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Saturday, January 31, 2009

End of Month (31 Posts)

Well, this is the last day of the month. I reached my goal this month of 31 posts. February is coming up and it is a short one and we will be on our way to spring (we hope). The weather has taken a turn for the better. The temperature is climbing and the leftover snow - you know that black yukky stuff is slowly melting. It feels good just to see the sun.

Maybe I will take some photos of the new change in the weather. Or better yet here is a photo of the weatherman and you know who...maybe it helps to have friends in high places.


On another note, today is the Super Bowl. First it was all the hoopla about the politics and now we have the same for the Super Bowl. I am not a football fan. I don't know much about the sport but I know all I care to know.

Instead of watching the football game. I think I will spend the time making my funeral arrangements. After all if I don't make them who is going to know what to do with my remains, who will drive the Brink's Truck (unlike some people who will insist on driving their own truck to the gates of heaven) and who is going to enforce the dress code at my funeral.

Here's a football funny for you.

A guy took his blonde girl friend to her first super bowl game. They had great seats right behind their team’s bench.

After the game, he asked her how she liked the experience.“

Oh, I really liked it,” she replied,” especially the cute guys with all the big muscles; but I just couldn’tunderstand why they were killing each other over 25 cents.”

Dumbfounded, her date asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I saw them flip a coin and one team got it and thenfor the rest of the game, all they kept screaming was:‘

Get the quarterback! Get the quarterback!’

Helloooo? It’s only 25 cents!”

And "That's it For Today".

Friday, January 30, 2009

1904-1984

Well, today is January 30,2009. It also marks the day my Dad would have turned 105 years old. He was born 1/30/1904 and he passed away on 9/21/1984 at age 80. It's hard to believe it has been twenty five years.

He was the youngest of 12 or 13 kids. I never knew how many because I never met most of them. His father was blind. I don't know if he was blind all his life or if it was a result of a medical condition. I do know that he was a very religious man. My dad also had two sisters who were blind and I believe both of those were from medical reasons. One of them lived in California and would take a bus clear to Tennessee to visit her family. One of the things that was fascinating about her was she had a Braille Bible and she would read it continuously. I remember taking a regular Bible and reading along with her and she never missed a word.

His mother, my grandmother, was a midwife and she believed in a lot of herbs and folk medicine. She delivered five out of seven of us including a set of twins.

My dad was born in Butler, Tennessee in a place called the Hately Hollar. When Watauga Lake was built in the 1940's the place was taken for the lake so there is no exact place it was except under the lake.

I don't remember the name of the school he went to I know it was a one room school and he only went to about the sixth grade. He talked of learning to read from a red backed and blue backed speller and how on Fridays he always won the spelling bee.

My dad met my mother through her brother. They worked together and he came home with him to spend the weekend with him and met my mother. I believe that was 1941. He joined the Army in 1942. They were married in 1943 and he was discharged from the Army in December 1945. I know he served in World War II in France, Germany and Africa but he never spoke of his army life. I think he preferred to forget it since it was at the height of the war.

My dad was a sharecropper which means he worked for other farmers. He would be up before dawn and do his chores and ready for a hard day in the fields. Most planting and taking care of the crops was done by hand and my mother worked alongside him. It didn't matter what it was. If they were haying or planting or preparing or harvesting they both worked together. He loved playing his french harp and was quite good at it.

In his later years he was quite cantankerous and set in his ways. He loved listening to his beloved Yankees either on radio or TV and it upset him if you bothered him. He did not like commercials on TV and would get up and turn down the volume so he didn't have to listen. That was before remote controls. I have often wondered now what he would have done if he had had a remote. He didn't like loud noises so you had to be careful not to slam the door. "Take it with you", he would yell. When he was ready to go to bed at night you better be ready too. He would get up, walk over and turn off the TV and say, "That's it For Today".

In retrospect I wish I had asked more questions about his life as a child, his family, and his service to his country. All of those things leave me wondering but the one thing I can be sure of is he loved his friends, his family and his country. I will have to settle for that.

And now in the words of my father, "That's it For Today".

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Casper Cable (Caspar Goebell)

Well, I am glad to be among the living, I am feeling almost back to normal. I will never be normal....but what you see is what you get.



A few days ago I received a phone call wanting to know the story about my fourth great grandfather. I figured if at least one person was interested you might be too. Here is the story of my fourth Great Grandfather Casper Cable (Caspar Goebell).


Casper Cable (Caspar Goebell) was my fourth great grandfather. He was born in Hanover Germany around 1755. For financial reasons his father had arranged a marriage for him to a lady that that was much older than he and her face was scarred from smallpox Deciding this marriage would not be for him as it got closer to the wedding date he ran away and joined the German Army. He was sent to the Province of Hessen Castle.


At that time Hessian troops were being hired by England to fight against the American Colonies in the Revolutionary War. Casper was one of 22,000 troops sent to fight in the war. He served under direction of Colonel Rall and after 5 weeks on a ship crossing the Atlantic they ended up in Trenton New Jersey.



On December 26, 1776 they were attacked by the American Continental Army Led by General George Washington. Most of the Hessian Soldiers were either captured or killed. Casper was taken prisoner and he figured the only way out was to fight for the colonies.


While fighting for the colonies under General Nathaniel Greene he was sent to the home of a Tory, Daniel Baker, to forage for food for the Army. He and his regiment had taken the contents of a smokehouse and were leaving when he saw a young girl with a baby. After finding out the baby was not hers he took back some of the meat. This lady later became his wife and they had twelve children.


At the Battle of Cowpens he was again captured by the British. He defected and went to Dry Run, Tennessee and that is where the family farm is today. His wife's family, except for her father, Daniel Baker (British Sympathizer), moved with them to Tennessee. Family tradition states that twice a year they went back to South Carolina to see him and took him supplies.


A lot of the descendants of Caper Cable moved to Cades Cove at the entrance of Great Smokey Mountain National Park. There are a number of historic buildings there that belonged to the Cables.


The cemetery where Casper and Elizabeth Cable are buried is located in a meadow near their home in Dry Run, Johnson County, TN. The plot was later farmed over and all the gravestones have disappeared except for the one of their son, Casper Jr. which has been relocated.


And that's it for Today.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Birthday's keep Comin'

Well, we have another birthday girl in the house. Ellie is celebrating today. I hope you have a fun birthday Ellie and i wish you many more. I had a photo I planned to post and wouldn't you know I can't find it. So the photo will have to wait. At any rate Happy Birthday.

I am still sick. I thought I was getting better but I guess I was wrong. What is it with colds theses days - they seem to hang on and on. Maybe it's just I am getting older and I want it to get over with quicker. I hope it runs its course real soon. Since i am not feeling well enough to be on the computer here's another little story I wrote you might enjoy.

