Scattered Seed

My grandmother worked as a companion to the elderly,  and it was usually for families that she had known for years.    My younger sister, Kathy and I would occasionally stay with Grandma at these homes, giving her a chance to spend time with us and giving my dad a couple days respite from single-parenting after my mother died.

Even though we had to be well-behaved and quiet,  Grandma wanted to keep our minds busy on these visits.   She taught us several versions of  solitaire,  we did word puzzles,  or watched the game shows on TV with her.     At night we would snuggle into bed beside her.

On New Year’s Eve, 1963,   my sister Kathy and I stayed with Grandma overnight in Naples.   I remember staying up late,  looking out the big windows and seeing the skiers come down the hills with lights.   It seemed a magical night at that time in my life,  and I forever thank Grandma for those special memories.

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March 1967.   My grandparents took me to California to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins.  It was my first flight ever,  and it made me feel very special to be taken along.   I was only thirteen.

I remember the flight meal, the sensation of my ears popping, and changing planes in Chicago.   In San Francisco we boarded a large helicopter for the flight across the bay to Palo Alto.   Having come from the snowy northeast,  I was amazed at how green everything in California was at that time of year.

We spent two weeks,  with trips up the coast,  to the beach, and into San Francisco.   I had my first taco at a stand on the beach,  and my first avocado served with a meal.   I remember listening to records with my cousins, especially The Monkees, who were the rage then.

Here we are Easter Sunday with the Golden Gate in the background….my aunt Jean, me, and my cousin, Brian.

Thanks to Sally for hosting this meme!

We spent yesterday afternoon in Rochester, meeting with my cousin Tracy to look through a box of our grandmother’s mementos. She died twenty years ago,  just a month before her 94th birthday.

There are many old photos in her collection which have no notation on them, so we can only guess who they might be. There are also letters that my uncle Gordon wrote home during World War II.

The most touching item that we came across was his Purple Heart, neatly boxed as my grandmother most likely received it. I can’t imagine the emotion she must have felt, having just lost her oldest son to the war in France in June 1944.

I asked Tracy if I could keep the medal for awhile, to hold it and share it.   I can imagine my mother and her mother touching it and mourning the loss of brother and son.    It has been tucked away for so long.   I needed to bring it to the light of day today and remember them.

When I took my current job,  I worked for two therapists, things were pretty low-key, and breaks and lunch were on a schedule.    Fast-forward seventeen years and there are now ten therapists, fast-paced days, and frequent overtime.    My head is spinning by Friday.

I’m planning to spend this three-day weekend getting things back on track with some grocery shopping (the cupboards are bare),  menu-planning (our meals have been hit-and-miss because I’m so drained by the end of the day),  and getting things in order around the house (it’s amazing how much disorganization occurs in a five-day workweek in a house with two adults, a dog, and two cats).

Hopefully some birds will stop by tomorrow.   I miss daylight most workdays and my birdwatching has been nil.

It was late August.   We were living in upstate New York and traveled west for a family reunion in Oklahoma City.   On the way we stopped to visit George’s aunt in Independence, Kansas.    She asked us if we would like to take the girls to see the “Little House on the Prairie”.

She gave us directions which took us on roads-less-traveled,  and this is what we found…..

The sign says:   “This log cabin resembles one described as the Ingall’s home in Little House on the Prairie.  A claim was not filed because the land was part of the Osage Diminished Reserve.   The Osage signed the treaty selling the land to the government on September 10th, 1870.   The family home was listed as the 89th residence of Rutland Township in the 1870 U.S. Census and the family lived here about one year.  In her book Laura told of building the cabin, of encounters with Indians, going to Independence for supplies and of Dr. Tannis treating the family members for ‘fever and ague’.   Dr. Tannis’ grave is in Mount Hope Cemetery in Independence.”     Erected 1977

Unfortunately,  what Rebecca (age 6)  and Morgan (age 2) probably remember best of that day was the fact that the temperature was a blistering 103 degrees, and our car didn’t have air conditioning.

For more Remember Whensday posts,  see Sally’s site here.

