Come Home, Helen!

Sunshine took a trip out west
She packed the sun but left the rest
She did not have much room to carry
She took the warmth and left ol' dreary!
Please Helen do come back
And don't forget to bring the sack
Where you packed the bright red sun
I know you took it just for fun!
You want to hear I really  "miss her"
So you took the sun and left the blister!
Hurry, hurry home little Sis
So March can be better than this!

Sigrid Gets a Grip On the Hula Hoop

Sigrid tried out for the Talent Show at her school and I went yesterday to watch her perform.  Of course, she was great and the did the entire thing (created) on her own.  Laura did not even know exactly what she was going to do just that it was hula hooping.  Part of the reason Sigrid always does well on stage as you can tell she enjoys being up there in front of the crowd.  Below I did find the music she choose to hoop it up to.  Just listen and imagine her twirling around up there with one hoop but sometimes two!

Spring Planting

This picture is from last year.  I plan to plant red potatoes in my first row in the garden and onions, cabbage, lettuce and radishes in row two.  I am not going to plant any green early peas.  I am too lazy to pick and shell them and they always go to waste.  Surely warm weather will be here soon and I can get started.  Richard told me to plant white potatoes and they keep better. I did that last year and have decided that red potatoes are so much better graveled that I don't care if they keep or not.  I will plant green pole beans on my fence again.  I am only planting one row of tomatoes, peppers and such.  I will plant hot ones, then tomatoes and then sweet peppers to keep them from crossing.  I plan to fill all my empty rows with corn as we really like it.

I retired in my 62nd year.  That year I studied Psalm 62, and then the next year 63, last year it was Psalm 64.  In this new year, I have a new Psalm to read, study, and rejoice!  This is my 65th year.
Psalm 65
Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion:
 and unto thee shall the vow be performed.
This year I am giving my praise to you, O God.  I will live my vow to you.
2 O thou that hearest prayer,
unto thee shall all flesh come.
And I know you hear my callings out to you O God!
3 Iniquities prevail against me:
as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.
All that come against me you will take care of in Your own way and I will rejoice in all Your blessings.
4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,
and causest to approach unto thee, that
he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.
Thank you O Lord for choosing me!  I am blessed to live in your House.
5 By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us,
O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the
ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:
I know all the future is in your hands and I do not tremble but rest in your palm.
6 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains;
being girded with power:
You control all things and have a plan which will be fulfilled.
7 Which stilleth the noise of the seas,
the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people.
You will calm all the noise in my heart as you calm the seas and still the waves.
8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens:
 thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.
I rejoice in each day you give me and strive to please you in my actions.
9 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it:
thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water:
thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.
O Lord, thank You for the rains and for the harvest come come.  Reap my soul as I will the treasures of my garden.
10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly:
thou settlest the furrows thereof:
thou makest it soft with showers:
thou blessest the springing thereof.
 Lord, I receive all the treasures of Galla Meadow you bestow on me with gladness.   The little flowers and birds you send to pleasure your child.
11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness;
and thy paths drop fatness.
The goodness of our fields I praise you for giving us.
12 They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness:
and the little hills rejoice on every side.
I sing with  joy as I look upon our world.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
the valleys also are covered over with corn;
they shout for joy, they also sing.
I raise my voice to you for this year praising you for all my blessings!  Praise be to the King!
What Matthew Henry has to say!  He lived from 1662 until 1714.  I own his commentary.
Commentary on Psalm 65:1-5


All the praise the Lord receives from this earth is from Zion, being the fruit of the Spirit of Christ, and acceptable through him. Praise is silent unto thee, as wanting words to express the great goodness of God. He reveals himself upon a mercy-seat, ready to hear and answer the prayers of all who come unto him by faith in Jesus Christ. Our sins prevail against us; we cannot pretend to balance them with any righteousness of our own: yet, as for our transgressions, of thine own free mercy, and for the sake of a righteousness of thine own providing, we shall not come into condemnation for them. Observe what it is to come into communion with God in order to blessedness. It is to converse with him as one we love and value; it is to apply ourselves closely to religion as to the business of our dwelling-place. Observe how we come into communion with God; only by God's free choice. There is abundance of goodness in God's house, and what is satisfying to the soul; there is enough for all, enough for each: it is always ready; and all without money and without price. By faith and prayer we may keep up communion with God, and bring in comfort from him, wherever we are. But it is only through that blessed One, who approaches the Father as our Advocate and Surety, that sinners may expect or can find this happiness.

