Happy Homemaker Monday - July 29, 2019

It's Monday evening and I'm just now getting around to writing this post. We'll call it 'the late edition'.

Sunflower Growing In Our Backyard

How's everyone here? I hope you all had a nice week and weekend. Ours was good here. Have just been super busy with a lot going on. 

I've had a full day and am trying to finish things up before bedtime, so I'm going to get right on into this post. Please join me as I link up with Sandra of Diary of a Stay At Home Mom and all the other lovely ladies that gather there on this week's Happy Homemaker Monday? 💗

Right now I am...

... working on this post and finishing up laundry.

On the breakfast plate...

... this morning I had a ham, egg, and cheese croissant from Casey's.

The weather...

... Hot. It's 8:00 p.m. and is 82 degrees with a heat index of 88. 

On my reading pile...

Am reading Interpreting Our Heritage by Freeman Tilden, On The Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and The 'I Can Do This' Diet by Dr. Don Colbert.

On the menu this week...

Monday - Bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches

Tuesday - Breakfast for supper (French toast or bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits)

Wednesday - Baked chicken breast, baked potato with cottage cheese, peas and carrots

Thursday - Turkey burgers and oven fries
Friday - Broiled salmon, baked sweet potatoes, and salad 🐟

Saturday - Dh's night to cook

Sunday - Leftovers

On my 'to do' list...

- Monday - HHM post, plan the week ahead, home blessing, laundry
- Tuesday - Take a friend and family member grocery shopping
- Wednesday - Celebrate granddaughter, Mercy's, birthday 🎂

- Thursday - Take a friend to her hair appointment; work on projects around the house
- Friday - Work (Ozark Empire Fair) 🎡
- Saturday - Work; celebrate youngest son's birthday and daughter and son-in-law's anniversary
- Sunday - Church

In the craft basket...

... just keeping up with the temperature afghan.

Photo Not Current

Looking forward to this week...

... family celebrations and working the fair in Springfield.

Something I enjoyed watching this week...

... bison on parade at work...

From the camera...

Bumble Bee on Blazing Star

Scripture passage...

Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead! And I'll see you again next week! 💗

Until Next Time...
~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

Spotlight On Grandma's Postcards - Lifelong Friendships

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Happy Homemaker Monday - July 22, 2019

Spotlight On Grandma's Postcards - Lifelong Friendships

This past weekend my friend, Dorothy, came for our annual 'meet-in-the-middle-to-celebrate-our-birthdays' visit (her birthday is in June and mine is in August, so we try to get together annually to celebrate in the July). 

Dorothy and I

Dorothy and I have been friends since we were girls and that, coupled with the fact that I've shared so many postcards from my grandmother's girlhood friend, Fannie Sullivan, I've decided to feature a few of Grandma's postcards that focus on friendship. 

Surprisingly, not a single one of these postcards are from Fannie. Perhaps that is because Grandma and Fannie's friendship was so easy and stable that there was no need to define it by having to label it as such.  

This postcard is from a Dorotha Pierson. There's really no message...just a 'To Maude McCann From Dorotha Pierson'. There is no postmark, no stamp, and no date.

The words that are printed on the back of the card, however, are not printed in English. Can anyone, by chance, decipher the words for me or tell me what language they are in?

This postcard is addressed to Miss Maude McCann (my grandmother) @ McPherson, Kansas. It is from a girl named Georgia, and is postmarked from Higginsville, Missouri, on November 21, 1910.

Georgia has a very fine hand and all of her capital letters are quite fancy. She says...

"Dear Maude - Taking the pleasure to answer your most welcome card. I hope you all are well and enjoying yourselves. Are you going to school? I graduated two years ago and took one term of high school, but I am not going this winter. Kiss the babies for me and think of me at Thanksgiving. - Georgia"

These last two cards are from someone who signs their name G. A. Cairns. Both are addressed to Miss Maudie McCann, Elyria, Kansas and both are postmarked from Odessa, Missouri. This one on April 15, 1908...

...and this one on October 13, 1908.

The messages on both are simple and written in a large hand. They appear, perhaps, to be from some younger person who is still in the process of developing their handwriting. 

No matter who these cards are from, I enjoy looking at them, reading (and re-reading) them, and trying to imagine who these people might have been and what they might have meant to my grandmother...what they looked like and what their character was based solely on their handwriting and the words that they wrote to her. 

