OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

I spent Thanksgiving day in Topeka with Pauls and Jonathans families. We had a great dinner and visit including an internet conference call with Deb, Angelas family and James during which we (the kids) blew out the candles on the shared birthday cake. It was an up day.
But Friday was not, for me at least, as I came down with a flu bug and was really sick. Thankfully it was a one day thing and I felt better and was able to come home on Saturday although very tired. Friday night was a restless sleep and Saturday morning I was slow in waking up. I could hear them in the dining room shushing the little ones to not make a lot of noise and wake up Grandma. I was barely aware when someone would peek around the corner to see how I was doing. Then I felt a small hand pat me on the hip where I was lying on the davenport and opened my eyes to see Isaacs concerned little face peering into mine. When he saw my eyes open he said, "Grandma, the sun is coming up again!" What profound words of wisdom from the lips of this sweet little boy and how much this Grandmas heart needed to hear them! For the last two months I had been feeling very down, sad and lonely and dreading the holidays without David beside me. Those seven simple words are going on a card on my fridge next to Davids picture.
YES, GRANDMA , THE SUN IS COMING UP AGAIN!

HOW DO YOU COMFORT YOUR CHILD?

When your child is born and you first hold it in your arms the overwhelming sense of wonder and love that fills your heart makes you wants to do anything you can to comfort and protect that child. Most times a hug, a kiss, sometimes a bandage, an assurance that they are loved by you and by God are sufficient. But as they grow the hurts and dissappointments they face grow with them and you can't do much except add a lot of prayer to the "mother" treatment, and support them in any way you can. And when they are fully grown and off on their own and they suffer the worst hurt and sorrow a parent can face, the loss of a child through no fault of their own, the only comfort you can give them is the same--hugs and kisses and the assurance that they are loved by you and by their God, but it seems so little compared to their hurt. At the same time you feel as though your own heart is bursting with the pain of this loss on top of everything else. This tiny baby boy who has been so anticipated will never be held in your arms. Okay, Grandpa, this one you get to hold first!
(Written earlier but not posted.)

Poocharoo Quirks

Poocharoo has found something new to be afraid of. Last Friday night was the first home football game this fall. The school has a cannon that they shoot off every time the home team scores points. We can hear it all over town and can keep score somewhat by how many times the cannon goes off. They had a good game last week. Pooch showed up at the door begging to get in. Since James fixed the screen (again!) and put a grid over the screen so she can't tear it loose again she also can't knock on the window the way she was doing so she was scratching on the grid and whining to get my attention. The inside door was open since it was a nice night so I could hear her but knew there was no storm. When I went to look she was sitting up looking through the screen and begging to get in. I told her to cut it out and went back to my movie. She can see me in the recliner since all the doors line up. When I tipped my reading light to shine that way I could see her there in the same spot watching me. It wasn't until the second touchdown that I realized what was bothering her. When the third touchdown cannon went off I took pity on her and let her in until the game was over. Thunder, fireworks and now touchdown cannon! The game was away tonight so she had a repreive.

She is also a popcorn Pooch. When I have popcorn left over we have a back step jumping session. Of course any people food works but she does love popcorn second only to cut up chicken skin and breading which I always pull off. I sit on the top step with the dish and she has to sit on the ground below before I will throw it. I don't even have to say "sit" anymore. Catching popcorn outside can be trickiy. If there is any breeze it takes her several tries before she starts to catch them but she chases them all down. I have to limit how much she gets because she starts to wheeze after several because she won't stop to drink until I quit throwing them. Even then she begs for more. She just wriggles in anticipation but usually she won't jump until my hand moves. I think we are both in need of more to entertain us, either that or I have sunk to her level. One of these days I am going to learn how to do mini-movies on my camera . When I do you will probably see more of her antics.

Once again James has walked me through the procedure for transfering the pictures from the camera to the computer. This time I took some notes! So now I can start recording
the journey to visit Deb and Angela. There were over 400 pictures on the camera dating back to Thanksgiving 2009!

Right now it is bedtime and I need to get my feet up so until next time "God Bless".

