Goodbye April, Hello Hodgepodge…

There’s no better way to end one month and begin another, than by participating in ‘The Hodgepodge’.  I don’t know how you feel, but, to me, this year is flying by, so let’s get started!  Thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for another great set of questions to ponder 🙂

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Are you blooming where you’re planted as we begin the month of May?

Yes, I’m blooming (although my blossoms are aging) because I absolutely love where I’m planted!  After five years of city living,  husband, Ed, and I moved to his family’s farm back in 1977.  We’ve been here every since, and there’s no place else I’d rather be–except for an occasional trip to the beach.  Our roots run very deep!

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being no big deal, and 10 being full-scale panic, rank your fear of spiders.

I’d give myself a 5.  The only spiders that really frighten me are black widows or large banana spiders.  I can take or leave the rest of them.

3. May is National Salad Month (who knew???)…besides lettuce, what are two must-have ingredients in your favorite salad?

I like cucumbers in my salad, along with lots of  french or thousand island dressing.

4. I mentioned on my blog last week that my Daughter1 will be moving to Washington State after she is married. Of the following sites in the Northwest, which would you most like to see in person-Crater Lake (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), Vancouver (British Columbia), San Juan Islands (Washington), Mt. Rainer (Washington) Oregon Coast (Oregon), Mt. St. Helens (Washington), or Olympic National Park (Washington)

I don’t know much about any of these places, but I think I’d like to visit Seattle, Washington.  I remember seeing some of the city on an old episode of ‘The Bachelor’, and it looked like an interesting place to visit.  I’d love to check out the Space Needle!

5. This coming weekend marks the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby…when did you last race (literally or figuratively) to cross a finish line?

Actually, it is this week!  I’m in the process of filing for my retirement pension before my application deadline passes.  I have my part of the paperwork ready to go, but I’m waiting for the lady at the Board of Education office to fill out her part of my paperwork, so we can get it in the mail.  I’m expecting a call from her today.

6. What is something little you love? 

These guys!

my grandchildren – Caden, Madison, Evan, and Chase

7. Would you say you are more of a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner? Elaborate.

I’m a visual learner.  I like to watch someone do something, take notes while they’re showing me what to do, then try doing it by myself.  I have to have my notes though–or else I tend to forget what I’m doing sometimes!

Random:  

‘Sick Sister’, our ailing hen, may have turned a corner, yesterday.  (We’ve been treating her for an impacted crop)  Whenever I offered her little bits of soft food, (chopped seedless grapes,  a few bread crumbs, a little cooked rice)  she ate it.  I gave her very tiny portions (about a thimble full), every hour, to see how she would tolerate the food.  I didn’t see any throwing up.  We, also, let her out of her cage for about 15 minutes, while I cleaned it, and she seemed to enjoy walking around in the yard, although she is weak.  We’ll see if the food digests, and how today goes…

Since I Last Wrote…

Pardon my absence in the blogging world, but a lot has been going on in our neck of the woods.  Lately, there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done!

Since I last wrote, Ed climbed up on top of the house to fix a leak in our tin roof.  I asked for prayers, concerning his safety, and God answered those prayers.  Thankfully, Ed made it up and down the ladder, and added sealant to the troubled area, without incident.  I was pleased to see that he tied a safety rope around himself, and anchored it to his beloved tractor 🙂  We’ll have to wait for the next rain shower to see if his work was successful.  Keep your fingers crossed, it’s supposed to rain in a day or two.  In fact, we could be getting some stormy weather this afternoon.

Since I last wrote, Ed and I have been spending a lot of time tending to our sick hen.  We think she has a problem with her crop, which is where her food goes after it’s eaten.  Have you ever seen a chicken vomit?  It’s not a pretty sight!  All weekend, Ed would massage her crop every few hours, in an attempt to get the food to work its way out.  We also gave her oil on her tongue, from a dropper, following the massage. (Who knew chickens have tongues?)  The oil was an attempt to soften anything that might be blocking her crop.

