Friday, November 30, 2007


Walking in a winter wonderland ,I don't think I would like to walk along that highway. The photo was taken by Roger Cormier, and it is the road between Bouctouche and Cocagne. Brrrr. This makes us aware that we need to take out our woollen socks , gloves, mittens and hats. I went to a second hand shop, and they had books and I started browsing through them. I saw the word Acadie, wow, I looked through the book and it is all photos taken by Roger Cormier. Name of the book is Images de L'Acadie. I asked what the cost was. Two dollars, well! let me tell you I picked it up some fast. The images are beautiful, and they are from all over, Egmont Bay, Beaumont,Meteghan,Sainte Marie de Kent, Dalhousie,Salmon River, Edmundston, Pre D'En Haut and more. There are clam diggers, fisherman, farmers. I am so pleased with the book.
On another note, well I did a bit more decorating, and then I went to see my Mom,again I received something I was excited about getting. A new Calendar with old photos of Moncton, when the Kent theatre burned, when the Notre Dame de Grace Church burned in Parkton, and more. So today was a great day for me.
I will share some of these photos with you at a later time, (if I don't forget. smile).
Tomorrow we begin the month of December, soon it will be the holidays. I enjoy going into the stores and hearing Christmas Music. Now if the lineups at the checkups would not be as long I would be a happy lady. haha.
I have not done to much genealogy, I added a few more names to my Chartersville Cemetery. After the holiday I will think of something new to add.
So thank you again for the lovely visit, I do know of some of you who drop by everyday. Have a great day.
Aline

Thursday, November 29, 2007


I never burned my pies. whew, These are my chicken pies, two for the holidays and one little one for today. I wasn't going to make them this year but the temptation was too great to resist.
I first tasted chicken pies before I was married so many many years ago, grin. My late husband used to go to some friends of his every christmas eve and they had chicken pies. One paticular christmas eve he took me over. Well the pies were delicious, so I asked for the recipe, and continued making them myself. I will freeze them, and reheat them when needed.
Now my son loves my rappee pies so I am going to make a couple ,probably early christmas eve or the day before. One for my son and one for us.
The weather is colder today, I believe snow is not far away, since Ontario got some. So it is now time to get out our mittens and hats.
I am all done my Leger project for Christmas giving, and I am nearly finished the one for my ex sister in law. She will be pleased since she just lost her mom a few months ago. I obtained a nice photo of her Mom and it will be on the front page of her book, I also obtained a photo of her and her sister when they were young, I found some photos of the tombstone of her great grandfather which I have also added. Christmas Eve , we all gather at my Mom's, so I will give her the book then.
I have mailed all my parcels and my christmas cards yesterday, another chore done. I have finished trimming my tree, it is not a perfect job, but it does make it look more like the holidays.
I have one gift under it right now, from my friend Maria. Now it is shopping time. If I lived in a big city where there are so many homeless folks, I think I would pick up either gloves or scarves or socks and just give them out. I feel sad for so many of them .
Well now it is time for me to make my banana breads, so thanks for the visit, it did give me a chance to sit and chat with you.
Have a great day and do come again.
Aline

Monday, November 26, 2007


Spring water. Well today my two jugs were empty so we went to our favorite spring. If you remember the fall photo I posted earlier ,well this spring is in the same area. It is quite busy, when we were told there would be a big storm coming, we headed out to the spring and there was a line up of cars already there ,waiting for their turn to fill up.
Today there were two cars ahead of us. It is a very nice site and kept very clean.
Well I decided to put some christmas lights in my front window, do you think I could find my staple gun? Nope, so I went to my Mom's home and borrowed hers, but I had half of my window done and poof the staple gun won't work. So I had to use some thumb tacks to finish. When I won't be looking for my staple gun, it is for sure it will shop itself. grin.
I have added the Mont Carmel Cemetery in PEI on my site at www.acadian-roots.com , it is not the entire names in the cemetery,but quite a few. Next year I would like to go back and do more. I do know that the genealogy center in PEI does have some cemeteries done and for sale, and the prices are pretty good.
I would like to go and do the recent stones also. A possible project for next summer.And I have also added more names to Chartersville Road Cemetery in Dieppe New Brunswick on my site.
Now I would like to end this blog with an announcement. In the year 2009 , the Societe Historique de St Jean will be having a commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Hazel destruction of Pointe Ste Anne (Fredericton),as you know many acadians lost their lives and homes, there were Bergerons,Godins,Pare,Saindon and others. So it would be nice to see Godin, Bellefontaines, Pare,Saindon,Heberts,Serreau etc attending this day. They are also trying to get the Federal Government to declare the location of the Acadian Church and Cemetery a historic landmark. So my Bergeron lists are planning a Bergeron dit Damboise reunion at the same time in Fredericton ,and Larry Bergeron is taking names of the ones who would like to attend, his email is
larrybergeron@earthlink.net so if you are interested in joining the Bergeron dit Damboise reunion in 2009 send him an email.
thanks for the lovely visit and do drop in again.
Have a nice day
Aline