Commentary on Psalm 65:6-13


That Almighty strength which sets fast the mountains, upholds the believer. That word which stills the stormy ocean, and speaks it into a calm, can silence our enemies. How contrary soever light and darkness are to each other, it is hard to say which is most welcome. Does the watchman wait for the morning? so does the laborer earnestly desire the shades of evening. Some understand it of the morning and evening sacrifices. We are to look upon daily worship, both alone and with our families, to be the most needful of our daily occupations, the most delightful of our daily comforts. How much the fruitfulness of this lower part of the creation depends upon the influence of the upper, is easy to observe; every good and perfect gift is from above. He who enriches the earth, which is filled with man's sins, by his abundant and varied bounty, can neither want power nor will to feed the souls of his people. Temporal mercies to us unworthy creatures, shadow forth more important blessings. The rising of the Sun of righteousness, and the pouring forth of the influences of the Holy Spirit, that river of God, full of the waters of life and salvation, render the hard, barren, worthless hearts of sinners fruitful in every good work, and change the face of nations more than the sun and rain change the face of nature. Wherever the Lord passes, by his preached gospel, attended by his Holy Spirit, his paths drop fatness, and numbers are taught to rejoice in and praise him. They will descend upon the pastures of the wilderness, all the earth shall hear and embrace the gospel, and bring forth abundantly the fruits of righteousness which are, through Jesus Christ, to the glory of the Father. Manifold and marvelous, O Lord, are thy works, whether of nature or of grace; surely in loving-kindness hast thou made them all.

Snow Bound

 Ingrid and Astrid are helping Sigrid with her puppy.  She named her Juniper but is calling her Ju Ju.

Clayton and Greta had a birthday party for their special friends who each turned one year old!

 Sigrid got this nice note from her art teacher.

 The birds and I are snow bound.  Everyone else goes as they wish, but I will not leave until the icy roads are clear.  I am not brave when there is snow and ice on the roads.  Larry made me snow ice cream last night.  We had a little Pet milk and he used some almond milk in it too.  Larry can make the best snow ice cream.  He used to make it for Laura and Erin when we had snow.

Same Song, Second Verse

It has snowed all day and the high has been 26 degrees.  At least I had the book about Jerry Lee to read.  Rick Bragg is an excellent writer.  What do I think of Jerry Lee.  Well, first he was a spoiled brat.  Little hints came through in what he said...did not want to get up to go to school so his Momma would come back in 30 minutes and bring him hot chocolate and vanilla wafers to eat trying to get him up.  It started with the death of his dear brother.  His parents felt so badly when Elmo was gone that they spoiled Jerry Lee rotten.  He told of coming home as a child with an ice cream cone. The family had no money to live day to day.  His mother asked where he got and he said "I charged it".  He learned early if you made money doing something it was justified.  Nothing was ever his fault.  All the greats were put down--Elvis, Johnnie Cash, on and on.  Jerry Lee and his ego both swelled up.  He was a dope head!  He says he is off the pills but who knows. The only singers he looked up to were ones who died and he did not have to compete with Hank Williams, Jimmy Rogers, and others that weren't dead but never made the big time!  His marriage to the 13 year old was her fault for coming on to him!  What a mess...but still I would say read the book and see what you think.  I never thought he was great to start with but I love a well written book and this one is that!  You must read between the lines to see the real Jerry Lee.  His life was also "same song, second verse!"

Woe and Despair

It is snowing hard and the temp is falling.  Tomorrow's high is 25 I think.  Woe, despair and agony on me!

 I filled all the feeders before this started and the birds love me.

 Sigrid has been begging for a puppy of her own.  Today Laura saw these on FB and Eric and Sig went to Vilona, AR.  She is thrilled.  It will be very small!

 At least I made it to the Library before the storm hit.  I got this book about Jerry Lee Lewis.  It is really good...partly because of who the author is--Rick Bragg.  He is a great story teller and the Killer has a lot of stories in his past.  Jerry Lee is still alive and kicking if he makes it to September of this year he will be 80.  He is a first cousin to Jimmy Lee Swaggart.  Their mother's were sisters--Minnie and Mamie Herron.  Jimmy Lee's grandmother was a sister to Jerry Lee's Dad.  So, Elmo Lewis was Jimmy Swaggart's Uncle and Minnie's Uncle too!  So Jerry Lee said Jimmy was his double first cousin.  Mickey Gilley's mother was Elmo's sister so Mickey was Jerry Lee's first cousin.  Jimmy Lee and Mickey were first cousins once removed....wow.  Plus when Jerry Lee was 20 something years old he married 13 year old Myra Brown.  She was his cousin too...not first cousin though.  My head hurts thinking about it so I am not going to figure out how but Rick Bragg explains it all. Fleta will have to get the book and explain how Jerry Lee and Myra are cousins.  

