Alphabe-Thursday...the letter E is for EMERGENCY

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Jenny over at "Jenny Matlcok...off on my tangent."

Today we're working on the letter E and I thought this week's assignment was too hard! I even had to get out the dictionary and study hard for this one. I finally came up with EMERGENCY in the ELEMENTARY School classroom.

It seems that last week at the class Valentine's Day party little Ginny Ellen had too much candy and cookies to eat and the school nurse had to be called for the EMERGENCY situation that arose. Poor Ginny Ellen was embarrassed about getting sick in front of all the other children. Next year she'll be a lot more careful.



(Click on picture to enlarge.)

For a list of this week's participants and for information on Alphabe-Thursday head over to Jenny's blog.

Gone To Vancouver...

Oh dear, not much time for blogging this week. Instead I'm spending time in Vancouver via television. I've always enjoyed the Winter Olympics.

I remember my ice skating days. I never let go of the wall that encircled the rink. I'd slowly go around once and then I'd be ready to leave. So, I really admire the ice skaters with their triple toe loops, quads, and all the other amazing stuff they do.

Gotta go. The commercial is over and I'm headed back to Vancouver.

PINK SATURDAY

SCROLL DOWN FOR PINK SATURDAY POST

I posted it on Friday. Thanks!

Updates on the latest happenings...

REID

Reid had his doctor's appointment at MD Anderson last Friday and on Saturday he had another chemo treatment. He's now slightly more than half way through. YEA!

I am so grateful that he's in remission, but the treatments continue to be difficult for him. It's difficult to see him so sick every other week. And he's very tired. I think everyone that goes through chemo complains about the constant fatigue.

He'll be scanned again after the next chemo so they can be sure the mass continues to shrink. Yes, he's in remission even though he still has a mass. That's what makes Hodgkin's Lymphoma a unique cancer. Only approximately 1% of the mass was cancer and that is believed to be gone now.

He'll finish up with the chemo in May and then radiation will follow. I have no idea how long that will take.

His walking has greatly improved and all he needs is a cane now. There's been a lot of progress since the tumor in his spinal canal was removed. YEA!

MAMA

Our feral cat MaMa has been missing for three weeks today. Earlier this week I passed out fliers to everyone on our street, and today I visited animal control again in hopes she had been picked up. She is afraid of people, so she's likely hiding somewhere and I still have hope that she'll return. She's lived with us for nine years.

DAD

In a little while I'm going over to see Dad at the nursing home. I saw him on Monday and he seemed alert and ate well. He just doesn't have much to say any more. Dad was always so talkative, but Alzheimer's has robbed him of that too.

Last night they called and said he had fallen out of bed. He sleeps in a low bed that is only around 18 inches off the floor. They were confident that he was OK, but had ordered X-rays anyway. Because he's a fall risk and a restless sleeper he has a low bed in hopes that he won't get hurt if something like this happens.

PINK SATURDAY Class Valentine's Day Party

It's time again for another PINK Saturday hosted by Beverly at How Sweet The Sound. Head over to Beverly's blog for information on how you can participate in PINK Saturday and for a list of this week's participants.




This week we were supposed to combine Valentine's Day with PINK Saturday, so I decided to dress my Vogue Ginny Dolls in PINK for the class Valentine's Day Party. Since all my dolls are Ginny Dolls their first name is automatically Ginny and then I give them various middle names. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)

A PINK VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY

Sister has been having a lot of trouble with Ginny Ellen lately and asked MaMa to come to school for a parent teacher conference. Whenever Sister turns her head GinnyEllen fools around. She's definitely the class clown. One of her favorite things to do is dance on Sister's desk. Poor MaMa was shocked.


"Ginny Ellen, please behave yourself."

"Today is the class Valentine's Day Party and PINK Saturday."

"You even wore PINK flowers in your lapel."


"Don't behave like this in front of the other children."

"Look at how nicely the other children sit."

"They're all wearing PINK."

"They're enjoying the Valentine's Day Party treats."

"They've already exchanged Valentine's Day cards."

Happy Pink Saturday!

Be sure and visit Kerrie's Blog at Two Happy. You'll enjoy your visit and her daughter was a good sport last Saturday!

