Christian Photographers Community

 



Come and join us this week and share with us your plans and thoughts for the week!  We sing, share and encourage other members here.

Hope to see you posting this week!

• Prayer and Praise     Thanks for visiting this area of our site to share prayer requests and items for praise!

Always: Always Love

We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers.
1 Thessalonians 1:2

Recommended Reading
1 Thessalonians 1:1-4

The word "always" occurs nearly 100 times in the Bible. It's often used by Paul to describe certain Christian behaviors we should manifest. We're to be "always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58), "always confident that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:6), "always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus" (2 Corinthians 4:10), and "always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10).

In Christ, we "always" have all sufficiency in all things (2 Corinthians 9: and should be zealous in good works "always" (Galatians 4:18). Our speech should "always be with grace, seasoned with salt" (Colossians 4:6) as we await the day we'll "always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Paul "always" prayed for his friends with thanksgiving and love (1 Thessalonians 1:2). There should be no breaks in our love for others and no blackouts in the consistency of our Christian lives. Our model, Christ, "always lives to make intercession" for us (Hebrews 7:25).


"To Christ we are to be always coming; upon Him always relying; to His precious blood always looking."
Charles Spurgeon

Hi everyone.  I was able to sleep in a little later today after staying up and seeing the University of Georgia football team trounced by the University of South Carolina.  It wasn't a pretty picture if you are a Georgia fan.  Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day beyond my normal Saturday activities, which fill up the morning.  I did complete loading the software onto my new computer. I am ready and plan on attending church this morning.  Pat hasn't told me yet whether she will go with me this morning.  Then have a quiet rest of the day planned.  I do need to straighten up my office as the housekeepers are coming tomorrow and they wouldn't be able to clean with the things I have sitting around.  I will again watch some Sunday football this afternoon and evening.  It is cooler here this morning as it is down to 50 degrees.

Etta Sue, you got to Don Pablos just in time.  That was a nice birthday gift.  You seem to have a knack for mechanical skills and putting things together.  What a surprise to hear from Chuck and do hope he will come and see you.  Do you have a good corn crop in the area where you live or did the drought conditions impact it?

Janet, looking forward to reading the new stories. 

Jeanne, thanks for the new devotional thoughts for this coming week.

The Duck  whomped all overt the Washington Huskies.  That's 9 straight wins for the #2 team.

Larry, can you tell me the name of the person whose story I last posted?  I have lost track.  Thanks.

Janet .......    MADALYNE  WILSON...... is the last one I can see Larry correct me if I am wrong.

We are at wood agan today,as well I have to get John's meals ready for the coming week.  We had a lot of family help between Heather's family and Elizabeth's boyfriend, they were a real bleassing.  Kyle helped me with my computer, it is working much faster now.  There were a lot of programs running that I never use.  Those he shut down. and left rummng the vital ones.

Got to go a lot to accomplish today

 

Hi everyone.  It is overcast and a lot cooler here this morning and the high today is only to get to 60 º.  Pat did feel up to going to church with me yesterday and we then stopped for lunch.  I enjoyed watching the Atlanta Falcons win over the Washington Redskins but managed a nice little nap in the middle of the game.  Today is the normal Monday activities.  We are going to an Asian buffet for our men's luncheon today.  Stacey had planned to come out this past weekend but just wasn't feeling up to it.  Her neuropathy has been giving her a lot of pain the last few days.  We did hear from our DIL that she is feeling better and that was good news.

Marilyn, Oregon as a very good team.  Perhaps they and Alabama or South Carolina will vie for number one at the end of the season.

Janet, I really can't remember the name of the person whose story you last posted.  Hopefully one of the other folks will remember.  I read the next posting and Judy came to the rescue with the name. 

Judy, I was hoping you would have help with the wood from some of your family members that are a lot younger and healthier. A lot of programs run in the background when we boot up and don't need to be running as you can still use the program.  Also a lot of software wants to do the checking online to see if there are updates or to report usage.

Thank you, Judy!  Now I know where to continue with the stories.  I just took the photos for the next two to the paper, only need to read Everett his story, then can email that to them for next week.  I am trying to get ahead again!

The sun is shining here, it is crisp and cool, and to get up into the low 70s today, no frost predicted this week!

I am speaking to a teachers' sorority tomorrow evening about my book, so prayers re that will be appreciated.  I am hoping to sell several copies of the book there.

Judy, all that work with the wood sounds like more than I would want to tackle!  So glad you had some good help.

