THANKS FD5, FOR THE GREAT, BUT TOO SHORT, VISIT!!

  Monday Den and I took our walk and encountered our tax dollars at work…..

Our main East/West street going through downtown Sandwich was being resurfaced.  They had already put a coat of oil on it and were just about to put down the first layer of blacktop… Knowing what a history freak I am,  Dennis had alerted me to the fact that some of the old brick street had been TEMPORARILY uncovered. Oh crap! I  had almost forgotten, so I practically RAN down there to get a few photos.  There were still some of the brick patches left exposed…visible memories of days gone by……I was just barely ahead of the blacktop trucks!!! It’s scary being a radical blog photographer..DANGER IS MY BUSINESS….

 

Notice the word CAT on the machine above left…That would be as in “Caterpillar Tractor,”  Den’s former place of employment…Glad to see they are busy at work and keeping those pension checks coming in!!

We got an email from fellow blogger John Hatch, ( 1/2 of the team of  John and Bridget. )  It seems the big new Freightliner they are buying is bringing him to Yorkville, IL… just 15 miles from our house!!  After a few emails back and forth, we set a date to hook up at The Kendall Pub, a neat bar in downtown Yorkville that serves up some great food (ask John)… John is a retired firefighter, and was hoping to meet our firefighter son, Kelly, at Station 2 in Oswego.  As it turned out,  Kelly was off duty that day and had already made other plans…Moving on to plan B,   Den and I drove over to Yorkville to  meet John for a quick pop and sandwich…(I really wanted to get a look at the new truck too!!)

Well, we finally got to meet FD5! ( I took another look at their blog so I knew who I was looking for…didn’t want to make a boo boo and be throwing my arms around some poor guy and scaring him to death…)

I had a suspicion John would be wearing his Ridgeland Fire Dept. T-shirt…and sure enough, he was…We hugged, ( well I did, and I think I may have scared John, too),and  shook hands .There is something about the brotherhood of firefighters, and I could see Dennis and John beginning to compare notes. John was a 30 year veteran of the Ridgeland , MS FD….He looked like he must have started when he was age 10…but he told me he started at age 18.  We had a good visit, but waaay too short.  We knew John was anxious to get on the road for the long drive home, but you know me….gotta get a picture or two…

 

….When it was time to leave, we followed John outside so we could see this big rig he just purchased….

There wasn’t room on the street in front of the Kendall Pub to park this monster, so he parked it in a vacant lot just behind the place….Lookin’ good, FD5!!!

Dennis was quite impressed with John’s new ride…Back doors even!! We finally said our good-byes and let poor John get “on the road again”..He has a 12 hour drive to get back to Bridget….Next time he needs to bring her along…

BYE JOHN!!!! BE SAFE IN YOUR FABULOUS NEW RIDE!!!

 

It is always soooo nice to actually meet people we get to know on the blogosphere.  It was also very kind of John to take time from his whirlwind trip to stop and meet the Cave People…I feel like I know everyone that we follow and follow us….Who invented blogging anyway?? …What a great concept that was, eh??

THANKS FOR READING TO THE END….SEE YA AGAIN SOON!!!

Things Are Looking UP…..One Day At A Time

  First of all, thanks to all you out there in the Blogosphere for your kind words and prayers for my sister, Darlene…She has been through lots, but has improved by leaps and bounds from her brush with death, so don’t ever think prayers don’t help! The vent is out, she is on Oxygen by canula, eating a regular diet, lost 40 lbs. of fluids and getting mouthy with the nurses… SHE’S BACK ALRIGHT!!…My brother and I went up to see her today, and she looked 100 % better…She has other issues, for sure, but her spirit is back with a vengeance..(Dar is alot like me…tells it like it is and takes no prisoners…that’s what I love about her).

