I Got the Sun in the Morning and the Moon at Night!

I've got the sun in the morning and the moon at night...

~from, Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin







This is me last week in the evening, before sunset. I decided to meander to the pond with one of my daughter's pretty teacup sets with my coffee. Sometimes it's fun to just do something different like that. You certainly can't put me into a box that is for sure! : ) It was rather poetic I think. My pink flip-flops even match the cup and punch plate...






My daughters and I have been enjoying listening to Betty Hutton singing Irving Berlin's: "I Got the Sun and the Morning" from the musical "Annie Get Your Gun". We sing it together when we work in the kitchen, this song is guaranteed to put a zip in your doo-dah!

Irving Berlin In Hollywood (Film Score Anthology) by Irving Berlin (Audio CD - 1999) I just love the lyrics! This is such a nice cd with many old time musical scores. We checked this copy out at the library.

You can see "the" Betty Hutton singing it on youtube if you like.


I Got the Sun in the Morning

ANNIE OAKLEY: Got no diamond, got no pearl, Still I think I'm a lucky girl. I've got the sun in the morning And the moon at night. Got no mansion, got no yacht, Still I'm happy with what I got. I've got the sun in the morning And the moon at night Sunshine gives me a lovely day, Moonlight gives me the Milky Way. Got no checkbooks, got no banks, Still, I'd like to express my thanks. I've got the sun in the morning And the moon at night. And with the sun in the morning And the moon in the evening I'm alright. Got no butler, got no maid. Still I think I've been overpaid, I've got the sun in the morning And the moon at night. Got no silver, got no gold, What you've got can't be bought or sold. I've got the sun in the morning And the moon at night.


The roses my sweet hubby brought me for our 31st anniversary a couple of weeks ago. It was funny, we drove into a neat town we have fond remembrances from, a wonderful old town even equipped with an auditorium, locker room, dark room etc. in a huge buff colored brick building (very characteristic of the 40s)... old USO building where they had entertainment etc. for the soldiers during WWII and everything!... You know me, I just love that stuff. Yes indeed. It was one of those nights where the restaurant wasn't quite as we remembered it though. Let's just say we laughingly and good naturedly called it a mistake house instead of a steak house.

Still fighting an earache and vertigo. No fun. I got myself upset last week and on top of that had a delicious piece of chocolate cake our darling girls made for us and if you've known me for long, sugar and I do not do well especially when recouping. Such is life...

I can't complain, I've got the Lord and the sun and the morning and the moon at night!
God is so good, I love my family. ~Amelia

Here are some more neat pics by my youngest daughter of two of our four doglets and other neat stuff on her blog. Enjoy!

And...I have a very nice easy-breezy down home Italian dish I created that Hubs is already requesting again! I'm sharing it with you all on my thats-italian blog.

Stardust Memories and Mitford-Like Sweetness

And now the purple dusk of twilight time steals across the... meadows of my heart.....


This song carries such sweet memories for me, I would listen to this song when we lived back in the suburbs as I would drive the girls to Mrs. Blount our sweet piano teacher in the small town on the other side of the country...almost an hour away from the suburbs we had moved to. The song is from one of my favorite cds. 'Love is the Thing and More' by Nat King Cole. I sure miss Mrs. Blount. She is with the Lord now, I wonder if some way some how she knows I'm back and that I miss her? A great cloud of witnesses.

This is the song that is on my mind in the evenings here in the country. I go outside and stand still and just look all around so still...I see pools of golden sunlight, many times among the other beautiful colors the Lord uses in His glorious handiwork in the evening, brilliant oranges, lavenders and yes...sometimes purple...Fanciful glimpses of cotton tail rabbits....a family of deer, the mother, father and baby fawn can be seen after the doglets go in. The deer family also have been appearing in the morning hours as well. They know the humans who live here in our home won't hurt them I do believe. I'm so thankful my husband has never been one to hunt for sport.

After supper as I recoup I try to go outside and enjoy God's handiwork. I can't thank God enough for bringing me back home, this very piece of land I had always admired but never thought too much about either, I had always thought it to be unobtainable. God sure knows what He is doing.

Here's a couple of funny stories from yesterday. Think Mitford.


Yesterday. Thursday. 6.16 Marianna and I took a quick trip to Little Town...I so love that...

I'm still recouping and thanks so much for your prayers! I thought a quick outing would be nice and do me good.

