WeRelate Contest: Hugh Glass

This contest this week is Hugh Glass.

Baby Joy's Tiny Room

Last year (2014) I had a goal to get all my paperwork, family photos, and memorabilia in order. I completely failed. So I have been working on it all 2015 and I am very close to being done. More on that later. In a box of memorabilia I found a "Dear Santa" letter that my Mom must have clipped from the Chewelah Independent - they printed every kid's letter every year (I wonder if they still do that?). I was curious about Boby Joy and her tiny room which turned out to be Baby Joy's Tiny Room. I found one on eBay.

I can see why I wanted it - it came in a suitcase! You could carry it anywhere you wanted and it had 1960s flower power designs. I can't remember if I actually got it. My Mom can't remember either. It's also interesting to me that it's a tiny room and I grew up to love tiny houses. 

I would have probably seen it in the Sears catalog. When we got the Sears catalog, Christmas edition, my sister and I would sit down and go through it and if I sat on the left of her I could have anything on the left side pages I wanted and she could have anything she wanted on the right side pages. I don't know who came up with that rule.

Finding this on eBay was fun and I have been thinking it might be a fun job to find things for people from their childhood. People who are too busy to find it on their own. Is their a toy from your past you have always wanted to find again?

Images courtesy of eBay seller connectibles. Used with permission.

Star Gazer

Do you remember this astrology column in the newspaper? You had to match your numbers to the words so you would know what was going to happen to you that day. Mine: Distant affairs hold your attention perhaps vacation planning. The way that you had to work for it, with numbers, made it seem... scientific. Of course I thought it was ridiculous but we read the paper every day and if you saw in the corner of your eye a sad face for your star sign it was hard to ignore. What bad thing will happen to me today?! It was in the Spokane paper for years.

WeRelate Contest: Lillian Vernon

WeRelate contest this week is Lillian Vernon (businesswoman).

Faux Fur

Available at Fabulous Furs

I love the whole idea of how fake, faux fur can save animal's lives. This set by Donna Salyer Fabulous-Furs.

Currently reading: Adirondack Style

available at Amazon

WeRelate Contest: Elsie Tu

This week's WeRelate contest is Elsie Tu.

Oprah's Favorites: Perfect tablet and smartphone bag

Available at Amazon

I've been looking for the perfect tablet and smartphone travel bag and I saw this one on Oprah's Favorites list. It is 6" x 8.5 inches - so the right size for an iPad mini (8") or a 7" Kindle Fire. I like how it opens up like a notebook.

The only problem is that it is leather and I try to avoid leather whenever I have a choice. So I am looking for a vegan alternative. Here is one in faux leather, which is good, but it doesn't open up like a notebook:

Available at Amazon

Basically I can't find what I am looking for. I just spent an hour on Amazon and eBags. If I do find one I will post it here and if you know of a travel bag for 7" or 8" inch devices that also has a place for smartphones, opens like a notebook, not leather, faux leather is OK, somewhat stylish, under 100$ would be great, please comment here. Thanks!

WeRelate Contest: Bass Reeves

Today's WeRelate contest is US Marshal Bass Reeves (July 1838 – 12 January 1910).

WeRelate Contest: Ann Bliss

This week's contest is Ann Bliss born 1 APR 1740 • Rehoboth, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA

WeRelate Contest...

was canceled this week due to winter storm clean-up priorities.

WeRelate Contest: Jane Clay from Kentucky to Idaho

This week's contest subject is Jane Clay who traveled from Kentucky and was listed in the Idaho Territory census of 1870.

How to play the game: if you create a WeRelate page for this person or you add sources to an existing page, let us know by commenting on this blog post. Person with the most edits wins.

WeRelate Contest: midwife and herbalist named Easter Moore

This week's contest is midwife and herbalist named Easter Moore.

WeRelate Contest: Florence Storch

Feisty Alberta centenarian Florence Storch is this week's contest.

