Click to Download.

My great grandparents, my Nae-Nae and Pap-Pap, Agnes Elizabeth (Nash) Donnelly and James Minus Donnelly. My great grandmother was married 3 or 4 times (she was a wild one!) but still managed to celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary with my great grandfather.  She died a couple of weeks after the celebration in the early ’70’s.  My Pap was kind and loving and I remember him entertaining my sister and me by pulling nickels out of his ear.  They were quite a pair.

Thought this photo of them at their bar would be cute on a St. Patrick’s Day card.  Image is 1800×1205 pixels @800 dpi.

rtist Freebies provides a great list of downloadable, printable old photos and various ephemera. Browse through each site and I promise you your hard drive will soon swell with new treasures.

Another “old things” website is Vintage Paper Works. You can download a few freebies in PDF format but you have to join (it’s free) to access all of the website’s treasures.

Happy Scrappy has images of Antique Maps and Text Overlays from Jane Austen novels. She offers a lovely assortment of print quality graphics…click on the monthly archives on the left sidebar to access each months’ goodies.

Beautiful Word Art can be found at Eressea Design…just keep scrolling.

Mega-Doodle has created a wonderful Photoshop CS3 Action that creates bows and ribbons…works in CS2 too.

Photoshop Brushes at SpyGlass.net and at Seishido.biz where the brushes were created in PS 6 so they will work in PS 6 and up.

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Here is a bit of family ephemera, a Deed of Lot for my great great grandfather, Thomas Ephraim (or Ephraim Thomas–they switched first and middle names around quite a bit back then) Nash buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery. Unfortunately, when we went to find the gravesite, we discovered that many of the tombstones had been vandalized and his was no longer to be found. He is the only family member buried there.  I don’t know where my great great grandmother, Adriana (Addie) Emmart Nash is buried…I’m sure there is a story but it was lost when my grandmother died.

ioneer Woman did such a great job with her goose that I decided to give it a try. These are photos that I took at my great grandparents’ gravesite last year. I used Overcooked and Gum Bichromate Print, Photoshop Actions from rawimage…altered a bit. Click on thumbnails to view full-sized images.

Original

Overcooked - Altered

Gum Bichromate Print

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The following are inscriptions from tombstones (courtesy of my Cambria County Genealogy listserv)

Harry Edsel Smith of Albany

Born 1903–Died 1942.

Looked up the elevator shaft to see

if the car was on the way down.

It was.

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In a Thurmont, Maryland cemetery:

Here lies an Atheist,

all dressed up

and no place to go.

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On the grave of Ezekial Aikle in East Dalhousie Cemetery, Nova Scotia:

Here lies Ezekial Aikle

Age 102

Only the Good Die Young

=============================

In a London, England cemetery:

Here lies Ann Mann

who lived an old maid

but died an old Mann

Dec. 8, 1767

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In a Ribbesford, England cemetery:

Anna Wallace

The children of Israel wanted bread

and the Lord sent them manna

Clark Wallace wanted a wife,

and the Devil sent him Anna

===============================

In a Ruidoso, New Mexico cemetery:

Here lies Johnny Yeast

Pardon me for not rising

================================

A lawyer’s epitaph in England:

Sir John Strange

Here lies an honest lawyer

and that is Strange

===============================

In a Uniontown, Pennsylvania cemetery:

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake

Stepped on the gas

instead of the brake

==============================

In a Silver City, Nevada cemetery:

Here lays The Kid.

We planted him raw.

He was quick on the trigger

But slow on the draw.

=================================

John Penny’s epitaph in the Wimborne, England cemetery:

Reader, if cash thou art in want of any, dig six feet deep and thou wilt find a Penny.

=============================

In a Hartscombe, England cemetery:

On the 22nd of June,

Jonathan Fiddle

went out of

tune.

==================================

Anna Hopewell’s grave in Enosburg Falls, Vermont:

Here lies the body of our Anna,

Done to death by a banana.

It wasn’t the fruit that laid her low,

But the skin of the thing that made her go.

==================================

On a grave from the 1880s in Nantucket, Massachusetts:

Under the sod and under the trees,

lies the body of Jonathan Pease.

He is not here, there’s only the pod.

Pease shelled out and went to God.

==================================

In a cemetery in England:

Remember man, as you walk by,

as you are now, so once was I.

As I am now, so shall you be.

Remember this and follow me.

To which someone replied by writing on the tombstone:

To follow you, I’ll not consent

until I know which way you went.

artha Stewart has a really nice Family Tree Fan Chart template.

Pretty PS brushes can be downloaded from ScrapStewSue’s blog.

Raspberry Road Designs has a great bunch of Boy Scouting papers and embellishments HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Free Valentine cards from Mary Engelbreit.

I always loved Victoria magazine’s page of business logos shown as letterhead or on a business card. Country Living magazine shows you steps on how to design your own logo.

Post Script, a newsletter from Stampington & Company.

A lemon cake that I made for Michael and the boys yesterday.

