Lola Chapter 4: The Kindgom Is In Trouble

 The palace servants were scattered throughout the palace working as fast as they could. The explorers had been arriving for weeks seeking money to finance their ships for voyages to lands across the ocean many weeks if not months away. They required not only gold, but staples and men to feed and man the ships. They had to plan for bad weather that would require them to be at sea longer than expected especially if they were blown off course. The many visitors kept the housekeepers and cooks busy night and day.

The Queen was reluctant to promise financing to any of the men because of the turmoil and trouble in her own kingdom. There were prominent families in Italia that were becoming rich and fighting with each other for land and even banks. The Queen was getting old and was relying on her countes and close royals for advice. The world seemed to be getting out of control with wanting to explore new lands and families and even her own servants wanting more money and higher wages.

Besides the relentless strain on her coffers and her health, she was sad. Her old friend had joined the angels in Heaven and left behind two ducks and a dog. Some weeks ago she had a counte hide the dog in the bushes for the old woman to find. The dog was a very special dog, but was deliberately disguised as one that was abandoned. The old woman fed it and cared for it, but most of all loved it.

The Queen had had one of her servants gather the two ducks and the dog and put them in the pen behind the palace with the other dogs. The beautiful white Lola was among those that were already penned. Some of the dogs were used for hunting, some were bred just for lap dogs and Lola of course, was full of love and joy. What the Queen did not know was that the feuding kingdoms adjoining hers were at war. There would soon be trouble on the grounds of her palace as well.

Behind the palace a big brown dog whose name was Marco looked over the fence and said, "What are you guys doing? Why are you penned up and not running free like me? Want me to knock down the fence? Bella said, "Oh no, big brown dog. I am used to sitting on the lap of my master. Please go away. We shall soon be given to new masters." Winston, the old big black Labrador said, "Go away. I know who you are. You are the dog that likes to get into fights. We don't need your kind around here. Let me rest. My side kick, Romeo, wants you to leave too." Oscar, the brown and white dog, lay sunning himself. He thought about it and said, "Well, if you knock the fence down where would we go? Who would feed us? Huh? You got all the answers? I'd just as soon the Queen found me a family with children who would love and play with me. Yeah. You just leave the fence alone. We don't want any trouble around here. Go back home." Both the white duck and the black duck said, "We are fine in our own little pool. We are fed and kept cool. Sometimes life gets a little boring, but we are safe and well. We agree with these dogs. Go back home and leave us alone."

All at once there were sounds of shouting and horse hooves pounding on the hard dirt. The dogs all started barking. All except Lola. She stood up as tall as she could and said, "Please, Marco. Bend the fence so that I can jump on your back. Then you can run as fast as you can. If we can reach the sea perhaps we can get a ride to the New World on one of those big ships. What an adventure that would be! You have to hurry the angry men will soon be back here and we shall have no chance for escape."

It didn't take Marco but a second . Soon his big strong legs and paws had gotten the fence down low enough that Lola was soon on his back. It seemed like only a moment they had disappeared into the forest. Their adventure would be exciting and long. It would often seem like it would never end, but their story would be like their adventure; never ending and most exciting.

Lola Chapter 3: The Poor Peddler Had Two Ducks

 It had been two days since the handsome trader had taken her furry friend, Kitty, and both of her coins. The old woman had taken the poor white pup and washed him in her wooden tub and had tried her best to keep them both alive by fishing and drinking water from the well. She could feel her days on earth were numbered however. An old person could not live on bits of fish now and then and nothing else. She had in her cupboard one carrot that didn't look very good at all and two wild onions that she had picked from the flowers by the pond. "I guess I will chop up the withered carrot with these onions. I will add some fresh water. Then that will be the last for me and Lola. Hopefully Lola being as young as she is will run away and be picked up by someone that cares for animals."

Little did she know, but she was about to have a visitor. "Hello the house! Is anyone at home? I have need of a soft chair and a drink of cold water. Hello?!

The old woman was not going to fall for the tricks of the traveling traders again. It mattered none, however, because now she had nothing to be stolen. She walked slowly to the doorway and saw an old man with kettles and pots strapped to his back. He was stooped like she was. Walking slowly by his feet were two ducks. They were of different breeds. One was dark and one was white. "You have come to the wrong house for a welcome party, Sir. I have nothing to buy your wares with and I have no soft chair. My only chair is made of ancient boards. You may come into my home and sit if you wish. I will give you a drink of my cold well water. If you wish to steal my chair my good wishes go with you."

She made her way slowly to the pipe that the water had never failed to fill her cups and pots. It did not fail her today. After she had filled the cup, she took a drink for herself. She looked down at her feet. There sat Lola, her puppy, panting with thirst. "Alright, my dear. You can have a drink as well."

After the pup had it's fill the old woman filled the cup again and looked for the old peddler. He was gone! "He must be in the house sitting in my chair. Let's go give him a drink of water. He looked very tired."

The old peddler was no where to be found. In his place were the two ducks. The white duck and the dark duck quietly quacking as they inspected the room. The old woman put the cup of water on the floor and told the ducks to drink which they did immediately. "Your master left you, you poor ducks. I have no feed for you. Only water which will not fill your bellies. I am fixing a bit of soup for my dog and myself. If there is any left you are welcome to share it."

The old woman walked over to the fireplace where her pot was simmering. On the hearth there was a basket of large duck eggs and two big fat fish. Nestled in between the beautiful eggs were three large bones with enough meat on them to make the puppy and herself full for at least two or three days. And the eggs! It had been many weeks since she had tasted an egg and a duck egg at that. Oh my, I guess miracles do happen even for old women. I will remember to say my prayers of thanks this night."

A few hours later the Queen said to the counte,"Thank you so much for taking care of my old and faithful servant. Did you punish the the scoundrel that took her cat and coins? But most of all, did she find the pup? That pup will someday go down in history if all goes as planned."

Lola Chapter 2 The Handsome Peddler Was A Thief!

The old woman woke from her bed with aching bones and a headache. She had not slept a bit well. She missed her furry friend, Kitty. Her cat had chosen to sleep outside in the bushes with the small white puppy she had found. The puppy was dirty and had matted fur and was near starving to death. The old woman was very poor and told Kitty there was no food for another mouth no matter how small. The puppy would eat more than the two of them and leave them with only scraps. She was not willing to share.

She went to the door and called for Kitty to come in the house. "Come in dear friend. I will warm you some of my supper left from last night. I miss you. Please come in."

