Nanc's News

Current Reads...

2011-01-12T15:27:00.000-06:00

I've completed this one...

I'm reading this one now...

I'm having a hard time not getting into this one before I'm done with the one above...

One of my daughters turned me onto this trilogy. They're written in journal form and a good read.
The story is fiction with truth mixed in. It takes place in the Arizona Territory around Tucson and follows the lives of the Prine family and their neighbors.
The first two novels can get a bit wordy in places so I speed read through that part to get on with the story.

Pick up These Is My Words and see if you don't want to sit for the afternoon in your favorite chair wrapped in your favorite throw and read till the cows come home. Enjoy!

January 2011...

2011-01-08T17:44:00.000-06:00

It's cold in the Heartland, snow on the ground BUT we had sunshine today!
I don't care how cold it gets if the sun shines with the dipping thermometer. We have days and days and sometimes weeks with no sun, it bums me out. I can stay in when it's sunny but I have a difficult time staying indoors when it's overcast. I get really antsy. Do you?
Can you believe another year has gone by? I don't know where 2010 went and here we are in 2011! What's up with that? I remember my father saying, "the older you get the faster it goes (speaking of time)." Of course I didn't believe him but I can tell you now, I'm a believer!
Sweet Man is on the road somewhere in the hills of Virginia tonight as I post.
I'm on my way to the sitting room to watch one of the movies one of my Arizona girls sent us and wrap up in the new quilt throw my Canadian girl made me.
I want to wish any and all who peruse this blog a wonderful and prosperous New Year with lots of happiness and joy thrown in.

Here I Am...

2010-10-15T09:35:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry to have been so lax in my blogging but just haven't had the umph to sit down and share my thoughts. I haven't yet given up on this blog but don't know how reliable I will be either.

Not much new and exciting has been happening or so it seems to me. I think I'm in a funk.

I May take my camera and go out for some photos of the lovely fields and trees and then post.

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Forgiveness...A Load-Lightening Experience

2010-07-30T13:40:00.002-05:00

Please turn off music at the bottom of this page before starting video.
I want to testify to the truthfulness of what this man is talking about. Most of us will never have to extend forgiveness as great as Chris Williams. That said, forgiveness, regardless of how great or small, lifts a burden from us that is senseless to carry. The Atonement of Jesus Christ can help us with that burden, I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ.

Radiation, How Much Is Too Much. . .

2010-06-14T14:40:00.000-05:00

Have you seen this?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100614/ap_on_he_me/us_med_overtreated_radiation
It's an interesting read and very enlightening. Ever notice how many tests it takes to get one diagnosis and then sometimes they still don't know what's wrong with you?

Arizona, Land That I Love...

2010-05-31T13:18:00.002-05:00

Flowers...

2010-05-25T20:16:00.000-05:00

My iris were especially beautiful this year and the spiderwort planted with them were equally as pretty.

I took a ride out by the lake a few days back and found the Sweet William blossoming all over the place. Aren't they pretty? This was one of my Mom's favorite wild flowers.

A Monday Moon...

2010-05-25T20:09:00.000-05:00

The group came out of Family Home Evening last night and this is what we saw...

The sky was magnificent, the colors in this photo does not do it justice. The night cooled off enough to sleep with the windows open...Yippee!

Checking in. . .

2010-05-20T08:29:00.000-05:00

I haven't been on for a while so thought I had better check in. It's 8:25 a.m. in the Heartland and a beautiful morning. It's cloudy, 56 degrees and not-quite-a- -wind-yet breezy. We're going to have rain again today which makes the grass a beautiful emerald green but then it requires extra mowing. Darn!

I think Sweet Man has to call in this morning to see if he's leaving in his big blue truck today. He's been gone once this week on a run to Ohio but was back home after 2 days.

Signing off for now to get some breakfast, have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

My Mother, My Friend. . .

2010-05-08T18:38:00.002-05:00

"Is this the long way?" asked the young mother as she set her foot on the path of life, the Guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard, and you will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end will be better than the beginning."

The young mother was happy, and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed them, taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a bike, and reminded them to feed the dog and do their homework and brush their teeth.

The sun shone on them and the young mother cried, "Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path was sometimes dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her arms.
The children said, "Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children, "A little patience and we are there."
So the children climbed and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms. And with this, she gave them strength to face the world.

Year after year she showed them compassion, understanding, hope, but most of all unconditional love. And when they reached the top they said, "Mother, we could not have done it without you."

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and the years. The mother grew old and she became little and bent. But her children were tall and strong, and walked with courage. And the mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said: "This is a better day than the last, for my children have learned so much and are now passing these traits on to their children."

And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her, and gave her strength, just as she had given them hers. One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill they could see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.
And Mother said, "I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know the end is better than the beginning, for my children can walk with dignity and pride, with their heads held high, and so can their children after them."

And the children said, "You will always walk with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates." And they stood and watched her as she went on alone, and the gates closed after her. And they said, "We cannot see her, but she is with us still."

A mother is more than a memory. She is a living presence. Your Mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well, she's your breath in the air on a cold winters day.

She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, the colors of a rainbow, she is your birthday morning. Your Mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every tear drop.

A mother shows through in every emotion - happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy, love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow - and all the while hoping and praying you will only know the good feelings in life.

She's the place you came from, your first home, and she's the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy, but nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, not space - not even death!
Written for Good Housekeeping, 1933 by ~Temple Bailey ~

Happy Mother's day to my daughters, daughters-in-law, friends and the women of the world. Thank you for all that you have been, all that you are, and all that you yet will become. You have been my anchor in the storm and I appreciate it.
May you each have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

I want to send a special Mother's Day wish to my mom and sister who left this earthly existence many many years ago. Just want you gals to know how much I love and miss you.

Grad Coming Up...

2010-04-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

This is our Dustin, he's the third son of our Canadian daughter. Dustin will graduate in May, he is 17 years old, a fine young man, a fine athlete, and a wonderful son & grandson. We're proud of you Dusty Man and wish you all the best life and the Lord have in store for you. Go forward with confidence and zeal, you are one of the Stripling Warriors. Always remember who you are and what you represent because you never get a second chance at making a good first impression. We love you to the moon and beyond.

Testimony-of-the-Book-of-Mormon

2010-04-29T11:28:00.001-05:00

Some little time ago I challenged the sisters I visit teach and then the sisters of the Relief Society to read two pages of the Book Of Mormon a day until completed. As I began this challenge I have again renewed my testimony of the truthfulness of this book. I would like to share this testimony from Jeffrey R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve and add mine to it that I know of a surety this is the work of the Lord. Click on link to watch.
Testimony-of-the-Book-of-Mormon

So true. . .

2010-04-20T21:53:00.000-05:00

How does one live without the guidance of the Holy Ghost and stay on the straight and narrow path? It's beyond me. Speaking for myself, I can't do it alone. I'm the first to admit I need spiritual guidance, I require it, I desire it.

"When we invite the Holy Ghost to fill our minds with light and knowledge, He 'quickens' us, that is to say, enlightens and enlivens the inner man or woman. As a result we notice a measurable difference in our soul. We feel strengthened, filled with peace and joy. We possess spiritual energy and enthusiasm, both of which enhance our natural abilities. We can accomplish more than we otherwise could do on our own. We yearn to become a holier person."

Keith K. Hilbig, "Quench Not the Spirit Which Quickens the Inner Man," Ensign, Nov. 2007, 38

So You Think English Is Easy. . .

2010-04-06T18:29:00.002-05:00

The bandage was wound around the wound.

The farm was used to produce produce.

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

He could lead if he would get the lead out.

We must polish the Polish furniture.

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

I did not object to the object.

The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

They were too close to the door to close it.

The buck does funny things when the does are present.

A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

For God So Love The World...

2010-04-04T09:41:00.001-05:00

John 11: 25-26

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Do I believe it?

With every fiber of my being!

180th General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

2010-04-03T21:28:00.001-05:00

Today I went to the branch and watched two sessions of general conference.

The first session was from 11 till 1, home for lunch and back for the 3-5 session.

The speakers were inspiring, the music was beautiful and the spirit was strong. I loved every talk that I heard. I feel so blessed to belong to this church and know what I know. I only wish my entire family could have been here with me so we could listen together.

Hope your day was as lovely as mine.

A Lamp For Mom...

2010-03-26T18:25:00.004-05:00

My folks got a couple of rooms of new furniture in 1965. The style was country/early American. It was comfortable and cozy and colors to suit the era. While trying to decide what to get my mother that year for Christmas I came across this lamp. It cost $59.95 plus tax which was quite a lot of $$ for a lamp in 1965. I knew Mom would like it so I bought it for her. She enjoyed this lamp for nearly 23 years. After she passed it came back to me. I've had it for nearly 22 years and it now sits in my guest room. It's not a very efficient lamp but, of course, that isn't why it was purchased in the first place. This lamp fits in the category of those 'gotta have' pair of shoes that look oh so gooood but just kill your feet. Know what I mean? This little beauty is about 31" from base to top of chimney. PS-the bottom half of the light is a night light. Fits right in with my fetish for night lights.

I know I know. . .

2010-03-26T18:14:00.004-05:00

I'm suppose to be downsizing but I couldn't resist! Besides Lanette made me do it, I swear. Oh wait, I have a current temple reccomend...okay, she was 'with me' when I found these. This was a large sum of $$ to my way of thinking. Two quilts and two identical frames for $4 a piece!

The quilts both need repair but I prefer used rather than perfect. The frames outside measurements are 24.5 X 26. One frame is a future mirror the other is a future cork board or chalkboard instead of a mirror. Any ideas?

Trouble. . .

2010-03-24T07:28:00.002-05:00

Is anyone else having problems with their blog? I haven't made any changes to settings but things are changed. What's up with that? I can't customize fonts and colors, my comments have changed, instead of photos posting it's text and then I have to figure out how to put my text in with all the gobbledeygook.
I cleaned my cache of cookies as suggested but to no avail.

Nightlights...

2010-03-24T06:34:00.004-05:00

I have nightlights all over the house.

I probably have more nightlights on 24-7 than most people have lights. I don't like dark! As a matter-of-fact I don't care much about anything dark. I like light!

These houses sit a top a cupboard in the guest room. They look homey,warm and give off a soft glow in the night. The dollhouse is lit too but doesn't look like it in the photo. Sorry folks, I'm not a better photographer.

The round globe glass shade at the left I found at the curb. The bottom was from the dumpster. Dave put them together for me and mounted them to a piece of wood for stabilization and voila a nightlight.

Waiting, waiting, waiting. . .

2010-03-24T06:25:00.002-05:00

Are you anxiously awaiting these too? There are several Lilac bushes along our alley way which I can't wait to see unfold their pretties. My lilies are about 3" above ground as are the flags (iris). How is it in your neck of the woods?

Friday was. . .

