Christmas Decorating

 

The snowman display was begun five or six years ago and grew each year.  Somehow, once you have three of something, the 4th and the 5th (and the 23rd!) just seem to find you.  I liked the snowmen here on the hall counter, all lit up,  but now I have been gifted a lighted village.  Is there someone out there who needs some snowmen?  The snowmen have to go! 

 

 

 These are pretties that adopted me over the years.  Gramps' miniature kitchen cupboard and Granny's pretty glass apple stay here year around but the others are temporary Christmas decorations. 

 The geometric Christmas tree ornaments take me back to my childhood.  This is the kind of ornaments I would have found on my grandparents tree. 

I used to hang these on the Charlie Brown tree before Himself started using that tree outside.  The fragile ornaments lay on the hall counter a couple of weeks before I finally scooped them up and dumped them into a blue hand-blown glass bowl where they may just stay until next Christmas.

I put this wreath together last Christmas.  I had the wire wreath and went around the house collecting all my silver/tin/wire 'things'.  Hanged them from the frame with hooks and ribbon and called it good.  I rested on the 7th day.  (ha ha) 

 

I left this little vignette up all year.  I put it together last Christmas too and after the holidays I didn't have the heart to disband the crew -- so it hangs in my bathroom and makes me smile each time I look in the mirror or brush my teeth.   

 

I love, love the old ornaments.  Nostalgia, would be my guess.  These tree ormanents are displayed in Gramma Mary Hofmeister's compote, above.

 

(Compote:  A long-stemmed dish used for holding fruit, nuts, or candy. 

I had to look that up to make sure that a compote was 'long stemmed')   

 

I think these old colored pretties have found a year-around home.  

They are out of the way, not hurting a thing. 

Today, January 1, 2014, the Christmas tree still stands in a corner of the living room, decorated. The stay of execution order came through!  The silver wreath hangs from the front door and big gold Christmas ornaments, a pair of ice skates, some garland and pretties still adorn the front entry.   The smaller ornaments, angels, Santas, tiny trees and a multitude of little things are all picked up and packed away, waiting to see if they will come out another day.  Or will they get delegated to a back shelf as the Snowmen did by the Christmas village? 

 

Dickensvale

 

LeMax Village Collection:  Each cottage and building comes with it's own little story.

 

"Outside, the Whispering snow covers the cozy village with a sparkling blanket.  The singing of Christmas Carols echos through the tiny village.  High above, Santa's sleigh drawn by eight reindeer approaches.  As the last of the Dickensvale children drift off to sleep, the sleigh lands on each rooftop and Santa Claus bounds down the chimney to leave stockings filled with toys and to bring joy to each little girl and boy . . .

 

It's Christmas time in Dickensvale!"

 

Afton Star Enterpise: I remember Afton, 3

As a bitty girl of five years and one week, I started Primary School with Mrs. Downing. I was in the afternoon class. I remember Phyllis and Phillip Fleming and Sharman Wyatt, Doug Froit, Ann Crandall, Marsha Hartsook, Blythe Amos and Ron Berdine probably were “afternoon‘ kids too. I liked kindergarten well enough but I had some adjustment to make. I was used to having two sisters with me everywhere I went and six other siblings telling me what to do and now, here I was on my own -- in a land of strangers! I was light-headed and disoriented for weeks.

For the Austin children to get to the Afton Elementary, we walked up Hwy 169 for three miles. Every day. Rain or Shine. Okay. Okay, it was 3/10 of a mile but to a 5-year old in 100 degree heat or below zero temperatures, it seemed like miles! I was never alone walking to school as there would be three or four of us little Austins in the elementary each year and maybe Jerry Jones and the Hoffman girls might join up to walk with us.

So, the teachers passed me along each year -- up a grade to Miss Lamb, Mrs. Stalcup, Mrs. Carey, Mrs. Mathes, Mrs. Ames, Mrs. Hammons . . . I liked all my teachers but in studying on this, I think Mrs. Mathes was my all-time favorite. Mrs. Edith Hammons was the band and Mrs. Obie our vocal music teacher and I greatly enjoyed the music classes but had a tin ear.

One Afton Elementary rule I never understood was when the country kids rolled up to the school each morning and poured out of the bus, they got to go straight to the playground and get busy playing. The town kids would trudge three miles through harsh elements just to get to school and then we stood at the Methodist Church watching the country kids play. We had to wait for the First Bell before rushing over to play for a few minutes until the Second Bell rang. As town children, we considered this ‘Cruelty to Children‘.

I enjoyed school days when we could stay in for recess and play with puzzles and games. I liked holiday parties and games like “7 Up” and the outside “Duck, Duck, Goose”. Red Rover, Red Rover? Well, now . . . Red Rover and dodge ball were character builders, for sure. Days with snow on the ground, if we had our boots and gloves we would slide on our feet down the snow-packed hill by the new building. Never a day went by without plenty of fresh air and exercise.

