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Monday Genea-pourri, Week of April 3–9, 2023

I have completed one hundred sixty-one (161) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. My outside activities included working at the History Center, doing phenology, and attending two birding walks which of course were outdoors.

Genealogy

Blog Writing:

A New Beginning Genealogy Resource: Drew Smith’s Generation by Generation (Book Review). I was anxious to read this new book for beginning genealogists and can recommend it due to its new approach, starting with the present and working your way back in time, generation by generation. The first part discusses more methodology than in other introductory volumes.

SNGF: Summertime Fun as a Child I wrote about bicycling and roller skating on sidewalks in our old neighborhood in Pittsburg, California.

Meetings/Discussion Groups
Another quiet week. Just a short session with Jacqueline.

Volunteer
On Tuesday, I completed a half day volunteer shift and worked on cleaning off Betty’s old desk to make room for a computer to be placed there.

On Wednesday, I hosted a Q&A session at the Oakland FamilySearch Center during my volunteer stint. We need to publicize this more, as I had only one person attend, but we had a nice discussion about Scottish research.

Client Work
The third probate class I’m teaching at Applied Genealogy Institute went especially well. I really enjoyed the discussion we had about Robert Lancaster’s inventory. Some brought up points I hadn’t thought of myself. I’m looking forward to next week’s presentations.

Own Work
Because I got a notification from Google about my drive storage is filling up, I spent a couple of days clearing out Google Photos, Google Drive, and Google Email. I copied and pasted the text from emails into a Word document, added an image of any attachment so I would know what was included with the email, and downloaded everything to review later. I have managed to get from 13 gigs down to 9+ gigs. I’m not finished, but it’s a good start.

Webinars Viewed.
None this week.

I am reading:

  • Researching U.S. WWI Military Members by Margaret M. McMahon, PhD.
  • Generation by Generation: A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy by Drew Smith—FINISHED!
  • Aunt Dimity & the Enchanted Cottage by Nancy Atherton. This is a little weird, and I’m reading a book further in the series, so I don’t have all the background. Maybe I’ll finish it, maybe not.

Other
I went on two Mt. Diablo Audubon birding trips this week, the first on Tuesday to the North Briones trail, where Cheryl led the trip. It was disappointing that there were not more wildflowers blooming, but it has been both cold and rainy this past month. On Wednesday, Cheryl and I carpooled to the Orinda Connector trail where Don led the trip. There, we saw nice examples of Trillium blooming and viewed Wood ducks, Wilson’s Warblers, and Orange-crowned Warblers. Birding around the neighborhood during my daily walks was a bust—it was too overcast most days.

We’re still pulling weeds in the backyard to prepare for the summer veggie garden. This rain, though we badly needed it, produced much more vegetation. Now that it hasn’t rained for a few days and we’ve had some wind, the ground is drying out and it’s harder to pull the weeds.

Photos for this week

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great at documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme.

Copyright © 2023 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

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