Talented Tuesday: A Little Bit of Me

While my personality certainly comes out in the posts I write about my genealogy, I don’t often write a post just to talk about myself. I do enjoy “chatty” blogs that touch on different topics and like to follow others that share in some of my other interests such as antiques, thrift finds and miniatures. I have said before that I’m meant for many things, but I strive to keep this blog focused on family history in particular. Today I felt like posting something different. After all, I myself am part of my family history and will one day take the place for my descendants that my ancestors now occupy for me. So as I’d love to learn more about my ancestors were like, I’m writing so others can learn more about what I’m like and what my "talents" are.

I really like to go thrift store shopping and always like to see what others find in their hunt as well. Not long ago, I came home with some really nice finds and I snapped a photo of all the items I got. The cost of course was minimal, because that’s what thrifting is all about. But I was really pleased with how nice these pieces were. So here’s my bragging photo:



I wound up buying some fat candles at Wal-Mart to put in the three candle holders, but all the other items are second-hand. In between the basket and candle holders are a nice pair of bookends which is appropriate since I am a book-lover. The total for everything including the candles was less than $25. Don’t these items make for nice home accents?

Today a couple of friends and I had appointments in a larger town. We have been scheduling our appointments so that we can all ride together. We get to go out for lunch and do a little shopping afterwards on some days, too. Today we stopped at a large second-hand store and I walked out with more items than I intended, but I loved it all. The fun part is that there’s not usually a lot of cash spent either way. I have learned, too, that if something catches my eye and I can’t seem to shake the image from my mind, I should probably get it. You never know what you’ll find and you never know when or if you’ll ever see such an item again.

I did not take any photographs today but I’ll give you a recap of what I got: It was mostly books. I’m a hopeless book lover and can’t seem to say no to a book. (“It’s so cute, can I keep it?”) The titles say something about me, too. I got a couple of Christian devotionals. One is a book lover’s devotional, how appropriate is that? Then there’s a children’s book called Patchwork Quilt which addresses my interest in getting children involved in their own family history. I got a cute board book called Snuggle Bunnies because, although they’re grown, this mama once had three little Snuggle Bunnies herself. A book called Our Dreaming Mind because one of those snuggle bunnies is interested in that topic herself. A fictional historical novel of the city of Buffalo called City of Light by Lauren Belfer. I read it already, but because it’s good and historical, I want to own it (but please don’t offer me any Harlequin romance novels that are often touted as historical. Yuck!) A nice historical textbook called Nearby History which sounds interesting. And one I’m just tickled to have picked up: A 1939 Methodist Hymnal! Call me silly, but I have been wishing I could find an old hymnal for a while. It’s two loves in one, historical and theological! Oh, and I also got two pictures for hanging on the wall. One is of some children in a field near an old country church. The other is a framed metal architectural circle (similar to others I have collected which speak to me on some level). The rest of the items were some file folders and other office supply items. Again my total was less than $20 and I have some things that give me true pleasure! Just like my personality comes out in some of these blog posts, so too does my personality and interests show up in the things that I collect. Talent or not, this is a little bit of me. J



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COG: The Love of Reading

Life is funny sometimes, wouldn’t you agree? I sit here this evening checking out my blogger dashboard and find Jasia’s post about reading for the Carnival Of Genealogy . Ah, reading! One of my absolute favorite pastimes. And Jasia wants to know my family’s history of reading? How ironic that on the third anniversary of my father’s death, I am asked that question, for he was influential in the development of my love of reading. Furthermore, I was in a training at work today and we were asked to discuss characteristics about our fathers that we would like to keep, toss, or add in reference to their values, beliefs, etc. One of the items I listed in the “keep” column was his emphasis on the importance of reading and education. My mother tells the story that my father had heard that reading to your child was a good thing, so he instructed my mother to read to me every night. (Until I was about eight, he was often away because of his Navy service.) He purchased several books for me,
Read more

Bannerman Family Mystery

Image
Among the many old photographs originally in my grandfather's possession, there is one that has haunted me and has remained a mystery all these years. The photograph is of three children with their names and ages typeset at the bottom of the photograph. “William, 10 years, Robert 8, and Maggie Bennerman, 4 Years Old.” Who were they? My grandfather was not able to identify them, though his memory was remarkably sharp and accurate until his death at the age of 96. I first noticed this picture and the others that my grandfather had in 1989 when I embarked on the adventure of genealogy. Since then I have traced all of my father's ancestors at least back to the early 1800s (and a lot beyond). But I never ran into the Bennerman name, anywhere. Not as ancestors of mine, not even as neighbors. I am lucky enough to even have a name to match the faces in the photograph in the first place. Early in my research, I visited the Tampa stake of the LDS church and I mentioned the Bennerman na
Read more

Friday Faces from the Past: Moorefield

Image
I am perusing through old photographs from my paternal grandparents side these days. In essence, I have been visiting Kentucky although really only in my mind. Things like this come and go in spurts. I have not looked at the research I have done on these lines in a number of years but every now and them something draws me back. What pulled me this time was an email from a gentleman who saw a photograph on my blog that was taken by Randolph in Cadiz, Kentucky (see the photo here ). This gentleman informed me that he and another local historian were doing research on this photographer who did work in Cadiz from about 1893 to 1913. He wanted to know if I would share an electronic copy of the photograph and also asked if I had anymore photographs taken by Randolph. I hunted around and found one more. This is a photograph identified by my grandfather as "My daddy's first cousin [John Willis Watts], Otis Moorefield." Otis Moorefield (1875-1958) Until I put the two tog
Read more