Weekend gathering of family

 81º with mostly sunny sky here in Clarinda, IA at 3:00 PM on Sunday.

Family from eastern Iowa were here this weekend for funeral of our daughter-in-law Patty's father, Fred Baze.

Great Grandkids, Jessica and David were at our house Friday evening for a while.

Saturday morning we all went to the funeral here in Clarinda.

On the right above is Granddaughter Emily with Great Grandson David.  On the left is Emily's fiancé Derek.

The Baze family gathered at the community room at the Lied Center following the funeral for visiting and a lunch provided.  

At left is Grand Son-in-law Heath with our two grandkids, Jessica & David.

Photo at right is of the Baze clan.

Front row, seated, are Fred & Fern Bazes kids - Derek, Pam, Patty, and Jenny.

Last evening our family all came to our place for a meal.  Lots of visiting.

Fred had been an avid fisherman and Patty had gone with him many times.  This morning Patty, Jessica and Heath went to the river east of town where Fred had fished for years.  Heath did catch a good sized fish, but with no way to get it back home on the 5-hour drive, he put it back in the river.

Good visiting with the family.

Hey, I just took this photo at left off the deck.

Later, Lynn

The Little Red Hen.

This story is so true and even follows a Bible verse.

I don’t think anybody should be allowed to graduate from High School until they’ve read one of the most important literary classics of all time…The Little Red Hen. In the story, the little red hen finds a grain of wheat and asks the other barnyard animals “Who will help me plant the wheat?” The response “Not I” said the cat, “Not I” said the dog, “Not I” said the pig. So the Little Red Hen said “Then I will plant the seed myself” and she did.

At each later stage (harvest, threshing, milling and baking the flour to make bread) the hen asks the 3 animals for help in the process again, and at each stage the animals reply with the same response “Not I” said the cat, “Not I” said the dog, “Not I” said the pig.

At the final stage, when the hen has finally baked the bread, she asks “Now, who will help me eat the bread?” If you’ve heard the story before you know the end. But, I’m almost positive that they aren’t teaching this story in school anymore. The response? “No, you did not help me plant, nor help me harvest, nor help me mill, nor help me bake the bread” so the Little Red Hen ate the bread and gave it to her chicks.

I grew up with this story. Such a simple lesson on being a responsible individual and helping others. Modern society no longer embraces this kind of thinking it seems. “It doesn’t matter that you did not contribute to any of the work or preparation in making something successful…you still get to eat from the fruit of people’s labor.” This kind of thinking is wrong. It promotes laziness and slothfulness and the ultimate feeling of entitlement that we see in our world today.

So you see, this is why this story should be resurrected and taught to our children at very early ages…like it once was…like it was in the days when people were more responsible and understood “cause and effect” relationships. Yes, let’s revive this “Literary Classic” before it is too late!

“The story of the Little Red Hen has been retold many times. First published in 1874, this folk tale teaches children the value of hard work and self-reliance. In the story, a hen finds a seed of wheat, which she decides to plant in order to make bread. Though she seeks the help of other farm animals, they refuse, and the hen must do all the work herself. When the bread is finally made, the other animals wish to partake—but, because they did not help the hen along the way, they are refused the fruits of her labor. The story has been featured as part of the popular “Little Golden Books” series and as a Walt Disney animated film, The Wise Little Hen (1938).”

2 Thessalonians 3:10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: "Those unwilling to work will not get to eat."

 

 

 

Some rain!

77º with overcast skies at 6:30 pm Tuesday.  Had 2.75" rain overnight and into the morning.  Bright sunshine came out at noon. 

We had been really browning up with the high temperatures and no rain.

Well it is now 65º at 9:05 on Wednesday morning.  Got interrupted and didn't get back to this until now.

.This was just taken

of the front lawn.

A little color to it.

These three photos all taken

after the rain quit yesterday

and the sun came out.

Have been reading Jonathan Winter's Tales, a collection of one or two-page stories.  Got me interested in what else he had done.  Found many books, DVDs and CD/records he had made earlier.  Quite an interesting person.  Like another comedian, Red Skelton, he also painted and has quite a collection.  You can find numerous YouTube of his visits to The Johnny Carson Show.  He worked with a lot of other actors--passed away in 2013 at age of 87.

He had served in the Marines during WWII.  

CLICK HERE  for his life story on Wikipedia.

 A man was on trial for murder and if convicted, would get life imprisonment. His brother found out that an Irishman was on the jury and figured he would be the one to bribe. He told the Irishman that he would be paid £10,000 if he could convince the rest of the jury to reduce the charge to manslaughter.  The jury was out an entire week and returned with a verdict of manslaughter.  After the trial, the brother went to the Irish man's house, told him what a great job he had done, and paid him the £10,000.  The Irishman replied, "It wasn't easy to convince the rest of the jury to change the charge to manslaughter. They all wanted to let him off."

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 Till next time, LCM

Cooler weather, for a bit in Iowa

 78º with clear skies in Clarinda at 10:30 am Wednesday -- predicted high of 90º.

Spent time last Saturday at Joyce and Loren Tornholm's place east of New Market, IA.  Phyllis' cousin Joyce had her 75th birthday earlier in the week and she had invited family members to gather for a lunch Saturday.