2010-03-22T09:03:00.000-05:00

61 degrees, sunny, breezy, capri weather.

Saturday was. . .

33 degrees, snow, wind, winter coat weather.

Sunday was. . .

36 degrees, light rain, winter coat and umbrella weather.

This photo shows the snow melting after an hours worth of rain.

Today. . .57, mostly sunny, windy, and we'll see what kind of weather.

I hope you're having a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Relief Society Meeting and Birthday Party

2010-03-18T19:56:00.001-05:00

Tuesday the 16th we celebrated the birthday of the Relief Society at our monthly evening meeting. We also honored past presidents still residing in our branch boundaries, gave out a couple of pat-on-the-back awards and a certificate and blue ribbon to the visiting teachers. Peggy did a lovely job on the program and awards. Thanks Peg! We had a salad bar with everything you could think of for a salad along with macaroni/shrimp salad, bowtie pasta salad and potato salad. Robin and daughter-in-law Elizabeth did the cupcakes and pretty glasses with candy. Thanks ladies! Kathleen, the education counselor, gave out the pat-on-the-back awards, Anita, the secretary and VT coordinator did the VT awards and I gave out the presidents recognitions award. Nearly everyone helped clean up... a big thanks for all who helped.

We had several quilts on display that we have put together over the last few months that will be donated to the oncology unit at out local hospital.

All in all it was a lovely evening with good food and fellowship all around.

Birthday and Visiting Teaching Companion...

2010-03-18T19:40:00.000-05:00

My visiting teaching companione is a wonderful gal named Vickie. She is cute, funny and very intelligent. I like her a lot. After we did our visiting teaching last week she took me to lunch at our favorite watering hole. I went to the water closet to wash my hands and when I came back the little plate you see in the photo was in the middle of the table with a green snowball lunch cake and a pink squiggly candle in the center. I had to make a wish, the birthday fairy must be asleep on the job cuz she ain't answered my wish yet, and blow out the candle. She gave me a lovely card with a sweet message inside and a small photo album for my purse which I'm going to fill with recipes. Please note the message on the birthday plate. That was me! Thanks Vickie, you're a plum.

Look What I Got . . .

2010-03-13T16:42:00.000-06:00

My Canadian daughter made these for me. I also have a bright blue one with bright yellow sunflowers on it. (that apron was in the laundry when I took these photos) I wear an apron whenever I'm in the kitchen and love these bib aprons. I have several aprons but these bibs are my favorite. I also especially like the apron that ties at the sides and is reversible. Cheyenne made me one of those several years ago, last year I finally had to do away with it as it was beyond looking presentable anymore.

Hint to my Canadian daughter: no more flowers send me an apron instead. Thank you so much for these.

From My Son-In-Law...

2010-03-10T21:13:00.002-06:00

I received this from Greg and thought it was worth sharing. I wanted to add, life doesn't have an expiration date as the author states at the end of his story but mortality does. Make good use of it, eternity is a long time.
Enjoy. . .

This is a wonderful piece by Michael Gartner, editor of newspapers large and small and president of NBC News. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. It is well worth reading, and a few good chuckles are guaranteed. Here goes...

My father never drove a car. Well, that's not quite right. I should say I never saw him drive a car.
He quit driving in 1927, when he was 25 years old, and the last car he drove was a 1926 Whippet.
"In those days," he told me when he was in his 90s, "to drive a car you had to do things with your hands, and do things with your feet, and look every which way, and I decided you could walk through life and enjoy it or drive through life and miss it."

At which point my mother, a sometimes salty Irishwoman, chimed in:
"Oh, bull----!" she said. "He hit a horse."

"Well," my father said, "there was that, too."

So my brother and I grew up in a household without a car. The neighbors all had cars -- the Kollingses next door had a green 1941Dodge, the VanLaninghams across the street a gray 1936 Plymouth, the Hopsons two doors down a black 1941 Ford -- but we had none.

My father, a newspaperman in Des Moines , would take the streetcar to work and, often as not, walk the 3 miles home. If he took the streetcar home, my mother and brother and I would walk the three blocks to the streetcar stop, meet him and walk home together.

My brother, David, was born in 1935, and I was born in 1938, and sometimes, at dinner, we'd ask how come all the neighbors had cars but we had none. "No one in the family drives," my mother would explain, and that was that.

But, sometimes, my father would say, "But as soon as one of you boys turns 16, we'll get one." It was as if he wasn't sure which one of us would turn 16 first.

But, sure enough , my brother turned 16 before I did, so in 1951 my parents bought a used 1950 Chevrolet from a friend who ran the parts department at a Chevy dealership downtown.

It was a four-door, white model, stick shift, fender skirts, loaded with everything, and, since my parents didn't drive, it more or less became my brother's car.

Having a car but not being able to drive didn't bother my father, but it didn't make sense to my mother.

So in 1952, when she was 43 years old, she asked a friend to teach her to drive. She learned in a nearby cemetery, the place where I learned to drive the following year and where, a generation later, I took my two sons to practice driving. The cemetery probably was my father's idea. "Who can your mother hurt in the cemetery?" I remember him saying more than once.

For the next 45 years or so, until she was 90, my mother was the driver in the family. Neither she nor my father had any sense of direction, but he loaded up on maps -- though they seldom left the city limits -- and appointed himself navigator. It seemed to work.

Still, they both continued to walk a lot. My mother was a devout Catholic, and my father an equally devout agnostic, an arrangement that didn't seem to bother either of them through their 75 years of marriage.

(Yes, 75 years, and they were deeply in love the entire time.)

He retired when he was 70, and nearly every morning for the next 20 years or so, he would walk with her the mile to St. Augustin's Church.
She would walk down and sit in the front pew, and he would wait in the back until he saw which of the parish's two priests was on duty that morning. If it was the pastor, my father then would go out and take a 2-mile walk, meeting my mother at the end of the service and walking her home.

If it was the assistant pastor, he'd take just a 1-mile walk and then head back to the church. He called the priests "Father Fast" and "Father Slow."

After he retired, my father almost always accompanied my mother whenever she drove anywhere, even if he had no reason to go along. If she were going to the beauty parlor, he'd sit in the car and read, or go take a stroll or, if it was summer, have her keep the engine running so he could listen to the Cubs game on the radio. In the evening, then, when I'd stop by, he'd explain: "The Cubs lost again. The millionaire on second base made a bad throw to the millionaire on first base, so the multimillionaire on third base scored."

If she were going to the grocery store, he would go along to carry the bags out -- and to make sure she loaded up on ice cream. As I said, he was always the navigator, and once, when he was 95 and she was 88 and still driving, he said to me, "Do you want to know the secret of a long life?"

"I guess so," I said, knowing it probably would be something bizarre.

"No left turns," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"No left turns," he repeated. "Several years ago, your mother and I read an article that said most accidents that old people are in happen when they turn left in front of oncoming traffic.

As you get older, your eyesight worsens, and you can lose your depth perception, it said. So your mother and I decided never again to make a left turn."

"What?" I said again.

"No left turns," he said. "Think about it. Three rights are the same as a left, and that's a lot safer. So we always make three rights."

"You're kidding!" I said, and I turned to my mother for support.
"No," she said, "your father is right. We make three rights. It works."
But then she added: "Except when your father loses count."

I was driving at the time, and I almost drove off the road as I started laughing.

"Loses count?" I asked.
"Yes," my father admitted, "that sometimes happens. But it's not a problem. You just make seven rights, and you're okay again."

I couldn't resist. "Do you ever go for 11?" I asked.

"No," he said " If we miss it at seven, we just come home and call it a bad day. Besides, nothing in life is so important it can't be put off another day or another week."
My mother was never in an accident, but one evening she handed me her car keys and said she had decided to quit driving. That was in 1999, when she was 90.

She lived four more years, until 2003. My father died the next year, at 102.

They both died in the bungalow they had moved into in 1937 and bought a few years later for $3,000. (Sixty years later, my brother and I paid $8,000 to have a shower put in the tiny bathroom -- the house had never had one. My father would have died then and there if he knew the shower cost nearly three times what he paid for the house.)
He continued to walk daily -- he had me get him a treadmill when he was 101 because he was afraid he'd fall on the icy sidewalks but wanted to keep exercising -- and he was of sound mind and sound body until the moment he died.

One September afternoon in 2004, he and my son went with me when I had to give a talk in a neighboring town, and it was clear to all three of us that he was wearing out, though we had the usual wide-ranging conversation about politics and newspapers and things in the news.

A few weeks earlier, he had told my son, "You know, Mike, the first hundred years are a lot easier than the second hundred." At one point in our drive that Saturday, he said, "You know, I'm probably not going to live much longer."

"You're probably right," I said.

"Why would you say that?" He countered, somewhat irritated.

"Because you're 102 years old," I said..

"Yes," he said, "you're right." He stayed in bed all the next day.

That night, I suggested to my son and daughter that we sit up with him through the night.

He appreciated it, he said, though at one point, apparently seeing us look gloomy, he said:
"I would like to make an announcement. No one in this room is dead yet"

An hour or so later, he spoke his last words:

"I want you to know," he said, clearly and lucidly, "that I am in no pain. I am very comfortable. And I have had as happy a life as anyone on this earth could ever have."

A short time later, he died.

I miss him a lot, and I think about him a lot. I've wondered now and then how it was that my family and I were so lucky that he lived so long.
I can't figure out if it was because he walked through life,
Or because he quit taking left turns. "

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance,take it & if it changes your life, let it.
Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would
most likely be worth it."

ENJOY LIFE NOW - IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE!

A Longtime Friend...

2010-03-08T13:49:00.000-06:00

This is my friend Dusty (aka Rogean). Isn't she just a little doll face? We look like Mutt and Jeff together. We met during the summer of 1965. Her future husband Skip and my husband were childhood friends. We were at my in laws house where my hsb was working on a car when Skip drove up with this girl in the car. After they were married we went around together along with several other couples for several years until I moved out west. We would get together at each others homes, b-b-q, play with the kids and then put them to bed (in playpens we hauled all over creation) and then the adults (we were still kids ourselves) played cards and board games.

I had my first baby in April, Dusty had her only child in May. The four of us had been playing cards and the guys went for pizza when her labor increased. I kept telling her to hang on until the guys got back, which thankfully they did.

This is one of her toys...Is that bright or what? In person you almost need sunglasses to look at it. She loves it and anything else that is BRIGHT!!

I wish this photo did better justice to this mixer, it is brighter yet than the photo shows.

More Birthday. . .

2010-03-08T13:28:00.000-06:00

I received these on my birthday. Thank you so much Cheyenne, Keston and boys, I'm still enjoying these beauties.

I received this from Jan Ericka and Family. Thank you so much, it's a nice addition to my collection of

'chick flicks'

I received these from my bosom buddy Lanette. They are so pretty and hang very nicely from my scrawny earlobes. Lanette also got me a candle which smells like a flower garden. Thanks sister.