De-stress: Adult Coloring

My favorite adult coloring books: 1. The Liberty Colouring Book 2. Bollywood 3. Posh Coloring Book 4. Secret Garden 5. Fantastic Cities 6. Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns

My favorite good old fashioned crayons, colored pencils and colored pens:

Old-fashioned Crayola Crayons

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils

Sharpie Ultra-Fine-Point Permanent Markers

Rest in Peace: Harriet Klausner Amazon Reviewer Hall of Fame

I just read about Harriet Klausner, an Amazon Reviews Hall of Famer. It was said she read 4 or 5 books every day. And that she only gave good reviews. That made some people skeptical of her opinion but I agree that a good policy is to only give reviews when you like something. You can read more about Harriet at The Wall Street Journal.

WeRelate Contest: Arminta Spears

This week's WeRelate Contest is Arminta Spears.

WeRelate Contest: María Elena Lucena Arcuri

This week's WeRelate Contest is María Elena Lucena Arcuri, Argentine actress.

Currently Reading: A Story of the Swanson Family, "Montana Pioneers"

The Swanson Family "Montana Pioneers" at Amazon.com

Currently reading: a book I picked up (signed copy!) at the Elmira Store. It follows members of the Swanson family, Ruby, Myrtle, Florence and William as they travel the world teaching in Sweden, Japan, Hawaii and then return home to Troy, Montana to run a family lodge. Together they wrote the book about their adventures. Florence became a prominent child psychologist in New Jersey and when she passed she donated 100 acres adjacent to their lodge to the YMCA to be used for  recreational purposes. In 1940, Myrtle lived at the Barbizon Hotel for Women while teaching in New York City. (Read more about the hotel)

The Barbizon Hotel for Women in 1927 -- photo Library of Congress

The original lodge, built in 1947 has been for sale on and off but is currently off the market. You can see it at Zillow.

The Swanson Lodge in Troy, Montana

In 1955 Ruby wrote a cookbook of their lodge recipes. (Favorite Recipes From Swansons Mountain View Lodge at Amazon.com) Some of the recipes included were:

Home Baked Beans

Corn Fritters

Superb Swedish Meat Balls

Smothered Chicken

Salmon Loaf

Potato Souffle

Onion Shortcake

Macaroni Salad

Swedish Bread

Mrs. Truman’s Ozark Pudding

Cantaloupe Sauce for Ice Cream

Cinnamon Cookies

Swedish Spice Cookies

Chocolate Pie

Frozen Lemon Chiffon Pie

more recipes online:

Food with Man Appeal: Montana Hostess Reveals Secrets

   

Ruby Swanson's Peanut Butter Cookies

Have you ever been to the lodge? Do you have a favorite Scandinavian recipe? Please share in the comments!

Link List: Environmental Inspirations

I created a link list of TV shows and sites with videos with inspiring environmental themes. (also some links with resources but no videos) We watch with our morning coffee to get inspired for the day. Subjects include renewable energy, organic gardening and agriculture, recycling. Enjoy!

This is a list of resources for environmentalism. Some have TV shows or videos on their sites. Those are listed in green.

ENVIRONMENTALISM

Eco-Company is a show about environmentalism by young people

http://eco-company.tv

Real Green - "advice for living a greener, more sustainable life"

http://www.realgreentv.net/

AGRICULTURE & LAND USE

Washington Grown - segments about agriculture in Washington State - covers some innovative farmers

http://wagrown.com

Growing a Greener World - Joe Lamp'l - organic gardening, green living and farm-to-table food

http://www.growingagreenerworld.com/

This American Land - leading conservation news magazine program on public television

http://thisamericanland.org

Home Orchard Society - assisting both novice and expert fruit growers, preserving heirloom fruit varieties

http://www.homeorchardsociety.org/

RENEWABLE ENERGY, SOLAR

Backwoods Solar

http://www.backwoodssolar.com/

GREEN HOMES & TINY HOMES

Tiny Homes by deeAuvil - my Pinterest board for tiny homes

https://www.pinterest.com/deeauvil/tiny-house-pins-by-deeauvil/

Tumbleweed

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

Tiny House Blog

http://tinyhouseblog.com/

COMMUNITIES

Mother Earth News -longest-running sustainable-lifestyle magazine - has videos 

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

Mary Jane's Farm - 29 year organic farmer - site has videos

http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/

Organic Gardening

http://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/garden

GW Planet Forward identifies, celebrates and rewards ideas to solve global environmental challenges - has videos

