Pinterest Archives - OnGenealogy

Maintenance Essentials for Genealogy

I've had maintenance on the mind this summer. So many friends and family are dealing with problems that are largely a result of lack of maintenance. It's made me think how easy it is to lose all our gains, simply because we don't do the day-to-day and month-to-month maintenance projects.

Why am I doing massive fence repairs in July? How'd we regain all this weight?How did the sewer line break?

It goes on and on. So while I work on projects and have to set aside my family history, I'm assessing what are the maintenance essentials for genealogy in my home.

We made some incredible family history gains last year, digitizing everything (photos, papers, cassette tapes) for my side of the family and we're close to finishing this for Mike's side of the family. I can't afford to lose these gains. Here are some ideas for projects we need to either start, finish, or maintain.

Some Family History Maintenance Ideas

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Some Fall Projects

I'm going to be radio-silent for the next few weeks because I have several pressing Fall projects outside of work and family obligations. These are probably in reverse order of importance, but here goes.

First, the grapes are overdue to be picked and juiced. I've processed 50 quarts and have at least that many more to pick and juice. The rest of the garden, mercifully, has been harvested.

Second, my brain finally reached input-overload and I can no longer juggle and remember all my accounts and passwords, my family members' accounts and passwords, and generally feel like I'm on top of things. I'm geeking-out and making a Home Operations Manual with Phone numbers, Bills & Accounts, the Family Budget, a Home Inventory, a Food Inventory, a Family History Inventory, and a section for Operations Manuals for every task necessary to run this home.

Third, my family is co…

Using Recipes in your Family Histories

It's planting season again and gardening, cooking, and canning are in my DNA. I garden and can for pleasure but my ancestors gardened and canned out of necessity. Here's how my father-in-law described it. "Grandma and Grandpa didn’t have an easy life. They had a garden in Gunnison they used to work day and night. They needed to grow enough in that garden to live year round. Other than a little meat they purchased, they lived off the garden. I don’t remember them having pigs or chickens or animals of any kind. They grew all kinds of potatoes and fruit trees and everything they could grow they harvested themselves. They had a big storage shelter down in the ground with wood around it and dirt on the top and they stored all this food down there to last through the winter." Rather than feel sorry for my ancestors and their plight (which I do), I'm going to record and share the memories of these ancestors who lived off the land and the w…