Fall is in the Air

There are so many reasons why Autumn is my favorite time of year. And, while many years it seems we go directly from the heat of summer to the cold of winter (or as cold as winters get in MO), this year we truly have enjoyed fall.
There's nothing better than starting the day with breakfast (albeit our standard fare of steel-cut oats and Red River Cereal, except on weekends) in the sunroom, with the fall sounds and cool air coming through the screens. The leaves drift lazily from the many trees in our back yard, the squirrels race along the top of the fence, as if in a hurry to prepare for oncoming winter, and all seems right with the world.
I enjoy adding decorative touches to just about anything--whether indoors or out--to usher in each season. Having collected a few items each year for many years, I seldom need to buy anything new; I simply pull out the storage tubs and try to think of new ways to use old decorations. Because I love autumn so much, and love to decorate for it, it seems the perfect precursor to making our home festive for the Christmas season, my absolute favorite.
Three years ago when we moved to our new home, and therefore changed to a new Ward at Church, I became dear friends with a darling woman, Bonnie, who is 90 years young (as of 9/15). She is currently in UT celebrating with some of her living siblings, but I have a luncheon planned for her here on September 28. I think turning 90 is "Something to Crow About" and that will be my theme for the party. I will try to blog that later. So I'm keeping that party in mind as I decorate for fall.
The crisp air "feels like football" and the season is, indeed, here again. We enjoyed our first MSU football game last Saturday, and our second will be tomorrow. From the tailgates to the Bear Pride Marching Band half-time performances, we have enjoyed the whole experience as a family from the days when Steve and I were at the University of Utah, to the games here with the boys from the time they were born, and continuing as each of our grandchildren arrived. The spiced cider, hot cocoa and peanuts which go in our bags, as well as the snowcones, nachos, and pretzels from the concession stand, are all part of the experience. Most of all, it's a fun venue for family fun, and provides a good "excuse" to get 9 busy family members together in one place. That doesn't happen every single game (such as tomorrow, when some are out of town and one working), but in those cases, we never have trouble finding friends who like to join us for the fun.
It has been a busy week with activities of many kinds, all enjoyable. We've settled into a routine with Ky arriving at 6:45 a.m. for breakfast, then getting ready for school and practicing the piano and violin before I take her to school. I also pick her up from school three nights a week for swimming, piano and drum lessons, etc. Since Reed is now in school, I've asked for (and been granted :) "Reeders time with Nina" on Tuesday evenings so do whatever he wants. Last Tuesday, it was playing at the park and his helping fix his requested "bacon, eggs, and toast" for dinner, then to soccer practice. He's quite the egg-cracker! And his Dad cracked up when we told him that Reed requested BACON! for dinner. A fit and active 6-year-old boy can afford those calories. Weekends provide some time with hubby (yea, date night!), occasionally family time, and as with this evening, time for a movie date with girlfriends. (Last Friday night two girlfriends and I went to Branson to see the Osmonds, who were in town for a two-week stint at their theatre, following a world tour. It's hard to believe the older brothers have been in show business 50 years! I talked with Jimmy on Sunday, as I sat right by him when they attended Church in my Ward, and told him we had seen and enjoyed the show. His comment: "We're pretty goofy, but we do have a good time." Well, yes . . .)
I'm off to bake some cookies for my lesson on Sunday (this time there will be no nuts and no chocolate for the sake of those with allergies to same). I hope anyone reading this blog is also having a GREAT AUTUMN and recording it for anyone who cares.

Home again, Home again . . .

What a whirlwind summer this has turned out to be. Kyra and I left on July 7 and flew to WY to spend a couple of weeks with Daddy, et al, while Steve ventured to Canada and then to Mexico, to exercise the fish in both locations. A couple of things happened in WY that might be worth mentioning: (1) Daddy went swimming for the first time in a long time, not once, but TWICE! And he loved it. He told several people that he discovered that his legs work afterall.
(2) I had a little accident that put a crimp in my style. Thankfully, Kyra was a great sport about being my "legs" for many errands. Daddy had wanted to "go for a walk," which translates to his riding his electric scooter and "walking" us. I'd had a little flareup of the tendonitis in my left ankle, so thought I would be wise and protect it. I took Sharon up on the offer of her 10-speed bike. The concrete path along the river that we "walked" isn't wide enough to allow turning around except in the designated areas. We had gone down, turned around, and were returning when I glanced back over my shoulder to check on Dad and Kyra. BIG MISTAKE! The front tire of my bike went off the right side of the path. I over compensated and pulled it back and it "flipped" me back onto the concrete. OUCH!!!!! I sprained my bad ankle (thankfully; I don't need TWO bad ankles), cracked a couple of ribs, and also learned yesterday that I chipped off a bit of bone in my lower right leg. My physical therapist says I'll "be a new woman in six weeks' time," and three of those weeks have passed so I'm quite optimistic. So much for PRUDENT! I was initially worried about how I was going to get back home to MO, but realized after a couple of days that all I would need was transfer assistance at the Denver airport. It all went fine.
My sister Donna picked Miss Ky and I up at the Billings airport (and returned us two weeks later). Donna was getting ready to go for a pioneer trek, along with Jodee and Ashton, and we had fun shopping for "pioneer attire" at the Goodwill Store in Billings. Kyra had fun trying on some fun shoes.
(3)Kyra wanted to see the Billings Temple and Donna (wise woman that she is) was so good to make a special trip not only "by" the Temple, but to let Kyra go in the front entry. I told the man at the front desk that Kyra is a "temple-going wannabe; she just needs to wait two more years." Thank you, Donna!
(4) Kyra LOVES horses and all that goes with it (she has even been a good sport about the grooming aspects and scooping poop), so she was delighted that her Aunt Sharon and her Aunt Donna went out of their way to ensure she had chances to ride while in WY. Uncle Mike even showed up unexpectedly from ID and joined them for the ride.


