Hello everyone, well for many of you soon it will be summertime, have you planned a trip yet? I remember my late husband worked for the railway and we had free passes to go anywhere across Canada and everytime our vacations came, I would keep saying to him, Where are we going to go on our vacation? We used to go to Ontario to visit his sister and this paticular year we decided to go to see Niagara Falls. We had to make it a short visit because from there we had to take the train elsewhere so it was a one night thing. And I wanted to see the falls at night time. Anyway that afternoon we went across to Niagara Falls on the American side just for a look around. While we were there, my husband decided to get himself a pint of vodka. That was fine, we returned to our hotel room, with plenty of time to see the Falls lit up. Well he started drinking his vodka, one drink led to another and another and another, and the first thing I knew he was passed out, and no way hosay could I wake him up. So I did not get a chance to see the Falls at night. The next day we were leaving on the train. My husband was very sorry that he did not get to show me the Falls and I would never have ventured out alone. All of a sudden he picked up the empty pint of Vodka and examined it and we were totally surprised because come to find out, the Vodka was 100 Proof. No wonder he passed out.....But we did return to the see the falls again and it was a beautiful trip the next time, and no, he never drank at all on the trip... Another trip we took was we called a trip to nowhere, we crossed into Maine USA and crossed back through the mountains in the fall coming out near Granby Quebec, what a beautiful sight to see, with the leaves changing colors. Sometimes a trip to nowhere can bring you a real sense of adventure. Now I have been creating some products and I would like to share them, one is an image of an old canal in Utrecht in The Netherlands, what a beautiful scenery, and if you are going to Paris, check these items. You can find all of these at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* Enjoy and thanks for reading my blog, sometimes they may be more interesting than others.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Titanic
The following is from a book Disaster. As you know one hundred years ago the Titanic sank.
The gala voyage was the most glamorous Atlantic Crossing of all time. Yet because of out of date seamanship, it was to end in a terrible tragedy when 1500 people drowned or froze to death.
The iceberg that was drifting 500 miles south of Newfoundland’s Cape Race on April 14, 1911,resembled a crouching lion, as high as a 3 storied house and black with lumps of soil and rock frozen deep in its sinister bulk. Only a seventh of the iceberg showed above of the unusually calm sea. And that seventh blurred and blended with the dusk the day ended and the lights came on in the cabins and staterooms of the largest ship in the world pushing her 46,328 tons through the darkness on a collision course set for a mountain of ice slightly larger than St Paul’s Cathedral.
The Titanic was not just the biggest liner in the world, she was the pride of the White Star Line on her maiden voyage. Ten-decked she measured 852 feet from stem to stern, was capable of 23 knots, carried one crew member for every passenger and had suites of such luxury that they cost 870 pounds for the fine day crossing. Her Café Parisian was decorated with trellis work with ivy creepers, her Turkish Bath lit by Moorish lamps, the promenade deck of each private state room half timbered in the manner of an Elizabethan cottage. She was by repute and design ,unsinkable.
And in order not to clutter up her 7 mile of deck she carried only sufficient life boats to provide a place for one person in every three. There was a lot of ice about that day, as every ship in the area was aware. The Caroni had seen it and radioed a warning to the Titanic, as had the Baltic and the Massena. One White Star Liner, the Californian found herself so hemmed in by drifting floes that her captain gave up the struggle and shut down his engines, preferring to let his vessel drift through the night rather than continue groping his way dangerously through in the dark. But the Titanic 30 miles away to the North, drove on at a steady 22 knots. It seems as incomprehensive today as the subsequent Court of Enquiry found it at that time. “Just tell me, when a liner is known to be approaching ice, is it not usual in your experience to reduce speed? I have never known speed to be reduced on any ship I have ever been in in the North Atlantic in clear weather on account of ice”.
The captain of the Titanic was neither incompetent nor of unsound mind. At 63 he had been brought out of retirement solely to oversee this all important event. Bluff, bearded and vastly experienced his enormous salary at the time was 1250 pounds when the commanders were lucky to get half that sum. If the captain was not afraid of icebergs, neither were his peers. In due course captain after captain who could claim between 20 and 40 years service on the high seas would tramp into the witness box and say the same thing: “ We go full speed whether ice is reported or not. As long as the weather is clear, I always go full speed. I would not have reduced speed. I never slow down. “ They were men who had gone to sea in sail and learned their craft clinging in the rigging of tea clippers bucking their way round Cape Horn. Men of unimaginable fortune who were afraid of nothing on earth and probably looked forward confidently to getting at the very least, respectful treatment from God. They were the last of their kind, and although they would have considered it unseamanlike not to have kept a sensible lookout for ice, not one of them would have slowed his ship against the wildly unlikely eventuality of meeting a black iceberg in the dark.
