Decorations On Guitars; St. Nicholas' Day; Christmas Play; ROBINS!

December 6, 2014.

Today is St. Nicholas Day, December 6. 

It is also the day that our Mom, Josephine Toth Banko, Gram B, was born, in 1915. If she were still living, she would be ninety-nine ---- 99 ---- years old! 

Bill and Jennifer picked me up at 5:10 p.m. last evening (Dec 5) to go to Vespers at church, and right after that, the Christmas Play would be put on by the Teen Group. During Vespers all the Teen Group (almost twenty of them) sat in the two front pews, in the Nave. They looked wonderful to me! Our eighteen-year-old Veronica was on the end of one pew, right across the middle aisle, from me! Lovable Veronica! 

It was very nice to be at church. I was in pain, though, with my hips from "the exercise" that I gave them the evening before (Dec 4) when we went to the Art Exhibit of a songwriter, who had spent so much time decorating many old guitars with beads, buttons, little tiny mirrors, and all sorts of little items. I stood around those decorated guitars, making a camera shoot so I could look at those decorated items, more than once. I couldn't take myself away from all those old guitars so thoroughly decorated. Each one also had some thoughts written on a small sheet of paper. 

About "the exercise," I was really hoping that it wouldn't get worse! But this morning it feels a little better, thank goodness! It was pure pain for quite a few hours afterward. There's still some pain, but not like yesterday.

I just took a look at the outdoors from my front door, and most of the leaves are gone from the trees, leaves are blowing 'all over the place' with such gusty winds. The biggest thrill was that there were so many birds between the backyard (which I didn't look at) and the place across the street! The neighbors have a round tree on their front lawn that is so magnificent. So many birds love to fly around the tree, and use it for 'parties' and 'conventions'. 

This morning I thought they were blackbirds, and I just stood there watching them flying to and fro, away, then they came back again and again. They would be flying up above the front lawn here, up over the front door to the roof probably, and as they flew over, I suddenly saw the color of their breasts!

Golly, it is December 6, St. Nicholas' Day, and they must be celebrating, because these lovely exciting birds turned out to be ROBINS! Robin Redbreasts! I can hardly believe it. Did they come back for spring, or what? Are they all testing the area so they can stay here now? The weather has been unusual this year, and they probably think it's almost spring and time to get their nests going. 

Or, could they be flying south from northern areas, and took a nice place to relax for a half hour? I am truly flabbergasted. I dearly love to see the birds return.  

Back to the Christmas Play at church, it was about St. Nicholas, a bishop from Myra, who would secretly put coins in shoes after bedtime, depositing coins for young ladies who desperately needed dowries so they could get married. It was a very moving little Christmas Play, and the Teen Group were so good at playing their parts. Near the end of the play, they sang, first the girls, then the boys, and my eyes teared up quite a bit. It was so lovely. Our Veronica was playing "grandma" to one girl, and I would certainly love to see Veronica in a play again, as she grows older. She was very good.  

After the Play, there was a very enjoyable Snack Time of many kinds of hummus and many different kinds of chips. There was also a plate of veggies for dipping, but I think the chips were so interesting that they won over. 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

A Stop at the Doctor's; Elderberries and Apples; Ice Fishing.

October 30, 2014.

A Stop at the Doctor's; Elderberries and Apples; Ice Fishing.

Hello, dear people, may you have a wonderful weekend.

I had been in the hospital, and when I came home there was talk of an appointment to see my family doctor and he would see how I am doing. But for some reason he wasn't going to be in, this week, so the nurse said to come anyway this morning, and she went over my case quite a bit. Another nurse was going to go over it, too, so I had two little separate visits right then and there in the same room. The appointment was at 8 a.m., and I am so glad that my son was my chauffeur.                              

My son knows much more than I do, about all that the nurses talked about, because I listen closely but can't take notes while I'm listening. I hadn't eaten breakfast because I had an idea that she would take my blood test, and sure enough, she took two vials full. They want to see what's going on in my system. I also gave a urine sample.  

Since I had to wake up quite early this morning, I went to lie on the bed at noon, and had a power nap. Then this afternoon, about three o'clock, I had another short nap. It seems that I have been needing naps. The discovery of 'short power naps' really helps one to manage the whole day. 

I'm doing a load of my laundry at the moment, and just had a little meal of hamburg and vegetables. I can't have any bun with it, and am munching on a rice cake with elderberry jelly on half, the other half seemed to want hummus. I also had a teaspoon of peanut butter. I love that elderberry jelly! Did you know that elderberries are very nutritious? You can make jam and jelly, elderberry juice, and wine. When we would go to our grandparents' farm, we would admire all the elderberry blossoms as we went down the farm driveway. The bushes grew along the whole length of the driveway. Then when the berries were ripe, we would help to pick them. I've always loved the elderberry bushes, the blossoms, and the jam. Grandma would give us a piece of home made bread with jam on it as we were leaving for home ~ I always think of that. 

  

Back to the subject ~ with my problem of having not enough potassium ~ the nurse said that possibly I would be given a prescription to take potassium every day, but I'd have to wait until the blood test shows something. I have some papers telling about which food gives more potassium. This is quite surprising: raw apples and applesauce have low potassium, apple juice has moderate potassium, and dried, cooked apples have high potassium content. Now, I don't know if that was dried AND cooked apples, or dried apples and/or cooked apples. I have been cooking my apple pieces during the last couple of months, and I feel lucky doing that! They had seemed to satisfy me more than fresh pieces of apple.  

It's going to be 58˚cold this weekend, they say. I keep wondering who "they" is. They seem to give correct weather reports, then you find out that something other has been lingering around. I hope the winter will be a nice one. Now up in the north, like NY and PA and WI, they always  have nice winters that are cold, very cold, windy, very windy, and the residents LOVE to get their snowmobiles and ice-fishing poles out of storage. Can you imagine that lakes up there freeze so thick that vehicles, even trucks, can go out on the ice to the owners' fishing huts? They get out of their trucks, go into their small fishing huts and drill a little hole in the ice so they can put their saws in the hole and enlarge it just so. Then they hang onto their fishing poles and drink favorite beverages. They often take lunches with them, too. Some people fish alone, and some have small groups in those tiny fishing huts to do a little socializing and maybe some politicizing. 

Isn't it amazing that I can be talking of one subject, and in the blink of an eye I am completely on another tale, memory, idea, or thought? 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Another Hospital Visit? Home Again; Beautiful Flying geese.

Friday, October 24, 2014. 

Another Hospital Visit? Home Again; Beautiful Flying Geese.

I must admit that some of the stay in the hospital was a good rest for me. I didn't watch much TV, nor read anything, and I did a lot of napping and dozing. There is always someone gently knocking on the door and coming in, for various, sundry, and necessary activities, shots, questioning, taking vital checks, and many more reasons.  

There are several interruptions of one's sleep every night. You just fall back asleep after the necessary thing is done. 

Even in the daytime, you can doze off to sleep, or just lie in the bed and rest, look out the window, or very often, take a real nap. 

There were a few nurses that I liked very much. All of the nurses were doing their jobs well, and each and every one of them was very kind, attentive, and caring. 

There was a lot done in the little time that I was there. When I was taken to the Emergency Room, honestly, I was quite scared, because I didn't know why I had been so nauseous, so very tired so often in the day, and because I didn't know what was happening to my body. Now I feel more knowledgeable, and I am so grateful that I could come back home.  

My potassium had gone so low, the magnesium also, and  the sodium. That could lead so quickly to having trouble with the heart. We must try to take good care of our bodies. If you are not feeling well, and are very tired for no reason, or you have nausea very often, or any strange changes, then quickly hie to the doctor and find out what is wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This evening as I was looking out the front door, I enjoyed looking at the blue sky and the thickening of the vapor trails up there. Sometimes there are so many vapor trails that they make criss-crosses, some designs, sometimes straight long lines are made. Once in a while I can see so very, very far off in the distance up very high, a new vapor trail of an airplane that is only a dot way up there ...  