I loved playing inside in the basement lunchroom on wet days but that didn’t happen very often and what was even more rare, was ME getting to stay and eat school lunch! I loved any school lunch I ever met. With eight or nine of us in school, there was no sense in buying lunches (my Mama‘s words) so we all walked home at noon. Mom always had a sandwich ready with soup or vegetables and fruit and I would gobble it up and lick the plate. Thank goodness for school milk breaks or I wouldn’t have had the strength to get back home!

I do remember Afton. I wish some of my classmates did . . . I am hoping to hear their memories!

Afton Star Enterprise - I remember Afton 2

When I got half growed up and could get away from my Mama’s ever-watchful eye for even a half hour, I’d dig in my jelly jar savings bank and run off uptown with a dime or a quarter and a hard decision to make.

Would I go to “Sheets” or to “Sales”?

Sheets Drug (Rexall) was on the corner of Hwy 169 and Kansas Street. Sales Drug was another half-block east, just the other side of Broeker and Siddens, the tavern.

Sheets gave you a choice of sitting in one of the big old block booths that’d hold about 6 half-grown giggly girls if we leaned in tight or sitting up front. Perched on round, red cushioned chrome stools at the bar, you could watch the soda jerk or maybe my sister Beth mix fountain drinks and malts and watch yourself or the boys in the big mirror. If you wanted to tell secrets then you made for the booths.

Sales had a big bar and stools too but if you pushed further back into the dim, cool interior of the old fashioned building, you could sit four girls at one of the metal ice cream tables. Goods and merchandise displays surrounded you and made you feel inconspicuous and safe. It seems as though we spent half of our (very limited ) drug store time at each soda fountain. I’m pretty sure we didn’t have a favorite.

Once the location was chosen, there were still serious decisions ahead. Living on a fixed income of 25 cents allowance, or later 50 cents, I wasn’t wanton or wasteful in my spending. Would I have a fountain drink, a Green River or a Chocolate Coke? Would I have an ice cream cone. I wasn’t situated well enough to have a malt or a Sundae. My choices were limited to a dime drink, a 20-cent ice cream cone (I don’t think I every opted for the 39-cent large cone) or a nickel candy bar.

Wait, but wait! After all the previous decisions there were still more to make. Shall I buy a Hershey candy bar with almonds, a Clark Bar or a maple Bun? A pack of candy cigarettes or a yellow bubble gum cigar? I went through a spell where I bought a pack of Baseball cards every chance I got, hoping to get all New York Yankees. I probably spent $200 in my youth on two-cent Double Bubble Bubble Gum, one piece at a time. Okay, I confess, two pieces at a time. Yes, I did. I chewed two in hopes of blowing bigger Double Bubble gum bubbles.

In my memory, Sheets had the bigger candy rack but that wasn’t always the deciding factor in choosing which drug store to go to. Looking back, I now know how lucky I was to grow up in a small town in the mid-west and especially in a town with two soda fountains! I, fondly, remember Afton.

Nancy Austin Hofmeister

Afton Star Enterprise . . . I remember Afton

I remember Afton

"The slab" played an important role in my youth. We skated on it as children. Linda, Mary and I and maybe the Hoffman girls might walk uptown and roller skate in circles on the slab until we got dizzy or bored. Then we‘d skate the double-wide sidewalks uptown and eventually make our way to the Mark Spencer home. There a new, smooth sidewalk with a nice slope down the side called our names. It was a full-half block long without obstacle or crack to trip us and was the best roller-skating sidewalk in town.

As we grew older, we’d be on the slab each weekend to play in the band concert. The East Union High School Band had outgrown the small bandstand so we sat chairs up on The Slab, plunked down a music stand and played away. I don’t know how well we played but it seems like there was usually a good crowd in the park to listen to us and we might have gotten a little reward for showing up.

The best times on The Slab, though, were the impromptu basketball games. Someone would show up with a basketball and we’d choose up teams, boys and girls. The games were physical and aggressive and we played our hearts out. We were out to win and to have fun. To get to shoot a free throw, the foul would have been really flagrant as there was so much pushing and fouling we couldn’t shoot all the free throws but I don‘t ever remember any of us quitting, mad or upset. We quit because we literally ran out of energy or it was time to go home and do chores.

I remember as a ’big-time’ high school basketball player (ha ha!), teaching sister Mary, Phyllis Cole and Debby Clark the drills I was learning in high school basketball -- skills they would be learning in the next year or two from Coach Manship. No wonder they were such a good team later on!

What great fun I had playing basketball on The Slab with Ron and Stan Manship. Ron and Rick Berdine. Roger Tisue. Dave Crandall. (Forgive me if you were there and I didn’t mention you. My memory isn’t very good; some of my siblings got my share.) Steve Eckels and Ralph Lundquist might roll into town to check out Mary and ‘the girls". If Linda was at The Slab, Denny Larimer would show up. He could jump the chain-link fence around the Slab with one hand on the top rail. I was impressed and besides, he’d go get the ball when it got knocked over the fence. Good memories. I remember Afton and I remember good times on The Slab.

