1946 Aeronca Champion

This is a photo of an airplane that we owned for a short time. We paid $500 for it. This was in Russell, KS, 1952. I got to sit in the back while L. taxied around the field once. He got his student license and did a cross country. The headwind on the return trip was pretty strong. His comment? "I held that thing up all the way home."

Later it was sold. Our older son traced the number and found it still registered somewhere up north. I wonder what it's worth today.

Reno County Court House

This is our court house, built in 1930 in the art deco style. It is very impressive inside too.
It was about one year old when my parents went there to sign papers to adopt me.

1970 kitchen

This was probably the only time that this place looked this "orderly." It was the kitchen on the front of the house we used to live in. Later we painted the cabinets white and added black hardware.

Wonder what it looks like today.

Canned Cranberry Sauce

This was our salute to Thanksgiving. No turkey but plenty of roast beef, potatoes, onions, carrots, gravy and scalloped corn.
Since I am the only one who eats this red sauce, this amount will be around for a while.

It was pretty good this morning on cream of wheat.

The serving dish almost always had celery in it when Mom used it; in fact I think she called it a celery dish.

Thanksgiving Eve

This was the first time I have been by 13th and Main to see the Christmas trees. Perhaps they have been there for a while, but to me it seems a little early to have them for sale.

Maybe it wold be a good idea to get that trunk in some water.

Home Remedy (?)

I guess this comes under the heading of "I'll try anything once," and "I heard about it from Dr. Oz through LP."
Arthritis relief can be had by soaking golden raisins for two weeks in gin and then eating nine raisins a day.
Not, eight, not ten, but NINE. We'll see.
I hope I can wait the two weeks. And how will this taste?
Even google has the instructions and states that possibly Paul Harvey was the first to make this widely known. However, the clerk at the liquor store said that his dad did it years ago.

Toys for Tots parade

It's official - there were 1016 motorcyles that traveled from Carey Park to 30th and Main and then on to the Moose Lodge. Each one was carrying a donation of a new toy. A beautiful day with the temperature near 70 and a slight breeze! Not bad for November 21st. Thanks to all you bikers. . .
(enlarge by clicking on the picture for a better view.)

Deer locked in Battle

These deer are on display in a sporting good shop south of our town. The typed message in front of the snow-covered scene states that the deer were found, antlers locked together and underwater, in a large farm pond. Evidently during their clash of wills they slid into the water and were unable to get out.

There is also a photo which shows them as they were found with only their backs showing above the water.

Our Elevator

This elevator was close to our former home. When the boys were little and we would see it on the way home, I used to say, "There's our elevator." I guess that was to let them know we were almost home. This view is facing Southeast.
I like the silhouette of it against the cloud at sunset.

Puzzle Picture

This was up under our kitchen cabinet. I don't know what it is or was. How could something spill "up"? With the help of our mighty sander it is gone. It was quite hard, solidified, and probably of food origin. Maybe an overzealous electric mixer splashed it up there.
The other question is, why did I happen to lean over, look up there and discover it?

The blue,red and yellow room

This was one of our bedrooms in our home in the 1970's. It was painted BLUE with red and yellow stripes. Younger son also painted the desk from 1940 and added colorful knobs. He added a blue shag rug over the hardwood floor. I crocheted the giant granny squares for a bed spread. The occasion of this slide was probably the only time we ever made the bed up to look like this.

When we repainted several years later, it took three coats of beige to cover that blue! Thank you Nancy W!

First Blurry Blowing Snow

After a shower, snow appeared with 34 degrees and a wind chill that was - well - chilling!

Wicked looking sky

This is the same photo on a cloudy day. With Picasa, a program that stores photos, there are many options to fine tune the appearance - from color to sepia or black and white and to inhance color. In some cases the color is almost too intense. An option called "warmify" makes almost any photo look better and doesn't overdo the hues.
It is possible to make these changes on a computer instead of a dark room.
And, it's fun!

Cartoonish

This photo shows the one feature of my old Kodak digital camera that I really miss. It would convert any photo to the "cartoon mode." This flower was blooming in 2005 in B's lovely backyard about two moves ago for both of our households. Of course, I don't remember the name of the blossom!

Art in Dallas

This is a mosaic wall in Dallas at the Art Museum.
A granddaughter is stylishly admiring same.

Colorado - 1970

Since nothing is happening here except two and a quarter inches of rain over night, I'll post this vacation picture of wild flowers in Colorado.

A great trip when the kids were very young!

A First

Today was the day for a pedicure which was very nicely done by a nurse at the Reno County Health Office. I'm sure I will be going back again.

Seventy-two Degrees

Another beautiful day in November. Luckily I had something to do inside a building until noon when it had warmed up enough to go without a jacket!
L. worked outside and I supervised.

It's so sad when all I have to blog about is wonderful weather. One more day and then they promise more seasonal stuff. We need rain!

Another project

The last of the strips to repair the lower edge of the house siding are primed. L. has installed them all around the building. Evidently salt water tends to eat away at the material they used to side this place. L. swears it's cardboard.
I have a two page list of all he has done in the three years we have been here. It will be nice to include with the papers when we sell the house - just so they know the improvements he has made or has hired to be done. In the background is the holly tree and the peony bushes.

Early Thanksgiving Dinner

Today the Yoder church had their annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Even at 2:30 p.m. there were folks waiting in a line. Only fifteen minutes later we were serving ourselves. It was delicious and we saw a friend of mine from almost 40 years ago. That was a nice addition to a great dinner.

Chili Man

Our bank offered chili n fixins this noon. If you brought non-perishable food items, they would match your donation today so LP and I took two cans of soup and ate chili with cheese, crackers, coffee and cinnamon rolls. It was a very pleasant experience and we visited with others at the table. We agreed it was very good food.

This balloon figure greeted us at the door. I can't decided if it's Pinocchio or Mrs. Pinocchio.

Nutella!

I had heard of this product but thought it was only available in Europe. Suddenly, ads appeared on television suggesting this spread on whole wheat bread would be great for your children's breakfast. Even though we have no children living here, I decided I would like to try it.

Found it at the super market! It is good. The Google says it was invented in Italy in the 1940's and originally sold as a block. Later they modified it to a spread in the 1960's.

I couldn't find when they introduced it in the United States but it is sold in about 75 countries.

It is a hazelnut spread with a hint of chocolate. It's pretty good on a warm English muffin.

I've never seen a purple . . .

cowliflower but there it was; on the salad bar at the local super market. Also yellow, white and green. Someone asked, "Did they dye it?" Gosh! I hope not.

Red maple

This is a different kind of maple than our tree that has now lost its leaves. I have no idea what the names of them are. We have two like this and the leaves are such a pretty red. I believe this will be the last photo of leaves for this fall.