A Jerky Driver
Ford Museum
Ford Library
Many years ago My sister Sara, her husband Joe and Debbie, their daughter came to Indiana for a visit. It was planned ahead that we would take a short trip to a few places where Presidents were buried not too far away from us
Sara was an avid collector of presidential memorabilia, and she liked to visit their graves as well.
We went first to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the Gerald Ford' s presidential library and museum is located. He was not yet dead at that time but his library and museum are there.
We spent some time there looking in the museum and library. then we traveled on to the other president's graves we planned to see. It has been so long ago that I cannot remember who the other two presidents were that we visited. They must have been in either Illinois or Ohio because I know they were not too far away from Indiana.
All that being said, we were at the cemetery of one of them and we were driving along the side of the cemetery and suddenly Ford took a sharp right turn and threw us all to one side of the car--it was before seat belts--and then he explained his sudden turn. We had come to an entrance and he didn't want to miss it so he just suddenly turned into it. If we had gone around the block to another entrance we would have taken a few more minutes. Fortunately, no one was any the worse for his jerky driving!
It was a good thing he did that because when we got to the attendant in the cemetery he was just going to lock the gates as it was closing time. If we had not taken that sudden turn we would have not got in before the attendant locked everything up. So we thanked Ford for his sharp turn into the gate. But we often remember that shockingly sharp turn that threw us all to one side of the car.
At the other president's place, it was his home that had been made in to a museum. We toured through the house and out to the back yard. As we were in the back yard, Ford suddenly had an urge to use a bathroom. Unfortunately, there was none there. So Ford looked around and since there were many trees around, he picked one and took a tinkle behind It.
I can't remember which president's home it was but Ford did leave him a present in his back yard! I might add that we were the only guests there at the time!
I remember with pleasure that trip because my sister, Sara, is now deceased and that trip was one of my good memories of time spent with her!
Mimosa Trees
Mimosa Trees
The Mimosa tree is really a beautiful tree. I saw the first one many years ago in Texas at my sister's house. She had one in her yard.
Later, I saw some trees in a yard at the corner of Pine Bluff and Fitzhugh in Paris when we were out driving. I stopped to ask about the trees, how to care for them and etc. The lady there told me that she had several starts of the trees in her shed and that she would give me one, or two if I wanted them. I jumped at the offer and so we brought them home to Indiana and planted then in the front yard.
They lived for a few years but never once bloomed. I figured it was because the weather was too cold here for them to grow right. However, I saw on Google that they do live and bloom in many northern states. But I suppose I was too impatient and we dug them up and discarded them after about three years.
The flowers on them are beautiful. On Google I read that many people consider them weeds and hate them; others love them and want to plant them in their yard.
They are a fast growing and short lived tree, requiring little care other than occasional pruning.
I do not have a single tree in my yard at this time. After a bad experience with birds roosting in our trees at our last house we decided that we wanted no trees when we bought this house. So we have no trees but would you believe that we still have tons of leaves to rake up in the fall--our neighbors!
Dusting--Before or After Vacuuming?
Look at this yucky guy! It is a dust mite. Maybe dusting before and after vacuuming might be a better idea for getting rid of him!
I have always dusted after I vacuum. It just seems that if you dust before the vacuuming that more dust will be spread around when you vacuum.
Others argue that you spread more dust around if you dust after the vacuuming. Who Knows? I surely don't.
Any way, I don't do either of them as often as I should. When I see dust collecting on my tables and shelves then I realize that I need to get busy!
When I see the colors of my carpet getting dim than I realize that I need to get out that vacuum and start using it! It is a vicious circle trying to keep things dust free. Looking at that ugly dust mite is an incentive to get busy!
My problem is Scrabble instead of Poker!
OIL Cloth
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Many years ago most people used oil cloth to cover their tables. That was before they made tables with formica tops or tables with nice finished wood tops. Oil cloth was cheap and it made a pretty covering for the table. The red and white checkered oil cloth pictured above was a favorite of mine.