All of a sudden, there came quite low, a small flock of geese with their beautiful calls. There were about twelve geese flying in a single line, flapping their wings as usual, every goose flapping its wings to match the flapping of the second goose from it. That seems to be a way to produce the perfect stream of air around them, that eases the work that they must do to fly for a long time.  

It's always so pleasant to look at the sky, no matter what it shows.  

I'll see you at the Corner Post ... 

The Colonoscopy Outpatient Place; Nighty-Night.

Thursday, October 9, 2014. 

We arrived just before our appointment time, and waited a little while, then were called up to the receptionist's counter, and I filled out some papers. Then we were taken to the little room (Bill went in with me in the first little room). As we began the very short trek, the nurse said, "Prepare to stay for four hours!" Apparently the doctor was working on another patient, while I was filling out papers and answering questions to the woman who came in and asked me so many questions of my medical events, etcetera, then another one came in and asked me some more. After this one, Bill had to leave the room while I changed completely ~ not from Grannamae to a princess, but clothed to you-know what. 

When I was finished changing, Bill could come back in. The second girl had gone to get the paraphernalia for giving me anaesthesia. It really took quite a while for all of this, and then the doctor came in ask if I had any questions. I did have a few, he answered, seems very polite and knowledgeable. He left the room, and the woman called Sierra came in to roll my single little bed into the 'procedure room', and there was a lot MORE paraphernalia with thin tubes and other similar pieces. She wanted to find a place to prick with the needle for the 'nighty-night' medicine, and pricked the back of my left hand. Three little groans for those pricks, - it was awful! She took that one out, asked me to hold down the cotton, ran to get a bandaid, and so much for that hand. 

She took my right hand, poked around with her finger, 'slapped' my hand to make the veins or arteries stand out, and finally found a place by the knob on the outside of my wrist ~ oh, my gosh ~ THAT one hurt even more! Well, that one was a good place to put the 'nighty-night' kind of slightly thick liquid. I said to her that the needle felt thicker than the usual needle, and she said that the med is a  bit thicker. 

Then the other girl went on my left side while the one on the right was going to put it in, and the girl on the left was talking with me and I was talking with her, and I was, of course, looking at her face. We talked only about one minute or less, and her face began to get so blurry! All of a sudden, zing! - nothing after that.

The next thing I knew, was that Bill and one of the ladies were saying something, and Bill looked at me and said a couple of words, and I saw another lady or two. We were back in my cozy little room ~ they must have trolleyed my cot back into my room, and I didn't even know it! I would have liked the ride.  

The doctor came in and talked with us, showing me the eight little photos of what my colon looks like, told me that my whole colon has diverticulitis! No wonder I hadn't been feeling well for a few weeks! Because of that 'nighty-night' potion, I don't remember now very much of what the doctor said. He left the room to get on with his work.  

Finally after a couple of minutes, the nurses  said that I could get up and sit on the side of the bed. I did that, 'with a little help from my friends', and finally I was all right. Couldn't even remember any dreams, but I know that I had been very happy in 'that place'. They helped me to get down off the cot, and they all went out behind the curtain, while I put my garments back on. I was wobbly. I am so glad that I didn't fall down. I sat down on the chair, and put slacks on, then my shoes. The nurses talked with us for a few minutes, then it was time to go. It turned out to be quite a long time in there. 

Bill had to hold my hand because I was sincerely wobbly, like almost falling over. That potion was strong.  

We got out to the car, and he asked me if I needed anything from the grocery store; yes, I did, and I was really glad he asked. We went to the nearest Krogers, asked if I'd want to sit in the car, and I said no, that I thought I could manage standing up and walking. But he still had to hold my hand. When we got into the store, I could hang onto the cart. He fetched everything I needed (not very many items) and he took me home. He stayed for a little while to put a new battery in the smoke alarm, but the battery that I had was a very old battery. I didn't realize that.

He went to Rite Aid to get a new one. After he returned and put the battery in, he went home, very tired. My Hero.    

There you have it ~ another interesting (?) event in the life of Grannamae. I think that I have had enough of hospital 'events'.  

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

What A Gorgeous Day! A Few Other Thoughts.

Monday, September 22, 2014.

This morning the sky was so blue!  It was such a lovely azure color of the whole sky, with not a cloud in sight; my oh my, how beautiful. 

This afternoon I went to see what the Mailman left, and there were about eight or nine fluffy little white clouds scattered all over that astonishing azure sky. The Mailman did not leave those clouds, they just came to see what he was putting in everyone's mailbox. 

Late this afternoon, I went out to check on my big azure sky ~ the western sky was a lighter color, and the clouds were all gone. The outdoor temperature is seventy-seven degrees.  

The announcer on the radio just said that Autumn is going to Fall this evening at approximately 9:29 p.m. I had been wondering exactly when Autumn WOULD Fall. 

I've been getting quite tired recently, and have taken a nap a few times this past week. This afternoon I lay down for a little while, and it turned out to be about forty minutes. I'm happy that my six-month check-up at my family physician will take place on Wednesday. I would like to know what is going on with this 'sixty-six-year-old' body! 

I am going to wash the dishes now, and settle in for a more relaxed evening.  

Last evening I watched Miss Marple in A/The Caribbean Mystery, and it was quite interesting and enjoyable. When I was in my twenties, I read many of Agatha Christie mysteries, enjoyed them very much! I was on a binge for mystery novels. Miss Marple was a  character in Christie's mysteries.  

When I went to a rural school for fifth and sixth grades, I would go to the little-town little-library to borrow and read all the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, and Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales. Now, that  was a binge, too! Before that, in earlier grades at a school, I read all the Bobbsey Twins books!  

Some of Hans Christian Andersen's quotes: 

Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.

Where words fail, music speaks. 

That's the nice thing about the world, my friend: People.

No one's ever really alone. 

Just living is not enough ... One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.

(Thank you very much, Hans!) 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Rain and Thunder Are Forecast; A Few Other Items.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014.
Raina and Thunder Are Forecast; A Few Other Items.

Good evening, my darlings! I hope all is well with you! 

The forecast for the next day or two is for rain, possibly thunderstorms. There were storms over Arkansas but they seemed to lose their strength. 

I am so happy that the hurricane in part of Arizona has moved away a little. Some of our family lives there. I hope the storm dissipates!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Esther and Nathaniel are supposed to fly home to Denver tomorrow. May you have a very safe flight, Esther! Our prayers are with you, and I am so happy that you and Nathaniel could visit Grandma Marion and Grandpa. I hope you have been taking photos of the four generations while you are there, too, don't forget !!!

Also, a grandchild is leaving NYC tomorrow, to fly to the Mideast: may you have a very safe journey, a happy couple of months there, and then the flight back home. Our prayers are with you! 

First Lady Michele came to visit St. Jude's Hospital in Memphis late this afternoon -- her flight was delayed, so she was a little late.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was thinking today of how I enjoyed attending games, performances, and many different similar events, to see my grandchildren playing in sports, running, singing, playing instruments, performing on school stages, and more. This makes grandparents so happy. And, of course, I think of how I attended so many similar doings at our children's school. It was very often that I went to BRCS to see many of these happenings. I felt so relaxed at that school! Seeing your kids or your grandkids doing all those activities makes anyone so proud and happy about their offspring. 

I went to evening adult classes at BRCS, to learn how to paint. I think it was about 1966. That was such a joy! 

I also remember that I learned some Hispanic / Spanish from a female student from Mexico, in a daytime class. It was so enjoyable for me to learn! 