http://www.planetforward.org/

this list produced by http://deeAuvil.com

WeRelate Contest: Sheriff Stephen Brown & Photographer Miss Solberg

c.1910 Cheyenne (Sheyenne) North Dakota Indian Sherriff eBay seller apple13

Found this image on eBay. I love vintage images with a juxtaposition of cultures - this man with his traditional hair pipe vest also has European spectacles and a sheriff's badge. He is the subject of our WeRelate contest this week. He has been identified by the eBay seller as Stephen Brown of Sheyenne, North Dakota. Can you find any information about Stephen?

I'm also interested in the photographer. A single woman photographer in the wild west?! I can only think of one other right now (Wrensted).  So this is a very important photograph in the history of women photographers. Can you find any information about Miss Solberg of Sheyenne, North Dakota?

Good Luck!

*Image used with permission of eBay seller.

WeRelate Contest: Miss Pansy Jarnagin

This weeks WeRelate contest is from a postcard I saw at eBay. It is a photo of Evan Enoch home in Deer Park, Washington. But the subject is Miss Pansy Jarnagin - the recipient of the postcard. Can you find her in records? Does she have a connection to Evan Enoch? Good Luck!

Vintage Publisher's Logos

I uploaded this vintage Simon and Schuster logo as an example for my Pinterest Branding board. Isn't it beautiful? Here are a couple more.

Amazon Push Button WiFi Enabled Reorder Buttons

Amazon Dash Buttons - this one is for re-ordering Tide with this WiFi enabled push button

So, apparently, Amazon has created these new WiFi enabled push buttons that will reorder your most often purchased brand items. I am always running out of laundry soap. But it's not just for laundry soap it's for cleaning supplies, groceries, pet food, baby supplies, health & beauty. I'm also always running out of dog food and dog treats. But the first one I'm going to try is the laundry soap button. What you need to do is download an app and then buy the button you want to use (4.99 but then you get a 4.99 coupon). It will be mailed to you. There is also a Mrs. Meyers Clean Day button.

Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Re-Order WiFi Button

If you like this you may want to follow my Laundry board at Pinterest. Thanks for stopping by my blog :)

My Laundry Board at Pinterest

WeRelate Contest: Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra - This weeks WeRelate Contest on the deeAuvil Blog

This week's WeRelate Contest is Yogi Berra. Born Lawrence Peter Berra in 1925 he is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history.

Here is a list of Yogi Berra quotes.

WeRelate Contest: Lizzie Maron burned to death Dec. 10 1877

Normally I would try to avoid anything this gruesome but this image was in a box of vintage photos I bought at a flea market and I am really curious - can we find this woman in the census? Can we find any newspaper account of her tragedy? Can we find her sister Belle Sturgis?

Start a page for Lizzie at WeRelate to win points for today's contest. Good Luck.

WeRelate Contest: Ebby Halliday

Today's WeRelate Contest is Ebby Halliday.

Help Solve this Mystery

Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul

The estate of Otis Redding is searching for the identity of the model on the cover of this album. Read more about it here.

WeRelate Contest: Frank E. Petersen

View image | gettyimages.com

Frank E. Petersen was the first black aviator and the first black general in the United States Marine Corps. He is the subject of the WeRelate contest this week.

WeRelate Contest: Emma "Big Mama" Didlake

President Barack Obama greets the nation’s oldest living veteran, Emma Didlake, in the Oval Office, July 17, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Emma Didlake joined the military in 1943 when she was 38 years old. She served as a private and driver during World War II. She later moved to Detroit and joined her local NAACP chapter and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Detroit in 1963.

Emma is the subject of this week's WeRelate Contest.

WeRelate Contest: thoroughbred horse trainer John Nerud

John Nerud's Website

This week's contest subject is thoroughbred horse trainer John Nerud who lived to be 102. I looked up his family back in Nebraska and census says his father was born in Bohemia. I'm not even sure where Bohemia is. Do you know? Can you find out more about Bohemia and contribute to WeRelate to win this contest?

