Today is my Mom's 82nd birthday!

Today is my Mom's 82nd birthday.

I created this card for her last week. She loves to receive real cards in the mail.

It's wonderful that Canada Post still delivers to home residences. Soon it will be fazed out.

I used a card stock base from Michael's. I buy the large packages of their cards/envelopes on sale.

I glued a pink polka dot paper to the front, and layered lace, ribbon trim, embellishments, and a printed copy of a design I created using Picmonkey photo program.

The original photo is below, showing my Mom in the corn field with her first birthday cake in 1934.

I think little Susie is so cute. 

Today I created this photo collage using a lovely free image from Wings of Whimsey, a lovely blog I subscribe to. Gunnvor Karita from Norway designs some lovely things.

This is one of my favourite hobbies!

This shows my mom as a young girl in the 1940's picking hops.

It definitely wasn't one of her favourite jobs!

Happy birthday, dearest Mom!

May you have a blessed day and year filled with God's richest blessings.

By Loretta Houben

The Brutke homestead in Amity, OR.

I'm having fun using Picmonkey.com...try it for yourself!

It's all free. There is an upgrade for more content, but what I've used here is free.

I am learning how to make collages, and I'm learning how to layer.

One thing for sure, I can't believe it's been 40 years since this happy summer when I was only 15.

This is the only photo I have of the inside of the old cabin my maternal grandparents, Adolph and Helen Brutke, bought in the 1910's. (I can't remember the exact year they moved here from Taylor, Texas.) It was called a "cabin", and the big bedroom in which I and two of my sisters are standing in was added on after my grandparents bought it. When I knew it was going to be torn down so that my Uncle Ed could build a new tool shed, I was heartbroken. I think my mom was too.

I took a piece of wallpaper from the wall of that bedroom. I need to scan it in. It has a white dotted stripe, with tiny blue flowers in between, on what looks like a pale grey background.

Each summer we had such fun on this farm. It was simply marvelous to unwind from the big city of Vancouver BC, and roam free and wild over Uncle Ed's acreage. Down by the creek it was so relaxing. We would pick cherries in the morning, and play here in the afternoon. To the left of this photo, there was a steep hill with a small grove of tall fir trees. I loved to sit underneath them in the shade, during a hot and humid day, and listen to the breeze in the branches above.

Such happy times, 40 years ago.

By Loretta Houben

Memories of the farm.

Every June I get nostalgic for The Farm.
Every year of my childhood, except for 1970 when my Mom was pregnant with Marie, we traveled 400 miles South to Amity, Oregon. We stayed with Uncle Ed, my Mom's older brother who owned the old homestead and farm where my Mom grew up. I loved the old cabin pictured above and below, which was located a few steps down the lane from the white colonial style farmhouse where we spent a few weeks. Uncle Ed stored his tools in the cabin, and hay for his horses in the back room, which had been added on as a bedroom. My maternal grandparents lived here from ____ to 1930 when the white house was built.

The back of the cabin. Leona, myself holding Marie, and Marlene.
The building on the left is the barn where Uncle Ed kept his pack horses for hunting.
Leona, as you can see, loved horses! We all had such fun here.

I drew a sketch of the white farmhouse when I was 13, in my little sketchbook, and painted it later when I got home. I'm so glad I did this. It brings back such memories for me. My mom was born in a back bedroom in this house in the 1930's.

By Loretta Houben

1916 Brutke Family Portrait

I am so excited! I had to scan this in late tonight. My Mom found it in a drawer.

I've never seen this photo before.

This is my maternal grandparents.

Adolph and Helen (married in Oct 1912) with three of their children:

Baby Bertha, Walt, and Lydia.

Isn't Lydia adorable? And look at her button boots!

I'm sure Helen made all their clothes. 

This is the earliest photo I have seen of Helen aside from her wedding photo.

It was taken in Taylor Texas.

This is just so neat!

