BEST LAID PLANS… etc etc..

 

May 31, 2022

BEST LAID PLANS… etc etc..

So here we went into the 3 day weekend. 

And the weather did not co-operate…

Grandson came down with a cold/nasal infection…

So Friday.. the King took the day off..  A day that started out with sunshine…  so he went up in the hills to find mushrooms..  wild ones..  And lucky for me.. he knows the difference from the poison ones and the edibles. So he had a nice day with his friend.. walking the hills. He did go up further than they planned and was shocked to see one of their areas had 6 FEET of SNOW!!  And it was slim pickings below.   So they will try mid June to see if it is better. 

The weekend wasn’t a lost as he and I did get boards replaced where we had some dry rot.  Taking our time.. doing 6 hour days.    Also had a good friend who ended up in the hospital over night.. so went and got her and took her home and ran to the pharmacy and picked up her meds. She is doing ok now..  last report.  Nothing drastic, but not have any good stable answers either.

So today, being the last day of May, we will get some more boards up.. Then it is peeling time for the under part of the over hang of the roof..  That need peeling and then painting. And then we get to wrap it..  That will be wonderful…  as the next step after that is.. putting up the metal.. and we will feel like we are on the down hill side of this project.   But patience..  patience.. I keep telling myself. Hope you all had a great 3 days weekend.

A MEMORIAL DAY FOR SURE…

A MEMORIAL DAY FOR SURE…. 

I don’t take this day lightly.. We all should keep in mind our Vets… those who pass as well as those overseas now.

But for me.. 54 years ago, was a MEMORIAL DAY TO LAST ME A LIFE TIME..  I had twins.. at 9:45pm and 10:10pm .. I believe is the times…  the oldest never letting the youngest forget he is older. 

They joined 5 other siblings…  with another 2 years later.

Lucky for me they are not identical. One has brown hair and the other is a blonde..   One is high tech guy.. the other is a damn good mechanic for the near by (to his house) city, and has for years.  The youngest one … the tech retired from federal civil service 2 years ago and works for the state now.  So definitely two different men.  I am proud of both of them, as I am the others.

 

SO .. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONS… LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK

 

Posting is going to be slim pickings…

Posting is going to be slim pickings…

We have come a long way. The house is shingle/shake less.

But we have ran into a slight problem.  At least our grandson who is a house contractor. say it is slight.  Or rather.. no problem Poppa…  So we will see.  We have dry rot.  In several places.. Luckily not in bad places.. It is in the covering part.  Plywood part.  So that will be taken care of next weekend. 

In the meantime.. We have a 2 foot over hang on our roof. The under part has one small section that has rot.. So the King has replaced that..  He said it was easy.. Next up is sanding down all the rest of it and paint it.  We also have some but not all trim to remove.  And then… and then we are ready .. for the METAL…yeah!!.

Oh, yea, our grandson came over with his family yesterday after we got done with the front.  He had his whole family with him..  His oldest son, asked why were they here and who were they going to go visit...  haha..   He did not recognize the house..   He said, why did you paint it black.. then he noticed it was paper..  Why did you put black paper on your house, Nana...   

see why he was confused.  ha ha

Maybe the preppers are right…

Maybe the preppers are right…

Preppers are the people that are ready for anything that might happen on this earth. They have basements full of food, ammo stored, ways to save items and etc.. 

With the talk of saving water, as the earth seems to be drying up… I thought of the rain barrels my folks had. It caught the rain that came off of the roof.  It actually was softer than out of the faucet. Mom used it for washing clothes.   So maybe we should be putting plastic 50 gallon barrels at the tip of our roofs.

Have enough to water your garden and maybe for your lawn.  And who knows if you can find a way to filter it.. for drinking. 

Also saw a picture of a garden for those who don’t have much of a back yard. 

