Connecting the roots and trees of ancestors ...and learning, preserving, sharing

Sunday, December 18, 2022

Hedge schools - Irish education despite it all

 I have been on the search for a while for additional documents about hedge schools in Ireland. When I am not engaging in family history and research, I am a healthcare worker, and I teach.I sort of fell into teaching at the college level - one of my former instructors had an instructor back away from teaching a practical lab, and asked if I'd be interested, if I could help out last minute, so...

Saturday, November 12, 2022

the Irish Ambassador researches and writes

 I have been tearing through post after post written by the current Irish ambassador to Canada, Eamonn McKee. He is a historian, and his insight into the Irish influence in Canada is broader than anything a student in Canada would be privy to in history books.The depth of knowledge, woven into quick reads, well it makes one who enjoys the cultural aspect of family research completely drawn in....

Saturday, October 22, 2022

DNA cousin connections - the ones with NO dates, and so much private - but a tree!

 A common lament for those of us who engage in researching family history using DNA connections is the one with NO dates listed, no indication of country, no indication of their rough age, and name.CHALLENGE ACCEPTEDFor the past several years, a DNA cousin of mine has eluded me in terms of our...

Saturday, October 15, 2022

reno and refresh - the main is mainly done

outside of some finishing touches, the main floor is mainly done. the dust has settled - many times - as evidenced by the amount of cleaning I have done since construction ended in the second week of September. There were several mistakes made, including a cracked window, but for the most part I can...

the doors - French doors

I managed to source gently used French doors on kijiji and also from the ReStore (habitat for humanity). We made them work. I was unwilling to wait the months required for new, but also wanted to have doors that felt more at home in the space than new would.these 4 doors managed to fit incredibly well!...

reno and refresh - let's see it come together

 the end of August, the return to school brought an end to the major parts of the kitchen reno, and where finishing touches could begin. The next part would be about french doors, but first, the kitchen starts to shine!the lights, the beam, the 8 foot length of quartzthe quartz continues and the...

reno and refresh the home - putting it all back together

 the rebuilding process - the original (unrealistic) date we were given was early to mid august. but things did shift - the cliche light at the end of the tunnel. Money poured out, but changes poured in.I had insisted on a shiplap wall - the view from the front door through to the kitchen would...