By Loretta Houben

Memory Monday...dolls from an old garbage site...

Dear reader; you may be rather freaked out by these images.

But to me they are delightful!

They belong to the distant past and were found on my Uncle Ed Brutke's property back in the 1970's.

I can't remember the exact year, but I was a teenager at the time.

I believe it was either 1975 or 1976.

Uncle Ed had torn down the old homestead, the cabin where my grandparents had lived until they built their farmhouse in the 1930's.

He planned to build a large steel tool shed on the spot and in the meantime, his two hunting dogs, Trixie and Spec, began digging in the soft earth of the excavation site.

We think they were burrowing for mice, but as they dug, bits and pieces began to fly out, and my parents and uncle took shovels and began to dig, as they remembered that was the site of the old garbage dump for their parents. In those days, the scraps of food were thrown on a pile for the birds and animals to pick at, and everything else was buried!

These little bits of bisque dolls, made in Japan, were the ones my Mom used to play with!

Isn't that absolutely fascinating?

I wanted to keep on digging, but we were leaving the next day.

We dug out what we could, but my uncle didn't dig any further on his own, as he thought this was all just JUNK.

The above photo shows the back of the dolls.

Isn't this face darling?

My Mom would make dresses for the dolls using scraps of fabric from her mother's sewing basket.

My Mom also loved to bury the dolls in the garden, and dig them up after a few days to see how the clothes had rotted. Of course, she never left them in the ground long enough.

Does anyone know how to remove the rust on these faces?

Here is a little Dutch doll. My Mom always wanted to visit Holland but never did.

I had the delight of going there in 2007, and meeting Robert's relatives.

I think it's amusing that I married a Dutchman, when my Mom was always so intrigued with Holland as a child.

These are a few of the other things we dug up. The lower bottle was used for ink.

The upper left bottle held perfume, and the middle one with the peacock may have also held perfume. The blue bottle is fascinating. Maybe it was used for medicine.

A close up of the perfume bottle.

I wonder what else is still in that garbage site?

A building covers the spot now.

I love items from long ago...

Memory Monday...the cemetery of my ancestors.

These photos were taken in July 2006 with my Canon Rebel camera.

This was the last time we visited Amity Oregon. Of course we would love to go back, but it would be strange to go without my parents. Fortunately I had the foresight to visit the Amity graveyard.

My Mom remembered where all the family graves were!

Amity Cemetery was established in 1854.

If you click on the link, it will show you the names of the people buried here, as of 2007.

George Brutke, father of Adolph Brutke. 

George is my great grandfather.

Amelia Frank Brutke, wife of George Brutke, my great grandmother.

At least I have pictures of their graves, which means a lot to me.

I love cemeteries and graves. They are such peaceful places.

Another view of the cemetery, with Matthew in the distance, contemplating his end.

My Mom, Susie Brutke Williams.

A family headstone, belonging to Edward and Helen Keene. Helen was a sister of Adolph Brutke, so she was an aunt to my Mom.

Genealogy project...framing my ancestors.

I bought this frame at my local dollar store, and then chose my favourite Gusa/Brutke family photos, and printed them out on HP bright white paper at full resolution.

It looks better in real life, of course.

The top photo on the left hand side is Pauline Gusa's mother, the one without a name.

The next photo on the right is my Mother's parents wedding photo taken on October 26, 1912.

They are Adolph and Helen Brutke.

The photo underneath them is Helen's parents, August and Pauline Gusa, with their children, also taken on October 26, 1912. Helen made her sister's dresses and her own wedding dress.

The last photo is my Mother, Susan Brutke, with her new husband, John Williams, on Sept 3, 1955.

I figured that I couldn't possibly get them confused if they are assembled in one frame!

Also I figure that if I work on projects like this, while at a dead end as to finding out any more clues to name searching, it will keep my interest alive.

Memory Monday...Happy 57th anniversary, Mom and Dad!

My Mother, Susie Brutke, before becoming Mrs. John Williams on Sept 3, 1955.

