Goodbye, 2008
Here it is, the end of another year. They are flying by fast. The older you get the faster they go. With things the way they are I certainly hope next year is better than this year was. However, I am probably better off than a lot of people are. I don't have a job but my income has not been cut yet.
I hope that things get better for all of the poor people who have no jobs or are losing their homes.
At my age I never know what will be my last year on this Earth. I just enjoy what time I have here and try not to think about the future. I know my future will be good even if I am not here on the Earth. Here's hoping your future is brighter and better for 2009!
The Gateway Arch in Saint Louis
The Gateway Arch at night time and day time
We passed the Gateway Arch every time we went to Texas for years. The highway we drove on passed right by the Arch.
But once we went there just to see the arch and to go up in it. We rode the funny elevator to the top. The elevator went in a kind of up and sideway fashion. It was kind of scary especially when it reached the very top. I did not like the way it made my stomach feel when I looked down.
It is unbelievable how high the arch is and that it can support the elevator with all of the people in it. And there is more than one elevator.
The people who design these strange kinds of structures and buildings are amazing. They must have a talent from God to be able to do that.
Mama's Gloom and Doom!
I remember that my mother did something when I was a kid that I would never have done to my kids when they were little. She probably was having a bad day or something was brothering her when she said this: She would suddenly say to us kids, or to me if I happened to be the one right there, "I just feel like something is going to happen today." That would really tense me up and frighten me. I would say to her, "What do you mean, what is going to happen?" Then she would answer back, "Oh, I don't know what, I just feel like something is going to happen." Maybe before she said this I felt like the Smiley Face above but after wards I felt like the Scream in the other picture.
That would really terrify me. I believed in her and if she thought something was going to happen, then it probably would.
Of course after a few years of hearing that and then seeing that nothing ever really did happen I began to lose some of my anxiety. But she did put me through some uneasy days waiting to see what might befall us. I have always tried to make my children feel comfortable and would never say something to make them think we might have some big tragedy
I think it was her way of using scare tactics to make us uneasy. She one time told me that I should think about becoming a Christian because I might not have another chance to become one if I didn't do it then. So it made me sit up and take notice. I began to think that I might get killed on the way to where I was going. It was just an uncomfortable thing to have hanging over my head. I am sure she didn't realize just how her remarks made us feel.
In her later years I don't remember her saying things like that. Maybe her life eased up some and she didn't feel the same way she did back in those days. Whatever, I loved my Mom and I am sure she was doing what she felt was the right thing by us. But I did spend a few days thinking every move might be my last one!
Trolley Buses in Fort Wayne
Trolley buses in Fort Wayne
When I first came to Fort Wayne to live, in 1946, they had a trolley bus system. Trolley buses were powered by electricity and ran with poles that were connected to power lines up over the street. They did not have motors but just hummed with electricity.
I rode the bus to my work place for several years. The bus business was very much a part of most people's day getting to and home from work.
We used tokens mostly. You could buy tokens cheaper and then use them instead of cash. If I remember right you could buy three tokens for a quarter but if you paid by cash it cost 10 cents for each trip. So you saved a nickle on three tokens. Not much but then every little bit counted.
You could also get transfers if you needed to go somewhere not on the line you started on.
The buses were all over Fort Wayne, so there were not many places where you couldn't get to by bus, or at least get very near where you wanted to go.
Not too many years after I came here the bus system went out of business, At least the trolley buses. They still have some buses in Fort Wayne but they are motor buses, not trolley. I think by this time more people had cars and drove to work instead of riding the bus.
I don't know why the trolley buses lost favor but soon all of the power lines over the streets were gone and you only saw motor buses. I have not ridden a city bus in many, many years. I ride the Greyhound bus to Texas but I never ride the city buses. I know that there are some people still riding them because I see every once in a while where the the bus company is having financial trouble and want to raise the prices. I think it is over a dollar now to ride a bus anywhere and maybe more. Which is still a bargain if you have to buy gas for a car to drive!
Dry Salt Meat
Have you heard of dry salt meat? I think now it is mainly referred to as salt pork.
