Traditional Irish Blessing - E-Water

Traditional Irish Blessing - E-Water

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Willow Valley

Traveling on a gravel road always gives me a sense of home. I think the feeling comes from my youth when the sound of the gravel hitting the underside of the car meant we were close to Grandma's house. On a recent visit to Minnesota my husband and I traveled down a similar road to visit the graves of his grandparents, Victor and Lizzie Paavola. Just a short distance from the intersection of Township Highway and the old Chisholm Road in Willow Valley is where you will find The Willow Valley Cemetery. Nestled in the woods it's a quiet and peaceful place. There are no large statues or marble monuments, just the simple headstones of those that rest there.


As we walked towards Victor and Lizzie's graves I noticed some very unusual mushrooms. Living in a dry climate we only see your basic brown or beige colored variety. These mushrooms reminded me of something you would see in a fairy tale. In fact, when we got home and I downloaded my photo's something totally unexpected appeared. There under a mushroom, that reminded me of an umbrella, was an angel praying.

(OK – I know you don't believe me – and yes I did manipulate the photo.)

Victor, who was born in 1877, emigrated to the US from Finland with his wife, Lizzie. They raised 11 children in a two room house in the back woods of Willow Valley. They never had electricity running water or indoor plumbing. What a challenge it must have been to clear out the timber that was so thick you could barely swing and ax without hitting another tree. Not to mention dealing with bugs so thick you couldn't help but breath them in. And winters of 40º below 0 with only the wood you chopped to keep your babies warm. It certainly makes you wonder what on earth would make them want to live in such wilderness. But, they owned their land and like most immigrants that was everything to them. During the depression Victor went to work for the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) digging ditches along the roads . Sleeping in the ditches at night in the damp and cold ended up crippling him to where he had to use two canes to get around. Neither of them ever learned English, but, living in a Finish community they never really had to. Victor and Lizzie had 40 grandchildren and they called them “gimpy-fadde” (crippled old man) and MuMu (old lady). Of their 11 children 5 were boys. All of their sons enlisted in the service and fought in the European theater during WWII. All five sons returned home safe and unharmed.

Returning Mid-August

The Ties That Bind blog will be returning mid-August. I miss all my geneablogger friends and hope that you will again join me as I share my adventures. I will have some surprising and exciting up-dates to share with you when I return.

Happy 4th of July!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

"We hold these truths to be self- evident,

that all men are created equal,

that they are endowed by their Creator

with certain unalienable Rights,

that among these are

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Can you imagine the excitement in the air on July 8, 1776, when our newly formed country celebrated the signing of the "Declaration of Independence", on July 4, 1776?! It really must have been something to witness! The church bells all over town were ringing, canons and guns were being fired into the air, people were singing and hugging in the streets. But, it wouldn't be until 1783 that Great Britain would recognized the United States as an independent nation. The Revolutionary War lasted 8 long years (1775-1783). The American military death toll was around 25,000 men, with an additional estimated 25,000 men that had been wounded or seriously injured.

So please, when your eating your hot dog and shooting off your fireworks - take a moment to remember those who fought for your Independence and the freedom that we enjoy today. And all those who have fought since.

Celebrate Freedom!

Early 1900's - July 4th Celebration - Hildreth, Nebraska.

The car pictured here belonged to my great grandfather, Rolf Habben, and was decorated for the fourth of July parade. I'm sure his daughters played a big part in all the decorations - I don't think they missed a spot to decorate! It must have been a great day, with everyone gathering in town. If you look in the background of the photograph you can see the big tent and picnic tables. I'm sure all the wives were busy cooking that day.

(photograph is privately held - do not copy without permission)

The Old School Aint What It Used To Be

“School days, school days,
Dear old golden rule days.
O'read'n and o'rit'n and o'rithmatic
taught to the tune of a
hickory stick.
You were my queen in calico
I was your barefoot bashful beau.
And you wrote on my slate
I love you so, o'love you so
When we were a couple of kids.”

This old familiar school song was written by Will D. Cobb

with music by Guss Williams in 1907.