The voice that answered her was not Kitty, but a deep voice of a man.  There stood a finely dressed and easy on the eye, man. "Good morning, dear lady. I have good news for you today! I have beautiful fruits and vegetables for sale and even some beef and a bit of pork for sale. You can't find any thing better for the price than I am asking. The hawkers in Rome are asking twice the price, so you would be getting an opportunity that you cannot get any other day from any other trader."

"Off with you! I have only a bit of food and only one or two coins to last me the rest of my life. I have a cat to feed as well. If you want to help out a poor old woman take that bit of a pup with you and sell it and get yourself some coins, That's my gift to you today. Now off with ya!"

The tradesman looked where the old woman pointed and saw the cat with a dirty white puppy. There in the bushes was a cat and as she said a dirty puppy. "Oh I shall give your cat some milk I have with me. The pup will not sell. But I shall only give the cat some milk if you give me one of your coins."

Realizing her mistake she shook the towel she had in her hand and said, "No no. Now go away. I have no coin for you. The tradesman had already filled a small bowl with some milk and offered it to the cat, not the puppy. "Come kitty kitty. Come get a drink of this delicious cow's milk. It will fill your belly and make you feel oh so wonderful. Come old woman. I have enough of this milk for you too. There will be no charge if you would only give me some of your water to fill my jug. I have a long way to walk and will be so thirsty."

The old woman thought it over and decided it wouldn't hurt if she gave the man some water. She had a good well and the water was always clear and cold. She had not had a glass of milk in ever so long. She went into the house to get a cup for the water. When she went back outside the peddler was gone and so was her cat! Her furry friend was gone. The bad man had left her only with the dirty white puppy and just a bit of milk left in the dish.

The old woman started to cry. "Oh I am so old and foolish. I should never have given that bad man the time of day. Oh I will miss Kitty. I loved him so. It was then that she saw the pup and heard his weak little whimper. The old woman's heart was broken, but it was not a hard heart. She picked up the pup and carried it to the wooden tub. She put a little water in it and a sliver of soap that she had in her apron pocket. "Alright then, pup. You have to be clean before you can come into my home. There is a bit of milk left in the dish that Kitty didn't drink. Then we need to come up with a plan to feed you and me. I am so glad I didn't give that man any of my coins."

After she had washed and dried off the puppy with her towel she was surprised to see that the puppy was actually a very pretty dog. She carried the pup into the house and saw her little cloth bag laying on the table that had her coins in it. She quickly shook the bag and realized what had happened. "Oh no! That man has taken my coins! Oh what a sneaky man. He was so finely dressed I thought I could trust him. I had only turned my back for a minute. Whatever shall we do now, pup? Well, I know the first thing we shall do is find you a name. It's not right to be called Dog. Poor Kitty went for generations being called Kitty with each new kitten that was born. You shall be different. You are a beautiful girl, but a worrisome one. Full of pain and and beautiful. There is a word that is Spanish that I learned years ago. The word is Lola. Yes, it means pain and worry, yet beautiful. That shall be your name. Someday when you have a litter of puppies, I shall make sure that one of your puppies shall have your name to carry on for generations.

Lola Chapter One: The Old Lady And Her Cat

 Once upon a time many many years ago there lived a very old woman in a land called Italia. She lived in a tiny stone cottage that was older than she was. She lived alone except for the company of her cat. Her cat was also old and liked to lay in the sun to warm his bones. The old woman had found her cat when he was just a kitten and she was a young girl. She called it Kitty because she couldn't think of a better name. The kitten grew to be as big as  the foot stool that sat in front of her chair by the window.  At first and for a few years the two of them would run and play in the open fields.; often chasing butterflies and make believe unicorns. Then she was summoned to work at the palace with her mother for many years. The hard work and long hours of work would soon leave little time for fun with her kitty. She would go to bed almost as soon as she got home from the palace.

Nowadays, her cat, the third generation of kittens her childhood cat had given her kept her cottage free of mice which the old woman was thankful for. The old woman had many things to be thankful for in her old age. The old Queen let her live in her cottage rent free. The cat was full from his diet of mice so she didn't have to give him part of her food. She lived by a stream that was full of fat fish that she occasionally caught with tails of tadpoles that her cat would lay at her stoop.

The old woman would talk to her cat at times as if the cat was a human friend. Her voice was frail and weak, but at times even with her failing vision she would read to Kitty. His favorite story was the tale of a cat called Papa Gatto. He was a widower left with eight kittens after his wife died. The story book was full of beautiful pictures that the old woman showed to Kitty as she read the old old book. Papa Gatto was searching for a nanny to care for his baby kittens. Papa Gatto was a wise, well dressed, and clever cat and would advise the Prince from time to time. The book told the tale of him searching for an honest and beautiful nanny and acquiring only a beautiful and dishonest Sophia while all the while the plain Beatrice should have been his best choice. 

One day the old woman and her cat went outside to get some fresh air after a lovely spring rain. The sun was shining and the birds were singing their beautiful songs. The old woman looked down at her cat and said, "We are so very lucky to have such a beautiful day, aren't we, Kitty? The roof didn't leak even after all these forty fifty years. That's good because I can't afford to have someone redo it.

Her cat walked as quickly as his chubby self could go over to the bushes and flowers. He started to meow a loud scratchy meow. The old woman went over to see if the cat had caught a mouse when what did she see, but a tiny white furry ball. It was a puppy. It was dirty and matted and cried a tiny cry. "Well, how did you get here, my love? I bet you are hungry and I can't afford to feed you. I have all I can do to feed myself and Kitty. Now what should I do with you? I think it would be best if I left you here. Maybe someone will see you and take you in. I just can't do it." She turned and started to walk back to her cottage. She was surprised when Kitty blocked her way and went back to the bushes and flowers and curled up to the puppy. The old woman was astonished. "What are you doing? Are you willing to share your food with the dog? Dogs don't eat mice and tadpoles. They need lots of food that we don't have. What do you suggest we do? What's that? No answer? Just as I thought. You want what you can't have. Now come in with me. There is no use wailing and meowing. What that dog needs is a mother. He is just a little bit of a thing. He needs milk. Do you see a cow? No! No cow, no mama dog, no food. I see no solution for this little one. Now come in the cottage! I will finish knitting you a pillow cover for your little bed."

Valentines Day In Grade School

 Grandma Lu was unwrapping a box of chocolates that her husband gave her and thinking of this day when she was just a child. How different it was. There was not a gift exchange between my parents because there was no money for things that weren't necessary. They knew they loved each other and showed it with all their hugging and kissing throughout the years. Grandma Lu shook her head and told her husband thank you and told him to take a piece of the chocolates. She was thinking of all the Valentines that she wrote when she was in grade school. They were so little; probably about three inches. They each had an envelope. The envelopes didn't have glue on them so you had to tuck them together so the Valentine didn't fall out.