At 11 pm that night ,the captain of the Californian was standing with his third officer when he noticed the lights of a ship in the distance. At that moment Captain Evans the wireless officer, came on deck and the captain asked him if he knew what ship was passing. Evan looked at the lights for a moment trying to adjust his eyes to the night. “Only the Titanic”. The captain said you had better warn the Titanic that we’re stopped surrounded by ice. In the wireless room of the Titanic the senior Marconi operator was a much busier man. The passengers kept him busy sending out messages.
The Marconi operator then received a message from the Californian but he sent them a message telling then to keep out they were jamming him. The Californian didn’t press the point. Later the Marconi operator received a message from the Masada “ We have seem much heavy pack ice and a great number of bergs. Also field ice. The operator acknowledged but then Marconi operator never replied. No one will never know what happened to the message itself , in never reached the bridge.
Iceberg right ahead. At that moment the Titanic was not so much a ship as 52 310 displaced tons moving forward at 22 knots. As it was the iceberg was only 400 yards away when the Titanic’s bow began to swing slowly to one side. The quartermaster had his wheel hand over, but the vast underwater mass of the iceberg reached out and clawed at the oncoming mass of smooth steel. Everyone on the bridge felt the slight shock as she struck right up under her bow, 10 feet above the keel. The Titanic drove on, while the ice opened her up like a tin can. It took 10 seconds to leave a wound 300 feet long. From that moment , the biggest liner in the world had just under two and a half hour to live. In the saloons, a few of the passengers felt the impact and drifted out on deck. Some stared at the bulk of the iceberg for a while and picked up fragments of the ice that had fallen all around. But nothing of interest seemed to be going on, and it was bitterly cold. In one or twos they went back in to play cards. But things were very different down below. In No. 6 boiler room the sea was coming in through a vast hosepipe, a couple of feet above the plate while in No. 3 it was bursting through the bunkered coal. The men scrambled through the watertight doors as they ground heavy closed. In No.5 Stokehold there was a sudden angry roar as water flooded on to red hot coals. In minutes dark water was halfway up the sides of the boilers. The chief engineer told the captain “ We’re making water fast, the mail hold’s filling.” The Marconi operator sent a message:
“CQD I require assistance immediately. Struck iceberg in position 41 46 N 50 14 W. Ships headed for the rescue “ the Frankfurt, the Mount Temple, the Carpathian, the Caroni, the Baltic turned and headed at full speed towards the Titanic ,each as it turned out were too far away. The closest ship was the Californian who had shut down her engines over the horizon. Two rockets were sent up but sometimes ships exchanged greeting by sending rockets. The passengers on the Titanic knew they were distress rockets because they had started getting the women and children into the boats in the flickering light of the detonations. Soon the American press would write at length on the scenes of wild panic and of ship’s officers holding back maddened passengers at pistol point. But in fact most were unwilling to go. Some women stared tearfully at the 60 foot drop down to the water, others refused to leave their husbands or simply failed to see the necessity of it all. But the captain could not make things right. Deep in the remaining boiler rooms the engineers were keeping up the pressure in a vain attempt to save the pumps. Not a single engineer was saved, there they were down in the vessel and did not try to come up until all hope of safety had passed. Maybe it is a good thing there was no rush for the lifeboats, because there were not enough of them. There were in fact seats for only 1178 people for a ship that carried 3320 passengers when full. Some boats went down full , some half empty, while the ships band played ragtime . There would in due course be reports that third class passengers had been imprisoned in their flooding quarters while the great and wealthy got safely away. But in fact the women showed considerable reluctance to leave their men as well as refusing to abandon their baggage. In most cases it was all they had in the world. As soon as the boats were launched they were rowed desperately away from the ship. Some in the direction of an elusive light. Others in sudden panic to avoid the expected whirlpool that would engulf them all when the time came. The Titanic was going down. Although the great ship’s lights were still on, her bows had vanished and her propellers were already showing clear of the water. A little later the bridge itself lurched under. There was a sudden wild scramble from the doomed ship. Men began to jump or fall from her super structure. They came down with a litter of deck chairs, tables, and anything they figured would make a raft. All at once the sea was full of hundreds of people who screamed and yelled for help. Some became very quiet very quickly and the water was freezing. By now all 711 that were to live were already in boats. And the Titanic was slowly sliding out of sight. In Halifax there is a cemetery for many of the Titanic victims ,it was a tragedy that should never have happened and let us pray that it doesn’t happen again.
