50 Sun Project Wrap Up and New Project

 

I thought I would just sum of this project of taking 50 sunrise and sunset photos. I did complete the mission.  I would do a few things differently in hindsight. Most of that was administrative.  

I would have created a separate file and labeled those photos.  I took a lot more than 1 photo of each sunrise and sunset. It made things complicated

I would have made better plans for different locations.  This is not as easy as it sounds at first. It is surprisingly hard to get really good photos that are slightly different each time.

BIGGEST Surprise

                                                                            photo by BT

I loved how so many people sent me sunrise/sunset photos - my best friend, husband, sister.  This turned into so much more. By the way their photos were quite frankly way better than mine. 

Photo by my Husband

                                                                    photo by MF (sister)

                                                    photo by TT (sister from another Carol)

NEW PROJECT

New Year so I thought new project. This is going to be a little different type of project.  I am really interested in getting better at genealogy, so this project is going to involve 52 ancestors but in reality, it is going to be 13 ancestors.  I would like to research 13 of my ancestors and come up with a better way to write about them and share the information. The tentative name is going to be the DEAD FILES but not like the show. I will be sharing details in the new year.

Wordy Wednesday

 

This sounds like excellent advice.

Weekly Roll - Christmas Edition

 

Merry Christmas from my Honeypot to Yours!

It is our first Christmas in New Mexico. This is my first time seeing a blow-up Santa with a bag of tamales that pop in and out of the bag.  This yard also had a blow-up avocado, cactus with a guitar, and regular cactus.  Welcome to the Southwest.

Inappropriate Thoughts

How do you all feel about mail order meat? Nonna has had 2 packages of meat dropped at her doorstep which were misdelivered. We have run into ethical meat issues. The first was from Omaha Beef and it was really good stuff.  It was unfortunately not for her address but an address 3 blocks away.  I redelivered to correct address. This week a smoked turkey arrived for the previous owners of the house from their friends.  I need some friends who send smoked meat. (Just kidding) Friends who send meat should know their friends moved, right.  This is sitting in our freezer Nonna reached out to the realtor. 

Deep Thoughts

Reading the Gospel of Luke - Advent

 I have made it a practice to read the Gospel of Luke starting in December. It is my advent practice. It has become my tradition and chance to refocus on the reason for the season. Before bed I read a chapter.  It is nice to take a pause. When I opened my bible to start, I found this stuck in the beginning of Luke.

Much like my Grandma Marvel. I like to stick things in my bible. Her bible was full of bits and bobs. 

House to Home - Christmas Shelfie

 I don't think I have shared my shelves above my sink. They are simple but I love them. Two of the glass tree canisters are antiques.  I would love to collect some more.  The green dishes are the similar Madrid pattern of depression glass re-released as the recollection collection. I believe.  They were gifted to me.  The brass deer were Kevin's grandmother's Nanna's.  Most of the glass trees are Target.  You know I love a tree.

Something Fishy or You have been Elfed

 My youngest son hasn't exactly been in the Christmas mood. I decided to "Elf" his room. He was studying aquaculture, so I decided to do something fishy.   He also spends all his time in his room, so it seems.  Luckly, we found time to sneak in there and set up this tree. Of course, Stitch the teddy had to help.

The only thing I bought was the little tree at Walmart.  Everything else I had on hand or made. Some of the examples of the fish below that I made. I found all these on Pinterest. The origami fish was the hardest to make.

                                                                            3D Fish

origami fish

Link to when I elf my son's desk

Weekly Roll

 

Linky Love

If you get into a fight, don't take your helmet off. We're looking for smart football players, not dumb ones. In the interest of time, don't get into any more fights today. - Mike Leach

Mike Leach Quotes - He is legend. Washington exposed me to him, and I always loved hearing his interviews because you never knew what he was going to say.

James's Beard Amazing Persimmon Bread - This is very tasty. Persimmon Bread is one of Nonna's favorites. This did not disappoint but changing it to boozy persimmon bread. 

Inappropriate Thoughts

I won't lie. I will stick my head in any cut out. Just ask my best friend. These were at Lights on the Pecos. You ride a boat along the Pecos and view the Christmas lights, unfortunately it was cancelled due to high winds. 

