Square Dance Reunion

We hosted a reunion of folks we used to square dance with in the late 1970's and early 1980's.  (We had to stop dancin due to my leg pains and weakness.) Our best pals The Hecklers  ;)) are our dear friends who we met when we first joined the group, and we been close ever since.  2 weeks ago I ran into another couple at the doctors office that I had not seen in awhile. (Where else do old friends continue to meet each other than at the health care places???) 
Anyhoo, I told these folks that the Hecklers were coming into town next week to stay 2 nights with us, and maybe we could get together then.  They said OK!  So after all was said and done we had called a few more people, and we got a reunion goin'.
18 of us had a gab fest, laughed a lot, got perturbed when we couldn't hear a damn thing, got helped out by those who can still hear well, got helped up outta low chairs and couches when our gettin-up got up and went, and in general had a great time!!
Two of our beloved widows agreed to be picked up and brought to the house for however long they could take all the noise, and they were troopers, probably pushing beyond their normal endurance!
God bless us everyone, and THANK YOU that we had a beautiful day and night of reunion!  (Today it is raining like mad.)  8 of us even stayed awake talking until after 10 PM.  So there, old age! Take that!

(ok, don't send me hate mail, friends, I be teasing you... even tho I AM just a kid compared to Ed.
 HI, ED! )
Thanks to those who drove almost 2 hours to get here. It sure was fun, and so great to see everyone!

Peas and Beets

In our garden are growing some beets and a bush of peas. I was out watering them today and thinking of my dad. Dad loved puns, and was always coming up with either really funny ones or the kind where you go... "ah, geez... (groan) that was a bad one, Dad."

I thought if Dad was visiting here now and I could take him outside to see my garden of peas and beets before he left, he'd probably say, "ok,  Jaynie; I gotta go home now, so I'll take a pee and beat it!"

Then I remembered the night he died in 1984. It was March 5 when I spent the night at his house because he was fading away and fixin on dying.  He got up from his bed to pee... he didn't want any help, and was strong enough to make it to the bathroom on his own. Then he got back in bed and beat it to the other side of the veil within the hour.  I'd never seen anything quite like that before ... or since.

I did have an old Italian guy as a patient one night when I worked Med-Surg who ate a big plate of his wife's homemade spagetti and meatballs then died 2 hours later so peacefully. But he was bedridden already and couldn't get up to pee. I just could not explain to all those family members how a guy could wolf down a huge batch of spagetti then die without going comatose for a few days at least. Maybe their local padre gave them a good explanation. I just accept that The Lord has mysterious ways.

Anyhooo... I still miss Dad. And this time every March something brings back the memories. This time it was peas and beets.

Betsy freakin Ross

Some time ago I got a USA flag afghan pattern to crochet. I decided to make one for my grandson in ID. Since I crochet by just diggin into the pattern, I was unaware how short it would come out when finished. So, after the first one came out too short for him, I decided to make a second one that would be longer. I measured it out, made the beginning chain and thought "this will be swell!".   Uh uh. no, not even. The dang thing turned out to be about 7 feet long! That was after all my careful measuring to make it 6 feet long. So I made 50 stars, sewed them on the first small afghan, made 50 more and sewed them on the huge afghan. Then I decided I needed to make a third one so I could send one to ID, and give Kris' boys each one. I looked up the first USA flag from 1776, and it had only 13 stars on it, in a circle on the blue field. (I was NOT about to make another 50 freakin stars! them things are a bitch to make.) So the 3rd flag afghan is a 1776 model.

The first photo shows the 2 afghans that went to Kris's boys.
Below shows the huge long one that went to Idaho.

The photo below shows what happened to the flag that went to my grandson in Idaho.  His sister took it!  LOL.

 I adore the Flag of the USA. And I respect it. If it bothers you that I made afghans like it, get your underwear out of a bundle and lighten up. Hopefully, those afghans will be used to keep some family members warm and cozy on a cold night.