Save the Date! July 1, 2012

Cats Can Blog

The kittens have their own blog now. Please see the kitten’s blog http://dhahranmeow.wordpress.com/ for updates, photos and information. Thanks for helping them get to their “forever home”.

It’s Official – they are Arabian Mau Mix

The Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization (EMRO) has confirmed that these kittens are Arabian Mau Mix . Two are still available. I emailed the EMRO with photos of the kittens showing the characteristics that I understood to be the mau characteristics. I talked with a friend Friday who sold 4 maus to the states (where the Egyptian Mau is particularly popular). Her maus also came from the “domestic camp” here where these came from. The Arabian Mau was recognized as an official breed in 2008. http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081027/NATIONAL/276620161/1018 It is native to the Middle East Region and has been there for over 1,000 years. or maybe it is actually decendant form  the Near Eastern Wildcat who has been in this region for 10,00 -100,000 years. See this article http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070628-cat-ancestor.html

The cats in Dubai that are officially Arabian Maus have a variety of looks. But the Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization prefers to reserve the term Mau – even Arabian Mau – for the spotted cats only.

A Mau is the only naturally occuring spotted cat.  It bears the “M” mark on its forehead, sometimes called the “scarab mark” after the symbol considered divine by the Ancient Egyptians. http://www.cairocatscattery.com/

These kittens are such beautiful cats with the white contrasting with the  dark spotted areas. They are sweet and need a home so share your love.

See the previous post for lots of pictures.

We need love!

The kittens are 6 weeks old, litter trained, eating dry food and playing and snuggling.

The mother is a unique looking cat with one blue eye and one green eye.  The father gave the kittens really nice markings. They look like he could have been Egyptian/Arabian Mau which have been documented on camp. Below are pink background collages that I put together of the kittens showing the mau-like characteristics such as the spots. The Mau breed which originated in this area thousands of years ago is very popular in the US now and people pay a lot of money for them. Dad could have looked like this.

Also are here are some random cute shots. I wish we could keep them!

Email me at karen@ternesfamily.com if you’d love and appreciate a special cat.

Avenue Des Ternes Paris, France

Dave and I stumbled upon this area 17 years ago. It is near the Arc De Triumph. We saw so many businesses with Ternes in the name. We went from one to another asking how they got that name.  We heard – from the street – well how did the street get that name – from the place aka square – well how did Place Des Ternes get that name – maybe from the balloon – What?

So here is the story as best we can understand it now. The story is that in the Middle Ages the Bishop of Paris had a farm outside the city called Villa Externa.  It was eventually called Estern and then Ternes. The girls tell me Des Ternes is plural. Later a poet and servant of Henry III bought the house to turn it into a castle/chateau. In 1860 the area became part of Paris. The Avenue runs from the edge of the city Porte(City Gate) Des Ternes to the Place (Square) Des Ternes.

When we were there 17 years ago – with baby Rachel- we saw many more businesses named after the street than we did this time. Now there are more chain stores.

Dave’s Ternes ancestors were Germans from the Alsace Lorraine area which was sometimes France and sometimes Germany and who lived in Russia for a few generations at the invitation of Catherine the Great of Russia. She allowed the Germans to keep their language, religion, culture and exempted them from Russian military service. They lived together in German communities in Russia. (Expats) Many immigrated together to Canada and the US, especially during the Russian Revolution. The Germans from Russia have a strong genealogical society and museums and are active in documenting and sharing their heritage.
So, was there a “French Connection”? Dave and family look much more French than German to me. Did some people adopt the name Ternes from the village near Paris and then go on to live in Alsace Loraine? We’ve seen on the internet various Terneses inquiring about the possible connection with the Ternes place names in France.  (There is also a Ternes Castle in Cantal area of France. We want to go see that next time. There is a book about it in French.) We also hear that there has been genealogical research along with DNA testing purported to show that the Terneses were actually from chieftains of Ireland and after that may have gone to France and Germany. Ancestry. Com says “Ternes Name Meaning and History German: from a short form of the personal name Maternus, from Latin, ‘the maternal (i.e. motherly) one’. Compare Mattern.” So we can’t prove any connection with the place names in France but it is cool to see the name everywhere – the street, the shops, the square, the metro station. All we know for sure is the Germans from Russia connection.
Oh yeah – the Baloon Des Ternes aka MONUMENT DES AERONAUTES DU SIEGE. In WWI France used hot air balloons to help communication and defense during the siege on Paris. To commemorate that, Bartholdi – the French sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty, – designed a hot air balloon sculpture and it was placed in the Place De Porte Des Ternes and commonly called the Baloon Des Ternes. (We searched for quite a while to find the guy the balloon was named after  before finding out it was named for the place). Don’t go looking for the balloon sculpture now. It was melted down in 1942 for metal.
Here is a brief outline of Dave’s direct male ancestors from Germany to Russia to North Dakota