(5) Kyra loved spending time with some of her cousins. Aunt Jan arranged for her to spend time with her granddaughters at her home, and Bailee (same age as Kyra) spent a night and a day with Kyra and me at Dad's home. It was so fun to watch them play together, and it brought back many "cousin memories" for me, too.and (6) last, but certainly not least important, Kyra and I got to attend Jill Miller Sylvester's baby shower! With our living in MO, it's not often that we are able to attend these important family events, so we felt pretty special. Jill was radiant, and the shower (given by her friend Jill Weeks Wright and her Mom Francie) was so fun. Yummy treats and fun decorations, so appropriate for the "baby girl in waiting."

Ingenuity Reaps Dividends

I was blessed to have the opportunity to design the retirement home we moved into a little over three years ago. I'm also blessed to have a husband who does professional matting and framing as a hobby (I say "hobby" but he also volunteers many of his efforts for the Federation of Fly Fishers, and he and our friend Darby have raised well in excess of $100,000 for youth education and conservation projects with the 3-D plates they have designed and donated). This is all to say that in our home we have, both upstairs and downstairs, 18-foot gallery walls in our wide hallways. Steve framed 18 beautiful butterfly prints for the upstairs gallery wall, and had them ready to hang when we moved in in 2006. (I was involved in helping to choose the type of mats and frames I wanted, and in hanging the pictures which took the two us the better part of a morning.) (I want to add a little disclaimer about the photos; my granddaughter said the walls look "pink" in the pictures, and so they do. But they are not. They are a European "stucco" color and, in fact, the walls have a very rough plaster finish which also fails to show up in the pictures. Sorry.)
I knew I wanted the gallery wall in the downstairs reserved for family photos, but I also knew I wanted "A PLAN." It has taken me three years to formulate "my plan," and now that I've decided what I want, I'm sooooooooooo excited! I will take "before and after" pictures and do a blog when I have the project finished to show the end result. I'm mentioning it now because in the process of sorting through old family photos and working on the wall, I've come across several things that "speak" to me, and I want to record them for posterity's sake (or perhaps just simply for my own sake).

The photograph of my husband and his sister Marilyn reminded me of the following story that I wrote just before Steve's parents passed away (Mom in January and Dad in March of 2005).

Ingenuity Reaps Dividends

My husband Steve and I recently took an unscheduled trip to Utah, following the hospitalization of his elderly father and the word that his father would not be able to return home upon being dismissed from the hospital. The purpose for our trip was to help Steve’s parents—John and Helen (“Mom” and “Dad”)—make the transition from their home of many years to an assisted-living facility, and to honor their request that we make a new home for Fresca, their two-year-old Chihuahua. (Taking Fresca seemed a small thing to do to give Steve’s parents some piece of mind. How much trouble could one, eleven- pound dog be, after all?) A move of this nature evokes a great deal of emotion and causes many a “trip down memory lane.”

I asked my mother-in-law (Helen) how old my husband was when they purchased their home. She responded that he was five, meaning my in-laws had lived in the same home for 58 years! Remembering some of the stories Helen had told me, I asked her to verify a few facts and figures so I could records some of this for posterity, hoping that our children and grandchildren will someday be as interested in tales of their ancestors as I am in hearing about my parents and grandparents when they were young.
One story in particular has become a favorite because it demonstrates Helen’s qualities of industry and ingenuity, admirable characteristics she passed on to my husband.

John was serving in World War II and Helen at that time had two young children, Steve and his sister Marilyn, two years his junior. John received only $100 per month military pay which he sent to Helen to cover housing, food, clothing, medical expenses, transportation, and anything else his family needed. Among the things Helen did to earn extra money (and also to save money) were picking raspberries, sewing, and raising a garden.

In June of 1942 (just a year after my husband was born), the Ward Production Board ordered that family sewing machine production be stopped inasmuch as materials such as iron, steel, aluminum and copper were needed for the War effort. In addition, sales of factory dewing machines to the public were frozen and the machines were used for stitching tents, tarpaulins, ignition pads, clothing, parachute harnesses, and other items in support of the War effort. This order was in effect until July 1945, and allowed only for limited production of repair parts and needles. (Information obtained from the Singer website.) This resulted in a shortage of sewing machines and sewing machine parts to families at a time when they desperately needed them. Helen recognized in this situation an opportunity to help not only her family but others, as well.

