Oh, is the country life really for me?

Click below to donate for the annual AIDS Walk in the Garden!  I am behind on donations and will look like a piker, so save me the humilitation!  Please!!

http://www.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=489730&u=489730-227465622

My head is pounding.  My eyes are bagging.  My poor neck is stiff and I am going to shoot the neighbors!  Why do people get dogs, just to listen to them howl?  My dogs are here by my feet looking up at me with adoring eyes.  Last night they were in my bedroom.  One was in her crate cause she has bad habits.  The other was on the floor by my head snoring.  On the other hand, the people who are directly Southwest of my bedroom and only about 500 feet away were busy sleeping while their dog howled at the moon and was answered by the dogs who live right East of me. 
See last night when I went to shut up the geese I heard dogs in the field behind me.  They were barking at me.  Scared me so I hurried back in and locked the door.  I do not know if they can open doors or not, but I take no chances!  I always worry that something will want me.  Hasn't bothered me so far in my journey through life, but you just never know when a lunatic may cast his eyes upon me and lose control!  Hey!  It could happen.
So we came in and since it was dark, we got ready for bed.  Now I sleep with my bedroom window wide open!  Nights are cool here in Colorado and this makes for some good sleeping.  Or it should.  But not if the other people in my world are inconsiderate oafs!  I live in the middle of my own little acre and there is an empty acre West and more South. This should tell you that my neighbors are not real close there. Ah, but a doggie voice can carry for miles on the night air!  And the fact that the neighbors East have probably a total of  9 dogs makes for a situation that might drive me mad. 
First the dog that I had never heard bark, so he must be new over there.  And big, I might add, if his bark is any indication.  He barked several times and the 9 answered.  Then he howled.  That seemed to really get their attention!  Now, have you ever tried to sleep with a howling cacophony of beasts of all sizes and shapes?  And just as I would start to drift off, the leader would remember that he was outside, alone and wanted someone to come and pet him.  So that is how I spent my night.  My dogs were very quiet and complacent in that they felt no need to add to the melee. For that I was grateful.
And then about 4:30 AM my little eyes popped open and it was very quiet.  I think that is what woke me up!  Complete silence except for the occasional chirp of a cricket.  Now the key here is I was now awake.  I could have lain there for hours, but when I wake up, I get up.  I do not fall back asleep.  Oh, I will when I set down in the recliner to watch the news or Jeopardy! but not while I am laying there in my bed in my jammies with the sun thinking about coming up.  I do some of my best work in the wee, wee hours.  So, I get up and make my coffee and listen intently for the dogs.  They have all apparently worn themselves completely out, because there is nary a sound.
Now, I can devote myself to thinking about how I could possibly get even with those jerks over there with the howling dog.  I at one point in time had a spotlight that would light up the hillside a mile or so away.  I am going to look in the top of the garage because I think that is where I put it when I burned a hole in my doily with it.  I am going to find it and mount it on a pole out there and point it at their bedroom window.  I will plug it in to a sensor box so every time their dog barks the light will come on for just a few seconds.  I am telling you that thing is bright!  If I leave it on, my meter will explode and if it doesn't it will burn all the vegetation between here and there.  So it shall be internittent.  That should do it.
Ok, enough of my tale of woe.  It is a new day.  No dogs are barking.  I will go let my geese out and then cook me an egg or two.  Then I shall stroll up the road to see my step daughter and pick up some stuff she has that needs altered.  When I get home, I will set in my recliner and catch Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and if I happen to drift off, well that is just the breaks of the game.  Not like I have anything to do today, since it is Labor Day and the last holiday of the summer season.  Someone will call me later and invite me over because they are having a cook out and I am always hungry.  And I am always fun!  Or at least I am when I get my good nights sleep.
Caio!  (Did I spell it right?)

Well, the kiddies are on vacation, again.

You know what amazes me?  The son and his girlfriend work 32 hours a week and are just absolutely exhausted from that effort.  When I was raising the babies, I worked my regular job at the Red Carpet Restaurant 6 days a week, 8 hours a day for 48 hours.  Then I went to the bakery for a 3 hour shift 5 days a week.  So that total came to 63 hours.  Oh, and some times I would take a shift at the Dutch Mill as barmaid, just so I could go dancing.  Then I was home for the fun parts of cleaning, laundry, and all the other fun stuff that kept a home running.