Get Well Beverly!!!

Alphabe-Thursday "D" is for DURGIN

Today I'm participating in Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Jenny Matlock...off on my tangent.

This week we're doing the letter "D" as in DURGIN. This one was easy for me because I'm a DURGIN and I thought I'd share some pictures of the DURGIN Homestead which was located in Westwood, New Jersey.

This is the DURGIN Homestead circa 1950. If you look closely you'll see my sister Carol Sue DURGIN and me Betty DURGIN standing in front of the picture window.

Now for a tour of the inside. This is the kitchen and I'm on the left and Carol Sue DURGIN is on the right. (See that thing on the back burner of the stove? I see them all the time in antique stores. Can someone tell me what it's for? For some reason I think it's to keep dinner rolls warm, but I don't know where I got that idea from.)

And this is the fireplace in the living room of the DURGIN HOMESTEAD. The ballerina is me all dressed for the DANCE recital. The outfit was bright pink with a turquoise flower. We were a talented group and sang "Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing" while we DANCED. I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning, but I can remember the color of the outfit and the words to the song.

This picture shows the living room of the DURGIN HOMESTEAD with our brand new TV in the background and the DINING room. That's Carol Sue DURGIN, my mother Carolyn E. "Betty" DURGIN, and me.

This is our bedroom. My sister and I shared this room in the DURGIN HOMESTEAD. That's me in bed sick as usual. I know I must have been sick because I can see the vaporizer on the table. There are also DOLLS on the shelf above my bed. I believe some are Nancy Ann Storybook DOLLS. They were for show and we were never allowed to play with them.

This is the DURGIN family in the living room of the DURGIN HOMESTEAD circa 1957. I know it was March because my mother had decorated for St. Patrick's Day. I can see a little bit of the Erin Go Bragh banner behind me. I'm holding our cat Lucky DURGIN. I look at this picture and think YIKES! Did we really look like that???

And after Lucky came TIMMY DURGIN. This was the nicest cat. He never objected to posing for my pictures. Sadly, I didn't have him very long. He was hit by a car in front of the house. I was devastated. To this day I remember Timmy.

We weren't the only DURGINS around. Some of you might have heard of DURGIN PARK in Boston, MA. I have on tape one of my grandfather's sisters saying we were related to this DURGIN, but it's never been documented. This restaurant is known for its Yankee cooking and sassy waitresses. I've never been, but it's on my list of places to go someday.

They're know for their DURGIN PARK Indian Pudding. For the Recipe click on the DURGIN PARK link and then click on Recipes.

And then while doing DURGIN research I was pleased to find a place where I could live out my final days. Would you believe there's a DURGIN PINES nursing home? It's in Maine so I'd have to move from Texas, but I love watching snow fall and I could sit in a rocking chair near a window and be perfectly content for hours.

Are any of you DURGINS? Do you know any DURGINS? I'd love to know.

Thanks Jenny for hosting Alphabe-Thursday.

Bronze Shoe Collection For Second Time Around Tuesday

For this week's Second Time Around Tuesday hosted by Diane at A Picture Is Worth 1000 Words I'm sharing my bronzed baby shoe collection. I don't know how family members can just donate or sell their relative's bronzed baby shoes. When I see them I feel this need to rescue them if they're cheap enough.

This first shoe wasn't rescued at an Estate sale, garage sale, flea market, or antique mall. No, this first shoe was my mother's. My sister has the mate.

All the rest of the shoes were purchased, but I never spend more than $15. This little girl's dress shoe is so cute. It's a bookend and I have the mate.

This shoe has bells. I have it's mate too.

These shoes are mounted on a base and originally must have had a picture frame for the baby's picture.

This was just a lone shoe.

And this is from another pair of bookends. This is the first set of bronzed shoes that I bought and I got the set for $3 in Canton, Texas.

My one regret is that I passed up an adorable set of tiny bronzed cowboy boots. They were $30, but I've never seen another set in my travels.

Meanwhile, I continue to rescue all reasonably priced bronzed baby shoes. It makes me sad to think that someone didn't want them.

