Let's watch the old year die, with a fond goodbye . . .

"One minute to midnight, one minute to go. One minute to say "goodbye", before we say "hello". . . "

[PHOTOS COMING. . . ]
Well, OK. Not exactly one minute. More like seven hours. But how romantic is that! I like Irving Berlin's version better. Christmas was wonderful. We had a nice morning doing presents. I got a whole box of old Etude magazines. They are very interesting. Took me three evenings to go through the contents of them all. I pulled some articles aside so that I can type them up for my movie and opera blogs. Even found one that has an article on Deanna Durbin's "current" film, It Started With Eve! That was exciting. I also got a Blue's Clues beanie. It is so cute. Let's see, some of the other exciting things were two Julie Andrews Christmas CDs, a glass emerald, a fantastic snowed Lilliput Lane of an oast house in Kent, and several old leaf-shaped pins.

I spent the day before Christmas Eve working on Sarah's presents. Two charm bracelets. One that has all different charms for Bing Crosby and Nelson Eddy, and another with all kinds of Cuba-themed charms. We also got her some books, an old "pin money" bank, a honky-tonk piano player planter, and this set of four very odd-looking German Christmas decorations (four guys playing musical instruments).

Dad got a bunch of fishing themed things. A cool ceramic travel mug, a decorative storage chest, pajama pants, etc. Also, a really cool set of Cuban stamps. They were fun to find. Got them at the National Stamp Show in August. It was a blast trying to keep them a secret from Dad! Mom got the usual candy and Jelly Bellys, a glass basket like her Gramma used to have, Yes, Minister, and Sarah and I bought her a bean cookbook. It isn't released until January 15th, so she has something to look forward to. It says it has 150 different bean recipes!

At noon on Christmas, we went down to Buddy and Kay's for dinner. She had her family up like usual. Always fun over there. We stayed until evening visiting. It was a lovely Christmas. Fun morning, fun afternoon. Nice to go somewhere for Christmas. All in all, we all think this was one fo the best Christmas days ever!

On Thursday, Mom and the two of us went up to Mansfield and just had a fun, easy day. Got some cat food, went to Panera. Just simple and fun. Yesterday all four of us went out. Headed to Columbus, but stopped at two cemeteries on the way. Had to take a few photos at Chester Baptist, so Dad got to see Truannie's monument! We also spent over an hour looking for some old cemetery in Pagetown (not exactly the booming metropolis!). Finally found it behind somebody's house. Managed to take photos of all the remaining stones before it really started raining. Then we headed down to Whole Foods to get coffee and milk. Ran out of organic coffee last month. Bought some coffee at Kroger which was terrible! This morning we had some nice, wonderful coffee. :o)

Tomorrow is our annual Lord of the Rings day. Every New Year's Day we watch all three LotR films in a row. Makes for a long day, but so much fun! Almost 12 hours of solid film time. This year we are going to make sure and start soon enough so that we can finish. Several times it has gotten so late that we all fall asleep. No fun to not finish. We have been doing this ever since we went to Trilogy Tuesday in 2003. What fun!

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. . . " - Genesis 1:14

Christmas with the Keultjeses

Tuesday night was our annual Cuban dinner with the Keultjeses. We spent the day getting the nice dishes down and washed, setting the table and making the food. Gramma and Grampa sent a box of plantains and yucca. Plantains . . . Mmmmmmm! They were great this time. Not too green. I like them when they mush flat and start turning black. Yum! They are always a blast when they come over. Just wish it was more often. Claire and Hannah are up here until Saturday morning, and coming here was the first thing they wanted to be sure to do. :o) It was really a fun evening. Time flew by and before we knew it it was late. Good fellowship always makes the time go faster. Christmas wouldn't be the same without the Keultjeses! Actually, now that I think about it. I don't think that we've had a Christmas in Ohio without them!



Yesterday, I spent the day wrapping and working on Christmas presents. Mom and Sarah spent the day making rum balls. They ended up making four different kinds. Bourbon rolled in coffee, Bailey's and Kahlua rolled in powdered sugar, German chocolate (Frangelico rolled in coconut), and cherry brandy rolled in sugar (with a brandied cherry inside!). We wanted to give some to Hannah and Claire to take home, but didn't get them done before Tuesday. So, we ran up to Mansfield last night. Impromptu and fun. They had called Mrs. Furr and she came over too! We all ended up staying until after 9:30pm! It was sooooo fun. Claire and I probably drank a gallon of hot tea. She kept making it, until they ran out of one kind of tea bags! Mrs. Keultjes kept digging up snacks. It was really fun, especially to get to spend time with Claire and Hannah again. They don't get up here often, so it is always great to get to see them.

Today we were going to go up to Stan Hywet to see the Christmas decorations. However, I think the weather is going to be better tomorrow, so we might be going tomorrow instead. If we stick around, then I will work on that present some more today and maybe finish wrapping some more presents.

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6

Happy 90th Birthday, Deanna Durbin!

Today, my favorite singing star turned 90 years old! Deanna Durbin lives privately in France now, removed from Hollywood and everything that goes with it. However, there are still many fans who have discovered her beautiful voice through home video, cds, and the internet. As I have already related how I came to love Deanna (on the previous December 4th blog post), I will share a beautiful song from one of her funniest films. This winter's project (or should I say, "one" of this Winter's projects!) is to put together my Deanna scrapbooks. I have several contemporary scrapbooks of her that I have gotten online, as well as tons of photos I want to print and lots of memorabilia (magazine covers, postcards, sheet music, etc.). Actually, two days ago I got another old Deanna scrapbook. Can't wait to do all of these.

Here is a fantastic song, from her 1940 film, It's A Date. Co-starring Walter Pidgeon and Kay Francis. If you've never seen this film, you've really missed out on a grand piece of entertainment. This is one of our favorite Deanna films. Very funny! With her and her actress mother trying out for the same part in a play!