This is what my hubby gave me... A trip home sometime in the spring. Whooopee, thanks honey!!

Lanette also took me to dinner which is our yearly tradition.

Dave was on the road on my birthday so he took me to dinner when he got home.

I had a lot of birthday wishes which were well appreciated and loved. Thank you friends.

A lovely birthday all-in-all.

I have decided that next year I will celebrate my birthday all week, something special every day. Too much??

A Happy Chef. . .

2010-03-02T08:07:00.000-06:00

LKT and I were out and about a couple of weeks ago and I found this for a mere $.50. He is a 1950's Noma Happy Chef market reminder. Isn't he cute? He looks like he's had a little too much of what he's cooked, just like me.

This is the back side of Happy Chef

A Winter Morning Moon. . .

2010-03-02T08:02:00.000-06:00

As I looked out my front door this morning I saw this . . .

Click to enlarge. I wish I had a telephoto lens so you could see what I 'actually' saw. The time is on the photo. She was a beauty!

Empty Nesters & a Shamrock Cake

2010-03-02T07:56:00.003-06:00

Last night was our Empty Nesters Family Home Evening group. I made my casserole and went over and to my surprise Peggy came in with this birthday cake for moi! Actually they're cupcakes and as you can see the other half of the shamrock pair is gone. It was delicious! Peggy said there were no candles because the fire department couldn't put out that much fire. She's a character! I took this photo when I got home as I had no camera with me. I was so tickled they thought of me.

Our group consists of 2 senior missionaries (hsb & wife) , 2 Elders (male junior missionaries), and the rest of us which usually consists of 5. We are a happy group of about 9.

We have a potluck every Monday evening at 7, fellowship, and at present we're working on Family History. Our FH leader was under the weather last night so we had a history quiz supplemented by Hershey miniatures. We did pretty well, I'm uncertain if it was because we're really smart or we were really inspired by the chocolate.!

I received this yesterday by post from my Canadian daughter for my birthday which is the 3rd.

My daughters and I love anything Jane Austen or English. I have the original Cranford and was tickled to receive this one. I had mentioned to Cheyenne only recently that the Return to Cranford was on our local PBS station, I had no idea it was even out and voila here it is. The girls have sent me several movies over the years and I've watched them many times over and enjoyed them anew with each viewing. Thank you!

Have you discovered Kieron Williamson yet?

2010-02-25T11:16:00.000-06:00

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. . .

2010-02-25T08:30:00.001-06:00

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.

Bookshelf . . .

2010-02-19T21:01:00.007-06:00

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.

Cleaning In The Dark Ages. . .

2010-02-06T13:36:00.006-06:00

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.

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

2010-02-05T16:37:00.002-06:00

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. . .

2010-02-05T10:33:00.002-06:00

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.

The Last Day of January 2010

2010-02-01T09:56:00.005-06:00

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.

A Wolf Moon. . .

2010-01-30T15:53:00.003-06:00

I love the moon, I love everything about the moon. I especially love watching a full moon edging it's way over the eastern horizon, it makes the night kind of magic. I don't really believe in magic, I know where that moon came from and I'm grateful to my Heavenly Father for providing it for us to give light to the darkness.

Last night star gazers were rewarded with the biggest full moon of 2010. This moon came with a bonus — Mars. The red planet was present just to the left of the moon.

Unfortunately, it was not a clear night for us here in the Heartland, though the moon was very bright there were hazy clouds between us and that magnificent orb. I waited and waited to get a clear photo but it was not to be. Alas, I resign myself to knowing there will be more full moons in the months to come, howbeit, not as bright as this one.

According to Native American tradition, January's full moon is also called the wolf moon.

The 2010 wolf moon will appear 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than any other full moon this year, because our cosmic neighbor will actually be closer to Earth than usual, according to a National Geographic report.

Here are some tidbits I found interesting, hope you do too. At best, we'll have the dates of the moons that are full. If you're not a sky watcher try to at least look up on these dates and see what you've been missing. I guarantee you'll fall in love.

There were some variations in the moon names, but in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names. Since the lunar ("synodic") month is roughly 29.5 days in length on average, the dates of the full moon shift from year to year.

Here is a listing of all of the full moon names, as well as the dates and times for 2010. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern Time Zone.

Jan. 30, 1:18 a.m. EST -- Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the Moon after Yule. In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next moon. The Moon will also arrive at perigee (it's closest point to Earth on its non-circular orbit) less than three hours later, at 4:04 a.m. EST at a distance of 221,577 mi. (356,593 km.) from Earth. So this is the biggest full moon of 2010. Very high ocean tides can be expected during the next two or three days, thanks to the coincidence of perigee with full moon.

Feb. 28, 11:38 a.m. EST -- Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon. .

Mar. 29, 10:25 p.m. EDT -- Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. In 2010 this is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed six days later on Sunday, April 4.

Apr. 28, 8:18 a.m. EDT -- Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the shad come upstream to spawn.

May 27, 7:07 p.m. EDT -- Full Flower Moon. Flowers are now abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.

Jun. 26, 7:30 a.m. EDT -- Full Strawberry Moon. Strawberry picking season peaks during this month. Europeans called this the Rose Moon. There will be also be a Partial Lunar Eclipse that coincides with moonset from the western and central sections of the US and Canada and coincides with moonrise for parts of eastern Asia. At its maximum the Moon will be overhead for observers in the South Pacific;nearly 54-percent of the Moon's diameter will become immersed in the Earth's dark umbral shadow.

Jul. 25, 9:37 p.m. EDT -- Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes it's also called the Full Hay Moon.

Aug. 24, 1:05 p.m. EDT -- Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because when the moon rises it looks reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. Since the Moon arrives at apogee about 12 hours later, this will also be the smallest full moon of 2010. In terms of apparent size, it will appear 12.3-percent smaller than the full Moon of Jan. 30.

Sep. 23, 5:17 a.m. EDT -- Full Harvest Moon. Traditionally, this designation goes to the full moon that occurs closest to the Autumnal (fall) Equinox. The Harvest Moon usually comes in September, but (on average) once or twice a decade it will fall in early October. At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work into the night by the light of this moon. Usually the moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice -- the chief Indian staples -- are now ready for gathering.

Oct. 22, 9:36 p.m. EDT -- Full Hunters' Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it's now time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, as well as other animals, which can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest.

Nov. 21, 12:27 p.m. EST -- Full Beaver Moon. At this point of the year, it's time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon come from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. It's also called the Frosty Moon.

Dec. 21, 3:13 a.m. EST -- Full Cold Moon. On occasion, this moon was also called the Moon before Yule. December is also the month the winter cold fastens its grip. Sometimes this moon is referred to as the Full Long Nights Moon and the term "Long Night" Moon is a very appropriate name because the nights are now indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. This particular full moon makes its highest arc across the sky because it's diametrically opposite to the low Sun. In fact, the moment of the Winter Solstice comes just over 15 hours after this full moon, at 6:38 p.m. EST.

Last, but certainly not least, this will also be the night of a Total Lunar Eclipse. North Americans will have a ringside seat for this event (totality will last 73-minutes) and, depending on your location, will take place either during the middle of the night or during the predawn hours. Observers in Western Europe and western Africa will see the opening stages of the eclipse before the Moon sets; South Americans will see the Moon set either during the total phase or as the Moon emerges from the shadow. At mid-eclipse, the Moon will appear almost directly overhead for observers in southern California and Baja Mexico.

A Blue Moon. . .

2010-01-19T10:02:00.002-06:00

I was out about town on the 31st of December when I came out of the building and spotted a huge golden orb low is the eastern sky. It was then I remembered it was a 'blue moon' night so I went home to fetch my camera and of course by then it had risen higher in the sky, magically shrunk in size, and grown white but it was still magnificent to see. If you click on the photo you can see a tree on the left. I'm in no way a photographer so I can tell you it was much prettier than how appears in the photo.

Winter. . .

2010-01-19T09:27:00.004-06:00

I thought this river birch looked quite pretty in the snow with the dark background.

A private crypt at the local cemetery. A pretty place to rest ones body.

I spotted this in a drive around town.

We had a couple of 'warm' days and this is what we got. I don't know whose house this is but I hope they use the back door. Anyone see or read Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones? You'll understand the icicles if you did.

The Lost Is Found

2010-01-17T04:35:00.002-06:00

Hello. . .it's me NanC. No, I didn't pass on to the big blog in the sky, I just haven't had much to say.
Let's play catch up. . .
Sweet Man has been on the road a lot so we don't see much of each other but we do burn up the phone lines.

We've had a cold winter and quite a bit of snow but we've managed.

My electric garage door isn't working and that has been an awful inconvenience but no hubby around to fix it so I just put up with it.

Still no completed upstairs bathroom. Again, no hubby around to fix it. I don't think about how much that guy does around here until something goes haywire and requires his attention. I wish I were mechanical!! (Sweet Man is a whizbang at mechanical)

I've been catching up on one of my favorite authors, J.A. Jance. I'm listening to her Ali Reynolds series right now. This series takes place around the Sedona area of Arizona. Her Sheriff Joanna Brady series takes place in Bisbee. I like to read stories about where I've lived. Ever read Jance's books?

Not much else of interest has taken place so will sign off for now. Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Snowfall. . .North Of The Border

2009-12-05T11:00:00.004-06:00

This is what my Canadian daughter woke up to this morning. That is some snowfall, eh?

SUNSHINE, SUNSHINE, OH GLORIOUS SUNSHINE!

2009-11-23T14:26:00.002-06:00

Yes, yes, you read the title correctly. We have had sunshine for three, count'em 1,2,3 days in a row. Everybody in town has been out and about enjoying the lovely weather. Our weather girl is saying tomorrow morning will probably be the last of it so we better enjoy it. Heavenly Father has given us a peak at glory to get us through the gloomy days ahead. I, for one, surely do thank Him.

All the beans have been harvested in our area but there is still a lot of corn standing in the fields, along with the pumpkins. Many fields are still too mucky for the equipment to get in without bogging down. I'm uncertain why they don't hire men to come in and harvest the pumpkins at least by hand. Oh yes, expect to pay a tidy ransom for a can of pumpkin this year IF you can find any on the shelf. Signs of the times??

What are you doing for Thanksgiving.
Sweet Man and I will have no family for here so we will have a friend over and have a quiet dinner and probably a ride afterward.

A thought . . . .
Thursday when we sit down to dinner with whomever we're with, please let us remember those early pioneers who came here on ships across a vast ocean. What amazing people they were to pave the way for you and I to be here in this great country of ours. My father's people came to this land a long long time ago, I can hardly wait to meet them in the eternities so they can tell me about their great adventures upon landing in North America. I'm eternally grateful to those stalwart people who stayed the course and saw their dreams through. You and I could have had an entirely different life without their fortitude, their desire for something better and their commitment. Let us be thankful to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for all that we have, none of it would be possible without them.

