Funny Words

Let's have some chuckles! Periodically, my kids and I come up with funny names which sends me into peals of laughter.

I guess the ones I remember most are those from the American Indians. As I mentioned in a former post, I stayed at Chincoteaque Island. I saw that Susan mentioned the Tallahatchie that had to be from the same source. And, how about Tallahasse? There's Mannahawkin, N.J. & Forked River. Forked is 2 syables.

At one time, we lived in Houston County in Georgia but it was pronounced
"House-ton". I went to school with a girl with the last name of Buggy but it was pointed out to me that it was Buuggie. OMG, let's not do names...:-)! Oh, let's!
Grandpop worked with a guy by the name of Sugarbread and we had neighbors whose name was Rowbottom - either English or Indian, wouldn't you say? Isn't this the time, Bill brings up Orangejello & Lemonjello pronounced very different than spelled. And, Dad worked with a Glasscock, a Woodcock & a John Moneypenny. So, put your funny thinking caps on laugh a little!

And Then I Went Shopping...

Started with looking for a card table & chairs. Got them through a site called Hayneedle.com. Noticed Bonnie used this site too. Next, I needed make-up so went right to the Clinque page. Got it. You have to realize it's a rainy day and I hate to shop in the rain. Finally, the rain stopped so took my butt to my fav furniture store in Sttratford to look for a console table. I had moved the bookcase out of the hall into the middle room so had space for something small between the windows. Found a small table with mirror above it. I was telling the owner that after I croaked, stuff will still be coming in. What is wrong with me? Shouldn't I be contend to rock my life away?

This Saturday, Barbara & I along with Ira (the paint guy) are going to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, N.J. which is near Smithville. They have tours on Saturday mornings (2 hours) so will get to see all kinds of birds. They have identified 290 species. Should be fun & different.

Otherwise, I'm doing my Saturday thing: cleaning out drawers, eating & reading.

Why did I buy that?

Sometimes, when we're away we find ourselves buying a souvenir and not thinking what we will possibly do with it at home. Things I have bought: An antique mantel clock, Hummels, china, crystal, an antique sewing machine, coffee cups, tee shirts, hair piece, beer steins, pictures & costume jewelry.

Things I have found use for: Tee shirts, coffee mugs, jewelry.

Things that are just sitting there: clock, Hummels, china, crystal, beer steins, pictures & non-working sewing machine

Things that are long gone: Hair piece.

Most of the stuff I bought in Germany. In the 60s, it was fashionable to wear wigs & hair pieces. So?

I'm wondering just what my children will do with this stuff. Certainly, they are more practical than I am Have a yard sale?

Chincoteague & Assateague Islands

I haven't been blogging as the site refuses to publish my blogs. I have two more in Drafts. Well, we'll see!

With my friend Barbara driving, we went to Chincoteague & Assateague islands in Virginia on a Road Scholar trip. It took us about four hours along a state highway hugging the coast. We used her GPS and maps. Interesting the GPS didn't recognize a new bridge to the island and kept telling us we should turn around as we were approaching water & showed it. For the uniformed, Assateague is a barrier island. stretching from Virginia through Maryland on the Atlantic Coast. It is also home to a herd of wild ponies which are owned by the Chincoteague Fire Department, who care for them by providing medical attention twice a year. They cull them in July by bringing/swimming the young foals across the bay to Chincoteague and auction them off (starting around $1500). These monies are used for the town & schools. The firemen are called "Salt Water Cowboys."

A little local history: Virginia was Confederate during the Civil War but because, Chincoteague had been trading with the North, they decided to remain with the Union.

All in all, it was very interesting to learn something completely different. There were twenty-eight people in the group coming from New York, PA, VA, SC, NC & NJ. Now, let's see if this will publish. If not, I will definitely call my computer guy.

The Mantle Clock

While we lived in Germany in the 60s, we brought all sorts of things back to the states. I remember a "live" hairpiece that the girls in the salon could weave into your hair. The 60s brought "teased" hair so that it was high on your head and the hairpiece added to the height. We had Hummel figurines, china and crystal home parties. And, of course, bought some. There was a German woman who would sell us Hummels for 3-5 dollars. In Germany, they were not a collectible item like here. Another popular item was the clock: Coo Coo, Grandfather & Mantle clocks. The Mantle clock I bought was very old and worked after a fashion. It has Westminster Chimes which added to it. However, after returning home, it became unreliable. It spent a couple years at various clock shops to no avail and on returning home, became just a thing sitting on the shelf. Today, I resurrected it and placed it on the bookcase in the hall. Lo & behold, it started ticking away. I don't think the chimes work anymore but it does my heart good to see it running again.

