Counting flowers on the wall that don't bother me at all. . .

Well here's a little blast from the past. . .



Love me some Statler Brothers!  Dad and I used to listen to them on the radio when we were in the car without Mom or my sister.  I sang along with this one, loving the Captain Kangaroo reference but I missed the whole point of the song until I got older.  Heck I hadn't played solitaire so how was I to know what that line meant?  And back in those days, everyone smoked--so what if someone did that while watching Captain Kangaroo?

Enjoy today's Saturday song!

Camp!

My baby went to camp.  My baby!  How on earth did that happen?

Oh yes, that's right.  She's my walking oxymoron. 

The same child who wouldn't go upstairs to her bedroom without an entourage (because it was scary!) decided to go to camp in another town with complete strangers!

One of her friends was also going and the camp is run by someone I vaguely know.  But still.  It is insanity I tell you.

But she's coming home today.  And I cannot wait.  While it's been quiet without her here (hey, it's quiet whenever any one of those critters is gone).  It will be good to have everyone back in the house where they are supposed to be.

Musty odors must be gone!

I know now that I grew up in a borderline OCD household.  Not that it was a bad thing.  I just learned that there is a right way to do things and a way we don't.

Among the things I learned was how to wring out a washcloth or dishcloth and hang it up so that it won't get musty smelling.

Unfortunately, I have now learned that not all households teach such tricks to their members.  You see, I have a host of washcloths and dishclothes that have been left sopping wet (not pointing any fingers here but the guilty parties know who they are) and became icky smelling.

I have an overly sensitive nose too so I simply cannot have that smell in either my dishcloths or washcloths.  I've even discovered wet dish towels in a heap that have started to smell musty.

My solution?  The soak cycle on the washing machine.  I have a good old fashion top loader so I can add baking powder to my wash and let it soak overnight.  Ahhhhhh, delicious fresh linens. 

Baking soda can get a real workout in my house.  Besides using it in my laundry I use it to clean countertops, sinks, bathtubs, showers, and toilets.  Incredibly cheap, safe and no nasty fumes plus it accomplishes the cleaning that I need.

So there you go.  Baking soda.  My little helper around the house.

I'm a going for a drive. . . .

When I was a little girl my grandparents moved out to the country.  It was a 20 minute drive between our house and theirs.  Usually we spent 15 minutes of that drive praying the rosary.  Sometimes my sister and I provided mini-concerts as well during the drive.  Those routine drives ended some 15 years ago when my grandmother had to give up her home because she could no longer live on her own. 

The other day we had a going away party to attend.  My cousin is being deployed to Afghanistan so he was in town with his family, on leave before deployment.  We took the drive out to the country to his dad's house for the afternoon.  This drive was almost twice as long as the one to my grandparents' house.  A trip that long would usually require a book but I was really interested in seeing how things have changed over the years.

I am happy to report that the drive is very much what it always was.  There are only a couple of new subdivisions that have popped up in the country.  But for the most part the homes and properties look pretty much like they did thirty plus years ago when my grandparents made their great move.  There is a flashing light at the intersection now (ooooo--a sign of increased traffic in the country!)  And the gas station/convenience store was updated from back in the day and sadly, it was closed down at some point. 

Of course we had to drive down my grandparents old street.  I guess I haven't been in their house since my grandmother moved out; my cousin and his family bought the place and have lived there ever since.  There are changes there.  They built a second garage and driveway on the opposite side of the house.  And years ago they tore down my Papa's shed.  But otherwise it still looks pretty much like it always did.  Neighbors' trees have grown and offer more shade.  But it's still a family neighborhood just like I remember it to be.

Nice to see that sometimes things don't really have to change at all.

Divergent/Insurgent--read them!

So now and then books come along that everyone insists you must read.  Like Harry Potter.  Like Twilight.  Like The Hunger Games.  Not all of them qualify as true must reads.

But Divergent and Insurgent are certainly worth your time.  The short summary is it is about a 16 year old girl who has grown up living in one "faction" but now must go through testing and determine which faction she will join.  If she leaves her faction, she leaves her family, presumably forever.  She soon discovers that she has a different aptitude than she might have expected and must find her way when no one can really help her figure it all out.  Along the way she makes new friends but she cannot tell them the whole truth about her aptitude. 

There's so much more I could say but I refuse to spoil the fun for you.  So you will just have to go out and get them for yourself!

I'd like a pound of ground round please

Once upon a time there were simple little grocery stores sprinkled throughout town--hometown owned and operated.  We went to the bigger chain for canned goods and produce.  But we went to the little store across the street--Saveway--for our meats.

Saveway had a big butcher counter.  We would go in and get a pound of ground round, fresh to make hamburgers or meatloaf.  Sometimes they had a big cow tongue in the meat case--ick.  I never could get past the comment my dad made:  "How would you like to taste something that can taste you back?"

The girls who worked at this store were familiar, like friends.  I remember Sandy.  She later went on to work at a larger grocery store when Safeway closed down.  I still see her now and then--amazing that she has not aged and yet I grew up and have kids older than I was back when I met her????

My sister and I used to love when they would have little tarts and we could talk my mom into letting us get them.  They were small little pies in aluminum pie pans.   They would have cherry, apple and lemon.  They were such a treat.

The neighborhood grocery stores are all long gone now.  It's a shame.  We didn't usually do a full weeks worth of shopping at Saveway but they definitely were our choice for getting good fresh meat for our family.

When I Was Just a Little Girl. . .

This one must have been on a record my parents had.  It might have been on my plastic Fisher Price record player but it wouldn't have had words; the one played records like a music box.  (I wonder what happened to that toy?) 

I don't remember seeing The Man Who Knew Too Much when I was a kid but I definitely remember the song from my childhood.  Yup, another one I sang with my flashlight microphone when no one was around.

Enjoy!