Update

The last two months have been tough. With a death in the family, other responsibilities, shoulder surgery recuperation, and Winter refusing to loosen its grip blog posts and inspiration have been low. But now the warmer weather and good health appear to have reinvigorated my genealogy, cemetery, and blog pursuits.

The shoulder appears to be well on its way which has gotten me out into the cemeteries for quick work already. Although my little unwanted friends have already found me (ticks). I was bit again and although the tick was only attached to me for an hour max, the bite still became infected. Just finished another round of 21 days of Doxycycline. All is well. A batch of homemade natural tick repellent was concocted for my use which makes me smell like peppermint, eucalyptus, and vinegar when its on my clothes. Hopefully I do not find anymore new friends.

Last week I was contacted by a woman from Ohio who found me on both Ancestry and MyHeritage who we though was a relative. She turns out not to be a blood relative to me but we do have common blood relatives. Her half-brothers are my third cousins. She was adopted but through DNA she also found that she has a niece who lives local to me. The three of us met over the weekend. Turns out that the niece's mom was also adopted and she also recently took a DNA test but the results are not in yet. This mom and the woman from Ohio will most likely turn out to be full sisters and they never knew of each other until less than a month ago. I was glad to be part of this genealogy caper. Both families are excited and just grew because of DNA testing.

My low key cemetery project that was mentioned last month is well on its way and will be complete after two or three more sessions at this plot. Photos and a video will soon follow. By the first week of May the German Evangelical Cemetery project will begin again and continue until November. After this season, the end should be near for its completion. A survey will again be taken and it is thought that there will be very few stones left needing attention.