Tag Archives: photos

Sharing memories

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A rare photo of my dad with his dad

The last of my dad’s siblings passed away recently. Aunt Bunny and I weren’t particularly close, so I had no idea how many family photos and memorabilia she possessed. Possibly because she outlived her siblings, many cousins and two of her three children, she became the logical repository for such family treasures.

Her son Mark and his wife Alice encouraged family to make copies before they took the photos back to their home in another state. My cousin and I scanned photos and genealogy information for several hours, but didn’t quite finish before Mark and Alice were scheduled to hit the road. I’ve continued scanning off and on for several weeks and have just a few more photos left to scan. Whew!

My dad’s mother with some of his older siblings (abt. 1924)

I’m grateful that my aunt kept the photos and documents in good shape, but there are two things she could have done to make these treasures more valuable for the next generation.

Labeling: Most of the photos have some sort of writing on the back, however, some of the writing was faded or illegible. Most of the information was first names only, which isn’t very helpful if you’re trying to connect them with a certain family. Dates and locations would also have been great information.

Share: As the oldest member of the family, it would have been very helpful if Aunt Bunny had shared the photos and documents before dementia faded her memory. It would have been so interesting to hear the stories that accompanied the photos. We also could have been enjoying family history and posting information to ancestry.com instead of it being stored away in boxes.

My dad’s sister Goldie with his soldier brothers Russell and Orville. (abt. 1943)

I plan to work with my mother (who is the oldest of her siblings and the oldest of the remaining cousins on both her mother and father’s side of the family) to not only label photos with names, dates and locations, but include relationships. We need to scan photos and documents for other family members to enjoy now.

What history and memories do you have stored in boxes? Sharing them would make an excellent Christmas present!

Writing research

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I wrote about doing some research on the history of our property back in April (Playing detective).  I mentioned that it was requiring a “HUGE amount of *finesse,” but that finesse has paid off!

I was researching the family that had lived here in 1930 on Ancestry.com, and was having difficulty following the information due to the number marriages between the two prominent family lines and similar names. I’d contacted two family members that had posted trees, but they did not have any helpful information.

However, I did receive an email from a family member I had not contacted. He turned out to be the great-grandson of the previous owner. He said his mother was anxious to speak with me regarding the horrific events that took place on the property that involved her mother’s family. Since that time I have exchanged many emails with various family members who all live in the Mid-west. I even received a packet of family photos, some taken on the property!

This afternoon I’m sitting down with two elderly ladies who lived in the area during the period of time that the previous family lived here. Funny, but I would have never known to speak with these two ladies (one still lives in the area, the other is here visiting relatives) without receiving that contact through Ancestry.com.

My research finesse level:  Novice     Advanced beginner     Competent        Proficient        Expert

What’s your research finesse level?

*finesse (skill, flair, grace elegance, poise, assurance)

Organizing payoff

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My dad at 10 years old. Probably a class photo from Binnsmead Elementary, Portland, OR.

Several months ago I wrote about the effort to help my mother organize her nearly 80 years of collecting (http://www.femme-de-finesse.com/a-collector-chooses-organization/). We had made some progress in her kitchen, living room and family room before taking a much needed break from the enormous task.

Last week she had a leak around her water heater, so the husband stopped by to take a look. The sight of her garage filled with boxes made my heart sink. Now I fully understood why she was under the impression her garage was not really a two car garage. It was clearly time to take a stab at organizing again.

It was a little difficult to decide how to tackle the gargantuan amount of stuff. Because she had help when she moved from her late husband’s home, I don’t think she really knew what was in each box. We decided to start in one corner and work our way around. My sister joined us for a few hours and we worked together with great *finesse, keeping each other on task, which can be difficult when you come across “treasures.” My goal was to get a space cleared in front of the electrical panel so mom could check a breaker without breaking her neck and hopefully get as far as the cabinets, which I’m guessing is about 8 feet from the corner.

My dad, Richard and his older brothers, Russell and Del

We didn’t quite meet that goal, but we did get an unexpected payoff. Mom found some old photos of my dad from his childhood. There was a great photo of him at maybe six to nine months old with his two older brothers. What a treasure! We also came across letters from his sisters and other documents that will be a great addition to my genealogy research on ancestry.com.We still have a LOT to do, but with every load we haul to recycling and thrift shops, we are making progress!

*finesse (skill, flair, grace elegance, poise, assurance)

Central Oregon – Day One

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Monday morning marmot visitor.

The husband and I purchased a timeshare in Central Oregon more than 20 years ago. We’ve exchanged a few times to vacation at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, but we truly love vacationing at our home resort. Instead of my regular posts, I’ll be sharing photos of this scenic area we call our second home. Enjoy!