When I was a kid my Mom used to make it quite often for breakfast. It had the skin on it but was sliced just like other bacon. My Mom sliced it kind of thick. Most of the time she would put it in a pan of water and let it get boiling hot and let it sit for a few minutes and then pour off the water. That took away some of the salty taste. It was very salty if she didn't do that. Then she would put it in a skillet and fry the usual way. She always fried it until it was crispy and a lot of the fat was fried out of it. However, she then used that fat to season vegetables so we ended up eating the fat anyway! We all really liked the dry salt meat . I liked it better than regular bacon. I am sure it was not very good for us but back in those days people were not so concerned with what was healthful or good for us. We ate what tasted good and was cheap enough for us to afford. Salt pork was much cheaper than regular bacon.
Salt pork was used a lot for seasoning vegetables such as beans, black eyed peas and other items of food. It is made from the belly fat of the pig and is much fattier than regular bacon. It is salt cured but not smoked.
My mom always bought her salt pork in a chunk and it was not sliced. Then she sliced it to the thickness she wanted.
I never see it in the grocery store. I am sure if I asked I might be able to get it now but probably not if I asked for dry salt meat--I would have to ask for salt pork. It has been bashed so much as being bad for you that most people would not dare eat it!
But I ate salt pork many times when I was a kid. I loved it and I would like to have some in the morning for my breakfast! Fat and all!
Our New Record Player
This record player looks a lot like our first one.
Back in 1946 we had our name on the list at Sears and Roebuck for a record player. It was right after WWII and it was hard to get almost everything. You had to put your name on a list for anything you wanted. So we did have our name on the list at Sears for the record player. Soon we got a call from Sears and we could get our record player. It was a chair side model. It had a radio and the record player part had a lid that lifted up and you could put the record on to play. It played the old 78 records and the very first record I bought was White Christmas. That was a new song and it was popular while Ford and I were dating. So it was sort of "Our Song."I have always loved White Christmas --the song and the movie too--because it was a big thing after the war was over and it just seemed to fit in with my dreams and reminded me of my dreams for a new life.So that record player was really used a lot. In time it got something wrong and we took it to get fixed. The part was not available to fix it so we had to ditch it. But it was not too long before we got a new record player that would play 78,and 45 RPM records. Now I have one that will play records, all sizes, a CD and both kinds of tapes. A record player has always been a very vital part of my life. I love music and I have tons of records, CDs and tapes which hold all of my favorite songs.White Christmas still is my favorite of all songs. It reminds me of my dating days and a favorite time of my life! That record player made it possible for me to hear that song whenever I wanted to.
Merry Christmas to All!
This is the birthday of our Savior. A day to be reverent and thankful for all we have going for us. We can be thankful for all of our blessings that we experience everyday.
I hope each and every one of you has the merriest and happiest Christmas ever. I am praying and hoping that each one of you has good health and good financial times. Once again, Merry Christmas (not happy holidays) to all of you!
My Memories of Christmas Eve as a Kid
Little red wagon
A tricycle
I have fond memories of Christmas Eve when I was a little kid. For some reason, Our Mother and Dad always let us get our presents on Christmas eve instead of Christmas morning.
We always got some toys, a bag of fruit, a bag of candy and a bag of nuts. Back in those days we didn't get fruit and candy all year long like kids do now. Fruits and candy are an everyday item now. Back in those days we just got fruits and candy as a special treat. We always had canned fruit to eat every day and candy on special occasions but we did not have candy and fresh fruit at our disposal all the time like kids do nowadays.
It was a special time when My Dad would get his pliers and his pocket knife and crack nuts and pick the meats our for us to eat. Or he would take his pocket knife and peel an apple for us or an orange. The candy we usually got was the hard candy with ribbons of red and white candy and other fancy shapes. Sometimes we would get a box of chocolates. My Mom always got the orange flavored candies out first--they were her favorite.
Most of the time we got some kind of a doll and a coloring book and crayons--but just a box of eight or maybe later on a box of sixteen, never the large boxes with 36 or more in them like you see now. Once we got a little red wagon and another time a tricycle. I remember what a joy it was to tear into those new toys and goodies to eat on Christmas Eve.
I will never again live those days but I will always remember them with pleasure!
Charlie McCarthy Doll
Charlie McCarthy
Edgar Bergen and his puppets Charlie and Mortimer Snerd.
Back in about the late 1930s I got a Charlie McCarthy puppet doll for Christmas.
Charlie McCarthy was very popular at that time. Edgar Bergen was the ventriloquist who operated the Charlie McCarthy puppet. Charlie McCarthy was a radio show back then because TV was not very widespread yet. And, in fact, TV was the doomsday for Charlie McCarthy.