HOME AGAIN

Two weeks away was long enough! My own bed felt good last night. Poocharoo was glad to see me even though she was well cared for by Louise and James. James, Paul and grandson Jordan went with me in my car (I didn't have to drive) and we drove straight through in a little over one day. I told them after we got there that once such trip was enough. These old bones just can't take it anymore, but the kids did have more time to visit. The guys had to drive back on Sunday and Monday but I stayed on for another week and had a more time with my girls. I then came home on Amtrac to Hastings where James picked me up at 4 a.m. Thursday. It was a long 36 hour trip. I took lots of pictures and had a great time. I'll write more about all that in later postings, right now I'm still tired. I guess it will take me a few more hours (days? weeks?) to recover. 'Til then, God bless.

THERE ARE DAYS!

There are days and there are days, and today was one of those days! Today I sold David's car that he drove to work. A family came to look at it last Thursday evening. Their son was going to college and he needed a car. Father and son took it for a test drive while I visited with the mother in the yard. Poocheroo was around trying to get my attention when suddenly she started to bark. I turned and looked and sure enough the wagon had just turned into the alley at the south end just as David always did and Pooch was standing there at the fence looking at me and barking just as she had alerted me to his car coming home for the last six years. I managed to hold it together until they had left and I got into the house (after praising Poocheroo) before I lost control and started to cry. Like I said before--it's the little things that get to me in unexpected ways. They called Saturday to say they would buy it and we agreed on a price. Today they came to get it. We had to go to the court house to sign over the title and I left first, I couldn't watch it drive away. But it will let me pay off the Cruiser and have one less monthly bill. I celebrated by buying a deli-dinner at the grocery store.

Things seem to come one after the other. My good mixer quit the day David died while mixing up a batch of apricot bread for him. Jonathan took it to Kansas City to be fixed again and was told it would cost more to fix it than to buy a new one. In June I had to put two new tires on the Cruiser, then a week later one of the old ones developed a bulge and had to be replaced. The company wouldn't allow anything on it, said it was rim damage! No way! The last trip I took to Menards and WalMart at Hastings in July a truck threw a rock and put a chip in the Cruisers windshield and when I went to see about the insurance coverage I found out we have the only car insurance that doesn't cover it. I was able to get the chip fixed here in Smith Center, can't even tell where it was now. Then last week my dryer up and quit on me. Good thing I had put up a clothes line to use this summer. James informed me tonight that he was going up tomorrow to see about getting it fixed or getting a new one. I was going to let it go until after my trip. To top everything else my stereo decided to join the others and went on strike, first refusing to play my tapes and now the CD part won't work either so I can't play my music. I'm beginning to think my machines are involved in a plot to make my life simpler and cut down on the overhead expenses! Oh, Well! Life goes on and on and on day by day, some easier than others. The heat hasn't helped any with several days over 100 degrees.

Oh yes! my trip! One very bright spot in my world right now. I am going, with James and Paul (I do'nt think they wanted Mom to drive out by herself), to see my girls in Virginia and Maryland and to attend grandson Devin's Eagle Award Ceremony on August 14th. We were both so anticipating this trip. I'm glad the boys are going with me. James and I will go as far as Pauls on Wednesday. We're driving out in my car on Thursday and Friday and they will be coming back on Sunday and Monday. I am going to stay for a few days to visit. I get to see the girls and their families so seldom that I am really looking forward to it. I am going to come back on the train. It's been a long time since I took a train ride--I was expecting James when I went to Chicago while selling Stanley Home Products. Oops! I forgot about our train ride in Russia on a train that reminded me of those in the movies from the 20's and 30's. This one on Amtrac should be a little nicer ride. I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures to post (and to take the charger along). One nice thing about the new digital cameras--you can keep right on snapping pictures without having to change film or worry about paying to have them developed! I will have my new cell phone (and charger) with me so I won't be out of touch.

Keep me in your prayers as I do you. God bless!

