In last week’s blog post, My Mother, the 80 Year Old Junior Genealogist, I mentioned my handy-dandy cemetery kit.
After reading the post aloud to my editor and asking for improvement suggestions, Michael simply said, “Sounds good. You should make next week’s post about the cemetery kit. I’m your husband and understand what you do, but I have no idea whats in that red basket.”
Point taken.
It’s actually quite simple. Really.
A cemetery kit, or “grave bag”, is a collection of items you take to a cemetery with you when you are performing genealogical work.
Kits vary depending upon what you’re doing. My handy-dandy kit fits in a little red basket. Of course, as soon as I sat down to bang this post out, the Type-A perfectionist in me reared her ugly head and I promptly scurried through several on-line articles to make sure I hadn’t left some elementary, but vital item out of my kit.
I hadn’t.
But I did see a few things I’m adding to my kit that isn’t in the picture below:
· a Ziploc bag for my camera and phone in case it begins to rain
· a pair of thin work gloves (It’s a wonder I’ve not been eaten alive with poison ivy!)
· a small gardening hand spade to dig the dirt away from around sinking stones
· a pair of shears for trimming grass around the stones.
Snacks and water were mentioned, but I choose to leave my snacks and water in the car since the cemeteries I deal with are small, usually fifty square yards or less. I don’t mind trotting back and forth to the car since it is usually parked right at the edge of the cemetery.
My kit consists of:
· two pencils, a pen, and a 5” X 8” lined pad on a small clipboard which all fit in a notebook sleeve
· sunblock stick, first aid kit(band aids, anti-bac, and antihistamine), tissues, gum, washcloth, cap
· spray bottle full of water, two brushes, a grocery bag for trash and the brushes after using them
· tape measure, flashlight, hand sanitizer, Deep Woods Off!, antibacterial wipes and a kneeling pad
All of which fit in my handy-dandy red basket, leaving plenty of room for the new items to fit! Two items included, but not pictured are my fully charged digital camera, and a 5½” X 8½” pad of graph paper to plot the location of the graves.
And that is my handy-dandy cemetery kit. With it I can clear, clean, transcribe, plot and photograph tombstones for posterity.
Quite handy-dandy.
After reading the post aloud to my editor and asking for improvement suggestions, Michael simply said, “Sounds good. You should make next week’s post about the cemetery kit. I’m your husband and understand what you do, but I have no idea whats in that red basket.”
Point taken.
It’s actually quite simple. Really.
A cemetery kit, or “grave bag”, is a collection of items you take to a cemetery with you when you are performing genealogical work.
Kits vary depending upon what you’re doing. My handy-dandy kit fits in a little red basket. Of course, as soon as I sat down to bang this post out, the Type-A perfectionist in me reared her ugly head and I promptly scurried through several on-line articles to make sure I hadn’t left some elementary, but vital item out of my kit.
I hadn’t.
But I did see a few things I’m adding to my kit that isn’t in the picture below:
· a Ziploc bag for my camera and phone in case it begins to rain
· a pair of thin work gloves (It’s a wonder I’ve not been eaten alive with poison ivy!)
· a small gardening hand spade to dig the dirt away from around sinking stones
· a pair of shears for trimming grass around the stones.
Snacks and water were mentioned, but I choose to leave my snacks and water in the car since the cemeteries I deal with are small, usually fifty square yards or less. I don’t mind trotting back and forth to the car since it is usually parked right at the edge of the cemetery.
My kit consists of:
· two pencils, a pen, and a 5” X 8” lined pad on a small clipboard which all fit in a notebook sleeve
· sunblock stick, first aid kit(band aids, anti-bac, and antihistamine), tissues, gum, washcloth, cap
· spray bottle full of water, two brushes, a grocery bag for trash and the brushes after using them
· tape measure, flashlight, hand sanitizer, Deep Woods Off!, antibacterial wipes and a kneeling pad
All of which fit in my handy-dandy red basket, leaving plenty of room for the new items to fit! Two items included, but not pictured are my fully charged digital camera, and a 5½” X 8½” pad of graph paper to plot the location of the graves.
And that is my handy-dandy cemetery kit. With it I can clear, clean, transcribe, plot and photograph tombstones for posterity.
Quite handy-dandy.