I really don’t have much to report on my writing adventures this week. Much of my time was taken up by Board of Education and PTA duties, which left little time and energy for writing projects.
The weather isn’t helping my motivation. We have a had a few very nice days, but the past few have been gray and rainy. Great for napping, not so great for writing.
On a positive note, my mom’s sample was received by Ancestry. Now we need to keep our fingers crossed that her DNA can be extracted and processed successfully. Ancestry is a “spit-test” where you fill a tube with saliva. My mom has trouble with that, so we followed directions to make artificial saliva and use brushes to swab her cheeks and put into the solution. Many people have used this method with great results, so I have my fingers crossed that it works with her as well.
Having her DNA on Ancestry will help my research a lot. She has lots of matches to her Scottish Campbell side, but her Irish Sutton-Hayden side is elusive. I managed to find a group of matches from the Hayden line, because one of my great-grandmother’s brothers came to America and had a large family. However, I have not found a single Sutton match.
Given that her grandfather Sutton was the only one of his siblings to have children that we know of (there is one sister that we do not know her fate), all the Sutton matches would be farther out. So my mother, being one generation closer, has a better chance of stronger matches than I or my brother do.
I am also hoping that her being one generation father back can pry open the brick wall we have one her Campbell line. I have many matches that trace back to Hugh Campbell, born about 1787, but we lose the trail with him. I am hoping my mom’s DNA pulls up some matches that are one generation farther back. DNA is really good for about 5 generations back, which is where Hugh is to me. So I look to my mother to get one past him.
But first we need a good sample! It will take some weeks before we know if it’s successful.
BOE, PTA, & DNA—CoronaLife Day 740
I really don’t have much to report on my writing adventures this week. Much of my time was taken up by Board of Education and PTA duties, which left little time and energy for writing projects.
The weather isn’t helping my motivation. We have a had a few very nice days, but the past few have been gray and rainy. Great for napping, not so great for writing.
On a positive note, my mom’s sample was received by Ancestry. Now we need to keep our fingers crossed that her DNA can be extracted and processed successfully. Ancestry is a “spit-test” where you fill a tube with saliva. My mom has trouble with that, so we followed directions to make artificial saliva and use brushes to swab her cheeks and put into the solution. Many people have used this method with great results, so I have my fingers crossed that it works with her as well.
Having her DNA on Ancestry will help my research a lot. She has lots of matches to her Scottish Campbell side, but her Irish Sutton-Hayden side is elusive. I managed to find a group of matches from the Hayden line, because one of my great-grandmother’s brothers came to America and had a large family. However, I have not found a single Sutton match.
Given that her grandfather Sutton was the only one of his siblings to have children that we know of (there is one sister that we do not know her fate), all the Sutton matches would be farther out. So my mother, being one generation closer, has a better chance of stronger matches than I or my brother do.
I am also hoping that her being one generation father back can pry open the brick wall we have one her Campbell line. I have many matches that trace back to Hugh Campbell, born about 1787, but we lose the trail with him. I am hoping my mom’s DNA pulls up some matches that are one generation farther back. DNA is really good for about 5 generations back, which is where Hugh is to me. So I look to my mother to get one past him.
But first we need a good sample! It will take some weeks before we know if it’s successful.
So that’s where I am this week. Where are you?
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