We also used oil cloth to put on our tables when we camped. Most camp tables were just bare ugly wood so the oil cloth made it look better as well as making it cleaner to eat on.
I remember shopping for a new oil cloth and seeing the long rolls of it hanging on the walls. It came by the yard and was about a yard wide. So you got a 36x36 inch piece of cloth if you bought a yard. That covered most tables. If you needed a wider cloth they also had wider widths of it.
My mother mostly always used oil cloth until later years when she got a table top that was an enameled one and she didn't need a cloth.
I had a big one for our camping gear and it lasted us for many years since we only used it for camping.
Now I have a formica table top and I never use any kind of cover for it. It is so easy to wipe clean and looks nicer than a cloth of any kind. But sometimes I sort of have fantasy memories of how I loved my old camping Oil cloth!
My Cousin Gene Burke
Gene and me--1930 Me and Gene--1946
The pictures above are of my cousin, Gene Burke and me--one in about 1930 and the other in 1946.
We were very close in age, he is about six months or so older than I. He was my Aunt Lottie's boy. Aunt Lottie and her family came to see us every couple of years from Arkansas and Amarillo. They later moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma but that was after most of the kids were married.
Aunt Lottie had six kids so it was a big deal for us when she came. They stayed mostly at our house but sometimes at her in law's house.
Sadly, Gene passed away several years ago. The last time I was with him was when we camped at Tenkiller State Park in Oklahoma. My sister Sara and her family were camping for a few days along with us at Tenkiller State Park and since that was not too far from Tulsa Gene and his wife came there for a day to visit with us. Not too long after that he died. I have forgotten the cause of his death but I think it was unexpected. Anyway, aren't we a cute couple? Back in 1930 and in 1946.
CHUCK
CHUCK
Take a good look at this cat. He is some cat. You've heard that cats have nine lives. Well Chuck has used up eight and a half of his lives! Chuck is 15 years old and has never in his life been an outside cat. He has been declawed and neutered.
About a week or so ago Lisa, my niece, and owner of the cat was getting rid of a mattress and box springs from a bedroom and she had it removed to her storage building.
Later she missed the cat but was not too alarmed because the cat often hid out somewhere and might stay hidden for several hours. The next day she still had not seen Chuck so she started looking for him. She searched everywhere she thought he might be and Chuck was not in any of the places where he usually hid.
She continued to look for him. Finally she thought about it and decided that maybe he had gotten out the door when they removed the mattress and box springs. She expected to see him at the door at any time but he never showed up. After two or three days she gave up and decided that he was gone for good. She gave away an almost full bag of cat food and a bag of litter to a friend and started to grieve for Chuck.
Several times she had been to her shed for things and never heard a sound or peep while there. Eight and a half days and nine nights later she went to the shed for something and her dog, Petie was with her. Petie started going nuts barking and sniffing and jumping up and down. Lisa went over to see what he was so excited about and looked behind that box springs and was greeted with two large green eyes--Chuck! He would not come out so she got a neighbor to help her get him. He is a very strange cat so he ran from them. They did catch him and he was much alive and in pretty good shape.
That cat lived in that shed with no food and no water for those nine nights and eight and a half days . She knows he did because the shed was locked and no one was in it except her. There were no holes or places where he could have possibly gotten out to get to any food or water.
Have you ever heard of anything so strange? I can believe that the cat could survive without food for nine days but not without water!
I talked to my sister today and she said the cat has been drinking a lot of water and was beginning to eat some food. So Chuck is a survivor! I am sure he must only have about half a life left! Lisa now knows that Chuck was hiding up under the box springs somewhere when they too it to the shed and was locked in the shed. Hurrah for Chuck!
My Uninvited Guests
A dirt dauber
The nest of a dirt dauber Over my front door
Every late summer or early fall I have a problem with dirt daubers, also called mud daubers. These are sort of like wasps except that they don't sting like wasps do. They love the dark brown wood trim on my house. I try to keep them away as much as I can, but they are persistent. Right now I have a nest of them right above my front door. The picture shows one big nest and another one that looks as if it was not finished. I am going to knock them down as soon as I do this post. I have left the nest up for one reason--I wanted to get a picture of it before I took it down.