Geesh...

I'm so disgusted with Blogger. The update I just posted to my Pink Saturday post does not have the double spacing between the paragraphs! It should be there. Why it doesn't work I have no idea, but I'm tired of spending so much time trying to fix posts. The picture will enlarge when clicked on now.

PINK Saturday Picture again...

The picture won't enlarge in my original PINK Saturday post. Hopefully the picture will enlarge when clicked on here. I've been told that if the picture is moved around in the compose screen it might not enlarge. So, I uploaded the picture and didn't move it.

I still have no idea why when published my double spacing between paragraphs doesn't always appear. A post that should take ten minutes sometimes takes an hour while I try and pull the post and get my double spacing to appear. So often it's fine in the preview, but not when published. Other times there's no problem. Sigh.

Dolls Going to the Jersey Diner for Pink Saturday

It's time for Pink Saturday again sponsored by Beverly over at How Sweet The Sound. For a list of this week's participants head over to her blog by clicking on the link or the Pink Saturday button on my sidebar.


I enjoy collecting the vintage Vogue Ginny Dolls. Ginny was my favorite doll as a child growing up in the 1950's. I currently collect the vintage Vogue Jill, Jeff, and Ginnette dolls too. In recent years I've added the modern Vogue Ginny and Vogue Ginny repros to my collection.


There are two books that most Vogue collectors have in their library. They are referred to simply as the PINK book and the Purple book in Vogue Doll circles. The PINK book was the first edition of the Collector's Encyclopedia of Vogue Dolls. The purple book is the second edition. If you grew up playing with Ginny you would enjoy thumbing through both these books today. Below is the PINK book.



For PINK Saturday some of my Ginny dolls decided to dress in PINK and visit Jeff's Jersey Diner. I grew up in New Jersey and miss all the diners, so I recreated one for my dolls.

(EDITED TO ADD THIS UPDATE: I've been told that if the picture is moved around in the compose mode it won't always enlarge when clicked on. I've uploaded the picture again and it appears in the next post and does enlarge.)

On the left is a modern day Ginny getting ready to make a phone call. A vintage Jill doll is the waitress and a Bob doll (not made by Vogue) is the Soda Jerk. A modern reproduction Ginny is wearing the pink Ginny name shirt, pink skirt and hat. A vintage Ginny is wearing a vintage Vogue outfit and sitting at the counter. Another vintage Ginny is getting a Coke and wearing an outfit that a doll friend from a Yahoo Ginny Group made. She's also wearing her pink sneakers!

I haven't finished this diner yet. I still have plans to make a diner booth and add a few more finishing touches. The menu above the counter contains native New Jersey dishes using Taylor Ham also known as Pork Roll (and not easy to find in Texas).

Last week I enjoyed visiting Marta's blog For The Love Of Junk. I love the name of her blog and enjoyed seeing all her neat "junk."

* I'm editing this post to ask for help. I double space between paragraphs and check my posts in the Preview before publishing. There were three paragraphs in this post before the first picture with double spacing between them. As you can see the double spacing disappeared when it was published. Does anyone know why this happens? Also, you should be able to click on my pictures and see them larger, but that's not happening on this post either. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm getting pretty frustrated with Blogger lately.

* Geesh...when I published it again the double spacing suddenly appeared. OK...I'm going to put this back up again and I have no idea what will happen this time.

MaMa Is Still Missing...

It will be two weeks soon since I last saw MaMa our feral cat. When I went out to feed her early that morning she was waiting in the shed. She wouldn't go over to the bowl of food until I stepped back out. She often did that, but occasionally she'd let me pet her while she ate a few bites.

A couple of hours later the men arrived to work on our house. I had told them about MaMa so they wouldn't be startled if she ran out from under the deck. They had to rip out the deck and that was one of MaMa's favorite places to hide. I don't know if they saw her...they never said. They were here for around five hours, but I haven't seen MaMa since.

Last Saturday evening after dark we walked up and down our street calling for her. She's feral and not like a regular pet, so she wouldn't meow or come running if she heard us, but I was hoping she'd hear familiar voices and later come home. We deliberately did it in the dark because that's when she'd probably be more likely to move around.