I'm sure that I'm way off on all of the above, but it's still fun trying to imagine and it keeps, not only my grandmother's memory alive, but theirs, as well, because of the words that they left behind in writing to her.

Until next time...

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

Tuesday 4 Meme - In Two Words

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Grandma Maudie

Tuesday 4 Meme - In Two Words

Hosted by Toni

Greetings, Dear Friends! 
I'm joining Toni over at Tuesday 4 Meme! Here are this week's questions...

In Two Words...
1.   Two words that describes you best?
      Creative, complex
2.   Two words that describes your personality?
        Colorful, imaginative

3.   Two words that describes your taste in clothes?
        Casual, comfortable

4.   Two words that describes your home?
       Small, simple

Until next time...
~ Rebecca

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Happy Homemaker Monday - July 22, 2019

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Happy Homemaker Monday - July 22, 2019

Greetings, Dear Ladies! Happy Monday! 💗

I trust that you and yours had a nice weekend where you're at. We had a lovely one here! 

My friend, Dorothy, came up for the weekend and we've had a ball visiting and catching up. We only get to see each other once a year or so...or at least we try to anyway. 😊

Dorothy and I Last Year At Bass Pro in Springfield, MO

A couple of the children and their families joined us yesterday afternoon and a good time was had by all. Dorothy got to catch up with a couple of the children that she hadn't seen in a few years and met two of our grandchildren and a daughter-in-law that she hadn't met before, which was nice. 

In fact, Dorothy is still here and it's our last morning together, so I'm going to keep this post brief. I hope you don't mind.

Please join me as I link up with Sandra of Diary of a Stay At Home Mom and all the other lovely ladies that gather there on this week's Happy Homemaker Monday? 💗

Right now I am...

... enjoying a cup of tea and working on this post while I wait for Dorothy to get up and around. After the children and their families left last night, John did his own thing while Dorothy and I hung out, visited, and watched a movie. We ended up not getting to bed until the wee hours of the morning this morning. 😴

On the breakfast plate...

... Not sure yet. We'll either make something here or we'll run up town to Mary's. I'll leave that up to Dorothy. 😊

The weather...

... After a week of temps in the upper 90's with heat indexes in the triple digits we are finally enjoying a bit of a cool down. It rained overnight and we were under flash-flood warnings. Right now it's 72 degrees and cloudy. The ten-day forecast doesn't look bad at all! 🌞

On my reading pile...

I finished Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder but, am still reading Interpreting Our Heritage by Freeman Tilden. I have added On The Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder and The 'I Can Do This' Diet by Dr. Don Colbert.

On the menu this week...

Monday - Leftovers (pasta, sauce, and meatballs) with peas 🍝

Tuesday - Turkey burgers and oven fries 🦃

Wednesday - Roasted chicken breasts, baked potatoes with cottage cheese, and green beans 🐓

Thursday - Black bean burritos and salad
Friday - Broiled salmon, baked sweet potatoes, and salad 🐟

Saturday - Breakfast for supper (French toast or bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits)

Sunday - Leftovers

On my 'to do' list...

- Monday - Spend the morning with Dorothy before she leaves this afternoon, HHM post, plan the week ahead, home blessing, laundry
- Tuesday - Lead a tree identification class for a group in Joplin
- Wednesday - Take the day off from everything and just rest (I hope!) 😉
- Thursday - Work
- Friday - Work
- Saturday - Work (Explorer Day Camp)
- Sunday - Church; work in the afternoon

In the craft basket...

... just trying to keep up with the temperature afghan.

Last Week's Photo

Looking forward to this week...

... having some down time in the middle of the week before going back to work on Thursday.

Something I enjoyed watching this week...

... Mom's Night Out  with Dorothy. It's one of my favorite movies and she had never seen it before. 

From the camera...

We made 'giant ant eyes' at this week's library program Ants on Parade. 
Isn't this the most adorable colony of ants that you've ever seen???

Scripture passage...