In later years, I went to Scranton University to learn about linguistics, and then happily took a semester of Spanish I. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I've touched on several subjects, didn't I? I'll talk about one more. There was in the fridge, less than a pint of broth, and I decided to make a little soup a couple of hours ago. I cut part of a carrot into strips, 1/3 cup of fresh tomato, cut up some of those tasty, very small, sweet peppers (about five or six of them), added some seasonings; simmered it for a while, then added 1/3 cup of cooked chicken breast, heated the soup for a few more minutes. It was time to taste it. Oh, it's so delicious! I'll enjoy the soup later this week.  

Have a restful night's sleep! 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

One of My Drawings; Rainless THUNDER.

September 6, 2014.

One of My Drawings; Rainless THUNDER.

And a few more items: Chore Guy; West Nile Fever deaths; new cookies; trying to listen to radio Garrison Keillor and TV Lawrence Welk at the same time. 

Hi, dearest ones! I hope all of you are having a very nice weekend!  

I was browsing in one of my journal notebooks in the last several minutes, and came across this short paragraph: 

[ I drew four similar pictures of “The yellow-throated loop-the-loop telling his pachyderm friend MakOOMba all about his flight to Sardinia the past summer.” It is cute – for the children. ]     

I have a question: WHICH FOUR CHILDREN RECEIVED THESE PICTURES? I would really love to see those four works I drew and colored. In the journal just a couple of days before, there was a sentence saying that when we (Gram B and I) had gone to a drugstore to pick up her medication, I bought some crayons to use in my drawing something for my grandchildren. This took place in the middle of February, 1993. I was staying with Gram B because of her chemotherapy and her being so sick. 

Rainless THUNDER: This is some story! The sun was shining, I was in the kitchen and the blinds were closed because of such heat outdoors. I almost never open the blinds because I cannot see much anyway. I heard a noise like someone throwing lumber into a pick-up truck. It was very sunny and bright when I glanced at the window. I kept hearing the lumber being thrown every few seconds, for about five times, and wondered who is loading lumber in the neighborhood, and how much lumber.   

I continued what I was doing, and then I heard in the distance, a soft rolling thunder. I quickly went to the back window, and was really shocked to see a very dark area on the horizon to the east. "Oooh," I thought, "that looks like a bad storm." But then I realized that the lumber-throwing sound was very close claps of thunder right over the neighbor's house.  They didn't sound like thunder, but WERE! 

Within seconds, more thunder was rolling in, closer and closer. As I looked out toward the north, it was quite dark and looked rainy. It is forecast that we have thunderstorms and rain before one a.m. tonight.  

Right now I am listening to the radio and the TV, Garrison Keillor and Lawrence Welk. Why don't these media people ask me what time they should put the programs on?  

There have been two deaths in Mississippi from the West Nile virus. Mosquitoes are apparently quite dangerous. Some computer research will tell you about how to avoid them. Some mosquitoes like certain colors, certain odors and fragrances, and there are some things that they don't like.  

One of the Chore Guys in my family lives not too far from me. A family is quite lucky to have fix-it people in their families. All four sons are 'fix-it people' and got it from their Dad. I am so grateful that my Chore Guy fixed some things this morning, like the kitchen faucet, and the mailbox. The mailbox had been "in an accident" when someone was texting as he/she passed by our place, and knocked the mailbox down. There was quite some damage to it, but of course the mystery person didn't notify us that it was his/her fault. We had it repaired by an outsider, once, and the fix-it person repaired it a couple of months after that. Today he came to do some other repairs to make the little door stay in place.  

I like very much to concoct recipes for some foods that I eat, like soup, and cookies. Do you ever do this? New cookies are great! "Try it, you'll like it!", as they say in some advertisements. 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ... 

Farmers Markets; Bill Stanek Singing Food Songs; Children's Songs.

For Saturday, August 30, 2014.

Farmers Markets; Bill Stanek Singing Food Songs; Children's Songs.

The Memphis Farmers Market has many vendors selling their farm produce. There are also vendors of  breads of many kinds, homemade candles and soap, many pretty flowers, herb seasonings and tea blends, handmade metal decorative items; the list is very long, and it seems that more and more people are using Farmers Markets to shop.

Many of the Farmers Markets also invite singers and songwriters, and musicians, to come to entertain the shoppers while they look over the items they wish to buy. I went with my son at a very early hour as he had two Farmers Markets at which to perform.

After his show, we suddenly 'bumped into' a young dear friend, and we talked for at least an hour to catch up on news. How wonderful it was to see her again. Then on we went to Cooper-Young Farmers Market, hoping the rain would wait until the afternoon.

Bill began to sing again, at eleven o'clock and sang some 'foodie' songs: "My Lover Loves Liver", "Vicky the Vicious Vegan", a Vegetable Alphabet Song, and several more. He has written many songs about various subjects.

There were children passing by with their parents, so he would sing a children's song for them. He sang "Picking Blueberries" that is loved by all kids and many grown-ups.

Another much-loved number is "The Spider Song", and almost everyone loves that one. There were some more children around, and they really had some happy moments listening to the words, also some scary moments when the spider is getting closer and closer to Mommy!

Three happy Hispanic children liked his singing so much, they joined in on the chorus of a song about school, I think it is "School Day Blues"or something similar. Their joining in was quite delightful.

The rain did come down from time to time, and as the closing time was approaching, the vendors began to dismantle their tents and take equipment to their vehicles. It does take a lot of time to set up, and much time, too, to break it all down. And then, the rain! It came down in imaginary buckets!

It's so pleasant to go to a Farmers Market. Have you tried it recently? Besides having so much produce to choose, it is quite interesting to see the people and some of their families and pets. I enjoy seeing people and I adore children. I do get a kick out of watching the doggies when they encounter certain of their species. The dogs are always leashed, so if one decides to mess with another, the owners pull them back; the negative feelings don't happen very often. A few of the vendors also have a bowl of water on the ground so that thirsty pets may have a drink! How thoughtful...


I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

At the Stove All Day! A Short Power Nap?

Saturday, August 16, 2014.

At the Stove All Day! A Short  Power Nap?

My family wonders how I am if I don't email every day or so, and to let them know that I am all right, I usually send emails of all kinds. This blog article is one of those family emails (this one I wrote on August 13, after shopping at the Mennonite Farms on the visit to my sister in Kentucky).

" Good Evening, my dears,

After buying so much produce at the Mennonite Farms and Variety Store, I am trying to prepare some of them for freezing and cooking for myself. The bags of popcorn kernels, I put in smaller containers, for the pantry. The large oval watermelon was a great challenge to me, still is, the remains are in the fridge. 

I cut into it yesterday morning (I think it was yesterday), and I've been eating it a few times each day. I put some cut-up pieces in a container in the fridge, and tested another small amount in the freezer! Yes, it is all right to freeze pieces of it, I am glad to say. There are two containers of watermelon in the freezer now, for future use.  

Probably four pounds of those very small sweet peppers has been washed today, de-stemmed and the seeds taken out, and I cut up two-thirds of the little peppers into small strips. I put much of that in the freezer, and used some today in making a Pinto Bean Stew. You should taste this stew! Very delicious, and hearty, and wholesome. I soaked the pinto beans overnight and simmered them around noontime. After that, I sauteed onions, a tomato, and the pepper strips, several seasonings, then added the soft pinto beans and cooked it for about an hour. It is something I 'invented', 'concocted', 'designed', and then called it my own recipe. Lately I've been on a binge of concocting my own recipes when I cook my meals. I might have to make a little cookbook ~ wouldn't that be a good idea?