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Hello everyone, well today I would like to share something with you. Last August I made a book about Fluffy.Fluffy was my grandchildren's dog ,they lost her not long ago, anyway my grandson mentioned he would like another story about Fluffy to add to his book. so this is what I wrote;
DEAR DAVID;
I WAS JUST LAYING AROUND ON THIS NICE WHITE CLOUD, WHEN THIS LITTLE BLUE BIRD FLEW AND LANDED ON MY NOSE. HELLO! I SAID. THIS IS A NICE SURPRISE. THE LITTLE BIRD FLEW AND WHISPERED IN MY EAR.” DAVID WANTS MEMERE TO TELL HIM A STORY ABOUT YOU.
THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME, I SAID.
SO WHILE MEMERE WAS SLEEPING I WHISPERED SOFTLY IN HER EAR. “MEMERE, DAVID WOULD LIKE A STORY SO THIS IS WHAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO WRITE FOR ME.
ONE DAY I DECIDED I WANTED TO GO SEE WHAT WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF OUR ROAD IN BOUCTOUCHE SO WHEN MOM WASN’T LOOKING I RAN VERY FAST. I KNOW MOM WAS WORRIED ABOUT ME BUT I WANTED TO SEE SOMETHING NEW. I RAN UP THE ROAD AND I SAW LOTS OF NEW TREES AND GRASS AND I SAW SOMETHING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, WHEN I GOT THERE IT WAS A LITTLE BROWN DOG.
HELLO! I SAID, MY NAME IS FLUFFY CORMIER, WHAT’S YOURS?
HE SAID MY NAME IS RUSTY. I SAID “WHERE IS YOUR HOUSE RUSTY? “ HE ANSWERED I DON’T HAVE A HOUSE. WHERE DO YOU LIVE? I LIVE EVERYWHERE. WHERE DO YOU SLEEP? OH IN SOME OLD BARNS OR UNDER SOME TREES, OR WHEREVER I CAN FIND SOMETHING TO SLEEP UNDER. THAT IS SAD, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, BOY I AM LUCKY I HAVE A NICE LOG CABIN, I HAVE A WARM BED TO SLEEP IN AND I HAVE A FAMILY WHO LOVES ME. WELL RIGHT THEN I MISSED YOU, CHRISTINA, MOM AND DAD SO I DECIDED TO GO RIGHT BACK HOME.
WELL ONE DAY GOD DECIDED HE NEEDED ME IN HEAVEN, SO HE CAME TO GET ME, I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE EVERYBODY BUT I HAD NO CHOICE. WHEN I GOT TO HEAVEN I WAS A LITTLE SCARED BECAUSE I DID NOT THINK I WOULD KNOW ANYBODY, BUT I WAS WRONG, PAPA CORMIER,GRAMPY DAIGLE, AUNT DEB, WERE ALL THERE AND HAPPY TO SEE ME. I EVEN MET A COUSIN NAMED CHRISSY, SHE WAS BLACK AND VERY NICE. I AM VERY HAPPY NOW, I DON’T HURT ANYMORE, I CAN RUN AND PLAY AGAIN,AND I CAN SEE YOU AND CHRISTINA AND MOM AND DAD,AND I SAW WHERE YOU PUT THE FLOWERS FOR ME,THEY ARE VERY BEAUTIFUL. I KNOW YOU WILL NEVER EVER FORGET ME BECAUSE YOU ALL LOVED ME AND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY HEART FOREVER. WHEN YOU THINK OF ME, THINK OF ALL THE FUN WE HAD TOGETHER. IT IS VERY BEAUTIFUL WHERE I AM, I HAVE LOTS TO EAT, AND I CAN ASK FOR THE SAME FOOD THAT I HAD AT HOME, I HAVE TREATS TOO. CHRISSY COMES TO SEE ME A LOT AND WE RUN AND WE PLAY AND WE HAVE A GREAT TIME. IT IS SO NICE TO BE ABLE TO RUN AND PLAY, I FEEL LIKE I WAS JUST LITTLE AGAIN.
AND GUESS WHAT? ONE DAY CHRISSY AND I WERE RUNNING DOWN THIS BIG GREEN HILL, AND THE WEATHER WAS LOVELY AND I THOUGHT I HEARD MY NAME. I LISTENED AGAIN. I COULD HEAR’FLUFFY”, FLUFFY IS THAT YOU?” I COULD NOT SEE ANYONE AROUND, SO WE KEPT ON RUNNING AND THEN I HEARD IT AGAIN,.”HEY
FLUFFYYYY WAIT FOR ME….. I TURNED AROUND AND YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHO WAS RUNNING TOWARDS ME, IT WAS RUSTY. I WAS SO VERY HAPPY TO SEE HIM, SO NOW I AM HERE WITH CHRISSIE AND RUSTY. SO TELL CHRISTINA, MOM AND DAD I WISH THEM A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND I LOVE THEM. AND FINALLY DAVID
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.
ALL MY LOVE
FLUFFY CORMIER
CHRISTMAS 2007.

