For Now We Wait

For now we wait.

As I posted last week, we planted a few things in our garden.  Nothing earth shattering, but we did plant some onion sets and some onion plants, some peas, some radishes, a half row of turnips...yuck, a row of Yukon Gold potatoes, and as of today, some leeks.  If you have the idea that I am a gardener, you couldn't be further from the truth.  I will leave the hard core gardening to my sweet sister or my sweet sister-in-law, and my equally sweet brother.  They are the tried and true gardeners of the family.  When they are talking gardening, I am just on the sidelines, hoping to pick up a few of their hints.

I think one of the main reasons I plant my garden is to have a date with my hubby.  At this time of the year, if you drove down our road, you would probably find us taking a walk around our property.  In fact, you might find us checking out the garden at least twice a day.  It is our little time to plan, to see if anything is coming up, to decide if it needs weeding, watering, fertilizing, or picking, and did I mention watering?!?! 

We took our little walk just a few minutes ago, checking the onions, some of which are poking up through the ground just a tad................and...................and.................we have either turnips or radishes just breaking the soil.................. and before you wonder why I do not know...............I have no excuses other than I didn't plant them, my daughter did because I was climbing trees.

These little bits of new life are really exciting.  Fruits of our labor...........OK, maybe in a few weeks, but for now we wait.

I love you and if you will excuse me, I have a date.

Daddy, I was Watching

My little grandson, 5 years old, is learning to play chess.  His older brother has been playing for a few years now and is quite good, but his little brother..........well........you just don't know at what point in any game he will just give up and say "I'm done" and walk.......stalk......stomp off to another room.  His patience quota on a scale of 1 to 10 is about minus 3. 

He has been begging his daddy to play chess so daddy set up the board and they played.  The next night, the little guy wanted to play again so his daddy told him to set up the board thinking he'd just play however the little guy set up the board.........thinking he was too young to learn the particulars.  Much to his daddy's surprise, the little guy had set up the board exactly right, even the king and queen were in the right spots.  His daddy bragged and bragged on him and my little guy said "Daddy, I was watching."

What words, huh?  "Daddy, I was watching."  How profound.  Also, can you imagine what else the little children of the world are watching?  What kind of home life do they have?  Are they being fed?  Are they watching mom do a line of cocaine?  Are they watching daddy on his computer all night long?  Are they watching you?  Just something to think about.............  "Daddy, I was watching."

I love you.

Memory:  I relayed this little story of my grandson to my hubby this morning.  He laughed and said he wondered how our little guy's patience would fare in a game of chess............looking over at me.  Then we both laughed for we had our own little "chess story".  The very first six months of our married life, we played chess.  ................and you thought we were boring all of our lives, but look, we played chess back when so we weren't as boring as you thought, huh?.................  Here's how it went down, and I do mean down.  We had an intense game going, very intense, I tell you.  I had only my queen left and he had his king.  I was winning or so I thought.  Yep, I was going to take that old king out!  Then all of a sudden, I hear "checkmate!!!"  Well, my patience quota went from 8 to -3 in one fraction of one second.  I grabbed my side of the board, flipped it up and stomped off to the bedroom, crying.  He hubby came in to tell me I was winning, but that he cheated (or so he told me).  But all the same, it was the last time we played chess.  Nope not going to do it.  But a memory.

Daddy, I was watching.

Clean, White, Turquoise

Hello everybody.  Do you know your decorating style?  Sadly, I do not.  I am getting a clue though.  The Pioneer Woman tells us that she is beginning to know hers simply by looking at her pins on Pinterest.  I am going to take a look at mine and see.  I suspect what I will find is just clean rooms.  What I really, really want, tell me what ya really, really want, is clean.  White.  Turquoise. CLEAN!  Today that is what I lack.  CLEAN.  I want clean, but I just don't put the effort to keep it clean.

I have my favorite blogs and when I look at their posts and pictures, what I see is CLEAN and white with a little color mixed in.  One of my top two blogs is www.fortheloveofahouse.blogspot.com.  Oh my goodness, just take a look and you will see CLEAN.  There is never a thing out of place, but rather than it looking stark and uninviting, it is just the opposite.  Her house makes me want to curl up in a ball with a good book (not a Kindle) in any of her rooms, not excluding her beautiful bathroom with the lovely chair.  That is what I want, a beautiful comfy chair in my bathroom, but the bath needs to be big enough for it not to feel like I am in the bathroom.  Wouldn't work in my bathroom unless you used the ledge in the shower for a chair.  That might be strange for the hubs to find me curled up with my book in the shower.  Strange indeed!

Another favorite blog is www.houseofturquoise.com .  This blogger loves turquoise so she posts pictures daily of beautiful homes with touches of turquoise in them.  Various shades of blues and turquoise and teal are a common theme in her posts and I love each one.  I could stare endlessly at all the decorating ideas and beautiful shades of the sea in her pictures.  Take a look at today's post and the very first picture is a lovely room with turquoise/green that is divine, but very reminiscent of the 1960s.  In my senior year Home Economics class, we had to put together a booklet of our favorite house plan and show pictures of how we would decorate it, right down to the colors.  Mine was filled with light carpet and and touches of blues............throughout each room, very much like the picture in this blogger's post today.  I wish I had kept that booklet.......    

I hope you are having a very good day. Now I have to CLEAN. White and turquoise to come later.

I love you.

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.