Deep Thoughts

It has been a week. So, I leave you with this thought below

What I Read December and Yearly Book Round up

 I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit. Check out what everyone else is reading. My reading has been a little bit more on the sparse side this month. 

Greed in the Gilded Age - The Brillant Con of Cassie Chadwick by William Elliott Hazelgrove

I picked this nonfiction book on a whim. This slim book details the con woman Cassie Chadwick. Cassie Chadwich conned about $2 million dollars out of several banks by simply claiming to be the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie.  That was simply her biggest and most successful con until she was caught. She realized early on that she could con others by simply pretending to be a wealthy woman or soon to inherit wealth. The men of the time especially highly educated bankers were beguiled by her looks and simply took her at her word and believing every word of her story. It is a fascinating piece of history. 

Favorite Books of  2022

The Unanswered Letter by Faris Cassell (my review)

How to Host a Viking Funeral by Kyle Scheele (my review)

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley (my review)

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (re-read) (my review)

The Maid by Nita Prose (my review)

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (my review)

Reading by the Numbers

Total Books Read -19

Re Reads - 1

Fiction - 11

Non Fiction - 8

Wordy Wednesday

 

Just a little shout out to the Old Saint Nick

Stitch Mischief 2022 - Mayor of Tinseltown

Some people have an elf on the shelf. We have a bear named Stitch that causes mischief.  He much like the elf on the shelf.  My oldest is still into this.  So, I will continue to keep up the magic.  Recently he elected himself of Tinseltown buy bringing some more houses to his Christmas Village. It about time he is mayor of something. Stitch the bear is 24 years old.

Weekly Roll

 

Earlier in the week, the weather was wonderful. So, we walked our downtown area to see the city lights.

Linky Love

Damask Love's Soft Reindeer wreath - Oh my gosh this is so cute and really not that expensive of a wreath craft

The Shabby Creek Cottage spin on a book paperbag snowflake - vintage style. I know another SNOWFLAKE.  I can't help myself.

Inappropriate Thoughts

We just can't compete with our neighbor's giant programed tree and 8 inflatables. Our inside the window lights with giant popsicle is no match for that display. I really need to get a better picture of it. This side view doesn't do it justice.

HOWEVER, my best friend sent us a giant inflatable dinosaur. I can't believe how excited that we all were about this. This really made me ridiculously happy. My youngest son named him Keith. Of course, there had to be some shenanigans.

Popsicle Snowflake

 I got a flake thing. I love popsicle snowflakes. At my old house, I had them in the large front windows. I love how graphic they are.  

However, the snowflakes did not make the move.  I had them since at least 2012.  Each year I ended up regluing some of them.  This time for the new house, I wanted to make a slightly bulkier sturdier snowflake so hopefully it would hold up better.  

I used giant, mini, and jumbo popsicle sticks with a wood round. All supplies were from Walmart.  You can get the regular popsicle sticks from Dollar Tree. I struggled a bit. I destroyed my first two versions. I finally had my husband get the hub just right. It was all about the math. Uggh! After that I was able to build the rest. 

I painted it white with craft paint. I was going to spray paint but it was really windy at the time.

Popsicle Snowflake Wreath

House to Home - Doors Off China Cabinet

 I had mentioned to my husband that I thought it would be easier to paint and do anything in this cabinet if the glass sliding doors were removed. The glass doesn't slide very well. I asked him how hard it would be to remove them. I have decided to put off painting this until the first of the year. It is a PROJECT. I woke up last Friday to the glass removed. It was such a nice surprise. I removed the black panels I used at Halloween in the back part of the cabinet. I miss them but not very festive.

Just a little bit of coffee and tree decor. I love me some trees. I can't believe that my tree collection has grown. I have battery powered tea lights on remote in houses. 

I think the bottle brush trees look good in the coffee grinder. 

Not quite satisfied with the bottom shelf so I will probably mess around with it a bit more.