After the kids got a little bigger and the divorce was reality and I came to Colorado and another divorce was another reality, I worked in an office 40 hours a week, waited tables in a restaurant 18 hours a week, cooked 2 shifts for another 16 hours and went to school  3 hours a night  5 nights a week to finish my degree. (Please note here that I remained on the Deans List the whole time and finished #2 in my class.) That was a total of 89 hours.  And of course with all the coming and going I lost a lot of time.  And of course, there was that sleeping thing that had to go on.  Oh, and dating.  Speed dating I called it.  I did manage to marry once in that time frame.  I had to quit the restaurant at that time since the guy was very needy, but that is neither here nor there in this musing.

There is a point to this narrative.  The kids are on vacation.  When they come back from vacation they are off to Grand Junction and some where else for training in their jobs.  Then comes the fun part.  These two over worked people in the prime of thier lives are moving out of my house.  They are moving into thier very own space.  The will be cooking, cleaning, paying bills, maintaining a yard, doing thier own laundry and all the stuff that adults are expected to do when they become adults.

Now I know you remember little Bret as the wide eyed little fellow who was so innocent he stunk, but times have changed.  He works and earns a paycheck.  He has wrecked his car twice, been in trouble with me several times for his choices, has a live in girl friend and it is time to cut the cord.  I want him to get out in the real world and get a taste of that while he is young and still knows all the answers.  And, let's face it, I have spent 55 years raising kids and I am tired.  I want to clean my house and it stays clean.  If I want cabbage for supper I can have it.  I do not want to worry anymore about whether or not there are clean towels in the cupboard.  I use one towel for 2 or three days.  They use 2 or three towels per shower per day and when they are done they are "dirty".  My washer and dryer run constantly.

I am sure we will have a "house warming party" of some sort.  I am giving them my deep fat fryer and a gallon of cooking oil.  That should hold them for a week or so.  I am also giving them my pots and pans.  I bought them when Kenneth passed and kept them in pristine shape hanging from the rack in my kitchen until they started cooking.  Since they prefer thier pans with burned on grease and gouges, I will give them these and I will buy new ones.  I am giving them most of the towels, all the queen size sheets except my pretty lavender flowered ones.  Lots of blankets.  A couple dressers.  Not my drafting table and not the round drop leaf oak table.  A snow shovel, a rake, a regular shovel, my Batter Pro..... Lots of stuff I no longer have any use for when they leave.  But I will also buy them some new stuff.  Not going to just use them for a dumping ground. 

Do not think I am complaining for myself.  Here is the deal.  What a culture shock this is going to be when they reach for a towel and none is there!  Or when they look at a sink full of dishes and it is there!  And I would like to be a fly on the wall when they get the first electric bill.  They may then understand what I was talking about.  They buy their own groceries now, but only because they eat differently than I do.  Bret thinks lettuce is what food eats!  Days go buy when I subsist on a "no meat" diet.  Not because I am a vegetarian, but because I just don't bother with the meat stuff. 

Now, these kids are great at getting up on the days they need to work and they pack thier lunch.  Then they come home and play video games.  Some times I cook.  Sometimes they cook.  Or some times I  cook and they cook.  Rather informal so the cooking thing I beleive they can do.  It is just the rest of it I worry about.  But, here is the deal, there is a thing called "pride in ownership" that I am hoping will kick in here.  I think it will.  And if it doesn't, I am 30 miles away and can not see thier house from here.  They can even fight all night and I won't know.  Ahh, ignorance is surely bliss! 

Fall is in the air, believe it or not!

I know it is a little hard to believe that Fall is almost here when you are sweating your way through another one of those 100 degree days, but trust me on this!  I am setting here in my jammies with by coffee and looking out my office window at the Cherry tree.  And there is another bone of contention with me.  Kenneth and I bought that Cherry tree when we first moved in here almost 30 years ago.  Bought it and two Peach trees.  The Peach trees stood side by side in the front yard and the one on the right was loaded with the biggest sweetest peaches you ever seen.  Course in my little Utopia here,  you only get a crop every 7 years.  But when you get one, it is fantastic!  So the one on the right was prolific and the one on the left must have been a boy cause it never even bloomed.  Finally the bores got to them both and they had to be pulled out.