Saturday, November 24, 2007


Our christmas parade was held tonight, and I have been wanting to go see it. It was five pm so I said to my friend let's go now, He said well it is too early but we went anyway. Let's go park our car in the Tim Horton Coffee shop, and we can see the parade from our car. Off we went, got to the coffee shop, no room in the parking lot, so we kept on looking for a parking place. We finally found one.While waiting for the parade we decided to walk down our main street to the nearest coffee shop. Well let me tell you it was cold, and I mean cold. The weather man said it was minus 6 with the winds it was minus 14. So we got our coffee and headed back to my car. We sat there until the parade started. So we went to the side of the road to see the parade, I had my camera, and at first no problem ,but it got so cold, my fingers could not press the button hard enough on my camera, the batteries went dead. Oh me Oh My. I managed to take a few photos anyway. The crowd was huge. Parents had their children bundled in blankets ,snowsuits and mittens.They had a beautiful parade, with marching bands ,floats so well decorated, clowns,dogs ,horses, motorcycles. But what I found to be so nice and it is done every parade, was the volunteers who walked along the edge of the crowd picking up food for the needy.They had little carts and people would put their food in the cards. Very nice idea. After the parade was over, my feet were frozen, my hands cold as ice, grin but I would do it all over again, because I love parades. The traffic was unbelievable on our way home, bumper to bumper.
I also noticed tonight that homes had their christmas lights lit up . Just think about it, one month from today will be Christmas Eve.
On another note, my grandson was here today and we went out window shopping, it was fun, we were looking at games, and he would say I don't have this, I like this, oh look at this. So now I have an idea on what to get him. I wanted to share the parade with you. Hope you enjoyed my ordeal, grin.
Thanks for the visit and please do come again.
Have a great day
Aline

Friday, November 23, 2007

Well soon all the ones who travelled to join their families for the Thanksgiving holdays will be returning home. I saw on the television the busy airports and the traffic. I do hope everyone had a lovely time.
In Canada our Thanksgiving was earlier, so we are gearing up for the Christmas Holiday. I decided to put up my tree,"yes put up my tree in November grin" ,anyway my brother gave me his tree , he bought another one, and I sold mine in a yard sale. So I opened the box, ohhhhh a lot of branches, what goes where? I know the poles go together,so I did that first, intructions, where are the instructions? Oh here they are. Put the red color coded branches first. Ok ,so I sorted all the colors, red, white,black,yellow,blue,grey. There was one branch, no color. hmm. Ok I shall put the branches in the pole, Well I finished putting the color coordinated branches on the tree,But when I finished, I still had this branch with no color left over.Either I missed a hole or it did not belong with the tree. Now here I have all my decorations on the sofa, where is my tree top? Cannot find it. Did I throw it in my sale? So now, my tree is in the corner, with no tree top,I cannot trim the tree without my tree top. So I will have another look around, if I do not find it, I will go get another one.
Our Christmas parade is this saturday, I am hoping to attend. I love parades,and I love the holidays.
On another note, well my Moncton Nostalgia was a good idea. I have received many emails saying it brought back many memories of long ago. So I am pleased to have done so.
I am still adding names to my Chartersville Cemetery,and I notice some people have registered in my photo gallery, I do hope to see new photos by them posted in the gallery. I think it is a great idea to add old photos of our ancestors and for others to do the same, it is a way to share our photos with one another, that way if we lose the photos somehow, others have them and they won't be lost forever.
When my mother in law passed away, we went through her photos, she had old photos, with no names, so we never knew who they were, that is so sad.I believe old photos are part of our history and genealogy, it makes our ancestors more real to us, seeing faces along with names.
My genealogy group is going very well, I am very pleased with them, many are helping others with their research,some older members have returned to our group, it is great having them back. So if any of you do not know about our group, go to my website at www.acadian-roots.com and join our group, it is free and we are a very great bunch. As I said I am very proud of everyone of them.
Have a great day
Aline