Helen had a good sewing machine and was an accomplished seamstress. Many were anxious to retain her services to sew articles of clothing for themselves or their family members; others just needed to have button holes added to items they had constructed. Helen said that at times there would be a line of people waiting on her front porch to have buttonholes added to garments they had sewn. Sometimes customers wanted to have returned to them any fabric left over from the articles Helen sewed for them; others told her that she could keep the remnants. Little did they know how adept Helen was at turning those remnants into attractive clothing for her growing children.

Helen, who later earned the certification “Master Gardener,” and who for most of her life has been actively involved in garden clubs and in judging floral competitions, even as a young mother possessed a “green thumb.” She raised several things in her garden that were appealing to her neighbors as well as to her family. In fact, Helen learned quickly that her neighbors found it hard to resist a 4-year-old “salesman,” pulling behind him a wagon that was full to the brim of ripe tomatoes, crisp green beans, corn on the cob, and other irresistibly fresh produce. More than once, Steve sold everything in the wagon, and returned home for restocking, so he could venture out again. At that young age, he was not allowed to cross the street, but he seemed to have plenty of customers with the “legal” boundaries of his entrepreneurial activities. The neighbors must particularly have enjoyed seeing Steve coming with his wagon when he was dressed in one of the costumes his mother had made for him, such as the Indian costume complete with moccasins and a feather headband, or (as in the above picture) in the pint-sized sailor suit sent by his father who was serving in the Navy.

By means of these creative efforts, not only was Helen able to supplement the $100 per month military pay with income sufficient to meet the needs of their family, but by the time John returned from WWII, Helen surprised him by having saved $2,000 for a down payment on a home. The same home they have lived in the past 58 years! Helen said they paid $22,000 for the home. She added that there had been another house they looked at and liked by the asking price was $25,000 and that was “way out of (their) price range.”

John and Helen have not yet sold this home of 58 years and, should a miracle happen, there’s a chance they might be able to return to it in the spring. Chances are, though, that this chapter is coming to a close, and it will soon be necessary to bid farewell to this place we’ve all known as “home.” Knowing this caused us to look a bit differently at the home when we pulled out of the driveway recently to head back east. (I might add that I had one very calm, seemingly content Chihuahua on my lap. I could not know until later than the tranquilizer the Vet had administered had reduced this admittedly handsome dog to a “civilized” state.) The trip down memory lane also caused me to suggest to Helen that “when the time comes,” we would like to make a new home for the little wagon filled with flowers in her back yard. The same little wagon that carried “FRESH PRODUCE FOR SALE” so many years ago. Likely, this aged and “well-cured” little wagon will be easier to contain than a two-year-old Chihuahua with Attention Deficit, Hyperactive Disorder. We do love Steve’s parents, and we’re determined to love Fresca, too. She’s really not defective; her “wagger,” her “licker,” and her “wetter” work exceptionally well. Just a little more time and we should have it down pat . . .
(written 9 November 2004)

Notes added 18 June 2009: Helen passed away on 18 January 2005, and John just two months later, so the trip we made to UT in October of 2004 was, in fact, the last time we would visit Steve’s parents in their home. They were married 67 years, most of which were spent in that home.

And speaking of Fresca, my friend Kathy’s mother had one small dog and was looking for a second as a companion to the first. Both Kathy and her mother are dog lovers and we knew Fresca would be loved, IF it were a good match (she loves to rule the roost). Indeed, it was a match made in heaven. Kathy’s mother is similar in age to Helen, so Fresca felt right at home, and she and Snoopy get along famously. Fresca gained a home similar to the one she had, along with a new playmate, and Steve and I gained PEACE (ah, sweet peace). Neither Steve nor I thought his Mother would mind. Don’t you just love it when everybody wins?!!!!

Ah! A Solution . . .

It didn't take me long after meeting my Mother-in-Law ("Mom") to figure out where my hubby got his creativity! There's little he tries that he can't do well and the same was true for his Mother (we lost both of Steve's parents in 2005). She was a "Master Gardener," a good cook, sewed beautifully, and loved all sorts of crafts. She owned her own kiln and like to create her own pottery designs.

When Mom died and we cleaned out their home, there were dozens and dozens of pots she had made. We brought several home with us including a couple of rather unusual collections. I chose several tiny pots in assorted colors for the grandchildren's room, as a reminder of their great grandmother. One of the tiny pots is home to Ky's lost teeth, once the Tooth Fairy has paid her dues.

The other unusual collection is pictured below. The pots are more contemporary in design than is our home; nevertheless, I liked them because Mom designed them. I was determined that I would figure out something to do with them besides just display them. They work well for dried flower arrangements but, due to the shallow bottoms and "holes," they don't work well for plants. Until now . . .

I hit upon the idea to plant tiny succulents in them which could peek out the various holes. And I decided that despite their being contemporary, they might look cute clustered on the front steps. I'm really enjoying the reminder of Mom when I come up the steps, and seeing the little plants grow. I think Mom would approve.