Today is Tuesday, December 30, 2008. It is cloudy and cold in Citrus Heights today. A good day to curl up in front of the fireplace with a good book and a warm blanket.
I've spent the last hour or so reading blogs created by our children over the last several weeks. How do the days get away so fast? Of course, most of the month of December was spent getting ready for Christmas. I love this time of year. We pull the Christmas boxes out of the attic and start getting things ready to decorate the house, put up the lights outside, get the Christmas tree decorated, get out the Christmas village and find the special Christmas dishes we use for our Christmas Eve dinner. And I look through the box of Christmas keepsakes.
That box contains Christmas cards, Christmas decorations, and Christmas gifts that our children have made over the years, things I seldom put out anymore but things I treasure nevertheless.
And I keep lots of Christmas cards we have been sent, especially those that have letters written on them. If there is no letter, then I cut off the beautiful fronts and save them to make gift tags or to mark some notebook as "Christmas." I have a red notebook with a beautiful classic card received some year from some business. That is the Christmas song notebook. If the card depicts the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, I keep that to put up on one of the closet doors downstairs. (This year I didn't put the cards up, just didn't get around to it.) Each year there are fewer and fewer cards we get through the mail.
Part of that is due to the fact that I haven't yet sent Christmas cards. I usually write a Christmas letter. You know the kind. Those letters that some people hate and some people love. I, myself, love the letters that tell me all about the family and what each one is doing. It helps me feel connected to many friends I never see anymore. My letter is usually a New Year letter now. And it is a bit different because all of the children are grown. I could write a full page about each one. Well, I could always have done that all along but I tried to keep it to one page. And with 11 of us to write about - well, you can see, the page filled up fast.
For the first time in our lives we have an artificial tree. None of us ever thought it would come to that. But live trees cost $20 to $30 and we found this beautiful tree last year at an after Christmas sale for $32.00. We decided to try it. In two years it would have more than paid for itself. And it is very beautiful. Artificial trees have improved so much over the years. And it is not so heavy, doesn't have to have water added every day, and doesn't drip sap.
Last year after Christmas I purchased two lighted greenery pieces, one for the mantel and one for the bannister. They are easy and very beautiful. This year I decided to use a beautiful satiny cloth as the base for our Nativity set. This set of olive wood we purchased on our second trip to Israel, in Bethlehem. Most years I have used angel hair and strings of lights - drove me crazy but looked nice. This year I decided to use the blue fabric. Wow! how come I waited so long? It was so easy and looks lovely.
Of course, I never could have enough poinsettas or red balls or nativity sets of various sorts. (Artificial poinsettas, mind you, not real.) One of my friends has over 90 nativity sets. I decided that was a nice item to collect. I have about 10 already, mostly small, four from Greece, several from our trips to the Holy Land, several from the Dollar Store, plus one or two glass ones I have received as gifts.
The Christmas village lights up beautifully. I told everyone, "Don't give me any more village. I have no more "land". The development cannot get any larger." My worst problem with the village is that the light posts keep getting "blown over." Some year I will get it right and have them firmly planted.
There wasn't much cooking from me this year. My miserable knees kept me from that activity. Oh well, there has been plenty of food without my doing any. And Christmas Eve supper came off without a hitch. Our little granddaughter thinks it is the coolest thing to eat supper on the fancy glass dishes (remember those snack sets - 4 to a box- that were such a popular wedding gift 50 years ago), with candlelight. Candlelight makes for soft voices and quiet feelings. A great Christmasy feeling! After supper Glen read the Christmas story from the Bible and we sang all the Christmas songs that fit the story. No live Nativity this year!
And then on to Christmas morning. That will be for another day. It is past time to get to work and leave this wonderful computer and my fun of writing. Well, that's all for today.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Assorted Pies
Today is Sunday, November 30, 2008. It is very late. I usually write in the morning but not today. It is Vicki's birthday. And the day has been sunny and warm.
A while ago I ate the last piece of mincemeat pie from our Thanksgiving day feast. It looked so beautiful. At Thanksgiving time we have two kinds of pie - pumpkin and mincemeat. As Vicki said "I like pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and then I am through with it for the rest of the year." That is my sentiment, too. And the same with mincemeat pie.
Only a few people in our family like mincemeat pie. My mother-in-law taught me how to make mock mincemeat using green tomatoes. When we had a big garden with lots of tomatoes, I would use the green ones left on the vine just before the first frost of the winter. The green tomatoes are chopped up, mixed with apples and raisins and lots of yummy spices. I would put the cooked mixture in bottles and cold pack them to use at Thanksgiving time.
Here in California I don't have so many green tomatoes and don't make it. At Thanksgiving time I haunt the stores to buy Borden's None Such Mincemeat which you can only find around Thanksgiving time. Fewer and fewer stores carry it. Mincemeat pie is definitely going out of fashion. Borden's makes two kinds - one with brandy and one without brandy. Well, we are a family of non-alcohol users and the brandy kind is not for me. Oh, I know. "It all cooks out." Well, I am sorry I don't use rum flavoring, or ccoking wine, or even wine vinegar. You can laugh if you want but I don't intend to change my plan. Anyway last year at Thanksgiving time I could find only Borden's with brandy. I scared up enough green tomatoes from friends to make a batch of mincemeat - enough for two pies. This year I was elated when I went to Raley's and found two brands of mincemeat - no brandy. I really wanted Borden's because I know just how it tastes. But I picked the brand in a bottle over the brand in a can. Neither one had brandy - YEAH!
I mentioned to the clerk at the check out counter how happy I was to find mincemeat without brandy. "I really wanted Borden's None Such but you don't have it. I want the kind without the brandy." He said, "Well, when they send it to us they send one small case of non-brandy and several cases with brandy. If you get here first you can get the non-brandy kind."
The pie making went well. The crust for both the pumpkin pie and the mincemeat ones were picture perfect. And they smelled so good baking. Wouldn't you know that this was the year our almost 11 year old granddaughter followed her mother's advice to try something new for Thanksgiving dinner and she choose to try mincemeat pie. Those of us who like it were excited. Maybe we would have another devotee.
And then we tasted the beautiful picture perfect mincemeat pie. Oh, my gosh! I wanted to cry. Emma dutifully carried out her trial. Of course, she didn't like it! Neither did any of us. Then I read the label - all the usual stuff but added to it were hard currants and citrus peel. Yuk! Who ruined the recipe for mincemeat with hard currants and citrus peel? We don't have another mincemeat pie lover. The rest of us couldn't pass up the beautiful pie crust so we cut a piece - scraped out the filling, took out the currants and the citrus peel, and kept a little of the raisins and spice mixture and devoured the crust with a big glass of milk.
Well, I certainly won't buy that kind again. Janet said next year I should take the first batch of green tomatoes in the summer and can enough for our two Thanksgiving pies. I think that is what I will do.
I'll talk about the yummy pumpkin pies another day and also about my reasons for having only two kinds of pie on Thanksgiving Day.
There are many wonderful kinds of pie we all like and we have pie on various occasions. But the pie for Thanksgiving remains - pumpkin and mincemeat.
That's all for tonight. I am going off to bed.
A while ago I ate the last piece of mincemeat pie from our Thanksgiving day feast. It looked so beautiful. At Thanksgiving time we have two kinds of pie - pumpkin and mincemeat. As Vicki said "I like pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and then I am through with it for the rest of the year." That is my sentiment, too. And the same with mincemeat pie.
Only a few people in our family like mincemeat pie. My mother-in-law taught me how to make mock mincemeat using green tomatoes. When we had a big garden with lots of tomatoes, I would use the green ones left on the vine just before the first frost of the winter. The green tomatoes are chopped up, mixed with apples and raisins and lots of yummy spices. I would put the cooked mixture in bottles and cold pack them to use at Thanksgiving time.
Here in California I don't have so many green tomatoes and don't make it. At Thanksgiving time I haunt the stores to buy Borden's None Such Mincemeat which you can only find around Thanksgiving time. Fewer and fewer stores carry it. Mincemeat pie is definitely going out of fashion. Borden's makes two kinds - one with brandy and one without brandy. Well, we are a family of non-alcohol users and the brandy kind is not for me. Oh, I know. "It all cooks out." Well, I am sorry I don't use rum flavoring, or ccoking wine, or even wine vinegar. You can laugh if you want but I don't intend to change my plan. Anyway last year at Thanksgiving time I could find only Borden's with brandy. I scared up enough green tomatoes from friends to make a batch of mincemeat - enough for two pies. This year I was elated when I went to Raley's and found two brands of mincemeat - no brandy. I really wanted Borden's because I know just how it tastes. But I picked the brand in a bottle over the brand in a can. Neither one had brandy - YEAH!
I mentioned to the clerk at the check out counter how happy I was to find mincemeat without brandy. "I really wanted Borden's None Such but you don't have it. I want the kind without the brandy." He said, "Well, when they send it to us they send one small case of non-brandy and several cases with brandy. If you get here first you can get the non-brandy kind."
The pie making went well. The crust for both the pumpkin pie and the mincemeat ones were picture perfect. And they smelled so good baking. Wouldn't you know that this was the year our almost 11 year old granddaughter followed her mother's advice to try something new for Thanksgiving dinner and she choose to try mincemeat pie. Those of us who like it were excited. Maybe we would have another devotee.
And then we tasted the beautiful picture perfect mincemeat pie. Oh, my gosh! I wanted to cry. Emma dutifully carried out her trial. Of course, she didn't like it! Neither did any of us. Then I read the label - all the usual stuff but added to it were hard currants and citrus peel. Yuk! Who ruined the recipe for mincemeat with hard currants and citrus peel? We don't have another mincemeat pie lover. The rest of us couldn't pass up the beautiful pie crust so we cut a piece - scraped out the filling, took out the currants and the citrus peel, and kept a little of the raisins and spice mixture and devoured the crust with a big glass of milk.
Well, I certainly won't buy that kind again. Janet said next year I should take the first batch of green tomatoes in the summer and can enough for our two Thanksgiving pies. I think that is what I will do.
I'll talk about the yummy pumpkin pies another day and also about my reasons for having only two kinds of pie on Thanksgiving Day.
There are many wonderful kinds of pie we all like and we have pie on various occasions. But the pie for Thanksgiving remains - pumpkin and mincemeat.
That's all for tonight. I am going off to bed.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving
Today is Thursday, November 27, 2008. It is cloudy outside and looks like it might rain. Glen has gone off to take pictures of the Turkey Bowl Football game for Northridge Ward and I have our turkey in the oven.
There are so many things to be thankful for today. And every day. My list could fill pages. I got to thinking about past Thanksgiving days. I am trying to remember when I first ate turkey.
Growing up, Mother cooked mainly hamburger and chicken. That was all the meat we could afford. And we were both perfectly content. Some Sundays Myrtle Workman would invite us for dinner after Church. I loved it because she always had a pot roast. There was just the three of us, Mom, Myrtle, and me. And she would let me pick at that roast all afternoon. Lovely pieces of beef with a little sprinkle of salt.
When I was in Junior High I ate in the cafeteria. It was in the basement of the Memorial Building across the street from the school. If I had turkey then on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it would have been in chunks in the gravy over mashed potatoes. (We always went to school the week of Thanksgiving. Thursday and Friday were our holiday.)
I've been trying to remember when I cooked my first turkey. I don't remember it. I do remember trying various cooking methods - the aluminum foil tent, in the bag, inside a brown paper bag. It was in Milford, Utah, where I learned to cook it the easiest way. One of the sisters in our Ward had a roasting pan she cooked her turkey in. It was the juciest, tenderest turkey I had ever tasted. She told me she had that pan for years. I looked all over for a pan like it but never could find one. One year she gave me hers. She was downsizing everything and had found a smaller roaster. I was the happiest gal in town.
I used that roaster for years and years and about fell apart when I discovered two tiny holes in the bottom. We soldered over the holes and I used it for a few years more. Then there was no repairing it. I was so excited when I found the very same roaster for sale in Sears. I snatched it right up. That roaster is about 12 years old now. And I see the same kind offered for sale every once in awhile. (I probably should buy one now, come to think of it, in case they disappear again.)
This year our diners will be few compared to some years. While we lived in Bakersfield we invited people who were not getting together with family. Some years we had 36 or even more. (I was much younger and more energetic.) Of course, there were 12 of us to begin with. Glen and I and our nine children and my mother. There were certain friends who usually shared Thanksgiving dinner with us. We had the largest house and hosted those big get togethers. Good memories of good friends and good food.
We had a tradition of putting 5 kernels of popcorn on each plate. I had read somewhere that the first Thanksgiving dinner the pilgrims had been able to harvest just a little extra corn. After the blessing we took turns around the table using our kernels to share 5 things we were thankful for. And it couldn't be a repeat of what someone else had said.
This year there will be 14 of us around the table laden with all kinds of good food. And we will all be very thankful for all kinds of blessings. The lemons hanging over our fence from the house next door. The view of the sky (usually very blue) out our kitchen window. The big pink roses in our yard. This wonderful country of America. Eachof our dear children (that includes the ones who've married into the family) and our grandchildren. The list is endless.
Traditional foods for our family include turkey; Mom's dressing made from dried homemade bread, onions, celery and sage; mashed potatoes and gravy; pumpkin pie with real whipped cream; mincemeat pie; and fruit salad. The fruit salad is a must. It is Glen's favorite for Thanksgiving. The sauce is made with a mixture of homemade orange hard sauce and freshly whipped cream. YUM! There are other dishes, too, but these are the favored ones.
There will be hot rolls and Tami's special green beans, cranberry sauce and a relish tray (lots of olives for the grandchildren), sweet potatoes and maybe Linda's special carrots. We won't be hungry that's for sure.
I am so grateful to live at this time in this wonderful country of America. One Thanksgiving time we were in India. An Indian resturant offered An American Thanksgiving Dinner as a special treat for Americans living in India. A large group of us made reservations. It was a memorable Thanksgiving dinner. Bless their hearts, they did their best, but it was not quite like "An American Thanksgiving at the Wahlquist's Home."
That's all for today.
There are so many things to be thankful for today. And every day. My list could fill pages. I got to thinking about past Thanksgiving days. I am trying to remember when I first ate turkey.
Growing up, Mother cooked mainly hamburger and chicken. That was all the meat we could afford. And we were both perfectly content. Some Sundays Myrtle Workman would invite us for dinner after Church. I loved it because she always had a pot roast. There was just the three of us, Mom, Myrtle, and me. And she would let me pick at that roast all afternoon. Lovely pieces of beef with a little sprinkle of salt.
When I was in Junior High I ate in the cafeteria. It was in the basement of the Memorial Building across the street from the school. If I had turkey then on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it would have been in chunks in the gravy over mashed potatoes. (We always went to school the week of Thanksgiving. Thursday and Friday were our holiday.)
I've been trying to remember when I cooked my first turkey. I don't remember it. I do remember trying various cooking methods - the aluminum foil tent, in the bag, inside a brown paper bag. It was in Milford, Utah, where I learned to cook it the easiest way. One of the sisters in our Ward had a roasting pan she cooked her turkey in. It was the juciest, tenderest turkey I had ever tasted. She told me she had that pan for years. I looked all over for a pan like it but never could find one. One year she gave me hers. She was downsizing everything and had found a smaller roaster. I was the happiest gal in town.
I used that roaster for years and years and about fell apart when I discovered two tiny holes in the bottom. We soldered over the holes and I used it for a few years more. Then there was no repairing it. I was so excited when I found the very same roaster for sale in Sears. I snatched it right up. That roaster is about 12 years old now. And I see the same kind offered for sale every once in awhile. (I probably should buy one now, come to think of it, in case they disappear again.)
This year our diners will be few compared to some years. While we lived in Bakersfield we invited people who were not getting together with family. Some years we had 36 or even more. (I was much younger and more energetic.) Of course, there were 12 of us to begin with. Glen and I and our nine children and my mother. There were certain friends who usually shared Thanksgiving dinner with us. We had the largest house and hosted those big get togethers. Good memories of good friends and good food.
We had a tradition of putting 5 kernels of popcorn on each plate. I had read somewhere that the first Thanksgiving dinner the pilgrims had been able to harvest just a little extra corn. After the blessing we took turns around the table using our kernels to share 5 things we were thankful for. And it couldn't be a repeat of what someone else had said.
This year there will be 14 of us around the table laden with all kinds of good food. And we will all be very thankful for all kinds of blessings. The lemons hanging over our fence from the house next door. The view of the sky (usually very blue) out our kitchen window. The big pink roses in our yard. This wonderful country of America. Eachof our dear children (that includes the ones who've married into the family) and our grandchildren. The list is endless.
Traditional foods for our family include turkey; Mom's dressing made from dried homemade bread, onions, celery and sage; mashed potatoes and gravy; pumpkin pie with real whipped cream; mincemeat pie; and fruit salad. The fruit salad is a must. It is Glen's favorite for Thanksgiving. The sauce is made with a mixture of homemade orange hard sauce and freshly whipped cream. YUM! There are other dishes, too, but these are the favored ones.
There will be hot rolls and Tami's special green beans, cranberry sauce and a relish tray (lots of olives for the grandchildren), sweet potatoes and maybe Linda's special carrots. We won't be hungry that's for sure.
I am so grateful to live at this time in this wonderful country of America. One Thanksgiving time we were in India. An Indian resturant offered An American Thanksgiving Dinner as a special treat for Americans living in India. A large group of us made reservations. It was a memorable Thanksgiving dinner. Bless their hearts, they did their best, but it was not quite like "An American Thanksgiving at the Wahlquist's Home."
That's all for today.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Family and Friends
Today is Friday, November 7, 2008. It is sunny and warm. Last week we had a couple of rainy days but not today.
The days since I last wrote have been so full - of all kinds of things. And plenty to write about. I think I will first write about our Anniversary Party. On October 15 Glen and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary! My oh my! We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1958. Fifty years sounds like such a long time. I guess it really is. We've had wonderful times together.
