Remembering

I just have received a alert from the New York Times that Walter Cronkite had died. Did you ever feel like a bit of history or your childhood is gone? What do I remember most about him??? I remember when I was in school in 1963 and President Kennedy had been assassinated.....he was giving the report and had tear and his speech was broken.......I hope I never hear or see such an event as the assassination of a President again in my life time. It was heart wrenching and unbelievable at the same time.


The kid has started a blog. Please visit and comment, she likes getting "mail."

See the link on "My Blog List."

http://wakeupem.blogspot.com/

STILL WAITING

I had to check back with my Blog to see when I had sent for my obits.   It was June 27, and today is July 16, so I am getting impatient.   This is nothing new because I expect instant gratification.  

Today I was on the Irish Family History Site and got two records.   One was for my great grandfather Thomas Dowd.    I knew his birthday to be 14 March 1860.  Since Thomas was the only one born (with that name) in County Mayo in 1860 this is a pretty sure bet.  It has listed the address as Rathbane and Parish/District as Backs/Knockmore…   It is a church Baptism record and the date was 24 April, 1860 and his parents are Thomas Dowd (no surprise there) and Cate Sweeney.  The two sponsors are  Andrew Dowd and Cate Dowd.   MY THEORY is that Andrew is my gggrandfathers brother, but is Cate Andrew’s wife or sister.   Do not have a theory on that yet.    With the Baptism date about one month after the birth I feel that this is the RIGHT family, so another generation added to my list.

I had found a listing for Ellen Mortel (Mortell) she was the only one for the year 1851 in County Limerick, the Baptism was 7 April 1851.   Ellen had listed 1852 as the year of her birth, but Patrick (as listed on her death certificate in PA) is listed as her father.   Joanna Condon is listed as her mother.   Address is unknown but Parish/District is Effin/Garrenderk.   Now  I had posted a few weeks ago about a Patrick Mortel with Ellen as a newborn in England’s 1851 census, with Patrick as father and Mary Mortel as mother.   Is Joanne and Mary the same person???   Is the 1851 English census accurate??? Are they my people?

Each answer begets another list of questions………

I ran a search on Patrick O’Rourke and Bridget Naughton but there were too many to determine.   I know the names of both sets of parents, what I need is a Reverse Search Option.  Where I can put in the names of the parents to find out information.

 

END OF TRIP DIALOGUE.

Our trip home was on Thursday……… The trip down was hampered by rainstorms, accidents (not mine) and fog enshrouded mountains. Knowing that there was a better way to go home I studied the maps and decided to go north on NC State Route 18, it was wonderful, winding two lane country roads and it took about 30 minutes, then another 20 minutes on SR NC 421 which attached to I77. This saved about 1 1/2 to 2 hours off my trip. The weather was perfect and roads were dry, we actually drove with the sun roof open during the morning.

While heading north we saw a sign for a Farmers Market so we stopped to stretch our legs and do a little shopping. We bought spices and fresh fruit and veggies. I like to stop about every 2 hours just to stir up the circulation and prevent blood clots.

Mountains on the drive up RT 18.

The rest of the trip was up I 77 thru Virginia, West Virginia, and then in Beckley we stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel and then on to the infamous Rt 19 in WV. A few towns along that road have a main income provided by speeding tickets. SOOOOOOOO, if you EVER go on that road, set your cruise control and WATCH the speed limit signs.

The main attraction is the New River, which ironically is one of the oldest rivers in the world. It flow north and the New River Gorge National Park is a wonder to behold. The first introduction is the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette WV.

New River Gorge below, popular with white rafters.

To get an idea of it size and length of the span, you will have to check out the links and it is awesome. The pictures on the links must have been taken from the gorge below, I could not get anything close to what has already been taken.

If you are into thrills and perhaps having a death wish Bridge Day October 17, 2009 may be of interest. This is where dare devils will bungee and base diving will jump off the bridge. Personally, I would not do it even if someone paid me a million dollars.

Near the upper end of Rt 19 is a scenic overlook.