Wow, that is 57 years ago!

Rita Braun was her maid of honour.

This photo was taken in my Mom's room in the farmhouse in Amity Oregon.

My Mom wished to have a church wedding, but for some unknown and mysterious reason which I've never been able to fathom, the Apostolic Faith church which she belonged to didn't allow church weddings. The ministers claimed they were sacrilegious. This changed in later years, as Robert and I were married in a church in 1982.

So my parents had to be married in a hall or a garden, and my Mom chose her parent's garden.

Fortunately it was a beautiful summer day.

I have always thought my Mother was a gorgeous bride!

Here are my aunts:

Lydia, Emma Casteel, Patricia Brutka, and Freida Thompson.

The picture on the wall behind them is my mom's parents on their wedding day in 1912.

Aunt Pat did a lot of the decorating. She had quite the skill for this! She also helped at my wedding.

Aunt Bertha serving the new couple some punch. This was in the living room of the house my Mom grew up in, and this table was set up just outside the bedroom where she was born.

I think that it's so neat she was born in this house and married in it.

The lovely couple cutting the cake.

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Photos of Hannivka (Anielowka) Ukraine! (used with permission)

Jerry Frank has given me permission to post these photos of the town of Hannivka, Ukraine, formerly Anielowka. Jerry took all these lovely photos.

It is just thrilling to me to be able to see these scenes!

I would dearly love to visit Ukraine one day, but I know it's quite expensive.

Thank you, Jerry, for allowing me to post the photos here on my blog.

The photo above shows pretty cherry trees in bloom.

All the houses are lined up on one main street; there are no side streets.

Another scene of Hannivka, by Jerry Frank, used by permission.

I am trying to imagine my great great grandparents raising their family here.

It feels so very far away.

A stork's nest in Hannivka.

Photo by Jerry Frank, used by permission.

The cemetery in Hannivka.

Photo by Jerry Frank, used by permission.

George Brutka's gravesite online!

In my researches today I found my great Grandpa George Brutka's gravesite online:

FIND A GRAVE

I have a free membership there, but I never thought to look for ancestor's graves!

Somewhere I have a photo of his grave, taken while visiting Amity, Oregon in July 2006.

Pictures of Anielowka, Ukraine!

I have found a few pictures of Anielowka, Ukraine online!

To see them, please CLICK HERE.

They are taken by Bill Remus.

I had seen these pictures quite a while ago, but had misplaced the link.

Bill Remus has a wonderful website.

This one: Families of Anielowka and Berestovitz is so interesting!
(The map showing Anielowka and Berestovitz is exactly the same as the one my Aunt Patricia Brutka has in the binder she gave me.)

Bill Remus also had ancestors from the village of Anielowka.

Maria Deutschlander by Rose Clausen-Mohr is a very good read.

I'm very excited to be discovering so much about Anielowka all at once!

Digging in the past fascinates me no end.

Genealogy 101...the SGGEE website!

Each day I wake up with the thought:

"What will I discover online today?"

At first I felt overwhelmed by the complete sadness and darkness of this part of the world; the world of Ukraine in Eastern Europe, where my ancestors on my Mom's side once lived.

When I was a young teenager, I was told my Mom's grandparents had immigrated from Russia, but were not Russians. I couldn't understand that! I was told they spoke German and had moved to Volhynia from Germany, and also Poland. It wasn't until 1991 when my Aunt Patricia Brutka put together a huge binder, with the help of many relatives, that I began to understand better.

For a while I put the binder on a closet shelf and forgot about it.

In 2000 I took a children's writing course by correspondence, and in 2002 I passed with a good mark.

In that time I decided to write about my maternal Grandma, Helen Gusa Brutke.

But every time I began to research the area of Ukraine and its dark history, I was overcome with sorrow and I couldn't continue. I became overwhelmed with the pure stupidity of historical events.

