GOOD BYE AUGUST..

GOOD BYE AUGUST..

I am ready. But not ready for the fall, or even the winter.

Just ready for cooler weather.

We are heading out, so taking a week off from blogging.. or maybe two..  Having our guy watch over the place..  giving instructions of not answering the phone.. just let the answering machine take the calls. So he will be in and out, if I know him..  but the house will be in good hands.

Have the neighbor boy doing the watering of the flowers. It is his maiden voyage  of responsibility, with Mom and Dad’s help.  So we know the yard/garden is taken care of.. .Auto sprinklers will take care of the lawn.

So it is good bye summer… I know.. not quite but dang close.  Over the weekend.. it dropped to the low 70’s.. I had to find my long pants.. lol.. 

So you all enjoy your Labor Day Weekend.. And see you when I get back.. And don’t hassle the caretaker.. he is just doing his job.  

 

 

GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT GRANDPARENTS…

GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT GRANDPARENTS…

There is getting to be more and more great grandparents. We are living longer, our kids married younger.. So their kids are now adults. So 4 generation pictures are getting easier.

In the old days of 1940 to 1950 or even 1960. Grandparents were in the 60’s and some 70’s. And they were mellow. And their adult children and grandchildren came over fairly often in the 1940 and 50’s. By the 60’s the adult children were on the move , no more living down the street, or the same town. Not even the same state.

Now great grandparents are still young enough to watch the great grandchildren. And there is a special bond between the two different generations.  GGparents are more laid back. They remember when their grandchildren were young. And now are another generation away.  See grandparents are too close to the age. Meaning they still think they know best.

They see their own adult children doing child raising different from how they raised theirs.  And some are positive their way is the right way. So feel the need to correct the way things are done. They will tell you how much they love their own children and their grandchildren. But it doesn’t slow down the advice of how to raise the grandchildren. Nothing bristles up a mother more than to have a mother in law correct /second guess how to take care of the baby And the mother of the wife doesn’t fair much better, when second guessed. Nothing runs up the back of a modern mother than to have a grandmother say “when I was raising my kids we did………….”   And nothing puts off a grandmother than to hear the mother say..”my Dr. said.”.

By the time being a GGparent comes along .. they have mellowed out. Found out if they are smart… to keep their mouth shut about childrearing… and the they enjoy the kids. By the time we become GGparents we see all of our advice was not needed, nor asked for. 

So we see now a child (great grandchild)  who needs our guidance, so much as they look at us as their buddy .. We explain why their parents are so uptight.. and seem mad. How much their parents love the…. And we become  their pal.   They become your partner in innocent crime. To have fun as you remember fun being. To teach the simple things. Like riding a bike, sling shots, fishing and so much more.   All of this ONLY, IF THE CHILD DOESN’T HAVE A TABLET IN THEIR HANDS. Better known by the older generation… “the baby sitter.”

You might not be too popular .. but you can request that the tablets be left at home.  The resistance won’t be only from the child… but found by the other two generation who have their faces with in 10 inches of a screen of some kind.

Might suggest the tablet be left at home and they will learn modern times from them… and that you are going to show them how the world use to be in the simpler times.. when your own child was growing.

By the way, this only works if you are an active person with the child.. no sitting in front of the tv. 

If you are a craft person.. show them…  If you are a cook.. show them..  if you can build anything.. show them.  Do you remember what you use to do when you where a child?  Hop Scotch… hid-and seek… baseball pitching.. if you are lucky enough to live on a ranch or farm.. there is so much there to show that child about life. Not just the haying… but taking care of animals. 

And if have a calm look on life.. show them patience.. responsible and repercussions for actions.  That every thing is not free.. and good hard work at something pays of.. with satification of accomplishment. ..Pride is workmanship.  Let them hear positives..  and if things don’t work out.. you show them how to do it better..  to keep trying.. not blame or shame ..for what happen… THAT IS THE RESPONDIBLITY OF THE GREAT GRANDPARENT. 

Now there is a lot of grandparents out there.. who by nature are laid back and can do this very same thing.  I happen to have a daughter who does crafts with her two grandsons.. age 6 and 3 ..right now.  She shows them how to be silly…and to laugh with others and with each other.  She can say no, when needed..  She will make a super great grandmother, because right now she is a SUPERWOMAN GRANDMOTHER.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The books..

The books..  

 

A person at our church wrote two books about his family. It was so interesting.. as it was about what happens when a country decides to go to war. Mostly what happens when another country decides to take over your country.

