Company

Mary Standridge has been gone a month. I placed a book in the Pope County Library in her memory. I chose this memoir by an Appalachian mountain girl. Mary was a mountain girl from Newton County. “All That’s Unseen” is a refreshingly personal account of Emilee Hackney’s experiences growing up in rural Southwest Virginia. Her ancestors labored in the coal mines, but her father had  a dogged resistance against living that life, and her mother had a reverence for literature. Most of all, her family had faith in God and that influenced her life.

Mary with her family! She’s on the back row between her parents.

Fleta is here so I’ll get back to visiting.

Barn

Andy Rooney said “A well-built barn is a thing of beauty”.  I agree with him. Logan and Astrid worked on the barn this weekend and burned two brush piled. I helped re-stack the pile by my yard, but stayed away from the work on the barn. As you age, one comes to realize usually you are just in the way.  I told Astrid that come Monday, I could not wait to see what all they did! The cedar is all in—lining the walls. They finished trimming the outside. This summer they piped the water to the barn. Come look with me!

Brown trim was secured. There’s a rain cutter. Stutterers are closed tight.

Where you enter from my yard by the Redbud tree Larry planted for me.

Storage and room for hay. More hay is under one of Pop’s sheds.

The Lamb saddle made in Green Forest, AR. Daddy bought it for me the winter I caught fire after we butchered hogs all day. …December 1963.

Pantry filled with horse and donkey hay.

I love the horse shoe hangers.

Going out to the stables.

Stable entry with fresh water piped in. Two stables are smaller and one large.

Stable

Stable

Stable 

Logan is a master plumber. The water stays fresh and clean.

 

Sunday

Erin sent me a picture of Ada before church. She loves going to church. Greta has a game tomorrow and had practice this afternoon. She drove herself. Life is changing.

Logan and Astrid worked on cutting up and stacking the maple tree yesterday. It blew over in a storm. Today I have restacked it  and I think it’ll all burn up. This morning it was very foggy. Greg left at 6:30 for his gun show because of the fog.  

This is the kind of stuff you see in my state. Just shake my head.

Laura has been sewing. Ingie asked that she make a makeup bag for her friend. Lots of work, but a special gift.

It was cool this morning…about 44. I turned the heat on as Greg was going to take a shower and I knew it’d be cold in the bathroom. His mother is very sick. She got the stomach virus like me but then staph in the lungs and spinal cord. He is very concerned for her. 

The sun came out and I noticed the donkeys all laying in the warm sunshine just soaking up the rays.

My mum is starting to open up blooms. I give it a drink everyday. We are 18 inches behind in rainfall.

Fleta bought this for Ada’s dress up trunk Erin’s fixing her for Christmas. She’ll be pretending getting married. Fleta said I had to iron it and I will. Cost 1.00.

I think Mom bought this magazine rack for Larry and I one Christmas before 1974…Laura’s birth year. Ingie has it in her house now. She’s putting her records in it. Blesses my heart.

Weekend

Laura made taco soup and asked if I’d make Mexican corn bread. It was good. I use green chilis in mine not jalapeños. Not so hot.

For another month plus, I have a never ending chore. I pick up the walnuts and then the wind blows and more fall. Astrid says I should have them cut. I do not eat any of them. They are small. If I don’t pick them up they’re tripping stones. Larry’s Momma planted them. I hate to destroy her work. I’m so silly.

Greg is here. He has a gun show in Hot Springs. I’m a half way house. He’s no trouble. He’ll be back tonight. I hope he does well. 

It’s cooler here, but I’m still not using heat. Greta has a basketball game next week. I’m praying she can have a great season. 

Siggie is happy as Logan E. Is home from drill. Her Logan is the nicest person. Sort a like Astrid would be if she were male.

Happy Saturday.
 

Going to Hagarville, AR

 Kay and I went north yesterday and ate at Hagarville Grocery. They make smash sandwiches. The sandwiches reminded me of subway. I thought we’d get to see the fall color of the leaves. I guess it was a little early. I enjoyed the afternoon out and tried to not say negative things about the sandwiches, but here I’ll tell you they were not very good. We’re going to try again in 2 weeks. Jasper, AR will be our destination. Maybe the leaves will be pretty. We’re going to try the Low Gap Cafe in Jasper.

Kay was quite depressed over the election. I think I just will focus on things closer to me. I can’t do much to change things farther away. Kay said she was “done with voting”. I will continue to cast my ballot. But the things I will concentrate on changing will be nearer to me. Myself is the big thing I can change. There’s a lot of work right there. I want to keep an open mind. Care about others. Do the little things I can do. If I get filled up thinking of what I don’t like, I’ll be pretty miserable. Go for the good!

