brooms and braids

As i was growing up I spent a great deal of time at my Grandma's .... my uncle was only 6 years older than me.  It was kinda like having an older brother.   He used to tease me unmercifully!   One time when he tackled me and chipped my tooth, he begged me, "Don't tell your Grandma she will hit me with the broom."  So I dutifully kept quiet.    Another time he tackled me I skinned my knee really bad and screamed....out came my Grandma with the broom and off ran my Uncle Dan.  

One day he decided to flush my braids down the toilet.   I could sit on my braids, they were that long.....so they got caught in the toilet and I was kicking and yelling and bubbling....and Grandma was hitting my uncle with the broom.  My Papa heard all the commotion and helped me out of the toilet.   My scalp really hurt and I thought all my hair was going to come out!  Plus the worst was I couldn't breathe.  Took me a couple of minutes to recover from that episode.

dose of love..

Give the world a big dose of love today!!!   Smile at everyone you see....count how many smile back!  Tell everyone you talk to today how great they are....or some nice thing about them.   Especially be extra nice to all sales people...whether on phone or whatever....remember they are just trying to make a living.   Let them hear a nice tone in your voice.   Retail clerks need an extra dose of love.....they deal with all of us when we are stressed out in a hurry, or just plain in a bad mood.   Give your kids, grandchildren, whatever....a big hug and tell them you love them.   Take some extra time with your spouse today....or some friend.   You will find yourself feeling more happy!!!   Give the world a big dose of love today!!!

My Papa

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   Some of my first memories as a small child were times spent with my Grandfather whom I called “Papa.”   My uncles and aunts all called him “Papa,” so I did too.  I was the eldest of the new generation and my youngest uncle was only 6 years older than I. I remember Papa giving me a bath and chiding me for not sitting still so he could “soap” me.  I remember walking to school with him, he was the custodian of my elementary school, besides owning a pear orchard.  We would milk the cow before we went and I would sit on the box with him while he milked.   I remember him telling me to open up my mouth and then he would squirt warm milk from the cow directly into my mouth.  What a way to grow up!

Happy Father's Day...

Fathers

I had such a wonderful Dad.   I much preferred working out in the orchards with him, than doing anything in the house.  He would sing me songs and yodel.  His nickname was Budge, because his brother couldn’t say brother and Budge stuck.  He used to take me deer hunting.  Now I don’t understand how I could kill those deer, but I did.   Actually I was a good shot.  My Dad taught me well.  We didn’t hunt just for the sport, we actually needed the meat during the depression years. …..but that’s another story.

Dad could play the harmonica, accordion, and some guitar    When I was little he used to play for me. Those were good times.   He was 29 when he married my Mom and she was 19.  That made him a little older when they had us kids but he never seemed old his whole life.   He told the most wonderful stories…you never knew if they were true or not, but he kept you in suspense a lot.  He taught me to swim the old fashioned way.  Threw me in the pond….I swam to the shore and he was there to greet me with a big hug. 

Every spring he would make a large supply of horse radish.  I never could make it as good as he did.  Dad cured olives….and again no one could match his cure.  They were so good.  Another thing he and I did together was to make venison jerky.   We would cut it up….season it well and I would hang it in the attic of the house.  What fun…and what good jerky we used to have.  Nothing compares to that taste.  It would dry in about 4 days…and I could never wait.     

Growing older..

As we grow older…

We are given the gift of extra time!

I now have time to volunteer and help others according to my abilities.   I can sit outside daily on my beautiful deck and watch the trees bud in the spring…watch a sunset from beginning to end….and watch the clouds drift by changing shape…..watch the horse in the pasture.

   I have time to be with friends.  We can remember our rich times together when we were young. I can be patient with my friend who has become ill-tempered and feels sad.  I can give a hug to the ones that need it.  I have time to listen, because we all need a good listener.  I have time to publish my church’s newsletter.

I have time to enjoy my children, and they have time to feel the satisfaction of responding to my needs and being with me.   I have time for my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren.  If I were not getting older I would not be able to know them.  I have time to read the special books to three generations.  My life is full of joy.  Every day I have a time for a quiet walk with my Lord!

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another growing up story

Another growing up story..

My Dad used to take me fishing for catfish at the mouth of a river flowing into Clear Lake.  It was too deep water for me to walk in, so he would put me on his back and I would carry the poles in one hand and he carried the sack for the fish in his pocket. 