I hope you enjoyed reading today’s blog, now I would like to share some products with you that you can find at
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Are you Irish?
Or do you wish you were Irish?First of all Happy Saint Patrick's Day. I am sure there are many celebrations going on around the world. During the great potato famine, many Irishmen had to leave their homes and friends in search of another home and another place to be able to survive. Thinking about it, it sure must have been hard leaving your homeland for destinations unknown. I often talked about our ancestors coming to North America to make a new life. What was their first reactions? Strange lands, native people, unknown animals. It must have been scary! And for the Irish who remained in Ireland during the great famine, it sure must have been hard times. Have you ever been to Ireland? I have never been there but I saw many images and what I saw were beautiful sceneries. I don't have any Irish ancestors that I know of. I do know there was a Roger Kuessy or Casey who came to Acadie from Cork Ireland so many Caissie's are descendants of his. So if you do have some Irish blood ,be proud of it and of who you are. Without your Irish ancestor you would not be here today. I love Celtic music, it has an eerie haunting sound to it. To all of you celebrating, stay safe, drive very carefully, if you drink get another driver who isn't drinking. Better to be safe than sorry. Now changing the subject, I am going to add a few items here which you can find at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* If you plan on stopping by, have your favorite beverage handy because there is lots to see. There are folders inside of folders so enjoy. Have a great day or night.........
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Pioneers
Have you ever wondered what kind of places or houses our ancestors lived in? What the inside of their homes looked like? What did they have for furniture? Well browsing through some of my books and papers, I can across the following notes that I wil l share with you. This is relating to the Acadians, but I imagine many pioneers probably had similar methods.In 1731 Robert Hale of Beverly wrote the following entry in his journal. "They have but one room in yr Houses besides a Cockloft,Cellar and sometimes a closet. Their bedrooms are made something after ye manner of a Sailor's Cabbin, but boarded all round about the bigness of ye Bed, except one little hole on the Foreside,just big eno' to crawl into ,before which is a Curtain drawn and as a Step to get into it, there stands a Chest. They have not above 2 or 3 chairs in a house and those wooden ones,bottom and all. I saw but 2 Muggs among all ye French and ye lip of ym was broken down above 2 inches. When they treat you with a strong drink they bring in a large Bason and give you a Porringer to dip it with. " So can you picture it? Remember this was in 1731 ,these pioneers did not have much to work with back then. They didn't have chain saws, or electrical tools. Now we are moving to the year 1795 the following was sent to Desbarres from Captain John MacDonald describing the Acadian abodes: " The premises of every one seems to be a house from 18 to 25 feet long and as many in Breadth without a porch or partition but the other door opening immediately into the sole room. There are generally 2 doors, the one being that which is used. The chimney of which the lower part is stone and clay and the highter part is clay wrought upon cross bars of wood between a wooden frame is in the remotest part from the door. The Beds are on both sides of the house from chimney to the doors. In the end of the house, opposite to the chimney, the pots and water vessels lie on the floor, and the milk and milk vessels are disposed of on shelves together with their bowls, muggs etc. As they all sleep, eat ,cook ,wash etc in this house or room, I need not say it must look black and dirty enough particularly as the houses are now old. Behind the chimney on the outside is an oven of clay, the opening to which for bread & fire in on the inside back of the chimney. The oven rest on a square wall of loggs or stone around an appartment three or four feet in the square, where a few pigs enter on the outside, and lie warm from the heat of the chimney and oven. In their barns they are more sumptuous. They are from 40 to 50 feet in length, from 20 to 30 in breadth and from 10 to 15 feet high, the lower story destined for the cattle, and the upper for the corn, hay and threshing floor. At a distance they sett off the whole place and I forgot to mention that their houses have a cellar underground for the roots etc to which they descend by a trap door in the floor."
