The meaning of life...: The other kind of HLIB tree

The meaning of life...: The other kind of HLIB tree

The other kind of HLIB tree

Back in about 2002, my partner and I bought a 3.5 acre block on the adge of this little town we live in. The land had been cropped in the past, so largely it was a bare paddock. This area is reasonablt good cropping country, because despite low rainfall ( 350mmm per year) it tends to fall at the right time (June - Sept) for the farmers to sow and reap crops; mainly wheat, barley and legumes.

The intention was to build a house on the site, but also to replant the typical native tree species that belong to the area. The combination of limestone, low rainfall and strong winds dictates a narrow band of species that thrive. The casuarina and euclaypts are probably the main contenders, but there are also acasias  melaleucas, dondoneas ( hop bush) as well as a range of saltbushes. [more to follow]

Yura and Rita in Canada

Another piece of the jigsaw puzzle falls into place ! Twenty years ago when I visited the Ukraine... I met relatives I barely knew existed. Contact with them had been lost over the years even by my mum ( and she was very good at keeping contact !)

In Lviv, I met my auntie and uncle ( Lidiya and Hrehorey Chemerys ) .. who were in their twilight years.. and my cousins Myroslava and Yura. Once back in Australia, it proved very difficult to mainatain contact; everyday life got in the way, there was language and culture barrier as well.

In this photo is my cousin Yura in the middle, his wife and daughter on the right. His son in law and grandson (?) are on his left.

RAPIDLY GOING BONKERS !!!

Krystina and Ihor

Friday May 28th... time passes. Frustratingly, not making much progress on family tree. Wrote a letter to my cousin Myroslava but haven't heard back. Nothing has come of my other minor leads. Strange that nothing seems to bear fruit.

Today... Thurs 29th July. Much has happened. The best news is that I did track down my cousin Luba in Lviv and have spoken with her a few times. Her daughter Krystena was 6 when we visited them... now she is 26 and has twin sons aged 6 and a husband ( another Ihor).

Still hard at work trying to find more about the HLIB... side of the family. Found a good reference in the LDS records to a Hrehorey Hlib, from Kolomeya and Cheremchow. I think he was recruited in 1906 as a reservist in Lviv. Born in 1879. The exciting thing is that a young woman in Ukraine ( Solomiya ) who is a Hlib... has just provided me with information about her side of the family. I find this all very exciting !  There are some gr. cath. priests in her family, but the two names she provided did not match with my grandfather ( Volodemyr born 1868 - 1928 )... however, she did say there was another one.... and she would find the details. There are Volodemyrs in her family too... so I am hoping that we might have a common relative either through my grandfather or my great grandfather. All I know about him is that his name was Mykhaylo ( Michael ) ... Stay tuned for further developments.

The meaning of life...: SHAKING THE FAMILY TREE

The meaning of life...: SHAKING THE FAMILY TREE

SHAKING THE FAMILY TREE

It's clear now to me what I can focus my blog about - the family tree. About a month ago, I don't really know why, I got the urge to have a look at my family history.
Have exhausted all my leads for now. It is a waiting game and we all love waiting, waiting, waiting.
There have been very limited responses to message boards, although I must admit, I did hit the jackpot with help from Hannia - who got me my cousin Myroslava's address in Lviv. Off went a letter to her straight away... and now I'm waiting, waiting waiting to hear back.
Also.... waiting to hear back fom the mob in Germany who provide info re refugees in camps....
Also... have ordered LDS films for region wher my dad was born.

Will have to spend some time in Adel going thru that material when it arrives.

There are so many HLIB'S around... historical ones... but no certainty whether they are relatives.

Will try to put up a blog of all the ones that are hovering..... like ghosts from the past....

The two photos are side by side shots of the same people, but with a gap of about 60 yrs. The wedding photo was from around 1930 - the later shot in 1990.

Post Resurrection

So, a bit of progress has been made. As you see, there are some faces up among the blogs of a few relatives. There are more to come. It's a pity I don't have names of people, but eventually I hope to track down some material that might have some names.

As to Easter, at least it was good break. Last night it rained; received 7mm. We have planted thousands of native trees and shrubs, so any rain this time of year is very welcome. We live in a very windy, dry coastal area with very alkaline soil. We can only grow quite a narrow band of plants because of these factors. Will put up some pics of the area we have planted. It was a bare paddock when we started. After 6 -7 years there is progress. It's very rewarding to stand in the shade of a eucalupt or a casuarina or a acasia and see all the tree litter they have deposited. Weed control is certainly becoming less of an issue over time.

Good Friday

Have started to hunt for old family photos with a view to posting them onto my facebook site. It may be possible that somebody may show interest. Unfortunately, not being a very organised person, finding photos is turning into a major enterprise. That's ok though. We are finding some amazing pictures. Incredible that so many years have slipped by. Managed to find one pic of my dad, which I was able to scan and get onto my site. That is a littlwe achievement, but hopefully I can follow it up with some more. If this is Good Friday, tomorrow will be Better Saturday.

Lonely look into the past

For some reason, I started looking around on the internet for someone with a similar surname to mine. Now, I believe there is nobody in Australia with a surname like mine, but in the country my parents came from, there could be ... and in other countries like Canada, USA or England, there could be.

Since ther can be many variations in spelling ( my name was translated from a cyrillic alphabet ) it took a bit of  hunting before I did come across some people with similar or identical names. One of them even lives in the same city my father came from.

I am trying currently through facebook to establish contact with them. It is a strange process. It has evoked many emotions and woken some part of me that has laid dormant for a long time. Although I never have a need/use for my "mother tongue" ( my parents raised me in their language and I only learnt English when I started to interact with other kids), I now find myself thinking thoughts in that language.

JUST WONDERING....

Around 11 pm at night I take the dog outside for a pee. I also have one myself ( pee). Since I live ina rural community, the stars look absolutely fabulous most nights. The Milky Way dominates the heavens. Kind of makes one feel a bit tiny, looking up into the heavens and TRYING to realise how big the universe is. Puts things into perspective.
The question which comes to mind is this: if the universe is expanding ( as I was taught ), then what is it expanding into? What is there where there is no universe ( yet ) ?
Hey, I don't lose too much sleep over it, but as a 55+ male, I 'm rapidly coming to understand our vulnerability. Those who are able to buy the whole god thing may take some comfort that there is an after life and reward after we die, but that's just a guess; nobody REALLY knows.
Enough of such thoughts. Have never tried this blogging before; don't know if anyone will read this, but in case you do, good luck to you. Catchya next time