The Kitchen Garden

We always had plenty to eat because we raised everything. Most of our food came from the kitchen garden. The garden was located just outside our back door. As soon as the snow was gone in the spring we would begin preparing the garden. During the winter the cornstalks were dumped on the garden after the corn was shucked. Ashes from the wood stove had been dumped into the garden. One corner of the garden was dug up and used to plant tobacco seeds for when we were ready to transplant them to the field. In the end of the tobacco bed would be planted lettuce. That was the first spring crop. As soon as the lettuce was ready we would have killed lettuce and onions. Boy what a treat on a nice spring day. The garden then would be plowed ,disked, harrowed, and made ready to plant. Normally it was planted the same way every year. We had peas, onions, lettuce, carrots, beets, swiss chard , spinch or turnips, beans, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes. When the peas came off we dug them up and planted more beans. At the end of the garden we grew horseradish, on the side there was rhubarb. We plated 2 rows of peas, 2 rows of onions We planted different varieties of beans we had half runners, cornfield beans were planted in between the corn, their vines grew tall and wrapped around the cornstalks and were great to pickle along with the corn. We had October beans and pink Tips which were great to dry. We also planted pintos. The first year we had electricity was 1951. None of our neighbors had electricity either so every one was to recieve it. It was determined that our electric pole would be placed in the edge of the garden. My grandmother had just planted her garden and the peas were beginning to sprout through the black dirt. I remember my grandmother being so worried that the men from the REA (Mountain Electric) would stomp on all her peas and we would not have any peas to eat. As luck would have it, those men dug the hole, placed the pole in the ground and strung the wire , all without a footprint in Grandmother’s garden. She was so proud.
Here is a photo of that same pole last summer. It is still standing.
Here is a photo of our garden a few years ago. I special ordered the bean seed from TN so the grand girls could plant the same kind of beans their great great grandmother planted in her garden.
Sunflowers, tomatoes and cute chicks.
That's it for today.

Happy Birthday Marilyn!!

A Little Birdie Told Me Marilyn is Having A Birthday!!





Have a Great Birthday in 2009!!!!!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Spam!!



Well, I have been a real popular person lately. I must be on somebody's list. Not the good list but the bad list. Recently I have recieved an excessive amount of spam mail to my inbox. You know the kind--where someone has a chain letter of sorts and sends it to everyone on their list and they in turn send it to everyone on their list and it goes on and on. Don't people know how to copy and paste so you dont have to scroll through 900 E mail address of everyone that it has been sent to. It's clogging up my inbox so bad I finally had to put a filter on it.
Now don't get me wrong, I love getting email. I even like getting a joke or two. My email keeps me in close touch with my friends. I love your comments too...so feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email anytime.
It has been quiet here, nothing in the news except the weather. I have been spending most of my time in bed the last few days. If I don't feel better soon I may have to give up this self doctoring and go to a real physician.
Right now, I am going back to bed.
That's it for today!!!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Cold and Cold!!

Well, I got up this morning to the temperature of 7 degrees and with the wind chill factor it was minus 9. OH where oh where is spring??

I have caught one of those nasty old head colds -- the kind where your nose stuffs up and your throat hurts and your head is as big as a washtub and it messes with your brain. Gonna find me asafaetida bag to tie around my neck and go back to bed.

That's it for today.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

This and That

Well, the RV Show is in town and it was first on my list of things to do today. I have ben attending the RV Show here in Spokane for the past ten years. The last couple of years it seemed to decline some and not very many RV's were sold.

This year, however, is a different story. I got there at 10AM when it opened and the line was at least a block long already. I think everyone had the same idea to go early. There were lots and lots of RV's and vendors and RV's were selling like hotcakes. Doesn't seem to be a recession here. It was a lot better laid out this year than in others. I did not buy a new one but I did get a few ideas about remodeling the one I have and I came away with a sack of free goodies.

Now I am not one to keep up with The Joneses, nor do I have to have the biggest or best. I don't want a particular brand just because someone else has one or the world is coming to an end because I don't have what they have. I also don't like to follow what everyone else is doing. Just Because they need two vehicles doesn't mean I want two. I couldn't drive two vehicles at the same time anyway.

I am happy with what I have. I am confident my "Out House" will serve me just fine. The mechanical part is fine and with a few upgrades to the interior to make it more homey I will have a lot less invested and I will have more fun.

When you buy new the minute you drive it off the showroom floor it will begin to depreciate. Myself, I would rather let someone else do that and buy something used and in good shape. Mine may not be as good looking as yours or have all the bells and whistles but it will have all the bells and whistles I need and if you want to refer to my RV as "a piece of JUNK" then do it to my face and not my back.

And now with my hammer and saw in hand...maybe I will go add a slide----or two---with a slide maybe my RV "won't look so tacky" (quote).

That's it For Today.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Aprons and Bonnets

Well, today I received the following email from a friend of mine. She said it sounded like me and wondered if I had written it. Well,, No I did not write it but it brought back so many memories of both my grandmothers I wrote my own version below it.


The History of APRONS

I don't think our kids or grandkids know what an apron is.
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath. Because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.


And when the weather was cold,
Grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool, now her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw after taking them from the freezer.
Some people today would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.......
I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron though........but love!!

Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma's aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.

When I think of my Grandmothers I think Aprons and Bonnets. They both wore them. The only time I remember my maternal Grandmother (Ma Swift) took off her apron was to go to bed or to go to church or when we had company. She didnt wear the full apron. She only wore a half apron which mean it tied around her waist and there was no top on it. I never remember the top of her dress being dirty though. She would make her own aprons. I suspect Ma Swift only wore the half aprons because it took only one chop sack to make an apron.

Now, before you ask chop sacks in those days were made from printed material and they held chopped up feed for the animals. After the feed was emptied she would wash up the sacks and use them to make some of our clothes. One chop sack would make a blouse or a skirt or apron and two would make a dress. White chop sacks were used to make undergarments. She would save the scraps for her quilts.

As the article above states aprons were used for many things. When we would go to gather eggs she would gather the eggs in her apron. If we went to gather apples she would have an apron full of apples. If she went to the garden the ripe vegetables would be in her apron. If she was stringing beans the ends and strings went in her apron before being dumped in a bucket for the hogs.

One of my favorite memories about her apron was the pocket. Her aprons always had a pocket on the outside and one on the inside. When her apron got dirty she would wear it inside out and she always had a pocket. That pocket held all of her valuables, her handkerchief, a bobby pin or two, maybe a safety pin, or a loose button. The inside pocket held another handkerchief with loose change tied into the corner. Her paper money was under her mattress.

Whenever I got into trouble and my mother was after me for something she would hold out her apron and say "Get under my apron tail" and then she would wrap me in her apron so I didn't get spanked.


