December Thoughts

This month is a time of reflection for me. It has been a year of health problems to deal with and to try to heal what we can. There have been new cousin's to email with in Norway and even one found living not far from us. This has been exciting. It isn't often you can add maybe 700 plus more cousins to your history. As a daughter laughingly commented, "Someday you will probably discover that I'm married to a cousin and didn't know it!" Well, I am pretty sure that didn't happen. A cousin let us use her beach house for a month while they were in Europe. What fun that was. My brother visited us and stayed a week. That was his first time to stay at our house. My niece was accepted at a prestigious woman's college in Mass. and is finishing her education at age 30. We were able to visit our son in California and see our grand-daughter dance and cheer during a weekend. We traveled with our daughter and family. A son and his family bought a new Scottie puppy for their Christmas this year. His name is Angus. I bought new ovens and got rid of my over 40 year old ones. What fun...things like that aren't easy to do on a fixed income. Inflation seems to be catching up too fast with our income now so not sure how the years ahead will be for us. If I knew then what I know now, I would probably still be working. So, here we are living in December in the North West and a big storm has thrown many people's life into cayause. We were lucky...no trees on top of our houses and we are living on a hill that keeps us from the flooding and no possibility of any mud slide either. So far, we have kept our power but in the past that has been off for over a week at a time...just lucky this time. I feel really bad for those who have lost everything and many carry no flood insurance...no way to start a Holiday season, is it?

I wonder what next year will bring us? One thing I'm knowing is that a grand son will appear in January and that is something to look forward to!

Pictures of Fogn July 2007

Blurry photo of a farm map - shows Langeland

Lovely Fogn Inhabitants - Aud-Irene & Ingvild T.

Varland Farm View

Ingvild T. and Peggy

Langeland land

Fogn Island July 2007

Fogn Sign at dock
General Store on Fogn

Langeland Home

Garden on Langeland

Dagrun and Peggy at General Store

My cousin, Peggy O. and her husband have been visiting in Norway. A few days ago they took the ferry to the Fogn Island where our "Thompson" ancestor's came from. In Norway the father's name was Torkild Torkildsen Langeland. He brought his family to America and that included my great grandfather, Halvor and Peggy's gggf Theodor.

Peggy located the Langeland farm and took some pictures. The owner wasn't home. She also took pictures of the Varland Farm where Torkild's 2nd wife had been born. The Varlands that now live there are not related according to Ingvild who invited Peggy into the home. There are other farms on the island such as Eie and Bø that share boundaries with one of the farms that had people who married Varlands.

Since I've been trying to find information out about this place for some time, I was so thrilled that a close cousin decided to go check it out in person. She and Dave loved it. Peggy has given permission for me to post some of the pictures on my blog. Thank you or Mange Takk, Peggy.

The island has only 1 general store and the clerk, Dagrun was very nice to them and very helpful. There is no little motel for people to stay at from what I have read online so you have to be sure to catch the last ferry back to Stavanger.

Cancer Touches So Many...

I've been thinking a lot this week about a cousin in Norway who started her first chemo session after breast cancer surgery this week. I've only had e-mail contacts with her and shared pictures and family history but somehow feel that kin-ship. I wish her well.

Tomorrow will be the 3rd anniversary of my sister-in-law's death from cancer and we miss her. I've been thinking about her family.

I have a son and husband who have had surgeries for cancer. So far, they are cancer free and I hope it stays that way.

I lost a mother to inflammatory breast cancer in 1993. That is such an aggressive one and it was too late for her but she stretched out her life by trying chemo from the predicted 1 or 2 months to 10 months before dying.

With all the millions spent on research over so many years, I can't help but wonder why more isn't known about what causes all the cancers. What triggers that mad cell growth? Virus...chromosome damage...chemicals? Seems to me we should have more answers on prevention by now than we do.

One of my Favorite Artists

Ray Charles...My very favorite song of his is "Georgia" but I like many of his songs. This is "Song for You" by Ray Charles

Music Video Codes By Music Jesus.com

Easter Sunday 2007

In your Easter bonnet...Miss Ella takes a walk around her yard. This grand-daughter of mine is such a lover of the outdoors. It is a good thing, too, because that is where her parents like to be when they aren't working.

Ella is now 2 and talking a lot. She has the most delightful and outgoing personality. She reminds me so much of my mother's personality that I sometimes think she is a 'little Nelly' reincarnated. But then I'm not sure there is such a thing although I know some believe in it. It just might be something in the mtDNA passed on.

On the right is a new picture of my oldest grand-daughter,
Kaitlyn. I love this new photo of her. She lives about 700 miles South of us, so we don't see her often. She is very talented and I understand that math is easy for her! It must be that bit of Greek ancestry! That is on her Mom's side. She also has some Slovenia, Bohemia (Ancient Celt), Norwegian, Irish, English, Finnish and Swedish genes.

She is well liked by her peers and gets top grades in school. She is a good swimmer and dancer and has been active in cheerleading and school politics.

If we can live into our 80's to 90's, we will see what life brings for these lovely ladies. May God Bless them and their guardian angels watch over them!

I don't have new photos of my other 3 grand-children to share today, but will update their pictures when I can.

Czech Republic Only a Memory!

Yesterday, we received a very late Christmas letter from an ex-neighbor with an explanation of why it was late. Yes, we had to laugh a little about it. But, a personal note accompanied the letter and this couple is headed for Europe on 4 May and are taking a train from Salzburg, Austria to Prague where they will stay at the Hilton for a couple of nights and then pick up a Viking River Cruise on the Elbe River to Berlin. As part of their tour, they have a guide around Prague but wanted to know if we had any suggestions on other things to see or a place to eat in their free time.

Here is where the memories come in...I got out my scrapbook and pictures. We kept every receipt and a Journal on our once in a lifetime trip. I would love to go back again and just live there in Bohemia for awhile. I remember our friends in Prague and my cousins in Kutna Hora and new friends in Brzotice with fondness.

Our neighbors will hit most of the highlights on the tour but I think they should just walk around downtown and go into stores and maybe find a courtyard Café to eat lunch as they walk around. We didn't use a tour on our trip and enjoyed discovering places on our own. One of our friends has a diamond store in Prague now so maybe I'll have the neighbors try to find his store.

Oh my...it would be nice to win a lotto so we could do a bit more traveling before we sail into the mysterious beyond...