Wisconsin days two through five

I'm at the airport on my way home. My fingers are raw, my toes still thawing and I honestly don't remember when I last washed my hair (I was afraid it would freeze and give me the mother of all headaches, not to mention the flu). I had a good time but am not sorry to be heading home. Here's a quick recap of what I did over the last four days.

Wednesday was mostly driving, least said about that the better, and I did a little exploring in Clark County . Thursday was Eau Claire County day. Started in the Village of Fairchild. I think it's a fairly depressed area, because all the buildings were for sale, same thing down in Jackson County as well.

I visited the cemetery. It was buried in snow so I took the snow scraper/brush from the car to excavate. I found great-great grandfather Cornelius Bovee whose whereabouts and place/date of death had previously been a mystery

and his wife, great-great grandmother Hannah Pettis Bovee

I only found the graves thanks to the huge marker for Truman Bovee which I spotted at the entrance. Without a map of the cemeteries its impossible to find anything. Half the graves are buried in snow and my toes froze before I could find any other family members in Fairchild. I drove through Augusta and then on to Eau Claire to visit the University library, where I found a number of court documents related to the Bovees. I then rushed off and left all the photocopies at the library.

Wednesday and Thursday night I stayed in a lovely hotel, the Oak Park Inn. I was so happy to be there every night.

Friday I went to Jackson County, real Bovee country. I found the Bovee Creek, the north branch of the Trempeleau River. I was amazed that it wasn't completely frozen.

Then I found the land (Township 23 Range 5 Section 28) where the Bovees (Cornelius, Uncles Zebulon and Silas, father Jonas and grandfather Nicholas) held sway. They owned and farmed the entire section.

I drove through Bovee stamping grounds Hixton and Alma Center where I excavated more gravestones.

I then drove south to Jackson County seat Black River Falls to visit the Historical Society and history room at the library. I found a few things at the library and chatted with the volunteer librarian who knew a family member, Elgie Bovee Kutcher, niece of my great grandfather George.

This morning I popped into the Wisconsin Historical Society here in Madison to look up a few things before flying home to New York. Madison is a nice town, but I don't know if I could go to school here... I nearly froze to death this morning just walking from the car to the Society.

And here's one last look at Wisconsin... a Bovee in their natural setting...

And now you can look through all my pictures from Wisconsin

Wisconsin day one

Day one in Wisconsin was all about snow. It started snowing at 2pm and it was still snowing when I went to bed. I've never driven in snow but now I know how. I only skidded once (it's those wretched trucks!) and even managed to drive in Madison rush hour traffic during the snow storm. I only managed to visit Hancock Cemetery before the snow started, so went back to Madison early and had the whole evening to twiddle my thumbs. I did wander up by the Capitol in the evening.

It's my last day at EMI today. I'm scabbling around to try and get things wrapped up and there's still four piles of papers to go through. The time is flying. Oh, well if I get to it, I get to it... I had lunch at the Shake Shack one last time. Caitlin, Mike, and Martin came along. I'll miss the Shake Shack! Listening to Interpol nice and loud... I'll really miss having my own office.

At the Shake Shack...

Justin and Matt and I in my office...

My whereabouts for December

Monday 3 December - last day at EMI
Tuesday 4-Saturday 8 December - in Wisconsin
Saturday 8 -Sunday 9 December - back in NYC
Sunday 9 December - flying to London
Monday 10 December - Thursday 13 December - in England
Friday 14-Sunday 16 December - in Rome
Monday 17 December - Wednesday 19 December - in Marrakech
Thursday 20 December - Saturday 5 January - in Englang
Saturday 5 January - flying to NYC

Utah

I needed to go away somewhere for Thanksgiving. I called up Stephen and convinced him that he wanted me to come visit him in Salt Lake City. I don't see enough of Stephen, my favourite brother. We're seven years apart but we get along so well. So I flew to Utah last Wednesday to spend the holiday weekend with him. I haven't been to Utah in 14 years. All I remember is mountains, a little bit of Temple Square and that brand new rental car whose breaks made an awful stink. The accomodation was top class: I was well set up with my own bed in the lounge downstairs, with the cat Eli for company. Every night I had to get into bed around him, and when he wasn't napping on my bed he was sat on the stairs swatting at us as we walked past.

Stephen made us cornish game hens for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. Good idea, turkey is so much bother. We watched the Jolly Boys Outing and stayed at home all day. I haven't had a lazy day like that in AGES. Stephen was back to work on Friday so I spent the day at the Family History Library. I was all prepared with long lists of books and microfilm to examine. I found some birth/death/marriage/burial information for some distant relatives, but the most important finds was a cemetery transcript for Fairchild Village Cemetery where I knew my great great grandmother Hannah Pettis Bovee was buried. We had no death date for her husband Cornelius, but it turns he is buried with her in Fairchild, along with their son Truman and grandson Hiram. I now have some new leads to follow up when I'm in Wisconsin next week and some places to visit. I also found maps pinpointing the location of the land plots belonging to Charles Henry Patterson and his father-in-law Daniel Baldwin. I also found the marriage for Evelyn Ducie and Elmer Pehrson and the funeral bills for her parents John and Ellen.

