produce, best patio garden., most creative use of space, Learned the most, etc. It would be a good way to get the kids involved and could really cut into the food bills.

I've seen climbing zucchini squash and cherry tomatoes, pole peas and beans grown in large pots on patios that could be fun. Any body game?


And now for the family history story about gardening. My Mom, Hamy, and her sister, Emaline, decided to stay in a little log cabin in Paragonah one summer between college terms, to save on living expenses. To further save they planted a garden thinking that they could grow lots of fresh vegetables. Not long after they planted it they noticed their neighbor's chickens that were running loose scratching up the seeds and eating them. They shooed them off several times and did a little replanting but the chickens just wouldn't stay away.
Finally they decided on a plan. They took needle and thread and sewed little pieces of paper to corn seeds leaving a three or four inch piece of thread between the seed and the paper. They scattered a few of these in the garden. Sure enough the chickens snatched up the corn and when they went home that night they had little signs hanging out of their beaks that said, "I've been scratching in my neighbor's garden!"

The neighbors were not amused as Mom recalled. But they did keep the chickens home for a few days so the garden could get a good start.

Nut Case or I don't like Dentists

So today I go back to the dentist to have my permanent crown put in. After that I'm not going back until Hell freezes over or I break another tooth or something equally disastrous. When he put in the temporary crown till the real one got here I'm sure he said it was aluminum. Isn't that what causes Alsheimers? (see I can't even spell anymore) Anyway after having the temporary for a week They finally called for me to get an appointment for the real thing and I wrote down Tuesday the 11th. When I checked last night I had no idea when my appointment might be so I had to call this morning and see what day it was. Besides that, when Susan blogged her recipe for hot chocolate I really thought "Why would you put the chocolate in without taking off the wrappers? " She should never have mentioned "unwrapped". I'm sure that my mental problems are all caused by the dentist! Perhaps with enough Vitamin C to take away the aluminum, I can regain some sanity. But don't count on it.

Look Out

Hey!!! Psssst! If you see an old granny with a white Jeep Cherokee in 4 wheel drive smashing snow banks in front of a house on 750E, just know that GRANDMA'S TIRED OF WINTER!!!!!

Birthday Time

Guess what! We have only 2 birthdays in February and they are both on the same day! First HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEN and thank you for the baby saber toothed tiger on my screen. Have a great day! (does the tiger have a name?)

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THOMAS. Did you get the birthday card? Let me tell the rest of you something about Thomas. One day when I was at his house his mum and I heard him playing up stairs. Whatever he was doing was frustrating him a little but if we ask him if he needed help he just said "NO". A little later he came downstairs holding the most amazing box he had made out of legos. It had a base, sides, a lid, and a place inside to put things and it all held together and didn't come apart when you picked it up. I couldn't have figured out how to do that! Thomas is a very, very smart little boy. He had an idea and stuck with it until he made it work. He could become a famous inventor like Thomas Edison.
You're one of my very favorite grandkids, Thomas, and I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Bulletin Board

Carolyn and Darren received notice that their next assignment will be Ft. Lewis, Washington. Assignments are subject to change as with all military but that's the latest word. Rachel may stay here in our area for awhile. College maybe?

If you want Amy to pick you up for Stephanie's baby shower let her know. One car uses less gas than several.