Howling Van

It may be the cold weather, but our vehicle is screaming in a high pitch tone that reminds me of the term "banshee." The low temperature was in single digits last night and probably was the same in the unheated garage. Off to the friendly Ford garage! Good news: The head cold seems to have been kept away for now.

Sniffles

Woke up this morning feeling like a cold was sniffling its way into my nose. Ugh! I haven't been anyplace to see any people. Only our neighbors who came over the twenty-fourth and they didn't appear to have colds. Where do these germs come from? L. does not have any symptoms. I started right away with some Zycam Rapidmelts that have worked before. And lots of water. We'll see.

Patriotic Barn

This is another calendar photo. I really like to see these creative paint jobs.

What Day Is It?

Usually a holiday in the middle of the week doesn't bother me. This time, I forgot that today was Saturday. I got up all ready to watch CBS at 8:00 a.m. for their best show, Sunday Morning. Later I received this photo of me in about 1947 looking very thoughtful. Maybe I was trying to figure out what day it was then.

So Here's the Basket

This is the oval basket that has the treats inside. We are enjoying fruit and candies and will open the

meat and cheese later.

It sure takes will power not to "over indulge."

We didn't bake any pepper nuts this year but managed to buy a small bag from the

Carriage Crossing restaurant. I wish we felt more like baking a recipe that calls for 12 cups of flour.

Neighbors

 

Yesterday the doorbell rang. It was our neighbors with a gift basket!

How thoughtful and yummy!

It is wonderful to have great neighbors.

Merry Christmas

Pickles

 

We really enjoy Pickles. So many of them hit close to home.

Today was "us" with the rolls reversed although I never thought of swimming in it.

 

Big Brother is Watching

But only if you let him. We received a letter today from our insurance company. They offered to let us install a "black box" on our car in order to see if we are driving responsibly. If we are, they MIGHT lower our auto insurance five percent. Wahoo! I think we'll pass. We drive carefully to the grocery store and the clinic - each about mile away. And I now make sure all four wheels come to a complete stop at any octagonal red sign with white letters.

Wisket

I have just accidentally discovered how to retrieve photos from incoming emails to my phone!
Oh Happy Day.

Art by Pixels

This is from a photo of me at breakfast a week ago today. It was sent to the west coast and converted

to this format by an ap on an iphone by our son. Then sent back to me on my phone.

I emailed it to my computer and Picasa and then uploaded it here.

Ain't technology grand?

 

It reminds me of Van Gogh's work - sort of.

Long Ago and Far Away

I just received this flashback Friday photo from a daughter of a friend. This was in Galveston, TX in 1978. I have some great memories of a trip with an airline who quoted the price of $78 round trip as a Chicken Feed special.
I wonder if I thought the sun was going to give me more freckles?

Our younger son and I flew to Houston and visited a friend that I had known since 1941. We are still in contact with her and her offspring!

Some More New Stuff

Christmas came early. A new iPad, stylus and a table to use them on whilst lounging in bed.
Life is good.

Bamboo Socks?

 

These are my new socks - bought at a great craft sale on Saturday. The vendor told us they are

made from bamboo with a little elastic.

They are really soft and feel good on the feet!

I've heard they are making flooring from bamboo.  Anything to save the trees!

New Soap

When we are expecting guests, we buy new soap, usually several bars. The top (upside down) bar was one I had just opened about a week ago from a previously purchased  box. When I opened a new package to put out fresh soap, I realized the size was smaller! Yep, I believe they didn't raise the price; they just shaved the product. Result? Raised the price.

I'm not picking on just this one brand - it happens everywhere.

A Beautiful Card

We like to receive cards from old friends that we no longer see because they live in other

parts of the country.

Today we received this beautiful card. With no stamp. It was post marked in the lower left hand

corner of the envelope over the snowman. I am surprised there was no postage due,

or that it was not returned to sender.

 

Wonder if I should have tried that on a few.

 

Wonderful Week-end

We had visitors from the south and warm weather was here so they didn't freeze while celebrating a

birthday and Christmas.

We took the big girls to the little kids' park and they were impressed! Their dad is in this

photo since I didn't get their permission to post but it was a lot of fun.

Waiting for Family

We will have some family here this week-end. Wish both branches could be here!
A friend asked if we were all ready for company.  I told her I mopped the kitchen floor - does that count?

Why Do They Do It?

 

Found in a series of well-known folks who have had surgery.

Sad that most entertainers feel they have to remain "young" looking

to stay popular.

Personally, I prefer Robert Redford's look and even Clint Eastwood's wrinkles

to the smooth, false skin.

What's wrong with looking sixty-eight?

Old Bananas

So yesterday was bake banana bread day. I have had this recipe for a long time. It was given to me by a high school friend who lived with her grandmother. So Mrs. Baxter must have been at least 60 in 1947. *
It is an old recipe.     ( I do not put wax paper in the bottom of the pan.)