" . . . can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women?" - 2 Samuel 19:35 b

Finding Truanna

On Saturday, we headed up to Mansfield to have some bagels for breakfast. We went to Kohl's as well and got some new Winter gloves, mittens, hats, etc. Got home a little after 2pm and thought we would run down to Chesterville and find the Baptist Church Cemetery. Mom has been transcribing headstone info onto findagrave, and someone had eleven photo requests for Chester. Since it isn't far away, we decided to run over. Boy, was it fun! We took over one hundred photos!

It is kind of divided into two sections. There is a big strip of wet, overgrown area almost dividing the cemetery in half. In the back part, which is surrounded by younger trees, there is this huge monument. Before the trees were allowed to come up, it would have been overlooking the road at the edge of the cemetery. It is a beautiful lady on a tall base. Absolutely gorgeous. We were there over an hour before I saw the other section.



The monument is for "Swetland" and there is a mother and two babies buried there. One of the babies was only nineteen days old and her name was "Truannie". I fell in love with the name. Came home and Mom and I started uploading photos to findagrave. Then I started researching Truannie's family. Actually, since then, I have been researching Truannie's family.

Truannie's father is Joseph Carper Swetland, her mother is Emily Howard. Joseph Carper was a very influential citizen in Morrow County. He had almost 900 acres, raised sheep, was one of the first breeders of merinos, elected County Commissioner for six years and helped build the county jailhouse in Mt. Gilead. The two babies on that monument are their first children. An infant son and Truannie. I looked Joseph Carper up in the "History of Morrow County and Ohio" and found him in three separate volumes. He lists his children and Truannie was "Truanna". Truanna . . . such a cute, pretty name. Very different.

So, that is what is happening around here. Joseph Carper is buried in a cemetery down the road from Truanna, so later this week we want to head down and find his grave.

"Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you." - 1 Samuel 12:24

In Celebration of Roy Rogers' 100th Birthday - November 5, 2011

Today is Roy Rogers' 100th birthday! In honor of this, I finally made a tribute video using Dusty's wonderful song "The King of the Cowboys". Sarah and I have been planning this for the past year and a half. So for the past month I have been downloading movies, cutting the good clips, and trying to find a smooth flow to the music. I almost made an error. For some reason I thought his birthday was the eleventh. Was I surprised on Tuesday when I looked up his birth and death dates so that I could make the title slide at the end of the video! Boy, did I rush! In the finished video, there are fifty different clips from seventeen different films and from two TV shows!

Next October 31st is Dale's 100th birthday. So Sarah and I are already planning that movie. Hers will be funnier. Roy's had to be pretty, but Dale's needs all the funny moments from their films. They were so great. Together they were unbeatable! The King of the Cowboys and The Queen of the West. Happy Trails!

THE KING OF THE COWBOYS
He's rode across your silver screen
For over forty years
He's brought bad men to justice
he's seen laughter, and he's seen tears
and I know forever, in many hearts he'll reign
As the King of the Cowboys.
There is honour to his name.

He's a kind and gentle legend
a hero is his name
Showing young folks to see the right from wrong
And he's taught me the very same
And I know forever, in many hearts he'll reign
As the King of the Cowboys
There is magic in his name

He's the King of the Cowboys, a legend in his time
A man who loves his country
Where he will always ride
Saddled up on his golden Palomino
A six gun at each side
His spurs and boots and his white hat
Walks a man with a lot of Pride

He's the King of the Cowboys
A legend in his time
A man who loves his country
Riding off into the sunset
In a western sky of blue
He has given precious memories
and Happy Trails to me and you!

Concerning Books

Yesterday was the annual AAUW book sale in Mansfield. Oh, boy! I have been counting the days! I LOVE book sales. And we have been going to this book sale since we moved up here. Can't remember a time of not going. Finally, this year, I remembered to take the camera. Well, almost. We had to turn around three miles away to come back for it. Every other year, I don't even think about it until we are there. I have been wanting to take photos of it for years. You know, I realised that by the time our kids come around, there won't be book sales like that. They probably won't get to see a sale with that many books in it. I remember the old M/RCPL sales when they closed off the entire underground parking lot and had their sale in there. It was HUGE! That's gone now. MV/KCPL used to have theirs in a big room on the ground floor. That's gone as well. Actually, books are disappearing all together. Quite sad.

There is something that is really comfortable about books. I don't even mean reading. Feeling. Looking at them. Just having them around. Everybody who ever comes to our house just LOVES the back room upstairs. Their favorite room in the house. And they all say the same thing. "It is so cozy and inviting". You could put all the same furniture and accessories in another room and without the books, it wouldn't be the same. Even if you don't know the reason, I think the books make the difference.

Gramma and Kelly came up last month for a short visit. Gramma showed me her Kindle and let me look at it. I've been dying to see one. Interesting, but I don't see how it will ever be the same as a real "paper and ink" book. No feeling. No character. Everything looked the same and it was like reading on a laptop screen. I don't think there is anything that can ever take the place or fill the shoes of books. The enjoyment and the knowledge that one bound volume can bring. To adults or kids alike. Every book holds the key to the door of imagination which nothing else can imitate or replace. Whether it is an historical novel, a biography, or a picture book - the thrill is there. Just waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.

We have reached a severe crisis point with not having much more space for the books that we get to add to the collection. I have decided to really go through my records again, because I would much rather have more books than records. As much as I like records, they aren't the same as books. I just love everything about books. The look of them, the feel of them, the smell of them. I even love having to dust them. My next step is book binding and mending! This Winter . . .

Here is a photo of a section of the non-fiction tabe. At every book sale there are at least two ( or more!) copies of "Iacocca". I don't know what it will be like when these are all gone.! ;o)

We got two boxes and my biggest library duffel bag filled of books at the sale yesterday. Pretty good for us nowadays. We used to get a thousand or more books every year at this sale. The numbers have decreased over the years. (Oh, man! I don't know where I would find the room for a thousand books all at one time now! ) I got a few new Christie books and some historical fiction to try. Bunch of kids books, some Landmarks, Sarah and I got a big stack of sheet music. Really cool stuff.