I still put her food out twice a day like normal. The food is being eaten, but I'm not sure by whom. One morning I saw a possum and I know he ate the food that morning. I saw a cat in the yard this morning, but that was a few hours after the food had been partially eaten. (I put the dish out and check 30-45 minutes later to see if it's been eaten.) I'm hoping it's MaMa eating the food some of the time, but it's hard to tell. The shed is behind the garage which blocks my view.

Whenever I go out in the yard I talk to her. I'm hoping she's somewhere in the vicinity hiding and can hear my voice.

We've fed her for nine years, but she's not much tamer than when we first saw her. That is the sad reality of a feral cat's life. A feral cat is usually a kitten born to a pet that's been abandoned. We have apartments behind our house and I assume that's where MaMa came from originally. Someone probably moved away and left their pet. That pet hid somewhere and had kittens. If a kitten is not exposed to humans early in life they are feral.

Every other day I call animal control to see if she's been caught, but she hasn't and I really don't expect that she will. It's the not knowing that bothers me the most. I never expected her to run away like this, but I can only assume she was terrified when the men came in the yard. There really wasn't a choice. Our house needed slab work and we couldn't wait.

In the past she had disappeared for a couple of days at a time. When we trapped her with a humane trap and had her fixed she was gone for a couple of days after we released her. Then when my husband brought her in for Hurricane Ike she disappeared again but came back. But she has a long memory. My husband never was able to get near her again. We worried about what would happen if there was a hurricane again because we knew we wouldn't be able to catch her.

I thought after nine years she wouldn't disappear for any length of time because she's used to getting her meals here. I don't think she could survive on her own any more. When we first found her in the shed she had chicken bones. I'm assuming she was eating from the dumpster at the apartments, but she hasn't had to do that for many years.

So, I'm hoping she's nearby and still coming for meals. I will continue to put out the food and continue to call animal control indefinitely. I miss her and feel so sad about what's happened.

Please spay and neuter your pets.

Alphabe-Thursday - The Letter C

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday and this week we're doing the letter C. For information on Alphabe-Thursday and a list of participants visit Jenny's blog.



Of course, the first thing I thought of that started with a C was Class. This was my Kindergarten Class in Westwood, NJ. Miss Cornell (another C word) was my teacher and she also lived across the street from us. I'm in the front row on the left.

This was my first Class paper in Kindergarten.

This was the Class graduation program cover.

This was my Class diploma.

And this was my first grade Class at Ketler Elementary in Westwood, NJ. I was small and always sat in the front of the class. That's me in the front on the left. Miss Moore was the teacher and many years before my mother had also been in her class. I can remember being very concerned because she was old and I thought she might die. She didn't. She continued to teach and then eventually retired.

And this is another picture of my first grade Class. I guess that year the photographer came twice...once for an indoor picture and once for an outdoor picture. That's me in the front row on the right.

I could show you all the rest of my elementary school Classes, but I figured this was probably enough for one day.

I'm participating again in Second Time Around Tuesday hosted by Diane at A Picture Is Worth a 1000 Words. For a list of participants be sure and visit her blog.

This week I have something I spotted at either an antique mall or resale shop...I can't remember which. I recall seeing these message boxes when I was a child in the 1950's. They were hung on the front door or front porch and were for visitors to leave a message if they came while the home owner was gone. The home owner would use the clock to indicate when they expected to return.

Inside was a pad and pencil for the visitor to leave a message.

I keep mine as a sentimental decoration hanging in the entryway. It wouldn't last very long outside with our heat and humidity.

Check out Jenny's blog...a fun read and a contest!

Jenny Matlock "off on a tangent" is having a drawing for a school room clock (there's a choice of colors) over on her blog. It's now through February 6th.

Normally I don't do these contest things, but in order to enter a forth time I had to post this contest on my blog. In this case I don't mind doing it because her blog is so much fun to read and I welcome the opportunity to tell you about it. Even if you don't want to enter go over and check out her blog. I only found it recently and now when I have a little extra time I go over and read her past posts.

