Happy birthday, Grandma T!

Grandma T.  (1905-2002)

I can’t begin to number the times when researching my family history that I wished I could talk to you — but unfortunately I didn’t take that up until after you really couldn’t remember things very well. But you were the one that got the ball rolling with your little brown book full of handwritten history, newspaper clippings and pictures.

• Wish I could share with you all that I have found out since!
• I have the 104 year old dress you are wearing in the picture in my cedar chest.
• I loved your chocolate chip cookies and if I think real hard I can just about smell them.
• I don’t remember this, but I am told that your old cow, Old Red, licked me right across my cheek when I was itty-bitty.
• I was curious about your kitties on the farm, but Mom made sure I was scared of their claws.
• I really liked your white and yellow glider on the farm. In fact, I liked everything about the farm.
• Except the outhouse.
• I liked getting a good cold drink out of the well.
• I loved your apple orchard.
• Your little black faced sheep were soo cute! Especially the one R was bottle-feeding.
• The farm’s gray barn was huge!
• And if I remember correctly, you had a beautiful flower garden surrounded by a white picket fence.

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NP: Fringe

Sophie news: We took a walkie to see the Chief. Sorta creepy without H. Soph ignored the gray squirrels in the forest. She seems to be much more interested in the birdies. Naughty girl.

Waiting for: DH to get cleaned up from work…he’s just in at 9:30 this evening…so he can eat supper and the both of us can eat some rhubarb crisp. And more asparagus.

Furlough Bullets: Final Installment

Friday:

• Rearranged the CDs/DVDs/VHSs/books on the shelves in the bedroom. Got a boxful of videos to get rid of — yay!
• Had tacos for lunch…at 10:30 AM…
• Talked to J.
• Talked to Mom and Dad. They may or may not be coming for a visit this Sunday… depends on the SNOW we are supposed to get.
• Pulled out both of the under-the-bed storage containers that are full of my genealogy stuff. I sorted and threw away clippings that were in overabundance (Gee, Grandma PoPo! You had newspapers clippings of all the floods to hit P-town! I saved a representation of them, so don’t worry…) and when I was done reorganizing, I had room for more stuff!
• And of course, a perusal of my family history sent me on an internet detour… but I still don’t know who Mrs. Frank Williams is, even though she says she’s a cousin to Grandma PoPo’s husband and signed his autograph book back in 1910. Golly. Nearly a century ago. When he was seven.
• Shredded more of my life away.
• Realized I hurt my back. And knees.
• Took Sophie to the park for a walkie. Ran into B’s mom and Charlie the huge…Irish setter/wolfhound? This is a BIG dog! Made the most of this meet-and-greet (part of the Good Canine Citizenship test that Soph will be taking). Soph and Charlie were nose to nose just fine and dandy, until Soph realized Charlie had a human with him…then she did her sparkles dance (a test no-no), but after I told her to sit, B’s mom skirched her wee head and Soph was quiet and did good. Can’t wait to tell the instructor tomorrow!

Sigh

Been missing Grandma PoPo (1904-2000) for a few weeks lately. Don’t really know why now –

Here she is with my mom when she was a baby — I am guessing the summer of 1933.

Do you know that even though she’s been gone for nearly nine years, I there are times where I still think, “I can’t wait to tell Grandma THAT!”?

Silly, huh?

Back before e-mail, when snail mail ruled the world, I would write both my grandmas either once a month or every other month. I’d let them know what I was up to, how the girls were doing, how the flowers were growing…

Once in a while I’d call Grandma PoPo and ask,

“Hey Grandma, what’s for supper?” (you closet Hee-Haw fans know where this is from!)

And then she’d tell me.

Grandma lived in a high rise apartment for years and years. She was a charter resident.

She first signed up for the fifth floor, thinking that would be high enough.

Then she was slated for the seventh floor, which was a bit iffy, but she thought she’d be okay.

When it was all said and done, she lived on the ninth floor of a ten floor building.

She had a southwest living room window, making it easy to see for miles and miles the flat farmland of Illinois.

That was until Kmart was built, and McDonalds, and Zayre’s and the highway was moved farther west and all the land was built up between.

She always pulled her drapes, even though no one could see in, except for a superhero or two.

If I squint my eyes, I just about can see it all again.

Well… IIII’ll Be! — Gomer Pyle

First — let me introduce you to my GGGrandpa Samuel B. Cook and GGGrandma Susanna Rice Cook.