These insects are not very aggressive as wasps are. I have never been stung by them--I don't think they sting at all-- But the annoying mud spots, their nests, are very annoying. I have to use a brush and water to get the mud off. I can scrape the mud off but the stain is still there until I use a brush and water to remove it.
I like my dark brown wood trim but it seems to be very inviting to the daubers. Also, the nest there now is protected by my porch from wind and rain which the daubers like. The old saying, guests and fish stink after three days, is certainly true for these uninvited guests of mine!
Camping in the Sixties
Lake of the Ozarks State Park
Luci Baines Johnson and Ted Nugent
This post is about two things: Luci Baines (Johnson) Nugent and about our rained out camping trip.
Back in the late sixties--not sure of exact date--we went camping in the Ozark Mountains in Missouri with my sister, Sara, and her family. We had almost a whole week for a much looked forward to vacation.They came from Texas and we from Indiana and met at the Lake of the Ozarks State Park in Missouri.
While we were there Luci Baines Nugent had her baby. One morning my niece, Debbie and all of the other kids in our group--my two and my sister's three-- yelled out of the tent they were sleeping in that, "Luci had her baby!" They had a radio and heard the news. It had been a topic of our conversation that day about Luci Baines Johnson (Nugent) expecting a baby at any time. They yelled out of the tent because they had to stay in it unless they wanted to get very wet. We had had rain every day so far since we had set up our campsite. So much for Luci's baby! She had a boy, Patrick John Nugent.
Well, it rained and rained and rained, and then rained some more. Finally, after about three days of rain we decided that we had had enough of it and started packing our gear up to go home. We were very disappointed because we had much looked forward to this camping trip together.
This night they were predicting more storms and a lot more rain. So regretfully, we tore down our tents and started packing for home while a pot of beans cooked over the campfire. About noon our beans were done so we ate them in the rain and then left the campsite. Ford had on a straw hat that he always wore when we camped. Unfortunately, while we packed, his hat had some dye in it that faded all over his T shirt turning it a streaked ugly yellow. Sara's and my hair dos were hair don'ts by now, and every piece of our bedding was dripping wet and weighed a ton. We were a sad looking bunch. I feel sorry still today for the few more days we had to forfeit because of the rain. God must have wanted us not to have them for some reason.
On our way home to Indiana we passed through some flooded out towns and blocked bridges. Sara and Joe met some of the same obstacles on their way back to Texas.
I will forever remember Luci Nugent's baby --who is by now probably around 35 or 40 years old--and all of that horrible rain we had back in the late sixties.
We Done Et!
Our family reunion, 1967
Years ago our family had a reunion of my Dad's family. We met people we never knew before. Some great, some weird, some just plain ordinary folk.
One of the weird ones was a cousin we had never met. He was a young man, country looking but OK. He and his family came to the door and was prompted to come in. They came in and walked into the kitchen where most of the people had congregated.
My Aunt Ruby led them to the counter and invited them to get a plate and help themselves to the food. My cousin timidly replied, " We done et."
Unfortunately, the cousin who used this ungrammatical response is not in the pictures above, We failed to get his snapshot. But the other people in the picture were at the reunion. Most of the ones in the pictures had done et!
My sister and I, and our nieces have had a laugh for years every time we think of that. We will often say, "We done et," to each other and then laugh for ten minutes.
The strange thing is, I play scrabble quite a lot on my computer and would you believe that et is listed in the dictionary of that scrabble game? And it is listed as a past tense of eat. So maybe our cousin was not as dumb as we thought. However, I looked in my Webster's dictionary and et is not listed there.
Anyway, we still get a laugh when we think of that incident.
Yellow Cauliflower?
White cauliflower
Yellow, green and purple cauliflower.
There is just something about yellow, green and purple cauliflower that doesn't seem right. It would be like having blue tomatoes, red peas or green potatoes!