I had lunch with my daughter, Terrie and granddaughter, Taylor, Saturday…They had gone shopping for school supplies and wanted me to meet them for lunch..There is a very good Mexican restaurant in our town, so we decided on that..and Grandma has the magic Visa card …the one that jumps out of my wallet whenever I’m around the “grands”….

…The train painting on the right is a mural on the back wall of the dining room…It’s really impressive when you walk in the front door of the restaurant..But, tell me, why is it that EVERYTHING around here seems to be train related??? OR….could it be that I am just a TAD more sensitive to the word trains??? YOU BETCHA!

 

Our daughter, Terrie , was still in minor cardiac arrest from the price tags on the school clothing, not to mention the list of a gazillion“supplies” they had to have..…At the risk of sounding like my mother….when I was in school, our supplies consisted of rock tablets and a stone to carve out the words… Taylor is 11 going on 16 and considers “shaving her legs” a right of passage..Similarly, I am 62 going on 12, and considering depilatory on my upper lip…that’s MY right of passage…. passage into the cesspool of old age..

Yesterday Den and I went up to Uncle Jr. and Aunt Jeanette’s house.   Uncle Jr. was riding in a festival parade for the town of Montgomery, IL.   He is one of the WW II vets who have been on the Honor Flight Chicago trip to Washington D.C.  I wanted to get a picture of him when he came back from the parade, so Den and I went up and waited for him to be dropped off at their house…We heard he was riding in a vintage car for the parade…

Above is the card given to us by Herschel Luckinbill..He was Jr'.’s “guardian” when Jr. went on the Honor Flight, August of last year.  They have remained good friends ever since.  Herschel drove Jr. and John in a vintage 1929 Model T Ford….Here is another of my feeble attempts at a collage…

 

UNCLE JR….OUR WWII VET…AND OUR HERO!!

Herschel is in the upper left corner..The old car belongs to him, and he takes John ,(another WWII vet) and Jr. to all the parades in it….Honor Flight Chicago is a wonderful thing , and is paid for by donations from the public! I couldn’t think of a better thing to support…

  After we pried Uncle Jr. away from the car, Herschel left in his Model T to deliver John to his house.  Den and I stayed with Jr.and Jeanette for some drinks and snacks….and war stories.

…Jeanette put on “her hair” for the occasion (she has worn wigs as long as I’ve known her)….She looks damn good for 95, yeah??? And Jr. is 87 years young… I gotta tell you that the first words out of Jr.’s mouth when he got out of the car and saw Jeanette were,  “ You look spectacular!”…He never fails to compliment her. (Just a little hint to all of you men out there,….you’re never too old to schmooze!) …Notice the vintage table and chairs, the roosters on the wall, and the rotary telephone on the wall behind Jeanette…Their house is like a 1950’s museum…. It’s like stepping back in time.

  So….. this has been a pretty fine couple of days….I’m feeling stoked just from being around positive people….Darlene is doing much better, Taylor is a “shaver”, and I am having to make a choice between Nair and Moustache wax…NEVER A DULL MOMENT…LIFE IS FABULOUS!!!!

“Checking On the Elderly” in this heat…so my daughter called US!!!!

  This heat wave here as been a challenge in our world of no AC…Normally we don’t have a gazillion consecutive days of 90 degrees, but this year has like living on the abyss…Do we take the plunge, and get central air??..OR do we tough it out, laughing in the face of adversity , letting the breeze flow through, knocking down everything in sight…

Below is our living room curtains, blowing in the breeze…

I went upstairs to check on our bedroom…We have some big windows facing East and South, and the wind was mostly out of the South… If you have ever been in the attraction “The Haunted Mansion” in Walt Disney World, that’s what our blowing curtains remind me of when they are all billowed out…memories…

I have a silk flower vase sitting on a table within target range..and I had just noticed an errant leaf lying on the floor, when suddenly….

OOPS!!!!

