Real Talk!

Yes, I admit that I colour my hair. I couldn’t possibly deny it. Having met me, you can never be quite sure what colour it will be the next time. I’m having a bad hair life. I am so glad that my daughter has not inherited the bad hair gene.

This blog isn’t about hair, though. It’s about my family tree research. I’m having such a good time with it…. However, I’m stalled on a couple of branches, primarily my father’s side.

I would love to hear from anyone who has Didier information. - (My father’s paternal family) - Dad was John Marcel Richard (Lawrence) Didier. He was in the insurance biz. His father, Joseph Achille Adolphe Marcel Didier (known as Marcel or Mar) was a chef and son of Adolphe and Ernestine. Dad’s mother, Velma Marie (nee Hynes) was the daughter of (Margaret) Bridget Sheehan (1880-1950) and Richard Hynes (1876-1958). Grandpa Dick actually died on my birthday.

This is all I can find of Richard’s family:

Richard HYNES M Male 50 Ireland Lamplighter
Margret HYNES M Female 40 O Ontario
Annie HYNES Female 15 O Ontario Confectioner
John HYNES Male 8 O Ontario
Margret HYNES Female 6 O Ontario
Richard HYNES Male 5 O Ontario
Joseph HYNES Male 3 O Ontario
William HYNES Male 1 Born: Oct; 6/12 O Ontario
Paterick HYNES Male 1 Born: Oct; 6/12 O Ontario
Source Information: Census Place St David's Ward, Toronto, York, Ontario 1881

So far, through Internet research, I have found a "2nd cousin once removed" from my mother’s paternal family. He is living in Wales. I also have discovered a "5th cousin twice removed" from my mother’s maternal family. He lives in Oshawa, Ontario. Mom’s maternal side kept such tidy records, I’ve managed to get back well into the 1600s for many branches. Her Great-Grandmother was the daughter of Janet Carlyle (sister of Thomas), so information on that line goes back quite a bit further.

You may wonder how I can calculate the "removed" etc... I have a wonderful genealogy program that does all kinds of neat stuff. So far, I have entered 780 families and nearly 2200 names.

My mother’s father’s side isn’t as tidy, but through my 2nd cousin once removed, I was able to sort a few things out! It’s frustrating that the Didier, Hynes, Sheehan families are so illusive.

So, this is my blog today… somewhat of a plea for assistance. If you can help me with any information on these folks, I’d love to hear from you!

Okay, it’s time that I admitted it. I’m in the midst of a mess! Anyone who has experienced it will tell you, there’s nothing more horrid than renovating.

It’s not that I’m doing anything THAT major. I’ve ripped out a lighted dropped ceiling in the kitchen, a dreadful 70’s wrought iron railing and we’re re-facing the cupboards… peeling off old wallpaper and painting.

We also tore out a wall and coat closet in the living room and we’re painting the master bedroom and ensuite.

This week, we got lucky and managed to book our trusty painter for a few days and he’s going to do the trim- plus he’s promised to fix the mess we’ve made cutting colour in at the ceilings. It is extraordinary what a painter can do with a paintbrush. He makes it all look so easy! He claims that much of it has to do with the brushes and rollers that you use. I think its years of experience.

He’s partly right, though. It irks me, especially. I should have known better. For several years, I was in the business of selling paint and wallpaper and I know that you need to use good tools. Some paintbrushes cost more than the paint!

It’s all coming together. Slowly but surely, it’s starting to look a little like a house again. A messy house, but a house.

I’ve resolved to get rid of a lot of the chatchkas and gee-gaws. I’m a sentimentalist, so it’s really hard to do. One time, when I moved, my sister forced me to burn several boxes of stuff- mostly paper with a scribble on it… I almost cried, until I realized it was scribbles, I had held onto the stuff for years and looked upon it as my daughter’s first art!

I have “stuff” that was my grandmother’s, stuff that was her grandmother’s… stuff that isn’t particularly pretty or expensive… some stuff that’s broken, some badly repaired but these are things that someone else held onto for a long time and I’m just the current guardian.

Okay, I’ve been saying it’s time to streamline for a long time… but this time I really mean it! I can’t wait to have the furniture back in the right rooms and stuff semi-organized again. We’re planning some work outside, to the house. There are other things I want to do inside, but I just can’t bear to think about that right now.

I wonder how long it will take before I get the itch to decorate again. I know where I’m headed… the planning has been done… we’ll see how long it takes me to forget the horror of living like this.