I recently shopped and I wanted to buy a cauliflower--a white one. There were the white ones at 2/$5.00 and the yellow ones at 2/$4.00. I didn't really want a yellow one but since I have never had one and the idea of the extra savings, I decided to try a yellow one.
I made a salad with it and I can't say it wasn't good but I also can't say I was thrilled with it. For some reason, the yellow just spoiled it for me. I will finish eating the head but I will never buy another one--even to save a few cents. And I am certain I will never buy a purple or green one. Cauliflower just should be white!
Yellow cauliflower just became available about in 2004 and the green ones have been available since the mid eighties mostly in California. I read on Google that the green cauliflower is just a white one bred with the chlorophyll from Broccoli. What ever, I think they should stop tinkering with nature and let cauliflower be what it is--white!
How Do You Make Your Bed?
I can't find anyone who agrees with me on how to put the sheets on your bed!
When I put the sheets on my bed I first put on the fitted, or bottom, sheet. Then I put the cover, or top sheet on with the right side facing your body or down . The I add the blanket or quilts. That way when you get into the bed and the covers are turned back what you see is the right side of the sheet facing you. Most other people I have asked say they put the top sheet on with the right side facing up. By doing that the right side of the top sheet is never seen by anyone. When the covers are turned down what you see is the wrong side of the sheet facing you. When the bed is made the proper way, when the covers are turned down you see the right side of the sheet. Not that it makes one bit of difference in the way you sleep it does make a difference in what you see when you crawl into your bed!
I prefer seeing the right side of the sheet being pulled over me instead of the wrong side.
So if you like looking at the back side of a design instead of the pretty right side then keep right on making your bed the wrong way!
The Hole in the Wall
The Hole in the Wall cafe in Paris, Texas
I was unprepared for the plethora of information I found on Google about Hole in the Wall restaurants. They are located in almost every state-- and country for that matter.
I brought up Google thinking I would find nothing on the little Hole in the Wall restaurant that I visited last summer with my nieces, Debbie and Nancy and my sister and her husband. I was pleasantly surprised to find even a picture of the little place. It really was just a hole in the wall. However, the food was very good and I have found myself thinking that the next time I am in Paris I would like to return to The Hole in the Wall.
Some of the restaurants feature Italian food, some Mexican food and others just plain American food. As I recall I had a Taco Salad as my pick for lunch. It was very good.
The place was very busy and most tables were filled. It was a weekday and at lunch time so that probably accounted for the large crowd.
So if you are ever in Paris, Texas and want a good lunch go to 202 3rd St. NW. You will find it there at the Hole in the Wall!
Where's the Stuff?
When Lisa, my niece, was just a little kid her family and she came to Paris to my Mother's house almost every Sunday. They usually ate lunch, or dinner--depending on what you call it. My mother usually cooked her Sunday dinner early in the morning so by the time Lisa and their family got there the dinner was cooked and waiting for them.
This one Sunday, for some forgotten reason, my Mother had cooked the dinner and after it was done she placed it in the oven to keep warm. So when you walked into the kitchen it appeared that nothing was ready.
Lisa walked into the kitchen, looked around and returned to the living room and inquired, "Where's the stuff?" My Mother laughed and replied, "it is in the oven." Lisa looked relieved. She had momentary thoughts that they were not getting any lunch.
Lisa loved her lunches, dinners and suppers. She would have been very upset to not have had a dinner that Sunday!
Junk Mail
I can see a big reduction in the amount of junk mail I receive now compared to what I used to get.
I think the catalog companies finally believe that I am not going to order anything from them--also the hearing aid companies plus all of the other places that send out advertisements for their product, because I don't get nearly as much junk mail as in the past.
I have noticed that I get fewer ads now than before. The one company that I can't believe sends as many ads as they do is Verizon. I get an ad almost every day from them and I already have their services. My TV, computer and phone are with Verizon and I still get ads from them regularly. You would think they would check to see who already has their service and not send ads to them.