…..Well, that didn’t take long, now did it?? As I picked it up and set it back, (pulling the windows  halfway down), I heard a huge slam behind me…When it gets really windy, the suction from downstairs to upstairs makes our bathroom door slams shut VERY loudly…If you are unfortunate enough to be in close proximity of it, (such as sitting on the throne),it almost as upsetting as the train horns, and twice as deadly…(please notice I said almost!)

Yep, that was the slamming bathroom door……Better prop it open with my plastic Bonsai plant…Have  you noticed there are very few REAL plants in our home?? My thumb is not green.. I try to keep only plastic or silk things that look like they are real…Here is a real hoot..I worked for a florist from age 16 until 21…You would think some of the pollen would have rubbed off, eh???

Den and I both vote no on the AC…at least for now…I don’t think I could stand being cooped up with no windows open…Luckily, we both agree on this…as I said…FOR NOW!  My daughter Terrie has a bit of a “sick humor” streak running through her veins….(I can’t imagine where that came from…)…She called us to check and see if our butts were stuck to the vinyl computer chair,  and to make sure we were doing nothing strenuous…I told her we were lying in our underwear on the living room floor under the ceiling fan, drinking ice water and watching the Cubs play….(no…we were not, but I loved the shock value) AND….THAT SHUT HER UP!

..I did manage to get in a garage sale this morning…and guess who followed me home?? ELMO!! He happens to be our youngest grandson’s favorite Sesame Street character. I warned Elmo about the heat, and that we didn’t have AC, but he insisted  on coming with me.  He was exhausted after the ride, so I let him take a nap on our front  porch…

He stretched out,  did a big ‘ol yawn, and was asleep in no time….One good thing about Elmo, he can’t snore..he doesn’t have nostrils….

 

Dennis went out to the garden to see if he could fend off the mosquitoes long enough to harvest a few ripe tomatoes.    We have been spending most of our evenings on our screened in front porch and Dennis is going through campfire withdrawal…If you want to sit outside, you are taking your life and skin in your own hands…All the Deet in the world will not help…You would need a beekeeper’s outfit!

On the right is the evil Japanese/Asian Beetle who is eating everything from flowers to fruit to veggies in everyone’s garden…It didn’t take him long to find one of our nice juicy tomatoes, settle right down with his knife and fork ,and dig in!!! Right after this photo was taken, a Japanese Beetle WAS injured in the making of this blog!

  On a more serious note, the news on my sister is pretty scary...  She was going for her first Chemotherapy at the hospital, when suddenly she quit breathing…They worked on her in the ER, put her on a ventilator and she is now in the Critical Care Unit…I spoke with her husband last night and she is now off the vent and breathing on her own…She was also talking and wanted to watch some TV.   The doctor said she was allergic to the chemo..They may try some other kinds of chemo…(sometimes the treatment is worse than the disease)..It seems her problems are insurmountable, but we are praying and hoping she will improve daily….her health issues are many, and not good.  Thanks to all of you for caring….She is still with us and we are grateful for that!

Well, it is hotter than the Devil’s backside here.   We had a storm come through that left us with a pretty nice sunset…

 ..It left our neighbor’s driveway and the street alive with color!  Note how the street looked purple, and our neighbor’s drive looked dark pink….amazing….Once again, THANKS for reading my drivel ..More snivel and drivel later!

THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT…

  Update on the train car restaurant….

  Tuesday morning, about 7:30, I rode my bike to McDonalds for coffee with my Ya Ya’s… On the way back I made a pass by the train car to check on the restoration….There were 2 “suits”( guys who were definitely NOT pounding nails)  in hardhats, bent over the hood of a car and spreading out some plans….These were the “in charge” guys….

