UPDATE: Chihuahua Playing Whack-A-Mole!

This may be offensive to those who like moles! One down and ? to go.  Good dogs - but we would prefer to get them out of the yard WITHOUT having holes dug EVERYWHERE!

Now I know what one looks like.

And I can see how they can dig. It is amazing that something so small can be so destructive.

This Ole House . . .

5/29/1912 - 4/4/1984

This post is a bit long - skip down past the lyrics to the memories if you need to. 

This Ole House
 

This was one of my Dad's favorite songs. He used to say that was our house. Growing up in a three bedroom house with thirteen, that's 13, in the family was interesting to say the least.

Children these days often don't know what it is to share a bedroom. We shared BIG TIME!! The boys room had my four brothers in it and the girls room housed me and my SIX sisters. - the boys had it good!!

The worst part was the bathroom - the ONE bathroom! ! !

There was a small room just off the kitchen, called the breakfast room but not large enough for OUR family. Being the second child, the oldest girl, I asked if I could have it for my room. I wish I had a picture of it. I had the top of a trundle bed - we had to sit the headboard on top the baseboard to make it fit and underneath was where Mom stored all the foods she canned. There will be another blog about some of what was stored under there! I did have a chest of drawers but my closet consisted of a broom handle across the corners of the room. My "door" was terrycloth curtains hung on a rod with canning jar rings at each end holding the rod up. I didn't care, IT WAS ALL MINE! !

That house is filled with so many memories and each time we visit Mom, they come flooding back to me. They bought the house in 1956 and I know it holds many memories for Mom of Dad, who passed away in 1984.

So many more stories can be told about "this ole house".

This Old House

words and music by Stuart Hamblen also recorded by Rosemary Clooney

1. This ole house once knew my children

This ole house once knew my wife

This ole house was home and comfort

as we fought the storms of life

This ole house once rang with laughter

This ole house heard many shouts

Now she trembles in the darkness

When the lightnin' walks about

CH: Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer

Ain't a-gonna need this house no more

Ain't got time to fix the shingles

Ain't got time to fix the floor

Ain't got time to oil the hinges

Nor to mend the window pane

Ain't a-gonna need this house no longer

I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints

2. This ole house is a-gettin' shaky

This ole house is a-gettin' old

This ole house lets in the rain

This ole house lets in the cold

On my knees I'm gettin' chilly

But I feel no fear nor pain

'Cause I see an angel peekin'

Through a broken window pane

3. This ole house is afraid of thunder

This ole house is afraid of storms

This ole house just groans and trembles

When the night wind flings its arms

This old house is gettin' feeble

This ole house is needin' paint

Just like me its tuckered out

But I'm a-gettin' ready to meet the saints

4. This ole house dog lies a-sleepin'

He don't know I'm gonna leave

Else he'd wake up by the fireplace

And he'd sit there and howl and grieve

But my huntin' days are over

Ain't gonna hunt the coon no more

Gabriel done brought in my chariot

When the wind blew down the door

---------

Always keep your fond memories . . . my Daddy . . .

These memories are some I put on our family calendar about 10 years ago. They are about our Dad, who passed away in 1984 from my siblings – 6 sisters and 4 brothers, myself and the final paragraph is memories from our children of their Grandpa.

. . . always had a treat for the youngest in his pocket after a road trip.

. . . took us to work sponsored picnics and Christmas parties.

. . . walked me down the aisle at my wedding, shaking as badly as I was.

. . . took our little boys to get haircuts, when we visited.

. . . always reminded me to check the oil and tires in my car.

. . . brought chocolates and big peppermint sticks, chicken sticks and ribbon candy from the candy factory at Christmas time.

. . . loved peanut butter fudge.

