Dad's House

My brothers and I went to Dad's house yesterday.
Time to empty out the possessions of a lifetime.
My brothers found many treasures of their childhood.
Fishing rods, guns, tools, nuts and bolts of an electrician's trade.
I found several treasures in my Dad's little shed.
Things you would not expect to find. Memories of a
time past forever. I cannot quite explain how bittersweet
it is to go through someone's stuff and take what you want
and have to leave some. You feel like taking every little thing
he ever touched. As if that will bring him back. I found some
surprising things that he had kept for 40-plus years. Items of
no consequence to anyone but him...and me. Old business cards with
old phone numbers where he had worked when I was a baby.
I touch these things and remember him. It brings tears to me
right now but it will bring mostly pleasure in the future as I
look at these tiny pieces of my Dad and remember his life.

We sold his house.  He loved the outdoors.  I took a few rocks

and petrified wood and cactuses that were in his flower bed.

His cat was there.  Waiting for him.  

He lived in Texas.

Here he is doing a crossword puzzle.

These are my memories that I took.  The little table was

from his bedroom.  The water can from his shed.  

The big safety pin for his army duffle bag that he had in

Germany.  I remember playing with it as a child.  Why did 

he save it?  The wooden ruler, broken.  These are things

I wanted.  I played with it too.  The business card of the

Continental Baking Company that he worked for when

we kids were little.  He had a little notebook full of little

old cards he kept.  Why?  I mean this was after moving

several times in his life.  This last move was only for two

years.

We sold his pickup a few months ago.  A friend who is a 

car dealer went to the auction to pick it up for us and 

sell it.  All emotional stuff.  

Still I have a lifetime of memories of him.  I got a couple

of his western, snap-front shirts, a couple of his books, (he

loved to read) his boot-jack, and one of his hats.  Simple,

ordinary things.  I'm happy to have them.  

Gilligan's Island

Here is an unaired original pilot of Gilligan's Island with a few
different characters.

Cat Stevens

Some of my favorites by Cat Stevens.
Pioneer Woman is having a contest today and she mentioned him.

Wordless Wednesday-Our House

Here are more Wordless Wednesday's.

Hello, Hello

Hello again, neighbors!


Last week was an epic week for me. We moved two children back home from college and one daughter to her new apartment. Lots of moving! Then we took our youngest daughter to the airport off to Italy. You know how the best laid plans can go awry? We made plans to communicate with our daughter in Italy with her laptop and a program called Skype. We tried it out at home and it was very easy and fun to use. We could talk and see each other with the video camera, all for free. When she got to Italy and the hotel where she will be staying, she discovered she could not get online. Her roommate has the same computer as she has and her laptop could get online. So I talked to her for a few minutes only. Now apparently no one is able to get the internet connections to work. So the next thing I had to do was upgrade her cell phone to international plan. It is free for me to call her but she has to pay 99 cents/minute to call me. She got a phone card also. But the timing will be the problem. Perhaps they will get the internet connection problems figured out soon. Anyway she is having a wonderful time. She also informed me that the wine is very good there. Hmmm....now my son is jealous because he likes red wine with a meal. Maybe she can bring him back a bottle. She is only 20? There are older people with her though.  She also told me they have to walk up this huge hill to their hotel every day when coming back from the town.  It is beautiful there and she said she will be getting plenty of exercise.  

     Last week I also had internet problems of my own.  We finally got it fixed after spending several hours on the phone with internet support from India.  That was fun!  :(  It turned out that my phone line was broken across the street and rubbing on and off and finally completely broke.  It was fixed on Saturday.  Such a little thing, but a lot of effort.

     I have missed reading a lot of posts last week, maybe I can catch up soon.  I need to get caught up this week on my work at home and the office too.  I kept my oldest daughter's dog (Apple) this week-end and she kept me busy.  She's a real sweety but I'm not used to keeping a dog in the house.  Our yard is not completely fenced in so I had to take her out on the leash to potty.  

     I am going to make some curtains with appliques on them for my daughter's bedroom window.  And some pillows for her bed too.  I really will like getting my sewing machine back out.  I just need to get some of the clutter and extra furniture from kid's moving situated so I can reach my machine.  I love to sew.  

     I received two new Blythe's in the mail recently.  I will take pictures soon.  One has very long brown hair and the other long red hair.  I may sew them some clothes too while I have the sewing mood going.  I really should get back to quilting.  Perhaps I will be inspired.  I wish I could knit better.  I find it hard to follow a pattern.  