Good Luck!

President Warren G. Harding's Daughter with Nan Britton

So, yes, it has been determined through DNA that Warren Harding fathered a child with Nan Britton. Because no one believed her at the time and she received no child support she wrote a book, The President's Daughter, to try to raise some money. It was a best-seller. She writes about how he set her up in an apartment in Asbury Park, New Jersey and other intimate details about their life together. Going to be reading this book tonight on my Kindle.

The New York Times: DNA Is Said to Solve a Mystery of Warren Harding’s Love Life

WeRelate Contest: Agnes Fenton

This week's contest subject is Agnes Fenton of New Jersey. Born in 1905 she moved to Memphis with her cousin as a teenager and started one of the first black-owned businesses in that city. One of the habits she credits for her longevity is drinking Miller High Life beer.
We don't add living people to WeRelate for privacy reasons, but see if you can find her parents or her husband (is Fenton her married name?) and create a page for them on WeRelate.

Good Luck!

WeRelate Genealogy Contest - Flora MacDonald

Library and Archives Canada, Accession No. R10914-5

 Copyright: Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

From Canadian Flora MacDonald's Wikipedia page I learned that she worked as a bank teller at the Bank of Nova Scotia. She used her savings to travel to Britain in 1950 where she got involved with a group of Scottish nationalists who stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey and brought it to Scotland. After that she hitchhiked through Europe, came back to Canada and entered politics and devoted the last years of her life to international humanitarian work.

Flora MacDonald passed on July 26, 2015. She is the subject of this week's genealogy contest. If you would like to play find out if she already has a page at WeRelate. If not, create one or add to the existing page. Her family is also interesting - her grandfather had been a clipper ship captain who sailed around Africa and South America. Can you find out more about him?

Good luck!

Treat Day

Re-ordering these delicious pomegranate lollipops made from birch Xylitol. I've tried LOTS of things to distract myself from eating too much. Gum does not work. But these really do taste good and the flavor lasts longer than gum and it is working to distract me. 25 calories.

Edited to add - they are a really pretty color so I thought I should read the ingredients so I don't recommend something with artificial color. The ingredients: Polyglucitol, Xylitol, Citric acid, Natural flavor, Malic acid, Purple Sweet Potato, Radish, Cherry

And a tip: I keep mine refrigerated or they will melt especially in the summer.

Blue Bones Dental Chews

Since I bought something for myself I had to also get something for my collie. One of his fans sent him these chews and he just goes crazy over them. And he is such a picky eater. A lot of chewy things he just ignores but he eats these up immediately. They have Glucosamine and Chondroitin in them which he seems to need (he is starting to have some aging issues). They are expensive so I am going to buy the regular size and snap them in half and give him half a day.

WeRelate Contest: Soterios Anargyros

Prints available at my website.

I've seen these gorgeous vintage advertisements - this is just one example - all over the Internet and I finally took some time to look into it. I wondered who was behind a company that produced such beautiful ads. The answer is a guy named Soterios Anargyros. Born in Greece he came to America and eventually got into the tobacco business. Importing tobacco from Turkey. Oddly enough there is no Wikipedia page for him. So if you would like to join this contest create a page for him at WeRelate (extra points if you create a page at Wikipedia!) and let us know what you find out about his interesting life. Good Luck!

Plywood Floor Experiment

When I decided to put a new floor in the first thing I did was to go to a hardware store and get samples of flooring. I was really shocked. There was one group of samples that were true hardwood and that was obvious and expensive (7.19 a square foot) and then there is a whole other group of flooring that is called "hardwood" but is actually a very thin veneer of wood over something that looks like MDF to me. It is probably not MDF and it may be more water-proof than MDF, but I am sure none of these so-called hardwoods would ever be able to be refinished. The small veneer would be removed and all you would have is the MDF-like middle section. Even the cork flooring was a tiny layer of cork and then the MDF-like stuff. Don't take my word for it go get samples yourself. As you can see from the picture below, one layer of plywood is thicker than the veneer on the mid-priced "hardwood".

From top to bottom: Hardwood flooring sample ($7.19 sq. ft.), cork flooring sample, mid-priced "hardwood" flooring sample, 1/2 inch plywood.