You can see how the mountains were moved to make the road 4 lane about 15 years ago.

We then got on I 79 and saw an interesting sign near Weston WV Weston Asylum Tours. Thought we would come back and make it a day trip. This Mental Hospital just closed in 1994. It is a two hour drive from Pittsburgh, I think the kid and I will go.

Addendum: I found out that there is no longer bungee jumping from the New River Bridge since someone got killed a few years ago.

ASHEVILLE NC

A trip to Ashville, North Carolina was on the agenda for Wednesday. It is about an hour and a half drive from Lenoir. The weather forecast said it was to be sunny and high of 92 F. Well, it really was overcast and the temp was in the high 60’s. When I had visited Asheville a few years ago my friend Ruth and I had visited The Biltmore. It is the largest house in America and was owned by the Vanderbilt Family. It is truly amazing and worth the stop if you happen to go that way, but you will need at least a day to explore. There are also Other things to do while you are there.

The Biltmore has its own winery and they wines are excellent. You can buy them at the winery on the estate or in the gift shop which is outside the attraction. You need not pay for the tour to buy the wine. You can buy a case and have it shipped home or order it on line, EXCEPT for the antiquated laws in PA. To buy wine it has to be shipped to the Wine and Spirits monopoly and then you come and get it and pay the outrageous tax that has been levied on your purchase. PA had the second strictest laws governing liquor sales with only Utah being first. It is time to give it up, but the governing body in PA does not want to lose control. The shop outside The Biltmore. They also had the usual things for sale as well as salad dressings, and condiments for cheese dips etc.

Entrance to The Biltmore Estate.

Gargoyles for sale, if you would want that sort of decoration.

After our brief stop we went into the City of Asheville. We found a garage near the shopping district. To my amazement the parking for all day was $4.00, if any one comes to Pittsburgh the all day parking will cost you about $20.00, if not higher. Instead of controlling cost the powers that be in the City of Pittsburgh raise taxes,the city if fraught with nepotism and they would not consider laying off some relative .

Back to the story. There are many shops and by now it had started to drizzle. After Mondays soaker and all of us getting wet I had brought two umbrellas. One of the first stops was the Woolworth Walk which was formerly a Woolworth 5 & 10 store. (now how many remember what the 5 & 10 cent store is ????) There are vendors of local artist who display and sell their wares. I bought some dark blue pottery pieces, one being a pie plate and the other a covered casserole bowl. The pottery pieces now made ca be used for baking. The only requirement is to place them in a cold oven and at 10 to 15 minutes to the cooking time.

We found a candy store where they made the delicacies right before your eyes. The The Chocolate Fetish was worth every calorie and they ship to all 50 states. I only bought one but I could have eaten one pound.

After all that shopping, it can be quite exhausting, I asked one of the women at the Woolworth Walk where was a good place nearby to eat. She had suggested The Tupelo Honey Cafe. The food was outstanding and I had the best Black Bean Burger ever made. I had to pass out samples to my daughter and friends and they all agreed. Emily had ordered a cup of soup and a grilled cheese said she wished she had ordered it too. So, being the nice mom, I swapped half of my burger for half of her grilled cheese. I WISH I HAD THAT RECIPEE.

In some of the shops I felt like a time traveler to the 1970’s, it is really true that what ever goes around comes around again. Silk scarves of many colors.

The last shop of the day was The Grove Arcade which was the precursor to the shopping malls of today. I was fascinate by the architecture of the steps as shown below.

The really last stop of the day was for Tapas and Sangria at Zambras. There are no tapas bars in Pittsburgh that I know of, Zambras sold tapas and only paellas were the main dish. The pitcher of sangria was spiced with the flavors of cloves. This restaurant was next to the parking garage and then homeward bound were we.

Tuesdays Adventure

Tuesday dawned bright and sunny.   Our schedule was to revisit Lenoir because of the closed stores on Monday.   We went to a knitting store Chix With Stix  Emily bought some yarn and I bought some so Emily can make me a hat.   Hats and scarves generally take one skein each.   It need not be done till it is cold.   We perused also books stores and some antique stores and a few galleries.   