    We had some heavy rain the past three nights.  Every thing is growing well including the weeds in our yard.  My son took scuba lessons this week-end and got his license.  He wants me to get mine too.  I guess I will attempt.  It would be fun on a vacation to do that.  I am looking at vacation homes to rent for a week on the east coast of either North Carolina or South Carolina.  I want a beach house right on the ocean front.  Anyone have any suggestions about a beach that they have been to?  I have been looking at Wilmington, NC or Myrtle beach.  

Remembering Cinderella

Remembering Maria Sue Chapman

Wordless Wednesday-Night Objects

Wordless Wednesday is here.

Italy

This little girl is going to Italy.
For five weeks. She leaves on Thursday morning.

This is her senior picture.

This picture was taken 3 weeks ago at her sister's

college graduation.  

Just think what fun she is going to have! We have Skype set
up on our computers so we can talk with video camera.

Wordless Wednesday-Wonderful World

More Wordless Wednesday is here.

Calvin & Hobbes

Windy weather

My front yard trees:

Clematis

This beauty grows in my front flower bed.

The blooms of the clematis often change color, some very markedly through the life of each flower, particularly when grown in the full sun. The pastel colors will hold their color best if grown in some shade. After the flowers are finished, the very attractive seed heads stay on the plant and can make a welcome addition to most flower arrangements. If left on the plant they sometimes remain well into winter.

Apple Art

Here's little Apple looking for a way to get into the fish pond.
She was thirsty!

Graduation

Our daughter graduated from college on Saturday.

Pictured with dad and mom.  We are proud to say the least.

She and her boyfriend graduated together.

Two sisters, lovely as can be.  

Our entire family with my mom in the middle.

We had an extremely wonderful day.  

Wordless Wednesday-Going Green

For more Wordless Wednesday go here.

Fun Monday-My Hero

Fun Monday's hostess with the mostest is Kitten.  

She asks us to tell her about our hero.  At first,

I didn't think I would play this week but after

re-reading Anne Frank and watching her movie

again, it changed my mind.  I would say that Anne

was a very heroic person but the person I am going

to name as my hero is the person who helped to hide

her family for 25 months during the war.  Her name

is Miep Gies.  What a hero!  Here is an excerpt from

an interview with her:

What message should the young people of today pass on about Anne's story?
The message to take from Anne's story is to stop prejudice and discrimination right at its beginning. Prejudice starts when we speak about THE Jews, THE Arabs, THE Asians, THE Mexicans, THE Blacks, THE Whites. This leads to the feeling that all members of each such group think and act the same. That results in prejudice. Lumping entire groups of people together is RACISM, because it denies the fact that everyone is an individual. Even our own brothers and sisters or parents are not exactly like we are. So how do we dare to lump entire groups of people together? If any German had ever asked Anne to tell something about herself, I think she would be still with us today. However, nobody asked: she was just a Jew! Therefore, never base your opinion about anybody else on the color of that person's skin, or on the passport that a person carries, or on the family that person comes from, but only on what the person says and does and on NOTHING ELSE.

If you could, would you ever speak to the neo-Nazis that live in Germany today? What would you say to them?
I would urge them to realize that racist ideas caused the death of Anne Frank, an ordinary and innocent child, and also the death of millions of people

Miep Gies said this about being considered a "hero":
How does it feel to be a hero?
I don't want to be considered a hero. Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary.

You don't have to be a hero to do your human duty.  Oh, that we would value life like that!

Oklahoma's Coin

Oklahoma's state coin will be the most rare since
they are only minting 416,600,000 of them.

Beauty Mark

Please say "hello" to Natasha. She has a lovely beauty mark.
She came to my house today. She surpassed my expectations.
I'll have more pictures later.  She needs to unwind.  :D

May Day

Happy May Day!
I am always so pleased to see my Lily of the Valley flowers. They are so dainty.

Lily of the Valley


The flower is also known as Our Lady's tears since, according to Christian legend, the tears Mary shed at the cross turned to Lilies of the Valley. According to another legend, Lilies of the Valley also sprang from the blood of St. George during his battle with the dragon. Other names include May Lily, May Bells, Lily Constancy, Ladder-to-Heaven, Male Lily and Muguet.
Traditionally, Lily of the Valley is sold in the streets of France on May 1. Lily of the Valley became the national flower of Finland in 1982. The Norwegian municipality Lunner has a Lily of the Valley in its coat-of-arms. It is the official flower of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, Kappa Sigma fraternity, Delta Omicron fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority, and Alpha Phi sorority.
The name "Lily of the Valley" is also used in some English translations of the Bible in Song of Songs 2:1, although whether the Hebrew word "shoshana" (usually denoting a rose) originally used there refers to this species or not is uncertain. The meaning of this flower is "You will find Happiness." (Wikipedia)