Johann Peter Ternes born 1791  Elsass, Germany (now known as Alsace, France)

Son Peter Ternes born 1 Jul 1827 Krassna, Akkermann, Bessarabia, Russia

Son Michael Ternes born 25 Nov 1855 Krassna, Akkermann, Bessarabia, Russia

Son Peregrinus Ternes born Oct. 28 1880 Krasna, Akkermann, Bessarabia, Russia

Married Nov 24, 1903 in Krasna, North Dakota

Died June 25 1973 Bismark, North Dakota

Son Nicholas Ternes born 15 Sep 1926 Strasburg, North Dakota

Married July 25 1950 Bismark, North Dakota

Son Dave Ternes born Feb 4, 1958 Boise, Idaho

References:

http://www.parisenimages.fr/en/search-in-collections-gallery.html?mots=ternes&x=0&y=0

http://privatecirculation.com/?p=1289

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quartier_des_Ternes

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_des_Ternes

http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Ternes-family-history.ashx

http://www.parisbestlodge.com/placedesternesEN.html

http://www.wichita.lib.ks.us/NR/rdonlyres/5544ADA8-1565-49A3-B68E-DF21A7A1081B/61329/May10.pdf

http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc//research/genealogy/cgrr/ternes.htm

http://www.grhs.org/

http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/research/genealogy/cgrr/immigration.htm#T

http://www.auvergne-centrefrance.com/geotouring/patrimoi/chateau/15/chat_ternes.htm

http://www.jedecouvrelafrance.com/f-4844.cantal-chateau-ternes.html

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/402847.html

Here is an inquiry and the info provided to a Ternes regarding the origin of the name:

who was ternes? - after whom we have avenue des ternes (paris), metro ternes (paris), hotel ternes (paris), village ternes (france). my mother was a ternes - i am very intersted to find my family connections having grown up in australia

Request for Question Clarification by leli-ga on 20 Sep 2004 03:55 PDT Hi nif I've done some preliminary research, and now believe the family name Ternes is probably not connected with the placenames in France. Was your mother's family definitely French? It sounds as if you'd like us to concentrate on the family name Ternes more than the places in France. Would that be right? Please let us know how best we can help you with this. Thanks - Leli

Clarification of Question by nif-ga on 20 Sep 2004 06:05 PDT Hi Leli-ga Tks for the prompt response. My mother was defintely not French. Yes I would like you to concentrate on the family name Ternes. There are a lot of Ternes in Melbourne Australia where my mother's family lived - less than a handful in Paris. It is not a very widely used name. My mother told me my grandfather - who died when I was young - told her he remembered speaking German when young (Alsace connection?). (Ironically, my grandfather was an Australian soldier in France in WWI where he was gassed by the Germans). Nif-ga

Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 20 Sep 2004 07:11 PDT I have found that the history of the surname "Ternes" has already been done. I can point you to a source that can provide you with an 1800 words history of the origin of the name including (among other things) the precise location where the name first arose and from what original name it was derived from. The history is being offered by this source for less than $20. It should be noted that this source does not indicate that the name originates from neither French nor German origin though its Australian connection could easily be explained. Because of this I suspect that your mother's surname may originate from this lineage rather than some direct connection to the Paris landmarks. If you'd like me to post this source as an answer I'd be happy to do so. Regards; tutuzdad-ga

Clarification of Question by nif-ga on 21 Sep 2004 02:10 PDT hi tutuzdad yes - ok - however I hope it is not one of those perfectly generalised geneological types - how is it that ternes appears so frquently in paris?

Answer

Subject: Re: historical name/person Answered By: tutuzdad-ga on 21 Sep 2004 08:00 PDT

