Day Three Oh, boy, I've let too many days go by to remember what's been going on. But my photos help jog the memory!  Over the weekend we visited a woman named Cheryl (maiden name Weatherbee, one of Fred's distant ancestery names) who is active on Facebook, running the account called  Collingwood  Corner where the Ripleys are from, having been part of the Yorkshire Land Grant in the late 18th century. In an effort to get more English to Nova Scotia (and push out the French), Yorkshire, England, offer parcels of land to willing emigrants.  Here's more on that:  https://ripleyresearch.weebly.com/robert-and-henry-ripley-the-yorkshire-land-grant.html We had a lovely afternoon  — a three-hour visit which included chatting in Cheryl's parents' living room with her parents and her ex-husband, followed by a two-hour drive all over the area. Lloyd, the father, is a wealth of information and told Fred all the houses or lots or blueberry farms that were Ripley- or Col...

 Day Two We got up in St. Stephen, packed, and grabbed a latté for the road for me, and a chicken sandwich for later for Fred. I had packed energy bars ahead of time for my lunches on the road. My "grabbing" of these items was more like a procurement as I was hostage to the Something's Brewing Café for close to 40 minutes. I ordered the coffee at 11 am... but the one employee took orders from three other women behind me who also wanted chicken salad. Much chit chat ensued among the women and the employee... when finally he got around to making the sandwiches. When I heard the chopping of the celery I realized he was MAKING the chicken salad... it was now 11:20. At 11:32 another employee entered and he asked her to make my latté! Fred was fit to be tied waiting in the car, but I'm easily distracted with the NYT crossword archives app... I don't let waiting get the better of me.   Finally, off for the three hour, forty minute trip to Wallace, on the eastern shore of...

Fred had until June 30 to spend the grant money he received for another ancestry research trip — the last one being to Ireland to trace those roots.  This time, it's Nova Scotia. Both trips held some interest for me too (although I hadn't done any research on my own ancestry), because Fred and I are both roughly 75% and 25% Scottish. We left Thursday at 10 am and drove the five+ hours to St. Stephen, New Brunswick. The time passed quickly as we listened to music and a podcast about a cold case of murder.  A sight long the way. Cloud 9 Motel. With several pit stops, our arrival time was 4:00 and this is where we arrived:  The Todd Mansion. It's an historic landmark -- click here if you want to learn more:  https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8357 The exterior is sadly a bit rundown, as is the interior of the common areas — with very worn and smelly, dirty carpeting. I got a little nervous at first, but our apartment was perfection and very artf...