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On a chilly night there is nothing more warm and comforting to crawl into bed and cover up with than a homemade cozy quilt. There is talent in creating a work of art from material, by matching colors and patterns, then stitching them all together into a quilt. What started out many years ago as practicality in making family members blankets for their beds has truly turned into a work of art creating a family keepsake in today’s quilts. It used to be quilts were made from scraps of material left over and tucked away in a box or drawer. Now t...
It’s busy on the farm right now. Just like a squirrel preparing for winter, the farmers are trying to wrap up most of their farm work before winter sets in. It’s fall harvest time. The first day of fall arrived as the calendar presented that warning. However, last week’s temperatures were telling another story as they reached well into the 90s. This week’s temperatures showed the predicted cool fronts have arrived. The sun now sets earlier and the nights are showing temperatures down into the 40s. Weather reports say a frost is possibl...
Cousins are a wonderful connection for any family to have. They are an important family extension. Having lost most all of my aunts and uncles, their children are carrying on the legacy for their side of the family. I feel blessed to have many cousins near and far away. My mother had eight siblings which created numerous cousins. On my father’s side, he had four siblings. Each had three or more children. Some of my cousins keep in touch with me regularly. Some make a connection once in a while. There are a few whom I never hear from but I t...
There is a saying, “A book is a dream you hold in your hand.” There is nothing like the feeling you receive when on a snowy winter’s day, seated in a relaxing chair, wrapped up in a cozy throw, you hold a good book in your hands. Even on a summer’s day, walking out into the yard and seated on a blanket in the shade of a tree, it’s great to throw yourself into the pages of a book. Memories as a child sitting on my mother’s lap I enjoyed listening to her as she read from a Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme book. I don’t know who enjoyed those classic...
Grandparent’s Day is Sunday. In 1978 it was proclaimed by Congress that this nation would observe National Grandparent’s Day on the first Sunday following Labor Day. Grandparents play an important part in the family’s lives. Long gone are the days when families lived close to one another and the grandparents were able to help in raising the younger generation. Now families often live hundreds of miles from one another, some even live across the globe from each other. Today families have developed and worked out ways to remain connected with the...
During the past two weeks, students have started the new school year. For most students, parents and teachers, the beginning of the 2020 school year is one of adjustments and decisions having to be made during the pandemic. Some are jumping right into the routine of going back to classes with some precautions taken, and some have made the choice to remain at home and do the “online” schooling for the time being. We have two granddaughters attending colleges who have chosen to return to classes on campus, but with some of those classes tau...
We are getting closer to fall as August draws to a close. August is not one of my favorite months of the year. I guess it’s because of the hot days, knowing it’s the end of summer and winter awaits. Some interesting facts about August are it’s the only month in the English language that has a man’s given name. It’s the only month without an American holiday. August 2020 has five Saturdays, five Sundays and five Mondays. The month was named in honor of a Roman Emperor Augustus. August offers two birthstones, the Peridot and the Spinel, and the b...
It was in the 1983 John Anderson’s Country Song, I’m “Just A Swingin!” For my birthday this year, my husband and I rescued an old porch swing which had been in storage for many years.This swing holds such special memories for me. The wooden porch swing with its cranky chain supports, had once been stationed on my childhood home’s front porch. As a youngster I sat many times in that old swing and was looking forward to doing that again. Though it needed a few repairs, loving care and a paint job, my husband assured me it would be as good as n...
Birthdays aren’t what they used to be! With my farmer husband and I having our birthdays coming three weeks apart, we recently celebrated those days enjoying birthday wishes via social media and cards via mail. We had meals with friends and relatives in honor of the occasions and for us that was as much celebration as was called for. A joy on our birthdays was having two of our granddaughters call us and sing a duet of “Happy Birthday.” We tell one another when asked what birthday gift we want, we already have all we need. Sometimes it’s...
It’s time to start checking out the back seat of your car or pickup for those zucchinis and cucumbers left there by some willing giver. The vegetable gardens are bursting with produce just ripe for picking and those who have more than they can use are more than willing to share. Some private gardeners often leave a sack or two of their over abundance in the foyers of buildings for free taking, or deliver goods to a neighbor’s house. It is certainly welcomed. Then there are the produce gardeners who are growing the “fruits of their labor...
It was a typical summer Sunday afternoon. The humidity was almost unbearable making it hard to catch one’s breath. The sun bore down making the temperature reach well into the 90s. Weather forecasters had reported heavy rains were to arrive but there were only a few floating clouds in the sky. It was decided to remain in the house under the comforts of the air conditioner which kept humming away. Within the next hour it was noted dark clouds were hanging in the southwest sky. A step out onto the patio to view the skies was a mistake as the b...
Is this really the middle of July in Jewell County? My calendar says it is but it certainly does not look that way along the country side. It is the end of wheat harvest and even though the daytime temperatures have reached well up into the 90s, the landscapes and crops look lush and green. The usual mid July country side would look mostly dry with the pasture grasses short and grazed. The pasture ponds would show some shrinkage and with the hot summer weather, and some of the fall crops would have their leaves folding by mid day. Thankfully,...