Dear nif-ga Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. The HOUSE OF NAMES has researched the surname ?Ternes? and has determined that the name originated (believe it or not) in medieval Ireland. Apparently the name has undergone a variety of changes over the centuries and those who still bear the name (or variations of it) are now scattered across the globe. This Irish connection had been indisputably established by DNA and the surname could very well have spread to parts of Europe like France and Germany (rather than ?from? them) and even more likely, to Australia through it?s long-standing British and Irish relationships: --------------------------------- ?Origin Displayed: Irish Spelling variations include: Tiernan, Tierman, Ternan, Kiernan and others. First found in county Cavan at Tullyhunco where the "Annals of the Four Master" show 33 Tiernans almost all as Chiefs of Teallach Donnchadha. Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: John Tierman settled in Philadelphia in 1802; John Tiernan settled in Philadelphia in 1845; also 1850; 1867; and 1880; Patrick Tiernan settled in Philadelphia in 1846. (Above is a small excerpt from our 1800 word history)? HOUSE OF NAMES http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.familycrest_details/s.Ternes/Ternes_family_Crest/Ternes_coat_of_arms/qx/Ternes.htm --------------------------------- To make sure that this was not just a ?shake-and-bake? heritage that is being sold on the internet for the purposes of establishing some bogus coat of arms, I researched The Chiefs of Teallach Donnchadha to see if in fact these names appear in their history?and they do indeed. So as you can see, it appears that the name surname ?Ternes? has some direct relationship to Irish ?Royalty?. The Chiefs of Teallach Donnchadha were very important figures throughout three medieval centuries from 1250-1550 in Ireland. The name is still found primarily in the Cavan-Leitrim and can be connected to the northeastern part of Roscommon in mediaeval times as descendents of ?Tiernan? (Tighearnan O'Rourke who ruled the land called Teallach Donnchadha anglicized to Tullyhunco, a barony in the present Co Cavan, Ulster). ?Tiernan? was the grandson of Turlough Mor O'Connor, King of Ireland. The name is also spelt in Irish MacThighearnain, which is anglicized MacKiernan. Today the names have long since dropped the prefix ?Mac? and are variously known as ?Ternes?, ?Tiernan?, ?Tierman?, ?Ternan?, ?Kiernan? and others. So, it is this period after the rule of Turlough Mor O'Connor, King of Ireland and some time following the time of Tighearnan O'Rourke, who ruled the land called Teallach Donnchadha anglicized to Tullyhunco a barony in the present Co Cavan, Ulster, that these variations of the names began to arise and presumably establish their own lineages. The modern day ?Tiernans?, one of the many variations of the name ?Tighearnan?, the same name from whence the surname ?Ternes? is derived, have actually established their relationship to ?Tighearnan O'Rourke? beyond a reasonable doubt through DNA testing. MCTIERNAN DNA TEST http://mctiernan.com/dnatest.htm Since the ?Tiernans? have proven that this is their lineage and it is a known, recorded fact that the ?Ternes? surname is one of the many variations of original names, it is only logical that this is origin of the ?Ternes? surname as well. Presumably the families found today throughout Europe and elsewhere migrated to these areas from Ireland, but at the very least it is quite convincing that the name can be traced to 13th century Ireland but probably no earlier anywhere else in the world. While there may be another explanation about the origin of the name in France or elsewhere, I strongly doubt anyone can dispute this earliest origin that I have shown here (1250 AD) with one from an even earlier date regardless of the geographical location it supposedly comes from. I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you have any questions about my research please post a clarification request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us. Best regards; Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher INFORMATION SOURCES HISTORY OF 8 FAMILIES http://mctiernan.com/ MCTIERNAN DNA TEST http://mctiernan.com/dnatest.htm HOUSE OF NAMES http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.familycrest_details/s.Ternes/Ternes_family_Crest/Ternes_coat_of_arms/qx/Ternes.htm SEARCH STRATEGY SEARCH ENGINE USED: Google ://www.google.com SEARCH TERMS USED: Tiernan Chiefs of Teallach Donnchadha Ternes Turlough Mor O'Connor Tighearnan O'Rourke Origin Surname

Comments

Subject: Re: historical name/person From: guillermo-ga on 21 Sep 2004 07:35 PDT

Please see: http://www.mairie17.paris.fr/mairie17/jsp/Portail.jsp?id_page=47 « Au Moyen Age, l?évêque de Paris possédait au-delà du faubourg du Roule, une ferme extérieure à son fief appelée « Villa Externa », du mot « externa » découlèrent « Estern », puis « Ternes ». » Translation: ?In the Middle Ages, the bishop of Paris owned, beyond the suburb of Roule, a farm outside from his feud named ?Villa Externa?, from the word ?externa? (meaning ?outside? or ?external?) derived ?Estern?, and later ?Ternes?.? Besides that, the word ?terne? is a French adjective meaning ?matte?, ?not shiny?. In French adjectives have plural forms, in this case would be ?ternes?. Guillermo

Subject: Re: historical name/person From: nif-ga on 22 Sep 2004 05:57 PDT

Bonjour guillermo vous remercient beaucoup - c'est un excellent commentaire:  précis et concis.  j'apprécie votre aide!  nous aimons la France et habitent-ils à paris quelques 3 - 6 mois chaque année alternative.  de souhaits le plus chaud de australie nif

Blue Strawberry Map Google

Blue Strawberry Map Local Landmarks

Sailing Trip To Turkey

FETHİYE – FLOTILLA NOTES/SUGGESTED ITINERARY

 

East Route – Fethiye Gulf

Day 1:    Arrival in Fethiye. Get to know the boat and the flotilla leaders, then go shopping, and in the evening eat in one of the nice local restaurants.