I became so tired doing all of this until three o'clock, that I decided I must lie down to rest. (I had taken an hour to relax, while still puttering in the kitchen, to sit down now and then in front of the TV at noon-ish for two cooking programs.) I did lie down about 3:15, for a short little Power Nap. Again, this idea surprised me so much as I woke up at 4:40! Then I did up the dishes, had my dinner, and I QUIT for the evening! But I must say that it was a very successful day in the kitchen at the stove.

I've been thinking of you all day long and wish I could go to see you 'just down the street'!   


Love, Mom. " 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Shopping at the Mennonite Farms on A Visit with My Sister.

Published on August 15, 2014. 

I was so excited to be able to go to the Mennonite Farms, when I went to visit my sister in Kentucky. She took me to a few Farms where she buys produce. We went to four farms! It took a lot of time, naturally, and I got tired - not sadly tired, but gladly tired!! The fourth place we went to was the Mennonite Variety Store that has some vitamins and salves, and other medicinal things on the shelves. They also have dried fruits, nuts, and several different kinds of flours. I'm 'Spilling All the Beans!' because I just love to buy produce at the Mennonite Farms. 

We had many bags and boxes of purchased things in the farm produce places, Regina helping me to decide, and carrying them to the check-out counter and then to the SUV. Bags, too, from the Variety Store, like dried fruits, nuts, flours, and vitamins. 

I still haven't added up the check amounts yet, I don't want to 'get sick' until I get over the excitement of working at my place with produce here in the kitchen. I worked most of the day with these things. There are still items I probably will get done tomorrow and the day after.

I even bought a large oval watermelon! HEAVY! Son Bill had to carry it in from the car to the  counter in my kitchen, because it wouldn't have been a good idea for me to carry it! The last thing I did before I stopped 'puttering' in the kitchen, was that I cut the watermelon on one end, and have about a quart or more of watermelon pieces in a baggie in the fridge. Delicious, is what I say! I might eat some more later on this evening. I love that watermelon, and I am glad I bought a large one!

I purchased a half dozen corn-on-the-cob, microwaved four of them in the current fashion, and cut off all the kernels. I put the corn in four sandwich baggies, and they are sitting in the freezer, probably saying to each other, "Jeepers, I'm cold!"       Hahahahaha!

There are two red onions, several white onions, green beans, yellow squash, one zucchini, about a pound of small red beets, three banana peppers, corn on the cob, three large peaches, three tomatoes, watermelon, a cabbage, a couple of pounds of sweet peppers the size of golf balls. These peppers will be cut up and cleaned out, and diced, then put in baggies in the freezer.

From the Variety Store, I bought two bags of popcorn kernels (pale yellow, and the other light orange), buckwheat flour (because I am gluten sensitive), GF Bob's Red Mill baking flour, dried fruits: cranberries, raisins, dates, prunes; nuts: cashews, walnuts, almonds; Vitamin B-12, Vitamin D3, lutein, and magnesium. Four pints of different jams, one quart of raw honey, and one pint of sorghum honey. Oh, almost forgot! A bag of Adzuki beans, and a bag of black beans. I hope I'm not forgetting anything. Regina will tell me if I am, perhaps. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then Regina wanted to go to Kenny's Cheese Farm to buy a few kinds of cheese. I bought Horseradish Cheddar, and haven't opened the sealed cheese yet. I'm looking forward to it, because I love horseradish. Horseradish can be strong, so we have to eat a bit at a time, but it is quite beneficial and nutritious. 

After that we went to a Greek restaurant, Anna's. We had a wonderful, delicious, long lunch. I'm not sure of the exact name of the Greek Restaurant. What a lovely day with my dear sister... ( My visit lasted two nights and one and a half days. I love being with her. )

After we got home to her place, I thought I'd take a short Power Nap on 'my' bed, but do you know what happened? I slept for one hour and fifteen minutes! That means that I MUST have been very tired!! I was very surprised that I slept so long! 

It was a most wonderful trip to the Mennonite Farms! Their gardens are so large and looking so good! It kind of makes me wish I could live on a farm again. My parents moved to a farm when I was nine and a half years old, and I lived there until I was married. I loved the farm! 


I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Two Month Hiatus; A Few Interesting Items.

July 31, 2014.

June and July were extremely busy and there was very little time for me to write. I apologize for my hiatus.

"A few interesting items"? Hmmmm... we will see.

It began this morning, when I opened the inside garage door, to file a few things in the file cabinets. As I opened the door, just three feet in front of me, on its back, lay a cockroach, about an inch long. I took a tissue out of my pocket, folded it over and laid it on the 'pain-in-the-neck', stepped gingerly on it and then picked the whole thing up and took it out to the trash cart. I didn't even want it in my kitchen wastebasket. That one was No. 2 - the No. 1 was a smaller one, a half inch, that was on the door mat in the garage, on its back, a day or two ago. 

This has been happening now and then for the last one-and-a-half or two years with smaller ones. They don't seem to be too peppy, and they might be allergic to the spray that is used once in a while. The ones I see are not moving. But two different kinds? I wasn't happy about that.  

A couple of hours later, I opened the front door to take a piece of mail out to the mailbox (the door of the mailbox isn't connected again, as the fasteners don't seem to be long enough to keep the little door on). As I was going to step out onto the porch, there right in front of me on the doorstep, was the brother of the morning cockroach. Same position, so I bent down with another tissue and collected him and took him immediately to the trash cart, then went to put the mail in the box. 

I've been wondering if the sudden changes in temperature from hot to much cooler might have something to do with these pests. There are many kinds of these vermin, and the south is well-known for them. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little after noon, I was using the restroom, and as I got up, I tried to take some tissue off the holder -- this brand of TP is a bit too tough to tear -- and almost magically, the holder came off with a little bang, and I cannot put it back on. Maybe the little metal piece on the wall won't hold it anymore. Why were these things happening to me on this wonderful day? 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
About an hour ago, I was feeling peckish and looked for a snack. I thought of the little bit of Feta cheese I had in the freezer. I took it out - it's a little box with a green top, Athenos brand. There was about one-sixth of the cheese left. I thought if I'd shake it a little, it would loosen up. So with one hand I picked it up and shook it very hard in the air, and suddenly I found out that the top can be opened only half-way! (That was a BIG surprise!) There were half-inch pieces and Feta crumbs all over the floor and even a few on the counter! Oh, well, I thought, and swept it up. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something tells me that I should get to bed right now (it's almost five o'clock) and sleep off this craziness. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
"It is difficult to soar with eagles when you work with turkeys." ~  Anonymous.        
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
One last item: I found a note that my Mom had written many years ago. I was delighted, of course. Today I copied that onto Word Document "Recollections of Josephine...": 
" I, Josephine, remember that when I was pregnant with Anna Mae, I ate and longed for little green apples. I also vomited for the nine months, even in labor.
When I was pregnant with Jr. [Joseph, Jr.] I ate the corner of the newspaper.
When I was pregnant with Regina, Dad vomited for the nine months instead of me. "

Were these items interesting? 


You can tell me when I will see you at the Corner Post ...

Seven Sisters; Rosemary; Squirrels; Fountain.

Monday, May 26, 2014.

I went out to the back yard to clip off many of those browned, fading rose blossoms so that more would bud. It's been said that when you clip off the dying blossoms, the bush grows some more blossoms. I don't know if that is true for all the different kinds of roses. 

This whole bush had so many blossoms a week or so ago, it was incredible! These roses have only three- or four-inch stems in the clumps of roses that bloom from one little twig on this rose bush. They call it The Seven Sisters. Several or even more sometimes, grow in a clump. Beautiful! This bush has white roses. 

I wonder how long it will take for all of those buds to develop into new visits of the seven sisters? It took me about twenty minutes to do the roses and the rosemary bush. I couldn't finish the whole rose bush, nor the rosemary bush. My back can't stand leaning over like that, even a little leaning isn't good. I can't do it by standing erect, as I can't reach down for the roses but have to bend.  