Darrel has decided he doesn't want a birthday party after all.     But I think I will invite a few people for supper anyway.  His 75th deserves some celebration!

I am looking forward to the VP debate on Thursday night.  Should be very entertaining----and educational, as well.

Larry, I hope Stacey is feeling better by now.  And Pat, and you as well.

Later!
 

                                      TREASURES FROM THE LEGACY

                                                  By Janet Damon

                                              Lottie Mae McBride

Lottie McBride was born March 1, 1941 in Duncan, Oklahoma,  where she lived until she got married.

Her mother died four hours after Lottie's birth.  The mother was 30 years old, and left behind six children, ranging in age from the newborn Lottie to the eldest girl, only 7 ½ years old at the time.  This oldest girl actually had to help raise the four younger children, later helped with this by the next girl in line.

The young mother, knowing she was dying, had her husband call all the children, who had been sent outside to play during the birth of the baby, into her room.  She then loved on and prayed for each of her children, and her prayer was that each grow up in the church, accept the Lord and always live for Him.  She also asked her husband to keep the children together, but taking care of five children ages 14 months to 7 years was a huge task, without adding a newborn.  How could he continue working and providing for them?  So Lottie went to live with her maternal grandparents, who lived about 40 to 50 miles from her dad.  This arrangement worked well for all concerned, and the grandparents were thrilled to have Lottie with them.

"My grandpa was my buddy," Lottie said.  "Each week, he took my small hand in his and we walked the mile from their house to the cemetery where mother was buried.  He planted flowers there and always made sure the grave looked nice.  When I started to school, he held my hand and walked me all the way to the schoolhouse door.  He did this every day until I gained enough confidence to walk with a girlfriend to school."
"My dad did raise the other five children, and he kept his word to mother by keeping them all in church, and today they still attend church, and all their families, too."

"My grandparents kept me in church, too.  My whole life was centered on the church and its activities.  I had a wonderful childhood with them, and no child ever felt more loved and treasured.  My Grandma died when I was 13 years old, and after that, my dad wanted me to come and live with him.  But I adored my grandpa, I had been with him my whole life, and I wasn't about to leave him alone now, when he needed me.  So I stayed with him."

She says childhood seems very different now from when she was a child.  She played alone a lot, playing 'pretend.'  They didn't have a dog or other pets, but she loved animals and played with any she could catch—chickens and ducks, mostly.  She and her friend played 'church' a lot; she helped her grandma in the garden and with its produce, snapping peas and such, and she says she was never lonely.

Lottie's grandpa worked doing gardening for other people, and they often gave him plants, flowers, which he brought home and planted in his own yard.  She said their yard was always beautiful!

Lottie met a man, fell in love and married very young.  They moved to Texas, and the couple had three children.  She has married twice and been widowed twice.  One son lives in the Ulysses area, and she has a grandson and a granddaughter to whom she is close, so that influenced her decision to move to The Legacy near the end of 2011.
Her children are Deana Kay Duke, Burns Flat, Oklahoma, Mike Browning, Hereford, Texas, and John Browning, Ulysses.

Marriage had cut Lottie's education short, but she had always desired to be a nurse, so she got her GED, and then went to nurse's training.  She became an LVN in Texas in 1973, and went on to work in hospitals and nursing homes for over 30 years.  She always preferred the night shift, working from 11:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M.  The friends she had at work, wherever she was, were wonderful, and they had such camaraderie they became like family.

A huge difference she sees in the world today is technology.  She remembers her grandparents getting their first radio, and that they traded in her baby bed for it!

"Morals today are pretty much "down the tube," she says, "but I think people are seeing the damage caused by that and are trying to get things straightened out again."

Something she would like to impress on our younger readers is this:  VALUE YOURSELF!  Each of us is very special, designed by God for a specific purpose in life.  Remember---God LOVES YOU!

If you will live for Christ, that is the answer!  He is the One who can give you hope and fill the empty place in your heart. He treasures you, loves you, cares for you!  It's the truth—God cares!

When I asked Lottie if she still has hopes or dreams for her future, she told me she lives one day at a time and prays for her family.  She said she is right where she needs to be at this time.

For our country, she would love to see peace prevail and for this country to return to God.