Victorian Journal

Nature Journal

Quinn’s Family Tree printable. This is a huge file (PNG format 300 dpi scaled to print on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper) so I zipped it using Windows explorers utility. I’m hoping that it can be downloaded and opened with no problems…if you do have any problems, please just email me (danidh at aol dot com) and let me know.

Click to download each printable. Print on heavy cardstock.

It was a fairly quiet weekend, for a change. I’m not feeling too well today so just a quick little update and a graphic that I painted and played with in Photoshop.

We’re still having hot, hot temps…yesterday selling popcorn, it was in the mid 90’s. YUCK! I did get a chance to meet a new homeschooling family that’s joined our troop…they were so nice! Not that I’m surprised as our homeschooling co-op and boy scout troop do seem to attract the nicest of people. *smile*

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Still poring over the Cambria County Genealogy website when I can, trying to find any mention of our family names of McDonald, McMullen, Benden and Clevenger. The excerpts from the old newspapers are really interesting but sometimes heartbreaking as so many children died so young. Whilst perusing the recipe section I found a recipe for Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake…I think I’m just going to have to try it!

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I’ll post some more nature journal and victorian printables tomorrow and I think I’ll also post the family tree template (one without my photos) that I created for Quinn as I know I can’t be the only one to need a family tree for a child.

We had a great day yesterday at our Genealogy Fair for the co-op. It was fascinating taking a look back at the past through everyone’s exhibits. I loved the old photos! Some of the things I remember were…Dawn’s family had a beautiful book of very old postcards given to her by her (great?) grandmother from her trip to Europe, Lisa’s family brought church genealogy books that held interesting information on her family, Jenn’s family (and she didn’t think she’d have much because she’s adopted) put together a unique table full of beautiful old family items like glasses, quilts, christening gown and serving pieces, Kim’s family had items of family clothing and colorful scrapbooks on her family and Brenda’s boys, Alex and Andrew (Cade and Connor’s oldest friends), put together a great pictorial family history and poem that they wrote plus delicious baklava! Everyone’s exhibits were just beautiful.

We also had a photographer come and take photos of the kids and one shot of the moms…can’t wait to see them.

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I received a box full of delicious goodies yesterday evening from my dearest friend, Jeanne…thank you so much sweetie!! I love all of the Halloween goodies, cd, candies and my jasmine tea!!!!!! I love you!

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Susan Branch’s e-newsletter appeared in my mailbox too and she has updated her website for Fall…new recipes, new things.

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We’ve been so very busy here the past couple of weeks, especially this week with trying to finish up our genealogy project that I’ve neglected visiting all of my favorite blogs. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to catch up…but not today as I have my twin nephews coming over to visit for awhile with me today and also tomorrow too while my sister, Honey, takes care of work and volunteering at her twin daughters’ school. Hans and Erich are three years old, a handful (or two) and absolutely adorable. *smile*

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It’s turned back into summer with temps hovering around 90 again…please GO AWAY summer!!!! I want my Autumn back.

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Merry Autumn Days
By Charles Dickens

‘Tis pleasant on a fine spring morn
To see the buds expand,.
‘Tis pleasant in the summer time
To see the fruitful land;
‘Tis pleasant on a winter’s night
To sit around the blaze,
But what are joys like these, my boys,
To merry autumn days!

We hail the merry Autumn days,
When leaves are turning red;
Because they’re far more beautiful
Than anyone has said,
We hail the merry harvest time,
The gayest of the year;
The time of rich and bounteous crops,
Rejoicing and good cheer.

The boys and I are off to New York today to visit Ellis Island.

to visit graveyards! Momma, the twins and I went on a graveyard jaunt that lasted almost all day yesterday and we actually had a great time. The boys got a chance to talk with people from the cemetery offices about the different types of genealogy records they have available (working toward their Genealogy Merit Badges) and I now know where to go to visit all of my (great) grandparents. Well, sort of! Some of those places are so big with winding hills up and down that I know I’m going to get lost which is why I wrote down directions to each in a notebook. I’ve promised Momma that I will continue to place flowers on all of the graves after she and Daddy are gone. Momma and Daddy are going to be cremated with my sister, Colleen, being the “keeper of the urns” so all I’ll have to do is visit Col to visit them.  *smile*

Cade actually had us all laughing at a couple of comments that he made on Momma’s ashes…after his Grammie explained to him that she wasn’t going to be buried but rather she was going to have her ashes placed in an urn he stated that it “would take a long time for her to turn to ashes,” not realizing that she would have to be cremated first. Later that day, while the twins and I were waiting in one of the offices for information, he asked me why Grammie wanted to be cremated and I told him that just because Grammie was gone there was no reason why Aunt Colleen couldn’t still take her shopping with her. He looked horrified. *smile*

We visited both paternal and maternal grandparents, Daddy’s paternal grandparents, (Oma and Opa) Chris and Sophia Foster, and Momma’s maternal grandparents, (Nae and Pap) Agnes and James Donnelly. (Quinn’s named after Pap, his middle name is Donnelly.) Momma had told me that there were more than Nae and Pap in the graves because Nae was good hearted and if someone in the family couldn’t afford to be buried she and Pap would pay for them to open the graves but even she was surprised at how many people were buried in the Donnelly family grave…Nine including Nae and Pap!!!! Pap’s mother Rusha Donnelly is buried there along with two of Pap’s brothers, Walter and William, Nae’s oldest son Tommy from her marriage to Thomas Diven and who died before Nae did, Nae and Pap’s daughter Gloria who died as a little baby and Nae’s oldest daughter Ruth, her daughter Colleen Vinyard, who died as a young child, is also there along with a “baby” Vinyard that Momma had no knowledge of.

