Some pics from our past

Today, I wanted to post some pictures of where our families, ( McGaughey's and Carlisle's
homes in Ireland. This is something not too many people have the blessing of seeing in their lifetimes. I Know that my dad, your grandfather McGaughey, never ever got to see where his mom and dad grew up, or ever to even meet his grandparents on either side of the family. Kind of a shame, in a way, but that was the reality of most people who had parents that immigrated from other parts of the map, back in the 1800's and earlier.

Grandma Rachel Elisabeth Carlisle, and Grandpa, Robert Henry McGaughey, lived in Northern Ireland, on Damoily Road about 2 miles from the town of Market hill .

Here is the road sign

travel on this now paved road for about 1/2 mile and come to grandpa McGaughey's home:

The white plaster part is the original home when grandpa was a boy. Back then it had a thatched roof, and dirt floors and rock walls. Through the generations newer products were used, but this is the original spot and house with the newer products put over top of the old. While we were inside the room, our tour guide, Barbra Ferguson, showed us some of the original walls. The mostly stone area was added later as the family grew.

This is a cupboard inside the home. The home is being used for storage now, but this is the original cupboard that was used in this home. Now I know how come I like yellow and roses so much. Its an inherited thing. This actually reminded me of one we had on our ranch in California when I was a girl growing up.

This is Tracy and me leaving the McGaughey home. You cannot imagine how happy I am at this time. To think that my grandfather, had gone though this door way so many times as he was growing up. Just amazing to me that I would ever be here.

This is the view from the McGaugheys home Eastward, the pole you see on the right, is the back yard of the Carlisle home. So the McGaugheys home was on the right side of the road and the Carlisle home was about 100yards up the road on the left.

The Carlisle home is now owned by another family. That's because, my grandmother was one of 8 girls, and there were no boys to leave the home place to. Her dad, Samuel, was a school teacher and taught both Catholics and Protestant students. That was quite an honor to be able to cross religious lines and stay in good standing with members of both sides. Grandpa was well educated, and well liked.

Jason and Tracy on the road in front of the Carlisle home. notice the white home in the back grown, well, the McGaughey home is directly across the street from it.
This is one of the rooms in the original Carlisle home. The home was being used for storage, but we were allowed inside. There were several rooms, all small, and this room had a stairway to go upstairs.
This last picture is a long shot, with our tour guide and I standing at the borderlines of the property.

Were back !!

Hello all, We are back from our Feast /Ireland tip. Wow what a time we had.
traveling can be a great big informative experience. It is said that Ireland has 40 shades of Green. I agree with that. I never saw one rainbow while there, but I saw lots of friendly people with friendly, warm, inviting smiles. Sorry Mark, no leprechauns! If you ask for directions, an Irishman will tell you how to get there, then tell you again, and one more time just to make sure! Now that's service, with a smile!!
We met some brethren from Texas, a whole group from various parts of Missouri, and Canada, Britain, and other parts of the map. All our messages were informative, or/ and motivating. We had a dinner dance, with lamb as one of the meat dishes on the plentiful buffet. yummy cheese cake desserts, and even a fun game. we were placed at tables that had another countries flag as a centerpiece, then we had a list of questions we had to answerer, as a group, to see how much we knew about the other country. Surprisingly we actually did know some of the answers, but I don't think we were the winning table. I personally think it was a lesson in humility.
We visited the Waterford Crystal Co-operation! I was blown away with how many years it takes to become one of the people allowed to work on the production of the hand made glass items. The tour or the plant, I would recommend to anyone going to Waterford Ireland. Did you know that Waterford never sells anything with an imperfection in it. It is truly a work of art. they make trophies for sporting events, Chandeliers, as well as stem wear, bar wear, picture frames, and vases. some of the pieces I especially liked was the Violin, horse and carriage, lighthouse and the chess sets. Its really amazing to see all that detailed work that takes hours to produce. It takes over 20 years to become a master craftsman for Waterford. Then you are allowed to work on the trophies. It takes 5 years of training just to work on the production of any piece that is made there.
Now, I told you I would be trying the Guinness.. I did.. I have decided, I would not make a good drunk.. never mind its not morally good. Dad and I shared our first Guinness.. I let him have the lions share.. because.. yukkkk.. If that is a food.. I will be fasting a lot. Others did like it, and that was good for the Irish economy.
Now a word about Irish coffee.. now that's a whole nother story. One of the best coffees I had was in a pub named "Bailey's". While waiting for our waiter to come, one Irish local, suggested that if we get Irish coffee, make sure its made with Jamison's whiskey. Now I am not a drinker, have never really cared for anything in the way of alcohol.. but that was not bad at all.. But one is quite enough. I have come to the conclusion, that if you want good food.. the pub has to be named after a drink of some kind. ha. This Bailey's had the best steaks, all home grown, that we have had anywhere. As a matter of fact I had everything from fish to lamb, and didn't have a problem with any of it. by that , I mean, I am very sensitive to the stuff they put in our meats, here in the USA, and when I consume them , unless they are Organic, I usually end up with some NOT SO Fun, after effects.. but I ate right off the menu in Ireland and never had any reaction to any of the items. We also noticed that if we asked for something different than the way they normally make it, that the cooks went out of their way, to accommodate.. This made it all the more enjoyable for us.
It was interesting to note, that they are not any better at our geography than we are of theirs. At our Arklow Bay Hotel, where breakfast was included with our stay, one of our waiters wanted to know if Kansas was in Texas. I am still wandering if the Texas brethren were giving him a hard time. ha. And another thing I discovered.. I am not as weired as I thought.. they had beans from breakfast.. ha.. well.. we grew up with beans as one of the items for breakfast.. go figure.. my grandparents were both from Ireland.. ha.. now I know..
More in my post another day.. I got to go... my computer wants to update.. go figure.

