The story...AS I HEARD IT.

I have been home now for just over a week from a road trip through memories.  A reunion was held in San Jose, CA for the remaining members of THE CRUSADERS.   The Crusaders was the name of the  young married Sunday school class my late husband taught when we were all young marrieds.  I say remaining because three of that class has gone on to be with the Lord.  I spent the day after the reunion with a long time friend (boy friend in high school) and next went to Ceres, CA to spend a few days with a brother and his wife.  After that, I drove down to Redlands, CA to spend almost a week with a cousin and aunt who live there and a cousin from Fayetteville, AR (can't remember if that has two t's or one).  The cousin from AR is working on her Bucket List.  She wanted to put her feet in the ocean and head in the clouds on a mountain.  With each of those people, memories begin to fly, laughter was rampant AND EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US HAD A DIFFERENT STORY ABOUT THE VERY SAME EVENT!   

I am going to tell you a story I heard in Redlands that is supposed to be true.  Keep in mind the cap's of the last paragraph.

When I was growing up my family spent a lot of time with relatives and 'shirt tail' relatives.  I think shirt tail relatives are relatives of relatives.  One of those shirt tail relatives was Faye. (or Fay?)  She was the wife of my cousins uncle.  She was supposed to have made a notable pumpkin pie.  Her granddaughter who went to a culinary institute started playing with Grandma Fay/Faye's pumpkin pie recipe and made a muffin from it.  Now, here is where my memory is muddy and undependable.  I think she made the muffins and took them to an event (child's school?) can't remember that part.  Someone from Costco was there at the event and wanted to buy the muffin recipe.  The developer of the recipe refused to sell it because the recipe would no longer be her's to share so she wouldn't sell it.  Later, at another unknown event, someone from Starbucks sampled the recipe and ask to buy it.  Lawyers would be involved.  The young lady again refused to sell.  Grandma Fay/Faye's Pumpkin Pie recipe, legally not to be able to share the recipe with anyone, no thanks.  The Starbucks rep said, "I am going to write a figure on this piece of paper and you think about it".  (Right out of movie or TV, right?)  When he wrote the figure on the paper and slid it to her she is supposed to have said, "Where is the lawyer?)  TWO AND ONE HALF MILLION DOLLARS!!!!  Remember the cap's in the first paragraph!


That is the story and I am sticking to it.  It is written in the way I heard it and as I remember.  I am assuming it is all true because my cousin would not lie to me about her muffin cousin.  No matter, I couldn't wait until I could get to Starbucks and try that PUMPKIN CUPCAKE.  I have no way of knowing if it is worth 2 1/2 million dollars to Starbucks but I sure did enjoy it.  Get yourself to a Starbucks while it is still pumpkin season and try one yourself.

Higher Ground

I'm pressing on the upward way
New heights I'm gaining every day
Still praying as I'm onward bound
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

Why the words to that old song?  They are going through my head this a.m. because of my cat.  Yep,  Because of my cat.  She has found a new interest and a way to get to the highest points in my house.  Not good.  I have a very large collection of old Roseville Pottery (early 1900's)  and the pottery is sitting on all the highest points in my house.  I am making it unpleasant for her to get up there.  I have a roll of frosted sticky plastic that I have had for many years.  Cats do not like to get their feet on/in sticky places.  The first high place now has a sheet of that, sticky side up and I don't believe she will get up there too many times now.  It is also a step to the highest place where the largest pieces of Roseville sit.   Of course I am not putting the pottery up there for a while until she finds the sticky stuff So...that is why I am singing this old song.

I remember singing this song, sitting on my grand fathers lap, my mom playing the piano.  Grandpa always had a toothpick in his mouth.  He pointed to the words in the hymn book with the tooth pick so I would not lose the place in the song.

Higher ground......................until next time.

Didn't It Rain...

I can hear the melody in my head...DIDN'T IT RAIN CHILDREN? RAIN ALL THE TIME.  Old quartet song.  I often hear an old song in my head related to conversation, events, sights.  The curse (to others) and just who I am.  I have been involved in music from the very beginning.

Rain?  Oh boy.  We had an all time 'gully washer' in our aria last night.  I was at church when it hit.  I live 11 miles away from church and out in the desert.  My daughter called and said, "If you are coming home you had better come now".  I didn't catch the call.  I don't have a clue what she meant when she said, "If you are coming home...".  At any rate, the lights went out in Georgia...oops, no that is another song.  The lights went out at church and it didn't even slow us down.  We finished the song/praise service, the preacher can do what he does in any  situation (I am convinced) and the service went on.  I told my preacher's wife that I sure hoped I could get home.  I took my storm/walking shoes out of the trunk at church just in case I had to have them to walk home.  By the time I headed home, the washes had washed (water had already run off) and I made it home with no event.  Just skirted the deep water places in my dirt washboard road and made it home.  As soon as I got home, I received a call from my son.  He and his new lady had made a very lovely pasta dish with seafood and I was invited over to share.  In the car again, .3 of a mile to his house.  Very tasty and welcome dish.  Even better company.  He followed his lady as she drove to where the pavement started to see that she made it OK.  Exciting night.  Several limbs down.  Hole punched in one of my window screens.  I failed to roll up the outside sun shades because I didn't believe the storm would reach us.  We often do not get the rain when others do.  Grandson and son-in-love came over in the storm and rolled up the shades before a window got punched out.  I love living close to my family who loves me.