I am sure I help pay for their advertising by paying higher prices for their service. But what can a person do? I surely don't know. I saw on Google that you can have your name placed on the do not call list and it will take care of some junk mail. But why do we have to inconvenience ourselves to call anyone? I don't know the answer.
However, I think the postage rates are helping a lot. It doesn't pay companies to spend all of that advertising money at the high cost they have to pay.
Anyway, I continue to have a garbage bag half filled with the catalogs and junk mail I receive every day.
I read on Google that some 99 million trees and 40+ billion gallons of water are used to produce each year's crop of catalogs and come-ons. About half are trashed without even being opened. What a waste!
Maybe someday someone will figure out a way to cut it out!
Colorful Soda Pop
Uncle Frank Caffee
My Uncle Frank, my Dad's youngest brother, used to work at a Soda Pop manufacturer many years ago. I do not remember which one. There were several in Paris.
When we visited my Grandma Caffee's home, where Uncle Frank lived, she always had a supply of colorful soda pop--red, purple, yellow, green and orange as well as just colas.
I can remember how pretty I thought the bottles of colored pop were. Of course I always got a bottle of whatever color I wanted. I liked them all but I think grape, or purple, was my favorite.
Now I seldom drink pop. Once in a while, if I am eating popcorn or peanuts I might open a bottle and drink some with whatever I am eating. But mainly, I now drink tea, water or coffee.
But I still remember the old days when I see a bottle of colored pop. Mostly now it comes in cans but sometimes I see bottles of it in the store. Then I remember Uncle Frank who has been gone for some years. Maybe he is now passing out bottles of pop in Heaven!
Pot Scrubbing Time!
Notice that everyone is busy except Ford?
We used to go to Warren Dunes in Michigan a lot when we camped. It was a really fun place to camp. There were huge sand dunes and the sand was a lot of fun to walk in.
We usually spent one afternoon or morning each time we went there going up on one of the dunes and scrubbing our pots and pans and grills. The sand really did a good job of taking off the soot and burned on grease from the pans. We did a lot of cooking over campfires and on grills so the pans really got black and sooty. The sand took care of that easily.
We have not been camping for so many years that I really don't remember just how long it has been--probably 20 years. I miss all the fun of it but I really don't miss all of the work involved with camping!
However, my pots and pans could use some of that sand scrubbing!
Snow Ice Cream
My house here in Indiana. That is a lot of ice cream!
Many years ago (How often have you seen that phrase in my blogs?) we didn't have much snow in Texas but occasionally we did get a little snow. One of my favorite things about getting snow was making snow ice cream.
Now is good ice cream weather (not snow ice cream!) since it has been in the high nineties for some time here. When the snow comes it will be so cold that we won't be that wild for ice cream.
Now I would never eat snow but back then it seemed things were not as polluted as they are now. We would take a pan and a big spoon and scoop off the top, clean layer of snow from a place where it was free from tree limbs and bushes. Then my Mother would make it like the recipe above shows. It was delicious! Probably I would not think it as delicious as I did then. But we never got ice cream as often as we can now. I have ice cream any time I want it now but then it was just an occasional treat. So the snow ice cream was something special.
By the way, we made sure the snow we got was pure white and not yellow!
The Lonely Train Trip
Me at about three years old (Wasn't I fat? Still am!)
Once when I was about three or so my Dad was out of work. He and my mother and I went to Elk City, Oklahoma and to Lubbock, Texas so he could look for a job. We rode the train out there. He did look for work but was unsuccessful so we had to go back to Texas. We rode the train back. For some reason, I cannot remember the train ride out there but I distinctly remember the train ride home.
My mother and I were on the train and my Dad was going to hitch hike home to save money. As we sat waiting for the train to leave my Dad was standing by the window talking to us. There was ice frozen on the ledge of the train window and I remember my Dad scraping ice off the ledge and eating it. He gave me a bite or two.
Then the train pulled away and I can see to this day my Dad standing there waving goodbye to us as we left.
When we got back to Paris, I think my Dad then got a job with the Highway Department--thanks to my Mom for crying on the shoulder of a judge she knew. My Dad went to work for the State Highway Department and worked there for many years.