To celebrate, our children planned a party, invited friends and family from all over the place, and planned the food. "Do you want a program, Mother?" they asked me. And then in the next breath, "Please don't want a program." Well, I didn't want a program. I wanted visiting and photos. "Do we have to dress some special way?" Before I could answer that one Glen said "Let them wear what they want. They will going to a party at the Church." OK, we didn't coordinate clothes for the photographs.
I asked if our nine children would sing one song for me. "As long as it is not 'The Ugly Bug Ball,'" was the answer to that question. (That song is from the movie, "Summer Magic" and they were so cute when they sang it as young children.) I wanted them to sing "Love Is Spoken Here."
We had all our children and most of our grandchildren at the party. We were missing one son's wife and three of his sons. Two sons are on missions and the other one had a football game he could not miss. (It would have meant his being kicked off the football team and we didn't want him to hold that against us for the rest of his life.) We also missed two of our grandchildren by marriage. But 17 boys and girls were there to have their picture taken with Grandma and Grandpa. Taking pictures can be such a production with that many people.
And most of the Wahlquist Aunts and Uncles came. That was a very special treat for all of us. They came from all directions - Utah; Idaho; Washington,D.C; and Maryland by way of Idaho. And many friends we had not seen for ages.
Family and friends are the best part of life. If one ever needs a cheering section or a fan club, that is usually where you can find one. Our family is especially knit close together. We recognize that not everyone can say that about their families. Oh, not that we always agree about everything. And not that we don't have our moments of angst. But overall, we love and appreciate each other. We have all learned to push to the side of our brains the unpleasant things and dwell mostly on all the good stuff.
It was a swell party and thanks to all who made it a big success. It will always be a wonderful memory. That's it for today.
The days since I last wrote have been so full - of all kinds of things. And plenty to write about. I think I will first write about our Anniversary Party. On October 15 Glen and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary! My oh my! We were married in the Idaho Falls Temple in 1958. Fifty years sounds like such a long time. I guess it really is. We've had wonderful times together.
To celebrate, our children planned a party, invited friends and family from all over the place, and planned the food. "Do you want a program, Mother?" they asked me. And then in the next breath, "Please don't want a program." Well, I didn't want a program. I wanted visiting and photos. "Do we have to dress some special way?" Before I could answer that one Glen said "Let them wear what they want. They will going to a party at the Church." OK, we didn't coordinate clothes for the photographs.
I asked if our nine children would sing one song for me. "As long as it is not 'The Ugly Bug Ball,'" was the answer to that question. (That song is from the movie, "Summer Magic" and they were so cute when they sang it as young children.) I wanted them to sing "Love Is Spoken Here."
We had all our children and most of our grandchildren at the party. We were missing one son's wife and three of his sons. Two sons are on missions and the other one had a football game he could not miss. (It would have meant his being kicked off the football team and we didn't want him to hold that against us for the rest of his life.) We also missed two of our grandchildren by marriage. But 17 boys and girls were there to have their picture taken with Grandma and Grandpa. Taking pictures can be such a production with that many people.
And most of the Wahlquist Aunts and Uncles came. That was a very special treat for all of us. They came from all directions - Utah; Idaho; Washington,D.C; and Maryland by way of Idaho. And many friends we had not seen for ages.
Family and friends are the best part of life. If one ever needs a cheering section or a fan club, that is usually where you can find one. Our family is especially knit close together. We recognize that not everyone can say that about their families. Oh, not that we always agree about everything. And not that we don't have our moments of angst. But overall, we love and appreciate each other. We have all learned to push to the side of our brains the unpleasant things and dwell mostly on all the good stuff.
It was a swell party and thanks to all who made it a big success. It will always be a wonderful memory. That's it for today.
Friday, October 3, 2008
"The Sound of Music"
Today is Friday, October 3, 2008. It is cloudy and looks like it might rain.
My, oh, my, where in the heck did the whole month of September go? Time flies when you're having fun. And speaking of how time flies - the Von Trapp children just had a reunion. One of my dear friends e-mailed pictures to me. They brought a rush of memories and tears to my eyes. I grew up in Independence, Missouri, and in Independence we had special opportunities to hear touring musical groups. Some rich lady in our community had endowed the Community Music Association with lots of money and we had free Sunday afternoon concerts.(Now we would have to pay $100's of dollars to go to those concerts. We had all kind of touring groups, like the Vienna Boys Choir, famous pianists, famous violinists, dancers from all over the world, just everything.) My mother took the opportunity to take me to nearly every concert. One was the Von Trapp family singers. So, of course, when the movie came out in 1965 I wanted to see it. And how I love that movie. Everything about it. I love Julie Andrews with her big old suitcase singing "I Have Confidence." I love the way she puts her hands on the bannister as she begins her work with the Von Trapp children. Well, I just love every moment of it. And even though I know they all escape, I tense up at the scenes in the Abbey.
When we went to see the movie for the third time with our children we were standing in a long line waiting and we got to talking with those around us. The couple behind us said it was their 35th time to see that movie. "We go to the movies about every weekend and as we look at the paper and see what's offered, somewhere in the valley "The Sound of Music" is playing. And we decide, yes, we will go see it again. So far, we still love every minute of it." Wow! What a testimonial!
And then I got to direct the musical. What a great experience that was! There were so many wonderful people who helped with lights, costumes, sound, stage set, orchestra and a fabulous cast. Many, many challenges but mostly a wonderful experience.
And then this morning to see that beautiful family with my favorite actress, Julie Andrews. Thank you, Doris, for sending them to me. It has made a cloudy day truly bright with the wonderful memories I have of days gone by.
I could keep writing forever now that I have started but I'd best get on to breakfast and my plan of activity for today.
So - that's all for today. (Maybe)
My, oh, my, where in the heck did the whole month of September go? Time flies when you're having fun. And speaking of how time flies - the Von Trapp children just had a reunion. One of my dear friends e-mailed pictures to me. They brought a rush of memories and tears to my eyes. I grew up in Independence, Missouri, and in Independence we had special opportunities to hear touring musical groups. Some rich lady in our community had endowed the Community Music Association with lots of money and we had free Sunday afternoon concerts.(Now we would have to pay $100's of dollars to go to those concerts. We had all kind of touring groups, like the Vienna Boys Choir, famous pianists, famous violinists, dancers from all over the world, just everything.) My mother took the opportunity to take me to nearly every concert. One was the Von Trapp family singers. So, of course, when the movie came out in 1965 I wanted to see it. And how I love that movie. Everything about it. I love Julie Andrews with her big old suitcase singing "I Have Confidence." I love the way she puts her hands on the bannister as she begins her work with the Von Trapp children. Well, I just love every moment of it. And even though I know they all escape, I tense up at the scenes in the Abbey.
When we went to see the movie for the third time with our children we were standing in a long line waiting and we got to talking with those around us. The couple behind us said it was their 35th time to see that movie. "We go to the movies about every weekend and as we look at the paper and see what's offered, somewhere in the valley "The Sound of Music" is playing. And we decide, yes, we will go see it again. So far, we still love every minute of it." Wow! What a testimonial!
And then I got to direct the musical. What a great experience that was! There were so many wonderful people who helped with lights, costumes, sound, stage set, orchestra and a fabulous cast. Many, many challenges but mostly a wonderful experience.
And then this morning to see that beautiful family with my favorite actress, Julie Andrews. Thank you, Doris, for sending them to me. It has made a cloudy day truly bright with the wonderful memories I have of days gone by.
I could keep writing forever now that I have started but I'd best get on to breakfast and my plan of activity for today.
So - that's all for today. (Maybe)
Monday, September 1, 2008
Happy Birthday, Barbara!
Today is Monday, September 1, 2008. And it is my birthday! The sun is shining and there is a nice breeze. It is pleasantly warm in Sacramento, California.
The month of August just went whizzing by. We took a little trip up to Seattle to visit our youngest daughter, her hubby, and two of our darling grandsons. We had a great time and they live in a beautiful setting. There are houses close by but you hardly even notice them because of the big trees. It's a great place.
We did several other interesting things during August. We went to the California State Fair. That is a yearly tradition. This year was a bit harder for me because of my knee surgery but I got to look at most everything I wanted to see. I took my walker just to be sure I could steady myself. The county exhibits this year were especially outstanding. There was a Hollywood theme. One of my favorites was Yolo County. "Follow the YOLO brick road." Of course, they had animated characters from The Wizard of Oz. I had to laugh because when we first moved to this area we heard lots of information about the Yolo causeway. We could never figure out why they referred to it as the "yellow causeway." That's what we thought people were saying. Then we found out about Yolo County and figured it all out. To have the display play on our first experience with Yolo and Yellow just ticked my funnybone. And I survived the walking around. I was very tired but I think it might have helped my knee, all the walking.
And so here it is - my 71st birthday. Compared to some of my very dear friends that is young. In our Church there is one very dear lady who is now 90 and I just don't think I will ever be as spry at 90 as she is. Oh well! I'm glad to do what I can do.
I got to thinking about when I was born. Of course, I don't remember anything about that day. But my mother told me that I was the first baby in the new hospital in Lamar, Missouri. I wasn't born in the new hospital. I was taken there after my birth along with her. And then I got to wondering, was the old hospital close enough that they just took us over, walking, or did we ride? I don't know. I never asked Mother that question. I never really thought about it until now.
I got to thinking about birthdays I can remember. I know I always wanted to have a birthday party. A lot of my friends had a birthday party every year. When I was 11 Mother said I could have a party and invite some friends. I was excited. I don't remember anything about the party but I was happy not to have another one. I had more fun with just Mother and Grandma on my birthday.
Mom always baked me a cake with caramel frosting. She was always embarrassed because the frosting didn't stay soft. It got hard as a rock and I could crack it off the cake and eat it like candy. I thought it was the most wonderful frosting I had ever tasted. Brown sugar candy it was more than frosting. I remember one year after I was married I begged Mother to make that kind of frosting for my cake. "That old failure, that's what you want?" Yes, sir, that's what I wanted.
My most memorable birthday present was our fifth child, a boy, born on my birthday. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital. Glen went next door to get my mother to watch the other children. She came in carrying a birthday cake for me with lighted candles. What a kick!
Birthdays are fun. I've had my first birthday present today. Our youngest son is going to make a bid for me on eBay. We did all the transacting over the phone while both of us had our computers going. I am still learning about eBay and he already has an account. It's easier for him to just do it than to spend the time trying to teach me. I'll see what I can figure out on my own bit by bit. What an age we live in! I just wish that I had a Blue Tooth (or whatever they are all called) and I didn't have to hold that phone up to my ear.
Three of our daughters and our daughter-in-law ( I call her our daughter, too) are making dinner for us all tonight. It will be a fun family party. They always are. I will insist on 71 candles on my cake.
That's all for today.
The month of August just went whizzing by. We took a little trip up to Seattle to visit our youngest daughter, her hubby, and two of our darling grandsons. We had a great time and they live in a beautiful setting. There are houses close by but you hardly even notice them because of the big trees. It's a great place.
We did several other interesting things during August. We went to the California State Fair. That is a yearly tradition. This year was a bit harder for me because of my knee surgery but I got to look at most everything I wanted to see. I took my walker just to be sure I could steady myself. The county exhibits this year were especially outstanding. There was a Hollywood theme. One of my favorites was Yolo County. "Follow the YOLO brick road." Of course, they had animated characters from The Wizard of Oz. I had to laugh because when we first moved to this area we heard lots of information about the Yolo causeway. We could never figure out why they referred to it as the "yellow causeway." That's what we thought people were saying. Then we found out about Yolo County and figured it all out. To have the display play on our first experience with Yolo and Yellow just ticked my funnybone. And I survived the walking around. I was very tired but I think it might have helped my knee, all the walking.
And so here it is - my 71st birthday. Compared to some of my very dear friends that is young. In our Church there is one very dear lady who is now 90 and I just don't think I will ever be as spry at 90 as she is. Oh well! I'm glad to do what I can do.
I got to thinking about when I was born. Of course, I don't remember anything about that day. But my mother told me that I was the first baby in the new hospital in Lamar, Missouri. I wasn't born in the new hospital. I was taken there after my birth along with her. And then I got to wondering, was the old hospital close enough that they just took us over, walking, or did we ride? I don't know. I never asked Mother that question. I never really thought about it until now.
I got to thinking about birthdays I can remember. I know I always wanted to have a birthday party. A lot of my friends had a birthday party every year. When I was 11 Mother said I could have a party and invite some friends. I was excited. I don't remember anything about the party but I was happy not to have another one. I had more fun with just Mother and Grandma on my birthday.
Mom always baked me a cake with caramel frosting. She was always embarrassed because the frosting didn't stay soft. It got hard as a rock and I could crack it off the cake and eat it like candy. I thought it was the most wonderful frosting I had ever tasted. Brown sugar candy it was more than frosting. I remember one year after I was married I begged Mother to make that kind of frosting for my cake. "That old failure, that's what you want?" Yes, sir, that's what I wanted.
My most memorable birthday present was our fifth child, a boy, born on my birthday. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the hospital. Glen went next door to get my mother to watch the other children. She came in carrying a birthday cake for me with lighted candles. What a kick!
Birthdays are fun. I've had my first birthday present today. Our youngest son is going to make a bid for me on eBay. We did all the transacting over the phone while both of us had our computers going. I am still learning about eBay and he already has an account. It's easier for him to just do it than to spend the time trying to teach me. I'll see what I can figure out on my own bit by bit. What an age we live in! I just wish that I had a Blue Tooth (or whatever they are all called) and I didn't have to hold that phone up to my ear.
Three of our daughters and our daughter-in-law ( I call her our daughter, too) are making dinner for us all tonight. It will be a fun family party. They always are. I will insist on 71 candles on my cake.
That's all for today.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Family
Today is Monday, July 27, 2008. The sun is shining and it is hot in Sacramento, California.
July has been an interesting month. Right now a daughter and her family are visiting us. Another daughter and her two children came for several days. That meant that we had 8 of our 20 grandchildren here to play together and get better acquainted.
When our children were growing up we often visited my husband's mother and father at the same time as other families. Glen comes from a family of 7 boys and they are a loving close knit family. The cousins loved to visit Grandma and Grandpa and play together on the farm. It's been a long time now since the cousins have been together. They have grown up, married and have children of their own. Even though we have a family reunion occasionally, not everyone is able to come.
Last weekend Glen and I attended a funeral for his oldest brother. It was wonderful to see all of his children and grandchildren even though it was for the sad occasion of saying goodbye to someone we all love so much. There is such great comfort for all of us knowing that we will all meet again in heaven. Family love is such an important part of my life.
The days that we can be together as a family go so fast. One daughter has already gone home with her two children. And tomorrow the other family will head back to their home. And the grandparents will be all alone again. The house will seem very quiet. We will be able to have the computer to ourselves once more. And if we choose to watch news or "Murder She Wrote" on TV, it won't interfere with anyone's plans. But how we will miss those loving arms around us and those cheerful noises that our grandchildren make.
And we get to anticipate the next time we will be together. How much I love our family- the immediate one and the extended one, too.
That's all for today.
July has been an interesting month. Right now a daughter and her family are visiting us. Another daughter and her two children came for several days. That meant that we had 8 of our 20 grandchildren here to play together and get better acquainted.
When our children were growing up we often visited my husband's mother and father at the same time as other families. Glen comes from a family of 7 boys and they are a loving close knit family. The cousins loved to visit Grandma and Grandpa and play together on the farm. It's been a long time now since the cousins have been together. They have grown up, married and have children of their own. Even though we have a family reunion occasionally, not everyone is able to come.
Last weekend Glen and I attended a funeral for his oldest brother. It was wonderful to see all of his children and grandchildren even though it was for the sad occasion of saying goodbye to someone we all love so much. There is such great comfort for all of us knowing that we will all meet again in heaven. Family love is such an important part of my life.
The days that we can be together as a family go so fast. One daughter has already gone home with her two children. And tomorrow the other family will head back to their home. And the grandparents will be all alone again. The house will seem very quiet. We will be able to have the computer to ourselves once more. And if we choose to watch news or "Murder She Wrote" on TV, it won't interfere with anyone's plans. But how we will miss those loving arms around us and those cheerful noises that our grandchildren make.
And we get to anticipate the next time we will be together. How much I love our family- the immediate one and the extended one, too.
That's all for today.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Peaches and Cream
Today is Tuesday, July 8, 2008. The sun is shining and the sky is blue.
We just finished our breakfast and what a breakfast it was! Toast (homemade bread), fresh peaches right off our tree, and cream. (Well, our "city" form of cream - Carnation Condensed Milk.) Now that the peaches are ripening we will need to get the canning routine going again. We just finished canning apricots about two weeks ago. Every year when we can peaches we talk about the year in Bakersfield when we canned over 200 quarts of peaches.
All the children (9 of them) were still at home. Now peaches are not really hard to can. They require peeling but with a freestone peach that is not a hard thing to do. You just get a big pan of boiling water, drop in the washed peaches, count to about 20 (with practice you get so you can tell by the way the skin looks), plunge the peaches into cold water and peel off the skin with your hands. Then you cut around the seed and the two sides drop right off. During our lifetime we have bottled lots of freestone peaches.
This one particular year was a little different. The year I am talking about was the year of the "Cling peaches." Clings are the most popular kind for the commercial canneries. The skins are not so easily removed. Commercial canneries use some kind of lye solution that isn't practical for home canning. Out south of Bakersifeld was this huge cling peach orchard which was connected with commercial canning. For some reason the peaches were not just the way they were supposed to be - too small, too large, whatever - and the grower decided to sell them off to anyone who would come pick. $1 a box - and if you brought a small box that was your problem.
With all our "helpers" we headed off with several big toilet tissue boxes. We have 9 good workers in our children and with Glen and I we made quite a "pickin" crew. It was hot, let me tell you. But everyone kept right at the job. Then home to start the bottling process. Since each peach had to be peeled we used our potato peelers (we even went out to buy several more). Wash the peaches, peel them like you would a potato, and then they had to be cut off the seed. We got quite skillful and creative with that part of the job. One whack on each side - for two large pieces. One whack on each end for two smaller pieces. And then one person cut off as much as possible from the seed. We put them into the bottles in like manner. All big pieces in one jar, side peices in another jar, and the little bits in another jar. We had three basic "stules."