Grandma Lu looked at her right hand. Yes, it was still there. She had a callus on her third finger from holding her pencils so very tight all the way through school, but especially in grade school. Her handwriting was atrocious. One teacher in particular made it even worse by smacking her hand with a ruler because she wasn't holding her pencil the way the teacher thought she should.

The Valentines came in a box of twenty-five. Often her classes had more than that so her mother would have to buy two boxes. She could still hear her mother sigh when holidays came around. Grandma Lu knew what that sigh meant. She had done the same thing during some tight years when her children were in school. 

Just for fun she looked up what the old Valentines looked like when she was seven or eight years old. "Yes, there they are. I would take my time and read each one and choose which one was just right for the person I was giving it to. Wouldn't you know it, I would break the lead in my pencil, or spell something wrong. Writing Valentines was not just stressful for my mother, but for me as well."

The Valentines would all be carried to school in a decorated box that I had glued together with the help of my father and a lot of construction paper. I always made so many hearts of a contrasting color to glue on the outside of the box. Again I had to try over and over until I got the shape of the heart just right.

Sometimes my mother made heart shaped sugar cookies to school for the party. They were always perfect with pink and red frosting and of course, they were delicious.

And then there was the ride on the bus with my little brother, who also at some point had a Valentines Box and cookies for his party. I have a friend who loves driving a school bus. I can just imagine her helping the little ones with their hard to manage projects for their parties so they would arrive safely for this special day.

Happy Valentines Day! 

Alexa Vs. The Little Black Radio

Grandma Lu decided that she would like a quiet afternoon listening to her favorite classic country music. She had her Echo sitting by her rocking chair and said, "Alexa, play George Jones music." Almost immediately George Jones was singing one of his most popular songs, "He stopped loving her today."

As she sat and listened to the soft and sad tunes she smiled as she remembered the radios from years ago. There was the tall floor model that we all listened to as a family. We only turned it on in the evenings to listen to Amos and Andy,  Fiber McGee and Molly, Burns and Allen. They were funny shows with lots of sound effects. We also listened to the news at night. I can still see my father listening close to the news while my mother either mended or ironed. Her hands and mind were always busy.

Mom had a little black Admiral radio in her kitchen. She listened to soap operas as she made her bread and rolls. I can remember Ma Perkins and lots of commercials about soap like Dreft and Oxydol. I can still see my mother stop her cooking and baking to write down recipes that a lady would give her listeners. Mom had beautiful penmanship and the scraps of paper she wrote on are still in her very old cookbook in my cupboard.

Mercy, that little black radio moved to every house we ever lived in. When we moved to town it still sat in the kitchen, then we moved to a lovely home on the other side of town and it sat on top of the refrigerator. Grandma Lu started to chuckle out loud. Oh my I remember that day like it was yesterday...

I had come home from school and walked into the kitchen and there was my mother. My straight laced mother that didn't approve of slow dancing doing the jitterbug in a pair of my old jeans! She had a dishtowel in her hand and was galloping all around the kitchen. I said, "Mother, what are you doing?" She quickly grabbed my hand and said, "I'm dancing. Come on! Dance with me. This is a really good song!" So I did! That was the day I realized that my mom was a real person that was in fact young at heart and wasn't always the serious role model and disciplinarian that I had always thought she was. The lady dancing in our kitchen was the girl that my dad fell in love with and the mom that I loved dearly. Not only did she dance the jitterbug with me, but then she said, "You look so surprised that I can dance. Let me show you the dance that we did when I was your age." It was the Charleston! Oh we had such a good time that afternoon.

Mom didn't realize it that day, but she made a memory that will never fade. Grandma Lu smiled as she looked at her Echo and the constant slide show of her friends and family that reminded her of past times and fun times. Oh it would have been such fun to have had a photo of mom doing the jitterbug!

Grandma Lu's Most Embarrassing Day

 "Oh how I love to go to flea markets. Today is cold, but it is beautiful. The sun is shining and people are smiling! January has been one of the longest months I can remember. Oh I guess January seems like a year most years." 

She was on a mission to find a tiny shelf for the downstairs. It needed to be taller than wider and have about three shelves. "I'll probably never find one, but that's okay. It's just good to get out and get some fresh air."

As she dodged little ones and racks of clothes she noticed some racks of shoes. One pair caught her eye. She walked slowly over and touched the shiny surface. It was a black patent leather sandal. It was exactly like a pair her mother used to wear. "She loved those sandals. Funny she didn't wear them out. In fact she had a purse to match. Patent leather was so popular even in the sixties and seventies. How I remember my black patent diaper bag and purse. They almost matched which was about the end of me. I swear I will never forget that day!"

"That morning my husband then had given me fifty dollars to go grocery shopping for the week. Fifty dollars in those days would buy all the meat and staples we would need and probably have money left over. He went to work and so did I. My work was getting my little one fed, bathed, dressed and diaper bag filled with what I may need. I had gotten everything ready and put in the car including my little girl, Melanie. She was a cutie pie, but filled with energy. She had just mastered the art of walking and loved to show off her new talent.

The grocery store was small compared to the big shopping centers nowadays, but it was large enough to have everything that we needed and most of all it was close to where we lived. I knew the manager and a lot of the checkers there. I can still see them make over my new baby the first time I took her shopping with me.

 After I found a parking spot close to the door I got out and put my handbag over one shoulder and Melanie on my other. I found a cart outside close by. I coaxed Melanie into riding in the front of the cart and we were ready to shop.

I made the rounds of the store slowly. Slowly because my little girl was a pill this particular day. She would cry wanting to walk instead of riding in the cart. Then she would cry wanting to ride in the cart. It seemed I did more in and out of the cart with her than I did with the groceries that I picked out. After I had crossed off the last of the things that I needed my heart almost stopped. My purse was gone!

I put Melanie in the cart and I retraced my steps over and over. Finally the manager came to me and said, "Mrs. Grafing may I help you? You seem very distressed. I said, "Distressed? I sure am. Someone has stolen my purse. I turned my back to get my little girl and discovered that my purse was gone." 