If he had been successful getting a job out west I might have had a whole different life. Who knows?
Candy Cigarettes
Candy cigarettes
Many years ago when I was just a kid we could buy candy cigarettes. They came in a package that looked like real cigarettes. As I remember most of them had a wintergreen flavor--much like lifesavers. I loved them.
We would pretend we were smoking them until they got so sticky and then we ate them. Then we would get out a fresh one--much like real smokers do.
I am shocked as I remember that my mother would allow us to pretend we were smoking. She was so firmly against smoking, at least for women, that I can't imagine why she let us do that. My Dad smoked a pipe and cigars all of my life and she never seemed to think anything of that. But if a woman smoked, she was doomed for Hell! Anyway, she never said anything about us pretending we smoked. I guess she ignored that we were pretending to smoke and just knew it was candy that we ate in the end!
I don't know if candy cigarettes are still on the market or not. I assume they must be because I saw them on Google. I think that they should be outlawed because they may encourage kids to smoke. But they are a real taste treat!
Another Jana Tale
Jana in 1963
How could she eat corn with no teeth?
While Jana is on center stage I will tell another little story about her.
She and the family were going somewhere early one morning. It was somewhat foggy. As they got into the car Jana declared, "It sure is Froggy!"
Her older brother, Steve, looked at her disgustingly and said, "You are so stupid. It is foggy, not froggy!" Jana looked at him with a rebellious stare and replied, "Whatever!"
I wonder if the fog was green?
This is it for Jana.
Corn on the Cob
I always cut my corn off the cob
The usual look of an eaten corn cob (like a dog eats it!)
Jana in 1967
My niece, Jana, was an artist with a cob of corn. However, after it was all eaten the artwork was gone.
Jana used a corn cob as a canvas for her artwork. She would neatly eat maybe two rows of kernels clear across the corn cob. Then she would skip down couple of rows and eat another two rows across the cob. Her corn cob was a thing of beauty while she was eating it. Sadly, by the time she ate the whole ear of corn her artwork was gone. She never had the ugly messed up corn cob that most people have when they are through with a corn cob. It was a neat, plain cob with no ugly husks left on it as is usually the case. I don't know how she managed it but she did!
I have not been around Jana in these later years to know if she still eats her corn the same way she used to. But I remember how neat she always made her corn cob look as she was eating it and after she was through with it. Hers was a work of art! Most corn cobs look really messy when people are through with them. Mine look neat because I always cut my corn off the cob with a knife instead of eating it off the cob. I don't like having the corn get on my face while I am eating it. But I am not the artist that Jana was!
Flu Epidemic of 1918
Grandpa Caffee
The picture is of my Grandpa Caffee and of his grave along with my Grandma Caffee's grave.
With all of the talk about this new flu epidemic it reminds me of my Grandpa Caffee. My grandpa died in 1919 during the Spanish flu epidemic. He was only 44 years old. He died from the flu. Fifty million people died during that epidemic. I was surprised to note that He died on my Grandma's birthday. Ford died on my birthday and Our Dad died on Mary Ruth's birthday.
The picture above is the only picture I have of him. There may have been other pictures but I never saw them.
Somehow, all through the years I never asked my Dad what he called his dad. He called his Mother Mama so I assume that he called his Dad Daddy.
My Dad was only 19 when his dad died. And of course, I never saw my grandpa at all nor did my mother ever see him.
If My grandpa was anything like my Dad then he was a great man, because my Dad was a great man. I miss my Dad all the time. even though he has been gone many years.
I am looking forward to seeing them both in the afterlife!
Er--What's That?
My sister, Sara
My sister, Sara, who is now deceased, worked at the Sears store in Paris, Texas many years ago. She was head of the Linens and bedding department.
One day a lady came into the store and was looking around in Sara's department. It was near Christmas time. She came over to Sara and said, "Can you tell me where the tablecloths are?" Sara, casually replied, "Oh, he won't be here until 3:00 PM."