Wherever you go and whatever you do,
May the luck of the Irish be there with you.

St. Patrick is believed to have driven the snakes from Ireland and used a shamrock to convert the heathens. The modern holiday, March 17th, is based on the original Christian saint's feast day, which is also thought to be the date of his death in the fifth century.

In 1737, Irish immigrants in the United States began observing the holiday in Boston. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in the United States- when Irish soldiers, serving the military marched through New York City in 1762. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for thousands of years.

My grandmother said St. Patrick's Day was a day for pinching folks that were not wearing green.

On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage, sometimes with potatoes.

Up until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of the Protestant middle class. The Great Potato Famine of 1845 brought nearly a million starving, poor, uneducated, Catholic Irish to America. The Protestant majority made fun of the immigrants, who were frowned upon for their religious beliefs and funny accents. These new Irish Americans had trouble finding even menial jobs.

Newspapers painted them as drunken disorderlies and ran cartoons depicting the Irish as chimps.

It didn’t take long before the Irish recognized that by virtue of their great numbers, they could wield significant political power. The annual St. Patrick's Day parades became a show of strength for Irish Americans and were suddenly an important event for political candidates.

The 2003 U.S. census counted 34 Million Americans with Irish ancestry, which is almost 9 times the population of the Emerald Isle itself.

Regardless of your personal opinion, the fact remains that in the 90s the Supreme Court of New York ruled that there is such a thing as a haunted house. (the Nyack Case decision.)

Haunted Houses fall into a category known in the business as “stigmatized” properties- one in which the physical condition is good but there is some psychological element that makes the house difficult to sell.

I’ve done quite a bit of research on this type of property and the number of Realtors who don’t believe it necessary to disclose "psychologically impacted" houses surprises me.

Studies indicate that properties with stigmas like murders, suicides, lengthy illness or reports of paranormal activity can take 50% longer to sell and will sell for about 3% below usual market price.

In some cases, particularly well-publicized or gruesome murders can cut selling prices by up to 35%. This is more of a serious problem in small towns where turnover can be slower and the community has a more intimate knowledge of the property.

Over the years, I’ve represented Buyers and Sellers of homes that have been the site of murders, suicides and property where supernatural “happenings” are supposed to have taken place. It is my practice, if a property has any kind of “reputation”, I will disclose it.

Not everyone believes in ghosts or things supernatural. In some cases, people are actually excited by the idea of sharing space with spectral beings.

My daughter was born on a Friday the 13th. Other Friday the 13th babies include: Margaret Thatcher, Fidel Castro, Steve Buscemi, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

A British Medical Journal study has shown that there is a significant increase in traffic related accidents on Friday the 13ths.

My daughter was born on the 13th of March, 1992. It was a very important day in my life and in hers. It changed my entire world.

For the rest of the world, that day, there was other significant news too. In eastern Turkey, an earthquake registered 6.8 on the Richter scale and killed over 500. Martina Navratilova and Judy Nelson announced that they had settled their galamony suit. Bob Hope appeared on the Johnny Carson Show.

The Commonwealth of Independent States agreed on repayment of the former Soviet Union's foreign debt. In Physics news, it was announced that the conductance of a cross-wired tunnel junction can be reversibly changed by a factor of 15 through the magnetic interaction between a tunneling current and what may be a single electron trapped in the junction. My Cousin Vinny was released theatrically in the USA.

1992 was a little hazy for me, busy adjusting to motherhood, I saw little else but my darling bundle of joy- but I also felt somewhat concerned about the planet and the world that I had introduced her to.

That year, Silence of the Lambs won best picture. The Disney animated classic Aladdin was released, so was Wayne’s World, Basic Instinct, Sister Act, A Few Good Men, The Bodyguard, Unforgiven and Reservoir Dogs. The record of the year was “Unforgettable” by Natalie Cole. We listened to a lot of Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, U2, REM, Peter Gabriel , Metallica and Michael Jackson.

Popular TV shows were Law and Order, Home Improvement, Married With Children, Star Trek the Next Generation and for some, Jerry Springer, Rugrats and the Ren and Stimpy Show.

That summer, 26 people died as a direct result of Hurricane Andrew while indirect loss of life raised the death toll to 65 and left 250,000 people homeless. MS-DOS users were quaking in their boots over reports that the Michelangelo computer virus had infected their computers and was going to wipe out all their data on the birthday of the Renaissance genius. It didn’t.