Sigrid

Sad Sack Sig

Sigrid doesn’t like staying by herself. Well, it’s more hate than dislike. Panic. Logan E. Had drill. Astrid stayed with her one night and Wednesday night Laura went down. They had mom and baby girl time. Sigrid selected me two new scents at Ulta. I can’t wait to try them. 

Sig cooked chicken for Laura in the air fryer and ff in the oven. Laura picked up a salad for herself at Kroger. I doubt Laura ate ff. I bet the two enjoyed the stay together.

My new scents….

Sigrid tries to keep a puzzle out to work on. She graduates in December from ATU. She’s not going to walk, but she’ll have earned a bachelors degree. 

I loved zooming in at this pic Laura sent me of Sigrid’s fridge. It’s what Sigrid and Logan think are important. I wondered about the note-2 qts water and 1/2 t poison! Oh, dear.

 

Hump Day

I love genealogy, especially DNA genealogy. Late yesterday, my favorite library called saying a book I requested was here. I went before closing to get it. I’m already about half way in. I can see I’ll reread the investigative section~~since I’m a dna angel, I understand the research and it’s so exciting.

Did you know Jefferson created a Bible? It was made by cutting and pasting. Not like in a word program as we do today, but with a razor blade. He had a column for Greek, Latin, French and English from his favorite parts. He described himself as a Christian but not  belonging to any denomination or as he said a denomination of one— himself.  This Bible is at the Smithsonian and a fellow there, Richard Kurin, thought about all the razor blade work. The Bible needed better preservation and the Smithsonian was doing it. Richard asked if they found any blood spots. A whole Jefferson genome 🧬. Wow. They said no, but there were some light red hair in some of the pastings. This was in 2011, the rest is history. I recommend the book! Yes, it’s complicated but so intriguing!

Below is a lock of hair cut from Thomas Jefferson July 4, 1826– the day he died.  His grandson Nicholas snipped it from his head.

My cousin Joe B. Powell gave me his dna when he was in his 90’s. It was a precious gift and has unlocked mysteries for me. When I asked, he didn’t even hesitate but instantly said “sure”. The hard part was finding him home to collect his spit. He was always working on his farm, hauling hay, tending cattle, fixing fence. But I did find him and I am so glad. He kept a notebook and wrote down thoughts. He filled notebooks and would start anew. In his 90’s he observed, “On the other side there is no such thing as time. Today lasts forever”. Digest that thought. No need to think of yesterday or worry of tomorrow as there is only now.

Yesterday, at sunrise, God sent a sign in the sky. Amazing.  And we got 3 1/4 inches of rain, but we’re still need more!

Rain, Rain

Well, finally we have rain and lots of it. The leaves are falling to the ground and making a carpet. I went to the gym and rode the bike and lifted weights. Then I picked up my beta blocker medicine. I get 90 days so I don’t have to go often. It has rained a lot. I was lucky and left the gym when it wasn’t as much a down pour. Sigrid had to drive to UAMS. I hope it was an ok trip. Logan E has drill. Sig doesn’t like being alone. Astrid stayed with her last night and Laura is going to stay Wednesday. 

My birthday plant is still beautiful. I hate to see it go.

Kay and I are going to eat at Hagarville grocery Thursday. It’s a little store far from anything. The drive will be nice.

Ingrid voted today. Locally, we all early voted. I’m glad to have the ads disappear. Same ads run over and over and over. At least one can mute them. I do.

 

New Week

I worked trimming my lane to the hiway again today. It’s about an 1/8 of a mile long and if I don’t trim back the vines and limbs my road is lessened as the growth squeezes inward. I must trim both sides and will try to keep working on it. I’m not 1/2 done.

Friday I started getting sick. I guess it was a stomach virus. I feeling more normal today. I wondered if the flu Covid shot could have caused it but Siggie said no it’d been too long. I probably caught it Thursday at the gym as there’s are quite a number of bodies there.Glad to be alive.

I went to Kroger Sunday as I didn’t feel like it before. Halloween candy was 1/2 off. I bought Paydays and caramels. Fleta loves Paydays. She’ll be surprised. I love caramels. 

When Ada went trick or treating she loved the fire trucks parked at the assisted living place.

Clayton made an A on his last Calculus test. He didn’t do well at the beginning of his class, but he really has knuckled down and it’s paid off. I’m sure Calculus is very hard.

One of Eric’s students drew this and gave it to him. How special.