We stopped at the main library after the sale so that Sarah and I could browse through the stacks to find books that we didn't know the titles of. (Internet catalogues are wonderful things, but, unfortunately they aren't any good when you don't know the title of a certain book and only recognize it by sight.) Here is a photo of Oliver resting on one of Sarah's. He found the book very tiring . . . hee hee. Actually, Sarah is really enjoying it. It is the story of "Gone With The Wind".

All in all, it was a very fun day. I was so excited last night that I had trouble going to sleep. Book sales do that to me. They are energizing, unlike anything else. Books, books, books . . . It can't get much better.

"Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." - 1 Timothy 4:13

The Babies Celebrate Five Years!

Happy Birthday to Samwise, Aramintie, and Frodo!

Today the babies turned five! Hard to believe that it was five years ago today that the three little babies were born in the dining room closet. They are all pretty irresistible.

Catching up on the Summer

Well, well . . . it has been a long time! My computer broke, so we had to take it to the repair guy. It stayed there for several weeks. He found out that it had overheated and burnt out the fan on the video card, which overheated itself and just burnt up. Poor thing! So, I now have a new video card and my computer is not making that awful noise anymore! Yay! Now, to catch up on our very busy Summer . . .

First - the State Fair. We ended up going the Wednesday they opened. Dad got second and third place for his woodcarvings and Sarah got first, second, and Best of Show for her wool people. She entered Her pair of Commedia Dell 'Arte figures and her new gnome with the squirrel, Pat and Mike.BOS went to P&M. The fair on a whole, though, was very low on entries. They only had as many as an old Tomato Show used to get. Cool, but I don't think I would go again for a while.

The Sunday after, we did go to see The Adventures of Robin Hood. It was swell. Even Dad liked it! The reels were probably the best quality ones we have seen yet. You can see and experience so much more of the film seeing it on the big screen. Fantastic! The Sunday after that we saw the last movie of the season (for us, anyway). Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. How cool! Huge! The reels were in poor shape, but it really made you feel like you were in a submarine. The squid fight was impressive! Such a fun movie.

Monday, Mom and Sarah went to Columbus to pick up the State Fair entries. I decided to stay home since the upcoming two weeks is a lot of out and people. It was nice to have some alone time. All the cats went to bed, except Oliver. ;o)

The APS Stamp Show was Thursday through Sunday. We went all four days. Dad went the weekend. How exciting. So fun. I don't think I have had so much fun in ages. Really worth waiting for. We met some really nice dealers. Got some fantastic stamps and things! It was at the Columbus Convention Center, which is absolutely huge! You walk and walk and walk . . . In the food court (which was on the opposite end as the Stamp Show) was a Subway which we ended up eating lunch at every day. That was fun too. We would get our subs and before eating we would mark off the lists all the stamps that we had gotten that morning. Show each other the really swell finds, etc. It was just so fun! Then back to the show for more looking. God really, really blessed us with some fantastic deals and finds. Sarah got some stamps that she never thought she'd get, really. I got so many Monaco stamps that I can really see the finish line. I never thought I would get this far. I even got the cool Jules Verne set. On Sunday, I went to a dealer and bought a Deanna Durbin fan mail cover. He got so excited. He had never heard of her until he got those covers and he had looked her up online and fell in love with her singing. He loves to sing along with her and, so far, his favorite is Nessun Dorma. In the end, he gave me another Deanna cover and money so that I could mail him some Deanna stuff! He is from Austin, TX. So fun to find someone else who likes Deanna! I'll post more about the stuff we got and photos in another post.

We were home for a few days and then on Friday we flew down to Florida. The trip that has been in the planning for months - and almost canceled more than once! - finally took off. Flew into Orlando, rented a car, and drove to Gramma Gail's. She took us to dinner at this really cool restaurant. Non-chain. Pizza Gallery and Grill. Second only to The Vegetable Garden. WOW! Dad and I got up at 4:30am the next day (Actually, Sarah and I were so hot that we woke up at 2:30 and didn't really go back to bed!). Dad had charted a fishing guide for half a day on the Banana River, so I thought I would tag along for wildlife sighting. The drive was cool because it was black night still and the road was so flat and straight, with all the lights it was neat looking. We had a little trouble finding the dock. Florida has no signs. Turns out there was an algae bloom, so you couldn't see anything unless it was out of the water. At one point I though we were really deep, and when he finally moved the boat to a different position, he said it was only a foot and a half deep! We saw some dolphin dorsel fins, and a manatee stuck his nose out for a second right next to me. Dad didn't catch anything. For the first four hours, it was overcast and not bad, but then the sun came out and I was pretty miserable for the last two hours. It wasn't great. I didn't really like the guide. Saw lots of cormorants and some pelicans, though.

We went back to Gramma's house and showered and then the others came home. Gramma took the three of us (Dad did a project at home) to see the base and we stopped at a little cigar store. I got several different cigars for my cabinet. I am so excited! Went back home, packed and headed down to Ft. Lauderdale. Met Aunt Lori, Uncle Jack, Brien, and Kelly at Villa Rose for dinner. Ended up staying until the restaurant closed and then until 11:30 in the parking lot! Probably the most fun time ever with them. Really a blast! Kelly is so grown up! I still think of her around two years old. We went to the Garcia's house. We went to bed really soon. I ended up staying up over 22 hours! I always wanted to know how it felt to stay up for 24 hours. Getting so close, I realize it isn't all it's cracked up to be . . .

