Samuel Eames From Bristol, England

He was my 3g grandfather. One cousin said he looked a bit like Uncle Remus - an American character from the south but actually, he was very tanned from working outside all his life as a stone mason. He was born in Bristol, England in 1790 to William and Mary Eames.  When he was 3 years old the mystery begins.  He was shipped off to live with his Uncle Samuel Watkins, who lived at Orcop, Hereford, England and there he was raised - never to see his parents again as far as we have been able to find out. He had a sister Eliza and a brother Alexander both of whom seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth.  

There always seems to be a dead end line that continues to be a mystery.  I was amazed that I could find his photo on the web because I am still in California and not on my computer with all my wonderful black and white photos that were passed on to me. He had five children and all of them came to America so that now there are thousands of descendants who live here and one branch still in England from a grandson who returned to England and stayed there. There is of course a chance that his sister and brother lived and they have descendants near Bristol.

Carmel By the Sea

Last night we drove to Carmel to look at Christmas lights before everyone takes them down but to our surprise, there were not a lot of lights just spotted sections with a few lights here and there. Even in the dark the tiny little streets reminded me of Ireland and the narrow lanes. Many streets were tunneled by trees overhanging these bitty lanes which turned every which way because of the hills that they were built on.

The shopping area in Carmel calls to me even though the small shops will probably be extremely overpriced.  We gotta go back, I am dreaming of a walk through, window shopping just to take a peek.  Maybe, if I get lucky, something will be on sale.

How I love to watch the ocean breaking into the shore! Since I've always lived inland, it never ceases to grab my attention.

Who would think to make a fence out of different sized pieces of weathered wood without putting cross pieces with it?

It's not that these houses are the most expensive - most are small garden type but they are on a piece of land that has become out priced and stayed that way.  After all, how many can say they have movie stars for neighbors.

Lovers Point

Remember that movie with Doris Day about a glass bottom boat. Well, apparently, there was a family who for over 40 years ran a glass bottom boat business in Monterey but as many things do, they run their course and disappear leaving only warm fuzzy memories.

Anyone for surfing - in a wet suit? My teeth just chatter thinking of going into that freezing cold water.

Only four surfers were brave enough today but after all, they had to dodge rocks and turn at just the right moment before crashing into the rocks.  Definitely not beginner surfing!

 Strange looking trees - they seem to grow everywhere here.

Still trying to figure out what to wear - too warm for my winter coat but just a bit chilly for just a jacket.  Perhaps, I need a scarf wrapped around my neck to keep me warm.

Monterey Aquarium

I packed very light - after all that is what all the travel shows recommend. The only problem was that I grabbed my pencil thin navy blue skirt and not my pencil thin black skirt so I really had no top to go with my skirt for church on Christmas.  Ugh!  So off to the stores shopping and one last item on Christmas Eve where parking lots were filled to the brim!

It took an entire day to see the Monterey Aquarium.  What a sight!

The aquarium was built around part of the old cannery which was famous for sardines until they were all fished out.  So now the whole Monterey bay area is a sanctuary for fish and birds - man trying to makeup for mistakes.

They rescue birds and give them a home until they are mended or given a permanent home in some cases.

The aquarium is so big that we had to take a lunch break. Down cannery row we trod to Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant. Food was okay but a bit pricey. They served french fries and a cup a jello in a stiff paper tug boat for each kid with their kids meal.  The kids were ecstatic and it kept them busy until we finished our meals. Of coarse my granddaughter had mac and cheese and my grandson had pizza.

We were right on the bay overlooking the ocean - fantastic view to go with out lunch. Our waiter came round and asked Forest Gump questions - ugh ugh ugh - I hated that movie.  It was the only Tom Hanks movie that I didn't like.

Back to the aquarium for the best view in the entire building - a giant open ocean view that was 50 feet high and 200 feet long with 300 pound turtles swimming with 100 pound tuna, which have an odd looking mouth - almost pug nosed.

 Sea lions basking in the sun.

Off to California

I probably will not blog much for a few weeks - spending Christmas with my family in Monterey.

I must say that I have not flown in such small planes since I was a youngster.  The one is San Francisco was small enough but let me tell you that the flight from San Francisco to Monterey was in a tiny two propeller plane that held less than 15 people.  I thought I was in a vibrator chair.  It tickled my butt, then my back and my toes and talk about noisy - I almost put in ear plugs to drown out the noise.  I was greatly surprised when I noticed that we flew over the Pacific Ocean all the way to Monterey.  The plane vibrated so much that the shutters on the windows would not stay open.

I did make it to Monterey without any bumps or bruises.  It is warmer here than in San Francisco and a whole lot warmer than when I left Utah.  It was below freezing there.

