Sunday, November 18, 2012

Mother's Helper For Table Decorating




When I was a very little girl, I loved to help my mom; Probably more, in fact than she would have liked when she was having company. I think I have posted about the ladies coming to visit that mom called, "club ladies."
 My parents were very poor, but  that did not keep my mother from entertaining with style. 
She never used napkins for every day when I was little, but when the club ladies came she used napkins that resembled Vanity Fair napkins of our time.
I have been seeing them being advertised on television lately. Every time I see that ad I think of the "chore" my mother gave me to get ready for the ladies.
She would get my colors and the napkins out and let me color the flowers on the bottom.  If she had "club" in the spring she had me color the flowers yellow, and pink etc. If the ladies came in the fall, the flowers needed to be colored gold and rust and purple etc. The ladies always remarked on the lovely napkins on the table, and then of course, my mama told them that I had helped decorate them.

Another wonderful memory that has been hidden away for over sixty years.











Saturday, November 10, 2012

Doggie Preschool


Bandit





Fran and I have done something this last week neither one of us ever dreamed we would do. We adopted ANOTHER dog.
Our little Maggie was also unexpected, but after three years we have gotten used to the temper tantrums, the sad looks that make us feel so guilty (planned on her part) etc.
We went to a flea market the other day and saw the most woebegone dog I have ever seen. He looked like a sheltie, had long fur that just glistened and great big brown eyes. The sign said FREE. We talked and talked and told the man we might be back but we doubted it.
However, we did go back into town and picked him up. He was scared to death. I don't blame him. He felt all of the proverbial orphan.
Fran took him outside and he marked his places over and over.
Well, Maggie's worst nightmare had just begun.
She barked and snapped at him like I had never seen her do before. He, of course, wanted all of her bones and toys even though we had gotten him his own.
And......the race was on!!!
Most people can't or won't believe this, but we got another dog because we were bored with our hum drum life. lol

Maggie

After just a few days we have developed a schedule of Doggie Preschool. The part of the school day they like best is Recess. They even know the word "out" that means recess. They both race to the door at the same time. The "Kids" huff and puff as do I to keep with them.  Fran takes one door and I take another.

Now we have another problem, smaller than the first, but Maggie has developed a poor self esteem. She is not standing up for herself, so we have to be the disciplinarians to the new big brother.


Oh, Joy, to the life of being new doggie parents!


Thursday, September 13, 2012

The Chicken Caper

About thirty some years ago my sister-in-law  and I loaded up a bushel or two of apples and took them to Sioux City, Iowa to my mother's house. Why? You guessed it. For an extra pair of hands, of course. Also for some expert advice.
My mom made pies that looked nicer than those you would win in a blue ribbon contest. She did so effortlessly. When the pies were done, they were not baked, but made of raw dough and piled high with raw apples.
My father made shelves of wood for us to put the pies on in the backseat. He was always so creative that way.
All went well until I got home.
We lived on an acerage with cats, dogs, chickens, oops chickens did I say?  Yup the chickens were so spoiled they followed us every where like a dog.
I didn't pay attention to them when I drove into the driveway. They did as they always did; ran to the car 100mph.
I opened up the back door of the car and they swarmed in to attack the pies. You never heard such screaming and squawking in your life. I was so angry and so were they. I was not about to let them have the pies we had  worked so hard to make.
I salvaged the majority of the pies. In fact all, but one. We had that one for supper that night.
I felt like the chickens had this all planned ahead of time, just waiting to attack when I got home it was so perfectly executed!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Remote OCS

Fran missed the news this morning. Our house is like a mental health facility. He is "surfing" and muttering and mumbling about no news...."I can't find it anywhere!" type stuff.
He is going to have callouses on his thumbs. He is going up and down so fast there is no way he can read what the movie is all about.
I don't help matters any by saying,"I have no idea why you want to watch the news, it is the same old junk they have every day; politics and politics."
He says, "but I want to watch the weather."
I say, "but it is all over with, and you know it didn't rain or blow us away."
Oh, If I could drive I would go shopping the rest of the day. Nascar starts in three hours and it is way to hot for even a short walk.
Oh, well, I have a new cookbook that my daughter sent me, so I will read new recipies.
Wish me luck with the "surf and turf" hubby and his disgruntled attitude. Oh, listen I hear the cowboys and Indians on in the background!  Nope, that is gone too now an old old movie. We will see how long that one lasts!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Weekly Reader Is No Longer