Sunday wasn't very good. We had a blast with Benny and Tia Ela and Clemente! They are so sweet and cute! Benny is really nice. I really like him. So friendly and happy. Got to see Leilani too. She is so big. So cute! Monday morning we did laundry and Mom and the two of us then went shopping to get something for Jennie and go to lunch. Found this nice new Subway. We ate and drank a lot of tea. Stayed there for 2 1/2 hours. Irained and rained and rained. We left during a lull. Rain down there is so funny. The drops are huge and warm! So much rain that it was flooded when we got to Gramma and Grampa's house. There parking lot is so low. Mom dropped us off at the ramp, but we had to walk through four inches of standing water in canvas shoes! Then I decided to see if Mom could get back from the car, and remembered that there is a very dry way from the parked car to the building if you don't mind walking on the grass along the base of the building. Anyway, by the time we got under the roof, I was so soaked that it was running down my face. We all just changed clothes. Rain was done by the time we did the last laundry. Dad and the two of us went to visit Leonore. She looks swell! She is so cute and sweet. She loved the doily I crocheted for her. She told us all about the ones she had in Cuba. Actually, she and Dad taalked about Cuba and the religion/politics that was the downfall, and the similarity of America and Obama. She is so wonderful. Aunt Elena, Uncle Manolito, and Patty (with Leilani) came over for pizza and the evening. Mom and the three of us talked to Patty in the bedroom for a long time. Leilani is so cute.

We left for the airport really early. Sat around the terminal for almost three hours. The flights home were really rough! On the first one to Orlando, the turbulance was so bad that one of the air stewardesses was thrown into an empty seat next to a guy. Boy, were they both surprised! We ate at a Pizza Hut on the way home and then we got to see the kitties! Cute little babies! I always miss them during trips.

Well, let's see . . . since FLA we have been canning and freezing. We froze peppers, onions, green beans, wax beans, and zucchini. We canned potatoes, salsa, tomato sauce, beets - pickled and plain, pickled onions, pepper jelly, three bean salad, edamames, etc. I want to try pickled eggs! Yesterday we made and froze Pesto! Mrs. Keultjes sent us her recipe and, after all these years of loving it when we go to her house, we made it! Boy, is it fabulous! And it is really healthy for you!

The new chairs for the back room that we had ordered, ended up not working. Long story. They weren't what they said they would be. So, we got a refund. However, we had already sold the loveseat in prep for the new chairs. So, we decided to look for a nice used chair that might work. That was Tuesday. On Wednesday, we went to the auction house and there was a really nice black, leather recliner. Solid metal frame and thick leather. We decided to try for it. Also, at the auction was a nice sewing end table that matches Sarah's and another end table that Mom liked and - best of all, really - there was a box of Nancy Drew books. a set of titles 1 -55! They were beautiful. Like ones we would buy. I would love to have a set for me, so we decided to go for that too! Dad dropped Mom and Sarah and then we met them over there at 8:30. They got the Nancy Drew books for $40! Yippee! Actually, they got all four things. The whole night cost less than half of one of those chairs and a lot better quality! I cleaned the chair and the next night we carried it up and rearranged the furniture. In the end, it looks really nice and Mom and I are happy with the recliner and the sleeper sofa for watching and hobbying. We also found the perfect curtains for the back room at a rummage sale. Old heavy drapes that have old British village scenes on them. The room finally is looking almost done and wonderful!

Sarah and I went to Buddy and Kay's week before last to help them set up their new 18-track recorder. Sarah and Buddy talked while Kay and I read through the instruction book and by 5:30 we had recorded Buddy doing a 40 second section on four different tracks and had a finished cd! It was fun. Buddy and the two of us played some songs, we made dinner and solved the problems of the world. They took us home after 9.

So, I see this is a very long entry. That is what happens when your computer breaks . . . you get behind!

- To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Summer Movies at CAPA

Last weekend we went down to the Ohio Theatre in Columbus for the first movie this year. "The Sound of Music"! Wow! I was so excited when I found out they were going to show it! We left earlier because we dropped off Sarah and Dad's entries for the State Fair. We also went to a really fun Mexican store. Looks like something out of FLA. However, the best part of the day was the movie! They got a bigger screen this year, so the widescreen movie filled the stage. The reels were really good, not to scratched or anything. It was wonderful! One of my very favorite films we've been able to see on the big screen! Even Mom enjoyed it. She didn't remember the story at all. I love the movie. (Julie Andrews reminds me so much of Mrs. Keultjes. Hard to watch her sometimes!) The only sad part was that it was over too soon! It was fantastic!

Today we went and saw "Gone With The Wind". Wow! If ever a film was made for the big screen, this was it! It was great! Sarah has been reading the book and just finished it last night. She has been telling us all about it and what is different in the movie. Sounds like they did a really good job.

The crowd was rather odd. They laughed at a lot of things that you shouldn't laugh at, and they rushed out as soon as Scarlett said "Tomorrow is another day"! Couldn't even see the end. Really rude, actually.

On the drive home, we got caught in an absolutely horrible storm! The highway was flooded and you couldn't see two cars in front of you. It was awful! God brought us home safely. I didn't like it.

I am really, really enjoying the movies at the theatre. We are thinking of going to see "The Adventures of Robin Hood" next weekend. We saw it in Cleveland last year, but it was so great on the big screen that we are thinking that it might be fun to see it again!

4th of July at Buddy and Kay's

We went to Buddy and Kay's for Independence Day! She had her family for their usual lunch. Buddy took some of them on a tour of the dinosaur shop and the red barn, so Sarah and I tagged along and explored. Even went up in the loft of the barn. Still as dusty as ever! In the evening, Buddy showed Dad his whip tricks. Even blew a candle out! I got to try tomahawk throwing! I have always wanted to try and he had a log all set up. It was sooooooo much fun! I really like it. Got to get one and set up a place to throw here at home!

Rain . . . Beautiful Rain!

This morning we are having a gorgeous rain. A nice soaking, beautiful rain. No violent thunder. No lightening. Just clear, cool, wonderful rain! We rarely have real rain. I love it. Makes me feel happy and energetic. If I had been dressed I probably would have gone out in it! A wonderful time to curl up in a big chair in the back room with a book. If it was colder, I'd say with hot tea as well, but how it feels now, I would probably prefer an ice cold ginger ale! So, a beautiful morning to start the day off. Thank you, Jesus, for rain!