Now cling peaches taste wonderful from the can or the bottle. It is just the process of gettting them ready. We worked and worked at those first boxes. Of course, we also prepared plenty for eating fresh. No slackers in the work crew. I was even amazed at how long and hard the children worked. The whole job was no easy task.
We set a goal to can 100 quarts of cling peaches. We had to go to the orchard more than once. As we approached the 100 mark we were all excited. This took a matter of several days, mind you. Then lo and behold, when we finished the last batch we had 110 beautiful bottles lining our cupboard shelves. We were all so pleased with our hard work.
Then our oldest son said, "Why don't we go for 200?" I was ready to hear moans and groans from his younger brothers and sisters, but guess what? They all were caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment and heartily agreed with him. (They all love to eat peaches.)
How could the parents dampen that youthful eagerness! We piled in the car with our boxes. By this time we knew about how many quarts each box would do. And we picked more peaches. Then home to do the canning process. Lots of hard work, lots of family togetherness, and lots of good peaches to take us through the winter. Such a wonderful memory! Glen and I sure have fond feelings in our hearts over that work crew of ours. I wonder how each of them feels about that experience. One thing we know, our children all know how to work. Thank you all, our dear children.
That's all for today.
We just finished our breakfast and what a breakfast it was! Toast (homemade bread), fresh peaches right off our tree, and cream. (Well, our "city" form of cream - Carnation Condensed Milk.) Now that the peaches are ripening we will need to get the canning routine going again. We just finished canning apricots about two weeks ago. Every year when we can peaches we talk about the year in Bakersfield when we canned over 200 quarts of peaches.
All the children (9 of them) were still at home. Now peaches are not really hard to can. They require peeling but with a freestone peach that is not a hard thing to do. You just get a big pan of boiling water, drop in the washed peaches, count to about 20 (with practice you get so you can tell by the way the skin looks), plunge the peaches into cold water and peel off the skin with your hands. Then you cut around the seed and the two sides drop right off. During our lifetime we have bottled lots of freestone peaches.
This one particular year was a little different. The year I am talking about was the year of the "Cling peaches." Clings are the most popular kind for the commercial canneries. The skins are not so easily removed. Commercial canneries use some kind of lye solution that isn't practical for home canning. Out south of Bakersifeld was this huge cling peach orchard which was connected with commercial canning. For some reason the peaches were not just the way they were supposed to be - too small, too large, whatever - and the grower decided to sell them off to anyone who would come pick. $1 a box - and if you brought a small box that was your problem.
With all our "helpers" we headed off with several big toilet tissue boxes. We have 9 good workers in our children and with Glen and I we made quite a "pickin" crew. It was hot, let me tell you. But everyone kept right at the job. Then home to start the bottling process. Since each peach had to be peeled we used our potato peelers (we even went out to buy several more). Wash the peaches, peel them like you would a potato, and then they had to be cut off the seed. We got quite skillful and creative with that part of the job. One whack on each side - for two large pieces. One whack on each end for two smaller pieces. And then one person cut off as much as possible from the seed. We put them into the bottles in like manner. All big pieces in one jar, side peices in another jar, and the little bits in another jar. We had three basic "stules."
Now cling peaches taste wonderful from the can or the bottle. It is just the process of gettting them ready. We worked and worked at those first boxes. Of course, we also prepared plenty for eating fresh. No slackers in the work crew. I was even amazed at how long and hard the children worked. The whole job was no easy task.
We set a goal to can 100 quarts of cling peaches. We had to go to the orchard more than once. As we approached the 100 mark we were all excited. This took a matter of several days, mind you. Then lo and behold, when we finished the last batch we had 110 beautiful bottles lining our cupboard shelves. We were all so pleased with our hard work.
Then our oldest son said, "Why don't we go for 200?" I was ready to hear moans and groans from his younger brothers and sisters, but guess what? They all were caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment and heartily agreed with him. (They all love to eat peaches.)
How could the parents dampen that youthful eagerness! We piled in the car with our boxes. By this time we knew about how many quarts each box would do. And we picked more peaches. Then home to do the canning process. Lots of hard work, lots of family togetherness, and lots of good peaches to take us through the winter. Such a wonderful memory! Glen and I sure have fond feelings in our hearts over that work crew of ours. I wonder how each of them feels about that experience. One thing we know, our children all know how to work. Thank you all, our dear children.
That's all for today.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Apricots
Today is Wednesday, July 2, 2008. The smoke is out of the air and the sun is shining brightly. It is supposed to get up past 90 degrees today. Oh, boy! Hot summer days.
Our apricot tree has produced lots and lots of apricots. We have been canning nearly every day. (We are not as fast as we used to be.) And we have been eating lots of beautiful fresh apricots. The dryer has been going steady, too. It brings back memories of canning apricots at Glen's folks' place in Toquerville, Utah. Mother and Dad had an apricot "orchard." I can't remember exactly how many trees there were but enough to keep a full crew busy picking, canning and drying apricots.
Seems like we always had our trip to visit just at the time the apricots were ripe. Not only our family but some of the rest of the family came, too. And what a production line we had. Aunts, uncles, and cousins of all ages pitched in to help Grandpa and Grandma take care of all the fruit. One or two of the older boys helped Grandpa and the Uncles pick bushels and bushels of apricots. The aunts and everybody else (all ages) helped Grandma do the canning and filling the huge dryer with apricots. There was apricot nectar and apricot jam, too.
Grandma never wanted anything to go to waste so first thing she would enlist some help to pick up any nice apricots that had fallen during the night. Grandpa felt time would be better spent getting the trees picked but we always did what Grandma asked us. From those "gushy" apricots, as the grandchildren called them, we made the best tasting jams and that wonderful apricot nectar that we all loved so much.
Everyone, no matter how young, had a job to do. The men would bring in the apricots. A couple of the smaller children would carry from the bushel baskets to the kitchen sink, where the next older children washed the fruit. There was someone assigned to deliver from the sink to the various work stations around the big red, formica kitchen table. Some were assigned to cut out the bad spots - there were seldom many -, the next group split them into a big stainless steel bowl. The next assignment was to place the halves into the scrupulously clean Kerr jars. (The washing of the jars took place first thing in the morning. Each jar had to be washed with hot, soapy water and a stiff bottle brush. And every top checked for any nicks that would keep the jar from sealing. Nicked jars were just thrown in the garbage.)
There were aunts at the stove boiling the sugar syrup to be added to the jars. The "flats" had to be placed in boiling water to sterilize before they were placed on the full bottle of the beautiful orange colored fruit. Next, srew on the jars rings. Grandma kept those in order of a scrunched together coat hanger. Then into the hot water bath canner seven bottles at a time. Grandma had two canners so we could process 14 jars at a time. As soon as one batch was finished there were another 14 bottles ready to be put into the canners.
Such a busy wonderful time. It was a lot of hard, hot work but there could be no slackers. Cousins worked together and had a good time doing it. There really was not much complaining. Grandma would never allow that - well, neither would the mothers and aunts. It was just a job that needed to be done and the more people who helped made the work go faster. Besides, most of it really turned out to be fun. There were all kinds of stories told around the big kitchen table and the aunts and uncles helped when your job seemed to get overwhelming. That was a great part about it all. Once Grandpa and the uncles had finished picking they came in to the kitchen to help. Nobody wanted to be left out of anything.
I really think that the whole family has pleasant memories of that working together. And I know everyone learned to work hard. In this day and age I consider that a wonderful blessing. To learn to work. Every child needs to learn two things in life - how to work and how to obey. Those two principles take a person far in life.
Along with the canning there was always one person responsible for cutting up a big bowl of those fresh apricots to eat with sweet cream for dinnertime and suppertime. The fruits of our labors were delicious. That day and in days to come as we savored the finished products. Oh, there was another by-product of our apricot project. The trees were what we call "sweet pits." When you cracked the seed, the little "nut" inside tasted nearly like an almond. The boy cousins liked to crack the pits open for everyone to enjoy the eating.
I will always carry many happy memories of those days working with the family on the annual Apricot Project.
That's it for today.
Our apricot tree has produced lots and lots of apricots. We have been canning nearly every day. (We are not as fast as we used to be.) And we have been eating lots of beautiful fresh apricots. The dryer has been going steady, too. It brings back memories of canning apricots at Glen's folks' place in Toquerville, Utah. Mother and Dad had an apricot "orchard." I can't remember exactly how many trees there were but enough to keep a full crew busy picking, canning and drying apricots.
Seems like we always had our trip to visit just at the time the apricots were ripe. Not only our family but some of the rest of the family came, too. And what a production line we had. Aunts, uncles, and cousins of all ages pitched in to help Grandpa and Grandma take care of all the fruit. One or two of the older boys helped Grandpa and the Uncles pick bushels and bushels of apricots. The aunts and everybody else (all ages) helped Grandma do the canning and filling the huge dryer with apricots. There was apricot nectar and apricot jam, too.
Grandma never wanted anything to go to waste so first thing she would enlist some help to pick up any nice apricots that had fallen during the night. Grandpa felt time would be better spent getting the trees picked but we always did what Grandma asked us. From those "gushy" apricots, as the grandchildren called them, we made the best tasting jams and that wonderful apricot nectar that we all loved so much.
Everyone, no matter how young, had a job to do. The men would bring in the apricots. A couple of the smaller children would carry from the bushel baskets to the kitchen sink, where the next older children washed the fruit. There was someone assigned to deliver from the sink to the various work stations around the big red, formica kitchen table. Some were assigned to cut out the bad spots - there were seldom many -, the next group split them into a big stainless steel bowl. The next assignment was to place the halves into the scrupulously clean Kerr jars. (The washing of the jars took place first thing in the morning. Each jar had to be washed with hot, soapy water and a stiff bottle brush. And every top checked for any nicks that would keep the jar from sealing. Nicked jars were just thrown in the garbage.)
There were aunts at the stove boiling the sugar syrup to be added to the jars. The "flats" had to be placed in boiling water to sterilize before they were placed on the full bottle of the beautiful orange colored fruit. Next, srew on the jars rings. Grandma kept those in order of a scrunched together coat hanger. Then into the hot water bath canner seven bottles at a time. Grandma had two canners so we could process 14 jars at a time. As soon as one batch was finished there were another 14 bottles ready to be put into the canners.
Such a busy wonderful time. It was a lot of hard, hot work but there could be no slackers. Cousins worked together and had a good time doing it. There really was not much complaining. Grandma would never allow that - well, neither would the mothers and aunts. It was just a job that needed to be done and the more people who helped made the work go faster. Besides, most of it really turned out to be fun. There were all kinds of stories told around the big kitchen table and the aunts and uncles helped when your job seemed to get overwhelming. That was a great part about it all. Once Grandpa and the uncles had finished picking they came in to the kitchen to help. Nobody wanted to be left out of anything.
I really think that the whole family has pleasant memories of that working together. And I know everyone learned to work hard. In this day and age I consider that a wonderful blessing. To learn to work. Every child needs to learn two things in life - how to work and how to obey. Those two principles take a person far in life.
Along with the canning there was always one person responsible for cutting up a big bowl of those fresh apricots to eat with sweet cream for dinnertime and suppertime. The fruits of our labors were delicious. That day and in days to come as we savored the finished products. Oh, there was another by-product of our apricot project. The trees were what we call "sweet pits." When you cracked the seed, the little "nut" inside tasted nearly like an almond. The boy cousins liked to crack the pits open for everyone to enjoy the eating.
I will always carry many happy memories of those days working with the family on the annual Apricot Project.
That's it for today.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
My "Get Up and Go" Has Got Up and Went.
Today is Wednesday, June 25, 2008.
The sun is pushing through the smoky air because of all the fires here in California. There are 800 in the state. A large one is west of us and the valley has been filled with the smoke. The fire is more than 40 miles away, yet the smoke has affected us. Yesterday the sun could not break through but this morning the smoke has diminished and there is actually a little sunshine.
I haven't written anything for days and days. I've thought about it a few time but as I said my "get up and go" has got up and went. I don't seem to have much umph to do anything. The other day I got out a box of photographs thinking I would put them in an album. i got out the scissors to do some trimming and started. Guess what? The box is still sitting on the couch. I didn't climb the stairs to get the album and all the paraphenalia I need.
There is plenty of stuff to do. I could clean out the refrigerator or clean off the top of the desk. I could dust the bookshelves and mop the kitchen floor. Do I want to? Well, sort of - but not enough to get started. Usually I make a list of what I will do today, but I haven't even done that for weeks.
I have started back to my volunteer work. We've been going to the Family History Library on Monday. I work in the Temple office on Thursday and Saturday. And we've started back at the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse. And I am exercising (a little) every day. I am not totally idle.
One morning I even made waffles for breakfast. That was great. And I have prepared dinner a couple of times - a light dinner, mind you, but nevertheless, dinner.
I wonder if and when "my get up and go" might come back. Will it ever come back? Or am I just slowing down a bit as I age. That is probably the whole story. Interesting how some things don't seem so important anymore. I enjoy the days. I love to read, do sudoko and crossword puzzles. Old movies are a great treat and I do a lot of work on the computer. And I enjoy playing the piano. But my "to do" list will never be empty, I know that. Speaking of the "to do' list, there is one thing right at the top today. Give my hubby a hair cut. I must get to it.
That's all for today.
The sun is pushing through the smoky air because of all the fires here in California. There are 800 in the state. A large one is west of us and the valley has been filled with the smoke. The fire is more than 40 miles away, yet the smoke has affected us. Yesterday the sun could not break through but this morning the smoke has diminished and there is actually a little sunshine.
I haven't written anything for days and days. I've thought about it a few time but as I said my "get up and go" has got up and went. I don't seem to have much umph to do anything. The other day I got out a box of photographs thinking I would put them in an album. i got out the scissors to do some trimming and started. Guess what? The box is still sitting on the couch. I didn't climb the stairs to get the album and all the paraphenalia I need.
There is plenty of stuff to do. I could clean out the refrigerator or clean off the top of the desk. I could dust the bookshelves and mop the kitchen floor. Do I want to? Well, sort of - but not enough to get started. Usually I make a list of what I will do today, but I haven't even done that for weeks.
I have started back to my volunteer work. We've been going to the Family History Library on Monday. I work in the Temple office on Thursday and Saturday. And we've started back at the Old Sacramento Schoolhouse. And I am exercising (a little) every day. I am not totally idle.
One morning I even made waffles for breakfast. That was great. And I have prepared dinner a couple of times - a light dinner, mind you, but nevertheless, dinner.
I wonder if and when "my get up and go" might come back. Will it ever come back? Or am I just slowing down a bit as I age. That is probably the whole story. Interesting how some things don't seem so important anymore. I enjoy the days. I love to read, do sudoko and crossword puzzles. Old movies are a great treat and I do a lot of work on the computer. And I enjoy playing the piano. But my "to do" list will never be empty, I know that. Speaking of the "to do' list, there is one thing right at the top today. Give my hubby a hair cut. I must get to it.
That's all for today.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Just Thinking
Today is Monday, May 26, 2008. The sky is not so blue today as usual but it is sunnier than the last few days have been. The sky has been gray. I am happy to see the sun a little today.
How do I feel today? Well, not so hot. I had knee surgery on May 13 and was hoping to be back to normal activities by now. I guess my expectations were unrealistic. Everything went well and before I left the hospital I was doing quite well. My knee was bending. I could walk smoothly with the help of a walker. And I was happy to come home.
And then my leg began to swell - and swell - and swell. All the instructions say to raise your foot above your heart and "drain that swelling right out." Well, I have done that about 15 minutes at a time for many times a day. Also the leg needs to be iced about every hour for 15 minutes or so. With the help of my wonderful husband, I've been doing that, too. The swelling goes down for awhile and then right back up. That's my greatest discomfort.
Thank goodness for pain pills. At least that gives me some relief. And I am grateful to have a home nurse who comes and a physical therapist. They give me encouragement and tell me to be patient. I'm trying. I always think of myself as a patient person. I was patient with my children as they were growing up. I am patient with my grandchildren. I am patient with people in stores. I am patient with traffic situations. I decided I am not patient with myself.
I do have a lot of gratitude. That is a good thing to have. I'm grateful for the Dr. who has such skill to replace a knee. I am grateful for the nurses who cared for me in the hospital. I am grateful for a husband who helps me elevate my leg and put ice packs on and prepare meals. I'm glad he does the dishes and washes the clothes. I am grateful for daughters who have been fixing meals sometimes to help their dad out. I am grateful for a wonderful home. And let me tell you, I am grateful for comfortable, soft chairs. We have a recliner that has become my "base" day and night. And after sitting awhile I am grateful that my hips don't ache, ache, ache.
OK - tomorrow is the third week after the surgery. I have heard of people who are nearly immobile for 5 to 6 weeks. And I am walking without pain. It is just the awful swelling that causes me problems.
Last Sunday I felt like someone was inside my leg just pumping it up to burst. Now, I've never heard of anyone's leg bursting and the nurse assures me that it won't happen. You know how those blood pressure cups tighten up on your arm? Well, that's what it felt like in my leg. I took two pains pills at once and it eased the pain till it was bearable. I sure hope that doesn't happen again.
Okay, enough of this kind of babbling for today. Thanks for any sympathy I get. I know, I know, there are plenty of people way worse off than me and by next week I will be better but thanks for the sympathy anyway.
That's it for today.
How do I feel today? Well, not so hot. I had knee surgery on May 13 and was hoping to be back to normal activities by now. I guess my expectations were unrealistic. Everything went well and before I left the hospital I was doing quite well. My knee was bending. I could walk smoothly with the help of a walker. And I was happy to come home.
And then my leg began to swell - and swell - and swell. All the instructions say to raise your foot above your heart and "drain that swelling right out." Well, I have done that about 15 minutes at a time for many times a day. Also the leg needs to be iced about every hour for 15 minutes or so. With the help of my wonderful husband, I've been doing that, too. The swelling goes down for awhile and then right back up. That's my greatest discomfort.