Another thing is, with the baby formula shortage, I wondered why the mothers weren’t contacting their friends who raise goats or go to the health store and buy goats milk. Some are allergic to cows milk, but from what I have heard,no one is allergic to goat.   Now when my kids were babies, we mixed Pet can milk with water with a tablespoon of Karo syrup.  Don’t know why mothers aren’t doing that instead of going into a panic.   Of course the companies don’t want Mom giving goat’s milk and etc. After all Mom might figure it out that the goats milk is heather than the chemicals that formula have.

 

Just a peek of the work going on…

Just a peek of the work going on…

 

We have started with the peeling off the shingles/shakes.

We do have one whole side done. It is the smaller of the walls done..  So here you go, a peek.. the site seems to pick and chose which pictures go where, as they did not down load in line. 

Posting with be short and sweet as we go.

to the right of the building is the last side we will be doing. 

as you can see the top part is done.. we were checking to see what we were getting into, so did this short part first. 

this you can see the last line is where the shingles were starting to rot from the snow being there

This side is done..  as you can see...

This is a warning.. just in case…

This is a warning..  just in case…

We are starting to work on the outside of the house.

Meaning tearing off the shingles and then wrapping it and then putting up metal siding..  It also involves painting the eaves part of the roof.. 

So I might be too busy to post during that time. I figure it is going to take about 2 weeks…   Also on the 27^th of May we are having the internet people come out and take down our satellite and put it on a pole we are going to place next to the house.  Instead of having it on the house.  Like it is now

We talked to the tech guy today.. he seems to think that he can put it up on the pole and also reconnect it in the same time. If we have all the stuff ready… If not.. he will put it on the pole…. Disconnect and come back a day or two later and reconnect it.  That means no internet for about 4 days as that is the Memorial Day weekend.   No internet is a double edge sword for us..  As we have our firestick thru the internet..  so no internet.. no Netflix or Prime movies. 

Which is not all that bad, as we will be so flaming tired I don’t think we will be thinking of movies and etc.. 

 So if this blog has nothing for days.. that is what is going on and we should be back in the swing the end of the first week of June..    So figured I would give you all a heads up.

And no Facebook?  Well, that can’t be a bad thing.. (ha-ha).

How many of you remember root cellars?

How many of you remember root cellars?

A root cellar (American English) is a structure, usually underground or partially underground, used for storage of vegetables, fruits, nuts, or other foods. Its name reflects the traditional focus on root crops stored in an underground cellar, which is still often true.

 

They came in many shapes.. some stood by themselves. Meaning there was a hole in the ground and you open the doors and walked down stairs.. underground..  and there was a room there..  some were 10 feet by 10 feet.. and other larger. I heard that in the 1950’s a lot of them got turned into bomb shelters for a while and then turn back into root cellars in the 60’s.

 

 

Or if it was like my folks.. Ours was in our basement. It had a set of doors to outside… like these…

 

 

 

So you could go there from outside, or go down the stair from inside the house to the basement.   Ours look kind of like this one down there…

In my childhood times…  most mother’s had a root cellar full of canned goods.. Veggie, fruit.. even meat.   The summer was taken up growing food…  some called Victory Gardens in the 1940,s.  Then come fall, it was time to harvest the food and can it in Mason jars.  Even deer and some beef was done, don’t know about pork as we did not have that.

The King’s mother did venison (deer) … She still had hers when I met him. Theirs was in the basement.   Some of them were dated 1960 something..  and that was in 1999.

 

My mother’s newer house  (1960’s) had a root cellar of the kind that was dug in the ground.  The door to it was in the basement..  There was no outside door..  If I recalled right .. it was under the front porch.  Mom kept, potatoes, carrots, onions and etc. In there..  Also her attempt to make dandelion wine.   (it was NASTY!!!)

 With the way the world is going… maybe we should be doing them again. 

Happy Mother’s day … AND…

Happy Mother’s day … AND…

 

Don’t forget the others…  step Mom’s who step in to the spot, because other Mom’s passed away or in these days… some who because of drugs,  or for one reason or another...couldn’t… fathers who had to fill both shoes, no matter what the reason is.. .

