Follow Friday - Getting Caught Up on All the Wonderful Posts

I was catching up on my Google Reader account (1000+ needed to be read) over the past week or so.  Lots of great blog posts.  I really need to commit to doing my reading each morning so large numbers don't sneak up like that on me again!  And again! And (well you get the point)...

Here's just some of what caught my attention:

I saw a tweet (can't remember whose right now...memory like a sieve) about an incredible story that had to be checked out.  So, of course, I did.  I found myself at the Provenance blog and an incredible and sad story by Judy Wilkenfeld called Evidence.  After searching for answers about what happened to her father's mother, sister and brother during the Holocaust.  She got her answers and some surprises.  Check out her incredible tale!

If you haven't discovered SaveAGrave.net yet, you really should.  Follow on their site, on Facebook and Twitter.  You won't regret it.  Lots of brilliant news related posts on what we genealogists/family historians love...cemeteries.  Every day I'm amazed at the amount of news stories out there on this subject.  I was particularly thrilled when I saw a FB post on the Avondale Mining Disaster.  Being from coal miners in northeastern Pennsylvania it certainly touched me to see someone caring and determined to not let those people be forgotten.  You can check out the news article that SaveAGrave shared on the Times Leader called "Recalling Avondale".  Don't forget SaveAGrave's website, Facebook page, and Twitter account (@SaveAGrave)!

Over at Sleeping Gardens was a beautiful post called Ceramic Flowers.  I am stunned at how beautiful and delicate they look.  I don't know if the majority of the ceramic flowers hold up this well, but they are truly a gorgeous touch.  I'm surprised they aren't more widely seen and used!

As I was checking through the Geneablogger's Daily Blogroll I came across a post about scanning Black and White photos from Julie at Wandering Roots, called Tuesday's Tip on Scanning Black and White Photos.  You know (and this is going to sound bad), but I can be lazy with some things.  Everyone can from time  to time, but I didn't realize I had been lazy with my scanning.  I mean I scan at 600 dpi and I know all about the .TIFF vs .JPEG/JPG stuff, but that's not where I was lazy.  It never crossed my  mind to scan black and white photos in the scanner's black and white mode.  Julie's excellent post shows what happened when she scanned everything the right way, but in B&W.  Me...I would still be sitting there scratching my head and cursing the scanner for not working properly.  For once my laziness paid off...I had been scanning in color the whole time, not realizing it was a good thing!  Thanks for sharing, Julie!  Go and check it out!

Sassy Jane Genealogy had an excellent post called Google Maps and Uncommunicative Records.  She shows us how to make use of Google and the officiant's address that appears on some marriage licenses.  Not going to ruin the surprise.  Head on over and check it out.  It would have taken me years before this dawned on me!

And finally (at least for this week...still have more to share next week!) there is a new blog called The Catholic Gene.  As described on the blogsite it is a collaborative blog where the authors have 2 things in common:  "a love for both genealogical research and the Roman Catholic faith".  You don't have to be Catholic to follow this blog, but if you're doing any research involving Catholics you'd be a fool not to follow them.  I'm very excited to see all the posts that are sure to come from their genealogical bevy which includes: Cecile Marie Agata Wendt Jensen, Craig Manson, Denise Levenick, Donna Pointkouski, Jasia, Lisa A. Alzo, Lisa (aka Smallest Leaf), Sheri Fenley, and Stephen Danko! I'm so excited...I'll have to do a first communion blog post soon!

Until next time, have fun tending those roots!