The Up's Blogging

Back on May 7, CM Pointer gave me the "One Loverly Blog Award" and with me saying that with all that pink I needed to hold out for a more "Manly" badge. I hope you took no offence.
Well Vickie E at "Benotforgot " came though with a "Lov ur Blog" badge which I have posted over on the side bar. Thanks again Vickie I think it fits in with the posts I have had on railroading and trollies. So again thanks to both of you and your great posts.

TURN BACK THE WHEEL OF TIME

Turn back the "Wheel of Time" and take a look at downtown Thorndike, Maine around the early 1900's. It hasn't changed much since then. Oh the vehicles are more likely to be pickups and cars today, but the tracks are still there and so are the buildings I suspect. (I have not been there in years). The tracks are of "The Belfast and Moosehead RR.", which I had posted earlier also run behind the family farm. My grandfather probably saw the same image when he hopped that train out of town.

The postcard has a lot of wheels, at least 5 or 6 buckboards and buggies. And don't forget the wheel barrow over on the side. I like the older gentleman window shopping. Thorndike is in mid-state between Augusta and Belfast, with its rolling hills, open farmland, and green forests. In many ways its the "Brigadoon" of my mine when I step back in time.

Here's the reverse side of the post card. I believe the split indicates the early 1900's. If any one knows the date the style indicates please leave a comment.

Another Award--WOW!

CMPointer at Family Stories nominated my blog for the "One Lovely Blog Award". I really appreciate it when someone takes the time to make an award or to even leave a comment. I'm having a little trouble posting the "PINK" badge that comes with the award. I'm holding out for "The manly blog award".
In all seriousness though, all the blogs I follow are great and have different qualities to offer and most have received some sort of recognition. That's how I find some of them.One blog I've been admiring for not only her stories, but also for what she does with the photo's, is "Be not forgotten" . She also just received this award but I would like to second it.

The Things Kids Say

My daughter calls it "Modern Genealogy" when she captures things her family is doing. My favorite is her "Heard Around the House" which she captures comments the kids make. Imagine if we could go back in time to hear what we or our parents said when we were 5 and 8 years old. What goes on in this little guy's mind is priceless. A sample follows:

Heard Around The House
We are driving in the car and he says, "I wish I still had my tonsils."
Mom, "Why? You aren't getting sick anymore buddy."
Ben, "Because I want them back. Katie still has hers. Why does she still have hers?"
Katie, "My tonsils weren't to big. Your tonsils were to big so they had to be taken out."
Ben, "I want mine back!"
Katie, "Well, your not in charge. God has the plan for you and you needed your tonsils out."

THE PEOPLE IN THE BARNES' BOX PART 2

Browsing though the Bristol history book from the library, I found over a page of info on Rodney Barnes who I posted on a few days ago . Included was a photo of him in his old age. It also gave a clue to where the family lived before the Bradley St home. It mentions a Monce trout pond which could be located on Monce Rd. just around the corner from our house. For those of you unfamiliar with the area the town of Farmington was the mother town of Bristol and Burlington.The Bristol and Burlington area was called the "West Woods" and later "New Cambridge" and "West Briton". Bristol became a town and still contained Burlington until the early 1800's. Other areas I mention in the blog are the villages of Forestville (Bristol) and Whigville (Burlington).
It looks like Sherman Barnes' had at least 3 sons that followed him in the machinist trade, Monroe (our line) Bainebridge and Rodney. Brainbride and Rodney worked for the Hubbell Co.in Forestville. The most famous product been the Hubbell Marine Clock. While looking that up I found the History of Bristol on line at Google Books. Who knew!
Smith, Eddy N., and George B. Smith, comps. Bristol, Connecticut ("In Olden Time New Cambridge") Which Includes Forestville. Hartford,Conn.: City Printing Co., 1907.

A Swamp Yankee's Research Gadgets

First of all some free things do work well. I use Mozilla Firefox for my browser and one add-on available is ZOTERO which labeled as the "next generation research tool". It allows you to take snapshots of web pages. It sits at bottom of the browser window and you can access files from there.
I also use Google Docs and Notes, which is another method of copying and storing things of the web. Google docs can render a great PDF for down load also. Its also great to access from other locations and retrieve later from home.
As for photos I use Faststone Image Viewer available at Faststone.org. It has some neat viewing options, quick resizing and editing tools. I discovered this week I could use in the photo properties the "jpg comments" feature to add info to the photo. I'll be posting some soon to see if the info can be accessed in Blogger. I tried Picasa awhile ago but found it lacking.
I finally took a look at Roots Television and found a video on adding comments below a photo using GIMP . So I viewed it 4 or 5 times and opened my Gimp program (it has always scared me) and did it. The man giving the demo gave me the clue about the photo properties option. Good stuff on there. I saw videos for retouching photos which I will be going through real soon.

BLOGGER IDENITY ISSUE

I've had a problem leaving comments on several blogs and then I noticed my smiling face was missing on most of the blogs I follow. Some how I was one of the blanks with no id at all.
I went to the "manage blog you follow" screen and changed all back to a blogger ID.
Is google acting up or did I do some thing?