Saturday Stephen drove me to Provo (under protest, he's a Univ of Utah man and Saturday was a big game day between the rival schools). I wanted to have a quick look around BYU to see if I could bare to live there. Turns out the law school building is just about the ugliest thing I've ever clapped eyes on. Provo wasn't exactly the Garden of Eden either. The temple was quite pretty up close though, a nice surprise as it looks pretty weird in photographs. Stephen took us up over the mountains on the way home, via Alpine which my roommate Juleen calls home. He had to rush off to meet his mates to watch The Game, so he dropped me at Temple Square. I watchd the Joseph Smith film in the Memorial Bldg and then went to the temple to do initiatories for some direct ancestors (Ellen Mulherin, Margaret Kelly and Annie O'Brien). It was my first trip to the Salt Lake temple so I took the big guns along with me! The temple of course is lovely, although you do get a bit lost in the underground labyrinth, but i'm not complaining. They had a cafeteria and a dozen intiatory booths. Our temple in Manhattan is so dinky, so it was fun to explore one of the big ones. Stephen picked me up after the game. His lot lost and it was surprising how much quieter the car was.

On Sunday, Stephen dropped me at church where I sat with one of his friends, Alison, who is a BYU law graduate. After church, Stephen was back in the kitchen, this time cooking us a Sunday, leg of lamb and yorkshire pudding, with Bisto gravy from England and boiled carrots and broccoli. I think someone misses home... I was ever so proud of him! After dinner, he showed me round the University of Utah, his old dormitories and classroom buildings. I think he really enjoyed his time there and it was nice to see where my little brother spent four years of his life. We made one last trip to Temple Square to take pictures with the Christmas lights, and then it was on the airport. I was just starting to get acclimatised to the city. And I was really enjoying being with Stephen. Shame I had to leave... but I might be back.

New job for Genevieve

This morning I accepted to the offer of a job with Mercer, an HR consulting firm here in New York. I'll be working with their Workforce Sciences Team. I heard about the job through my Dad who has been working with two members of the team on a project at Aramco. His sharp ears overheard a conversation between them about this job opening and he jumped in and told them about me. They interviewed me immediately upon their return to the New York and made me an offer last Friday. I think they really wanted me. It's nice to be wanted. They seem like a good group of people, all braniacs (labour economists, organisational psychologists), they were very friendly when I met with them, but pleasantly quirky as well. I think I will fit in. My new office is at Sixth Avenue and 45th street. I'm scared of midtown but will just have to toughen up a bit. Best part is I don't start till January 7 so I have plenty of time to spend in England, with a couple side trips thrown in. Morocco and Rome have already been booked. There may be more.

Going on my holidays

I'm going to Salt Lake City! I haven't been out of the city since April - I'm climbing the walls. I can't wait till Christmas. So I'm going to visit my little bruvvah. We'll have Thanksgiving dinner at home on Thursday with Stephen's flatmates. On Friday, Stephen has to work so he's going to drop me off at the Family History Library (this will be the real day of indulgence!). I'll take a lunch break around noon and wander around Temple Square. And on Saturday he's going to take me down to Provo to have a look around BYU. I went thirteen years ago but don't remember a thing so it'll be nice to get a good look at the place and see how I might feel about living there. I have all Sunday there as well so we'll take a trip up to the University of Utah so Stephen can show we his old stamping ground and then he says we'll go on up into the mountains and to see the "This Is The Place" monument.

And Stephen says we'll watch a bit of Del Boy on the wide screen tellie. Lovely jubbly!

It hate it when daylight saving time ends. We were in the dark of night at 5pm today. It's quite depressing... and there are other problems. I'm going to make a Lexia-like confession:

I'm scared of the dark.

When Lucy and Jonathan used to go to Saudi Arabia to stay with my parents I would have to sleep with the lights on in all the rooms except my own bedroom. Nuts, huh?!

I have figured it out. I know what to do. I have a life plan and I'm poised to implement it. This is exciting for me, I've never know what I wanted to be when I grew up or where I wanted to live or anything. I'm just a big bundble of indecision. Until today. But, errr, it's a bit personal to go splashing all over the interweb. So if you're close enough to want to know, then you know where to reach me and I'll happily fill you in.

Feels good.

For Byron... a few words on Luton

My mother was born in an English town called Luton. I was born in a Canadian city called Vancouver. But I was soon whisked away to grow up in Saudi Arabia, a country I could never call my own. Long happy childhood summers were spent in Luton and after university it became my semi-permanent home. So I claim it. Luton is my hometown. People outside England imagine quaint communities of cottages and cobble-stoned streets, jolly little freckled street urchins, witty tea-drinking adults, all watched over by the lord of the local manor from his mock Tudor stone castle. Some places in England are a lot like that.

Luton is nothing like that. It's stubbornly modern. We have a river (stream really) choked up with take away chicken boxes, no old buildings and bad race relations. The rest of England looks down on us. We look down on ourselves. It's sad. They've been working to give the place a bit of a face lift with some recent projects in the town center, but more than anything the place needs a good pep talk and a dose of self-confidence. Up the road in Harpenden and St. Albans, they like their town and they like themselves. Luton has a lot to learn.