MEMORIES OF MOMMA

Today is my mothers birthday---August 5, l892. My earliest memory of Momma is sitting on her lap in her rocking chair while she read me Bible stories while holding a warm cloth on my ear to help ease an ear ache. I remember standing on a chair by the kitchen table kneading my own piece of bread dough beside her while she made bread for the family. Nothing tasted better than that little piece of my own bread, warm from the oven with melted butter on it. She taught me how to sew, by hand at first then on the old treadle machine when I was big enough to work the pedal and guide the fabric at the same time. I learned to love growing things and enjoying the produce from them both as flowers and fruits and vegatables, and to preserve them for the future. It seems as though we always had a pet of some kind, usually a cat and the picture of her with a cat on her lap purring while she petted it is a warm memory. She loved her chilckens on the farm. I can still hear her talking (clucking) to them while she fed them and gathered the eggs. And she loved music--playing the piano, singing as she worked, and teaching our canary to whistle a tune by whistling it over and over whenever she was in the room with it. Of course, singing hymns in church was a favorite. Her love for the Lord shone through in her daily life. Her lessons for her children was by example. She has been gone now for over twenty years but I still miss her and there are many times even yet when I wish I could tell her of my joys and sorrows and laughs. The memories are many, of good times and not so good times, but always of love. Momma still means love to me.

"'FRAIDY Cat" POOCHEROO

Poocheroo doesn't like loud noises like fireworks and thunder. She is a good storm predictor. At the first hint of a storm she is at the back door wanting in. While we were gone to the Peterson family reunion in Minnesota a couple weeks ago, there was a bad storm that went through and I wasn't here to let her in when she knocked on the door. Yes, I said knocks. She stands on her hind legs and beats a tatoo with her front paws on th stormdoor while whining to get my attention. The glass was up and when she wasn't let in she tried it on her own. She managed to tear the screen (that the guys had fixed when here in April) loose at the bottom somehow and boosted herself through the opening and got stuck between the doors. When Louise came over to feed her the next morning and couldn't see her she thought she had somehow gotten out of her yard until she heard her crying and could just see two ears showing above the opening in the door. She had to go through the house to get Poocheroo out of her predicament. But that wasn't the end of it. When I got home I put the glass down to cover the hole and keep the bugs out. Well, last night another storm went through and before there was a noise that I could hear she was beating on the door so rapidly that it sounded like a woodpecker. I couldn't see or hear anything like a storm coming so I told her to shush and didn't let her in. I should have known better! She kept it up and added whining and barking to her pleading. Then I heard a crash. She had pounded and pushed on the door so hard that the adjustable window part fell out and down between the doors knocking the stormdoor partially open but blocking her entrance. Thankfully it is plexiglass so I didn't have broken glass to contend with as well. That loud noise scared her also ---but not enough to leave the porch. Then I heard the thunder and could see the lightning in the distance so she did get in. I keep an old quilt folded up under the dish cupboard and a leash fastened to one of it's legs by the back door so she has a place of safty to hang out. She runs all over the house if I don't hook her up, and I do mean runs, and she has learned how to avoid being caught by running around the circle of the downstairs walkway, no doors to block her. When she sees me coming to meet and catch her she turns and goes the other direction! David and I used to be able to corral her together but now that I am alone I have to lure her with "people" food to catch her. Funny what you can miss a person for, little things, trivial things, every day things. Anyway---now I have to fix the back screendoor again and I have to take the whole door off to do it as it doesn't come apart. Oh well, such is life, and life goes on and I would surely miss her company if I didn't have my "'Fraidy Cat" Poocheroo and hear her knocking on my door. Be thankful for the little things and praise the Lord you still have them.

BLACK FEET, PURPLE PLUMS & TOMMYTOES

Superklutz strikes again! About a month ago when going to church with Paul's family in their van, my foot slipped and I kicked the back of the drivers seat with my left foot ( actually the top of my foot kit a bar on the bottom of the seat) and consequently I had a nice big black and blue lump on it. It migrated as they tend to do and by the end of the week my toes had turned black and the whole top of my foot was discolored. It gradually disappeared though I still have a tender spot there. But that wasn' t the end of it. When we went to Minnesota for the Peterson Family Reunion we stopped at my sister's overnight to visit and to see David's headstone that had just been set a couple days before. Getting some ice for my glass of juice saturday morning I managed to spill cranberry juice down the front of my fresh white shirt, one of my nicer ones naturally! So I did a quick change of clothes then treated the stains and wrapped the shirt up in a plastic bag so we could be on our way. In Minnesota I wanted to wash the stain out so I did a quick load of laundry that evening at Evie's that night--late, went to check on it and put them in the dryer and managed to kick the basin that sits under her washer with my little toe and the one next to it on my right foot. That wasn't enough! In the shower the next morning the bar of soap slipped out of my hand and landed on the same foot. So now I have a matching bruise (yes, I bruise that easy!) to the other one now faded. If there's a dumb accident to have I'll have it! We did enjoy the reunion in spite of all my mishaps. It was nice to visit David's family though there were a lot of tears for me because he had so wanted to attend this year. Enough of that.

