Thursday, February 25, 2010

Have you discovered Kieron Williamson yet?

He is a 7 yr old boy who lives in Holt, Norfolk, England
His pictures cost upwards of £900, there are 680 people on a waiting list to buy them, and his second exhibition sold out in 14 minutes.

I have always wanted to have musical and painting, as in art not walls, ability.  I got neither, although I can turn the radio up with the best of them and I've painted a hundred walls in my lifetime but this is really what I would like to be able to do. . .

 
  If you haven't heard of Kieron Williamson look him up and see what this little man has been given by Heavenly Father. 

Winter Wonderland. . .

Sunday 21 February we had another 8" of snow.  We had hoped the snow was over but alas it was not.  I took these photos on Monday the 22nd.  It was a cold-overcast skies-kind of a day but it was beautiful nonetheless.
This snow was wet and heavy so by mid morning on Monday, which was pretty windy, it began falling from trees.  On Tuesday we had very cold temps so what snow was  on the trees looked like diamonds when the sun hit the branches.   I love sparklies!!
I'm not much of a photographer, I don't know how to capture what I 'see' because I don't understand the mechanics of the camera. (I'm the least mechanical person I know) Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos.
I think you can click to enlarge.  The 1st photo is deer on pond ice the 2nd is one of the deer in the brush.



Friday, February 19, 2010

Bookshelf . . .

I was looking at a blog the other day and spotted a bookshelf from shelfari.com. Whoa I thought, I would luv one of those sweet thangs so I clicked on the thingy and voila! my very own book shelf. Check it out at the bottom of the page.

I'd venture to say I've read hundreds of books in my lifetime.
One summer when I was a young girl I read every mystery in my age group from our neighborhood library, the next summer it was biography. I'd find me a hidey hole and read, read, read. I was a good reader and quick so I could consume a lot of books in a short time. I checked out books at the school library on a certain topic and read till I'd read every book in that category. Land a mighty, I had so much information in my brain it was about to burst and yep, I was nearly blind at the end of the summer, been wearing glasses ever since. Okay, I exaggerated a bit there about the glasses but you know what I mean.

I love to read history, mystery and biography (not necessarily in that order), cereal boxes, toilet paper wrappers, tin cans, blogs, cookery books, encyclopedias' dictionaries, billboards, medicine bottles, road maps/info, magazines, bathroom walls, newspapers, bumper stickers, graffiti and the mayonnaise jar. If it slows down in front of me I'll read it.

I've started my bookshelf and already have several shelves and those are books I've read in just the past 3-4 years. I'm on a first name basis with the ladies of our library, my card is held together with tape and glue and I have my own parking space close to the door. Just kidding on the parking space but as much as I'm there I should have one. Hmm, I may take that up with the head librarian.

Where did I get this passion for reading, my parents, especially my dad. (Dad read the newspaper cover to cover save the ads, unless he was looking for something everyday until he died) He read to me every day before I started school, consequently, I could read several story books before I entered kindergarten. If I didn't remember a word Dad would help me to phonetically sound it out. I think that is why I'm a good speller as well. Now if I could just master a worthwhile sentence I'd be in chocolate heaven.

I still have many books to add to my shelves but it will take some time.
Check back once in a while and see if there's something you might like to indulge your reading urge with.

Have a good evening wherever in the world you are, and good reading to ya.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Cleaning In The Dark Ages. . .

WARNING: This is a long ramble so grab a snack and your favorite beverage.

In my other blog Nanc's Good Food (see links on my sideboard) my Canadian daughter made a comment about us spring cleaning when they were young. I thought I would share some cleaning thoughts from my childhood which is way back in the dark ages.

I'll start by describing my childhood home. Front room (living room), dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, basement, attic, summer porch and water closet, high ceilings, tall woodwork and bulls eye squares topped off each door and window, workable transoms over the front and kitchen doors, a monster of a coal furnace and push button light switches. There was one electric plug in all the rooms except the kitchen which had three. The house originally had gas lighting, a hand pump in the kitchen and cistern for water, oh and last but not least an outhouse. Dad remodeled this little beauty in the late 50' through the 70's there was a rounded double archway between the front room and dining room. I wish he had left it alone. (All though I did like the 'full' bathroom and the addition.

Spring cleaning with Mom was an adventure to be reckoned with. The first thing done was to empty a room then walls and ceiling were washed. I left out a step FIRST Mom put an old pillow case over the dust mop and the walls were dusted down. (saved trips to the kitchen for fresh water and since we had to heat the water for a number of years it was steps saved) Next was the chandelier/light fixtures, windows including the transom with it's hardware and the front door was wiped down inside and out.
The walls and floor were cleaned with Spic & Span, the windows with vinegar water and newspaper or rags. I preferred the paper, because rags had to be washed. This would entail taking off the winter windows, cleaning them and storing them away. Previous to this Dad would have brought out the summer screens, hosed, washed, and rinsed them down and left them in the sun to dry. Pray tell why we had to wash the screens again was always a mystery to me because we had to wash them before they were stored(the winter windows as well). Is there a winter/summer window fairy who checks them out?

This was the procedure for each room.