Sick sister, not feeling very well

 ‘Sick sister’ is looking pretty sorry, so I’m not sure our attempts have been helpful.  She’s still drinking water, but has only eaten  about 1/2 of a teaspoon of food in four days.  I keep thinking each day might be her last, but she keeps hanging in there.

Hooray!  With the exception of repainting the floor, our porch is finally finished.  Since I last wrote, Ed re-did one side of the step rails, cut off both of the lower front posts, and painted them white!  At first, we didn’t notice the step rails were uneven, but one side was a bit higher than the other when the contractor finished.  Some people wouldn’t have bothered evening up the posts, but we’re not those people!  Ed unhooked the rail from one post, dug up the post, then evened it up with the other side!  That is why Ed’s a ‘do-it-yourselfer’–he likes things done right.

 

 our newly finished porch (with Jo Jo coming down the steps!)

Ed and I are enjoying our covered porch, but  believe me when I tell you– our pets are really enjoying it!  Just so you know, last night, we had three cats, two dogs, and a sick chicken sleeping on our newly covered front porch!  Yes, we live in the country–and you can call us ‘rednecks’ if you like…    I make no apologies, this is just how we roll sometimes!  (at least the chicken was in cage, and not roosting on the rails!) 

Since I last wrote, Ed and I attended our granddaughter, Madison’s, dance recital.  The show was enjoyable, but some of the people in the audience were not!  Ed and I arrived at the auditorium over an hour early, on Saturday afternoon, just to stand in line.  This was necessary to assure a decent seat for the show!

Our seats were about six rows back, center stage, which would have been great except for a couple of our neighbors…  First of all, there was the unruly four-year-old boy sitting to the right of me, who couldn’t be still!  Not only couldn’t he be still, but he kept playing with his grandfather’s walking cane!  I had a couple of ‘near misses’ to the head, before they finally got up and moved.  Thank goodness!

Unfortunately, the two ladies in front of me didn’t move!   Every time their child/grandchild’s class would perform a dance, the ladies would stick their arms up in the air and start recording!  My view looked like this during that time:

my view of the recital, at times

Now, I understand that people want to capture special moments, but this was just a bit distracting to those of us seated behind the ones who are doing the recording!  Recording with the iPad was a bit over the top, don’t you think?  At one point, I just watched the show on the screen of the iPad!

Last, but not least, since I last wrote, we’ve discovered that deer have been visiting our garden!  Ed found numerous foot prints among our plants.  We made a scarecrow and put our life-sized doll out in the garden again. (see middle of garden, at the far end)  I also scattered some dog hair clippings around.  Hopefully, this will help deter our visitors!

Our garden is just drying out from the Easter weekend weather, but now we’re expecting two more days of rain, along with a cold front!  It’s not turning out to be a good spring for gardening, but we keep trying 🙂  If the good Lord is willing, we’ll soon be eating fresh garden peas.  Some of our lettuce is almost ready, too.

That’s about it for what’s been happening around here, since I last wrote.  So how are things in your neck of the woods?

 

 

 

A Few Friday Fragments…

Here I am at the end of another busy week, which means it’s time for a few Friday Fragments.  The days sure do go by quickly, don’t they?  I’m joining Mrs. 4444 at Halfpastkissintime for Friday Fragments.  Speaking of Mrs. 4444, I’d like to send Happy Birthday wishes to her, because her birthday is tomorrow!

On Monday, I spend the majority of the day sitting on the couch!  After such a busy Easter weekend, I needed some time to rest.  By Tuesday, it was back to business, as usual, since I had a doctor’s appointment early that morning.  Fortunately, I got a good doctor’s report, and don’t have to go back for six months, unless I have any problems.  I sure hope I don’t have any problems!

Speaking of problems, one of my ‘little red hens’ is sick 😦   She’s the runt of the flock, and has always been smaller and a bit frail.  Yesterday, the ‘boss hen’ started to pick on the sick hen, so I’ve had to isolate “little sister” from the rest of the flock.  Sigh.  I so hate it when things like this happen!  It doesn’t look like “little sister” is going to make it, which makes me sad.

