thankful #4

I am thankful to live in a country where traditionally and culturally we help one another.
It was wonderful to see the outpouring of support and help that has been and still is being given. People came from numerous states and even some far away to lend a hand.
Many companies gave money, supplies, equipment and workers.
Churches organized and individuals from all walks of life showed up to do their part.
We are blessed as a country, a state and a local community for the outpouring of love, help and support from so many sources.

thankful #3

I am so very thankful for the years spent going to Young Women Camp and for the equipment that was bought for those occassions that came in handy when there was no electricity for so many days.

after the storms, thankful #2

A friend shared a quote with me years ago about worry. It says, if money can fix it, it isn't something to worry about.

I was out of town when the recent tornadoes hit. Being far away was hard until I got word that all of my family were OK. Once I knew that they were alright, I didn't need to worry.

You can repair, rebuild or replace a house, you can't replace the people in your life with any amount of money.

#2 I am thankful I don't need to worry.

after the storm, thankful #1

I am thankful for family, for their safety, for the love and support shown to each other, for prayer and strength gained to make it through the after math, for renewed faith in a Heavenly Father and His presence and hand in our daily lives.

Who would have thought?

I have never been a cat person. I have not be much of an animal person at all. I would never intentionally harm or hurt an animal but didn't feel the need for one and certainly not several in my life.

When we moved into our present home, it came with two cats. Domino and Fluffy. They were outside, country cats. (my kind of pets)
Domino was a black and white short haired cat. She was friendly and liked to be where you were. She was an explorer and went off on her own alot.
Fluffy is long haired (hence the name) and blue eyed. She is our stay close to home gal. After having her for awhile we discovered her breed. She is half ragdoll. She definitely fits the characteristics of the ragdoll. She is very affectionate, extreme talkative for a cat and a sprawler. She does the most unladylike poses while sunning on the front porch.
Both would leave us signs of their prowness as hunters by leaving mice, moles, and various body parts of unknown critters on the porch. You learn to not step out onto the porch bare footed.

You guessed it. We grew very attached and they very much became OUR cats. We dreaded the day when for whatever reason we would lose one.
And as we knew it would, that day came and we lost Domino.
We discussed getting another cat but it was winter and not a good time to acquire an outside cat. So we waited.

Recently, I saw an ad for a rescue cat. She had been abandoned and found by a woman who couldn't keep her and was trying to find a home in a country setting. So we took her, named her Whiskers and gave it a try but found her to be very wary of people and when it came time to release her from the cage after her transition time, she left and never came back.

We only had her for two weeks and even though she was not an affectionate cat, we had already begun to grow fond of her and were disappointed when she wasn't able to bond with us.

So we discussed it and decided to try again. We decided to look for a cat that had already bonded with people. I found several but they were always in pairs. We decided to go ahead and take two.
So, now we have two new younger cats. One is grey and black stripped with white feet. My husband named her Boots. The other is solid black with vivid yellow eyes that I call Topaz.
They are very friendly, let you hold and pet them. They have already passed the test of four very interested grandchildren.

So now we now have 3 cats. My husband laughs and says that Whiskers will come back and we will end up with 4 cats. Who knows.

For now, we are working on getting our resident cat Fluffy to adjust to two newcomers. So far she and Boots are not buying it. ( such rude behavior for two pretty ladies) We are only into the first two days of introduction so hopefully there is time for attitude adjustment.

So this previous non cat person is going online and reading up on introducing new cats.
I spend time on the porch talking to all three cats (the two newcomers are caged for the transition period of two weeks) I pet each one and feed them treats to help them associate each other and their new surroundings with good food and pleasant association. I take items that each of them have slept on and trade them so they will get used to each others scent.

So we will see how it goes. In the country, it is survival of the fittest and pets are no exception.

We will give it our best shot and Boots and Topaz will have to take care of the rest.

I love living in the country and actually love our country cats. Who would have thought?

little girl in a big truck

My dad traded in his car for a truck. It was a big blue GMC pickup. Oh no, not that.

If I wanted to drive to school, it was in that big truck. I am short. It was a big step to get up into that truck. Once I was in it I discovered that I could actually see better and judge distances better because of the height of the seat.

Best of all, I found out really quickly that no one messed with a little girl driving a big truck. Aah the power of it was wonderful.

There was a lot of wealthy kids who drove to school where I went to High School. They could be snooty to the average person. I must admit, I got a certain amount of pleasure when the school bell rang and everyone headed to the parking lot and they seemed to think because of their status that they were to be the first off the lot.

Well, guess what? They got out of the way of a little girl driving a big blue truck. It was great!!!!

You see trucks weren't cool then. They were for farmers or the working class. I loved to see those little sporty type cars, scatter in the wake of that low class pickup truck.

Thanks Daddy. I loved that big old truck.

Later in life when I was married and was blessed with a bunch of kids, we had a big 12 passenger blue van. One of those vans that said, go ahead hit me, make my day.

Life was good. Again, I was so empowered. People just don't mess with a little woman in a big van.

I miss those days.

People just don't show respect for a little old woman in a cute little mini SUV.

Oh well, it's OK, at least it's red.

"the car"

Things that trigger memories part 2.

In the previous post I talked about my mother’s sewing machine. This post is about my Daddy’s car.

Daddy grew up poor and worked hard all of his life. As an adult his car represented volumes to him. He took great pride in owning and taking care of a car. He put a lot into the upkeep and maintenance on his car. He never missed an oil change, tire rotation or let the gas tank get below half a tank.

He would drive all the way across town to the same service station for his gas and to have the car serviced. His cars lasted years beyond what most cars last. Anyone knowing my Dad and finding out he was going to get a newer car would let him know that they wanted first dibs on the old one because it would have been taken such good care of.

Many men like my Dad who put such store by a car would never have done what my Daddy did for two teenage girls.

My sister and I learned how to drive in my Daddy’s car. No automatic transmissions back then. We had to learn to use a clutch. Can you imagine how hard it must have been to have his car treated the way a new just learning teenagerer treated it?

We were allowed to take his car to school and on errands. In order for us to drive to school, meant that he was without a car for work. We would take him to work, drive to and from school and go pick him up from work.

One time I took that car for a spin, downtown on the drag one night without permission and rear-ended another car. I thought I was doomed. I thought I had done the unforgivable, I had damaged “the car”.

I had to call my Daddy and tell him where I was and what had happened. He didn’t yell, he just came and got me and my friends and took us home. He had the car fixed and I was still allowed to drive it.

He never brought it up again. Listen up parents of teenagers, I would have rather he had beat me with a whip, I knew how much he loved that car and I had damaged it and he did more by not saying anything than if he had ranted and raved at me. I never wanted to cause him hurt over that car again. (and didn’t until I was grown, and married with a baby but that is another story)

Again, knowing how much his car meant to him, two teenaged girls were made to feel that they were of equal and/or greater value to their father than even his beloved car.

He could be a cantankerous old fart, but there was never a doubt in the mind of two little girls and later as teenagers where we stood with our Daddy.

Even in his declining years on earth and with dementia, not always knowing who we were, there were the times when he was mentally alert and would tell us how much he appreciated and loved his girls.

Even to this day, and both of us Grandmothers, we miss him and where ever he may be, we are still Daddy's girls.