Education

Today is the first day of school in Davis County and quite a few of my Grandkids are going back to school. We have four going to College, five going to High School, three in Junior High, two in Fourth Grade, one in Kindergarten, two in Pre-school. And others who have passed their goal, and two who are still a year or two or three away from the school system. One getting married, and one on a mission, and one preparing for a mission. There is always a lot of coming and going in our family.

I think of when my bairns were in school. I was always so excited for the last day of school and the promise of summer. Then I always looked forward to the first day of school. I always get a little melancholy in September because the time is flying by and everyone is getting older. :o( But!!! .... then there is always things to look forward to. Band performances and school plays and programs.

And canning peaches and tomatoes.

I remember when I was in school, this is a picture of me in my school uniform. You could always tell which school a student attended because of the colours of the tunic and the tie. This is the uniform I wore when I attended Orangefield Primary School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I was twelve when this picture was taken. I must confess I don't remember exactly the order. I know the tunic was green I think the tie orange and the sash green. My hair was long and my Mother always braided it. Just a bit of trivia. A few years earlier my Mother and my youngest brother went to the country for a few days and my Daddy had to braid my hair. :o) Not as neat and concise as my Mom's but him and I were sure proud of the finished product. :o)

Alan loves to look at the old pictures and see the newest generation reflected in the older.

A New Day

I am now a liberated woman. We had pizza for our birthday dinner :o). Alan had invited the "children" for cake and ice-cream at 6pm, but that is an awkward time as no one had a chance to eat sooooooooo I said why don't we order pizza. Pizza is not our favorite food. But........ we ordered all sorts of pizza and everyone was pleased. I may do this again, NO WORK that is why I am liberated. And the clean-up was a snap. Earlier in the day we drove to Morgan for a hamburger and Raspberry shake at Steph's. 70 miles for a hamburger. As Alan and I are fond of commenting "only in America" Only half the family were here, but that is still a crowd. One son is in So. Cal. on vacation. Another is in England with his son on a graduation trip to watch soccer. And another son lives in California so was not able to make it. But I heard from them and that was wonderful.The cake was my Alan's favorite , white with raspberry filling and real whipped cream. He never forgets the "Irish" connection so there were shamrocks on it. :o)

Someone asked me one time

"when is your birthday?"

I answered "August 22nd"

"What year?"

"Every year!"

The cream frosting was good. But don't worry, I nibbled in a corner next to the dish :o)

On this date in History

I was born in Belfast. It was a Sunday. My Mother told my Dad, a beautiful baby girl Joey, a beautiful baby girl. My Dad was so happy, he wanted me to be named after my Mother. I was.

I was the second daughter and had three brothers. Later two more boys were added. I remember when I was ten years old coming home from school upset because the children in school said the world was going to end "tomorrow". My Dad was painting the living room and without missing a stroke said, "do you think if the world is going to end tomorrow I would be painting this room today?" my childish heart was comforted. My Mother died when I was fifteen. I married at almost nineteen and my Dad died here in Utah in 1988. I was truly born of goodly parents and taught the ways of the Lord.

The Pirate King...aka David

This is David's favorite role. At least it is now jockeying for the role he is playing in, "Pirated" now playing at Rogers Memorial Theater in Centerville. It is a story about a movie "Mogul" filming "The Pirates of Penzance" with "silent" actors with no singing voices and requiring sound overs. It quickly descends to mayhem and David plays the Mogul who is the "epitome" of arrogance. An absolutely funny show and a "must" see. David has played a lot of roles over the years and always enjoys the roles that give his personality a chance to come through. We were on our mission in England when he played in "South Pacific", I don't like "Shenendoah" he got killed in that. And I do not like "West Side Story", he didn't get killed I just do not like the story. He played Joseph in "Joseph and Mary" a very touching Christmas story. He played Joseph in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and on and on. He is good at what he does and that is not just a proud Mom making that statement, he has a following. Many people go because David is playing. As a family we remember the day at Cherry Hill and he was on the pirate ship there and suddenly burst into song, "I am a Pirate King....." his family disappeared into the crowd. But his Mom (me) stayed and filmed the whole sequence. What a character, what a "David".

