Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Rosie and Critters
Hopefully I can get back into the habit of blogging every day... This past three-day weekend was very relaxing, and the cats let me sleep in on both Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday I walked one dog and stopped by my sister's house to drop off photos from my vacation, and we ended up sitting and chatting for more than 3 hours. It was wonderful. Today we have heavily overcast skies, but there is a slight bit of sunshine to the east. Bertrando is on top of his telephone pole, with a slice of apple, trying to pull in some warmth. The raven family hasn't visited the restaurant dumpster next door yet, which is pretty unusual for them. They are usually here eating and partying from sun up until 9 or so. Lovey is curled up in my bed, and Nedi is asleep in the living room cat tree.
I feel so much for Rosie and her family. Rosie is an Irish Setter, and is well over 14 years old now. She eats well, is very alert when not sleeping, and is doing well physically, except for her hind-end. Her vision and hearing are not what they were, but her nose misses nothing. The vet says she has no feeling at all in her right hind leg, and has only partial feeling in the left hind. Her hind legs have lost their muscle tone. She can get up from sitting or lying with a little effort. And she has no problem walking, trotting, or even making short runs on the ground or floors. Stairs and steps are her downfalls - literally. Her rear end collapses and she slides, with her back legs knocking her front legs out from under her. Then she looks extremely embarrassed and woeful, as only an older dog can... Rosie gets acupuncture every two weeks, as well as laser joint treatments. She has developed a thyroid problem, and takes one pill a day for it. And she's gotten very finicky as she age progresses. At the moment, her favorite edibles are meatballs from Lucky's Market... She'll do almost anything for a Lucky's meatball..... Rosie's young man just had his 21st birthday, and he was reluctant to go back to his senior year of college. We all are really hoping that she'll be here when he returns for winter break. She is such a good and loving dog. I dread the day she will cross the Rainbow Bridge.
I start taking care of Charlie, Tinkerbell, and 7 hens today. Charlie is part pug and gosh-only-knows what else... she is bouncy and full of energy. Tinkerbell is the very aloof cat; so aloof the housekeeper didn't know she was living in the house, and was very frightened by her appearance one day. And the hens are out in the rear third of the acre back yard. I just hope that Blanca will want to come inside the next few evenings!
I feel so much for Rosie and her family. Rosie is an Irish Setter, and is well over 14 years old now. She eats well, is very alert when not sleeping, and is doing well physically, except for her hind-end. Her vision and hearing are not what they were, but her nose misses nothing. The vet says she has no feeling at all in her right hind leg, and has only partial feeling in the left hind. Her hind legs have lost their muscle tone. She can get up from sitting or lying with a little effort. And she has no problem walking, trotting, or even making short runs on the ground or floors. Stairs and steps are her downfalls - literally. Her rear end collapses and she slides, with her back legs knocking her front legs out from under her. Then she looks extremely embarrassed and woeful, as only an older dog can... Rosie gets acupuncture every two weeks, as well as laser joint treatments. She has developed a thyroid problem, and takes one pill a day for it. And she's gotten very finicky as she age progresses. At the moment, her favorite edibles are meatballs from Lucky's Market... She'll do almost anything for a Lucky's meatball..... Rosie's young man just had his 21st birthday, and he was reluctant to go back to his senior year of college. We all are really hoping that she'll be here when he returns for winter break. She is such a good and loving dog. I dread the day she will cross the Rainbow Bridge.
I start taking care of Charlie, Tinkerbell, and 7 hens today. Charlie is part pug and gosh-only-knows what else... she is bouncy and full of energy. Tinkerbell is the very aloof cat; so aloof the housekeeper didn't know she was living in the house, and was very frightened by her appearance one day. And the hens are out in the rear third of the acre back yard. I just hope that Blanca will want to come inside the next few evenings!
Saturday, September 3, 2016
First and Second Names
My sister and i have been discussing names for boys, as she's soon to be a grandmother again. She was telling me how much she liked the names "William Todd" and hoped her kids would name the new baby that. I looked at her and said, "No. You don't want that." She was very upset until I reminded her that, if named William Todd, the boy's initials would be WTF... She then immediately agreed with me. In playing the researcher in my family's genealogy, I've run across names I like, names I hate, names I'm not sure how to pronounce, and names that have made me laugh...