Thank goodness for pain pills. At least that gives me some relief. And I am grateful to have a home nurse who comes and a physical therapist. They give me encouragement and tell me to be patient. I'm trying. I always think of myself as a patient person. I was patient with my children as they were growing up. I am patient with my grandchildren. I am patient with people in stores. I am patient with traffic situations. I decided I am not patient with myself.
I do have a lot of gratitude. That is a good thing to have. I'm grateful for the Dr. who has such skill to replace a knee. I am grateful for the nurses who cared for me in the hospital. I am grateful for a husband who helps me elevate my leg and put ice packs on and prepare meals. I'm glad he does the dishes and washes the clothes. I am grateful for daughters who have been fixing meals sometimes to help their dad out. I am grateful for a wonderful home. And let me tell you, I am grateful for comfortable, soft chairs. We have a recliner that has become my "base" day and night. And after sitting awhile I am grateful that my hips don't ache, ache, ache.
OK - tomorrow is the third week after the surgery. I have heard of people who are nearly immobile for 5 to 6 weeks. And I am walking without pain. It is just the awful swelling that causes me problems.
Last Sunday I felt like someone was inside my leg just pumping it up to burst. Now, I've never heard of anyone's leg bursting and the nurse assures me that it won't happen. You know how those blood pressure cups tighten up on your arm? Well, that's what it felt like in my leg. I took two pains pills at once and it eased the pain till it was bearable. I sure hope that doesn't happen again.
Okay, enough of this kind of babbling for today. Thanks for any sympathy I get. I know, I know, there are plenty of people way worse off than me and by next week I will be better but thanks for the sympathy anyway.
That's it for today.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Mother's Day
Today is Saturday, May 10, 2008. Oh my! I am posting two blogs on the same day. Wow!
Just a few musings about Mother's Day. Why do they always suggest breakfast in bed? I am so grateful my husband and children learned early on - that is one thing that would never please me. Who wants crumbs and greasy stuff in or on or around your bed? Certainly not me!
Now it is great to have the children fix dinner. Even when they were young their dad would help them get a meal and clean up afterwards. The cleaning up afterwards is always the thing I appreciate the most.
When it comes to gifts - hmm. They ask me what I want. I seldom can think of anything at the moment they ask me. I've tried keeping a list on the refrigerator so I can just jot something down when I think of it. I hardly wear jewelry any more. And I really don't need any more of that.
Flowers make me sneeze. When our youngest daughter worked for a florist here in Sacramento she would frequently bring me flowers. I had a wonderful spot right outside the kitchen window where I could put them to enjoy their beauty and not be affected by my allergies. Right now there are so many flowers blooming outside that I hope nobody spends their hard earned money on flowers.
I just want happy children, pleasant conversation, lots of hugs and kind. sweet thoughts. Oh I guess I could use a cheese slicer. The one we had broke. I got a new flat skillet for Christmas so I don't need that. And there is no space in the cupboard for any more dishes.
Just come see me, talk awhile, and give me a hug. That is enough Mother's Day gift for me. So there are my musings about Mother's Day. I'll put a roast in the crock pot in the morning and we will have a nice meal together. It is great being a Mother.
Just a few musings about Mother's Day. Why do they always suggest breakfast in bed? I am so grateful my husband and children learned early on - that is one thing that would never please me. Who wants crumbs and greasy stuff in or on or around your bed? Certainly not me!
Now it is great to have the children fix dinner. Even when they were young their dad would help them get a meal and clean up afterwards. The cleaning up afterwards is always the thing I appreciate the most.
When it comes to gifts - hmm. They ask me what I want. I seldom can think of anything at the moment they ask me. I've tried keeping a list on the refrigerator so I can just jot something down when I think of it. I hardly wear jewelry any more. And I really don't need any more of that.
Flowers make me sneeze. When our youngest daughter worked for a florist here in Sacramento she would frequently bring me flowers. I had a wonderful spot right outside the kitchen window where I could put them to enjoy their beauty and not be affected by my allergies. Right now there are so many flowers blooming outside that I hope nobody spends their hard earned money on flowers.
I just want happy children, pleasant conversation, lots of hugs and kind. sweet thoughts. Oh I guess I could use a cheese slicer. The one we had broke. I got a new flat skillet for Christmas so I don't need that. And there is no space in the cupboard for any more dishes.
Just come see me, talk awhile, and give me a hug. That is enough Mother's Day gift for me. So there are my musings about Mother's Day. I'll put a roast in the crock pot in the morning and we will have a nice meal together. It is great being a Mother.
Bed and Breakfast
Today is Saturday, May 10, 2008. The sun is shining. And the weather is getting warmer.
Last night I glanced at an article in a travel magazine about B & B. And I started to laugh. I've had two experiences with bed and breakfast places. One was in Manti, Utah, in an old, old brick house. And it was pretty much what I expected. Lots of antiques in the bed room and sitting room and in the breakfast room. Each room had its own bathroom with interesting "old fashioned" trappings. It was a fun experience. Especially so because we were the only people in the place and we got to look in every room.
The thing that made me laugh was our experience in Independence, Missouri. I grew up in Independence and when we planned a trip there for my 50th high school reunion, we decided to arrange to stay in a bed and breakfast.
I went to the internet to check out all the possibilities. There was one listed on Delaware Street. I remembered the big beautiful houses on Delaware Street. They were near to the Memorial Building where reunion was to be held and near to my old neighborhood. That seemed the perfect place. I made all the necessary arrangements through the internet and felt very happy and excited to see which of those old houses would be our place to stay for the days we would be in Independence.
We landed in Kansas City, rented a car and headed "home." I was so excited. We turned onto Delaware Street and started checking house numbers. Most of the homes there were big three story mansions and as we got closer to the number I could feel the sense of excitement rising. I was so hoping it would be the Jensen house. One of the daughters had been several classes above me and I had heard stories about the ballroom on the third floor and the playroom in the basement. But, we came to the Jensen house and it was not the right number. Then we came to the end of the street and none of those beautiful old homes was the address listed on the paper I had printed out at home.
We turned around and went back up the street. Was there a house somewhere behind another or in an alley somewhere? No. Then we found the street number. At the very south end of the street was an office building. I remembered when that building had been built by the Reorganized Church as an office building. I couldn't believe that was the address of our bed and breakfast. Sure enough, though, it was. I was more than a little disappointed. But what could I do? I had made all the arrangements.
We went up to the door, rang the buzzer and the door buzzer sounded and we were let in. The halls were nicely decorated with paintings and bouquets of flowers. There were beautiful tables and a few nice chairs in each hallway. Each former office had been remodeled into a nice bedroom with a private bath. It was certainly not what I had expected but it was nice.
The breakfast part was in the basement - a former cafeteria - streamlined and modern. Not quite like the beautiful old kitchen and dining room of my dreams but adequate and they served a decent breakfast.
It certainly wasn't what I had wished for but we accepted it and enjoyed our time there. But it sure makes me chuckle to think of my dreams about those big houses on Delaware Street. Next time I schedule a bed and breakfast I hope they have photos on line. If they don't I am going to make a phone call.
That's it for today.
Last night I glanced at an article in a travel magazine about B & B. And I started to laugh. I've had two experiences with bed and breakfast places. One was in Manti, Utah, in an old, old brick house. And it was pretty much what I expected. Lots of antiques in the bed room and sitting room and in the breakfast room. Each room had its own bathroom with interesting "old fashioned" trappings. It was a fun experience. Especially so because we were the only people in the place and we got to look in every room.
The thing that made me laugh was our experience in Independence, Missouri. I grew up in Independence and when we planned a trip there for my 50th high school reunion, we decided to arrange to stay in a bed and breakfast.
I went to the internet to check out all the possibilities. There was one listed on Delaware Street. I remembered the big beautiful houses on Delaware Street. They were near to the Memorial Building where reunion was to be held and near to my old neighborhood. That seemed the perfect place. I made all the necessary arrangements through the internet and felt very happy and excited to see which of those old houses would be our place to stay for the days we would be in Independence.
We landed in Kansas City, rented a car and headed "home." I was so excited. We turned onto Delaware Street and started checking house numbers. Most of the homes there were big three story mansions and as we got closer to the number I could feel the sense of excitement rising. I was so hoping it would be the Jensen house. One of the daughters had been several classes above me and I had heard stories about the ballroom on the third floor and the playroom in the basement. But, we came to the Jensen house and it was not the right number. Then we came to the end of the street and none of those beautiful old homes was the address listed on the paper I had printed out at home.
We turned around and went back up the street. Was there a house somewhere behind another or in an alley somewhere? No. Then we found the street number. At the very south end of the street was an office building. I remembered when that building had been built by the Reorganized Church as an office building. I couldn't believe that was the address of our bed and breakfast. Sure enough, though, it was. I was more than a little disappointed. But what could I do? I had made all the arrangements.
We went up to the door, rang the buzzer and the door buzzer sounded and we were let in. The halls were nicely decorated with paintings and bouquets of flowers. There were beautiful tables and a few nice chairs in each hallway. Each former office had been remodeled into a nice bedroom with a private bath. It was certainly not what I had expected but it was nice.
The breakfast part was in the basement - a former cafeteria - streamlined and modern. Not quite like the beautiful old kitchen and dining room of my dreams but adequate and they served a decent breakfast.
It certainly wasn't what I had wished for but we accepted it and enjoyed our time there. But it sure makes me chuckle to think of my dreams about those big houses on Delaware Street. Next time I schedule a bed and breakfast I hope they have photos on line. If they don't I am going to make a phone call.
That's it for today.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Stuff
Today is Monday, May 5, 2008. The sun is shining and our yard is filled with flowers in full bloom. Everything looks so pretty this morning.
And today is Patt's birthday. I don't know how come I always remember her birthday but I do. May 5. She is one of my friends from Independence, Missouri. Happy Birthday, Patt, wherever you are today.
Today I looked in our "pilot room." Every house should have a pilot room. You know, "pile it here, pile it there." Right now our house seems to have more than one. The most important one is the "middle bedroom."
I keep piling stuff on the bed. One of these days I will get everything put away but for now it is the collect all. We subscribe to several magazines and they have such wonderful pictures and articles that I cannot throw them away. I do have a special shelf in the bookcase in the "music room" where I keep them but that shelf is full right now.
We also have a lot of "important papers." We both have been going through our filing cabinets, cleaning out and sorting, to make room for the newer "important papers." I remember my mother sorting her "papers" and I used to think, "Mother, just throw them away. When will you ever use that article or that information again, " and here I am doing the same thing.
I did start an envelope system. I went to the office supply store and bought a box of manilla envelopes - 15 X 18 - large enough to hold certificates, programs, letters, etc. and tagged them by years. You know - 2000 to 2005. That has helped some. Of course, those envelopes don't fit into the filing cabinets - too big. And I have created a spot to store them.
I thought I was getting a little better at tossing out stuff. A friend told me her mother had a motto - "Every day throw something away." Recycling helps. It gives me a feeling of helping save the planet. And I have stopped buying Family Circle and Woman's Day every month. I have a hard time throwing them away - such lovely pictures and good articles and yummy sounding recipes. Now I only buy one if I am truly interested in the articles.
Oh, well, I will just keep trying. We are not yet to the point where we only have a small pathway through the house. I've seen that happen and heard about it in the newspapers. I will nust keep trying to de-clutter my house and de-clutter my brain. "Never give up." That will be my motto.
And today is Patt's birthday. I don't know how come I always remember her birthday but I do. May 5. She is one of my friends from Independence, Missouri. Happy Birthday, Patt, wherever you are today.
Today I looked in our "pilot room." Every house should have a pilot room. You know, "pile it here, pile it there." Right now our house seems to have more than one. The most important one is the "middle bedroom."
I keep piling stuff on the bed. One of these days I will get everything put away but for now it is the collect all. We subscribe to several magazines and they have such wonderful pictures and articles that I cannot throw them away. I do have a special shelf in the bookcase in the "music room" where I keep them but that shelf is full right now.
We also have a lot of "important papers." We both have been going through our filing cabinets, cleaning out and sorting, to make room for the newer "important papers." I remember my mother sorting her "papers" and I used to think, "Mother, just throw them away. When will you ever use that article or that information again, " and here I am doing the same thing.
I did start an envelope system. I went to the office supply store and bought a box of manilla envelopes - 15 X 18 - large enough to hold certificates, programs, letters, etc. and tagged them by years. You know - 2000 to 2005. That has helped some. Of course, those envelopes don't fit into the filing cabinets - too big. And I have created a spot to store them.
I thought I was getting a little better at tossing out stuff. A friend told me her mother had a motto - "Every day throw something away." Recycling helps. It gives me a feeling of helping save the planet. And I have stopped buying Family Circle and Woman's Day every month. I have a hard time throwing them away - such lovely pictures and good articles and yummy sounding recipes. Now I only buy one if I am truly interested in the articles.
Oh, well, I will just keep trying. We are not yet to the point where we only have a small pathway through the house. I've seen that happen and heard about it in the newspapers. I will nust keep trying to de-clutter my house and de-clutter my brain. "Never give up." That will be my motto.
Monday, April 14, 2008
School Memories
Today is Monday, April 14, 2008. This sun is shining but it is windy.
One evening we were sitting around in the family room talking about school memories. Everyone in our family liked going to school. We never once heard any one of our children say they didn't like school. Memories were about all different kinds of experiences. Glen started out by telling us one of his. I will put quote marks around each story even though they are not the exact words.
"We were having a little store - using actual items and paying real money. It was a part of our arithmetic. Each day we had to tally up. And we were always just a little short. I was so disappointed when I finally figured out that one of my best friends was taking a little money each day."
"Our school had two rooms. My dad taught the 5th to 8th grades in one room and my best friend's mother taught 1st to 4th grades in the other room. Her son and I went half year to the 4th grade and half to the 5th and then on to the sixth the next year."
"One time there were some marks on the wall at the school. Some kids blamed it on me. Dad asked me straight out 'Did you do it?' I said No and he trusted me."
One of the girls remembered how much she liked the playground area which was mostly grass at the back of the school. She and her friends liked standing on the heads up against the back fence.
"I remember when I got to help in the cafeteria and getting an ice cream cone as pay. Then we would sit behind Mr. Andrews' room eating our treat. Another special thing was when the teachers read out loud to us after lunch."
"My second grade teacher, Miss Jeppson, got married and she invited our whole class to her weddding reception. Then we had to remember to call her Mrs. Gustafsson."
"One time I took a fancy metal heart to school and we had a bomb threat. All of us had to leave the school and I was so upset that they wouldn't let me get that heart. And in Magna the whole school got to walk down to the movie theatre at Christmas time to watch a special movie and they gave us each a bag of candy."
Another daughter remembered - "In our class we had a big jar of M & M's the teacher gave us as rewards. One night the school got broken into and so as a safety measure the teacher decided that the candy had to be dumped. I remember looking at that heap of wasted candy."
Several of our children helped in the cafeteria. The school had a great cafeteria with wonderful ladies as cooks. And the cooks were so good to the student helpers. "I had to get an okay from my parents to work in the cafeteria so I got permission to walk home at lunch time to get Mom's note. My friend Angela and I got to work. My favorite thing was to make pig-in-a-blanket. I also remember that lady who wouldn't let me go by her house the first day I tried to walk to school by myself."
"Remember that day when I picked my scab and got blood all over me. I had this cute little furry white coat. There was blood all over me and my white coat. They told me to go home. And when I got home I had blood all over me. Mom laughed when she finally got all the blood washed off and found this tiny little spot it was all coming from. Nowadays, they would have never let me walk home by myself."
I have a lot of school memories of my own. How many recesses did we play prisoner's base in the jungle gym? One recess it was boys chase girls and the next recess girls chase boys. When you were tagged you had to go to prison. I can still see the jungle gym with all those outstretched arms hoping to be tagged and freed from prison. We'd run and chase the whole length of the playground. It's fun to hear that my grandchildren still play that same game even today.
MY school memories are a great source of pleasure. I have many pleasant memories. Enough to fill a book. That's all for today.
One evening we were sitting around in the family room talking about school memories. Everyone in our family liked going to school. We never once heard any one of our children say they didn't like school. Memories were about all different kinds of experiences. Glen started out by telling us one of his. I will put quote marks around each story even though they are not the exact words.
"We were having a little store - using actual items and paying real money. It was a part of our arithmetic. Each day we had to tally up. And we were always just a little short. I was so disappointed when I finally figured out that one of my best friends was taking a little money each day."
"Our school had two rooms. My dad taught the 5th to 8th grades in one room and my best friend's mother taught 1st to 4th grades in the other room. Her son and I went half year to the 4th grade and half to the 5th and then on to the sixth the next year."
"One time there were some marks on the wall at the school. Some kids blamed it on me. Dad asked me straight out 'Did you do it?' I said No and he trusted me."
One of the girls remembered how much she liked the playground area which was mostly grass at the back of the school. She and her friends liked standing on the heads up against the back fence.
"I remember when I got to help in the cafeteria and getting an ice cream cone as pay. Then we would sit behind Mr. Andrews' room eating our treat. Another special thing was when the teachers read out loud to us after lunch."
"My second grade teacher, Miss Jeppson, got married and she invited our whole class to her weddding reception. Then we had to remember to call her Mrs. Gustafsson."
"One time I took a fancy metal heart to school and we had a bomb threat. All of us had to leave the school and I was so upset that they wouldn't let me get that heart. And in Magna the whole school got to walk down to the movie theatre at Christmas time to watch a special movie and they gave us each a bag of candy."
Another daughter remembered - "In our class we had a big jar of M & M's the teacher gave us as rewards. One night the school got broken into and so as a safety measure the teacher decided that the candy had to be dumped. I remember looking at that heap of wasted candy."
Several of our children helped in the cafeteria. The school had a great cafeteria with wonderful ladies as cooks. And the cooks were so good to the student helpers. "I had to get an okay from my parents to work in the cafeteria so I got permission to walk home at lunch time to get Mom's note. My friend Angela and I got to work. My favorite thing was to make pig-in-a-blanket. I also remember that lady who wouldn't let me go by her house the first day I tried to walk to school by myself."