In Chicago, the strangest of accidents, a piling was driven into the Chicago River bottom that caused a leak in an underground freight tunnel. The resulting inrush of water spread throughout much of the system's 50 miles of tunnels, flooding subbasements and disrupting utility service throughout the Loop.

The Toronto Blue Jays won the American League Championship.

Some 1,700 of the world's leading scientists, including the majority of Nobel laureates in the sciences, issued an appeal that said:

"Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course. Human activities inflict harsh and often irreversible damage on the environment and on critical resources. If not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the future that we wish for human society and the plant and animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know. Fundamental changes are urgent if we are to avoid the collision our present course will bring about."

There was a Fischer - Spassky Rematch.

Dr. Roberta Bondar became the first Canadian woman in space.

Boxer Mike Tyson was convicted of raping a Miss Black American contestant

A court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin sentenced Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to life in prison.

Microsoft shipped Windows 3.1

Mafia boss John Gotti was convicted of murder and racketeering and is later sentenced to life in prison.

Police officers that were accused of excessive force in there severe beating of Rodney King, were found "not guilty". The verdict resulted in several days of riots in L.A. and smaller riots around the country. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Florence and South Normandie Avenues, was dragged from his vehicle and severely beaten by an angry mob of young black men as news helicopters hovered above, recording every blow, including a concrete fragment connecting with Denny's temple and a cinder block thrown at his head as he lay unconscious in the street. He remains the best-known victim of the riots.

Amy Fisher, the so-called "Long Island Lolita," was arrested for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco on the front porch of her Massapequa, New York home.

Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega was sentenced to 40 years in prison for drug and racketeering violations.

Iraq refused a U.N. inspection team access to the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture. UNSCOM claimed that it had reliable information that the site contained archives related to illegal weapons activities.

The Follies Bergere music hall in Paris, France closes.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Depo Provera for use as a contraceptive in the United States.

Bill Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush and H. Ross Perot in the U.S. presidential election

The Church of England voted to allow women to become priests.

TWA Declared Bankrupcy

AT & T release video telephone for $1,499

The first Nicotine patch was introduced to help stop smoking
Space Shuttle Endeavour had a successful maiden voyage
DNA Fingerprinting was introduced in UK.

A fire broke out in the Private Chapel room of Windsor Castle

US President George H. W. Bush ordered 28,000 American troops to Somalia.

The largest shopping mall in the US, Minnesota's Mall of America was constructed spanning 78 acres.

After a seven year run the last episode of The Cosby Show aired.

Clinton played the saxophone with the live band on the Arsenio Hall Show.

After 30 years on the air, Johnny Carson announced his retirement. David Letterman, who had been promised The Tonight Show upon Carson's retirement years earlier left NBC for CBS when the network gave the show to frequent guest host Jay Leno.

Barney & Friends, a children's educational television show starring a giant purple dinosaur, premiered.

Newspapers in America celebrated 300 years of publishing.

In England, the Conservatives won their fourth successive general election.

Yitzhak Rabin came to power in Israel promising to pursue peace talks with PLO.

US and UN intervention in Somalia aimed to end famine and civil war.

In Turkey, an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale killed over 500.

Fuel leaked into the sewer and exploded in Guadalajara, Mexico - 215 dead, 1500 injured.

McDonalds opened the first McDonalds in Beijing China.

Euro Disney opened in France.

That year we lost:
· January 26 - José Ferrer, actor
· January 31 - Willie Dixon, blues musician
· February 2 - Bert Parks, game show host, Miss America host
· February 10 - Alex Haley, author
· February 20 - Dick York, actor
· March 2 - Sandy Dennis, actress
· March 9 - Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel
· April 6 - Isaac Asimov, author
· April 18 - Benny Hill, comedian, actor
· May 6 - Marlene Dietrich, actress
· May 12 - Robert Reed, actor
· May 17 - Lawrence Welk, musician
· December 18 - Mark Goodson, game show producer
· December - Pierre Culliford, a.k.a. "Peyo". Belgian Creator of Smurfs

I know where I was on March 13, 1992… do you?

On March 13th, my little girl will be 15. I remember being 15. Fifteen is an interesting number!

As the product of two sacred numbers (3 X 5), 15 naturally has religious significance. In ancient Nineveh 15 priests served the goddess Ishtar, and the city had 15 gates.

