Thankfulness and seeking peace.....

It's been a wonderful week for reflection. Thanksgiving is always a wonderful time of year, to take into account all of your blessings and realize how much you have to be thankful for. It brings a contented peace as you contemplate it all. Now we start the season of Christmas, yes I know it was tacked onto a pagan holiday, and it is kindof a fraud to celebrate the birth of Jesus in December when he was really born in the spring, but what is wrong with wishing for peace on earth and good will towards men any time of the year? We can keep the spirit of the holiday with us no matter what the date is. It is a magical time of family, friends, and celebration.

My family honestly makes my life worth living, my family is the reason I am who I am and that I care. I am getting spoiled having all my children living close by now. When one of them moves it will definitely be a very sad day for me. I have a best friend in my hubby and more best friends in each one of my children and their dear spouses. I am a very blessed woman. I get lazy and whiney, yes, but then I can remember all that I have at times like this around the holidays. 

I am thankful...a poem (anonymous)

.. for the teenager who is complaining about doing
dishes, because it means she/he is at home, not on the
streets.

.. for the mess to clean after a party, because it
means that I have been surrounded by friends.

.. for the clothes that fit a little too snug,
because it means I have enough to eat.

.. for my shadow that watches me work, because it
means I am out in the sunshine.

.. for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need
cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it
means I have a home.

.. for all the complaining I hear about the
Government, because it means we have freedom of speech.

.. for the parking spot I find at the far end of the
parking lot, because it means I am capable of
walking, and that I have been blessed with
transportation.

.. for my huge heating bill, because it means I am
warm.

.. for the lady behind me in church that sings off
key, because it means that I can hear.

.. for the pile of laundry and ironing, because it
means I have clothes to wear.

.. for weariness and aching muscles at the end of the
day, because it means I have been capable of working
hard and using those limbs.

.. for the alarm that goes off in the early morning,
because it means that I am alive.

Scriptures help me keep in a peaceful frame of mind and I have a lot to be thankful for so. I especially like the part about being still....in a world where chaos seems to be the norm, just be about your 'Father's business' and you can still have joy.

Psalm 46

 1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

 2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
 3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
 4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.
 5 God is in the amidst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
 6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
 7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
 8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.
 9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.
 10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Winter's here to stay!

We wound up getting a foot of snow, the pic shows just a sprinkling.

We're having a major snow storm today. Some of the family spent the afternoon out at the stadium for Weber State's football game, brrr! I've been inside and feeling pretty toasty, but now that it is dark the chill seems to be settling in. Break out the hot cocoa folks, I think winter is here for good.

My son-in-law is now an Army Aviator

I guess you could call Tazz my 'grand-doggie', here he is trying to stay warm on the family room sofa.

Well, my daughter (and grandaughter) have been living here for about a week now, while her husband does his National Guard thing. They will be staying for several months. Little Clara loves the snow and was outside this morning for a long time helping Grandpa shovel, kicking the snow around, making 'angels' in the snow and just enjoying herself. When you come from the south, a foot of snow is a big novelty to you, especially if you are a kid.

With my daughter here, we've been doing a lot of 'de-junking' in the house, since we have more people living here so we needed to clean the closets out to allow them to store their belongings and move in for a while. Don't ask me where we are going to put the piano though!

The painting class I attended, I am the short, dark-haired one.

I've had the itch to be creative lately. I have had the urge to paint for some reason, so after feeling that for a while I decided one day to go to a painting class. It was very enjoyable. I will look forward to going again. I sew often, a lot of my creative juices are put into sewing quilts or doing embroidery & cross stitch. I usually don't wind up painting, but I did make my first picture at that class! Yesterday I started making a table runner with the intention of giving it to my Mom, I was all excited about starting a new project, unfortunately the pattern I purchased has the world's worst directions and even an experienced sewer like me had a hard time following it. I believe it will be scrapped now since I cut up fabrics and it is not going together well. I will have to write that pattern company a note and tell them of my disappointment. I'll just use my own creativity and make a table runner for Mom on my own.

