A genealogy day in Morgantown

Inside the Garlow House

The exterior of the Garlow House

Last Saturday was a great day. My friend Valerie invited me for a trip to Morgantown to introduce me to two great places to do genealogy research—the Aull Center and West Virginia University’s West Virginia and Regional History Collection.

I was very excited to visit the Aull Center because it is housed in the historic Garlow House, built in 1907. Never have I worked in such a beautiful library. The librarian on duty was extremely friendly and helpful and gave us a tour of the entire house, which I really enjoyed. I could have spent all day there. They really have an extensive selection of local histories. Their brochure lists the following items that they house: Morgantown city directories, maps, high school yearbooks, cemetery readings, early deed book and court records, family histories and W.Va. county histories.

We moved on to the WVU collection, where I was amazed to see resources that top what the State Archive offers. I could spend a couple days there. Here’s a link to the collection online: http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/wvcollection/

What did I find? I found information, but no great leads. I was working on the big family mystery on Mom’s side, which is finding the parents of my great-, great-grandfather Homer Freeman, who was an orphan. He fought in the Civil War and was a teacher for more than 30 years in Upshur County.

I really enjoy learning about family history and am glad to find two more great places for research. Thanks for a great day, Valerie!

Pirate cat to blame for failing crops?

If you’ve seen my Facebook page lately, you’ve probably noticed my growing obsession with, well, growing things, mostly vegetables.


Last year, my husband and I (99 percent David) put out two barrels, one with zucchini and cucumbers and one with tomatoes. We had a ton of zucchini, but the other plants didn’t do very well. This summer we put out Topsy Turvy tomatoes, a barrel of green peppers and a barrel of zucchini. Only the peppers have survived. Over the weekend, we pulled out the zucchini and replaced them with begonias. Argh.

I blame the boat cat. That’s right. The neighbors behind our house have had a landlocked boat on the border of our yard for years. It’s a landmark right beside our gravel driveway.

The other day I was weeding the edges of the driveway (as my husband likes me to do). I pulled a Wal-Mart bag full of clippings and went to take a rest.

As David and I stood there, a mangy gray cat came down from the boat and sauntered over to smell my grass clippings. The cat walked down the driveway to our two barrels of produce. With us watching, it got up into the zucchini barrel and conducted some business. It then moseyed over to the pepper barrel and looked into it and walked away. The brazen feline marched back down the driveway toward us and went under our startlingly white Dodge Dakota, my husband’s pride and joy. David and the cat had a standoff, and eventually the cat lost. It ran away to terrorize another house.

My theory is that this pirate cat might be the zucchini killer. I’m going to keep an eye out for this cat. I think it might generate some interesting stories. (Avast, me hearties!)

More critters

My co-workers, relatives and Facebook buddies have requested more photos of my sock critters, and I am happy to oblige. These socks, buttons and bows tend to create a personality of their own. I’ve been thinking it would be fun to start a blog about the ones I’ve made and the special people who received them, then follow up to add notes about the things their new owners notice about them. We’ll see where it goes.

This one was for my friend Miyuki's new baby, Myleigh.

This one was for my husband David, who loves Dalmatians.

This one was for my friend Angela, who was having a tough time.

This one belongs to my sister Megan.




This one was for my friends Robert and Christy's new baby Anna.

Miss Bunny Fantastico, complete with cape, went to Lauren who is herself fantastico.

Andrew needed a friend with a mustache and goatee.

I think this may be Aunt Sis's Mabel.

This bunny went to my good friend Susan.

And this was one of the very first ones that went to Chas, who inspired all this nonsense.