On the brighter side of life, I had the opportunity to go to St. Simon’s Island yesterday, and I took it!  My daughter was taking our granddaughter and her little girl friend, and invited me along.  It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed sitting under my favorite oak tree, once again.  As always, the view from under my favorite tree was beautiful–and inspiring!

I ran out of media storage space on my blog, this week!  This meant I couldn’t upload any more pictures until I purchased more storage space.  It took me five years to run out of free space, but I sure hated to have to pay for more!

Speaking of five years, I celebrated my 5th ‘blogiversary’, this month.  Time flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?  It seems like just yesterday when my son, Brad, and I were getting this blog up and running.  Here we are, five years later, and Brad’s married, for almost 3 years, with a son of his own, and living in a different town!  Meanwhile, I’m still blogging 🙂

It’s shaping up to be another busy weekend.  The garden needs hoeing, the roof needs patching, and we’ve got a dance recital to attend.  I’d sure appreciate your prayers for Ed’s safety, as he attempts to climb on top of our very slippery tin roof to patch that tiny nail hole that’s causing our leak. Sigh.

I’d love to stay and ‘frag’ some more, but a list of Friday errands is calling my name…

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wednesday Hodgepodge #171…

We’re back in ‘Hodgepodge Mode’ after taking a week off!  I missed it, so I’m glad it’s back.  As always, thanks to our busy hostess, Joyce, for taking the time to furnish us with some great questions, and for providing a place for us to link up!

Here are today’s questions:

1. April 22nd is Earth Day. Are you inspired by nature? In what way?

Yes, I’m inspired by nature, especially in spring!  After a long, cold winter, just being outside in the green grass, watching birds building nests in trees, enjoying the  blooming flowers, and feeling the warm sunshine–I suddenly find myself feeling refreshed, energetic, and alive!  Those pine trees, exhibiting their little crosses on the tops, near Easter, are pretty inspiring, too!

photo courtesy of Google

2. Down to earth, four corners of the earth, move heaven and earth, not have an earthly chance, or salt of the earth…which earthly idiom have you most recently encountered? Explain.

I’m going to say ‘not have an earthly chance’ because it rained so much here, on Friday and Saturday, the grandchildren did not have an earthly chance of being able to have an egg hunt outside on Easter Sunday!

3. Share one piece of advice you might give a newly engaged couple.

I say go to Fromthissideofthepond and read all of Joyce’s 2014 A-Z posts!  She’s provided a wealth of wonderful marriage advice, and has 30 years of experience to back it up 🙂  In the meantime, treasure these moments, and each other–and stay focused on what’s really important–and believe it or not, it’s not the wedding!

4. When did you last engage someone to perform a job, task, service, home repair, or improvement? On a scale of 1-10 (ten being the best) how would you rate their work and/or your satisfaction with the job or service provided?

We hired a contractor to build a roof over our front deck back in mid-January, but it was two months later before he got around to us.  On a scale of 1-10, I’d give them an 8 because (a) we had to wait so long, and (b) they accidentally cut through some of our electrical wiring on the first day of construction.  Other than those two things, they were great, and I’d used them again, if  need be.  (I’ll post a pic after we finish painting.)

5. When did you last find yourself engaged in small talk? Are you awkward or an expert or somewhere in between?

I last found myself engaged in small talk, last week, while at the doctor’s office.  An elderly lady struck up a conversation with me while we were waiting to have blood work done.  I think I fall ‘somewhere in between’ on the ‘small talk’ scale.  I probably wouldn’t have initiated the conversation, but I didn’t mind talking with the lady once she got it started.

6. What was the last historic place you visited?

Savannah, Georgia.  In January, I went to the circus at the Civic Center, which is located in the middle of Savannah’s downtown historical district.