Of course, I started to cry and then Melanie started to cry. The manager immediately went to the front and had all the doors locked. He was determined to find the thief.  He got on the loud speaker and announced that a black patent purse had been lost and if anyone found it would they please bring it to the front of the store. I had been told to stay where I was while the employees did their searching. After a bit the manager came back to me and said, "Now, would you tell me again what your handbag looked like?" I said, "Yes, it looks just like this diaper bag. It is  black patent leather." Then he said, "Does it look like the one on your shoulder?"

As she walked out of the little flea market she chuckled to herself. She had told that story so many times over the years especially to her now grown daughter. It was the worst and most embarrassing day of her life. Now it was the funniest because that twenty-three year old mother went on to have many more days with her children that would embarrass her to no end, but none that ended up having a whole grocery store locked down.

The Quilts From Over The Years

 Grandma Lu had been outside attempting to help her husband get her car out of a snow bank to no avail. Her husband could take her to town in his truck until the snow melted. Now as she snuggled under her Chief's blanket in her rocking chair, she couldn't help but smile. "This little scrap of a blanket wouldn't have kept me warm when I was a child, that's for sure. Our old farmhouse was drafty and the bedrooms upstairs were darn right cold!" She chuckled out loud when she remembered her brother complaining about seeing his footprints on the steps because the steps were covered with frost. Yes we did need quilts to keep us warm but the quilts that my grandmother made were so heavy because they were made out of old winter coats that she saved year after year. The menfolk wore them to shreds, but she was so very frugal that even the scraps were of value for making quilts. Of course, she didn't have a sewing machine. All of her quilting was hand stitched. I can see those old quilts now. The different pieces of coats were stitched together with yarn and some looked like embroidery thread. There were pieces of velvet there were so very soft. They were probably made from children's coats that were threadbare. Other pieces were made of corduroy. Those pieces were soft too, but some were not nice to lay my little hands on. They were like a bad joke. They made you think they were soft and nice to cuddle up to because they looked like lamb's wool, but in fact they were harsh and scratchy. I never did see the back side of those old quilts. If I did I sure don't remember them. However, I do remember one special night when my sister who was twelve years older than me came home from a date.

My bedtime was when my parents told me it was. It was generally about eight o'clock because the school bus came at seven in the morning so I needed to get out of bed at least by six o'clock if not earlier.

This particular night it was so very cold outside. An Iowa typical winter night of low to below zero weather. I had sat on my mama's lap and said my prayers. The dining room was cozy and warm because that is where the coal stove was. She kissed me goodnight and said, "Now hop up to bed. Love you!" I did as I was told. As I climbed up the stairs the air became colder and colder. I hurried and crawled under those heavy quilts. It was so cold, but soon the sheets warmed up and I was so very comfortable and went sound to sleep.

 I woke up hours later to my sister saying, "Lu Anne, wake up and move over. You are on my side of the bed." In my sleep I did what I was told only to realize that my sister had tricked me into moving over to the cold side of the bed by the window which usually let in a bit of a breeze. I yelled at her and said, "It's cold over here! You are mean." To this day I can hear her chuckle. "Well you shouldn't have slept on my side of the bed." 

As Grandma Lu got out of her rocking chair she shook her head. "We laughed over that for years. That's what happens when a six year old has an eighteen year old for a sister that had to share a bed."

She walked into her bedroom and looked at the quilt that was hanging proudly by a wooden ribbon quilt holder. She felt the fabric and shook her head. This quilt would always hang as a reminder how things change over the years. Her mother had made this quilt while waiting for her baby girl to arrive. It was eighty-two years old. The backing was threadbare, but the top was perfect. Of course, she didn't know that she would be having a baby girl, so she used soft green and yellow and white fabric with a little bit of rust just in case it was a boy. It was soft with age and wear. It too was hand stitched.  The stitches were so very small and even. Perfect, but the world wasn't. World War II was raging. What was her mother thinking while she was working on this quilt? Was she worried? Did she even have a radio to hear the news? What kind of heat did she have in that old farm house that both she and I grew up in? What was it like? She told me lots of stories, but there are still so many more questions unanswered.

A Tube Fire Escape And A Little Girl In The Dead Of Winter

 Grandma Lu found herself walking aimlessly from her living room to the kitchen glancing out the windows to see if she saw any snowflakes fall. She loved the age of electronics and had many little gadgets about her home. She could see the temperature outside and the Echos all seemed to be telling her the same thing; the weather forecasters seemed to be right!

She and her husband and most of the folks in her small town had been hearing the same thing; a big snow storm was on its way. "Years ago I moved from my home state to have warmer weather. What do I get? A snow storm. They are saying 6-14" Well, six inches is a lot better than fourteen inches. Mercy. I told my husband to make sure we have a shovel and ice melt by the door so we could get out if we needed to without breaking  a hip or worse.. Oh how I hate cold weather anymore. I wonder if he got back up propane and we had better let the water drip in the sinks and open up the cupboard doors tonight before we go to bed. Oh look at that temperature drop! Seven degrees! Good grief. They are saying below zero tonight. Might as well live in the Dakotas or Iowa for this terrible cold weather."

Grandma Lu found herself going to her little room she called a pantry, but it didn't have food in it. They used it for storage of things they never used. "Someday I am going to throw away half of this stuff. Oh where did I put the candles and the oil for the oil lamps? Oh here it is. Half full. Well, that's better than nothing."

She walked back to the living room and sat down in her comfy old rocking chair. She looked out the window and there they were; snow flakes. She looked at her little gadget and thought, "Boy, my dad would have loved these gadgets. He loved radios. I swear he had one in every size and shape. Oh no. Fran! Look it is below zero already and I can barely see across the road."

"Well, there is nothing I can do to change Mother Nature's mind about this so I might as well sit here in my chair and enjoy the beauty of it all. She remembered Marleewood and how she and B used to go there all the time and she would tell stories and have such fun. Marleewood was closed now, but she had decided to write down some of her stories on her computer. Oh how her mother would have loved a computer. Well, her mother's cousin's granddaughter had read her story about mud pies and had mentioned the old tube style fire escapes on a school that she had attended. "I think our whole family went to that school. I remember those fire escapes too. They were such fun. On fire drill days we would slide down them to the outside playground to be safe from the Pretend Fire.

 "Oh my goodness. I remember when I was in first grade. I remember Rosemary. She was such a pretty little girl. She had really dark hair and it was always fixed in long curls. That was the style in those days. Oh it was so cold that day. We were all out for recess. There were snow flakes falling that day too, only they weren't pretty. They were little and the wind made your face hurt when they hit you. The temperature was way  below zero, but the teachers thought it was good for us to be outside for a bit every day. Some of us thought it was too cold and started to gather closer to the school house where the fire escape was to get out of the wind. I can see Rosemary plain as day reach out with her tongue to gather up some snowflakes that were on that fire escape. Then she started screaming, but she didn't move! Oh mercy what a commotion. Her tongue was stuck to that fire escape!