At right are Sue Sandahl, Paul and Eddie Taylor.  Sue is Joyce's daughter and they live in Johnston, IA.  Sue is an outpatient occupational therapist with On With Life in Ankeny, IA.

At right are Steve & Beth Gregory standing.  Beth is Phyllis' sister; they live in Clarinda.

At left is Judy Guthrie, Phyllis' cousin who lives in Clarinda.  Her granddaughter Kora (Scotties daughter) and Phyllis.

Lori Sleep, Phyllis' second cousin, and Judy Heuer's daughter, is in photo at right.

Lori Sleep, Kora Heuer, and Renessa, friend of Colton Sleep.

1

At left is Jerry Sleep (Lori's husband) with their son Colton and his friend.  The Sleeps live near Gravity, IA and Colton & friend live in Hamburg, IA.

Yesterday I

washed the

roof of our

travel trailer.

Still need to put some

sealer caulking on

a few places that have

dried out.

Monday we went to Omaha for 2-week Post-Op checkup with Orthopedic Surgeon following knee replacement surgery for Phyllis.  Got a real good report.  Have been doing the therapy over at the hospital 3 times a week and continuing to do therapy here at home.

CLICK HERE  for color changing card trick!

Well, this seems interesting---- The European Union commissioners have announced that an agreement has been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for short).  In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil servants will reseive this news with joy.  Also, the hard "c" will be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but typewriters kan have one less letter.  There will be growing public enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replased by "f". This will make words like "fotograf" 20 persent shorter.  In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of silent "e"s in the language is disgrasful, and they would go.  By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" by "z" and "w" by "v".  During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud, of kors, be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters.  Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German lik zey vunted in ze forst plas.

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A man ran home from work, pulled his wife into the bedroom, threw her on the bed, and pulled the blankets over them. She was shocked because he hadn’t been like this for 20 years. Then her husband said, “Look! My new watch glows in the dark!” 

-Until another time, Lynn  st

 

Staying cool by the A/C

 80º with bright sunshine here in Clarinda at 11:15 am on Thursday.  Predicted high of 90º --Saturday to be 97º for high.

Don't have any picture, but have strange tale to tell.  A few weeks ago I moved four divots of grass from an area where we will put flowers to a bare spot at southwest corner of our house.  For a little over a week I watered them daily and then every other day.  Looked like were growing, even with the hot weather and skipped a day.  Went out yesterday and found that each of the four spots had been dug up by an animal.  Nothing around the little spots, just the area where I had set the grass in.  Since the ground was "looser" maybe they were digging for bugs or worms.  We have had evidence of a racoon being on the deck about a month ago (little gift lying right by the door to the deck) and had set out trap for four or five days, but never had any results.  Would guess, by the tracks around the dug-out grass that it could have been a racoon's paws pulling out the dirt.

Following Phyllis' total knee replacement surgery last Tuesday - the 26th of July - I have been helping her with PT that the doctor had sent instructions home.  Starting this Monday she started PT at the hospital here.

This is from yesterday.  She is coming along well, though not without some pain.  Normal for bringing all the muscles back to work after being abused by the surgery and then somewhat dormant for a bit.

Ran across this old photo of the school building I attended near Oconto, Nebraska starting in the spring of 1947.  The room nearest in the photo was for the High School at that time as they went to the 10th grade.  When my oldest brother, Roger, graduated from the 8th grade from here they closed the high school part and he went to Callaway.  At that time, we--the grade school kids--moved from the far room to the near room for school.  The far room was used for putting on plays and meetings when the parents came -- Christmas, etc. -- and sometimes we had recess in there, as well as in the basement during bad weather.  The basement windows on the near corner in that picture is where two lady teachers lived when I first started there.  It wasn't much of a place, but they got along there.

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According to my Kindle, I have read 32 books so far on it.  Have read 10 in print.  Just received, and started reading Jonathan Winters book "Winters' Tales" Stories and observations for the unusual.  Very good book.   After watching several YouTube of his on Johnny Carson old shows, saw where he had written it and found a used softcover for about $4.  Well worth it.  Am also in the middle of "The Complete Cowboy Reader - Remembering the Open Range", many short stories.

Will have to write some of my memories from there sometime.

I would guess this picture, taken in the classroom, was probably early 1950's.  What a cute bunch of kids!

This was a gathering of parents, and some alumni of Lower Lodi school probably in the early 1960's after the school was closed, but the building still there.  It was later moved to a farm and incorporated into a house..

GROANER'S CORNER:(( Walking through Chinatown, a tourist is fascinated with all the Chinese restaurants, shops, signs, and banners. He turns a corner and sees a building with the sign, "Hans Olaffsen's Laundry."  "Hans Olaffsen?", he muses. "How the heck does that fit in here?"  So he walks into the shop and sees an old Chinese gentleman behind the counter.  The tourist asks, "How did this place get a name like "Hans Olaffsen's Laundry?"  The old man answers, "Is name of owner."  The tourist asks, "Well, who and where is the owner?"  "Me, is right here," replies the old man.  "You? How did you ever get a name like Hans Olaffsen?"  "Is simple," says the old man. "Many, many year ago when come to this country, was stand in line at Documentation Center. Man in front was big blonde Swede. Lady look at him and go, "What your name?" He say, "Hans Olaffsen." Then she look at me and go, 'What your name?'"  "I say, Sem Ting."

Keepin' on keepin' on, LCM, st