He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. - Deuteronomy 11:14

Our Birthday Celebration - Stan Hywet Hall

We decided to celebrate our birthday today. We were all kind of tired yesterday, so we stayed home and had pizza and ice cream for dinner! Yum! Well, today dawned bright and nice, so we called Dad and he took the rest of the day off from work and came home. Mom had a surprise destination, so we all got into the car and started off. Of course, Mom and Dad knew where we were going and I found out halfway through that Sarah figured it out five minutes down the road. However, for once, my built in sense of direction failed. . . . That is a joke . . .

We went to Stan Hywett Hall up in Akron. Sarah and I have been wanting to go there for the past year. We went once on a field trip, but that was many years ago and we didn't really remember it very well. They do self-guided tours now, which was great, as we could go through at our own pace - which is always slower than the guide's idea of a tour!

The house was started in 1912 and finished in 1915. Built by on of the founders of the Goodyear Tire Comp. as a Summer house for his family. What a Summer house. It is a Tudor-style Hall. The family actually bought many of the furniture and some of the entire rooms in Britain and had them shipped over to Akron. It is simply gorgeous. Sarah and I had a wonderful time and were really inspired for our novel. It is just too bad that you can't take indoor photos and they don't sell postcards! That means that next time we go, I will be taking my sketchbook!

For the novel, and in general, I really liked the billiards room and connected office. Dark panelling, huge comfy-looking window seats, sofas, and - of course - the pool table. The office was small, all wood, lined with photos. Also cool was the bedroom for some of the sons. Perfect for Harry. Had this really cool bookshelf built around a sofa on the side wall. The library was tops too! Surrounded in wonderful bookshelves, stuffed furniture, movable lighting, AND a secret door to the great hall! Man, would I love to have room with a secret door in a bookshelf!

It was really fun to notice how many of the items that we own a version of! Guess we do live in a museum! It was really fun to see a house where they hadn't restored so much of the stuff and it looked like it was lived in. Very personal feeling. Very enjoyable.

For dinner we went to Mulligan's Pub and Grill. How fantastic. Kind of like a Friday's. However, they have an entire vegetarian menu! We had huge veggie burgers, cheese sticks, fried mushrooms with horseradish sauce, and absolutely wonderful french fries! It was a wonderful birthday! We got a pass for a year, so Sarah and I would like to go back to the Hall before Winter sets in.

D-Day: 6 June 1944

"You remember it. Remember every bit of it, 'cause we are on the eve of a day that people are going to talk about long after we are dead and gone."
- The Longest Day

Sixty-seven years ago, the world was at war. Fighting the axis powers of Germany and Japan. England had been fighting Hitler's Nazi forces for five years and on the morning of 6 June 1944, the greatest armada the world had ever known sailed across the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Nazi-Occupied France. The Allies fought there way inland and across France and into Germany to destroy the Nazis and their hold on the world.

Remember D-Day!

The Horror of Summer and The Beauty of Lupines

Today we hit the record highs. Made it to 91 degrees F here. 88 F in the house! Needless to say, I am dying. The cats are dying. Mom is dying. Sarah is even hot. And people wait all year for this season. They can have it!

I am looking forward to Winter again! Coolness, snow, birds framed against the snow and ice, hot dinners, Christmas, early sunsets . . . everything. ( Irving Berlin said it best - "Where it's snowing, all winter through, that's where I want to be . . . )

The only nice thing is that the lupines are absolutely gorgeous! Stunning. I think I could have an entire field of lupines. I think Lupines must have been in the Garden of Eden. They truly sing the beauty of God. "Lupine" would be a great name for a pet! I can't look at them enough. I hope they continue to spread. Simply breathtaking! I think I'll go upstairs and read "Happy Winter" and "Miss Rumphius" . . .

Fibre, Fibre, and more Fibre . . .

Yesterday was the annual Fibre show at the Wooster Fairgrounds. I love fibre shows. Of course, Sarah goes with the object of buying fibre for felting. I go for the enjoyment of looking . . . and feeling! Sarah ended up getting four bags of different kinds and colours of wool. I got a stack of crochet pattern books. Really, really exciting as I don't have many crochet patterns and nobody makes pattern books for crocheting with thread any more.

I saw the cutest little thing at the show, though that I have just got to try making! A knitted stuffed animal sheep! They are fantastically cute! So cuddly, and so natural looking. I just have to find the pattern and try!

This week I have been working on finishing clearing out the front room. Got rid of loads of stuff and almost everything is put back together now. Buddy came over on Wednesday and changed the strings on my guitar for me. I can't believe the difference! It sounds like an entirely new guitar! So mellow and smooth! I love it. Practiced so much that I made all my finger tips tingly. Oops. They got a break yesterday at least! The old strings were starting to get burrs and turn black. Buddy said those strings were over twenty years old and he was amazed they were still playing. These are so much nicer! It sounds so much better. I can't believe it!

She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight. - Proverbs 31:13

Queen Elizabeth Becomes the Second Longest Reigning Monarch

Today, Queen Elizabeth II became the second reigning British monarch, passing George III. She only has a few more years to go to pass Queen Victoria! Next year is Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee and Sarah and I are already planning what we want to do, what souvenirs we are going to buy and we will wear a lot of red, white and blue! Sarah is going to felt a little doll of Queen Elizabeth just for me in honour of the Jubilee. This is so exciting. Sarah and I can't remember a time without Queen Elizabeth. Well, neither can Mom as a matter of fact. ;o)

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
LONG MAY SHE REIGN!

Garage Sales!

Fredericktown had there annual garage sales this weekend! Mom and the two of us went all out on searching for treasures! Our adventure actually started Wednesday with the auction. The three of us went this time and we came home with a few great things. Sarah got a pair of cool French figurines to add to her collection. I got this very interesting glass battleship. Turns out that they were sold during WWII. They came with a paper bottom and were filled with candy pieces. Very different. It isn't everyday that you get a glass statue of a WWII battleship! We got some other things, a couple old dresser lamps, some really nice fake flowers, and Mom got a beautiful old glass cake stand that has swallows on it.