Fogged In

Normally, we don't get much fog but here it is. The grass and trees all turn crystal white and glisten. I don't mind it as long as I don't have to drive in it.

Regardless of the fog, we had a wonderful Christmas program in church today with the choir singing Christmas songs, a solo piano of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem; a violin solo of "Gesu Bambino" with a piano accompaniment.  I had to look that last one up, never heard it before.  It is an Italian Christmas song.

Charmed

I have been charmed.  I found this gorgeous setting which I have made into earrings.  I have a second piece that I am still trying to decide whether to make it into a brooch or a necklace.  I am not selling this piece - it's mine, all mine.  What do you think?

So what do you think, should it be a brooch or a necklace?

My daughter gave me this beautifully decorated plate during 1990 for Christmas.  I love anything Polish but this happens to be Russian. It has a wonderful legend  written in Russian on the back.

Looking Very Dapper

Hey, Uncle Lou you look very dashing next to your buddy Mazer Tuttle. Was he your brother-in-law?

Dig those socks and boots!

I had one of those nightmarish nights when I could not sleep for the life of me.  Then at 2 AM a very loud bleep startles me and I know from experience that I have to drag my butt out of bed, get a ladder and unhook the smoke alarm from the ceiling. So when I finally get the sucker off the ceiling, I can't open it to install a new battery so off I go to the garage where it will stay until I figure out how to open it again.

Why oh why do they always go off in the middle of the night - never in the daytime?
The worst part is that they continue to cheep into a loud microphone until the battery is removed.

Gift from DUP

I came home with a very colorful handmade pin cushion with a sleeve for small scissors and whatnots. A vibrant pink gadget that attaches to your blouse and scissors so that they are constantly with you for sewing projects. It has a long drawstring that coils back into the pink gadget after you are through using the scissors.

 A felt holder for needles, safety pins ,etc.

Inside of the felt holder.

DUP Christmas Luncheon

The best party of the year is held every December. A committee cooks and serves their choice of food. Everyone gets a chance to be on the committee every couple of years.  A $5 white elephant gift (some handcrafted gifts were a lovely doily, hand dipped chocolates to die for, a spritely decked apron with trimmings of little black bows on the pockets and black stripes on a pink print and a white shell bracelet with red crystals). Numbers are drawn to choose a package of your delight, but the game begins when someone can steal your gift when they see it but another can also steal it so the 3rd person to take hold of the gift gets to keep it. It is the most delightful way to get a gift.

Had to take a photo of this character who decorated the room. Is he an elf?

The tree in Brookhaven's clubhouse where our party was held was decorated to the hilt.  If you look real close towards the bottom of the tree, there is a gianormous purple Christmas ball.

The fire place was lit.

The white bearded man with his seal skin boots watched our games and songs.
We each played one note on the Tone Bells and sang Jolly Old Saint Nicholas and three more Christmas songs. Because I had the key of "G", I played mine more often.  Laura our music leader pointed to groups of notes and we banged our little hearts out until she moved to the next group of notes.

St. Nicholas himself was present at the festivities.  He heard about how a plum pudding was made in England in a kettle that was cooked over a fire outside (steamed),  Tiny Tim's family waited ever so long for his mum to bring in the plum pudding which was about the size of a speckled cannon ball. They had cider to drink and chestnuts on the fire inside the house.

Why is a plum pudding called that when there is not one drop of a plum in it? Well, as it turns out, in the 17th century a plum was a raisin or other fruits. Just so you know, I had to look that one up.

At the DUP museum in Salt Lake City, they put pioneer photos in small frames and hung them on the Christmas tree.

White Christmas

I got all caught up in genealogy which left me little time to do much for my blog. My problem is that I love to research and then I spent too much time doing it.  I love my Savior and have been praying a lot lately.  My brother has cancer.

Goofy Things that We Do

I entered a give away on Home Educating Family Publishing.  It ends on December 10 so scurry away to their blog and enter.

I have to say that I did an off the wall and thoroughly unthinking goof off yesterday.  I wrapped a gift for my cousin, labeled a bubble wrap mailer and was getting ready to insert the box into the mailer when I discovered to my utter amazement that the box was too big for the mailer.  Duh! Where did my brain go?

My dad used to say "goofy" often.  It is not a term that I use but just thinking about it reminds me of my dad.  He always had a joke to tell and knew how to cheer miss sour puss. Music was his life; he had his own combo in Chicago.

He was a pretty cute kid too.

Richard, circa 1922

Circa 1922

Lehi HIgh School Singers

It starts off a little off key but the song and movements were definitely fun to hear and watch from our DUP Company Christmas luncheon. It's hard doing a solo but when singing as a group, they were marvelous.