I saw on the news and read on the computer news something that made me feel so old; not that my friends and relatives have just turned eighty. No, that is nothing. The Weekly Reader is no longer being published. I couldn't believe my ears.
To me the Weekly Reader was to my "library" as flour and sugar is to my cupboards now.
The Weekly Reader made me feel so grownup. It was my very own newspaper. I think it was only four pages maybe more. That was a very long time ago.
How many of you remember reading the Weekly Reader?
I just looked it up on the computer. It is now printed for all different grades. The picture you see at the top is for Pre-K. That makes me chuckle. When I was in school, you were either in or you were out. Oh, I forgot we didn't know how to read either. However, we had to tie our shoes (no velcro) and we had to say our ABC's.
Sigh, I know that things change, but I had a youngin tell me today that he understood that OLDER people had trouble with change. Ahem, yup we do, just don't tell me!

Not A Breeze!

Our summer has been so hot! That is all folks talk about no matter where I go. I just love it when people (even my doctor) says, "hot enough for ya?"  No I would just love it to be another twenty degrees hotter. Sometimes I just wonder......
We were told to quit using water to water our lawn, bushes, etc. We could water our garden a little bit, but Fran has done a lot of pulling out plants that continue to wilt because of heat, anyway. The water that he uses has chlorine in it. The garden plants just don't do as well with that as the heavenly showers do.
This terrible heat reminds me of when I was just a little little girl. We had a screen door that faced the south east side of our house. Mom put us on quilts and of course, I complained 'cause "it was too hot, Mama".
There was not a hint of a breeze. My mom didn't get a fan until she was expecting my brother. That was a small table top fan. She always told me  that that fan was a "Godsend." We are so terribly
 spoiled , aren't we?
She would tell me stories when I grew up about the Dirty Thirties. The Dirty Thirties lasted for the better part of a decade.
Because of the drought and wind and poorly insulated houses, she would take wet dishtowels and put over the windows and screens to keep that fine dirt out. We now have airconditioners and machines to clean our air. Hmm.
I guess I will just quit my complaining about something I can't control. Nah, I just can't do it!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

I Think That Was A Maybe

I had my eyes tested today. I had not had them tested for six years. Needless to say, I got a lecture from the doctor. Well....if I could see okay why spend the money?
Well, today I decided that I was not able to see okay any more. I have the most interesting  problem with my vision. If I look at a word, it actually slides to the left and then returns. During the test I told the doctor, "oh look, the A is dancing. It has different lengths of legs. He just said, "oh, is that right?"  I just know he was smiling.
Then, he showed me the results of one of the tests that they gave me twice. One was very very long and one was half the length. I was to click a mouse when I saw a wavy box. When he showed me the results, he alluded to the fact that I clicked when I didn't see one and didn't click when I did. I kind of fibbed, is what I did. I told the girl, "I think that was a maybe." She just chuckled. The test showed the doctor that I might have a blockage. If in fact I do, then it could be serious. What is serious?  Don't ya just love it?

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Training Maggie

We adopted Maggie a little over three years ago. She is extremely spoiled, but we think that she deserves to be a "tad" spoiled because she belongs to us.
We had only had Maggie about three months when my daughter came to visit with her four or five children. Maggie snapped and snarled and had a nervous breakdown while they were here. Well, I didn't snap or snarl, but I did about have a nervous breakdown. I was so terribly worried that she would bite one of the little ones. My daughter wanted to take her for a walk, well she would have none of it!! We finally had to kennel her to keep her from doing bodily harm.
Well.....today we had my son's family for the holiday. Day one with two adults and three little boys; full of energy, running, jumping, yelling etc. Once again, Maggie was snarly, snapping, barking non stop. Once again, I was about to have a nervous breakdown. Once again, Maggie was disciplined, put outside on a run etc. Day 2: Maggie laid at my feet, watching the boys go through a test of activities for her to judge which ones she would go out of control. These activities were set up by my son, because he couldn't believe she could change over night. I told him I thought she believed she might as well get over it because they were going to stay all the time. Not once did she growl, bark, or even got up on her feet. She's such a good little girl.  lol