Have a lovely day and a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever in the world you are.

Another Dreary Day

2009-11-18T14:10:00.002-06:00

It's another gray day in the Heartland. How many of these can there be left? My spirits have been lifted however because the noon news assures me we're going to have sunshine come the weekend. Heavenly Father, please help me hold out till then....
I did the laundry yesterday and have ironing to do today but just don't want to do it. Ever feel that way? I'm kind of listless, don't know what to do, where to go, and can't make a major decision to save my life.
Sooooo, I decided it was okay to be listless, I didn't have to go anywhere and I didn't need to make any major decisions. Instead I put on my long fleece robe, warmed up a rice bag and picked out a series on DVD! I have a few so I just stuck my hand in the cupboard and out came Christy.
That's what I've been doing for the last two hours and I so enjoyed it.
Just before I started the series I started up a pot of chili and now it's ready to eat so I'm outta here for a warm bowl and a pile of buttered crackers.
Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are. Miss NanC

Hello World

2009-11-03T14:13:00.002-06:00

Hello Family and Friends,
Just a quick note to let you all know that I haven't gone to that big blogging place in the sky.
Since my Canadian daughter left we have had nothing but gray skies and wet weather. DEPRESSING!
We've had sunshine for the last four days and it's been GRAND to say the least.
Saturday I blew leaves till I thought my arms would fall off. The city vac sucked them up on Monday morning and my yard is full again. I have two Maples and one Tulip tree in the front and they're still not empty of leaves. Our neighbor has a Silver Maple in front and it's always done de-leafing after the city vac guys stop picking up for the year, it's frustrating.
I don't like to burn if I can help it but you can only compost so many leaves. Ever seen the leaves from a Tulip tree? They're very large and it doesn't take much to fill the yard.
Anyway hope everyone who stops by to take a peek had a wonderful October. I have photos of the beautiful color but can 't figure how to get the photos where they need to be. (New PC, UGGGGH!)
I have chores to finish up so will just say have a lovely day wherever in the world you are. NanC

Number One Daughter Came And Number Two Came Too!

2009-10-09T20:09:00.003-05:00

How cool is that? My Canadian daughter came for three weeks. One of my Arizona daughters came the following Friday and surprised me for a couple of days, we took her back to the airport on the following Monday. It was a short visit but we had F-U-N!
We drove, shoppppppped, photographed, looked at old homes, trees, gargoyles, etc, we ate, drove some more, ate some more, and shoppppped some more. We had a blast. I wish my other Arizona daughter could have come. A special thanks to CLSB for picking JETD up at the airport so she could surprise me.
My Canadian girl left for AZ this morning to stay there for a couple of days and then she'll head back North.
Thanks girls for coming I hope you had as good a time as I did. You will be sorely missed.
Sweet Man will be in tomorrow and I'm going on a short run with him to Wisconsin.
Have a lovely evening wherever in the world you are.

Number 1 Daughter Is Coming

2009-09-16T15:57:00.002-05:00

YEE HAW, my first born daughter is coming for a visit on Friday. I can hardly wait. This is a photo of her and her 'boys'. Her hubby is the one with the long-sleeved white shirt and the farmer tan. He's a big kid just like his boys but a wonderful husband and dad. Lots of testosterone in that household.

Haven't got it all figured out what we will do but a temple trip for sure, the rest we'll play by ear.

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Beauty All Around

2009-09-07T17:11:00.002-05:00

I caught this sunset last week while cruising through our little park. Ain't she a beaut!

When I see colors like this I get to thinking Heavenly Father must be a painter along with all His other many talents.

Books Books and More Books

2009-09-07T16:45:00.004-05:00

My latest summer reads. I love children's books...
they're so uncomplicated and generally very happy and uplifting.

My favorite reads for the summer have been these two. Pink and Say is a tear jerker, which is unusual for a children's book but a great read. Pink's and his mama's dialogue should be read with a Georgia-Ebonic-accent.

The other one, Gator Gumbo, is just a fun fun book but beware the ending with small children.

Gator Gumbo must be read with a Cajun/Creole accent to really get the flavor of the story.

When I began reading these last two to Sweet Man on Sunday afternoon he says, "are you gonna read with an accent?" I says, "well of course I am, why?" "Just give it to me in plain English," says he. Uh huh, that's gonna happen thinks I. I read these last two with my accents and when I'm finished 'he' wants to know, "done already"?

I read the whole book The Secret Life of Bees to him with a Carolina accent and he loved it. He likes to fuss and ruffle his feathers cause he doesn't want me to know he has a soft side but I already got that man figured out....crusty outside with a marshmallow center. Lucky me!

If you get the chance give them a try if you're 5 or 95. They're good reads, the whole lot of them.

Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are.

Addiction. . . And Then Some

2009-09-05T17:28:00.005-05:00

If you should see this game at your local Walmart or a gaming store RUN, I repeat RUN, RUN FAST in the opposite direction! My daughter Jan got me hooked, yes, as in addicted, to this little ditty. When I came home from Arizona I couldn't find it. I finally found it on E-Bay and Jan got it for me. Oh to the Wizards of Games I wished she hadn't of. But alas, my tale of woe began.
You see, there are several images like the one above and the object is to find all the objects listed along with 5 jewels. What you don't know until you accidentally click on one is there are hidden items, only one per image, in SOME of the images as well. When you click on one of these images up pops this. . .

Look closely because you only see this image when you haphazardly find one of the items. Make notes when it pops up so you can remember what you need to fill in the circles. You are the ULTIMATE MOUNTAINEER when you find all the items.

WARNING: This game is addicting and could cause you to lose sleep, lose weight, become bleery-eyed and grouchy. My dishes have been left unwashed, my bed unmade, my hair in the same pony tail I went to bed with, I'm still sitting in my bathrobe at 11 in the morning at the computer dazed and shaking.

Jan and I have spent great sums of time on the phone looking for an item and taking notes. What has happened to us?? Is there no salvation?

What? My Sweet Man says, "shut it off and walk away."

Yes yes, I know he's right but let me just find the white rabbit and then I'll I'll I'll turn it off.

I swear. . . . .

#2 And Counting

2009-09-05T17:15:00.003-05:00

Our latest grandson to go off to university. He left for football camp in August. I spoke to him today for the first time since he left and he sounded tired. Classes don't start for him until next week. I can imagine how tired he'll be with fb practice, classes, homework, and games. I hope his mom sent vitamins with him.

Austin is very dedicated in whatever he chooses to do so I can see bright lights and shiny stars in his future.

And it doesn't hurt that's he's so stinkin' handsome either.

We're proud of you Aussie and all your accomplishments so far. Stay the course, remember who you are and honor your priesthood. Love you much Sweet Boy! Your Granma N

Reading...

2009-08-23T20:02:00.003-05:00

How do you like to read? Sitting up, laying down, outside or in, at the table, on the sofa or curled up in a chair?
Do you like large print or regular, paperback or hardback? Do you read silently or outloud, with natural light or by lamp? Do you read with an accent or without, if you read with an accent do all the characters have a different voice or do all characters sound the same? Large tomes, medium or small. Which genre do you prefer? Do you save the last page for last or do you read it first?

These are my preferences...sitting up, laying down, outside and in, at the table on the sofa or curled up in a chair, large print, regular, paperback and hard, out loud, any light, with an accent (if it needs one), each character with their own voice. I especially like an Irish accent or one from the South and South of the Border is pretty fun. Large, medium and small bring it on, I like history, mystery, biography, fiction, non-fiction, scriptures, cereal boxes, cottage cheese containers, and liquid soap bottles. I always read the last page first, if I don't like it I don't read the book.
I guess you have figured me out...I love to read and will read just about anything. For the past few years I've been collecting books from my childhood and rereading them with great delight. A few of my favorites are Mr. Bear-Squash-You-All-Flat, The Churkendoose, The Pedlar of Colored Threads, The Boy Who Wanted To Be A Fish, and Granny's Birds. I love the illustrations, the colors are fabulous.
My philosophy is save a horse, read a book....
Have a lovely evening wherever in the world you are and read a couple of pages tonight before you go to sleep.

A Good Read

2009-08-23T19:48:00.002-05:00

Have you read it...
Or watched it?
I don't remember when The Secret Life of Bees was published but it was several years ago. I read it when it was brand new. I reread it this past year and fell in love with it all over again. I hesitated to see the movie because most of the time the movie never lives up to the book. Well, I finally did watch it and loved all the characters. It does deviate from the book some but with time restraints it's understandable, that's why I sometimes will not ruin a good read by watching the screen version.
If you read it or watched it did you like it?

Brownies...The Rest Of The Story

2009-08-23T19:40:00.005-05:00

I made brownies Friday morning. Dave ate nearly all of them but...he's funny, when there's only one left on the plate it goes to the garbage every time. This little guy apparently has never heard of the 10-second rule, he climbed in, retrieved it, and ATE IT!
He's a feisty little critter. He loves walnuts but he prefers YOU crack them, clean them and lay them out buffet style. Where do they learn these things? Is there a squirrel professor hanging out in the trees teaching this stuff or what?? And are you as amazed as I am how he sits on the rim of that trash can? Somedays I can barely stand on two high-arched-feet. Hmmm.

M-M-M Homemade Salsa

2009-08-22T18:17:00.003-05:00

I love the way salsa looks all chopped up and colorful, don't you? It tasted even better than it looked too. Chips are store bought cuz I didn't have any corn tortillas. Now that would've been the ultimate with the salsa, eh?
A pepper from my garden. The cup is for comparison, I didn't grow it. Haha!
After I took the photo I put it on the stove and roasted it. The kitchen smelled soooo good.
We have a potluck tomorrow after church and I made beans and franks with cut up bacon, green pepper, & chopped onions. I cook the franks in a skillet to make them outdoorsy and then slice thin. To the beans I add a bit of brown sugar, maple syrup and a scoch of smoke-flavored BBQ sauce, put it altogether and voila....something good!
I guess I should have taken a photo of the beans but alas it is too late I took them over to church so I didn't have to carry them tomorrow with my bag which weighs a ton.
Have a good evening wherever in the world you are.

Corn and Soybeans As Far As The Eye Can See

2009-08-22T18:07:00.004-05:00

Although our portion of the Heartland had a very wet spring and planting was LATE our state planted an estimated 12.3 million acres of corn and 77.5 million acres of soybeans. The soybeans are down but corn is up. These photos were taken from a semi as we were coming back from picking up Sweet Man's load at the yard so he will be ready to leave after church tomorrow. I wish I could have been standing on top of the load and y'all would've gotten a better photo. You can just see the golden top of the corn in the distance. Corn along side the road is so tall you can't see over it even in the truck. I don't think there's anything prettier than a soybean field. The color is such a rich green. Doesn't it look lush?