Weekly Roll

 

Linky Love

Modern Mrs Darcy Cookie Exchange - find some new cookie recipes

Magnetic Snowflake Building Kit - This is really cute DIY.

Inappropriate Thoughts

This above is what my children was my best Christmas decorating move. Of all the Christmas decorating I have done. This is what they like best. Yep, stockings hung from a dresser turned TV stand.  All the stockings were made by Nonna. 

Deep Thoughts

This quote below was in my horoscope. I don't put much thought into horoscopes. I usually read for the entertainment value. However, this quote stuck with me.

Anger is the purest form of care. The internal living flame of anger always illuminates what we belong to, what we wish to protect, and what we are willing to hazard ourselves for. - David Whyte

52 Ancestors - Overlooked

The topic for this week of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Overlooked. Frequently in my genealogy research I find that my ancestors that don't marry or don't have children are overlooked. So, I decided to research one of those ancestors for this week's prompt.

William " Will" John Lendman is the ancestor I chose. Below is what ancestry shows for his life story. That isn't much to go on. 

When William John Lendman was born in 1872in Iowa, his father, John was 33 and his mother, Ann was 29. He had four brothers and 5 sisters. He died on May 2, 1944, in Duncan, Iowa, at the age of 72. - Ancestry

I thought I could do better than that. My biography of William " Will" John Lendman is below.

William "Will" John Lendman was born to John Lendman and Ann "Anna Kerr in 1872 in Sperry, Clayton County, Iowa. This was the year of the 1872 presidential election and Ulysess Grant won. William's father, John, immigrated from Germany and his mother, Anna immigrated from Ireland and settled in Iowa. William was the last child born to Anna and John. He had 1 older brother and 2 older sisters. 

In 1886, his mother, Anna died. William was 14 years old at the time. His father, John would remarry in 1889 to Ida Schadwell from this union they would have 6 children - 3 boys and 3 girls. John and Ida moved to Hancock County, Iowa shortly after marrying in Sperry Iowa. It appears that Will moved with them. 

In the 1900 census, he is listed as a laborer. In the 1910 census, Will's occupation is listed as draying. Draying was moving heavy loads by cart. Also in 1910, his sister, Maria Ftizpatrick died. Will was notified by telegram according to the local newspaper, Britt News Tribune. Also, according to the newspaper. William attended his sister's funeral in Sawyer, North Dakota. William's father John died in 1914 in Marion, Indiana

A funny article in the local newspaper, the Britt News Tribune on Oct 7th, 1920 made light of the accidental death of "Old Bob" the dog. In the article "Are you Leading a Dog's Life, " it describes Old Bob accidental death by chasing the mower that Will was using which resulted in his death.

In the 1930 census, Will is listed as laborer who does tilling, and he owns his own place in Brit, Iowa. William would die May 2, 1944. William was 72 years old. The death certificate indicates it was his prostate. His death certificate shows he was to be buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Britt Iowa. His older brother, Thomas, would die later that year in December.

House to Home - Unleash the Snowflake

So, we moved across country and my husband really really boxed up our junk snowflake. For something, so large and heavy it is also has fragile parts. 

He built a crate with straps. He is quite the MacGyver. The snowflake survived intact. We hung it up over the piano.

Details about the junk snowflake

Weekly Roll - Post Thanksgiving

Linky Love

Paper Bag Snowflakes - This was a really satisfying project and cheap project

Sausage Seasoning - Easy way to turn ground pork into sausage. Especially helpful when you have allergies to onion or garlic or pepper. I left out pepper and did the added brown sugar. DELISH

 Deep Thoughts - Skate Park Church

We have been taking our oldest to the Skate Park on Sunday mornings. It is our new tradition. We initially just sat and watched him go around and round the oval basically. My husband started getting us coffee to drink while we watched.  Then the next thing I knew we had tongs and a trash bag.  So now while my son scooters around the oval. We pick up trash and talk. This also makes sure the oval is clean of bottle caps and trash that will really derail you as you go around top speed. It makes us feel like we are doing something for our community too.

Favorite Things

Oh, I love a gaudy shiny brite. It is my favorite. Good news is they made the move just fine. Picture above is of my display.