Thursday dawned bright and clear (for a change)! We were out of the house by 9:00am and and did several sales. We headed down to Mt. Vernon and did another sale before taking Dad out to lunch for pizza. We got really nice stuff. A gorgeous floor lamp from the '50s that is Colonial revival style, painted pumpkin orange. Really gorgeous. We are going to put it upstairs behind our love seat in the back room. We got a stack of wonderful cotton woven rugs, some kitchen utensils, a couple TY beanie babies, and a large stack of kids books! We also drove to the MT. Vernon book sale warehouse. What a dump! Everything was so dirty. Really, book sales are not what they used to be. But let's change the subject as it just makes me sad! :o( I did get some Judy Garland LPs, though. That was great, as I can never find her records. Mom got a stack of old kitchen booklets from the 1930s -50s. One really fun one about garnishes. Inspired me!

Friday we went to more town sales. Got some fun stuff. Sarah got a desk lamp that is yellow and matches the the floor lamp that we got. She put it on the sewing stand upstairs for felting. I love these style lamps! After lunch we had to head up to Mansfield for massage appointments and did a couple of rummage sales up there. We got some of the best stuff there. A set of old hard sider Samsonite suitcases. Navy blue. A large one and two matching smaller ones. They have tiny wheels on the bottom, and an attachable strap, so that when they don't need to be carried, you can pull them! We are so thrilled. Sarah and I are going to use the matching small ones when we go to FLA. Got a few more stuffed animals (like we need any more, right?), and some cool nick nacks. We got these old Christmas ornaments (plastic and felt, like the old elves and santas) that are Snow White and the Five Dwarves (missing Grumpy and Sneezy). They are some of the coolest things! I also got a cool tile to hang up in the kitchen.

Saturday we did the last of the town sales. One more rummage sale, that turned out to be really good. We got some glass serving bowls that will match our nice winter Silver Pine dishes and will work perfectly for Cuban meals. A couple of old British tins (I love British tins, they are so different from American style tins), some little figurines, a Barbra Streisand CD (for guess who?! ), a gorgeous old framed cardboard litho for the bathroom, and a bunch of other stuff.

Actually, we did really well this year. We didn't over buy. Bought stuff we really liked or needed. What was sad was the state of garage and rummage sales. Small and everywhere we went the stuff was filthy! It was amazing how many places were selling dirty things! Rummage sales that have been large every other year were really tiny this year. All in all, after we washed everything up, we had a swell time and it was loads of fun. We got some really nice things.

The Royal Wedding of William and Catherine

Yesterday was the Royal wedding. We watched the rebroadcast on the computer. We watched most of the ceremony before we had to leave to run errands. It was really cool. A beautiful service and we got to see Queen Elizabeth! She is beautiful and so classy. Prince Philip was perfect in his uniform.

Mom remembers getting up to watch Prince Charles and Diana's wedding. We have been really excited about this. Actually, Sarah and I wore all red, white and blue clothes today in honor of it!

The service was wonderful. Lovely organ, gorgeous cathedral, and the choir . . . wow! The online streaming was really poor, so it was very choppy. However, we enjoyed it so much that we preordered the DVD of the ceremony and a CD of all the music. It was really exciting to get to see part of it. Sarah and I have already ordered our Royal Wedding Postage Stamps!

"That which God has joined together, let no man put asunder."

Easter with Friends

We have had a very busy weekend! On Thursday, we woke up and the weather was so beautiful. Blue sky, no wind, no clouds, sunshine! The three of us decided that we wanted to go somewhere, so we drove up to Wooster and went to a bunch of thrift stores. Got some Winnie The Pooh books, a lot of note cards, some drinking glasses, and some other cool stuff. Got a General MacArthur plate that even has Corregidor along the bottom! We also went to Apple Creek to a fibre mill where Sarah was able to pick four bags full of different coloured wool roving for felting projects! That was so fun. The smell of wool when you went in was simply wonderful. I love wool. I love felting! Or rather watching Sarah felt! In the end we didn't get home until late.

It has rained since then, so we were all glad that we got to get out and about in the nice weather! Friday we had doctor's appointments and Saturday we spent cooking for yesterday. Yesterday, We went to Church in the morning. It was very nice. They sang a lot of traditional songs and we got to see a bunch of people. Very fun. Then we went to the Keultjes's house for lunch after Church. Ended up staying until half past nine! Time always flies with them. Hannah and Claire came up for the day, so it was a nice chance to see them sometime other than Christmas. We had a blast! They had a small scavenger hunt for their Easter baskets, so Sarah and I gave them some help. An acorn, a feather, a black rock, a Barbie doll, a bird's nest, a red flower, signatures from two neighbors, and two earthworms! We helped Claire find all the stuff except the earthworms! The three of us elected Hannah to do it. She went down to the compost pile and brought a shovel full of it to the front door for Mrs. Keultjes to inspect! It was really, really fun!

On Monday morning, Buddy and Kay called early in the morning and asked if we wanted to go with them to the Loft to get Buddy's violin fixed. So, we drove to Mount Vernon and all went in their car down to Columbus. We went to lunch afterwards and then stopped in at Best Buy to look for a set of speakers for their recording machine. However, all the speakers were junk! So tinny sounding and expensive! So, we went to their house and Kay and I tried all of the speakers that they had around the house. We ended up finding a stereo from his Mom that worked. We cleaned out the whole recording corner and sorted all the cords and cables!

Mom and Kay worked on family history for a while and Buddy and the two of us played around with his guitar and viola. He played all the new songs that he has written and recorded recently. That was a lot of fun. We also got to spend some time with Casey. We gave him a new doggie toy that looks like a shish kabob and he spent the entire evening carrying it around. He is so cute! We ended up staying until after nine and then they drove us back to our car. A super fun day. We haven't had a day like that with them since filming time.

So, our Easter "weekend" has been loaded with fun. We all really enjoyed it, but are now a little tired out. Hopefully this week the Spring cleaning will progress. Onto more fun and adventure . . .

