Weekend mornings are a good time to "surf the net." Reporting about the process, however, is a bit like a stream of consciousness monologue. Today my reading began with a Genealogy Insider posting entitled "Banish the "But"s: Top 5 Excuses for Not Writing Your Family History." Author Diane Haddad is spot-on with reasons why these five "buts" are inadequate:

1. But I don't have time;
2. But I'd rather spend my time researching;
3. But my tree isn't finished yet;
4. But I don't know where to begin; and
5. But I'm not a writer.

If any of those excuses sound familiar, read the September 30 post here:  http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider - and start putting words to paper this weekend. Surfing down the page I scanned another posting (dated September 15) which explained the differences between FamilySearch.org's 'Genealogies' vs. 'Family Trees'. The 'Genealogies' section of FamilySearch is a repository of family trees submitted through the years. (Of course, it goes without saying - although I'll say it - take this information with a grain of salt because it may or may not be accurate.) Sources are the Ancestral File, the Pedigree Resource File, the International Genealogical Index, and Community Trees. I queried 'Genealogies' with various Irish surnames I've been researching.  One of the names, Cunniff, is not in our direct family line, but an interesting result popped up. At the bottom of the page was a section called "Search Results for Historical Records" and the location (St Peters, Roscommon) caught my eye. 'Ireland Census Search Forms 1841 and 1851' were viewable for Tom and Mary Cunniff. The information on these particular forms came from old census documents and was extracted in December 1912, before the 1922 fire in the Public Records Office. A little background: Irish old age pensions for those 70 years of age and above began in 1908. To prove eligibility, applicants submitted facts that were compared against the 1841 and 1851 census (Republic of Ireland). Details on the extracts vary but generally include members of the household, their relationships and ages. I found similar census extracts for other family names. (I entered only a surname and a county.) In each case, the hand-written administrative notes are almost as interesting as the 1841/1851 census results. I didn't break down any brick walls this morning, but I was thoroughly entertained. You can submit your own query of FamilySearch 'Genealogies' here: https://familysearch.org/family-trees.