Oh Logan This is the Best Day Ever

It was the best day ever!
Planted garden.....just a few onions, radishes, turnips (not my idea), and a few other cool weather crops.  Believe me, having my 5 year old Logan really helped me speed up the process.  He took his gloved finger and drew me a line in the soil and told me I needed to plant right along that line.  His mom was there, too, keeping us all on track and in a straight line.  When it came to the radishes, his mother voiced her opinion that radishes weren't worth planting and that she didn't like them.  My sweet Logan had this to say to her.  "Mom, they look so nice.  They look so nice when they come up.  Yes, we need to plant them because they look so nice."  That is my little Logie Bear.  They look so nice.

While his mom finished planting some of the seeds, Logan and I had to climb trees, but I admit I was just there for the "can you give me a boost, Nana?" moments.  We found all kinds of pretty flowers and knee deep leaves which he used to bury himself.  Baths tonight!!! 

Lunch time.  "Nana, can I have a bologna sandwich with just bread and some mayonnaise on it?"  "I can?"  "Can I eat in the living room?"  "Can I eat on this chair?"  "Can I watch cartoons while I eat my lunch, too?"  "Oh Nana, this is the best day ever." 

After lunch he had to show me his secret hideout.  Here is the best part:  He took my hand (that never ever happens) and lead me to the back of the property to show me his new hideout.  He dropped to the ground to lay claim to this new territory.  Then we held hands to explore a little more and we found the little island in our dried up pond.  Once again, he dropped to the ground to stake his claim.  We broke limbs so that it would look nicer and when we were leaving we found a broken tree, but to him it was his door to the new fort.  "Now, Nana, can we just walk side by side?"  We were still best buds though. 

When he got in his booster seat to go home, he grabbed my hand again (I was in HEAVEN) and brought it up to his face drawing me a little closer to him, not for a kiss, but to say this.  "Will you tell Grandpa not to cut down that limb and not to throw it away cause it is our door?  Will you?  Does Grandpa sometimes forgets things?"

OH Logan, you are right.  This is the best day ever, and no, I will not let Grandpa clear that limb away.

I love you!

Thanks for Your Advice, Grandma

I am expecting company this next week so I am cleaning.  No, I am not trying to be all Martha Stewarty, but I am trying to clean a little deeper than usual.  In fact, I might be Spring Cleaning.  I capitalized that because it is an event in my house. 

I love having company for it spurs me on to do things that I have neglected.  I don't know about you, but sometimes something is misplaced for so long that I don't even notice it.  A good way to see the misplaced items is to take a picture of your family.  If you say "That would have been a good picture if  fill in the blank had been put away.", then you need to take care of fill in the blank.

A bit of advice from a woman who cleans house rarely, but is an imperfect wannabe perfectionist--stay on top of it.  There is no reason for me to ever Spring Clean again.  I should be working out a system whereby I clean weekly.  

Another bit of advice--make a first impression.  Make sure the entrance to your home is clean and attractive.  Go out to the curb and walk to your front door.  What grabs your attention?  Make a list.  Do you need to put the hose up for the season?  Does the flower bed need attention?  Are there dead leaves on the porch?  Does the whole front porch need dusting?  Does your front door need a good cleaning?  First impressions - you will not get another chance to make a first impression.  By the way, those are questions that I asked myself and sadly, all of those needed (noticed the 'ed' on that word) attention.  I am so ashamed. 

Another bit of advice and this from my very wise grandmother who passed away 41 years ago today.  She told me never to apologize for my home.  I am sure many of you are skeptical about that, but it is true.  She told me that long before I ever became engaged.  She didn't have much, but she never apologized for a thing.  Someone told me, and I forget who, that my grandmother always made her feel welcome in her home even when she dropped in unannounced. 

I hope to make my company feel welcome in my home next week.  That is my goal.  I want my house to be clean, but I want my company to feel comfortable enough to put their feet up.  I want them to want to come back sometime.  I want them to feel the hospitality that my grandmother instilled in me. 

Thanks for your advice, Grandma.  I still miss you after all these 41 years.

I love you.  I'll mop, you dust!

There Are Good People in this World

There are such good people in the world.  I just thought I would throw that out there since yesterday I was having my own rant writing about all the negativity in our world today.  Yes, some very good people.

