Nina – Connecticut Yankee

From G. Grandmother Nettleton

The storage area of our basement is lovingly called the “treasure room” by some of our grandchildren.  When the younger ones come to our house they love to go into this room to check out all of the goodies.  The storage room is very large and it contains shelves of toys and games and puzzles as well as many containers of “whatevers!”

Today I have been working in this area.   I knew there was a box down there that was mine and that I have not unpacked it since we moved here which is 6 years ago! In this box were these two figurines, which belonged to my G.Grandmother Nettleton.   I suspect that they are probably over a hundred years old.  The single figurine is from my Grandmother Holbrook’s family her maiden name being Hartman.   If I remember correctly it is probably from my G. Grandmother.  They are so beautiful and I feel a sense of wonderment that they have survived so long.

I know how the grandkids feel about this being a “treasure room.”   I feel a sense of happiness as I unearth my treasures.  It makes organizing and cleaning this area much more fun.  It is time well spent.

This one is from my G. Grandmother Holbrook.

There are two websites that I love to use.  One is Amazon.com –one click !!!  The other is Netflix.    I love to read books and I love being able to browse Amazon looking for books.  It is just so easy to use.   I can look at the top 100 books, I can look at booklists and I can pretty much look for any kind of book, also books in print or out of print.  I love that there is a used book part.  You can even find new books in the used book part.  I have ordered books and movies from this section and have never had something that I had to return.   A couple of the books that I have enjoyed are 3 by Peter Hessler.   #1 River Town, #2 Oracle bones and #3 Country driving. These are all books about China and I have found them very interesting.  I love non-fiction and these are books I would read again.  I have also read Riding with the Blue Moth by Bill Hancock.  It is a book about biking and about people and about overcoming difficult things in life.   This is another book I would read again.    The last set are two books by Greg Mortinson.  His first book is called Three Cups of Tea. The second book is called Stones to Schools.   Greg has a mission to be able to build schools for girls.  The books are an excellent read and show us all what one person can do for other.  It awakens in one a desire to find something that you can do for others.

One more thing I like about Amazon is that you can order a great many other things there besides books.  I live in a somewhat small town and I have not been able to find my favorite cereal  for awhile so I decided to check Amazon and I found my cereal and I could buy a case of it which I did.  So I used the 1-click option and with in 12 days or less I had a case of cereal. I still think it is pretty clever.

Next is Netflix.   Netflix is the ability to view movies easily.  You have a never ending supply of  movies to choose from.  I suspect pretty much any type of movie is available.  You decide how much you want to pay and how many movies you want at one time.  You can also view movies  from your  home on your computer.  You do not pay extra for this.  The movie comes to y our home and when you are done you put it into the envelope provided for you and mail it back and within usually  1-4 days have another movie at your home.   Gotta love it.   I think the cost for this is pretty reasonable.

I love living at a time where one can be able to have things at ones finger tips and never leave home except to retrieve items from the mailbox.  Pretty clever in my book.

Letter from Syrena Burwell 1842

During this week I have received a few comments on my collection post and decided that I would add just a bit more.  While the pictures that I posted before have meaning to me, I must say that the #1 collection has to be the one that is letters.  Since I was around 13 years old I have hung onto letters.  My parents were divorced when I was about 12 and my Father wrote letters to me.  How they managed to stay with me I will never know.  I have had them for just over 50 years.   I have hundreds of letters from family members.  I think I have saved pretty much every letter written to me over the years.   The old envelope posted here is a letter that my cousin Rodney had.  He gave me a stack of letters from the 1800′s to copy. They are from my Grandmother’s side of the family.  I have not yet read them but am excited to do so.  There is so much one can learn from a letter.   For my birthday one year my mother gave me  the letters that she wrote to her parents when she was in boarding school at the age of 16.  I have about 90 of them.  It is so interesting to read the letters when my Mom was that age.  I love it.  I am still in the process of getting them onto the computer so I can get them onto a c.d. and sent to my family members.  When I was dating Roland (my husband) he wrote to me regularly, and of course I kept them all.  They were very romantic and from time to time I read him one.  He however never kept one of mine, which is actually quite good.  When we were first married and moved to Japan for 3 years, I of course wrote home and my Mom saved those letters.  It is like a journal of my life.  Our son Trevor and my mother wrote back and forth while he was on his mission.  They both saved each others letters. They are both now dead and it is so great to have those letters.   Some how I ended up with a couple of letters from my Grandfather Nettleton that he wrote to his only child (my Dad) when he was in college.  My Grandfather died before I was born and these letters shed light on what kind of man he was.   So as close I will simply quote what my grandfather said at the end of one of the letters.   He said  ”Arsenic” that is good-bye in any language.

Over the last 50 years I have received ever so many letters from all different places and from so many family members.  My goal is to get them scanned and onto c.d.s so others can have them.  It is a HUGE job but I am grateful to working on something that has so much meaning not only to me but to my entire family.