My Baby Girl is 36!

2009-08-21T15:16:00.005-05:00

This is my all time favorite photo of Brandee. She looks like a little rag-a-muffin with that fly-a-way red hair. She is so darn cute with that sweet smile and little pug nose.

My water broke with Brandee about 11:45 p.m. Her dad had already left for work which was 59-60 miles away, my mother was there from the Heartland but didn't drive, so I called my mother-in-law Fern and she drove out to take me to the hospital. I called Norm Soto to come give me a blessing, he was so nervous I thought he would faint. When Fern got there we headed back to Mesa. I wanted to go to her house for a while but she said absolutely not we were going to the hospital. By the time we got there it was about 2-3 mins. after 1 on August 21, 1973, Brandee was born at 1:21 a.m. She was by far the easiest birth I had of all my children. There was no place for her to go but out. We went home the next afternoon. Brandee was a good sweet baby and very cuddly. She loved to be held and sung to. Her sister Jan Ericka claimed her for her own although only 15 months older. Those two were inseparable when they were little. Brandee didn't have to talk because Jan talked for her. I believe Brandee talked in full sentences when she finally began to speak, it was kind of shocking.

She was a long legged, long armed, RED HEADED little gal with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Her favorite teacher in school was Mrs. Rye, she would do anything for her.

Brandee has had some really tough times in her life and like this photo she has had to learn how to bend so as not to break. She is very tender hearted and sentimental.

Brandee, I want you to know how much I love and miss you, how much your Heavenly Father loves you and wants to bless you and desires the very best for you and longs for your return to His presence along with the rest of your family. Please do all that it takes to make that come to past regardless of what you have to give up. Your mortal probation is but a moment in time but the outcome of your choices while here on earth will resound in the eternities.

Brandee, you are a daughter of Deity, remember that every day and act accordingly. You are so good and have a heart the size of Texas.
This is Brandee and me when I was the tall one, now she is several inches taller than me. She still has the wonderful head of red hair and she still has that big heart. Use it for good Brandee.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL
I love you to the outer reaches of the universe and beyond!!
Your Mom

Cross Another Jewel Off The List. . .

2009-08-15T16:10:00.005-05:00

I found it on EBay for .99! I've been looking for this book for sometime. (see older post)

Late one night when I couldn't sleep I was cruising EBay and there he was. There were a few days left of bidding and I was afraid someone else would discover the treasure but alas it was meant to be MINE, ALL MINE!

The only other place I could find this (2 actually) was Rubylane Antiques on the net, which by the way has a lot of fabulous things. They wanted, if my memory serves me correctly, $24 for one and $21 for the other.

Did Mama get a bargain or are my eyes brown?

My Baby Boy is 39!

2009-08-13T17:23:00.008-05:00

Chad Sundance all spiffied up and . . . .

what he really looks like.

These photos were taken by my daughter Jan Ericka. She has a good eye, don't you think?
We were on a camping trip in another state when I started labor on August 13, 1970. As soon as we got home we got things put away, kids bathed, pajamed and distributed. We came back home and waited and finally decided to go to the hospital. Chad was born on Friday, August 14, 1970 at 4:51 a.m. He weighted 9# 10 oz. He was a very cute, sweet, happy baby from the get go and I do believe he was born smiling. We use to call him Happy Jack.
Chad was always looking for an adventure and still is. He was good at whatever he chose to do and he still is. He loves music and plays it constantly, loves movies and watches a lot of them , he loves horses, rock climbing, making things, and his boy Dakota.
When I was pregnant with Chad my appendix ruptured and he and I were in some peril for a bit but I knew we would be okay and here we are today.
Chad has had some tough times in his life but always manages to survive them and come out on top. He has stamina and perseverance.
One of my fondest memories is teaching Chad how to two- step. When he got it down pat he nearly two-stepped my feet off.
Another fond memory I have is Chad's love for Pan Dolce. Dad and I had been in Mexico and brought some home and Chad fell in love with it so I got a recipe and would make it for him.

Chad liked going to Primary to see his buddies especially one little toe-headed fellow whose last name started with a V. I think his favorite teacher was Brother Hobbs. Chad's favorite guy in the B of M was Samuel the Lamanite Prophet.
A not-so-fond memory is hearing, "MOM!" one Saturday morning. Little did I know what I would be seeing when I walked into that room, what I did see made my heart stop for a moment. Let me set the stage; Chad had a remote control car which had a stiff wire sticking out of the back end for the remote control to work. This wire, still attached to the car, was hanging from his eye. He had fallen off the top bunk while attempting to open the window, I think, and voila there he was--wire, car, eyeball!

Of course, it would be a day when Dad was on maneuvers, so I got him in the car and headed for the ER. Mind you, we lived in the foothills with a ways before we connected with blacktop but let me just say we got to the ER in good time. I drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding up the remote control car. Chad was quiet and calm which in turn helped me to remain calm myself.
After the Doctor extracted the wire and did all else necessary we finally headed home with a detour to get his favorite donuts. All ended well with no problems later on.
A few years ago Chad had an accident while rock crawling which didn't turn out so well. His leg was crushed and is held together today with a lot of hardware. He tells me it aches like the dickens when it's cold or rain is coming.
Every phone conversation starts out the same way...MOM!. I always love to hear his voice on the other end of the line. Sometimes he calls me and sings to me or plays a song and wants to know who is singing it. He's a character, a cook, a father, a husband, a son, a son of God, a brother, a dreamer, an inventor, a sweet boy.
Chad is a good man and I'm so happy he belongs to me, he occupies a special place in my heart and I want him to know how much I love and miss him. His Heavenly Father loves him and desires to bless him with all that he is entitled to.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD, I LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BEYOND....
Your Mom

Working Trains

2009-08-05T09:19:00.006-05:00

Ever see a train yard? It's an interesting place. There are more train cars than you can count. I'm standing on the overpass shooting west in this photo. I didn't cross the bridge to shoot the other side of the yard because of parking and traffic but it is just as full as this side but with more engines.

I wanted to stand up on the railing to be able to see the train cars further back but Dave wouldn't let me...spoilsport!

Anyway, I thought the boys might enjoy this photo since they use to chase trains in Emmett.

My Home Town

2009-07-31T22:01:00.018-05:00

These cottages should have been posted after the larger homes but I forgot how things load so the post about our town should have been first and this second but. . .

I didn't want everyone to think I only like the big homes I have a fondness for the cute little ones too.

We had a storm the night before I took these photos so there might be debris lying on lawns, sidewalks, and driveways.

Here starts the big houses, although the one below is a 'medium' home I just really like their porch. Cute, eh?

Isn't this one (above) a beauty?

This is the carriage house for the house below.

It's nice living in an old city. Our population is 15,000 and called a city, the other cities in our county have populations of 1,418, 2601, and 2522. I'm uncertain what qualifications are required to be called a city but the difference in populations between our city and the other three are confusing to me. In our county we have 16 villages, 27 townships, 24 unincorporated communities, and 13 ghost towns.

Our city was founded in 1825 by a man who thought he was someplace else. This founder was killed along with an infant son ten years later in a tornado.

We have one hospital, one library, one community college, a Walmart, a K-Mart, one major grocer and one Midwest grocer, one movie theatre with two screens, a Goodwill, a McDonald's, a DQ, Burger King, Taco Bell and a Hardees. We also have a small JC Penney's and numerous small businesses. We have a town square as do many of the towns in this county. I believe the population of the whole county is somewhere around 37,700 with our town being the largest.

One of the neat things about living in a smaller city is the big old houses we have. The photos posted are from our town only. I never tire driving around looking at the old homes and neighborhoods. I hope you will enjoy the photos.

P.S. Notice how most of our homes have porches?

Goodies

2009-07-17T18:59:00.006-05:00

I wanted to share a few things I've picked up the last few weeks. The baby quilt on the back of the loveseat cost $1.05. It had dark stains all over it and I decided I could spend a $1.05 to see if the stains would come out. Most of them did and the darkest one lightened up to a pale tan. it was worth it, it's hand pieced and hand quilted.
After our town-wide-yard sale anything that isn't wanted is set out to the curb. This is where the sugar bowl and gravy boat came from. They'll make nice planters.

Hurricane lamp for candles $1.00 and a plastic coated wire basket .25.

Wood and wire birdcage with finials, $2.00.

Don't you love junquing?

I got a few other things but I need batteries for my camera so will post them later.

Radio Days

2009-07-16T10:38:00.006-05:00

Notice the radio is the same one as in the photo below. Isn't this an interesting advert? Radio was a major form of 'media' in the old days and kept folks informed on a daily/hourly basis of what was going on in the world.

When I was a girl our major form of 'media' entertainment was the radio. Women and men use to listen to 'soap operas'. They were called soap operas because many of the programs were on-going stories and were sponsored by soap companies. Many of the detective and cowboy programs were sponsored by cigarette companies.

The radio in the photo is a replica of the one we had in our home. It was a 1942 Zenith AM Shortwave. I wish I could say it was ours but alas, I can not. It surely does bring back memories. Late at night on weekends and in the summer I would tune in to the BBC in England. I could also listen to broadcasts all over Europe as well as South Africa. It was amazing.

My father use to tune in to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights and I can still hear Roy Acuff and Little Jimmy Rodgers in my head.

For the U.S. there was WMBD/Peoria, WLS/Chicago, KOB/Albuquerque, KOMA/Oklahoma City, there was a really good one from LA that I can't remember anymore. There were AM stations all over this country and this little honey could get them all.

I still listen to old time radio programs located here: http://www.archive.org/details/radioprograms

Look for the alphabet bar, pick a letter, and have fun. You might have to search a while until you find something you like. Some of my favorites were the mystery shows, Gunsmoke, Cisco Kid, Inner Sanctum, Sherlock Holmes, etc.

WARNING:

LISTENING, RATHER THAN SEEING, REQUIRES IMAGINATION.

I hope you'll give listening to the radio a try sometime. Wouldn't that be a novelty for children in our high tech society. . . and if you live alone it's a lovely way to spend an evening instead of watching the telly. It stretches the imagination.

Make a bowl of popcorn, a pitcher of Kool-Aid, turn down the lights, tune in and enjoy.

Temple Trip

2009-06-30T11:02:00.003-05:00

Yesterday (Monday) when I got up I had this strong desire to go to the temple so I did some chores and called LKT to see if she was up to going. She was, so we got ready and took off. We attended the 11 o'clock session and ran into a couple of sisters from our branch. The session was small and very spiritual.
After the session we ate lunch then took a tour of Nauvoo in a horse drawn wagon. The weather was perfect . . . sunny, DRY, and very breezy, it was a lovely ride lasting about an hour.
We did a quick look-see at the book store and ran into a couple of young women, who now live and go to school in Utah. We use to be in the same Stake.
We drove home, I dropped off LKT, went to the market and picked up some things for FHE later in the evening.
All in all it was a fabulously spiritual day. Hope yours was just as lovely wherever in the world you are.

