The thrill of victory!

I cannot even begin to tell you how I felt when I watched my daughter Sarah drive a filly that she bred, raised, sold to a wonderful client, trained and entered her first National competition.

I did not cry, I did not weep, I just watched in awe as my heart swelled in my chest. I held my breath hoping for a flawless drive in two classes, and my prayers were answered wth a resounding "Semi finalist 595, Luscious Lorraine, driven by Sarah Vas, owned by Maggie Schlund of Valley City, Ohio." On to the semi-finals for Sarah and LuLu!

Some things should never change!

Clothesline Etiquette - remember these?

When I was about 10 years old, I was considered old enough to operate the wringer washing machine. Once a week, this became my job!

1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes. You walked the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.

2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always "whites" with "whites", and hang them first. (You washed the whites first, so you could use the same water for the dark clothes!)

3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?

4. Wash day on Monday! Never hang clothes on the weekend, or Sunday, for heaven's sake.

5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts and busybodies, y'know!)

6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather. clothes would "freeze dry".

7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!" 8. If you were efficient you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the next washed item.

9. Clothes off the lines before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed!

10. Ironed?! ( Tuesday was ironing day) clothes had been sprinkled by using a soda bottle that had a special stopper with holes in it so you could "sprinkle" evenly. Put those sprinkled clothes into a plastic bag, and iron the next day (many items were starched, well, that's a whole other subject.

When I married and moved to Valley City, my next door neighbor, Mrs. Kepke always washed clothes on Monday and hung them on the line. Tuesday was ironing day, down in her basement she labored two days a week. She taught me to iron shirts "properly" and I still do that method to this day. Each time I iron a shirt I think of Julia Kepke. She is in Life Care with Alzeimhers now, but I think of her fondly, always when I iron a shirt!

and the results are in!

Tim passed the test! Score 100%.....no evidence of cancer in the prostate!

The nurse practitioner was very kind and caring. We were seated in the examine room, Dr. Turk had been delayed by an emergency surgery, so she was covering for him.

"There is no cancer"! Those were the first words out of her mouth.

All the questions, answers, "what if's" etc. were secondary to the opening statement.

Outside the office, waiting for the elevator, Tim and I embraced.

Whew!

If it was about catching fish, they would call it "catching" not "fishing"!

This week I posted this boat trailer on Craigslist.
I did not have much hope of success, however, many "boat trailer" buyers inquired, and one man made an appointment to come and look the very next day after the posting.

Well, he drove away with it. I am jumping ahead a little in this tale, so let me back up a bit.

Last year, Tim sold the 12' aluminum boat that rested on the trailer. He had decided that since we had not used it in a couple of years, that a 14' boat would better serve our purpose when we went fishing. (something that we have not done for a few years, instead our time was spent trying to recover from illness and injury and recover the lost revenue etc). So, down the driveway the 12' boat "sailed" (sic)

After moving the trailer out of the sheltered life it had in the barn, (a new lawn vac needed to be housed,) it was relegated to the rear of the barn, outside, covered up with a tarp. Well
after several years of non-use, Tim decided the space needed to be utilitzed for something else, so we decided to sell it.

Back to the sale day. "Mark" came with his pickup truck and brought his five year old daughter Elizabeth with him. She was cute and smiley, and he made a cash offer that could not be refused.

One problem about hitching up and heading out, he forgot the "pin" for the ball mount for his trailer hitch. "Well, I'll come back for it later today" said Mark. "No, that's okay I have a pin I'll let you use, and I'll follow you home so you don't get stopped for not having a license plate on it" sez I.

Off we go, to a nice neighborhood south of Medina. Mark was really excited about the trailer, and told me a story that made me smile. He already had a 14' aluminum boat that belonged to his Dad. He lost his Dad five years ago, and had not used the boat since. But, he had a 10 year old son who loved to fish, so getting this trailer meant that he could take his son (who really loved fishing) in his Dad's boat.

Just as I was getting back into my car in Mark's driveway, he said "Look, here comes my son now, he's rounding the corner of the block on his way home from school". The son saw his Dad's truck in the driveway, still attached to the boat trailer and the boy started to run. And run he did, all the way down the half block to his house. He was too excited to see the smile on my face, or to see me at all for that matter.

I caught Mark's eye and looked downward. Mark nodded a word of thanks and I got into the Nissan and drove away. I could not help but call Tim's cell phone on the way back home and relay the story to him. There was silence on the phone, and I heard him catch his breath. After a few seconds, Tim said "Well at least it went to a good home"!

Lest we forget

Some things we keep...

One day a woman's husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any "more". No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one minute."

Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, say"I love you." So while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage .....and old cars.. .. and children with bad report cards, and dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep -- like a best friend who moved away or a sister-in-law after divorce. There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what. Life is important, like people we know who are special.. And so, we keep them close!


I received this from someone who thought I was a 'keeper'!

Thank you Elsie!

One Potatoe, Two Potatoe, Three Potatoe...

Had a great time yesterday! Daniel came to dig up the "fruits" of his labor. In June, Daniel planted all of the hills of potatoes, and beans in the garden.

During the short summer, we watered and checked and looked and peeked, and covered the potatoe plants up in hills.

Yesterday on Labor Day, Daniel and Tim harvested the crop. Look at how big those red potatoes are!

Lots of little "Fingerlings" too!

Looks a little like "American Gothic" if you ask me!

A day with Virginia Paradise

This weekend I spent announcing a three day horse show in Harlansburg, Pennsylvania. The Mid-East Horsemen's Association held their Annual Labor Day weekend show.

Always a good show, I am fortunate to have been called back for the second year to announce for them.

As was the case last year, the show Steward was Ms. Virginia Paradise. A knowledgable, kind, gracious lady (and I do mean Lady!) who is the "keeper of the rules" and the "enforcer of the rules" and the fount of knowledge.

What a pleasure and a privilege to have the opportunity to reminisce with this wonderful woman. She and her family have shown horses for more years than I can remember, and they were famous for the Terrific Parade (American Saddlebred) horses. They had the best and they had the best Parade Ponies also. Unbeatable, except for once, they were known all over the country for the quality of their livestock, and the beauty of their equipment and rider's outfits.

It is rare that I get to see Parade Horses anymore, but there were a couple at the show and they were fun to watch. But.....once a cool looking Saddlebred came into the ring in another division that had snappy, poised and timelapse motion, Virginia would say "they would make a good Parade Horse:.

When we parted after the show, Virginia leaned over, gave me a hug and kiss and said it was always good to work with me.

It was then that she climbed down the stairs out of the announcer's booth where we had spent three days together, got into her beautiful Cadillac, and drove away.

Virginia is 84 years young, and I do mean young. I should be so lucky to be doing at that age like Virginia does.

Her daughter Amy is the best horse show organist that I have had the pleasure to hear, and she can "flat ass play"!

Virginia has forgotten more than most horse folks will ever know, and I cherish the opportunity to work with, and to work with again!

God love ya' Virginia, 'cause I know I sure do!