But I have deep roots there and in the surrounding villages. I have family and good friends there. It's the closest thing I have to a home and that alone makes it the best place on earth.
Well, sort of.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby!

Mike and I played the new Guitar Hero 3 game on his xbox 360 last night. I love new toys and we played with this one for four hours. My hands were cramped, my eyes were red, my heart was full of joy. Mike's even got a super spiffy new wireless guitar with KISS plastered all over it. What more could any man want! I knew more of the songs so this one is my favourite game so far. I'm not into all that classic rock and motorhead metal mallarky. I'm a postmodern indie girl with no real musical roots. I want to play some frivolous guitar pop from yesterday not just yesteryear. A bit of Strokes and Kaiser Chiefs was just the ticket. Step a few years back and there was Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica and Stone Roses. I remember when these tracks were singles, it was a happy trip back to a (early!) teenage me. They've added some frivolous new extras like new venues, characters and costumes. I rocked out in some skin tight silver leather pants. It occured to me that I can now wear something like that in real life. Should I get some? answers on a postcard.

Where do crazy dreams come from? I'm still fighting off the after effects of one I had in the early hours of today. We were on holiday, Mum, Dad and Jonathan had gone to some town in Bosnia, but Lucy had to go to a conference (for work? who knows) in some unidentified town in Greece. And on a whim, I joined her there. Suddenly the conference was over and we had 24 hours to meet up with the others. We couldn't fly so renting a car was our only option. But there is no way to get to Bosnia from Greece without travelling through Albania, Macedonia or Kosovo. Dodgy places all of them. We were chewing down our nails worrying about bad roads, bad drivers and, scariest of all, BANDITS! Convinced we would be stipped of our possessions and all the gold in our teeth, we were having a tough time coming to terms with the trip ahead. And then, bless her heart, my roommate Juleen started shifting around in her bed, and for once I was glad to have been woken up early. I don't understand what causes these weird fantasies... a warm room and a lot of Bonbon Chicken might have had something to do with it...but really! Sometimes I wish my subconcious would be nicer to me. (And by the way, I've been looking at google maps and in case anyone ever finds themself in this very situation, you can always take a long route through Bulgaria and Romania... the roads and the drivers are still terrible, but you won't get waylaid)

Just a quick word to say that the LSAT did not kill me... it was bloody hard, though! Over the last two weeks I have been giving my brain a little bit of a rest, although I'm obsessed with crossword puzzles at the moment so I hope that's keeping me sharp. My score is due in about a week so fingers crossed. In the meantime I've had a marvelous birthday where I was spoiled yet again by wonderful family and friends. Thank you to everyone who took part! I'll add some pictures from my home computer when I have a chance.

One of my favourite scriptures is from Ether 12:27 (Book of Mormon) "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness, I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, [here comes the really good bit] then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I feel like I had all my weak things shown to me this morning!!!!!!!! It wasn't fun. Oh and three days to the LSAT and I'm developping a cold, on top of everything else. I don't dare ask if it can get any worse, because I know what will happen. I am so afraid that I have taken on more than I can manage. I just need to forego all thoughts of giving up and keep it together long enough to get to the strengthening bit.

And if I don't ace the LSAT, I suppose I can always try the MCAT next year...

Interpol

Ooops, I meant to save this as a draft, not post it yet. But since it's up I'd better give it a caption. This is Interpol at Madison Square Garden last Friday, 14 September. The show was amazing. The new songs sounded great live, but the best thing... the tickets were free. A friend at work had put them aside especially for me.

A Quick update...

before I have to tell you about Labour Day weekend, the end of the summer and adventures to come...

Two weekends ago, I got a call from Kelly who was working a Saturday afternoon shift at CNN. The Deutsche Bank Building at the World Trade Center site was on fire and she need pictures. I legged out of our apartment with my fancy new digital camera, found the best vantage points, and took several photos and some film of the distaster. We uploaded them to CNN and my stuff ran on CNN domestic several times that evening and once even on CNN International. That was my shortlived career as a photojournalist.

Earlier in the afternoon I had ventured out to the Red Hook Ballfields in Brooklyn with friends (Brigham Barnes, Michelle Hales, Dave Almond and Kim Jones) to try the Latin American food on offer every Saturday afternoon. I tried something called a huarrache

and an elote, which was ridiculously delicious. I also tried papusas from El Salvador.

The weekend before I made a trifle. It was enjoyed by many.

And the weekend before that (4 Aug) I went to Jeff Mulcock's wedding reception. Mike and I took some picture reminiscent of a recent event.

Dad says I can go to Wisconsin!!!

You may have heard that it rained here a little yesterday. We had about 3 inches in just a couple hours in the morning. The sound of rain on the window had stirred me a little, but I didn't know what a mess things were till my roommate texted us to say that the subway was all shut down. I didn't have a horrendous trip to work, I only had to walk to Canal St (about a mile) and got on the one subway line that was still running up and down the island.

I couldn't understand why the rain had caused so much havoc until this afternoon when I was listening to an Wisconsin NPR programme. Apparently, even on a sunny day, the transit authority has to deal with 13 million gallons of ground water in the subway. There are over 800 pumps working to keep the water out of the tunnels. No wonder a deluge like we saw yesterday very quickly puts them over the edge.