I loved my Charlie and played with it a lot. I do not know now what ever became of it. Lost in the shuffle of moving and time it somehow was lost forever.
If I were fortunate enough to still have it I imagine that it would be worth a fortune.
Charlie McCarthy is just a memory for most of us who were living then. For the rest of you it is a shame you will never know Charlie!
My Grandson, Jake--Happy Birthday!
My grandson, Jake, is 18 years old today. I would like to say he is my favorite grandson but I have two others of which I am as proud of as I am him.
Jake is a drummer and song writer. I have not been able to hear him drum yet but I am told that he is very good on the drums.
I see Jake every summer when they come to visit me. I am looking forward to seeing him this summer when they come.
Happy birthday, Jake and many more to come. I love you!
We are Frozen in!
This is a picture taken out my den window of a little tree that is in the lady's yard next door. I wanted to take some out the front but I had to go outside and you don't go outside for much when it is 2 degrees! Now it is even colder.
They said 90 thousand people were without power at the beginning (two days ago). Fortunately, I was not one of them! I think my house and the house right next door to me were the only ones in this area to have power. I managed to have power all this time. I said God is watching over me. Brett and Carla Sue both have been without power for two days and nights. Their power is back on now. But it is still extremely cold.
You don't realize how wonderful power is until you have to be without it for a while.
This is an extra post for today just to tell you about our ice storm.
This is how Indiana weather is! I hate it but I love my home!
Christmas Trees
Every year we used to have a big family controversy over the Christmas tree. I wanted to have a smaller tree that would not be so big to decorate. But the rest of the family wanted this huge tree about six feet tall and took forever to decorate.
Needless to say, I usually lost out. I have to admit that I have never liked decorating a Christmas tree. I love it once it is up and finished but before that I would just like to leave and come back when it is done!
The rest of the family usually put most of the ornaments on the tree but I had to put on the lights and get it fastened in the stand. I also would have liked to leave and come back after the tree was taken down and everything put away!
I think now that I might welcome putting a tree up with my family. It has been so long since I did that. I kind of miss doing it even though it seemed unpleasant at that time.
After the kids left home we finally stooped so low as to get an artificial tree. It was a nice one and did away with the hunt for a perfect tree that suited all the family. It is still in my attic but is never used any more.
These years since I am all alone, I just put my little fiber optic tree on a little stand and drag my Ficus tree into the family room and plug its lights in--I leave them on it all the time. That completes my Christmas decorating! And I sit and reminise about the Christmases of the past.
Christmas Cookies
Christmas Cookies
I used to bake dozens of cookies at Christmas time. I loved doing it. I made the decorated ones like above and I liked to make other kinds of cookies such as ones with nuts and dates in them. They were my favorite but my family always wanted the decorated ones.
One year Brett and Amy wanted to help me bake cookies (big help!). So they came over and we made a big batch of the sugar cookies which was the kind I baked for decorating. They had a ball. Their Mother worked so she didn't have time to bake cookies. I let them just decorate the cookies the way they wanted to. Anyway, we had fun and they remember that day even now.
I have not made Christmas cookies for years. One reason is that the kids--they are not kids any more--are not here that much and I would end up eating most of the cookies myself, and I don't need them! Another reason is that it was a lot of work and I shun work as much as I can now! It is also probably just as cheap to go buy a batch of already decorated cookies than it would be to bake them at home.
So the cookie deal has ended around my house! Sad but true.
Slang Words
Back when I was just a kid my mother taught us that any kind of slang word was a terrible thing to come out of our mouths. Gosh, Golly, Gee whizz, darn or any other kind of slang expression was definitely a no, no around my mother.
Yet, I heard her many times say "My Lord, or My God" and a few other four letter words which I consider a lot worse or just as bad as the words we were forbidden to use. I have never been able to figure out her reasoning about the simple little slang words that mean absolutely nothing to me now nor did they then except that they were terrible words to use.
However, as a result of always being forbidden to use those words I grew up just not using them. To this day I do not use any kind of slang words just because that rule was so embedded into my mind. I have not suffered any hardships because of it.
My slang words consist of Fiddle sticks, shoot, poop, my goodness, or gracious me. I would much rather use those than the terrible language I hear all of today's kids using! Thanks to my Mother for her upbringing of my sisters and me.
My children never heard me use any profanity when they were growing up. Consequently, I don't think they use it either. Of course maybe they just don't use them around me!
Will Water and Gas Mix?