My pez collection

I grew up being around collections.  My mother collected items.  One of the ones she had was a collection of sea shells.  Of course for those who know me, also know that I love sea shells.  My mother sent me seashells a couple of times.  I treasure them.

Probably the first collection I remember starting was a match box collection.  One year back in the 1970′s my mother gave me a match box for Christmas.   I fell in love with it and I decided to collect them.   I have probably about 200 from that time period.   They are much nicer looking then the ones that are made today.   I think it is time that they came out of their hiding place and were displayed where I could enjoy them.

Today I decided to rearrange my pez collection, because I had gotten the Star Trek set and needed to put them up.  This ended up to be a project for sure.  I had to dust every one of them and rearrange them and put them back up.  It took awhile.  I had pretty much decided not buy more, but after working with them I changed my mind.  I will probably from time to time buy them if they appeal to me.   I like them alot.

Another collection I have is a Kokeshi doll collection.  Kokeshi dolls are from Japan and we have lived in Japan for 6 years.   I fell in love with these wooden dolls and there is no end to the variety of them.   They are unique.

Japanese Kokeshi dolls

This is a picture of some of the ones I have.  These are the older style. I have in all about 200 or so of them.  They bring back lots of good memories from living in Japan.

I have not started any other collections and for the most part do not add to the ones I have except for the pez.   Mostly the collections remind me of places I have been to and the good memories associated with them.   For me that has been good enough.   In closing I will add one more picture of a collection

Jingle shells from Connecticut

from my mother and the note she sent with it. It is a collection of love.  These are jingle shells which are thin shells and come usually in the colors of orange, yellow and white. One day my mother went to the beach where there were lots of them and she collected this jar full.  She stuck a note in the jar that said:” Each shell was a bend of love.  Please enjoy.”   Thanks Mom for that daily reminder of your love for me

Florence and Rodney and me

I thought that this year I would try blogging more.  Not sure why except it appeals to me at the moment.  So I looked up blogging on Wiki to see what it had to say.  It seems as though pretty much any thing goes.  I was reading of people having multiple blogs, or there are photo blogs, video blogs, cooking blogs and so it goes.  They said that a blog like mine where it is more like a journal were not read often and those following this type of a blog was usually not large.  For me that does not matter at all.   I blog because I feel like it.  If no one should read, it would be fine with me.  Some how at this time it feels good to be putting things in writing on a blog.  I have debated whether or not to have it continue to go onto facebook but after talking to my resident guru  the  thought was keep it there.  It is always a choice to read or not to read.

This is a picture of my cousins Rodney and Florence.  They live a little over 3 hours from me.  We connected with each other this year in April when my sister Pam was here.  Since then I have tried to go up as often as I can. Rodney’s father Laurence was my Grandmother’s brother.  Rodney is 88 and Florence is 85.  They are two of the most amazing people. Super active and both so interesting to talk with.  Rodney has shared his genealogy with me.  He has a great  many stories to tell and I have recorded a lot of them.  I have been able to scan some 80 or so photos of family that I did not have.  He also has given me letters from the 1800′s to scan and I also have a book of this side of the family that goes back to the 1200′s.  I will scan it and return it.  Florence is so sweet and caring.  She is a delight to chat with.  When I walked into their home it was like going home.  Instantly they were family.  I had not seen Rodney in well over 30 years and that was when they were living in Connecticut.  I had not a clue he was in Idaho and that is a story for another time.  It was one of those “It was meant to be.”    He has given to our entire family, and my siblings information that we would have been hard pressed to have found.

Now that Christmas is over, I will be scanning the material that I brought home from the last visit and then I will make c.d.’s  of the information and the pictures for those who want them.    Surely going to see them this last spring is one of the highlights of not only this year but of my life.

It is good to be remembering them.  In the future I hope to blog more about my genealogy and to be able to record some stories and memories and to post a few pictures.   So in closing I will post a photo that I was able to scan while at Rodney’s house..

My Grandmother's mother. Now that is an elegant lady !

I like Sunday.  For me it is a time to take a break from what I do all week long.   I choose not to go shopping.  I choose not to watch t.v.. I choose not to clean the house. I try to keep things simple.

For me Sunday is a day of rest.  A day for me to do genealogy.  A day for me to connect with my family and friends either by phone or letters.  A day to take a nap.  Perhaps take time to visit someone. I always go to church.   I enjoy being at church it is a place where I can worship  God and be able to learn from the scriptures and to sing hymns and in general fill the spiritual part of me.

On Monday I feel like I am ready to get back into the regular routine of life.   Things just go better for me.  It is what I do.  It suits me well.