Last year, I had an opportunity to visit and take some photographs of Forest Valley School, a one room school house, where my mom and her siblings learned their 3-R's, read'n, rit'n and 'rithmatic, back in the '30's and '40's. Forest Valley School, District 51, is located in Lincoln Township just southeast of Wilcox, Nebraska. This rural school house was built in 1880 and continued to operate until 1946.

The old school house ain't what it used to be! Forest Valley School stands in a grove of trees that once covered about 3 acres of land before it was cleared for farming. Today, Mother Nature is trying to reclaim the property. The weathered boards that once kept the cold out are slowly decaying. Most of the roof that covered the school entry, where the children kept their coats and lunch pails, is all but gone now. The school furnishings, that cost all of $13.25 back in 1908, are all gone. Vines and weeds are growing from the rooftop and putting their roots into the cracks. Three foot high grass surrounds it. And the trees are beginning to hide the building completely. The mosquito's were so thick in the grass, that I feared for my life, so I did not venture too close to the building.

The school has been closed since 1946. But, if you close your eyes and listen carefully, you can still hear the giggles of children hiding in the trees.

(photograph of Forest Valley School is privately held,

do not use without permission).

Blogger Problems Need Help

Help! I'm wondering if any one else is having difficulty getting into their blog. I have searched and searched for answers on why I'm experiencing so many difficulties accessing my blog. Here is my problem: Every time I open my blog I get a message "Internet Explorer cannot open" - then when I check the error message it tells me there is a DNS error (domain name). I also experience this problem when opening a few other blog sites (but not all). Does any one have a suggestion or know how to correct my problem. My Internet provider has no idea, nor does Hewlett Packard - surely someone knows how to fix this..........??????????? Once in a blue moon I can get into my site -

Smile For the Camera - 14th Edition - Wedding Belles

The word prompt for the 14th Edition of Smile For The Camera is Wedding Belles. Historically, couples married in the month of June to honor Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage. Others did it to time conception so births wouldn't interfere with harvest work. And brides in the 15th century chose to marry in June because it coincided with their "annual bath" - that's right - ensuring a relatively sweet-smelling honeymoon. Show us a photograph of a wedding, a wedding party, a bride, a groom, the reception, or even the honeymoon. Bring them to the carnival and share. Admission is free with every photograph!

One of my favorite photo restorations was of a distant cousin of mine that I did for my family history book - "Searching - The Habben/Ufkes Families".

Julius Mietzner & Lena Habben -August 10, 1909

(do not use restored photo's without permission)

Returning Soon

I hope to be returning soon to my blog as you may have noticed I have not written anything new for a while now.

Through the grace of God who answered those who so vigilantly prayed for my husbands recovery during the last 45 days - I thank you! He continues to improve daily and was able to return home last week. It is wonderful just to have him home and as he continues healing I will again have time to continue my research and share it with you.

I want to thank those who have given me the wonderful awards during my absence. I will acknowledge them over the next few days.

Terri at The Ties That Bind

Photo Restoration

Recently I had asked Janine at Janinealogy for some expert tips on some old family photographs that I am having difficulty restoring so that I can then colorize them. The problem, as Janine refers to it, is called lighting "blow out". I can restore the photo so that the photograph looks ok if left in the sepia tones, but not as good as I would like, nor does it colorize well. I hope those of you interested in great tips and tricks on photo restoration will take a look at Janine's blog - "Janinealogy" - as she explains things very well and is an excellent teacher. See her instructions to me for the restoration of the photo of my Grandparents, shown below. Unfortunately due to family illness I won't be able to work on this photo for a while - but please check back to see what I'm able to do with her instructions.

Visit Janinealogy at http://janinealogy.blogspot.com/

(photograph privately held please do not use without permission)

Thank You Thank You!!

Thank you to Linda at Flipside for bestowing the "Friendly Blogger Award" to me. I'm so honored!!

Also - Thank you to Harriet at Genealogy Fun for bestowing the " One Lovely Blog Award" to me. WOW two in one day.

I'm so sorry I have not responded sooner, but, family illness has prevented me from spending much time on my blog updates. When I'm able to return I will share these wonderful awards with other deserving blogs that I also enjoy!

Thank you Linda and Harriet you don't know how much you lifted my spirits!