Author: Janet McKee

I currently wear many hats. My interests are genealogy, history, reading, knitting, and more. I now live in an assisted living retirement community.

My Grandparent’s Home

~ Janet McKee ~ 3 Comments

This was my grandparent’s home in Winchester Massachusetts. The photo is from 2017. My grandparents lived here from the late 1920’s to the early 1940’s. I am thinking of them today because one of my cousins has sent me photographs of the dinner service that my grandparents used when they lived in that house . I don’t know when that house was built but I’m guessing it might have been in the 1920’s.- a long time ago now.

My cousin is planning to pass that dinner service on to a family member of the next generation. I wonder if it will be used for dinner parties in the 2020’s and ’30’s. I wonder ……..dining is far more casual now. But there might be an occasion for more formality, who knows.

Family photo – Auntie (my grandfather’s sister), me, cousin Betsy, our grandmother Friend – 1939 sitting on the front steps of the Wildwood Street home

The Fisherman And The Downrunner

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

allenrizzi

The Fisherman And The Downrunner

©02-20-2019 Allen E. Rizzi

Old and bent, he slowly walked the water

Where he had fished so many years before.

The salmon of his youth splashed sporadically

As they made their way upstream to spawn.

Peering into a quiet pool, he spied him:

The downrunner, dark with flaccid flesh

And dull eyes that looked up to his reflection.

He had lived, spawned and now was dying.

He stared and thought that they had passed

Once before on this very stream some years ago.

But of course, that was impossible.

Both man and fish had found different currents.

He was slowly crumbling away

Like burnt toast in the water.

He pitied him, the frequent foe

For he had won and now was lost.

A ripple downstream brought the hope

Of new life lightly looming.

But in the end, each rebirth

Was just an echo of a…

View original post 60 more words

Welcome Home

~ Janet McKee ~ 3 Comments

Katerina enjoying the sunshine on our deck

Guess who was waiting on my front step when I went over to my house this morning.

Katerina in the garden – in former days

My garden is now very overgrown but I’m making progress on clearing all the weeds. It’ is so nice to be pottering in the garden and enjoying Katerina’s company. This morning she poked around for about an hour before she left me to stalk the small birds next door. I saw a lovely small finch with a red head – I had never heard of that bird until recently when it was mentioned by another blogger.

Let’s Go Homesteading at Gilpin, Alberta

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

A fascinating true story of pioneering.

A Picture and 1000 Words

Meadowlark, my favorite song bird, singing, “Laziness will kill you, Laziness will kill you!” in watercolor by Wendy Harty July 2021

These are the words my 58 year old great great grandfather Hiram Gibbs said to his 52 year old wife Mary Elizabeth (Smith). The Dominion Lands Act passed government in Canada in 1872. Canada had become a country in 1867 and expanded westward. In 1869 the government purchased Rupert’s Land and the North-West Territory from the Hudson’s Bay Company. It aimed to encourage the settlement of Canada’s prairie provinces. The Act’s purpose was to encourage settlement by European and American pioneers, as well as settlers from Eastern Canada. The land was surveyed into one-square-mile sections. For $10.00 the Act gave any male farmer who agreed to cultivate at least 40 acres and build a house on it within three years. The $10 was for administrative fees. To “prove” up…

View original post 2,229 more words

Reunion With Another Pet

~ Janet McKee ~ 2 Comments

Yesterday I wrote about my reunion with my cat after about a year and a half. It made me think of another reunion with a pet. It was years ago when we lived in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. We had a dog that we were very fond of. We had had this dog for only a few months. She was really a sweetie. Time came for us to go on home leave and we went away for about a month. I can’t remember what arrangement we made for our pets – probably someone I in the neighborhood looked after our house and fed the dog and cat. We were away for about a month. When we arrived back to Thimphu and approached our house our dog “puppy” appeared from nearby and when she realizedi it was me she absolutely came running and leaped high in the air – showing just how HAPPY she was. She was ecstatic!! And so was I!! She was a very sweet lovable dog.

After we finished in Bhutan and went on to other assignments, my husband Ian occasionally returned for short term assignments in Thimphu. And he would meet up with “Puppie” again – more happy reunions. “Puppy” wore her heart on her sleeve.

Dogs vs. Cats

I’ve searched my files for a photo of Puppy – no luck so I’ll just include a miscellany of unleaded photos that I did find.

Katerina Remembers Me

~ Janet McKee ~ 3 Comments

It was so exciting. I was over at my house today pulling up weeds when who should appear on the back fence but my former, cat Katerina now Sweetie. I was overjoyed! Meow meow. She was cautious (or stand-offish) but I was thrilled. She stayed with me for about an hour and then went off to see what was happening elsewhere. We hadn’t seen each other for about year and a half but she definitely acted as if she remembered me. She made my day!

Knitting

~ Janet McKee ~ 3 Comments

I wanted to write about my current jigsaw puzzle but in searching for an image I came up with this wonderful picture of a girl doing her knitting. Now that would make a great jigsaw.