It is very relevant to today.  See it is about a part of the country near Russia.   So the family considered themselves from Ukraine.  But this was before WWII and during the time of the Russian Revolt.  So Ukraine was Russian.  Or was it. They considered themselves  as Ukrainian, Russian, and even Germans as they had come from or the land was also considered German owed.  So you can imagine what it was like for this family.. during WWII…  where they Russia? Were they German?  And of course they thought they were Ukrainian.

The interesting part of this book was the fact it tells the story from the people who lived in the country, and how they were treated.  They had no part in the war itself. They were Mennonites.  Who did not believe in war.  But the country had different ideas.. but they did let them drive ambulances, and supply trucks instead of going in the field with a gun in their hands.  

The story is not only about the men who were forced to go to war.. but of their families left behind. Their wives and girlfriends, their children and elderly parents. The hardships they went thru .. trying to find food and the necessaries .  And a lot of them had to move to other areas or they would be put in prisons like the Jews.  And then how the men traveled after the war, trying to find what was left of their families. 

Later some of them went to America. Twice.  First before the WWI and then went back to Europe because they thought there would be a revolution in American. And then some of them came back during the depression.  Some of them served in the American war… the children.  It is a great two books.. so you can find them on Amazon and they aren’t real expensive.  Each book is about 260 to 267 pages. So easy reading.  The part one is mostly getting you to know the families.. and how it was for them.. The second one, Part two. Was almost hard to put down, as it was how they came to America and also those who stayed behind.. and those who were in WWII before we were in it.

So if you decide to buy… and they are well worth it. Enjoy, as much as you can… hearing about the hardships of others in other countries.. and it will give you some idea how it is in Ukraine now..  And why they bravely fight to keep their country.

Happy Birthday Aunt Jo

 

 Happy Birthday Aunt Jo

Today Josephine Brownell.. better known as Aunti Jo

To me…  would have been 96… Over the years she has always be a young… what ever the year was.

It was just the last year or two that she gave up driving.. But still young at heart.

While I didn’t call her a lot.. I am going to miss her. I will miss at the end of each month, printing out my blog and mailing it to her.   I found years ago, that she was saving my blog. My brother and his wife went to visit her and saw a large box with papers stacked in it.. and she told them, it was my blog .. that she was saving it..   I would guess she would have gave it up, as she would have had a huge box of them by now.. or multiple boxes.. as it is over 16 years of them now. And in the beginning I use to write every day.. 7 days a week. Then I dropped it to Monday thru Friday.. and then about 5 years ago, down to twice a week.

She and her girlfriends over the years have read them… and for the life of me, I don’t see what they saw in it.

Now I will be printing out for her friend Regina, unless I get Regina lined out with seeing weekly on line, as Regina does have a computer.  Where Jo didn’t .. which was kind of ironic as she use the typewriter for years in her work for the government. Don’t know why she never transferred over to the computer.. after she retired and they came into play.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, dear sweet AUNTIE JO.. hope you are in the arms of your life time love.. Herbie.. and smiling and joking with your brothers, and who ever else you see..  maybe Lucy.. or even my folks and brother..  But GOD BLESS.. love and miss you, for sure.

Some days, it is just silence…. And that is good.

Some days, it is just silence…. And that is good.

As life goes by, there are some times, you want to just sit and read.. maybe share a cup of coffee or even tea.. But....

Just silence…  is enjoyable. 

I have found, I don’t have to feel guilty in silence.

No tv on… nor radio.. just the book and I.

With the HOT HOT weather, of 99 and to 101.. it is cave time.  I told you what cave time is..  All the shades for curtains pull closed.. just a light on for reading.  The humming of the air conditioners in the back room.. cooling off the house as the breeze drifts into the rest of the room.

I use to feel guilty sitting in silence and reading.  Thought I should be doing something.. anything.. but something.  Thought I was wasting time.. Maybe thinking I was lazy… don’t know.  But all my life has been doing something. Accomplishing something. 

I guess one of the good things of life is knowing.. it is ok to enjoy silence with a good book.

So for today.. I will allow one shout out.. of noise.. as I enjoy the birds and the neighborhood hum of different sounds.. and that shout out is..

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY COUSIN PARKER.. 

he is finally looking closer to his age… he is 80 I believe.. or is he 79.

Enjoying the dream… living in Mexico.. listening to the surf come and go..     ENJOY THE DAY.. LISTEN TO THE SILENCE OF THE EARTH, AND HER JOYS.. 

