I once read in Ann Landers, "Hatred is like acid, it destroys the vessal in which is is stored as well as the object on which it is poured". I've been thinking alot about how we eat ourselves up with anger or unforgiveness cause someone hurt us years ago. In my 59 years, GOD has shone me through many differant people that hanging on too hurts will only cause me to suffer and rob me of the joy that GOD wants to give me in my life.. I'm reading a book by Joyce Myers called "NEVER GIVE UP". I am not one to underline in a book but every page has something that hit me, that was so important I just want to go back and hit up the highlights again.
I've always been one to "Give Up" if the going gets to rough, but I find myself learning to lean on Jesus and trust that He will protect me through my trials. Joyce said that when we encounter tests and trials, if we will embrace them and refuse to run from them, we will learn some lessons that will help us in the future and become stronger. pg 142. I like her attitude that when someone hurts us, just give it over to GOD, get over it and Go on. Wow , how easy would that be? No I'm not preaching, I'm just thinking of real life things that can get you down and rob you of your joy ,if you don't stop them before they grow. "Learn to let Go and let GOD"take you through anything that comes your way. Have a great day and see ya later.

It's funny how certain smells or sounds can bring back memories from long ago. When I was around 7 we lived in Louisiana and I would sometimes go spend time at my gramma and grampa,' Grampa worked on some kind of construction sight and gramma and I would take him a plate of hot food wrapped up in foil and visit with him while he ate. It would be summer and there are times when I get in my car and can feel the same type of heat that was there when we would ride to the job-site. Of course in the 50's there was no air-conditioner in the car but it didn't seem like you knew any differance. Then after we visited gramma and I would drive back to the house and have our lunch.

When we'd go to my mom's aunt Dora's house in Mississppi, I believe, They had a screened porch with a bed on it because it would get hot and sometimes we'd sleep out where we could get some air. There was a separate room where the cooking was done and and a long table where the farm hands ate. When they got done then the rest of us would eat. There was alot of good times around the table. mostly grown-ups talking cause that was back when children should be seen and not heard, unless they were spoken to. I think those times when the family ate together were the best. not like today where no body comes to the table anymore unless it's Thanksgiving or something special. When my kids were small that's how we found out what was going on in school and how life was going. Oh yeah I forgot to mention, we always had one tv. and everybody sat around it and watched the same program. (My daughter remembers being the remote control before they invented them.)haha. But today, everyone has their own tv in their room and there is very little family time. It's sad, because this generation doesn't have those kind of memories.
Our pastor friend Leon Chambers use to say we were building memories with the things we did in our lives. What kind of memories are being built today. Last week my grandaughter Stpehanie that never gets up early called me at 7:30 am and I said "what are you doing up so early."? She said"gramma we were just at your house a few days before and everyone always gets up early at your house" Plus she was wrapped up in her blanket drinking coffee and listening to it rain. NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, BUILDING MEMORIES, HAHA
I hope if I leave my grandkids any thing it is to dream and build memories for their kids and love GOD. Well that 's all for now. see ya later aligator, after while crocodile.

Wow, what a week it has been. My grandson Matt and his beautiful wife Sarah came from their wedding the 3rd of Oct in conneticut, and joined us for his mom's wedding here at the ranch on the 10th. Everything went great. The weather was perfect since it was an outdoor affair. We ended up with 12 people and 9 dogs in our house for two days. That was interesting. Some of the wedding party was sick with flu and was happy to spread it around.

The wedding was in Rosalies and Lees front yard and the guests were taken there in a hay wagon driven buy my husband Vern. Then he went back and got the bride and her entourage and brought them back in the wagon. It was then that I noticed that the bride and her maids of honor,(her daughters) were barefoot. That was differant. I thought it was cause somebody forgot their shoes and the others didn't want to embarress them but that was in the plan.

Then after the "I do"s", The happy couple rode off into the sunset in Verns mule, flowing with streamers and cans. The guests were then taken by hay wagon back to the theatre where we had the reception. It was beautiful. Okie but beautiful. Oh, yeah, did I mention that Roy, (the groom) is an okie? That's why we love him cause he's just down home folks and they don't get no better then that.

Roys' daughter's out did themselves with the food prep and decorations. Kathy kept saying everything was bought at the $1.00 tree. It was true but ,everything was great. It was amazing how elegant everything looked.

So my grandson and wife are gone back to Italy, Kathy and Roy are starting their life as The Terry's, two days after the wedding we had a big storm that blew branches and had lots of rain. And I have had a cold for 4 days. But now life will go back to normal and GOD is good.

We have to give Thanks for the little things that come to us in life so we can enjoy everything, the good with the bad. The sunshine and the rain. God Bless.