The lady looked at Sara strangely and paused for a few moments. One of Sara's coworkers was nearby and she asked Sara, "What did you think she said?" Sara said, "Oh, she asked when Santa Claus would be here." The coworker replied, "No, she asked where the table cloths are!"
Sara jumped to attention and ran after the lady to answer her question. Sara was very embarrassed for her blunder and tried to pay more attention to customer's questions after that! Wonder what Santa thought about all of this?"
Dan Blocker
Hoss, Loren and Michael from Bonanza.
Remember Hoss? He was on the show Bonanza many years ago along with Loren Green and Michael Landon. We used to watch the show all the time.
We visited Dan Blocker's grave in 1974 at Detroit, Texas. It was a very simple, unimpressive grave site. He was only 44 when he died. He gave us many years of enjoyment with his character of Hoss on Bonanza.
Detroit, Texas, is only a few miles from my home town of Paris, Texas. It is only a wide place in the road! We stopped by the cemetery when we were on our way home from Paris after a visit there. I am sure Hoss is in a bonanza type heaven now along with his co actors, Loren and Michael.
More About Our Psychotic Dog, Mickey
Carla and Mickey
I have told you some stories about our psychotic dog, Mickey. He had to be psychotic because there were too many abnormal things about him for him not to be!
He had this habit of loving bare feet--anyone who had them. He would head for bare feet anytime they were available. He loved to lick all over bare feet, especially between the toes. Ford would let him lick his feet but I couldn't stand to let him lick mine. I guess maybe that is not too abnormal for a dog but I thought it seemed pretty abnormal when I saw him do it.
I was repulsed by the whole thing but I couldn't change his habits and desires so I put up with it. He had plenty of good food to eat so I can't imagine why he wanted to lick some one's dirty feet! Everyone to his own thing I guess!
Right Foot Shoes
This Guy could use a right foot shoe!
When I was a small kid we visited my Grandma Caffee every once in a while. She lived in an apartment with her second husband since my Grandpa Caffee died years ago.
One Sunday when we visited her she was showing us some shoes that a salesman had left at her place for some reason. Since he was a salesman he had samples of all the shoes that he carried--but he only carried the right foot shoes. If someone bought a pair then he could get the left shoe also for them.
The shoes he had left there were some that he did not want anymore. As she showed us them I remember that I thought, what a waste, those shoes were useless since they were only for the right foot.
I remember thinking that if there was someone who only had a right foot because they had lost their left one then the shoes could be used by them. I had all kinds of ideas how those right foot shoes could be used. I think I inherited that idea of using everything and not wasting it came from my mother. She was like that!
It must have been very impressive to me because I remember it to this day and still think there must have been some way those shoes could be used!
My Lookalike
This is me
Celia Smith
When I was a freshman in high school there was another girl, Celia Smith, who was also a freshman. I had several people tell me that I looked like her. I was thrilled because she was cute, I thought. I could not see that I looked anything like her but I must have because more than one person told me that I did.
I wonder today if she is still living, where she is and if she still looks like me! I hope for her sake that she doesn't!
Look at the pictures and see what you think. I would rather people had told me that I looked like Pattie Bess Lummus! But that was impossible. I was not even in the same realm of Pattie Bess (she was in my post on July 9th 2009).
Apologies to Celia Smith for comparing myself with her!
An Unpleasant Shock
Ford at work
Ford always got up alone in the morning and made his own breakfast. To avoid waking me up by turning on the lights he would dress in the dark by the side of the bed (wasn't that thoughtful of him!). Then he went to the kitchen and ate.
One morning he dressed and went to work. Sometime during the day he went to the bathroom. That was when he got his shock. He had his shorts on backwards! He wore boxer shorts without any snaps in the front, just elastic around the waist. I don't remember his details about how he managed his problem but anyway, I think after that he was more observant about dressing in the dark.
I was very appreciative of him making his own breakfast and letting me sleep longer. He was an ideal spouse and I miss him every day!
Cigar Rings
Back when I was just a little kid Daddy used to buy cigars once in a while. Usually he would buy a cigar and a newspaper on the weekend. That was his one vice, if you could call it that.