I was listening to a programme where they were discussing a book called The World Without Us about what would happen if humans hastily exited the planet and how nature would reclaim everything. There's a whole chapter devoted to New York City. Without the pumps, the subway would be completely flooded within a couple days, and the city would soon begin to rust, rot and eventually crumble from beneath. It was fascinating.

Gap year

I'm coping with a boring patch at work by listening to back to back episodes of Excess Baggage, a BBC radio programme about travel. In the last 24 hours I've heard dozens of tales of people's adventures across the globe, bringing into painful focus the fact that the last time I ventured to a new country was 2003! Ideas are swirling around my brain, slowly taking shape as escape plans. I think perhaps it's time I took a gap year! I could renew the lease on my apartment, thereby securing a home for myself, then sublease my spot for a couple months, quit my job (it's about time anyway), and disappear on a hair raising adventure. Ok, so you would never find me paddling up the Amazon or hitchhiking across the Sahara, but there are some once in a lifetime adventure destinations I'd love to hit up...
Peru Georgian Republic









Vietnam Samarkand












China

I also want to go to Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town and Zanzibar, and travel the length of the Trans Siberian Railway. I wonder if I could actually get away with it!

Something I can do is put a ball in the back of the net. We played five-a-side football on Saturday morning over in Battery Park City. Three goals were scored on each side, and I scored two for my team. Not bad for my first ever match. It was a glorious morning and we had ridiculous amounts of fun. My skills don't extend to passing, dribbling, or tackling opposing players but there's the rest of the summer for that.

I can't cook!

I can do a few things that no one could mess up and occassionally I get lucky if I follow a recipe exactly. But on the whole, I'm a dead loss in the kitchen. Every time I try a baking recipe I come up with something different. Same recipe, same ingredients, never the same result! I tried making curry a couple months ago. Even spent $50 dollars on a small food processor I was so excited. It cooked for over two hours and I still didn't have a proper curry in front of me, finally ended up taking suggestions from the floor, adding flour, cream, and whatever else my roommates shouted out. They all said it was delicious. They're good people, aren't they!

But I'm not one to give up easily (ask me about the last bloke in my life...) and having seen the film Ratatouille twice in the last two weeks, I figured if the rat could cook so could I. I hurried to our posh supermarket, the infamous Jubilee, and collected up all the ingredients for, you guessed it, ratatouille, a dish I love so much I used to eat it cold out of a tin. I laboured for ages over thinly sliced tomatoes, squash and eggplant, I even made my own special sauce to go with it. The anticipation could have been measured on the Richter scale, and the result was utterly deflating. It didn't taste unpleasant, but it was nowhere near anything special.

Dad can go to a restaurant in Thailand, come home and collect up all the revolting looking ingredients and reproduce the dish he had in Thailand for our own dinner table. Clearly this is not something that is passed genetically. I got all his quirky stuff, but not his talent in the kitchen. The only consolation is that I live in places like London and New York where there's never a shortage of delicious food to be found. Oh and if I ever invite you to dinner... think about it carefully before you say yes.

If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree!

Alumni reunion weekend

No, I didn't schlepp out to Colorado Springs to hobnob with former classmates from boarding school. I did, however, drop by a party this Saturday given by fellow Fountain Valley School graduate Heather Rees. I really liked Heather. We haven't kept in touch (I haven't kept in touch with anyone from school except my roommate Meredith), but she emailed me out of the blue along with a couple other FVS people in NYC and invited us over. It was such a great evening, catching up with her and two other classmates, Alison Perry and Cameron Stanford. I took Jason along in case it was a bit stilted, but I had a jolly time chatting to all three and was really pleased to see that they're all doing well. And we have plans to get together again soon. I

For those who don't know, I spent two years at Fountain Valley School of Colorado. There's no high school in Saudi Arabia, so I had to come stateside to finish up. It's all mountains and adobe buidings, very outdoorsy, which isn't me at all, but I liked the school and the people and I did well. Found my own little niche. But I've never had any inclination to go back and take part in the whole alumni love-in thing, so this little get together was the perfect way to reconnect with a bit of my past.

Stake Family History Center Director

Errr... that's me. Just received my first stake calling this weekend. I'm afraid it might be a fairly big deal. We used to have a family history center in NY that was open to the public but it closed when they added the temple into the Lincoln Square building. They've been talking about reopening a smaller scale center since last year and I was very excited as this would mean I could ordered much needed microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. I even remember approaching Linda Cameron, the previous stake family history chairperson, and telling her I would be willing to help out with getting the center up and running. Well, looks like I got my wish. So I shall be not only the center's director, but it's first and most eager patron. I'll be helping people outside the Church with their family history research which is very exciting. I wouldn't mind being a professional genealogy researcher. It's not something I could support myself on at this point, but it would be a great job to have if I were married and not the sole income in the family.

