The Lives We Weave

Periwinkle

2009-05-20T13:49:00.000-07:00

Periwinkle

Periwinkle, how stars twinkle
danced on a moonbeam with

Sprinkles of Periwinkle,
I've come for the pot of gold.

Looking for diamonds
by any footpath, trail or lane
Sprinkles of Periwinkle,
the fairies will sing.

Wearing an outfit fashioned
of leaves and flowers
Sprinkles of Periwinkle,
and fairy droplets.

How do the Fairies
know I'm there,
Sprinkles of Periwinkle,
can make a nose wrinkle.

When the crisp leaves
under foot crinkle,
Sprinkles of Periwinkle,
will make them mingle.

Where there are
Sprinkles of Periwinkle,
There fairies are,
leaving their twinkle.

Fairies dipping their
shimmering toes in an
inkwell will make,
Sprinkles of Periwinkle,
on their ankle.

by Susan Acre

~~~~~~~

I have never wrote a poem before. I was playing a new game on Facebook called My Fairyland, you have to crate your own fairy and garden. I liked the name Periwinkle and that was where the inspiration for the poem came from. As I was doing this these jingles kept running through my head. Before you know it I was writing them down and putting them together in a draft.

I want to thank Susan H. for critiquing it for me before publishing here. Hope you like it. Sue

"Milepost # 2 - The Roadside Café "Next exit: Mom"

2009-03-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

Although I didn't get in on the Carnival ~ Bound for Mom, it was because I really didn't have anything in common with the other topics in this Carnival. My mom didn't drive or travel however I do like Milepost # 2 - The Roadside Café "Next exit: Mom. She's closer than you think." from Thomas MacEntee. So here is my "Milepost # 2 - The Roadside Café Next exit: Mom".

My mom could make liver taste like Swiss stake which is what she did and we loved it, we asked her to make it all the time. Little did we know, it was made with liver. To this day I don't know if my brother's knew it was made with liver. When we were real young we weren't allowed in the kitchen unless we were invited or it was time to sit down and eat. When we got older we had moved into a smaller house and only 2 people could be in the kitchen at any given time unless we were sitting at the table so we never had any idea this dish was made with liver and not the stake she said it was. Even as an adult I would ask her to make this "Swiss stake" for me but by then I knew it was made with liver but I didn't care, I still loved it. She would coat the liver with a little flour and lightly fry it in bacon grease with onions then add a can of tomato sauce with some peas and carrots and let it cook for an hour of so. She would serve this over mashed potatoes.

Mom and Grandma were great cooks. Mom loved to cook and grandma loved to bake. Grandma lived with us most of my young life. I grew up in Detroit in a good ethnic neighborhood so mom would go and cook with the neighbors. She would go to see Lydia who was of Spanish descent and learn how to make Spanish rice and homemade tamales which would take all day. She would cook with the polish lady's and make glumkies = stuffed cabbage. Mom learned how to cook a bunch of Hungarian food with her sister my Auntie Marlene whom was married to a man of Hungarian descent they would make Chicken Paprika, Green Bean Soup, Cabbage and Noodles, all sorts of good food.

Holidays in my neighborhood was like being in food heaven with all the aromas from each house you walked past on the block.

Grandma would bake cakes and pies for the whole neighborhood. They would commission her for birthdays, showers and party's. Grandma didn't make the traditional apple pie she made what she called apple rolls, she would roll out her pie dough on a flat surface and brush the dough with melted butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg, a handful of brown sugar then layer with apples and roll this strudel style and bake, everyone in the family makes these to this day even the men are now teaching their children how to make grandma's apple rolls. Some of these kids would be her great great great grandchildren. I miss the chocolate pudding she made and often think I wish I would have learned how to make that delicious treat.

Oftentimes grandma would have us in the kitchen while she was baking, we would roll dough, stir the batter or lick the beaters when she was done with the mixer. She would let us make our own little pies and cakes, all of us kids loved this treat, the cousin's would come over and we would bake all day.

How I miss them and all their delicious treats, even though I make most of these treats myself, to me, they just don't taste like mom and grandma's did.

Introduction

2009-03-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

My motivation for research into my family history was the stories that my grandmother Lois Lena Parks used to tell about her ancestors. However, once I became more involved in the research over the past 30 years, and how the various historical and political times shaped her family history, I became more and more fascinated with all facet's of my family.

There were in my family, like most families, stories that were passed down from generation to generation. Some of them have been substantiated, but others turned out to be just lore. Still, I have found so much more than I could have ever anticipated finding. A heritage which I have found rich in culture and history.

My genealogical detective work has led me to many fascinating places and to many more question's about the people that shaped my family over the past 350 years in the United States and Canada. This detective work has led me back further in time to England, Germany and Hungary. It has been a fascinating exercise in solving the mystery of one family and moving on to another with each unanswered question raising several more. The adventure is in the discovery of each connection.

They were simple, God-fearing, hard working folks that came to a new land for many different reason's. They were mainly farmers and labourers shaping a new world. Some of their descendants went on to become clergymen, farmers, carpenters, merchants, politicians, store keepers, soldiers, surveyors, teachers and more. Some of our families were pillars of the community and some were scalawags, some were rich, some lost their land for taxes, some were good parents, and some left just after their children were born. Never would I have believed that I would find my family so prominent in the early years of this nation, many even before it was a nation.

I have found the journey into my heritage rich in culture and history. The majority of my family came to the eastern shores when it was first being colonized. They went west as the country developed, clearing the land, and making a place for themselves and their families in a rugged and beautiful new land. They came here with a dream for new beginnings.

The lineage of these surnames is all over the globe, as is to be expected with any American family. My "roots" are mainly in the States of Michigan, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Iowa many also lived across the shore in Ontario Canada, and across the sea in Yorkshire and Sussex, England as well as Germany and Hungary. There also has been a tail about Walsh ancestry, I have not found this yet.

Some of the surnames you will find here are

Bradshaw in USA and Canada

Brewins with an s at the end in USA and England

Butler from 1700's New York

Coons from New York to Michigan early 1800

Crosthwaite in England, Canada and United States

Douglass in England

Erdelyi from Hungary and United States

Fedewa/Vidua/Wedua from Arft, Archbishopric of Trier, Langenfeld, Eifel, Province of Rhein, Preussen, Westphalia Michigan early 1800's

Harris from USA and Canada

Jefferson in Penn. to Michigan early 1900's

Lord mid 1700's Conn., and New York

Lowther from Westmeath, Ireland early 1700's to Bucks County, Pennsylvania then on to Canada

Mansfield in Michigan early 1800's

Miller from Germany lived in Penn. early 1900's moved to Michigan 1920's

Morfitt in Yorkshire England

Muller from Acht, Archbishopric of Trier, Langenfeld, Eifel, Rheinland, Preussen, Germany and Michigan

Newell Canada to USA early 1800's

Nurenberg Germany to Michigan early 1800's

Orosz in Hungary

Robert Parke came to USA in 1630 from England and landed in Mass., then moved to Connecticut the name was changed to Parks sometime in the mid to late 1700's

Powell from the Jackson Co., Michigan area early 1800"s

Pung from the Clinton Co., Michigan area early 1800's

Rustine form Jackson Co., Michigan area early 1800's

Sanford from Massachusetts 1700's

Savage from Vermont 1700 and 1800 and in Michigan

Schueller

Servatius from Langenfeld, Archbishopric of Trier 1600's

Shaw early 1800's in Jackson Co., Michigan

Tambling/Tomblin, from Massachusetts 1700's

Toth from Hungary late 1800's ended up in Detroit Michigan in 1900