Facebook -- 25 things (2/5/2009)

  

1) While up for a Sunday ride, brother Alan told me that he had been practicing "stalls" in the ultra light plane with the Velcro closing doors. I asked him to show me but he wouldn't.

2) In high school, I played in a clarinet quartet for the VFW and other community meetings. I played the alto clarinet. Mr. Sutton, my instrument instructor, could only say "you have a good ear" . . . because I knew when I was playing wrong. (Yes, father of Anne Sutton.)

3) In Junior High at Arispe, the girl in front of me in chorus was asked by the vocal teacher to "mouth" the song. I knew it should have been me. In church or at funerals, I try to find someone singing bass to sing with.

4) To get even with Linda for popping her gum, I would breathe peanut butter in her face.

5) I used to "borrow" Linda's blouses to wear to school. I was usually sorry as she had really sharp finger nails.

6) I flew, at age 18, all by myself and even changed airlines in Chicago, to Baltimore, Maryland to visit Linda and Denny. They lived on Easter Egg Hill. I probably would have stayed there the rest of my life in that little one-bedroom trailer. I could have been the oldest daughter. Denny finally suggested I call the airline for my ticket home. Flew into Des Moines in an ice storm. Gee, thanks, Denny!

7) Once at Riverview Park in Des Moines (a long lost amusement park where the East Union band got to go every summer) I was riding the roller coaster barefooted and got the _ _ _ _ shocked out of me! My bare feet on a box under the seat ahead of me and the metal bar I gripped for dear life was a dangerous electrical combination. I felt "funny" for about 3 days, after. However, I always did and still do ride the roller coaster every chance I get.

8) While in Junior High, I am now convinced, I had "Petit mal" seizures -- probably a half dozen or so. If your pre teen child ever sits and "zones", you might want to have him/her checked. Usually children grow out of the "little" seizures. I evidently did. or not.

9) When small, only half of our large family went to “town” on Saturday night. Kathryn was the “sitter” on my nights to stay home. This meant we only went to Creston every two weeks!

10) When I was first married and moved to Sioux City, I found a job at Good Will, typing envelopes for the donation request letters. I was brighter than I looked and soon learned to pick out the small town lists. Back then the little Iowa towns didn’t even need a post office box number to be delivered. I could type a whole lot more envelopes with only a person’s name and a town and a state. The Des Moines envelopes required at least three complete lines, sometimes four. Soon I had brushed up my typing skills and was ready to look for another job.

11) I worked in a political campaign office in 1968, my first job. Some dude running for Iowa guv. He lost to Robert D Ray. My big sister may have gotten me the job. Thanks, Beth! Beth used to work in the Iowa legislature (who did you work for?) and probably should be writing her 25 things. It was all I could do to stay away from home for 5 days and rode the bus back and forth on the weekends. I would get right off at Sheets Drug Store "on the square" in Afton.

12) My senior year of high school, I had 13 adopted "children" . . . all in 9th through 12th grades. I also had two official self-appointed "body guards" ??

13) while trying to leave the nuclear plant after visiting Prairie Island one time, I tested positive for radioactivity. I thought I was going to have to get a job and live there at the plant! Thanks, again, Denny! (is there a pattern here? I end up in dangerous situations! oh yeah! and if this was "26 things", I could tell you about the time he dragged me behind the boat on the Mississippi River. I have pictures!)

14) I helped sell VFW poppies as a young girl . . . so I always buy them to this day when I see them. And you should too! Veterans of Foreign Wars.

15) I have loved babies ever since Gramps and Granny brought Mary home from the hospital. I was only two years, but remember it. My next real baby was C. E. Gray III. and boy did we dote on him! Then Ritchie, Sheila, K'Lea and a little bit of Janie before I grew up and had to go off and get a job.

16) Some of my children call me "Nance" about as often as they call me Mom. My Dad called me Nance.

17) I have split an 8' log with a mallet and wedges -- the long way. It wasn't very big around . . . but still!

18) I asked for an adze for a gift once -- and got it. As your Granny would say . . . look it up in the dictionary! I did NOT ask for a reciprocating saw once . . . and got it.

19) I can rough it, with no bathroom, running water or electricity. I come from pioneer stock.

20) I counted the mosquito bites on my little sister Mary while camping in Louisiana one year -- over 100! maybe 200. and no Lime disease.

21) I have been to Ireland once for work . . . and would go back at the drop of a hat. I was met in the airport by someone from the company with a cardboard sign "Hofmeister, arrival" -- like in a movie.

22) As young children, we were allowed one candy bar a week and one bottle of pop. Of course, if we had our allowance we could buy more but that one bottle of coke a week was the BEST tasting pop I ever did have.

23) I can still hang by my knees and skin the cat. 2 or 3 years ago I could still stand on my head. I might be able to now, if I just got practiced up.

24) I have four loving and beloved children and I could (and should!) write 25 things about each of them! And now I am so much enjoying my grandchildren.