And don’t forget your mother in law…  There are some great ones out there… some not so..but even those raised a son you decided is worth your life time with… 

 

The Gors Connection…

The Gors Connection…  

Mary.. or better known to most, by the name of MOMA GORS..  when she passed, we had to put in the title part..  Mary L. (MOMA) Gors… 

Mary had an interesting life.. before she met her husband, she sang on the radio.. an almost operatic like voice. She also worked for Levi, making jeans.  

She married her husband and live in California for several years.  Then he wanted to move North. So they moved to Oregon, then on to Spokane and then on to Vay in Idaho.

They raised 4 boys and one girl.   Sadly there is only two boys left.

I met Moma before my husband Marv had passed. Her second oldest son was Marv’s best friend. We would go to their house to have dinner and watch movies.  Moma’s husband had passed a year before we settled in Idaho.  Then Marv passed… so the kids and I would go over to their house for dinner and movies.. as well as Moma and her son Ken would come to our house.   As time went by Moma would move into town, with her 3^rd son, who was mentally challenged.

It would be hard to find anyone who went to the IGA store that did not know Moma …  as she would hold court at the restaurant there for many years.. her son worked for the Spokane International/Union Pacific railroad across the street from the IGA. Before I got my job, he would take her in twice a week and drop her off, on his way to work..  After I got my job, I would take her in..  She was my friend.

And you didn’t need to be right there to know she was in the store, as she had a laugh that everyone would recognize. She was a very proud Portuguese woman.  All 4 foot 8 inches of her..  Her laughter was contagious.   But she was no one’s fool.. and if she had something on her mind, you knew it fast.  

Her daughter was her pride and joy…  and she loved her son’s but she never let them get away with anything..  It was funny to see her get on to…. especially number 2 son… (who I came to marry) as he is 6 feet tall, and remember I told you, she was 4’8”… and she would stand toe to toe with him, ripping him up one side and down the other, while punching him …  But she totally loved her sons and daughter more than life itself..  God bless… Moma, hope you and your sons and daughter are together up there watching over us.

 

 

 

The Hughes connection

The Hughes connection

Her name was Vera… When I met her, she had just hours before, became a widow.  As my first meeting with most of the Hughes family was with at a funeral in Minnesota.  After a hair raising ride from Washington state to Minnesota and back 4 days later… during one of the worse snow storms that was going across the mid western states to the coast. I had met one sister and one brother.. out of Washington state where we all lived..  Marv and his brother hunted quite a bit.. and that is how I met his brother..   The sister lived about 10 miles from us.. so got to visit her as well.. The rest of the family lived in Minnesota.  Vera and her husband too, had 8 children..  4 boys and 4 girls.  

Vera was also an amazing woman..  She became engaged to her husband.. but before they got married.. he was injured in a dynamite accident when he worked for the county… building roads.  Because of the losing his sight, he told Vera that they were NOT to be married.  That he was releasing her for a normal life, and not be tied down to a blind man.  Breaking her heart.. and his family moved to Iowa.   With in a year, her to be father in law, came to visit her and to ask how she was doing.. and found out that she missed his son as much as his son was missing her. So the family agreed to let them get married.  It was a wonderful marriage..  Full of unconditional love. They ran a restaurant, he went hunting.. and learn to run any kind of equipment .. even a band saw, (article in a paper about it) even tho he was blind. The boys learn to drive a car from his lap… steering as he gave the gas and brake.  They learn to hunt as well, pretty much the same way.. Being behind their dad, as he held the gun, and they line up the gun.  All 8 children grew up to be wonderful adults.  Inspite of having a renegade son, that I would later marry.  He was seen by his mother, riding a motorcycle at full pore, laying crosswise on the seat.  He also got drunk coming back from town from cashing in his mother’s sugar rations tickets.. only to crash the car, and ruining the sugar..  Word is.. it is still called Sugar Hill…   After her husband passed away… Vera would go and visit each child and their families.  She was a delight to be around.  She so amazed me that she not only married a blind man, but they prospered during those times, with 8 children..  Even in the hardest of times.(the depression years) . As the county pension was a mere $25 a month.  So garden and hunting and fishing were ever so important.  They never lost faith. I think reading the bible after dinner each night, had a lot to do with that.   Also the girls playing piano and father, the accordion… help with their attitude of life.    

