No Hat Rule

So I went to a high school

basketball game last week.

Actually it was post season

tournament play for Illinois.

I was taking pictures 

of the son of one

of my best friends.

Notice the two hats in front of me.

About half time,

an official from the host school

came to both of these gentlemen

asking them to remove their hats.

You should have seen their faces.

I imagined they were probably saying,

"you want me to...... what?"

"remove my HAT?"

"Yes!" 

"We have a No Hat Policy here."

She then proceeded to approach

each individual in the stands

with hats,

asking them to remove 

their hats.

The lady in blue made the comment:

"I can't believe they are asking 

all of these farmers to remove 

their hats."

  I couldn't agree more.

All is Good

Let me tell you straight up,  

 this poor blog has been neglected.

You see, people have left random comments,

and I didn't see them.  

Some worried about me,

 

Some have seen me on Pinterest
and know I'm still alive.

Yes, here I am on a weekend trip to Pensacola
Alive indeed!

Why was I not notified of new comments?

I must have something "turned off".

I'm afraid at 56 years old that I have become one of those "older people"



where technology is now going over my head

Are they starting to talk behind my back?

Are they saying, "when is she going to retire?"

I hope NOT.

But sometimes I do feel LOST.

I will try to do better.

After all, I love showing all of these cute faces.

So those worried about me in blogland,

Don't worry.  All is good.

Decoration Day.....er, Memorial Day

Decoration Day

or Memorial Day as it is now called

brings back many memories of my childhood.

It is the weekend I would go to the cemeteries with my mother

and remember those that have gone before us.

Calvary Cemetery, Sterling, IL 2013

I don't think I was always so agreeable to go,

but now I'm so grateful for this memory.

Riverside Cemetery, Sterling, IL 2013

My mother's parents are buried in Durand, IL

which is about 30 minutes or so, from our family farm.

My two uncles and wives would sometimes go with us

and with red geraniums, soap and water, and garden tools in hand,

we took off  heading north. 

I would hear stories about how they used to have

picnics in the cemetery.

It was a family affair.

(Yes, really!)

I had the good fortune of knowing my grandfather,

but my grandmother died young.

They are buried in the family plot with her parents,

Philo Hanford, a Civil War veteran.

My mom on the left with her grandfather, Philo Hanford.

Mom and her brothers would also speak of a baby sister,

that was the first born of my grandparents.

No one knew her name nor did she have a marker.

Well, with more and more records going on line,

I found her name in the Winnebago County records last year.

*Fayola Parker*

Hanford family plot, Durand, IL 2012

I flagged where she is buried and 

plan on buying a marker for my Aunt Fayola.

**** 

My paternal grandparents, parents

and sister-in-law

are buried just up the road,

maybe a quarter of a mile from the family farm.

Mom worried.

Who would take care of the graves

after she is gone?

Brauer family plot, Winnebago Cemetery, May, 2013

Don't worry mom.

You taught us all well.

I even brought soap and water 

to wash down the markers.

***

Happy Decoration Day

(and) Memorial Day to everyone.

Spring has arrived, and so have I.

Gosh, it has been so long since I have been on here, I almost forgot how to "compose".

I have missed it.

And I have missed all of you.

Today was the Open House at Distinctive Gardens in Dixon, IL.

Gosh, I just love this place.  

The creative owners provide a perfect venue for local artists.

Check out this painted car hood.

This one is not for sale............

but this one below is.

I'm not sure what I would do with it,

but think it is so cool.

Lots of goodies inside too.

This container above used to be an iris bulb box, now recycled for potted flowers or herbs......

and this is a cola box......which I'm sure I have seen on Pinterest.

and a customer brought this old baby buggy in to be "planted".

This is going to be gorgeous once it starts growing.

Definitely one of my favorite places to "visit" several times during the season.  

And today they had a jazz band playing in the background.

A very calming day.

A day to smile and be grateful.

I promise not to be gone so long next time.

And I will also let you know what has been happening this past year.

But for now, this sign tells me to eat or get out.  

I'm going up the street to Arthur's Deli for a bite to eat.

Later, people.

Schwan's

Happy Easter ALL

My niece Katie and I left Saturday afternoon to go to my brother's house in Missouri.

On my last trip, my sister-in-law said she could kick herself for not keeping one of these babies around. 
Does anyone remember these?

Back in the day, Schwan's used to use these 2-1/2 gallon tins to sell their ice cream.

In fact, they only distributed their ice cream out in the country.

On the farm, my mom would get one of these tins every two weeks.

(Yes, we ate that much!)

We didn't even have to be home.

The ice cream man would stop, automatically put one of these in our chest freezers in the basement, and catch up with us later for the money.

Those were the days when nothing was locked, not even our house.

Can you believe it?

Mom used to use these cans to fill up her famous peanut brittle at Christmas time, which WAS THE BEST!

I wonder if all the people that were fortunate to receive her care packages knew she kept all of her peanut brittle in these great tin cans.

I found a couple good looking ones with lids still at the farm so I thought I would surprise my sister-in-law.

Of course, you can't go empty handed so I started making ginger snaps, an old family favorite.

Mom had a couple of recipes with different variations but I made the one most of my relatives like best.

You can see I am using my Kitchen Aid mixer here, but I think I prefer my old Mixmaster mixer better.

Yes, I said that!

Does that make me a bad person?

I almost hesitate to say that out load.  No one speaks bad about the Kitchen Aid OR that they prefer something else over the Kitchen Aid.  No one wants to admit they spent too much money on the Kitchen Aid but I for one think they are overrated.    Just saying ...........

I lined the can with wax paper and after two batches of cookies, still did not fill the can up.

BUT my sister-in-law was thrilled to get it, and she couldn't wait for the cookies to be gone so she could properly display it on one of her top cupboards.  (Guess two batches were enough.)

Here is the recipe.  Since my husband only got 1 cookie before he left, I think I better make a batch for tonight.

3/4 c. shortening (I use Crisco)
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. light molasses
1 egg
2 c. flour
1/4 teas. salt
2 teas. soda
1 teas. cinnamon
1 teas. cloves
1 teas. ginger

Cream shortening & sugar; add molasses and egg; beat well.  Add dry ingredients, mix well.  Roll in small balls, dip into sugar.  Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.  My oven heats hot so I don't keep them in any longer than 10 minutes.  We like them softer and just barely baked.

Have a great week!

Linking up with Show Off Your Cottage Monday

Romancing the Plaid

It all started with a few presents

My husband, (yes I know this is Kenny)

gave me this beautiful birdhouse to confess his love for me.

In return, I gave him this beautiful

Sweet, eh?

We chose a night out on the town in this attire.

When we came home, we fought over who was going to wear these

(so comfortable)

The next day we planned a family day at the beach

And our little rugrat wore this

You know the price of gas is outrageous, so we decided to conserve

and rode this.

It was a great couple of days!

And we lived happily ever after

romancing the plaid

Most pictures from Pinterest

because I don't own plaid.

Seriously!

But I wanted to fit in

and party with 

all the "mad plaiders"

during the Tartan Parade

so I made this all up.

Seriously!

Please don't be mad at me.

I just wanted to fit in.

To see SERIOUS plaid

check out all the entries,

and I mean REAL ENTRIES

at 

Favorites on the First

Tartan Parade

 If I did own plaid, my first piece would be this.  

I believe it is from Old Navy.

Have a holy HOLY week!