Today I spent most of the time at my craft table embroidering new names on a grandchildren sampler I made for my mother-in-law many years ago. It's a cross stitch sampler that says "Grandchildren are the treasures of a long life", and has spaces to put in names. There are 32 names of grandchildren sewn on and 16 names of great-grandchildren on there, too. Surely, a thing to be celebrated!

Halloween fun...

What do goblins and ghosts drink when they're hot and thirsty on Halloween?  Ghoul-aid!!!

  What is a Mummie's favorite type of music?  Wrap!!!!!

         



  Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?  Because demons are a ghouls best friend!




  What's a monster's favorite bean?  A human bean.

A human Bean!

What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A sand-witch.

  What happens when a ghost gets lost in the fog?  He is mist.

  Where did the goblin throw the football?  Over the ghoul line.

  What do you call a little monsters parents? Mummy and Deady.

What do you get when you cross a black cat with a lemon.  A sour-puss.

Monday Ramblings...

This book keeps me on the edge of my seat, but I put it away at night because I have a very active imagination!

This is a really interesting Science book, not boring and dry.

Here's the "Currently" report, just for fun...

Currently Reading: For Halloween- A ghost book by Hans Holtzer.
                                For the Science-o-phile in me- Epigenetics by Richard C. Francis
                                For my spiritual side- The New
Testament- Book of Matthew

Currently Watching: Old Stargate Episodes on DVD 

Listening Music:
                 My latest insatiable music appetite is for Linkin Park albums, ever since I saw them 
                 in concert this summer I can't stop listening. Sometimes you do have to be in the mood for
                 Chester's primal screaming though!

Listening Audio Books: Legion by Brandon Sanderson

Currently eating tonight for dinner: Cheese Tortellini with sauce and lots of parmesan cheese on top.

Current favorite snack: Colby flavored Cheez-it crackers

Currently wearing: comfy PJ's and striped Harry Potter Griffindor House socks.

Pets are currently: dogs cuddling in their puppy bed together and the cat is actually not trying to walk
                              around on the kitchen table or eat me out of house and home by attacking bread
                              bags on the counter and causing a riot in the pantry closet.

Current Favorite Snack

These are on my feet tonight!

Current music obsession: The bad boys of Linkin Park

Good old SG-1! These old episodes never get boring. I never was a fan of Claudia Black though.

The Legend of Ocean-Born Mary

It's that time of year when the ghosties and the creepy crawlies come out to celebrate on All-Hallows eve....I've always been a fan of a good ghost story and have been studiously reading up for the season. with my kindle in hand, I snap up ghostly freebies and tales of ghosties in bygone days. Algernon Blackwood, a bit of Poe- as in The Black Cat, throw in some H. P. Lovecraft and be sure you lock your doors at night. Mu-ha-ha! Check out a few Shirley Jackson stories from your local library, or enjoy a less stress inducing, but still enjoyable tale of the season, with a favorite child such as The Halloween Tree, or maybe you like real vampires, scary ones, that don't sparkle, as in the original Dracula, still spooky even  after a hundred years. Get your garlic ready, and enjoy a new ghost story I came across in this years reading. I added a few of my own style touches to it, but did not author the tale. Sit back, get comfortable, and enjoy the story as I tell you the tale of
Ocean-Born Mary.........

Here be told a classic ghost tale of Old New England...it happened even before the Brits and the Patriots had their spat, back in the golden age of pirates!

There's a place in Ireland called Londonberry, and the year is 1720....the sailing vessel "Wolf" departs from port on its way to the New World. These Irish immigrants were looking forward to reuniting with their former friends and family in Londonberry, New Hampshire.

Now, this was in the hey-day of pirating on these seas and fate would have it that the "Wolf" was overtaken and boarded by Spanish pirates as it came near to the New Hampshire shore. These pirates, under their leader, Don Pedro, helped themselves to all the valuables and jewelry on board. They raised their cutlasses and prepared to butcher everyone on board when suddenly the pirate captain ordered his men to stand down.