 

Day 2:     At 09.30 hrs a chart briefing is held in the Marina Restaurant. Information will be given on the route for the week and general “dos and don’ts”.

 

Destination today: Tomb Bay (15 nm) – a pleasant sail of about 15 nautical miles, with the possibility of a lunch stop on anchor. As you sail into Tomb Bay you will see Lycian rock tombs in the steep cliffs. It is worth a walk up to the tombs for the dramatic scenery – don’t forget your walking shoes! One of the many lovely bays in the Fethiye Gulf which can only be reached by boat. Enjoy the hospitality and food in the restaurant and after dinner have a chat and a drink around the camp fire.

 

Day 3:     Sarsala (15 nm) – the Gulf of Fethiye has too many beautiful bays to visit in one week but this is one of our favourites with a good jetty with moorings and a restaurant that also serves very good food.

 

Day 4:    Karacaören (20 nm) – we sail in an easterly direction around a cape and past the famous Ölü Deniz beach (please note yachts are not allowed inside the lagoon) to a pleasant anchorage protected by the reef to the south! Here we take mooring lines ashore by dinghy before dinner, or the friendly host will pick you up from the boat.

 

Day 5:    Göcek (20 nm) – a lively little town, important in the area for water sports and with several marinas. The flotilla goes to the 2^nd jetty of the municipality marina. Lots of small shops and restaurants on the main boulevard.

 

Day 6:    Boynuz Bükü (15 nm) – Following a pleasant sail out of Göcek we anchor behind one of the islands at lunch time to have lunch and a cooling swim. In the afternoon we sail into the fjord like bay which has pine covered slopes. You can also walk to a nearby waterfall.

 

Day 7:    Fethiye (15 nm). Back to the base in Ece Marina with a lunch break at one of the many anchorages. In the evening we have dinner in a nice restaurant in the bazaar.

 

West Route – Towards Marmaris

Day 1:    Arrival in Fethiye. Get to know the boat and the flotilla leaders, then go shopping, and in the evening eat in one of the nice local restaurants.

 

Day 2:     At 09.30 hrs a chart briefing is held in the Marina Restaurant. Information will be given on the route for the week and general “dos and don’ts”.

 

Destination today: Kapı Creek (15 nm) – a lovely well, sheltered bay, but first you can visit the ruins on Gemiler
Island. Dinner ashore in the simple but good restaurant. Locals in a dinghy will direct you to your spot and give you a mooring line.

 

Day 3:    Aşı Koyu (25 nm) – a trip west out of the Fethiye Bay past Peksimet Island where you can often see dolphins. Aşı Koyu is hidden behind high cliffs and hard to see from a distance but is a lovely bay.

 

Day 4:    Ekincik. (10 nm). From here you can make a very interesting excursion to the turtle beach, the ruins of Caunos, the rock tombs in the little town of Dalyan and mud baths.

 

Day 5:     Ruin Bay (25 nm). Returning to the Fethiye Gulf after 15 nm we sail through a narrow channel and under steep mountains come to the famous Ruin Bay where a friendly family restaurant serves some of the best food in the area. If you enjoy hiking this is the place. Alternatively you can snorkel in the clear waters of the bay.

 

Day 6:    Cold Water Bay (15nm). As its name suggests a cold water spring flows into the sea here. From the village is a 45 minute walk to the abandoned Greek village of Kayakoyu. The restaurant in Cold Water Bay has a wonderful view and good food. (AKA Bestas Liman and Ali’s Cove)

 

Day 7:    Fethiye (15 nm). Back to the base in Ece Marina with a lunch break at one of the many anchorages. In the evening we have dinner in a nice restaurant in the bazaar.

