February 10 -- While I Pondered, weak and weary

February 9th, Sunday, was a good day to clean up the kitchen and dining room. I had to clean the rug, thanks to Watson throwing up, so I cleaned up and mopped the floor. I used the Beam vacuum thingy for rugs...it barely works but it got the job done.


Today was walking day and I met the group...about 9 folks...and we walked almost four miles. The weather was so nice that it was good to get out. My feet hurt afterward. I did not eat lunch before the walk so I was starving and I needed to do some grocery shopping. I went to Flying Star in Bernalillo and had my bagel and cream cheese. My grocery bill was pretty high because I was running out of stuff...mostly vegetables.


I have been working on an old genealogy mystery off and on for a few years. What was Wilhelm's relationship to Johann and Ludwig in Gasconade County??? Well, thanks to digitized newspapers posted online, I found copies of the Gasconade Republican published in Owensville. I had never considered Owensville as a family location but the newspaper covered the whole county. These old newspapers from the early 1900s carry a lot of local chit-chat like who is sick or who is travelling or who is visiting. I found quiet a lot of local newsy stuff about the Hartkes. It turns out that first, Julius is not Otto R.'s half brother but is a cousin, instead. So then, secondly, that means Wilhelm and Ludwig are brothers. Johann is Ludwig's brother so they are all three brothers...or at least half brothers. It doesn't seem like much and I assumed that they were at least cousins, but it is good to finally know for sure.


My supper was leftover Pork Al Andaluz from a few nights ago. WOW...those green chiles got hotter over the few days in the frig. TV tonight was Downton Abbey. I pondered a few more genealogy questions and read.


February 10 -- Monday. It is so nice out...for February...that I spent a lot of time outdoors. I worked on the automatic gate and made sure it was working OK.


I pondered my future bocce court. I went out and measured the space. It will be 10 feet by 64 feet, which makes it bigger than the space I originally had planned. It needs to be at least 60 feet long and 8 feet wide and the boards that I have would make it 64 feet. I need to have a 'backboard' or a well at each end so balls go out of play. I decided to get an idea of what it would cost to build the bocce court. I have a bunch of stuff already. I went to Wendy's for lunch (Chicken sandwich)and then went to Home Depot. I priced the wood that I need and some of the hardware.


On the way home I stopped at the gravel yard company and got an estimate for eight tons of gray fine-grained crushed stone. It won't be like crushed oyster shells but it will work. Home Depot has a compactor I can rent to compress everything. All together, the bocce court cost will run a little less than $600.00.


My supper was more leftovers. This time it was the turkey soup. I watched Olympics on TV and read. TV