Tuesday, November 20, 2007


Who was Ferdinand Thibodeau? Well first of all he was said to have been born in Memramcook, I have not found him there as yet.I found him in the 1911 census as being born March 1850, his wife was named Adelaide,they had three children.But why am I talking about him here? I was looking through a book that I have and there he was. In 1885 he became the Town Marshall in Moncton,he held the position until 1890. He was also considered to be quite a Champ boxer under the bare fist rules. During the 1890s he ran a hotel or tavern and his name appeared in the paper quite often on Scott Act violation charges.He usually got an adjournment or acquittal.In the 1911 census he was listed as a hotel keeper.
Well today I awoke bright an early and decided to bake some bread, so I gathered my ingredients as I went along, first the water, then milk,sugar,shortening,flour,finally the yeast. Now where is my yeast? Oh I don't have any yeast, my water was lukewarm in my pan,so off to the store I hurried, got there ,their yeast was outdated, back in my car up to the grocery store called Needs, nope no yeast.My bread, My bread ,what's gonna happen? Off to the Coop I go, finally yes they had yeast, I asked the lady in the line up,can I go ahead of you, my bread is all ready but the yeast.Sure ,she replied, so off I go home to finish my bread, oh it is going to fail, it won't raise, my water is probably too cold now. Anyway to make a long story short, it raised and it cooked and it is great. Whew!.
Now I would like to finish by telling you I have something new on my site again. If you are familiar with Moncton New Brunswick, please check out my website at http://www.acadian-roots.com/ I really hope you will enjoy my new page.
Thanks for stopping by, do come again.
Have a great day.
Aline

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Our snow is gone,(for the moment),but today it is windy. I am looking out my window and the tree at the front is swaying back and forth. Brrr. But I think we are very lucky in our part of the world, look at Bangladash and all those loss of lives because of the cyclone. How devastating it must be living under the conditions that they are living today. Homes all gone, love ones gone, or injured,roads washed out. My heart goes out to all of these people and their loves who are waiting for news. I do hope that there will be some tears of joy among the tears of sorrow for many of them.
Well I am still working on my Chartersville Cemetery, I keep adding every day, I do know it will benefit many of you. I feel that even if I add only ten names, that is ten names that someone out there may need .So I shall continue sharing with you, what I have. I believe I told you I have added access to Acadian Postcards on my website, I think that was a good idea, because how many out there did not know of this great Acadian Postcard site, Cajuns can also send Acadian Postcards to their loved ones. A Merry Christmas on an Acadian Postcard would be very nice to send during the Holidays.So go to my website http://www.acadian-roots.com/ click on Acadian Postcards and send as many as you want to.
To end todays blog here is an interesting article from a book that was given to me many years ago of Saint Louis Kent County.
Each village or locality needs men for an important trade "Blacksmith". Saint Louis had the advantage to have some without interuptions and they were as talented and they were devoted. They were Mister John Orr, Bernard Gorman, Auguste Leger, Hubert Gallant, Adolphe Landry, Roderick McDonald, Simon Mazerole, Gilbert Gallant, Basile Daigle, Charles Dutney, James Hennessey, Aime LeBlanc, Job Allain, Jean Daigle, Joseph F Richard, Hubert McGraw, and Francois Babineau.They say that the blacksmith shop of Francois Babineau is now the only Blackmith between Saint Antoine and the Miramichi River. Now this was way back. Are there any of your ancestors among these men?
Have a great day
Aline