Off to the Land of Rainbows, Lepracons & Guiness

We will be leaving on a trip of a lifetime and believe you me, I never thought I would get to go to the home of my grandmother and grandfather McGaughey, Ireland!
I can not even think of the words to use to express myself!
I told dad, it was like, the publishers clearing house people coming to the door and giving him flowers and champagne, and telling him he had won a Hundred Million dollars.
Its something that you would love to happen, but realistically, never think it will.
So today, we have packed our bags, and check everything twice and are feeling like we are pretty much ready, but.. Alas,, we still have to wait until we can leave. This is the hard part... the waiting.
Oh ! Tracy called and left a message on our answering machine, and our phones don't work in Ireland. neither does Jason's', nor his laptop. So.. I will see if I can post to this blog, at our Arklow Motel, once we get there. If you see no new posts.. its because I have no way to get to a computer. But.. I will try.
I have heard that Guiness in Ireland is not beer, its a food. I will eat lots of food in Ireland. So I am taking my FAT pants.
Mark, if I see a leprechaun, I will try and catch him, because, if you do, he has to tell you where the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, is. So if I come back rich.. well you will know I caught one.
And the exchange rate is horrible, for ever Euro.. it cost us $1.39. For every Pound it cost us $2.00. ugg.
Dad said if he found work, he may stay. Cherry and John were over and left us a converter, so I can use my curling Iron and recharge my camera batteries. They said to have a Guiness for them too. Boy I may come back looking quite Rosy... ha