25) I have been married going on 39 years to a very strong willed and handsome man who can cook with the best of them!

PS: I have delayed posting this. I think I'm afraid I'll remember one more thing that I wish I would have said. Oh well, I can always post 26 through 50, right? 

Refreshing

 

 

Refresher Course

 

Refreshing review of my 'little ones'

 

 

 

 

Morghan G.  Beauty. Stand up comic. Athlete.  Prima Donna. Girlie Girl.

 

 

Jack G.  Iron Man.  Runner, jumper, swimmer. Magician and  cool dude. 

 

Gabbydeen.  11.  Designer, caretaker and organizer.  Our pretty socialite. 

 

Maddie long legs. Graceful.  Dimpled.  Loyal, caring diary keeper.   

 

 

Chief Joseph.  Wirey and strong; curious; law abiding; thinker and athlete. 

 

 

Hannah.  Song writer, singer and diary keeper.  Future TV star. 

 

Cason.  Cute and compact.  Athletic and strong.  Friendly and loyal. 

 

Audri.  Lover of animals. Friend to many; blue-eyed, artistic and curious. 

 

 

Bella.  Blue-eyed busy girl.  Curious, cute and 'everybody knows her name'.



 

Life's Lessons

 

Bandit

 

Jennifer

 

Princess

 

Smoky

 

 

 

Roman

 

oh my, I have broken my granddaughters' hearts.  Now I am heart broken too. 

I allowed Princess and Jennifer and Bandit and Roman to all be adopted.  I know they have gone to good homes.  They have.  They will be loved and petted and given their shots and fattened up.

Oh, and maybe treated for fleas.

But I feel awful!  I betrayed my granddaughters' trust in their Nana. 

I swear, the next time, they each will get the pick of the litter. 

Smoky hid and refused to be adopted.  So I will keep Smoky as a peace offering to my granddaughters.  I know Smoky isn't the one they really wanted.  I know that.  But Smoky might help ease the pain, just a little. 

Smoky.  You better hurry up and learn to purr! 

 

 

 

Do NOT try this at home

The ticks are bad this year, I hear.  Probably due to all the rain we have been getting.  If you find a tick embedded in you or your family member, remember to run get the antibacterial hand sanitizer.  A co-worker saw this method in action.  Cover the tic with the antibacterial stuff and the tick will pull out -- it backs itself out, head and all.  Then flush it or burn it.  Whatever. 

Do not, I beg you, do NOT use Himself's method of tick removal.  Himself singes the tick with cigarette lighter or igniter until the tick lets go and falls off.  Then he boils it.  He heats it up.

Until his own blood boils and the tick explodes. 

It is something you don't ever need to see.  Or want to see. 

I promise.

Ft Carson, Colorado



 

 

After graduation from electronics school in Chicago in 1966, Zenith in Sioux City wanted to hire me, but wanted my military obligation out of the way. I was told they had contacts with the local National Guard unit, and would get me in if I would go to work for them. Of course, I did, as the other choice would be to get drafted. So, after working for Zenith for a little over a year, the notice came out that our unit would be activated for duty in Viet Nam. I thought at the time that I may as well have been drafted, but this way allowed me to go with people I knew. My training in basic was in light vehicle driving, from jeeps all the way to 5 ton trucks. But at Ft Carson, me being one of the new people in the unit, I was usually picked upon to do what no one else wanted to do. One day while training in the field, a big fat Master Sargent came out and asked for a volunteer. And as usual, my hand was raised for me, and off I went. It turned out to be the best job one could hope for. I was exempt from all extra duties (KP, guard duty, etc). I was to go to school to become a TAERS clerk, or The Army Equipment Record System clerk. I had learn how to dispatch vehicles, order and receive parts for the vehicles, and make sure maintenance was done on time. The CMMI inspections were the most dreaded of all inspections, as they had regular army inspectors doing the inspections, and we always knew the regular army had it in for the National Guard units. They tried, but could find very few problems when they inspected us.  Anyway, it was my bookkeeping records that earned us the high CMMI (command maintenance management inspection) scores for Headquarters company. Of course, there were clerks for the three other companies in our battalion who also participated.   If parts were missing off vehicles, all I had to do was show the parts were on order,  and that the maintenance was being performed, and we were covered.

Most of the unit except for maybe 40 or 50 of us went to Viet Nam. The rest of us stayed at Ft Carson and trained in a program called "Garden Plot". Where they come up with the names for programs, who knows, but we trained to put down riots, which were common during the Viet Nam conflict. We were outfitted with M-16 rifles, bayonets, and live ammo, tear gas and shock grenades,  and were told if we were called to go put down a riot, that is exactly what we would do. Thankfully, we were never called.



In the unit's annual Command Maintenance Management Inspection last year, the 69th Brigade passed with exceptionally high ratings.  No unit failed.  The brigade averaged 84.8 percent for material and 86.3 percent for maintenance operations.  Passing was 70 percent. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1

April 24, 2013.  It is raining gently.

