The Neighborhood Dog

Isn't he a noble looking guy? He reminds me of our first dog, Mac.

At any time of the day or night, he likes to jump his low fence and tour the easement behind our house.

As soon as our two canines hear his footsteps, they charge out the two doggie doors, yelping all the way.  They peek at him between the boards of the fence and let him know what's what. He ignores them and ambles on.

We gave up trying to call Jack and Jill  in by name and just holler, "Treat." Maybe that's what we should have named them.
Happy New Year.

A Tree of Poinsettias

A fun afteroon for looking at Christmas stuff on sale at Stutzman's. After seeing all the Christmas bargains, Mary spotted rows of tables full of pots with tiny little green plants. Easter Lilies.  Spring is on the way.
Then we had a shopping spree at Glenn's Bulk Foods. My big purchase included English Toffee Cappuccino Mix. Add 1/3 cup to 8 oz. hot water. The smoothest coffee drink I have ever had! Almost like hot chocolate. I hesitate to read the ingredients because it may be full of bad stuff. If I only have one cup every other day, it couldn't hurt too much, could it?

Back to the city of South Hutch and regular coffee at Mickey D's with friends - great to do on a winter day. Thanks for the laughs. . .

No Time for Breakfast?

If you  have a toaster and a microwave, you can have toast and a scrambled egg in about
a minute.
Use the fork to whip the egg, adding just a splash of water as I saw Julia Childs
do for an omelet.
Grab a foam drinking cup and place egg into it.
Place bread in toaster.
Put cup in microwave, choosing one minute at HI. (I later tried 45 seconds - fluffier!)
One word of caution: At this point your toaster needs to be faster than ours. The Cuisinart takes three times as long  to toast
a piece of bread than it takes to cook the egg...three minutes!
Remove cup from microwave; butter toast and enjoy.
Sure - the egg looks funny but tastes great.
You can add some shredded cheese or diced green pepper or ham if desired.
Another warning: Do not do this in a regular coffee mug or cup made of glass.
It won't hurt the mug but as Lee's boss, Mac, found out when  he tried this in the '70's,
that cup is a killer to clean. With the foam, just throw it out. Our recycler doesn't accept foam items
anyway.

Hat Repair

Well, the dogs (pups? When do they stop being pups?) found my hat which I thought I had put away and dragged it to the back yard. Before L. found it, there was a little chewing going on.
I had no more rust colored yard so used what I had for repair and found a pattern on the internet for a crocheted flower.  It's not like this is the only hat I have but I hate to throw stuff away. Somewhere I read that we lose 40% of our body heat through our head.  Many people do not wear hats and so I think they must be colder than they need to be.

I wish the wearing of hats would make a return. Looking at old photos, you can see that almost everyone wore some kind of hat. Very few ball caps.  Of course, in England the royals set their own style of headgear.

Wind Map

This is a site for viewing the winds in the United States.
On December 19, 6:35 p.m. this was the "picture."

http://hint.fm/wind/

Today it looks much the same with more stuff going on near the coasts.

Looking Back

The dearest men in my life.
Husband, Dad and Sons.

Christmas Snacks

Some pepper nuts arrived from Oregon, some pretzels and fudge came from Miss L. and then some unleaded egg nog from L.'s trip to the grocery store.  Thanks to all for the treats!

I'm all set for snacking.

Waiting for Santa

Just when I think that these pups may some day get past the chewing stage, L. finds a hat in the back yard in a state of UN-crocheted.

 

There is a good reason all the quilts are stored away.

Ceilings

A blog that I follow has had some photos of what the blogger's camera sees when it is lying on the table.

Here is my offering. I really love those old tin ceilings;  spray painted or left original.

This is from the Anchor Inn in our town.

Why is a Mexican restaurant called Anchor Inn? We used to have a naval base in the middle of Kansas - no ships but plenty of pilots to be trained. Some of the reasons for this location were the number of cloudless days, easy access to rail and highways, open country and a nearby liberty town.
So the folks who started the cafe, chose the name because of the naval air station. The navy was here from 1943 to about 1946, closed and reopened in the 1970's.
I was too young to date a sailor in the 1940's and when the base returned, I had married a sailor from Emporia who had never heard of Hutchinson's base.

Banana Bread

We buy bananas, let them over-ripen (think almost rotten) and then bake banana bread.

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg, well beaten
1 cup flour
1 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Mix in order given, pour into greased and floured bread pan. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. (45 min. was long enough in my oven)

Cinnamon Rolls

 We like cinnamon rolls at our house. No, I don't make them unless they come as dough in a can. So we usually buy them at the bakery.

These mini-rolls are good for two bites.
If a certain relative (older son) were here they would be mutilated with the center torn out and consummed. The remains would be there to taunt the next snacker with one bite.
Unfortunately, he has taught this foul deed to his two off-spring.

No cinnamon rolls are safe when the three of them are around.

Saturday Morning

 If that picture looks a little disoriented, so am I.

The long white sheet of paper represents the long arm of the law. On my way to a craft sale, I evidently "rolled" through a stop sign. First ticket I have received since I've been driving (1945) when the license was fifty cents and the two questions asked were, "Are you color blind?" and "Do you have seizures?"  No learner's permit or classes.

It was a simpler time.
And now, after criticizing other drivers for turning into the wrong lane, running through red lights and speeding by me, I have a ticket on my record.  They aren't chintzy in the charges. $106.                  Well, it's in the mail. The policeman was very nice and told me after checking with dispatch that I was an upstanding citizen.

Merry Christmas.

December 7th

I actually rremember hearing this event announced on the radio. We were big radio fans and listened to One Man's Family on Sunday evenings; Ma Perkins, Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories, Stell Dallas, Inner Sanctum, Fibber McGee and Molly, Red Skelton, Bob Hope, Guiding Light and Grand Old Opry on other days.

When we heard the news, I could tell it was serious from my folks' reaction. I'm not sure what the draft age was but my dad was 43 and was an electrician for the Kansas Power and Light.  This was considered an essential job and it seems to me his rating was something like 4-H.  1-A meant you were going to be drafted.  4-F was physically unfit.

The next day in the fifth grade room, we heard on the small radio President Roosevelt's speech to Congress.

Later we bought stamps to put into books and change into War Bonds. We kids collected scrap iron with our wagons; also newspapers and our mothers saved grease in cans. Sugar, meat and gas rationing meant stamps. Only so much per family to control the supply.  I found out gas was rationed to save tires....there was plenty of gas but not so much rubber.

I was ten then and fourteen when it was over. We (with my 50 cent driver's license) drove up Main in the '34 Plymouth honking the horn and cheering the end in 1945.

To think we ended that global conflict in four years and we've been fighting somewhere ever since - not encouraging.

Odd News

So Karzai blames the U.S. and NATO for the instability.
After we have lost two thousand men there in the ten years we've tried to "help."

I say, let's leave and let them stabilize themselves.

Some Things on the Internet Are True!

I saw an ad on the internet stating that drivers in our state who traveled less than a certain number of miles per month could save on their car insurance.

We checked our mileage on statements from services.
 L. took the information to our agent and sure enough!

We'll save $80 per year.

Not to be sneered at. . . or is that saying "Not to be sneezed at?"

Refrigerator Art from the Grands

We appreciate the art!!!!!!

Twelve Hours and Three Minutes Later

This is the sunset yesterday evening.

As much as I like mountains, I like Kansas with its unobstructed view of the sky.

Morning

Six twenty-three a.m., December 2nd.

Our trees, squirrel nests and a colorful sunrise.