The winter was quite harsh on the rosemary bush, but it still produces more fragrant needles. Underneath all the needles are so many dead parts of the branches, tangled up under there, and bare. I really love rosemary fragrance, and use it in cooking quite often. 

    

There is a spot of the lawn in the back yard that is rather moist, and it stays moist if the rain was a very hard downpour. The lawn guy even waited a couple of days to come to mow, but that large spot in the back lawn wasn't dry yet. The drainage is not what it used to be. So when he was mowing, he went right over that area, and his lawnmower got stuck. Luckily he had a helper with him, and they did manage to get it out of the little mire.  

There are about four little ruts in that area, and it doesn't look too bad. The birds REALLY LOVE those new ruts in the slightly lower place out in the back yard. SQUIRRELS, too. The birds came in right after the lawn 'crew' left. They would peck once or twice, and seemed to get some kind of bugs or worm, didn't seem like worms though, and they'd swallow, peck again. Sometimes they would tip their heads to listen to any movement, and jab. It was very nice to watch them through the blinds in the bathroom. If I showed my head, they would go away.  

Squirrels have found that moist area, too, now, and will dig a tiny hole, and eat something. I wonder if they eat bugs, too??? Or possibly they eat little sprouts of seeds from those burrballs that cover the back lawn. Those balls are almost as large as golf balls, and have so many seeds in them. The seeds finally come out and sprout, maybe. The squirrels will dig so quickly, as if it is in a great hurry. Then it hops a couple more steps in either direction, and digs again, eats, hops, digs, eats, hops, digs, for many minutes. They are so funny to watch, and I enjoy that little 'movie'.

Anyway, I sometimes have fun looking out the back window! The birds also like the little fountain back there, when there is any rain water in it. Not many birds, but they occasionally go there.

One day, when the young robins were still a little dependent, there were about three or four young robins flying to the fountain. Then there were about five or six robins (including parents) that were sitting on the edge, and hanging around it. One or two would drink from it, or jump into it and flap their wings in it. I had such a good time watching them, but haven't seen that again.  

I get much enjoyment from looking at birds and squirrels, leaves and breezes, clouds and flowers, and azure skies. 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Roosters! ~ Crowing!

Saturday, May 24, 2014.

I sat down for a little while to rest, saw the TV weather report, and then I saw the same program I saw a couple of days ago. Two men were handling some roosters and hens in the first part of the program, as they were talking about the fowl.

After about ten minutes, they put the chickens and roosters back in their cages, in the little room where they were having this meeting. Then they got onto the talk of termites and how to get rid of them. 

After several minutes of the talking of the men, the ordinary, largest rooster did his crowing ~ a nice low-pitched sound that I remember so well from my childhood. A few seconds later, another rooster crowed! This time it was a quite different pitch, rather scratchy. I smiled to myself ~ I love hearing roosters! 

Then a couple of seconds later, a bantam rooster crowed his li'l heart out ~ a bit scratchy, very high pitched, and seemingly tiny. What a smile THAT  brought to my face! Then another crow sounded about seven seconds later ~ weird. These roosters that they were handling were all different. There were about five of them, none related to each other. They crowed individually, letting one neighbor have his say, and another, then the largest one crows on his turn again. At one point, one man looked at the other, smiling with a cute little quirk of his mouth, understanding that these roosters weren't going to stop crowing in turn.

So the men kept on talking about the termites, giving pictures of the waistline of the termite to differentiate from the waist-line of the ant family. Also, they informed us that the termites' antennae are straight, the ants' antennae are bent halfway to an angle.

I learned a lot with this program. I had such a marvelous time for about twenty minutes, smiling when I heard a rooster crow; then laughing every time the tiny Tim of a bantam had his turn, making his teeny-thin-sounding crow, and my big laugh involuntarily coming out of me again! 

What a time I had! And today I could hear them all over again in the repeat of the show! How lucky can I get? 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Belated Thoughts and Traditions; Mr/Mrs Robin With Empty Nest; A Big Catch. Traditions.

May 18, 2014.

Since Time goes by so swiftly, it was discovered that I am behind in adding thoughts to my blog. We'll go back to May First. I love that day! On May Day, when you are very young, a child in the single digits, you go out and pick a small bouquet of flowers for your Mommy; you put the bouquet on the welcome mat, ring the doorbell or knock on the door, and scoot a little behind the house out of sight so she wouldn't see you. She opens the door and discovers that beautiful little bouquet of flowers! She looks around and cannot see anyone. She gives you a hug and a kiss when she finds you.

At Pasadena Waldorf School, they have a Maypole Dance on May First. I was there and saw a few of the Maypole Dances; it filled me with joy. It was so lovely to see the eight grades of students on the lawn at the Waldorf School, and a certain grade would dance around the Maypole and intertwine the long colorful ribbons. It was so very beautiful, awesome, and a wonderful tradition.

There was also Arbor Day, a beautiful idea of planting a tree or bush in honor of someone, or just because you like that kind of tree or bush. When I was very young in elementary school, we were taught about Arbor Day. Our recent culture has done away with some of our great traditions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those robin teenagers grew so big! They would stand up and preen themselves, flutter their wings that were getting close to adult size, and the nest was becoming so full of four growing youngsters. I kept thinking, "This is the day the robins will leave their home!" The real answer was no.  Each day was getting closer to Departure Time, though.

A couple of days later, when I opened the door to peek out at the Robin Nest, it was empty! There was a tinge of disappointment in my heart for a few seconds because I wouldn't see a wonderful mommy and daddy feeding their growing children. Gone, but not really, because those almost-mature birdies were hiding out in the back yard, or the neighbor's yard, and their mommy and daddy still had to feed them for a while as they recovered from the shock of leaving their nest-home.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Early in May, one of my sons and I were driving through a lovely green park on a side road and we saw something we never expected. There was a large hawk in the field, to me it looked very large. All of a sudden, it flew almost straight up into the sky, with a snake hanging down from its talon, and the snake made a few wiggles as it was being carried away to the hawk's nest. We were both stunned to see this happening. Quite an experience for both of us.

My sister later told me that she and her husband were riding out on a lake, when they spotted a blue heron standing on a point with a big black snake hanging from both sides of its beak. She was quite surprised to find out that those herons eat snakes.


I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

One Strawberry; More of the Robins' Story.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

Good Morning, my beloved persons! 

It is cool this morning, a high of 65˚ is expected, plus some isolated sprinkles. The remaining horrid thunderstorms are slowly heading northeast, in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia at this moment, heading for South and North Carolinas. I am hoping that those storms will dissipate right now. Sometimes the storms go quickly by, and sometimes they linger so! 

A couple of days ago, I went out for the mail, and spied one lone strawberry under one of the three strawberry plants! It wasn't bright red, but I thought that before the birds would get it, I would. It was light red, and so delicious when I ate it in the house! There's nothing like home-grown produce!   

Today, few minutes ago, I went out to the mailbox to mail an envelope, and stopped at that lovely clump of very large clover leaves and large white clover blossoms. I picked a little bouquet and brought it in. So pretty, not even as large as the palm of my hand was the bouquet, but it provides a lift of my spirits. The clovers themselves are almost the size of quarters. 

On the way back to the door, I saw the robin coming back with something that looked like a  piece of bread the size of a half-dollar. They eat earthworms, I know, but bread? It went to the nest and let the birdies have some, when suddenly the robin saw me coming closer from the mailbox. I of course had my camera around my neck, already focused for a close-up, and I think I got the shot. I'll check it out later. As it saw me, it flew off the nest, and went several feet away, as I kept walking. It then landed on our porch roof, and I made a shot of it with the bread(?) still in its mouth. Then it flew off the roof, and accidentally dropped the bread in the higher grass. It was chirping loudly (at me, I suppose!) and I went onto the porch, took a shot at the nest birdies, and then a shot of the robin without the bread. 

