The leaves are dropping and Don is busy circling the yard on his mower picking up the leaves with his leaf rake. It looks great till the breeze comes by and the trees drop the next batch. I don't think Don minds that much since he enjoys being outside. If he isn't on the mower he is out in his woods cutting, splitting or stacking his fire wood for next winter. He comes in for coffee and a cookie at 10, in for lunch at noon and back in at about 3pm, like going to a job. No wonder he is so fit.
I have my own routine which keeps me busy too. I like order and try hard to keep things neat. I found out years ago that if my house is a mess it makes me feel tired and frustrated. Frustrated because when you need to find something it never is where it should be and that takes more time and energy. As you age you find you need to keep better records and to not count on your memory. I have what I call my "book of records" it is a note book with many tabs all labeled, example "insurance" and in it is the insurance info including dates of payments due, address and telephone numbers, policy numbers etc. I also have a section labeled "Paint" and in it is the paint records for each room and a sample of the paint color. Good records make for fewer mistakes.
Speaking of paint I have taken up my brushes again and have turned my extra bedroom downstairs into my studio. Don has made me another easel and I have bought more oils and so I have begun. Painting for me is a time where I become lost to the world. I have no sense of time, I'm in my own world and it is good that I have to stop to make meals for Don or I would forget to eat. All the fall leaves have inspired me, I paint the picture in my mind first often as I lay in bed at night then I try to put that picture on canvas. I may not be any famous painter and that's okay it is the act of doing it that feeds my inner soul. I wonder if someone way back in my family tree was also someone who liked to paint, did I inherit a painting gene, perhaps that person had green eyes like me, I wonder since no one of all the family tree information had green eyes. Maybe there was a lady on The Isle of Man with green eyes painting pictures of the Irish landscape many years ago. I wonder!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Fall means back to school
The leaves are blowing by the window and the green grass becomes a background for the yellow and red leaves as they come to rest. It is so pretty outside now , pity it is such a short season.
Fall may be the end of summer but it is the beginning of the school year and the yellow school bus passes our house daily. I never knew what it was like to ride a bus because being a city girl within walking distance of a school I never had an occasion to ride to school until I was in high school. I remember when we lived in Belle Plaine I walked about 6 or 7 blocks to school, out of my neighborhood, then past the stores down town and to the other side of town, a nice walk when the weather was pleasant but not much fun in the winter. When it was cold we dressed in layers, no insulated boots to keep feet warm, no down filled jackets or fancy mittens. I had boots that were rubber with a thin layer of felt inside but provided no warmth only kept my shoes dry, my coat and mittens were made of wool but I did have snow pants which kept my legs warm since it was not permissible for girls to come to school wearing slacks only dresses. If you had no snow pants you could wear slacks under your dress but they had to be removed and hung in the cloak room during school.
Mother was a very good sewer and though I didn't have fancy clothes for school I did get compliments on my pretty skirts, I didn't ever mention that they were made from feed sacks mother had bought down at the feed mill. Now don't think they were gunny sacks, no they were made of cotton and had pretty prints on them and if you could find two alike you had enough for a skirt or blouse. Mother didn't use a pattern but could sew it to fit me as I tried them on. She did buy fabric for special dresses like for Easter. I recall one dress she made for me that had a circle skirt and a peplum, which was a ruffle on a tie and the ruffle went in the back of your waist and tied in front with a bow. The dress was silky and felt so beautiful and when you spun around the circle skirt would stand way out. I still remember how it felt to wear that dress. I didn't have many store bought dresses but at Easter time I got a new Easter hat. I recall one that was called a sweet heart hat because it's brim formed a heart shape around your face.
Our school was considered modern in that time with black boards made of slate and felt erasers, sometimes I would stay after school to help the teacher by taking the erasers out into the hall where there was a built in eraser cleaner. You opened a small door and inside was a circular beater that you held the eraser against as you turned the crank. It sure did a good job and you didn't have to go outside to smack them together getting the chalk all over your clothes.