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Back In The Day

Back in the day.......A teenager tends to block out an older person when they hear that intro. However, there were lots of funny, good, and interesting things that "happened back in the day."
The other day I said something about more birthday stories to follow. Well, last year and the year before, I did post some so all I can think of today is one in particular that was about forty years ago.
Yesterday I talked to my sister-in-law and we were laughing and laughing about my "gift" that she and the in-laws gave me; A great big brown paper (yes paper bag for groceries in those days) full of matches. Matches, you say, Yes. In those days, smoking was acceptable, almost expected. I NEVER had a match, so I would swipe anyone's that was laying on the table or ask someone for a match, and "forget" to give them back.
She said that they all got together and got any and all kinds of matches they could find, and put them in this bag. See in those days, (once again the kids slink away) we didn't spend much if any money on gifts. For one thing we didn't have any! So the reminiscing was fun. Funny how some things are "forever memories" and some just flit away like yesterday's news.
Hope to see you soon!


Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Birthday Blues

Several years ago, my late husband bought me a bicycle after much begging for one. It was pretty pathetic, actually ie," I never got one when I was a kid, I could get more excersise, you could take care of the kids while I could go for a ride and on it went.
When my birthday came, I got a bike.  It was red and silver. Well, let me tell you, I was one happy lady! It was the kind of bike that I asked for. In this day and age it would be classified as a mountain bike; large seat and large tires. Hmm, I can feel it now and I can also hear the sound of it as it went down the street.
Why I did what I am about to tell you, is unknown to me and my husband and my neighbors, but I parked it at the curb, then promptly got in the car with my kids and ran over my bike!! I had only had it one or two days. I have no clue why I didn't park it by the house.
I quickly took it to my neighbor man and  tearfully, blubbering of course, he asked me what I had done with my NEW bike, and yes, he could fix it ,which he did.
A few days later, I carefully, yes carefully put the bike in Back of my car. The next time I went to the store I backed over it. Yup, I did. That time it wasn't fixable. My sweet husband, said, "I thought you wanted a bike."  I never got another one.
I just told Fran about this post and what it was about. I told him I had thought I had run out of things to write about. He just chuckled and shook his head and said, "I can see you doing that."  What's that mean? Does that mean he never would have bought me a bike for my birthday?
Stay tuned for more birthday stories!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

How Much?????

My husband and I went to a benefit auction yesterday afternoon for a friend of ours that was in a head on collision. She was so fortunate to live through it. She will have to wait for weeks/months for the law suits to go through.
Any way, there was everything from soup to nuts for sale. I was surprised as was Fran that were so many baked goods. The pies up for auction were just beautiful. I have not seen such pies since my mother was  able to bake.
My best friend loved gooseberry pies.  If any of you have ever made them they are so time consuming. They have little bitty stems that need to be plucked out before baking. I remember buying my friend a gooseberry pie for Christmas years ago. It cost almost $30. I about fainted, but she was worth it.
Fran and I both enjoy auctions, but Mr. Hubby about flipped out when the bidding went to $135 for that gooseberry pie. Several other pies were bid up to over a hundred dollars.
It has been a long time since I have laughed so hard. Our friends were having a ball outbidding each other. When one person won, they would all clap. Fran said, "I think I will send you home to bake some pies." The one plate of cupcakes that a ten year old made sold for twenty five dollars.  Many things sold way over retail price, but it was all for a very good cause.
They had a really nice set of folding chairs that I got for twenty dollars for our shelter. They are black(which I cannot see) with yellow seats. That I can see very well. So we are very pleased. I think they were the last of the things to sell and people were broke and tired. The auction lasted about three hours.
They also had an all you can eat buffet. So......I didn't have to cook!!!
Today the phone rang and I looked at my caller ID and it was my cell phone number. Yay! he got a signal inside the shelter. Things seem to be going our way. Now if we never have to use it, I will be extremely happy. 
Happy summer, everyone!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Old Age?