Arcade Fire

Monday night Mike and I went to see Arcade Fire at the United Palace Theatre. I dont' want to sound all soppy, but, honestly, it was a dream come true. I have been desparate to see them for two years since I discovered "Funeral" back in March 2005. I remember playing tracks for Ian on my iPod between sets at an Aqualung concert at Bowery Ballroom. I so wanted him to love it as much as I did.

By the way, if anyone who reads this is not listening to Arcade Fire then I seriously recommend, nay insist, that you remedy the situation.

We got there just as the show was starting, the opening strains of "Black Mirror" echoing/booming in the corridors and we scrabbled up the stairs to our seats in the balcony. The show was chaos, you never knew who would be playing what instrument from one song to the next (Regine went from singing to accordion to drums to organ and back again).

I don't have any pictures and I could only find one video on YouTube from the show, "No Cars Go" and it was there literally five minutes ago and now I can't find. So instead here's David Bowie playing live on "Wake Up" - David Bowie loves them, what does that tell you!

I don't normally keep note of these, but the set list was: Black Mirror, No Cars Go, Neighborhood #2, Haiti, Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, Neon Bible, Windowstill, the WEll & The Lighthouse, Ocean of Noise, Keep the Car Running, (Antichrist Television Blues), N #3, Rebellion (Lies), with an encore of N #1 and Intervention (now and forever enshrined as a playlist in my iTunes).

We usually leave the show with one song strain in our heads, sung wholeheartedly and without shame on the streets as we make our way to the subway. For Kaiser Chiefs the other week it was "we are the angry mob...". This time it was "you have your reasons, and me, I have mine, but all the reasons I gave, were just lies to buy myself some time..."

New do

Well they said Michael was doing well at hair school, and they weren't exagerating! It was time for me to get my hair sorted out and I wanted to give him a chance to experiment on a friendly head... So on Thursday he came over and gave me a much needed haircut. I wanted shorter... I got very short. But it turned out marvelously. I love it! And everyone at work and the temple yesterday was gushing about how terrific it looked.

How's this for a celebrity sighting... only in this case, they spotted me...

I walked out of my office building last night, talking to myself and pulling faces as usual. I noticed two people walking towards me, pointing and laughing to each other. I thought what are they laughing at and then became aware of the ridiculous look on my face. And then I noticed that they looked a bit familiar. It was Will Arnett (Gob in Arrested Development) and Amy Poehler (SNL). I made the comedians laugh... at me, yes, but still...

INFLAMMATION, n. swelling and soreness caused by the accidental ingestion of a flamingo.

Lucy's wedding

We've been busy in England - even busier than I thought we would be - so there hasn't been much time to post pictures and whatnot. So here's very quick recap of our adventures so far...

Thursday we arrived in London...

we did a bit of shopping, went to see the birds in Trafalgar Square, ate kebabs for lunch in Leicester Square and walked through Covent Garden and over to St Pauls Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge.

After a long night on the plane and running around London, we were pretty tired

Friday we ran went shopping in Luton and then headed over to St Albans to pick up some clothes for the wedding. On the way home, we stopped at St Albans Abbey.
Saturday my little sister Lucy got married. I was the maid of honour.

Mr and Mrs King
Lucy looked lovely and they were both glowing. It was a lovely wedding.

I got to participate in something rather special last night. I went to the temple to do the 6pm session. And as I was coming out, the shift coordinator asked if I would like to participate in some sealings. I assumed that it was just some proxy sealings. Turned out however, that there was a couple there, who were sealed together on behalf of her parents. And once that was done, the wife and her sister were sealed to their parents. This was the first living ordinance sealing that I've attended. And it made me think of my grandfather Tom and grandmother Doris, and Mum and little Molly and their little eternal family. It was a lovely evening.

I haven't been writing because I've been too busy working and playing Guitar Hero in my off time. Dave Almond lent me his playstation while he works on some bloody awful take-home test for PhD school. Me and the girls have been playing until our eyes bleed. I've got Mike hooked as well. He's rocking out on "Carry On My Wayward Son" while I write. He played for the first time last Sunday and it truly was love at first sight.

So check out these really cool chocolates Dad sent me for Valentine's.

They're called Telluride Truffles. I'm no chocolate eater, but these were amazing. Each one has a mountain-themed name and my favourite was the Bunny Hill banana flavoured one.

Oh and I've decided maybe it's about time I did my PhD. In history of course. So I've started reading books again. I'm working on "Life In a Medieval Village" and I just two more books, one about the Cathars and one about politics and culture in Vienna in the last days before the First World War. They were having a sale at the secondhand bookshop in SoHo so I got both for under a tenner. I'm feeling smarter already!

Jonathan Frost

It's not often they get enough snow in southern England to build a snowman. I love his celery hair and the arms that are bigger than the snowman himself. I wonder if he comes to life at night and flies to the North Pole to dance with all the other snowman.

It's almost here!

I just saw this on Amazon.com's front page. I had no idea it was coming so soon. I'm so excited I can hardly breathe! Only 169 days, 11 hours and 48 mintues to go...

Duceys make money, not babies

I think my grandmother Rosalba Ducie O'Brien came from one of the least fertile families in America. Her grandfather John Ducie, my great-great grandpa, has just five descendents in my generation. The average family would have dozens and dozens. And if this were a family from Utah they'd have like 200! More on this later.