Then lunch at a delicious, an inexpensive Mexican Restaurant and then on to meet Jane, a friend and coworker of Sarah’s.  We went for a short drive and found quite a interesting place.   The shop it self was in a large metal building.   This was a no frills place but inside it was filled to the brims with antiques stored as collections.   We spent a long time there, Jane was looking for old metallic tins that she used in making jewelry.

She sells her jewelry at Etsy and a boutique in Richmond.    Jane said right now it is fun and she doesn’t want it to become work.

Things for sale.

Emily found pillows, I bought candle sticks, and Jane found more tins.   I

think someone found something to buy.

Our last stop of the day was for ice cream at Udderly delicious.  It was the best I have tasted in quite awhile.

I especially like the planters:

After the ice cream it was enough for the day.

North Carolina Trip

After the goat farm we went to look at the town of Lenoir to do a little shopping and have lunch.

We had to wait till Sarah got home and take a shower after goat tending duties.  There are a number of shops and we had sandwiches at F Futs, while is inside of Hog Wallers Outfitters.  In addition to the outfitters and restaurant they also sell antiques which were reasonable priced.

 

While we were eating the overcast sky became a full fledged storm and we had to wait till the rain ended.   We perused the stores and to my amazement most of them were closed Sunday and Monday.  We had planned a hike but did not go due to the rain.  It was raining to hard to take pictures. 

With the hike cancelled we decided to go to Boone, North Carolina  this is where Sarah taught and her husband James attends grad school at Appalachian State University.  The trip up the mountain was interesting.   It is a two lane mountain road that at one time had passing lanes so the cars could move ahead of the trucks.   But in the past 10 to 15 years it was decided to make the road four lane.  (What were they thinking???   Two companies have gone bankrupt and the passing lanes have disappeared. 

They had to destroy mountains of granite, you could see the stone and it is very dark black, and used the parts of ruble to fill in gaps to make the road.   No one knows if it will ever get finished.   On top of the mountain was very scenic, due to the rain I did not take any photos.  At the end of the road trip was dinner and sleep

 

 

 

Free range chickens at the goat farm.   The eggs are also sold there.

Mondays Adventure to the Goat Farm

 

On Monday we got up early and a trip to the goat farm was planned.    The farm in on a meandering old two lane country road.   It is located in a small valley between two mountains. 

The first stop was the milking parlor.

Each goat needs to be milked two times a day.   A box with their food is placed between the bars and the head is held in place.   Then the udder is cleaned with an antiseptic wipe and the teats are cleaned with Betadine.  A quick squeeze to clear the ducts and then the suction apparatus is attached.

 

The suctioning is very quick an the udder is emptied in a matter of a few minutes.   The goat is then released to do their goaty business.   The goat herd is about twenty nine females and a few billy goats. The billy goats are separated from the  and look longingly at the females with a lusty interest. There are also the kids that were born in the spring and are now adolescents.   The females will be old enough to be bred in the fall.  The males are neutered at about five weeks of age and sold for meat this will happen when they weigh about seventy five pounds.

Records are kept about who had mated with whom to prevent any in breeding and prevent genetic mishap.

 Faulkner the goat admiring the ladies.  Goats do not have upper teeth and their pupils are rectangular which will give them a panoramic vision as opposed to our central vision.  They will be able to see an enemy coming.

The goats are well treated and the farm is very clean.   The milk is then collected and put in a pasteurizer and then collected in cloth bags to drain the liquid.  After it is then made into cheese.   The cheese is feta, and a type camembert to brea, and cheve which is a creamy cheese with the consistency to cream cheese.   The ones I purchased were dill and basil with sun dried tomatoes.  

The farm is Ripshin Goat Dairy.   Unfortunately they do not have internet sales but the farm is spotless and the cheese is excellent.

This is Fritz the farm dog, he is a Great Pyrenees and his job is protector of the goats.   He guards the herd and is on alert for predators such as coyotes.  He goes into the pasture with them and sleeps in the barn with the goats.