When the Trumpet blows

Yesterday a long time friend of mine, Mary Elisabeth Cottingham, was buried. She had lived in this life for 97 years. She had one of the most memorable funerals I have ever been too.
Mary could trace her ancestry back to the 1700s. She carefully shared that information with her 12 children.
Mary named one of her girls, Mary, and that Mary named her only child, Mary, and until very recently, they all lived under one roof.
Mary Jane, the second marry, took care of her mom, Mary Elisabeth, for many many year. Mary Elisabeth, was privileged to have such a caring and dedicated daughter.
The love I have seen shown in that family was something truly wonderful to see.
The family had their own personal newsletter, as a way of keeping in touch and up to date. It was always posted on the refrigerator door, and I remember seeing it one time and the title of that edition was, " The House of the Three Mary's". I loved it.
Mary E. Cottingham lived life with a brave heart, trusting in Our Lord to help her raise all 12 of the children. Their dad died in 1962, and here she was with 12 children to raise, all by herself.
She was able to inspire them to work hard, and be productive members of society. She insisted they become well educated and put all of them through college. Some of them did earn scholarships, which helped.
Mary and her husband had both been school teachers. She also taught music and most of her kids play some sort of instrument.
At her funeral all her girls and granddaughters sang a song at the start and another at the finish of the service. The place the funeral was held was a nice little country church that her family had donated the land for . So this event was really very fitting for them. Her casket was carried, right out to the burial site in the back of the church, again, very fitting.
Mary's parents were married 14 years before she was born and she was an only child so she was very much loved. She passed that love onto her kids, and offered it freely to her friends and anyone who came in contact with her.
At her funeral it was noted that she had died on the eve of a Holy Day that she had keep as required in the Bible as one of the seven of Gods' Feast day. That is the Feast Of Trumpets. During her service, some one blew the rams horn, as that typifies the blowing of horns or trumpets, when Christ comes back and gathers all the living and dead, who have lived lives that honor His way, to be raised and meet him in the air. The dead first and the living after that.
I believe they only blew the horn 6 times, as the 7th time it is blown, will be when Christ actually descends from heaven and calls Mary to ascend to heaven, and the angels will gather her to be with Him. This also was fitting.
Mary had about 75 or so people attend, and after the grave side service, they had a meal with many people contrubuting their best dishes. The tables were adorned with white table cloths and most everyone stayed and shared this wonderful meal together. I believe Mrs. Mongler, and Mary Bell Striete did most of the work for that.
During Marys life, she had many of these same people over to her home for dinner, so a lot of people were privledged to serve her, one last time. This was also, fitting.
She now rests in peace beside her husband and one daughter. We will see her again as is promised in the scriptures, this too is fitting!

Guess whats in the Trunk?

We recently went to California, for our annual 4Th of July/family Reunion.
While there I was determined to visit one of my now deceased, aunts home, where one of my brothers now lives. They had been cleaning out OLD stuff, that they had no interest in anymore. I was given a nice old trunk, and allowed to fill it with lots of old pictures, letters, and other things of interest to me.
One thing I was trying to do, was find any information I could on family members who had lived, or had immigrated from Ireland.
We are planning a trip back there where my grandfather and grandmother, on my dads side, came from. I would love to be able to see the old home place and also see where they went to school, church, ect. Sort of get a little idea, of how and where they lived.
Well we got our trunk all filled with wonderful items to explore, and had it mailed back to Mo. It is to the UPS's credit, that only one little picture frame, had a broken pane, and everything else was in perfect shape, upon arrival.
I have a huge allergy to insecticides. Moth balls are insecticides, and this old trunk, at one time, had those moth balls in it that so many people use, and it has permeated a lot of the papers and boxes in the trunk. We have tried to "air" it outside, and I have been only taking a few things out at a time to examine the contents, for information on anything that may help me find answers to where my dad's parents lived in Ireland.
as a results, I now am feeling.. soooooo tired, and draggy, which is how the insecticides effects me.
I feel like I have a lot to do, and no energy to do them.
My husband kept saying that he didn't think it was a good idea for me to be in that trunk, after he detected the moth ball smell, but dumb old me.. I was like a moth to a flame, drawn to find out as much as I could about my ancestors.
So anyone who may have any idea, how to get rid of that moth ball odor, please post your answerer.. Thanks.

California 4th # 2

My computer, or the Internet is just not working very good with me today. I have tried to do this post 3 times.. so will post what I can today, and do some more tomorrow.
The saga continues with out grand and glorious 4th of july in California, among the redwoods and mountains.

Kathy standing dressed in black (Vern's daughter) And her husband Mike seated at the table.. and.. wearing pink pants.. Maxine's.. Lonnie's mom
Kathy has lost a lot of weight since her little boy was born. She is a vegetarian, and all this meat being cooked.. is yukky!!!
We always have those at the picnic that want to show off.. Here is Lonnie, impressing Tracy and Danial, with balancing the Pepsi can on his thumb. Lonnie's wife has seen it before... and Lonnie's brother, (yellow shirt) Mathew, just cant bear to see it again. more tricks. this one is a flying UFO.. Terry (far left in black) is wondering why Romona's dog, Daisy, isn't chasing it. Daisy is just NOT falling for that old trick again!

4th of July family reuion in California

Our trip to California was a wonderful change of pace. Its a lot slower out there, and cooler too. You dress very casually, as you will get dirty.. lots of dust... lots of rocks, dogs, and kids.