When I was a girl we had a 'carpet' that was about 8-10" short of reaching the woodwork. Under the carpet was a wool pad, under that 5" tongue and groove boards. The rim of the floor was painted yellow ochre.
The carpet was black wool with beautiful vining cabbage roses with beautiful green leaves. Before Mom had a vacuum the carpet/pad were taken outside and beat to remove dust and debris. During the week she used a non-electric (I think it was a Bissell) carpet sweeter. It had a brush underneath and after using you pulled back a small lever and emptied the pan. Voila, no vacuum bags. After a few years a salesman came to the door and Dad bought Mom a brand-new-state-of-the-art Electrolux Tube vacuum with attachments. Mom was in a cleaning frenzy for days after that.

The floor edge would be dusted with the handy dandy Fuller Brush dust mop (which I still have) once the carpet was up, then scrubbed along with the woodwork. The woodwork was tall and fancy. The grate for the cool air duct had to be hosed and dried in the sun. While that was happening the inside of the duct had to be whisk broomed (pre-vacuum) and wiped out.

The curtains would have been taken down the day before, washed then taken to the attic and put on the curtain stretcher (they were lace) to dry. The curtain stretchers were kind of like quilt frames and had tiny nails to hook the curtains on to insure they didn't shrink. When dry they would be ironed to within an inch of their life and the last thing to be put back in place. They did look pretty with the shade drawn to half mast with the cord hanging down with the little ring at the bottom.

All the doilies would have been washed and starched the day before, after drying all night on the line they would be sprinkled down, wrapped in waxed paper and put in the fridge until ready to be ironed. I loved to watch my mom iron she was a perfectionist when it came to clothes and items being ironed. Remind me some time to tell you about Mom's ironing and my first bras. It's a hoot.

Next came the bedrooms! Dad always carried out the bed springs because they were heavy. These were first brushed and then hosed and set to dry. The bed frames, head and foot boards and casters were cleaned. The floors in the bedrooms had pretty linoleum on them and were easy to mop. Does anyone remember old fashion linoleum with the beautiful patterns? They looked like paintings to me. I love that stuff, I wish they would bring it back. All the furniture was wiped down and then oiled as it was all wood. (real wood)I can still smell the lemon oil.

We didn't have a full bathroom until I was almost a teenager. The toilet was in a converted closet with a window with hoople glass. Don't try to look up hoople glass because it doesn't exist, it's a Nanc word. You know the kind of glass I mean, it's hoopy looking. The water closet also had pretty linoleum flooring and a small rag rug.
This was tight quarters to have to wash walls and ceiling but it had to be done.

Okay, so this has taken a weekend and there's still the kitchen, summer porch, basement and attic but my snack is gone and I have chores to finish so will finish this later.

Just wanted to mention before we started all this work Mom gave us a good hot breakfast, lunch and a hot supper. We didn't have Hardee's or Macdonald's to run out and grab a bite. My Mom was amazing.

Just one question does anyone spring clean today?

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Have-I-Done-Any-Good-in-the-World-Today?

Have-I-Done-Any-Good-in-the-World-Today?

This is the message on the front page of lds.org today, I want to share it with you.
I love our prophet Thomas S. Monson, he is truly a man of God and our times.

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

To View: click on the black and white 'have I done any good in the world today'.

Snow again. . .

We had mist in the night and snow sometime in the early morning. I just swept the front steps off and it's icy underneath the snow. The sky is a flat silvery gray color with no hint of sun present.

Some sunshine will be coming this way late this afternoon or early evening. SweetMan will be in off the road for a few days. He has a doctors appt. on Monday for blood work. Yippee, maybe some bathroom work will get done. I'm so hoping it will be completed by spring. (That's what I said last spring wasn't it?)

Last Sunday the new Education Counselor was called for Relief Society. She is by profession a teacher working on her Masters to become a principal. Sister S will be out of town this Sunday so I am teaching in her place. I should be working on that right now instead of blogging but . . .

It's a quiet day here in the Heartland. Ever notice how snow quiets things down? I love it but it makes me kind of antsy. I'm having a difficult time concentrating this morning. Ever get that way?

Anyway heading over to Nanc's Good Food to post a recipe.

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Last Day of January 2010

Yesterday was Sunday (I'm writing this on Monday) and that means Missionary Correlation Meeting and then Branch Correlation Meeting beginning at 8:15.
Sacrament meeting begins at 10 and the last meeting of the day is over at 1.

Our Stake President was visiting yesterday and doing recommend interviews, of which I was one. It was so nice for him to be here because that is one less trip to the big city for the members of our branch.

After our last meeting we had a potluck attended by many and all were well fed. Then came the big event of the day. . . two convert baptisms! It is always a tremendous thrill to witness a convert baptism and see them rise up out of the water clean and pure. It helps those of us who have been baptized for many years to relive that moment in our lives. After our new sister's confirmation I had the honor of welcoming her into Relief Society. She is going to be a wonderful asset to our organization. I'm anxious to serve with her.

All in all it was a busy day filled with the spirit, I absolutely loved it. It's good to serve the Lord and our mortal brothers and sisters. What better thing could we do with our time?

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.