7. The world would be a better place if we just followed the teachings of the Bible.  It’s life’s handbook.

Random:

How wet has it been at our house?  Here’s a picture of our garden, taken on Easter Sunday(after some of the water had already soaked in).  Our plants are up on those raised beds.  Hopefully, that will keep them from drowning.  By the way, it rained again last night 😦

 

Easter 2014 Revisited (part 2)…

On the Saturday before Easter, rain continued to fall, off and on.  Some of the area egg hunts were cancelled, but some folks managed to have egg hunts in between rain showers.  I was still hoping it would dry off before Sunday, but I was having serious doubts!

Our Saturday was low key, since we didn’t have any plans.  Brad made breakfast for us, and he grilled hamburgers for lunch, too.  Ed and I got to spend lots of time with Brad, Jennifer, and baby Evan.  We caught up with events of the past three weeks.

It was nice having plenty of time to be with Evan and learn his likes and dislikes.  It was, also, nice to have time to take lots of pictures of him 🙂

Over all, Evan’s a happy baby.  He smiles at the drop of a hat, and, usually, only cries when he’s hungry or tired.  Evan’s only problem is he still doesn’t sleep through the night.  This didn’t really bother us, but I sure did feel bad for Jennifer!  She was up and down all night, both nights.

The video, above, is of Evan, along with the Easter Bunny that I bought him.  I bought Evan this particular bunny because of the song he sings.  The song is a variation of a little tune, called Three Little Fishes, that Ed’s mama used to sing to our children when they were babies.  Hearing that song brought back such happy memories!  Besides, I liked the way the bunny’s ears flopped, too 🙂

Sunday morning began early, with Brad and family getting up and dressed to make it to the sunrise service.  For some reason, Evan wasn’t ‘feeling it’ Sunday morning, so he wasn’t his usual pleasant self–until he got to church, his parents said.  After that, he was fine.  By the time Ed and I got up and got lunch underway, Brad and family were already back from the early morning service.

I had a bit of a mishap concerning Easter lunch!  I preheated the oven, then put the ham in.  I set the timer for two hours, then went about the business of preparing lunch.  At eleven o’clock the timer went off, and I opened the oven–only to find my ham sitting there in a lukewarm oven!!!  Apparently, at some point, the oven had cut itself off.  I panicked!  Fortunately, it was only eleven, so I turned the oven back on, but at a slightly higher temperature, this time.  The oven worked fine, the second time around, but the ham got a bit over-cooked in the ordeal.  Thankfully, nobody complained.

After church, everyone came for lunch.  Of course, before we could eat, we took lots of family photos, as usual.  We didn’t take our usual group picture though. The living room was crowded with toys, baby gear, and Easter goodies–and it just didn’t seem quite worth the effort of cleaning up to make room!  Besides, we were hungry!  (I tried to share some photos, but the uploader isn’t cooperating today)

It was our first Easter without Ed’s mom, so in her honor, I used her china and silverware for our Easter meal. It made me feel like she was a part of our holiday, in a small way.  The night before, during our home movies, I’d seen those same china plates on her kitchen table!

The ground outside of our house was still soggy wet, on Sunday, so I made the decision to hide some of our Easter eggs inside of the house.  Early Sunday morning, Ed and I took turns hiding plastic eggs throughout the house.  Between the two of us, we hid 80 eggs.  (Since our home is a bit on the cluttered side, we had no shortage of places to hide eggs!)

searching for eggs in Mimi’s bedroom

After lunch, we had what I call, a ‘controlled egg hunt’ (taking turns hunting eggs), and this kept inside activity down to a minimum.  The children found 78 of the 80 eggs that were hidden.  One of the still-missing eggs is a prize egg! Perhaps Ed and I should delegate egg hiding duties to someone else, next year 🙂

Speaking of egg hiding, our plans are to have that post-poned cookout and egg hunt soon!  We only hid eighty of our two hundred sixteen eggs, and, besides, the adult siblings and spouses didn’t get to participate in looking for lost eggs, this year.  We’ll probably be hunting eggs sometime in May!