. . . tanned except under his shirt

. . . loved all animals. . . Baby crows, raccoons, Cindy, the terrier mix

. . . the mischievous twinkle in his eye, especially at Christmas

. . . taking us to pick wild plums

. . . picking up potato and carrot culls

. . . catching armadillos in Sherman and taking them home

. . . being caught in a hailstorm in the ‘53 Plymouth

. . . trip to Arkansas—just the two of us in my new ‘66 Chevy—getting a Christmas tree & mistletoe from an uncle's farm

. . . the visit in Garland and trip to the JFK Memorial in downtown Dallas

. . . waiting out tornados on the highway

. . . the roast he cooked when Mom was in the hospital—brother’s comment - “It’s so hard it makes my ears hurt”

. . . helping update his logbook and making out receipts

. . . and his baseball games

. . . his favorite show—Gunsmoke, with Chester and Matt “Drill ‘em”

. . . sitting on my motorcycle

. . . Tossing the little ones up in the air with a “KBOOM”

. . . fixing the dining room floor after the washing machine leaked all over the oak boards and they all curled up.

. . . taking the boys camping and taking a New Mexico dirt road from the ranch over to a highway that eventually ended up at Mosquero, NM.

. . . taking a short cut back from Clayton one time and we ended up on a bad road in a bad thunderstorm.

. . . working on a lawnmower engine for me and filing down the ends of the rod cap to take the slack out of the connection of the piston rod to the crankshaft to keep it from knocking. He said they used that technique in working on Model T engines.

. . . keeping chickens in the garage. The flock kept getting smaller and we seemed to be eating a lot of fried chicken.

. . . taking one load of junk to the dump and coming back with a different load of somebody else's junk. Of course we helped a bit.

. . . taking one load of junk to the auction and coming back with a different load of somebody else's junk.

. . . using the end of a broomstick to seal the end of a rocker arm shaft on the '57 Ford station wagon.

. . . propping up the radio in the GMC pickup with a stick to keep it from flopping up and down.

. . . laying a broomstick against an old TV speaker to make it work for a while longer.

. . . going after a cat with bad manners with a broom.

. . . bringing home orphaned crows.

. . . bringing home orphaned raccoons.

. . . bringing home a dead Mountain Lion he hit with the truck and showing brothers how to skin it.

. . . bringing home a black and white rabbit from one of his trips, and FOR A brother who then sold it to another brother for a quarter!

. . . bringing home his "vacation savings" before we went on a trip to St. Louis and threw it up in the air in the living room.

. . . taking grandchildren on his walks to check on the "old people".

. . . taking us out to get fresh fruits and vegetables.

. . . and our vacation in “old Betsy” when it caught on fire and he and brother had to walk to Uncles’s at Conway.

. . . doing a back float at the lake.

. . . teaching me to drive.

. . . and enjoying a Sunday Dallas Cowboy football game on neighbor’s color TV.

. . . bringing home an old wire haired mutt named Rusty, who stayed with us for awhile.

. . . was always dressed in his nicely pressed gray uniform with his policeman hat, except for one time he wore a Farrah Faucett T-shirt.

. . . always seemed to make it in from work for the holidays, even if he had to drive a long load.

. . . taking Dustin for walks by the railroad tracks and coming back with treasures.

. . . stopping at Dairy Queen on vacation and getting us all banana splits.

. . . letting me shine and buff his shoes for a nickel to buy a lemon at Dixie Food Store.

. . . helped me find my first car.

. . . not getting too mad when I backed his car into a pole at King Burger and caved in the back of it.

. . . bringing home little cakes of soap from his trips

. . . one year he brought home his vacation check in $1.00 bills -$701 and scattered them all over the living room. We had to pick them all up and count them

. . . he scratched on the wall at the ranch house to make us think there were mice crawling in the walls after we had gone to bed upstairs

. . . refused to answer the phone when we got ready to leave for a vacation

. . . he brought his truck tractor home occasionally and let us kids check it out

. . . you never knew what he would bring home next—always finding things on the road and at auctions. Boxes of miscellaneous were like Christmas.

. . . came home one time with the back of the red/white GMC truck filled with apples.