Vera was greatly loved and respected by all of her grandchildren, great grandchildren and daughter in laws and son in laws.   She was a great woman and a very strong woman.. who dealt with what ever life sent her way, with a great deal of love.  And brought the words in a the marriage ceremony… IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH, UNTIL DEATH DO US PART

The Worel connection….

The Worel connection….

Her name was Josephine…  she was just a tiny thing…  Part English and part Chowtaw… she was born without a first name for the first several months of her life.. She was born in Oklahoma. With the last name of Cornish.  Her English father.  Her mother was the daughter of a Indian chief is the story that I was told.

Josephine didn’t say much about her childhood..  and sadly I had not asked.   I heard more of her marriage life. Which was not an easy one.  She had 7 boys and one daughter..  A daughter she let go live with an acquaintance to protect her from her father… as he was so mean.  

In those days … women did not leave their husbands. They traveled from Oklahoma to Washington state and to Florida.  Not sure in what order or if there were repeats. Oh, yes, in Arkansas as well, as that is where my husband Bill was born. Huntsville.  There were stories of the father being a drinker, and when he was coming home, the boys would sing SHRIMP BOATS ARE COMING… which was a signal of the old man coming.. and to work hard …. Usually weeding the garden or some such task. There were

stories of older boys waiting for him to come home, standing behind the door…. As he use to beat their mother. 

I tell you this, so you will understand that the tiny woman of 5 foot,  if that… was a strong woman. And during a separation (not sure by whose choice) the father died. Which gave Josephine freedom. Her sons were adults except for the last one.   The ..oldest had gone into the Navy… to be followed by 3 more…  the second oldest was a Marine..and one of them went into the Army.  All were out of the service except for 2, I believe.. when the father died.  Which with the son’s living in different states for so many different years.. Josephine traveled to each one, with the youngest.  Oklahoma with the second oldest… California with the rest of the boys and Washington State with her daughter.   She spend many years traveling back and forth among the boys. When most of the sons settled in Washington state, she got her own apartment in Longview, Wa.  

I never knew if Josephine ever worked.. she didn’t when I was in the family.   She was greatly loved by her sons, daughter and grandchildren.  . She was a tough woman.. took no nonsense from any one.. not even her sons,   we daughter in laws made a joking reference of a MA BARKER, type of personality… while we didn’t agree with her from time to time, we all respected her.  She didn’t always side with her sons and would call them out .. if she thought they were out of line. 

I went to her daughter’s house one time after I had dropped off the kids at her son’s house…. Had not seen her in a couple years and was wondering what kind of reception I would get. She was wonderful… she gave me a hug and told me she missed me.  I had the greatest respect for her.. and she taught me how to cut up a chicken..  So GOD BLESS.. you Josephine… hope heaven is treating you well.. and hope the boys that have joined you, are treating you well.

 

 

 

Mother in laws…

Mother in laws…

This week, I am highlighting Mother-in-laws..  As we celebrate Mother’s Day,  we forget to remember Mother in laws.. and like Mothers, they come in different styles. Tough, rough, kind, loving.. and some with indifference.  I was lucky in that draw. From them I learn to be a pretty good mother in law…  meaning minding our own business and letting your kids fall on their faces on their own.. or rise up and fly well with a good woman by their sides. I lucked out in the daughter in laws ..  ALL of them.. even those who moved on to find another…   And being we raised perfect daughters… we knew they would be fine.  And I was lucky in the son-in-laws department.