Rick went to Jerry Lee and asked if he could write the story of Jerry Lee's life.  Jerry Lee played Silent Night on the piano when he was four years old.  Elmo and Mamie and he went to his Aunt Stella's house and she had a piano.  He reached up to the keys and played Silent Night.  Elmo later mortgaged his farm to buy his son a piano.  Jerry Lee said he had the best parents on this earth.  When he was a boy,  Elmo went to the penitentiary twice.  The first time for illegal distilling.  The next time the law caught him with a gallon of moonshine in the truck and the judge gave Elmo 5 years in the Big House in Louisiana.   While Elmo was serving his 5 years his 9 year old son got run over by a log truck.  They took him to his son's funeral in hog chains.  With his first big check, Jerry Lee bought Elmo and Mamie a house in Ferriday, LA with hot and cold running water.  He promised his Mama if he ever made it big he would buy her a house first thing and he did.

Jimmie Lee told Jerry Lee he was going straight to hell.  Jerry Lee said--"what goes around comes around and it did".  He bought Jimmie Lee his first good car to go on the road holding revivals.  When Jerry Lee was about 19 he went to Bible College in TX.  They had an assembly and messed up letting Jerry Lee play the piano for it...he put a real up tempo on My God is Real!  They sent him home.  Jerry Lee was good friends with Elvis.  He said Elvis was the most pitiful human he ever met, miserable!  Elvis asked Jerry Lee why he did not get drafted and he said "I threw the notice in the Black River".

Read the book!  It is very entertaining.  Jerry Lee says "one thing I am not...is a liar!"  I guess he told Rick his true story!

Yippity Skippity

This is why they call off school when there is ice on the roads.  A bus is like a big bath tub sliding down the road.  I always said I would rather make up a day than see this happen.  A new bill has been introduced to allow schools to make up an hour a day.  A day is 5 hours so in one week of staying late they could make up one day.  Also, if a school lets out a 12 it will not count a day because the children have not been there long enough.  Personally, I think if the bus runs it should count a day if they let out because of weather.  After the tests are taken (Bench Mark) make up days are silly.  They could use extra time before testing but those make up days in June are useless!

 The weatherman missed the forecast for us!  We were supposed to get ice at 3 this morning but it went south of us.  The weather and news is a joke.  It is hype hype hype.  I want Tom Bonner back. Just give the report without all the scare tactics.

 This is Erin's new bed cover.  I like it.  Notice the bed.  Greg made it and it is really beautiful.

 Ingrid is hanging out with her friends in the RMS locker room.  She loves her friends and has a great time doing whatever she is doing.  She is wearing converse shoes that Pop and Gigi gave her money to buy, I think.

Astrid's last basketball game is this next week at North Little Rock and then we will have soccer until late spring.  Busy, busy, busy girl.

My Brain is Frozen

Oh, Lordy, it is so cold today.  I would never make it in Kansas City.  Let alone Alaska!  I found my heated throw and plan to turn it on and cover up.  I went to feed and water my Patsy chickens.  I only got 3 eggs.  Poor little hens.  I do have a good chicken house.

Fleta name the Rudd girls.  Front in white and black, Mary Ellen?  Then I know next is Barbara and Jonell.  Is Frances Sue in the red.  Esther behind Jonell?  Which is Cindy and Lutricia?  That may not be her name.  They are a precious group of sisters for sure.

Helen got the h...l out of Arkansas just in time.

Update--Helen sez:
back row...right side you can barely see ..ESTHER....and on the left...Francis Sue...yes Mary Ellen is correct and Barb correct....Probably the blond is the youngest one?  that would leave the one in the middle back the 2nd youngest.

Fleta, you need to weigh in and tell us for sure as how Helen describes things is very confusing!
This the way I interpret what Helen is saying
L to r
Frances Sue, Mary Ellen, Cindy, Barb, jonell, Esther, and lutricia!  Am I right, Helen?

Another Little Pinch

Just a pinch of snow was added to our ice last evening.

 All our snow sludge melted yesterday, but late last evening we got a little frosting on top.  It came during the Westminster Dog Show.  Was so glad the little Beagle won best of show.

 Pop's swing is empty but soon the sun will shine and the ropes will swing back and forth in the shade.  Laura had school yesterday but Eric and the girls got to stay home.  I think everyone is back today except the kids up north.  I bet Green Forest and Harrison have another day away from the classroom.  The third Wednesday of each month is a favorite day for us as Larry and I both get paid!

Living High

 Erin and Greg live on a hill.   It has it's advantages when wanting to slip and slide.

 I filled by bird feeders before the storm came and I have been seeing as many as 6 male cardinals at a time.

 I cooked yesterday and the house was so warm.

 When looking for an old picture of Aunt Helen and Luckey, I found this one of Sister in the red dirt road.