When all was said and done, I think Easter 2014 turned out just fine.  It was great having all of the family together, no matter if it rained, the roof leaked, or the oven malfunctioned!  None of that stuff really mattered, in the end.

Update:  Since writing this post, I accidentally found that missing prize egg–when I tried to put on my shoes yesterday afternoon!

Easter 2014 Revisited (part 1)…

Easter weekend 2014 began with rain on Friday.  Lots and lots of rain!  Almost four inches of rain fell within twenty-four hours!  This meant that almost everyone in the family was out traveling around in the rain, at some point, on Friday.  Thankfully, all made it home safely.  Brad and family arrived at our house around 5 p.m., driving two cars!  These days, they don’t travel lightly 🙂

our very soggy yard

Most of our guests arrived, on Friday night, wearing rain boots, and bearing umbrellas.  By Friday night, our yard looked like a pond!  Things were not looking very promising for our upcoming egg hunt, on Sunday.  We cancelled our Sunday cookout plans, and I bought a ham instead.

Meanwhile, on Friday night, all of the grandchildren got together, at our house, to color some Easter eggs.  Once again, Chase got right down to business.  Look at him with that Q tip in hand!  He sure acts grown for a two-year-old!  Boys will be boys, so the guys had to remove their shirts during the egg coloring!  (I offered Caden an apron to wear, but he was having none of that!)  Soon, after the children had tried every color, they grew tired of coloring eggs, and decided they’d rather go play for a while.

Chase, Caden, Madison coloring eggs

So the children went to play and left the women in the kitchen coloring eggs.  I discovered, with age, I’m quickly losing my ability to decorate Easter eggs.  The stripes on my eggs now resemble those of a first grader!  (I even dropped an egg on the floor!)  I soon gave up the fight and watched the girls decorate the rest of the eggs.

my girls –  Jennifer, Brandy, and Christina

Jennifer decorated several eggs, in honor of Evan’s first Easter, while Brandy made our traditional ‘Egg Head’, in honor of my mother. Someone even decorated an egg in honor of ‘Trouble’, the aging cat who lives my MIL’s old house.  (Trouble is still with us, for now.)  I usually display the eggs, but didn’t take time to do that, this year, so excuse the egg carton!

 

my crooked stripes, ‘Egg Head’, and ‘Trouble’s’ egg

While the eggs dried, our family feasted on pizza and subs, quickly followed by Easter cookies, cupcakes, and brownies!  I told everyone how good it was to have them all together again, and I meant it from the bottom of my excited mother’s heart!  Brett told Brad and Jennifer they need to move back to Gooseneck, and I quickly agreed!  Maybe if we keep reminding them, they’ll listen, one day 🙂

After supper, we moved into the living room– and quickly discovered we have a leak in our roof!  Uh oh!  Water was dripping on top of the entertainment center, in the exact spot where it leaked two years ago– except it’s leaking worse, this time. ( I’m not happy about this!  It means Ed will be making a journey up on the roof in the near future…)  Did I mention we just paid the contractor to seal the screws on the back half of the roof–and now the front half is leaking again.  Sigh.  After cleaning up the wet mess, then placing a container to catch future drips, we proceeded with the evening.

While the ladies had been coloring eggs, our son,Brett, had found himself in our storage/junk room, looking at old VHS tapes.  After supper, he popped one of the old tapes into the VCR and for the next hour or so, our family took a walk down memory lane–and we laughed a lot!!!  In the space of an hour, we watched an egg hunt from a l-o-n-g time ago, two different Christmases, a family vacation, Brandy’s homecoming court experience, and Ed’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary celebration!  Fun times!