That's my story and I'm sticking to it.             That's all folks, until another event.  Now, on to my sewing room.

Florida 2010

Bob (son-in-law) and son Boyd.Kala and Spencer (oldest grandchildrenAll of us the night before we all headed for homeSpencer, almost 20 y/oKala, Sam and LilyMy home town boy, MikeMy little Tigar LilyGlamorous KalaNot so glamorous meMe and my next door neighbor daughter BeckyKala and lilyThe ol' lady that keeps showing up Lily and Sam 

The two pictures you see here is what happens on vacation sometimes.  The flower you see is on Kala's side.  It is a tattoo she designed.  It is permanent!!!! and Spencer's is a Latin phrase and I can't remember what it means.  Must mean a lot to these two kids because this particular vacation will ALWAYS be remembered.

Good thoughts

A few weeks ago I visited my family in Redlands, CA for a 90th birthday celebration of an aunt.  (See pictures a few blogs back)  While there, I went to church with my aunt, cousin and brother.  Lowell Linden, the senior pastor at that church writes 'daily readings' for the newspaper and has made a book from those little entries.  I was gifted with a book while there and have been enjoying reading it.  The following is one that especially impacted me.


Teddy Roosefelt said once in a speech that it was better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs and even to endure some failures than to be one of those poor spirits who never taste the victory or suffer defeat because they live in a gray twilight zone of no-risk safety.  Life is a risk.  Sometimes we forget that.  When we weep, we risk being seen as sentimental.  When we laugh, we risk being seen as a fool.  When we reach out towards another human being, we risk involvement.  When we love, we risk not being loved in return.  

But the greatest risk in all of human history was the risk God took when He sent His Son into the world.  God loved the world enough to send His Son and give His life upon the cross for our sins.  That was the greatest risk in all eternity.

Pictures later

It really goes against my grain to be dependent on someone else but that is the way it is these days sometimes.  Must get someone to help me download my pictures from vacation.  I do have a few that I have stolen from my granddaughter's bunch.  Thank you Kala. 

My family all went to West Palm Beach, FL for a week.  Seven from TN (a grandson's friend included) and six from AZ.  BB couldn't join us.  He has a new job that started about the week we all left here so he had to stay home.  So sad for that ol' beach, surfer, hippy fellow.  I KNOW he hated not being there, especially when he started seeing the beach pictures.  I did bring him home some seaweed, sand and seashells in a water bottle.  Isn't that sweet of me?  NOT!

Thirteen people and all thirteen of us were only in the same place twice but that was OK.  Almost everyone had their own interest and went their own way every day.  It was a great vacation for everyone I believe. .

These are pictures taken by Kala.  The first one is Kala, Sam and Lily,  all brothers and sisters.  The second is of Spence, Kala's little bro.  6'6" !!!  The last is Kala and yours truly,Oh my, sometimes I kinda wish for the face of years ago.  I did get a free dermabrasion.  It is amazing what a full day in the FL sun will do to the skin and then another day under an umbrella in the wind...all day.  I have left part of me from FL to here.  Just wish I could left some of my hips instead of what I did leave. 

50th birthday party

My son is a fan of the 'Greatful Dead' jam band.  He probably has all the concerts he can get legally from the internet on CD's.  He has had very longtime friends, Jason and Robin.  Robin is a party giver extroidinier ( know, the spelling is not correct but I can't find the correct spelling for that word)  They decided they would give my son the party of party's.  Of course the whole theme was 'Grateful Dead'  Those that could remember wore tie died shirts (I of course didn't remember) and the whole theme was of GD.  The picture above is Jason and Robin.  The picture underneath this narrative is BB hanging lights.The picture right below is cupcakes baked by Robin herself.  Probably the best cupcakes I have ever eaten.  To the right is the honored guest himself.  My 50 y/o son.Bob, son-in law with his head cut off.  Below is Bob with a giant cheese curl in his mouth.

Master BBQ'er is BB.Coasters are throwaway CD's made by BB1#son enjoying some of the food.  We had enough to feed a church potluck    there was a Pinata filled with candy in the shape of a skull (Part of the logo of 'Grateful Dead.  AZ grandson can't wait to break the pinata.I cannot get this new format correct.  I guess you will just have to look at the pictures and imagine the good time we had.

