Roger’s Ramblings

Ypsilanti July 4 Parade

The Camaro Superfest 2010 was in Ypsilanti on July 2, 3 and 4. July 3 was also the Ypsilanti July 4th Parade, which went right by Riverside Park where the Camaro Superfest was being held. So we got there in time to see most of the parade before going down to see the more than 150 Camaros.

I guess it wasn’t quite what I was expecting – too many politicians “on the stump”, and not enough celebration of America’s history I thought, but we did manage to make our own Red, White and Blue…

Brenden after eating a red candy.

Roger after eating a blue candy.

A number of different groups were handing out promotional bubbles – the bottles all seemed to have a sticker on them for some politician or religious group or school…

Kristy blowing the bubbles while Lisa looks on.

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Tree Trimming

When we moved here in 1998 there were a number of pine trees planted, including a couple “near” the driveway. At first there was about 4′ of grass between the tree and the driveway, but as time passed the tree became wider and wider and wider, to the point where a few years ago I had to cut a small flat on the side of it to keep it a bit clear of the driveway.

Now to today where the tree was now seriously impinging on the driveway. First step – cut what I could reach while standing on the ground.

Partway Done

Now standing on a ladder on the trailer to reach even higher.

The End Result. Hopefully this will hold for a few years, and from now on be a bit easier to keep up with - all the thick branches are cut now.

The UPS driver will be much happier now that he doesn’t have to scrape the side of his truck through this, and then re-adjust the side mirror. A gallery of a few more images is below: Read the rest of this entry »

Behind the Vege Garden

I looked out the kitchen window this morning and “spotted” this scene.

You Just Know that she's saying to the young'un - come back here in a few months and there'll be tomatoes, pumpkins and all sorts of yummy things!!

another “bambi” was off to the left. They left before I could get another photo.

Lunch at the Wren House

A few weeks ago I posted a couple of photos of the wrens who were getting ready to move into the Wren House hanging in a tree beside our garage.

Well they did move in, and while we were away, the produced at least 3 chicks. I took a few pictures of them being fed today – Yum!!!!!!

Two gaping mouths sticking out through the hole looking for lunch

Trying to decide who gets the insect and who gets the caterpillar.

A photogallery is below…

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Carriage Roads by Bicycle

Friday was a nice sunny day, so after some “getting ready for Murder Mystery Dinner on Saturday” chores in the morning, Steve, Don, Lisa and I set out to rent some bicycles and then ride them around some of the carriage roads in Acadia National Park on Friday afternoon.

We picked up the bikes and loaded them into Steve’s Honda Ridgeline truck for the ride out to a car park at the north end of Eagle Lake. From there we set out south along Eagle Lake, and then Jordan Pond to Jordan Pond House for Popovers, then back north on different roads to the east side of Eagle Lake, and back to the car park.

Roger poses beside the bicycle with Eagle Lake in the background.

Eagle Lake

Seal Cove Auto Emblems

Thursday was supposed to be “ride a bicycle around some of the Carriage Road” day, but it rained pretty much all day, so that idea got put on hold (or probably actually cancelled for 2010). The afternoon saw us heading off to see the Seal Cove Auto Museum – “The Brass with the Class”.

We had been before in 2008 (I think it was), just as they were getting ready to sell a sizable portion of the collection in order to be able to settle the estate of the founder of the museum who had died.

While there we took the opportunity to become “Charter Members” of the museum.

Firestone Wheel

White Wheel

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Sargent Mountain Ramblings

Our first day on Mount Desert Island we decided we would take a hike up Giant Slide Trail to Sargent Mountain, then back to the car we had pre-positioned at the car park near Upper Hadlock Pond. There were lots of wildflowers and lots of rocks and lots of trees and some great scenery.

Lady Slipper Orchid - Frauenschuh - Sehr Schön

A photogallery of images from the day’s walk is below.

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Hartford, CT – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

After we left Rochester, New York, our next destination was Hartford, Connecticut, so that we could go to the Connecticut State Library and Archives to try and find some information on Otto Salewski, a brother of one of Lisa’s great grandmothers.

We arrived in Hartford on Memorial Day Monday evening, and pulled off the highway where Lisa had found there was a Super 8 motel for $50. As we were heading to that, a large sign for America’s Best Value Inn advertising $45 for a night caught her eye, so we went there. We didn’t have much to do in Hartford, so went out to eat dinner, then returned to the Inn to sleep, then Tuesday morning headed off to the Connecticut State Library and Archives. Read the rest of this entry »

Rochester Rendezvous

On our way to Bar Harbor, Maine, we stopped in Rochester, New York, to visit my cousin Martin Lineham and his family.

Rochester is about 9 hours drive – 560 miles (900 km)-  from Grand Rapids when travelling via Cleveland, so we left a bit after 0830 and got to Rochester about 1730 (5:30 PM). We had a very enjoyable evening with Martin, his wife Nancy and their daughter Grace, and Nancy’s Mum Mary. Roger grilled chicken, hot dogs and shrimps, then we looked over a bunch of family photos, showed Grace some of her genealogy, and eventually to bed. Monday morning more of the same, then down to check out Martin and Nancy’s offices, then the drive to Hartford, Connecticut this (Memorial Day Monday) afternoon – 336 miles (540 km).

Out in the Cooper-Lineham back yard for pre-dinner appetisers while Roger cooked dinner on the Grill. Mary Cooper, Lisa Christensen, Nancy Cooper, Grace Lineham, Martin Lineham, Roger Moffat

More pictures below…

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TNG 8 Released Today

Congratulations to Darrin Lythgoe.

TNG 8 – under development for about a year since the release of TNG 7 – was released today.

New & Improved in TNG 8:

• Better Search: Hover over the results to see a dynamic summary of each person or family on the list.
• Look and Feel: Most pages have been restyled for easier use and a nicer appearance.
• Easier Installation: Do more right up front and hit the ground running.
• Media: Enjoy a new image viewer, plus a more streamlined slide show.
• User Roles: New labels make it simple to assign rights to members of your family or research team.
• Relationship: Now locate multiple relationships between people in your file.
• Search Engines: A few key changes should make your pages more visible.
• People: Build your tree right from the pedigree page if you’d like.
• Dates: New calendar page summarizes family events.
• “Mod Manager”: Allows you to easily add or remove custom code changes.
• Plus more than 100 other improvements! See a complete list of all changes here. Tested on all major browser platforms.

Information about the software can be found here on Darrin’s site.

I’ve been testing this for quite a few weeks now, helping iron out the kinks along with several other users and Darrin. There are some great new features and capabilities added.

I’ve got my TNG Testing site upgraded, and hope to have my main site done this evening yet.

Now we can wonder what Darrin will choose to include in TNG 9