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Showing posts from 2013

It Is My Birthday

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Well, today is my birthday. Actually it is a birthday milestone of sorts as I can now draw my "rocking chair" money. That is if I didn't want to eat or pay bills. I've told you stories of my early years, haven't I? About how my hospital bill was only $25.00? And how I was named after Rita Hayworth? Did I ever tell you that back in the early 1950's the new mothers were encouraged to stay in bed for ten days? That meant Mama and Daddy stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for ten days after I was born. My cousin was born nine days after I was. Just as Mama and Daddy were leaving Grandma's, my Aunt was beginning her ten day confinement there. Did I ever tell you that my youngest Uncle is only two years older than I am? (He is the "three words the whole way to Oklahoma City Uncle). Mama said he thought I was his baby and would have crossed Main Street to bring me back to Grandma's if a neighbor had not called to ask h

Whoever Heard of Hickeytown?

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Although I spent a big part of my childhood at my grandparents' farm, I was actually a city girl.  Mom and Dad always rented houses in town where the streets were paved and well lit. It was a safe and friendly town where children walked back and forth to school.  Mama walked me to Michie School my first day of second grade and I walked alone afterwards. I cannot imagine allowing a seven year old out of the yard nowadays. It was a different world then. This is a picture of my second grade classmates at Michie School. I am sure Mama would have dressed me in a cute little dress if I had told her that pictures were being made that day. I remember Toni reassuring me Danny would stand in front of me and hide my shorts but I guess we forgot to tell him. Look how cute Scotty is in the second row. And look how sweet and cheerful Toni is. We have lost both of them now. These, and the ones I made at Hurie School, were the friends I had through the tenth grade when Dad

Valentine's Day Present

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Bear with me as I re-post from last Valentine's Day. I rarely get a Valentine's card from my hubby...but he always changes the oil in my car. He rarely buys me candy either...but he always saves the last Twizzler in the package for me. I do not remember him buying me many cut flowers...but he digs the holes to plant my azaleas. He does not take me out to eat much...but he never complains if we have scrambled eggs for supper. We do not vacation together very often...but he will travel anywhere I am to change a flat tire on my car. He sometimes tracks mud in on my clean floors...but he takes his boots off every night at my house.

Aunt Dorcas

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I was thinking of Valentine's Day gifts today and wondered whether Uncle Howard bought romantic gifts for Aunt Dorcas. If he did, she did not tell me about them.  He used to go to the corner store every morning to buy her a six ounce bottle of cold Coca Cola. I remember Dorcas was crazy about him. Uncle Howard dated the Mother of one of my high school friends. I won't say who...just in case. Aunt Dorcas and Aunt Lizzy shared the same anniversary date. It was not planned that way but the two couples often went out to eat for their anniversary. She and Uncle Howard came to spend the night with us when we lived in Flat Rock. They chose the bedroom with just a twin bed. She said they liked to sleep close. It was a big family joke that when Howard came to visit he brought his chain saw and cut back all of Grandma's trees. We wondered if they would survive each new cut. They camped at Piney Bay every summer. Before they paved the road to Piney Bay, Dad

Arkansas River Pelicans

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The pelicans have returned to the Arkansas River. I don't know where they are wintering here from. Photo courtesy of 123fotography The pelicans line up along a sand bar between our bank of the river and Goose Island. I don't have a camera that will capture a good image so I am using a photo my cousin took of the pelicans up river from our place.

Chicken and Spinach

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My daughter Laura and my niece Debbie attended the same day care when they were 3 and 4 years old respectively. As with most day cares, they served nutritionally balanced lunches that many of the children did not like.  Jody, Debbie, Jason, and Laura I learned years later that my niece would eat my daughter's spinach so she could have a second helping of chicken.

Just Dance

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My youngest grandaughter was recently grounded from television and all electronic devices. When I asked her what she did all day her response was, "Oh, I just dance."

Blake's Hook Shot

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I know I have not been blogging lately so have no right to be bragging but.......I wanted to tell you about my grandson's budding basketball career. You remember Blake, don't you? He and I share the same birthday and sometimes vacation together. Ten year old Blake began playing basketball last year but broke his arm on Thanksgiving and had to sit the season out.  This year's season just completed with his team undefeated. Blake is small but very quick and able to steal the ball quite well from the bigger boys. He rarely shoots the ball but did make a fantastic hook shot that one of the parents captured on video.

Aprons and Raw Cow's Milk

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This is an apron Grandma gave me when I first married.  I'm not sure whether she actually wore it or made it especially for me.  While I hate to admit I rarely wore it, all of my grandchildren have wrapped it around themselves when we baked cookies - even my grandson. I remember watching from a rusty metal gate overgrown with orange trumpet vines as Grandma carried two heavy buckets of frothy warm milk toward the shingle sided house. Escaping the tightly braided knot at the nape of her neck, one long wispy tendril of Cherokee Indian black hair trailed around the thin earpiece of her wire rimmed glasses. An ever present bib style apron covered her plain cotton shirtwaist dress. The apron was as white as the milk in the buckets and had been laundered so often she could have easily used it to strain both buckets full of milk. As she stepped inside the too warm kitchen, she kicked off the black rubber boots she wore to the milking shed and slipped into her sof