My Meadow ~ My Love!

I love Galla Meadow...it's the farmer in my
soul. It is clean and ready for cows or corn.
Daddy loved his "bottoms" the same way.
Things will grow there and the soil is rich
from collecting all that has washed off the
mountains over the years. My spirit is
in Galla Meadow this morn.

When Daddy got old, he sold his bottom
land. I hope I don't let go of the Meadow!

Looking Forward

Before long it will be time to plant Irish Potatoes,

green onions, radishes, cabbage, early peas.

I am anxious for spring. We have a new tractor

and tiller to use. The tiller tears up the ground

like saw dust. Our garden has rich, sandy soil.

I may plant pole green beans instead of bush ones.

I am looking forward this morning. I am closing

the door to 2006 and thinking of gardening, fishing,

riding my bike in Galla Meadow!

Tunnel on way to Rogers

Patsy is in ICU at Rogers Hospital. Surgery
is over and we will see how everything goes.
I hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

St. Mary's Hospital ~ Rogers, AR

The last time I was at St. Mary's Hospital, Rogers, AR

was April of 2000. I bought home a wonderful package.

St. Mary's is a Catholic Hospital. They have St. Joseph's

at Berryville, AR and St. John's at Springfield, MO. Laura

worked for this hospital as a speech therapist before

Astrid was born. She helped stroke patients regain their

ability to talk and worked with others who had speech

problems. Before Astrid was born, she decided she needed

to come home and she found a job here, but this hospital

would pay the entire bill when Astrid was born and if she

had given birth in Russellville Eric and she would have had

to pay most of the costs....so off to St. Mary's we went that

April day and the sunshine came into my life. The light is

still on and two other bulbs have been added so my entire

being is alive with sunshine each day.

Patsy will have surgery at St. Mary's today (Sunday) at

10:00. Laura and I are going up there this morning. I

pray for a little sunshine today!

Genealogy--my passion!

I love genealogy research. The Sisters
first surname to research was our own
POWELL. What a joy we all received to
learn that we sprang from poor farmers,
and trash that England transported to this
country. Over and over, we found men and women
that were willing to stand, speak and even fight for
their beliefs. It is our legacy. We are proud of who
we are and what we game from--Gene Powell always
said "our ancestors were horse thieves." But I disagree
I think we were poor whites living in the slums of London
trying to eat with no income, trying to have clothes with
no funds to buy them.

The photo above is Anna Renfroe. She married

Abe Bledsoe. Powell is not a real hard name

to research compared to Renfroe. Renfroe can

be spelled lots of ways: Renfroe, Wrenfro,

Wrenfroe, Rentfro, Rentfroe, Renfro; thus making

it very hard to find your family. The Renfroes

were from Scotland, but probably came there

from France when they opposed one of the Kings

who "kicked" them over to Scotland. Renfroe in

France was probably Renfreau! I love getting

pictures of folks I am researching. We have found

several of Powells. This Anna Renfroe may be

kin to us, but I have not found a connection!

The Renfroes were poor hunters early on more

than farmers. The Powells were farmers. First

tobacco, then corn, and finally livestock. Today

Richard Powell is still a farmer like his ancestors

of 100s years past.

Image and Importance~!

I think this sign is saying ...if we want the image

of our car to be great take it to the body shop

where the arrow points. I like this photo

it reminds me of fixing up our "outside" but

letting our "inside" self go to pot! In the long

run image, does not count for much!

Update on Patsy: Today is supposed to be

dismissal day. They have changed her blood

pressure medicine and would not let her go

home yesterday. We will see I guess.

Making Do!

I was thinking about when growing up we

"made do". That meant you just used what

you had. If we did not have glue, Momma

said just use egg white. Smear the egg white on

and it will stick. If we did not have say almond

extract for a recipe, we would just use vanilla.

In the photo above, is a "making do" flower

pot. Isn't it lovely. Making do things are often

the best!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today my Mom would be 86. She lived

only 71 years. She loved all her children

and we loved her. Her legacy was..."this

is how you love someone".

Caring, Sharing, and Understanding

This is Fleta, Patsy, and I when we went over

in Oklahoma one year and met a bunch of Powells

who were kin to us that we had discovered. We went

to their family reunion. Oh, course, Patsy was the hit

of the day as she was able to tell them stories and keep

everyone entertained. She has aged and grown tired,

but inside she is the same. On the computer, she is

young and vibrant again...up to her old antics.

My daughter Erin is a nurse and she went yesterday to

check on Patsy. She said she did not think the intestines

had a lot of infection in them like we feared.

They put a suction on Pat's intestines through her nose.

This I guess was to relieve the twisted kink. Anyway,

when they take it out if Patsy is without pain, she

will get to go home and come back for her surgery

that will be scheduled. When they take it out

the pain returns, she will have surgery now.

I was going to Rogers today, but now I will wait

to see what happens.

Patsy is an independent lady. She had been all her

life. She has worked hard in garment plants, nursing

homes, chicken plants. She often did the work of

a man. She has some mesh in her stomache from a

hernia repair. She has scar tissue there from past

operations.

Each of you who have responded by sending Patsy

a card or email, don't realize what it will mean to

Old Sister. Thanks to all for caring. If she goes

home, the hospital will forwardany mail to her

home address, she will not miss any message.

Sister's Address

This is Patsy's address. Some

might want to send her a card

and let her know we want her to

get well and get back to her

"government griping" and

"chicken caring".

Patsy Poor
Room 344B
St. Mary's Hospital
1200 East Walnut Street
Rogers, AR 72756

Patsy's intestines are kinked and blocked. There is infection

in her intestines. When they get that down,they will operate.

Her greatest joy in life are her chickens and learning new

things on the computer.

Continue to remember Old Sister. I hope Lottie will send

one of her special cards to Rogers, AR. It would lift Patsy's

spirits!

Patsy is Sick!

Sister Patsy is in Rogers Hospital

very grave condition. Remember her.

Kanas City--Fall and Winter

The Sisters' cousin, Win, lives in Kansas City.

She took a picture of her beautiful Chinese Maple

last fall and shared it with us. Sunday, she took

another view of her Maple. There is a world of

difference between the scenes. I am wondering

how many inches of snow this is. She said her

good son came over and cleared the drive way.