It flew onto a little statue the neighbor has, and I took another shot. Immediately it glanced at the piece of bread among the blades of grass, and I went into the house. I peeked through the glass door and he was already on the ground, and I was quite excited, believe me, to get so many shots of his quick actions. The robin plucked it out of the grass and flew onto its nest to feed the very hungry teenage birdies. 

Another thing that makes me wonder quite a lot ~ this morning there were two sparrows of some kind, that chirped quickly and long when the robin flew in with some food (it happened as I peeked out a couple of times this morning, too) and flew back and forth from the low roof top to the crepe myrtle bushes. Could this be that they are excited about the robins' birdies getting ready to leave for college, or are they being annoyed that their own territory is being disturbed? Wish I knew why they do that chirping. 

Do I dare to take another peek? All right, I'll peek. The provider robin flies in with an earthworm hanging from its beak, lands on the low roof, begins to chirp at me ~ scolding is a better word, in its mind ~ so I step back into our house to my chores and wonder if that was bread earlier or not. 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

"In An Old Dutch Garden By An Old Dutch Mill."

Sunday, April 27, 2014.

"In An Old Dutch Garden By An Old Dutch Mill"

This is a song that was recorded Nov 29, 1939, by Eddy Duchin & His Orchestra, while we lived in Plymouth/Larksville, Pa., across the Susquehanna River from Wilkes-Barre. 

I was seven years old, and I fell in love with this song. I used to listen to it on the radio when it came on, thrilled pink. 

Let me explain how this came to mind: I'll go back in time (it's 4:30 a.m. Apr 27, 2014) to when I awoke from my First Sleep at 3:50 a.m. this morning. I went to the restroom, got back into bed, but couldn't fall asleep again. I came into the living room and turned the TV on to get the weather report on TV. I don't like the forecast for tonight, it seems there possibly might be very severe storms. 

Then I came to the computer to see if anyone emailed me, and began to listen to 247PolkaHeaven.com. The first number was a polka something about an old garden or similar words. Ooooh, I thought, but it didn't seem to be the one I knew when I was seven; I went to YouTube and typed in "In An Old Dutch Garden", and was utterly surprised when about a dozen spots came up with renditions by a dozen different musicians.  

I chose Eddy Duchin who recorded it on Nov 29, 1939. I am as happy as a lark and will listen to a few more, then go back to bed for my Second Sleep.  

I remember that the neighbor girl Dorothy and I used to play together and put on shows for each other. She would sing, or do a little dance, while I sat on their porch swing on a little concrete patio by the kitchen door. When she would finish, I would applaud, and we'd change places to do another act of 'the show'. No doubt I would sing "In An Old Dutch Garden By An Old Dutch Mill."  We would sing various songs, recite alphabet names of automobiles, talk about Sonja Henie, Esther Williams, and Shirley Temple, during much of our play time. 

Isn't it strange how such long-ago episodes come back to us at the oddest times?  

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Hatched! and Feeding! So enjoyable!

Saturday, April 26, 2014.


The houses here in the neighborhood are quite close to the next one, and are made of bricks. There is a rain pipe coming down from the eaves, against the house, with an elbow-bend in it near the eaves, making it a very appropriate place for robins to build a nest. The eaves extend about a foot, which keeps the nest dry. The eaves make a 'ceiling' so the bird can stand on the edge of the nest and not bump its head on the 'ceiling'. The nest is horizontal and resting on the elbow-bend, sort of a built-up penthouse for The Robin Family.

The pair of robins decided to build their nest on the neighbor's house, right where I can see it from my front door. When they first started to build it from the 'ground up', they would come flying in with a mouthful of a few strands of hay, oats, or tall grass (it was hard for me to know which it was, because I didn't want them to see me at their new house lot). The long strands would hang over the pipe. They did this for a few days, then seemed to abandon it. But shortly after that, they began to come with mud to make the nest solid.

The robins' nest is about fourteen feet from my front door, and I try to go in and out of my house without too much noise or activity, so the robin won't fly out of the nest. One of the robins was on the                  nest most of the time for whatever length of time it takes to incubate the eggs.  

Well, within the last week, there was hatching going on, because I found a half-shell of a robin's egg several yards away from the nest. At first I couldn't see the babies and it's possible only one hatched the first day. There may be four, their long necks stretching for Mommy's food. I've been watching several times a day when I can.

I happened to see one day that the parent robin came with a hefty little earthworm hanging from its beak, and the bird stood over four wide-open mouths, and down the hatch it went to one or two of them. The other parent suddenly came and flew up to the nest, so the other birdies weren't too disappointed. At one mini-minute there were two robins on the edge of the nest! That made me smile a lot.

I noticed that the robins do a lot of chirping when they are near and coming with food, to notify each other. They could also be chirping warnings as they leave the nest if something or someone is approaching their nest. By the way, those long strands are still hanging down on both sides of the nest, for about nine or ten inches! Perhaps I ought to read about The Lives of Robins!


I'll see at the Corner Post ...

I Had Some Little Surprises Today.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014.

Today began as usual, after I had a really good night. I was so happily surprised, because sometimes I have Two Sleeps per night, and have to get up in the wee hours after Sleep Number One to keep myself busy ~ tossing and turning is useless; then I go back to bed for Sleep Number Two.

This morning I began to think that I should make some vegetarian cabbage rolls for myself and the freezer. I looked up a few recipes, and hatched my own recipe. It was cooking on the stove for about an hour, and when they were cooled a little, I tried one. Unbelievably luscious. What a tasty surprise! Maybe the kitchen muse was thinking this up for me overnight. I saved my recipe to do this again in a few weeks. 

When I was going out to the mailbox to see if there was any mail for me, I looked at the lovely clover bed by the driveway, as I always do, to see if there is a four-leaf clover for me. I found one a few days ago. I didn't have to look very long or hard today, and there it was, a large four-leaf clover  for me! PLUS, about a foot away there was a half-shell of a robin's-blue egg! My first of the season. I wonder how many hatchlings there are in the nest quite close to us.  

Around two o'clock, I was becoming quite tired, so I went to lie down on my bed for a little rest. I went to La-La Land so quickly, I could hardly believe it. There were two Power Naps, one after the other, about seven or eight minutes each. I rose quite full of energy.  

After that, I washed a load of slacks and several turtleneck shirts. I always feel satisfied when the laundry load is done.   

About four o'clock, I began to crave dessert of some kind. There is none here, so I began to think of what I could make. I wanted some kind of muffin-type treat. Banana-muffin came into mind. I looked up a couple of recipes, and wanted gluten free something, so I developed a recipe that I wasn't sure would work out. I was going to use almond meal. Went to the fridge to get it out, and 'shoot!', I had used it all up some time ago. Well, I made a simple batter and added some vanilla and dried currants, and poured it into a rectangular baking pan. Muffins take too long to fuss with, my muse told me, so I ended up with a thin layer of dessert. When it cooled, I lifted it out in quarters with a long pancake turner. To my great and happy surprise, it turned out to be quite luscious. I saved my concoction recipe to make it again.  

Today is Earth Day, and Esther's Birthday, so maybe that is why I had five good surprises. 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

A Birthday Fellow; Preening Robin; A Few Word Specimens.

Friday, April 11, 2014.


Today is John's Birthday in Australia, but it won't be here until our midnight tonight. You can then re-read my email that I sent early this morning. We do have many pictures of all of our siblings, spouses, in-laws, nieces nephews, and grandchildren, but they are not all in the same place! Sometimes I cannot find what I want, in the photos.  