Us kids always had a fight over who got the ring off the cigar. I never actually saved them but we would play with them for a while until they got torn or too messed up to play with any more. I guess I did save them for a while but I never had enough for a collection.
They were fun to play with. I think some people actually had large collections of them. Daddy didn't buy enough cigars for us to get many for a collection. However if we had saved them they might be worth something by now. Back then we never thought of collections or anything except just having fun for a short time. So the rings got messed up and torn and that was then end of them.
Some of the rings were really very pretty. The colors were bright and they usually had some gold tones on them and a brand name. I am sure that some of them would be a collectors item if we still had them. But collectors items were the last thing on our minds when we played back then!
Ma and Pa
My Grandma and Grandpa Gregory
My grandparents are in the picture above. They were my mother's parents.
Pa--he was Pa and she was Ma-- was a farmer in his younger days. He never held any other kind of job. And in those days there were no pensions
or retirement benefits. If you had not saved money for your retirement then you were out of luck.
When Pa-- I think I was the one who came up with Pa because I couldn't say Grandpa, so naturally, my grandma became Ma-- could no longer farm they had to move in with my family. There were eight other siblings but as it turned out the only place suitable for them to live was with us. I don't ever remember when they didn't live with us.
Finally, toward the end of their lives they did receive an old age pension from the government but it was a piteously small amount. At least it seemed small. I guess for that time maybe it was not as small as it seems now. I think it was something like $20 a month. It did help but not a lot.
The bad part of the whole deal was that my grandma and Grandpa were sort of separated. So they had to have two bed rooms. That made it very unhandy for our family. We three kids could not have our own rooms. We had to double up and share rooms and space.
I remember the inconvenience of three generations living under one roof. So I have determined that I will never live with either of my two children. It will be a nursing home for me when I can't live alone. I prefer death to a nursing home but then, my mother said the same thing. She did not get her wish. She lived in a nursing home for seven years before she died.
My grandparents have been gone for many, many years. And now my mother and Dad are also gone. I still hope and pray that when I am unable to care for myself that God will take me home!
I Need a Few More Hours!
You would think that 24 hours a day for an old woman who doesn't work, doesn't do much of anything would be plenty of time. But every day I get up thinking of what all I want to do and 24 hours seems so little!
Usually, the first thing I do when I get up is turn on my computer and check for e mails. Then I may slip in a couple of games of Scrabble before I wander into the kitchen and check out the fridge for something to eat.
Then I have a big decision to make: do I want to watch TV or do I want to get on the computer and work on my blog; or do I want to stick a CD of music in my CD player and listen to music; or do I want to read the newspaper; or do I want to read a book? Or do I want to crochet? Also, I try to listen to a chapter or two of the bible on my DVD player each day or at least every couple of days. So you can see my dilemma. There are so many things to do and nothing to guide me as to what is best! I am at complete freedom!
TV has really wrecked my reading of books. I used to keep a book going all the time. Now I hardly ever read a book. I am lucky to get the newspaper read every day. I am not complaining about it but I really could use a few more hours in my day. I might could do a little less sleeping and have more time. But sleeping is one of my favorite pastimes!
I am thoroughly enjoying all that I do and am thankful that I have so much to keep me occupied. I don't know how I ever got all the things done that I did years ago. Actually, I do know. We didn't have TV back then so that left a lot of time for all of the other things.
Luckily. I can multitask with a couple of things. I can crochet and watch TV at the same time and I can listen to music and crochet simultaneously. But there is no way I can be on the computer and do something else at the same time! When I listen to the bible I like to have my mind completely blank so I can absorb all the things that are being said. I also like to read the words along as I listen. I feel as if I am getting a double dose of God's words. God knows I need it!
I know my time is closing in on me and I don't have that many more years to do all of my "stuff." So I just plug along and do what I enjoy and don't worry about what I don't get done. After all, I have had 82 and a half years to do my thing. So, you young people enjoy what you do and do what you enjoy! Your time is coming along just like mine has.