Teachers started gathering around her It seemed like forever when one came running to her with a cloth and a bowl of hot water and kept dabbing at her tongue and shushing her to quit screaming and squirming. Oh my what a day that was. The teachers finally got her loose and we were all made to get in a straight line and get back into the school. Each teacher I am sure gave their class the same lecture. Don't ever put your tongue on a freezing piece of metal!

Grandma Lu smiled as she remembered that little girl as she grew up. She had the most beautiful singing voice. At a school music special when she was a teenager she sang a solo. The song was called  Orange Colored Sky. A most memorable performance to last so many years later.

She looked out the window and thought, "I hope that snowblower works after all these years. I think he is going to need it."

Mud Muffins With A Bit Of Magic

 Grandma Lu was sitting in her rocking chair looking at the light rain falling. She noticed that the rain was making a pool of water around the drain spout next to the front porch. She smiled thinking about her mother. "I've sure been thinking about you lately, Mom. I guess because you were such a bright light in my life during the holidays when I was young. Well, even when I was a a young mom you were such fun."

Grandma Lu continued to rock and remember. "Yes, you were a good mama even when you were so very busy baking for the folks in town and for the grocery store. But you always seemed to know when I needed you even though I didn't complain....

Grandma Lu's eyes felt heavy especially listening to her husband's gentle snoring while he napped away the rainy day. She found herself back on the farm by the front porch. She was four years old and her big sister was in high school. She had a brother, but he didn't count much. He was just a baby so he couldn't play with her. She sure wished she had somebody to play with.

She looked out at the yard. There was a tire swing but she was too little to push herself with her feet. She needed to have a grownup like her dad or mom to push her. She needed to get bigger that was all there was to it! 

She looked down at the corner of the porch. There was a puddle of water there by the drain spout. "Must have rained a little bit last night," she thought. She looked around and saw the bench that held the wash pan that her daddy used to wash up before he came in the house from the fields or milking. There was a pitcher of water and a long handled cup for drinking sometimes. On the board below there was some old towels and a can with a piece of soap in it. "Oh there you are; my little muffin tin. I must have forgotten to take you in the house the last time I made some dandelion muffins. I guess today I can make some muffins out of mud. I need a stick and some rocks and a little more dirt."

She got busy and gathered some little rocks together and decided to put them in the bottom of the muffin tins. The rocks were wet and muddy and some of them were so little that they stuck to her hands, so then she washed them in the puddle of water.  She had watched her mama make lots and lots of cinnamon rolls and she always washed her hands a lot. But she had to get some more dirt into the puddle to make a thick dough like her mama did.

She looked up to see her mama standing by the door watching her. "Hi, Mama. Want to play with me? I am making some mud muffins."

Her Mama smiled and said, "Sure grab another little stick for me. I'll help you stir the dough."

Well that she did. She jumped up and grabbed a little branch from the yard and ran back to her mom. She was so excited to have someone to play with. With careful amounts of water and dirt they made six little mud muffins. "All done!" she proclaimed.

"Oh no not yet, little one. You forgot to add some magic to your dough so it will be perfect for all off your pretend company that will eat them."

"Oh my, is that what you do to your cookies and cakes? Do you put magic in them? Is that why people like your baking so much? Show me the magic, Mama. Where is it?"

Her mama chuckled and said, "Okay let's put your muffin tin over here on this tree stump. It is in the sun where it is nice and hot. Does it look like the sun will bake it?"

She nodded her head.  "It is perfect. I just love it. Add the magic, please!"

Her mama smiled and said, "You just did! You added a little bit of love to your muffins, now all of the little creatures in the timber will like your mud muffins.

"Love? Love is magic? You told me that Santa is magic. Is Santa love too?"

"Yes, my dear. Love is magic. You can't see it, but you can feel it and sometimes you can taste it on the food that I make you and that hot cocoa that you say you like. When you get big you can add your own magic in the food that you fix for your family and loved ones."

Grandma Lu woke with a start. The sun was shining now. She shook her head a little bit and thought. "I think I will make a batch of bread and maybe some cinnamon rolls. I haven't done that in a long long time."

She reached into her cupboards and got out the mixing bowl and the yeast and measuring cups. As she grabbed the can of Crisco she smiled and thought, "Yup, I best not forget that little bit of magic. Love you, Mom."

Christmas Memories Continue To Pop Up

 It's the day after Christmas and all through the house is... memories. That's what is in this house. Memories of old and memories today, the day after Christmas that were made just yesterday. I asked one of our guests last night if this time of year brought back memories and she assured me that it did. My husband's brother and wife called us for Christmas yesterday and I told her that it seems the older I get I should be running out of new/old memories, but it doesn't happen that way. This memory is just an example that happened to me Christmas Eve, 2023.

We were expecting company for Christmas Eve and I thought I would put some lipstick on. I don't wear it very often and there's a reason for that. I'm almost out of lipstick. I carry it in my purse in case I want to wear it. You see it is very very old. My mother gave me this lipstick. It was the last gift she gave me for Christmas. I know that you are thinking it's just lipstick. No, it's a Christmas memory.

One day years ago I told my mother that I just loved her lipstick. It was the perfect color and seemed to really compliment her snowy white hair and her blue eyes. Well that Christmas I got a gift that I just loved. A lipstick just like my mother wore. Oh how I loved it. It seemed to change a bit with every outfit I wore. In fact it was a bit strange. It looked good with red, purple, yellow, green; whatever I wore.

Most every year after that I would receive a stick lipstick either for Christmas or for my birthday. Sometimes she would even ask me if I needed some lipstick and would give me hers. I never ran out.

Lipstick was a Christmas memory for my mother that she passed along to us each Christmas. My father and mother were married in the thirties and were very poor. My father decided that he wanted to be a linotype operator, but the school for that was in Minnesota. He hitchhiked there and took the course; leaving my mother and my older sister maybe two little ones at home. I can't remember for sure. If I remember right the course was nine months long. 

Mother lived in a basement house on my grandparent's farm, so she and her children were taken care of as far as food and family.