All were astonished, but no one could mistake the sounds of an infant crying from somwhere down below. Don Pedro ordered the infant to be brought on deck, so he could see it. (In sealore, if a pirate kills a baby he will have bad luck for the rest of his days and Don Pedro was a superstitious sort of pirate, as most of them are.) As he gazed into the innocent's face he sheathed his sword and made a promise to the infants mother that if she would name the infant girl after his own mother, Maria, or Mary, he would spare the lives of all aboard. The bargain was quickly settled, for who would not do such a simple thing to spare so many lives? The pirates gave back all the valuables they had taken and Don Pedro quickly went over to his own ship and came back carrying a bolt of beautiful blue- green silken cloth. He presented it to the infant's mother and told her to use the cloth to make the infant Mary's wedding dress with, when the time came.

Mary, 'Ocean-born' Wilson grew up to be an Irish beauty, with flaming red hair and lovely green eyes. At the age of twenty-two, she married her childhood sweetheart, Thomas Wallace, and her mother had saved the bolt of beautiful silken cloth all those years and made her a wedding dress out of it that any bride would be proud of.

The happy couple lived a good life for 18 years, then Thomas died. Mary was left lone with four sons to raise and care for. About this same time, the hey-day of piracy was coming to an end, and the pirate captain, Don Pedro, was no longer the spry young pirate he used to be. He decided to retire and took his ill-gotten gains and purchased some land, where he built himself an awesome mansion with ten rooms and six fireplaces. It was one of the biggest houses in the area.

The Pirate Mansion

It turns out, that over the years, Don Pedro had kept an eye on Ocean-born Mary, and when he found out about her being widowed with four sons to care for he invited her to live with him. He promised her the house was hers, if she would look after him in his old age. Mary accepted and moved in with her boys. She was showered with gifts from her pirate benefactor, and they all lived happily for the next ten years. Mary had a fancy black and gold coach, drawn by four horses, to get around in and there was much entertaining done at the mansion.

One night Don Pedro did not return home until much later than his usual time, Mary looked out the window and saw and heard him talking to a big burly man out in the back yard. They were burying a large trunk out in the orchard under a tree! When Mary asked Don Pedro about it, he refused to answer her.

One year later, when Mary returned from town, no stable-boy came out to meet her and take the four horses that pulled the coach away to their barn. Mary found the servants scared to death, all huddled up together in the tack room. In the yard she found Don Pedro, dead with a cutlass through his back. The bloody instrument had gone right through, pinning his body to the blood defiled ground! The old pirate Don Pedro was buried him under the fireplace hearthstone, as he had requested of her years before.

Occasionally there would be trespassers at the house digging holes in the yard, as rumors of buried pirate treasure were sure to abound. Mary never stopped them and she spent the rest of her days there at the pirate mansion. Her sons grew up, left home, had families of their own and fought in the war for independence. Mary passed away in 1814, at the ripe old age of 94.

The house stayed in the hands of the Wallace family for the next 100 years. It was rented out, but never sold. Tenants came and went, but they often went quite hastily and never lived there very long. Soon tales arose that the place was haunted. For many years it fittingly looked like a haunted house, as it was deserted and became run down. The windows were broken and the front steps sagged. Neighborhood boys crept around the place and claimed to see ghostly images in the windows, they heard strange sounds emanating from the place, and lights in the rooms at midnight. They said they saw a shadowy tall lady floating down the staircase.

One hundred and four years later, old Mrs. Roy and her bachelor son, Gus, moved into the place. They had previously purchased it and were in the process of cleaning it up and restoring the house so they could make their home there. As they cleaned and restored, many interesting things happened to them. On day while burning rubbish, the son was about to throw a bag of trash that had been in the attic into the fire, an unseen hand physically stopped him from doing it. As he checked the trash afterwards, he found out there was unused gunpowder in the sack, and he had almost thrown it into the fire!