Winter being my least favorite season of all, I am usually chomping at the bit for Spring.  I can't wait.  I push the season.  I buy 'bedding plants' for the flower beds and vegetable plants for the vegetable gardens too early.  The last few years I have been on-line buying onion sets-- of all things -- way too early. 

I was my usual self in the spring of 2012.  I was buying flowers and vegetable plants. Himself dug out and enlarged the front flower bed and planted perennial early bloomers.  We were out every day, digging and tilling and planting. 

Then Spring came early.  It was 80 degrees in March.  Grandchildren swam in the Lake on March 30, so my journal says.  Himself and I jumped in and embraced that warm weather.  It quit raining.  We were in a drought.  or Drouth, my dad called it (an old-fashioned pronunciation found in the Bible). 

We were in Drouth all summer.

It was dry all fall.

The grass died or went dormant in northern Missouri and in southern Iowa.  The landscape was drab and brown.  The Lake level fell and the creeks were dry.  Even the Mississippi River was low and barges couldn't get up river.  Cracks drew their lines in the Iowa and Missouri dirt and clay and children speculated about digging to China. 

We worried all winter about the lack of moisture . . . but finally late winter 2013 it went to raining.  It rained and it didn't warm up.  If we did have a warm day or two, the temperature plummeted and it rained again.   Or snowed.  And rained.  And snowed again. 

Now it is April 24 (Happy Birthday, Maddie Mae!) and it is raining and the night time low will be about 30 degrees and I am thankful to be reminded ...

"To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted." 

I smell dirt . . .

I went home for lunch today and the temperatures had warmed into the high 60s maybe and there was no wind.  Himself had been spading and tilling flower gardens.  He had "turned the earth".  Turned it over so the dry top soil was on the bottom and the moist, warming black earth was on top and just walking down the sidewalk, I could smell the earth.  Yum! 

         "In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
                                                                                        - Margaret Atwood

 

Usually when you "turn the garden" you see lots of worms and you are lucky if you do as worms are good for the garden.  The worms loosen the soil and make it richer.  We were fortunate when we moved here that Mrs. Thompson had enriched the beds and probably 3 generations of landowners before her. 

Today, the early blooming plants just popped!

Some burst into bloom; some just popped leaves and stems above the ground.  The lawn is green and thick.  The trees and shrubs are swelling with leaf buds.  

A few more days like today and the bleeding heart that just today broke through the ground would have looked like this picture. 

Instead, the weather men (yep, gonna blame it on the men . . . lol) the weather forecasters have predicted much cooler weather and even a chance of snow.  Purportedly, the snow will go north.  And we can only hope. 

Bring on the Rain! 



 
 
 
 
 

  

Don't need any more of this . . .











 

Hofmeister House

The Farm House.
                 Helen Speed's house.
                                    Lobaugh's house.

This is the way of small towns.  The collective memory might go back 50 years.  In some cases more. Folks refer to a certain house or farm as the "Old Vaughan Place". 

You know that curve northwest of Creston on Hwy 25?  Kessler's Curve?  How long has it been since a Kessler lived there?  And over to Afton there is a hill called Simpson Hill.  It was called that when I was a kid 60 years ago.  I never, ever knew the Simpsons that lived on that hill.  The only Simpsons I knew lived down to Shannon City. 

Then, my folks used to say they went the way of Robin Hood's barn to get someplace.  What?  What does that mean?  They knew Robin Hood?  Where did he live?  How did he get to Iowa?

Anyway, back to the story at hand.

We have photos of 1503 Rebecca.

We have a photo of our house in Hubbard, Ne.  (We had at PO Box here -- no street address).

We have a pic of the Grocery Store.

There is no photo of the farm house west of Orient.  Dad and I drove by about a year ago and the house was gone.  Bull dozed.  zip, zero, zilch.  There is a short drive way but even the barn or hog shed and outbuildings are gone. 

Helen Speed's House:  I think I have a photo here . . . if I can find it.  Well, here, I have a photo of the side yard with the neighbor children . . . Kathy?  Martha?  and ???  playing with Kristy, Erica and Craig. 

I have photos of  Lobaugh's House

 

 

or of the front porch, anyway. 

The Klinkenfus House - okay, this is the front yard and you should all recognize it as we took several "First Day of School" pics by this magnolia tree.  But I haven't found a pic of the house yet -- but you know which one it is.  The yellow house! 

















oh, are they all so cute? 

Then, the other day I was telling Craig something about the "Klinkenfus House" and he said "no - call it The Hofmeister House".  And I totally agreed.  We should call the house by the Orient School  the "Hofmeister House". 

But Wait.  After thinking about that conversation and After 20 years, maybe the Klinkenfus House should now be the "David's House"?  Oh what is Renee's last name now?  The Stephens' House? 

And when you stop and think about it this, really, is the Hofmeister House.

Isn't it pretty? the house and the grounds? 

 

The Hofmeister House. 

And for those inquiring minds about the origin of "Robin Hood's Barn" . . .