Guess what I did today.  I know you will never guess so I will tell you.  I split wood.  Yes, me!  OK it isn't like my grandpa used to split logs.  No, I had a log splitter.  Oh man, who knew that splitting wood could be so much fun.  And guess what I did after that.  I stacked it.  Do you think that the energy I spent will offset the pint of ice cream I will have later?  Nah, me neither.

I hope you had a chance to get outside today.  While the day was sometimes overcast and just a tad cold, we did NOT have wind.  In Oklahoma that equals a beautiful day and those are rare--the ones with no wind.  The hubby had to remind me that in August we will again have those no wind days and I will be complaining.

But for today..............well the day was perfect.  And to top this perfect day, while we were stacking wood, a sweet neighbor drove up on his Kabota and asked if we wanted him to rototill our garden.  Of course!  He got right on it and within minutes my garden is as smooth as silk, ready to be planted.  I am sure all of you already have things growing right now, but as usual we are a day late and a dollar short.  There are  good people in this world and one drove right up on his white steed today.

I love you.

    

I Was Just Wondering

I was just wondering.............have you notice all the negativity on the Internet?  If you have ever read any "news" article on the Internet, then I am sure you have noticed that you can leave your comments.  I don't often read the comments, but when I do, I notice that almost all of them are negative.  In fact, they are so negative that you certainly would not want to read them to your 8-year old grandchild.  And guess what, none of the commenter's leave their names.  I guess that anonymity gives them their perceived right to rant and rant with such venom that it makes me wonder if physical violence would be their next course of action.  The commenters seem to want to fight with one another. 

I read the PW's blog......I admit it.  Most of you know who I am talking about.  I am not a huge fan, but certainly it is one I follow.  I have a good time with it and take it for what it is worth--good clean fun....entertainment.  I am not going to learn anything of importance there and I know that.  The recipes are the same as what I grew up with and can certainly make most of them without a recipe. The point is I follow it because it is just good clean entertainment.  Here's what you may nos t know.  There is another blogger out there totally devoted to badmouthing everything about PW, her family, her blog, and her TV program.  The blogger doesn't mince words and has nothing good to say about PW and the comments of this blogger's followers are just as negative.  The f word is typed with complete abandon.  Why?  Effect?  Shock?  Does the PW's blog really warrant such ranting? 

How many of us actually write a review of a hotel, products, or services?  Probably not many and fewer ever write a positive review.  So when I read online reviews, I also take into account the tone of the reviewer.  If it is completely filled with cursing or other such rantings, I make the assumption that the reviewer might be a little grumpy.......like all the time.  It the reviewer tells me the facts including the positive as well as the negative, then I take notice.  I am a grown woman and I can make my own assumption.  When a reviewer is cursing and obviously mad, I feel they are not rational and I disregard their comment.  For me, they lost their intended affect.

I was just wondering.............

That's it from the editor.  Nothing profound, nothing perplexing, nothing nostalgic tonight. 

I love you.

It is a Sweet Road Home

You can't go home again, or....can you?

It's a long, long road

Back home again

A road, a long road,

but filled with memories

and stories

that get better every day.

A sweet road home.

There it is folks.  The Dawkins road.

My road.

My road of memories.

My daughter's road of memories.

Such a sweet road

and while it may be owned by someone else,

that road is my road,

my family's road

for nobody else can look at that road

through the same eyes as we do.

 

This is the drive (we called it a drive) we walked every school day to catch the bus.  Down there around the big cedar you see in the distance is where the house was.  If you look left (not pictured) you can imagine the main road running parallel to our drive.  One of us kids would be assigned to look out the north window to catch a glimpse of the school bus.  Once we saw it, we had just enough time to walk up the drive to where you see the gate to catch the bus. 

 

(I confess, even as a teenager, it killed me to walk home from the bus and not find mom at home.  The house always seemed cold when she was not there to greet us.  I always have been a sentimental slob.) 

 

The mailbox was located directly across from the gate and in the summer it was one of our chores (and I say chores because not one of us enjoyed walking to get the mail.  We always grumbled.  It was hot!). 

 

I learned to drive on that drive.  I drove up that road many times just to get practice.  Getting the mail was a treat then.  I have memories of backing up from the mailbox way too fast, throwing the car into forward gear a bit TOO fast, and the car fishtailing and kicking up gravel.  I wonder if Mom ever saw that.

 

When I was out on my own,

Married with children

There was the drive 

The drive that meant I was home.

 

You can go home again.

It will not be the same

for you will have only your memories.