We stopped by the old 1920s jewelry and gift shop, Mrs. Donna Ruth even has a bridal gift registry there for Lenox china as well as her vitamins she takes, B12, B6 and folic acid etc.behind the counter I suppose so she won't forget? It's cute. Near the counter where she keeps her vitamins next to the phone, is the entrance to the stockroom, above the entrance is a very old studio 16 x 18 photograph of her parents, the original owners of this most wonderful jewelry store establishment. You see, Marianna needed to talk with Donna Ruth about teaching piano. Donna Ruth's great grand-daughters are needing a good piano teacher since Mrs. Blount passed away. Donna Ruth was married to Dr. Lawrence the local vet, a sweetheart indeed. Donna Ruth grew up in Little Town and tells us all about the area, once an oil boomtown complete with theatre still standing. Donna Ruth offers candles and gifts as well as jewelry, and she still gift wraps by the way. Wouldn't it be something if Marianna now teaches in Mrs. Blount's place? The little Marianna, one of four of my girls who loved Mrs. Blount just a grandmother? The Mrs. Blount who held my Baby-Rebecca like her own grandchild? As I said before, God sure knows what He is doing.

The funny part: Marianna and I were peering into the showcase there in the old jewelry store, the floors are made from an old terrazza, we are looking at some beautiful hair combs with crystal trim....A sweet older man wearing big glasses in blue jeans came in the store as the bell on the door, ting-a-lings. He could tell we were trying to find the price on the combs through the showcase glass. We were looking under and over the glass almost standing on our heads! He tells us:

"I don't know how long y'all have been around here but a long time ago we had a store down the street, Ms. Mary's store...She had a Store Closing Sale. Her "store-closing" sale lasted FIVE years!" He laughed and slapped his leg and said...."It worked too!"

But I think this story is even funnier....

Marianna and I went to the local Barbecue restaurant in an old tin building, she wanted to treat me to a good ol' brisket sandwich.

We were listening to all kinds of conversations, several tables of older men...a few young ones. Some workers, some retired, talking of how to preserve the town and stop tearing down nice buildings...And about that Clem, and what he tried to do in another town. (The sister town where we're from!) Who is Clem anyway? ; )

Marianna makes a funny remark about the boxes of used books for sale for 25 cents, she says this place is better than Barnes & Noble, food and books!

You must know that above the boxes of books on the table are at least half a dozen black and white old veteran's photographs beautifully framed, one an awesome pilot's photo, pilot's glasses and all. Beautiful. Not only were these beautiful photographs but the soldier's medals were framed with a brass name plate under each.

Finally after smiling, listening to the conversation next to us...Marianna tells me about the 'Christy' book by Catherine Marshall and how Christy was her mother, not grandmother. What am I reading? she asks....

I'm reading... 'Lo, Michael!' by Grace Livingston Hill. (here it is online if you want to give it a try btw) or here. I have a very old hard copy, I just love things like that...I love to think about the hands that once held the book. Some of my GLH books have very old inscriptions in them and that makes them all the more special. Thoughtful gifts of yesteryear.

So I'm animatedly telling Marianna the story of Michael how we was raised in the streets and how all the street children took care of each other. Michael never knew who his parents were and how everyone called this baby, this child, Michael, after the archangel because he was such a beautiful child. I tell Mar. how the banker's little baby was going to be shot by a drunkard. The bank had closed and people were so outraged at the luxury the banker still lived in...and little Michael took the bullet as the nurse maid stood with the ermine hooded baby in the stroller. The banker loved Michael so very much as his own son after saving his baby's life, he paid for Michael to go to private school so Michael promised his little family of friends he would come back to take care of them.

When Michael came back, his street friends were in prison, dead, one whose legs were both cut off by a train and the poor boy died in the hospital by himself...The other in prison. His best friend, Sam was a thief...And Michael is still such a beautiful young man even men turn to look at this heavenly being.

Michael does come back and keeps his promise and is even beaten in the street as he tries to help the other street people he had come from ...

...And the way he walked out of the mansion with such dignity and grace when the banker's snobbish wife forbade him to see their daughter...Oh that Michael. Wow. What a gem.