The person who most inspired her in life was her grandfather.  "He was my pal, my everything!  My grandmother was sick a lot, so Grandpa and I did everything together.  She most admired her grandfather and his son, her mother's brother.  He was the only one in the family who didn't know the Lord, and she remembers her grandparents praying on their knees every night for him to accept the Lord.  Lottie wants to emphasize that we should never, ever give up on our prayers, no matter how many years go by without visible results!  This uncle went away to war, had some very scary, close escapes, but without a scratch.  He came back home, and still rejected the message of the cross.  But when he was past 90 years old, he finally came to the Lord!  His son did, too, and for the remainder of the uncle's life, he was on fire for God.  It is always in God's timing!

When I asked what achievement or accomplishment in her life gives her the most satisfaction, Lottie's emphatic answer was, "Nursing, nursing, NURSING!"

Regarding extreme weather, Lottie remembers the black dusters rolling in and she has been through several tornadoes, especially around Plainview, Texas.  One nearby small town was almost totally wiped out, except for the hospital.

When she was working nights in a nursing home, she had a vacation coming up, and was trying to decide where she wanted to go.  One of the residents told her that he had helped to build several cabins in the Palo Duro Canyon, and suggested she go there.  So she reserved a cabin, and had to get to it by Jeep.  She stayed there, did a lot of walking and enjoying the beauty of the cabin, and met another lady who had also rented a cabin nearby, bringing her dog.  They enjoyed each other's company, sharing a campfire under the stars, and also went to the tiny town of Six Gun City and enjoyed the Western singing at night.

Another thing she really enjoyed came about after she moved to Terral, Texas and joined the Baptist church there.  They found her to be a willing worker, teaching Sunday school, and Girls' and Boys' classes.  That summer, she got to take children to youth camp at Turner Falls, loving it so much she still recalls the joy it brought her.  She said four of her grandchildren accepted Jesus, either at her house, the church, or at camp that summer, and five grandchildren were baptized all in one service in Buffalo Springs, near Lubbock, Texas.

Lottie's favorite scripture is Be still and know that I am God. Psa. 46:10

Her hobby has been crocheting afghans and baby blankets.

The best part of her life is seeing all of her children following the Lord.  She would like to be remembered as a nice person, one who cared about others.

The legacy she wants to leave is a family loving and walking with the Lord.

Janet, I was thinking it might be something to post the original story from the 95 yo lady and then post the revised one from her family.  We are all getting older and it might help us to realize age does some strange things to our minds.  Loved the story of Lottie Mae.  She has so much to be thankful for.

Larry, I, too, need a new laptop.  But I keep holding on to this one.  It works great.  Then it suddenly is slow.  So I spend hours doing maintenance on it.  I still have the pop up that states 'Host Process for Windows Services stopped working and was closed.'  But so far all seems to be working.  Just that when I shut the lid, it takes a long time for the laptop to turn to idle.  I can live with that! 

What a beautiful day in Hoosier Land today!  We have had about 3 days of rain, clouds and gloom.  Not today!  There was a frost this morning (31 degrees) but there isn't a cloud in the sky right now!  Solar heat is working and that's a plus!  I did wake up this morning to a cool house.  My furnace thermostat was set at 68 degrees and it was working.  My heat pump wasn't.  I turned it off and back on and now it is working.  Must have been a hiccup!  Now the house is warming to its 71 degrees!

After a hard day's work John Heather's son relaxed at the river.. Just thought I would let you see what we find  "common place" here.



This was taken with my phone.....he didn't know! 

Judy:  Can someone make that into a clickable?  I hope you get all the wood you need for winter before the snow falls.  There is nothing worse than digging wood out of a snowbank.  What else have you been doing lately???

Janet:  I enjoyed the story of Lottie Mae.  Who cared for the baby and little ones when her father was working?  How sad about her mother.

It took more than a few minutes but I finally figured out how to wear a back brace - someone could have made a movie of me trying to get it on right and then Don came to the rescue.  Now it feels somewhat comfortable but it looks stupid so I have an extra shirt on today.  Good grief - getting old is not for sissies.

I couldn't find the cell phone and was so worried it was in the washing machine then I decided to call the number from our land line.  The little black phone was sitting right on a little quilt I have in the entry area on a table.  New place to hide. 

Must mention one of my favorite gifts this year.  Don took an old picture of when the grandchildren were toddlers & baby and loaded it to the WalMart site to order a mouse pad with the picture imprinted on it - I just love it. 

Al:  We are all so happy that you have your new license.  Take care. 

Carol, you should be able to see the picture now.   