In 1938 a strong hurricane devastated the eastern seaboard. It was all rain, wind and mud around the place. Gus had been building a garage and it was threatening to fall down after the storm. He did not want to put his new car inside it until he fixed it up. He went out in the rain and proceeded to prop the garage up and steady it so it would not collapse. When he came inside, his mother asked him who was helping him fix the garage. He said 'no one', then she asked him who the tall woman was who was out there helping him steady up the garage. She had vanished when he started back towards the house!

Soon the family began to see the apparition of a tall woman inside the house. They heard strange sounds in the basement. They must not have minded it because Gus said that he suffered 17 near-fatal accidents while living in the house and he always received help from, Mary. Soon the stories of Ocean-born Mary's ghost were common in that area and folks started coming from all around, especially on Halloween, to catch a glimpse of old Mary's ghost. Gus made a business enterprise out of it and charged admission to gives tours of the place, people flocked in like there was no tomorrow.

The story of the house was popular, it was featured in a publication called "Yankee Ghosts" and a couple named Russell, purchased the house. Gus had become ill and when the Russells bought the place he was allowed to live out his final days there. A ghost investigator visited the house with a medium in the 60's because the Russells had complained about strange goings on in the house. The medium did indeed sense ghostly presences in the house, most notably, Ocean-born Mary, herself was said to be looking after the place. Once there was a mysterious fire on the stairway and Mrs. Russell said it went out by itself, as if someone was damping it down with a blanket. Years later the Russells denied stories of the place being haunted and refused to talk to anyone about it.

Ocean-Born Mary's grave in Henniker New Hampshire

Some even say that Mary never really did live there after all....it was just an old folk tale that had gotten overblown and out of hand. The home is a private residence today. But, who can explain the eerie images the town boys saw there many years ago, who was talking to the ghost hunter through the medium, what about the trespassers who periodically came to dig for pirate treasure in the orchard? Who saved Gus from 17 near-fatal accidents and pulled his hand away when he was about to throw the bag of trash containing gun powder into the fire? Who helped him shore up the garage after the hurricane of '38? Why did Gus insist on remaining in the house even when new owners purchased the place and started living there? Ocean-born Mary's grave is nearby in the Central Cemetery in Henniker, so we know she really did exist. And, who can answer this question now....how come state troopers saw the image of a tall, red-haired lady floating along the highway to the house a few years ago?? Was it just coincidence or was it Mary..............................?

Sept 28th...Time Flies!

I'm really having a hard time getting motivated to write anything, I just want to be a slug! I cherish my days off for the gift of being able to sleep in, but my personality is such that I can't let myself be too lazy or I feel guilty. Yesterday I spent all day in the kitchen. I made applesauce with apples from the tree in my in-laws yard. Ten pints of nice organic, smooth, healthy, with a tad of cinnamon and just a tad of sugar, applesauce. Then I proceeded to bottle tomatoes from our garden. Whew! I was so tired I could barely get into the bed because my legs were hurting so badly. This time of year we are busy reaping the benefits of the harvest. Our garden is wild looking but a great producer of healthy fruits and veggies. I just don't have time to be fussing with the garden all the time but the kids, hubby and I somehow manage to keep it watered. With my leg problems I don't have the stamina I used to so my yard work ability has gone way down. I did manage to plant a nice patch of bulbs- tulips, daffodils, crocus, etc. in the front yard though.

Last week was spent helping my Mom, who just had knee replacement surgery. She had a partial knee put in about 10 years ago but it was all worn out and she delayed getting it replaced because that surgery is so awful, but it was a major knee overhaul this time and is quite painful to get through in recovery. She has her good days and bad days still, but all in all seems to be getting more positive about it every day as she heals. I am glad I could be there for her. It's a curious thing to have the parent-child relationship reversed. I was mothering my mother!

My Mom with my sister and I many years ago. I am the one with the crabby expression on my face, trying to hide in the blanket.

One of our neighbors lost their daughter to complications of diabetes, she was only 20 years old. Far too young to even have lived life much, and it is very sad to contemplate the grief they much be going through right now. I can't imagine losing one of my precious children at all. My heart goes out to them.