He has an apartment and keeps it clean with a red posy flower, he invites little poor children to see his posy and teach them how to care for plants and the ways of the Lord and he also invites Aunt Sally and the lady who sews buttons on vests because he sees she needs light to sew in. And of course, Sam his former childhood friend who he is helping. Michael wants to become a farmer and the rich banker gave him a small farm never claimed by a deceased farmers family...but Michael also wants to be an attorney....and so does his guardian who loves him so...

I look at the table of men over the right of Marianna's shoulder and it was the cutest thing ever. They were spellbound by my story of "Lo, Michael!" It was so adorable...You would have had to have seen it. One of them looked much like a silver-headed version of the former preacher character who travels in the truck with the Joad family in the 'Grapes of Wrath' movie...He was looking wide-eyed at us holding his sandwich up to his face listening to this story along with the entire table of men. I think they they may have thought Michael was a real person!

Life in Smalltown. : )

Blessings to All from God's Country, near to Mitford. Do any of you have a Mitford nearby? Or any Mitford stories to tell?

Me and Baby Birds On my Baby's Blog

HI EVERYONE! Do you like this red dress? I won it on a sweet giveaway from Eva over at Opulent Poppy. This cute dress is such a blessing. It fits great and is so cheerful. I'm enjoying wearing it as you can see. I'm holding Esther, Marianna's toy poodle here. No, I didn't cut my hair, I just have it back in a clip. : )

Here is also a darling photo of our baby birds on my baby daughter (she's 17 now!) Rebecca's blog:
Baby Birds on Poetic Capture Blog.
Enjoy! May we remember that God takes care of us just as He takes care of the little birds of the air...I love birds... They are one of the sweetest things I know on earth.

I've been fighting a bad, bad case of flu. Last night I took a break from the couch and walked out to the pond...it was evening and the moon had come out. I think it's a pity to live in the beautiful country and not enjoy outside in God's creation carefully looking at His handiwork. When I walk outdoors my soul immediately rests.

I walked out to the pond and I see a huge school of tiny black fish, they were conglomerated together swirling around in a strange pattern, very interesting. I called back in the house and told the fam, my oldest daughter Lea (28) came out and she too enjoyed the moon and the surroundings...We talked about how neat it was to see a car every now and then, and it seems so quiet here but yet we know there are others down the roads in various directions, there is the policeman close by with his huge dogs, a couple of homeschool families, the two young doctors out here in the middle of nowhere; a husband and wife, the older couple, Mr. and Mrs. Jones and on it goes...Lea tells me this property is her favorite of all our properties we've lived at. The yellow house was nice, it was cleared around the house, we could walk to the back creek. The white tree house was in the trees very wooded and we couldn't hardly see the sky. Here we can see the trees and the sky and we have the pond right here.

Lea thought it was neat that when we had moved into town she could see the sky. Now we see both. She likes it here now that we're back in the country. We've moved a bit, my hubby is a real estate broker.

I went inside after a little while of musing and watching the moon and the pond and the little swarming school of fish. I could tell Lea was thinking about life.


I know this...Under the same moon, the little sliver of the light golden moon, are others wondering the same things...

It was a charming evening.

Praying I will get well soon from the flu with it's mean dizziness that makes me feel so very helpless. Maybe God likes it like that. Total dependence on Him.

Listening to: Theme from Anne of Green Gables

Reading: "Lo, Michael!" by Grace Livingston Hill (I have an old 1913 copyright book) I'm wondering if this might make a good read-aloud book but I need to complete it first to see.

This morning I heard the old song by Judy Collins, PBS is doing one of their specials and they had a folk music special...The song?

"Both Sides Now"

I've looked at life from both sides now....

I talked with my 81 yr. old daddy the other day, I can tell him things because we are so much alike. I was sharing how aghast I am with some ungratefulness lately that has really upset me and even hurt my feelings. He tells me, "You're learning people". Yes Daddy, I'm learning people. I just wish these were not homeschooling moms who are supposed to be serving our Lord. It makes me wonder what is being taught at home outside of academics. Our children learn by watching even more than by books, I feel I can say that after 21 years of homeschooling.

I remember several Christmas's ago a homeschool mom and long time friend had come to our home during one of our 'Vessels of Honor' meetings taught my my dd25 Marianna, she brought me a precious little metal sled filled with peppermints. She had discovered our wonderful dime store in our last town, and she was thrilled, she had 3 little sleds, blue, red and green, she let me pick which little sled I liked best. It was one of the sweetest things ever...That very morning I had talked with the Lord about feeling so used on some things... It just goes to show. Never underestimate what a little gift from the dime store that is thought out can do for someone. Even a little card.