"Christ the Lord is risen today . . . "

Double Yokers and Duck Eggs

Several months ago, the guy down the road stopped selling eggs, due to pilfering problems. We have always bought our eggs from him since a few years after we moved to this house. A very sad affair. He had the most gorgeous eggs that you have ever seen . . . AND the biggest! So now we are having to find a new place to buy eggs. Quite sad. Well, a few weeks ago when we were up in Mansfield, we stopped at a market and bought a half-dozen of the largest eggs you have ever seen! They had placed them on the top of an egg carton and the six eggs filled the space! Oh, Sarah and I were hoping for a double yoker, as we have never seen one for real. On Sunday night I was making eggs for Dad to eat for breakfast during the week, and what do you know?! I found a double yoker! Oh, we couldn't have been more excited. It was the largest of the six eggs and it had a lump in the middle. Joy, joy! I made them sunny side up for Dad's breakfast because I couldn't bring myself to scramble it!

At the bulk food store a couple weeks ago, we bought a dozen Duck eggs for Dad to try. They are big, white (with a slight blue tint), and very hard to crack! Dad really liked them. Supposedly they are stronger, but he didn't notice. We made eggs and rice for him. They are very hard to scramble as the yolks are hard to break. (In the picture at the left, the duck egg is the top one in the bowl!)

So, that is our egg-citing story for the month! (or should I say "honk honk"?!)

Snow In View . . . O! The Joy

O! The joy! Last night we got a dusting of snow. Enough to make everything almost white again! I am so happy. This morning I went out and filled all the bird feeders and it was just gorgeous. Actually, it is quite funny. Yesterday it was in the 50s and I was wearing short pants. A huge storm blew through though, even had tornadoes. We could hear the sirens from Fredericktown and Dad's work had to go into the shelters!

I am happy about the snow. We had oatmeal and hot tea for breakfast and I am wearing a new long sleeve shirt. Fun, fun, fun.

"For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,'. . . " - Job 37:6

New Memory

Oh, boy! Am I really happy today! The RAM in my computer has been dying all year and we finally ordered some new sticks which arrived a few days ago. Yesterday, I cleaned out my desk and pulled the CPU up onto the dining room table. While waiting for Mom to help me I decided that I could at least clean the dust out of it, so I took the case off and vacuumed it and cleaned the fans. Then I decided that I could at least remove the old memory. Since nothing bad happened when I did that I decided to go ahead and put the new ones in myself. A little nervous, but it went smoothly and I put it back together and plugged it in and, guess what? It worked! I couldn't be happier! Also, the computer is so fast now! I can open multiple screens and hopefully it won't crash any more.

"Assault In Norway" and Chicago and the Atom

This past month I read one of the BEST books ever! "Assault In Norway: Sabotaging the Nazi Nuclear Program" by Thomas Gallagher. Every night as I am sitting on the sofa I see this book on the shelf next to us. It really sticks out. It is one of those that I am always saying "Oh, I need to read that one day", and then never do. Well, I have been watching "Edge of Darkness" (a 1943 film starring Errol Flynn and Ann Sheridan about Nazi occupied Norway. A must see film, by the way!) and really wanted a book about WWII Norway. One glance at the shelf and there was "Assault in Norway", just waiting. I decided I would read it and, Boy! What a book! No piece of fiction could ever be half as exciting as this. It 's the story about a group of Norwegian commandos who have to blow up the Nazi's heavy water factory in the mountains of Norway. I can't say enough about it. The author wrote fiction as well as nonfiction and it really makes for enjoyable reading. Every character comes off the page for you as you are reading and you can't put it down! At least, I didn't. I finished it in three evenings. Who cares about watching movies? This was much more exciting! (I know I am using a lot of exclamation points, but this book is worth it!) It really is an amazing story and you can really see God's hand in the entire mission which shouldn't have turned out like it did! But, I won't spill it, you just have to read the story.

When I had finished it, I just couldn't get my mind off of it. Very gripping really! So, I am sitting at my computer a few days later (probably still thinking about it) and Mom and Sarah are looking up old sterling silver charms on eBay. All of a sudden I hear Mom saying what an odd charm she found with atoms flying around a Chicago university building. My ears pricked up. It turns out that there was some sort of Chicago bracelet that had charms commemorating different historical things in Illinois and one of them is commemorating the first self-reacting atomic pile that was built on a squash court in the University of Chicago right at the same time as the commandos were in Norway. There was an entire section in my book about this pile and the scientist who built it. Boy, was I thrilled! So, we tried bidding on it, but lost. So, another came up and another and we finally won one last Thursday. It arrived in the mail today and I couldn't be happier about it! Imagine finding a charm to match my new favorite book all about heavy water and atomic research and Norwegian commandos! Not exactly the most popular subject to commemorate with a sterling silver charm.

Ann Blyth and Richard Bonynge Autographs

We cam home yesterday from the Chiropractor's and waiting for us in the mail box were two fan mail responses! We haven't gotten any back lately and Sarah and I were just talking about that saying that we should really write some more letters. Now, to find two waiting for us! Thrilling! The first we knew was one of our US actresses who we had mailed last month (because it came in our SASE envelope. Brilliant deduction isn't that?) but the second was a mystery. Actually, Sarah got the mail while I was getting stuff out of the car and she shows me this little white envelope and says it's from France. (Actually, it was from Switzerland) I couldn't think of anybody who I had sent to in France. The mystery fan mail . . .

The large envelope turned out to be from Ann Blyth. She sent our photos back beautifully signed and personalized. We couldn't be happier. She is in one of my favorite stories, "The World in His Arms". She is the perfect Russian princess. If you haven't seen the film yet, it is worth getting! The book is a little harder to find. Actually quite rare. I did finally get a copy last month. Really fun! Sarah and I were really excited to get her autograph as she doesn't always sign your photos, so this was a fun surprise. She is a great actress and has a very pretty singing voice.