Most of their songs were very good.  It was a delightful luncheon to celebrate our Christmas season.

A 2nd Leibster Award

Michael Bluble

Thanks to my pal Anne for awarding me a Leibster Award from her blog Marmalade and Catmint.  She has a flair with words and likes Michael Bluble - he must be French Canadian. What do you think?  His music hits a chord in my head - I like it.

Okay, on to business - I nominate the following for the Leibster Award:

1.  Jazzy's Place

2. Through the Key Hole

3. Never too old to learn from your mistakes

4. Miss Piggy Bank

5. Our Victorian Cottage

Rules: Copy and Paste the award on to your blog.

Thank the giver and link back to them.

Reveal your top 5 blog picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Hopefully your 5 followers will spread the love to their 5 favourite bloggers and so it goes on.

DUP Company Christmas

I was late - I had trouble finding the North Hampton House which is an old church that was built in 1900. They converted this old brick church house into a reception center for weddings and parties.

Our camp is called Dry Creek; we are one of the 8 camps that belong to the Utah Lehi Company. Most of the camps were in attendance because they usually have a very scrumptious lunch and this year the Lehi High School Choral group sang Christmas songs for us.

A beautiful fireplace greeted us as we entered the building.

Beautifully decorated, there were several staircases with this beautiful reddish wood (I don't think it is mahogany but it might be cherry wood.

I snuck a peek in what would have been the old chapel with three windows like this one.

Isn't he just adorable - our camp won the door prize full of goodies including a Pioneer Coloring Book. We will have fun at our DUP Camp Christmas party next week.

Apparently, these coloring books can be purchased at the DUP Museum in Salt Lake City. I'll have to check it out.

There were numerous other prizes won but alas, none for me.  I very seldom win anything such is my fate.

My Buddy

For all you cat lovers out there in our world, that seems to become smaller than it used to be because we can communicate with people on the other side of the globe in a blink of an eye, don't you just love how a cat makes himself or herself comfortable in the most odd places.  This was taken years ago when Babe was a teenager in cat years.  He could jump well over 5 feet or more if he so wished.

He has these baby blue eyes that are enormous for a cat and the markings of a Siamese cat but he is not. He has long silky hair and keeps himself immaculately clean.

He has a very rigid routine and gets his shorts in a bunch if I disturb it.  I worry about him because of his age and I will be gone for 3 weeks. He has become a lap cat and one that always greets me on my bed before I sleep but as soon as I turn out the lights, he jumps down to sleep against the wall.

Palm Pilot

I saw this the other day and got a good chuckle out of it so I thought I would share.

I think that I like my pilots with a little skin showing though. Still working on the Leibster Award - it takes some time. 

Love is the Most Important

Looking at Elizabeth Taylor, she left behind treasures beyond what most of us can only dream about but did it do her any good now that she is gone.  She cannot take them with her so her jewels and other personal belongings are on the auction block.

A gift from Richard Burton.

A gift from Michael Jackson.

Love is the most important aspect of our lives.  Without it, we have nothing. We came into this world with nothing and leave with nothing but what we have become and the love that we share.

He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:8

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 John 4: 11

Poor Donkey

After we took this picture while in Tijuana, I found out later that these poor animals are left to stand nearly all day long so that tourists like me could take photos. Talk about cruelty to animals!  I had no idea.

Now that I look at the picture, the poor animal was also painted with stripes. How unkind mankind can be!  It is a reminder to me that we need to be kind to animals and mankind.

This was taken on our trip to San Diego back in 1999 just before my daughter left on her mission to Ireland for two years. We had a one day trip to Tijuana and I had wished that I could leave Mexico as fast as the road runner would.  We heard gunshots and it scared us so much that I will never go back there again.

My friend is doing a give-a-way; her blog is Marmalade and Catmint.  This is a link to her blog.

Rummaging Through the Drawers

I was looking for something. Today, I can't even remember what I was looking for. So there I was rummaging through the drawers of my grandmother's antique dark walnut vanity set and what do I see - photos taken in 1999.  I sat down and started looking through them.  Now, I should kick myself because the memory gets a bit foggy especially after eons go by.  I know better - I should have written on the back of the photos in pencil because ink tends to leak through in time. I had not done anything.

I do, however, remember the pink flamingos that we saw in San Diego, California and I saw some more in Vancouver, Canada in 2007 only they were in an enclosed habitat.

Did I find what I was looking for?  No.  I got distracted and looked at photos.

These photos had a disk with had each picture on it so I put one of them in my computer and guess what, it can't read something from 1999.  I was a little ticked off.