Vancouver Island Blogger checking in...family history, Hucul, Faykes, Fakas...

Soon to be another BVI Blogger as yesterday I purchased my tickets to come back to the BVI. July 28th is the day! It was a sad occasion, as the best deal was American, but they don't have it as easy to upgrade any more and we basically have to see the 4 points of the continent before we get to the islands! We will just leave that one alone before I depress myself and get on a soap box!
Richy, your pictures are getting fabulous! And it looks like the boat is managing to do some very nice diving this summer as well. We will just continue to pray for all the storms to stay away from us.

I have a mixed bag on my blog tonight, I have been busy the last day or so coaxing my mother and father into tagging names of long ago relatives on pictures and putting them all up on Facebook. It seems to be a great place for attempting some of these connections, as everyone can look at the pictures and fill in the names they know.
On my fathers side, it is Ukrainian, although the boundaries of where the country lines were much changed back then.

I will try and not bore you too much with this, but someone may do a search on the internet and come up with these names and places and be able to fill in more information on the old family.

This is the ship that my great grandparents and maybe more back came to Canada on. It is called the Armenia. These are my fathers grandparents on his mothers side. There was 16 children in the family I believe! Troubling to do searching as they all anglicanized their names and not to the same thing! They were all Faykes, Fakas, Feakes, you get the picture! Manitoba was the hotspot for them.
Guido (Petro) and Baba Faykes sure do look Ukrainian, although I think he is too skinny to be Ukrainian!

I believe this was the original old homestead in Gardenton, Manitoba.

This was replaced eventually, but I remember having great times at a swimming pool here in summer, and everyone would always be out there on the weekends.
On my dads fathers side, they were Hucul's, and I believe somewhere I have a copy of the papers, but my grandfather was born in Sustawala, what they called Austria then, but it was really more east of that. This is taken in the old country of my grandfather. I really don't know how they arrived in Canada, but they came to the Meadowlake Saskatchewan area.

And then for a good old fashioned Ukrainian looking wedding, my grandfather Peter Hucul, married Domka Fakas!

My father was one of two, he had an older sister called Marjorie (or Mary depending) This picture was obviously taken during the war years, and we really know much less about the Hucul side then the other side, I think there was a break way back then, but there is a lot of Hucul's out there, and some have connected with my mother and I on Facebook so we are hoping to put all the pieces together. My parents, and mother especially, have been interested in tracing the family lineage for quite a few years, and it struck me today that I could use my blog to help gather information! So, over time, that is what I will do.

Now on to other things, see not too many old pictures there! My computer screen on my MAC looked like this today. I be thinking that it is not such a good sign and I better be calling Apple before returning to the islands this month as we know they will not ship anything out of the country. At least I was smart enough to take a picture, as it only happens sometimes and you know what it is like when you take something in and they try and replicate it and can't and then shrug their shoulders at you?

My husband bought a very cheap propane tank at Costco. And then proceeded to spend $2200.00 to modify it to this!!

I think all our jaws dropped, and I am not sure that it is worth that much money as a lawn ornament! I can only assume it is very important to this project.

I was sent this picture today, with headlines screaming "wind damage from Edouardo" so I quickly opened it wondering what kind of extreme hurricane damage had been done that I had not heard about, only to see this picture. I giggled!

I think that is about I know today, it has been a semi lazy week, and I had to be convinced to get out of my pajamas to go out for dinner last night! I don't even have to do that on the boat! The only reason I think I went was because they promised me I could have a Peanut Buster Parfait afterwards (like I needed it!)