My Oldest Son is 41!

2009-06-26T12:39:00.007-05:00

Christopher Shane's Wedding Reception Shoveling Snow in Show Low
Wow! How time flies.
Chris was born at 2:52 a.m. on Wednesday the 26th of June 1968. I started labor on Wednesday morning with a lot of back pain radiating into the pelvic area and the tops of my legs where they connect to the hip. My first labor was mild compared to this one. Time finally arrived to go to the hospital. I'm thinking why can't I have babies in the morning after a good nights sleep. I was exhausted. Upon examination we discovered the little man was up side down. After manipulation he got head down and with various and sundry attempts with different instruments he was born. Had he been born today I would have had a C-Section. Chris's little head was so bruised and cut from the instruments that it scared me but it turned out alright.
As a little boy Chris loved cars, trucks, and tractors he would spend endless hours making hills, tunnels and things for the equipment to fly off of .

Chris loved Primary when he was little and was so excited to be baptised.
When we moved up on the mountain and had a pool Chris, his brothers Chad and Mark and the neighbor boy Sam would spend countless hours in the pool playing Marco Polo and seeing who could make the biggest splash.
He loved to camp and still does, he liked to fish and still does. We spent a bit of time camping when Chris was young and he would always be the first to help pack when it was time to load up and head to Sycamore Creek.
Chris turned out to be a big man, I believe he's about 6'4" in his stocking feet and has arms big enough that I can't close my middle fingers to thumbs around.

Chris is a father, son, brother and son of a Heavenly Father.

I love to see him with his youngest daughter Sheyanne. She is a tall and hardly weighs anything and he's so sweet with her. He looks like a bear and she looks like a twig. They're sure cute to look at.
Chris loves the outdoors. I think he would like to have a job in the forest and be outside all the time.
One of my fondest memories is watching Chris scarf down sopapillas and honey. He could eat two dozen all by himself.
Chris has always been a good worker and dependable, that's an admirable quality.
I want Chris to know how much I love and miss him.

Chris is a
Chris is a good man who loves his family and wants the best for them, I'm proud to have him as a son. I wish we lived closer so we could go fishing together and camping with the rest of the family.
Your Heavenly Father loves you Chris and wants the best for you. If you live up to the covenants you have made things will work out, maybe not like you would always want.
I love you to the stars and beyond.
Your Mom

Pictures From Book

2009-05-28T19:26:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Granny's Birds.
I really like the colors in these pictures.

There are more colored pictures in this book plus several black and white.

I like the red comb binding.

A New Old Book

2009-05-26T22:44:00.004-05:00

Look what I found on eBay.

I use to have this book when I was a little girl. I can't wait for Sweet Man to get home and read it to me. It's the story of a Russian boy named Vanya who belongs to a group that wants to perform their native dances. They want to purchase an accordion for the music only he doesn't have his share of the funds needed. Occasionally he helps this old woman in his village everyone calls Granny. She takes in stray animals and birds. She feeds them and cares for them. Vanya tells her his story and she decides to give him the birds to sell in the market place. Their village is going to have a fair to celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation which is held in memory of the angel's visit to Mary to announce she would carry the Christ child. It was the custom of the village to buy birds in small wooden cages and set them free on that day.
Vanya and his father make small cages and he sets off to market, sells the birds and they're able to buy the accordion and dance their native dances. The End.

Ah so...

2009-05-26T19:04:00.004-05:00

Mr. Ling has married. The bride, as you can see, is the lovely Shu Shen. She is very pleasant and mild mannered, quite the match for Mr. Ling. The other man in the center is her escort Mr. Hui Peng. Mrs. Ling's father hired Mr. Peng to escort and protect his daughter on her journey to America. The orange container Mr. Peng is holding was a gift for the married couple from Shu Shen's father and mother, it's an incense burner. (part of their religion or something like that)The Elder Shen's also sent a box each of nuts, pears, and sweetcakes. They were lovely and served at the wedding feast.

Mr. Ling closed his shop for the wedding and the couple took a short trip to visit with relatives and will be home this weekend. No photos were allowed at the wedding ceremony so these will have to do.

For those of you who have emailed me with offers to help find Mr. Ling a wife, we thank you. As you can see he's happy with his new bride and she is quite content with our Mr. Ling.

I'm hosting Mr. Peng until the newlyweds return. He's an interesting character, he's gone through four bags of rice and spits on the floor. (is spitting a custom in their country??)

He takes his job as escort and protector seriously. Yesterday at the market the produce man approached rather close to me and Mr. Peng went into warrior stance and gave the man the 'evil eye'. I felt quite safe. If I can just get him to stop spitting on the floor I might keep him around for trips to the big city.

Another interesting tidbit about Mr. Peng...he's as curious as a cat. Let me explain...He had never seen a gas stove before and and kept turning the burners on and off. He got so close to the flame the other day he burned off one side of his mustache. As you can see in the photo we had to shave the other half off as well. He was mortified to have his picture taken without his mustache. I really don't know why because it was a runty little thing.

Anyway, we're getting on famously (albeit, the spitting) and looking forward to the newlyweds arriving home.

Have a lovely evening wherever in the world you are.

Flowering Tulip Tree

2009-05-26T11:13:00.004-05:00

Do any of you have a tulip tree on your property? They're very easy to identify, the have the most unusual leaves and flowers. Click on the photo and look at the leaves closely. The flowers are green on the outside and yellow starting at the tip inside flowing down into orange. They're not very attractive but they sure are prolific! From below the tree the flowers are nearly invisible. These trees can reach a height of 80-100', I hope this one doesn't but you know the luck of the Irish....

When I planted this tree it was the talk of the neighborhood I'm sure. I put it in, placed a small fence around it and covered it with cheesecloth (it was summertime and I didn't want it to burn in the full sun). Whenever I'd be in the front garden and someone would drive past they'd invariably gawk at my little white surprise. The woman who gave it to me was the d/o the old folks we bought our house from and she suggested where to plant it. I'm sorry I listened to her because this tree is already quite large. We all live and learn don't we?

Dav 'n' Nan

2009-05-19T12:53:00.004-05:00

Dave
Nan
I did this post on my private blog and have now decided to share it with others besides my family. Sometimes I wonder how two people who are as opposite in nearly every thing as we are have remained together. Form your own opinion.
He’s up, I’m down.
He’s red, I’m green.
He’s in, I’m out.
He’s patient, I’m a whirlwind.
He’s a free spender, I’m frugal.
He’s a left-side sleeper, I’m a right.
He likes fried foods, I love veggies.
He thinks right, I think left.
He’s brown-eyed, I’m blue.
He’s short, I’m tall.
He's left-handed, I'm right.
He’s phenomenal with numbers, I can barely remember my address.
He’s mechanical, I can hardly turn the key on.
He loves sci-fi, I love mystery.
He’s messy, I’m tidy.
He likes football, I like baseball.
He’s thunder, I’m lightning.
He drives me crazy, he thinks I'm 'blond'.
He wants me to come, just for a minute, to see something Don has sent him on the PC, which is on the third floor, I‘m in the basement.
He’ll be reading and thinks I have to have periodic updates on what he’s reading, regardless of what I’m doing, usually I‘m reading.
He drives way too close to the center of the road and takes too long to finish a job.
He puts his empty glass in the sink after I’ve just emptied the dish water.
He wants to work on a project in the house just after I’ve cleaned.
His car looks like a garbage can.
He constantly says huh but before I can repeat everything I’ve just asked he answers me.
If he does the dishes for me he leaves at least 2 items in the water and doesn’t wring out the sponge.
He leaves soda cans everywhere and his clothes on the hamper.
There’s more, much more but I think there's a word limit on this blog.
As you can tell, we are total opposites in a lot of things and he drives me absolutely crazy.

So…. what keeps us together? It might just be this . . . .
He reads to me in bed so I can get sleepy.
He never complains when I turn on my book-on-tape when I go to sleep.
He calls me several times a day when he’s on the road.
He gives me blessings on the phone when I need them.
He’ll go to the store when I don’t want to.
He reads the directions and then tells me in 3 E-Z steps how to do it.
He takes me out to breakfast the first morning after he comes in off the road.
He’s quiet and patient with me.
He puts the toilet seat down.
He likes to make me laugh.
He buys great gifts such as; emerald and diamond anniversary earrings.
He somehow manages an occasional surprise birthday party for me.
He brings me diet de-caf coke.
He allows me my independence without a fuss.
He spoons with me even if we’ve had a bad day.
He’ll give me the last of something.
In a room full of people he always looks for me.
He still wants to impress me.
He’s kind to me.
He runs his thoughts past me for my opinion.
He plays Titanic with me.
He pumps my gas.
He cuts the grass before he leaves for the week so I don‘t have to.
He reads to me over the phone.
He’s absolutely honest in his dealings.
He has the amazing ability to make happen the creative ideas I have in my head.
He reaches out for my hand when we’re riding in the car.
He attempts to help me make the bed.
He is most upright in his church callings and has the reputation of being trustworthy.
He has a soft and kind heart.
He loves the scriptures.
He reads the Ensign every month.
He honors his priesthood.
He loves my children.

This list doesn’t include all of the things Dave does for me but there’s not enough room on this blog to list them all.
I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you the one thing about Dave that truly touches my heart the most; that is his sweet sincere love for his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Many times as we read together he is taken over by the spirit and can hardly speak. I’ve seen him reading scriptures on his own and the tears flowing down his cheeks. It melts me.
Dave has come a long way since his baptism and not all of it easy but he keeps plugging along, moving forward, I admire that.
At the end of the day after all is said and done the one thing I know for sure is Dave loves me and is in love with me.
Maybe, just maybe, that’s why we’re still together . . .
I love you Sweet Man

Austin & Mackenzie Grad 2009

2009-05-16T18:32:00.006-05:00

Austin and Mackenzie

Grad 2009

They make a lovely couple, he's seriously handsome and she's amazingly pretty.

They are also very good human beings with kind hearts and level heads.

Austin is my second oldest grandson. He has amazing talent on the floor, field, and diamond, he's intelligent and has a bright future ahead of him. We love you Austin, you've done us proud.

Remember who you are and what you represent. Granma N

Destiny or Coincidence?

2009-05-16T18:19:00.002-05:00

Destiny or coincidence?
KC caught that ball by the way.

My girl posted the infant photo of her oldest son (the same one in the 2nd photo) on her blog letting us know he wouldn't be coming home for summer break from university and how quickly time has passed since the infant photo was taken. KC is going to remain where he is and work for the summer. The next son in line, Austin, will be joining his brother for training camp in a few months. The next two boys will be in grade 11 & 12 come fall. These boys have had some kind of ball in their hands since they were wee lads. I think we can safely rule out coincidence, don't you?

