We are never prepared

for what we expect. 

I sit here this evening pondering over the meaning of

this quote I came across today.  

"We are never prepared for what we expect" 

Of course the first thing that comes to mind is the death 

of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer disease.  As we watch

the shine in their eyes slowly drift away,

"we know what to expect but we are never prepared!"

Observing the changes of my grand girls this Christmas 2015.

Leaving behind the age of innocence,

they have entered into their preteen years.

Giggly girls flirting with makeup and boys,

grandma taking a backseat to cell phones and facebook.

"We are never prepared for what we expect."

Love, unconditional never ending love.

A captivating love, exciting and enduring. 

The promise of love always and forever.

I wanted this kind of love,

but never in my wildest dreams

did I dare to expect it nor prepare for it. 

Thank you my precious husband.

Today is over,

 tomorrow is a new beginning.

 "We are never prepared for what we expect."

Shoot for the moon, even if you miss

you'll land among the stars.

                                     Les Brown

~Jammin Time At The Cabin~

My berry patch is full of sweet juicy blackberry's

coming up ripe for eaten, cobblers and "jam".

Time for Blackberry Jam

Last year we lost over  half of our crop to those

nasty black birds. We picked every other day, those

birds were still beating us up.

So this year we invested in bird netting, now I thought

this was going to be a waste of time.  You can just imagine

the grief it took putting that fine netting over the berry bushes, 

not to mention that at every pickin you had to crawl under it!

So far so good, the blackberry's are in tact, 

the birds are confused and I am a happy jammer!

Today I made my first 2 batches of yummy blackberry jam!

Why is it that July and Jam makin always occur 

at the same time.

Bad enough it is 95 in the shade in southwest Missouri, 

then heat up the house even more with steamy hot

 boiling berry sauce.  

My of my that savory smell, the first

warm taste from licking the spoon...

makes me giggle with delight and proud

that I still continue the family tradition

of Jammin in July.

Come December when the days are short

with a cold chill in the air, I will wrap my jars

of jam in pretty paper and deliver them

to family, friends and neighbors.

My body, soul and spirit is warm again .

Thank You for visiting today
                Connie

~Home of the Free~

Memorial Day - 

not just a day off!

Monday is a day to pay tribute

to those who died fighting

for the peace and freedom

we enjoy today.

"Thank You"

"Thank You"

"Thank You"

"Thank You"

Home of the Free

Because of the Brave

"Thank You" 

             

             

Rosemary

Mothers hold

their children's hands

for a short while

but their hearts

forever

" My Mom Rosie

 with her girls"

Mom, Jane, Mary, Jackie and Connie

This pic was taken  1992

at my sister Mary's first baby shower.

I don't remember what was said

but it sure made us all laugh.

Bunch of silly girls.

We love you and miss you Mom, 

You are in our hearts

Forever

Our Mom

 Rosemary

~Spring Has Arrived~

 Wildflowers...

delicate simplicity,
peaceful beauty,
sensual fragrance,
enduring presence,

reminding us once again,

Spring has arrived!

All things seem possible in May. 

April's blooms of

white lilacs, tulips,
wild violets, yellow  buttercups
have faded away,
making room for the
flowers of May.

All things seem possible in May.


I am hoping and praying the warmth and beauty of May
will continue to bring strength into this ole body of mine.

I want to thank all of you for your concern,
 sweet regards and warm wishes. 

How beautiful a day can be
When kindness touches it!
~George Elliston

A short update on my progress.

I returned to work March 23, five weeks after surgery.
A little soon yes, but in order to return to my same position
that was the date given to me.
The first two weeks were a bit rough,
 however the following weeks have gotten better. 
 I have come to the conclusion that my back
will never be the same again.
Lifting and bending are my worst enemies.
Learning to live with that knowledge
is the hardest part, however
no pity party here,  a realization I will conquer.

The sun won't shine
Until you put the umbrella away.

My umbrella is closed, I am blessed.


May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day.
May songbirds serenade you every step along the way.
May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue.
And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
~Irish Blessing

All things seem possible in May.

                                        Connie 

 

~Recovery Day Six~

Faith - Hope - Joy

Weave in Faith 

 and God will find the thread.

You've got to have Hope,

without Hope life is meaningless.

Strength will bring Joy,

Joy will strengthen the Spirit.

This is recovery day six from back surgery on Feb. 12th

With Faith, Hope and Joy 

I am getting stronger each day. 

They tell me surgery went well.

Guided by our heavenly Father,

I put my faith and trust in the Doctors skilled hand.

Now it is a matter of time, 

taking it easy,

no bending, lifting, stretching...

letting this old body heal.