My Granny Holloway always wore the full apron and she always wore a bonnet wherever she went. Her dresses were always long sleeved. She made all her bonnets too. I can remember her with a brown paper poke pattern and a pair of scissors cutting out a new bonnet from one of those chop sacks. The best part about my grandmothers were they were very close friends. They spent a lot of time together and if one was picking blackberries or making apple butter or working in the garden you would find the other one there too. They loved to make soap together. Even with an age difference of twenty years they were more like sisters than like in-laws.


You have seen this photo before but I never get tired of looking at it.



I have an apron too and it is a special apron. It is one my grandaughters made me a few years ago. They machine embroidered a bouquet of flowers on the top to let me know how much they loved me. I love it and even though I don't wear it every day as my grandmother did, it is one of my prized possessions.


That's it for today. I will be back when I find my bonnet.









Thursday, January 22, 2009

Freezing Fog

Well, we are still continuing to have our share of weather problems. First it was the 80 plus inches of snow in December and now we are having a different type of weather. Below freezing temperatures , freezing fog, light drizzle and air inversion advisories dominate the weather news.

In the outlying areas of Spokane County and in parts of the Northern counties of North Idaho the freezing fog is posing a real problem with the power comanies. The fog freezes to the power lines weighing them down and causing the power lines and poles to snap. Several thousand customers are without power and there is no timetable as to when power will be restored.

Power crews have been working on the lines but it is a slow process and as soon as some lines are fixed and power is restored others have been snapping. Also some trees are being felled due to the weight of the heavy amounts of ice.

The weather man says this we are almost at the end of this round of weather and the weekend should bring higher temperatures, snow and maybe a little sunshine.


Eastern Washington produces a lot of its own electricity. Grand Coulee Dam is one of the largest dams in the world and provides electricity to eleven western states and provides irrigation to approximately 500,000 acres of farmland in the Columbia Basin. It is billed as the 8th Wonder of The World.


If you are in the Pacific Northwest seeing it should be on your "To Do" list. From Memorial Day to Labor Day there are tours and a Laser Light Show daily.


Here are the Top "10" Facts About The Dam


Largest concrete dam in North America.
3rd largest producer of electricity in the world.
Length: 5,223 ft.; Height above bedrock: 550 ft.Spillway width: 1,650 ft.
Total concrete: 11,975,521 cubic yards
Primary function: hydropower, flood control, irrigation,fish & wildlife, recreation
4 power plants (Bonneville Dam: 2 and Hoover Dam: 1)
33 generators (Bonneville Dam: 21 and Hoover Dam: 17)
One of the modern engineering wonders of the world.
The first water spill over the dam was on June 1, 1942.
The first laser light show was in May of 1989.


And a few photos.







And That's It For Today.

Happy Birthday Richard

Well, A little Birdie Told Me Richard is celebrating his birthdsy.














That's It For Today.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Frosty Morn

Well, yesterday was a historic day. We have a new President. I spent the day watching the inauguration and all the festivities. As a matter of fact I was so intent on watching them I completely forgot to post!! Does that prove I can't multi-task? I wish our new President and his cabinet well -- I think they are going to need it.

It was a cold gray day here with a small trace of precipitation. The high temperature was 24 and the low was 18. We are still under an inversion and the same is predicted for the next few days. It did make for very pretty scenery as evidenced by the following photos.





The only other excitement was watching Buddy and Charlie watch a squirrel in a tree outside the window.

And, that's it for today.

Monday, January 19, 2009

The Quilt Maker



My grandmother was a great quilt maker. She loved to keep busy. In the summer when she wasn't busy with the garden or preservation of foods she would spend time cutting out and piecing quilts. One of her favorites was a Flower Garden. She would use her homemade paper pattern and cut out all the pieces and then sit and hand piece the pieces together. Each piece had to be cut individually and sewn together. She would start with the middle piece and then sew the pieces around it to make the flower and then another row to make a second ring for the flower. After she was finished making all the flowers she would cut the pieces to put it together.
As far as the scraps she had to make the quilts sometimes she would use old shirts or blouses or dresses that couldn't be worn anymore she would cut out some pieces from those. Sometimes it was scraps of material people had given her. We also had a cousin that lived in Arizona that worked at some kind of a mill where she could get scraps from a garment factory. She would send a couple big boxes of these pieces a couple times a year. Those were neat because there was a lot of pieces alike and they made very pretty quilts. To finish up her quilts if we had the money she would buy cotton batting and muslin lining. If she didn't have any money to buy batting or lining she would use an old blanket for the middle and an old sheet for the lining.
Like I stated, she pieced quilts in the summer and in the winter she quilted them. Sometimes she would have as many as 15 quilt tops to quilt. As soon as the weather got too cold to sit outside on the porch she would have my grandfather go to the smokehouse to get her quilting frames.
There were four hooks in the ceiling of the living room. The quilting frame was 4 boards (like 1 by 1's) cut to fit the quilt. Along one side of each of the boards were tiny nails (like finishing nails). Twine strings with a loop on each end were used for hanging. 4 "C" clamps held the four boards together in a square. One loop of the twine string was set into the hook in the ceiling and the other through two boards and the "C" clamps held the two boards together.
After the quilt frame was assembled it was time to put up the quilt. the lining went in first it was fastened to all the tiny nails on each side of the quilt. Then the batting was laid on top of the quilt. It was slightly smaller than the lining. After the batting was set down the quilt was laid in place on the top. It was then basted together around the sides to keep all three pieces together. Now it was ready to hand quilt.
Depending how the top was pieced would depend on how it was quilted. In the case of the flower garden it was quilted around each piece -- a labor of love to be sure. In other quilts she would take a piece of chalk and mark a line and use a fan stitch to quilt the top. She would start at one end and quilt to the other end. Then the part she had quilted was rolled under the frame. She continued doing this until the entire quilt was finished. Then it was time to bind the quilt. The basting stitches would be removed and because she had allowed for the lining to be larger she would fold the lining over the top of the quilt and hand sew it to the top with invisible stitches. I was never any good at quilting because my stitches were too long and they were crooked and I would rather spend my time reading a book.
The quilt took up most of the living room so us kids were excited because we got to play on the floor underneath the quilt. The only problem was you had to watch out for your head because if you bumped the quilt Grandma would likely stick her fingers with the needle and that would upset her and she would get after you. I should point out also that she wore a thimble for quilting and she always used homemade beeswax to keep her needles sharpened.
Sometimes the neighbors would stop by in the afternoon to help her quilt. Sometimes there would be quiltings or social gatherings and they would come and stay all day.
At night when the quilting had ended for the day the quilt was rolled up to the ceiling on the twine strings at night , That was always exciting to me because you could see the patterns on the backside of the quilt.
When the morning chores were done the quilt would come back down for another day of quilting. It certainly kept one from being bored during those cold winter days and a brand new quilt kept us warm at night.
That's it for Today.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Opry Saturday Night


Well, It's a great night at the Opry. I am so excited. I have a front row seat for the show. Some of my favorite performers are there. Bill Anderson, Jim Ed Brown, Mel Tillis, Mel McDaniel, Mike Snider, Connie Smith, The Whites, and Marty Stuart.