Enough rambles here...

I need to go lay down and rest...this flu is a bear to me. God is bigger. I'll enjoy the quiet and the sweet musical chitter chatter of our four girls...How can I complain?

This is the left tip of our pond in the late afternoon-evening...see the reflection? I'm learning how to post photos on my blog and I think I had better stop while I'm ahead. Have a nice afternoon everyone. Please pray I get better soon. In Christ, ~Amelia

Oh My...Those Cows!

“Keep close to Nature’s heart ... and break clear away once in awhile to climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods, to wash your spirit clean.”
– John Muir

I wish the cute little pic above looked like me today or last week but it doesn't. ; )

Oh dear me, the cows, the cows, the cows...

For the past two weeks the neighbors cows have taken over, broken through our electric fence and eaten most of our garden. A mommy cow has chased our daughter, my husband has been reduced to a mad man chasing and hollering after them with clanging two pvc pipes together yelling..."Yaw! Yaw!"

They have made themselves at home on the front porch and eaten our potted flowers, they think our newly planted grass is a delicacy... Yes indeed.

Why don't you call the neighbor and tell him to get his cows off your land? Because he leases our land from us for his cows, it's just that they are not supposed to get past the electric fence near to our house.

I'm sitting their sewing a neat tunic top with retro print and all that jazz when I look up and see a golden brown image in the window by the front door...I mutter..."No, this cannot be" It was. I get closer and see a brand displayed through my window. I slowly and carefully let Charlie our fearless cowdog out the front door against the mama cow as Charlie zooms out and dances around the poor cows legs and the poor cow is tripping over her dangly legs in the muddy flower bed... Oh folks it's been something else.

The other morning I'm up at 7AM in my robe driving my Hubs little red compact car slowly off the land as the moo-moos follow...This ought not be...As I drive back up to the homestead listening to a doctor telling the benefits of his vitamin C powder over the radio that Sunday morning I see our 25 yr. old daughter, the same one who was chased by the mad mommy cow. I call her Mare-Mare sometimes. Her name is Marianna. She is standing in the midst of an almost totally devoured vegetable garden that she has labored and toiled over for months, pitifully standing there in her seersucker robe. The sight was not a good one folks. Poor Mar-Mar. Oh dear me.

Such is life, but we're in good company. Yes indeed. Hubs tells me as he was going to work yesterday AM one of the ladies down the road was walking in her robe leading her cows back home again in the middle of the road...Hubs tells me she looked a bit out of sorts...

That's life on the Forest Cathedral Ranch here, I hope to post pics one day soon...

OH those cows! (The babies are cute though...)

Today I've bathed three of the four doglets, our cowdog Charlie hid from me...and that ain't the half of it honey-child... I'm now wearing beige capris and an aqua polo with pink flip flops getting ready to dive into a good ol' supper creation in the kitchen. Oh and did I mention that three of the family computers crashed this week and Hubs shot himself in the arm with the nailgun? That's about as close as I'm gettin' to any "simple" woman's daybook. ; )

Blessings to All! Until the next time.... Last Child in the Woods. Yep, that's me.

~Amelia

The Years of Our Lives...

Listening to the soundtrack from: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Beautiful.

Sobering.

Went on a nature walk with my four doglets...I saw an armadillo trotting towards me and a cotton tail rabbit...The little cotton tail rabbits have been frolicking around our home along with beautiful red cardinals and it is adorable...If you could animate it, it would look like the old Snow White movie.

I'm Still smiling thinking of a dump truck from the county who drove down our driveway as the girls and I stood speechless as they dumped a huge pile of dirt near our well! They were at the wrong place! Oh my! Who says life in the country is without action?

Visited my dad yesterday....He's 81 and a dear.

Here is a pic of he and mother in the early 50s. Neat eh?



I mentioned the movie, The Best Years of Our Lives (below post) and a full post on it on one of my other blogs, thats-italian to Daddy yesterday, he remembered it well...He says. (He is a sensitive soul at times) "It's kind of sad isn't it?"

He was 16 at the time and in a private military school in Biloxi, Mississippi.

I've got some good stories for ya from Daddy coming up by the way in future posts. He was a cutie and a character at that but also a leader.

