The TV news said the wildfire is threatening the town of Pearblossom, California. I know it well. I was a resident in the high desert of Los Angeles County for more than forty years. My heart is aching for ALL victims of the fires but especially when so close to home. A few weeks ago (or was it a few days ago?) the fire was threatening Lake Hughes, California, and I have (had?) dear, dear friends there.

(I said “had” because I moved and lost contact with friends. Those Christian friends may be sitting at Jesus’ feet, in Heaven, right now. So many folks my age—and younger—have passed away.)

I’m quick to tell folks that I’m living in “a little corner of heaven.”  Yesterday, we had mild rain all day; likewise mild rain today. However, between episodes, I rode the “three-wheeler” (because I need the exercise). A neighbor met me with a gift. It is no secret that I have lots of bottles. The neighbor, “Bill,” gave me a “one-of-a-kind” bottle. He fashioned the bottle from a piece of wood, on his lathe!! So thoughtful (of Bill) and so beautiful (for Lorraine). ~~ The “three-wheeler” is a gift from the owner-manager of this RV Park. The bike “gets me out of the house” for much-needed exercise!!

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News travels fast: Four residents have inquired about my new bottle. I’m so delighted to show it to my neighbors.

… and this researcher added sixty individuals to the database and changed the “ancestry” image. Here are before and after pictures. I prepared a blog message late evening yesterday admitting that I didn’t have the daughter in my database. It’s 4:30 PM (less than twenty-one hours later) and the daughter and her family is a part of the great BIG Frantz family tree.

While working in the yard, I must have come in contact with poison oak or poison ivy. It’s two in the morning and I can’t sleep. I’m constantly “scratching” because my hands and arms are itching. I came to the computer to Google poison oak and poison ivy. This is just as painful as being stung by Fire Ants. Yes, I encountered those little pests the other day working in the yard. I want to beautify my yard and porch, and I need the exercise. I don’t need the pain! ~~ If you read the article (red link above), “it” can be on garden tools. The other day, I moved about thirty things from behind the storage unit: Rain barrel, planters, Shepherd’s Hooks, ladder. I’ve been embarrassed about my neglected yard, and porch, but it has been “too hot” to be outdoors. We’ve had a few very nice days and the weatherman promises “Fall is just around the corner.”  Fortunately, my clutter is behind a four-foot fence so people can’t see the mess. ~~ The third picture reveals that I improved the appearance of the porch. ~~ “Inch by inch, life’s a cinch. Yard by yard, life is hard.” (ha, ha)

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Three-ten and I just placed an order with Walmart. “No, I didn’t order groceries.”  Click this link to see my purchase—due to arrive on Tuesday.     I don’t even want to talk about it.

If I were a cartoonist I’d draw a picture of an old lady with swollen legs and ankles (edema) and red arms. There would be four arms because two arms would be scratching the other arms. The old lady would look bleary-eyed from lack of sleep and she hadn’t had her first sip of coffee. If I were a cartoonist…

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Only three things to my credit this morning. (1) Prepared coffee, (2) took pictures, and (3) published three blog messages.

For a few minutes, I sat in my rocking lawn chair, on the porch, seventy degrees, and admired the flowers in my yard. ~~ Slow lane Lorraine!

Going in circles!!

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It’s Sunday and here is the gospel truth: I must approach these families with the precision of a surgeon. The “given names” are the same; the families are interwoven. Or, another example: I have to check every record and every individual with an eagle eye.

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P.S. Two-and-one-half hours later. Truthfully, my brain is spinning!! Siblings married “Cripe” also and that isn’t portrayed in the image (above). I need to walk away and ride the “three-wheeler” and exercise doing yard work. However, I feel compelled to document… while names and locations are fresh in my brain (my spinning brain).

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P.S. Five-and-one-half hours since the top portion of this blog message published. There is no end to this family and I have “questionable information” to resolve.

Clone me; I need to be four people!! “Cousin” just sent two more obituaries. Here’s the link to one.

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Obituaries are so important!! A “gold mine” of valuable data!! I do not have this woman in my Ancestry database. Her mother, Nora Alice Frantz, is my fourth-cousin-one-time-removed.

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Open my mind to something new. My mind was spinning with the “Cripe” family so this is “something new” (and relaxing).

With so much negative “news,” I only watch two television networks: TBN and FOX.

This researcher really, really works hard to have everything “letter-perfect.” After an hour of “screen capture” and editing the image; after submitting it to the Gallery and attaching it to a second individual, “the researcher” sees an error. “How did this happen?”  Truthfully, the “little pinky” hit the “W” rather than the “A.” So an extreme waste of valuable research time spent correcting the error. ~~ It’s 1:45 in the afternoon and I intended to ride the “three-wheeler” and work in the yard. Almost six hours devoted to John A. Metzger!! More information about my research regarding John A. Metzger.