As I was getting out of bed this morning,  George mentioned that the temperature was at Zero.    I was then less than enthused when he suggested that we drive down to Wellsboro, PA for brunch, but I do like the old Penn-Wells Hotel.   So I dug out my Cuddle Duds,  made him promise to keep the car’s heater running for the whole trip, and we headed south.    It was a beautiful, sunny Sunday for the drive which takes us about an hour.

Once, on a December visit there, Christmas carolers had come off the street and into the decorated lobby to sing in front of the fireplace.   We were just checking out,  so we stopped and joined them around this fireplace.   It was very festive and nostalgic, and I think of it every time we go back.

Today it was very quiet there.  We arrived as the brunch hours were ending and the lunch hours were soon to begin.   They have a delicious buffet which extends through much of the dining room with just about anything you could want or imagine.   Diners come dressed in their finest, or in blue jeans, or in their hunting garb.   I love the linen-covered tables, the heavy woodwork, and the rich-red walls which are covered in photos showing Wellsboro and the area in days-gone-by.

And as we left and headed for the car, the bank sign across the street showed that the temperature had risen to 19 degrees!

After a high-paced week,  and more overtime than I wanted to do,  the weekend couldn’t have come soon enough.   I slept well last night,  and I slept in a bit this morning,  which means that I probably missed the early birds for Feederwatch today.

This mourning dove sat out by the deck for the longest time,  and appeared to be huddled up in the cold (19 degrees was the high temperature).

A downy woodpecker discovered that I had moved the suet cage to the deck.   Last week two crows kept pecking at it from a willow branch till it was on the ground and soon empty.   I had to chisel it out of the crusty snow.

I spilled nyjer as I was filling the feeders this morning  and as many as twelve mourning doves came by to help with the clean-up.   That’s one way to increase the count,  and I was glad that it wasn’t going to waste!

Indoors we concentrated on taking down the Christmas tree and reclaiming our living room/dining room area.   As I packed up the ornaments I was thinking about each one as I tucked it away.

the oldest ornament on our tree (a plastic bell that I remember from my childhood)….

and the newest ornament,  hand-crafted,  which Morgan bought for me this Christmas….

Many little projects were competing for my attention today and I feel like I got quite a bit done,  especially around the kitchen.    I couldn’t let the day go by without time on the Mario rug though.

I’m more than a third of the way done!

This is the first picture I have of George putting together a truck model. We lived in a ’sparsely’ furnished apartment in Oklahoma City and it was our first Christmas. I remember being amazed by the amount of time and detail he put into it then.

fast forward thirty-seven Christmases……there is yet another truck model in the works!

For more Remember Whensday posts,  check Sally’s site here.

As with most things we try to accomplish around here, nothing ever comes off without a hitch.

All through Christmas week we had a drip from the bathroom faucet that didn’t want to be fixed,  and we wanted to get the new faucet that we had recently bought put in.  However the new one required a new sink layout, and if we were going to get a new sink, we wanted to get a new vanity.   We just kept our eye on things and jiggled the handle this way or that till the dripping was as slow as we could get it.

the old….

Fortunately we waited till everyone had come and gone, as our plan didn’t work out quite like we expected. The new faucet fit the new sink we bought quite nicely, but the vanity with its drawers didn’t line up with the way the plumbing came from the wall. We could have the vanity, but not the drawers,  or the drawers but not the plumbing….at least until we had someone come in and reroute things for us.

That was yesterday, and we are finally all put together. The old vanity and sink were probably the original from when the house was built and we were more than ready to see them go!

the new…..

We had a good visit with Rebecca while she was home over Christmas, and I was especially appreciative of her trip here in winter when she said a few years ago that she would prefer to keep her trips north for warmer weather. There is a lot that she likes to do and see around here in the other three seasons of the year,  but not so much in the winter, not to mention the long drive up in wintry weather.

I had thought about making her a cake to celebrate her day while we were all together, but with all the sweets and indulgences of Christmas, a cake just seemed too much.   But everyday that she was here I was thankful and celebrating her presence,  thinking towards her day which is today, January 4th.

Photo of a family celebration for her eleventh birthday….

and another from her twelfth where a printing calculator was the high-tech gift of the year…(left arm extended means Garrett doesn’t get to the candles before she does).

I hope this day is special!