Judy - that is indeed beautiful!  Two lines of a poem about it:

The beauty all around is geat.
For greater beauty yet we wait!

Imagine how THAT'S going to be!

Judy that is a great photos so pretty, those reflections are awesome.

We have 14 dogs coming in to the clinic tomorrow and 19 cats, some of the cats are Feral, it is going to be a very busy day, I am going in at 10 am instead of 1pm. They are going to need all the help they can get.

Yesterday was a do-nothing day for me.  Loved it! 

It has certainly turned cool in Indiana.  I am having my furnace cleaned as I am typing.  I won't use it every day.  I guess I use it to keep it going and for a back up.  Need to use it so it doesn't rust out! 

Then Ivalou has her class lunch today and she wants me to go with her because she has an appointment at 2pm with the doctor for her shoulder.  She had an MRI Friday so he wants to talk with her about surgery.  She said that it is 3-6 months recovery time and he said she could use her fingers.  I hope she can use more than her fingers for 3-6 months!!  I can handle taking care of her Mon-Fri but weekends, the kids will have to take over! 

I think it is wishful thinking but I keep hearing motors...like combines or corn pickers!!  I want these corn fields down so bad.  And Larry, to answer you...this year the stalks aren't near as high as usual...probably around 4' high.  And they say that the eats are short...each ear is usually around a foot long...this year much shorter.  And the corn isn't all around the cob...so yes, the drought we had has hurt the corn crop.  But for the life of me, I don't know what field corn is used for!!  I have lived here all my life and don't know!  Other than feeding cows, I have no idea!

It is another day just like yesterday...not a cloud in the sky and cool.  Barely any breeze but when I stepped out the back door to let the furnace man in, it was down-right cold!  Only 37 degrees!! 

Jeanne:  Thanks for the clickable to a beautiful, serene picture. 

Judy:  It looks so peaceful.  The trees are beautiful. 

Etta Sue:  Field corn uses:  corn for pigs and cows, cereal, corn meal, grits, alcohol and corn whiskey     What gets me is the cereal and grits.  Fodder corn is what we called it.  Mornings are so refreshing now so enjoy.

Don is at the VA this morning and he will need me there for his appt. next week. 

Hi, friends, I returned last night from a quick trip to check on my son, who is sick with pneumonia.  He's recovering, thanks to our Lord and also for Veterans hospital close enough he could go for treatment.

It seemed by yesterday he had begun to get better, so I returned home.

Now, it's time to unload the car, go to the bank, check on the house, etc., etc.

Busy day ahead.

All praise goes to our Lord who hears, guides, heals, answers prayer (in His time), and brings His lost ones back into relationship with Him.

Love to all,
Ruth Ann

Hi everyone,  has been s busy morning.  Pat and I went to breakfast again at Steak and Shake and then she stopped at Joanne's to puck up a spool of thread.  I brought her home and then went to a meeting.  When I got home I then took Pat to Kaiser for a test and to pick up some medicine.  Now am resting and trying to get some OD the messages read.  It was cool this morning and still overcast.  I plan on staying home the rest of the day.

Janet, marvelous story of Lottie.  It takes me back a bit when I see she is at a care facility but younger than I am.  She sounds like a lovely lady.

Etta Sue, that is not an unusual error message you are getting on your laptop.  I am really enjoying my new laptop.  We haven't turned on our furnace yurt but I thought about it this morning.  Corn has many uses including use for ethanol and corn syrup.

Carol, sounds like a nice idea for the mouse pad.  Hope your back is soon feeling better.

Marilyn, it sounds like they need to pay you for your efforts.  Glad you are enjoying working with the animals. 

Ruth Ann, glad your son is feeling better and you are back from your travels.

YES, CORN SYRUP AND ETHANOL ARE THE TWO BIGGEST USES OF CORN!     Oops!  Darn caps lock!  I really didn't mean to shout!

Judy, what a beautiful photo!  Two things we have little of here--trees and water!

I have been fighting emails all day, have deleted well over 2000 of them from my other email address.  In the process found some that I should have gotten months ago, which explains why I wasn't hearing from some people.     I hate having to go through and check each one to delete, but need to sift them pretty carefully.

Other than that, I did go speak to the Delta Gamma Kappa sorority (I think that's the name) tonight, and was warmly received.  Also sold a few books, so that's a plus.  Thanks for the prayers!