Ford at his workWater and gas certainly do not mix. Ford found that out many years ago when he did a dumb thing.
We had bought an old car for a second one and it had a few things wrong, and some things missing. One thing missing was the cap for the gas tank.
Ford filled the tank up with gas and as a temporary fix he wadded up an old rag and stuffed it in the gas tank opening.
That worked fine until we got a rain. He was not thinking clearly and just left the rag in the gas tank opening. It got rain soaked and some of the water from the rain dripped into the tank.
That is when he found that gas and water do not mix! He tried starting the car and it would not start. Then he realized that the tank would have to be drained and refilled with gas. Fortunately, that was back when gas was not $4.00 a gallon.
Ford was an intelligent man but his intelligence was on vacation when he stuck that rag into that gas tank opening. He learned quickly what a dumb thing he had done!
Happy Birthday to me!
65 years ago
12 Years ago
Today is my 82nd birthday. It is also the 8th anniversary of my beloved husband's death!
What a horrible birthday gift! He died about 2:00 PM. Carla and I were there. We expected him to die but not so soon. The doctors had said he could live as much as two weeks after they took him off all medication. But he only lived about two days
I feel good for 82 years of living. I am a little stiff and sore sometimes and not quite as nimble as I once was but otherwise I feel as good as I did 50 years ago. I have been blessed with good health. As far as I can tell, my mental facilities are still as good as ever. Maybe I forget a little bit more but you can't put much over on me! (Maybe I am just too senile to notice it!)
So I am making it even without my better half. I miss him greatly but I am looking forward to being joined with him again when I leave this earth. Here's hoping I will reach 83 this time next year!
Our Old DeSoto Car
This car looks a lot like our old DeSoto car.
Years ago my Dad got an old DeSoto car. I don't know the exact year it was but probably about 1929. The picture looks a lot like I remember it looking.
I was dating Ford at that time and my Dad let us use the car one night on our date. We just drove around town a while and parked at one of the parks in West Paris (that was fun!).
Whoever my Dad bought the car from put new seat covers on the seats and it looked fairly decent, for that time.
We didn't have the car for a very long time and I don't remember why my Dad got rid of it. I imagine it had problems which were too expensive for my Dad to pay for so he sold it.
But Ford and I did enjoy one night out on the town with it.
My First Christmas of not believing in Santa Claus
I remember well the very first time I learned that your Dad is Santa Claus.
This happened on Christmas Eve. My Mom was cleaning up the kitchen and my Dad went outside for something. I wanted to know what he was doing and my Mom said, "Oh nothing." I went to the window and looked outside and I saw my Dad pulling a little red wagon and it was loaded with things--I couldn't tell what but I knew it was something good!
He was going to put the stuff in our living room. We didn't have a tree that year--we hardly ever did. But I met him at the door and the cat was out of the bag.
After that I knew that My Dad was Santa Claus. Somehow, Christmas was never the same after that. I still liked my gifts and had fun but not like when I believed in Santa Claus! My young fantasies ended at such a young age, probably about five or six.
Buddy and the Christmas Tree Accident
Buddy, Our good dog..
Our son-in-law had come over to help us.We had got the tree up and decorated and was putting the storage boxes away in the garage. When we came back into the house Buddy was racing around and very excited about something. I looked and then I saw why: the Christmas tree had fallen over and was lying out in the middle of the room.I think Buddy thought he was going to get beaten or something. However, the tree falling had nothing to do with Buddy. We had just not secured the tree well enough and it had become top heavy and fell because of that. We then secured the tree with a wire to the wall and then it was OK. I think only one ornament got broken and nothing was damaged, just a little messed up.We got it back up and straightened the ornaments and it was fine. But Buddy's nerves were shot! I am sure he thought we would punish him for the mishap. Look at that picture and how innocent he looks. Could you beat him?
A Death in our Animal Family
Smokie
The Christmas Village
Our Christmas village
Brett, by our Christmas village
For many years we had a little village under our Christmas tree. We had little houses, a church, skaters on a pond, skiers on a slope and people resting on a bench by the pond. We put lights in the houses and the church. We had a small train on a track that was placed around the village. It was so homey and cute to look at. But a lot of work to put in place!
Now that I am alone and don't have a lot of company I no longer put up a traditional tree. I have a fiber optic tree that I put on a small table and I have done away completely with a village. But it is a pleasant memory to think of the little Christmas village that was always a part of our Christmas so long ago.
