Mother in Law's

   Our pastor Chris and family were on vacation Sunday and we had a visiting pastor who gave a very good sermon on the book of Ruth. He spoke of her great love for her mother in law Naomi. So many mother in law jokes we hear and most are not nice. I can not relate to them, my mother in law, Don's mother, Louise was so kind and loving to me and I loved her dearly and though she has been gone 41 years I think of her often, perhaps even more often as the years go by. She was a tall women whose black hair had gone to salt and pepper but her brown eyes still had that almost mischievous spark. She loved a good joke or story. Her back ground was French Canadian and as the French are known for their cooking she certainly was. She could make a feast out of anything. As a young bride I stood by her side at the stove hoping that some of that magic would rub off onto me. If she had extras for lunch she would say "we'll put the stretcher's on it" She would cut up the left over roast and potatoes, some onion and a dab of her marvelous gravy and the "stretcher" was some good bread which she tore into small pieces and added it to the skillet. Combined well you never knew the bread was there and it was all so delicious. She told me stories about her mother, Julia, a very proud women who was known for her special cake. Louise said Julia died with the recipe not wanting to share it with anyone not even her daughters. Louise did how ever remember her mother had a large can that sat on the shelf of the cast iron cook stove and she saw her take cookies and cake and grind them fine, dry them and then add them to the can and when she had enough she would make a cake using all the crumbs and her recipe. A cake like no other.
   Louise grew up in the early 1900's when women wore corsets and as a result she had very weak back muscles so she had to wear a more modern version of those corsets. She always wore a dress, nylons and shoes with high heels. She had beautiful legs like a model so why not  show them off. I never saw her in slacks although it was rumored that she wore some on a hunting trip. I did see a photo of her wearing slacks as she rode on the back of Bill's Indian motorcycle when they were young. But I only saw her in a house dresses with crisply ironed aprons. She lived by the old saying "Monday wash, Tuesday iron, etc. and she took great pride in her whiter then white wash that was on the Monday clothes line long before every other housewife in the neighborhood. Each piece was hung just so...no drooping tee shirt or towel on her line. I never could figure how she got them so snow white.
   She and I would play double solitaire a game that she always won because she was so quick and after she  would say "stay for lunch with Bill and I" no way would I refuse.
   Funny how you remember certain things about people, I can still see her hands if I close my eyes. She used to sit in her easy chair watching the show "as the world turns" and embroidering on dish towels or dresser scarves. I had a friend who had access to embroidery thread wholesale and one Christmas I gave her an embroidery case with drawers and every color of threads, she was so happy. After she died at 69 of cancer Bill gave that back to me and things she had embroidered and I was able to share these with her daughters Lorraine and Bernice. Louise was not just a mother in law she was a mother of love.
   A day of remembering, like drops of gold we hide in our hearts that make us truly rich.

Perfect days

   Haven't you had a day that was just about perfect in every way, we had one last Sunday. Don and I decided to visit our son Gary's church at Braham, heard a good sermon, went to lunch at the local cafe and met some of our old neighbors. When we got home we decided to go for a long walk on the bike trail behind our land, later we sat sipping our coffee on our shady deck watching the birds. We put sunflower seeds on our railing and they come, it has gotten so that if we go to sit on the deck they come cheeping as though to say "where is our seeds" and they will even eat out of Don's hand. By the end of the day I felt nourished body, mind and soul.
   As I type this I can stop and look up at my "Great Grandma's brag board" where I have all the great grand children's pictures. I love to look at their shinning faces, bright eyes and big smiles and I think how wonderful it is to be so young when everything is an adventure and you get so excited over the smallest things. It is so important to keep the thrill of life as a child sees it no matter what your age. Try to stop and see things through a child's eyes.
   When we got back from our Alaska cruise we went quickly to the window in our den to see the baby robins and too our shock they had already flown away. How could they have grown so fast in less then a month. Don and I had watched from the window as mother robin formed her tiny nest in the honeysuckle bush. With only her beak she bent each twig to form a perfect round nest and cement it in place with beaks of mud and grass. Only when she considered it good enough did she lay the three blue jelly bean size eggs. Many times in a day we ventured to the window to check while mother robin would cock an eye to watch us also. Then one day tiny bare babies lay in the nest, tiny babies with huge appetites. It is not the first time we have seen robin babies but it is still a thrill. We were sad to see our babies had out grown their home and had ventured out into the world while we were gone but I am sure they will not forget where they were born and will return to sing their morning and evening song for us.