 

Well, Mother Earth, what do we do now?

Well, Mother Earth, what do we do now?

We all see on the news where about 1/8 of the earth is burning. France and several other countries are having pretty bad fires… and then of course THE USA.. has it fair share of fires.. and it is still early in fire season .   So there can be many more.. Idaho has had a few, but nothing like California..  And I think Washington State is getting off fairly light, so far.

Then we have the floods.  I don’t know how many of the European countries have trouble with floods. But the USA has have about 1/16^th of the area’s flooding..   Even the casino’s in Nevada are having running water and it isn’t the kind they want.   Sadly none of this is in the area where there are fires.

Some genius should be able find a way to divert the floods to dry areas.. There sure is enough farms that could use that water in the mid-west.

We, humans are pretty rough on Mother Earth..  We blast thru the core.. we drill through her oceans… we mine cities under the earth to find coal and other chemicals of sorts.

Then add the Volcano’s  from Hawaii to Iceland.  

It is a wonder we have anything left..   which makes one wonder about the BIG BANG THEORY..

 

This is the face of KINDNESS….

This is the face of KINDNESS…. 

Those of you who have read my blog for a good amount of years, know that I have a steady fan.  She doesn’t have a computer, so I print out my blog once a month and send it to her.   I don’t know how I started that.  But she raved so much about it.. I couldn’t stop sending it to her.. even last months.

This month is her birthday..just next week... she would be 96! I have known her for 67 years.  And if you are a long time reader, of mine. You know the story so you skip this paragraph.   For those who aren’t..  here is how I met Jo. 

When I was 15, Jo and her guy, Herbie were invited to their first Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house together. See we knew Herbie for ever.  He was the closest to a brother for my mom. My parents lived in his father’s shack while waiting for me and Dad to finish the house he was building. Herbie was just joining the Navy. When he got out in 1946, he was my brother and myself, babysitter.   About 9 years later he met the best of soul mate.  And this would be her introduction to the Richardson family.  After dinner, the adults always went to the living room and I had the kitchen duty… of clean up and washing the dishes.  I was just getting ready to do the dishes.. when this angel (she was to me) came into the kitchen and said…  “I will wash the dishes and you dry and put them away, as I don’t know where they go.”  Just as we were starting, my mother showed up at the scene and told Jo…  “Cis, does the dishes, come on in with the adults.”  Of which, Jo told my mother she would be in right after she got done washing the dishes… because she want to.  From that moment on.. Jo was my angel..  Many years later .. I told her that I had adopted her as my Aunt.

She was the most kind person. Always helping others. Always loving.  The only one who matched her was my Aunt Harriet.  My dad’s sister. 

When ever I went back to R.I. for a visit.. top on the list was visiting with Herbie and Jo.   They both were so kind.. and Herbie came to my defense several times when I was little and got into trouble with my mother.  Herbie worked at the War College in Newport R.I. on the base, and that is where he met Jo.  He was a drummer with a band.  And he worked the parades selling balloons and etc.. which hired me when I was 15. 

These two were the best. The kindness of kind.. word don’t match these too..  so I will leave it here with the picture of the two of them… 

God Bless, Auntie Jo.. I will miss our phone calls, your always birthday cards as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas.. I know you are happy up there with the love of your life .. and your brothers.  I will miss you… 

Oh, yea… Auntie Jo left me a gift… the gift of a new friend.. Her best friend..  Regina..  who also inherits my monthly blog, as she and Jo use to read them. 

 

Can’t let go…

Can’t let go…

You  know, when you are cleaning out your closet of clothes. And you decide to downsize..  So you go thru and get rid of this and that.  You haven’t wore it for 5 years. It is time to let go.

Yet, there are a few things,  when you go to put it in the box… you hold it for a little longer… and then you keep it.

Well, it works for books too. I am trying to downsize my books.  I have gotten rid of a lot of cookbooks… I use to have a book shelf that was 6 feet tall.. and 5 foot wide.. and it was full.. so full, that I would put books side ways on top of other books.  But in the past couple years, I have down sized to about 12 cookbooks.. And now I have about 8 left.. as of today.. 