January 1st to me is like a clean slate day !!   It is kind of like a sunrise when it greets me in the morning and I know that I have a new day to live and I can choose how I will live it.   January 1st says to me “what are you going to do with this year?”   I begin to make plans.   I write some of them down.  I have a lot of hope that I will be able to make better choices and I just know I can do so much better then the last year.  I wonder what this year will bring my way. I decide it is good that I don’t know !   I figure if I just keep my self focused on doing what is good I will manage.

So today I am looking forward to the new year.   Like a sunrise or a sunset that casts the light across the sky, and brightens up a day, maybe I can look for ways to be able to help others more, to be kinder, to be more positive, to not gossip but to look at the good in others.   Each day is a gift.  I hope that this year I can take this daily  gift and do something good with it.

The last time I wrote a blog was in September, I just saw that it is still in the draft box for some reason.  The title is Christmas in September !   I guess I should check it out.    So, I have been thinking about what I should blog on my blog site.  It is a thought in progress and perhaps January would a be a good time to get a new format.

January is one of my favorite months of the year !  The Holidays are over and I always think I have some 300 days to go before I have to worry about Christmas things.  So here I am 2 weeks before Christmas and the plans I had last January are still just that “plans!”    Having a plan is good except it needs to have some action.  So the same plan will be on the docket for this next year but with an action plan attached .

This Christmas things will be a bit simpler.  Perhaps it is the simpler things that are the most important part of Christmas.  It is not so much about the gifts that one buys and puts under the tree, or the decorations inside the house and outside, or what kind of food we will feast on, but perhaps it should be the focus on what is really important. It is about what can we do to help those who need some cheer.  It is about peace and good will. It is about forgiving others and getting on with life.  It is learning how to love others and how not to judge.   It is learning how to serve others even if it is something very small.  A simple thing like being kind .    A phone call to someone that you have not talked with for awhile.  A note in the mail.. A renewal of a friendship.    The list of kind acts are endless.  When we think of others we like ourselves better !!

It is a time to reflect on  the birth and the life of Jesus Christ.  He gave us the greatest gift of all.  He gave us the opportunity through his atonement to be able to make make changes in our lives.  To be forgiven of those things that we have not done right and to be able to become better people.   We should look to him and follow his example.

Last but certainly not least, but perhaps one of the most important things is the family.   Living within a family unit  is fun, it is hard, it is a learning experience, it changes all of the time,the once small family unit can become very large, the child, becomes an adult and perhaps a father or a mother, and then perhaps a grandmother or a grandfather, and maybe a great-grandfather or a great-grandmother. Each step brings with it a greater knowledge of the importance of a family.  Being part of a family, large or small takes some patience and understanding, it takes accepting each member and finding the good in who they are. It perhaps means that we care more about the family member then we care about ourselves. A family is an eternal unit and has a worth beyond measure.

This evening my husband and I will be taking part in the Messiah Sing Along.   The concert hall will be full of people either listening or singing to some of the most beautiful Christmas music ever written.  Life is good.

Lately I have been increasing the amount of time that I am working on genealogy.  I have decided that I needed to be more pro active in taking classes on how to become a better researcher.   So I decided to take a class on Saturday, called  German Research Series.  The class was being held in Salt Lake City at the Family History Library.   It went from 9-4:30.  It was broken down into 5 different areas.  The class was taught by Baerbel K. Johnson.  This woman is amazing !   She has such a vast knowledge of German research.  The classes were very informative.  I was beyond amazed at how much information is out there on-line.  I am very excited to start trying to find my German ancestors. This class opened up a new world to me and I began to see the depth of  the progress of being able to research your ancestors throughout the world via your computer.  Totally amazing.  By the end of the day I had brain over load.   A good thing that we had handouts to help us remember what we heard.   I will definitely go back to attend more classes.    Genealogy is an absolutely wonderful thing to be involved in.  Give it a try !

On Tuesday I now go to an assisted living home to teach crafts.   I mostly  don’t feel like I am a crafty lady !!!    But I try to provide some entertainment to the women I visit.   Yesterday after class was done and I was driving to town, I had a sense of peace and well being and I have reflected on that.  I realized how much the women gave to me.   I might be the one going to them  to teach a craft but they are the ones that teach me.  They are fun, they admire their work and look at it as their personal art gallery.  They share their happiness with the other ladies, they want their children’s names written on their projects.  They admire the beauty of their own creations.  They are ready with a smile and willing to chat.  They really don’t want much.  Just someone to know they are there and worth while.  They draw me to them by their honesty and joy and caring.   I came away with a deep sense of  gratitude that we can be together.

I have also thought that when we care more about others, then we care about ourselves, we become better people.  We do not always have to be right.  We can learn to be more patient and more forgiving and to be more kind.  Being kind to others is not always easy, but it is always the right thing to do.    I hope that in this small part of the world, here in Idaho, that I will be able to learn how to become a better person and to be mindful of others and be willing to give.