Recently I had success with tracing one of my Dad's family members online, so this past month of July I have once again renewed my interest in Gusa/Brutke history, and maybe this time I will taste completion! 

Today I signed up for membership in the SGGEE, which stands for
"The Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe".

For one month I've looked around their many fascinating pages, and participated online.

Jerry Frank is the webmaster; his ancestors also came from Anielowka, and it might be that we are related somehow. The website is purely fascinating. 

My sister, Leona, doesn't know where I get the stamina to search all the pages, but if you become a member for $40 per year, you can access even more!

I am so excited to see what I can discover regarding my ancestral past.

Hopefully a light is dawning for me, and the darkness of history will for my case be overcome by this light; the light of freedom that I live here in beautiful Canada, and my ancestors did not die in Siberia!

Genealogy 101...Gusa/Brutke Family

For two weeks I have been working on my family tree.

I have actually began to dream about them!

I'm lost in lists and more lists and photographs and clues.

It's a fantastic summertime project, especially during chilly temperatures and monsoon rains.

Last evening I visited my parents and my Mom showed me pictures I don't recall ever seeing before.

I was familiar with this one of my Mom, as I have a colour reprinted copy.

Isn't she adorable? She reminds me of Shirley Temple.

She was holding her hands out to catch a ball!

This is the photo I was after. I have a huge one in an original frame. The frame needs to be repaired.

I wanted a smaller copy, and my Mom had one.

This is my maternal grandparents, my mother's parents.

Helen's maiden name was Guse. I'm having a difficult time tracking them down online!

They changed their surname from Gusowski. I believe that's the correct spelling.

Yes, it's Polish, as Helen's father, August Guse, was born in Poland in 1866.

Helen was a wonderful seamstress, and she made her wedding dress.

Her sister in law, Helen (Brutke) Keene borrowed it for her wedding and refused to give it back!

I wonder what happened to it.

Helen was 21 when she was married, just like me!

She was married 70 years before I was.

Isn't this another adorable photo? It was taken in San Antonio, Texas, at the McMahon Studio.

These are my mother's cousins.

Their mother is Helen (Brutke...sister to Adolph Brutke, my mother's father) and their father is Edward Keene. My mother often played with their younger sister, Louise, as she was the same age as her.

I just love old photos!

Family Tree

I'm hard at work, scanning in old photos which I borrowed from Janet Trotter, a second cousin of mine.

Isn't this a cute picture?

From left to right these are the names:

Lydia, Robert, Bertha, Ewalt Brutke; children of Adolph and Helen (Gusa) Brutke.

Next are Helen's brothers, Henry and Bill.

I wonder what in the world they are balanced on?

(please click on the picture to see it large)

Writing Endeavors

Each Wednesday I'll update my progress with my writing.

No one ever said it was easy. In 2000 I took a writing course from ICL and graduated in 2002. I enjoyed the course and began a children's book for the middle grade age, based loosely on my Grandma Helena's life in Russia over 100 years ago.

You all know my greatest weakness in life is procrastination, and of course the book is far from finished. However, at the beginning of 2010 I dusted off the outline, re-read it, took it to my local SCBWI writer's group, and they encouraged me to finish it this year.

A few weeks ago I went to the downtown branch of the Vancouver Library and discovered the 6th floor is devoted to History. I borrowed quite a few books about Ukraine and have been reading them and taking notes. This isn't a job for the faint hearted. Ukraine's people are made out of iron! Their spirit is indomitable. I admire them with all my heart. But I'm so glad my ancestors escaped that country when they did! It belonged to Russia for hundreds of years.

But my ancestors are Polish/German, who had migrated across Europe maybe from the Netherlands if you go back far enough, and settled in the Volyhnia Highlands of Russia (now Ukraine) in the 19th century. The picture above shows my Mom's family:

From left to right: Emma, Adolph Brutke, Walt, Robert and Frieda in the front.

They're hard at work, picking hops.
By Loretta Houben