My father hitchhiked home for Christmas. Now you have to remember the winters in Minnesota and Iowa were cold ones. It came time to open gifts that Mom had made him and from my grandparents and much to my mother's surprise my father had a gift for her. It was a lipstick! It was called Tangee. It was orange and it changed to pink when applied to her lips. That was the only lipstick I can remember her wearing when I was a child. Now it is sold on Ebay! By the way she said I alway cried when she put on lipstick when I was little because I told her that she didn't look like mom. Oh how she loved to tell those stories.

She said that Dad spent his last quarter on that lipstick for her. Now that's poor. But the love!

So getting back to my last stick lipstick which is really way too old to wear, I decided to order myself one from Amazon and finally throw away the one that Mom gave me so many years ago. Much to my surprise there was only one left in stock! I might add that it was ten dollars!  Mercy I ordered it as fast as I could. Hopefully I will be able to wear it a few more times until it too is gone just leaving the Christmas memories and a smile on my face.

This is the last studio picture of my mother and of course, she is wearing "The lipstick!"

A billboard Brought Back Memories Of The Olden Days

 Grandma Lu was getting tired. She had had quite the day. A mouse in the car was the last thing that she needed. Thank goodness her husband had told her to stop and have the auto shop check out her car. Sure enough that mouse had made a nest out of her air filter. She had been driving for about four hours and still had about six hours to go before she got to the Double D Ranch in Texas. She loved that place because her ancestors had owned it from generation to generation. It had a silver mine on it that had caused problems among her family members for years. Some wanted to mine it some did not. She was the last in the line to own it so she had made the decision to make the ranch into a rescue for abused and unwanted horses and other large animals. There was plenty of money in that account to keep it operating for a good many years. 

The big mining company said they had mineral rights to the mine because of a boundary dispute that she thought had been settled years ago. It was that dratted step-brother that had this started all over again. Well it would stop with her and her lawyer and all would be over and done with.

She saw a sign on the road for a filling station and decided to stop and fill up and find a motel for the night.

"Self service gas stations just have never been a good thing in my estimation. Oh when I was a teenager we had what they called full service filling stations. That's just what they were too. Mercy, I remember my best friend's dad would let her drive the car on a weekend night after she got her driver's license. He would write down the mileage and check it when she got home so that he knew she wasn't putting too many miles on his car." She chuckled to herself about those days. "I always had to pay for the gas. Yes, I did. She always knew I had change in the bottom of my purse because I never used my change purse and spent very little of my wages on myself. Change. Yes, change is what was needed to buy gas in those days. I remember so well the man who owned the filling station we went to. It was a Skelly station. That rich oil man Getty fella bought them out if I remember right. You don't see Skelly stations anymore. The man that owned that station's first name was Ray just like my dad.  He wore a uniform and a bow tie and and hat. He would check all the fluids in the car even check the air in the tires if we asked him to. To fill the car up with gas was usually about a dollar. Wow those were the days."

"When he was finished he would put out his hand for his money and off we would go. He never was exactly pleased when my friend would hand him my dimes and nickels and even occasionally some pennies. I remember going inside one time. There was only cans of oil and other stuff for cars and trucks that I never wanted to buy. I can remember dipsticks and funnels and gloves. Exciting stuff. It smelled like gas and oil too. Nowadays there are all kinds of fun things like t-shirts and food, and magazines, even toys for children. That reminds me I need to buy some magazines and some snacks and ask if there is a motel close by. I'm ready to rest for the night."

Grandma Lu paid for her gas with a credit card and pulled her car up to the building so she could buy her things and ask about a motel. As she was looking through the magazines she shook her head. Just look at what children read nowadays. Mercy. It's all Bam Boom and Zap with guys like Batman and other super heroes. In my day comic books had Little Lulu and Veronica and Archie and Jughead and even detective comics that I loved to read. Dick Tracy was a good one. Of course, Dagwood and Blondie were fun. He was always in trouble."

 She looked at one with four little boys dressed up in costumes she had seen on television. Spiderman was all the thing. She smiled at the boys. She had to admit they were cute, but had no clue about the story inside. Maybe someday she'd have to catchup on the story about that Spider character.

As she looked for a good magazine she chuckled when she saw a magazine that she knew little girls would love. "Look at that little princess, but she looks so sad. I wonder why. Well, I'd better get up to the desk and get directions to the nearest motel and be on my way." But on her way there she decided to go back to the shelf and buy that little princess comic and see what it was all about.

The clerk at the desk told her that there was a motel just a mile down the road right off the highway. It was clean and modestly priced. They even had breakfast in the morning.  Grandma Lu was so pleased. She would be in Texas about one or two o'clock the next day. "I'll get my business done, give the Journal to the lawyer to have it put in the State of Texas Museum for all to enjoy. My family did have an interesting history; not all good, but interesting." She adjusted her hat, got in her car and headed down the highway.

The man driving the motor home turned to the young woman and said, “ You know what you have to do. When she gets to the motel I’ll distract her and you grab the journal. It’s worth big bucks to the right people and will set us up for life.”

They Called Her Mouse Lady!

 Grandma Lu was finally settling down after the mouse attack. She grinned to herself and thought, "Old lady, you let that little bitty mouse get you all upset. Now you have a mission to get done. You have the precious journal with you and you need to get back on the road."

Just as she was pulling out onto the two lane highway her phone rang. It was her husband. "Hey girl. You are the talk of the town at least in the cafe you are. I decided to come over for an ice cream and you and the mouse was all everyone was talking about. Are you alright? They said you almost went in the ditch."

"Yes, I'm alright, but that little thing just kept running across the dash and then he'd hide in the defrost thing and drove me about crazy. Some nice young man got him out for me though so I'm just about to get back on the road."

"No, I want you to stop at a shop there on the county highway. They'd better check out the air filter. That mouse just might have a family in your car. So do that before you get on the big highway, okay?"

Nothing irritated Grandma Lu like a delay or change in her plans. She had her schedule all planned. This was not a fun trip. She was going to Texas and go to her lawyer's office and get that mining company stopped in it's tracks. She hated to delay her trip, but she also did not want to have to deal with another little stowaway in the dash of her car either. "Oh, alright, but I'm not a bit happy about this, Fran. I guess you are right. Mom always said, ' Where you see one mouse, there is a dozen more.' I hope she's wrong this time. I have to get going and get this done so I can get back home. I'll call you later and let you know what they said. Love you!"

Her husband shook his head and grinned. That wife of his kept him on his toes for sure. He finished his ice cream and went back home. He had chores to do and a dog to tend to. She'd be back home soon.

