Handmade Journal Handy..

Back in 2006 I decided to try my hand at making my own book.  I have since learned that this is not the "exact" way to do it, but I love my little book just the same.

 As I was gathering things to take to the Ingram Art Show I came across this little book and decided to take it with me.  What a wonderful thing that turned out to be!

It occurred to me that several of my relatives that I had not seen in a while were there and this was the perfect time to have them write in my book.

 Signing the poems that they wrote.. ;)  The bird is taken from a photo of Squirt that Aunt Edna sent me..  Didn't quite get it, but the gist is there...lol
 (You may have noticed that the poem is scrambled.  This is to protect their intellectual property.. )

 When I put this book together I wanted to put things that were special to me into it... like this poem written by my Aunt Betty.  I thought I wanted things to be perfect and then somehow they didn't come out as perfect as I thought I wanted them to be.  Now as I look back thru the pages, they are exactly as I wanted them to be.  I would encourage everyone to make their own little book and put in it whatever they find special to themselves in it..

Now I realize it doesn't have to be perfect or perfectly thought out... it just has to be you.  Mine is just a collection of little ditties that I thought were good.  There's a notation that my first great grand daughter was expected.. another for the day that she was born.  Now there will be another notation about my first great grandson that will be born in May.  Another about my oldest son making the Dean's Honor Roll in college.  So many things...

And the opportunity to have my family write in my book was just too good to be true. 

Another good thing from the Ingram Arts and Crafts Show... ;)

Have a wonderful day....

Stonewall, OK ... 55 Years Later

On our Saturday trip back home from Steven's graduation, we stopped in a small town where Mom, Dad, my brother and I had lived when I was 4 or 5 years old. Over the years that followed, Stonewall, OK was where Dad would take my brother and I to the movie.. or as we called it.. the "picture show". It was where we would go with Grandma to the "laundry" that always smelled of hot soapy water and bleach... where we were constantly warned of the hazards of getting our hand too close to the "wringers". As this was before the days of air conditioning, the general store where Grandma bought her fabric ... or "material"... needles, thread.... was always hot and dark, with a bit of musty smell and the whirring sound of the ceiling fans swooshing was audible above the sounds of customers. My grandmother's father and my grandfather's brother both lived in Stonewall and we would often stop by to visit whenever we were in town. Such treats... such memories...

55 years later... Every store on the main street is boarded up except perhaps two or three ... there was only one motorcycle sitting on the road across the street from where we parked. There was no one walking up and down the street. The "picture show" has been torn down.

I was surprised... a little sad... but strange as it may seem, I also felt at home. What lovely memories... but there's more...

One of the shops still open in Stonewall, OK is a wonderful little shop called Wildflowers & Rosie. More on this after our return visit on Thursday.

to be continued....

Sunday Childhood Memories

This picture was taken when I was 3 years old. My aunts Audine and Lorraine were older and were my favorite playmates. This was taken at my maternal grandmother's house in Lorenzo, TX... a small group of buildings on the hot plains of Texas near Lubbock. Mom, Dad, my brother (2 years old) and I were visiting. I don't remember much about the house or what was going on, but I do remember the big tree on the other side of the driveway that held that miracle of miracles... a swing! That feel of my tummy sinking and the wind blowing my hair was the most wonderful thing this side of ice cream. What I didn't realize was that there was a red ant bed right under that swing... but I found out when I fell out of the swing! It took only a minute or so for them to let it be known that they truly disapproved of the intrusion and destruction of their home. A few hugs, kisses, a little soda mixed with water and put on all the red spots and soon all was well again.

A few years ago, Mom, Lorraine, Martha and I went looking for that house again. It, of course, is no longer there. But amazingly...the tree was still there. I didn't get out to look for the ant bed... grin.. once was quite enough..grin

Memories From Childhood for Pat

Pat Winter, a wonderful stitcher and beautiful person, has a blog called Gatherings. She has posted a bit about herself as a child and wishes to know about the childhood memories of others of us out in blogland... I think it's a great idea... so here we go...

Mom and Dad divorced in 1953 (or thereabouts) and as a result, my brother and I spent a lot of time with our grandparents. Mom's parents had 15 children (two younger than my brother and I) and Dad's parents had 11 children...the youngest of them only about 5 or 6 years older than us. We never lacked for anyone to play with...grin The fact that I was the only girl around most of the time dictated that if I wanted to play, it would be with the guys. Baseball was the number one game, followed by marbles and cowboys and Indians.

We spent a couple of years with fraternal grandparents living in the country in South Central Oklahoma. Larry and I would wander around the two ponds, always accompanied by the Husky mix dog that Grandpa loved and named Sandy (who could sniff out a snake in a heartbeat). After one particularly bad storm, one of the tall trees at the edge of the pond had broken off about 4 feet above the ground and fell over. With the trunk still slightly attached and the top laying on the ground, it made a perfect "horse"! We made a bee-line back to the barn for some "tow sacks", slung them over the highest part we could reach and tied them on with binder twine. We had to climb up the trunk and then walk the tree down to where we had put the saddle. It was well worth the effort because once ensconced in the saddle the tree would give a bit and if you rocked back and forth the "horse" would go up and down... What a delight!

Grandma always kept chickens. There was a tiny little house that she used as the "brood" house... this was where she would put the hen that was setting on the brood of eggs until the eggs hatched. Of course, this little house was only used once a year or so... so for the rest of the year it was unoccupied. One summer, Larry and I decided we needed our own house... We spent all one day cleaning that little house...using buckets with hot water and sweeping what seemed like for days... Then we asked if we could use a broken hutch for our cabinets (we had found it somewhere in the barn). Permission was granted, so we lugged, pulled and carried the hutch from the barn to our new house. Bear in mind that this was only the top part of the hutch and one side was broken, so we hunted until we found some bricks to use to prop up the broken side. Now we need beds (they could also be used for sofas). Back to the barn for "tow sacks"..today we call them burlap bags..grin We stuffed them with hay from the barn, tied them up with binder twine and brought them back to "our house". Ok...we have sofas and cabinets...we need dishes. Back to the house...Grandma collected the cups, saucers, glasses etc. that came in the boxes of oats. We were given a few of the old chipped things she had around and back we went with our treasures... Oops...we need a table! Somewhere we came up with an old orange crate of some kind... I talked Grandma out of a piece of cloth (probably an old cup towel) ... and we were good to go! Back to the house for cold biscuits...nothing to go with it but sliced onions (believe it or not, it was good!) , cups of water and we were set.

I can't remember how long we used our house...but putting that little house together was wayyy too much fun. It's a memory I will always treasure. Maybe next time I will tell about using the "syrup buckets" for life preservers when we went swimming...grin