The visit was soooo nice though. Daddy took us all out to eat, Hubs and our four daughters...Poor Dad has macular degeneration and breathing problems from smoking a pipe for years... He is on so many meds, they have blown him up like a balloon poor baby. My daughter, Marianna and I are Family Herbalists and would love to see him go natural but he likes his doctor and is in the system. I'm not one to pressure but I can pray.

I would like for him to live closer, we worry about him. He falls sometimes...and has a very hard time getting up but he doesn't want to move away from his town, I'm not sure why, since he doesn't know many people there. He doesn't like change much though. Reminds me of myself and I'm sure I remind him of himself too. ; ) (You should read some of his salty editorials)

Yep, that's Dad. Mercy-plus with some definite Prophet sprinkled here and there.

While we were there, Daddy wanted the girls and I to go upstairs and go through Grandma Jeanette's clothing in the closets. Grandma Jeanette passed away around nine years ago and before that she didn't leave the house for two years. The upstairs is frozen in time...incredibly surreal. The girls and I went through her clothes bagging them up along with two racks of shoes sitting still in time for years. Some of the heels had disintegrated into little heaps of sawdust upon the floor. Our faded photo was there...Her mother's photo there...All kinds of things frozen in time. Mail, letters etc. An old console tv set as well...Jewelry our girls had made her, a felt bookmark hanging on the wall with sequined "I Love You" made by my little girls...now 17 to 29...

Life.

The brevity of life here on this earth.

When we left to come home our hearts broke...He was standing there with his hand on a tree looking up at the sky. I told Hubs..."I think he's going to cry"...We cautiously watched him to make sure he would be okay, but we gave him his dignity, we didn't want to embarrass him.

When we arrived home I called and shared my concerns in a diplomatic way...Him falling at times with no one to help. He tells me...

"My knees go out but I can get myself up if I pray close to my bed where I can pull or push up against the bed. I have to remember to pray close to my bed..."

God be with you and yours...Until the next time.

~Amelia

Updates, Sad & Amusing

Well it looks to be a lovely golden eve here...But oh how it has been a strenuous day even though a beautiful one.

It's rather wearing to move things from the other home to be sold and not have storage for the things here! There are no storage buildings built so it's a rather catch-22. Hubs tools are in closets etc. here, attic flooring has not been fully installed. So as you know...that is a difficult one at this time.

I had a lovely Mother's Day, Hubs and our Girls took me out to a very neat pizza restaurant in the middle of the huge metro, near the museum district and such...It's in an old house, and it's a rather hippie place. I didn't mind, the pizza is good and the hippie waitresses and waiters seem to be okay with me too. The pizza is wonderful there and there is a special nook upstairs we like to sit. The last time we ate there was for Lea's 28th birthday last fall...I just really like the place. A neat eclectic place.

I was disturbed though the day before Mother's Day. We usually have home church since the churches in an hours' radius from our last home have gone off the deep end. But ya know? I was so disappointed when looking at sites and calling churches. One site (an old, old church) had a pastor who looked like a youth pastor and touted his school and denominational college and football team more than Jesus. In fact there was no mention of Jesus on the site. No one answered the phone. I called our old church when we lived here ten years ago...I don't know if it was the pastor or elder but they were not encouraging about visitors. He mumbled the schedule for morning Sunday school and service saying that was it for Mother's Day. No kind of "Please come! We would love to have you!" I did find one site, another old church but the entire staff were women though. The entire staff. I will say this for them. I did find excellent Bible study material on the site, how to have a personal devotional time etc. I called one little very, very tiny historical church church and at least that pastor did have a nice welcoming recording that ended with "Blessings!"

In my quest I couldn't help but wonder how the lost who don't know Jesus must feel if I was feeling so alone on my quest to find a decent church to visit...

That Saturday eve. the girls fixed a delightful dinner for me Al Fresco...So nice. Orange Chicken over rice with veggies, with a nice iced tea with frozen fruit to ice it with.

There was a very horrible thing though that happened after dinner. The four doglets went a-barking at something in the nearby wooded area...My hubby went to check and it was our poor kitty. She was dead. It looked like she had died within 24 hours. She had been missing and I was afraid someone had taken her in, she was a beauty. She looked like she was on her way home poor little baby and something got her, or bit her or she died of natural causes...I was upset. I'm still reeling from it and can't sleep well because of it along with the topsy turvy way things are around us with moving and such. It was a horrible thing to see my cat laying there. We had gotten her ten years ago when we lived here before...I just hate what happened...It sickens me and makes my heart hurt, especially when it looks like she was trying to come home...