I found this one the other night. It's about her Brownie troop Christmas gift exchange when she was a child. I couldn't help but laugh. Click here to read it. (Note: When I published the post the link didn't work, so I copied and pasted it again. If the link still doesn't work just go back and find her post on December 21, 2009.)

Introducing Hazel for PINK SATURDAY

This week I'm introducing you to Hazel and her friend. Hazel was the centerpiece at a Christmas doll luncheon that I went to in December of 2008. Much to my surprise I won this beautiful doll. Hazel was made by Pat Black and she was also our table hostess. She is a very talented lady. Look at Hazel's adorable face and how beautifully it's painted. See her dress with the PINK ribbons and trim. I'm afraid my photography skills do not do this doll justice. She's sitting in a trunk that was covered with brocade fabric on the outside and the inside is decorated with lots of cute accessories.

Everyone at the table received a miniature version of the center piece. This was the one I received. As I recall some were sleeping and some were awake. Mine was taking a snooze. She also has PINK ribbons and trim.

And in this picture you can see the outside of the trunk and the beautiful brocade fabric with plenty of PINK.

It was a dark, yucky day outside and I'm afraid my pictures turned out a little dark. I had these dolls sitting on the dining room table right under the light. I thought the light and the flash would make the pictures a little brighter, but it didn't.

For a list of this week's PINK SATURDAY participants and for information on how you can join in the fun go to Beverly's blog by clicking on the PINK SATURDAY logo on my sidebar, or clicking here.

Last week I enjoyed visiting Betty at She's Sew Pretty. Drop by and check out her creative blog.

Thank you Beverly for hosting this weekly event.

A REALLY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Today is our son Reid's 34th birthday and we are excited about celebrating this milestone. We all have a tendency to take birthdays for granted...especially our children's birthdays. It's always assumed they'll outlive us. Most of us don't dare to think otherwise.


October 13, 2009 was a wake up call for us. One day Reid seemed perfectly healthy and the next day we learned that he had a large mass in his chest and a tumor in his spinal canal. Talk about scary!

After spinal surgery, and a week on pins and needles waiting for the pathology report, we learned that he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma. On January 8, 2010 we learned that he is in remission! He still has to finish out the six months of chemo, but things are really looking good right now. Yes, we'll still have to be concerned about the chemo side effects that might follow him for the rest of his life, but the cancer has been knocked on its "you know what." And although he still doesn't have all the feeling back from the chest down he is walking much better and has recently graduated from a walker to a cane.

We have so much to be thankful for this year.

We'll actually go out for dinner this weekend to celebrate. This isn't a good week for Reid. He had chemo on Saturday and will not feel much like eating until Friday or Saturday. That's OK, we'll wait.

Here are some pictures of Reid through the years.

September 1976

September 1977

March 1980

December 1982

3rd Grade Picture

(Can you guess what movie was popular?)

5th Grade Picture

High School Year Book Picture - 1994

2009 - You saw this picture at Christmas, but it's the most recent one I have of him. This is Keith (on the left) and Reid (on the right) making meatballs on Christmas Eve.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REID!!!

MAY YOU HAVE MANY, MANY MORE!!!

(And I've never said that with more sincerity.)

STILL MISSING...MAMA COME HOME!

MAMA UP IN THE RAFTERS OF THE SHED - JUNE 2003

I still haven't spotted our feral cat. She's been missing 5 days now. I know she must have been terrified when workmen came into the yard last Friday. The backyard, shed, and under the deck are where she feels safe and when they all arrived at once she must have taken off. I don't think she's used to going very far from her safe haven.

I called the city yesterday and she hasn't been picked up. I'll call again tomorrow. But something really strange happened today. This morning I thought I heard a cat crying and it didn't appear to be any of my inside cats. I was sure it came from outside and it sounded like out front. I walked around the perimeter of the house and called MaMa's name. No luck. Then this afternoon I heard it again. This time it sounded like out back. Again I walked around the perimeter of the house and called her name. Again, no luck.

I took out a bowl of canned cat food and put it under the deck. I'll check in a little while and see if any is gone. I won't be 100% sure though. There are neighborhood cats that come around from time to time. I have to actually see MaMa to know for sure if she's back.