. . . his short story . . . Drove a nail into the wall & that’s all

. . . he could rig just about anything to make it work (we all learned this)

. . . got a ticket for speeding and beat it because the shop mechanic said there was no way his truck would go that fast!

I remember Grandpa Joe —
I remember taking walks with my Grandpa out through the field and down along the railroad tracks. I do not remember talking a lot I remember just walking and wondering about life.

We caught a rabbit once and took it to a gas station that had a bunch of different animals. Grandpa said the rabbit would be safe there.

I also remember once Grandma made Grandpa a grilled cheese sandwich and she had smashed it so flat that Grandpa thought it was toast and asked for some jelly to go on it.

I remember a big reddish orange truck with a camper on the back but the one memory about my Grandpa was sitting in his lap watching the Chicago Cubs make a triple play. At the time I really did not understand the game but I knew it was good because Grandpa tried to stand up (with me in his lap) and almost threw me on the floor.

My Grandpa the first big loss to the family that I can remember but these memories I will Never forget.

Grandpa said “coffee makes your ears fall off”.

Grandpa said “It's bad luck for cereal to be on the sides of your bowl”.

Grandpa said “Chocolate milk comes from Brown cows.”

Only ONE more room to go!

We finished the laminate in our bedroom today. Our inspectors did a good job but were really worn out.

 We were very pleased with the way it turned out. We got everything back in and put away this afternoon.


Here is the trap door in the closet that goes under the house. DH put a rope pull on it for a handle. Worked out really nice.

Meanwhile . . .

Back in the saddle on the quilting machine again.  This year has been very busy so far but I finally got back out there for a few hours. Here is what I am working on now. I got it quilted last week -  just a loose meandering stitch, but still need to do the binding on it.

Wish I could take credit for the log cabin top but it was done by someone else and they did not like it after they finished. DD said they did not like the colors, so they GAVE it away and she rescued it for me!! Such a nice daughter! That is a LOT of work to give away.

 I have a bunch more I need to do but little by little I will get them done.  Here are some pictures (with some closeups) of those out in my quilting room waiting to be done.

And I still have a stack in my sewing room closet to do! Will have to do some in between getting the laminate flooring done in the other two bedrooms.

I LOVE LAMINATE FLOORING. . .

. . . when it's finished! LOL We started early this morning cleaning out our bedroom and worked on it all day. First we put down quarter inch plywood, then started the laminate from the doorway to the hall for a nice smooth entryway without a transition strip. 

 

 

 We had to pass inspections constantly through the day - Daisy and Darlin' had to give their stamp of approval by getting petted VERY frequently. Even with the air stapler and compressor and hammer going, they stayed with us most of the day. 

 

 

 

 We only got a little way into the room and it was time to do the closet. I get to do all the layouts, measuring, etc. so if It is wrong, I did it! My DH is good at correcting my mis-measurements. I told him he could FIRE the help but he did not go for that.



 It is difficult putting laminate in a closet that has an acess way under the house- we are on pier and beam. Got it all done in there except putting the laminate on the access panel door but will get to it tomorrow. I think it must be easier to put it down on a slab, where the floor doesn't bounce!! Yes, we need to do some work under the house too. 


 

  

Since we didn't get as much done as we wanted today, all our bedroom furnishings are in and piled on the guest room bed, so THIS is where we are sleeping tonight! ( if this blog doesn't get posted in the morning, you will know I couldn't get up off the floor). I am tellin' you we are too old to keep remodeling houses!! One more room after this one. . One more room . . One more room . .

 

More Flooring

Guess what we are doing today- time to do the master bedroom. Hope it all goes fast.

Chihuahua Playing Whack-A-Mole!

Not really - she has not caught it yet but it is not for lack of trying. Anyone know how to rid my yard of the pests?

I Felt a Blog Comin' On!

I don't like to cook a lot, especially when it is hot so I try to get it all done a one time. I have a fair sized kitchen and really know how to mess it up! No one has any room when I cook 'cause I take up ALL the counter space. So after my DH made his homemade yogurt and went out to do yard work, I went to work.