I am a big fan of the Opry and have been there several times. Recently I found out that on my computer I can tune in to WSM Radio in Nashville and get two hours of Opry live on Friday and Saturday nights. So with the volume up and my headphones on I am tuned in to the Opry.

Listening to the Opry brings back many memories of growing up in East Tennessee. My dad was a great fan of country music and he loved to listen to the radio.

Now the radio we had was not a new radio by any means. It was a big brown wooden box looking thing with a lot of tubes in the back. I don't remember exactly where he got it but if memory serves me correctly it was one someone was going to get rid of and he gave a dollar for it and a shoebox full of tubes. The tubes in the back were always going out and sometimes in order to get a station you would have to move the tubes around or find a tube that wasn't burned out.

Radio stations in the 50's weren't as sophisticated as they are today. We couldn't pick up very many of them but we found out that by using a bent coat hanger for an antenna and laying the radio on its side and sticking a case knife in the back between the tubes we would be able to reach more stations. We could get the Renfro Valley Barn Dance in Kentucky and the Louisana Hayride out of Shreveport, Louisana and we could get WSM Grand Ole Opry on Friday and Saturday nights. I spent many happy hours listening to the Opry on that old radio.

Tonight, with a newfangled invention called a computer (no knife needed) and access to the World Wide Web I am once again connected to the music of my roots.

A few days ago there was a challenge on some of the blogs to showcase your refrigerator and pantry. Deb of Keeping Up With The Kendalls challenged me. Here are the two referigerators.



I told her the lid on her mustard bottle was left open. She checked it and sent this message.This is a picture for Jenny who accused me of leaving the mustard lid open. These are all the mustards in my refrigerator and you can plainly see the lids are all closed. Whew, that's a load off my mind.....

Here's her photo"



Now Deb is a "city girl" but says she loves to hear all my stories about the "olden days". So Deb here is another little childhood poem I have recited through the years--this is for you.

I made you look,
You dirty crook
You stole your mother's pocketbook.
You turned it in
You turned it out
You turned it into Sour kraut.

Now with that, "That's it For Today".

Thursday's Post

Again, I am a day late and a dollar short with my posts. I finished Thursday's post and it is now posted. If I can catch up today's I may be up to date...so be sure to go back and read my story about Comfort Food. It's a "keeper".

Friday, January 16, 2009

Post For The Chatroom

It is directly behind the motorcycle.



Thursday, January 15, 2009

Comfort Food

Well, I for one will be glad to get some nice sunny days. There is something about these drab gray overcast days that gets me to thinking about how it was to live when I was growing up. As I have said before we grew almost every thing we ate from the pork to vegetables, fruit, and even the grain for corn meal and sometimes flour.

In the spring, summer and fall we always had a variety of fresh vegetables but in the winter all our vegetables and fruit were either canned, smoked, pickled or dried. We always had plenty of food. We may have had to eat the same thing a few days in a row and we would get tired of it but we never went hungry.

In the kitchen we had a wood cookstove, my granddad was an early riser, he got up about 5 AM summer and winter, he would get a fire going in the "Old Buckeye" stove and then he would start a fire in the kitchen stove. My grandmother would get up and get breakfast started. First she would put on a big ol' pot of coffee. We always had some kind of pork for breakfast, sometimes it was bacon, sometimes sausage we had canned or it could be a nice big slice of ham. She made a big pan of biscuits from scratch every morning. At the end she always saved a little bit of dough to make me my own small biscuits.

She would make a big skillet of gravy with the drippings from the meat. If the meat happened to be the ham she would make red eye gravy. Red eye gravy is thinner than regular gravy and is made from the drippings to which black coffee is added. Then she would also fry up some eggs. Man, that was some good eatin'. We always had oatmeal and corn flakes and jam, jelly or apple butter.

The biscuits would be hot out of the oven and she would split my biscuit open and slather it with butter and close it so I would have a hot buttered biscuit. When it was cold she always sat my plate on the oven door so I would be warm as I ate my breakfast. If I ate at the table I stood between her and my grandfather to eat. I was allowed to have one saucer full of coffee. Sometimes I drank my sauce from her cup and sometimes from my Granddads. She drank hers with milk and he didn't. I guess that is where I learned to drink my coffee white.

As a special treat we would sometimes have pancakes, not regular pancakes but buckwheat pancakes from buckwheat we had grown. I don't remember much about the buckwheat. I just know we grew it and it was special and we kept it in the end of the meal box. Maybe my brother can refresh my memory.

She had some old iron griddles and she would mix up the pancakes and fry a whole stack of them. She would make her own syrup (no Mrs. Butterworth's for her). I still use the same recipe. two cups of sugar and one cup water, and a little maple flavoring, stir it until the sugar is dissolved and then a slow boil until it gets thick. Just thinking about those pancakes sets my mouth to waterin'.

Talking about all this food has made me hungry. I'm headin' for the kitchen.

That's it for today.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Idaho Funnies

Well, There doesn't seem to be a lot going on around here this week. As far as the weather goes we are under an air inversion which means cooler air is trapped by a layer of warmer air above. All we are seeing are smog and grey skies.. I guess this is better than more snow.

Since I have been in this area since 1965 and I consider myself to be an Idahoan. I thought I would share a few funnies that make me know I am a true Idahoan.

You Know You Are From Idaho When:

You know all 4 seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Construction.

You know how to pronounce the entire name of Boise, Idaho.

You know several people who have hit a deer.

You know what "cow tipping" and "snipe hunting" is.

You know which leaves make good toilet paper.

You only own 3 spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.

You see people wear bib overalls at funerals.

You think ethanol makes your truck "run a lot better.

You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.

You think of the major four food groups as beef, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.

You know cow pies aren't made of beef

You've ever given a snow shovel or an ice scraper as a gift...and not as a joke.

You've seen snow in every month of the year.

You know where sugar comes from ......... but are a little bewildered by the term "cane sugar."

You can discuss the taste of rocky mountain oysters...
You can discuss the source of rocky mountain oysters...
You can discuss the harvesting of rocky mountain oysters... ......without throwing up.

And that's it for today.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Friends


"Friends are like smakerals of fun. You can never have too many."