At Uncle Verns home, where David, Jason and Tracy, Dad and I were welcomed and stayed. Arriving at Uncle Lyle's house where the reunion takes place each year. Lyle talking to Jason, me with my picture album for all to enjoy.
Frank Alves at the grill.. he makes steaks, and hotdogs!! Frank is Maxien's Husband
Aunt Ramona on the Old-Fashioned way of grilling chicken.. look how happy she is.. her daughter Leslie is observing and learning from mom, and Leslie's husband is glad he wasn't drafted for the job.. Aunt Sally, is being Sally.. sort of at a distant and wringing her hands.. saying "Gosh, I hope she doesn't burn herself.. what will she do if that happens, She wont be able to drive that big bus of hers anymore".
Uncle Lyle at the grill, doing hamburgers. He also has not gotten the modern day grilling figured out yet either.. but oh those where good... Dad testing the final products.. just to make sure they are not done wrong, and that he gets enough to eat.. don't want to starve, or appear to be unappreciated of the hospitality. doesn't dad look good.. hes the best looking one at this thing.

Here is Shonnie (Aunt Ruby's oldest girl) with her niece, and her twin boys. Me with my Coat.. ya.. it was cool.. but not for the local folk.

The twins with their big brother, Hovenal.. don't ask me what their names are.. cant remember for the life of me.
Dad giving Lonnie and his baby girl advise on what to eat and its all good! David trying to figure out who that big fella is? Lonnie is Maxine's son. Maxine is Vern's adopted daughter by his second wife. The girl standing next to Lonnie is his wife.

Lonnie's wife, Lonnie, Danial (Aunt Ruby's grandson, and Tracy Lee!! We all love each other.. notice the hugs!! What a bunch of great people!

grandma's kids

Today we have some pictures of D'Artanyan and Audrey playing in the back yard. This was such a perfect day to be outside, and mom and dad were moving to their new place, so the kids had some fun at grandma's house.

D'Artanyan taking his little sister outside to play.


D'Artanyan was the train, and Audrey was along for the ride!
A quick shorts change for Audrey, as was needed, and its now time to play football! 1-2-44 Run , run, and tackle.. what fun

They had the umpire to check for anything hurt, that had to have licks of love.. but all was well, and Dartayan knows how to give a "soft" tackle, and Audrey loved it. laughing all the way

now time for some serious tree activities. ( brings back memories guys!!)

O.K. grandma says lets play, Hide the toy game. so into the house to hide the eyes. While I hid the toy, D'Artanyan counted to 10 then they bolted out of the house to find the hidden toy.
D'Artanya finally got it, as it was hidden in my hanging plant, but I had to do the "hot/cold' hint, before it was found. I think Audrey was having more fun, just running and playing with her little wagon and stuffed lion, but that was just fine, as he enjoyed the game anyway.

Now its time to take a shot for grandma.. sitting on the bench that Larry made for me last year.

Bella had to be right in the middle of all of the fun. She really missed the playing when the kids were gone. Are they the cuties kids.. oh ya...!

Portland Head lighthouse

HI all, today I am posting something I thought was really wonderful. My daughters' grandmother-in-law, took up a class to learn to paint. She is doing very well in it, and has learned she has some really unexpected talent in this area.

Sometimes life is so busy when we are younger and raising our kids, that we really put our self on the shelf. We don't have the time, and often the money to explore avenues of our lives that are talents that we haven't developed. She has all her kids grown now, and her husband passed away some time ago, so now she has time to explore other avenues of interest.

She is currently painting pictures for all her kids, and grand kids. I hope she lives a long time, as she has 12 kids and a whole bunch of grand kids. ha.

She did this picture in oil. I framed it to go with my other lighthouse pictures that i have decorated my sun room in. I wanted to share this with everyone, as I do believe that when someone puts some of themselves into a project like this and then gives that to you, it really should be shared .

This picture is of the Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth Maine. It was commissioned by President George Washington to be build in 1791. It was the first lighthouse commissioned to be built after the Revolution. enjoy!!

