While all the rest of you are busily getting ready for Christmas, this is what we’re doing. Yes, it’s time to roof again. We’ve known it had to be done for some time, but getting everything ready for it has been a little slow, so we find ourselves at Christmas and roofing. The weather is cool, but there is no snow or ice, so it should go okay. At least, we hope so.
John went out to take these photos, and he got this one. He said it reminded him of a bunch of birds sitting on the roof. Actually, they were having lunch up there.
In the meantime, the racket has both cats upset. They don’t want to be around the noise of people tromping on their roof, so they are hiding–mostly down here with me. Anything, it seems like, upsets Charming now that she’s getting old. I got out my camera to show you where she was resting now that there’s a din in the house, and that scared her. So not only did I not get a picture of her holing up, but I scared her even more. So I dragged out her brush and gave her a little brush, and she seems easier now, but she’s still hiding under my desk where I can’t get a decent photo.
We have a long list of things we want to do to the house. We replaced all the bathroom and kitchen faucets a week or so ago. The ones we replaced were put in when the house was built, back in the 60’s, so it’s time they were renewed. It’s nice to easily turn the water on. Then we installed a new entrance to the attic. I don’t know who decided it would be a great idea to put that in the closet right in front of the back door, but we didn’t like it. We had to take everything out of that closet and remove a shelf just to get in the attic. So we cut a new entrance and installed a pull-down ladder for it. Now, we can get to the attic if we need to.
We’re also getting new front doors. Ours have seen better days, and it’s time for a new entrance, so all that’s being redone. We are replacing all the doors on the house. So we’ll have them more to our liking.
The list goes on and on. Lots of work ahead of us, but at least we got started. I just wish it didn’t upset the cats so much. They really don’t like the noise and strangers around their house.
Everything Old is New Again
I’ve been working on genealogy a lot since I wrote last. I got the Shrock Journal transcribed. It covers the Shrock Plantation in Wharton County, Texas, from 1860-1865. If you’re interested, you can read it here.
I’m working on the ledger that the family created for their business operations in Milam County, Texas, now. It’s slow going because of the fact that many people wrote the ledger, and the entries were done helter-skelter. I will have it finished eventually, though. It’s my hope that all the Shrock descendants will be able to read this Journal now and see some of the things the family went through down in South Texas. The Wharton County Museum is doing a wonderful job putting these files up to share with everyone.
On the Knitting Front
My knitting has suffered from all the inattention. I finished my Swan Lake, but it’s not dressed. Then I began the Baltic Sea Stole from Fiber Trends. You can find it here. Scroll down on the left till you find the name. It’s a nice relaxing stole to make. It’s not difficult, and I can’t imagine why more people haven’t made it.
Books I’m Reading
I’ve been reading a lot of little genealogy based mysteries lately. They’re fun and interesting to read. The Torie O’Shea mysteries by Rett MacPherson are light and fun to read. Fiona Mountain’s genealogical mysteries are a little different as the stories there are based in Britain. If you’ve done genealogy here, you’ll see that over in Great Britain, things are a little different.