But it is a sweet road home indeed. 

 

I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Trivia

Well, as usual, it is Saturday night and we are setting here, myself on the laptop and the hubby on his Kindle.  Boring, as usual, but to make this little scenario more boring, we are watching The Lawrence Welk Show.  No need for snickering here.  Tonight, with Doc Severinson as host, PBS is featuring big band music from Mr. Welk's shows through the years; trying to generate a little money.  For those of you who don't know, the hubby's favorite music is, by far, big bands.  He and my dad had so much to discuss back when for Dad loved his big bands, too.  The thing is, the hubby is one generation beyond that genre, but he loves it just the same.

In addition to naming the songs before Doc finishes his intro to each one, the hubby manages to fill me in on all sorts of other trivia.  Here is just a small sampling of what my hubs had to say tonight.  He's in his element.

"A Train - Do you know what the A Train was?  The subway train to Harlem."

"Ted Lewis - He wore an old battered top hat that he supposedly won in a crap game.  He always said "Is everybody happy?""

"Bob Crosby - His most famous song was "Big Noise From Winnetka"."

"In addition to the Ted Lewis orchestra, there was a Ted Weems orchestra with a hit named "Heart Aches".

At the mention of the top hat, I just stared at him and teased him that he was just a 'wealth of information'.  You cannot beat this man in Trivia Pursuit.  Just not possible and when he was paired with my dear brother-in-law, well they were a force to be reckoned with.  I think the hubby has a protege in the works though.  Our 8 year old grandson, Blaine, is just a wealth of information, moving on from his fascination and knowledge of Russia to the presidents of the United States.  Would you believe he has checked out the almanac from the library and finds it fascinating reading?  Give that boy a flashlight and almanac and he entertains himself before he falls asleep---dreaming of becoming the president?????

FYI:  Our home is filled with music, all genres - well maybe not much country, definitely no rap, and no hard rock, but filled with music.  The hubby could have his own radio station with his reel to reel tapes (old stuff), all sorts of vinyls, tapes, CDs, and tons of MP3s (got rid of the eight tracks).  It is very hard for this man to get rid of any form of music......last hold out!

I love you.  Night night everybody.  I hope to have a little story about my home place tomorrow or Monday.

Entertainment????????

Every once in a great while, I like a black and white movie--an oldie.  Tonight is just the night...a night at home.....fireplace burning.....and my laptop....a commentary of our times.  I wonder just how many people in the good old US of A are tonight, at this very moment, on their laptops, iPads, or smart phones?  What am I asking??????  People cannot even go to the bathroom without their smart phones..(and it is kind of disgusting to hear someone on the phone in the ladies room).

Anyway, this great little 1947 movie stars Charlie Chapman, "Monsieur Verdoux", and even though I don't remember ever seeing him in any movies until I was married, I do see several old, old movie stars.  William Frawley of the "I Love Lucy" fame;  probably you know him.   And then there is Martha Raye.  When I think of Martha Raye, Grandpa Dawkins comes to mind.  We kids stayed at Grandpa Dawkins' house a lot when Mom and Dad went out (most often to buy groceries).  I think TV was Grandpa's favorite invention; he just loved his TV and variety and game shows were his favorite.  Martha seemed to be on everyone of those variety shows--always brash and obnoxious. 

So many have entertained us over the years (Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and the list goes on and on), but sadly they are now only faded memories that come to life when we come across an old movie.  Times were so different then......no blood and guts even though shots were fired......no nudity.......no cursing......and you know what?  We were entertained!  Today, we think that everything should be as real as possible..........murder should look like murder, blood and guts.........cursing should be as hard and graphic and shocking as it can be to mock what we hear on the streets..........nudity because we have become accustomed to it.  And what has all this "reality entertainment" gotten us?  Are we truly better off with all this "reality"?

Just so you know, I love the year in which I am living now.  I would never want to live in the 1950s again, as sweet as they were, but I often question why the human race seeks more and more reality....don't we live it enough? 

Daddy, you would not like all this reality..........and you'd never let me watch "Grey's Anatomy". 

By the way, this little movie is over now and while it wasn't the greatest, it was entertaining in a way that isn't common in 2013.

I love you. 

