When I was a young child my mother would take my younger sister and I over to my maternal grandparents house on Tuesdays in the summer so she could go golfing. My mother belonged to a women golf league. My grandparents house was always fun especially when we were able to spend a weekend over there. Sometimes all 4 of my sisters would come. My grandparents house had an in-ground pool and next to the pool was a small house they called the cottage. In the cottage there was a kitchen,ten old time (1940’s) hospital beds,that were lined up against a wall. They had shuffle board and a ping pong table. My grandpa was the entertaining type. Many relatives came to his pool parties and huge bonfires. Us kids,where did we sleep? In the hospital beds. By the time darkness came Grandpa would have us all in bed. He would sleep in the cottage also because we were all quite young. He would have his long night shirt on and his stocking cap on his head,he was bald. Then he would go around spraying the air with mosquito spray. We all stayed under the covers until he told us it was okay. By then the air was a thick fog of spray and we would all be coughing and eyes watering. What a character my Grandpa was.
HAPPY RED LETTER DAY!
I know it has been quite awhile since I published a post. I have been keeping up with the people I follow. I truly have no excuses why I have not posted,I have had plenty of time here and there,I am sorry. My son Bobonator 32,started his own trucking company. My son Hymie 30, is in his last year of law school. My daughter Ness 27,and her husband are building a house. My son Jotko 23, just started college for computer science. My daughter Balinky 21, graduated from Cosmotology and is studying to take the state board for her licence. My son Floss the Closs 17, is in his last year of high school. A few weeks a go my husbands two brothers and mother came to visit for four days. That was a busy four days but everything went well.
The main reason I am starting this post today is that it is a very special day for my grandson BabyDo. He has turned 5 years old. Happy Red Letter Day BabyDo. He just started kindergarten a few weeks ago and he loves school. I miss him and his brother GoGos. I have babysat BabyDo about twice a week since he was a baby and GoGos 2 years old now,I have babysat him for almost a year. Now that BabyDo is in school their Mom,my daughter Ness,takes GoGos to a sitter.At first I thought I could have more time to myself,in which I do. But, I miss those little guys very much. I did not want to pass this special day up without sending my love to BabyDo. HAPPY RED LETTER DAY, I LOVE YOU WHOLE BIG BUNCHES. Mana xoxo
Floss and The Flashlight
It was one sunny afternoon,all the kids were in school. Pop was home from work and outside doing yard work. I was inside the house doing house work. Floss was only three years old and was home with us. We live on a hill. Our house and gardens are about half an acre,the rest of the two acres are kind of wooded and hilly. I was washing dishes and thought I better see what Floss was up to. Being only three they tend to get into things they should not at times. They are such curious little people for the most part. I looked all over the inside of the house,could not find him. Then I kind of panicked and thought maybe he is with Pop outside. Pop said he was not and has not seen him. Well, now all alarms went off in my heart. Pop took off to the woods,the usual trail. After about five minutes of pure adrenalin rush,here comes Pop and Floss over the hill and out of the woods. Floss was carrying a flashlight. Floss told us that he went outside to be with Pop and could not find him so he grabbed a flashlight to look in the woods in case it got dark. We were thankful he was safe and in many ways thankful he had a flashlight.
Lions,Tigers,Bears and Pintex? Oh My!
What is a pintex? When Floss was 3-4 years old he was a highly imaginative storyteller. He loved to make up stories with the help of me of course to incorporate or enhance the story. The stories were usually about how he would go off into the woods and encounter some type of animal,whether it was a snake,bear,cougar even a lion. Floss would always be involved fighting the animal off. A lot of action went on in those stories. At times he would use a rope,gun,knife and a pintex. A pintex? It took us quite a while to figure out what a pintex was,we finally did, “PICK AX”. That very same year Floss wanted a corn knife for his birthday but he did not get one. Floss is 17 years old now and he is the most laid back kid and loves animals. You would think it would be the other way around with all that storytelling he did about fighting with animals. I am glad they were just stories.
Fathers Day
This is to commemorate all fathers today on Fathers Day. Sometimes we kind of overlook what type of role fathers play in our life. Sometimes we take them for granted. Sure they provide for their family,yes that is the major role if you especially grow up where one parent works and usually it is the Dad. I grew up that way. At times my Dad had to take on more then one job to support his wife and 5 daughters. What does a Dad do with 5 daughters? Dad was always a gentleman. He played baseball with us,took us fishing,sled riding in the winter time.Taught us how to ice skate. He would always tell us bedtime stories that he would make up,especially the woman with the golden arm. He helped us with our homework and even went with my Mom to all our school activities. We had cookouts and picnics and even vacations. He always complimented us how pretty we looked in the dresses my mother made for us. I thank God Dad was always in our lives. He made many numerous memories for us. Now Dad did discipline us when we needed it. But over all I could not ask God for a better role model for a Father. Thank You Dad. God Bless You and I Love You. Happy Fathers Day.