But there are two books I was going to give away because I have no attachment to them…  WELL, I THOUGHT SO.  Until I decided to open them.  One is about the Presidents.. from Washington to I think, Clinton.  And there is a slide thingie.. which you slide it to the president of choice, and it shows who his wife is and what are one or two things that happen while that person was president.. Also across the way from the presidents name is his vice president.  Which I am sure you can relate..  of wow, I never heard of this guy.. more than once.   Then there is one called  WHEN ..WHERE..WHY & HOW IT HAPPENED. History’s most dramatic events and how they changed the world..    DAMN DAMN DAMN.. so much for I have no attachment to them. 448 pages of totally interesting things.. the last one is 1989 the collapse of communism…   the book was published in 1995… some how I don’t think the last chapter is going to be a final, as we all know that communism is still alive in other countries and who knows maybe still here.

The president one I have jumped around just to tell myself, I can let this book go and find myself deep into the stories.  Even Jimmy Carter who I thought I knew everything about him that I wanted to know…  I don’t..  So looks like these books are going to be around for a while.  DANG IT.  then there is this one.. 

 I was hoping to down size to one book shelf.. I have 3.. one I have the kids’s toys in.. the other has tech books..  so thought I could get rid of this one.  

 

 

Facebook and etc..

Facebook and etc..

When you have a Facebook page, you get a newsfeed, and anything.. and I do mean anything can be put on it.. One signs up, and you think just your friends and family will be in the newsfeed.. But nothing could be further from the truth. As every advertising unit is on there.

And God forbid if you look something up on the internet, because you will get with in the hour 20 or more ads for that product…  At first I thought it was because you asked someone about that product on Facebook.. but I have found out .. you can look it up on any type of internet and next thing on Facebook there you are..and there is no way to get rid of it.  They have an option you can click on with a reason of too repetitive and you don’t want to see it anymore. Well, just get rid of that one and 6 more from different companies will show up.

But I came across a site that is a delight.   And there is many that will come in your news feed.. but you don’t mind. Because 1. it is all positive remarks…. 2. beautiful pictures of peoples yards or view …. Like ocean, mountains and such. From all over the world! 

View from my window | Facebook    and I thought YES, FINALLY.. good stuff in my news feed. And it is.. so I go thru.. and sometimes I comment on the beauty of the picture out their window and a lot of times I click on like  or love it..   

I thought finally I can get positives and not the negatives that Facebook gives you… but then Facebook had to have the last word..    As I was strolling thru all the beautiful pictures and looking at where they were from… I was clicking on ‘like and love it”.. and this is what happen.

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DANG FACEBOOK…  DRAT..  oh, well, I will be back..

I can still comment on it.. so far.. and I can see it..  just can’t like it anymore.. lol..   But sometimes I just don’t have words to say.. So much for freedom of speech.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was wondering…

 I was wondering…

 I was watching one of the crime channels.

As they swore in the witness, with the so help me God, ending..  It made me wonder…

So…. When you reply Yes, or I will…  AND.. if you decide to give false witness.. meaning you lie…  you can go to jail for perjury… right?  Can get 7 to 14  YEARS depending how bad it was.. and the judge.. 

So here is what I was wondering.. WHY IS IT.. that the LAWYERS don’t have to swear on a bible. After all we all know what lies they can spin… WHY DON’T THEY have to swear… so help them God?

Maybe by swearing… to the truth the whole truth.. we would feel better about them…knowing if they LIE… THEY COULD GO TO JAIL…   just wondering…

 

That’s it folks..  and Diane Ellis.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY..

 

 

 

 

 

HELLO AUGUST…..2022

HELLO AUGUST…..

I don’t know if I should be happy or sad about today.

After all, we are on the downhill side of not only summer but the year 2022.

And yet, we still have just a little over 31 more days of summer.  Summer ending use to be judged by the school year, the fairs and etc.   Now some states or even area’s school is starting mid  August.. What is with that? 

When I was a kid, school didn’t start until after Labor Day.  Which was a Tuesday, of course.

But I was raised in a farming area. So August was harvest time, and Fair time.. So no sense in having school, to just have about half of the kids not show up.

Heck I hear in California, they have school year around. With rotating kids.. meaning your kid might go from August to May and someone else’s kids go from January to Sept. and etc.

Even here in Idaho, the north part I live in.. school opens day after Labor Day.. and some times the Monday after. But I heard that down south nearer to Boise.. they are starting August 16… and we are all in the same state, watched over  by the school districts under the same state..  so don’t get that.  Maybe they don’t have 4 H down there?  Who knows.

Any way… half of summer is over.. next month is the start of cleaning up the yard and putting summer stuff away and getting stuff ready for winter. Making sure the snow blowers are running well  and etc.

So what ever it means to you..  enjoy what is left of the HOT HEAT of Summer… Fall is coming soon..