I needed 400 square feet of new flooring. I got estimates for wood floors from several places and for what I wanted it was going to be 4 or 5 thousand dollars. I absolutely hate carpet. There is some vinyl sheeting that looks just like wood floors and I like it but I wanted something a step up from that because I will probably Airbnb this place at least a few weeks in the summer. I decided to try plywood flooring.

A price break-down

Plywood: .75 cents a square foot - $300 for 400 square feet

Real Hardwood: $7.19 a sq. ft. = $2,876 for 400 sq. ft.

"Hardwood" veneer at $2.99 a sq. ft. = $1200

"$0.99 sq. ft." Internet bargains would be great but every place I looked wanted 6-700 dollars shipping

This will be the tenth floor that I have taken down to the subfloor and re-built. So I feel like I know what I'm doing at this point. That's why I decided to buy cheap vinyl flooring to use as a vapor barrier. And also to stabilize the whole thing. I could tell that the subfloor was made out of different grades of plywood. It was kind of a mish-mash of someone's old collection of wood. My idea was to use the vinyl flooring to tie everything together and make it all more stable. I was right. It does seem really stable. (As apposed to just laying the plywood planks onto the subfloor.) It cushions the planks and makes them quieter to walk on.

I bought the vinyl from Griffin's Furniture in Newport.

Now to buy the planks. I bought the planks from Albeni Falls Building Supply in Newport. I chose 1/2 inch plywood and I asked them if they could cut it in 6 8" planks 8' long. I drew a picture that i left with them just to be sure. They asked if they could do it the next day when they had time and I said I was in no hurry. They charged me a small fee per board to cut it. I was fine with that. They explained that it wouldn't be possible to make every cut EXACT. I said I was fine with that. There were just a few boards that were just slightly off and that's OK because it just adds character. In fact, when the floors were done I took a box cutter knife and trimmed a couple of boards that were so close together they looked like one board. I wanted to have some gap between boards. I did push all the boards right next to each other because although a large gap would have looked cool and farmhouse, I can't figure out how you would keep that clean. And I am all about low maintenance. Between a couple of planks there are huge gaps and I am going to put something artistic in there and then seal it (beads? sand?). 

Now to lay the boards down. I hired someone to nail the boards down because I knew that I had to rent an air compressor and rent a nail gun and I don't know how to use them and I don't want to learn. I rented all that for $90. Then I went to Home Depot to buy the nails. The guy at Home Depot said I had the wrong kind of nail gun for the job and that they had a CORDLESS stapler by Ryobi on the close-out shelf for $75! I returned the nail gun and compressor and bought the Ryobi. I had to buy a battery and charger for the Ryobi but now I am all over the One + bandwagon and I now have a One + Ryobi weed wacker and a One + camping lantern. Love them. I have used the nail gun for all sorts of things after using it for the floors. I did still have to pay my friend Christopher to nail the floors down because I had already arranged it with him but I could have done it myself with a cordless Ryobi.

Ryobi P360 18-Volt Airstrike Crown Stapler

Nails. The guys at Home Depot told me instead of finish nails (which is what I read on other plywood floor blog tutorials) I should use crown staples. That seemed odd to me but they have never steered me wrong at the Sandpoint Home Depot so I bought 1-1/4" "Narrow Crown Staples". They were easy to load in the Ryobi, they seem to really hold the planks down fine, and you really can't even see them. And I notice EVERYTHING.

Next I gave a light stain to the plywood, trying to make it look more Scandinavian because Mike loves Scandinavian style. I did this by mixing one gallon of Kilz water based primer with four gallons of water. First I just used one gallon of water that covered too much then I kept adding water because it was very difficult to see what I was doing. I wanted to get just a light stain. And I didn't know how it would dry. I probably could have gone with 3 gallons of water. It is not as white as I would like. This was the hardest part of the project - getting the right amount of white-washing. But in the end I was too tired to change it so I just went with it. The beauty of these wide plank plywood floors is if you don't like the look you could always paint them. Painted floors look great. Lots of Scandinavian painted-white wide-plank floors on Pinterest. I would use porch paint if I did that.