My purple plum tree bloomed this year and I discovered that it had six nice red plums on it just before we left on our trip! When we got back they were fully ripe and delicious! We thought it was one that bloomed but didn't bear fruit so it was a wonderful surprise!

Tommytoes! That's what we called tomatos when I was little. So far I have picked eight little red ripe tomatos off two of the plants in my little garden. They taste so much better than those I buy in the store. The rest of the plants in the garden are doing fine also. The cukes are climbing the dog pen fence and have four small fruits on them. All the rains we have had this season has really helped ( the weeds, too).

"Digger Dog " is still at it. I think she is trying to create a grand canyon in her pen. She has lost her job! The rope that I hung clothes on in her pen was getting very thin in places and I was afraid that it would break when I hung something on it (I hate to wash already cleaned clothes!) so I went to Menard's and got an umbrella type clothes line and put it up myself and was quite proud of the job until it started to lean a little bit. I put it in the side yard outside the basement door so I wouldn't have so far to carry the basket. The first time I used it Poocheroo stood by the fence and watched me and whined. She stayed there until I took them down since she couldn"t stand or lay under them and "guard" them for me anymore. She looks at me so mournfully everytime I hang something out!

Since it has been so hot I haven't been getting in any long walks in so I have found an alternative. When I find I need something from the grocery store or Alco or Dollar General I go and walk every aisle in airconditioned comfort. It works! It's surprising how many steps you rack up that way.

Work on the house, a few smiles, a few tears and a lot of prayers fill my days. With the Lord's help I get through each one. If you get a chance drop me a line or a phone call to say "hello" . I appreciate them all. God bless!!

ONE STEP AT A TIME

Another step taken: James took most of last Thursday to get David's car ready to sell. We have listed it on internet, put for sale signs in the windows and parked it in the area between the street and the sidewalk in front of the house. So far I've had three inquiries. Hopefully it will bring enough to almost pay off the cruiser and take one bill off my list. It was hard to do because it was David's "work" car. When Poocheroo heard him turn into the alley she would always bark to let me know he was coming home. I miss that.


With this hot weather, Poocheroo (second name: Digger Dog) in an effort to find a cool place to lay started to dig on the south side of the house. She actually got to the bottom of the foundation and the stonework started to crack in one place! A trip to Orschlin's to get some pavers and a couple hours of sweaty work on the part of James and I filling the holes and placing the pavers next to the house stopped the undermining of my kitchen but I had to go out today and sweep the dirt off of the pavers from where she dug in front of them! Now she is digging on the south side of her pen next to the fence but my potato boxes are on the other side so she can't dig her way out. So far she hasn't discovered she can dig under the fence or jump forward as well as straight up so she is still contained!

My tulip tree is blooming!!!! It's about waist high this year and has had three beautiful pink blossoms. I was so happy to see it I just had to go out and find someone to tell! Doris from next door (91 last week) looked out her kitchen window and thought I had tied a pink ribbon on the branch and had to come over and see it. They are very fragile blossoms.

My pots on the front steps are looking good. I put coleous(?) in one of the pots this year.

I miss my weeder! Seems like I have been spending a lot of time outdoors working on the flower beds. In an effort to save some work I put plastic ground cloth under the dining room overhang and under the flowers by the basement door and by the front steps. See the old bathroom sink behind the hosta? We ran a hose from the window air conditioner to it so it doesn't drip on anyone walking by and now the neighborhood cats and the birds have a place to get a drink. So far it has been mainly june bugs that have used it.

I put my old canner and big soup pot to use as planters on two of the stumps in the yard. James drilled some holes in the bottoms for drainage then I filled them and planted some begonias in them that I picked up on clearance. Hope they do well and don't walk off.