Robin Hood's house was Sherwood Forest; its roof the leaves and branches. His dinner was the king's deer; his wealth the purses of hapless travelers. What need had he of a barn, and how was it laid out if to go around it means, as the use of the phrase implies, a rambling roundabout course? The explanation is simple. He had no barn. His granary, when he had need of one, was the cornfields of the neighborhood. To go around his barn was to make a circuitous route around the neighborhood fields."

Who Did This?

to their favorite Nana? 

Family, Travels and Spirits and Such

 

Himself and I got up in our own time this morning.  We'd had grandchildren all week and now they were back home with their parents and we didn't really have an agenda but we did.  The plan in the back of our minds was to go for a day trip.  Only me, tho, only Nana, may have had an agenda.  It was only half baked but I did have a plan -- and Himself was along for the ride. 

 

So, we got up, watched some news and weather, had a couple of eggs and potato patties with The Pioneer Woman and then loaded up in the car and headed north.  First order of business was to drive to Greenfield. 

 

We had a little side trip through the Orient Campground first.  When we came to Orient in 1978, the campground was brand new.  The lake was new, the campsites too and there was not a full-grown tree on the park grounds.  Now, 35 years later, there are wonderful shade trees and beautiful evergreens for wind breaks.  Now, please tell me how can it be 35 years later?

 

On to Greenfield!  I just happened to know of a cute little consignment shop on the west edge of town.  Himself sat in the car.  That was okay.  He's happy and I'm happy. 

 

After touring the Greenfield square and looking around the town, we drove east across Hwy 92and then north towards Earlham.  I had read of a new 'junk shop" south of Earlham and my Mama had lived near and gone to school in Earlham so this was our next destination.  However, due to an addled GPS, a lack-a-daisial sign and some general vague directions printed out of Craig's List, we took the route around Robin Hood's barn to find Bissell Springs junk shop.  Find it we did after back tracking about 8 miles, it looked interesting but the owners were gone.  Not home.  Out to Lunch. 

 

Back in the car to wend our way to The North River Church between Norwalk and Indianola.  I had been here about 25 years ago with my folks.  Mom had ancestors in Warren County and we had found a distant cousin of Mom's whom she had never met but who was aware of Mom and her family connection.  So, with Gramps who was always willing to meet new family, we drove up one spring afternoon to meet Leola Bishop Brown.  Leola, a widow, with two sisters was fiercely interested in our shared Foust Family History and all of her other families.  She and her sisters and a nephew had researched and recorded all that they could find.  They had my Mama's name in the book, maybe even mine? and so that day, we connected the family history dots over coffee accompanied with a generous dose of down-home hospitality. 

 

 

 

We went home with new information.  After that visit Leola hand-copied a couple of hundred of pages of shared Family History and sent it to me.   We corresponded by mail for awhile but it wasn't long before Leola died and I lost track of the rest of her family.  I was always so pleased to have met her and so grateful that she had copied out the family history for me.  

 

Leola's family and Janice's Grandmother Coe grew up in this area of Spring Hill, Iowa.  My mom's Great Grandmother Foust came to Warren County along with other ancestors from Ohio and Illinois.  The Hoover's came early in Iowa Statehood and they built and operated mills.   

 

The ancestors lived out their lives here and many are buried in the North River Church cemetery.  A small country graveyard, there are at least three generations of my ancestors buried here.  We made acquaintance of one today.   

 

 

 I got out of the car and took a photo of the lovely church, above.

 

We walked over to the adjacent cemetery and found Jacob Foust's stone and his second wife, Delia.  I took out my camera and it wouldn't turn on.  I had to take the batteries out of the camera and put them back in to get a picture of Jacob and Delia's stone.

 

I was telling Himself the story of John Coe who I described as John Coe, the "ne'er do well" who married Elias Foust's daughter, Martha "Ella" (and Lewis Coe's mother).  Ella died in her 40s leaving 7 or 8 children and her husband didn't have the money for a gravestone.  When Ella's father, Elias Foust, died, he willed the money for a stone for his daughter's grave.  

 

So again, I tried to take a photo and again had to dump the batteries out and put them back to get a picture of Elias Foust's stone.  Darn, uncooperative camera. 

 

In writing this entry, I have tried 6+ times to get another photo in to this entry.  A photo of Martha Ella Foust Coe's stone.  Her husband John Coe is buried on this cemetery lot too.  I have so far, been unsuccessful in getting the photo uploaded.  Sigh . . .  

 

From North River Church, we drove into Indianola and found a great (and busy!) diner, Crouse's Diner.  Right off the east side of  the Indianola square.  We will go back again.  They make homemade pies : ) The food was good and as busy as it was, it didn't take too long.  I think I could be best friends with our waitress who loved my purse, told us of the history and ambience of the restaurant and is probably the friendliest waitress I have ever had wait on me. 