I Probably Ought to Get Busy

Well here it is, the last day of February 2013.  1/6th of the year 2013 now behind us.  I probably ought to get busy.  I can no longer say that I am going to start walking after the first of the year unless I want to wait until next year, 2014.  I probably ought to get busy.  Those New Year's resolutions that I didn't honor...........well I probably ought to get busy.  Going to have company next week..........I probably ought to get busy.  I have to get busy!

The 28th day of February is an important day in my life for another reason and a lot of you probably don't know this.  In fact, I doubt that anybody reading this even knows about it.  This day, in the year 1903 my father-in-law was born.  110 years ago today.  Yep, the father of my husband was born 110 years ago.  Unbelievable?  True.

Sadly, my children never knew their grandfather for he passed away in 1954 when my husband was only 14 years old.  He missed out.  We all missed out.  My hubby missed out on having his father there for his high school graduation, his college graduation, our marriage, and the birth of our children.  I missed out on knowing the man that was a huge part of forming my husband into the man I love.  My kids missed out on the love I am sure would have been showered on them from their Grandpa Tucker. 

So kids, today is your grandpa's birthday, his 110th birthday.  Life goes on.............

I probably ought to get busy.................and tomorrow I shall.

I love you.

You Just Never Know........

You just never know...............

A year ago this week we were suffering mentally more than I thought humanly possible.  One Friday led to a worse Monday, to a suspenseful, frightful, and unbelievably horrible Tuesday.  Tuesday, the day when the tears flowed so hard they sent me to the ground...a day that I don't want to ever repeat.  For for next several days and even months, my life was one of continual prayer.  Prayer that my son would be OK.  And prayers that I can say today, were answered.  My son is on the mend and we are so grateful that prayers worked for my son.  God has blessed him.

You just never know.  My family can attest to that, especially this year, our personal year of heartache, for even as bad as the month of February was for us in 2012, the year did get worse, much worse.  The point is.....never, ever, never ever take for granted your health, your blessings.   Hold those you love close to you for you just never know.

Hi all.  I hope to be back to writing regularly soon.  Spring is springing and I have things to say.  Thanks to you for checking back from time to time.

I love you. 


       

God Made a Farmer

And so on the eighth God made a farmer.

I don't know if anybody but me had tears in their eyes when the Dodge commercial ran late into the last half of the Super Bowl, but I did.  In fact, I have cried openly this morning when I played it from YouTube.  God made a farmer.

I doubt many people will feel the emotion of this little two-minute speech unless you lived it.  My parents lived it and as a result I lived it.  The long hours, the rushed meals so that they could jump back on the tractor to plow that last two acres before dark, the hopes, the dreams, the prayers........oh the prayers!!, the sighs when a cow or calf didn't make it, the smiles when a crop made good, the gratitude..........God made a farmer.

How many times over the years have you made fun of people who were not urbanites..........the rural people?  How many times do you completely ignore the stock barns at the fair?  How many times have you seen a dusty car and were appalled rather than envisioned a farmer on a dusty country road?  Not all roads are paved.......I know, I lived it.  How many times have you seen little boys with their pressed plaid shirts tucked neatly in their pressed jeans, their belts cinched tightly, their cowboy boots and hats, all neat and trim, and thought them to be just a little bit of a hick?  God made a farmer.

And the peanut butter in your pantry, or the lettuce in your refrigerator, how many times have you even wondered where they came from.  Oh sure, you might have noticed that they were a product of Mexico, but the American products, do you really appreciate or understand the complexity of getting that the food from seed to your plates?  And for you that don't already know, peanuts and wheat (and cows..........let's not forget the cows) are what mom and dad, and Robert, and Kay, and Brenda, and Rhonda, and even I, raised.  You see, if you are a farmer even your kids are farmers.  Mom and Dad both have said that we kids were part of the success of their farm.  God made a farmer.  

I don't know how the Dodge commercial will be accepted by our nation; maybe forgotten by tomorrow.  Maybe, however, it will awaken us.  Maybe it is time for a little respect for our rural people, the farmers and ranchers of our nation.  Maybe the commercial will hit a nerve as to how valuable our Amercan farmers are to us as a nation, as individuals..............they are the ones who feed us...........you, ME!!!  God made a farmer.

Of course, nobody but Paul Harvey could have delivered this with the same impact so here it is.  I hope you take opportunity to listen.  And thanks to our farmers.  And thanks Dodge for delivering a great, poignant commercial...one that put tears in my eyes, one that made me think of Mom and Dad..............God made a farmer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sillEgUHGC4

I love you!!!