A friend is like a flower,
a rose to be exact,
Or maybe like a brand new gate
that never comes unlatched.
A friend is like an owl,
both beautiful and wise.
Or perhaps a friend is like a ghost,
whose spirit never dies.
A friend is like a heart that goes
strong until the end.
Where would we be in this world
if we didn't have a friend.
Friends
Friends smile at you.
They like your face.
They want to be with you
Any old place.

Friends have fun with you.
Friends share
They’re glad when you’re happy---
When you’re sad, they care.

If you’re a friend
Then you care, too.
That’s why your friends
Are glad you’re you!!!


Why GOD Gave Us Friends

GOD knew that everyone needs
Companionship and cheer,
He knew that people need someone
Whose thoughts are always near.

He knew they need someone kind
To lend a helping hand.
Someone to gladly take the time
To care and understand.

GOD knew that we all need someone
To share each happy day,
To be a source of courage
When troubles come our way.

Someone to be true to us,
Whether near or far apart.
Someone whose love we'll always
Hold and treasure in our hearts.

That's Why GOD Gave Us Friends!
And That's It For Today.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Day Late --Dollar Short

Well, this is Sunday's post and I am really messed up. I am always a day late with my posts but I always write it on the day...well somewhere yesterday I forgot to write a post...so you will have to pretend this is Sunday's post. Today I am a day late and a dollar short.

Well there is a challenge going around in the RV blogs and everyone wants to see your refrigerator and your pantry. I have been checking those out and I see the lid on the mustard bottle in Deb's is open.(Keeping up with the Kendall's blog). You might want to check that Deb.

Well I went out to the Out House to take a picture of the refrigerator. Amazing the things you find in an Out House refrigerator. I have no idea where that little bag of Idaho Spud bites came from....I am saving them for you June (my sister).
Note: nothing in the freezer.

And here is a picture of the pantry. Just some plastic cups and a couple baskets and forks (note to self: have enough forks) and the wooden thing - I just knew you were going to ask about it - so I will get the jump on it.

It is a paper plate holder unfortunately I used all the paper plates. I commissioned it made in Tennessee. The gentleman that made it told me it was made from wood that came from a house that was over 100 years old. His wife hand painted the grapes on the front. So it is kinda special .
Even though I didn't have any paper plates I do set a nice table.

I have shown you my referigerator and pantry - it is time to show me yours. Keep the challenge going.

So this is photo ten of three hundred sixty five. As always if you want the larger picture just click on it.




And in the words of my father "That's it for Today".

Woo Hoo - Sixty Two!!!!

Happy Birthday Speedy!!! And Many More!!



Well, first things first this morning (early) -- Today is Speedy's Birthday. Some people know him by Speedhitch, or Speed or Speedy. Some people call him Joe. He is also known as Dad and Papa to his children and grandchildren. Sherri calls him "Hey Dear" and he answers "Yes Dear". For a long time I thought their last name was Dear.



Speedy is celebrating his 62nd birthday today and I wanted to be one of the very first to wish him a very Happy Birthday. From what I hear sixty two is a big milestone but it will take me years and years to reach that one.


And now that we have all toasted Speedy's birthday here is a little milking story for you.


My first experience with cows must have been when I was about four or five. We had a jersey cow which we called "Old Jerz". My grandmother did all the milking. My first job went we went to milk was holding the cow's tail to keep her tail from hitting my grandmother in the head.

One day we bought a box of oatmeal which had a little dipper in it. Actually it was a 2 cup measuring cup with a handle, but that became my milk bucket. I wanted to learn to milk so my grandfather made me a little stool and gave me that dipper. My grandmother sat on her stool on one side of the cow and I sat on the other side of the cow on my stool. She taught me how to milk, I would milk my dipper full and pour it into her bucket. I could quit when I had milked two dippers full.

For a four or five year old thats quite a long time to sit still. You had to sit still because if you moved around or pulled too hard the cow would kick and you certainly didn't want to end up with her foot in your milk bucket.

My grandmother had a stroke in December of 1955, milking was never the same after that.

And a little country lore for you.

When the sun goes down red you can go ahead. When the sun comes up red you can go back to bed."
"Dew in the morning means no rain all day. No dew in the morning and it will rain by night."
"When the wind blows over the oats stubbles fall is near."
"Plant your flowers and garden plants after the full moon in May because of the danger of frost."
"If you don't have frost by the full moon in September you probably won't have frost until the full moon in October."
"When the wind blows from the east, you'll have bad weather in a day or two."
"If the leaves of the trees turn inside out, a storm is usually coming."
"Thunder and lightning in the winter means coal weather is coming."
When you plant corn or sow oats, then it rains hard and washes the top soil away, "It takes the life out of the soil and the heart out of the man."
"Never plant on Sunday, you will have a bad crop."
"When the yellow jackets go into the ground, fall is near."
"We get old too fast and smart too slow."

In the words of my Father, "That's it for Today".

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Need a Geek?

Well, It has been a busy day around here. The weather has turned cold (er) once again and we are having a brief respite from those dreaded four letter words r**n and s**w.

Since the Out House had not been started since mid December went out to start it Of course it turned over on the very first try. Checked it for leaks and found none. That makes me very happy. One of these days I will get out of the yard. Feeling the need for a casino fix. After all it can't sit in one spot forever.

Other than that I spent four hours trying to figure out how to transfer a photo from one computer to the other. Tried sending it by email, umpteen times -- that didn't work. Tried uploading it to another program -- that didn't work. Tried putting it on my four gig and that didn't work. That took forever because I had to go through all the photos to look for it. Was I upset when I didn't find it.

Finally, I went to The Geeks for assistance. I found what I needed to know and in less than three minutes I had my photo downloaded and put exactly where I wanted it. If you haven't been there or don't use their information I would highly recommend it. Chris is so good with her tutorials that even my little bitty pea brain can understand it and retain it until I need it and then I have to go back and retrain my pea brain. Wish I had remembered that four hours earlier.

Geeks on Tour is Jim and Chris Guld, full time RVers. They travel the USA offering seminars at RV Rallies. They also offer Wi Fi Support and sattelite installation with Datastorm and an online classroom with tutorial videos. You can sign up for a free newsletter and free videos, seminars on disks ($$) and they do website building.

They are truly Computer Geeks. I was priviledged to get to meet these fine people at the RV Dreams Rally last summer. My only regret is I didn't sign up for their computer class. I do know they are there when I need them though. All I do is log on to their site and log in to the members portion and I can get help. Their excellent information is interesting and so easy to understand.

They also travel with Odie who is the cutest Geek Dog you would ever want to see. You can reach them at http://www.geeksontour.com/



Today's photo ten of three hundred sixty five is of an original abstract painting. It is for sale if you want or like abstract art.


That's it for today.

Friday, January 9, 2009

EXCITED!!

Well, You've done it!!

I am so excited!!!

You make me so proud!!!

Now you may wonder why I am so excited, yesterday I topped 25,000 readers who have visited my site. That makes me very proud.

I have gone back and read every post I have written, some were good, some not so good and others well I gotta say they weren't worth the paper they were written on ---Oh! I forgot -- they weren't written on paper-- I should have hit the delete button instead. And the typos -- I don't proofread so what you see is what you get...The amazing thing is you have hung in there with me and I thank you for that.

And the comments. I love to get your comments.... I just got one from Melva in New Jersey who was concerned about my safety and one from a new reader who had just found my blog. I welcome your comments. You can also email me. I am replacing the @ sign with the word at so as to deter the spammers. Here is the address kimilauri at msn dot com. I love mail, packages and money. Feel free to send either.

Now on to the weather, yesterday was a gorgeous day. We are drying out but we are not out of the woods yet. The governor says out of all the roads in Washington that were closed 68 are now open and 69 are still closed. Interstate 5 the north - south freeway by Seattle opened yesterday and Snoqualmie Pass also opened. So things are moving in the right direction. Now if we don't get another big storm.



Here is a portion of my blog after I reached 10,000 readers and the same goes today.



I have learned a lot of things since I started this blog. It has also opened my eyes up to a few others.

If I miss a couple days it is harder to catch up.

It's not always easy to write.Sometimes there isn't anything interesting to write about.

You never know who is going to read your writing.

Last but not least, I love your comments. They are what keep me going. I love to get comments be they good or bad. Again, A special Thank You to all of you, my dear readers, for giving me the incentive to keep this blog going.


Photo eight of three hundred sixty five is for those who have questioned me about the Out House. It won't take much shoveling to get it out now. LOL
And, in the words of my Father, "That's it For Today!".

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Oh No !! Shrinking Snow!!!

Well, As the title says the snow is shrinking. I can actually see green patches in my yard. The twenty four hours of rain and warm weather has certainly helped.
Most of the streets here in Spokane are dry and driving is not as hazardous as it was last week. The drivers are still as bad though, I watched a guy in front of me today cross three lanes of traffic, almost sideswipe a van just to turn the corner in front of everyone else. Of course there is never a policeman around to see the driver who needs a ticket.

Out in Spokane County and in Northern Idaho there is flooding a lot of it from chunks of ice breaking up and clogging up creeks and rivers.

Now on the west side of the state it is a completely different story. They recieved so much rain of top of their snow there is major flooding everywhere. I-5 the major north south freeway is closed in spots where there is water over the freeway. Some bridges are closed because of high water and winds. Snoqualmie Pass remains closed since Tuesday. This is causing great hardships for truckers who have goods to deliver and stores that need supplies.


On the other hand there has been story after story of neighbors helping neighbors. shoveling sidewalks or snow blowing driveways, shopping, getting mail, checking on the elderly, and even sharing meals. These good deeds should not go unnoticed. Acts of kindness such as these really warms your heart.

If you remember a few days ago I posted photos of my bird bath completely covered with snow and a mountain of snow where the snowplow had plowed me in. Photo eight of three hundred sixty five tells a different story.

And in the words of my Father, "That's it For Today".

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Snow To Rain

Well, the weatherman was right on -- he predicted 24 hours of rain and it happened. We had high winds and rain - buckets of it. The good thing about that is it melted the snow. Now everyone knows that when you mix rain and snow it melts the snow and produces more water and lots of water without anywhere else to go gets deeper and deeper and then it causes flooding. That is where we are now. Now the temperatures are supposed to drop and that freezes the puddles and makes ice and then GUESS WHAT??? We are to get more snow. this on again off again weather can only last for so long. No more weather talk I am depressed!

A day or two ago my friends Speedy and Sherri from Texas mentioned a trip to the Pacific Northwest next summer and wanted me to give them pointers on what they should see and not see. Well, Speedy here is the scoop -- In my opinion the whole Pacific Northwest is worth seeing from the blue lakes and the high mountains to the deserts and the lush green forests and the Pacific Ocean --you will love it all!!

And just so you know your Washington Travel Agent is hard at work for you here is photo seven of three hundred sixty five.

(click on photo to enlarge)


And as my Father would say "That's it For Today". (He loved the Pacific Northwest too)

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Will Of Godfrey Daniel Stout

Well, on these long snowy cold days I have been tracing some of my family history . I thought I would share the will of my 5th great grandfather Godfrey Daniel Stout. I found it quite interesting. Maybe you will also.

DANIEL2 STOUT (JOHANNES1 STAUD) was born Abt. 1693 in Bosenbach, Germany, and died Abt. 1770 in Frederick Co., VA. [now Shenandoah Co. VA]. He married (1) EVA MAGDALENA SCHMID 19 Jan 1716/17 in Essweiler, daughter of JOH. GEORG SCHMID. She was born Abt. 1695 in Germany, and died in Essweiler, Germany. He married (2) ANN ELIZABETH KELLER 27 Nov 1736 in Eissweiler, Germany, daughter of JOHANNES KELLER. She was born in Germany, and died Aft. 1779 in Shenandoah Co. VA.

Notes for DANIEL STOUT:
Frederick County, Virginia; Will Book 4
WILL OF DANIEL STOUT; dated 26 Oct 1769 proved 7 Aug 1770.
In the name of God, Amen, I DANIEL STOUT of Frederick County in the Colony of Virginia being weak in
body and of sound memory this twenty sixty day of October, in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven and
sixty nine make and publish my Last Will and Testament in manner following (that is to say) first I give to my
three sons Viz GOODFRIED DANIEL, JOHN & GEORGE BENJAMIN STOUT my Tract of Land situated on
Stony Creek in Frederick County in the Colony of Virginia to each of them one hundred & fifty acres more or less
and first I give to my son GEORGE BENJAMIN STOUT his heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns one
hundred & fifty acres of Land more or less it being the upper part of my Tract of Land whereon I now live in
Frederick County in the Colony of Virginia from Godlip Links line down Stony Creek with all Buildings and
Improvements that is thereon and my Wife, ELIZABETH STOUT, & my two sons, JOHN & GEORGE
BENJAMIN STOUT shall keep house together also on that Part of the Land whereon I now live as long as they
can agree and my Wife is Willing to keep house and also, I give all my Personal Estate Chattle and household
goods and the grain that is now in the field to my Wife ELIZABETH STOUT and to my two sons JOHN and
GEORGE BENJAMIN STOUT and if my Wife cant keep house any longer, my son GEORGE BENJAMIN
STOUT his heirs Executors and Administrators or Assigns or whoever has possession of the Land I give him,
shall give to my said Wife ELIZABETH yearly and every year During her natural life, five bussels of Wheat and
six bussels of Rie and fifty pounds of corn and Sow a Quarter of an acre of ground with flax seed and keep her
proper use one mare become on his own proper cost and my wife ELIZABETH STOUT send my two sons JOHN
and GEORGE BENJAMIN STOUT to school until they have sufficient Schooling. Also I give one hundred &
fifty acres of land more or less to my son JOHN STOUT, his heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns next to
my son GEORGE BENJAMIN STOUT's land and from his line down Stoney Creek and also I give to my son
GOODFRIED DANIEL STOUT, to his Executors Adaministrators or Assigns one hundred and fifty acres of
Land more or less beginning at my son JOHN STOUT's line down Stoney Creek to the lower line of my said
Tract of Land and my wife ELIZABETH STOUT and my sons JOHN STOUT and GEORGE BENJAMIN
STOUT shall give to my son PETER STOUT the value of Five Pounds Virginia Currency in good and chattel
after my Decease and they shall also give the value of Twenty Shillings Virginia Currency in goods to each of my
two grandchildren, ELIZABETH COFFIELD and DANIEL COFFIELD to be Paid when they come of age or are
married & my wife ELIZABETH STOUT shall demand all the money that is due to me and shall therewith Pay
all my Debts. And I make and Ordain her my said Wife ELIZABETH STOUT and JACOB WOLF, JUNR. Sole
Executrixe of this my Will in Trust for the Intents & purposes on this my Will contained to take care and see the
same performed according to my True Intent & Meaning. In Witness whereof the said DANIEL STOUT have to
this my Last Will & Testament set my hand & Seal the day & Year above Written, Signed Sealed & delivered by
the said DANIEL STOUT as and for his Last Will & Testament in the presence of us who were present at the
Signing & Sealing Whereof,
Curtis Sink (?Link), George Weaver, John Cremvine
his
Daniel X Stout (LS)
Mark
At a Court held for Frederick County August 7th 1770 this Last Will and Testament of DANIEL STOUT Dec'd
was Proved by the Oathes of Curtiss Sink & George Weaver witnesses thereto and ordered to be Recorded at the
Motion of Elizabeth Stout the Executrixe who made Oath thereto Certificate granted her for obtaining a Probate
thereof in due form the giveing Security Whereupon she together with Curtis Sink & Jacob Wolf Junr. entered
into & acknowledged a Bond in the Penalty of Two Hundred Pounds conditioned for her due and faithful
Administration of said Estate. By the Court, Ta Keith (Seal)
2
The Estate of DANIEL STOUT, Frederick Co., VA dated March 6th 1770 and Dec. 3rd 1770.
*****

I have more than 25,000 people listed in my database all related to me and I keep adding to it. These cold snowy days are good for that.

Today's photo six of three hundred sixty five will document how I am keepiing warm on these cold snowy days.



That's it for today.

Pineapple Express

Well, It's all about the weather today.

According to the keeper of snow records the 7.5 inches we got yesterday and the 1-2 inches last night inches added to the total of 69.5 inches from last Friday.....well , you do the math..... we are getting pretty darn close to 100 inches. Coeur d'Alene in Northern Idaho twenty miles away has already hit the 100 mark. And there is more weather in store......

The weatherman is predicting temperatures in the high 30's to 40's and mixed rain and snow including one to two inches of rain on top of all this snow. I believe I smell a flood coming on. They're calling it a "Pineapple Express".

Now "Pineapple Express" is a new term for me, so of course I had to google it. It's a term for a weather system that begins in the Hawaiian tropics and brings warm winds and increasing rainfall. 1-2 inches of rain is predicted in the next couple days. That will increase snow levels and a rapid runoff in local streams and rivers. A flood watch has already been issued.

Not only are the floods an issue there are still problems with roofs caving in. Over 50 roofs of businesses have caved ini since we got the first snow storm. People that are willing to shovel roofs are in great demand.

I know that the poor weatherman has got to be tired of talking about the weather. I am also sure that the snow removal crews have got to be getting tired of removing all this snow from city streets. I also know I am tired of being plowed in.

Someone mentioned I forgot my photo of the day yesterday. I guess I was so busy reminiscing about Berthels I forgot.

Here is photo four of three hundred sixty five.



And today's photo five of three hundred sixty five.



That's it for today.
P.S. I need to add a post script to this blog....I understand Speedy is having a birthday--- I may be late for your last one but I am early for your next one!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday Speedy!!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Berthel's

Well, when I was growing up in Johnson County there were little country stores everywhere, most were family run. Our particular favorite was what we called Berthel's. It was run by Berthel herself. Berthel was a large lady, she and her husband lived on a hill above the store.

The store was really small, just two rooms, one was a storeroom and the other the main part of the store. In the store she sold groceries , pop and ice cream and in the back room she kept things like sacks of feed and sometimes fertilizer. She also kept kerosene, oil and various other things she sold.

It had large windows in front, the seats were wooden benches and in the middle was a potbellied stove. There was one wooden ladderback chair that sat by the stove, but you didn't want to sit there. That was Berthel's chair and everybody knew it. When she was not busy she always sat in the chair by the stove.

There were two gas pumps out front where you could buy a dollar's worth of gas. That is, if you had a car..... Berthel wouldn't let you pump your own gas. She had to pump it for you so you would get the right amount and she knew how much you owed her for it.

There was a big field next to the store which was planted in beans. In the summer when the beans were ready to be picked it would be full of bean pickers. At lunch we would all go over to Berthels to get bologna and cheese sandwich or bologna and crackers for lunch. You could get a really big lunch, A pop, a thick slice of bologna and a cracker, a bag of potato chips, a candy bar and an ice cream all for a quarter.

There were no restrooms but there was a new outhouse out back. She used to keep old catalogs for paper, and an old broom setting in the corner for sweeping up. A couple of boys snuck in there about dark one night and set the broom on fire and stuck it down the toilet hole and caught the toilet on fire. It was in such a shape a new one had to be built. Berthel never left a broom in the toilet anymore.

The school bus would stop there to drop off the kids who went to high school and another bus from Butler would come along and take them to Mountain City to the High School. Elementary school kids were expected to stay on the bus, however, if you talked to the bus driver he would sometimes let you stay there while he made his rounds and pick you up on the way back. If you acted up in the store she told the bus driver and you were kept on the bus.

It was a treat for us to get a ride to the store, otherwise we had to walk. It was about a mile from where we lived. If we had a nickel or a dime we went to the store. We could buy a pack of "tater chips" and a bottle of pop out of the cooler for a dime.

Now the pop cooler was a different story, All the pop sat in icy cold water and it all came in bottles, there were no canned pop in those days. Pop tabs hadn't even been thought of. We would look through the cooler to buy the right kind of pop. RC, Nehi, Orange Crush, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper and Hires Root Beer were the favorites. If you took your pop away from the store you had to pay a two cent deposit on the bottle. When you brought your bottle back, she gave you your two cents back. Sometimes when we walked to the store we would look along side the road for pop bottles people had thrown out and take those and cash them in.

There was an old man by the name of Pop who lived about a half mile up the road . It was in the middle of summer and he had been out working and was real thirsty so he stopped into Berthel's to get a Nehi Orange. Some other fellers come in and they all sat down on a bench and started talking. When they got up to leave Pop got up and walked out with them and forgot about paying for his drink. He walked up the road by the wash house and to his driveway and was almost at his back door when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and it was Berthel. "Pop, you didn't pay for your drink, you owe me a nickel." she said. Of course she got her nickel.

The store was a favorite meeting place for all the friends and neighbors, the farmers would come in and sit around and have a bottle of pop and talk about the news, weather, crops etc. She usually closed at 7 o'clock but sometimes the neighbors would get together in the cool of the evening and do some singing, mostly gospel songs. Sometimes maybe there would be a "hot" rook game going on. In that case she stayed open till the last neighbor had left.

Berthel retired and leased it to other people for awhile but it was never the same.

Other owners have come and gone but the memories of a cold pop on a hot day still remain and give one a "warm fuzzy feeling" that brightens up an otherwise dull January day.

And in the words of my father, "That's it For Today".

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Grab a Shovel - Get Over It!!

Well, with record shattering snowfall and cold temperatures I am still hunkered over the fire. With a low this morning of minus 8 degrees at a predicted high of 14 it will be a good day to stay in the house but I can warn you this cabin fever is getting to me. Why oh why didn't I go south with the Snowbirds?


In all the years since I have lived in Northern Idaho/Spokane this is the worst winter I have ever experienced. With Friday's snowfall the total for the season stood at 69.2 inches. That's way over my head.

At least we are getting national attention. We've made the rounds of USA Today, The News Channels, The Weather Channels, The Late Night Talk Shows including a story about a woman on snowshoes who spent six hours to help rescue a female moose who crashed through the ice on Priest Lake in Northern Idaho. After getting it to shore and warming it up with propane heaters and an electric blanket the moose got up on its own and ambled off toward the woods.

Many businesses have also taken a hit this season. Because of the heavy snowfall many roofs have caved in closing some businesses. Auto dealers are not seeing much activity and are keeping their salesman busy shoveling. RV and boat dealers are at a standstill.

Other businesses are seeing an increase in their sales. Snow shovels are in great demand - if you can find one. Out of eight stores I called the other day none had snow shovels. One store did say they were due to get a shipment from Seattle at noon--only problem with that was between here and there is Snoqualmie Pass and it was closed for avalanche control. So guess where the snow shovels were??

A lousy winter makes for lousy pictures. Here are some lousy ones.



And the snowplow plowed me in again!!! Better Get a Shovel and Get Over It!!!!!!!!




Photo Three of Three Hundred Sixty Five


Snow Berries


And in the words of my father, "That's It For Today!"

Penny Postcards

Photo left to right: My Grandma Holloway with the bonnet, My Aunt Suzie (apron). She is holding my cousin Peanut. The horse is Old Dan. I am the brunette on the horse and my sister is the blonde in front. My Grandma Swift is on the right. (click on photo for larger size)

Well, here is a couple of cute stories about my Aunt Suzie. Actually she was one of my favorites. She had snow white hair and she wore it curled up on top of her head in a little topknot. She used to come to visit us and sometimes she would stay a week or so. I loved having her come to visit. She always spoiled me. Whe she was there I got to sleep with her. She said it was because she was afraid to sleep alone.

She always wore a big white apron and was an excellent cook. She liked to bake and help my Grandmother with the canning etc. She made wonderful blackberry jelly.

She dipped snuff and she would often send me to find a birch tree and break the limbs off it and bring them back so she would have a toothbrush to dip her snuff with. She kept her snuff in a little tin box in her apron pocket. She would break the birch limbs into small pieces about 2 or 3 inches long and then she would chew one end making a fine brush out of it. She would then dip it into the tin and then in her mouth.

When postcards were a penny she would would write to my granddad twice a week. When the post office changed the price to 2 cent post cards I remember she raised cain with the post office and she told my Grandpa he could expect a card only once a week.

My grandmother died when I was 10 so became my job every Sunday night to answer her post cards. I remember one time somewhere I had gotten an old fountain pen and a bottle of ink. The kind of pen you stick in the bottle of ink to fill it up and the ink runs out when you write. If you're not careful you have ink all over you and all over the paper. Well it takes a lot of practice to write with one of those type pens without smudging the ink. One day I talked my Grandpa into letting me write her letter with the fountain pen. The next week here came a postcard back telling him to make me write with a pencil because she was unable to decipher my writing with ink.

She was also honest as the day was long and very frugal. In her later years she drew a small pension but not enough to live on so she went to live with one of her grandchildren. Her social worker explained if they charged her rent she would be able to draw more. The relatives told her they would charge her rent and she could pay them and they in turn would give it back to her. She refused to take it instead managing to live on her meager funds.

Her husband was quite a character. He always walked with a limp. I never knew why but recently I discovered it was because he shot himself in the leg. That story deserves a blog of its own.


A day trip today was taken to Idaho so here is my Photo Two of Three Sixty Five.



As in the words of my Father, "That's it For Today".

Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Years Resolutions

Well, it's time for making those New Years Resolutions and here is mine.
I resolve to make no resolutions this year.

However, I do have a few ideas that I plan to stash in my little pea brain that will affect my life and the lives of others.

I will continue to write my stories about growing up in the hills of Tennessee in the 50's and 60's. My children and grandchildren will never experience those kinds of adventures so it is important to me to document those events for them as a way of conecting with their ancestors.

Another project I would like to do this year is Project 365 or Photo A Day. You can document your life by taking a photo a day. At the end of a year you can remember what you were doing on any given day.

About two and one half years ago when the Grand girls first got this Placostomous he was so small he could hide anywhere in the tank and you really had to look to find him. It's hard to miss him these days. Here is my Photo of the Day.




I also found this poem which I thought was a great one.

Kindness, can be shown in many ways,
a gift you buy, or debts you pay.

A sweet word to someone blue, or just
listening, to someones point of view.

Acts of kindness, should come naturally
to you.Never noticing what you've done,
until its through.

Flowers picked right from the yard, or
something you've worked for, very hard.

Just taking time to let a loved one know,
just how far, for them you'll go,

A complete stranger, in dangers way, your
act of kindness they've no need, to repay.

Whether its something your asked to do, or
just because, you wanted to.

You never know when you may be in need, of
a sweet and kindly deed.

When an act of kindness comes your way, it
brightens up a gloomy day.

If the chance should come your way, show an
act of kindness today

Makala Shay

And in the words of my Father, "That's it For Today".