Fifteen is a triangular number and a hexagonal number, a pentatope number, and the 4th Bell number. Fifteen is the double factorial of 5. It is a composite number; its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 5. With only two exceptions, all prime quadruplets enclose a multiple of 15, with 15 itself being enclosed by the quadruplet (11, 13, 17, 19). 15 is also the number of super singular primes.

The 3 X 3 magic square has 15 as its magic constant, and in Babylon this square was associated with Ishtar. Fifteen is the magic constant of the unique order-3 normal magic square. 15 is the smallest number that can be factorized using Shor's quantum algorithm.

There are 15 solutions to Znám's problem of length 7. 15 is a repdigit in binary (1111). In hexadecimal, as well as all higher bases, fifteen is represented as F.

Messier object M15 is a magnitude 7.5 globular cluster in the constellation Pegasus.

There were 15 steps between the Ezrat Nashim and the Courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem, on which the Levites stood and sang during the offering of sacrifices. Fifteen Psalms (Chapters 120-134), collectively known as the "Songs of Ascent", correspond to the 15 steps on which the Levites stood.

The 15th day of any Hebrew month is not written with the letters that represent "10" and "5" (י-ה, yodh and heh), because those are the first two letters of the four-letter name of God. Instead, the date is written with the letters representing "9" and "6" (ט-ו, teth and vav).Passover begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan.

Sukkot begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. Tu Bishvat is a Jewish holiday occurring on the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat. Shushan Purim (the day on which Purim is celebrated in Jerusalem and a few other cities in Israel) occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Adar. Tu B'Av is a minor Jewish holiday occurring on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Av.

Fifteen is the number of days in each of the 24 cycles of the Chinese calendar. The number of guns in a gun salute to Army, Air Force and Marine Corps Lieutenant Generals, and Navy and Coast Guard Vice Admirals.
Fifteen is the number of letters in the words "uncopyrightable" and "dermatoglyphics", which are the longest words there are without repeating a letter.

The number of The Devil in the major arcana of Tarot cards is 15. The number of minutes in 1/4 of an hour, 15 min past or before an o'clock is often known as 'Quarter Past' and 'Quarter To' respectively. The M15, in New York City is the busiest bus route in the United States.

The Quinceañera or Quince Años (sometimes represented XV Años, meaning "fifteen years") is, in some Spanish-speaking regions of the Americas, a young woman's celebration of her fifteenth birthday. This celebration marks the transition from the childhood to womanhood. It serves as a way to acknowledge that a young woman has reached maturity.

Some other traditions observed in the celebration include the giving and throwing of a quince doll, signifying the girl’s last doll. The doll is thrown by the young lady to the other female children in attendance much as a bouquet is thrown at a wedding.

Another tradition is that at the beginning of the party, the birthday girl wears flat shoes but after the first dance, her father helps her change into high heels to signify she has become a young lady. Long ago, the party would announce that the girl is ready to be married, but in today's culture it means that she is ready to date.

Hmmmm. I wonder if my daughter’s boyfriend knows about all of this.

March 13th is my daughter’s birthday. She was born on a Friday. Up until the Middle Ages when pagans celebrated symbolic days, Friday the 13th was thought to be especially lucky because it combined the goddess’s sacred day with her sacred number (drawn from the 13 months of the lunar year). As a result, Friday the 13th was a celebration and festival day for many Pagans.

When most people hear or talk about the 13th, they usually think of either the movies of the same name or they know that they should be scared for some reason. It has been estimated that the American economy loses roughly $700 million to $800 million on Friday the 13th due to people not leaving the house to go to work and others not wanting to fly in planes.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia.
According to medieval lore, there are 12 witches in a coven and the 13th member is the devil. Spooky. In Norse mythology, 12 dinner guests were invited into Valhalla (heaven) and a 13th (uninvited) guest, Loki, attended and had the god of joy and gladness murdered through deceit.

Hindus prefer not to gather in a group of 13. Christians point out that there were exactly 13 people at the last supper, one of whom betrays Christ — who happened to be crucified on a Friday. King Philip IV of France tortured and executed members of the Knight’s Templar on Friday the 13th.

Anyway, this will be my daughter’s fifteenth birthday... for me, a celebration of joy and motherhood... plus another reminder that life is a blurrrrrrrrrrrr.

Yesterday, after writing about cherished cottage memories, I started thinking about my own. In 1968, my folks purchased a small island on a chain of lakes. Thereafter, my mother, brother, sister and I spent every summer and all of it, at the island. Dad spent three full weeks, plus weekends, with us. The rest of his holidays were spent on vacations away and hunting.

