Frank Arthur Miller

The following information is from the Service Record held by the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Frank Arthur Miller enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve Force on June 3, 1918 at Buffalo, New York. At the time, he lived with his father, William Francis Miller, at 153 Ross Street in Batavia, New York. He was 21 years and 8 months old, 5 feet 6 inches in height, weighed 135 pounds, had blue eyes, brown hair andd a ruddy complexion.

He was called to active duty almost immediately - June 15, 1918 - and was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois where he attained the rank of Seaman 2C; by September 30, 1918, he was at the U. S. Naval Rep. Base in Eastleigh,England. (My recollection is that he said he helped build barracks for the troups at Southampton. When Grandma were in England, we visited the local history section of the library where we were shown an old map of the area that indicated the location of the barracks in that area. I took one or two photos of the map.)

By December 31, 1918, he was at Pelham Bay Park (NY?), where he remained until released from active duty on March 15, 1919. He was given a travel allowance of $20.30 to return to Batavia. His base pay was $35.90 per month. He was required to sign a statement that he had "no hammock, mattress, mattress cover or blankets, which are the property of the United States Government".

He received his discharge from the Reserve on September 30, 1921. For his service he was awarded the Victory Medal with Overseas duty clasp and the Victory Button.

Grandma's Blog

Go to http://corgimom818.blogspot.com to see what recipes, photos and comments Grandma has published.

Good news/bad news

The bad news is that the lemon ice cream has too much acid for Grandma's hives; the good news is that I get to finish up the lemon ice cream. The good news is that Grandma made coffee ice cream today; the bad news is that I have to wait until the lemon is gone.

Cleaning and stuff

Monday, we're having our garage floor epoxied, so we started cleaning the garage this morning. I thought it would take the better part of two days, what with the 4 drawer file and my 11 or 12 drawer tool cabinet, a couple of ladders, the recycleables bin, and some miscellaneous stuff. Plus trying to decide what we needed from the cabinets for the next few days. Anyway, it was all done by 10:00 this morning. So we'll probably go to the mall tomorrow. I have a 10% coupon from JCPenney which I just can't turn down!

Grandma was working on lunch before she even had her breakfast this morning - beef ribs in the slow cooker. The house smells like a ribs joint right now, and it's making me hungry.

We've harvested over 4 dozen lemons from our dwarf tree, and there're still a lot left on the tree. We set up a production line. Grandma washes them and gets the zest; I halve them and squeeze the juice. We have a Braun Juicer, which is simple to use and clean, so it doesn't take too much time to go through a couple of dozen. Grandma puts the juice in containers and freezes it. This week, she made lemon ice cream, which I can't hardly wait to try; but first we have to finish the homemade chocolate macadamia nut ice cream. So far, my favorite homemade ice cream is anything Grandma makes - they're all delicious

Genealogy Revision

According to the January 2006 issue of "The New England Historical and Genealogical Register", the parentage of Stephan Gates is incorrect as recorded in my file. Research by Edward J. Harrison of the parish records of Hingham, Norfolk and Coney Weston, Suffolk in England, and various English probate records have shed new light on Stephan's parentage.

The new information lists his parents as:
"Eustace Gates, laborer, who was buried at Coney Weston on 26 April 1626. His will, dated 15 March 1625/6, was proved 5 June 1626 in the Archdeaconry Court of Sudbury."
Rose Wright "was baptized at Coney Weston, Suffolk, on 25 February 1566/7, and was buried at Hingham, Norfolk, on 25 July 1635. She married at Coney Weston on 4 March 1592/3."

Anyone holding a copy of my records should make this corection. I'll enter information about Rose's family in a later blog, if anyone is interested.

Happy Birthday, Leonhard

Today is Leonhard Wosnik's 6th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEONHARD! We hope you have many cakes, but not enough to make you sick.

Love from Tante Shirley und Onkle Bob.

A Hearty Breakfast

Actually, this can be eaten anytime you're hungry:

Mix together in a bowl 1/3 cup Quakers Quik Oats, 1-1/4 cups water (or milk for a creamer consistency), 1 packet of flavored oatmeal and some raisins. Heat in a microwave at high power for about 1 minute 40 seconds. Stir and eat. Enjoy!

