Barn Charm

It has been quite awhile since I have participated in Barn Charm.  Missouri's landscape is dotted with barns - some in great shape, but sadly, many sagging with old age and neglect.  Today's barn is a drive-by shooting from our recent trip to Chamois.  It is the proud owner of a salvage yard and antique cars.  The owner is a distant relative of Jim's.  I've seen his cars in some of the local antique car shows, and let me tell you, they are works of art.

 

So how about it.  Head on over to Bluff Area Daily and check out all of the other barns from around the world. 

 

I hope everyone has a great Tuesday.  The Missouri temperatures are still in the upper 60's.  We have been promised rain - thunderstorms to be exact.  Since the drought has continued through the winter, we will gladly and pleadingly take that promise of rain.  Tomorrow's forecast?  Why snow, of course!

 

 

 

If anyone had told me that I would be outside on January 28th, painting shelves for the new bookshelf going in my scrapbook room, I would have just smiled and said "yea, sure".  Same goes for temperatures climbing to the upper 70's.  But, then, what do I know.... 

Go rest high

 

With the temperatures climbing into the 60's last Saturday, we abandoned all thoughts of cleaning the house, as we had planned, grabbed a picnic lunch, and headed to destiny's unknown.  We ultimately ended up in the little town of Chamois, MO, visiting Jim's dad, Elmer.  It seemed fitting to spend some time with him on such a beautiful day, since last week marked the 17th anniversary of his passing. 

 

After all of these years, I still think of Elmer with a smile on my face.  He called me Nana and treated me like a daughter.  A mechanic by trade, he spent all of his spare time as a shade tree mechanic, bringing car motors back to life and banging dents out of old cars.  He was the worst money manager known to this universe, seeming to never have two nickels to rub together.  But somehow, he kept his family fed and a roof over their heads.  He was a great grandpa to my kids, letting them crawl all over his big belly as he laid on the cool concrete of the car port when the heat of summer was too much for him.  He also called them "little shit asses".  He was a good dad to Jim, as he shook his head in disbelief that his son would build his house in the middle of "all those tall trees".  We loved him and still get teary eyed when we reminesce about him.

 

Elmer is layed to rest with many other relatives in the Most Pure Heart of Mary Cemetery.  So, go rest high where the Eagles soar, Elmer.  We love you and miss you.

 

Most Pure Heart of Mary Cemetery, Chamois, MO, overlooking the little town and the river bluffs.

View from cemetery, overlooking farm land, railroad tracks, and the Missouri River.

As we walked among the graves of oh so many relatives, we heard the unmistakable trill of an Eagle.  Pure majesty.

 

 

 

 

The country road, Hwy. 100, back to Callaway County.  See ya Elmer!

Old People

Sometimes comments become a blog of itself.  This is one of those times: 

My friend Iggy said:

"I missed a (couple) days in school, what is an OATS bus? Old And Tired Senior?"

OATS, as used in my blog post, stands for Older Adult Transporation System.  To make sure I was correct, I googled it and found it is an acronym for various other titles, none of which have anything to do with "old and tired seniors".  It is a great service, providing transportation to older people who are unable to otherwise get out and about.  We have many little towns around Jefferson City that are great places to live, but offer very few services and places to shop.  So OATS is definitely a valuable service.

Then Iggy went on to say : "My mom who is much older than you, Punkn, carps about the "old foaggies" that shuffle their feet, look truly lost and call the Mrs on a cellphone (they did figure out how to do that) and ask what size can of Baked Beans to get (and the answer is probably, "Get the same size we have gotten for 45 years!") when she in the Florida Keys. :) "

I hooted a little at this one, because he described dear ol' Jim to a T.  A don't belieive he has ever gone to the store without standing in one of the food aisles with his phone out, calling me to ask something like "did you want low fat or plain sour cream" (I always buy the low fat).  But then, he also usually calls to say, "Have you thought of anything else" - and almost always I have.  Never mind the fact that after he calls to make sure I've thought of everything, I call him as he pulls out of the grocery store parking lot, saying "Oh, I forgot I need a _________________ (fill in the blank)!

I'll admit it.  If there is an OATS bus anywhere near a store, I tend to avoid shopping there - especially if that store is ALDI's grocery store.  (For those who don't know, Aldi's is a discount grocery store.)  My experience has been that the old folk tend to stick together, toddling down the aisles two by two, stopping to visit and talk over the price of things.  And of course, getting the food out of their carts and onto the conveyer belt is a whole 'nother story.  It is easy to help unload their carts, but even paying for their groceries is quite an ordeal.  So I avoid the whole scene.

Aldi's uses a quarter system to control cart returns.  You put a quarter in a slot to get your cart.  Then when you return your cart, the quarter pops back out of the slot.  Today was an Aldi's run day.  The OATS bus was just pulling up as I left the store.  Whew, I dodged that bullet!  As I returned my cart to the corral, a little lady was trying to figure out the whole quarter system.  The bus driver was trying to explain it to her, but he had his hands full helping everyone else.  I offered her my cart and the driver told her she had to give me a quarter.  The baffled look on that poor lady's face!  I told her it was ok, the cart was hers to use.  Right then and there I made a vow to no longer avoid the OATS bus.  Maybe, just maybe I can help make shopping just a little easier for this generation preceeding me.  Face it, I'm not that far behind them, and sure will appreciate a little caring and understanding when it is my turn to stand at the cart corral looking confused. 