 

Another first today -- Himself went into a Goodwill Store.  Can you believe that?  He didn't stay long, wasn't impressed but didn't complain when I bought a brass lamp at 50% discount ($7.49 sale price) -- in fact, he almost encouraged me to buy it but now he keeps saying he doesn't think it is brass (it is :)

 

Then on to Winterset where we couldn't find the first shop I wanted to browse through but we both investigated the second consignment shop and where everything I was interested in was marked "SOLD".   

 

All in all, I spent $7.49 on used/new merchandise.  We used a half of tank of gas and saw five counties and 6 or 7 towns and drove probably 100 miles of rural roads.  Except for Great Granddad Coe trying to spoil my photo opportunities, it was a great day.

  

 

PS:  I did get that photo in here . . .

 

 

  

  

Now, who is that standing in the way and who messed with my camera --

                                           is that John?  or Ella?

Family Vacations

I have started a list.

I'm checking it twice.
 
And then again. 

I wrote up a list of all my vacations.  I did this for a couple of reasons. 

The first reason is that there have many so many vacations now for 44 + years that it is almost impossible to put a year on a certain trip.  The second reason is that sometimes I want a photo to use or to look at and if I can tie that photo to a vacation . . . tie it to a year, I can find the pic quicker as I have all my digital photographs and a lot of scanned photograhs saved to a "travel drive", saved by year and mostly saved by date.  Sometimes they are saved under more of a title.

Needless to say then, for the last 4 or 5 days, I have relived a lot of memories and family vacations.  In order to validate my list, I have looked at digital photos and photo in photograph albums and for a few of the vacations, I even have a written journal.  Wow! the miles I've traveled and the memories I have revisited.  I have had a great ol' time! 

I think now I need to go back and reconstruct the vacations of my childhood.  Wish me luck!  and bon voyage! 

A Work in Progress

1969: January, Nancy used her last dollar to fly to Maryland to sister Linda’s, and back home again.
1969: August - Utah: Nancy with her folks to Linda’s to meet Mark, born this month
1970: July, with Lanny to Sioux City, Iowa to begin my new life
1972 Canada through International Falls, Manitoba and down thru Black Hills: L&N
1973 Colorado w/Lanny’s folks & Kent
1976 - 1978 Camped around Ia. K,E & C. @ War Eagle w/Linda‘s the year of the Great Float Trip.
1982 Lake of the Ozarks ? W/Dales and 4 children
1985 Nancy’s Trip to WV
1986 Washington DC - our first family vaca with 4 children : )
1987 Dillion, Co. Another big family vacation. Dale and LaRene were along too.
1987 Chicago, Sears Tower. A long weekend?
1988 Two Harbors, MN, Duluth w/Linda and Denny and on to Thunder Bay
1989 Red Wing, boat on the Mississippi, w/ the Folks, me, Craig & Johanna
1990 Arkansas ??
1991 KC WOW, Nancy
1995 WOW Lake of the Ozarks w/Kristy, Erica & Johanna
1995 25^th Anniv Trip to St. Louis, 6 of us
1995 Bought the Cabin?
1996 Mission, TX w/Kristy & Johanna?
1996 WOW Kansas City trip
1997 Mission - Lanny, Nancy, Erica and Johanna
1998 Mission Tx Greyhound Bus Trip
1998 Nancy to Indiana, via AMTRAK, thru Chicago’s Union Station
1999 Chadron, Ne w/Dale to see Eva
1999 Mission - Kristy?
2000 Mission with Johanna and Sonny
2001 Mission w/Traci & Craig
2001 Villisca Wow - Nancy, Kristy, Erica & Johanna
2002 Branson, Lanny and Nancy - LJ is this when we bought condo shares?
2002 Mont Rest on Mississippi
2002 Steamboat Springs, Bear Lake, Utah, Mesa Verde and Mt Zion National
2003 Smokey Mountain National - beautiful country
2004 Branson - Arkansas bridge hunt and Cruise on Lake of the Ozarks
2004 Sioux City - long weekend
2004 Lake of the Ozark
2004 San Antonio w/Erica
2004 Boone Valley w/Granny and Jack
2006 Urbana to see Kristy w/Johanna. We stayed in Galena one night
2007 Estes Park, Clay Co, Ne, Jim & JoAnn’s and Stanley Hotel
2008 Wisc Dells, Boscobel, WI, Sand Prairie Cem, Denny’s
2008 Galena Lanny andNancy
2009 Branson
2009 Hannibal, Springfield, IL and West Virginia. Stayed in cabins in WV State Parks.
2009 Urbana to see Kristy w/Johanna and Audri (or was this 2010?)
2010 Chicago w/Kristy & Tony
2010 New Orleans w/Kristy, Erica and Johanna
2011 Grand Lake, OK
2012 Mississippi River Boat cruise w/over night
2012 Pagosa Springs, Durango Train Ride, Royal Gorge, Rye, Co to see Vi
2013 Yellowstone

Kristy and Erica, what year did we meet up in Sioux City for the weekend?  Kristy was opening a Gordman's Store?

Earliest Austin bit

This is probably the earliest bit of documented history of the Austin line. 