Then I sealed everything with Varathane Floor Finish High Traffic Satin Finish. At first I thought I would need to wear a gas mask and keep everyone out for 24 hours because of the fumes. But I guess that is for the old oil-based finish and these new water-based finishes are not so fume-y. First coat (which took one gallon for 400 square feet) I was fine until the end when I got my face up close to some plywood to see if I was getting in the cracks and some fumes got in my eyes and they were watery and a little sore for a couple hours. For the second coat I kept my eyes away from the floor and I was fine. I opened all the windows for air circulation. I ended up using two gallons - two coats and I have already spilled a latte on it and it cleaned up fine. I think I will put another coat or two on it in time because I want the floor to be very durable.

I plan to update this post in about a year to let you know how everything wears. Thanks for stopping by!

Acupressure Foot Massager for Stroke and Foot Drop Recovery

We are thinking about putting together an ebook about all the things we are doing to help Mike recover from his stroke (Feb. 2012). I thought I would start to put that together with my main tip: try only one thing at a time so you know if it is working.

If you start two supplements at one time, let's say one is $100 a month and one is $90 a month, and you start to feel better, how will you know which supplement to continue? Plus it is expensive. So just try one thing at a time, I would give it a month. And keep a calendar!

Using my one thing at a time method and our assumption that you will not recover from a stroke unless you do SOMETHING, we believe that using the Ucomfy Acupressure Foot Massager has improved Mike's drop foot quite a bit. Plus it just feels good over-all. He does it for 45 minutes to one hour every day while he is having morning coffee.

Mike has gone from wearing a full-on AFO to a simple ankle brace. (more on AFOs and ankle braces in another post)

The little nubs move independently and they stimulate the nerves in the foot. So it makes sense that it would help with stroke recovery. The only thing I am not sure of is if it is OK for a person with diabetes or pre-diabetes. If you have diabetes and your doctor has approved your use of this machine I would appreciate it if you commented here. If you are a doctor please comment! Does anyone know of any studies about diabetes and foot acupressure?

WeRelate Contest: Jeralean Talley née Kurtz

Before Jeralean Talley passed away in 2015 she was the world's verified oldest living person. If you want to play the contest this week, check to see if she has an entry and if not create one and see if you can find anything else about her life and family.

WeRelate Contest: Susannah Mushatt Jones' Father Callie

I'm reading about the current oldest living person - Susannah Mushatt Jones who is 116. Since we should not create pages at WeRelate for living people (for privacy reasons) let's use her father for this weeks contest. Wikipedia says her father's name was Callie. Look to see if he has an entry at WeRelate and if not you can create a page for him to earn points in the contest.

I learned from this CNN article that she put three of her nieces through college and that she attributes not being married long to her longevity.

Good luck!

Teddy Roosevelt Portrait on the Blue Blood's Frank Reagan Office Set

Where can I get a Teddy Roosevelt portrait just like the one on Blue Bloods?

I love set design. And vintage images. We do watch Blue Bloods (we are Tom Selleck fans) so, yes, I did notice that spectacular portrait of Teddy Roosevelt in Police Commissioner Frank Reagan's office.

So I found the actual print and here is how to get one of your own.

ROLL YOUR OWN:

You can purchase a print of this image HERE size 16 x 20, the closest size to the BB image. I went shopping for a frame. I hadn't ordered a frame online in years and, wow, it has not gotten any easier. I could not find a frame website I can recommend. I usually shop at Amazon for convenience so I went there next. Finding a frame and mat was not so easy. I couldn't find one exactly like BB but I did find this gold frame:

And I did find mat in two color choices. I think the BB portrait has a creme colored mat but you could also use white.

You may want to purchase the print and take it to your local framer.

If you find a better frame or mat at Amazon please let me know. And if you can recommend an online frame shop please tell us!

BUY READY-MADE:

For people who don't have time to roll their own head over to Imagekind where you can purchase the print already matted and framed. If you purchase from Imagekind, and if you have time, please let me know what your experience was like. Thanks! Catherine

Purchase a ready-made portrait at Imagekind