Thank you for all your prayers,

they bring joy to my heart

and peace to my spirit.

 

When prayers go up,

Blessings come down.

 

 

Peace and Light

"Man loves company

even if it is only 

that of a small burning candle"

                                                     George C. Lichtenberg

May your day be filled 

with peace and light.

                             Connie

~Remembering Laura~

"Remember me with smiles and laughter,

for that is how I will

remember you all.

If you can only remember me with tears,

then don't remember me at all."

                                                  Laura Ingalls Wilder

Thank you "prairie girl",

we will never forget you.

Happy Birthday!

2/7/1867

2/10/1957

                                                Connie

~Everyday Blessings~

As the years pass, 

I am coming more and more

to understand

that it is the common, 
everyday blessings

of our common everyday lives

for which we should be

particularly grateful.
                                                               Laura Ingalls Wilder
 

"Thank you for visiting today"

~Put The Umbrella Away~

I've got dreams in hidden places

And extra smiles for

When I'm blue

Today is a sharing day.

Have I taken things for granted?

God the Father has blessed me

many times over.

 Precious family, sweet grandchildren,

crazy fun friends,

 possessions, dreams,

health, contentment and love.

I have been a bit blue of late, 

no, I have been done right upset with myself.

I have always had an inner strength attitude,

a place where I can think, reason, ponder.

A happy place where dreams are imagined,

problems are solved.

My place, my private place, I am in control.

I am no longer in control and it is scary.

Yes, God is in control and I have given this up to Him.

I know my faith will carry this burden,

but the unknown is frightening.

These past months I have been dealing with health issues.

Did I take my health for granted?
Maybe a little,
 when it is taken away you ponder the what if's.

If I hadn't lifted those heavy logs,

 but how I loved bringing my cabins to life.

If I hadn't restored that heavy furniture,

awesome challenge and so much fun. 

If I hadn't taken my job so seriously,

an honest days work for an honest wage.

I miss working side by side wth
my soul mate and best friend Mr.b.

I have been on leave of absence since Dec. 1st.
dealing with degenerated disc's in my back.

Shooting spasms of pain from my hip area

down my leg into the bottom of my foot.

First Round - MRI and lots of pill pushing

pain pills, nerve pills, muscle pills.

Second Round - epidural shot in spine.

Third Round - surgery

 next week meeting with the surgeon.

Hopefully soon, with skilled hand of a Doctor

and the guidance of our Heavenly Father,

I will be back on feet, good as new.

Into your hands

I place my worries,

cares and troubles.

Into your wisdom

I place my path,

direction and my goal.

Into your love

I place my life.

The sun won't shine
Until you put the umbrella away

~~On Christmas Eve~~

In Scandinavian countries, the big feast was on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day was a day for going to church and relaxing 

at home.  It's a custom we still observe in the same way

my mother did.  It was a plain meal and until grown children 

began changing it with likes and dislikes of their own,

it was the same every year.

Flaky boiled potatoes; lutefisk piled high on a white platter;

potato sausage piled even higher on a smaller platter;

milk gravy plain and milk gravy with homemade mustard;

I'm sure there was a vegetable but I have no memory of it-

my plate was already filled; white buns and rye bread with

raisins; jellies and pickles and homemade root beer.

And for dessert, always rice pudding with raisins and one

single almond.  Whoever got the almond in his serving

would be the next to marry.

Now, two and even three generations removed from that

household, it's still the same.  Never are the dishes done so

quickly and the last of the leftovers whisked away so quickly

as on Christmas Eve!  For it was time to go into the parlor,

one of the few times in winter that the room was opened

and the radiator turned on. One by one, the tongues of flame

 danced on the candles as they leaned out on the tips of

 each bough.  And one by one the presents under the tree 

were passed around.

                    Connie

~Her Back Steps~

My uncle John and Aunt Jennie lived in a handsome house

that faced the highway in front and whose back pasture ran

all the way to the Great Northern railroad tracks in back.
It was just outside Cokato, Minnesota.

Among the aftermaths of the Depression were the tramps,

or hobos, who rode the boxcars and cooked in tin cans over

an open fire in hobo "jungles."  Some were derelicts and

drifters. But many had left families, striking out for places where

there might be work, maybe even a fresh start.

One of those jungles was near the tracks just past Uncle

John's pasture.  So most of the men found their way to 

Aunt Jennie's back door.  "Could you spare a bite

 to eat for a hungry man?"

Uncle John owned the local butcher shop.  While things

were hard for them, too, there were always soup bones

and ham bones, and even sliced meat for a thick sandwich

on home-baked bread.  They sat on her back steps and ate,

next to the cosmos and zinnias she watered with her dishpan

water, soap and all.  She heard their tales and her heart ached

for them, especially the young ones on the road for the first time.