Grandma Lu knew about the shop that her husband was talking about. She knew it was just a few miles up the road. She'd have the car checked out and be done with it. She pulled into the driveway. There were several cars there. She hoped that they would have time to check the car. She walked in the door and a woman at the counter said, "Are you the mouse lady?" Well Grandma Lu straightened her hat and said, "Well for goodness sakes, why did you ask that?" People in the waiting room were grinning and snickering as they waited to hear what she had to say.

"Your husband called and said that you would be stopping. It will be a few minutes, but we can check under the hood and make sure that the mouse didn't do any damage and get you on your way. I hear you are headed for Texas."

A man and woman were sitting in the waiting room and told her that they had come through Texas on the way to Missouri. "Oh that's nice. Are you on vacation? Grandma Lu asked. They told her that they had been touring the country and their motor home had broken down and were at the shop to get it fixed. Grandma Lu noticed that the woman was a bit nervous. When she would start to speak her husband (she presumed) would interrupt her and would take over the conversation. Grandma Lu didn't like that, but was glad she didn't have to put up with that at her house.

 People were coming and going at the shop. They would pay their bills and grumble about how much they were getting charged. She was starting to get annoyed with the wait and continued to watch the woman across the room as she also checked the time on her phone.

"Hmm, I wonder what is going on with that couple. I just feel something isn't right; not at all. The woman has little beads of sweat on her forehead, but it's rather cool in here. Besides that he has beady eyes. Oh well, I'm sure everything is fine.  You just need to but out of this, old woman. You have places to go and a job to get done so you can get on with your life."

After a bit the lady at the desk said, "You had a busy mouse in your car. He completely tore up your air filter. We had to replace that and of course, the labor charge. That will be forty eight dollars." Grandma Lu silently sighed and paid the bill. She was anxious to get on her way. The day was getting late. She was going to have to stop for the night after this delay. When she was getting herself in the car she noticed the couple walk over to a rather large motor home. "Well, hopefully they have a good trip. I'm sure that young lady is alright. I'm just imagining things. I write way too many stories. But I didn't like the look in that man's eyes when he looked at the young woman; like he was controlling her."

As she made her way down the road singing along to the radio she didn't notice that the motor home was a car or two behind her.

There's A Mouse On The Loose!

 Grandma Lu tried unsuccessfully to stop the tears as she drove out of her beloved small town. Here she had made so many friends; both young and old. Marleewood was her dream place. How she loved to tell her stories to the youngsters, but today she was leaving to head to Texas. She had to deal with the legacy of the Dude Ranch which without her intervention would be made into a strip  mining disaster. She was leaving with a red face of embarrassment. She hated the fact that folks now knew about the stepbrother that was in prison for swindling folks out of their hard earned money. "That pretty much ruins my reputation as a good person. My mother always said that you were known by the company that you keep. Well, so much for that. Folks will get over it I suppose." As she rounded the last curve headed out of town she let out a scream of terror! "No! no! no! Get out of here! You are going to cause me to go in the ditch! No you don't. Mercy, mercy! Where can I stop and get you out of here? There's the little old church at the cemetery. I'll stop there and force you out of the car, mister or whatever you are."

Her heart was beating so fast she thought she was going to have a heart attack. He was running up and down on the dash. Then he just sat there staring at her and let out a little squeak. "I just know that you will run up my leg. Eek, where are you now? I know what I'll do. I'll fix you." She got in the back seat and grabbed two of her old sweaters. "There that should fix you!" as she stuffed the last sweater as tight as she could against the windshield. She got back in the car and thought. "This will never do. There is no one at the church but somebody's cow. He didn't seem to care that she was screaming her head off. "It's just plain silly to be scared of a little mouse. I don't care! I have had a really bad day!" She started running around the car and opening the doors trying to get that mouse out of the car.

A little girl said, "Mom, what is wrong with Grandma Lu? She's running around her car and hopping and jumping all around. Is she okay? Should we stop?"

Her mom slowed down, but said, "I think she's alright. Remember we have to get to the dentist's office in just a few minutes. I'll call her when we get you checked in to make sure she's alright, okay?" 

Across the road from the cemetery Kia and Sage were watching the show. "Kia said, "You know, Sage, I thought this trip visiting the grandparents and all was really going to be boring, but this is quite a show! I wonder who will win, the mouse or that old lady."

"I know that lady. She's a good person. We really should go over there and chase that thing out of her car. I don't think she can do it by herself." 

"No, we can't go across the road. The humans get all upset when we do that. We can just keep an eye on her and get help if we think she needs it." So they sat and watched instead of playing ball.

After the dentist's appointment and a wonderful cavity free checkup, their mom treated her little girl and her brother to an ice cream along with a promise to keep up the good work with brushing and flossing. There was another family there too discussing Grandma Lu. "Did you see her drive out of town? She was driving like a crazy woman? Is she sick? What in the world is going on with her? First the new sheriff arrested that man by her house and then she left and didn't even go to her own party. I just don't understand her. Maybe we should pay our bill and go check on her. I wonder where she was going and why she was driving like that."

Two men were sitting down at the end of the counter chuckling when they over heard the conversation about Grandma Lu's driving. "She actually drove down to our shop on the highway and offered us twenty dollars to get it out of the car for her. Of course, we did it for nothing, but she was really upset."

"Get what out of the car for her? asked Grandma Lu's husband. She just left a few minutes ago. What's going on?"

After he understood the situation and laughed, "She does not like mice, that's for sure." Then everyone laughed and shook their heads and some agreed that they would have paid someone to take a mouse out of their car too. Some said, "I would have walked back to town and some said, "You just gotta love her." 

Soon everyone in Grandma Lu's small town knew about the mouse that was on the loose. Where did that mouse go? Two curious people wondered that knew Grandma Lu very well. They were sure there would be a story someday to go along with this latest adventure.

The Journal And It's Legacy Will Remain For All To Protect

 Grandma Lu couldn't look at the crowd that had gathered on the Marleewood parking lot. Marleewood had been closed for so long because of the dreaded virus that had stopped the fun and story time there. This was not the time for her to leave. She couldn't believe that she had been found by a relative she didn't know very well at all. She had no choice but to leave however. She could not allow the destruction of the Double D Ranch because of some money hungry investors insisting on strip mining the silver mine. It was not going to happen.

She was so angry she felt crying, but instead had to somehow explain the age old secret to her husband and children. The trip was going to take quite a long time. She didn't know what she was going to find when she got there, but she would just have to deal with it. Throughout the generations the journal had been kept safe. It was now in her hands and would travel with her to Texas. She was getting elderly and would have to pass the journal on to someone that would love and care for her beloved ranch. Who that would be was yet to be decided. There were many that would just put the ranch on the auction block or like the unknown "want a be rich" folks strip the land. She shook her head and thought, "I will not have it. It is my legacy to not only my family, but to the state of Texas. I will figure it out somehow."