We’re all just enjoying the warmth of the sun!

Travel planning with Finesse

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It’s that time of year when we think about vacations. Because we own timeshares (which work very well for us, by the way!), we tend to plan at least a year in advance. However, there are always those fine details to be worked out as the vacation gets closer.

We spend a great deal of time in Central Oregon at Eagle Crest Resort and have seen and done a lot of the different touristy things, so we’re going to dig a little deeper and maybe get a little more adventurous this summer. I don’t see us climbing Smith Rock, but we are planning to head south one day and explore Crater Lake National Park. I’m a native Oregonian and the husband has lived here since he was two-weeks old, but neither of us has ever been to Crater Lake.

A quick glance at the website seems to indicate that all photography requires a permit – even if it’s just a pose of the family in front of the lake. This might require a little more research, but that’s all part of travel planning. The website also mentions boat tours, which sounds like fun, but there wasn’t a link with information on the cost, times, or length of the excursions. Also missing is the amount of time it takes to drive around the lake.

I’m not easily deterred, so I “googled” again and found the Crater Lake Lodges Xanterra Parks and Resorts site offered much more information.  Only a certain number of reservations are accepted for the nearly 2 hour tours, saving the remaining spots for first come, first served purchases on the day of the tour. These sell out quickly, so if we aren’t able to snag a reservation, we should plan on arriving early. It’s also not just a short little hop to the boat ramp. We’ll need to hike a little more than a mile on a trail that drops approximately 700-feet. It’s not the drop that concerns me as much as the ascent on the hike out, which is equivalent to climbing more than 70-flights of stairs! The same website also lists the menus of the cafes around the lake. Given their offerings, I think we’ll pack a picnic.

I’ve learned to keep digging. E-mail or make a phone call if necessary to get accurate information. Keep surprises at a minimum. Avoid disappointment with a little planning *finesse and maximize the fun!

My travel planning finesse level: 
Novice     Advanced beginner     Competent        Proficient        Expert    

What’s your travel planning finesse level?

*finesse (skill, flair, grace elegance, poise, assurance)

Desperately seeking Picnik replacement!

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I don’t want to pay for anything I can get for free, especially photo editing software which probably has features I don’t need or know how to use. I began looking for a free online photo editor that would help me “clean-up” some of the old family photos my mother had stored.

I found, and fell in love with Picnik. Unfortunately, I came to the Picnik a little too late and our time together was extremely short. I was not aware they had been purchased by Google, who shut them down last month after integrating Picnik’s tools into Google+.

What I loved about Picnik was that it had a lot of options, but was super easy to use. I’ve had just enough experience with Photoshop to be dangerous, and while that background probably gave me some extra *finesse using a photo editor, it wasn’t necessary to use Picnik. I wish we’d had more time together, because I still have a LOT of photos to edit!

I’ve been researching other free options and PicMonkey seems to be the heir apparent. I’m still carrying a torch for Picnik, but I’m warming up to PicMonkey. They have many of the same features, and the feel is the same. The blog Musings from a Stay at Home Mom provides a pretty good overview of PicMonkey. Check it out if you’re trying to replace Picnik!

My photo editing finesse level: 
Novice    Advanced beginner   Competent        Proficient        Expert      

What’s your photo editing finesse level?

*finesse (skill, flair, grace elegance, poise, assurance)

Buried in boxes of photos

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I had good intentions and followed through pretty well during the first few years of marriage. Shortly after getting our photos developed, I’d place them neatly on the adhesive pages of photo albums with clever captions below. When we started having kids I envisioned photo albums for each child, creatively capturing each milestone from first steps to graduation.

Something went very wrong between the visions and reality and we now have boxes of photos. The ones that did make it into those old adhesive photo albums have been removed, but some are very badly damaged. I invested in several photo-safe boxes and began organizing the photos by date. I’m glad they are safe from further deterioration, but this still doesn’t seem to be the best option for preserving memories long term. Honestly, it’s all a little overwhelming.

I used a new approach with the pictures of my son and daughter-in-law’s wedding. I used an online photo book service and was very pleased with the result. I have to say, the layout options were a little less intuitive than I would have liked, but workable if you have some photo editing knowledge. The same company offers scanning of photos, but I’m not comfortable sending irreplaceable memories through the mail.

Organizing digital photos can be equally frustrating. We recently updated our computer’s operating system and can’t get our photos to transfer. If they aren’t safe on the hard drive, then they have to be stored elsewhere.  Print them? Burn a CD?

A simple internet search yields a lot of results for how to organize photos, but I’d like to know what works for you. Have you found a great solution?

My photo organization finesse level: 
Novice     Advanced beginner     Competent        Proficient        Expert

What’s your photo organization finesse level?