We've had some visits from Mr. B and Byron...they are a hoot. Sweet men and friends of our family. They bring fresh veggies from their ranch garden in fact Mr. B and Byron took Mar. for a ride to see the magnificent huge garden. Mr. B wanted to ride with Mar. He says... "You're prettier than Byron!" Ha! They have a cookout kitchen and all there...Marianna enjoyed seeing it all.

Life can be funny here at times. My mom is 81 years young, and let me tell you I mean YOUNG. I have a friend who asked her if she had had a face lift if that tells you anything. She likes to come visit us. Well....One morning she comes and the gate is locked. What does she do? She climbs the high fence next to the gate and goes over it. Yes, she did that. Marianna told her to not do that anymore!

Hubs has bought me a camera for Mother's Day so I do hope to start getting some pics up in the near future as soon as everyone gives me a tutorial on it..

That's the wrap... Things do seem a bit unsettled this week so I could use an extra prayer or two...But I'm counting blessings for they are many!


Oh and by the way...We saw one of my all time favorite movies this past Mother's Day weeks, "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) Oh my goodness gracious that is some movie, a bit sad at times but victory perserveres and prevails. I love the flyers parents...Such precious, precious people.

See the Trailer Enjoy the beautiful theme music too....



Here's the Amazon link...Some good reviews and a synopsis of this most wonderful movie.



Here is one of my favorite clips. This shows a great example of a faithful marriage through thick and thin as their grown daughter is sensing life difficulties. With four daughters, I so understood the entire picture.


Oh and one more thing...Marianna stopped by the little jewelry store in the little town owned by the local vet's wife. She was so very sweet. Such a classy southern lady. The jewelry store opened in 1924 by her parents. She remembered us! She sent five little pocket calenders home with Mar. Her poor veterinarian hubby passed away just last year...I had talked with him over the phone about our sick little poodle one day shorty after he retired, he was so alert and so very helpful...Who would have known he was fighting for his health? I'm sure they remember the 40s well. Yes... I can't wait to go see my friend in the little town. She too was friends with Mrs. Blount. In fact? She told Marianna she would like to see Marianna teach piano. After Mrs. Blount passed away there has not been another piano teacher in the town or area for anyone...So that gives Marianna something to chew on indeed. The Lord will lead and guide...

He is good. What am I without Him? (Thinking of the Twila Paris song...What am I Without Him) A great song...Nothing like listening to Twila in the country here... Beautiful.

Goodnight All.