Thanks for the comments on Lottie's story.  Yes, Larry, she's younger than me, too.  And I was really shocked when I interviewed Everett Bray and learned he is only 6 months older than me.  I've known him for several years and thought he was at least 80!

Lots of folks in the community are letting me know they are enjoying the stories, so that's nice.

Carol, sorry you're having to wear a back brace.  Hope you won't have to wear it too long.

Yes, I really enjoy the stories, too. You are so sensitive to your storytellers and are doing a great job conveying their messages to others.

By the way, Janet, do you know you can click on the Name column in your inbox, and the messages will be sorted by the sender's name. That makes sorting through much easier. I understand. In the few days I was away, I had more than 200 messages to go through.

It's so great that you enjoy volunteering, Marilyn. Volunteering is a way we can "give back" without spending much, if any, money, and it is so much appreciated.

Y'all have a good rest of the day with our Lord.

Ruth Ann

In a few minutes, I will go over to my friend Paula's house to give her husband Roy another haircut.  So I will post another story for you here before I go:                                                     


                                      DOROTHY REBECCA DAY

This week we will visit with Rebecca Day, who was born July 4, 1926, in Morton County, Kansas.  She grew up in Morton and Stevens Counties, attending school from first grade through high school in Rolla.  Rebecca graduated in 1944, in a class of nine students.

She states that during her childhood, her family was poor, as were most residents of this area during those years.  "My dad was a dirt farmer," she said.  "He ran a dray, delivering things during some summers, and some summers the whole family moved to Hutchinson temporarily, so Dad could find work there.  On those trips, my brother and I had to ride a lot of the way in the back of the truck, and arrived blistered from the hot sun and the wind.  During the school year, he took the dray off his flatbed trailer, replacing it with a school bus body, and ran school bus routes.  Mother taught school, but in those days, a woman couldn't continue teaching if she got married.  They made an exception for her, because teachers were in short supply, but she still had to stop teaching when she became pregnant.  She taught in the little rural schools, and later, she did return to teaching.

After high school, Rebecca moved to Kansas City to attend Business School, where she took shorthand, bookkeeping and "deportment", which was intended to teach girls how to behave as young ladies, and was a prescribed part of the schooling.
This education served her well, as she states she made a good living doing bookkeeping for many years.  She worked at two different banks, two car dealerships, and a doctor's office, before taking a leave to have her children.  In later years, she worked in a feedlot for 10 years, a trucking company for 10 years, and then the Co-Op Elevator in Rolla for 8 more years until retirement.

Rebecca married Jewel J. Day in 1946.   He was a mechanic and a truck driver in the oil field. The couple had three sons and three daughters.  She says she had two different families, as the first three and the second three were separated by a span of seven years.

The eldest son, Stevan, followed his father into the "oil patch" and is now sort of a bionic man, as he has two artificial shoulders.  Stevan gave them 4 grandsons. Mikal, the second son never married, and the first daughter, Myrla Dene, died at the age of 2 ½ years, of Leukemia.

Seven years later, Kevin Lyn arrived.  He is still single.  Then daughter Alicia Loretta (Hughes) came along, and  she is the mother of Rebecca's only granddaughter.  Daughter Rebecca Janine (Parker),known as Becky, is the youngest of the six children, and lives here in Ulysses.  She is the reason Rebecca lives here.  Becky has one son.

To recap, Rebecca has two living sons and two living daughters; 5 grandsons, one granddaughter, and 5 great-grandsons.  She is very proud of her family.
A valuable lesson we could all learn from her is this:  Be honest, be courteous, and think of others.

Something she regrets is that because he was working all the time, her husband never took a vacation nor took the family traveling anywhere.  She says, "We divorced when the youngest child was about 7, and then I took the kids on some short trips, but never very far or very long."

Advice for young folks:  "Mind your P's and Q's!'

When I asked about the biggest difference she sees between the way the world was when she was young and now, she said her mother lived 108 years, so she talked about the changes she had seen---from horse and buggy to automobiles, to airplanes, to space travel and seeing a man land on the moon!

About behavior differences, she said that people used to be much more self-controlled, courteous and just genuinely more respectful of each other.  Back then, very few unmarried girls had babies, and when they did, it was kept as quiet as possible.  Now it seems like "anything goes."  And they don't even have enough self-respect to be embarrassed about it.

About her own future, Rebecca says she wants to live as long as she is of sound body and mind, "But not to 108, like my mother!"

She doesn't feel like our country is doing well now, as we are suffering many things like floods, droughts, shootings and other chaotic things.  "I'm not a religious person," she said, "but I can't help but think God is trying to get our attention!"

The person who most inspired her in life was her mother.  "She was such a good person.  She taught school, supported the community, taught Sunday school and 4-H, and sewed for me.  She had many years alone after my dad died, and she had to learn about crops, cattle and such, all at once, and all while helping take care of my children."

One thing she did that she never thought she would do was selling her parents' land.  But she did keep the mineral rights.

"I remember the dust bowl!  Mother taught a kindergarten group in our house, and one day, it rained during a dust storm.  The rain mixed with the dust and fell as balls of mud!  They seemed to me as big as golf balls, sticking to the sides of the house.  Mother used to hand wet sheets, etc., over the windows to try to keep the dirt out and also to keep us cooler in the hot summers.  After the dirt storms, the sheets made even more work for her, as she had no washing machine and had to launder them by hand.  Women's work was very hard in those days.

"When my oldest son was small, we had to take him to a doctor in Oklahoma City.   While we were there, a plague of grasshoppers arrived, and I can still remember the sound and feel of walking on all those crunchy things," she said, with a shudder.

During the years of drought, it was a big deal to drive out to the Cimarron River after a good rain, to see the river rise.  And we would love to see that again!
Rebecca attended the Methodist church as a child, and so did her children.  She later lived across the street from a Methodist church, but didn't attend.  She says she didn't push church; that she worked all week, and when Sunday came, she enjoyed sleeping in, or spending the time with her family.

A trip she remembers with pleasure is one that she and a girlfriend went on when she was 75 or 80 years old.  They went on a bus tour to Branson, Missouri.

The hardest times Rebecca has had to endure were losing her oldest daughter at the age of 2 ½ due to Leukemia; her father's death in 1960 from a heart attack (he never got to see her two youngest children); her eldest son's death, in February, 2006, from a heart attack at the age of 53 years; and four months later, the death of her mother.

The happiest times were the births of her children.

From these things she learned to just keep on plugging!  Through good and bad, you just have to keep on keeping on.

She would like to be remembered through her kids; that she lived a good life, and that she was honest.

The legacy she wants to leave is to have her kids proud of her.

In July of this year, Rebecca attended her 68th high school reunion banquet in Rolla.  All four living members of her class were there; two Bettys, a Becky and a Darrell.  Darrell asked Rebecca for a date, she accepted, and he took her to the casino at Dodge City, a new experience for her.  She really enjoyed it.

"It was fun having a date after so many years," she said.  "It made me feel young again, and also made me into something of a celebrity here at the Legacy!"

This dear lady enjoys gardening and appreciates the Legacy making it possible for her to continue doing that kind of work.  They also helped her take a number of her plants to the Grant County Fair, where she won several ribbons on them.

Rebecca would like to invite you to come visit her any time and enjoy the flowers that she enjoys tending in her room.

Janet, what wonderful people you are meeting at the Legacy.  And what a fine job you are doing, telling their stories.  Thanks for sharing these stories with us.   

Ruth Ann~Confusion has set in.  Do you have two sons?  One in the apartments with you and one in England?  Is the one from England back here?  Who has pneumonia?  Which one is now a truck driver?  Isn't he in Ohio?  Did you travel there to see him?  My curious mind wants to know! 

Rebecca is an outstanding lady!  Why does Kansas have all these marvelous people in one area?  Perhaps it is the author that paints beautiful pictures with words...

Well, Ivalou does have to have surgery providing the heart doctor okays it for her to stop her coumadin so she can have surgery.  After that okay...she will find out when.  Without surgery, she will continue to tear and continue the pain. eventually losing use of that arm. 

And she has lost her lawn guy!  Parker, her grandson, has a new job plus going to a local college.  He starts working at a car dealership this evening.  I told her...I can mow her grass and probably only need to do that once more this year.  But I also don't rake!!  I mow leaves!! So I can do that for her also.  Also that I may have to use her mower since my mower has a leak in the big back tire on the right!  Tony said he can fix it but when? 

And if she gets her arm fixed, she might be able to mow next year herself!

Well, it is cloudy today with some sunshine.  A little warmer this morning.  I plan to go to the pool and then to get some groceries in.  Once I am home, I want to do some laundry.  Looks like it is windy...the flag across the road is standing straight out!

 Hi everyone.  Went to McDonald's as usual on Wednesday but left a few minutes early as Pat had an appointment for a hair cut with her beautician.  This should be a quiet day as nothing else on the schedule.  It seemed like I was on the go all day long yesterday and was worn out by last evening.  I had one little project to do for the Golden Games website today and that is completed.  So when I finish reading here on C&P my normal computer work for the day will be over.  Stacey wants to come out this week so will go and get her either tomorrow or Friday and take her home when she wants to go back.  She usually spends just one night here as is much more comfortable in her own apartment.

Janet, glad your talk to the sorority was a good one for you.  I don't think I would have the patients to go through 2000 emails.  I think you have a natural talent for writing and not at least surprised that you are getting favorable comments from your community.

Ruth Ann, I wish Gmail had the sorting feature.   Gmail want users to use search within their emails to locate the email they want.  I did a Google search and found some other suggestion that can be used to get like emails together.

Hi to everyone that stops by today.  If you don't generally post here please leave a message so we can get to know you. 

My goodness, Etta Sue, I DO have you confused. My husband and I had 4 children - 3 boys and a girl.

One lives in the apartments just up the street, one has left England for home, and is currently the over the road trucker who has been ill with pneumonia, one is an RN who lives in the Atlanta area, and our daughter is also an RN, alternating between their farm in the Memphis area and their apartment here in this area.

Yes, Janet, I truly enjoy your ability to tell others' stories. Please give all the residents there my love and best wishes (especially YOU KNOW WHO!!)

I worked on installing the Virtual PC on my laptop which works in the mode to let a person use some of their older files. I believe Marilyn has also installed it. It certainly was nice to return to some of the games I've missed since installing Windows 7 Professional.

Now, to go about the day's duties. 

Love and adoration to our Lord and Savior, and, through Him, much love to each of you from

Ruth Ann

I am missing those of our group who haven't been posting for a long time.  Where is Ruth?  And the other Ruth? And our Pat?  and so many others who used to post regularly.  Please come back, I miss you!

I am going to town to finish interviewing my friend Maxine who painted with me for years.  She is 96 years old now, very frail, but such s wonderful friend.  She still lives at home, with lots of help from her kids.  Anyway, I want to get her story while I still can.  The other lady who painted with me for so long, wanted me to write a book about her life, and we were going to start on it as soon as I got home from that last European River cruise, but she died while Iwas gone.  I do not want a repeat of that scenario!

Here's another story for you........

                               LEON SHAPLAND

                                              BY JANET DAMON

Our featured resident this week is Leon Shapland.  Leon was born in Lane County, Kansas on May 19, 1923.  He grew up in Lane County, near the town of Dighton.

His school days were all spent in the Dighton school system, where he graduated in 1942.

There were eight children in the Shapland family, five boys and three girls.  Leon was the youngest and he said, "I didn't know a chicken had anything but a wing or a neck until I was 40 years old!"

Leon's dad was a farmer who raised mostly wheat, but also some feed for the cattle.  He and his brothers learned the farming trade from his dad as they grew up, helping with whatever work the day presented.

Of his childhood, Leon said, "We wore hand-me-down clothes.  We always had chores to do: milking cows, slopping hogs, and feeding calves and chickens.  In our free time, there was a sand pile out there we could play in with some old toys, or we made up games to play with our siblings."

After he finished high school, Leon moved here to Grant County to farm a half section his father had purchased.  Later, he moved to Kearney County where he lived and farmed for 25 years.  He had met a man who owned land there and he farmed for him.  His son is still farming that land.

"At first I had an old 22-36 International tractor and a 3 row lister; later I moved up to a modern John Deere tractor and combine.  Of course, as I moved up, the prices moved up even faster!"

"I got my first John Deere combine in 1975.  I used to farm all dry land.  It was all sandy ground, not really good for anything except milo.  Later we did get irrigation."

"There were no crop management fellows back then; we made all our own decisions about what to plant where, how much and what fertilizer to use, when to spray for pests, etc.  Maybe it's easier now, with someone helping make those decisions."

"I met my future wife Peggy here in Grant County.  We married in 1948, and we had four kids together—two boys, Leland and Kevin, and two girls, Connie and Debra.  We lived in Kearny County for 25 years, and then returned to Grant County."

One of the biggest differences Leon notices today from when he was young is that people don't "neighbor" any more.  When he was a boy, the neighbors would all get together on Saturday nights to play games, picnic, or other activities.  Today it seems we don't have neighbors, just people who live near enough that you recognize them enough to wave as they drive past.

He says we had more strict morals when he was young than today.

The achievement he is most proud of is raising up a family of good kids.

A valuable lesson he would like to share with young folks is: Be on time, and be honest!

Leon says he had his shares of good times and bad, but overall he has had a good life.  He enjoyed farming and running cattle, he loved the land, or he wouldn't have stayed with it.

When I asked about his hopes for our country, Leon said, "I think there are enough good people in this country that we can go on and prosper.  I don't necessarily like the way things are going now."

The biggest changes he has seen during his life are in farming methods, going to the moon, and technology.

We spoke of how things have changed in Southwest Kansas, and Leon said that industry has kept ahead of its time.  Tractors change so much that in a year or two you need a new one.  We didn't have phones, TV, running water in the house or indoor plumbing years ago.

"I didn't have a pickup for a long time after I started farming, now they wouldn't think of trying to farm without at least one or two!"
Leon told me that in the 50s or 60s, there were so many army worms up along the Kearny-Grant County line, crawling across the highway, that when a car drove over them it actually left tracks!

He saw the dirt storms of the 50s and plenty of blizzards.  He remembers the flood when Bear Creek came down.  He wishes Bear Creek would come down again, because many young people don't believe that ever happened.

Another memory is of the time a B-17 from the Garden City Air Base had trouble and couldn't make it to Garden.  It made a forced landing at the Northeast edge of Ulysses.  Word was passed asking people to quickly drive their cars to that area so their headlights could make a line of "landing lights" for the plane.  It came in, made a belly landing, but the crew of 6 or 7 men wasn't injured.  They had been on a training exercise.  The pilot landed on the belly with the wheels up, a smart move on a soft area.  Later the plane was inspected, dismantled and hauled away for repairs.

Leon says Peggy thought they didn't travel much, but he figured up that they had visited 34 states, went to both Disney parks (California and Florida) and went to Hawaii and Jamaica.

Leon's favorite kind of music is Country and Western.  He says he'd like to be remembered as a "good old boy."

                                           

Another good one, Janet.

My eyes are burning, and I'm feeling mighty sleepy. So, may take a nap before heading to the laundry area.

G'nite, friends,
Ruth Ann

Hi Janet & everyone on C.P.  I'm here!!  I had a lot of catching up to do as I've made three trips down south (Toronto and Kingston) in the past month. I don't have to go again until Nov. 25th, our 45th Wedding Anniversary.

I'm still very busy, bookkeeping, plus doing some volunteer work, so don't spend a lot of time writing; especially since I'm a "hunter and pecker"

Recently I received an email giving me ideas for the "Give me five" - Fun Stuff, so you might find me there a little bit.

Tonight I need to finish a financial report for one of the charities for which I volunteer as Treasurer & Bookkeeper.

Thanks for the one on Leon, Janet.  I think I would like him!

Good evening friends.  I missed a few days here, so it is catch up time again.  Janet, I too have been enjoying all of your write-ups of the folks at The Legacy.  They each have unique and interesting lives.  Yes, I agree that you have a talent for writing.  How did Beth get along while you were on your trip?  I hope she was doing OK.

Etta Sue, sorry to hear that Ivalou has to have surgery.  I hope it goes well and she can have a good outcome.  Surgery is no fun, and we wish we didn't have to endure it...but can be so necessary.  Did Chuck come to see you?  One of Earl's sons and his wife came to visit me Sunday afternoon.  They live at Amarillo.

Al, it is too bad that gas prices went up so high just after you got your drivers license re-instated.  Not fair, is it?  Maybe the prices will fall soon.

I went to the senior adult choir practice at my church Monday for the first time.  I told them I would just visit that day until I could decide if I could handle it.  Elaine went with me and was insisting that I go.  I think she wants me to get out more, and now that she has retired she is pushing me!  ha.  They put her to work right away, playing the piano.  The regular lady finally came though, a half hour late.  I love to sing, although I cannot read music.  It is the chronic pain that limits my activities so much. 

I got myself a Kindle Fire HD a few days ago.  I have a router for wifi so maybe my granddaughter can install it for me tomorrow, her day off.  Now I will need to find some books, etc. to download.  Do any of you know of a source where I can find some free ones? 

Hello to Larry, Jeanne, Ruth Ann, Marilyn, Carol and all others.  I dislike mentioning names sometimes because I will surely forget someone, and I don't want to do that.  .

G'night,  ~Janice