*I searched for Mrs. Baxter's husband on the internet because he was a park commissioner in our town and found HER obituary...She was born in 1886 so was 61 in 1947. It's amazing what you can find when looking for something else.

ABC Sign

Advice I'm trying to follow.

Phone Ordering

Today I was encouraged (!) by L. to place an order over the phone for a Christmas gift. I thought it was a little early but they would probably ship it whenever you wish, right?

So I called the number and reached a person who seemed to speak and understand English as his first language. I told him I wanted to place an order. It pretty much went downhill from there.

He asked the questions and I answered with only the information he requested. Then he wanted the identification number on the outside of the catalog. I told him this was in a newspaper ad and I had a source code. Long pause. He asked me if I could hold for a sec. Yes.
Several minutes with Christmas carols and he returned. He started from the beginning although I had already told him the friend's name, address, item number, my name, address and item and email.
With many apologies he back-tracked and seemed to insist that the address had to have a Drive, Avenue, Street or Road on the end of it. It does not. I was patient and answered each thing he asked, twice. As for the date to ship, Christmas or as soon as possible? I thought I'd make it easy. As soon as possible.

After almost twenty-five minutes, we concluded the deal and I hung up. Dear L. said, "I would have hung up long ago."  (I said that I knew that!) Everybody has to have a first day at a new job and maybe this was his. I just can't see ruining somebody's day by being impatient or hanging up. I really believe he was doing the best he could and I know he had a script to read the right phrases - asking if there was anything else I wanted to order; thanking me for my order; wishing me season's greetings etc.

Usually I'm not this patient. Maybe it's the Christmas spirit. But I felt like he was really trying and he was not rude. Just a little confused. 

When a clerk IS rude or has an attitude, I CAN ruin their day.

Lt. Bars

My husband's initials are L. T. Somewhere, a long time ago, the phone book listed him as Lt. ______. This became a prefix to his name in a computer and he now gets ads to Lt. L. T. _______.  Maybe he could become incognito.  It's hard to get lost these days.

New Frying Pan

Since 1952, we've gone from a United States product, "I just love Revere Ware," to skillets of T Fal , skillets from France, Indonesia, and now China. The newest is the Chinese Starfrit which is supposed to be stick-free but has a rough, textured surface. We'll see.

Could it be my cooking skills or lack of them that makes the pans no longer stick free?

Merry Chairy Christmas

My old desk chair was peeling. Looks very tacky but who cares? Nobody sees it but me in the back bedroom/office. L. cares. So for an early Christmas we shopped for chairs today.

Anybody want a peeling, fake leather chair in a speckled tan shade?

National Law Enforcement Association Calendar

This picture is from the calendar of the NLEA. I support them totally when they are right and remember that anyone can make a mistake. But, we do need to be sure that training is of the highest caliber.
And if protecting the public results in an action that you believe was wrong, it does no one any good to destroy property. Peaceful protests are not a place for a  mob to commit criminal behavior.

That's all from my soapbox for today.

And I really liked this photo. I wish I could give credit to the photographer, but there was no name given on the page.

School House

This school house is abandoned and is located somewhere near Emporia, Kansas.

No Spying through My Camera

 

Things are slow here since the election - no more irritating phone calls to ignore. It really is nice

to know that when the phone rings, it might possibly be someone we know.

And then there is the possibility of hackers looking through my camera, even though I'm not

using Skype with someone.

Luckily my version came with a built-in eye patch!

No Respect for Clean Laundry

This is Jack - our black dog that we adopted on Halloween  three years ago along with Jill, an orange crate-mate. We didn't know that black dogs are hard to place. We were surprised that in October the shelter was giving half price to any dog of the black or "orange" persuasion. Two for the price of one! What a bargain.

They know the bed is where they sleep. They do not know that they should wait until the sheets are  replaced to climb up.

Sharpies

After yesterday's problem with the tough roast, we decided we needed some knives that would

actually cut something.

L. found a coupon in an ad for a local store - 50% off anything in the store not on sale and under $30.

Perfect! We found a set of knives for 19.95. Marching (shuffling) to the cashier, we

presented our coupon.

"Sorry, these are on sale."  She was so sweet and I know she felt bad refusing these two elderly

customers. So L. produces another coupon for $5.00 off anything in the store over $30.

Oops!

Still did not apply.

We gave here $21.57 (tax included) and came home with our bargain.

We have found that now that we are older, clerks seem so much nicer. We have our money

ready and our discount cards out at Kroger's. No waiting on fumbling helps a bunch.

Happiness is a New Apple Slicer

Old and bent blades but I'll miss your apple shape!

Eighty-Eight Percent Turkey

I just read (on the internet) that 88% of American households will have turkey tomorrow.

We are part of the 12%. We will have a beef roast with potatoes, carrots and onions.

And thankful to have it - with a representation of a blurry internet photo.

LATER:  We had the roast and it was really, really tough. A disappointment because I followed the directions for roasting a 3 1/2 lb. round roast - slow and for 30 min per pound plus!
We'll grind up the leftovers and mix in a little sweet relish and mayo for sandwiches.

The Big Eight-Four

Yesterday was L.'s 84th birthday. Here he is with our two little monsters when they were pups. Let's face it - he loves dogs and if we had room, we'd rescue more but I think there is a limit on the number allowed per household.

Anyway, late Happy Birthday to my DH.

Late Leaves

You cannot tell from the photo but these leaves are really blowing in a strong north wind.
This tree is in our back yard and blooms in the spring like a flowering plum. This is the first year since we've been here that the leaves haven't fallen after frost and snow.
I heard that if the leaves are still hanging on when the first snow arrives, it will be a cold winter.
No kidding?
They do seem to be gone from the adjoining tree. It blooms both pink and white and has little, inedible apricots that fall to the ground in late summer.

Foggy Days

We've had two days of fog around these parts. We are so happy the freezing rain did not happen!
Sometimes it's just hard to forecast Kansas weather.

A Round Tree

This tree was in a yard two doors north of our house when we moved in. Sadly, that winter we had a bad ice storm that destroyed this lovely shape and the owners had the tree removed.

I always wondered what the name of this tree is. We still aren't acquainted with that neighbor or I would ask him.

More Photos

And here is the twin to yesterday's framed collage. These are of my parents and other relatives and one of me missing some teeth.

A Bunch of Old Pictures

Ready to be framed and they have been since 2007. 

Internet Service Provider

We have had the same provider of TV, phone and internet for seven years.
Sometimes when it rains or a little snow falls, we lose the phone and internet. This happened Saturday morning.
Occasionally the connections reappears but that did not happen this last time. I used the cell phone to call the help number and after the usual press 1, 2 or 3 process, I just resorted to repeatedly pressing 0 and reached a live person. She was very helpful; we tried a few things but there was no service. She advised a service man would be out to test WEDNESDAY. Remember, this was Saturday.

What if I had a business to run (I don't.) What if I didn't own a cell phone (I do.)
After a quiet Sunday, I decided to try another call. This time I reached a tech in Arizona who had me try a completely different set of procedures. It restored the connection.

In addition, we will receive credit for the days we were "out" and the repairman will still come to check the outside box and wiring. This young man could not believe how long we were to wait for a visit from the local tech. He checked some sort of schedule and decided we must have only one repairman for this whole area!

I feel very fortunate to have reached someone who really knew things to try that might solve the outage. I requested to speak to his supervisor and left a message that I hope will give him some extra points on his record - or a gold star. . . whatever their method is for recognition of a job well done.

Tire Tracks

At six yesterday morning I was at our front door,  picking up the paper. Our neighbor was just

backing out to go to work. I waited for him to turn south so I could see if it was snowing.

It was.

Later when the sun came out, I noticed the patterns made when he left. At first I thought they looked

like upside down Egyptian Ankhs...no -  Peace signs.

It's just an interesting sight that stayed there all day because it never got warmer than twenty degrees!

One More from Madison, IN

The extreme tilt came from picture taking while riding by in a car. I was not driving!

This house just fascinated me. Look at all those windows!

My Tavern

We didn't go inside. This was on the trip to Madison, IN, but I'm not sure if it was in that town or

another we might have passed through.

Madison, IN

This is a mansion in Madison, IN.  I saw a much better photo of it today on another blog.
(http://farsideoffifty.blogspot.com/
I've learned from that it's the Lanier Mansion, built by a railroad tycoon in about 1840.  Madison is a lovely town that looks like a town should look at the turn of the 20th century. I wish we could have spent more time there.

Dogs

Our grand dogs, Wisket and Chili.

And our two, Jack and Jill. They have their winter coats on....it's going to get colder tonight.

Embroidery

Each year our quilters' group drew names and made a gift for one of the seven in the bunch.

Roberta drew my name once and I was so happy to get one of her embroidery beauties.

Most of our efforts were quilts so this was a nice surprise.

We don't meet any longer. Four of us are still here.  Two of us are still quilting and two who gave it up after stiff joints and old eyes became a problem.

We miss Regina, Roberta and Barb.

 

It was a great group and there are lots of happy memories of good food, laughter and sewing.

 

 

Thank You for Your Service

This is my Uncle Lloyd. He was in the army in WWI. He never talked about  his service when he was around the nieces and nephews. I think veterans didn't discuss their memories then.
And many still do not today.

Squirrels

I hope these guys can find a warm spot tonight. It's supposed to get really chilly!

Street Vendor

I'm not sure what is on the menu here but I see chicken and teriyaki and some hot sauce. This is in Portland, OR.

Hutchinson used to have a street vendor that sold tamales when I was a kid. There were unkind remarks about ptomaine tamales. We never had the nerve to buy any. I'll bet they were delicious.

Steps

 

These led to a lovely old house in Portland.

What a way to get exercise daily.