Friday, November 16, 2007

Hello, it has been a few days since my last blog, and I came across this tidbit I would like to share with you. I found this at the Provincial Archives.
The Hillsboro "Advocate" states that there are now living at Dover (West. Co.) Peter GUTRO and his wife, aged respect-ively 106 and 101. They have been married over 80 years and during that time resided in that place. They are neither bed ridden nor feeble and able to move about and enjoy them- selves. The number of their descendants is 300. The date was January 1864.
Can you imagine living to be over 100? In Saint Louis Kent County, there were many who lived to be very old. I don't know if it was what they ate, or how they lived that prolonged their life to such a ripe old age. I do know that in Saint Louis fish and pork were their main foods. (maybe it is the poutines and rappure that contributed to their longivity, smile).
Sometimes it seems to run in the family ,some seem to live longer than others.My both grandfathers died young, one was 56 ,and one was around 61. I remember my father saying, well I outlived my father. Dad died at the age of 94 so he had a long life.Since I have been going to cemeteries and transcribing from cemeteries, I notice how so many of our ancestors and relatives died so very young. I guess back then there were many diseases to fight, such as TB, Typhoid Fever,Dipteria,Cholera etc. It must have been to tragic for the parents of those loved ones, can you imagine losing two or three or your children in a very short while? But getting back to living old, my great great grandmother Marie Blanche Breau was old when she died, her obituary said she was the oldest resident in Notre Dame de Kent at that time. My Dad told me he remembered her, he remember she had lots of facial hair, he called it Mousse on her face.
Well I have added another cemetery on my site, thanks to Rick. I added the Maccan Cemetery, it is not an Acadian Cemetery but there are a few Acadians buried there or listed there. I have also added more names onto my Chartersville Cemetery,as you know that is a huge cemetery. And I also have added something new to my site, I added a site for you to send Acadian Postcards to your love ones, I received permission to do this, and I am pleased to have the cards on my site, I do hope you will check out the cards, they are created from paintings by Mr Surette. Thank you so much for the lovely visit and I do hope you will drop in again. Have a great day. Hi to cousin Eve.
Aline

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Well old man winter is nearby. More snow this morning, I went out and cleaned my car, the snow was a wet snow. Tonight the weatherman is calling for rain. Yippee.
I would like to share something with you, regarding good deeds at Christmas. I was just alerted to this by my friend. This certain family celebrates this way. They are a large family and they gather at the parent's house, they each buy a christmas gift , the limit is ten dollars, and they each take their gifts over.They sit around the table and the head of the household takes each gift and one by one they have an auction, limit of the bid is again ten dollars. For instance if I brought my gift over, the auctioneer will say, who will bid on Aline's gift. This goes on until everyone has their gift auctioned off. The money that the auctioneer gets goes to a local charity. I find that to be so nice They all have fun and the money goes to a good cause.
I want to also share this with you. My son phoned me today, and I asked how my grandchildren were. My son told me my grandson went to his first school dance, he is eleven, and his older sister was there . Anyway I guess my grandson danced all night, he told my son, well the boys formed a circle and the girls formed a circle in the middle and we all went around and when the music stopped, we had to dance with that girl in front of us.(Paul Jones haha). My son said, did YOU dance? He replied well I had NO choice. haha.
Well I have begun adding the River Hebert Cemetery on my site, this is thanks to Rick Arsenault, who has gracefully given his permission for me to do so. He is downloading the images on his site at www.myacadianhistory.ca and I am writing down the names on my site at www.acadian-roots.com , this way the people who come to my site while surfing will go to Rick's site from my site.There shall be more than one cemetery added and these are in Cumberland County Nova Scotia. There will not only be acadian cemeteries, but the one I am doing at the moment has a few Acadian Names.As you know some acadians married english partners and I also noticed some french canadian names. So both Rick and I are hoping this will benefit many of you.
Thank you for dropping by and do come again.
Aline

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Well what can I say, this is our first winter storm. Last night we went to a Christmas Party, yep a Christmas Party given by my hairdresser. We arrived there around 830 pm it was just light flurries at the time. We had a nice time, they had a super lunch, they had salads,sandwiches, sweets, cheeses ,pickles, a very nice table. And they had prizes and I won one, I won a gift certificate for a new hairdo. I was pleased,especially since the holidays are near. We left there around 1130 pm, and I couldn't believe how much snow had fallen. The snow was heavy and wet. I figured that the snow would stop then, but no way. This morning I awoke to this. That is my car, and I have to clean it. sob sob. So this is a wake up call. To get out our shovels, mittens, boots,and get our cars ready for winter,which I have not done so far.
Did I ever tell you about the harsh winters my mom had when she was young? She said one time there was so much snow that her brother and her had to dig a tunnel to get to the shed to get some wood. And one time they could not open the door because of the snow and the neighbor had to come and shovel them out.
I also read somewhere that some of our ancestors would tie a line going from their home to their barns in order not to lose their sense of direction due to the blowing snow and high winds, they had to get to the barn to feed their animals and to do their chores, the animals had to be taken care of, no matter how bad the weather was. It sure must have been hard for our ancestors, they had no shovels nor plows nor snowblowers ,they were not as lucky as we are today.
But there is a good side of all this snow, it puts me in a christimassy mood. smile.
Have a great day
Aline