One of our classic family names is Hatevil - pronounced "hate evil." Hatevil Hall was given the first name of his maternal grandfather - Hatevil Nutter, from Cornwall, England. Hatevil was a Quaker in the northeastern colonies. He had multiple children, and, at that time, all of the sons named their first sons after their father. The original Hatevil Hall had one son named Hatevil, and twelve grandsons named Hatevil (both with the Hall surname, and second sons of daughters). Each of those twelve had one son named Hatevil, and zero to twelve grandchildren also named Hatevil - it was pretty frightening there for awhile, with all the Hatevils running about...
I love Hepzibah Starbuck, who married Captain Hussey, and was then Hepzibah Starbuck Hussey. I have also gotten enjoyment from the names Eliphalet and Mephibosheth (both males).
I've also been entertained with a few layers in the Nocks family names - Back in the late 1600s, one of the Nock men married a woman whose surname was Emery. That spelling of the name has been passed down as a frequently used first or second name in the Nock/Nocks family. My grandfather was named Emery Eben, and was known familiarly as "Em." The eldest surviving son of my grandfather was Uncle El - short for Elmer Loren. Now, Grandpa Em was the son of James Loren, who was known to family and friends as "J-Lo" - back in the 1870's and until his death in the 1930s. J-Lo's father was Benjamin; and my father was Charlie....My father's siblings were El, Hazel and Joe. There was also an Uncle Ray and an Aunt Pauline, but they passed away in the Spanish Flu pandemic, before the Dust Bowl happened....
Now, my parents only had two girls - my sister Kathy Jo, and me, Betty Ann. I don't know where the name Kathy came from, but the Jo was for Uncle Joe Bob. I was named after two of my mother's sisters, one who died 10 years before my birth, and the other was a stillbirth when my Mom was 12. Names make us and shape us - do you know the story behind your name?
One of our classic family names is Hatevil - pronounced "hate evil." Hatevil Hall was given the first name of his maternal grandfather - Hatevil Nutter, from Cornwall, England. Hatevil was a Quaker in the northeastern colonies. He had multiple children, and, at that time, all of the sons named their first sons after their father. The original Hatevil Hall had one son named Hatevil, and twelve grandsons named Hatevil (both with the Hall surname, and second sons of daughters). Each of those twelve had one son named Hatevil, and zero to twelve grandchildren also named Hatevil - it was pretty frightening there for awhile, with all the Hatevils running about...
I love Hepzibah Starbuck, who married Captain Hussey, and was then Hepzibah Starbuck Hussey. I have also gotten enjoyment from the names Eliphalet and Mephibosheth (both males).
I've also been entertained with a few layers in the Nocks family names - Back in the late 1600s, one of the Nock men married a woman whose surname was Emery. That spelling of the name has been passed down as a frequently used first or second name in the Nock/Nocks family. My grandfather was named Emery Eben, and was known familiarly as "Em." The eldest surviving son of my grandfather was Uncle El - short for Elmer Loren. Now, Grandpa Em was the son of James Loren, who was known to family and friends as "J-Lo" - back in the 1870's and until his death in the 1930s. J-Lo's father was Benjamin; and my father was Charlie....My father's siblings were El, Hazel and Joe. There was also an Uncle Ray and an Aunt Pauline, but they passed away in the Spanish Flu pandemic, before the Dust Bowl happened....
Now, my parents only had two girls - my sister Kathy Jo, and me, Betty Ann. I don't know where the name Kathy came from, but the Jo was for Uncle Joe Bob. I was named after two of my mother's sisters, one who died 10 years before my birth, and the other was a stillbirth when my Mom was 12. Names make us and shape us - do you know the story behind your name?
Friday, September 2, 2016
What's In A Name?