And they repaid her kindness.  Mostly they made baskets of

willow branches, notching the corners together like a log cabin,

forming elaborately curved handles.  Sometimes they sold them,

making enough to buy a little gilt or varnish to touch them up.

Aunt Jennie's living room and sun parlor had dozens of house

plants in willow baskets, even plant stands fashioned of

willow boughs from the brush that grew up and down the tracks.

Before she married, Jennie had been a cook in the Cokato Hotel.

Chances are, no fancy guest there ever ate better bean

soup than she served the hungry men on her back steps.

               Notes From A Scandinavian Kitchen

               A memory by Florence Ekstrand

I will be posting a few more excerpts from this book,
Mom gave it to me years ago, only now did I pick it up to read.
The title of the book is
"Notes From A Scandinavian Kitchen"
Not only does it contain recipes from the old country
but history from the old country as well.  Little did I know,
I thought it was just another cookbook.
The stories are amazing, being the history buff that I am
I was pleasantly  surprised!
 Mom's mother was a an immigrant from Sweden,
she came to this country as a young child,
settling in Northern Wisconsin.

                       Connie

~~How Sweet and Clear~~

A Christmas Memory

My mind goes back across the years to our first Christmas in

our little poplar log cabin in Northwood, Saskatchewan.  I was

only a little lad, but no amount of years could ever blot it from

my memory.  Some weeks before Christmas, Mother became ill 

and had to be taken to the hospital.  Dad was away from home

 working with a railroad crew.  A blizzard prevented him from

reaching home with provisions for Christmas.  Things looked

pretty poor and bleak for us, isolated in our wilderness cabin.

But the spirit of Christmas was not to be denied.

We cut a little aspen tree (there were no evergreens in that

part of Saskatchewan) and set it up on the floor.  Rummaging in

the trunks, we found some Christmas decorations from our

homeland far across the seas.  Our Christmas dinner?  Well, we

didn't have many ingredients to work with.  The only food left

was flour, salt and corn syrup.  We cooked a porridge, "vatten grot",

using water, salt and flour.  We even mixed water with the

syrup to make it go further.  It was a good dinner!  The comfort

of having each other, despite cold and hunger, made it so.

After we had eaten, brother Hans, being the oldest, lined us up

around the Christmas tree according to age, down to the littlest

fellow.  Then we marched around the Christmas tree singing the

Christmas songs so dear to us from the homeland.

How meaningful and real Christmas was to us! 

 How sweet and clear 

the angelic message of God's good will toward His

children!  And it is ever so.  While there is nothing wrong with

making our homes as festive looking as possible, it still remains true

that the real joy and peace of Christmas is not dependent

on a wealth of material things.

"Where meek souls will receive Him still,

the dear Christ enters in."

Rev. Nels Norbeck of Montana,

wrote about his most memorable Christmas.

Connie

Time To Shine

Summer Sundays 

have stepped aside

it is now

"Fall Fridays"

~time to shine~

The calendar reads October,  however my

 rose bushes think other wise.

Summer lingers a little longer here in the south,

casting dancing shadows before the first frost.

~~Circle of Life~~

Just living is not enough...
One must have sunshine, freedom
and a little flower.
                                Hans Christian Andersen

A passion of mine,

traveling the back roads of history,

 one never knows what treasures lie ahead. 

A single lone tree standing strong and tall,

 a rusty broken down fence with no purpose at all.

An abandoned old barn slowly wasting away

  holding onto memories from previous days.

Many times I have traveled this road,

 eyes focused forward to reach my destination.

Today was different, a dreamy Spring day,
warm sun rays dancing in my car
old country music tugging at my heart,

glancing side to side 
absorbing what nature had to offer,
 a frolicking mood like no other.

Suddenly there it was....

Why had I not seen this before?

 

Beyond the thickets of overgrown brush,

  beyond the wooden gate 

blocking a worn path

tucked back, far away, 
hidden by natures growth,

touched my mornings sunlight,
glistening patches of gold,

a circle of radiant yellow daffodils.

"So lovely to behold"

Gazing upon God's glorious gift
I immediately knew what I had just found
~~The Circle of Life~~

  It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the Circle
The Circle of Life

                                                          Lyrics from The Lion King

A lost homestead,
though her buildings are long gone
she still shares with us.
Her circle of daffodils
 live on and on.

I wanted to get a better picture of this
amazing circle of daffodils
but respecting thy neighbor 
I shot my photos from the fence.

Easter Blessings to all my prim followers
Thank you for visiting today
                    Connie