Grandpa Cook (1817-1900) and Grandma Cook (1817-1870) were married Aug. 26, 1841 and came from Pennsylvania to eventually settle in southern Illinois in 1863.

I’d like to think these are wedding portraits…I think the medium is either pencil and/or charcoal. I came about them very accidentally — serendipity sort of comes to mind — and depending on the season, they sit on the fireplace mantle. The frames are modern, the glass UV and the mats archival. I hope they will last another 150 years!

Their daughter, Sarah Jane Cook Rutherford (1850-1920) and John Calvin Rutherford (1850-1916), were the parents of my great-grandfather James L. Rutherford (1883-1964).

While this person is not identified, I believe it is Sarah:

And this child has been identified as James Rutherford:

And of course, I think I have shown you this cute picture of James and his older sister Susanna “Susie” Rutherford Lambert (1879-1958):

Which brings me to H’s observation.

She says my first grade picture at the right resembles Grandpa Sammy…

Hmmm…

Wish I could get my hair to stand up like that.

(By the by–if anyone happens to see this post and thinks we might be related, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! Yes, H, I know you are related…)

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NP: The local news and the space heater.  Will Blago ever go away? Will it ever be warm again?

What I will not be doing this evening: Boot camp. Have to give these old knees a rest.

TV viewing tonight: Lost (a Desmond episode!) and Life On Mars

Where’s Sophie?: On Daddee’s lap.

Slow recovery

Okay, so now I can breathe but in exchange I can have coughing fits.

This virus has enabled me in so many ways…

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Must find tougher toys for Sophie.

She’s not known as the Sophinator for nothing.

Only two toys are relatively unscathed from mighty jaws: Her Kong and a goofy looking sheep that she has managed to only eat the ears off.

Her Christmas present – a mallard duck with authentic squeaker – is now minus two feet and two wings. I’ve stitched the poor thing up so many times, but now Soph is able to work those threads loose.

Even her Nylabone needs replacing.

I think she is having a terrible bout of cabin fever, and thanks to the ice on the ground and our next snow event coming tomorrow, I don’t see that being cured any time soon.

Been playing a modified tug of war with her, “park it whilst mumsy hides the treat in the living room”, and toss the Kong.

She still has energy to burn.

So she jumps – without warning – into DH’s lap as he’s reading in the recliner, bites at the book, then balances herself on the…what is it?…the footrest.

Then, in an a la Carney move, she will cross the bridge I make with my legs and come onto my lap on the couch.

Sophie is on her way to being a mountain goat.

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A fellow e-mailed me indicating that he is interested in my Cook family genealogy — he’s doing some research for an acquaintance who is very likely related to me.  Whee!

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I am going to get birthday’d at work tomorrow.

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To turn back the ravages of time (see above) I bought a couple work out DVDs from a gal at work who also teaches total body workouts at our local rec center.

They are quite good.

She makes it looks so easy.

Now if I can just get out of this chair…

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NP: Smallville. Ugh.

Where’s Sophie? That’s a good question. Oh yeah. Humph. I had to give her a “too bad” timeout. She jumped on the couch to get to Dad-dee’s chocolate push’em… Next time Dad-dee gets the “too bad” timeout.

What am I waiting for? Well, the new seasons of 24, Fringe, Lost, Battlestar Galactica (has that started yet?), Burn Notice (hurry up already!!!)

Next in my Netflix queue: Indiana Jones/Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Grandma said it…

…so it must be true:

“It’s heck to get old.”

Grandma is in the middle, back row. I think this photo was taken in the early to mid 1920s. Grandma passed on when she was in her nineties.

Up until this year, I was somewhat amused by her statement.

Now I subscribe to it.

My memory, joints, muscles and stamina have tanked. Can’t remember anything … I am in complete astonishment to notice that I have hip joints that stiffen and say, “Mind me! I hurt!” … My legs ache … I could use an afternoon nap most days.

Oh, and I’d like my old eyes back. The ones I have now are just not cutting it.

It’s disgusting. I feel a long mope coming on.

Maybe a warm puppy will help the situation…

Only because I read to the end…

…of Sylvia’s post where she says: “OK, so I tag everyone who has read this! LOL!” that I feel duty-bound to comply — so without further ado, here goes nuttin’!

The Rules:
~Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
~Link the person(s) who tagged you.
~Mention the rules on your blog.
~Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
~Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

…but if you have read this far, consider yourself tagged…

Quirks? I have a few:

1. Mid-morning snack at work consists of string cheese or milk and citrus fruit salad.
2. My left contact goes in before my right, thus disrupting the whole of contact-weardom.
3. I watch Dog Tales via the computer every Sunday morning.
4. I collect obituaries. No, not every one I read!
5. I hate shopping.
6. …but I don’t mind buying over the internet.

…out like a lion.

Good-bye, March, you mixed up weather month you.

A mild thunderstorm rumbled through O-town very early in the AM — there might have been some itty-bitty hail along with, and the rain came down right good. Still wasn’t enough to get rid of all the snow piled up on top of my perennials along the neighbor’s fence, but it won’t be long now. I am itching to get out there and rake up all the oak leaves around the house.

The weekend wrap up:

• Hal Holbrook was terrific as Mark Twain — Mark Twain Tonight! is available on Netflix, so I put it in my queue for a repeat performance. Before show time, H took me to the Thai Hut for dinner — I was in garlic chicken and rice heaven! — and must not forget the fresh crab rangoons with sweet dipping sauce!
• Rearranged the dining room a bit to get an idea where Sophie will be hanging out — and realized just how yucky the sheet vinyl is in the dining room/kitchen/hallway area. It wasn’t put down very well at all — and it dimpled over the previous floor covering. Of course the dimples collect all manner of dirt. Did I mention that the floor is white? Yeah.
• Also in the dining room – had DH hang the hundred year old Craig family portrait over the place where a built in air conditioner was before we moved in. It was a great improvement — but we might put in another air conditioner some day.
• Researched covering the bathtub and shower walls with a surround. Pricey, that…
• Still trying to figure out how to hand strip a Cairn terrier. I don’t want Sophie to lose her hard coat forever and become a fuzz-head. I guess if I had the doggie first, it might all become clear.

NP: The dishwasher.

What happens if you wander on the internet way too early in the morning:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Philadelphia Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you’re not from Philadelphia, then you’re from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you’ve ever journeyed to some far off place where people don’t know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn’t have a clue what accent it was they heard.
The Midland
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

WHAT?!

I mean, yeah, my ancestors traveled from east to west way back when — that would be the Cooks and the Reeds from Pennsylvania — but I’d think any accent would have been diluted by now…

…time to exercise — gotta go. More later.

Lucidity is somewhat overrated

NP: Bionic Woman. No I am not watching…DH can’t find anything else to watch. Sigh! And I had such high hopes for this show. Oh well.

Lucidity: clearness of thought or style (not likely to be found in tonight’s post)

Okay — so my plan for getting through December involves going through the motions in hopes of jump starting my mood.

But first…

I really liked this arrangement for fall. Yeah, I know some people are put off by “dead people” portraits, but I hope to meet Grandpa Sammy and Grandma Susanna Cook some day in heaven. Beats me how people there might recognize each other, but I surely won’t forget these two…besides I figure if these portraits managed to survive 150 years or so, they deserve to be on display.

Moving on: by tradition I try to decorate for Christmas soon after Thanksgiving. Usually it takes me part of a day, but this year it took a bit of time over several days to get it to this point:

No — this isn’t all of my decorating. Most of my time included sorting through what I wouldn’t be putting up or out. As for the fireplace, it’s Not Quite There Yet, in my estimation. It’s just not right on the ends. Could have used a bit more lucidity, but it wasn’t happening.

Oh and then there is the tree:

Don’t have room for a very big tree and this one perched on top of Grandma Rutherford’s pedal sewing machine usually had its place next to the fireplace. However, the fireplace will be used more often this winter and I certainly don’t want to include the tree amongst all that oak burning. Anyway — I guess I like how the tree turned out, and I REALLY liked the way I didn’t have to decorate the back of it!

So whether these motions get me back on track remains to be seen. I did sort of perk up at the thought of cranberry scones though…

Carney update:

Not sure the meds are really working for the little guy, but he’s still eating and drinking. He is so hesitant about coming out of his cage. He used to climb right out onto my arm… I played with him a lot tonight:

(Hey! Everyone who ran out of the room, get back here!) Lately he’s been perching and looking around the room quite a bit. Don’t know what’s up with that — he didn’t do that much before the YPM (yucky pink medicine). He is still trying hard to be a sweet rattie in spite of it all.