Small Towns

   The days are swiftly moving toward Fall and I am dragging my feet trying to savor the smell of summer, the warmth of the sun and the length of the days. Why do the months go so quickly now that I am older , when I am not in any hurry. I want to crowd so much into the week but never seem to accomplish all that I plan. One thing I want to do is have a coffee party and invite my new friends that I have met since moving to this home. I have not seen such welcoming people as these for many years, it reminds me of years ago when neighbors often visited, and when people knew and cared about those living around them. We have been invited for meals, to go camping and other activities and when we go to the little church in town we are greeted with the same warmth. There is a lot to say for small towns where you can get to know the person that waits on you at the hardware store and the waitress at the local cafe calls you by name or in one cafe where the waitress calls us "honey". They don't just shove your food at you but rather linger to chat a bit.
   We considered building a new home but I am so glad we didn't, this home on 20 acres is established with mature trees, shrubs and flowers. Granted the shrubs and flowers may not be just where you would have placed them but when the lilac's are in bloom you soon forget that and just enjoy. To have trees that are giants always makes me fill with awe, how old are they I wonder. I am some what of a worry wart so of course I get filled with concern should we get strong winds and I see them swaying and hear the pines clanking against each other but I realize too that they have stood the test of time and weather.
   Don has been so kind to erect the arched arbor we bought and to nail the lattice work to the wall of the garage so I could plant the four clematis vines I bought and he hauled black dirt to flower beds and hauls branches and debris away. How could I ever have done it all. Love comes to me in daily doses of thoughtfulness through Don, I am truly blessed.
   Next week Don and I have been invited to join the camping club again and to go camping at a neighboring farm. Last time we did it was so much fun and I think there were about 30 campers. We miss our full time rving life style and we are thankful for our new friends for including us.
   The day is so beautiful I think I will take another stroll around the yard to admire my flowers, watch the birds and maybe there is a ripe tomato to pick.

New friends and old

   More rain 1 1/2 inches, I think we should begin to build our ark. It has been a visiting type of week, Dale and Carol came by to see our Alaska cruise pictures on Sunday afternoon, our RVing friends Bob and Carol spent the evening with us on Monday and Tuesday our friend Deloris came by. There is always time for family and friends, old and new. I have lived long enough to realize that I won't remember the house being neat and clean or not, but I will remember the wonderful times with friends that  "just drop by". The truth is a little disorder puts guests at ease as long as you don't run around franticly picking up everything. I love to cook for guests too but sometimes it doesn't always turn out like I would like it, example, last Sunday when Dale and Carol were here I had the urge to serve country style pork ribs with my mother's barbeque sauce. Well the sauce was good but the pork was tough and dry. We didn't go hungry but what to do with all that left over pork? I came up with the idea to shred it all and make barbeque pork in buns and that turned out so good. Since the rage to have very lean meat the pork most often is tough and dry. I remember tender pork chops and Don's mother Louise's moist delicious pork roast with the best gravy. Like it or not fat makes the difference. Don is always saying he wants less meat and at least smaller portions and after watching PBS and a program P.O.V. it won't be hard to cut back. Authors Schasserand and Pollan showed how our meat is raised and processed. Not easy to watch when you hear the beef is fed dead animals and chicken feces and their intestines are filled with E coli, worse yet they showed how they grind up the most awful chunks of unidentifiable meat then add ammonia-hydroxide and it is used as a filler for hamburger in hopes of destroying the E coli. Sure puts me off. If one can find pastured beef it is a healthy source of protein, but where and for how much? I am so proud of my granddaughters who are trying to raise their children on good healthy food made by mother instead of coming from a box. Today Don and I went to Pine City to the flea market and talk about fresh home grown veg's there was all kinds. We bought a 20 lb. bag of potatoes for $4.00 half of what they sell for in the store. We had an outing, got exercise and food, it has been a good day.
   On this last Tuesay Don and I registered to vote and voted. What a privilege to live in a country where we have some say in how our country is run. We need good honest, God fearing people to lead us out of these hard times.
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   The golden years, the title of my blog. immediately brings to mind retirement years and beyond and yes Don and I fall into that category seeing we retired over 14 years ago and we are both into our seventies, but I am wanting the title to represent the whole of our lives. A blog. I can hardly believe I am even writing one and posting it on a computer network all this coming from someone who went to school with a pad of paper and a pencil. We never had computers (not invented) and even if we had a calculator we would have been forbidden to use them, considered cheating, so seeing my background and age why am I typing a blog.? I got the idea from my granddaughter Angie's blog. when I found that reading hers made it possible for me to keep in touch across the miles, to see pictures of the great granddaughters and to watch her family grow. What better way to reach out to all my family, a way to share even though miles separate us.
   Golden years just don't happen, you make them happen, it takes planning, the right frame of mind and it requires the right attitude. Things don't make you happy, you make yourself happy by how you face life. I hope you enjoy going with me as I share the past, the present and hope of the future, in other words "The  Golden Years"