FISHING ORDEAL
In 1992 we were living in Millersburg Ohio. Our family decided to go camping one weekend at a Yogi Bear Campground which was about an hour away from our home. When we got there we set up our tents and then hiked around to see what the campground had to offer. There was a nice small lake with a beach,great for us playful swimmers.They even had peddle boats and rowboats for all to use. Pop liked the rowboats he could possibly go fishing with Hymie,who was about 10 years old. That evening dinner was a blast,I forgot to bring the silverware. Bobonator age 12,being the creative genius he was made forks and spoons out of the tinfoil I brought.It worked out rather well. After we ate dinner Pop and Hymie went fishing. Pop thought he would take one of the rowboats in which he got permission earlier from the office. When Pop got down to the lake the only boats were the peddle boats. So they decided to use one of those to fish. The rest of us went to sleep. A few hours had gone by and we who were sleeping in the tents were woken up by all kinds of noise outside the tents. It sounded like garbage cans being thrown about. The kids and I were frightened. When the noise subsided I got out of the tent and noticed raccoons. We all made a mad dash to our car. It started pouring rain,lightening and thunder. Then we noticed Pop and Hymie coming down the trail to our camp. They stopped at our picnic table that was covered with a tent like canopy to have a midnight snack before joining us in the car. Then they told us about their fishing ordeal. They were out in the middle of the lake when they saw lightening off in a distance. They thought they should peddle back to shore. The peddles got caught up in seaweed. With no oars to row,Pop flattened their soda pop cans and used them to glide through the water to get them to a buoy where the lake was partially roped off for swimming. Then Pop used the steel cable rope to pull them to shore. When they got to the shore Pops hands were all cut up and bloody from the frayed steel cable rope. Well, we all slept in the car that night. Next morning all our camping gear was drenched in rain. We decided to call it a day and go home. Another camping trip,another memory.
The Cable Guy
Yesterday we had our phone and television switched over to cable service. The cable man was here for at least 3 hours setting it all up. He did a very good job. About a year ago we had our internet switched to this cable service and when they were setting it all up then, they were on the porch roof doing something with wires. My daughter Balinky who is 21 years old was up in her bedroom getting ready for school.She leaves for school late afternoon. She did not know that this man was on the porch roof and she noticed him looking at her from a distance and she was sort of naked. Well, nothing happened except she was embarrassed. Yesterday when this other cable guy was here and was up on the porch roof again,Balinky was home and so was her two other brothers Jotko 23 and Floss 17. They were teasing Balinky that maybe if she went up to her room we could get a discount on our cable service. Poor Balinky,she was upset.But she did graduate from Cosmetology school yesterday. CONGRATULATIONS BALINKY!!!!
66
This is truly a wonderful love story about my parents. They are celebrating their 66th Wedding Anniversary today. Ray and Marilyn grew up knowing each other only because their families were friends. They started dating each other in their late teens. Before Ray went into the service for WWII he asked Marilyn to marry him. 
She was 18 years old and he was 22 when they got married. They had 5 beautiful daughters. They have lived in the same house for 61 years now. That is a long time. They have had their share of bumpy roads and hills and valleys,especially raising 5 daughters. They also have had their share of health problems. If you were around them today and talked with them you would know they were more in love now then they were 66 years ago. They are sensational parents. I thank God I grew up with two outstanding role models,they have always been there for me,in more ways then one. I love you Dad and Mom and thank you for enriching my life with yours. Happy 66th Wedding Anniversary.
Determined Fisherman
This is a short story about a determined Hymie who loved fishing when he was about 7 years old. Pop and Hymie were fishing buddies back then. We lived in Ashtabula Ohio. Pop took Hymie one evening to Lake Erie where they sat on rocks and fished off the shore. If you are not familiar with Lake Erie it is a vast lake. It stretches from United States to Canada. Lake Erie is one of the 5 Great Lakes where ocean liners haul cargo from the ocean through the St Lawrence Seaway through the Great Lakes and back. Lake Erie is known to be very unpredictable. A storm can come through faster then expected. Lake Erie is also known for their Walleye and Lake Erie Perch,some excellent eating fish. Like I was saying Pop and Hymie are sitting on rocks fishing off the shore,enjoying the sport of fishing.It is evening so the sky is dark as well as the water. The only thing lit up is the lattern between them. The air was breezy,as time slips by the breezy air turns to wild wind,the lake starts getting choppy to the point where they are getting sprayed by the waves. It starts to rain and Pop starts gathering their fishing gear and heads back to the car. There sits Hymie determined to catch a plate of tasty fish. Well, that night they did not catch any plates of tasty fish only another memory.
STRINGS and ROPES
BabyDo is my 4 year old grandson. Of course he is like most boys,loves to play and highly imaginative. He and GoGos are brothers. I could sit and watch those two play all day. Both are very creative. Together they have quite a collection of action figures,cars,trucks and other assorted toys. BabyDo likes to tie his toys up with strings. One day I was sitting on their front porch watching them play of course Babydo is teasing younger brother GoGos. VanCheddar their mother warns BabyDo to stop teasing or she’ll tie him up to a tree. And of course BabyDo does not stop. VanCheddar ties BabyDo to the tree and he is very compliant. After about 2 minutes she unties him and he tells her to go tie up GoGos. I told BabyDo that he better not tease GoGos because someday he will tie you up for all the teasing. I think kids at that age like bondage. I look back at my sons at that age and they were always tying up things. I would find strings and yarn and ropes all over the house and yard.
Winds of Time 