Good morning, did I mention my total fear of spiders and snakes? Well Gabbs is in the desert so what do you think that means? Yep, lots of them. GOD knew that I wouldn't survive so I guess He kept them pretty well out of my sight. Except once a year in the early fall when it started getting cold we would be going into town and up ahead you saw this solid black mass crossing the pavement. The tarantulas were coming down from the hills to the valley and as you ran over them there were hundreds of crunches. I'd be screaming for everyone to put their windows up. All I could picture was them flipping into the car from the tires. Vivid imagination huh? I use to think that was the worse thing I've ever seen till someone told me to look up "camel spiders" on the internet. There is no way I'd be going to Iraq. Look it up. You wouldn't go either.
I use to think that GOD should have allowed us to talk to the animals so we could explain to them that we won't hurt them if they don't hurt us, but it seems HE did that once in the garden of Eden and that didn't work out to well. We have rattle snakes were we live and believe me when I go for a walk I keep my eyes open. Vern and I were watching a show on animal planet the other night and this guy in Phonex Arizonia goes out and watches for rattles to save them from being run over by cars when they try to lay on the warm pavement. How nuts is that???? Just let nature take it's coarse I say.
My husband is afraid of bees and I'm not, so I save him from his bees and he saves me from my spiders. Pretty good arrangement ?

Then on top of being afraid of spiders we drive up in front of the school in Gabbs to enroll the kids and there painted on the side of the school is a gigantic tarantula. (The school mascot).
CUTE!!!!!!.
In Gabbs there were two stores, not great, one was filthy . I went in there one day to get a box of Grits and after going through 5 boxes with weavils I wasn't in the mood any more. Plus they had a german shepard who thought the bottom rows needed to be waterd regularly,(I kid you not), so you only had one you could go to. It was like a little mom and pop store. Twice a month you drove 80 miles into Fallon to Safeway. 20 miles of that was dirt road if you went over the mountain instead around through Gabbs. There were two bars and 4 churches. one Assembly of GOD, one Morman, one community and a Catholic Priest came in once a month. There was also no full time doctor. One flew in once a week.

Gabbs is where we met some livelong friends, the Chambers, Leon, Sany, Lavonne and David. He was our pastor. Betty ,Orville, and Billy Bird. After we moved to Redding Ca. They all ended up here also and we went to the same church for years in Palo Cedro. We were known as the Gabbites. haha. Leon has since gone on to be with the Lord. more about him later.

How did we surive living in a place like that you say??? We loved it. But our boss wasn't able to pay us very often so we had to leave. Next Stop Redding California and Rosa-Lou ranch.

I 'm home from church and it was great. So back to Gabbs. We had a Green Ford Pinto that we put many miles on taking the kids back and forth to town for school. Remember, 14 miles of dirt road and 15 miles of pavement one way. You wouldn't think there was anything to see in the desert but you'd be wrong. There were wild mustangs grazing or running and coyotes coming out of the alfalfa field in the morning after a night of feasting on rabbits. Once we saw a little furry thing going down in the ditch and us stupid city slickers though that it was a bear cub. and stopped the car and got out to chase it. Come to find out it was a badger and they are not the nicest of animals. Plus what would have happened if it had been a bear cub? where would the mom have been.? Duh!! that's why I said we were stupid. Just didn't think.

We had a diesel generator and couldn't afford to run it all the time so most of the time there was no electricity. At night the kids would do their homework by kerosene light until they talked their dad into turning the generator on for a while. We ran it mainly to draw water, adn do laundry and showers then it went off again.
Our Pastor friend gave the girls little ponies and Mike a green broke Mustang. He road that thing way out into the desert and loved it. The bad thing was when we left we had to leave them behind. Kathy learned from our friend how to put the saddle on her pony and I thought it was too tight so I told her to loosen it. She said it had to be that way and when she wasn't looking I loosened it. well she got on and took off and that saddle started falling sideways. she was screaming and I was laughing so hard I couldn't move to help her. Of course she didn't think it was funny. Thank GOD she didn't get hurt but it was a memory worth keeping.

This was in the 80's but when you saw the ranchers out herding their cows it was just like something out of a western. Mc Kays were our neighbors, 14 miles away and wonderful people. She was Morman and he was Catholic and they had a baby every year. She'd be pregnant while carrying one in a papose on her back while herding cows. But these people were wonderful people. The kids were on horses before they could walk. They would come to our church and fill a pew and never a peep out of them. Good natured and happy all of them. Why can't the world be like that? They had no electricity either, and she not only made her own bread but ground the wheat her self from 100 pound sacks.

The ranchers and the farmers there worked with each other. One farmer would have a piece of equiptment and another would have another. they helped each other. Come branding time the different ranchers got together and helped each other. (Do onto others as you would have them do unto you.) Sounds like the golden rule to me. But life there was simple and taught us a lot.

More tomorrow. bye for now.