"Remember that day when I picked my scab and got blood all over me. I had this cute little furry white coat. There was blood all over me and my white coat. They told me to go home. And when I got home I had blood all over me. Mom laughed when she finally got all the blood washed off and found this tiny little spot it was all coming from. Nowadays, they would have never let me walk home by myself."
I have a lot of school memories of my own. How many recesses did we play prisoner's base in the jungle gym? One recess it was boys chase girls and the next recess girls chase boys. When you were tagged you had to go to prison. I can still see the jungle gym with all those outstretched arms hoping to be tagged and freed from prison. We'd run and chase the whole length of the playground. It's fun to hear that my grandchildren still play that same game even today.
MY school memories are a great source of pleasure. I have many pleasant memories. Enough to fill a book. That's all for today.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
New Dessert
Have you ever tried tres leches cake? Oh my, what a fun dessert! I am forever cutting recipes out of magazines and newspapers. And when the article is about one item with several variations I usually keep them all. Well, this week, I finally tried one from a newspaper article I've had about two years. Tres Leches Cake. There were three basic recipes. One called for 5 cups of heavy cream. I decided to use the variation that called for only 1 cup of heavy cream. The cake called for 4 eggs with the other usual cake ingredients. Most cakes I bake use just 2 eggs. After you bake the cake and let it cool for 10 minutes you poke holes about 1/2 inch apart and pour a milk mixture of heavy cream, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla over the cake. (It's better if you do that in about two pourings.) That cake absorbs all that mixture. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. Just before serving frost with whipped cream. Talk about ambrosia! It was a great treat.
It is best when it is just newly made. Invite a few friends over to finish it off at the first setting. Yum! Yum! I will share the exact recipe if you are interested.
It is best when it is just newly made. Invite a few friends over to finish it off at the first setting. Yum! Yum! I will share the exact recipe if you are interested.
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
Today is Wednesday, April 9, 2008. It is too early to know what the sun will do today. It is still dark outside.
When I first started this "project" I planned to write something every day. And that hasn't happened. Things get in the way. Over the last few weeks two things have been a distraction. Well, more than two, really, but two that stand out in my mind. Two that I want to write something about.
The first thing was a visit to my favorite doctor, my chiropractor. My knees were hurting so bad I finally decided to go for an adjustment. He's always been able to ease the pain. "Well," he said to me, "I hate to say this but I think if I were your orthopedic doctor I would say it is time for the knee replacement."
Boy, I did not want to hear that. On his advice I made an appointment with the orthopedic specialist. About three years ago when I last visited him, he said it would probably be about three years before we would talk about a knee replacement. He suggested I get an exercise bike. Which I did and have been using it until just a few days before I went to the chiropractor. That day it hurt too bad to bring my knee up. Oh dear! Right now all I want to do is complain and moan and seek sympathy.
I know life can't be like that. Basically, I think I am a very optomistic person. And I will take my knicks, pull myself up by my bootstraps and get on with life. There are many people way worse off than me.
Back to the appointment process. Naturally the Doctor didn't have any openings for awhile so now I am playing the waiting game on what his advice will be. In the meantime I try to keep going, doing what has to be done and not much else. That was distraction number one.
The second distraction was that our computer crashed. Oh my! Glen and I both found out how much time we spend on the computer. We've had a laptop since 1998 before we went to Pakistan. In computer age that is pretty old. He uses it to write his journal and for some other things. Our main computer is in the family room and we each spend a lot of time on it.
Glen manages our photos on it. He does the monthly newletter for Church on it plus financial records, plus, plus, plus. I mainly use the computer on-line - for many things. I used to use it a lot for writing letters but I don't do much of that anymore. My main time is doing volunteer work with a genealogy program called family indexing. It has become such a hobby of mine. I love to look at the handwriting of people taking census in 1850 and other years. And to read the Irish names on the Irish death indexes. Some of the handwriting is so beautiful and legible. Some of it is very hard to read but it is like being a detective. (Scan the page until I get a sense of how this person wrote and to see if I can recognize names.)
Anyway with the computer out of commission, our pattern of life was changed. And we turned to other activities to fill our time. Fortunately, we were able to a "drive-by" computer repair. The most fortunate thing was that they could come by the day we called. Yeah! That made it a shorter time to be without a computer!
Two techicans came. One took the side off the computer. "Oh, this is dirty," he said. I never thought about taking the side off and cleaning it. Did I miss something in the instructions? Now I know that I am supposed to go to Radio Shack and get some can of air or something and clean it out about every 5 to 7 months. Oh, shoot! I hate to dust. Oh, well! They told us it would be about two weeks. The mother board needed to be replaced.
I forgot to mention that we have been discussing getting a new laptop to replace our "ancient" one. We've looked several times and have been watching ads for months. Two days before our main computer crashed we made the big decision and bought a new laptop with a wireless connection to the internet.
When the main computer crashed, Glen got onto the new laptop to check out solutions and answers. He found out that one problem might be the mother board. And that was it. So, we would be sort of out of commission for two weeks.
We wandered around here with time on our hands with only one computer. We each read a few books, watched a little more TV, and did a little more housework and yardwork. And were so happy when after 5 days the computer repair guy called to say it was ready. Now we are back to our usual routine. Thank goodness! That's it for today.
When I first started this "project" I planned to write something every day. And that hasn't happened. Things get in the way. Over the last few weeks two things have been a distraction. Well, more than two, really, but two that stand out in my mind. Two that I want to write something about.
The first thing was a visit to my favorite doctor, my chiropractor. My knees were hurting so bad I finally decided to go for an adjustment. He's always been able to ease the pain. "Well," he said to me, "I hate to say this but I think if I were your orthopedic doctor I would say it is time for the knee replacement."
Boy, I did not want to hear that. On his advice I made an appointment with the orthopedic specialist. About three years ago when I last visited him, he said it would probably be about three years before we would talk about a knee replacement. He suggested I get an exercise bike. Which I did and have been using it until just a few days before I went to the chiropractor. That day it hurt too bad to bring my knee up. Oh dear! Right now all I want to do is complain and moan and seek sympathy.
I know life can't be like that. Basically, I think I am a very optomistic person. And I will take my knicks, pull myself up by my bootstraps and get on with life. There are many people way worse off than me.
Back to the appointment process. Naturally the Doctor didn't have any openings for awhile so now I am playing the waiting game on what his advice will be. In the meantime I try to keep going, doing what has to be done and not much else. That was distraction number one.
The second distraction was that our computer crashed. Oh my! Glen and I both found out how much time we spend on the computer. We've had a laptop since 1998 before we went to Pakistan. In computer age that is pretty old. He uses it to write his journal and for some other things. Our main computer is in the family room and we each spend a lot of time on it.
Glen manages our photos on it. He does the monthly newletter for Church on it plus financial records, plus, plus, plus. I mainly use the computer on-line - for many things. I used to use it a lot for writing letters but I don't do much of that anymore. My main time is doing volunteer work with a genealogy program called family indexing. It has become such a hobby of mine. I love to look at the handwriting of people taking census in 1850 and other years. And to read the Irish names on the Irish death indexes. Some of the handwriting is so beautiful and legible. Some of it is very hard to read but it is like being a detective. (Scan the page until I get a sense of how this person wrote and to see if I can recognize names.)
Anyway with the computer out of commission, our pattern of life was changed. And we turned to other activities to fill our time. Fortunately, we were able to a "drive-by" computer repair. The most fortunate thing was that they could come by the day we called. Yeah! That made it a shorter time to be without a computer!
Two techicans came. One took the side off the computer. "Oh, this is dirty," he said. I never thought about taking the side off and cleaning it. Did I miss something in the instructions? Now I know that I am supposed to go to Radio Shack and get some can of air or something and clean it out about every 5 to 7 months. Oh, shoot! I hate to dust. Oh, well! They told us it would be about two weeks. The mother board needed to be replaced.
I forgot to mention that we have been discussing getting a new laptop to replace our "ancient" one. We've looked several times and have been watching ads for months. Two days before our main computer crashed we made the big decision and bought a new laptop with a wireless connection to the internet.
When the main computer crashed, Glen got onto the new laptop to check out solutions and answers. He found out that one problem might be the mother board. And that was it. So, we would be sort of out of commission for two weeks.
We wandered around here with time on our hands with only one computer. We each read a few books, watched a little more TV, and did a little more housework and yardwork. And were so happy when after 5 days the computer repair guy called to say it was ready. Now we are back to our usual routine. Thank goodness! That's it for today.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Houses I Have Loved 3
Today is Monday, March 31, 2008. It is the very last day of March. The sun is just barely showing through the trees.
And here I go talking about another house. Before we moved to California we lived in Magna, Utah, near the Great Salt Lake. This was a house on the corner with two lots. There was a full basement - such a wonderful place. Finding each house we have lived in has been an adventure and this was no exception. Glen had been assigned a teaching position there and we started our foray into searching for a house. Our plan was always to get a newspaper and start checking out the ads. We weren't into getting a real estate agent at this point in our lives. We had 4 young children and renting seemed to be out of the question in this area. We wanted to be close enough to Glen's work that he could walk and close to the school for the children.
We drove onto one street and Glen pulled into the first driveway and turned around. "I couldn't live on this street," he said. "Every house looks exactly alike and I wouldn't like that." It was true, every house did look alike and each had a small tree planted in the same spot in the front yard.
We located his work place, and the elementary school, and the Church - our three important landmarks and drove up and down each street. On the corner across from the Church there was a empty house. No kind of a sign anywhere we could see. The windows were boarded up and the weeds were waist high.
We parked, climbed out of the car to look around in the yard and to try to peek into windows at the back which were not boarded up. It all looked so interesting. The yard was two lots with a small shed to the back - probably the original garage for the old house. The house was right at the corner with a small hedge on the two street sides. There was a 6 foot hedge down the front on the other side of the driveway to the next lot. There were several fruit trees in the yard and lots of space where a big garden had been. Magna had irrigation water and the water ditch ran through the back.
Lo and behold! In one of the back windows was a sheet of tablet paper with a name and a phone number on it. The paper didn't say for sale - just the name and number. We went to the nearest pay phone (this was in the days before cell phones) and tried the number. The man who answered told us that he worked at the Bank in town and really wasn't ready to sell the house yet. He said he would meet with us however and tell us what he hoped to do before the house was put up for sale.
Needless to say, we talked him into selling the house just as it was and we began the move-in process. Glen still had some summer schooling to complete in Provo where we lived but we were ready to move the family in and he could commute for his last classes. The boarded up windows in the front room had been broken by school children passing by, throwing rocks. Once that happened the owner had boarded up a big window on the front and some of the back windows nearest the street.
Our first project was to take the boards off the existing windows and arrange for new windows to be put in to replace the broken ones. We packed up our belongings in Provo and planned to use the weekend to get all set up in the new house. The weekend was sunny and beautiful and we were all eager. Saturday we accomplished a lot of work, got the boxes moved in. The electricity was still on but the gas had been turned off. We could make the arrangements on Monday. It was just like camping out for a few days and we were all excited. The children, of course, loved it and "Mom" was fine about it. She could play like a pampered pioneer for a few days. (I've always loved an adventure.)
Sunday went well because of previous planning and then Sunday evening it got really cold. The fireplace they had used for cooking would now be necessary to keep at least the front room warm until they could get the gas turned on. Barbara would take care of that on Monday because Glen had to drive back to Provo for school. The plan of action worked. The gas was turned on and they were all cozy in their new house.
The full basment was two big open rooms with a smaller storage room for food and other stuff. The furnace and the water heater sat right in the middle of the big space and acted as the divider. Since the windows were above the ground the basement was very light. It was the favorite place in the house those first few days. (And, come to think of it, all the rest of the time we lived there.)
The kitchen was the biggest room in the house with plenty of room for the dining table under the window. There was a small bedroom at the back and a large bedroom with a big window at the front. The bathroom was between the two bedrooms with a small hall. There were several decisions to be made. Who would occupy what bedrooms? Of course, Mom and Dad would have the large room. None of the children at that stage wanted to have a bedroom by themselves so all four had the other bedroom. Over time, Mom and Dad partitioned off a bedroom for themselves in the basement and the children had the upstairs bedrooms. While we lived there we had two more children - a boy and a girl. The two boys had the back bedroom and the four girls had the front bedroom.
We also built a bathroom in the basement. Oh, boy! That was a project, breaking up the concrete of the basement floor to put in the drain and the toilet! That's a story for another time. But once we got it all in, it was a great basement. We had a large play area with the TV, a nice storage room, a lovely large bedroom and a new bathroom. The washing machine and dryer were downstairs, too, with the ironing board. (That is back in the days when I was still ironing white shirts that Glen wore for teaching every day. I often watched TV while I ironed.)
The kitchen had nice windows and was a pleasant place to work. I remember that I used to section off the floor and have the children help me mop it. I'd mark the sections with white shoe polish and we would all go to work. They thought it was great sport slopping the water around. Sometimes it would have been easier to do it all myself but I wanted them to learn to work. (It all paid off in the long run.)
The front room was really like a parlor because the TV was down in the family room. We had our couch (that has it's own story), our overstuffed chair, and our piano (another story). The fireplace took up one wall and we had bookshelves and tables to take up the rest of the space. Because of the basement room for playing and crafts the front room always looked nice. I started giving piano lessons once we got all settled in and I needed the front room to set the right tone.
The shed was a great place to store all the needed yard equipment - the lawn mower, rakes, shovels, hoes, wheel barrow and such stuff. And the children loved to climb up onto its roof. We planted a big garden with a border of mums and other flowers. The apricot trees produced abundantly and our cherry tree was a great delight. It was those little sour cherries that make such good cherry pie. We planted pumpkin and squash vines along the irrigation ditch and one year a vine grew up into a neighboring tree and we had a huge squash hanging in the tree until we finally decided it was big enough to pick and use.
This house in Magna had a nice front porch along with all its other good features. What more could I ak? A big basement, a front porch, a fireplace and a wonderful kitchen.
We lived there for five years and enjoyed all the things that our wonderful house had to offer. And we loved the big yard and the great garden area.
That's it for today.
And here I go talking about another house. Before we moved to California we lived in Magna, Utah, near the Great Salt Lake. This was a house on the corner with two lots. There was a full basement - such a wonderful place. Finding each house we have lived in has been an adventure and this was no exception. Glen had been assigned a teaching position there and we started our foray into searching for a house. Our plan was always to get a newspaper and start checking out the ads. We weren't into getting a real estate agent at this point in our lives. We had 4 young children and renting seemed to be out of the question in this area. We wanted to be close enough to Glen's work that he could walk and close to the school for the children.
We drove onto one street and Glen pulled into the first driveway and turned around. "I couldn't live on this street," he said. "Every house looks exactly alike and I wouldn't like that." It was true, every house did look alike and each had a small tree planted in the same spot in the front yard.
We located his work place, and the elementary school, and the Church - our three important landmarks and drove up and down each street. On the corner across from the Church there was a empty house. No kind of a sign anywhere we could see. The windows were boarded up and the weeds were waist high.
We parked, climbed out of the car to look around in the yard and to try to peek into windows at the back which were not boarded up. It all looked so interesting. The yard was two lots with a small shed to the back - probably the original garage for the old house. The house was right at the corner with a small hedge on the two street sides. There was a 6 foot hedge down the front on the other side of the driveway to the next lot. There were several fruit trees in the yard and lots of space where a big garden had been. Magna had irrigation water and the water ditch ran through the back.
Lo and behold! In one of the back windows was a sheet of tablet paper with a name and a phone number on it. The paper didn't say for sale - just the name and number. We went to the nearest pay phone (this was in the days before cell phones) and tried the number. The man who answered told us that he worked at the Bank in town and really wasn't ready to sell the house yet. He said he would meet with us however and tell us what he hoped to do before the house was put up for sale.
Needless to say, we talked him into selling the house just as it was and we began the move-in process. Glen still had some summer schooling to complete in Provo where we lived but we were ready to move the family in and he could commute for his last classes. The boarded up windows in the front room had been broken by school children passing by, throwing rocks. Once that happened the owner had boarded up a big window on the front and some of the back windows nearest the street.
Our first project was to take the boards off the existing windows and arrange for new windows to be put in to replace the broken ones. We packed up our belongings in Provo and planned to use the weekend to get all set up in the new house. The weekend was sunny and beautiful and we were all eager. Saturday we accomplished a lot of work, got the boxes moved in. The electricity was still on but the gas had been turned off. We could make the arrangements on Monday. It was just like camping out for a few days and we were all excited. The children, of course, loved it and "Mom" was fine about it. She could play like a pampered pioneer for a few days. (I've always loved an adventure.)
Sunday went well because of previous planning and then Sunday evening it got really cold. The fireplace they had used for cooking would now be necessary to keep at least the front room warm until they could get the gas turned on. Barbara would take care of that on Monday because Glen had to drive back to Provo for school. The plan of action worked. The gas was turned on and they were all cozy in their new house.
The full basment was two big open rooms with a smaller storage room for food and other stuff. The furnace and the water heater sat right in the middle of the big space and acted as the divider. Since the windows were above the ground the basement was very light. It was the favorite place in the house those first few days. (And, come to think of it, all the rest of the time we lived there.)
The kitchen was the biggest room in the house with plenty of room for the dining table under the window. There was a small bedroom at the back and a large bedroom with a big window at the front. The bathroom was between the two bedrooms with a small hall. There were several decisions to be made. Who would occupy what bedrooms? Of course, Mom and Dad would have the large room. None of the children at that stage wanted to have a bedroom by themselves so all four had the other bedroom. Over time, Mom and Dad partitioned off a bedroom for themselves in the basement and the children had the upstairs bedrooms. While we lived there we had two more children - a boy and a girl. The two boys had the back bedroom and the four girls had the front bedroom.
We also built a bathroom in the basement. Oh, boy! That was a project, breaking up the concrete of the basement floor to put in the drain and the toilet! That's a story for another time. But once we got it all in, it was a great basement. We had a large play area with the TV, a nice storage room, a lovely large bedroom and a new bathroom. The washing machine and dryer were downstairs, too, with the ironing board. (That is back in the days when I was still ironing white shirts that Glen wore for teaching every day. I often watched TV while I ironed.)
The kitchen had nice windows and was a pleasant place to work. I remember that I used to section off the floor and have the children help me mop it. I'd mark the sections with white shoe polish and we would all go to work. They thought it was great sport slopping the water around. Sometimes it would have been easier to do it all myself but I wanted them to learn to work. (It all paid off in the long run.)
The front room was really like a parlor because the TV was down in the family room. We had our couch (that has it's own story), our overstuffed chair, and our piano (another story). The fireplace took up one wall and we had bookshelves and tables to take up the rest of the space. Because of the basement room for playing and crafts the front room always looked nice. I started giving piano lessons once we got all settled in and I needed the front room to set the right tone.
The shed was a great place to store all the needed yard equipment - the lawn mower, rakes, shovels, hoes, wheel barrow and such stuff. And the children loved to climb up onto its roof. We planted a big garden with a border of mums and other flowers. The apricot trees produced abundantly and our cherry tree was a great delight. It was those little sour cherries that make such good cherry pie. We planted pumpkin and squash vines along the irrigation ditch and one year a vine grew up into a neighboring tree and we had a huge squash hanging in the tree until we finally decided it was big enough to pick and use.
This house in Magna had a nice front porch along with all its other good features. What more could I ak? A big basement, a front porch, a fireplace and a wonderful kitchen.
We lived there for five years and enjoyed all the things that our wonderful house had to offer. And we loved the big yard and the great garden area.
That's it for today.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Houses I Have Loved 2a
Today is Friday, March 26, 2008. The sun is shining but it is quite cool. I know 2a seems a little strange in the title but I realized that I had left out some important information about the house in Bakersfield. (and oh, yes, I am using a new Toshisba Lap Top we got this week. And I have to type slower since the keyboard feels so different. Our other computer crashed yesterday - more's the pity.)
Back to Bakersfield - Our yard, besides all of the fun places for the children to play, had wonderful fruit and nut trees. When we bought the place there were two pecan trees - one a papershell pecan, an apricot tree, a fig tree and two small orange trees. Our first year there, the apricots were abundant. We ate all we wanted and canned at least 30 quarts from that one tree. We always had a good crop of apricots. The pecans, how I loved having pecans of my own. This was my first exposure to the paper shell kind. Nuts you could crack in your hands, with big pecan halves, just to eat right then or to use in baking. What a treat that was for this Missouri gal who only knew about the pecans that you dug out of their little round shells!
Figs were not something we really savored until a friend gave me a recipe for honey dried figs. Oh boy! Those we all took to. And we had a big fruit dryer that Glen's dad and mother had created for us from a big old turkey incubator they bought somewhere over in Utah. Dried apricots and honey dried figs from our own trees! What a sweet treat!
We decided to plant some more fruit trees. We added a lemon tree. One of my friends said that was like having a pharmacy in your own yard. After juicing the lemons, the rind is great rubbed on sores or cuts - great healing powers. And lemon juice in a rinse for your hair works wonders. Everyone knows that lemon rubbed on the face is a great facial. And it is supposed to lighten liver spots as well.
We loved the fresh lemonade and the juice for all kinds of cooking. Lemons can be used anytime. When they are just new, the juice is very tart and then as the lemons ripen the juice gets sweeter. The tree produced abundantly. We would pick a sack full, juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays to have available whenever we needed them. I woud also freeze the rinds to use however I wanted. It was a great way to freshen up the garbage disposal - drop a half lemon in and grind with the hot water tap running. Such a fresh lemon scent!
We planted a cherry tree. It produced abundantly but the birds got more than we did. Next was an apple tree. Oh, those Gravenstein apples made the best applesauce and apple pie you ever could want. Our little pink grapefruit tree never did produce many grapefruit but it was fun to have it nevertheless. We also planted a mandarin orange. That was a great addition to our little orchard. The tree we wanted to produce the most was our avocado tree. Oh, it was big and beautiful and each year we would hope for a big avocado crop. But it never did produce for us. It made a good shade tree, though. There's nothing so wonderful as stepping into your yard and getting a handful of fresh fruit or some nuts. That's the best of life.
Life changes and you have to move on but you can always savor the memories. That's all for today.
Back to Bakersfield - Our yard, besides all of the fun places for the children to play, had wonderful fruit and nut trees. When we bought the place there were two pecan trees - one a papershell pecan, an apricot tree, a fig tree and two small orange trees. Our first year there, the apricots were abundant. We ate all we wanted and canned at least 30 quarts from that one tree. We always had a good crop of apricots. The pecans, how I loved having pecans of my own. This was my first exposure to the paper shell kind. Nuts you could crack in your hands, with big pecan halves, just to eat right then or to use in baking. What a treat that was for this Missouri gal who only knew about the pecans that you dug out of their little round shells!
Figs were not something we really savored until a friend gave me a recipe for honey dried figs. Oh boy! Those we all took to. And we had a big fruit dryer that Glen's dad and mother had created for us from a big old turkey incubator they bought somewhere over in Utah. Dried apricots and honey dried figs from our own trees! What a sweet treat!
We decided to plant some more fruit trees. We added a lemon tree. One of my friends said that was like having a pharmacy in your own yard. After juicing the lemons, the rind is great rubbed on sores or cuts - great healing powers. And lemon juice in a rinse for your hair works wonders. Everyone knows that lemon rubbed on the face is a great facial. And it is supposed to lighten liver spots as well.
We loved the fresh lemonade and the juice for all kinds of cooking. Lemons can be used anytime. When they are just new, the juice is very tart and then as the lemons ripen the juice gets sweeter. The tree produced abundantly. We would pick a sack full, juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays to have available whenever we needed them. I woud also freeze the rinds to use however I wanted. It was a great way to freshen up the garbage disposal - drop a half lemon in and grind with the hot water tap running. Such a fresh lemon scent!
We planted a cherry tree. It produced abundantly but the birds got more than we did. Next was an apple tree. Oh, those Gravenstein apples made the best applesauce and apple pie you ever could want. Our little pink grapefruit tree never did produce many grapefruit but it was fun to have it nevertheless. We also planted a mandarin orange. That was a great addition to our little orchard. The tree we wanted to produce the most was our avocado tree. Oh, it was big and beautiful and each year we would hope for a big avocado crop. But it never did produce for us. It made a good shade tree, though. There's nothing so wonderful as stepping into your yard and getting a handful of fresh fruit or some nuts. That's the best of life.
Life changes and you have to move on but you can always savor the memories. That's all for today.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Houses I Have Loved 2
Today is Saturday, March 22, 2008. The sun is shining and the sky is blue.
Before we moved to this house we lived in Bakersfield. And what a place that was to love! We moved there in 1970 because of a job transfer for Glen. We were living in Magna, Utah, when we received word of the transfer. Lo and behold, a close friend in Magna had an aunt and uncle who lived in Bakersfield. She told her aunt and uncle about our change and one day we got an interesting phone call. Just around the corner from Aunt Fern and Uncle Art there was a place for sale.
Glen couldn't get away from school to go look at it right at the time. He decided that I should go. We had three children not yet in school and my mother lived next to us in her beautiful house trailer. She would go with me and we would drive to Bakersfield to check out the place. Then Glen decided that he would like to have his Dad see the place, too. And Dad and Mother Wahlquist agreed to make the trip with me as the driver. Mother, the children and I left Magna in the morning. Stopped in Toquerville to pick up Dad and Mother Wahlquist, spent the night at their place and headed out to California the next morning.
It was a fun trip. All were happy travelers. We even had an additional passenger named Maggie - a moth that had gotten into the car at some point and the children decided to name her. Maggie stayed with us clear to California.
We were to stay with Fern and Art while we checked out the place that was for sale. I had been a bit disappointed that Glen felt his parents should be with us. After all, I thought I could make a wise decision concerning a place to live. But, oh my, how my opinion changed when we went to check out the property at 3737 Eucalyptus Drive! I was so glad that Dad was along to get the man's point of view.
The place was an acre lot. There were two houses, an 8 car garage that opened onto the alley, a big garage with an office beside it, and a 10' X 12' shed. The place was owned by Mrs. Turner. Mr. Turner, who had been in the tile business for years in Bakersfield, had died and Mrs. Turner wanted to be free of the place. To me it seemed like a fabulous estate. I knew I had to be sensible about it. Would it work for us? We trooped through the two houses and explored the sheds and walked all around.
We asked all the important questions. How about the utilities? How about the taxes? Had it had a termite inspection? Etc. There were lights all over the yard for security reasons. The whole property was surrounded by a chain link fence. Dad and Art talked about all the pros and cons from a practical standpoint.
The evening of the first day I called home to report what we had found. I was excited and tried to describe everything in detail. As I described it as best as I could, Glen asked me one question, "How will it look if my boss were to drive by?" I started laughing. "He wouldn't be able to see much?" was my reply. The front and the side fences had pomgranate and euyonmous bushes at least 6 feet high so the houses were barely visible from the road.
We spent several days with Fern and Art and went over to the property many times each day. I couldn't remember exactly how the bedrooms were or how the kitchen was in comparison to the other rooms. It was just so much to take in.
We were excited about the two houses. Mother could live in one. She would sell her trailer house and we would sell our house in Magna. She really had no reason to stay in Magna if we were in California.
Finally all the necessary paper work was done and we headed home with a place to move to in the summer while school was out. Glen had to go to summer school in Provo for part of June and July. We moved Mother to Bakersfield in early June. Two of our older children would stay with her while the rest of us lived in college housing until July. I don't know all of Glen's thoughts when he first saw the place but he soon fell in love with it as I had. And the children - well, it was quite a child's paradise.
The house seemed big to me. And there were big windows on two sides of the front room. That was an addition to the original small house. The addition went all across the back and around the side of what had been a one bedroom house - kitchen, front room/dining room combo/ bedroom and bath. The new part was a step down from the old house. It included the new front room plus a huge bedroom and a screened in porch. Originally the front door had been at the north. With the add on, the front door was now in the south.
There were beautiful mosaic tile walkways everywhere - from the main house to the smaller house, out to the garage and to the front gate, out to the sheds and all around the house. Neigbors told us that if Mr. Turner didn't have a tile job somewhere, he put his crew to work at his house making the walkways so they would not go to work for someone else. The sheds still had tiles of all sorts and shapes and marble - just scraps - not enough of any one kind to do a job. But it was all very interesting and the children found many ways to play with the various pieces of tile.
The kitchen was right in the center of the house. There was a window opening over the sink which looked into the front room. (It had been the original window-over-sink looking outside, but kept in the design of the added on part.) We decided right off that we wanted a window from the kitchen into the dining area. First thing, Dad and Glen had the saws out to create that opening. Glen built a wonderful round table to fit the spot under the new opening and the kitchen was not so isolated. The kitchen and dining room were of knotty pine. I had a double oven installed and the cook top was a Corning Ware one. The dishwasher was a portable one. Glen redid the lower cabinets to make bins for flour and the 100 lb. bag of powdered milk we always kept on hand. There was a fireplace in the east wall of the dining room along with bookshelves from floor to ceiling on one side of the fireplace.
The front room had a nice cupboard right next to the window opening and beside that was another bookcase. The bedrooms - let's see, can I even remember how they first were? The old bedroom was big, had a walk-in closet with a window. The "new bedroom" was L shaped and separated from the front room by French doors.
We made more changes in the house over the years. We added a second bathroom, removed the French doors and created a wall for what became the master bedroom and partitioned off part of that room to make a small third bedroom. The boys had the small bedroom, the girls had the original bedroom and we had our big bedroom with big windows on two sides. It was a great place.
The yards and sheds were great for everything. Glen had his wood shop. We fixed a cold storage room for all of our canning and food storage. The children used the old office as a craft room. What used to be the marble shed we used for storage of all sorts.
There were two big carports for the cars - we now had two - and for our trailer for hauling all kinds of stuff.
In the center of the side yard there was one big tree with a circle of bushes around it where the children spent hours at play, hidden away from everyone. And there were all kinds of places to have games and hide aways.
Mother's house was not small. The washing machine and dryer hook-ups were over at her place. She had a lovely front room with lots of windows, a small kitchen, a small dining room, a nice sized bedroom, and a smaller bedroom plus a large screened in porch and a nice bathroom. It was great.
Well, needless to say, it was very hard to move from that place after 22 years. But when we were asked to go to a new place, we felt that we should do it. We have never regretted any move we have made. Even though it is hard to leave a place you have learned to love. There is so much to tell about that place. I'm sure you can't see it as we did but it will always have a strong place in our hearts. Before we moved we all took lots of pictures of every area about the place. Sometimes I nearly cry when I look at them. I've added it to Houses I've Loved.
Before we moved to this house we lived in Bakersfield. And what a place that was to love! We moved there in 1970 because of a job transfer for Glen. We were living in Magna, Utah, when we received word of the transfer. Lo and behold, a close friend in Magna had an aunt and uncle who lived in Bakersfield. She told her aunt and uncle about our change and one day we got an interesting phone call. Just around the corner from Aunt Fern and Uncle Art there was a place for sale.
Glen couldn't get away from school to go look at it right at the time. He decided that I should go. We had three children not yet in school and my mother lived next to us in her beautiful house trailer. She would go with me and we would drive to Bakersfield to check out the place. Then Glen decided that he would like to have his Dad see the place, too. And Dad and Mother Wahlquist agreed to make the trip with me as the driver. Mother, the children and I left Magna in the morning. Stopped in Toquerville to pick up Dad and Mother Wahlquist, spent the night at their place and headed out to California the next morning.
It was a fun trip. All were happy travelers. We even had an additional passenger named Maggie - a moth that had gotten into the car at some point and the children decided to name her. Maggie stayed with us clear to California.
We were to stay with Fern and Art while we checked out the place that was for sale. I had been a bit disappointed that Glen felt his parents should be with us. After all, I thought I could make a wise decision concerning a place to live. But, oh my, how my opinion changed when we went to check out the property at 3737 Eucalyptus Drive! I was so glad that Dad was along to get the man's point of view.
The place was an acre lot. There were two houses, an 8 car garage that opened onto the alley, a big garage with an office beside it, and a 10' X 12' shed. The place was owned by Mrs. Turner. Mr. Turner, who had been in the tile business for years in Bakersfield, had died and Mrs. Turner wanted to be free of the place. To me it seemed like a fabulous estate. I knew I had to be sensible about it. Would it work for us? We trooped through the two houses and explored the sheds and walked all around.
We asked all the important questions. How about the utilities? How about the taxes? Had it had a termite inspection? Etc. There were lights all over the yard for security reasons. The whole property was surrounded by a chain link fence. Dad and Art talked about all the pros and cons from a practical standpoint.
The evening of the first day I called home to report what we had found. I was excited and tried to describe everything in detail. As I described it as best as I could, Glen asked me one question, "How will it look if my boss were to drive by?" I started laughing. "He wouldn't be able to see much?" was my reply. The front and the side fences had pomgranate and euyonmous bushes at least 6 feet high so the houses were barely visible from the road.
We spent several days with Fern and Art and went over to the property many times each day. I couldn't remember exactly how the bedrooms were or how the kitchen was in comparison to the other rooms. It was just so much to take in.
We were excited about the two houses. Mother could live in one. She would sell her trailer house and we would sell our house in Magna. She really had no reason to stay in Magna if we were in California.
Finally all the necessary paper work was done and we headed home with a place to move to in the summer while school was out. Glen had to go to summer school in Provo for part of June and July. We moved Mother to Bakersfield in early June. Two of our older children would stay with her while the rest of us lived in college housing until July. I don't know all of Glen's thoughts when he first saw the place but he soon fell in love with it as I had. And the children - well, it was quite a child's paradise.
The house seemed big to me. And there were big windows on two sides of the front room. That was an addition to the original small house. The addition went all across the back and around the side of what had been a one bedroom house - kitchen, front room/dining room combo/ bedroom and bath. The new part was a step down from the old house. It included the new front room plus a huge bedroom and a screened in porch. Originally the front door had been at the north. With the add on, the front door was now in the south.
There were beautiful mosaic tile walkways everywhere - from the main house to the smaller house, out to the garage and to the front gate, out to the sheds and all around the house. Neigbors told us that if Mr. Turner didn't have a tile job somewhere, he put his crew to work at his house making the walkways so they would not go to work for someone else. The sheds still had tiles of all sorts and shapes and marble - just scraps - not enough of any one kind to do a job. But it was all very interesting and the children found many ways to play with the various pieces of tile.
The kitchen was right in the center of the house. There was a window opening over the sink which looked into the front room. (It had been the original window-over-sink looking outside, but kept in the design of the added on part.) We decided right off that we wanted a window from the kitchen into the dining area. First thing, Dad and Glen had the saws out to create that opening. Glen built a wonderful round table to fit the spot under the new opening and the kitchen was not so isolated. The kitchen and dining room were of knotty pine. I had a double oven installed and the cook top was a Corning Ware one. The dishwasher was a portable one. Glen redid the lower cabinets to make bins for flour and the 100 lb. bag of powdered milk we always kept on hand. There was a fireplace in the east wall of the dining room along with bookshelves from floor to ceiling on one side of the fireplace.
The front room had a nice cupboard right next to the window opening and beside that was another bookcase. The bedrooms - let's see, can I even remember how they first were? The old bedroom was big, had a walk-in closet with a window. The "new bedroom" was L shaped and separated from the front room by French doors.
We made more changes in the house over the years. We added a second bathroom, removed the French doors and created a wall for what became the master bedroom and partitioned off part of that room to make a small third bedroom. The boys had the small bedroom, the girls had the original bedroom and we had our big bedroom with big windows on two sides. It was a great place.
The yards and sheds were great for everything. Glen had his wood shop. We fixed a cold storage room for all of our canning and food storage. The children used the old office as a craft room. What used to be the marble shed we used for storage of all sorts.