A Pity Not to Post Today

Oh my, it would be a pity not to post today.  Joycie and I had such a lovely time last week in the little town we decided to take another run today and brought Zuzu too. So neat, just so neat. I wish I could think of more poetic words but they will come as I type. After all we must all realize this is an account in the life of Mrs. Amelia for remembrances and just fun reading, hopefully posts of God's Victories in life. The drive to the little town is beautiful in itself, nature abounds, the golden sunlight on the trees is divine. A picture, a portrait of God's Handiwork at it's best. Last week we found ourselves at a drive in hamburger place, we were nibbling at our savory treats as a bird nibbling golden grains in paradise listening to the radio and enjoying life. We start up our engine and the battery is dead. *laughs* Yep, dead. It was one of the "Oh no" feelings. The manager comes out and helps, jumps our car and tells us to please stop by again, he just moved here from the city and loves it, the small-town atmosphere and the friendly people. We smile and agree of course telling him we too are back as newbies but oldies too from ten years ago... On the way home what do we see? We see a real wildfire on the beautiful scenic road rushing across the prairie! It was put out but was definitely a threat....I can't tell you how many fire trucks from surrounding areas were coming down our thin little road. Pick-up trucks pulling up to where cattle was being kept. Downright scary. We stopped at one area where smoke was just starting to rise from a black spot as if a giant magnifying glass has been set atop of it! I hopped out and poured ice from my huge glass of tea from the hamburger drive in upon it and put the smoking center out....Interesting. When I got back in our car I wreaked of smoke. It reminds me of sin. Put it out when it starts! Stick around and you will wreak of it. The sunsets are so pretty here, even in Smalltown. We go to our local restaurant where nothing has changed...amazing. The royal wedding is playing on a fuzzy tv there in the entry room...A girl in a tank top with tattoos on her legs turns and smiles and tells how she would be a nervous wreck if she were in the brides shoes...She was nice bless her heart. Most`people in Smalltown will talk, and I like that! In the burbs people could be odd. They were too busy to talk for the mostpart. Too busy to enjoy real life. Enough said on that. We have baby birds in the wheelbarrow, talk about cute, love seeing the mommy bird take care of them from my kitchen window. We were delighted to see a local ranch hand who had come to help plant grass for our immediate yard not want to disturb the birdlings....Good character. We have some wayward cows that make their way into our property and it is cute. Our youngest  Grace (17) all dressed for ballet class, pink tights, black ballet skirt and tshirt for modesty and PASTEL COLORED PLAID RUBBER BOOTS go to shoo the cows...Oh to have a camera! Of course Charlie-dog runs circle around the longhorn's hooves...The cows go into the holding pen where they stay. Today? We go down the wonderful familiar scenic route to Smalltown, go to the old jewelry store where there is a sign up. "At Rotary Meeting, Be Back at 1pM" We peer into the windows, the place has been there since 1924....It's still the same, still the same. We drive to our old piano teachers home, I loved her so very much. She was my friend. No age gap divided us, no sirrie bobbie. We were citizens of Heaven and we knew it, she understood me and was a wise confidant'. A sweet confidant', when she was young she looked like Greer Garson, the young portrait of her beautiful likeness of Greer hung near her piano. Oh how I miss her. We drive down her street today, we are playing Louis Armstrong's, What a Wonderful World....The street? Just the same for the mostpart, only a new pride, a new neatness in a few homes. We see a soldier's star banner in one of the windows, we see the same shutters with heart shapes cut out. I tell J that Mrs. B may be watching from above....I say outloud: "Mrs. B we're on your street and we're listening to Louis Armstrong" J says she is going to start crying and I'm with her. We couldn't talk as we get to Mrs. B's little mint green house. Only Louis was singing.....Such fine memories from years ago... My daughter J tells me just now that the sweet people like Mrs. B just being themselves make the biggest impact and don't even realize it. Marianna is prayerfully considering teaching piano in the country to children here. And yes, she uses the same old fashioned publisher in curriculum. She realizes her gift and desire as a teacher may very well be because of sweet Mrs. B. I tearfully type how I remember the first time I talked with Mrs. Bover the phone... When I inquired about prices, she told me she would try to find sheet music on the clearance table for 25 cents a sheet if needed in addition to the old publications of piano books...Her monthly charge? She charged $20 a month and a discount per student after that. She tells me "Just tell the girls to bring their smiling faces." She would later tell the girls to try their best but... "No one is perfect but Jesus." Yes. Mrs. B was special indeed. Mr. Mead?  He was another friend of mine. He walked with a bit of a hunch and would hold one hand on his hip as he walked, a baseball type hat on his head, a little man with glasses.... he owned a tiny little tire fix-it shop. He would slowly limp hunched over a bit with his hand on his hip and roll the tire with one hand as he would submerge it under water to spy the leak. He had been in Smalltown since WWII. He never married. The first day I met him, I had had a flat and was so disgusted, the little car dealership had referred me to this sweet saint. I met him and noticed by his empty chair he had been reading a book on Heaven as he awaited customers. He would come visit us and later send me little cards signed so cute with Joe M. and was such a dear. We would visit him every now and then as we were in town. He's in Heaven now too with Mrs. B. It's strange two of the sweetest people ever, they aren't here anymore. This day reminds me of a song one of our better high school choirs did one spring program... I remember it was so old fashioned. It was about a town revisited by a previous resident. The lyrics went as the young young men sang with their beautiful sweet but masculine voices....And everybody knew my name..... I'm not sure if anyone remembers my name in Smalltown I was for most, a picture of an outsider except for beautiful people like Mrs. B and Mr. M...but that's okay. For some reason it still reminds me of the song....I wonder if it's because of the old fashioned sound of it....or just me returning.... ? I do know this. Mrs. B and Mr. M would remember my name if they were still here That wraps up the private thoughts and meanderings of Mrs. Amelia on this fine evening in the country. Good evening to All... ~Amelia P.S. See my entry today on my other blog to see a Tribute to David Wilkerson and two fine sermons, Eternally important. You will also hear Mrs. B's favorite song on my playlist....Claire de Lune.