We put the can of worms in a bucket and put it over the poles.  What fun it was to go fishing  in the evening time, after Dad finished work, once in a while early in the morning.   We didn’t have any limit in those days, at least none I knew about.   We brought home a sack full of fish every time.  When my brother and sister woke up there was always gills for them to pop by the little wood heater in the living room.  When you cleaned the fish just right you could get the gills out whole and they were just like a balloon when they popped.  But…..to get the worms, we always used big fat earth worms which I picked up by following my Dad down the row when he cultivated the ground with a one row cultivator pulled by a horse.  See….told you I was old.  At least I came from an area that was about 50 years or so behind times.  There was only one bus a day into Lakeport, where I grew up.  A great time and place to be a kid!!!

growing up...

Growing up…

When I was growing up I was outside with my Dad which is where I loved to be.  When I got married I couldn’t even boil water, but I could run a ranch.  Another story.  

We were hauling the shocks of hay into the barn….now get this …we used horses to pull the trailer when I was 6 or 7 years old.  Grandpa didn’t buy a tractor until later.  Guess how old I am now?   Anyway back to the story……I was sitting on top of the hay which was such fun when one of the horses reared up and the trailer jack-knifed and over the trailer went….hay and me and all!!!!   It seemed like forever, but they finally dug me out of there…spitting hay and sneezing my head off.  I remember my Mom asking my Dad how they found me.  He answered, “No problems with her lungs!!!”     

more cousin stories...

More cousin stories.

We had an old mule, Jack on the ranch.   We would round him up in the corral and get a harness and all 5 of us would ride the mule.  I usually sat by his neck and pulled his ears in the direction we wanted to go….I guess you would call that ear reining.    When he got tired of us he would trot over to the corral fence and wipe us off his back and then wait patiently while we put him back in the corral.  What fun growing up!

stories about cousins

Cousins….

I had 4 girl Jones cousins that lived down the road from me.  Our fathers were running the ranch for our grandfather.  We had so much fun playing together.  I would sit upon the old apple tree and tell them stories…they were a very attentive audience.  My favorite story was, “The Casket.”   I remember we took turns baptizing each other in the creek.  One year we jumped out the bedroom window into the flood waters.   Got in trouble for that one.   What fun growing up!!!!

Hi there!....Brothers.

Brothers

My brother is six years younger than I…..I remember when he and our cousin were in the sandbox arguing over what manure was.   My brother said it was banure and my cousin kept saying that it was silverlizer.   I informed them they were both wrong of course, being the ripe old age of 11 or 12 at the time!    When I would tease him, he would say, “Don’t Vi”  (prouncing it with a D).  I would always answer back that I wasn’t going to die.   Bless his heart!  He.still loves me!

sisters...

Sisters….

I am blessed with a wonderful sister almost 10 years younger than I…..but I was also blessed with an older sister.  Joyce Evelyn was 14 months older than I and the month I was born she went into the hospital for surgery on the outlet of her stomach, which was too small.  Now this was 78 years ago…so no easy thing…especially since the hospital was 60 miles away.  Joy, as she was called, contracted spinal meningitis at the hospital and became a living vegetable.   She was my living doll.   I grew up loving her so much.   When my Mom became pregnant with my brother they put my sister in an institution in San Jose.  She died within a year..    My memories of her have always been a blessing to me.  

clouds..

Clouds….

Beautiful clouds in the sky…some nice white fluffy ones.   When I was a small child around six my mother was pregnant with my brother.   One day she took me out in the pasture and we laid down on our backs and she had me make animals out of those fluffy clouds.   What a precious moment!!!   Didn’t have very many of those moments because of my older sister and younger brother.   Another story…

Storms...

The rain coming down sooo hard last night made me think of storms in our lives.  It is like the rain....we get storms in our life and there is nothing we can do about it.  I have written a book called, "Life Out of Tragedy"  In it I tell of storms in my life.  One in particular, the hardest one when my husband committed suicide.  That was completely out of my control....only way I could survive was with the help and comfort of my God.  I accepted the love of God, the courage of Jesus, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit!

first post..

New experiences....love them.  So...now I am writing a blog.   Life is so good and full I just have to share it or  bust.   Last time I said I was so full I would bust was Thanksgiving as a kid...I ate so much I lost my wonderful dinner and spoiled Thanksgiving for a lot of people....