There were two big carports for the cars - we now had two - and for our trailer for hauling all kinds of stuff.
In the center of the side yard there was one big tree with a circle of bushes around it where the children spent hours at play, hidden away from everyone. And there were all kinds of places to have games and hide aways.
Mother's house was not small. The washing machine and dryer hook-ups were over at her place. She had a lovely front room with lots of windows, a small kitchen, a small dining room, a nice sized bedroom, and a smaller bedroom plus a large screened in porch and a nice bathroom. It was great.
Well, needless to say, it was very hard to move from that place after 22 years. But when we were asked to go to a new place, we felt that we should do it. We have never regretted any move we have made. Even though it is hard to leave a place you have learned to love. There is so much to tell about that place. I'm sure you can't see it as we did but it will always have a strong place in our hearts. Before we moved we all took lots of pictures of every area about the place. Sometimes I nearly cry when I look at them. I've added it to Houses I've Loved.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Houses I Have Loved
Today is Wednesday, March 19, 2008. It is sunny and warm again today.
Oh, dear! This is my second typing for today. Somehow I pushed a wrong button and zapped out all my "wonderful" writing about this house I love. I am going to start again. Maybe it will be better but maybe it won't. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's what my "mama" always said. Okay, here goes for the second time.
As we drove up to our house today I was reminded again how much I love this place of ours. It is a big two story white house with dark grey, almost black shutters. Well, big is relative. It looks big and by many standards it is big. It hasn't always been white. When we bought it 16 years ago it was grey wood. It looked nice then but better now. Now it has white aluminum siding. I have always liked two story white houses. They are very popular in Missouri and I have lived in at least three before I got married.
We've made more changes in the house. We had to put on a new roof. It's slate grey to match the shutters. And we had double paned windows installed. It all looks very nice.
There is a window box at the front window. Our youngest daughter planted geraniums there the first summer we moved in and they are in full bloom now, a beautiful pink. We keep thinning them and planting some in other places around the yard.
Under the window box is a bed of rose bushes planted by another daughter. They are in full leaf and will soon be blooming again. To the side of the garage is a flower bed with two medium size junipers and newly planted petunias and marigolds. There are some perennial daisies and other ground cover there as well. Oh, yes, and agapanthas and iris, too.
The front of the house looks very inviting. When we drive up Glen and I say to each other, "Let's stop here and see who lives here." We have a nice size patch of green lawn in front and it is newly mowed.
Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bath. The bathroom is the nicest room in the house. Even though it is small it has been newly refurbished. There is a good tile floor - large tiles - and a new bathtub as well as a cultured marble shower enclosure. We use a shower curtain to add color. The fixtures are all silver and the wall is textured white. Our youngest son and his friend did the texturing for us. One daughter and son-in-law laid the tile floor. They are all so good to help us.
Downstairs there is the little entry hall into the front room. It is a pleasant room with a large window that looks out at the necterine tree which is in full beautiful pink blossom right now. The most imposing piece of furniture there is our Kimball piano - a beautiful old upright of flaming oak. And we have a new couch and love seat. The love seat rocks and reclines. The sofa has two reclining seats. Such luxury! And there is a fireplace with a large gold framed mirror above the mantle. We feel very rich because we have two fireplaces. One in the front room and a second one in the family room. We used to burn wood but with new city ordinances and my allergies we have converted to gas inserts and they are just right.
The family room at the back of the house was built on before we bought it. That extension includes a room at one end which we use as our bedroom. Our back window looks out over our back yard and we can see the tops of the trees in the yard behind us. It gives us an outdoor feel which we like. It is big enough for our bed, two small chests which are our bedside tables, a schrunk (ammoire in French - schrunk in German), and a mirrored dresser. There is just barely enough space to walk around the edge of the bed.
There is a small bedroom up in front which we use now as a den. It is also a place to store toys for our grandchildren's visits. It has a bunch of books. There is a floor to ceiling bookcase along part of one wall and an antique lawyer's book case full of books. We have a couple of chairs there and a cherrywood settee.
The downstairs bathroom is between that room and the biggest bedroom in the house. When the bedroom is not in use by guests it is my "pilot room" (you know, pile it here, pile it there). I do a quick clean-up when someone is coming to spend the night. There is another little room off this bedroom. It is a part of the back addition. This little room has a door which goes out into the side yard. We have added floor to ceiling bookshelves on two sides of that little room. That's where we keep the organ and other instruments that belong to various members of the family. There is a chair for reading and lots of baskets and pretty metal tins that hold my "treasures."
The downstairs bathroom has been redone since we moved in here, too. We have a cultured marble shower with opaque glass doors. The bathrooms are quite small but they are adequate.
The favorite rooms are the family room and the kitchen. We remodeled the kitchen in 1998 with new cabinets we got from Home Depot. I think they are called Kraft Maid. It was a huge project but the kitchen is very nice. I have a double GE oven. Just right at Thanksgiving time and Christmas. And all other times of the year, too. The kitchen floor is hard wood and there is a big picture window in the west side where we have our dining table.
The table is the round one Glen made for me while we lived in Bakersfield. It seats 10 comfortable and with the right combination of seating can seat 12. The window looks out to the west on our peach tree, the neighbor's lemon tree, our rustic fence with the iris and roses. And we can always see the sky. Of course, we have a view of our neighbor's roof but we don't focus so much on that.
We recently bought a new cook top and I got a brand new sink for Christmas. And it is great! One side is deep enough to hold a cookie sheet and enough dishes to fill the dishwasher. I can have clean counters most of the time now.
The family room is the best. It's where we spend most of our time. The seating is comfortable. The TV is in here. The computer, the scanner, the printer, the CD player, the radio. We also have a nice roll top desk, the exercise bike and the tread mill. The big cozy recliner chair is very popular and there are more book shelves. These were here when we first looked at the house. Since we had lots of bookshelves in our house in Bakersfield, we wanted bookshelves in our house in Sacramento. There is a window opening from the kitchen into the family room and you never feel isolated when you are in the kitchen and the others are in the family room. We had that in our house in Bakersfield, too. We think this house was just made for us. All in all it is a very good house and I love it. I never want to move.
Our backyard is small. However, there is room for our picnic table, a few lawn chairs and our trampoline. In our raised garden bed we have some flowers and we always plant tomatoes and peppers along with some other veggies. Along with our peach and nectarine trees we have a plum, an apricot, an apple and two oranges trees. We are going to plant a pie cherry tree this year.
I was going to write some more about other houses we have had but I don't have time today. I will another time. That's all for today - for the second time! Here's hoping I don't push the wrong button and zap it all away again.
Oh, dear! This is my second typing for today. Somehow I pushed a wrong button and zapped out all my "wonderful" writing about this house I love. I am going to start again. Maybe it will be better but maybe it won't. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's what my "mama" always said. Okay, here goes for the second time.
As we drove up to our house today I was reminded again how much I love this place of ours. It is a big two story white house with dark grey, almost black shutters. Well, big is relative. It looks big and by many standards it is big. It hasn't always been white. When we bought it 16 years ago it was grey wood. It looked nice then but better now. Now it has white aluminum siding. I have always liked two story white houses. They are very popular in Missouri and I have lived in at least three before I got married.
We've made more changes in the house. We had to put on a new roof. It's slate grey to match the shutters. And we had double paned windows installed. It all looks very nice.
There is a window box at the front window. Our youngest daughter planted geraniums there the first summer we moved in and they are in full bloom now, a beautiful pink. We keep thinning them and planting some in other places around the yard.
Under the window box is a bed of rose bushes planted by another daughter. They are in full leaf and will soon be blooming again. To the side of the garage is a flower bed with two medium size junipers and newly planted petunias and marigolds. There are some perennial daisies and other ground cover there as well. Oh, yes, and agapanthas and iris, too.
The front of the house looks very inviting. When we drive up Glen and I say to each other, "Let's stop here and see who lives here." We have a nice size patch of green lawn in front and it is newly mowed.
Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bath. The bathroom is the nicest room in the house. Even though it is small it has been newly refurbished. There is a good tile floor - large tiles - and a new bathtub as well as a cultured marble shower enclosure. We use a shower curtain to add color. The fixtures are all silver and the wall is textured white. Our youngest son and his friend did the texturing for us. One daughter and son-in-law laid the tile floor. They are all so good to help us.
Downstairs there is the little entry hall into the front room. It is a pleasant room with a large window that looks out at the necterine tree which is in full beautiful pink blossom right now. The most imposing piece of furniture there is our Kimball piano - a beautiful old upright of flaming oak. And we have a new couch and love seat. The love seat rocks and reclines. The sofa has two reclining seats. Such luxury! And there is a fireplace with a large gold framed mirror above the mantle. We feel very rich because we have two fireplaces. One in the front room and a second one in the family room. We used to burn wood but with new city ordinances and my allergies we have converted to gas inserts and they are just right.
The family room at the back of the house was built on before we bought it. That extension includes a room at one end which we use as our bedroom. Our back window looks out over our back yard and we can see the tops of the trees in the yard behind us. It gives us an outdoor feel which we like. It is big enough for our bed, two small chests which are our bedside tables, a schrunk (ammoire in French - schrunk in German), and a mirrored dresser. There is just barely enough space to walk around the edge of the bed.
There is a small bedroom up in front which we use now as a den. It is also a place to store toys for our grandchildren's visits. It has a bunch of books. There is a floor to ceiling bookcase along part of one wall and an antique lawyer's book case full of books. We have a couple of chairs there and a cherrywood settee.
The downstairs bathroom is between that room and the biggest bedroom in the house. When the bedroom is not in use by guests it is my "pilot room" (you know, pile it here, pile it there). I do a quick clean-up when someone is coming to spend the night. There is another little room off this bedroom. It is a part of the back addition. This little room has a door which goes out into the side yard. We have added floor to ceiling bookshelves on two sides of that little room. That's where we keep the organ and other instruments that belong to various members of the family. There is a chair for reading and lots of baskets and pretty metal tins that hold my "treasures."
The downstairs bathroom has been redone since we moved in here, too. We have a cultured marble shower with opaque glass doors. The bathrooms are quite small but they are adequate.
The favorite rooms are the family room and the kitchen. We remodeled the kitchen in 1998 with new cabinets we got from Home Depot. I think they are called Kraft Maid. It was a huge project but the kitchen is very nice. I have a double GE oven. Just right at Thanksgiving time and Christmas. And all other times of the year, too. The kitchen floor is hard wood and there is a big picture window in the west side where we have our dining table.
The table is the round one Glen made for me while we lived in Bakersfield. It seats 10 comfortable and with the right combination of seating can seat 12. The window looks out to the west on our peach tree, the neighbor's lemon tree, our rustic fence with the iris and roses. And we can always see the sky. Of course, we have a view of our neighbor's roof but we don't focus so much on that.
We recently bought a new cook top and I got a brand new sink for Christmas. And it is great! One side is deep enough to hold a cookie sheet and enough dishes to fill the dishwasher. I can have clean counters most of the time now.
The family room is the best. It's where we spend most of our time. The seating is comfortable. The TV is in here. The computer, the scanner, the printer, the CD player, the radio. We also have a nice roll top desk, the exercise bike and the tread mill. The big cozy recliner chair is very popular and there are more book shelves. These were here when we first looked at the house. Since we had lots of bookshelves in our house in Bakersfield, we wanted bookshelves in our house in Sacramento. There is a window opening from the kitchen into the family room and you never feel isolated when you are in the kitchen and the others are in the family room. We had that in our house in Bakersfield, too. We think this house was just made for us. All in all it is a very good house and I love it. I never want to move.
Our backyard is small. However, there is room for our picnic table, a few lawn chairs and our trampoline. In our raised garden bed we have some flowers and we always plant tomatoes and peppers along with some other veggies. Along with our peach and nectarine trees we have a plum, an apricot, an apple and two oranges trees. We are going to plant a pie cherry tree this year.
I was going to write some more about other houses we have had but I don't have time today. I will another time. That's all for today - for the second time! Here's hoping I don't push the wrong button and zap it all away again.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Families and Friends
Today is Friday, March 14, 2008. It has been an interesting day, weatherwise. First it was cloudy. Then the sun came out. Then the wind began to blow and black clouds made their appearance. Since then it has been cloudy, then sunny, then cloudy again. Right now the sun is shining.
We have had several interesting experiences over the last few weeks involving families and friends. We made a long trip to Southern California to visit our oldest son and his family and our youngest daughter and her family. Kathy lives in Burbank and David lives in Escondido. The travel was great. Glen and I like to spend hours in the car just talking as we ride. Usually we read a novel out loud but this time I did not dare read because I have been experiencing VERTIGO. The Dr. said it was probably a problem with my inner ear canal. He said at my age, little crystals sometimes form and upset the balance. Oh, boy! Anyway, I didn't dare read this trip.
Our granddaugther let us sleep in her bedroom while we were in Escondido. Bless her heart! She is good to her grandpa and grandma. We love to visit our children and grandchildren. They tell us about school and their friends and all the exciting new things they are doing with computers, ipods, and all the latest lingo. Our grandson now has a job at an ice skating rink. That is interesting to think about. We love to talk with our son and daughter in law about what is happening in their lives.
Our daughter and her family live in an upstairs apartment and we get to sleep in the living room. There are two cute little boys there. One is just learning to talk. The other is just a little baby. They are both so darling and we love watching them. Kathy and her husband encouraged me to start this blog.
After all the years of encouraging our children to learn and do new things, it is now their turn to encourage us older folk in the new ways of the world. Since I do like the computer, it wasn't too hard. And since I like to talk and write, it seemed like a natural thing to do.
One day last week I heard the front door open and here came three little children running in with arms outstretched for a hug. Well, they are not all little any more. One granddaughter is 9 years old. And she is tall. Her little brother is 6, in the first grade. Her younger sister is just 3. There is also a baby boy but he doesn't run yet. His mother carried him in the baby carrier. He smiles when we talk to him.
We look forward to Friday nights when three of our daughters come to spend the evening with us. Usually we "order in" and have something special for dinner. Our favorites are Little Ceasars Pizza, Taco Bell, Subway sandwiches, Chinese food or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Once in awhile we just do McDonald's but it is the family togetherness that is the best part.
A few days ago we got a late, late Christmas card for some dear friends in Bakersfield. We haven't heard from them for awhile and we were delighted to get their card. And guess what? Instead of waiting to turn around something in the mail, we took advantage of our special phone offer. We have a special rate for all calls in California. We went right to the telephone to call them. With two phones we could just talk to our hearts content. They had two phones at their house, too. They have been out of the US for 3 years on a special Church assignment. We talked for over an hour. What a great time we had renewing friendships.
Several times each week we are able to be with other friends who live right here close to us. And we have wonderful neighbors to chat with on our front sidewalk.
Today we made a phone call to one of Glen's brother's in Utah. They are very dear to us. We love to find out what is going on with their family and to hear news about any of the other brothers. What a great time to be alive when we don't have to wait months and months for the Pony Express or weeks and weeks for the Overland railroad to bring the mail or even a week for a letter to be delivered by the postal service. We can go to the telephone or the computer and have instant messaging. Life is good. That's all for today.
We have had several interesting experiences over the last few weeks involving families and friends. We made a long trip to Southern California to visit our oldest son and his family and our youngest daughter and her family. Kathy lives in Burbank and David lives in Escondido. The travel was great. Glen and I like to spend hours in the car just talking as we ride. Usually we read a novel out loud but this time I did not dare read because I have been experiencing VERTIGO. The Dr. said it was probably a problem with my inner ear canal. He said at my age, little crystals sometimes form and upset the balance. Oh, boy! Anyway, I didn't dare read this trip.
Our granddaugther let us sleep in her bedroom while we were in Escondido. Bless her heart! She is good to her grandpa and grandma. We love to visit our children and grandchildren. They tell us about school and their friends and all the exciting new things they are doing with computers, ipods, and all the latest lingo. Our grandson now has a job at an ice skating rink. That is interesting to think about. We love to talk with our son and daughter in law about what is happening in their lives.
Our daughter and her family live in an upstairs apartment and we get to sleep in the living room. There are two cute little boys there. One is just learning to talk. The other is just a little baby. They are both so darling and we love watching them. Kathy and her husband encouraged me to start this blog.
After all the years of encouraging our children to learn and do new things, it is now their turn to encourage us older folk in the new ways of the world. Since I do like the computer, it wasn't too hard. And since I like to talk and write, it seemed like a natural thing to do.
One day last week I heard the front door open and here came three little children running in with arms outstretched for a hug. Well, they are not all little any more. One granddaughter is 9 years old. And she is tall. Her little brother is 6, in the first grade. Her younger sister is just 3. There is also a baby boy but he doesn't run yet. His mother carried him in the baby carrier. He smiles when we talk to him.
We look forward to Friday nights when three of our daughters come to spend the evening with us. Usually we "order in" and have something special for dinner. Our favorites are Little Ceasars Pizza, Taco Bell, Subway sandwiches, Chinese food or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Once in awhile we just do McDonald's but it is the family togetherness that is the best part.
A few days ago we got a late, late Christmas card for some dear friends in Bakersfield. We haven't heard from them for awhile and we were delighted to get their card. And guess what? Instead of waiting to turn around something in the mail, we took advantage of our special phone offer. We have a special rate for all calls in California. We went right to the telephone to call them. With two phones we could just talk to our hearts content. They had two phones at their house, too. They have been out of the US for 3 years on a special Church assignment. We talked for over an hour. What a great time we had renewing friendships.
Several times each week we are able to be with other friends who live right here close to us. And we have wonderful neighbors to chat with on our front sidewalk.
Today we made a phone call to one of Glen's brother's in Utah. They are very dear to us. We love to find out what is going on with their family and to hear news about any of the other brothers. What a great time to be alive when we don't have to wait months and months for the Pony Express or weeks and weeks for the Overland railroad to bring the mail or even a week for a letter to be delivered by the postal service. We can go to the telephone or the computer and have instant messaging. Life is good. That's all for today.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Addictions
Today is Saturday, March 8, 2008.
Today the sun is shining.
