Monday, May 15, 2006

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 5-16-06

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 5-16-06
Our community has been stunned of the death of Rocky Green. He will be missed by so many. He had a positive affect on all those that knew him. He was a wonderful coach and teacher. He was a pleasure to visit with always had a smile and had a good word to say about anyone or anything. During football season, Rocky’s parents would come thru the admission gate that I worked at and sometimes Rocky’s Mom would give us a bag of cookies. I do not think they ever missed game he coached. You could tell that they were so proud of him. Our hearts and thoughts are with his wife, Jamie and his family.
We were sad to hear that Virgil Cummins passed away. I always liked to talk with Virgil he had a kind heart. Virgil loved auctions about as much as I do. When the School had sold walls and things out of the old grade school, Virgil and Jim bought quite a bit of the interior. They decided to join forces and work together. Virgil and Jim worked many hours together knocking down walls and pulling nails. He was entertaining and we enjoyed his company. We will miss him, too.
Years ago in a ‘Blondie and Dagwood’ comic strip- Dagwood was confused about all the strange things that happened while he was away at work. While I have been away, I have wondered about some incidents. Once Jim and I had a Great Dane, named Josh and when we would leave home, we made sure that the dog was outside. One day we had been in town and when we got back, the dog was inside the house and the panel of the storm door was lying on the floor. We had a few ideas what had transpired while we were away but nothing that we could prove. Would just like to know exactly what really did go on.
Another thing I would like to know-Down home the house was rearranged and messed up. It is hard to tell whether the damage was done by man or be beast. We know that part of the damage is beast as they have left their calling cards, if you know what I mean.
Here is one more thing that I would just love to know what happened. We have a windmill by the road and in the past few months the pipe spout has come unscrewed and the water then just pumps on the ground. Once the pipe had been set upright on the outside of the mill the other times the pipe is just laying in the ground. These kinds of things are enough to make you go “HUH”.
I have thought that it would be fun to put up a camera to see what does happen while we are away. Perhaps we if we put up cameras around our pastures and empty homes and barns we could see just what is going on. If nothing else we might be able to answer the age-old question- If tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it fall does it make a noise?

Monday, May 01, 2006

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 5-02-06

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 5-02-06
Everyone has a favorite hobby to do in their spare time. Some like to play golf or cards or some kind of needle work or maybe just going to the coffee shop to see what is going on. At my grandmas house she did jigsaw puzzles. Granddad would try to help and get disgusted and suggest that he could use his pocket knife to make some of the pieces to fit. Granddad collected rocks, polished them and made jewelry. He just loved sawing a rock in two just to see what it looked like inside. He enjoyed giving them away as much as he did making the rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
My mom took up drawing and painting when we all left home. I guess she needed to peace and quiet to concentrate. As it turns out she was very good. She also liked to make doll clothes. Later on she started to do crossword puzzles, which just drove Dad nuts. I have found there are two kinds of people in this world, those who like to do crossword puzzles and those who do not. Dad and Jim definitely did not. They did not even like for Mom and I to do them when they were in the room. I like to do them right before I would go to sleep. One night as I grabbed my puzzle I found that it had letters in the boxes had been filled in. They were not words, mind you; just letters, and in some boxes there were more than one letter. As I was looking at it, trying to figure out what had happened to my puzzle, I heard a little snicker. Jim said that it looked like my puzzle is already done; Jim thinks he is sooo funny.
Now Mom is currently working on jigsaw puzzles. We got her a couple of unique puzzles for Christmas. She got one done with the help of the Spence kids at the Spence Family Christmas. Now she is working on the last one we gave her. It looked really different as it came with its own frame, glue and hanger so you can hang the puzzle when it is completed. The only kicker is - it is nearly impossible to do. She has gotten lots of help from her neighbors, Janis Allen and Darlene Caraway. I understand that there are plans to call in more reinforcements this week. With any luck it should be completed by next week at this time. I helped her little it is difficult and frustrating, maybe Granddad had the right idea, now where did that pocket knife go?