Over a Cuppa: One
Welcome to my very first Over a Cuppa post!
What is Over a Cuppa?
Well, for years I participated in and greatly enjoyed the Coffee Share posts (hosted by a few different folks over time) through my Ever Growing Farm blog. Coffee Shares are currently a weekly feature graciously hosted by Natalie the Explorer in which bloggers from all over the world come together to share general updates about their lives that may be outside of their specific niche. Like most link-ups, we all post to our own blogs, share the link with the host, then pop around to other participants to read, like, and/or comment.
You can visit the most recent link up here.
Having enjoyed keeping an old-school blog and the process of sharing general updates that are both niche related and a little out of the “box”, as I sat down to brainstorm the categories for this space, I knew I wanted to continue something similar, offering you and I the opportunity to chat about whatever is happening in our wildly dynamic lives.
And so is born Over a Cuppa which is categorized as Tea Time for future reference and general perusing.
While many people share their posts weekly, that’s just not realistic for me, so I’m instead aiming for once a month and intend to use this space to share a bit about different aspects of my life, both ancestry/genealogy related, and a bit more personally… as if we were sitting across the table from each other sharing a warm (or cold, depending on the season, of course) beverage and either getting to know each other or catching up like old friends.
And, I’d love for you to also share what you’ve been up to in the comments below! If you simply want to leave a comment, awesome, I can’t wait to hear from you! If you also blog in some capacity, please feel free to direct me to the post you’d like to share so I (and other readers) can pop over and read it!
Now, without further rambling, let’s have a seat on the front porch, watch the hummingbirds flit about and chat!
Living
Spring on the farm is wild and life is very busy these days. From garden and field prep, seed sowing, animal care, and the ever-changing weather forecast, every day is different and the to-list is a mile long. But the Spring rains have begun and the magic of tiny seeds pushing their way through soil is unparalleled…
And the smell of the land coming to life again is so glorious…
And the sounds of the bees and those hummingbirds dancing through the air is like music to my ears…
And, despite losing all the orchard fruit to a late frost, the promise of delicious, nutritious, abundance from the garden and the berries is why we do what we do, despite all the challenges of keeping a small, diversified farm in the high desert.
How are things going in your neck of the woods? Are you growing any flowers or food this season?
Reflecting
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and I’ve spent quite a bit of time recently thinking about my maternal line, specifically, and the challenges they faced throughout their lives before “mental health awareness” was a thing. While we still have much to do and learn about how motherhood affects our minds and bodies, I am so grateful to live in a time when the science backs up what we women have surely always known, just didn’t have the words for and when mental health care is more available to us than ever before.
Reading
The Forsyth family history is extensive, so looking for my ancestors, like with much of this research, is like searching for a needle in a haystack. I’m currently combing through The Memorial of the Family of Forsyth de Fronsac on electricscotland.com looking for name references that might point me in the right direction of proper documentation of my own Forsyth line.
I’ve only recently really begun to dig into finding and tracing my Scottish lines and I’m equally excited and a tad overwhelmed ;-)
I’m also listening to It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn on Audible. Ancestral trauma is not a light subject, but it is an important one and my bestie and I decided to read it together so we could discuss each chapter as we make our way through the book.
And, just for fun, I’m also reading Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (of Shadow and Bone fame). I’ll be honest here in admitting that I struggled through the first half of the book but am finally invested and enjoying the story and character development so far. It is the first of a duology so there’s still time for it all the come together.
It’s not often that I have three different books going at once but here we are ;-)
Additionally, my daughter and I just wrapped up our home-school year and have a couple of weeks before she attends a daily Summer Camp, so we’re re-establishing our relationship with the Library and adjusting to a new schedule before another new schedule starts in June.
Are you reading anything exciting right now? Or maybe you just finished one book and are looking for the next? Do tell!
Writing
Since starting this new site I haven’t done a ton of personal writing but I’m hoping to find balance to all.the.things soon.
I started a memoir writing course last Winter on Daily Om and a second (shorter) course on writing a family cookbook on Domestika that I really enjoyed, but life got a little bonkers as I took on other new projects and writing was the easiest item to fall away.
Yes, writing this blog counts as writing, but I’d like to re-integrate some more personal (not public facing) projects within the year.
Are you a writer who struggles with how to balance it all? Or maybe you’ve found your Writing Groove and operate like a well-oiled machine? I’d love to hear your tips and tricks to making your writing a priority despite the general juggle of life.
Photo Labeling
I’ve recently pulled out a small box of photos that span several generations that need proper labeling but for some reason, it feels overwhelming to me to tackle it. I’m thinking I should set a weekly goal for myself but I haven’t decided what that should be yet.
Do you have similar project you are tackling or have tackled in the past? How do you set realistic goals for yourself while being realistic about all the other things pulling in you?
Restoring
Speaking of photos, I recently had my very favorite photo of my mom, her siblings, and her parents restored by a woman I found on Instagram. I am so very pleased with how it turned out and wrote about it here.
Have you ever had an old photo restored? I was so nervous about it, I’d love to hear about your experiences if you have them!
Launching & Designing
After my initial bold+queer designs worked their way into the world in March, I thought it fitting to create a couple of fun genealogy related designs!
I went with:
genealogy: disturbing the dead + irritating the living (because that’s what we tend to do as family historians, no?) - get them here!
mythology: genealogy with documentation (because it’s true!) - get them here!
I also created a new Pride design that I just uploaded to the shop as we prepare to celebrate Pride Month in June.
I am so pleased with how they turned out! I hope you will be, too!
Tidbits
Scrolling the Internet can sometimes be a bit like experiencing whiplash, you know? The good, the bad, the ugly, all in rapid succession! Trust me, some days the news/social cycle is all a bit too much, but here are a few of my favorite recent internet finds that shouldn’t hurt your head <3
Twenty Thousand year old DNA collected from a necklace! How cool is that?! And I’m over here trying to confirm a 3x great grandma with my own DNA ;-) Read the article here.
I recently saw a post on my personal Instagram account about creating one’s own Ancestor prayer/meditation beads and embarked on a wildly inspired exploration of the stones associated with my ancestor’s lands and got to crafting. I’ll share more about this project soon!
I’ve heard that Ancestry.com is rolling out a big update in their DNA Communities, especially in relation to African American and Caribbean communities. While I haven’t seen anything new in my account yet, I’d guess it’ll take a bit to roll it out to everyone.
That’s it!
For now :-)
I look forward to hearing all about how life is treating you in your neck of the woods and hope you have a great weekend ahead!
Onward,
Melis
P.S. It seems that the SquareSpace commenting system is a bit wonky at present. Some comments are coming through just fine while others are getting an error page. I’m working to figure this out and appreciate you trying to comment! Hopefully we can get this resolved easily :-)