When I got up this morning I went right to the computer. I have become addicted to the thing. Right now I am checking family history records for a program called family indexing. I am called an arbitrator. My responsibility is to check two listings made by individual indexers against the original record (census, birth records, etc.). If their entries do not agree then I must decide which one matches the original. If neither one matches then I enter my opinion.
I just started doing this a few days ago and I have already become addicted. Of course, I've been addicted to the computer for years. We were talking the other night with some of our family about computers. Can you believe they are actually so new in the realm of existence? Glen talked about his first computer class in college. The computer filled a whole room. And now - ohmigosh! Computers have become so tiny you can carry them in your hand.
We have two computers right now. An "old" laptop. Why, we purchased it in 1998 before we went to Pakistan. It still works okay. And we have the "house" coputer. It is supposed to be a PC (personal computer) but everyone who lives here or comes to visit is pulled directly to the computer for something. Even the grand children are pulled into it. Computers are great!
Another one of my addictions is Mexican food. I could eat Mexican food morning, noon, and night. I love homemade Mexican food and Mexican resturant food. I have a dear friend, Josie Garcia, who makes the best tamales you have ever tasted. She is not connected with "Garcia's", the Mexican resturant in Citrus Heights, on Madison Avenue. Josie lives in another city. But "Garcia's" makes great food. And I love Taco Bell. Well, to be downright truthful, I like all Mexican food places.
First thing in the morning when I get up, I open all the window blinds. That's an addiction, too. I love to let the sun come streaming into the house. And even on a cloudy day, that's the first order of business. Open the window blinds. Right now, we have all venitian blinds. At our last home we had heavy draperies that we closed at night but first thing in the morning, "open those shades." If my husband is up first then he opens all the blinds. That is our morning addiction.
Homemade bread! I think that is an addiction, too. We have a bread maker now, a machine I mean. I used to be the bread maker. And I did it all by hand. I'd knead the bread and work out my frustrations. Now, Glen makes the bread in the bread machine. We use whole wheat flour so it is very healthy. Home made bread - well, how can you really describe how wonderful it is. It is great for bread and milk. (Store bought bread turns into paste - YUK!) Bread pudding is so tasty with home made bread. And on a cold morning, milk toast just hits the spot. Of course, Glen has to make it. His milk toast is the best. He learned it from his mother.
I am glad all my addictions are to good things. I feel so bad for those who are addicted to harmful things. I don't want to get over my addictions. I just want to keep adding good ones.
That's it for today.
Today the sun is shining.
When I got up this morning I went right to the computer. I have become addicted to the thing. Right now I am checking family history records for a program called family indexing. I am called an arbitrator. My responsibility is to check two listings made by individual indexers against the original record (census, birth records, etc.). If their entries do not agree then I must decide which one matches the original. If neither one matches then I enter my opinion.
I just started doing this a few days ago and I have already become addicted. Of course, I've been addicted to the computer for years. We were talking the other night with some of our family about computers. Can you believe they are actually so new in the realm of existence? Glen talked about his first computer class in college. The computer filled a whole room. And now - ohmigosh! Computers have become so tiny you can carry them in your hand.
We have two computers right now. An "old" laptop. Why, we purchased it in 1998 before we went to Pakistan. It still works okay. And we have the "house" coputer. It is supposed to be a PC (personal computer) but everyone who lives here or comes to visit is pulled directly to the computer for something. Even the grand children are pulled into it. Computers are great!
Another one of my addictions is Mexican food. I could eat Mexican food morning, noon, and night. I love homemade Mexican food and Mexican resturant food. I have a dear friend, Josie Garcia, who makes the best tamales you have ever tasted. She is not connected with "Garcia's", the Mexican resturant in Citrus Heights, on Madison Avenue. Josie lives in another city. But "Garcia's" makes great food. And I love Taco Bell. Well, to be downright truthful, I like all Mexican food places.
First thing in the morning when I get up, I open all the window blinds. That's an addiction, too. I love to let the sun come streaming into the house. And even on a cloudy day, that's the first order of business. Open the window blinds. Right now, we have all venitian blinds. At our last home we had heavy draperies that we closed at night but first thing in the morning, "open those shades." If my husband is up first then he opens all the blinds. That is our morning addiction.
Homemade bread! I think that is an addiction, too. We have a bread maker now, a machine I mean. I used to be the bread maker. And I did it all by hand. I'd knead the bread and work out my frustrations. Now, Glen makes the bread in the bread machine. We use whole wheat flour so it is very healthy. Home made bread - well, how can you really describe how wonderful it is. It is great for bread and milk. (Store bought bread turns into paste - YUK!) Bread pudding is so tasty with home made bread. And on a cold morning, milk toast just hits the spot. Of course, Glen has to make it. His milk toast is the best. He learned it from his mother.
I am glad all my addictions are to good things. I feel so bad for those who are addicted to harmful things. I don't want to get over my addictions. I just want to keep adding good ones.
That's it for today.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Today is Monday, March 3, 2008.
It is sunny.
I will go to the grocery store today.
Grocery stores come in many varieties. When I was young I loved to go with my mother to the store. We had no car and so had to walk and carry home in our arms whatever groceries we bought. The A & P Store was about 6 long blocks away from our house. I was just 6 years old and the clerk would make two small light weight bags for me to carry in my arms. Mother's bags were heavier but not too heavy. Two or three years later a small grocery store opened, Dad's Market, which was only three blocks away. I remember that Dad's had hamburger on sale - 3 lbs/$1.00. That was a great bargain.
Mother could make that hamburger go a long way and she could cook up a good many meals for the two of us from 3 pounds of hamburger. Sometimes we would buy a stewing hen (they were cheaper than frying hens) and often she would buy a pound of chicken necks and backs for 10c and make the best chicken and dumplings you ever tasted. That was about the only kind of meat we bought.
I loved the oleo packages - a plastic bag with a pound of white shortening with a little yellow capsule in one corner. The trick was to squeeze the capsule to release the yellow food coloring and then to knead the entire plastic bag until it was all a beautiful yellow and looked like butter.
Of course, we bought the staples - milk, bread, eggs, oatmeal and beans - and whatever fresh fruits and veggies were available at the time. Oh, yes and cheese and dried beef in cute little glasses with metal lids.
About three years after Dad's Market opened a real supermarket opened near us. It was about 3 times the size of Dad's and twice as big as the A & P Store. This was Krogers. Oh, my! What a selection they had! Walking up and down the aisles was like a great adventure.
When I went to college I had my meals in the dorm and didn't do much grocery shopping at all. There was a small store near the campus - Carson's - where we occasionally bought a few items. Then when I got married I fell in love with Albertson's. A huge store and clean and everything I ever wanted. Aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables which looked like magazine pictures. So many choices of canned good. And I found Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. That was in Utah.
Then we moved to California and where we lived there was no Albertsons. I shopped at Safeway and made requests for Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. My answer - "These items do not sell well in California. Therefore, we do not stock them."
"How do you know they don't sell well? If you don't stock them, of course, they won't sell well."
Imagine my delight when a new Albertson Store was built near us. They would order Danish Dessert for me but not Lawry's. My friends in southern California would bring me bottles of the sauce when we met for State PTA meetings. And then the Albertson stores in California began to close.
Now I go to Safeway's and Sam's Club. Once in awhile to Bel Air or Raley's. Some changes come hard.
Except, of course, I am always overwhelmed these days by the selections of food we have in these big stores. When we lived in Pakistan the grocery stores were very different than in the United States. The ones close to us were not very big. They didn't have much variety of canned goods. There was wonderful citrus jam unmatched by any I have tasted since. Fresh fruits and vegetables you bought from the vendors in the streets or at a street market. And those were wonderful. If you wanted chicken you went to the chicken man. He had live chickens in pens and you picked the one you wanted and he got it ready for you to take home and cook. That was a brand new experience for me.
It wasn't had to find sweetened condensed milk. Nestle's had a plant between two of the larger cities. I always wondered why they didn't have chocolate chips, too. But I never found those in Pakistan.
When we were in India for awhile, the grocery stores were small, also. You had to learn the names of what you wanted. I searched a long time for brown sugar until I learned that it was called jugary. And it was interesting that they have a jello-like pudding that sets up without a refrigerator. That's because many of the people where we lived in India didn't have a fridge.
Stores in Greece had lots of pasta and canned tomatoes but not many other canned goods. They had fabulous fish sections and cheese and meats and olives of every size and seasonings. I loved to walk around the cheese section and study the many and varied kinds of cheeses. After living in those areas, coming back to a grocery store in my own home town was overwhelming. I think the number and variety of selections had multiplied more than 10 times. Especially in the salad dressing and the cereal aisles. I am in awe of the many choices we have. It's hard to send anyone to the store for salad dressing. "Get me a French Dressing, please." Well, do you want lo-fat, lo-cal, no fat, lite, regular, zesty, etc, etc? Oh my!
Most of the things I buy when I grocery shop are pretty routine. Milk, butter, eggs, Bisquick, honey, Miracle Whip, carrots, onions, potatoes. But I love to look at all the choices that are there for me. Shopping is an adventure every time. Well, that's all for today.
It is sunny.
I will go to the grocery store today.
Grocery stores come in many varieties. When I was young I loved to go with my mother to the store. We had no car and so had to walk and carry home in our arms whatever groceries we bought. The A & P Store was about 6 long blocks away from our house. I was just 6 years old and the clerk would make two small light weight bags for me to carry in my arms. Mother's bags were heavier but not too heavy. Two or three years later a small grocery store opened, Dad's Market, which was only three blocks away. I remember that Dad's had hamburger on sale - 3 lbs/$1.00. That was a great bargain.
Mother could make that hamburger go a long way and she could cook up a good many meals for the two of us from 3 pounds of hamburger. Sometimes we would buy a stewing hen (they were cheaper than frying hens) and often she would buy a pound of chicken necks and backs for 10c and make the best chicken and dumplings you ever tasted. That was about the only kind of meat we bought.
I loved the oleo packages - a plastic bag with a pound of white shortening with a little yellow capsule in one corner. The trick was to squeeze the capsule to release the yellow food coloring and then to knead the entire plastic bag until it was all a beautiful yellow and looked like butter.
Of course, we bought the staples - milk, bread, eggs, oatmeal and beans - and whatever fresh fruits and veggies were available at the time. Oh, yes and cheese and dried beef in cute little glasses with metal lids.
About three years after Dad's Market opened a real supermarket opened near us. It was about 3 times the size of Dad's and twice as big as the A & P Store. This was Krogers. Oh, my! What a selection they had! Walking up and down the aisles was like a great adventure.
When I went to college I had my meals in the dorm and didn't do much grocery shopping at all. There was a small store near the campus - Carson's - where we occasionally bought a few items. Then when I got married I fell in love with Albertson's. A huge store and clean and everything I ever wanted. Aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables which looked like magazine pictures. So many choices of canned good. And I found Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. That was in Utah.
Then we moved to California and where we lived there was no Albertsons. I shopped at Safeway and made requests for Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. My answer - "These items do not sell well in California. Therefore, we do not stock them."
"How do you know they don't sell well? If you don't stock them, of course, they won't sell well."
Imagine my delight when a new Albertson Store was built near us. They would order Danish Dessert for me but not Lawry's. My friends in southern California would bring me bottles of the sauce when we met for State PTA meetings. And then the Albertson stores in California began to close.
Now I go to Safeway's and Sam's Club. Once in awhile to Bel Air or Raley's. Some changes come hard.
Except, of course, I am always overwhelmed these days by the selections of food we have in these big stores. When we lived in Pakistan the grocery stores were very different than in the United States. The ones close to us were not very big. They didn't have much variety of canned goods. There was wonderful citrus jam unmatched by any I have tasted since. Fresh fruits and vegetables you bought from the vendors in the streets or at a street market. And those were wonderful. If you wanted chicken you went to the chicken man. He had live chickens in pens and you picked the one you wanted and he got it ready for you to take home and cook. That was a brand new experience for me.
It wasn't had to find sweetened condensed milk. Nestle's had a plant between two of the larger cities. I always wondered why they didn't have chocolate chips, too. But I never found those in Pakistan.
When we were in India for awhile, the grocery stores were small, also. You had to learn the names of what you wanted. I searched a long time for brown sugar until I learned that it was called jugary. And it was interesting that they have a jello-like pudding that sets up without a refrigerator. That's because many of the people where we lived in India didn't have a fridge.
Stores in Greece had lots of pasta and canned tomatoes but not many other canned goods. They had fabulous fish sections and cheese and meats and olives of every size and seasonings. I loved to walk around the cheese section and study the many and varied kinds of cheeses. After living in those areas, coming back to a grocery store in my own home town was overwhelming. I think the number and variety of selections had multiplied more than 10 times. Especially in the salad dressing and the cereal aisles. I am in awe of the many choices we have. It's hard to send anyone to the store for salad dressing. "Get me a French Dressing, please." Well, do you want lo-fat, lo-cal, no fat, lite, regular, zesty, etc, etc? Oh my!
Most of the things I buy when I grocery shop are pretty routine. Milk, butter, eggs, Bisquick, honey, Miracle Whip, carrots, onions, potatoes. But I love to look at all the choices that are there for me. Shopping is an adventure every time. Well, that's all for today.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Today is Friday, February 29, 2008. That sentence was on the blackboard every day when I was in grade school. There was always another sentence about the weather. Today is sunny. Occasionally there would be another sentence, but always those two. Interesting that this is Leap Year Day. People born this day don't have to age at the same rate as the rest of us if they choose not too. And this aging business is quite a complex issue. I can remember Grandma having Carter's Little Liver Pills and Lydia Pinkham's bottles always in her medicine chest. Then there was Geritol and now I think it is Omega 3 that is supposed to keep us energetic and full of vitality. So far I can't see much magical about Omega 3 but I keep taking it, hoping I feel better for it.
Some days I feel like an old car. You know how cars begin to wear out. One week, the brakes quit. Just when you get that fixed something else goes wrong. Well, that is happening to me. First, it was being diagosed with Type II diabetes. For a long time, I was able to control that with diet and exercise. But now I have medication. Some days I do well, other days not so well with my blood sugar. We just changed insurance companies and now I have to get used to a new glucometer. You guessed it! This insurance company won't supply the strips for the one I have. And why not? I keep asking myself. Oh well, even though I am an "old dog" I am going to try to learn "new tricks."
My knees started giving me trouble. If I am sitting down they don't hurt. But I'm not ready to sit down constantly. Thank goodness, my chiropractor keeps me so I can walk pretty well. I've got an exercise bike that helps keep me moving, too. The knee thing comes and goes. I've got a nice expensive knee brace that helps. I can remember Mother having lots of knee pain. She bought every piece of knee help she could find - from Dr. Leonard's catalog, Walter Drake's catalog, or the Parade magazine in the local newspaper. They weren't really expensive and they would each help for awhile. I decided to just go with the expensive one first. Forget those others.
The knee thing had pretty well subsided when the head started acting up. One night, well, one morning really, about 4 A.M. I had to get up. When I went back to bed the room just started spinning and I started screaming. Glen said I wasn't really screaming - just moaning. I'm sure the neighbors would probably say I was screaming. Ohmigosh! It was awful. I thought I was having a heart attack or something. Now I find out that it was not as unique as I thought. "Just vertigo," the Dr. said. Whoa! I don't want that again. But now I find out lots of people have it. Oh, my!
In the past two weeks I have been able to lie down gently and slowly on my left side. And I can sleep in a chair (the recliner works great). I guess what scares me the most is that it can happen again. To everyone who has ever had an episode like mine I say you are marvelous to have kept functioning.
I know there are so many things about the wonderful body that each of us has that can go wrong. And I am grateful for all the years I've had with so few problems. And I know that I can look forward to more challenges as my "car" gets older and older. I shouldn't crab about anything. There are people with way more problems than me. I thank the Lord every day for my blessings. I pray also that I can have enthusiasm to the end. I don't want to just endure to the end.
That's it for today.
Some days I feel like an old car. You know how cars begin to wear out. One week, the brakes quit. Just when you get that fixed something else goes wrong. Well, that is happening to me. First, it was being diagosed with Type II diabetes. For a long time, I was able to control that with diet and exercise. But now I have medication. Some days I do well, other days not so well with my blood sugar. We just changed insurance companies and now I have to get used to a new glucometer. You guessed it! This insurance company won't supply the strips for the one I have. And why not? I keep asking myself. Oh well, even though I am an "old dog" I am going to try to learn "new tricks."
My knees started giving me trouble. If I am sitting down they don't hurt. But I'm not ready to sit down constantly. Thank goodness, my chiropractor keeps me so I can walk pretty well. I've got an exercise bike that helps keep me moving, too. The knee thing comes and goes. I've got a nice expensive knee brace that helps. I can remember Mother having lots of knee pain. She bought every piece of knee help she could find - from Dr. Leonard's catalog, Walter Drake's catalog, or the Parade magazine in the local newspaper. They weren't really expensive and they would each help for awhile. I decided to just go with the expensive one first. Forget those others.
The knee thing had pretty well subsided when the head started acting up. One night, well, one morning really, about 4 A.M. I had to get up. When I went back to bed the room just started spinning and I started screaming. Glen said I wasn't really screaming - just moaning. I'm sure the neighbors would probably say I was screaming. Ohmigosh! It was awful. I thought I was having a heart attack or something. Now I find out that it was not as unique as I thought. "Just vertigo," the Dr. said. Whoa! I don't want that again. But now I find out lots of people have it. Oh, my!
In the past two weeks I have been able to lie down gently and slowly on my left side. And I can sleep in a chair (the recliner works great). I guess what scares me the most is that it can happen again. To everyone who has ever had an episode like mine I say you are marvelous to have kept functioning.
I know there are so many things about the wonderful body that each of us has that can go wrong. And I am grateful for all the years I've had with so few problems. And I know that I can look forward to more challenges as my "car" gets older and older. I shouldn't crab about anything. There are people with way more problems than me. I thank the Lord every day for my blessings. I pray also that I can have enthusiasm to the end. I don't want to just endure to the end.
That's it for today.
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