More Polish Grallas From Luboschütz and Oppeln

In the Catholic parish in the city of Opole, Poland, a Gralla family first appeared about the year 1791 residents of the village of Luboschütz. This Gralla was Nicolaus Gralla, a soldier, age 30, who married Marianna Hannalonka of Opole, age 27 on the 3rd of Feb. Another early Gralla to this area was Valentin Gralla, who moved into Luboschütz from elsewhere and was also married on the 3rd of Feb. 1791 to Agnes Libor of Kempa. He was 28 and she was 26. As these are the only two Grallas in this parish, it is probable that they were brothers moving in from another town. Records are sketchy for this time period and few Gralla entries were noted. Later we find more Grallas in Opole.

Adalbert Gralla married Marianna Waletzko on 27 June 1824. He was then age 30 and she was 23. Four children were born to this couple, Joseph, on 14 Nov. 1834, who married Maria Klaus, Johann, 12 May 1827, who was married three times; to Agnes Malek, Josepha Hilla, and Agnes Kochanek, and a stillborn son on 24 Jun 1833, and a daughter Rosalia born in 1818, who died on 30 Aug. 1825.

Joseph Gralla and Maria Klaus, daughter of Mathias Klaus of Halbendorf married 14 Feb. 1865. Joseph was a brick mason at the time. Only one son, Joseph, born 26 Nov. 1865 was found in this parish.

Johann Gralla had several children born in Opole. From his first wife, Agnes Malek, whom he married on 8 Feb. 1846 when he was 19, and she was 18, were born five children. Anton was born on the 11th of Jan. 1848, and died on the 30th of the same month. Christina was born on the 2nd of May 1849 and died 28 Dec. 1851. Daughter Marianna was born on 14 Aug. 1851. She, too, must have died early, although no record was found, as the next daughter was also a Marianna born on 14 Aug. 1853 and died shortly after on the 9th of Oct. The last child of this union was Julianna, born 23 May 1855-died 24 May 1855. On this date, the mother of these children, Agnes, also passed away.

From Johann Gralla's 2nd wife, Josepha Hilla, he had two children; Francisca, 27 Sep 1856, and Maria, 8 Mar. 1858 and on the 31st of Mar., his 2nd wife passed away at age 22 with complications from childbirth.

Johann then married Agnes Kochanek, daughter of Joseph Kochanek on 22 Jun 1858, when he was 31, and she was 19.

Their children included: Julianna, born 20 May 1859, who died on 9 Jul. 1859, Peter, born 5 Oct. 1860 and Catharina, born 17 Nov. 1862, Thomas, born 18 Dec. 1864, who died on 1 Feb. 1865, Juliana, born 18 May 1865, Johannes, 13 May 1866, and Julianna, 18 May 1868.

The Grallas from the town of Luboschütz and the parish of Opole, are small in number. There are some indications that they originate from a larger group of Grallas from the town of Lugnian. Gralla immigrants to the United States include Grallas from Lugnian and Opole.

Zucchini Everywhere!

Well, I decided to try a recipe that I got from the Home Food Storage Lady in Highland, Chirine Wadsworth. Her link is the bottom one of my sidebar blog list.  Alpine Food Storage.  The recipe was for Zucchini Relish. Sounded good and my friend, Sylvie, at work, says she uses the same recipe. So, I got out my old Kitchen-Aid grinder attachment and started grinding the veggies. In the upper right starts some of the mess I created. But it only got worse from there, couldn't take a picture of that. My dear husband always says, "Clean as you go". Well, who wants to keep cleaning and cleaning, just do it once and forget it, is my motto. And then when I was done, I put it in the bowl and refrigerated overnight. It looks good. But then I had to go out and buy a new steam canner, since I quit canning over 20 years ago, had to do with starting to work full-time, I guess. I gave my mom all my equipment and jars and so I am starting from scratch. Below is the recipe, just in case your zucchinis are also growing out of your ears.

Amazing Zucchini Relish
8-9 pints of Relish

Soak
10 C. zucchini
3 C. onions
4 red bell peppers
5 T. salt

Mix
3 c. sugar
1 T. cornstarch
1 t. turmeric
1 t. nutmeg (Sylvie's addition to the recipe)
3 C. vinegar
1 t. dry mustard
1 t. black pepper
1 t. celery seed

Grate zucchini in food processor, along with onion and bell peppers. Mix salt in with vegetables in large plastic bowl and let stand overnight. Next day, rinse thoroughly in a large strainer and drain well.
Place shredded vegetables in large heavy pan and add remaining ingredients. Mix well and boil for 30 minutes. Pack in jars, seal and process 10 minutes. 

So back to the farmer girl version of me...Actually, if I had more time, I think I would do a lot of this.  Probably more canning, than eating.  At least that was how it used to be.  Then I would wonder if the stuff in the jars had rotted and I would get salmonella or some other strange manifestation if I ate it. 

Fly Tying

Since Tyson was 3, he has been a fisherman at heart. He started tying flies and fishing at age 3 and at 9, now he poses by his prized flies, all of which he has created. He loves it and loves doing this with his grandpa. They love doing just about anything together. They just want to be together and then it is fun no matter what they do.

Pony Ride

Day 1 Staycation

Here is a little snack break at Wheeler Farm. The kids seemed to enjoy it, especially the souvenir shop. Isn't that about normal?

Those Precious Childhood Memories!

Yes, we all have them, those first things we remember.  My first memory was of moving to our home in Elmore, Minnesota as I was about 4 or 5 years old.  I was outside in the front yard riding my little tricycle--a now non-existent riding toy.  Anyway, my English was quite limited as we hadn't lived in America all that long.  I spotted a girl across the street.  She had dark hair and kept saying things to me, none of which I could understand.  What did she want from me???  As things progressed, she and I somehow got together with our two very different languages and became playmates as we were both the same age.  Through playing together, I managed to pick up English and by the time Kindergarten started, it wasn't even a problem.  I had that language down. 

Well, yesterday as Brecklyn drove with me to my hair appointment, we talked about our soon-to-be little "stayvacation" activities for the upcoming week.  Brecklyn said that Logan was sooo excited to be going on the Heber Creeper Train because he wasn't able to when we went two summers ago when Brecklyn was three.  I asked her what she remembered and if she had liked doing that.  Oh yes, she said, I remember it very well.  I asked what she remembered about it.  Well, she said, we got off the train (at Vivienne Park in Provo Canyon) and I stepped in dog-poo in my flip flops and you had to clean me up.  Boy what a remembrance, not what I expected at all!  Anyway, after she reminded me, I remembered that incident too.  So, let's not forget to take the baby wipes and hand sanitizer this time!

Living in the Desert!

At work today we were talking over the " fence " , actually through the cubicles and Sylvie 's daughter was going to Arizona to visit Sylvie 's son's family. He is going to dental school there. The other day, her little grandson said to his mother, "big bug ". And his mom went to investigate and it was a cockroach, a typical sight in the desert ... I know, I lived in the Palm Springs, Ca. area. So I mentioned to her what my parents did at night. My parents noticed the roaches came up through the drains. At night, when the roaches roam, they would always keep all drains closed and the shower drain covered with cardboard or something that could be weighted down so that they could not come up through there, either. Anyway, a memory from my youth teenage years of living in the desert.  Funny what comes to mind that you haven't thought about in years...