I wouldn’t take anything for the clip of Ed’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary footage, because I didn’t know we had any pictures of it!  You see, I was in charge of taking the anniversary pictures, which I did, but, at the time, I didn’t realize there was no film in the camera!  When I finally figured this out, days later, I was heart-sick, and have been ever since.  What a pleasant surprise to discover this lost footage of our lost loved ones, on their special anniversary!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to and end, and all too soon, the home movies ended.  By then, it was late, and everyone had to go home for the evening–except for Brad, Jennifer, and Evan, who ended up spending the entire weekend with us.  (to be continued…)

Friday Fragments…

Well, here it is the Friday before Easter, and the weather has been rather chilly this week!  Oh dear spring, where have you gone?  It’s also been rather wet, with 3 to 4 more inches of rain forecast over the next two days!!!  We may need galoshes for the egg hunt, on Sunday.

Speaking of those Easter eggs, I have 216 plastic eggs waiting to be hidden!  Instead of stuffing the eggs with candy, this year, I stuffed them with pieces of paper saying what kind of candy was supposed to be inside.  In case you’re wondering why I did this, it’s because our yard is so sunny, now, I’m afraid the candy inside of the eggs will melt before the eggs are found!  We’ll just have to swap paper for candy afterward.  Of course, it’s entirely possible the sun won’t even shine, so all of my work may have been for nothing!

I’m looking forward to having our family together again, this weekend.  That doesn’t happen nearly enough, these days.  Everyone is supposed to gather here tonight, so the grandchildren can color eggs together. We’ll eat supper afterward.  Everyone will return again, on Sunday, for lunch and an egg hunt.  With all of the rain in the forecast, I’m rethinking having Ed cooking on the grill.  I think I’ll go to town and pick up a ham!

I had an unexpected, but very welcome visitor, yesterday.  My long-time friend, Diane, was in town and stopped by to see me for a couple of hours. Usually I travel to her house, so it was a rare treat to have her at my home.  Diane and I have been friends since high school, and although we don’t see each other often, we are always able to pick right back up where we left off.  We have a beach trip planned for a couple of weeks from now, and we’re both excited about that!

Everything in the garden is up and is doing remarkably well, considering the cool weather we’ve been having.  The weeds have already begun to grow, so I spent some time hoeing, on Monday.   Our radishes are ready, so I gathered a few for a salad, the other night.  It’s too bad our lettuce and tomatoes aren’t ready, too!  Again, I’m not sure what 3 to 4 inches of rain will do to things, so I’m holding my breath.  Last year, about half of our garden drowned in July.

Ed and I recently had the pleasure of attending our granddaughter, Madison’s, violin recital.  It was the first music recital I’d ever attended, and I really enjoyed it.  Ed, on the other hand, played the piano while growing up, so he’s been to many music recitals!

Let me begin by saying how impressed we both were with Madison’s violin teacher!  She gives violin lessons at her home, every week, to 23 students–in addition to teaching violin at a nearby school!  She only charges a few dollars per lesson, plus she furnishes instruments to her students!  As a result of her generosity, many children are able to take lessons, who, otherwise, might not be able to afford to. What a blessing this lady is to our community!

I am so proud of how well Madison has learned to play, after just a few months of lessons.  I was also very pleased with how well Madison conducted herself while waiting for the others to perform their solos!  90 minutes is a long time to sit still and hold a violin on your lap!  Here’s a clip of Madison’s solo:

 

 

As usual, I’m linking my fragments up at Mrs. 4-4-4-4 at HalfPastKissinTime.  Her Tercentennial Celebration is still going on, so head on over there and check it out!

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter weekend!

It Seemed So Good The Way We Had It…

Every now and then a song will catch my attention, and express exactly how I feel.  The other day, I was watching GAC, when the music video of the song Automatic by Miranda Lambert began playing.  I hadn’t heard the song or seen the video before, and it stopped me dead in my tracks!

There was Miranda, in the attic of an old house, digging through an old trunk.  As she pulled out various things, she sang about things of the past.

Since I’ve recently been sorting through closets, chests, cabinets, and drawers at my late mother-in-law’s house, the song was especially poignant to me.  I’ve definitely been taking more than a few strolls down ‘memory lane’ lately!