I've been investigating Duceys/Ducys/Ducies the last couple weeks, inspired by my trip to eastern Ohio. After just five days back from my Christmas hols I felt like I needed to get away. So I flew to Cleveland over the three-day weekend to do some research onsite into this branch of my family. My Dad and us kids are the only Mormons in this part of the family, so it's fun to be the only people looking into their history and doing their temple work. My main goal was to find out what happened to John's mother, Mary Ducey. Her husband died in 1876 (just 14 years after they came to Ohio from Ireland via England) and her four surviving children all went far west to make their fortunes: in the case of John Ducie about $40-50 million. I couldn't understand why they just abandoned her. Well, it turns out she was more than capable of looking after herself. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

First of all, I can't believe they let me have a rental car, with my British driving license and pathetic little credit card. But drive away with a nice little four-door I did. Inspite of how much I dislike cars and am horrified at the thought of being dependant on one, I had this overwhelming feeling of freedom. I could drive anywhere and explore any place I liked! The drive south to Wayne County was very pretty despite it being winter. It was rolling hills with huge white farmhouses and red barns dotted everywhere. I spent Saturday afternoon in the country public library, looking through all their vital records, cemetery and land information. I found birth and burial records for some of John Ducie's nieces and nephews. I knew Patrick Ducey (John's father) had owned a small parcel of land in an area called Peacock or Rogue's Hollow so I looked up the land sale. The description gave the well at Peacock's Hollow as the starting reference point. The librarian and I were trying to find this on old maps of the area. She brought over a map from a book on the history of Rogues Hollow:

I spotted the well in the center (where the roads converge) and then noticed just above it Mrs Ducey's Saloon. This is not a common name! It had to be my great-great-great grandmother. And just then some of the pages of the book fell back to another page where my eyes immediately alighted on the name "Ducey". I quickly scanned through the book and found that Mary Ducey is mentioned several times. I think she was a bit of a local celebrity. Here's a brief extract from what is a rather gossipy history of the Hollow:

The story is told by an old timer about how Sarah [Chidester, a local saintly young woman] nursed a Mrs. Ducey from certain death to health. Mrs. Mary Ducey ran one of the six saloons in the Hollow.

One day she became seriously ill. A doctor was sent for at Doylestown. He said after several calls that there was nothing he could do to help Mrs. Ducey to get well and left her to die in bed. Sarah had been helping Mrs. Ducey several days. She had learned about Mrs. Ducey being ill. She had walked down the muddy road with her familiar basket to help out. She knew that Mrs. Ducey did not go to church. She knew that Mrs. Ducey kept her saloon open on Sundays. It was closed now. She never approved the use of liquor and never approved of anyone serving the fiery stuff which kept so many wage earners poor. But Mrs. Ducey was ill and needed nursing. Because Mrs. Ducey was not the church-going type of woman or ran a saloon made no difference to Sarah. She had the evangelistic spirit in trying to win souls to heaven. Here was a sick woman who was alone and forlorn, and hope for her recovery was lost. After finding that Mrs. Ducey could not keep water on her stomach, Sarah tried an old remedy. She went back home to get some whey and fed it to the patient. For three nights Sarah nursed her,
prayed with her, cooled her brow with cold cloths and massaged her aching back and neck.

On the third night, the fever broke. Mrs. Ducey went into a deep sleep. When she awoke Sarah again spooned hot whey into her mouth. Hourly her strength returned. Quickly her eyes brightened and she began to talk hopefully. Soon she was raising herself on her elbow and then she began to sit up, and before long she was walking haltingly. Sarah went back to her family with a heart singing thankfulness to God. Mary Ducey went back to setting up drinks for her miners and lived until 1901. Many miners were lonely and tired from working bent over digging coal in the mines. They came to Mrs. Ducey’s saloon for relaxation. Deborah Chidester says she remembers when she was about eight or ten years old, Mrs. Ducey gave her a beautiful cup and saucer. This was one way of showing gratitude to the Chidester family. The year was about 1890.

I also read that she owned several parcels of land and that some had been probated in 1901. So I knew I needed to head back to the library the next day to look up those land sales and the probate packet for Mary. Sunday morning I drove down to the village of Doylestown and Chippewa Township where the Duceys had settled in 1862. First stop was the Sts Peter and Paul Catholic Cemetery to visit the grave of my great-great-great grandfather Patrick Ducey:

Patrick and Mary fled the Irish famine in the 1840s, settling first in England where he mined coal and eventually they came to Ohio, where he continued to work in the coal mines. As you can see from the map above, the steep hills around Rogues Hollow contained dozens of mines. Also buried in this cemetery is Patrick's brother Anthony, his wife Mariah and their son Edward, along with James Schoenberger, son of Patrick's eldest daughter Mary.