My rose bush out back by the garage has had a lot of blooms. I love the color and smell of them. I did learn it is a good idea to wear gloves and long sleeves when pruning or pulling weeds from around it. You're never too old to learn. David hated mowing around it. So far James hasn't complained. I would move it but haven't found a good place to put it. Guess I'll have to plan a special rose bed. Hah!! I don't have a big enough yard or enough energy to do everything I would like to do. I did dig up a small space behind the dog pen where the sun does shine for a small garden: potatoes, tomatos, peppers, cucumbers and zuchinis and yes I did spade it up myself so it is a small space but doing well.

Poocheroo had to come over and see what I was doing with the camera so I took her picture too. I can't neglect my little furry pal! She thinks she has to be in on everything.

Just a few of the things I've been keeping busy with day by day with God's help.

JUST SECONDS AWAY TO ANOTHER LIFE

Just a few seconds turned my world upside down and now I am alone once more, a position I never wanted to be in again. In January and February David and I worked together making "utility" quilts (double knit pieced top on a fleece backing) for our kids and grandkids. We were finishing up the ninth one when my main sewing machine broke down, and the new man at the repair shop couldn't fix it. That's long story that maybe I'll tell you someday. Made a trip to Lenexa and Topeka to deliver those finished. Those to go to the east coast are still in the works. David cut every square and sashing strip for all of them while I did the sewing. He also threaded every needle for me as my eyes aren't what they used to be. We really enjoyed working together in this way. We made a trip to Omaha to make a hospital call on one of the church members and her daughter took the picture of the two of us at the end of this post. We also took the oportunity to swing by to see the family once more and I am so thankful that we did. David did so enjoy the grandchildren. Thursday, March 25th, we attended the last Community Lenten Breakfast then we spent a lot of the day working in the yard and planning what we wanted to do this year. Friday David spent the morning weeding one of the flower beds by the house. He had just sat down for lunch and to watch the news when he had a sudden heart attack and was gone within seconds before I could even get across the room to him. No warning, he had had no heart problems and had not been ill. I called 911 but as hard as the paramedics tried he could not be revived. All of the kids were here by Saturday night. We had a memorial service on Monday evening. We had both decided that when we died we would be cremated for easier transport to be buried in my burial plots in LeMars that I had purchased when Arden died. We did this on the Saturday after Easter so that we would not have sad memories of the holiday, especially for the children. We had good weather for both of the services. Debra and Angela had to go back to Virginia and Maryland but all three of my boys and their families went to Iowa with me. It has been more than a month now and the cold numbness has worn off and reality has set in as I find myself alone here in the house we were enjoying fixing up together. It seems so empty now. How I miss him and his care and companionship but most of all his love. So this blog will be a naration of my life now, one day at a time. What does anyone do without the love and strength of the Lord to get them through the long lonely days and nights of the hard times? I know I could not make it without my faith in God to see me through it all. Life goes on. David got to spend Easter in the presence of his Lord. If you would like to read his obituary and the eulogy written by our son Jonathan and some of Davids last postings go to: http://david-lifeintheslowlane.blogspot.com/ Until next time remember to praise the Lord and thank Him for all the good things He gives to us, especially the good memories, those will be with us always.

PARTYTIME!

I did it again, another year has gone by without my sending birthday greetings on time to those I hold near and dear. So I am going to take a lesson from the Mad Hatter in "Alice In Wonderland" and have an unbirthday party all by myself. I'll bake a cake, which David will eat, but I won't put candles on it 'cause there would be too many and I don't want to burn the house down and I will sing "A Very Happy Unbirthday To You" to each one of you! Maybe I'll start sending unbirthday cards, that way I'll have 364 days of the year to get it right instead of just one. I really do think of you and say a little prayer for you when I do. Just listen close and you will be able to here me shout "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" on your special day. I really do do it!

SHADES OF YESTERYEAR

In many ways David and I are much alike, but every once in a while something will crop up that will show our differences in age and backgound, and likes and dislikes. Most of the time we enjoy these differences, sometimes we simply tolerate them, but occasionally we get a good laugh out of them. For instance---

We have two different kinds of phones in our house: the old fashioned plugged in princess style and then a set of three cordless walk around kind that was given to us. That's as high tec as we are right now. James set up the cordless ones for us and we have learned to enjoy being able to pick them up and walk around (when we remember we can take them with us when working in a room without a phone!). I finally remembered to have James imput the right date and time into the system last month. He was sitting there fiddling with it for a while when I heard music coming from it--different tunes--and only then realized that we could have it play a tune when someone called instead of just ringing. He was playing through the choices when suddenly I laughed and said "that's the one"! So now when the phone rings we hear a continual round because they do not all ring at the same time: first the old phone in my sewing room, then the newer ones in our bedroom and by the desk, then the musical one by my chair in the living room, then the old, then the new, then the music, and so on until one of us answers it.

