Most of the day spent in my “yarden.” I had an overwhelming desire to get my hands  in the soil, Picture #1 shows the many planters that came out of the tarp shelter. Perhaps fifty planters where sheltered against freezing temperatures. Sadly, almost every plant did not survive; they have been in a position to get sunshine and water. Picture #2 reveals the appearance after planters were emptied, and moved to storage. Weeds were pulled (but many more await my attention). Picture #3 documents the “recycled” soil in another of my enormous planters. In my mind’s-eye, it was quality soil and worth saving!! Picture #4 portrays “an experiment.” A CARE resident brought me two branches (from one of his friends) and said “Just stick them in the ground and they will grow.” Picture #5 displays all the new growth on the Texas Lilac. ~~ Note the clay color planters: Coleus plants that have no new growth but I’m not ready to discard them. ~~ It’s almost 5:30 PM and tired old lady is indoors for the remainder of the day.

Correspondence with David Coffin in response to his letter

This is a new experiment: Opening a file I scanned a couple of hours earlier. Why am I adding it to a blog message? Because, in my letter response, I read that things haven’t changed much in twenty-seven years!! According to an old saying “As the twig is bent, the tree is inclined.”

Almost ten PM and I’ve been steadily scanning correspondence and accumulation of family history. Here is another file that illustrates the repetition of my experiences.

Letter to Myrtle and Sam Traxler

The first, and only, box to receive my undivided attention.

Yesterday, I mentioned the book I self-published titled LaVerne Evergreen Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions. My grandparents are buried there. Over the months spent reading (more than three-thousand names), and documenting the cemetery, I walked around the tombstone of the poem’s author, Myra Brooks Welch (1877-1959). Her poem was my favorite long before I learned she was a friend of my grandparents; she attended the same church.

It’s 4:30 AM; I couldn’t sleep; so many thoughts racing around in my mind!! It’s only by God’s grace that I am able to “do” what I have done–and the project I’m currently doing.

The Touch of the Master’s Hand

Roller coaster of emotions!! Frustration when I can’t get things to work for me offset with excitement when I finally looked at a document in PDF format and it was “searchable.” I’d made progress: Hallelujah!! I must admit the process is getting easier. However, I am a stickler for “quality control” so I look at each page of the document after it is scanned. Sometimes I scan pages two or three times before I’m satisfied. I’m still working on that same first box. “Yes,” scanned paper, and unnecessary paper, is going into the trash.

Tonight, I spent an hour reading (with difficulty) a poor quality photocopied narrative written by Uncle Ralph, my father’s brother. He told of hardships of my grandparents trying to farm in Iowa, North Dakota, Alberta, Canada, and several location in California. I’d never heard those details from my father… (it’s a story I won’t burden you with). Lots of “pioneering” for my grandparents; I have a soft life by comparison.

One folder (that will go into the trash): Photocopies of checks, and correspondence, after I published LaVerne Evergreen Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions. Whatever possessed me to keep that information?? (See why I’ve called this project a “crazy maker”?) Some day I hope to get that book uploaded to the Internet. My publication, Frantz Families — Kith & Kin, is already on the World Wide Web. Eventually, Lord willing, I’ll send all my scanned documents (in searchable form) to the Internet.

It’s almost midnight; I can’t seem to tear myself away from the computer!! Daylight Saving Time is not agreeing with me. I’m two hours off schedule now. I was usually always up before seven AM. Now, I can’t get started until nine!! I’m “wide awake” right now, maybe because I’m immersed in this scanning project. Well, comparison-wise, I usually went to bed at ten so I guess I’m experiencing that two-hour time shift?! ~~ I’m preparing the blog message because sufficient light. I need “day light” when handling handwritten pages, photocopied pages typed with a typewriter decades ago, and pages printed with a dot-matrix printer twenty years ago.

I sympathize with folks in the Mid-West and North East. Terrible Winter weather conditions just a few days before Spring. Weather is nice here and I’d love to be working in my “yarden.”

Good night.

Don’t Quit

Through the years, I’ve saved poems (thousands), and statements of interest. Yesterday, I looked at the “Don’t Quit” message in a frame near my computer. This morning I scanned it but, at this hour (6:55 AM), I don’t know how to move the image here from another location in my computer. Lots to learn!!

The entire day was spent working with one surname. I scanned, I tossed the scanned paper into a box (a box for discards). When I checked the pages/images there are some weird characters. I’ve read the scanner software manual twice and am relatively familiar with the appropriate settings. FYI: In the scanner software, scanned images look perfect.  Later, I open the document to find annoying weird characters. ~~ I’m so engrossed with the project, I don’t stop to eat (maybe I’ll loose some extra weight). ~~ I’ve walked away (in a manner of speaking) to prepare this while watching Little Big Shots. (I need the humor of Little Big Shots.)

Just touching base.

With Our Island Ancestors, I have a “road map” (so to speak). I can check one against the other.

The scanner is supposed to support the document feeder but I haven’t learned how to use it yet. At present time, I am lifting the lid for every page and scanning on the “flat-bed.” Time consuming and laborious!! At this rate, it will take me a week to scan this book and ten years to scan my vast collection of family history. I’m doing a limited number of pages at a time (learning curve) and find that “append” does not add the pages at the end of the earlier endeavor (same file name). So I’ve lost a lot of time moving pages to their proper location!! Furthermore, the scanned images say one-hundred-ten pages but I’ve only scanned ninety-two pages, I cannot account for the other pages!! ~~ It’s one-forty-five as I publish this and report that I am able to “multi-task” between two computers and one scanner!! No breakfast and no lunch.

2:00 PM: Gratefully, on the Internet, I found the manual for the scanner. I’m heating a can of soup, and will read the documentation. I hope to learn how to use the document feeder.

2:45 PM: I’m delighted to report I’ve found the necessary information, and practiced, and now know how to use the document feeder with two-sided pages.

4:00 PM: Our Island Ancestors is completed!!

5:00 PM: On closer examination (of Our Island Ancestors) I see my scanning project would require a lot more work if I wanted to publish it to the Internet. Oh well, it was an excellent learning tool.

Almost the entire day attempting to learn how to navigate the software program!!

I’ve managed to scan fifty-eight pages of a book I self-published in 1992: Our Island Ancestors. I flew from Los Angeles, California to Boston, Massachusetts, to Nantucket Island. The two-hundred-twenty page book explains my Coffin family ancestry AND attendance at the awesome Coffin family reunion. ~~ To “get the hang of it” (computer/scanner), I started with material I can easily check page-for-page. ~~ Mid-day, I carried a box of family history from storage into my trailer home living room (but decided on Our Island Ancestors instead).

Seriously, this is National “Get Over It” Day.

Don’t ask me why; I think that is amusing.

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