Follow Friday: Blood and Frogs: Jewish Genealogy and More by Phillip Trauring

How can a title like Blood and Frogs not catch your attention?! I came across Phillip's blog when it was listed in Cyndi's List Mailing List of New Websites, a daily e-newsletter to which I've subscribed (Interested? Sign up here.). What caught my eye was a description of the B&F (free!) Forms System, and being a sucker for organizational tools, I immediately headed over for a visit.

I wasn't disappointed. Besides explaining the forms system and offering free PDF forms to use on your computer or print out, there are some interesting and well-written articles on Jewish and Polish genealogy, preservation (which warms this Scanfest hostess' heart!), doing genealogy on a Mac, and general genealogy techniques. Some of the general topics covered are FindAGrave, historical online newspapers, and mailing lists.

I'm looking forward to what Phillip will be blogging about in the future, and have subscribed to Blood and Frogs: Jewish Genealogy and More in Google Reader. You can also follow along in Twitter and Facebook, too!

As for the term, blood and frogs? Think back to your childhood Bible stories or the movie The Ten Commandments, and remember the first two plagues to strike Egypt!

Follow Friday: Dutch Ancestry Magazine Blog by Kirsten Huijsen

Today's Follow Friday post features the Dutch Ancestry Magazine Blog written by Kirsten Schimmel Huijsen of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This blog is part of the Dutch Ancestry Coach website, all of which is written in excellent English. Kirsten is a Dutch cultural historian and brings her experience and love of genealogy and Dutch history to her research and writing.

My favorite themed posts are Forgotten Crafts, in which Kirsten writes about Dutch professions and crafts that have gone by the wayside, such as the milkman, the ferryman, or the water and fire seller! Each post is illustrated with a photograph or painting depicting the professional or craftsman at work, and the history behind that craft is explained, as well as why it became obsolete. These expand your cultural knowledge of the Netherlands as well as help your research should you discover that one of your ancestors was engaged in one of these occupations!

Kirsten also writes about various historical events that happened not only in the Netherlands proper, but in the territories once ruled by this tiny kingdom, such as Indonesia. Additionally, she inserts her own family history and relates it to genealogical research.

The Dutch Ancestry Coach website offers a variety of genealogical resources including a free e-newsletter, free e-books, an interactive map, discussion groups, free coaching (giving you information so you can do the research yourself), as well as a variety of paid research and translation services.

If you have Dutch ancestry, you will definitely want to read the Dutch Ancestry Magazine Blog and subscribe to it in your favorite blog reader.You can follow Kirsten on Twitter and friend her on Facebook and LinkedIn, too.

Follow Friday: The Turning of Generations by Michelle Goodrum

Today in my first Follow Friday post, I would like to highlight one of my favorite "new" blogs that I've been reading for a while: The Turning of Generations by Michelle Roos Goodrum of Arizona. I say "new" because Michelle has been blogging just since this January (2010). However, she has already become an accomplished blogger with her own style, her own blogging themes, and entries to various carnivals.

One of the connections I made almost immediately with Michelle is that the city of Cheney, Washington, located just 17 miles southwest of my own city of Spokane, is an ancestral location of hers. She also mentions Spokane and Tum Tum (24 miles northwest of Spokane) in her writing. It is fascinating to finally read a blog with genealogical posts about the area in which I live. Even in my own society, Eastern Washington Genealogical Society, few people have Washington roots. This is an area where everyone seems to be from someplace else!

I mentioned that Michelle has created her own blogging themes. My favorite has been the Time Capsule posts, in which she wrote about each item, layer by layer, that she discovered in an old suitcase which belonged to her great-grandmother. I have also enjoyed her posts on the Archival Closet and her mother's photo album. It has been refreshing to read about family treasures and articles and organization when most geneabloggers tend to write about research or documents (not that there's anything wrong with that!).

I hope you'll take the time to read The Turning of Generations and subscribe to it in your favorite blog reader. And don't forget to follow Michelle with Google Friend Connect (look in the right-hand sidebar of her blog)!