TBH

I am learning the lingo.  I think TBH stands for to be honest.  I know yw is your are welcome.  This is text message talk.  Helen called last week and said "what have you been doing".    I lied and said "not much".  But TBH I have spent a lot of time looking into Uncle Luckey's family.  First, I wanted to find his kids.  I recall Helen and him discussing them when I went to their Camp home with them in 1968.  I recall Gary and ???.  Well, her name was Sharlene.  Gary was Sharlene's husband.  I could remember a boy...Terry...I thought.  I found Uncle Luckey's obit.  No boy.  Then I could recall a riff.  Terry after he was almost grown decided to let his step father adopt him.  He was left out of the obit.  Then, Helen, I decided to find that first wife, an illusive woman.  I don't recall any mention of her.  Well, in 1940, Uncle Luckey is married to her and he is a mechanic.  Her name was Della.  I found her last name Spitsnaugle.  One technique in hunting someone down is to "find a grave".  Then in the same grave yard look for the other last names.  I spent several hours and I found Della.  She married in about 1946 to a swede named Martin.  Terry went by that last name.  He, too, is dead.  As is Gary, Sharlene's husband.  Sharlene is still living so I will not add that last name.  But TBH, I found them all.  Maybe I should have been a detective.   One of my favorite things to do is to investigate a mystery of dead people and solve it.  So TBH I was doing something when I said NOT!  I knew Helen would not be impressed so I just told her not much!

The picture of Helen and Luckey is in front of their first home in KC.  Her shoes are back in style.  I think Helen and Luckey were very happy together--tbh.  YW.

VB, SB, BB, and SS

 Above is VB--Ingrid's volleyball team playing in Hot Springs.  Below is SB, Astrid was invited to a Soccer Camp at UALR!

 This is BB, for Astrid's last home game, Pop and I escorted her to the court!

 A little dirt never hurt anyone!

 This is SS, Greta and Clayton playing in the SunShine, Saturday when it was 70 degrees!

Less Is Good!

 We got ice and a little sleet and snow on top.  It is 9 a. m. and I think it is over.  Hopefully, it is.  Fleta and Erin got more than we did, but less is more!

 Sigrid stayed Saturday night with us.  The other girls had stuff to do and a parent took each.  We enjoyed Sigrid.  She took all the pictures below.

Above is me taking the scraps to Tie.  I had put them out to Cora but she could not eat all of it so I took the rest to Tie.  Below she took a selfie.

A picture of a Sap Sucker that she snapped.  I love how you can see the red cap.

 Pop has his pasture posted.  Once some boys came on four wheelers and decided to just drive wheelies in our Meadow.

 This one she took walking to the Lake.  It was almost 70 degrees Saturday.

We going to get the mail.  We do not get our mail on Bradley Cove Road.  The mail box gets destroyed there.  We petitioned Pottsville Post and we get more mail next to Laura on Galla Creek Lane.

Kindred souls--Sig and Gig!

Been Being A Little Lazy

 Helen called and it was good to hear her cheery voice.  Helen is always cheerful and it is uplifting to talk to her.  She asked what I have been doing...well, not a lot....but I have been sleeping good and feeling good.

Above you can see that my Clayton is doing great in first grade.  Below, I heard on tv that some folks do the crossword in ink.  So I tried the one in the local paper.  It is easier than the Demo-Gazette puzzle.  I had a couple of mark overs, but really did it all pretty well in ink.  In the morning, I sometimes watch the channel news and do the puzzle.  I know, Helen, that is not very productive, but it is the truth.  Laura and I play scrabble and Fish and I play, but they both work so some days they can not babysit me by playing Word.

 Larry is making a shadow box for Astrid's award winning phone book.  It is nice and I will post a picture when he is finished.  Below he fixed a key holder for the wall to put our keys on.  I did not realize how much I would love it.  It is great.  He made little wooden key labels for the rings.  Larry has 14 tractors, a backhoe, a skidster, a fourwheeler, a buggy, and much more.  We loose keys sometimes and this hanger is going to be a mind saver for me.  When I can not find something, I can't get it off my mind until I locate it.  This week it was our boots.  When we were redoing the living room closet, I moved them so Larry could paint and floor it.  I looked one evening and then got busy with it the next day.  I finally found them.  I had stuck them in the heating closet.

Larry is building me an outside storage next.  I plan to put my stuff out there that I don't use very often.  I want everything labeled and organized.  He says it will have loft...more room.  I do have several valuable collections--plastic folgers cans, mayo jars, old screws, nails and so much more!  

 My 85 year old friend gave me this bird feeder for Christmas.  The bottom is a chicken feeder and the top is a mason jar.  It was too big of holes for black sunflower but perfect for corn.  I hated to hang it out to get bird poop on but made myself.  The top hanger Richard gave me.  He made it out of old pipe (single tree I forgot what you called it)  I think Larry bought me the bottom one at a sale.

 Sigrid is doing problem solving at school.  How do I get this oreo off my forehead and into my mouth!  Looks like she almost has it!