Apples.....

to...

10 pints of yummy applesauce!

We are going to be expanding our household soon when my daughter's family comes to stay for a bit. It's a long story but as far as we know, they will be staying at least 6 months. I will love having them close by, and I relish the chance to be with my other sweet granddaughter as well, but it also means three more dogs here at the house and lots of people (2 and 4 legged) to feed and clean up after. I know they will help out, but I can't help being a bit nervous about a major life-style change, especially with my health and all. I am thankful we are in a position to be able to offer some help to them as they need it. They have been across the country for so long it will be good to have them back home.

Vanessa, is 'waiting at the gate'.

Gregg holding Vanessa, she was also known as the 'Twirpy'

My life seems endlessly busy, but I need to take a bit of time to say a proper farewell to a loyal furry friend. Our tiny toy Fox Terrier, Vanessa, passed recently. Evidently she had been sick for a few months but we just thought she was starting to show her age (she was 11), and did not fully realize what was happening. She wound up having a severe case of bladder stones. We scheduled surgery for her to have them removed, but the strain of dealing with her condition got the better of her before that. I hope she will forgive us for not realizing how sick she really was. Be at peace now little Vanessa, you are no longer in pain. Now she is 'waiting at the gate' ( a reference to a story I recently posted on this blog; scroll down to read it). There's nothing like a soft fur-ball to help make your day brighter. Our four-footed friends still love us even when we have bad breath and morning hair, and they remind us life isn't that bad after all!

Vanessa and Heidi sharing a bed

Even though I always adopted our pets, I found little Vanessa in a pet shop, she is the first pet shop doggie I ever purchased. It's a bit of a complicated story, but we had formerly had a very tiny chihuahua that we adopted who had been horribly abused, and you could say I was sensitized to animal abuse because of her. We helped her learn to trust people again and had a wonderful love-filled five years with her as she was quite old when we adopted her. I am also a spiritual person so I believe in premonitions, hunches, etc. As I gazed at the dogs in their pet shop cages, I had no intention of buying one, I was just there to pick up some bird seed. I had this overwhelming sense of foreboding envelope me and I could almost hear the words...this dog is going to be abused...I knew I needed to buy her to save her from that fate. That might sound hokey to some, but that is what I felt. I also thought she was a rat terrier and did not even realize there was a breed called 'Toy Fox Terrier', at the time of purchase.

Well, needless to say, Hubby was not all that pleased with me bringing home a puppy out of the blue, but kind man that he is, he knows I am incurable when it comes to tiny furry things and he accepted her into our family anyway.

We'd never had that type of dog before, so her already docked tail was a novelty to us. She was a very intelligent dog and learned a few tricks, kept us all company and was always friendly to everyone that came to our home. She had a good disposition and she was a 4.5 pound cutie on little skinny stilt legs, with a big black terrier spot right on her butt!

Vanessa, aka- Twirpy

Oh! She loved her food, and we had to carefully monitor her diet or else she would balloon into a little pork roll on skinny legs. We even put her on the 'green bean' diet once to help her drop some weight. She ate anything and everything, especially if it happened to fall on the kitchen floor. Like the fastest lightning, she was instantly there licking it up.Vanessa was the first dog I ever saw that liked eating cantaloupe! She responded joyously to any and all sorts of belly rubs and scratches and when her little leg would spaz out- you knew she was really enjoying the rub down.

Goodbye, little Vanessa, we'll meet again when my time comes...ooxx.., Your Human Family.

Warning signs for bladder stones in pets:

Unexplained incontinence

Abdomen feels stiff

Blood in urine

Pet generally acting different or subdued

Female dogs can be more suseptible to them

Sign of bladder stones are also similar to those of kidney disease, which requires immediate life-saving medical attention, consult your vet whenever your pet starts acting differently for no explained reason. (Our Vanessa was all of a sudden unable to hold her urine and we mistook it for just a sign of old age, the stones were the evident cause but we did not realize that until it was nearly too late.)