90th birthday celebration

Last weekend I attended the 90th birthday party of my aunt.  She is one of two  still living of the six children my dad's parents had.  What a wonderful celebration!  My cousin Mary is an excellent party giver and hostess.  I have not had  frequent contact with these people in many years but I am planning on making up for that in the future.  Wonderful people all.  I am so blessed to have a family that loves me and loves each other.  My aunt is such an upbeat person.  Her most used phrase is:  "I can do that" and  refusing most help.  I love the "I can do that" attitude.  When I grow up I want to be just like her. 

For the life of me I can't figure out the new setup on the blog.  I will just show you a few pictures and give up trying to set it up the way I want it to be.  At any rate, it was all lovely.  The celebration was held in an old and beautiful Victorian  house which is located on the grounds where my aunt and cousin live in Redlands, CA.  The weather never got much above 90 degrees.  We had to go into the house one evening because it was getting too chilly to sit outside.  A very nice break from my desert weather. 

A Father's Day tribute

Many years ago, 15-16 years perhaps, our youngest daughter arranged with the church office of the church my husband and I were attending,( totally unbeknownst  to either of us) to put an extra page in the bulletin with a tribute to her dad.  Here it is:


THERE ARE NOT MANY MEN LIKE MY DAD.  WHEN I WAS GROWING UP HE WORKED HARD AND CONSTANTLY, BUT HE WAS ALWAYS HOME BY DINNERTIME.  CHILDREN NEED CONSISTENCY AND HE MADE UP 50% OF OURS.  HE WAS ALWAYS UP BY FIVE A.M.  (PROBABLY A HABIT LEFT OVER FROM HIS FIRST ALMOST TWO DECADES ON THE FARM).  ON SUNDAY MORNING YOU NEVER HAD TO LOOK FOR HIM.  YOU COULD ALWAYS HEAR THE TENOR FROM VARIOUS CHRISTIAN QUARTETS KEEPING HIM COMPANY AS HE SAT PREPARING FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL WITH HIS BIBLE, HIS PAD OF PAPER AND HIS GOLD PEN. 

WE ALL LAUGH BECAUSE HE'LL WATCH ANY SPORT BROADCAST.  (I'VE EVEN SEEN HIM WATCH FISHING!!)  BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT HIS HIGH SCHOOL YEAR BOOKS YOU UNDERSTAND WHY.  HE WAS IN EVERY SPORT OR CLUB HIS SCHOOL HAD TO OFFER (BESIDES CHEERLEADING) AND HE HAS A SMILE ON HIS FACE IN EACH PICTURE.  HOWEVER SINCE A FOOTBALL KNEE INJURY HE ONLY PARTICIPATED IN TWO SPORTS;  GOLF AND GARAGE SALE-ING.  HE WAS EVEN SUCCESSFUL WHEN CHOOSING A WIFE.  HOW DID HE KNOW SHE'D BE SUCH A GREAT MOM?  MARRIAGE CAN BE HARD AT TIMES, BUT IF THEY EVER HAD A PROBLEM...WE NEVER KNEW IT.  WHAT A TEAM THEY MAKE!  MY DAD WAS NEVER WHAT YOU COULD CALL A 'KID PERSON', BUT WE KNEW INSIDE THAT SERIOUS EXTERIOR WAS A TNEDER HEART...ONE THAT LOVED US.

DAD, THANK YOU FOR FAITHFULLY TAKING US TO CHURCH AND FOR SERVING THE LORD.  THANK YOU FOR PLAYING BATTLESHIP, PLAYING CATCH AND WORKING SO HARD FOR YOUR FAMILY.

NO, THERE ARE NOT MANY MEN LIKE MY DAD...KEN PRATT. 

P.S. HAPPY FATHER'S DAD.    DAD, DO I STILL HAVE TO BUY YOU A CART?
                                                                     LOVE, BETH.


Memories.  Good ones.  Often found between the pages of Bibles.  My husband has been with the Lord for over 10 years now.  Memories are good.

ME day

Today turned out to be a ME day.  I am not sure I deserve a ME day but I took one.  The whole (almost) of last week I spent doing things for others.  Not noble.  Not to be lauded.  Just did things for others that needed to be done...by me.  When I said (almost) it was because the first thing I did last week was to finish crocheting a shawl, perhaps for myself, that I started about a year ago.  It is made from heavy crochet thread.  It was fun to do.  The rest of the week I spent finishing a trunk for BB's motorcycle, making MC a case for MC's new iPad, making a dress for my sis-in-love (Karen, I am going to have to modify it, it almost reaches the floor on ME) patching yet another pair of jeans for grand kids.  I didn't cook much, hardly at all last week.  After #1 son's birthday party, there was enough food left over so that when ever I got hungry I went to his house and said, "Feed me"  That was nice.  So today...a Me day.  I took someone to the airport, took my Baby Lock Surger sewing machine for yet another repair and ended up trading it in on a new one.  Score one for ME.  I have had that machine for many years and several repairs, the most recent one costing over $100 so...it is GONE.  The next reward was lunch @ Macaroni Grill and then on to Cold Stone Creamery.  I think a nap is in order for more of my ME day.

Till next time............stay well and keep on keeping on.....................Connie