Automatic

Quarter in a pay phone; Drying laundry on the line

Watching sun tea in the window; Pocket watch, tellin’ time

Seems like only yesterday, I’d get a blank cassette

Record the country countdown, cause I couldn’t buy it yet

 

If we drove all the way to Dallas, just to buy an Easter dress

We’d take along a Rand McNally, stand in line to pay for gas

God knows that shifting gears, ain’t what it used to be

I learned to drive that ’55  just like a queen, three on a tree

 

Hey what ever happened to waiting your turn?

Doing it all by hand,

cause when everything is handed to you

It’s only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

 

If you had something to say, you’d write it on a piece of paper

Then you put a stamp on it, and they’d get it three days later

Boys would call the girls, and girls would turn them down

Staying married was the only way 

to work your problems out

 

Hey what ever happened to waiting your turn?

Doing it all by hand,

cause when everything is handed to you

It’s only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

 

Let’s put the windows down; Windows with the crank

Come on let’s take a picture; The kind you gotta shake

 

Hey what ever happened to waiting your turn?

Doing it all by hand,

cause when everything is handed to you

It’s only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

Yep, Miranda and her co-writers have captured exactly what I’ve been feeling lately!  Whatever did happen to waiting your turn?  What ever happened to doing things by hand?  Now a days, we rely on machines to do everything!  Heck, cars will even park themselves now!

These days, things are so easy and freely given, people don’t really appreciate them any more.  People drawing government checks right and left… Children getting new stuff all of the time, instead of just on special occasions, like we did…   Kids with ipods, smart phones, or the latest and greatest new gadgets…  Teenagers all driving cars of their own–sometimes getting the car before they’re even old enough to drive! We’ve become an ‘entitlement society’.  Enough already!

As for the memories Miranda shares in her song, I can definitely relate to those, except I think I can remember when a phone call was only a dime!  Oops, is my age showing again?  My grandchildren will never know what a phone booth was, but they’ll know what a cell phone is!

Among the items I found while sorting through my late mother-in-law’s things:  some very old (78?) records, some cassette tapes, a ragged Rand McNally road atlas, lots of Polaroid pictures, and dozens of cards she’d received in the mail throughout the years!  Oh, and I also found a clothespin bag!  Those were the days, weren’t they?  If only life was still so uncomplicated!

To quote the chorus of the song, “It all just seems so good the way we had it, back before everything became automatic!”

 

 

 

My Daddy…

Today is April 15.  For many, the day will only mean the deadline for filing their income taxes.  For me, it’s always meant ‘daddy’s birthday’.  (Our taxes have always been filed weeks before the deadline, and, a refund is already in the bank.) Daddy’s been gone for nearly 23 years, but I still think of his birthday, every April 15.

old birthday pic of daddy

Daddy was only sixty-five when he passed away.  Back then, sixty-five seemed kind of old.  These days, not so much!

Our youngest son, Brad, was barely three, when daddy became ill.  I doubt that Brad has many memories of daddy, at all, and I know he doesn’t have any memories of  my daddy as a healthy man.  Daddy spent most of the last four years of his life either in a hospital or a nursing home.

Daddy was severely burned, as a child, while he was trying to build a fire in the fireplace.  He was burned on his lower abdomen, and carried the scars on his belly, from age six until he died.  He, also, carried many other scars on his belly, by the time he passed away.  He endured several surgeries during his final years of living.  He died from sepsis (blood poisoning), but he had a bad liver, and pancreatic cancer, in addition to a host of other problems.

One thing that stands out in my memories of daddy, is how he loved to eat!  The servings on his plate, at family dinners, always testified to that 🙂

It’s only fitting since daddy loved to eat, that he also loved growing food.  The man had a ‘green thumb’, and could grow anything!  Daddy could grow enough food, in his little city garden, to feed an army.  In fact, sometimes, he sold produce to local grocery stores!

Daddy was a great cook, too.  When I was a teenager, daddy did most of the cooking at our house–and he became quite good at it!  Some of his specialties were pork & rice, mustard greens, vegetable soup, and cornbread.  Daddy was quite good on the grill, too.  His bar-b-qued chicken was some of the best I’ve ever had.