The small white envelope turned out to be from Opera Conductor Richard Bonynge (Dame Joan Sutherland's husband). I had found an address for his agent in New York and figured it couldn't hurt to write a letter. He sent back a beautiful 4x6 photo that was signed and personalized. So very, very exciting! I had written to Joan Sutherland several years ago and she had sent back a beautiful photo. So now I have both of them! I am going to put both photos together in my scrapbook. I am so thrilled!

A Letter from Amanda Root

I am SO happy. Last week, I went to the mail box and came back in with a pile of packages and a small stack of mail. As Mom and Sarah are already working on my Christmas present, I wasn't allowed to open the packages, but the mail! That is another story. Usually it is junk mail which I have the fun of ripping open and then throwing in the filing receptacle (commonly called the "garbage can"). Well, this time there was a nice little white envelope that had a British stamp on it and no return address. This means a fan mail response! We opened it and it was a reply from actress Amanda Root, who played Anne in the 1995 Persuasion! Oh Boy! I was thrilled. No, I was more than thrilled . . . I was ecstatic! She was the one I had been hoping would answer, of all the people that we wrote to.

I had had to really search for her address and we had written to her in June. I wasn't even sure that she responded. We couldn't have been happier with her response. She sent us each a lovely signed photo and she wrote a note in answer to our letters which was just wonderful. She really is a wonderful actress. Although Pride and Prejudice is my favorite Jane Austen story and film, Amanda Root's Anne is my favorite film heroine. She really captures the character and the emotion of the part. The scene at the Italian concert never fails to send me sniffling in the corner of the sofa and the end where she reads the letter is so wonderful. You just have to see it!

So, right now I am working on the scrapbook page for her. She is right next to Ciaran Hinds (who played Wentworth) and they will have a spread with a bunch of Persuasion photos. Ohhhh, I couldn't be happier. God knew the perfect way to make my beginning of the year happy!

"Shout joyfully to God, all the earth . . . " - Psalm 66:1

Christmas, New Year, Auction, Lord of the Rings, Poirot, and Scrapbooks!

Our Christmas / New Year's events are all over! Now comes the time that we call "After Christmas". At least, during the year that is what we always call it. You know, "After Christmas I am going to do . . .". We had a very fun December. Sold a lot of stuff on eBay earlier in the month. This year, on New Year's Eve, we all went to the Auction house for their big auction of the year. They didn't have lots of box lots or anything. A lot of guns, a lot of glassware. But there was fun stuff to watch. It started at 10:00 in the morning and we left at 5:30 before they were quite done. They had some really nice furniture. Sarah got a sheet music cabinet that is really nice.

New Year's Day dawned grey and rainy, but warm. 57 degrees actually. Heat wave! Perfect day for our traditional movie marathon. "Trilogy Tuesday" is what we call it, no matter what the day is. We all sit and watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy all the way through. This year we started earlier than last year (We didn't even get to watch the last disc last year.). As always, the movies were wonderful. My favorite scene is the Flight to the Ford in Fellowship, however, the one that Sarah and really wait for is "Scene 56" in The Return of the King. Which is were Eomer finds Eowyn on the battlefield and she is in the Houses of Healing. We waited so long for it to come out on the extended DVD. We actually finished before 1:00am! It was very fun.



The next day, Sunday, we went to church at Providence, then we stopped and picked up a set of Scott's Stamp Catalogues from Steve. Goody, goody. That was a Chritsmas present for the family. They are 2009 and in colour! Then we went to Panera for lunch. That is always fun. When we got home, it was upstairs for me to start wrapping presents! As I had not wrapped any yet, I had a stack. Sarah needed up in the back room with me to put the finishing touches on Mom's present, so I wrapped all the presents and then put the ribbon on while she was with me. Actually, she even helped!

It was so nice, relaxed, no rush. (I have a feeling that that is "On account of, because"). Sarah and I had been working on a present since March. Mom had been wanting a felted doll since Sarah made the first ones, so we decided on a little Poirot. We finally found a box at a thrift store that was perfect! It opened the wrong direction, so I cut the velvet lining and the styrofoam insert out and re-glued them in the other direction. As well as re-padding under the velvet so that the doll would fit correctly. Then I got a gel pen and drew the Poirot logo on the top. It really looked swell! Sarah did a fantastic job on the doll and we even got a real sterling silver chain to make his watch chain! The lapel pin is a little company tag off of a chain that I had to cut up for parts. Sarah and I had sent for an autograph from David Suchet back in May and he had been kind enough to reply. However, that was before we had the box and the photos that we had sent were way too big! So, we sent a new photo the size of the box, hoping that it would get here in time. If it didn't, we decided to print a plain photo, but the effect wouldn't be the same. On December 28th, a plain number 10 envelope arrived, and Sarah recognized it right away! We couldn't have been happier that day. It was perfect! He did such a nice job signing in the space we left. Really, really nice. Mom was totally surprised and thrilled! God really blessed us in the fact that everything we needed fell together at just the right moment. The box, the lapel pin, the autograph!

Sarah got her Secondhand Lions pull toys that I had started last December. I had really dreaded having to paint the giraffe, as there is not cartoon of the giraffe. Dad just drew it in the style of the others. Well, once I really got started he looked so nice that he quickly became my favorite and I was sorry when I was finished. He, however, is too tall to be a pull toy, so we are going to make him into a table lamp. They turned out really cute. Couldn't be happier with them. Dad's cut out jobs are so nice.



I will do a post about my scrapbooks later! Too much for this one. On an ending note, we went up to Mansfield on Monday and took a bunch of metal things to a coin store (they buy precious metals. Like recycling!). Single earrings, broken chains, Dad's old gold crown, etc. Well, Dad and I dropped Mom and Sarah off and we ran a few errands. When we got back, they had finished looking and were adding it all up. We all expected about twenty dollars. Sarah and I started looking at some of the coins, and when we saw them start ringing up on the cash register, we headed over to see the final amount. She was counting out the money on the counter and we couldn't have been more shocked when it turned out to be $138! You could have knocked us both over. Not bad for a little pile of junk lying around the house. So, our year went out with a bang! Although, I am Praying that God gives us a slightly less eventful year this year!

"Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen"