Searching Down History

I, Sweet William The Scot, have been busy helping Lee find her heritage.  Lee has traced three sides of her family as being here before the American Revolution (1775–1783).

So we really are really celebrating the 4th!

On her father's side we are back into Scotland and England.

Her mother's family has been more difficult.  So we have been visiting cemeteries.

Her maternal grandparents are buried in this cemetery in our community.

Her maternal great grandparents are buried in another cemetery down the road.

But darn we have been thrown a curve ball, for her maternal father's side.  Seems grandfather's family changed their name. His father died when he was four, so no stories ever told.

They had come here from Easy's country, France, between 1800 ~ 1845.

And being French they probably came down out of Canada, French Canadian. 

They spelled their name Parquet/Parquot/Paquot/Parent/Parker. 

Great great grandfather's first name was Stephen. 

Do you know what Stephen is in French? 

Well I, Sweet William The Scot, know ~ it's Etienne.

Lee's ancesters probably left France after conflicts with Germany,

because on one document they had put Lorraine, France.

This darn fountain is spitting on me!

Well we have been climbing over weed mosquito infested cemeteries this past week.  We probably have the Zika Virus!  Darn we sure do itch and have welts.

Oh well neither one of us are having kids.
And the next time we go out we are not using DEET we are using dynamite.

I asked Lee if we were having fun yet.

But guess what!!!!

Lee found the tombstone of her great great grandfather.  Yep we found it in Brown County.  Two counties away from here.
Etienne Paquot was on his stone.

We still don't know where her great grandfather is buried.  Brown County records are not great for Ancestry work.

Well that has been our week.

That was the week that was
Its over let it go.

We are going to be doing a lot of this over the 4th of July weekend.  Pork loin chops on the grill with Lee's special rub.  Yummy, Yummy on my tummy because Lee always grills an extra one for me.

Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of  mine

Signing Off 

Sweet William The Scot

Psssssss ~  We wanted to show you the pretty scarf Yam Aunty gave Lee for hosting her in Nati City. 

Thank You Yam Aunty.
Lee gave me a bath so I could show the scarf.  I had my stink on after all that cemetery walking.

Look What Yam Aunty Spotted Kismet's Shop

Look what Yam Aunty is pointing to.

Kismet has a shop in Nati City

Kismet does not squeal like a stool pigeon!

Why she kept this shop a secret!

Well for all those of you who have e-mailed me about pictures,  my Lee only took two the last day.

Yam Aunty took 87,000 and her visit to my Nati City you will see through her eyes camera lens on her blog.

But I will tell you where Lee took her out to eat. One a upscale chain restaurant.

Cowspotdog loves this restaurant like Lee does.

Maggiano's Little Italy The chef came out and talked to Yam Aunty and prepared a special pasta dish just for her. A fettuccine alfredo without the garlic with fresh asparagus, snow peas, grill red peppers and other seasonal vegetables.

The next night it was a Nati City historic place to dine.

The Rookwood sits atop the hillside in Mt. Adams with panoramic views of the Ohio River and downtown Cincinnati on the deck. Immersed in Cincinnati culture.  Special touches, like Edison light bulbs one of the Cincinnati's great historic landmarks.  We had the dinner salad which was ~         

Heirloom Beets  ~ roast beets, baby arugula, shaved fennel, sheep feta, curried cashews, charred orange vinaigrette . 

You can even eat inside of an original kiln.

The last morning we had a tea party.

The BonBonerie

We had a  beautiful 3 tiered stand. Each tier was adorned with an assortment of their hand crafted delicacies.

The top had an assortment of their delicate finger sandwiches which were made of cucumber and fresh borsin cheese, veggie cream cheese and egg salad on their homemade buttery dill biscuit.

The middle and most important layer serves up their handcrafted famous desserts from their Bakery.

 It had buttery tea cookies, french macarons (to die for) and their petite double fudge brownies dark chocolate.

The bottom and final tier offers an assortment of mini scones made fresh each morning from their classic English  scone recipe, slices of their specialty French quiche served warm tucked in next to thick slices of fruit dark nut bread and fresh seasonal berries.  The quiche was a spinach and asiago cheese rich and warm.

They have a menu of teas perhaps thirty or more to choose from.  Lee and Janet had Silver Needles and Yam Aunty tried Bengal Tiger Tea blend popular in Nati City because of our Football team The Bengals.

They have a collections of tea pots.  Yam Aunty said the second one from left looked like flat Madi.

We saw over fifty historic sites in Nati City in two and a half days.

So I know Yam Aunty will have many pictures for you.

I, Sweet William The Scot, want to especially thank the Cincinnati Observatory.  Domes were opened especially for her because she has a deep interest in astronomy.

I also want to thank The BonBonerie for opening the tea room early an serving us an early tea.
Yam Aunty loves architecture so Nati City provided her likes.

Thanks for being a  friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of  mine

Signing Off 

Sweet William The Scot

Pssss ~ Lookie I got a leftover box from The BonBonerie.  I love leftovers!

I Got A Blogger Coming

I, Sweet William The Scot, got a Blogger coming to stay in Nati City for three days.

Yes I do!

I told Lee she was vegan so we had to shop appropriately.  We went to our Kroger store this morning and Lee got all kinds of fruit, soy milk, cold and hot cereal for vegans.

We got our specialty teas for her to enjoy.

For snacks Lee got specialty crackers, hummus and figs.

Look at the fruit salad I made with my own paws.

A Godiva Bar.

Since our house is small our friend Janet offered up her extra bedroom and bath.

Lee and I went over and made up the bed.

It is a sleep number bed and no one has ever slept in it.

Lee even put the afghan she just finished last winter on the bed.

I am going to give her the tour of Nati because that is in my bio. 

For one dinner we are going to Rookwood Pottery Restaurant.  The old factory where they made nationally known pottery which is rich with history.

And before she leaves we are having a high tea party at the The BonBonerie.

(Depiction of slaves crossing the frozen Ohio River to freedom in my state.)

Now I am going to show her the Painted Ladies, Murals, Fountain Square, Findley Market and what ever we can fit into the schedule.

Sure hope she can eat ice cream because I want to take her to Nati's famous Graeters to taste the ice cream Nati is known for.

I hope she can tell me about my homeland.

Can you guess who is Coming To Dinner?

Oh an at the BAR they celebrated the Doods peep's birthday and we were suppose to give her something with sixty things and represent your city.

I sent a box by way of Frankie and Ernie, my friends.

Yep I sent her Reds Peanuts and a Reds Banner that I got at a Bark In The Park Game.

Lee even designed the card special and she sold the design.

Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of mine
Signing Off
Sweet William The Scot

Then and Now

We have to turn in here.

Over this creek.

Over this narrow bridge.  I, Sweet William The Scot, prayed it would hold up!

Maybe we should have parked on the winding road and walked in.

Five Mile Chapel then and now.

I am here at the door, see me?

The foundation is limestone and the walls are constructed of imported sandstone according to the National Register.

Lee get a closer shot!

The property for the church and cemetery was donated by the son of an early settler John Markley in 1844.

Markley's grave which sits along side of the Chapel.

These stones are really really old.  Lee told me no potty here.

Different groups meet here like quilting groups, woodcarvers and local artist.

But what I, Sweet William The Scot, love is ice cream social.

  Yep we love going to the old fashion ice cream social.  This year it will be September 11 from 1 to 4.  I saw Lee put it on our calendar this week.

You can book the chapel for a wedding.  Lee has attended several beautiful weddings here.

But I love the Ice Cream Social!

The Five Mile Chapel is on the National Register of Historic Places.

It is also a United Methodist Historic Site.

Five Mile Chapel United Brethren in Christ AD 1844.

Back over the creek and we made it home.  This little chapel sits four miles from my home.

Thanks for being a friend
Traveling down the road and back again
Your heart is true and your a friend of mine
Signing Off
Sweet William The Scot

Another pretty street corner in Nati City.

Lee took the picture out the car window as we were waiting for the street light to change.

I am sure many of you from around the world have seen and read the story of the terrible killing of Harambe at the Cincinnati Zoo.  On May 28, 2016, Harambe, a 17-year-old, 440 lb. male critally endangered silverback gorilla, was fatally shot by zoo officials after a three-year-old boy climbed over a barrier through five feet of bushes and dropped down into a moat in Harambe's enclosure. The incident was recorded by a bystander and uploaded to You Tube, where the video went viral.

Lee saw this beautiful Silverback Gorilla right after he came to Nati City two years ago.  This exhibit opened in 1978 and not one incident has happened till last week.   Over 43 million people have safely enjoyed the exhibit the 38 years that it’s been open. 

It took one parent who was not alert to her child and Harambe paid the price.
Signs in the city say
"Yes they bought a ticket"
"Harambe paid the Price"

Harambe is Swahili  meaning working together, pulling together, helping each other, caring, and sharing.
The Zoo had reach the halfway mark of its $12 million Gorilla World expansion fundraising in January.
Rest In Peace Harambe