I also want to visit Nae’s father, Thomas Ephraim Nash’s grave which is located in St. Mary’s Cemetery. Momma has his cemetery lot papers and after some exploring online I found mention of what I think is his grave though they have it listed as Lewis E. Nash. The wrong photo is attached to it so I can’t verify online. I’m hoping to be able to make it there either today or next week so I can talk with the people from the office and see and photograph the headstone. Tracing our family history has become an interesting challenge…and it’s definitely addicting! *smile*

I’ve been working on Quinn’s contribution to our homeschooling co-op’s class next month on Family History. I’ve created a Family Tree for him with pictures of family members and him and I’ve also created Genealogy Cards with photos on the front and information on the back. I’ve punched holes in the top so I can tie them together or maybe put them on a keyring.

I think the card template would be great for a number of things including prayer cards with religious images on the front and a prayer on the back…I’ll have to see if I can find some time to make a sheet of those too. *smile*

You can download the template I created to make your own cards HERE. It’s in PNG format on a transparent background. Using your magic wand tool, select each card by clicking in the white portion. Add a new layer and fill with your choice of color or pattern. Large patterns work best. If you print the information on the back, make sure you switch the information on the left and right sides so the info is printed on the correct card. Print on heavy cardstock or Presentation Paper. Use a hole punch to punch the hole in the top.

Autumn is finally here…according to Dawn at “By Sun and Candlelight,” it arrived at 5:51 a.m. EST.

I put together a pretty little collage to celebrate my favorite time of the year…my beautiful wreath was created by my friend, Dana, the stamp and banner by me.   We’ll have a Harvest Moon on September 26th to gaze at if the sky cooperates.  Now if only the weather would humor us by providing a bit of chill and crisp to the air instead of heat and humidity…everything would be perfect.

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We’ve been working on the boys’ genealogy project for their upcoming homeschooling co-op class in October.  Michael bought some dowels to create a family tree and I’ve been working on creating a simple family tree for Quinn on the computer.  As soon as it’s finished I’ll share the images/photos.

Friday we went to the Maryland Science Center at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to take our annual homeschooling classes. Our friends and fellow homeschoolers Mrs. Lisa and her family (Daniel, Jacob & Hanna) joined us and we really had a great time! We finished off the day at the Light Street Pavillion where we had pizza for a late lunch/early dinner.

The twins, Mrs. Lisa and Daniel trying to find fossils in rocks.

Quinn and Daniel digging for fossils. Cool safety glasses!

Cade and Connor (with their mop heads…boy do they need haircuts!) at the pulleys.

Quinn petting a salamander.

My twins, and Mrs. Lisa’s boys, Daniel and Jake, built robots that they battled. Hanna and Quinn took the Creepies Crawlies class where they got a chance to learn about and pet a snake, salamander, turtle and ferret. The same nice instructor from last year taught the class again.

Saturday the twins tubed down the Gunpowder River with their Boy Scout troop and yesterday I had my parents, sister Colleen, and my nieces Hanna and Ellie over for dinner. Corned beef, carrots, cabbage and potatoes (my Momma’s contribution) and homemade chicken noodle soup, crusty bread and a root beer float cake for dessert.

My family got a chance to see how far we’ve come with doing the family history. Michael printed back 11 generations on my side. My Momma’s father was a McMullen, a very prolific Irish/Scottish Catholic family from Pennsylvania and so far I’ve been able to go back to the 700’s. My father’s side, since they were German immigrants and changed their name from Fuchs to Foster…well, I’ve only been able to track down a 1930’s Maryland census and papers from the St. Louis with their names on it. It’s sad to think that my Daddy’s family history may be lost.

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In The Shade of the Family Tree

Author: Julie Quick

All the names on these pages,
it’s hard to believe,
that hundreds of people
are related to me.

Grandmas and Grandpas,
Uncles and Aunts,
Cousins, more cousins
Me? Stop? No, I can’t!

Germany, Canada,
Scotland, and France
All came together
Just out of chance.

To think that I started
with just a blank sheet.
Now put end to end,
the tree measures in feet!

Volumes of info
gathered up from the past,
saved acid free
’cause I want it to last.

It’s possible that
there have been some mistakes
but all of these names,
why bother to fake?

I’m hoping some day
some ambitious descendant
will cherish my volumes
so glad that I’ve done it.

I can’t help but think that
if everyone did this
we’d find, none too soon,
we have very few differences.

Please, listen to me
don’t leave it to fate.
Gather much from your elders
before it’s too late.

March 9, 1999