I thought this verse was appropriate considering this week's library program, but don't think for one second that I believe any one of you HHM ladies here is 'sluggard' because I don't! In fact...far from it! 🐜

Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead! And I'll see you again next week! 💗

Until Next Time...
~Rebecca

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Reducing The Summer Utility Bills

At the time of this writing, here in southwest Missouri, it is 92 degrees with a heat index of 105. We are under an excessive heat warning through Saturday evening. 😰

In many areas of the country keeping cool in summer can cost as much, or more, than keeping warm in the winter. Here are a few things that you can do to keep cool while holding down the cost of summer utility bills...

#1. Watch your degree of comfort. Set your thermostat at 78 degrees or above. A setting of 78 instead of 73 saves 20 to 25% of your AC operating costs.

#2. Keep the cool air inside. Close doors and windows. Check the weather-stripping. Seal up cracks. Insulate. These measures will help cut heating costs in the winter as well.

#3. Don't block vents. Move furniture away from vents and window units. Trim shrubbery outside, too.

#4. Close drapes or blinds. This helps keep the sun's heat out. Solar screens and shades can also effectively block a large amount of the sun's heat before it enters your home. 

(NOTE - We go so far as to cover our windows with foil in the summer...at least the top half...with the shiny side against the glass. It completely blocks the sun and deflects heat away from the house.)

#5. Check your filters. Do this once a month during cooling season. Vacuum or replace them as necessary.

#6. Grow native deciduous trees. Plant them where they will shade your house from the sun's hottest rays in the summer and let warming sun through in the winter.

#7. Check the EER before you buy. Some systems use less energy than others...sometimes only half as much. Find the Energy Efficiency Rating (EER) on the yellow energy-guide label. The higher the EER, the more efficient the unit. An EER of 10 will consume half the energy of a similar unit rated at 5.
What are some of the ways that you and your family keep utility bills to a minimum and beat the heat of summer?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Spotlight on Grandma's Postcards - State of Kansas

Be it as a girl growing up in Jackson County, Missouri or living here, now, in Barton County, Missouri, I have never lived more than a few miles away from the Kansas border my entire life. 

If you've read any of the previous posts that feature my grandmother's postcards, you might have noticed that throughout her lifetime, she lived in, or near, several Kansas towns...McPherson, Elyria, Inman, Moundridge, and Stockton to name a few. In fact, my dad was born at Stockton and we still have family that lives there today.

State Of Kansas

This week I'm sharing this lovely postcard found in my grandmother's collection. As you can see, it features a lady in a red dress, wearing a beautiful hat, and carrying a parasol. In her other hand she is holding the Kansas state flower...a sunflower. 

On the back, the card is addressed to my grandmother, Mrs. Maude Brown, Elyria, Kansas. It is from her sister, Jessie, and is dated April 5, 1914 (my grandmother's 19th birthday).

Aunt Jessie says...

"Maude, I will send you this card for your birthday. You will have to excuse me for not writing sooner. I will send you something for your birthday sooner or later. I hope to see you soon. What are you going to have for Easter? We are going to have eggs. I will send Clifford something later on. When is Wiley's birthday? From your sister far away, Jessie McCann"

Clifford was Grandma's first-born child (my dad's oldest brother) and Wiley, of course, was my grandfather.

While the message itself isn't that interesting, the card is lovely...as are these sunflowers growing outside our backdoor right now...

Sunflowers

I'm curious...do any of my readers live in Kansas? If so, in what part of the state?

Until next time...

~Rebecca

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Tuesday 4 Meme - Dream Time ~ Have You Ever

Hosted by Toni

Greetings, Dear Friends! 
I'm joining Toni over at Tuesday 4 Meme! Here are this week's questions...
Dream Time ~ Have You Ever...
1.   Danced At A Ball? 
I can't say that I've danced at, what I would consider, a ball, but many years ago I did dance in high school gymnasiums, dance studios (believe it or not...I took disco lessons back in the day), and other such places. Does that count? (Today I dance in my kitchen!) 💃

2.   Flown A Kite? Yes! My grandpa and grandma used to get me a new kite just about every year. My aunts were better at flying their kites than I was at flying mine, but I still had a lot of fun trying...and...on those rare occasions when I could actually get it up and keep it there...what a thrill! 
3.   Strolled Hand In Hand Along The Seashore?
Yes! At the National Seashore on North Padre Island @ Corpus Christi, Texas. What a beautiful place! 🐚

4.   Sat On A Park Bench People Watching?
Yes, but not deliberately. I have sat on park benches and have watched people walk by while I was sitting there, but I wasn't sitting there just for that purpose. 