And all the while the Cherry tree which we planted right out side the office window grew like a weed into a beautiful specimen.  Every year it was covered with blooms and every year not a cherry in sight.  The neighbors have one that is always loaded and the bees are swarming on mine, but not a cherry one.  I have to get out there every few years and trim around on it to keep it from rubbing on the house.  I have thought that maybe I would take it down, but the birds and squirrels like to play in the branches and peer in here at me, so it stays.

When we were hauling in Paonia we went and picked Apricots on the BLM, which you can do.  I had a bread sack full that I brought home and made into jam.  I threw the seeds out by the septic tank and the next Spring I had lots of seedlings, which I planted here and at my mother in law's.  I am down to only two, but they faithfully produce every 7 years.  The reason that happens every 7 years is the weather pattern more than something mystical, I  think.  I do not like Apricots, but some people do and the ducks (before they were fox food) and geese love them.  Course either way, I have to pick them.

So this is how it goes around here... The back acre is barren except for goat heads which the geese refuse to eat regardless of what you and I both heard about them eating goat heads!  The garden area is weed free for the first month of planting and sprouting season and then my mind wanders and it gets hot and the weeds take over.  But the zucchini produces prolifically and I chop them for the geese.  Saves on grain.

The yard area is pretty well going to pot.  At one time I had 64 rose bushes which I fed and pruned faithfully, but the last couple years the ground has gotten so far down there that it has become impossible to do what was once so easy and so much fun!  So the rose bushes are about gone.  Except by the front gate and in the back.  And the Choke Cherry bush that I planted 20 years ago has now spread out and enveloped most of the side yard.  It has completely swallowed my Austrailian Copper  Rose and is encroaching on the Lavender and Sage Herb garden.  But you know what?  I think this will make a very nice wild life area.  The birds have first call on any fruit that pops up out there since they are a hell of a lot faster than me, so why bother?  The Raspberry bush has thorns sharp enough to pierce my heart so that fruit is gone.  The Rhubarb is inside the protection of the Rambling Rose which has thorns with hooks that have left scars all over me.  I think me and and Round Up are going to have us some quality time this fall.

But any way, what I started out to tell you is this, fall is in the air.  I once more have not gotten done what I dreamed of last winter.  So here is the plan now, as I see it.  Fall is here.  I am too late for the Spring pruning.  I think I will take a drive to the mountains and enjoy the fall colors.  I will call Renate and Val and Dale and we will have a tiny picnic.  Then I will come home and once more start thinking about what I am going to do this next Spring.  I will write it down so I remember.  Trim the Evergreens on the North side of the house.  Trim the Cherry tree out of the rain gutter.  Top the Austree by the car port.  Oh, and do something with that tin shed!  Or not...........

Now I have not thought of this man in forever!

  There is no picture of this guy.  Well there is one of him in overalls standing in front of an orphanage.  That was where he lived.  See, many years before he met my mother, my father was married and had 5 kids.  Two of them died of something called "Sand Pneumonia".  A boy and a girl.  Then his wife died.  My father put the remaining 3 sons in an orphanage. Earl was adopted by a family named Siefert.  Richard by a family named Nichols.  Gene was never adopted and eventually left the orphange and went into the Army.  Both he and Richard served in World War II.

 Earl went to work at the power plant in Hutchinson and eventually retired from there.  He had a lovely wife named Gertrude and we of course, called her "Gertie".  They had a daughter, Lorainne, and two sons named Leon and Leonard ( I think).  Earl was a part of our growing up years.  Richard moved to Nebraska and then to Denver.  He never really fit in with society.   He was never married and came to visit us on rare occasions. 