I always felt most a peace on that island. In my adult years, I used to spend a minimum of 3 days alone there, every year. Now that is what I call “having some personal time & space”. It was extraordinary.

Mom and Dad were both very clever people. Early on, in our cottage days, they began stashing a big cardboard box in the rafters. Purposely put where any attempts to retrieve it would be within sight of all but out of reach of us kids and affectionately known as the “rainy day box”, it was well-stocked with things like water paints, pastels, construction paper, colouring books, glue, coloured pencils, child-safe scissors and other “crafty” items.

The rainy day box somehow made a rainy day exciting. These were also most likely the days when we would pull out the stops and make fresh bread, from scratch. Rainy days were actually a treat!

· the sound of loons
· wind whispering through leaves
· the way sunlight shimmers across the water
· the droning of bullfrogs
· dragonflies in the air
· enjoying the rain from a screened porch
· children laughing and splashing
· sand shovels and pails
· quiet canoe rides
· water skiing on glassy bays
· sea-dooing around islands
· snorkeling in crystal water
· fishing at sunrise
· sailing gentle breezes
· sun-kissed skin
· sun-bleached hair
· skinny dipping
· berry picking hikes
· watching herons in the reeds
· waterfalls
· diving off rock cuts and country bridges
· visiting historic churchyards
· feeding ducks
· campfires by the beach
· toasting marshmallows and hot dogs on the fire
· sipping cool drinks on a shady deck
· bird sounds in the mornings
· living barefoot
· waving at passers-by
· leisurely rowing a boat
· bocce ball or croquet
· card games and puzzles on balmy evenings
· general stores
· collecting wildflowers
· counting clouds or minnows

There are many perfect days at the cottage. For so many of us, the stuff of cherished family memories.

I find that many of our clients look for a special place that recaptures something they’ve experienced of cottage life… and once in a while, clients come along who have never experienced the luxury of “roughing it”.

I will never forget one particular family. Mom and Dad and a station wagon with three small children- a boy too small to walk yet and two sisters, under eight. We arrived to view what would become their cottage. I expected them to like it… I knew the property well and it was a beautiful place on Steenburg Lake, south of Bancroft, towards Belleville. A stunning lake, really. About 284 hectares in size and close to 20 meters at its deepest part.

The cottage had wonderful features. Nice bathroom, good-sized bedrooms, a fantastic screened porch, with loft bedroom. Open concept living space with good windows and super views. A cozy fireplace. Perfect deck. Great dock and floating raft. Lovely level lot and clean, sandy, child-friendly beach. Good privacy. Easy access. The right asking price.

What struck me at first, was that the girls waited in the car, reluctant to step outside without their parents approval. They actually asked if it was safe. They asked if their parents needed to check for glass or syringes before they walked the lot. They were obviously delighted when Mom and Dad gave them the go ahead and I suggested that we walk down to the beach.

They were awestruck by a frog. They couldn’t believe that they could slip off their sandals and wade into golden sand. They shrieked with excitement at minnows! These kids were from downtown Toronto and had absolutely no idea that places like Steenburg Lake were real!

Recently, I had a call from a colleague of mine- asking for an opinion. He was involved in a bit of a kafuffle over photographs that are being used online to market a property.

Apparently, another Realtor with whom the property had been previously listed for sale had taken the photographs that were under debate. The photographing Realtor had emailed, politely requested that my colleague remove “his” photographs from the database.

I couldn’t think of anything in our regulations or by-laws that might prevent the use of photographs previously posted to our data base and indeed, all that I could find was a rule that says that we can use the database to help market a property… seemed to me that was exactly what we were dealing with.

Well… of course, wanting more knowledge, I “googled” to review the current theories for information online, I also mentioned that I knew of other Realtors who “borrowed” photographs without asking and I also suggested that my colleague obtain legal advice and/or contact the office of the Registrar (The Real Estate Council of Ontario).

A short while later, my friend called back. A local lawyer had offered an opinion that the pictures being online were free for the taking. Evidently, my friend had so notified the photographing Realtor by email and had received a reply that the photographing Realtor was emphatic that the pictures were HIS property.

I suggested that the Seller should have proprietary rights to images of their property. Indeed, the Seller had instructed my friend to use the pictures that had been taken by the other Realtor… and further, really didn’t understand the quandary…

I don’t really understand it, either and it already has taken up too much of my time.