Saturday, November 10, 2007



Remembrance Day,since tomorrow is Remembrance Day, we should remember our loved ones, who fought for us, for our countries, for liberty. Over the years there were many battles fought, many battles won and many lost battles. So tomorrow I would like to suggest that you go online and read about the following battles and wars. Check out the French and Indian War of 1640, Battle of Port Royal in 1690 and 1710, Battle of Quebec 1690, Battle of Hudson Bay 1697, Queen Ann War 1702, Raid on Canso 1744, First Siege at Louisbourg 1745, Battle of Grand Pre in 1747, French and Indian War 1754-1963, Battle of Fort Beausejour, War of Independence, Civil War, Metis Rebellion, Boer War, War of 1812, Vietnam War, Korean War World Wars one and two, Iraq War, Afghanistan etc.

Many men were involved in these wars, and many lost their lives, there were Privates, Seamen,Airforce men, Footsoldiers,, Corporals, Lieutenants, Sargents,Soldier ,Platoon Sargents, Colonel,Commander in Chief,Gunner, Flagcarriers, Drummers, Medics, Nurses,Chaplains,Journalists, Captains,etc.

We must also remember the veterans who survived these wars, they have suffered , they have bad memories, and good memories. They all fought for a cause.Many came back injured.

Our Acadian Ancestors fought in Battles, Fort Beausejour,Port Royal, Grand Pre, in World War one and two,the Civil War, War of Independence.

Take a moment to remember all the ones who went to war, be they Acadians,Canadians,Americans,British,Native American,many loved ones were lost ,many mothers cried. Wars touched so many lives, if we could only imagine one family with loved ones at war. The anguish, the worrying, the crying.

LEST WE FORGET.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Holidays! How were they celebrated by our ancestors ? I wonder. I do remember that Easter was a big celebration, and as you know our acadian ancestors were very faithful to their religion. On good Friday, it was forbidden to eat meat. I remember in my earlier years, that at 3pm on Good Friday, we had a moment of silence. So when my late husband and I used to go driving ,at three pm we both would keep quite for a few minutes. (that was a hard thing for me to do.grin).
For Easter ,we needed a new hat. That was the style way back then, a new outfit and a new hat. I kept up the tradition for a long time. Easter Sunday we went to church, and back then we went on Sunday,today we go on Saturdays. When my son was little , he has his new outfit and an easter basket, and lots of goodies.
Our Easter meals were always Baked Ham. Our Ancestors would have no problem cooking a ham, they had all kinds of pigs. smile.
Christmas was another holiday, I remember my mother telling me,that when she was little, her father would be away working and he would always make it home on Christmas Eve. They would go out and cut their tree. Mom said they decorated it with whatever they could find, colored ribbons ,rags, paper, and so on. And Mom said she remembers getting an Eaton's Beauty Doll, now this would be back around 1927or 1928. She said her father made sleds for the boys.
I remember one christmas ,we had a camp in St.Louis and my sister in law was down from Ontario, so we decided to spend christmas at our camp. We went and got our tree in the woods, let me tell you I was some glad to get back to camp. The snow was nearly up to my waist at some spots, and it sure got tiresome trudging through that snow. But we did, and decorated our tree. Had our Christmas Turkey , we had an electric stove, because we had electricity. And then it was time to go back to the city. So we roughed it for once. I love the smell of a real tree but they are so messy to clean up ,so this year I will put up an artificial one.
Mom said my grandmother hung stockings up for them, and Mom said they always contained, walnuts, one apple, one orange, candies. My grandmother used to shop all year long for gifts, she had 8 children, she bought for her eight children, their spouses, and their kids. I looked forward to my gift from my grandmother even if it was just a hankie, it had come from her.
As you know this year some members of my genealogy group acadianroots exchanged names for gifts. I have bought my gift for the name I picked, and this is making me feel good, because this person will be receiving a gift from someone she has never met personally, and I am hoping that she will be pleased.
So in ending today's blog, and speaking of holiday. Soon it will be Thanksgiving for the United States, and I do hope you all have a safe, and Happy Thanksgiving Day with all your loved ones.
Have a great day
Aline