My favorite packet flavors are: Maple and Brown Sugar; Cinnamon Pecan; Banana Walnut; and Cinnamon Roll.

Oatmeal is said to reduce chloresterol, so I make sure I have some at least 3 times per week.

A Couple of Armloads

These photos were taken by the woman who takes care of "our girls" whenever we go out of town. As anyone can see, they are quite an armload. Ginger, in Grandma's arms, doesn't get around too well these days, so Grandma pulls her around in a little red wagon. Pepper, in Granpappy's arms, just goes bounding along on her merry way, despite having had surgery on both rear legs for torn ACLs.

Untruth in Advertising

"One size fits all."

Well, it certainly doesn't! Especially when it comes to men's socks. Can you imagine someone with a size 13 foot trying to get into a size 9 sock; the heel must be right under the ball of their foot. And a size 7 foot must have the sock heel up around their ankle.

Whoever thought that up should be hung up by their toes.

Retirement is Tiring

Anyone who thinks retirement is a matter of sitting back and watching grass grow better re-think their plans. For example, today:
Up at 6:30, turn on the coffee. Get dressed, then bring in the paper in time for a first cuppa. By then, Grandma has made her toast and fed the girls (our 2 Corgis) and started in on her sections of the paper. After my first cup, make my breakfast (a bowl of either oatmeal or Grape Nuts), then another cuppa, by which time the paper is read. Then we take care of the girls - Grandma brushes their teeth and I brush their coats. Then to make the bed. Then a shave and shower, pack up my supplies and off to watercolor class until noon. Today we ate light, because we're going out for a BIG dinner to celebrate our 28th Anniversary. Ruth's Chris Steak House! Conpliments of Chris, Randy and family. Thank you very much.
Walk the girls, although Ginger rides in her red wagon more than walks (her Arthritis). Back to get the snail mail, check the bank statement vs. our checkbook (it balances, hooray!), on the computer to check e-mail. By now, it's almost 3:30 and maybe a few minutes to rest before we get ready for the BIG celebration. Oops, better write something for my blog.
And our schedule for the next 8 days is full!
Ah, retirement. No wonder I feel tired.

Such a Day

Did you ever have a day when not much went right? Yesterday was it for me. It started with a nosebleed before breakfast. Then, I went to Home Depot with a list of 3 things and they didn't have any of the items. When I picked Grandma up at Fry's (Grocery Store), she hadn't been able to find Leeks for a recipe she wanted to try. Next crisis was trying to update Grandma's iPod; it wouldn't accept any music, and displayed the dreaded file folder. While I was trying to restore her files, our Internet connection failed. So I couldn't even read mail! Drat!

At least, we had good meals, and I even tapped a bottle of wine to end the day. By the way, if you're looking for a brand of wine that is free of sulfites, try Frey's, from California. They ship.

First Thoughts

Well, here's my Blog. Now what? How about music.
Checking my iTunes list, I find these are my 5 star tunes:
The City of New Orleans - Arlo Guthrie - Folk
Blues For Dixie - Asleep at the Wheel with Lyle Lovett - Country
Sing, Sing, Sing - Benny Goodman - Swing
Cotton Fields - Bill Monroe - Bluegrass
Intermezzo Sinfonico (Cavalleria Rusticana) - Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra - Classical
Bring Him Home - Colm Wilkinson - Soundtrack (Les Miserables)
Strange Meadow Lark - Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz
Tell Me (The Story of Jesus) - Gaither Vocal Band with Janet Paschal - Gospel & Religious
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans - Jack Teagarden & Louis Armstrong - Dixie
Maria Elena - Los Indios Tabajaras - Latin
Still, Stil, Still - Mannheim Steamroller - Christmas
Born To Lose - Ray Charles - R&B
Black Coffee - Sarah Vaughan - Blues
Intermezzo - Scotto; Domingo; Elvira - Opera
Pieces Of Gold - Sting - Rock

That's it.