  But Gene!  William Eugene Bartholomew!  There was a character.  I first recall seeing him when I was 4 or 5 years old.  He had just gotten out of the Army and came to our house in Nickerson.  Then he disappeared for several years.  Then he appeared again.  Every time he came he went to the Arkansas River to stay alone for several days. Then, poof! he was gone again.  By the time I reached high school I found out why he was disappearing .  He had a wife.  He had a son.  He had a bad habit of writing checks on some one elses account.  And of course, law enforcement had a bad habit of locking him up! Around this time of my life 2 things happened.  Gene was locked up and the movie "Picnic" was made in our town.  I took my brownie camera my brother Jake had sent me from Germany and went to take pictures.   The assistant director took my camera and went and took pictures of Kim Novak and Bill Holden behind the scenes.  He took 7 or 8 pictures.  I was on cloud nine when those pictures were developed.  I had pictures of movie stars!  So I took my precious treasures and tucked them in an envelope and sent them to my dear brother, Gene, in care of the Lansing Prison there in Eastern Kansas.  He wrote me lots of letters, you know.  Wrote them in Calligraphy!  Practicing his craft, I guess.

  And for years after that I told people that I "used to have pictures of Kim Novak and  Bill Holden that were taken on my very own camera".  I never saw the pictures again.  I do not know where the negatives went.  I never saw my brother Gene after he got out of Lansing.  We did search for him, but the last anyone saw of him was when he was in jail in Nebraska for vagrancy and they let him out on the edge of town headed west.  Never a word after that.  Like he walked off into the sunset and poofed.  Earl and Richard have long since passed and I am sure Gene has also.  But I will let you in on a little secret.  Promise not to tell? 

  In that closet right over there not 12 feet away is a box.  And in it are my treasures.  I have my grandma's braid.  I have Bret's ponytail.  And I have letters from Gene Bartholomew to our father that were written by a 10 year old boy in an orphange.  In one he is so proud because they got new overalls.  And in one he pleads for his father to write.  Somewhere in this world is a man named Billy Bartholomew.  He may not be alive any longer, but I bet he has heirs that would like to read these letters.  I know I would like to talk  to him.  Isn't it strange how we hide little pieces of our past and never pull them out or think about them and then when we least expect it, we wake up and find our selves recalling so much of the past that we can not even put it all down on paper?  Life has a funny little way of catching up with us and bringing us to our knees.

  And that is where you will find me this morning.  I have lost so much in my life.  Friends, family, pets, memories....  I want something to hold on to.  If there is anyone out there who knows a Bartholomew let me know.  My father, Ruben Floyd Bartholomew was born in Hudson, Kansas and is buried near there now with his son and daughter.  And my brother Delbert Leroy Bartholomew.

So I was watching television tonight and I flashed on this....

I rarely watch television, but tonight after Jeopardy! was over I found myself watching one of those mindless sitcoms.  I do not remember what it was and I am sure it had nothing to do with my mind wandering back to Plevna, Kansas.  I went to live with my grandma Haas and Great Grandma Hatfield when I was 15 years old.  Grandma Haas had suffered a stroke at some point in time and was not able to get around very well.  She was only 72 at the time (as I recall).  Great Grandma was 99 and taking care of her.  It was getting to be a strain on her and I was young so I could be of some use to them.  It was a learning experience for the three of us. 

First thing I learned was that Great Grandma had been married 3 times or almost 3 times.  The first husband was Frank Miller.  He was father to her three children; Louis, Mabel and Josie.  Josie was my Grandma.  After he passed she married a man whose last name was Hatfield.  He had a son named Steven who had a wife named Bertie and a stepson and step daughter.  When he died Steven remained devoted to Great Grandma who he called mother.  When Great Grandma was 75 years old she became engaged to another man whose name I do not recall.  Sadly , he croaked before they could get the knot tied and Great Grandma just gave it up.  Said she had buried enough men and would not bury another one.  She then sold her house on the Main Street of Plevna, Kansas and moved in with Grandma.  Grandma had been widowed several years before.

In typical fashion they became quite adept at surviving alone.  By the time I arrived on the scene they were very ensconced in routine.  The table was set at night before bed.  We each had a plate, fork, knife, coffee cup, and half an orange.  This was covered with a cloth.  The coffee pot was a drip-a-lator which was filled with water ,  coffee grounds placed in the middle part, and the unit set on a pilot light on the stove.  The egg poacher was filled with water and set on the other pilot light.  The toaster was set on a back burner.  I should note here that toasters in that time period were used over a burner, not like today when they pop right up.  Had to be careful or you could char the bread very easily.  The next morning the coffee pot was pulled forward and the burner lit.  Same with the egg poacher.  Bread was put in the toaster and that burner lit.  In less than 7 minutes, during which time we ate our half an orange, breakfast was ready.  One slice of toast, one poached egg, and a cup of coffee with heavy cream.  Course there was home made jelly or jam and bread and butter pickles.  And don't forget the freshly churned butter.