You must have seen movies about a trap door under the table that would go down to the cellars. I remember seeing the movies. So our pioneer ancestors were smart, they had to learn to survive any way they could. This is something that is good to pass down to our children and grandchildren. Compare our nice warm homes to those of our ancestors ,some big difference huh? I hope you have enjoyed today's blog. Now I would like to share a few products that you can find at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* and at http://www.zazzle.com/booteek* Chow for now!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Family Trees and stuff
I am sure there are many of you readers who are doing your family tree or would like to do your family tree.I got hooked on it way back around 1976, that is also around the time that Alex Haley had his mini series called Roots on television. So yes I got addicted to genealogy. Once you start digging and find something ,you will want to dig some more. I have been doing my acadian side for a long time,and found lots of interesting stuff, like fur traders,guides,bakery owners,tragedies and more. It is sort of like a history story book. Then I connected with my english roots, wow I am finding ancestors who died in workhouses, well what were workhouses? Do you remember Oliver Twist? This gives you a sort of an idea. Workhouses were for the poor,sick,orphans and the elderly. Some workhouses had men in one area, women and children in other parts. They had really rigid rules, be up at a certain time, certain chores to be done, food was rationed. Think about it? Could your ancestors have been in one of these places? Mine died in one, not sure how long he had been there. He was old at the time. He had six children and when his youngest was around one year old he lost his wife. I don't know what happened between the time he lost his wife and the time of his death. I am curious to know. Now they have a show on TV every friday called Who do you think you are!. They trace family trees for the celebrities. It would be nice if they would choose a modern day person like you and I and take us to the land of our ancestors and find information that we haven't found yet. I keep hoping that through these celebrities one of my ancestors might surface. grin. A few pointers I would give to people who are just starting to trace their family trees or planning to do so. First of all take a pen ,paper, even a tape recorder , and talk to your parents, grandparents,aunts,uncles,cousins. Listen to their stories, get as much information from them as you can, with names,dates,places,and stories. Next check on obituaries , sometimes you find a lot of information which gives you clues where to go from there. The census are great too, but remember that sometimes the dates on the census for births, may be a year or two off, your great grandmother could have been 22 and may be listed as 25 and so on. Ancestry.com has lots of infomation but you have to pay. Family Search has a lot of information free, and there are now many censuses online. And you may also come across others who's line you branch into. But be very careful, check the information you find online out. There are mistakes, and errors online. There are folks who think they have found an ancestor way back that no one else has found, that can be correct and that can be wrong. Find out where they got that information. Another think you should do is mark all your sources down as you find stuff. Very important . I hope this blog has maybe inspired you to find out who you really are and where you come from. And remember by doing your family tree, you leave something behind when you pass on, something for your children, grandchildren, nieces ,nephews and their descendants. It is a good feeling. Now changing the subject, am adding a few thing for you to see, you can find these at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* and http://www.zazzle.com/boot_eek* Have a great day>
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
What's new?
Hello everyone,well I am wondering what would be interesting to chat about. Have any of you had cataract surgery? Well I had my surgery a few weeks ago, and Monday I went for a follow up. I felt so good, thinking my eyes were ok, the lady ahead of me came out of the doctor's office with a big smile on her face, all had gone well for her. Next it was my turn. Oh boy I thought I will be so glad when this appointment is over. So he looks into my eyes and (not romantically either) grin and said you are going to need laser in both eyes. Yikes!. He said it doesnt hurt. Fine for him to say that, I was the one having it done. So he continued, I want to do them on Wednesday (today). Well I didn't know what to say so I said that often used word. YES!. Today I went in, my knees were shaking, my hands full of sweat. And then his secretary put some drops in my eyes. OUCH. That burns I said. So I waited and then she called me into another room. Again more drops, to freeze my eye. Yikes again it burns. The third time I felt nothing. So here I am waiting for him to walk in. Gulp!. Here he comes. Then I started ,1,2 ,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. I had heard that if you get angry you count to ten and it makes it better. The doctor said why did you do that? I said, I did it hoping that I would relax. He laughed. So then here comes the eye laser. gulp! Follow the light he said. I thought to myself ,will the light go into the other room. grin. Anyway I got all nervous for nothing, it was a breeze, in less than ten minutes both eyes were done. Whew!. So the moral of this story is if you need cataract surgery or laser, take it from me, it is nothing at all.
Now I want to let you in on a sale. Until February 28 all wedding invitations,wedding stickers, postcards are 50 % off at http://www.zazzle.com/allicor* and at http://www.zazzle.com/boot_eek* And if you decide to order ,use code WEDDINGAISLE at the checkout. Have a great day or a good night. Until next time.
Chow for now.
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