What's this have to do with our differences? Simple. David does not always appreciate my choice of music. Usually I try to enjoy it when he isn't here or choose one that he can appreciate when he is home or we are both in the car. But the phone doesn't ring by that rule. When he is home I let him answer because 99.9% of the calls are for him. Well, the other day it rang and he was in the dining room and couldn't get to the phone before the music was in it's second round and he came through the living room muttering "I'm going to have James change that !" while I'm sitting there with a big grin on my face wanting to stand up and start reciting "In the thrilling days of yesteryear---". Know what the song is? When I was a girl in school (before the days of television) if I had my chores done and didn't play it too loud I could listen to the after school kids shows. There were three that I liked: Jack Armstrong, Sky King and my favorite, The Lone Ranger. I had the whole opening spiel memorized and would recite it with the announcer while the theme song was playing in the background. To this day when I hear the William Tell Overture I want to stand up and shout "The Lone Ranger rides again!". I kid David and tell him he had a deprived childhood because he didn't get to experience some of the things I did.

Differences keep life interesting. Wouldn't it be boring if we were all exactly alike? I am personally glad that the good Lord had fun and created such a variety when He made this world. We may not always like everything in it but the wondrous variety and beauty of it is a continual joy to me. Just this morning every tree, bush and even the fence arould the dog pen was coated with sparkling frost. Tried to get some pictures but don't know yet how good they are until one of my computer guys check them out for me as I haven't yet learned how to do that. Take time to enjoy the little things.

P.S. Hooray! Here are two: the first of the juniper tree in Poocharoo's pen and the second of our little pear tree on our side of the street blending into the big elm in front of James' house across the street. They look almost like they are in bloom. Gorgeous!!


Heard a gospel song ths morning that I liked. It had a new turn on an old saying: "I'll be there be the good Lord willing and the church don't rise!" Take care and God bless!

GERANIUMS, TURNIPS AND CANDLES

Late last fall David and James brought in a long low cupboard that just fits under the dining room windows that gives us another place to stow some of our accumulated stuff and junk. It also gave me a place to put my big planters to get them through the winter instead of taking them down to the basement with a grow light. One of them surprised me by blooming! I had a red geranium in bloom for Thanksgiving. My philodendrom(?) is in a 5 gal. pickle bucket in my big crock with a tomato cage to climb and wasn't looking too hot at first but is doing just dandy now. We hoisted it up also in front of the middle window so that the crock is in front of the air conditioner and the leaves get the morning sun through the glass above. At least I can get at it ot keep it watered this winter.

Turnips? Somebody had a real good crop and left a big boxful at a local farm store for people to help themselves, so I brought home a bagful to put in the freezer for soups this winter. As I was preparing them I was reminded of planting the tops of carrots for a green winter plant as a kid and decided to try turnip tops. For a couple months I had a nice lush green planter, only thing is that they take a lot more water than the others did and my green thumb turned brown! But they sure were pretty while they lasted!

I have always admired those electric candles in the windows at Christmas but never had a house with the windows to put them in until now. Last fall Doris, our eldery neighbor to the east, was going through things with the help of her family (downsizing). One thing they decided to get rid of was a big boxfull of them and asked it we would like to have them. Of course I said yes! We were able to find replacment bulbs at Menards and Walmart. There were enough that I had candles in every downstairs room. With the colored icicle lights around the front porch and the candles in the windows our house looked quite feative for Christmas and I loved it! Most years we do good to get the tree up. It was up this year in the front living room window and had all of three decorations on it when we got busy on a Christmas gift project for our nine grandchildren and never got the rest of the decorations out and up. Oh well, maybe next year we can get all of the decorations unpacked and on display.

Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and Christmas and that your new year is filled with joy, love and laughter!