And before my kids kindly point out that I am already often confounded and confused, I know it.  Just so you know, though, it is only going to get worse!

"Butt jiggle is just my little way of..Waving goodbye!" Maxine

 

 

Here it is the first Thursday of the new year.  I have not yet been to work this week, so am faced with trying to get 15 hours of work done in 5 hours.  We all know that's not possible, so either some things won't get done or I'll be working tomorrow too.  I usually try to never work on Monday's or Fridays.  Remember, this is a part time job with flexible hours.  That is why I took it.  Flexible hours.  I am anti-schedule.

We still have a couple of inches of snow on the ground - nothing compared to my friends "back east".  But it is enough to hinder my fine feathered friends.  They will get fed this morning before I leave! 

Last night the church quilters were back at it after a two week Holiday break.  We put in a new quilt.  Ironically, it is a beautiful Christmas quilt.  Think we might get it done in time for next Christmas?  I would hope so.  A quilt usually takes us a month or two.  We only have 6 quilters.  Three quilt 2 hours on Tuesday morings, and 3 of us quilt for 2 hours on Wednesday evenings.  It is hard for me to get motivated to leave the house when the temperatures are below freezing and snow is on the ground.  But I'm always glad I do.  Last night there were four of us.  After putting the new quilt in, we stitched and talked.  The conversation flowed about family and celebrations and the weather.  None of us broached topic of the political world.  I don't think we wanted to upset the ease of the evening.  We were thrilled when our two more experienced and faster quilters were able "to roll".  That is always a good feeling to be able to roll the quilt before heading home.

Well, Whiskey is warming my lap, but that is soon to change.  Many things to do today.  I will leave you with a quote from one of my favorite authors:

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” 
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Just One

Happy New Year everyone!

Do you do New Year's resolutions?  No?  Me neither.  Usually.  But this year I've made an exception.  I am making only one New Year's resolution, and that is to begin blogging on a regular basis again.  Wish me luck.  If I'm not able to keep this resolution, then my resolution to not make resolutions will be validated.   Capiche?

Since I haven't been feeling very good, we chose to ring in the new year with a quiet evening at home.  I fixed spinach spaghetti covered with shrimp and scallops in a tomato/garlic sauce, and a lettuce salad with homemade blue cheese dressing.  I've always claimed I'm not a blue cheese anything fan.  Last night changed that.  The dressing was just a mixture of Hidden Valley Ranch dry dressing with milk (1/4 to 1/3 cup), 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip please), and 8 oz blue cheese.  I'm definitely a convert. 

After our" gourmet meal", we retired downstairs to pool.  I won when Jim sank the 8 ball before its time.  First time that has every happened (yea right).  Normally we play at least 3 games, but I've been dealing with a pinched nerve in my neck, and a stiff, hurting, neck and pool are not good playmates.  I have to thank my sweet daughter, Julie, for bringing some left over muscle relaxers to me a few nights ago.  I know, I know... sharing prescriptions is a no, no.  But desperate hurts call for desperate measures.  I'm sure nobody else has ever shared medicine with an ailing someone else before.  I won't tell if you don't.  After our dismal pool game we tried playing cards.  Jim wouldn't play with me anymore after I beat him at two games of Rummy, so we tried our hands at a few rounds of Black Jack.  He ended up with more chips than I did, so technically I guess he won, but I figure we both won since we both had chips left.  Right?  Yea, I'm gong to go with that. (Can you tell I don't like to lose?)  Then we watched mindless television until it was time to ring in the new year and head for bed.  A rather uneventful beginning to 2013, but there it is.

We didn't fall off the fiscal cliff, by the way.  Don't those bozos have a lot to be proud of?  They wait until the last minute to find a compromise and then expect us all to be oh so grateful to them.  Really?  I don't know about anyone else, but I would have been fired from any of my many jobs if I'd have performed as dismally as our elected officials.  Can you imagine missing deadline after deadline, and then at the final moment, after you took a vacation in the middle of the crisis, you come back with a solution?  And, "Oh by the way, boss, this is only an interim solution.  I need to work on this some more.  I'm sure you understand."  No I don't understand.  I cannot imagine any boss not handing out a pink slip.  And yet here we are.  No pink slips were  handed out during the last election, so nothing has changed.  I'm not pointing at the Democrats or Republicans.  I am pointing my finger at each and every one of our elected officials.  While they are passing laws, they need to consider passing one that fires themselves if they aren't able to cooperate and compromise to the betterment of the USA.  They have pissed me off.  All of them.

Jim and I went to see the Hobbit the other  night.  Our first ever 3D movie.  We about passed out when we saw the tickets were $8.50 each - for the early show after the Senior discount.  It has been ages since we've been to the movies, so that was a rude awakening.  Have you ever been to a 3D movie?  Oh my goodness that was an experience!  I actually ducked a few times when things started flying off that screen towards me.  The action packed, panoramic views, Hobbit was a perfect 3D experience.  It would not take much to talk me into going again. 

Catch you again soon.