Thirtieth installment from the diary of my great-grandfather’s sister Alise, written during the First World War. When the diary starts, she is living just a few miles from the front lines of the Eastern Front, and is then forced to
Latvia and the World
Happy Latvian Independence Day! What have you done today to show your appreciation for Latvia? Sang a song, made some traditional Latvian food, attended a Latvian celebration of some kind? Something that anyone can do to celebrate Latvia today is
Surname Saturday – RudzÄ«tis
Today’s Surname Saturday name is RudzÄ«tis! This Latvian name is the diminutive of “rudzi”, which means “rye”. It is a relatively common surname, found in many Latvian parishes, including Bauņi, Galgauska, Dauguļi, KrÄslava, LÄ“durga, Limbaži, Nabe, Sece, Sidgunda, Skaņkalne, Stopiņi,
Short Story – Now Live!
Head on over to my fiction blog and read the genea-fiction short story, “A President For His Country”! As I’ve said, this short story is only the beginning. I’ve started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the first novel! All of
Happy Halloween!
No new puzzle today, Aila is taking the day off for every Goth’s favourite holiday – Halloween! Now, Latvia doesn’t strictly speaking celebrate Halloween, but there are a number of Latvian pagan traditions that do mimic this holiday – most
Time for the Third Puzzle!
What do you have to solve this week? Just a simple keyword puzzle. By solving this puzzle, you’ll reveal the tools that you need to solve the puzzles *within* the “A President For His Country” short story, which is coming
Come Solve The Next Puzzle!
The newest puzzle is available on my fiction site! This time, you will be revealing the name of the short story – and by doing so, find your way to the prologue of the story! As before, first ten comments
My Fiction Project is Live!
So today I’m celebrating my fourth blogiversary! I started this blog on October 10, 2009, and it has been quite the adventure! More and more people are coming here to learn about how to find their Latvian roots. This is
The Spanish Flu Epidemic in Latvia
Most of you are probably familiar with the Spanish flu epidemic that ravaged the world from the beginning of 1918 to the end of 1920 and killed somewhere between 3 and 5 percent of the world’s population. But do you
WW1 Diary – October 5, 1916
Twenty-ninth installment from the diary of my great-grandfather’s sister Alise, written during the First World War. When the diary starts, she is living just a few miles from the front lines of the Eastern Front, and is then forced to