Tag, I'm It - Continued

As promised, here are the rest of the 5 things you probably didn't know about me (or as I think of it, things no one wants to know and I probably should never have told). The first 2 things I should probably never have told anyone are found here.

3. One of my hobbies is going to antique auctions, stores, flea markets and garage sales. I’m an avid collector. My collections include Snuff Boxes, Coffee Mills, Scales (General Store Candy scales, Hanging scales, Apothecary Scales, Postal Scales, etc), Civil War Era Photo Albums and photos, and much more! I had trouble deciding which of my collections is my favourite but I think it might be this double wheel coffee mill I found at an auction last year. My grandson is sitting beside it, so that gives you some idea of its size.

4. I am not a daredevil but I have several daredevil ancestors. My second cousin, 3 times removed (Stephen Peer) has the dubious distinction of being the only tightrope walker at Niagara Falls to fall to his death. In June 1887 Stephen outdid Blondin by walking across the Niagara River between the cantilever and suspension bridges on the smallest wire rope ever used - only 5/8ths of an inch in diameter. Three days later he fell to his death from the wire. Here’s a photo of my daredevil ancestor walking his tightrope over Niagara Falls.

5. Something else you might not know about me is that I paint – mostly watercolours – and have done some pottery and sculpting. I played French Horn in High School and our band made an LP record (remember them?) which I still have. I also learned to play classical guitar and recorders, and my husband and I used to play duets on Alto and Soprano Recorders – sitting high up on rocks on deserted islands on Georgian Bay.

My only small claim to fame is taking an art class with Canadian artist Sharon MacKinnon (when she was just starting out as an artist) and being taught watercolours by John Hartman

I have tagged three other genealogy bloggers – Illya D’Addezio, Steve Johnson and Brian Massey Let's see if they accept the challenge.

For a list of other’s who’ve been tagged, see Randy Seaver’s blog

Tag! I'm it - here's 5 things you may or may not want to know about me

There’s a new game taking place among Internet bloggers. It’s a take on the game of tag that most of us played in childhood. If you are tagged, you're supposed to blog about "Five Things You Didn't Know About Me." Then you tag other bloggers.

I got tagged by Rick Crume, "The Internet Guy" whose blog can be found here

It took awhile to think about what might be interesting or different enough to talk about, but here goes – 5 things you probably didn’t know about the Olive Tree Lady (and perhaps never wanted to know!!):

1. I have 8 grandchildren and step-grandchildren ranging in age from 1½ years to 17 years – and trying to get them all interested in genealogy has been a challenge. My 8 year old grandson Alasdair loves the Cemetery Challenge game I made up. Each summer when he and his younger sister Lilith come to visit, I give them each a large piece of paper with the name of one ancestor printed out. Then we drive to the cemetery where that ancestor is buried and we see who can find the grave first. A picnic in the cemetery follows. Of course we talk about the ancestor over our picnic lunch. Here we are at last summer’s hunt


2. I have a pet donkey (a Mammoth Jack) called Burr. His brother Ito died last year. I rescued them after they’d been taken from their owner because of neglect. Yes, put the two names together and see what you get…. Here is a picture of
Burr and Ito taken 2 years ago when we first brought them home – they are skin and bones in this photo but soon gained weight.

If you aren't totally bored yet, be sure and check back tomorrow to read more of the "5 Things You Don't Know About Me" plus the names of the bloggers I'm going to tag when I'm done. (Part 2 is finished! Click on the link "read more" to read #s 3, 4,5)

For a list of other’s who’ve been tagged, see Randy Seaver’s blog

One Step Search Engine for Hamburg Ships Passenger lists

The Hamburg Immigration lists are online at ancestry. Steve Morse has created a one-step form to access those lists. It's the next-to-last item in the
"Other Ports" section of Steve's website.

One of the advantages of it over using the ancestry site directly is that you don't have to know as much German. Ancestry has dropdown lists for gender, marital status, and relation, all of which are in German. Those same dropdown
lists on Steve's site are all in English.