 

Kapi Creek (Day 2)

 

 

 

 

Asi Koyu (Day 3)

 

 

 

Ekincik Bay (Day 4)

 

 

 

Ruin Bay (Day 5)

 

 

 

Cold Water Bay, AKA Ali’s Bay, AKA Bestas Liman (Day 6)

 

 

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Abaya or Not in al Khobar

When we first got here we went to Hyper Panda without abayas and felt pretty conspicuous. I have a post on here about that expereince. Of course with three pretty girls we would have gotten attention anyway. We got abayas and wear them to the malls and downtown Khobar. In the summer an advantage was we could wear next to nothing under them and have some relief from the heat. (For that purpose get an abaya that closes in the front or have it sewn closed like we did) Some ladies never wear abayas in Khobar. They wear a long dress with long sleaves or a long top that covers the hips and long sleaves. Yesterday I went to town with two ladies who did not wear abayas and as I had on long jeans and a big sweat shirt and was traveling by taxi and just running in here and there (and it was cool yesterday morning) I felt OK without the abaya. Many ladies around here said they never wore abayas before 9/11. The abayas let them blend in a bit more and if you had a scarf (which the westerners rarely wear) you can almost dissapear if you need to. My neighbor who never wears an abaya but dresses very conservativley has been here almost 30 years and in that time has been approached by matawa only in Dammam and only 5 times. I’ll post a photo of my girls and I in our “go to town clothes”.

Photos of Dhahran and Ras Tanura

There are two photo albums on Webshots by cindyandrob showing the Aramco compounds of Dhahran and Ras Tanura. The photo collections are available to view freely at webshots so I am asumming they won’t mind me posting a link from here.

Dhahran Saudi Arabia

Ras Tanura Saudi Arabia

A few things have changed since the photos as the compound was spruced up for the king’s visit in early 2008, but for the most part these photos show what it looks like here. As you can see Dhahran has become an artificial oasis since the days 75 years ago when it was started on the Dammam dome where oil was struck.

Glossary

The glossary I compiled about Saudi Arabia and Islam has gotten buried in this blog so here is the link to it. http://colorabian.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/glossary   These were terms I came across in news articles and blogs and other resources on Saudi Arabia and Islam. They were taken from varius sources. If you have suggestions for other tems for the glossary, please let me know.  Thanks.

What Do You Want to Know?

Hi Everyone! Let me know what you wonder about our experience here in Saudi Arabia and I will write about it. It would be great if everyone who saw this post writes a comment below telling me what you want to know. We miss all our friends back “home” and would love to share and interact with you this way. We also are new enough to this experience that we still remember vividly what it was like to consider, decide, wait for visas, pack, and take off for this foriegn land.

Calendar

Look to the left of this post. You will see a calendar. The week here starts on Saturday. That is the first school/work day of the week. the “week end” is at the end of the week. The weekend days are Thursday and Friday. It hasn’t been too hard to get used to.

Crazy Stuff – Drifting

On the way to the beach two young men in a car were showing off for us. We noticed a shirt or something flapping out the passenger side window. It was green and then we saw that it was the Saudi Arabian flag. Soon one long bare leg was sticking straight up out the passenger window. Then the leg had the flag tied on the ankle flapping in the wind. Next two legs straight up with the flag flying. Can you imagine? Rachel has a photo on her cell phone. When we figure out how to get it from her phone we will post it.

See the Youtube videos entitled “Only in Saudi” on the links on the side of this blog to see more about this behavior.

Half Moon Bay Aramco Beach on the Persian Gulf

On Friday we went to the sailing regattta at Half Moon beach. The beach has palm trees, shaded picnic tables with lights and electrical plugins and barbecue grills. The water has cooled off to a comfortable temperature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

Picassa Online Photo Albums

Family and Friends: If you know my first initial and my last name you can see our online photo albums. Go to  http://picasaweb.google.com/  Add my first initial and last name to the address and you will see the albums. You can comment on albums or idividual photos.

Al Hasa Oasis – City of Hofuf

Here are a few photos from our first in-kingdom trip which was to the oasis city of Hofuf.

 

 Here is Claire buying cinnomon sticks at a suq aka souk.

 

 

 Here is Danielle in her abaya at the Pottary Market. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bedoin tribal style jewelry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like taking photos through windows and doors.

Ibrihim’s Castle – an Ottoman Turkish fort from about 500 AD.

 

Claire and Rachel’s Mosaic Inspired by Cyprus

 

Rachel and Claire made this mosaic inspired by our trip to Cyprus. They made it square by square on the computer. At the archealogy site we visited in Pafos there were many, many floors that had been excavated from the time when the Roman Empire ruled Cyprus. Most of these mosaic floors had characters and scenes from Greek Mythology, interestingly – not the Roman Mythology characters. The largest excavated villa was identified as once belonging to the Roman governor who Paul and Barnabus converted on during their visit to Cyprus.