 

 Daddy celebrating a birthday at Ed’s parents’ house

Daddy held various jobs, throughout the years.  He tried his hand at farming, he was a salesman for the Sunbeam Bread Co., and he once ran a grocery store, but daddy spent the majority of his later years working as a guard at the Georgia State Prison, before he finally retired.

The Georgia State Prison is the place where the original movie ‘The Longest Yard’ , starring Burt Reynolds, was filmed.  Daddy worked there while the filming was taking place, and oh the stories daddy used to tell!  In fact, daddy used to tell lots of stories about prison, and some would make your hair stand on   end!  In the photograph above, daddy is wearing his guard uniform.

Speaking of the photograph above, it was taken during a birthday celebration at Ed’s parents’ house.  Ed’s daddy’s birthday was exactly two weeks before my daddy’s, and, sometimes, we’d have a joint celebration, at one house or another.  Looking back, I realize how blessed Ed and I were that our parents got along so well!  It made life so much easier for us.

These days, both of our daddies celebrate their birthdays in heaven–along with both of our mothers, who happened to both have May birthdays…but that’s a post for another day!

 

T’was The Monday Before Easter…

T’was the Monday before Easter, and…  Ed’s off today, as required by his employer.  In addition to taking the recent cut in pay, employees are also required to take a vacation day every two weeks.  We got lucky, this week, because vacation days can’t always be taken on a Monday or Friday!

Ed’s never one to waste a day off, so he’s already outside working on the front of our house–at 7:30 in the morning.  The workmen left a few jobs for us to do, concerning the new porch, so Ed’s up and on it already!  Ed’s never happier than when he’s getting to ‘do it himself’!  The job includes using a new paint sprayer, for the first time,  so it might prove to be interesting.

The weekend was crazy busy, but it was a good one.  It included some family time, with all of our grown children and their families (except for one grandson, who was at a birthday celebration).  It also included some work around the house,  and it included granddaughter, Madison’s violin recital.  I’ll share more about that, in another post!

I’m behind in visiting many of my blogging friends, and I’m sorry!  I didn’t turn on my computer all weekend, except for Brett to remove something that I’d ‘gotten’ on my computer (thanks again, Brett!), and for  Brad to upgrade my computer to Windows 8.1.  (thanks again, Brad!)  I promise I’ll catch up with everyone as soon as I can.

As usual, on Mondays, I’m joining ‘The Monday Quiz’ over at Acting Balanced.  It’s become a Monday habit, that I don’t like to break.  Here are today’s questions:

 

1. Today is look up at the sky day – what does your piece of the sky look like today?

The sky, in our ‘neck of the woods’ looks cloudy.  In fact, it’s supposed to be cloudy all day!  Unfortunately, another dreaded cold front is headed our way, with a low of 43 degrees expected for tomorrow night!!!  What in the world is going on with the weather???  Today’s high is predicted to reach 82!

2. It’s also “organize your files week” – will you be participating?

No, there’s a very good chance I won’t be organizing any files, this week!  Too much other stuff is going on. 

3. It’s almost Easter – what are your Easter traditions?
First of all, I decorate for Easter–inside and out.  My outside decorations have taken a beating, this year, due to the porch construction.  They’ve been put up and taken down twice!   They may never be the same.  

All of the grandchildren will gather at our house, this coming weekend, to color eggs together.  That’s always fun–and messy 🙂  Then, the family will gather back here, after church on Sunday, for lunch and an egg hunt.  Our eggs hunts include the adults and children, and usually turn out to be quite entertaining!
4. What is a favorite recipe that you’ve dusted off for the holidays or just because it’s spring?

Our daughter-in-law, Christina, usually makes a Hershey Bar Cake that’s delicious.   It’s become a family favorite, and is her ‘signature dessert’.  Unfortunately, I don’t have her recipe, or I’d share it with you.

I’m sorry to have to cut post a little short, but it’s time to feed all of our animals, then get busy with Monday chores.  Have a great Monday!