My Other Addiction

2009-05-15T11:38:00.008-05:00

I've been looking for a doll to put in my trunk for Morgan and here she is. The doll has porcelain hands and face. Her body is stuffed cloth. I washed her dress, stockings, and bloomers. I spiffed up her shoes and tidied up her hair. I just have to get some ribbon the color of her dress and she's done. Well, I did think about making a bonnet or fancing up a straw one. My partner in crime, Lanette, and I were at the junque store and there she was for, watch out don't faint, $1.00. I thought I read the tag wrong but no my eyes had not failed me. Sorry for the poor photo. I've been looking for an umbrella stand for some time and here it is. Got two for the price of one so I have one in the vestibule and one in the back hallway. I love umbrellas, or bumbershoots as my mother use to call them. My big spend of the week--$3.75.

Some more of my addiction...a doll from Stone Mountain Georgia (according to a faint inscription on her apron), wrought iron cup holder, birdhouse, black candy can with roses and a 1cup measure with green handle, and the doily I put through the handle so you could see it. All for under $2.00. I don't know what I would do if I had an addiction for expensive items....Although diet-caffine-free coke is beginning to drain my pockets. Smile...

Thanks Jan

2009-05-15T11:21:00.003-05:00

This is my granddaughter Morgan, the whizbang jewel finder, and me playing Hidden Expedition Everest. They got me hooked (and I do mean hooked as in addicted) on this pc game while I was home visiting.

I've been looking for it all over since I got back to the Heartland and no one had it. By chance I stopped into a way-out-game store and voila they had 1. The problem was I needed a small bank loan to purchase it. Finally I went on ebay and found all kinds of them but I had closed my pay pal account some time ago from lack of use. I knew my son-in-law had an account so I asked Jan to have him get me one and then I'd send them the $$. Look what came in the mail for Mother's Day. No check required. I called her last night and put the phone up to the speaker and asked her if she recognized the sound in the background. She laughed at me as if she has room to laugh cuz she's all excited and tells me, "Mom, I've got a new place for games and off we went....

THANK YOU JAN AND FAMILY!!
My itch has been scratched.

Dark Dreary Days and Pretty Lights

2009-05-15T11:06:00.003-05:00

It's a day for pretty lights and lots of them. I have three Christmas trees in my house that are never put away. (One never knows when a twinkly light might be required) Today is another one of those days. We've had so much rain and dreary weather in the Heartland this year. It cheers me up to see the lights sparkle and shine. Below is reason for the lights today.I was listening to the AG report yesterday at noon and the announcer said only 10% of the corn has been planted so far. Many of the fields are still so mucky the farmers can't get into them to work. That probably means more soybean fields this year and HIGHER prices for any product relying upon corn for a source. Hang onto your pocketbooks and start using your coupons it's going to be a costly summer and fall.

Apothecary Jars

2009-05-12T09:53:00.003-05:00

Here are the apothecary jars I got at Alco. They were on sale for $5.96 each. What a bargain!

I didn't know what to put behind them so you could see them, my creative juices weren't flowing yet. Haha. So a green dishtowel is what you get.

Revised Curtains

2009-05-12T09:01:00.006-05:00

The revised edition...

I shortened them and added buttons.
This looks fuzzy to me.

What do you think?

Youngest and Oldest

2009-05-11T21:21:00.003-05:00

Our youngest grandchildren
Our Oldest
I have to get current photos of my in between grandchildren.
Aren't they the cutest, well, I could be a tad bit partial.

Yard Sale Finds

2009-05-11T10:54:00.006-05:00

A close up of some pretties found at a yard sale.
Less than $2.00 for the lot and all in fine condition.

Recipe box $.25.

A Tasha Tudor for $.25. Lovely art work.

And it was a sunny day to boot, does it get any better than that?

Wanted:

2009-05-11T10:31:00.004-05:00

The Peddler of Colored Threads

Winifred Shattuck

Saalfield Publishers

1946

Girls, I'm looking for this book.

The front and back covers are cardboard with comb binding.

The 1962 version is paper with staples. I don't want this one but will settle if I can't find the other.

It's the story of a chinese peddler who sells colored threads but wants to sail a boat. There's also a delightful dragon in the story.

If you see it in your travels and it's not over $5.00 and in decent condition get it for me.

Distowel curtains

2009-05-11T09:43:00.003-05:00

My daughter Cheyenne sent me a goodie box for my birthday and these dishtowels were part of that parcel. There is one more polka dot towel as well. As I look at this photo I see I need to adjust the center curtain.
Unfortunately my window looks south onto my neighbor's back porch and yard. I have a blind on the window but have never had curtains. I was looking out the window one day and thinking how I hate looking at their messy yard and porch so the idea came to me about those dishtowels and voila the width was perfect so I folded them over and stitched at the corners. They looked cute but something was missing so I folded a doily over each one and I liked it. I'm going to live with it for a while and see how I like them in a month or so. What do you think?
P. S. After I posted this I looked at the photos and in the bottom photo to the extreme left you can barely see two glass apothecary jars. There was a 40% off sale Mother's Day sale at Alco so I got them. Anyway I was trying to find a way to photograph them to show y'all, I thought I had them out of the way but apparently didn't. I'll do a better photo but I need to find something and someway to hang it behind them so they show up...anyway, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Happy Birthday Jan Ericka

2009-05-09T16:03:00.004-05:00

Jan Ericka was born on a Tuesday the 9th of May at 8:47 a.m. My only baby to be born in broad daylight. Your dad took me to the hospital about 4 or 5 in the morning and I labored on a gurney till we headed for the delivery room. That gurney was horrible, I couldn't turn over without fear of falling off. Labor wasn't too difficult, it's the delivery I'm not good at. I sure was glad when it was over. You had to be turned as did all my babies except for Brandee, and extracted with forceps. (Sounds like pulling a tooth, doesn't it...) You had a few scratch marks on your head but otherwise you were beautiful!

Grandma French came for your birth, she was the first to bathe you. You liked to suck on her chin when you were fussy and it was too soon to nurse you.

You were named Jan Ericka after your dad James Eric because you were suppose to be my last baby. (Little did we know, eh?)

The photo above was taken the day you were blessed. I don't remember the date but you have your blessing certificate so you can check. Grandpa Tieman stood in the circle with your dad and other priesthood holders for your blessing. You were blessed at the Crismon Road chapel. I made your dress, slip and bonnet.

You were a pretty baby with red hair. You've grown up to be a beautiful woman who always wants to change that beautiful red hair and that's ok cuz it makes life interesting.

A little tidbit about your dad...as soon as he got home he would pick you up from your crib, carrier or wherever you were, even if you were asleep, and go about with you.

You didn't get to be a baby very long because 15 months later Brandee arrived. You were already potty trained and weened. You were such an easy baby to take care of. You even got your nights down pat pretty quick.

You've turned out to be a good woman and a fine daughter Jan, I'm proud of you. You take your job as a wife & mother seriously and I'm grateful for that. It's one less thing I have to worry about. I know you will always be okay.

I'm so thankful Heavenly Father has allowed me to be your earthly mother. I've learned a lot from you over the years. I admire you for all that you are and will yet become.

I wouldn't have missed being your mom for all the pretties in the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAN
I LOVE YOU, Mom

He's Gone Again

2009-05-09T07:19:00.008-05:00

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside the door
I hated to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The blue taxis waiting, it's blowin' it's horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could cry

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
I'm leavin in a big blue truck
I dont know when Ill be back again
Oh, girl, I hate to go

Coming home is always a treat
Our time together has been so sweet
Don't want to go but bills are comin' due
I'm a truck drivin' gent, that's what I do
See ya babe . . .

Right back atcha Sweet Man!

Pixies

2009-05-06T21:19:00.002-05:00

Jan, here are the pixies I told you about, what do you think? The darkest one in front is plum, I don't know if you can make that out. I should have taken a photo of the back so you could see the color of their hats better. Aren't they cute?

A Prairie Churchyard

2009-05-06T17:14:00.010-05:00

This little prairie churchyard contains many of our ancestors from my maternal side. The monument on the left is my great great grandparents. It was a gray heartland day when I went out to visit and take some photos. My mother use to say happy is the bride that the sun shines on, happy is the corpse that the rain falls on. If that is true these bodies will be exuberant! We've had record breaking rain this spring. The photos in this group were all taken at the same place. The photos for the cemetery art post were taken at another cemetery that my Uncle Roy use to be the caretaker for. (That's another story for another day.)
Henry is John Vicary's father which is a little further down.
My great great grandmother, Eliza Ford Stear My great great grandfather, Richard Stear.

John is the s/o Henry and Elizabeth Lonsdale Vicary he married Alice Wolstenholme d/o Jacob and Sarah Diggle Wolstenholme which is the photo below.

These are my great grandparents, Jacob and Sarah Diggle Wolstenholme.

Another relative. John Pillman is the b/o Joanna Pillman Stear my great great great grandmother, w/o Richard Strear whose son is Richard and Eliza Ford Stear, my great great grandparents, in the photos near the top. Nearly everyone in this little cemetery is related to me in one way or another. It's a lovely little spot and I love to go there and contemplate what life must have been like way back when. I can't wait to meet these people whose names I've gathered for so many years. One of these days I would like to photograph every tombstone that is related in this churchyard. There has been a lot of vandalism over the years and you never know when something may disappear completely. Many of the old flat limestone markers have been knocked over and laid flat on the ground and eventually the earth takes over and they disappear. Isn't that a shame!

Cemetery Art

2009-05-06T16:54:00.005-05:00

I love to visit cemeteries. . .not just for genealogy but for the art as well.

These tombstones are definitely works of art. I love the shape, the color, the skill it took to accomplish the finished product. There are lots of OLD cemeteries in our neck of the woods and I wanted to share a few photos of some of the stones.

Imagine the work that went into the stone just behind the forefront one. Isn't that amazing work I hope you're able to click on these and enlarge them to see the detail.

This last one happens to be a relative by marriage.

The Boys

2009-04-27T14:10:00.003-05:00

I was cooking the other night and the boys were gathered round watching me when they mentioned they hadn't been featured, as if they were movie stars, on my blog for quite a while. They groomed a bit while I was getting my photo taker and here they are. They're such little posers! When the animals all get together these three are the life of the party and the ringleaders for mischief, albeit not bad mischief. Anyway Roger, Rudy and Robert say, "hey" and wish you a wonderful day wherever in the world you are.

Music

2009-04-23T23:10:00.002-05:00

A friend of mine was telling me she liked the music I'm currently playing on this blog. I did a play list of Blackmore's Night. I don't know how many of you are familiar with their music but I really enjoy it. My favorite tune of theirs is Wish You Were Here. Reminds me of Sweet Man. It's our 'theme' song since he is gone so much. My play list is on random so if you would like to hear Wish You Were Here scroll down until you find it, highlight it, and push play.
Now that I think of it that may not work since it's my blog. Someone try it please and let me know if it does.
Thanks and goodnight from me, have a lovely evening wherever in the world you are.