"The Blue Rock Riflemen was the next organization, formed in 1835 and composed of fifty able bodied men.  Joseph Starrett was their first Captain; James Millhouse was First Lieutenant; Dr. Coverdale, Second Lieutenant.  Nlillhouse (sic -- Millhouse?) succeeded Starret as Captain.  Their uniform was a blue coat, white pants, felt hat, with white plume tipped with red, and green tassel on the hat.  They were not uniformed, however, until 1838.  The musicians were as follows:  Drummer, Roderic Oston -- also Drum Major . . ."   from old Ohio county history book. 

This photo is NOT Roderick but I think it is representative of the way Roderick would have been dressed.  He wouldn't have had a fancy uniform, the Austins were as poor as church mice and the US military was issuing uniforms to the band. 

So there, there is my G.G.G. Grandfather Roderic Ransom Austin or Roderick Random Oston . . . however you spell it, he's the earliest Austin I can go back to.  And his DNA (offered up and DNA test paid for by Gary Lewis) matches other Austin lines. 

Roderick Ransom Austin was born in 1797, Connecticut or New York.  He lived later in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska.  He married Nancy Wear Austin and had 5 sons and 3 daughters.  Two of the boys served in the Civil War,  and one died in the War.  Another son, William, was father of R.B. Senior and grandfather to R. B. Junior and great grandfather to Forrest M Austin.  William was killed too young in Wisconsin in a logging accident. 

The elderly Roderick Austin lived with another son, Jonathon, who was homesteading in Clay County, Ne in the 1870s and 80s.  Jonathon was a widower and Roderick and Nancy Austins helped raise Jonathon's daughter, Nancy.
Nancy Wear Austin, Roderick's wife, died in 1879 and G.G.G. Granddad Roderick Austin died in 1905 in Clay County, Ne.  They are both buried in unmarked graves there. 

Nancy and Roderick don't lie here alone.  Their daughter Eliza Jane, her husband Joseph Bird and three little ones are buried here too.  Edith Bird died in 1891 at age 12, George Bird died in 1989 at age 16 and little Zoa Bird died in 1876 at two months.  They are all buried on Lot 47 with their father Joseph and beside their mother on Lot 46 and their grandparents Roderick and Nancy, both on Lot 48.  Times were tough and these folks were poor.  Although there is a nice large Grave Stone for Joseph and Eliza Jane Bird, there is no head stone for Roderick and Nancy. 

I think I should look into putting one there. 

Sorghum Days

 

Forrest and Janice Austin hosted Sorghum Days each fall from 1978 until 1985. Gramps grew sorghum on a patch of land at Shagbark, north of Afton. He and Granny invited the public to come watch the leaves being stripped, the canes put through the sorghum press and the cooking process done in a big flat tin and wood 'pan'. Some years 600 or 700 people would attend. All of the children helped when and how they could and the grandchildren pitched in on the fun jobs.  

 

Gary Lewis would display his Indian artifacts. Sheila, as she got older, played the Dulcimer.  Rob always had to help weed the Sorghum patch, sometimes right down on his hands and knees. 

Alan and Kathy had an apple cider press and made and sold cider.  They gave samples and sold it by the jug. Some years, folks brought their own apples and cider was made on the shares. Alan and Kathy pressed the apples for the apple owners but kept "a share" for their labor.

Gary Lewis, Steve, Dick and Marion helped Gramps cut, press and cook the sorghum. Chuck and Gary Lee made rope the old fashioned way. Linda helped "man" the General Store and sold macrame necklaces and other art.

 

I'm not sure what Erica and I were studying in this photo taken in the Cook Shack. 

 

Lanny and I made bean soup at home and then we'd keep it warm on the camp fire.  Beth and I ran the soup kitchen and I think Beth brought corn bread.  Of course, each year the festival evolved and roles were rearranged and re-defined. 

 

 

There was usually some kind of music making going on. 

Fiddles, guitars, dulcimers. 

Gramps loved the music making. 

 

 

We all dressed up in our old time clothes. 

Kristy, I just gave that skirt away! 

I didn't think it was ours.  Aunt Mary has it now. 

Did Patty Wilson make it?  Do you want it back? 

 

'Anna needed a little quiet time; probably needed her nap
 or the big kids were running away from her. 

Funny about names, when Johanna was little, a baby, I started calling her 'Anna.  Later, it was Ann.  Then back to Johanna.  Then Hannah.  Some- times in there, people called her Jo. and JoJo but I always said JoJo sounded like a trained monkey. Don't forget Johanna Banana and the Jo aniter.  

 

It was always a good day if a child could get a ride on a horse. 

Kate baked biscuits in the old wood stove and Virginia helped.  They also made sausage gravy for breakfast.  The biscuits and sorghum were the most popular . . . and they were free. 

Long-legged Gary Lewis is putting sorghum cane through the Press.   

 

And why wasn't Craig in any of these pictures? 

 

He was tearing thru 80 acres and swimming in the creek . . .

 

or in this case, trying his hand at sawing a log.