We invited our minister and his lovely wife to dinner the next night so first I made dessert. It is a recipe I have used many times before but has been awhile since I made it. It is a modified Weight Watcher cheesecake recipe. I noticed my blender did not sound quite right and must have had a "senior moment" when I put it together. I put the gasket on the OUTSIDE so it not only leaked a tiny bit but did not fit all the way down in the slots. It still blended up OK though.

 

I had enough chicken for four chicken pot pies- a favorite of mine and DH's but I only made three so the fourth would be fresh out of the oven for our dinner guests. It was hot in my kitchen and my dough was drying out so I had to get busy and finish.

 

 DH finished the yard and had just stepped in the shower when the doorbell rang. Picture this: me with no makeup, not even sure I had combed my hair, wearing shorts & tank top (I NEVER wear these clothes in public), flour on me and pie crust dough on my hands. I felt sure this would be enough to scare off a pesky salesman. Opening the door - there stood our minister. He is always so neatly dressed and here I was feeling like what our Bulgarian daughter-in-law calls a "villager" - a "DEEP VILLAGER"!

 So glad he was just here to drop off lessons. I am afraid if he saw the mess my kitchen was in, they might have had an "emergency" come up at the last minute and have to cancel dinner plans. LOL

We got all the pies separated into individual portions and put into the freezer so they are ready to zap in the microwave for meals.

And the kitchen looks so much better now!

 

PS. I made the other chicken pie today and DH made a delicious Greek cucumber dip for our meal. We just enjoyed a very nice meal and visit with our minister and his lovely wife. 

Thank you God for this great time to share together. We hope we can do it again soon.

Disappearing restaurant had been found!

We had a favorite restaurant in Azle, called Benny's Pizza but it was not long after we found it, that it was advertised for sale, then gone. New place went in and we went one time. Food was OK but prices a bit more than our budget liked. However, we did find out the previous tenants opened up in Mansfield.

I scoured the Internet looking for Benny's there, but had no luck. I had pretty well given up but as I was cleaning out my desk drawer, I found the business card with the owners name. I searched for it and Villa Italiana restaurant came up in Mansfield. It is a pretty good drive from Azle so we can't go often - probably a good thing as good as their food is! LOL Our favorite is the white pizza. 

 

We took a drive over there and I was welcomed with a big hug and DH a welcome handshake by the owner. They had to move the business because it was not in a good location and not doing well in Azle. He, his wife and two of their children were making the drive twice a day, making expenses very high.

We miss them here but are glad they are doing well there. He is originally from Macedonia and his wife from Yugoslavia but have been in Texas for many years. We visited with them for quite awhile and she looked at pictures of our youngest granddaughter. They had met her in Azle and visited with our daughter- in- law, whose Bulgarian language was similar to her Yugoslavian. They are very nice people and great cooks!

They allowed me to take some pictures of them. If you are ever in that area and want a great meal at a reasonable price, be sure to stop by there. To see a copy of their menu check out their facebook page at Villa Italiana.

Villa Italiana

226 North Walnut Creek Dr

Mansfield, TX 76063

817-225-6102

Mother's Day was great!

I had a great Mother's Day! First thing DH played some of my favorite songs while I drank my morning coffee. Our DD and three grandchildren came over went to church with us, had lunch with us and spent several hours visiting. 

 

 Those grandkids - they grow so fast and tower over their Mom!

I received Mother's Day greetings from a sweet daughter-(in-law), both sons, Mom and sisters and a bunch of other family members as well as our church friends.

I already posted about the orchid I got from one son. My DD brought me one of her hand made sock critters and a thimble for my collection.  I still have not come up with a name for her. DD is always on the lookout for new thimbles to add to my collection and had added quite a few as well as one of the display cases.

He is sooo cute and needs a name - appropriate for Mother's Day.

 DH took me out for a surprise dinner - that will be another post - Benny's.