Emptyknitster

An important part of planing for a trip is deciding just what projects I will bring. Usually its more than enough sock yarn and I happily knit sock after sock. They're small, brightly colored and patterns can be as simple or complicated as desired. I've knit so many I get the basic pattern set up and then pop in a textured pattern to go with the yarn color or activity I'll be doing while knitting. This trip, in an effort not to stress out over Christmas,  I decided to work on the Bunco Gals Christmas ornaments. I've knit ornaments for several years, sweaters , hats and mittens , Christmas stockings , and the Gals seem look forward to see just what miniature piece of clothing I will knit next. Last year, in my eyes, was a bit of a bust. I tried several different items but wasn't satisfied with any so finally settled on cloth Scandinavian Stars. The night of  Christmas Bunco the Gals were trying to guess just what was inside their gift. One Gal said, "Is it ...

It has been a dream of mine for many years to go to New England and visit the area my ancestors lived two hundred years ago. In 2007 I was contacted by the current owner of my third great grandfather's home and that only solidified my wish to visit... The original family came from England and are now known as part of "The First Settlers to America." They arrived in Roxbury in 1635 and were mention by Reverend John Elliot in his record of the church. "John Cheny (-1666) he came into the Land in the yeare 1635. He brought 4 children, Mary, Martha, John, Daniel. Sarah his 5th child was borne in the last month of the same year 1635, cold February. He removed from or church to Newbury the end of the next suer 1636. Martha Cheny the wife of John Cheny." (Cheney Genealogy, Charles Henry Pope, 1897) Four generations of the Cheney family lived in Newbury, Massachusetts. Records show land belonging to the family was sold in 1765 and Timothy Sr.(1713-1772) moved ...

We woke up the next morning to discover we were staying smack dab in the middle of my Addison, Vermont, dream vacation! Our home away from home was on Lake Champlain. It was only a mile away from Chimney Point State Park - the exact building where my 3x great grandfather, Dr. Prentiss Dana Cheney worked in the early 1800's, and his home was less than two miles away. Next to the park is the bridge to New York and Fort Ticonderoga, Fort St. Frederic/Fort Crown Point. In just a short time we were able to find the two cemeteries where two of my 3x great grandparents are buried, Betsey Murray Cheney (1786-1821) and Prentiss Dana Cheney (1786-1842), His mother Susanna Cook Cheney (1743-1836) is also nearby in the family plot. We then drove on to the Townline Cemetery. After a short search we found my 4x great grandparents, Joseph (1744-1816) and Isabella Burritt Murray (1744-1828).  I also found my 3x great grandfather Gilead Pickett (1778-1816) who is next to a Daniel Hayward, ...

I was a bit worried about our autumn in New England get away. We were going to visit a friend of Hubby's in Maine but he canceled just a couple weeks before our visit. Then the second leg of our trip, Denver  to Chicago, didn't go well. The plane had cargo hatch problems and another plane had to be flown in from Los Angeles. After four hours of waiting we boarded the new plane but as we were about to take off the plane had to go return to the terminal because its weight in the cargo hold was not distributed correctly. Crazily, when we returned to the terminal the only process necessary was the passengers in rows 16-19 were asked to move to other seats (I guess they couldn't get out of their seats while on the tarmac) We thankfully had an uneventful flight but when arriving at Chicago we were unable to leave the plane because the jet bridge was unable to attach to the plane. While waiting for this delay to be remedied the stewardess began her usual request on the intercom fo...