Until next time...
~ Rebecca

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Happy Homemaker Monday - July 15, 2019

Good morning, Dear Ladies! Happy Monday! 💗 

I trust that each and every one of you had a good week last week and that your Monday is off to a great start!

Our week was good here. John finally got his new glasses on Tuesday and, while we were out, we enjoyed a belated birthday lunch with grandson, Isaiah, and granddaughter, Audrey, while in the midst of celebrating her 14th birthday. We also attended her birthday tea party that evening with real cheesecake instead of birthday cake. 💗

Fresh Flowers

Delightful Sweet Treats

A Lovely Table Layout

Granddaughter Audrey on Her 14th Birthday

Homemade Cheesecake

On Thursday granddaughter, Abby, and I enjoyed a belated birthday lunch and ice cream outing. Afterwards, we went and had our pictures taken together in one of those crazy photo booths at the mall. What a hoot and so much fun! 😄

Granddaughter Abby and I Enjoying A Sweet Treat At Sonic

I worked Friday and Saturday. Part of my job is to get out on the prairie and see what's in bloom and, right now, the entire prairie is awash with color! It is absolutely stunning!

On Gayfeather Trail Midst A Sea of Black-eyed Susan

Gayfeather (Blazing Star) Just Starting to Bloom

Rosin Weed Stands Proud and Tall Against Blue Sky and Billowy Clouds

After church on Sunday, John and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon at home, then, took a walk around the neighborhood in the evening.

Now...here it is...Monday morning and we're off and running into a brand new week! Won't you join me as, I link up with Sandra of Diary of a Stay At Home Mom and all the other lovely ladies that gather there on this week's Happy Homemaker Monday? 💗

Right now I am...

... finishing up breakfast and enjoying a cup of hot tea while I work on this post.

On the breakfast plate...

... egg, toast, yogurt, and hot tea

The weather...

... 69 degrees, cloudy, and humid with a chance of storms coming up a little later in the morning. The high today is only supposed to be 82 degrees, but we've got another hot week on tap according to the 10-day forecast...

On my reading pile...

I finished Mother Culture by Karen Andreola (good book!) but, in addition to daily scripture reading, I am still working on Interpreting Our Heritage by Freeman Tilden, and Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

On the menu this week...

Monday - Salmon patties, leftover potatoes and green beans, biscuits and gravy 🐟

Tuesday - Spinach and feta turkey burgers on whole wheat flat buns with sweet potato fries and salad 🦃

Wednesday - Roasted chicken breasts, baked potatoes, and oven-roasted carrots and salad 🐓

Thursday - Breakfast for supper (probably French toast, turkey bacon, and orange juice) 🥓
Friday - Broiled salmon, baked sweet potatoes, and steamed broccoli 🐟

Saturday - Turkey burgers and oven fries 🦃

Sunday - Pasta, sauce, meatballs, peas, and homemade French bread 🍝

On my 'to do' list...

- Monday - HHM post, plan the week ahead, home blessing, laundry, bedding, budget, bank
- Tuesday - Deep-clean my office (the Van Gogh room) and get it ready to use as a guest bedroom for a couple of nights
- Wednesday - Library programs - 'Ants on Parade' 🐜
- Thursday - Work
- Friday - Work
- Saturday - Off work; my friend, Dorothy, arrives for a three-day visit
- Sunday - Church; visit with Dorothy

In the craft basket...

... just keeping up with the temperature afghan and making 'giant ant eyes' for Wednesday's library program.

Temperature Afghan

Looking forward to this week...

... spending time with my more-like-family-than-friends friend, Dorothy. We've known each other since 5th grade and have been through a world of thick and thin together. It's been a year since we've seen each other, so it will be good to get caught up with one another again! 💗

Dorothy and I Last Year At Bass Pro

Something I enjoyed watching this week...

... Bats darting around the darkening sky under a nearly full moon last night. 🦇

From the camera...

Sunflowers In Our Backyard

Scripture passage...

Well, Ladies, that's it for this week! I pray that each and every one of you have a blessed and beautiful week ahead! And I'll see you next week! 💗

Until Next Time...
~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

Thrift and Savings - Post #7 - Spending Less and Saving More

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