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Well I hear that there is snow falling in various locations of Canada, so soon it will be here. I would like to see it snow on Christmas Eve and then go away. grin.
Today I went shopping, got a few things. I then came home and gift wrapped my parcels going out of town. So all I need to do is address them and wait until it is time to post them. I want to make sure everyone gets their gift on time.
Well I have added quite a few names on my Chartersville Road Cemetery, I believe I have over 1000 names added so far and I shall continue to do what I have set my mind in doing. I am certain that many of you out there are benefitting from what I am adding to our site.
And I have decided that my next project I do will be kept secret until I have completed it and added it to my site. It will make it more interesting for me, and it will be a surprise for you.
I am still working on my Leger's. I am now waiting for an obituary, and a photo of a tomstone from out west. The results are looking good. This is for a christmas gift for about ten different people from the same family. Next I may make a family tree for my ex sister in law who just lost her Mom a month or two ago. She would really appreciate it. So if you have someone and you do not know what to give them for christmas? Give them a bit of their history.
Have a great Day and thanks for stopping by
Aline

Monday, November 05, 2007

Well the storm is over, and we did not get what we had expected. I am pleased with that, but it is still always good to be prepared because one day we may really have a bad storm or hurricane.
Well I decided to add the Chartersville Road Cemetery on my site, well I am adding some of the cemetery anyway. I have added over 1000 names so far. And now I needed a picture to add on my page, so yesterday (after the storm) we took a drive to the cemetery. We did not go into the cemetery but I took a few pictures from the road. One of the pictures I really liked, so i have added it on my page. For the ones of you who do not know about this cemetery,well at first in Moncton, the people were buried in the old Shediac Road Cemetery, and then the new cemetery on Chartersville Road in Dieppe was built. The old Shediac Road Cemetery is now full, there are to be no more burials there. The Chartersville Road Cemetery is called Our Lady of Calvary (Notre Dame du Calvaire) and it is a really big cemetery. I had written them into three notebooks, I have added one of the three books, there are still two more to go. I will add them at my leisure. When I have the second book onto my page I will let you know.There are tombstones that I do not have from the cemetery, so if you have love ones in that cemetery and you do not see them on my page, it will not mean that they are not there, it will only mean I do not have them. I have up to 2003 so there are still 4 more years not done. Maybe I will attempt to do them at a later date. I did not transcribe the ones that I have myself. I was given the CD from a friend Mister Francis LeBlanc who took photos of the stones. So I took the names from the stones and wrote them all in my three books, that way it is easier to add to my site.
So I do hope that many of you will find some of your ancestors .
I have received an email from P'tit Francois and he told me he has been busy and was going on vacation and he will get to doing the translating from french to english for his stories. So if you cannot speak or read french, check once in a while to see if they have been translated yet.
I hope you all have a great day. Thank you for the visit, do come again.
Aline

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Hurricane season and our weatherman has forcasted a bad night tonight, with lots of rain and high winds. So to be on the safe side, we went to the store to buy supplies, I wanted to get those little lamps at the dollar store with some batteries, do you think I could find even ONE? Nope, all sold out, then I said ok, I will get some D batteries for the flashlight, All Sold Out. So off we went next door, they had a combination of flashlight and radio. It took C Batteries , all sold out. So we went to the grocery store, I wanted to pick up a copy of L"Etoile for my P'tit Francois page, and they had batteries, so we got three different sizes plus some matches for our candles. We went over to my mother's and brought her some matches. Next we decided to stock up on spring water. Arriving to the spring there were 8 cars ahead of us, filling their containers. I wish I would have taken my camera so I could show you. I took out some extra blankets, just in case.
And in case we lose our power, I now have a roast cooking in the oven. I moved all the stuff that was on the patio inside, even our garbage cans. We have three trees in front, one right in front of my house and two in front of the neighbors house, so I moved my car ahead. The last time they predicted bad weather ,the storm by passed us, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will by pass us again. So just in case you do not see me online, do not worry, it will only be because our power went off. But if my power goes off, I don't know what I will do without my internet. smile.
I decided to add another cemetery to my page, this is a huge cemetery ,Our lady of Calvary Cemetery in Dieppe New Brunswick. I shall only do a little at a time, I don't know if I will do it all since this IS a big cemetery, but I will add what I can, and who knows? In the end ,it may all be on my site. So check the sidebar of my acadian-roots.com website, when you see Chartersville Road Cemetery, it will be the Our Lady of Calvary Cemetery.
So have a great day, for the ones in the path of the hurricane, stay safe.
Aline