My Mother

My Mom died in November 1999. She was 92 years old. Even though she's been gone over ten years, I still have dreams about her. Some of the things we remember most about her was her unwillingness to give up; she would challenge anyone if she knew she was right. So here we have this little woman who had to use a pillow on the seat of her car, looking through the steering wheel to meet her friends, drive to her sister's house 50 miles away or just go shopping. She cook pick up anything in the craft store, check it out and then go home and make a replica.

Mom showed us how to stand up for ourselves. She was the best cook and housekeeper and sadly, I didn't follow in her footsteps. Maybe, it's something of being the middle child. She was patient and sat with us at night doing our homework. Jeannette & I were seriously challenged when it came to math and Mom with only a 9Th grade education, pounded it into us. She played the piano and we loved it when she played Christmas carols on Christmas Eve. We gathered around and just sung our hearts out. The tradition was to be there on Christmas Eve for Santa's visit (a fireman disguised as Santa) who came into the house and gave presents to all the children. We had a Pollyanna, a Grab Bag and food to follow. It was always a wonderful evening.

When we were little kids, Mom & Dad would pack a picnic lunch and we would take a walk in the woods, have our lunch and look for Indian arrowheads, caves and other interesting things. Our Dad was special too but I'll save him for another time. Sometimes, it's impossible to talk about one and not the other. At night, after dinner & homework, we would play games; anagrams, Chinese checkers and Checkers. We would build card houses. When money was tight, Mom would sew new dresses for our dolls for Christmas and we were happy with that. As Mother was assistant Librarian, we couldn't wait to get our first library card to check books out.

Our lives were fairly even, I think. My parents never argued in front of us that I remember. Mom did demand respect for herself and her adult friends. I remember one time walking over to her friend's house and apologizing. It seems I "talked back" to her and my mother was horrified.

Baffled Again!

The latest score:

Baffler 10
Squirrels 0

Baffled!

The squirrels are! I put a baffle on my feeder today. Hopefully, that will take care of the varmints. And maybe it won't as they are very clever! Tune in tomorrow!

Even Though...

Even though I won't be here for Easter, I still have to have my jelly beans! And I love the chocolate marshmallow bunnies as well. It's that time of the year for breaking diets. (There's a Scarlet Tanager on my feeder. My computer sits next to the window where my feeder is located).

Even though I will not be here for Easter, I will still have zits on my chin from all the chocolate.

Even though....I'll be traveling on Amtrak to my brother's in N.C. for the weekend. I'm sure along with the Easter Egg Hunt, there will be lots of jelly beans. I wonder if I can wait that long or will bite the dust and go out and buy some early. Hmmm! Good idea!

Songs We Sing/Whistle/Hum all Day

"I'm Henry the 8th, I am....Henry the 8th I am, Iam
I got married to the widow next door
and she's been married 7 times before
And everyone was a Henry. It couldn't be a Billy or a Sam , etc. etc. etc."

I don't know where that came from - somewhere in my head -and found its way to my lips.

I don't even remember who sang it - was it the Monkeys?

Old Posts

I was reading earlier posts and laughed out loud reading the responses on "our" first homes, dated 12/6/08. Take another look and enjoy it too. Actually, was looking to see what blogs to put in the book. I haven't done anything about it yet.

Spring is on its way! Our clocks get pushed forward tonight (hope I remember) so less hours sleeping. Does anyone else have "daylight saving time?"

Donna Fletcher called me today and we talked a good hour. Her car was stolen on Thursday and it's a big headache for her. It seems there's a lot of theft regarding cars right now.

Went out and bought some jelly beans and tootsie roll pops. Have a craving for something sweet.

Oh, found that someone from Japan had commented on my blog. Of course, it was all written in Japanese letters so no hope of understanding it.

New Post

Hi all,

It's been a long time! My life has taken many twists and turns in the past few months. I do thank all of you for your cards and good wishes. I'm still undecided if I want to put my bod through Chemo or not. Would prefer not to but will get a 2ND opinion on the 18Th of this month. I'm sure it will be more of the same. Kath did some research on a couple of docs who prefer alternative medicine so I've emailed one in Houston. They did such a good job on my great-granddaughter down there that surely, they'll have something for me.

I'm back to my old schedule now and feel just wonderful. My weight has dropped so all that fasting for tests paid off. Hope it will stay away... .

I'm also playing Scrabble online with my daughters and they sure show me up!" But I enjoy it.

I hope to post more often in the future.