Then I drove down the hills into the Hollow to find the land which Patrick and Mary had owned. It was pretty easy to spot, across the road from the well and to the left of the road. Somebody with a red truck lives there now:

There are just a handful of houses in the area. It's a very peaceful spot, but in Patrick and Mary's time it was a rambunctious community of miners and, according to the History, all sorts of criminals and ne'er-do-wells. I had a little wander around and then headed back to the library in Wooster to look for Mary Ducey's will. And here it is:

I knew she had been re-married to a William Collier, who owned much of the land on the other side of the highway. But the will gave me the identity of one of Mary's daughters, Bridget, who I had not been able to trace past the age of 17. It appears she is in fact the infamous Lizzie Chadwick of San Francisco. Her mother named her Bridget, but she had other ideas it seems. So all in all, it was a very successful trip in terms of information found. But most importantly, I don't just now have the bare bones information about Mary, I feel like I have some sense of her character and personality. She was most definitely a gutsy lady. Although she herself was never able to read and write, she and her children went on to become successful business people. As Dad put it, "She may not have been able to read, but she could certainly count!"

Inspired by the success of my trip, I've been doing some further work on the descendents of Patrick and Mary Ducey. They had four of eight children who survived to adulthood: Mary, Bridget/Elizabeth, John and Margaret. Mary and Elizabeth each had six children, my John had two, and Margaret just one. Most of them married but I was surprised to discover that only one each of Mary and Bridget's children had children themselves. John, as I said, has just a handful of descendents and although Margaret had one son, I don't think he think he had any children either. We Ducies are a rare breed. It's a shame... there were some good genes in the family. Thank goodness for Jonathan!

Oh, and I spent the Monday of my trip in Kirtland...

It was a dismal day so I was the only person there and I got a personal tour of the place.

SIZE 2 !!!

Or perhaps I should say size 2. My favourite trousers, the beige ones (fourth picture down), are literally falling off me. I tried rolling them over around the waist... that worked for a couple weeks, but now even that doesn't keep them up. On Saturday I flashed half of JFK and all the people renting cars at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. It was time to face facts and go buy them again in the smaller size. Only the 4 was a little baggy as well. So the 2 it just had to be.

I think I'm "The Incredible Shrinking Woman". We watched that film in the hotel in Hong Kong when I was a 5. It had Lily Tomlin in it. Does anyone remember it? It would probably be just awful if I tried to sit through it again, but at the time I thought it was amazing.

The unseasonably warm weather seems to be continuing. I haven't come out the house with a scarf or gloves since I returned last Tuesday. Saturday was the best day of all. My roommates Juleen and Sara and I went to SoHo to browse in the wool shops. As we walked up West Broadway, all the restaurants had their glass doors opened to the elements - they're usually bolted shut til May with a canvas awning covering the door to keep out the chill. People were dining at sidewalk tables, laughing and enjoying the weather and especially the atmosphere. Brazilian music and delicious smells wafted out on to the street. In every way it was springtime.

Let's hope this keeps up!

Platform 9 3/4

We were changing trains at Kings Cross the other day and nearly ended up at Hogwarts!

Somebody likes Stephen...

Little Eleanor has taken quite a shine to our Stephen. We spent yesterday in Cambridge and today we drove up to Norwich to visit Stuart, Christopher and Eleanor at their house. Stephen and Eleanor were rarely apart. At lunch yesterday, Eleanor wouldn't sit down, so Stephen told her that if she didn't do as she had been asked, then they couldn't be friends anymore. Eleanor announced "Too late, I'm already your girlfriend."

Pictures from Christmas and from Cambridge and Norwich.

My parents are telling stories about their past, but they can't remember the details. We're calling it trips down memory loss lane...

Bovees + Kings

My future brother-in-law, Stuart, and new niece Eleanor and nephew Christopher.


They came to visit this afternoon and I got to meet them all for the first time. It was a little odd meeting my sister's new family, but they're all terrific. I'm looking forward to going up to their house in Norwich next week. It was total chaos at our place: nine people in a what even by New York standards is a small flat. But we had a nice little party for Lucy's 28th birthday. Later I'll get her to model the cow tipping t-shirt I brought for her from Wisconsin.

Now it's 8pm on Christmas Eve and Jonathan is getting really excited. He and Stephen are checking the internet for Santa sightings.

It's bah-luuudy cold!

England is covered in fog. It's like a horror film. It started the morning I arrived and will hang around until after Christmas. I rode the train into London yesterday and you can't see the fields beyond the railway line, it's just a blanket of fog. The weather is freezing, nothing like New York, and I'm having trouble adjusting. Been spending lots of time under blankets just trying to stay warm. And reading Jonathan Christmas stories.

We went shopping in London yesterday and hit all my favourite shops, Patridges, John Lewis, Selfridges, and bought some of my favourite treats. It's beautiful in London. Christmas lights everywhere.

Only three days to Christmas! And on Christmas Eve I get to meet Stuart, Christopher, and Eleanor. I'm really excited about that.

I'm a size 4

It's official. I bought the trousers yesterday. I needed new jeans. The one pair I have are getting kinda big and it's a right nuisance when your trousers start falling down.

My blog has been unloved

Yes, I temporarily abandoned it. And I'm not quite ready to put my heart into it again. I will begin again in earnest when I go home for Christmas - I arrive in England three weeks today! But for those who are interested, a quick recap of the last two months:

*Broke up with boyfriend - but we're still mates
*Jury duty was utterly ridiculous but mercifully short
*New boss at work is completely groovy
*Have knitted a ton of hats
*Started dating again, but turns out I'm pretty crap at it
*Love my new apartment and having all my friends nearby
*Looking forward to Christmas
*Am about to acquire a new nephew, a niece and a brother-in-law

That's it for now. Keep tuning in.