Friday, November 02, 2007

Winter time for the Acadians was a cold season. The houses had no insulation and were built rough, since they had to make do with what they had. So when the north winds blew, a cold draft was felt as soon as our ancestors moved away from the stove or their fireplace. Everything in the house was frozen. In the morning the water in the Pails, the tea in the teapot, even the urine bucket was frozen. It is reported that many infants died during these cold winters. They had to sleep under lots of blankets or whatever they had to cover themselves, because in the morning there would snow on them. Heated bricks and irons used for ironing were placed at the foot of the bed to keep their feet warm.
Now I remember my mother telling me, that when we were small, we lived in a place called Highland View and we lived in an old log cabin, which was later condemned. Mom said she would bundle us all up, and make sure that our feet and hands were not bare, she made us sleep where the roof did not leak, and she said when my Dad and her would wake up in the morning there would be ice on their blankets. Apparently one night, I wiggled my foot out from under the cover and it turned all blue, Mom took me to the doctor and he punctured a hole in my heel to relieve the pressure. So I would believe that our ancestors spent some mighty cold nights huddled together.Mom said she even wore mittens on us some times.
I am reading in the book I received and sharing some of it with you,just in case you wonder where I am getting all this information.
Now I am reading that to light their house or room, our ancestors used light from the fireplace , Cod liver oil, and pork or beef rind could be used for lighting. Candles were made from mutton or beef tallow . Later on came Paraffin and oil lamps. Can you imagine going out to outhouse in back of their homes, pitch black and all they had were keresene lamps? I remember going to an old camp way back in the woods , to go there we had to go on a trolley ,over a thresle, and there were no lights outdoors and no roads to the camp. The owner of the camp had an outhouse in the back and let me tell you that when I went to the outhouse, my husband came with me , and stood by the door. We had a flashlight to guide us, and it was still scary. We should consider ourselves lucky these days, we have electricity, we have lights, we have phones, internet, cars ,our ancestors had no electricity, only lamps, no phones, they travelled by horse and wagon, or sleds,or by walking or by canoes. We have automatic washers and dryers, they had the streams, to wash their clothes, trees to hang them on. We have water right in our homes, our ancestors had to go to the nearest springs, or dig a well.
One thing for sure is that our ancestors worked very hard in their lifetime.
Thanks for the visit, do come again.
Have a nice day
Aline

Thursday, November 01, 2007

THE MOOSE WAS LOOSE, AND THAT IS THE TRUTH .


I opened the newspaper last Monday, and I could not believe my eyes. This moose had ventured in the north end of the city. He caused some damage before being tranqualized. He damaged a police cruiser, fences, rain gutters. He was seen shortly before 11 am. Anyway they had to tranqualize him, and he did not survive, he was probably scared to death. This reminds me of something my late husband once told me. In the 1940s he had gone to Montreal to find work, and he was staying at this rooming house, and the lady of the house,(Mrs Vandal) asked him if there were many animals roaming the streets down here. She thought that this place was in the bushes. Now if she could open her eyes she would probably say; " I knew it, I knew it". grin. No one knows where the moose came from, nobody got hurt. But it sure must have made a lot of headlines in the neighborhood, since he was going up and down the streets and in and out of back yards. (Maybe he was just out looking for a new Gal ,smile).
Well I have been working on my website, I added some marriages for Tracadie Nova Scotia, as you know there is a Tracadie New Brunswick and a Tracadie in Nova Scotia. I rearranged my sidebar, so it will be easier to navigate.
I am still waiting for P'Tit Francois to do some translation for me so that I can add more stories, but he has been a bit busy, so please have patience, he will get to it as soon as he is able.
We drew our names for our christmas gift exchange, so now comes the fun of looking for something to send. And speaking of Christmas, we went into a store yesterday and the trees are all decorated, the store was decorated and some of the workers still adding christmas stuff.
Our christmas parade is scheduled for November the 24th.
Well thank you so much for stopping by. I always enjoy having guests. Have a great day
Aline