The Christmas Play
Mary Ruth, my sisterWhen my sister was just a very little girl she was in a Christmas play. This incident happened at the rehearsal for the play. The children were lined up in rows to sing. The directors of the play, were not very smart! They had each child holding a candle--a lit candle. My sister was in the middle row and someone behind her had his, or her, candle very near her hair. Her hair caught fire and started to burn. One of the adults very quickly grabbed her and smothered out the flames so that she was not burned nor did her hair get very much burned. I think after that they did away with the candles in Christmas plays! I can't imagine that anyone would risk small children with lit candles for any reason. I am sure they learned their lesson from that incident!
Get Out of our Way!
In 1982 we made a trip to Idaho and then traveled over into Oregon and down from there to California. That must be cattle country because we ran into herds of cattle and believe me, they take their place on the road.
These are the actual pictures I took of the cattle on the highway.
We went through several different herds of cattle and they went right down the middle of the highway. We just had to go very slowly and pass them as we got the chance.
Needless to say our motor home and the small car we were towing really got messed up. We finally got out of the herds and stopped at a state park and were able to sort of clean up our car and motor home. It was really a big job.
It was an interesting experience but not one I want to go through again. Those cows had the upper hand and they took advantage of it!
Brett and Apple Pie
I used to have an apple tree in my back yard. Every fall I would make a couple of apple pies from the apples that fell from the tree.
I had made two apple pies and Carla, Brett and Amy were here for a dinner.
Brett had two large pieces of pie and in an hour or so he was lying back in the recliner moaning with pain. He was so sick from the pie he ate that we thought he was going to die!
I am suprised that he still likes apple pie after that ordeal. But he still does eat apple pie and he mentions how sick he was after he ate those two large pieces of pie. He absolutely made a pig out of himself.
By the way, lightning struck my apple tree and it fell in my yard. We had to chop it up and cart it away to the dump. So I don't have a source for apples any more.
Little Boy, Big List
Evan Theis
My daughter, Carla, told her two grandchildren to make a list of what they want for Christmas so she would have an idea of what to buy for them. That was a few weeks ago.
This past weekend Evan, pictured above, called her on the phone and said he had his list made. So Carla told him to hold on a minute and she would get a piece of paper to write down what he told her. Evan said excitedly, "Grandma, get a BIG piece of paper!"
So his list was extensive, I am sure. And if I know Carla, most of his request list will be filled! She loves her grandchildren and spends a fortune on them, not only at Christmas but also other times of the year.
Evan is eight years old. He was born in May of 2000 and Ford, his grandpa, died in December of 2000. So Ford did not get to be with Evan very much before he died. He would have loved Evan to death.
December 7, 1941--A Date which will live in Infamy
Sixty seven years ago today Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. President Roosevelt's famous quote is correctly listed as "A Date which will live in Infamy." Many people choose to say " A day that will live in infamy."
Many of you younger people do not remember that day because you weren't born. I was living at that time and remember it very well. It was a feeling similar to the feelings you might have had about the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. I was about 14 years old when the bombing took place.
I was terrified because we had not had a war in my lifetime and I was unsure of exactly what we were in for. It was bad but none of my family was lost or injured in the war so I was not directly affected.
It is a day that recalls all the fear and uncertainty of that time. I will remember it as long as I live!
Our First big Snow
We have just had our first snow that amounted to anything. We got a couple of inches. That is nothing compared to what we sometimes get. The picture above shows what we got a few years ago.
With a snow like that pictured above you don't just go out and get in your car and drive away! You have to shovel your driveway first.
Usually the City takes care of the streets and highways but they do not care about your driveway.
Years ago, Ford took care of the driveway and since he is gone I manage a shovel width path to go over to my mail and paper box. I do not go anywhere in the car when there is snow to worry about.
The snow is beautiful when it first falls and isn't messed up and slushy but after a day or so the beauty is gone and it is just a pain in the b-- er neck!
I hope every year for a light winter without much snow but we get at least one or two big snows that stay on the ground for several weeks. We have had a blizzard in April one year and many times we get heavy snowfalls in March.
My Life's Goal, Playing the Organ
Organ, piano, zither and accordion.
As far back as I can remember I have wanted to play the organ, well.
I started out getting a piano first. I took a few lessons and learned the basics of piano playing. However, that was not my main goal. I wanted to play the organ.
So a few years after I had the piano, I got my organ. I was in heaven playing it--although badly!