We have been having an extraordinary amount of rain the last few days. It has been spring weather also in the fifties. When you are older, as some of you may be. Damp and chilly weather makes you very cold. Some people say, "clear to the bone."
We find ourselves talking to each other saying, "was that the furnace or rain?"
Actually, there is no answer to that question. I just smile and think, "I wonder if this is part of aging too?"

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Confirmation Time

This is the time we think of confirmation and Easter.  We also used to think of white suits and white dresses signifying pureness.
The age of the children vary from church to church. My mother-in-law, Marie was confirmed at eight years old and so was my husband. The picture above is of my mother-in-law.
My grandchildren get confirmed at approximately thirteen years old. This process takes generally two years. There is a lot of memorization of scripture verses and reading of the Bible.
One day I called my daughter's house and I got the second oldest boy. I said, "Hey guy!!" "What are you doing?"  He said, "I am reading my Bible." That took me aback abit in this day and age. I have never forgotten it.
There are some old traditions that hold true and I just love them.

Mountain Lion could have Maggie for Midnight Snack

Fran was telling me this morning that the neighbor man was driving in the park late last night on his way home from work and saw a mountain lion. We have been hearing about the numbers being on the rise around the surrounding countryside.
He told me to be careful when I took Maggie out at night before bedtime. Well, that took off on a whole new note!!  He usually takes her out early in the morning and I take her out late at night. I informed him that from now on, he would be taking her out at night, and I would be on for early morning duty. He disagreed with me loudly!  What a coward!!  Thank goodness we have timber on the east side of our house, or is that a good thing?

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Tax Time Then and Now

When I was a little girl, we lived on a farm. We had a tax man that nobody liked. He counted every bit of livestock, chickens, and even came in the house to see if our linoleum went clear to the wall on all four sides.
My mother always tried to be gracious to him like she was with everyone else, but I am sure it was at times difficult.
Taxes took the profit right off the top sometimes.
I do remember, though, that he never got rolls and coffee like other visitors.
Now days we don't live on a farm. I am sure that the farmers still are taxed on their animals, just like my folks were, but wall to wall linoleum? I don't think so.
I wish you all good thoughts at tax time, personal and federal, and state.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Starting the New Year Out Right!

This sounds so silly, but I just had to share this with you.
When my daughter and oldest son were about four and six, we had two bathrooms. Now 40 years later, once again, we have two bathrooms.
This has been a wonderful day. It is called relief with no worries.  We now have Marie, so there are three of us.
And...the only place we have for it is the laundry room!!  Who cares? Not me.
Well, guys off to go look at the pretty new commode.
Bye!!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Pretty Woman Syndrome

My favorite movie of all times is "Pretty Woman."  In that movie she is all dressed up fit to kill to accompany Richard Gere, millionaire to eat snails for one of the courses in this ultra snitzy restaurant.
She was given a "tool" to crack the shell. When she attempted to do that the snail flew across the room and the waiter caught it. He reassured her and said, "It happens all the time."

I decided to have homemade beef vegetable soup tonight for supper with cabbage from our garden this last summer. Oh, yummy. I thought about my friend, Carole, because she always wanted honey butter with her cornbread.
I am not a big fan, but thought that Marie and Fran might like some.
I have no clue what happened. I used a teflon pan and greased it. The cornbread wouldn't come out, and all of a sudden the cornbread went flying through the air, but it landed on the serving plate.
The compliments were abundant (like silence). I was the only person that tried it. It tasted like wallpaper paste smells. I have a feeling that little "J" box has been in my cupboard for about 5 years. YUK!!!
My husband seldom laughs out loud. Usually just a grin. But this brought out the ha ha's.
Look at the paper plate that the piece flew on. Doesn't it look like a saltine cracker? Probably couldn't do that again.
You guys have a good week, probably won't be on again for awhile.

Happy New Year From Marie!

Marie would like to wish everyone a very happy new year. Last year was difficult to say the least. She broke her hip and had to stay in a rehab center for two months. She finally got home and two weeks later broke her wrist. She required a lot of therapy for that too.
Then her son Roland passed away in November. Thank goodness we live just up the hill so she has come to live with us.
Fran is remodeling that house to a great extent and it looks great.
Marie has settled in and seems to be happy. We and Marie hopes that this year is much better than the last one!!!