Spring was so special for me because finally mother would say "you don't need to wear your boots today" that meant no more struggling to get them on or off and best of all it meant that I could tap dance all the way to school. You see shoes were expensive and the only way you got new ones was to out grow the old ones. Shoes were polished every Saturday and even though heels and soles could be replaced, that cost money so instead cleats were nailed to heels and toes making them last longer. So when the boots came off and I walked to school on the side walk I would sound like a tap dancer and I loved it. Was I poor or rich you judge but for me I am rich in memories. You see we were treated as children so we had a carefree childhood. We were not burdened with sex education in grade school and our parents dressed us like children instead of miniature adults. The only violence on TV was wrestling and in the movies the only shooting was done by the Lone Ranger who only wounded the bad man and good always prevailed. Our young minds had good things to think on and wholesome books to read and our folks made sure of that. The times were hard and money was short but I never knew that, I only knew that I was young and life was great fun. I am sure if my mother was here she would say " ah but it was more fun growing up when I was young" and she probably would be right.
Fall may be the end of summer but it is the beginning of the school year and the yellow school bus passes our house daily. I never knew what it was like to ride a bus because being a city girl within walking distance of a school I never had an occasion to ride to school until I was in high school. I remember when we lived in Belle Plaine I walked about 6 or 7 blocks to school, out of my neighborhood, then past the stores down town and to the other side of town, a nice walk when the weather was pleasant but not much fun in the winter. When it was cold we dressed in layers, no insulated boots to keep feet warm, no down filled jackets or fancy mittens. I had boots that were rubber with a thin layer of felt inside but provided no warmth only kept my shoes dry, my coat and mittens were made of wool but I did have snow pants which kept my legs warm since it was not permissible for girls to come to school wearing slacks only dresses. If you had no snow pants you could wear slacks under your dress but they had to be removed and hung in the cloak room during school.
Mother was a very good sewer and though I didn't have fancy clothes for school I did get compliments on my pretty skirts, I didn't ever mention that they were made from feed sacks mother had bought down at the feed mill. Now don't think they were gunny sacks, no they were made of cotton and had pretty prints on them and if you could find two alike you had enough for a skirt or blouse. Mother didn't use a pattern but could sew it to fit me as I tried them on. She did buy fabric for special dresses like for Easter. I recall one dress she made for me that had a circle skirt and a peplum, which was a ruffle on a tie and the ruffle went in the back of your waist and tied in front with a bow. The dress was silky and felt so beautiful and when you spun around the circle skirt would stand way out. I still remember how it felt to wear that dress. I didn't have many store bought dresses but at Easter time I got a new Easter hat. I recall one that was called a sweet heart hat because it's brim formed a heart shape around your face.
Our school was considered modern in that time with black boards made of slate and felt erasers, sometimes I would stay after school to help the teacher by taking the erasers out into the hall where there was a built in eraser cleaner. You opened a small door and inside was a circular beater that you held the eraser against as you turned the crank. It sure did a good job and you didn't have to go outside to smack them together getting the chalk all over your clothes.
Spring was so special for me because finally mother would say "you don't need to wear your boots today" that meant no more struggling to get them on or off and best of all it meant that I could tap dance all the way to school. You see shoes were expensive and the only way you got new ones was to out grow the old ones. Shoes were polished every Saturday and even though heels and soles could be replaced, that cost money so instead cleats were nailed to heels and toes making them last longer. So when the boots came off and I walked to school on the side walk I would sound like a tap dancer and I loved it. Was I poor or rich you judge but for me I am rich in memories. You see we were treated as children so we had a carefree childhood. We were not burdened with sex education in grade school and our parents dressed us like children instead of miniature adults. The only violence on TV was wrestling and in the movies the only shooting was done by the Lone Ranger who only wounded the bad man and good always prevailed. Our young minds had good things to think on and wholesome books to read and our folks made sure of that. The times were hard and money was short but I never knew that, I only knew that I was young and life was great fun. I am sure if my mother was here she would say " ah but it was more fun growing up when I was young" and she probably would be right.
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