Happy birthday to me!

So, a quick recap of my birthday weekend. Thursday night Sara and Jill had a little birthday party for me at 99 John St with Casey, Kristian and Joe. We watched The Office and eat carrot cake with my name on it! I haven't had a cake with my name in icing since I was a kid.

Friday I stayed overnight with Joanne and in the morning we went apple and raspberry picking near Princeton. These apples later became two scrummy pies!

Back in Manhattan that evening, Mike and I dined on steak fried swimming in butter. Sounded good in theory, looked somewhat terrifying in progress, but the proof is in the eating and the steak was D-licious! Chef Michael gets a full four stars. Then it was on to see Mates of State at Irving Plaza. The show was great and I came away with some birthday swag.

Sunday we went to conference at 12, then home to make pies and castle-shaped birthday cakes. We had our first dinner on Jenn Cook's terrace downstairs, with the singing of Happy Birthday and, I swear, fireworks over the river to follow. All for me, of course! With phone calls from family and friends galore the day was complete. I'm a happy girlie!

"Avante-garde is French for bullshit." - John Lennon

Things are still quiet on this end, but look for upcoming posts on:

* fabulous birthday celebrations
* truth, justice and the American way a.k.a. Genevieve does jury duty
* a possible trip to The Islands

Lucy has just rung to tell me that instead of coming to New York to visit me, she, Mum and J are going to Croatia and Bosnia for Fall half-term holidays. I've been dumped for this:

Is it really any wonder?!

I am so envious, I had heart palpitations when she told me. I haven't been to any new beautiful and exotic places this year. Wisconsin SO does not count. Aileen better make good on her promise to take me to Puerto Rico next spring. I'm almost tempted to go whole hog and blow the thousand bucks it would cost to go to Bermuda for my birthday. But I'm not that crazy just yet.

A quick update: we are all moved in to the new digs on Wall Street. We don't have a bed yet or a bookcase yet, but soon. Nearly done with the painting. The wall in our living room went up yesterday. I think I've run out of headaches. Oh happy day! I promise to post some pictures soon.

It's a little guy's birthday today

Jonathan was born seven years ago today. It was a Monday. It was a crazy day. Lucy rang at 6 am to tell me, "I have a son." Dad had to leave for Heathrow aiport shortly after to catch a flight home to Saudi Arabia. Mum arrived home from the hospital later in the morning. I remember helping her make the bed, we were in a bit of a daze, and she called me auntie for the first time. We made a dash to Mothercare to buy little person clothes - I couldn't believe how tiny the socks were - and at 3pm that afternoon I held my little friend for the first time.
I wasn't prepared for a little baby to come into my life. It meant complete upheaval at home, and truly, the flat - actually my whole life - has never been the same since. He looked like me. People used to stop the three of us in the street and tell my sister she had such a gorgeous little nephew. It’s the dark hair. We match. We spent four years together before I moved to New York. We had wonderful adventures, especially Barceloooona.

Now he’s seven. He’s the smartest kid in his class/school/county/the universe. He says prayers that could part the Red Sea if he so needed. He’s interested in everything: astronomy, history, trains, teletubbie custard. He talks about them all, without ever stopping for air. And most importantly – finally something we can take credit for – he knows his family loves him and he’s a happy, secure little boy.

Happy Birthday Jonathan!!

Eat your heart out Roger Moore! The world of knitting pattern modelling has a new star.
Michael is showing off my latest creation. My first creation, actually. I learned how to knit again while home in England and this is my first completed luxury wool garment. It's a 2 x 2 rib in splash chunky wool. It's gorgeous, if I do say so myself. I had a pattern for shaping the rounded crown, but it didn't make any sense, so I just made it up. And it worked. I couldn't believe it! I hope you are all in need of a new woolly hat this winter, because I'm on a roll.

WE GOT IT !!!!!!

I will be moving to 45 Wall St. They gave us the apartment. I am so happy, I could just about explode.

This has been the most stressful and draining couple of days in my whole life. I flew back to New York on Monday and have had rather bad jet lag and consequently very little sleep since. I've spent the last two days recruiting roommates and worrying, worrying, worrying about this apartment business. I haven't been eating. I've only had three meals since the dinner on my flight, and that count includes the lunch I'm gulping down as I write this. Even after we got the green light from the apartment company this morning, the stress wasn't over. Kelly and I had problems with money at the bank, and... well, it's all sorted now. Nor more stress, a nice dinner and a couple of tylenol PMs and that should ensure I get a proper night's sleep tonight at last.

It has been madness, but I have to say that it's all been survivable thanks to some much appreciated divine intervention and unending support from friends and especially my wonderful family. I'm a lucky girl!

My six-year-old nephew has just written his own primary talk. Is it really safe for any one child to be this intelligent??!

Must dash. It's 8.30, Jonathan's bedtime. We watch 30 mins of Thomas the Tank Engine together every night at this time. Nighty, night.