After breakfast I was allowed to pile the dishes in the dish pan and cover them with a tea towel because I had to hurry off to school.  The way the dishes were done was this; When I got home from school, I would put the tea kettle on and heat water which I poured in the dish pan.  Then I refilled the tea kettle to heat the water to rinse them.  No hot water heater in this house.  Oh, and yes, we had an "out house" for our personal use.  Uncle Ray had installed a "commode" for Grandma's use, but we did not want to take the chance of wearing it out so we did our business outside.  Kind of nice one with a concrete floor and all.  When I came home at noon for lunch Great Grandma always had a sandwich waiting for me.  She also had the market report on the radio.  Not that we farmed, but old habits die hard.  Those dishes went in the pan with the breakfast dishes.

After dishes were done it was time to water plants and such.  We did not listen to the radio at night.  One of us would read from the Bible while the other 2 crocheted.  I learned the fine art of handiwork from my Great Grandmother.  She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever known.  I mean inside.  She was a very regal woman and she seemed very tall to me, but course I was only 5 feet so every body seemed tall.  Grandma and Aunt Mabel had married brothers.  Josie married Frank Haas and he was my Grandpa.  Aunt Mabel married his brother Gottlieb Haas.  Uncle Louis had cast eyes on the sister, Lena Haas, but Great Grandma put her foot down on that one.  So Uncle Lou married Aunt Eva  and Aunt Lena was a spinster her whole life.  But she was a fun old gal.  She was the one that kept a horse tank full of water for us to play in on hot days and took us to the stock pond seining for minnows with our skirts.  She died when she was 100 years old.  Haas  and Gagnebein blood is strong genes.  My Grandma was 73 when she died and that was so sad because she was so young.  Great Grandma Hatfield was 104.  Uncle Goll was 98.  Uncle Ray was 96. I am not sure, but there may be some of them still alive.  They just seem to live forever.

But what I was thinking of tonight was the piece of furniture that was behind the stove.  It was not a couch.  It was like a couch except it was oak and very dark brown leather.  It was not for comfort.  It was functional.  So was the library table.  And the Hoosier in the kitchen.  It held sugar, flour, had a top that pulled out and you could stand right there in one place and make a pie.  Now I have oak cupboards and shelves that slide out.  I have two freezers.  I have hot and cold running water.  I have all the conveniences that these two women did not even know existed.  It was a two story house.  The 2 Grandma's slept in the front bedroom.  I slept on the couch.  There were two bedrooms upstairs, but they were afraid to have me away from them.  Some times I resented that cause that was one lumpy damn couch.  But looking back, and believe me, hindsight is always clearer then fore sight, I was the most blessed 15 year old girl on the face of this earth, because those two women loved me.  They taught me needlework that has won me many ribbons at the State Fairs.  And they taught me that life goes on without a television, or radio, or trash novels.  The one book we do need is the Bible and I never touch my Bible without thinking of the two women in my life who instilled in me my love for the Book.  One was the Matriarch and the other the sweetest little lady I have ever known.  And in the picture there Great Grandma is holding Grandma up to have her picture taken.  that is something the women in my family have always done, been there to hold each other up.  I sure hope I do not disappoint my kids and sisters.  I am going to try not to.  

Bet you did not know this one!

http://www.secondchancewildlife.net/

  Ever wonder what happens to that cute little fox or baby deer or bird or racoon when it's mother was hit by a car and it was left beside the road all alone in this big cruel world?  You contact the Department of Wildlife or someone who is caring and compassionate might help you pick it up and take it "some where".  By picking it up and putting it in your car you have just broken a Colorado law.   Let me tell you where it is going to end up at.

  There is in this city a very lovely lady by the name of Nancy J. Kelly who will take it in and nurse it back to health and then turn it back into the wild.  And want to know how much she gets paid for this from the State of Colorado?  That is it!  Nada!  Zip! Zilch!  She does have to have a license to handle wildlife, but it is a volunteer position and as such is not a paid postition.  Oh, and the food the animals eat, the medications, the bedding, the paper towels, detergent, and the myriad of things they need to recuperate and grow with are all coming out of her pocket.  She does have a few friends, but you should know, she needs a lot more!