Delivered,Tested and It works

HI all, I am so happy today. I had Larry in the area from all his Welding trips, and he helped me take the portable shower that I had been working on over to Kathryn's Wednesday, put it up and tried to get it to work.. oh horrible.. I couldn't get the water to go into the pipe and out the shower head, or the hand held unit, except for just one little gush, and then it would stop. Larry was wonderful and made about 3 trips to Westlakes for an assortment of possible things to solve this problem. Nothing worked..Oh what to do.. well I tired all sorts of things, and decided to go home and get dinner and come back on Friday.
I did some Internet searching, and called the company that made the shower mixer unit for advice. We talked for a while, they said they would get back with me on this.
In the mean time, I and Larry decided today that I would check out the anti-scald device that was on it, as that is the only thing I knew might be a problem. So.. I turned the device to off.. and put the handle back on and we hooked up the hose in the bathroom to the hot, and the kitchen faucet for the cold.. turned everything on and WALLAH...!! it worked just perfectly. Great pressure, perfect temperature control. So I am celebrating today for Kathryn, she can finally have a shower and feel clean all over again.
I am eagerly waiting to see if it all works out for her like i think it will. And Ken will be assisting her with her first shower, so I hope it will be handy for him too.

Portable Shower

Well its finally done! I finally got the Portable Shower done that I have been working on for some time. I think it will do the trick just fine and Kathryn will finally be able to have a nice hot shower and wash her own hair. This shower doesn't require any plumbing or drains to work and is complete able to be taken down and put up again in a matter of 15-30 min. It can be carried in the back of a small pickup or a van.

this is a picture of the inside of the shower

Here is a closer picture of the inside :

I had to have the shower head extend out far enough so she could wash her hair, and I also put a device on it so she can just reach up and turn the water off or on from the shower head, if she wants to. I also added the same device to the hand held shower. This will allow her to have only the shower overhead, or her hand held one going at a time, or if she wishes, she can have both of them going at the same time. Her handle where she turns the water on/off/ hot/cold, still works like normal.

This is a how it looks with the shower chair

Next is a picture of the back where all the pipes , pump , and hoses are:here is a picture of the part of the pump that sits in the basin to extract the water, its called a puddler:

This next one is a view of the side of the shower, with the opening open, so someone helping a person shower, doesn't have to be inside the shower, but rather, can assist from outside the shower, and hopefully, not get too wet.

and the shower had to have a name:

This last one is the shower with the curtain drawn

The entrance of the shower has a one inch ramp for easy in and out.

I want Kathryn to use this shower and let me know what all might need to be changed,if anything, to make it useful for her and anyone else that might need one. I am thinking of selling something like this if this proves to be as useful as I think it will be. I also toyed with the idea of just keeping one or two on hand and renting it to people that maybe wouldn't need to buy one, but would only need it for a few weeks, or months.

My Idea is to make one for a man, and one for a woman, the difference for the man's shower would be the outside curtain. It would have a more manly color/print, maybe a camouflage or something like that. But other than than would be basically the same shower.

I got that Idea to make one to rent out, when I visited a lady who lived in a nice older two story home, and she had knee surgery. Her doctor sent her home with the instructions not to walk up steps, for about 6 weeks, among other things. When she got home, she realized she couldn't go upstairs where her shower was, and had to stay on the first floor where they only had a half bath. She was only able to wash up in her sink, and she really hated that. If something like this had been available to her, she would have rented it. I am just betting there are other people with similar problems, and needs.

Davids Birthday!!

Howdy all,
today is David's Birthday! He should be feeling pretty good about that. Its also my youngest sisters birthday, Aunt Threasa. She is in her late 40's. wow how time passes.
Aunt Ramona wrote and said the fruit trees are already in bloom. She also said to say hi to all the kids. So HI!
I am still working on my shower for Kathryn. Coming along slowly, but getting there. Hopefully it will be done before the Passover, and Days of Unleaven Bread.
Tracy and Jason returned back from their 9 day cruise on Sunday/monday.. around 12 midnight. ha.
I discoved some really wonderful gluten free crackers.. yummy!.
Larry should be coming back this way.. the end of this month.
Dad is working hard these days, and glad for it, the market forcast for his type of work doesn't seem to be so good. ugg.. well Mark. we may all have to pack up and go live with david. now that would be a good birthday gift for him.. what do you thing.. hey!!.. love to all mom

Kids at home

Mark and Meg visiting with Dad and Jason and Tracy. Getting ready for their much needed Date Day. I think they had dinner at the Olive Garden.. I love that place.