“You Scream., I Scream. We All Scream For Ice Cream!”Sunday is National Ice Cream Day and though any time of the year is a good time to enjoy a dip or two. What better time for eating delicious cold ice cream than during hot July? Recently I came across some interesting facts about ice cream in a recent Kansas Living magazine: A cow gives enough milk to make two gallons of ice cream per day. That’s 730 gallons per year; The U.S. enjoys an average of 48 pints of ice cream per person, per year; It takes three gallons of milk to make one gallo...
Just before the first day of the month, I check my “Days To Remember” book and birthdays and wedding anniversary dates are written on our desk calendar. This book was purchased at the variety store in my hometown just before I was married. I faithfully recorded the events as they happened or had happened. Birthdays of family and friends, complete with the years the event took place. Today, this book is worn and frazzled. It’s lost its hard cover and some of the pages are loose. Now those pages are kept in place with paper clips. As the years...
America is set to celebrate it’s 244th Birthday, July 4th, 2020! Yes, it was 244 years ago that the forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence from England. With some of the usual firework displays postponed, this year’s celebration will be put in the history books because of the social distancing in place to avoid the COVID-19 virus. Some of the planned fireworks public displays will carry on but with some restrictions or adjustments. With the recent protests and riots, some people will want to turn their backs on this cel...
I’ve been what some people call a “history buff.” For many years the history teacher at my home school was Mildred Mullins. She was a strict teacher with her pop tests and memorizing historical speeches, but she made sure I learned what was taught. She also found a way to make it interesting. Later in my life researching and writing about local history became a part of my job. I created books about the history of my hometown and my family’s history. Thankfully my husband is interested in history. Whenever and where ever we travel, we manage...
It's cherry picking time! The only problem is I don't have any cherry trees to pick from. Several years ago a cherry tree start was ordered from a seed catalog. After selecting just the right spot, the start was carefully planted, watered and tended. I could imagine all the cherries this tree would yield in the future, and all the cherry pies that would be made, but alas. The second year of its growth, the tree died. Thankfully a couple of years ago, a good friend gave me some cherries that had...
Summer came early! What happened to spring? It somehow was blown away by the strong hot Kansas south winds. With the hot winds went my beautiful flower blooms. Since hardly any rain has arrived in our area, the rock roads are blowing. Dust is everywhere. The fields’ top soil needs relief soon. The patio furniture is rearranged every day as the wind continues to blow. Every morning our large grass is found rolled over in front of the patio door. The birds must have decided not to buck the winds and will not return to the bird feeders as they o...
While working in my yard this week doing some weeding, planting and watering, I came across five snakes at three different times. Let me say I’ve heard it all before, that most of the snakes around here are harmless, and my farmer husband said that they are good at taking care of mice, rats, and other unwanted creatures, but that doesn’t cut it with me. The first two I saw were long, large bull snakes crawling down into an old well pit near my water hydrant. I screamed and they slid down into cracks in the boards on top of the well. I’m sure...
As people prepared for their Memorial Weekend cook outs shopping for steaks, ground beef and ribs to BBQ, they found out beef was either in short supply or had almost doubled in price. Some shoppers found the meat shelves almost empty and asked the same question that an 81-year-old woman asked in 1984, in a television ad, “Where’s the beef?” Thanks to the COVID-19 virus that forced some packing plants to close and because of consolidation and centralization in the meat processing industry, the meat supply system has been stressed. Not only...
This Memorial Day will be unlike any other Memorial Day in the past. Most all Memorial Day services are cancelled including the one at my hometown cemetery. It is sad but with the virus pandemic, coming together in a large group as is usually done is being avoided. For years as Decoration Day and years later as a Memorial Day there have been veterans groups coming together in their uniforms standing at attention with Ole Glory by their side. Patriotic speeches and prayers are given and then wreaths are placed in honor of the living and the...
This month of May is living up to its name. It “May” be cold. It “May” be hot. It “May” rain and then again it “May” not. We never know what “May” may be. It has also been a May like no other May before. Because of the COVID-19, the school year ended without last day of school activities. There will be no high school senior trips; no high school track meets held; no high school graduation ceremonies held as usual; no grade school class trips. May baseball and softball starting games will not be held. Class reunions and alumni activities u...
Some women spend their best shopping days in a dress shop, craft store, a gift shop, fabric store or a culinary store. Now, I enjoy shopping in those stores, too, but my best place to head especially this time of year is a greenhouse or garden center. Flower gardening is at the top of my list to plan. It begins in the early days of spring and then around the first of May. I grab my list and head to the garden center. It is so refreshing after the cold, dark days of winter, to walk into a garden center and see all the bright colored flowers just...
Bring on May! May is much needed this year to bring some needed cheer. It’s a month of colorful flowers blooming, including two of my favorites, lilacs and peonies. It brings warm spring days which draw people outdoors into the sunshine. Bonfires are enjoyed during the cooler evenings and BBQ suppers are on the menu. New baby calves are bouncing around the greening pasturelands and song birds can be heard. The farm and grass lands make their annual colorful patterns, much like a designed quilt. Green fields of wheat wave as the Kansas winds s...
Jewell County, Kansas, is celebrating it’s 150th Anniversary. Out of the pages of its past comes many interesting and historical stories. The first settlers began to arrive in the early 1860s. They were encouraged to migrate west mostly because of the Homestead Act that was made law in 1862 by President Lincoln. The settlers could acquire 160 acres of public land in exchange for a small fee and they were required to complete five years of continuous residence before receiving ownership of the land. Jewell County had all the qualifications to d...