  Since 1992 Nancy has done this all by herself, but as people and animals interact more there is more injuries and more need for Nancy and her friends.  I know there are times when wild animals are a definite pain in the butt.  See, I had 36 ducks out back along with 6 geese.  Over the past two years I have lost all the ducks and I know exactly where they went.  The fox had a den about 25 feet from my duck pen and she also had 4 or 5 babies.  Baby foxes got to eat and I watched my flock dwindle a duck at a time until I was down to 2.  Those two got relocated to Pueblo West to the big pond out there, I think.  Hope no one tells on me.  If they do, you should know I am old and borderline senile!

  I put you a link on up there so you can go read all about Nancy and her good works.  Two more things you should know.. Albertson's donates a portion of sales to Second Chance Wildlife if you have the bar code.  I am sure she will send you one.  But failing in that here are the numbers off it and I am sure the clerk will punch them in for you!   4  9001020490  9

  Now, the second thing is she is holding a Walk for Hope at the Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo on Saturday, September 17, 2011.  I fully intend to be there and hope to see you.  If you don't or can't make it I am sure taking donations.  I can take money through paypal or a check or meet you somewhere.

  In the meantime, go check out this link and you will learn that I am a very lazy person and do all my work through links and such.  But hey!  Life is short!  Sing like no one hears!  Dance like no one sees!  And love some thing or someone every day.  It will keep you young!

Here is the television shop in Wales.

View all

Get your own

This is run by friends of Alex Campbell who lives in Wales.  He is a friend I met online.  Nice guy.  Wait!  That should be ...Nice guy?
Melanie runs this shop with her husband.  Since this is my first International interview, I am doing it the lazy way.  Above is a slide show that shows both the shop and the area around where they live.  I think that it would be lots of fun to be that near a large body of water.  Alex says this is the bay or something like that.  I can not remember everything!

So anyway, I asked her questions and she sent me answers.  To clarify who is who I will be the blue words and she can be the black words.  Black words carry more weight then blue words.  ;)

Hi Melanie,

Alex sent me pictures of your little shop.  He said I should talk to you about the blog.  Some people do read it and I will give you the link when I do yours and you can send it to your friends.  That will help us both.  I think if you poke your reply button, and then make your font a different color you will be able to answer the question in the space following it.  That should make it really easy to see and I can actually cut and paste the interview.  Maybe.  What i would like to know is:
How long have you had your store?We have been running it as a family for 10 years
My Dad took it over for 2 years but then he retired so its been mine and my husbands for 8 years.

How many square feet?Ohhhhh im not sure, LOL
Weve got a Shop, Office & Repair Workshop on the ground floor.
We live in the three bedroom flat above
Nice big 3 Storey building, great for partys, LOL

Where is it located?Barry the biggest town in Wales, UK
Were at 23 Thompson Street, Barry, CF63 4JL
Just off the main high street
Barry Island our beach area has been a popular holiday spot for over 100 years
The BBC made a TV Sitcom called  "Gavin & Stacey" about 2 familys and the town which made it more famous recently

Those appear to be transistor products.  Are they?We sell new Radios
The main brands we do are Roberts & Pure
There are a few old original 1960 / 1970 Roberts radios on display to show how reliable they are, not for sale though, my mini museum, LOL

My husband does Tv Installs, tuning and some simple repairs.
But we have a fully trained engineer that comes in twice a week to repair TV & Hifi & Radio

We also have engineers that install Satellites & Aerials

Where do you get them?We deal direct with some manufacturers or their wholesalers

Do you have a web address or how can some one like me be  able to purchase from you?Brian my husband is building our web site at the moment.
Were on Facebook if you search for Television Shop you will find us

This should hold me for a little bit, but be aware I am pretty nosey!  LOLThats OK so am I, LOL

X Melanie

Louhttp://www.loumercerwordsofwisdom.blogspot.com/

So that concluded the interview.  I find this just fascinating that I now know someone who lives in Wales, the United Kingdom.  I will probably bring you word of Melanie and Brian from time to time as we are now friends on facebook.

Just thought you might get a kick out of this!