This morning I actually had to turn the heater on for the first time this year. 64 is a little too chilly in the house. The thing is next Saturday when Kat gets married we thought some of the guests would want to sleep in tents . So we're praying for nice weather .
We never went camping when I was a kid but after our kids were born Vern and I went a couple of times in a tent then got a camper. Rouging it for a weekend was fun and helped you get away from phones and tvs and neighbors. Gave you time to spend uninterupted time with your family. Now you can't do that cause everyone has cell-phones and small tvs. So what is the purpose of camping today.
We actually went on a 2 year camping trip (so to speak) when Sharon was 4 , Kathy was 12, and Mike was 14. We lived in Turlock CA. and Vern was doing construction work but the economy wasn't great . A friend of his offered him a job on a ranch in Nevada. So he thought he'd try it. One weekend the kids and I got in the car and went to see what it was like. FORGET IT! No way was I gonna live in the desert 14 miles from the nearest neighbor on dirt road. Then 15 more miles to a little town of 750, Gabbs. NO WAY, NO WAY! Well as it were we went back to Turlock and the next day found out that our landlord had to sell the house we were in. SOOOOOO that door was closed and the door to Nevada was opened giving us no choice. I went dragging my feet and believe me not real happy. It reminded me of Green Acres. (goodbye city life, green acres we are here).....
The kids loved it, It was an old ranch site in the middle of a valley, (Gabbs Valley Ranch) and you could see for miles all around us. We had a 100 watt lightbulb on the porch that could be seen on the highway 14 miles away. The sky was so blue it hurt your eyes. More stars at night then I'd ever seen. Three days after we got there and unpacked we had a wall of dirt that came across the desert and I just knew we'd be blown to OZ. The girls and I were in the trailer and vern was in the field in a case tractor, Mike was in the barn. When the storm passed our cab-over camper had blown across the yard like a piece of paper. and we had 3 inches of dirt in the trailer to which we had to start all over again with cleaning. And it never happened again while we were there! Some welcome huh? Lots of adventures and spiritual growing happened there. But for now I gotta go get ready for church. Have a great day!

Good morning, well today my oldest grandson Matt is getting married, it doesn't seem like 21 years have gone by. They are getting married in Conniticutt in the fall. It doesn't get more beautiful then that.
Ohio in the fall was my favorite time of the year, The colors changing and the crispness in the air. We use to be able to pile leaves in the gutter of the street and burn them. Then walking to school in Mentor I'd walk through the smoke and pretend I was in the clouds. I always said that when it's my time to go, I want to go in the fall so I can soar over the new England states so I can see the fall colors just one more time. My stepdad had a red and black flannel shirt that I liked to wear in the fall and I still remember that shirt. maybe I'll buy one just so I can wear it and step back in time. Isn't it funny how we look back and see some of the best times of our lives and remember smells and sights and it just takes us back. I can go to the store and smell an apple and it will take me back to scenes from apple butter festivals. I use to want Vern to invent a headset that would let you plug it into the tv so you could think something and it would show up on the screen. That would be cool cause then you could really share your memories.

My Uncle got me started writing this stuff and now I think I'm enjoying it. As I read his blog and his two sisters and the hard times they went through as kids during the depression ,one thing I realized,,,There were 5 of them and was able to be happy and draw from each others strenght.

I was an only child and sometimes it got pretty lonely but it was easier for mom to take care of just the two of us as long as she did. We didn't have much but we didn't need much. With more mouths to feed she would have had more responsibilities. So it worked out for the best.When I was about 14 she went to work at a hospital in Cleveland on the night shift and again slept in the daytime. But I was in School so when I got home she would be up. Most of the time when I was home I'd run the neighborhood with my friends. A couple of houses up were the Taylors, Betty was about 4 years older then me but kind of let me hang out with her. Her family was nice and I liked it there. She had two brothers, David and Frank. David was my age. That was my second home. They had a dog that the neighbor kids use to tease and he got kind of mean. But since I was there all the time he knew me and I wasn't afraid of him. One day I was waiting outside while they ate dinner and was playing with him. I sat down in a chair and after a while stood up and he jumped up in my face and bite me on the lip. I must have stood on his tail or maybe rocked the chair on him but he got me. I saw stars. I staggered over to the back door and banged on the door and when they opened the door I had blood all over me. I went into the bathroom ( kind of in shock). and was looking at the ripped up lip when my mom walked in the bathroom I smiled at her and she passed out. So we jumped in their car and headed to the doctor. They kept saying they were gonna kill the dog and I started crying cause I didn't want them to do that and after everyone calmed down I got 12 stitches in my lip and the dog got to live. But after that I was scared of him and they always had to put him up when I came over.
The Taylors didn't know that they were an anchor at that time in my live. When things got too rough at home I'd go to their house.

Harry wasn't that bad a guy, he was just married to the wrong person. I know that's awful to say but mom didn't know how to be married or happy. she worried all the time. If there wasn't anything to worry about then she'd worry about that. Harry would go to work everyday and come home tired and instead of saying "Hi honey how was your day", mom would start in on him about something he didn't do or the bills or something. A person can only take so much so the fight would be on. That's when I'd head to the woods or to Taylors house for a while. Actually good ALWAYS comes out of . When I got married it helped me to see what NOT to do.
I loved my mom but we did come from a long line of bossy naggy women. What's even worse when I finally met my dad, the women on his side are strongwilled and independant so I really had a doubledose. Poor Vern. Haha Ok this is starting to sound like a soap opera so I'll go for now.
Have a great day.