Nectar of the Goddesses

2009-04-20T16:34:00.004-05:00

Please excuse the sloppy photography. I think you can get a clear enough scope of what I'm showing you anyway. Last week my bosom buddy rang my door bell and said, "I have something for you."

At first I thought she was giving me a can of 'Diet Coke'. We both drink de-caf, diet. She got a big grin on her face and said, " they've changed the can". Beware caffine free-diet-Coke drinkers. Read the label. I wish they would let me design a Coca-Cola label. What kind of a person would put silver and gold together??

Is it done . . .

2009-04-20T16:25:00.003-05:00

This photo is a little dark and it was suppose to go under the other one but I forgot how these things load so please read post below. I love the colors in this rug.

I can't make up my mind if I'm through with this rug or not. If I go much larger I won't be able to use my own machine to launder it. I would like to go a couple more rows at least so I can put another row of beige opposite the one on the left of this photo. Share your opinion with me.

Work Work Work

2009-04-16T17:18:00.002-05:00

This is what I did all day yesterday and part of today. Tomorrow is the yard. UGH!

We're having good weather tomorrow so it won't really be so bad. Have a lovely day wherever in the world you are . . .

Miss Morgan With the Flying Hair

2009-04-14T17:48:00.004-05:00

This is my youngest granddaughter affectionately known as Miss Morgan. She loves to jump on the trampoline which creates static in her hair which creates this wild mane about her pretty little head.

When Morgan is at a certain angle on the trampoline, the sun is just right, and her hair is standing out like Aunt Cheyenne's North-of-Ireland-Presbyterian hair it is quite the sight to behold. Her hair almost looks like it's on fire. This little honey is so pretty she makes my heart melt. She is a whiz of a jewel finder on the PC game Hidden Expedition, can put together puzzles like a pro on Jigzone, loves to play with her brothers and is Mom and Daddy's only daughter. You're a gem Miss Morgan.

I love and miss you a bunch. . . Your Granma N

Bottles

2009-04-13T18:21:00.004-05:00

I like color, I like it a lot. I have prisms in my windows, bottles in my windows, and witches balls in my windows. Anything to have color. In the afternoon when the sun comes around to the west side of the house these little beauties light up beautifully. I have a uv film on my window so it looks a bit hazy but I assure you when the sun hits them the color is brilliant nonetheless. Unfortunately by the time the sun got to the other side of the house we had lost it behind heavy clouds. Drats! I waited all day to get a 'sun-through-the -bottles' photo. Maybe next time.

The Art of Kerry Soper

2009-04-13T17:38:00.003-05:00

While perusing the Internet one evening I came across this art work by Kerry Soper. Aren't they lovely? The picture above is the Manti Temple where I was married and the one below is a kitchen cabinet from somewhere in his mind. The colors are so soft and inviting to look at. I forgot to get the address but you can 'google' him and see more of his wonderful work.

This little cupboard looks so homey to me. I know we're not suppose to covet but I have to admit I covet this fellow's talent. I 'see' things in my mind I would like to create but I can't make it come out the ends of my fingers. What a lovely talent the Lord has give Kerry Soper.

Mr. Soper, I'm told these are some of my talents, I'm a great organizer, listener, worker, I can see things not for what they are but what they can become. Want to trade any of these for yours?

Happy Birthday Cheyenne

2009-04-10T21:46:00.005-05:00

On the morning of April 11, 1966 I began labor with my first child. I spent the day at my parents home, hubby and I decided he would go to work and I would call when the time came to go to the hospital. After all, it was my first baby, two weeks early, and what did I know?

Around 5 pm labor intensified and after speaking with my OB's nurse we decided to go to the hospital. After a call to the hubby my folks took me to the hospital where upon the Daddy-to-be arrived about 45 mins. later. I continued to labor through the evening and finally at 11:43 pm

our daughter, a 7 lb 5 oz, 19" long bundle of joy arrived. Cheyenne came into the world with wild coal black hair, black eyes, and a rosebud of a mouth.

My mother said, "Look at that hair, it'll never lay down. She didn't get that hair from my side of the family. That's that North of Ireland hair...she got it from your father. That's the kind of hair you see on Presbyterians. If you had married a proper Limerick man she wouldn't have this standing-up-North of Ireland Presbyterian hair." Then she spat on the child's head to try and make her hair lay down.

Ok, I added this tale about my Mom for effect but it sounded pretty good didn't it?

All that wild black hair eventually fell out and it came back white as snow and those black eyes turned brown which eventually turned green with brown flecks.

You were such a happy beautiful baby; I couldn't have asked for a better 'first' baby than you were.

Cheyenne, you are still sweet and beautiful and a joy to have as a daughter. I cannot imagine my life without you.

I'm so grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing me to be your earthly mother, I don't know what I did to deserve that but I do appreciate it and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEYENNE, I LOVE YOU . . .

Your Mom

Love . . .

2009-04-09T20:12:00.011-05:00

I love my family with all my heart. My husband is a prince and my children & grandchildren are jewels. But alas, I must admit there is something that ranks right up there with the prince and the jewels . . .

Mmm hmm, that's what I'm talkin' bout . . . cake!
You heard me . . . C-A-K-E

I love cake. I have been known to eat it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I'm just daring that way, it doesn't matter a tittle what time of the day or night it is, I love cake.

I don't know if I have a favorite or if it's whatever kind is on the end of my fork at the moment. I eat all kinds, colors, shapes and textures. I like it hot, cold, plain, or frosted. I love it with no filling, cream filling, or fruit filling. I like it square, oblong, round, and bundt. I like it single layer, double layer or in a trifle. I like it with milk and I like it without. I like it just baked or two days old. (Don't snicker it does last two days . . . sometimes.) I just love cake.

The delightful morsel that is pictured is a boxed dark chocolate fudge. I bake it as directed on the box. A couple of minutes before the cake is done I mix up 2 c. milk, a pkg. of instant chocolate fudge pudding and a 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon mint extract. Mint can be strong so TASTE. Don't let the pudding set up. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven poke holes in the top of the cake and pour the slightly thickened pudding over the cake. It will not hold all the pudding. Put the rest of the pudding in the fridge and eat later or suck it up with a straw, don't turn your nose up to this possibility, it's good. Chill cake about two hours.

When thoroughly chilled and you can't stand the pain of waiting any longer cut a nice square, slice down the middle and spread with cool whip or whipped cream or canned whipped cream (the first squirt goes directly into your mouth as a taste test) then spread the same on top. It's essential to eat it on a pretty plate with a pretty napkin.

My dears you will feel like a princess or prince as the case may be. Cake is the food of the gods and since we are all children of our Heavenly Father and He is Deity that would include us.

Do try a square or two of cake this week and see if your disposition doesn't improve and your outlook becomes sunnier and don't forget the pretty plate and napkin.

So long family and friends, have a lovely evening wherever in the world you are.

More Camera Photos

2009-04-03T20:14:00.008-05:00

Agfa Ansco
View finder of Kodak Duaflexll

Kodak Duaflexll

Back of Wirgin Camera

Wirgin camera made in Germany...Know anything

about this piece of equipment?

Brownie Six-20

Cameras

2009-04-03T18:37:00.006-05:00

I have a couple of daughters who like photography, the younger one would like to take it up as a living one day. I decided to start an old camera collection for fun and display and then pass them on. Here is the beginning of the collection starting with all four lined up.

From l to r. The first is a Brownie Target Six-20. It was made from July 1946 to 1952. This is mine and takes lovely old black and white photos. The film has to be purchased from a camera shop. As do all the following.

The next is a German made Wirgin. I don't know anything else about it, I've looked all over the net and I do find Wirgin but not this particular one.

Next is an Agfa Ansco. Cameras with this name were manufactured between 1928-1943 in Binghamton, NY. Any cameras made after 1943 were labeled Ansco.

Last but not least is a Kodak Duaflex ll, it uses 620 film and was manufactured in Rochester, NY in December 1953. Kodak had an interesting way to date their cameras. They used the word camerosity as the base; c=1, a=2, etc. When you open the back of this camera there is some identification and under that a list of instructions, under that is four letters. This camera has the letters carm which interpreted gives us the numbers 1253. Hence, December 1953.

The last three cameras may have, and probably do, have parts missing. I'm pretty sure the Kodak would have a flash.

Anyway I think they're interesting and fun to look at. I don't have a clue how to open the Agfa Ansco to see the inside of it so one of these days I will go up to the big city to the camera shop and have them take a look see.

A story. . . When I was a little girl a neighbor gave me an old box camera. I use to go around taking pretend photos of people in the neighborhood. After I snapped their picture I would open the box of the camera and take out a photo of a pretty woman or handsome man that I had previously cut out of a magazine. It was a fun pasttime and folks always got a kick out of the 'their' pictures.
See next post for more photos.

Something New . . .

2009-04-03T09:44:00.004-05:00

Something new . . .
I'm such a contradiction of terms. I love new things but I'm drawn to the old.

I love the feel of new socks on my feet, a new flannel gown, the shine of a new pair of shoes, the smell of a new car. Newly mown grass, just turned earth, the desert after rain, the sun on a brand new horizon. the skin of a new baby. I like the smell of a new book and how crisp the pages are.

On the other hand, I love how worn shoes feel on my feet once they've molded to my foot, how flannel gowns get softer and softer with wear. The wrinkles on older peoples faces, how the smell of a book and the texture of the pages change after you've read it time and time again.
I like the vibrancy of youth and yet love to visit with older folks and glean wisdom from their experiences.

I like going into furniture stores and looking at the new items on display but given a choice of something brand new or something used and loved I go for the old every time.

I think what I like about old used stuff is it's history, the memories associated with it. In other words something new is only new until you take it home. Once you've put it on or used it it begins to accumulate character, history and a memory.

When I first came here I purchased a French Provincial settee from the Salvation Army for $10.00. I used that settee for a few years then I gave it to a friend who used it for a few years then I had it again and once again gave it back to her. This went on for 14 years. It was solid but slightly worn when I purchased it and only got better until finally we decided to part with it. She passed it on to someone new. I don't know the history of this piece before I bought it but it was loved because it was well cared for. I loved it while it was in my care, my friend loved it while in her care and we hope whoever has it now loves it too.

People are the same way. I love meeting new people and making new friends but my old friends and family are the ones I'm constantly drawn too. They're like that pair of shoes, bright and shiny when new but once lives are melded together through trials, tribulations, love and heartaches there's nothing like it in the world.

Cherish friends, cherish family. Make them comfortable with wear and service, love them, take care of them.

I want my friends and family to know how much they mean to me and how much better my life is because they're in it.

To them and all others have a lovely day wherever in the world you are . . .