Food for Thought

My Mother was born on August 10 1904. I think today I am going to write about her and her hospitality. She always put her best foot forward in welcoming people into our home. I remember as a child in wartime Britain the G.I.s who attended Church on Sunday were always sent home with various families and we always had two or three or four come home with us. We were on rations so there was not a lot to go around but whatever we had was shared and these young men were welcomed. I remember my Uncle Harry, her brother, who lived in Essex coming home to Belfast for his holidays and bringing Auntie May, June, Billy and Barbara. My Mother would rearrange all the sleeping arrangements to accommodate them. BUT!!!! the best part was she always made a FRY. Which included bacon, eggs, soda bread and potato bread. Uncle Harry was the returning native son and soda and tady was unheard of in England. We did not have this everyday so it was a treat for us also. Today we call it an Ulster Fry.
This is an Ulster Fry. Similar to what I make except I have not added mushrooms but will take requests. This is such a traditional meal, people outside Ulster do not know what it is. I learned to bake apple pie when I was about 12, and in the Fall we would always go Blackberrying and Mom would make jelly. Another celebration she prepared was the wedding reception of my brother Roy. She sat about 40 people down to a fancy meal in our living room which was NOT big. It was wall to wall tables and chairs. My children probably have stories to tell of my efforts at hosting people in our home, and the ensuing turmoil but hopefully they do have happy memories of the people we entertained. I learned it from my Mother. This being an Olympic year I am reminded that my Mother was a knitter. The Olympics were held in London in 1948 and she knit a sweater for my brother Roy that had the Olympic rings as a pattern. She also knit a sweater for my brother Joe, he visited an aunt who noticed a loose thread and pulled on it to break it off, instead a large piece of the sweater came unravelled. Needless to say my Mother was "upset". My Mother died in March 1953 before reaching her 49th birthday. I think of her often.

Gone are the Days

I clipped this picture from the Deseret News Dec. 22nd 1998. 87cents a gallon. This is your lifetime. We may never see this price again. :o(
There are some cliches I hate, others are appropiate, but I am going to use one I never thought I would. We are on a fixed income. Our income has not changed in 10 years. If you are wondering about saving for retirement wonder no longer. DO IT. But we do still buy gas, and we still eat, and we still go on our trips. Life is good. But we are spending our kids inheritance every time we buy gas :o)

Thru my window

I have a large window in my living room through which I view my surroundings. The window looks North so I look to the right and see the rising sun or at the end of the day I look to the left and see the setting sun. Well, to be truthful I don't get a great view of the setting sun because of trees but I can see the sky through the trees and see the colors on the mountains to the East. In the Fall I watch the falling leaves of trees across the street. One will fall from the top of the tree and as it makes it's way to the ground it will influence other leaves to join it and a cascade of leaves is the result. One Sabbath morning last Winter I sat in my chair early in the morning and watched the snow fall. All was quiet as no-one was abroad yet. It was a full 8 minutes before a car came down the street to disturb the snow and leave it's mark. In the Spring I watch as the trees begin to bloom and leaves and blossoms form. I watch my neighbor work her piece of land. She spends a lot of time there and it shows. I watch neighbors jog or walk by. Some with spouses, some pushing buggies with one or more wee ones in it. Sometimes a horse and rider will pass. Another time a noisy fire engine or emergency vehicle, and I wonder if it is for someone I know. Sometimes when speaking to a friend in England I will tell them what the weather is like and about snow on the mountains. At Christmas time we have our own display of neighborhood lights and think it rivals Temple Square. Years ago when our children were in there young teens and there were no other homes between us and Ogden the children would climb on the roof and watch the fireworks at the local Amusment Park. But there are so many trees now I don't see those fireworks anymore. When we first moved into this home it was a country road, but now it is one of the main streets through our town and we get a lot of traffic. I am glad for double pane windows that muffle a lot of the sound. Sometimes I watch neighbors not stop at the STOP sign but slide on through. I watch the teenagers when it is 20F waiting for the school bus in their shorts, and tee shirts and no coats. On July 4th I get to watch the parade, and at Christmas, Santa go by on a fire-engine. I watch my Grandkids play in the yard and climb the plum tree and see my kids with there kids arrive to visit. I watch the birds fly in and out of the plum tree eating their fill of the plums. I watch my Alan mow the lawn or shovel snow. Sometimes Alan and I will wash the window. Once a year whether it needs it or not. A major project as the window on the outside is about 8 feet off the ground and it entails ladders and long handled brushes and squeegees. But oh the satisfaction when I look out and exclaim, "Alan, there is a house across the street." :o)

A lot of life, a lot of memories. A lot of good friends and neighbors.