It's pretty amazing how some companies want to tell you exactly what your surname means and where it comes from. I laugh very frequently when I read all the many different responses I get regarding my maiden name - Nocks. While growing up, I never thought to question my father about his knowledge of his surname. He frequently told me that his mother's maiden name was Lancaster, and that her family could be traced back to the Lancaster family from the War of the Roses in England. (DNA testing has shown that's not true, recently.) But he was never very vocal about the name Nocks. There was some speculation that it was an Americanized version of the Scots Knox, or that it was a garbled version of the German Nachts. But there was no surety.
I've been told by various "surname research" companies that the name is from the Scots, is from the German, is from Dutch, French and Danish. And that it's changed with time....
In doing my genealogy research, I've been able to trace my father's family name, from father to father to father, back to the man who arrived from England. His name was Thomas Nock. His church records state that he was born on 12 November 1617 in England; that he had a residence and family in Dover, New Hampshire by 1652; and that he died in Dover in late October of 1666. Several researchers say that Thomas Nock was from Shropshire; I have been unable to verify this. After three or four generations in North America, the family name had an "s" added to the end. Parts of the family stayed Nock, and parts were Nocks. Then there was a large influx of Scots settlers into the northeastern colonies, and, suddenly, because of the learned scrivners, Nock and Nocks had Knox added to the spellings. In looking at Dad's lineage, we start with a Nock, which becomes Nocks, then switches to Knox for two generations, then switches back to Nocks.... It can make you crazy...
And what does Nock or Nocks mean? In doing my own research on Old English and Anglo-Saxon names, I have two distinct possibilities. Since the original spelling of "nock" was just that, I, personally, believe that the name was from the Anglo-Saxon - a nock was a small rounded hill, and having that surname meant that you lived beside a small rounded hill. The other meaning, which has been thrown at me with great intensity (to the point that I resent it) is that Nock is a corruption of "Noke" or "Nokes." Noke and Nokes is derived from Old English, and means "near the oaks" or "near oak trees." - And that is a quite plausible take on my surname... but I just don't like it; which is silly.
The meaning of Nock, or Nocks, is actually unimportant. What matters is that I know that Thomas Nock was born somewhere in England in late 1617. Now I just need to find out where, in all of England, that was - and I mean something that is without question - not a "he might have been the third son of so-and-so, but we don't have his Christian name..."
I've been told by various "surname research" companies that the name is from the Scots, is from the German, is from Dutch, French and Danish. And that it's changed with time....
In doing my genealogy research, I've been able to trace my father's family name, from father to father to father, back to the man who arrived from England. His name was Thomas Nock. His church records state that he was born on 12 November 1617 in England; that he had a residence and family in Dover, New Hampshire by 1652; and that he died in Dover in late October of 1666. Several researchers say that Thomas Nock was from Shropshire; I have been unable to verify this. After three or four generations in North America, the family name had an "s" added to the end. Parts of the family stayed Nock, and parts were Nocks. Then there was a large influx of Scots settlers into the northeastern colonies, and, suddenly, because of the learned scrivners, Nock and Nocks had Knox added to the spellings. In looking at Dad's lineage, we start with a Nock, which becomes Nocks, then switches to Knox for two generations, then switches back to Nocks.... It can make you crazy...
And what does Nock or Nocks mean? In doing my own research on Old English and Anglo-Saxon names, I have two distinct possibilities. Since the original spelling of "nock" was just that, I, personally, believe that the name was from the Anglo-Saxon - a nock was a small rounded hill, and having that surname meant that you lived beside a small rounded hill. The other meaning, which has been thrown at me with great intensity (to the point that I resent it) is that Nock is a corruption of "Noke" or "Nokes." Noke and Nokes is derived from Old English, and means "near the oaks" or "near oak trees." - And that is a quite plausible take on my surname... but I just don't like it; which is silly.
The meaning of Nock, or Nocks, is actually unimportant. What matters is that I know that Thomas Nock was born somewhere in England in late 1617. Now I just need to find out where, in all of England, that was - and I mean something that is without question - not a "he might have been the third son of so-and-so, but we don't have his Christian name..."
Thursday, September 1, 2016
September First - Aspens Are Turning - Soon We'll Look Like This
Castle Peak
Richmond Mountain
Idaho Springs
Mount Sneffels
Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park
Dallas Divide
Mount Sneffels sunrise
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