A Bloy and his Blog

An excursion train with Milwaukee Road Engine 261 (an old steam locomotive) ran from Milwaukee to the Wisconsin Dells today.

read the rest of: Engine 261

Over past few days I’ve been exchanging emails with a Bloy from France (who discovered this web site). What I found most interesting was what he had to say about Bloys in France during a 17th century religious war.

I believe that during the religious war in France (civilian war between catholics and protestants- 17 century) a lot of Bloys from this part of France (well known also for [catholicism]) had left such an unsafe place for Germany.

On this site’s About page, I mention a theory an uncle of mine has, about Bloys who were French Huguenots that moved to Germany to avoid religious persecution. It’s interesting to note he’s not the only one with this theory.

It’s been rainy and unseasonable cold here in Madison lately. When dreary weather like that comes around, I often find myself making comfort foods to pick up my mood. Today I decided to make one of my favorites — the chili my Mother taught me to cook. Chili is one of those dishes that everyone makes a little differently. I remember as a kid eating other people’s chili and thinking, “This is not chili. My Mom knows how to make chili the right way.”

I’m sure there are people out there who will scoff at what I make and think the same thing. Nevertheless, my taste buds and I have known it is the right way to make chili. Over the years I’ve made a few alterations to the original recipe (most recently using ground turkey meat instead of ground beef). Whenever I make it I usually end up thinking about Mom’s chili and appreciate the knowledge that she passed on to me. Thanks Mom!

read the rest of: Mom’s Chili

While I was in Washington DC, I was able to do a little sight seeing.

read the rest of: Photos from Washington

Happy New Year! The start of a new year causes a lot of people to look ahead, and make their resolutions for the year. I’ve never been one to make new year’s resolutions. If there’s something I feel I should or should not be doing, I usually don’t wait until January 1st to make those changes or adjustments.

However, the small heart attack my father had recently (he’s doing very well now, thank you) has cause me to think a bit about exercise — specifically in the winter.

read the rest of: Get that heart pumping

Two paintings by my sister, Barbra Bloy, are now showing in an online exhibition called “Mandalas: Maps of Consciousness Order” at the Caladan Gallery.

For those of you unfamiliar with mandalas (and since the librarian in me is compelled to look things up), the Columbia Encyclopedia offers the following definition:

read the rest of: Mandalas by Barbra

On August 5th, my parents (Lee and Wil Bloy) celebrated their 55th Wedding Anniversary. About a week before that, we took a few pictures to commemorate the occasion. I intended to post this sooner, but with the whole broken wrist incident, I completely forgot.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!