I got a method of playing from the man I bought the organ from. It was called the chord method. You learned a few basic chords and then applied the notes of your songs to those chords. It was a very simple way of playing music. I could do very well when I was alone but for some reason I could never perform well at all when anyone else was around. It isn't much fun to play if someone doesn't hear you! I think my trouble was shyness.
After a few years of playing for just myself I got discouraged and stopped playing much at all. So, now I never touch the organ. My daughters did take lessons for a while, one did very well but got disinterested in the end and didn't want to take lessons anymore. The other daughter was never interested in the first place and I got tired of nagging her to practice and finally let her drop the lessons. I think I was trying to force my ambitions on to my daughters and it didn't work!
So now my organ is sitting there and actually, has something wrong with it and can't be played at all. My life's goal is in shambles.
Several years back I saw an accordion at a garage sale at a cheap price and bought it. I loved it but it was deja vu . I never could play it the way I wanted to. Ditto with a zither. So I have an nonworking organ, an accordion and a zither all sitting somewhere in my home that never get played. Probably the main problem was that I just didn't want to practice enough to get good on them!
I hope that there are musical instruments in Heaven and maybe I can play them when I get there (if I get there!)
Mammoth Cave
We visited Mammoth Cave in Kentucky back in the 1970's with our friends, the Fishers.
Mammoth Cave is a fascinating place to visit. We went on the tour with a guide and saw all of the sights of a Cave. We saw the stalactites, the stalagmites, fish that are eyeless because they do not need to see and many other interesting things.
Our friend's son, Jimmy, violated the rules of the cave and broke off a tiny piece of rock along the wall of the cave and gave it to me. I am glad I didn't get caught with it!
In some places it was kind of scary down in that deep world. We passed through some small places with low ceilings. But we made it out alive and lived to tell our story!
Homesick
I usually went to spend a few days with my cousins or an aunt and uncle during my summer vacation. I loved visiting them because they lived in the country. I liked the country to visit but I never wanted to live there.
For some reason-- I have never figured out why-- but every time I went there I always got sick to my stomach and threw up a couple of times. I didn't really feel like I was homesick but since thinking back about it that is the only logical reason I can think of for it,
It wasn't that I longed for home or missed my family but There must have been some deep feelings that made me feel sick when I was away. The country is kind of a lonely place. I was used to the hustle and bustle of the city life, however small it was, and that might have been why I was feeling lost and homesick.
However, I never let it spoil my visit. I would go throw up and then my cousins and I would go right back to playing whatever we were into before I got sick.
It is possible that the change of water and eating habits could have affected my stomach causing the nausea.
Whatever, I still remember with pleasure my visits with my relatives and the nausea was just a small setback!
Snake! Snake!
Snakes scare me to death!Once back in the days of only one bathroom for most people, I came in one day and was going to use our bathroom. Unfortunately, some one else was using it and I was desperate! My Mom said, "Well, go out in the back to the shed and use that for the bathroom."
So I hurriedly went out to the shed and was already pulling my pants down when I heard a noise behind me. I looked around and there right behind me was a huge snake. The snake was slithering around trying to get away from me. It didn't need to worry, I was also wanting to get away from it!
Needless to say my need for the bathroom was forgotten as I ran back into the house yelling, "Snake, snake!"
My Dad went out right away but by then the snake had left the shed and was probably somewhere out in the pasture behind our house. I certainly didn't go looking for it, nor did my Dad. I could not measure the snake but I am guessing, from my memory that it must have been five or six feet long. I have no idea what kind of snake it was or if it might be a poisonous one. Since I was the only one to see it we have no clue to its kind . But poisonous or not I do not want any contact with any snake of any kind, size, or type!
I never did after that try to use the shed for a bathroom. I would have just had an accident rather then take a chance on another encounter with that skinny fellow!
Lilacs
This painting was done by Ford's sister.
Ford's sister, Juanita Maybee painted this picture. She painted quite a few pictures but never tried to sell any--at least not that I know of. She mostly did still life painting. She gave us this painting some time ago as they moved into a nursing home and she had to downsize her furnishings.The frame of this picture is a very old one. It has a few chips on it but is an elegant looking frame in spite of the chips. I have it hanging in my living room.Later in her life she didn't do much painting because of health reasons. I have enjoyed seeing the beauty of these lilacs in my home. Juanita is not with us anymore, but the lilacs are here as a reminder of her.