…Man, there was lots of stuff going on.  There was a new back door put on behind the train…and they had poured some concrete footings under the train car, added some new ductwork and insulation.  There was a “gentleman “who was tearing off more of the metal siding, exposing the old wood…He was working hard ,but when he saw this old lady (me) shooting some photos, he was nice enough to humor me and give me some info…OR….he saw the opportunity to take a break from his work..Either way, he was fun to talk to…

He was a tad scary looking …. the fiery devil tattoo on his arm was an attractive touch, not to mention he was sporting a bit of a “devilish” beard…but, hey, I’ve been told I can be quite frightening in my “uniforms” AND I myself am sporting 2 tattos, so I was not deterred .  If anything I was now intrigued..and he was very cordial….!!!!

…He told me that the old wood siding was going to be ripped off and replaced with replica new wood siding…He also said they were definitely going to incorporate the house into the restaurant to give it more room.  Being the nosy ,busy-body I am, I asked if he was one of the owners… (Hey, it could happen!)…But he said no, he wasn’t …His exact words were ,”Nooooo, I’m not, I’m just helping work on it…but all of us workers are really stoked about restoring this great old train car!”….He was STOKED!!…and he was YOUNG and STOKED ….about a piece of history!!  There is hope for this generation yet….I thanked him for taking the time to stop and visit with me… a snoopy, 62 year old vintage 1960’s ,ex-radical and baby boomer…on her bike, no less…We waved goodbye, and I rode away…feeling STOKED!!!…AND I NEVER EVEN ASKED HIS NAME!…I think I could spot him in the group of workers…

 

Above left is what used to be the Sandwich Roller Rink.  The small part on the left was the entrance.  It used to have big doors all along the sides that pulled out and were held up with posts.  People could pull their cars right up to the sides and watch the skaters inside.  My Mom and Dad ran the skating rink from 1960-62.  We moved from Elgin to Sandwich for that reason.  I was 12 years old, and we moved over Xmas vacation…I left 7th grade at Larson Jr. High School in Elgin just before Xmas, and started my second semester in January, here in Sandwich…I thought the world as I knew it had come to an end….At age 12, I was pretty upset to leave my friends and it was a little tough making some new ones here.  By now you may have figured out that I am in the photo on the right..I am the one in the skating skirt, just in case you weren’t sure.  My skating partner was named Stan Sinks, and we did some competition couples skating at that time.. I was about 13 in that photo…Ah, those were the days…The skating rink building now houses a Chinese Restaurant on the left side, and a bar and grill on the right.

  My older sister was married when we moved here, so she and her hubby remained living in Elgin.  Our whole family was raised on roller skates. Before Dad met Mom he was a member of a traveling skating show, called The Fox Flyers.  They had a portable round skating floor, and Dad, another guy , plus 2 women put on roller skating exhibitions around the Elgin area.  The men would do lifts and spins holding the women, not unlike what you see in ice skating… This is hard to explain, and harder to visualize…Maybe some of you that are my vintage can remember seeing acts like that on variety shows in the 1950’s…My brother still has the  “Fox Flyer” sign they put out when they performed.

  Almost everyday all of us would lace up our roller skates and use huge big flat dust mops to clean the wooden skating rink floor..We had a concession stand and I worked that some of the time, in my skates of course. There were days on the weekends that I had my roller skates on from 8 AM until 10:30PM… Long story short…we lost all our savings on that business…and we all ended up at the cemetery (…in the upright position.)…Sorry,  I got my “cemetery” humor from Dad.  When you live there and are faced with death, funerals, graves, tombstones and all of that morbid stuff, it can get a bit macabre…Dad always found a way to help us keep it on the light side…which I hope explains my sick humor .  I hope I didn’t offend anyone…

OK, strap on your seatbelts, cause I am gonna segue from the 1960’s to the 1980’s…Below is Den’s airplane he owned with his nephew .  Dennis turned 40, went “middle-age crazy” and decided to take flying lessons.  He and his nephew bought this Cessna 150 and they both took lessons.  Dennis aced his pilot’s test(imagine that) and got his license in 1982.. coincidentally about the same time I got ulcers and a nervous twitch in my eye (just kidding!). I did fly with him a few times…which was , for me, the ultimate show of love for my husband.  I am scared to death of planes and rarely flew..and then I would only fly in a BIG plane, with at  least 4 flight attendants, a full crew in the cockpit, and a “keep the cocktails coming”  order.  When I flew with Dennis, I kept looking for my pilot…Where was he anyway??  And where were all of the rest of the crew???? I seemed to have trouble convincing myself my pilot was DENNIS!!!!  And I WAS the rest of the flight crew.