She was packed and in the car headed for Texas within an hour. Her husband was staying at home to care for their home and dog. As she headed down the highway she thought of her many ancestors that had built a home from practically nothing to a beautiful home. She could almost see her great great grandmother tending to her flowers that she had watered with her mother's dish water. The drought and burning heat was so terrible they had little water to spare. "Oh the hardships they endured. I have to do my best to preserve it."

The Double D Ranch will always be a place for good folks to enjoy the outdoors and beautiful horses. As well as the hunting and fishing. Oh the trail rides that old ranch has seen. Yes, I will see to that."

A Stranger Makes A Surprising Speech Part 5

 Grandma Lu was thrilled to see so many people gathering on the parking lot of Marleewood. Marleewood had been closed for quite some time because of the pandemic. As she looked around there were so many people she recognized that had been meeting there and the children! "Oh my goodness they have grown. They are no longer babies anymore; that's for sure." She felt a bit of sadness as she marveled at the children that at one time had sat by her knees as she told them countless stories. Some of the stories were made up ones and some were true. The children didn't care. They just felt comfortable and safe within these old walls. She grinned as she saw girls and boys actually talking to each other as friends. The boys were not pulling pigtails or giving them bugs to look at. She looked behind her and saw her old friend walking away from the side door. "Hmm, wonder what Nancy was doing in the Quiet Room?" She was about to walk over to her to ask her old friend if everything was alright when she was surprised to see a lady
that she hadn't seen in many years. She was from her hometown, but now lived on the west coast. "Oh my goodness. This is like old home week. I wonder if there was a golf tournament this week. That's her passion for sure. Oh look at that dog! So cute."

She started to wave and yell to stop so that they could visit when she saw that Nancy and Ann were having a serious conversation. "Well, I wonder what that's all about. I think I will just get myself over there to see what's wrong. I can't have unhappy people on this beautiful day."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw familiar faces. "Oh my goodness, look who's here! Charlie and her grandma. What a wonderful day. She turned to greet them and visit, but soon she heard a clinking noise. Someone was going to make a speech. Who is that? She looked familiar, but couldn't quite place her. "Oh my. She's a long ways from home. I know who that is. She is Chata's human. What in the world is she doing here I wonder. There's that precious Chata. I'm so surprised to see them here. But why is she making a speech? She doesn't know anyone here and she hasn't seen me in years."

"Hello, everyone. I heard about Marleewood opening it's doors once again. I am so happy for my Great Aunt Lu. She loves Marleewood and the folks in this little town. However, I am here to take her back to Texas where she belongs. The Dude Ranch that she owns needs her there to stop the environmentally dangerous activity that's going on at the silver mine. So everyone eat up all this scrumptious food, but your old friend needs to come with me as soon as she can get packed up."

The talking and squealing of happy youngsters and visiting of neighbors had completely stopped. What did that woman mean? Grandma Lu didn't own a silver mine let alone a ranch in Texas. She had lived here for years. Surely someone knew the truth about this. That someone was not Grandma B. She was just leaving the kitchen when she heard that Grandma Lu her dear friend was actually an owner of the Dude Ranch in Texas that she had been writing about for almost two years? No; surely not. She would have told her about it. Wouldn't she?"

Marlee's Tour Of Marleewood: Part 4

 The sheriff was indeed going to go out to the parking lot to help folks set up tables for food. He even saw a trampoline someone had brought. As he looked out the window he saw Grandma Lu walking towards the back of the building just like he had come in. He thought about turning around and greeting her, but he had a feeling now wasn't the time. She may still be upset with the man he arrested and maybe even him. As he walked down the hallway towards the front entryway he looked at pictures that had been hung. There were even some framed photos of pets that had at one time been heroes not only in Grandma Lu's stories, but had newspaper clippings beside the picture with a rescue story beside the frame.

He stopped to look at a picture of a rather elderly lady and read a newspaper clipping of her picture in it as well. "Hmm, interesting."

"Yes, she certainly was, said Grandma Lu. That picture is one of many that have been taken of her. She had many names; Popcorn Mary, Greyhound Mary as well as Mary Owens, her legal name. She was this little town's self appointed historian. I had the pleasure of meeting her and had her give a very interesting talk to the residents at our nursing home in town; Northwood Hills.  I was working there as an Activity Director many many years ago. She wrote little books and saved things along her many years of living here for others to read and enjoy. She was a celebrity in her own right be being selected to be on the David Letterman show many years ago."

"I wrote a whole series of stories about her. Such an interesting lady for sure. Of course, there have been many interesting folks that have either lived here or were born here. For instance this is a picture of Edward Buchanan the actor. He was born here. Just a bit of trivia for you. He was born the same year as my father; 1903. Here's his picture down here."

He was just a little kid when he and his family moved to Oregon. I liked some of his shows. You know this little town has even had a Pulitzer Prize winner that was born here. Her name was Zoe Akins. She was born here in the 1880's if I'm not mistaken. She got the prize for writing a very good Drama. She wrote plays and poems. Here's a little more trivia for you, Mr. Sheriff. My mother's middle name was Zoe.

 "You see, everyone that has lived here or was born here is important. Of course, to our town they are important, but also to their families and friends. I don't know what's going on out on the parking lot, but it looks like there is food. If you live here long enough you will soon find out that I have a strong liking for sweets and my friend, Grandma B loves coffee. So you can see that along the years there has always been something sweet and a pot of coffee on hand at Marleewood. Speaking of Marlee, have you seen her? You would know her if you saw her. She'd talk your ear off and would either be playing with a puppy or any kind of animal for that matter or baking. Here's a picture of her on my phone. We named this place after her, but this place has it's own history as well. Maybe someday we can visit, but right now let's go outside to see what's going on."

&&&&

Nancy narrowly escaped out the side door without being caught snooping around for Grandma Lu's journal. She just knew there was the secret to the Next Generation series that she was working on in that old book. Nancy had found the journal she was writing about hidden under the window seat cushion. As soon as she could she was going to talk to her old friend about it. Why was she hiding it in the first place? She always was telling stories about her ancestors. Do good friends have secrets from each other? "It will have to wait. I hear clinking of glasses. Is someone making a speech? I have to get over there."

Picture rights of Mary Owens in the lower part of the  collage belong to Argus Leader Dark Room 1983