I did find a few pictures of our Birthday Boy (Birthday Person) (Birthday Man) to send along with the Birthday greetings. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I mentioned at the beginning of this email that I am quite slow today. I lack in 100% enthusiasm. I'll bet I need to take a Power Nap. Or maybe read a book. I hope I won't have to get into bed very early, as I enjoy a very long day. I also enjoy a very long evening, too. 

When I visited the rest room I looked out the window to the back yard, and on the back fence there was a robin. I'll bet a nickel that it was the robin who just flew off the incubation nest on the elbow of the rain pipe at the neighbor's house, for a break. (I really wish to know if the mates take turns doing the incubating.) 

It was sitting on the top of the fence, in the very high winds, and it was grooming its feathers on its breast. That took a few minutes. Then it dabbled into its left wing. Each part of its body had a very good 'digging for gold' process, its back, its tail, wings, the lower part of his breast, and as high on the breast as it could go. I was going to get my camera, but I thought that it would fly away in a minute or so. I'll bet the whole process took about six to eight minutes. The wind was steadily blowing, but it had good grasps with the claws on its feet, probably. When it was nearing the end, it cleaned its beak from side to side on the wooden fence, as if it were sharpening a knife with another knife. I finally left the window while it was still there.  

I think the reason it was there so long is because it does not do any preening or active moves while it is on the nest-with-eggs, and it must do the necessary preening ~ this could also be cleaning themselves of parasites. 

I keep wondering how many eggs are in the nest keeping warm.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Do you know what these items are: moo; pit stick; and cackleberries? Think about this for a little while. May be I will give you the answer as I close this writing.

'Soccer' is a kick in the grass. 

"Old wine and an old friend are good provisions." ~ George Herbert.

A housewife was reading a magazine in the kitchen when the milkman came. "Next time you come, could you bring me ten gallons of milk?" she requested.      "Isn't that a lot of milk to drink?" he asked.      "Oh, I'm not going to drink it," she replied. "It says here in this magazine that taking a milk bath will beautify your skin and I figure it'll take about ten gallons to fill up the tub."       "Pasteurized?" the milkman inquired.       "No," she said. "Just up to my neck." 

And now, the answers to those three items above: moo is milk; pit stick is underarm deodorant; and cackleberries are eggs.   

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...   

Old Letters; Shiverhillians; 'Painting" with MUD.

Thursday, April 3, 2014.

Recently, I discovered many letters that Grandma S had sent to us. She was really very good  to us, writing so often, and sometimes she wrote to our six little kids. One thing only, that disturbs me: she almost never dated the letter. She always had in the upper right-hand corner of the paper, "Sunday" "Tuesday evening" Monday morning" "Saturday afternoon", but rarely a date. Once in a while there was "Monday June 4th" or something similar. If I really need to know the year, I would have to look up time and date or something like it, on CALENDAR. The computer sometimes bewilders me, but it does help me many times. 

Gram B usually dated her letters, and I am so thrilled about that. The big folder of letters that I am going through must remain all together, because we can usually figure out what month and year they were received, from the dates on other letters from friends and relatives. 

On one of Gram B's letters, April 20, 1970, she opened with "Dear Shiverhillians, hope you don't shiver too much now. You will probably get what we are having out here in Michigan: cold, cold rain."  I'm glad she didn't name us as a Bunch of Shiverhellions! It wouldn't have been true, though, if she had thought of us that way. "A hellion is: a rowdy, mischievous, or troublemaking person, especially a child." Our children were almost always wonderful, cheerful, helpful, non-fighting, caring, and lovable kids! There was almost never any bad things about them. Those were the Good Old Days for me, you can be sure! They loved playing together, and playing with friends; and they were all bright, good children. 

The time that the younger boys 'painted' the outside wall of the connecting woodshed (as it was called) was so much fun for them. I must not forget to mention that they painted it with MUD. Yes, MUD. It was an excellent job, they were very proud of it, and I liked the color quite a lot. They produced the MUD by adding some water to their enlarged sandbox adjacent to the woodshed. Originally there were some boards around the sandbox, but it grew so large that the boards disappeared one day. They often played there in the sand and the natural soil (these two soils became a concoction), making cabins, holes, bridges, rivers, creeks, ditches, and many other creations. Their best fun was to dig big holes that they would sit in or lie in and get covered up almost completely with the sandbox material. We have some photos as proof of these experiments. 

That one day that they 'painted' the woodshed surely stands out in our memories. By the way, they did have to wash down all the MUD, after they proudly admired for several hours  their good job of 'painting'.


I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

The Mimeographed Newsletter Called "The Shiver Hill Blast".

Monday, March 31, 2014.  Here is The Shiver Hill Blast that I promised to send.

"According to latest discussions and circumstances, the editors of the Shiver Hill Blast have decided to publish this paper as time allows. We plan to send you a copy each time we publish this effort, provided, and we beg you to comply with this one request, that you send your news to the editors, after
you receive this paper. Your news will not be published, unless you request it. Your news will be for the family of Shiver Hill.   ~~~   May you all enjoy good health and enjoy one another.

" GERMAN MEASLES STRIKES SHIVER HILL - September, first week of school Annemarie developed a rash, after having a fever and stomach pains, and has been kept home from school. The rash hasn't disappeared after two weeks, so she made a trip to the doctor.  Dr. Brooks said yes, it is German Measles, and sometimes the rash stays on for a long time. The rest of the family is awaiting further outbreaks of the G.M.

" FALL RAINS INUNDATE SHIVER HILL - September 10,11,12. Rain fell for most of 38 hours, Shiver Hill residents thought another ark was needed. We have been following the adventures of Bathless Groggins in the Sunday paper, and thought perhaps it was coming true! The rain stopped this day about 7 am and it looks very sharp and clear, like a fall day. The temperature has stayed at 49˚ for some time now. It is hoped that it will not get cold too soon. While we are on the subject of the weather, last year the first frost struck on Aug. 31. This year so far, frost hasn't formed. We all hope that the first frost will not be in September, as our garden vegetables have some growing to do. The growing season is short because of a late frost in the early spring and an early frost in the fall. Our tomatoes need warmer weather.

" PRUNING AND SPRAYING PAY OFF - The apple tree in the yard is loaded with many large apples, due to pruning and spraying. Last spring the tree branches were cut back, quite a bit, and then the tree was sprayed at 10- to 14-day intervals till the fruit was quite large. It paid off. Of course there are some small apples, and some with blemishes but there is a goodly amount of large perfect apples.

" SEVEN THREE-YEAR-OLD HENS ARE STILL GOING STRONG - These chickens are remarkable, in this person's estimation. The amount of eggs daily varies, from 3 to 6, usually 4 and 5.

" YOUNGEST CHILD ATTENDS KINDERGARTEN AFTERNOONS - Jerry, age 4 1/2, goes to kindergarten, loves it, finds the mornings unbearably long. Mommy didn't have any trouble leaving him at school the first day.  Mom has waited all these years to have the children gone so she could get some closet cleaning and other things done, but finds it is so lonesome with all the children gone. The fact that Jerry is gone only half a day softens the blow.

" COLLEGE STUDENT FINISHES COURSES - Joe, the head of the house, went to St. Lawrence U. during the summer, taking bio-chemistry and microbiology. He was apparently good at it, receiving A's. Also got an A in Seminar. (He'll probably scratch this out, modest as he is.)

" BIG SCOOP! JOE AND ANNA GO ON SECOND HONEYMOON - Their wedding date was almost fifteen years ago. Last month they went for a short trip through the Adirondacks and Catskills, enjoying every minute. The paternal grandparents took the six children to Pennsylvania, where grandpa took care of them while grandma daily went to her job. Many thanks to the grandparents for putting up with their grandchildren so this could happen. It means a great deal to go off by ourselves on a trip.

" WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN - Children go up to bed, but must come down ~ for a drink, to go to the bathroom, 'my toe nail bothers me, Mommy,' 'my knee is itchy,' and so on. "

(If I could have figured out how to do it, I would have had the original sheet of mimeographed Newsletter so you could see my two little sketches of clouds letting loose their rain and the ark floating on the waves, plus seeing all the typographical mistakes one makes with mimeographs.)

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

When We Lived in Northern New York State.

Sunday, March 30, 2014.

Forty-six years ago, when we were living in northern New York State, we moved from a rented rural home to our own piece of land. It was a small plot in a very rural area. It was a little over two acres, and we were quite proud of it, even if it was rocky.  These acres were on a small rise in the land, and we discovered that in the late summer, when we moved there, it was quite breezy. Autumn came, and the wind was usually there, giving us breezes, even in the coolness of fall. When winter came, it wasn't just breezy, the gusts of wind were quite strong.

When snow fell, it sometimes came in a horizontal manner. Cold? You can bet it was cold! One evening when I came home from adult painting class at our local school, the temperature was an honest-to-goodness forty-three degrees below zero! I lifted the hood of the car, put the lightbulb in the engine of the vehicle to keep it warm enough to start in the morning, and hurried inside the house.

Spring came, flowers began to bloom, especially those lovely yellow daffodils! There were many trees on this old farm, and it was absolutely heaven. Then, we found out that even in the summer, there was a constant breeze! We knew that this place deserved a name, so we named it "Shiver Hill". I still think of that wonderful piece of land, with our big gardens of vegetables, the beautiful lilac bush, the old weather-beaten barn, the awful drifts of snow in the long-lasting winter, the huge, very large, enormous, humongous ROCK in the field across the dirt road, that we loved to climb! We would be up on top of that rock surveying the small mountains in the distance, and looking at the whole area of our Shiver Hill. That was one of our happy pastimes.

Both sets of our parents lived in northeastern Pennsylvania, quite a distance in those days. I wrote letters on carbon paper, to send to each set of parents, my sister and brother, and a few relatives, to keep them informed about our lives and those of our six children. They enjoyed hearing the news, and I really liked writing those letters.

After a time, I typed the letters on an old typewriter, using carbon paper, also. It was a blessing that I enjoyed writing and sending letters ~ it made the grandparents so happy.

After that, I had an idea that a Newsletter might be an interesting project.  The teachers at school would be using the mimeograph to make tests for their students. Why couldn't I do the same sort of thing?  

I kept writing the letters to our parents, and also began to produce the Newsletter. I shall send the first copy of it in my next blog. Have patience... 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Thunderclaps; Grocery Shopping; I Don't Like the Storms.

Thursday, March 27, 2014. Thunderclaps; Grocery Shopping; I Don't Like the Storms.

Did you know that I really don't care for thunderstorms? It is an honest statement, 't is. The rumbling far away is all right, but when those bingety-bangety noises begin to come closer, I don't like it. I cannot hide under the bed, because there are too many things hiding already under the bed. My storage place, partly. 

About 3:30 p.m., I looked outdoors, it wasn't too bad, a little stormy-looking, but that's all right. about 30 or 40 minutes later, there were those quite loud thunderclaps. Not really directly over this roof, but close enough to tell me that it was coming closer. The outdoors looked rather ominous, dark, scary, but I just took a deep breath and I was all right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was almost finished shopping at the grocery today, I thought of a nice aromatic roasted chicken, so I went to the stand in the store that has rotisserie chicken. This particular one was rather small, so I bought it. I was so eager to get it home and open the package! It was quite warm, and I opened it up when I came into the kitchen. I like to have a couple of bites immediately when I see a food like this. 

Then I thought it might be a good idea to take all the meat off, so I could simmer the complete carcass to make some wonderful chicken broth. I did that; it took about a half hour. The broth is all done, and cooling off so I can put it in the fridge. I am going to simmer the carcass again to see if a good broth will come out of the second simmering.   

Now, as I am writing this, I see a couple of lightning flashes! THAT I do not like. I do have my little flashlight in my pocket. Uh-oh! a very loud roll of very close thunder just gathered over my roof. I ...  DON'T ...  LIKE ... THISSSSSSS! 

I can now hear the pounding on the roof of rain, like a downpour! I just looked out at the front door, and it is a hard rain. Am I ever glad that I could get the grocery shopping done before this happened! I am inside my little adobe, and some of the groceries are put away. I am a bit tired, so the rest of the groceries don't mind if I put it off for a while. I made some popcorn a little while ago, and I ate some. I shall eat some more later. It helps my morale.  

The nearby rumbles of thunder come and go up and down the street ...no, not ON the street, but up above, OVER the street. They even go over to the next neighborhood on the street beyond this one. 

I just happened to think of our family doggies, they must be rather scared to hear thunder. They do react to the thunderclaps and rumbling, trying to hide somewhere to avoid hearing them. My sister's dog goes into their inner bathroom, to hide from the thunderstorm. Some doggies like to huddle near their owners. Poor little things. If they could only talk and ask us to hold hands with them.  

The forecast says that we may get two more days/nights of thunderstorms.  

I'll stop here and find a hiding place for me.  

March Is Coming to An End; 'Our' Baby Is Two Months Old.

Thursday, March 27, 2014.

Cold winter's March is almost coming to an end. Everyone was enjoying spring after the equinox on March 20. Now they are going to be disappointed, because ol' winter is marching back for a stay; how long he will sit here is anyone's guess.

Soon it will be April First /April Fool's Day, and perhaps another visit from Ol' Winter will take place.

The Bradford pear trees are so beautiful with their white blossoms, here in the Memphis area. There are fields of Bradford pears that grow automatically, here and there. Mother Nature plants them, and looks after them, I guess. It is such a lovely sight to see all of them them blooming. There is one of those trees across the street from where I live. This kind of tree puts forth its blossoms before there are any bits of leaves on the tree.

The blossoms come out almost overnight, and it's amazing to see the 'white-leaved' tree. After a short time, perhaps a week or so, the tree begins to lose the white petals of those blossoms, and immature green leaves take their place. Yesterday I went out to the mailbox to see if the postman left anything for me, and I glanced at the ground around the post. There were white pieces of something all over, and I realized that those white pieces were petals from the Bradford pear tree across the street! The wind was coming in such high gusts, bringing the white petals to me. I was quite delighted to see those white petals sitting on my lawn.

Yesterday was March 26, and 'our' baby was two months old! Sometimes the computer Facebook is annoying and demanding our attention, but recently, I have been enjoying the photos that come up now and then. The new baby is our first great-grandchild! He lives out west and his parents send out a picture quite frequently. He was visiting his grandparents for the day, and was trying so hard to have a conversation with them. In his excitement, his arms and legs were so active! I can imagine how he will run to them when he is brought to visit in another year or so.

I must not forget the birds in the neighborhood. Could the mockingbirds and robins be fighting for territory on my street? Both kinds of birds seem to peck in the lawns for food to eat, and yesterday I saw the mockingbirds a couple of houses from here, chasing the robins away. I think that the robins held sway around here, until these mockingbirds seemed to increase in number.

Once in a while, I have 'two sleeps' of a night. I got out of bed in the wee hours this morning, because I couldn't fall back to sleep after I visited That Room for a short time. When this happens, I begin to think of so many things, and then I get up and do something. One night a couple of years ago, I made a batch of cookies between my 'sleeps'. Another time, I made some chicken soup from scratch (pardon the pun). I also do the dishes sometimes in the wee hours if I am too tired to do them in the early evening.

So there you have it, something you can do when you can't sleep. Good night, again.

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...