 

                                                                                 

This has turned into a mega blog…sorry about that.  It was a long story to explain, and I’m sure you needed to take a break every so often for a quick cat nap..…Thanks for reading clear to the end..you may now take a good nap..ZZZZZZZZ

Spiffing Up The HitchHiker….Makes Me Smile!..I Needed That!

  I haven’t touched the inside of the Hiker since we got back, other than to unload her.  Dennis has been busy running TV coax, and also putting another outlet into our bedroom.  There is sawdust and tools lying everywhere.  He finished his projects Saturday.  Then he cleaned out the floor vents with the shop vac…NOW…I’t ‘s MY turn to clean her up, put on her lipstick. fluff up her rugs and shine up her shoes…All ready for travel..whenever…. It just makes me happy to go in our rig and do some work.  If I didn’t glance out the windows and see our garage peering into her windows, I could pretend I was , well…away.  Isn’t is strange how an inanimate object can give you so much peace of mind??  I come away feeling that my disposition has gone from grim, nasty, snippy ,crabby to smiling, calm, peaceful ….and feeling very fortunate to even HAVE that beautiful RV…It certainly puts my life in perspective and sends my “evil twin” back to her place in the darkness of the Cave Dwelling.

FINALLY CLEANED UP INSIDE, TOO!!

It’s been a challenging few days….Yesterday I went up to see my sister..They moved her from the hospital to a nursing home..They discovered she has breast Cancer and bone Cancer( in her hip, and who knows where else)…Of course, they can’t keep her at the hospital any longer…(healthcare..DON’T GET SICK!).  They put a port in her chest and intend to take her to the hospital for chemotherapy by ambulance.  After seeing her today, I just pray the treatments will help….. She has slipped some in just the week since I saw her last…All of this is compounded by COPD and an enlarged heart…Alas, Darlene never put her own health as number one….My baby brother and his wife came up  from Marseilles IL (about 30 miles South of here),and went with me to see her.  I’m glad we all went.

 

My baby brother, Michael,(who is the spitting image of our Dad), and his wife, Helen..Thanks for going with me guys….

I have no idea how this is all going to shake out..BUT..the  nursing home she is in is very nice, clean, good care and she seems to like it fine…All I care now it that she is in no pain.. she sleeps a lot of the time.  They actually got her up in the wheelchair this morning….  I look at this as just one more wake up call for me to QUIT MY COMPLAINING!!… I am humbled.

 

Here is the most important stuff in our lives…..the “continuance”…..our kids and grandkids…

Kelly gave the kids a tour of Station 1 , Oswego, IL Fire Department… That link was for you FD5. I have a feeling you may enjoy it… Hey, anyone would!!  Oswego Fire Department has an awesome fleet..Our son Kelly is a Lieutenant…and Terrie’s kids got the tour…and loved it.  Of course Grandma and Mom went too..Hey, he didn’t ask me to try on his fireman’s helmet!!!!

…..AND… I didn’t get to sit in the driver’s seat of the fire engine!!! (Probably because Kelly knows my driving skills, or lack there of..)

…Another part of the reason for “keeping the faith”….A slightly unexpected miracle…. Our 4th grandchild, Aiden Wolff. 

 

….We are sooooo blessed…

 

Thanks for following…This was a challenging couple days for me…What would we do without family, friends…..and special people like our “Bloggerville Families”?????
What a great find all of this blogging stuff was for me!!!!  Keep on bloggin’!!!!!