Tracy and Jason were down for the weekend, and it was a perfect time, as they got to see their nephew and niece. What a great bunch to have at this home. I loved it.

First we had to corral the wild hopping beast that lives with us, this is not a good pic, but its part of the story.

Then the kids played and played, running and having a good old time, D'Artanyan was in his normal "Kill the bad guys" mode, and Audry was watching the dog in the cage, with a lot of speculation!

After a time, we tried to let Bella get used to not jumping on the kids. D'Artanyan doesn't have a problem with it, but Audry is the same size as the dog, when the dog is standing up, and she didn't like it one bit. She eventually got to where she would squeal and Bella would leave her alone. ha. but in getting to that spot, Tracy took a great picture of grandma and granddaughter. I love this pic.

The kids played and had a great time with all the toys I had picked up at garage sales and had left over from when you kids were little. Mostly stuff you all had gotten for the Feast. As that was the only time you all got toys that were of any quality, or that was made to last a lifetime. ha.

This shot is Audry making a run for it and Bella playing with D'Artayan, who has her toy. That old hallway has had a lot of kids running and playing in it. brought back such good memories for me.

Of course Jason and Tracy were here too and I got this great picture. Jason was glued to the TV and we had to pry him away from it for just a minute for this shot. ha, but isn't it great?

D'Artanyan has the dogs toy and he keep her busy tossing it down the hallway for her to retrieve. Sometimes Bella was "the Bad Guy"; I think boys just need dogs. Audry on the other hand, was not taking her eyes of that jumping beast, she did not trust Bella one bit. ha.

Dad doing what dad does best, and Bella checking to see who's OUT THERE. ha..by the time Jason and Tracy had to leave to go back to KC, Audry had finally learned how to keep that BEAST away from her. She would squeal at Bella, and Bella would stop and turn around and leave her alone.

All in all we all learned how to play together and live in harmony: what a great day, what good memories.

.

Sickly mom

HI to all. I haven't posted for quite a while. Been feeling under the weather, so to speak.
Not sure what I had, just so terrible tired and listless, with fever that came and went, and then a lot of coughing that was only encouraged when I tried to talk or breath. humm. anyway, feeling better today but still feel tired.
I will be going out to take care of Mrs. Cottingham early afternoon. She is 98 years young. Her daughter and granddaughter have done a marvelous job taking care of her all these years. So I am glad to be part of their team, too give them help when they have to both leave the home to do important things.
We are expecting freezing ice, and snow tonight, but as always, in Mo. that can change on an hourly bases. ha.
Jason and Tracy were down for the weekend. So good to have them here, been the first time in about a year.
Had both D'Artanyan and Audry here for a little visit this past Sunday, and got a few good pictures of them and Tracy and Jason. Will put some on, in my next post.
Hope all are well and doing good.. take care.. mom

Papa was a Preacher

On January 11, 07, we attended a wonderful live performance in Jefferson city, at the Stained Glass Theatre.

The play was "Papa was a Preacher" and my two nieces , Ashley and Brittany Carwile each had parts in it. We love to go to live performances, especially when we know it will be something uplifting and clean, which can be kind of hard to find. During the play we couldn't take pictures but I got this one of Tracy and her cousins Brittany and Ashley after the play. ( hey boys do you recognize those two girls?)

Tracy and Jason made it down from K.C. I think family support for something that is good and wholesome, is so very important. That evening around 4:30pm I called Tracy to let her know we were going to the play. She was at Wal-Mart doing some shopping, and when she found out about the play, called Jason at work, and they being young enough to do things on the fly, made the decision to attend the play. Tracy went and picked him up from work, and they... flew, in her toyota, down to Jeff city, and were only a few minutes.. like 3-5 minutes late . Curtain time was 7:30pm. Oh to be young again.. ha.

Here is a picture of Tammy, Danny, Gordon, and grandma Trumbo. We were all sitting on the front row and had a really good time. I especially like the fact that I didn't have someone tall sitting in front of me, which is usually the case in these kinds of events.

Here are some of the cast member to give you a little glimpse of the people in the play.. I didn't know any of them. But they were all really good. I believe the man and woman who played the preacher and his wife, are , in real life.. planning to get married. In the play they were renewing their marriage vows after 25 years of marriage. The play was based on the book "Papa was a Preacher" written by on the real children that had been in this family in real life.