Women’s history month, Mama

Autos of beauty

  Michelle Christensen, She is not a model, she is the designer of this Acura she designed. She is the company’s first female exterior designer. (nice job, huh?)

A woman also designed the Corvette Stingray!

For today (Sunday): 

This is Women’s history month. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows there would be NO HISTORY without women. I know women have contributed to WORLD HISTORY. I did not know Helen Keller nor Rosa Parks. But I have known some GREAT women.

 Above that is  who we called Sister Mahaffey from KY. An evangelist's wife. They often came to stay with Mama & dad between revivals. They could drop in for a week and never stirred mama's feathers.

Mama: She laughingly called herself, Gracey Missouri Gertrude Loyd Darnell.  She married down they said. I came when we were poor. She was married to a preacher who quit work to preach, and never worked at secular job again. That meant that mama like many women in her day learned to make do with what she had. She created meals. Her water gravy was delicious. Her biscuits were the best. If she was out of something she filled the gap somehow. Again like other women in her day she raised chickens always had a garden, could always find room for some flowers. She canned, she laughed when the pressure cooker blew up. She could tell the best bed time stories.  If I had to go get a switch, she never applied it mad, it was to teach but it was applied.

                               Mama with me, her baby boy

I NEVER SAW HER OUTWARDLY UPSET, she was dad’s calm in a storm. She was steady as she goes. She could sew a ½ mile a minute with a treadle machine.  When daddy had that thing fitted to be electric, she went to a mile a minute. LOL  There are a million things you and I could say about mama, and it would never say it like it was.  I think she loved everyone. She was talented. She arranged flowers and sold them with everything else she had on her plate. She raised enough money to build at least 25 or 30 churches in Africa. Our local paper once did a full page spread on her mission work.

She was raising a family of 2 boys and a girl during the depression. Then in the 1930’s lost two children and added 2 more, Shirley and I.

  Mom & dad at their 50th anniversary

 Mama's family that lived, Jr., Odis and me in back. Shirley and Kat in front with dad and mom.

When my dad passed she wanted to go also. She never recovered. Over the next few years she became bed fast and the other woman in my life was there. She quit a good job she liked in Wash. DC to come back to NC to take care of MY mama, while I stayed in DC until I could arrange a transfer (no small feat). 

 

I planned to cover all the women in my life in this post. How silly to think that. Thank you for reading this. Be safe and take care of yourselves.

Nite Shipslog 

 ps: I do have better pictures of mama but they are on the other sick computer.

 

                   

Wartime Atmosphere?

Autos of with a short lifetime, the 60's Edsel

For today, (Saturday):

As usual, last night,tucked my girl in the bed and before I left her bedside. We talked about rationing and insurance collecting from our childhood. We lived in different towns; it is interesting how similar things were.

Life Insurance. It was a strange thing, in this state anyway. Most families had life insurance policies. They were known as dime or quarter policies. The insurance man collected weekly. Behind the living room door was a manila hanging pocket, like a half envelope. The insurance ‘card’ was in there and every week mom or dad would put the exact amount in the folder usually about a dollar.

If we were not at home, the front door was unlocked and the insurance man would step inside, count the money and log it in on the card. The Policies were normally for $100-500 dollars; usually enough to bury someone.

What is interesting to me is that my family lived in 6 different towns and Sherry in one. The procedure was the same. Can you appreciate the honesty back then? No one I knew were worried about someone ‘going into their homes to steal.’

I doubt if more than 10 homes in a townhad the doors were locked.

Then there were the World War years. Your travel was limited because you had to have a ‘ration stamp’ to buy gas. Everyone was limited to xx gallons a week. Definitely no shelves were empty due to hoarders, because the essentials were rationed. X amount of pounds of sugar and coffee. All leather goods were rationed, including Shoes

I am recalling my youth. 

I read here on the internet that this was going to be like a wartime government period.

Pauline does not blog any more, but I remember her saying she still had one or two ration books (or cards) from her mom’s family.

The governor here in NC just put the state on the tight home bound schedules. We can only get out for essentials.

There has been a ‘slight’ improvement in Eddie’s case. They are taking him of the induced coma drugs.  I tried that six foot distance with my  girl, I am not getting ‘the thrill’ out of ‘throwing kisses.’ LOL

Nite Shipslog  

PS 
      Sherry and I have three of those old policies. They are paid up $500 policies. I cheeked on them a few years back, they are still good, but the face amount is all there is, no interest. 

  

House bound…

Autos of beauty  I have never seen something like this.

 Did you see this Plexiglas car? It is a 1939 Plymouth. That would get your attention on the road!  I wonder if they have tried that with the new cars?

For today (Friday):

Sherry tells me she read in the paper (on line) that our county will be on a lock-down today at noon. I have not read what that means, but she thinks it is “Stay at home except for essentials,”  I guess that means every one is to act like us folk. LOL 

This evening I spoke with Heidi next door and asked her if she would like to have Stormy as a friend. Of course I got some Beagle sugar, and she said, only if I can chase her!  That is a beagle for you, they gotta chase something. I asked if she would like a Kittie, and she said no thanks and walked away. At  that time, the neighbor (Heidi’s human) had heard Stormy D’s name and asked if we had kitties yet? I told him no.

His wife feeds Stormy also. Stormy did follow me upstairs tonight, she hung close to me. Her eyes not leaving my coffee cup. She thought it was milk, sooo I got her some (of course).  I think she knows time is close. I told her I would help but she had to give me a loud MEOW.

I must find out what this ‘lockdown’ means.  Son Jack told me tonight that the USA is now the leader in reported cases of the virus, but also is the leader in the most survivors.

Some ‘related’ good news concerning Cousin Eddie.  His condition has not changed (still VERY SICK), but his sister in law was released from the hospital; and is clear. His wife is still in quarantine.

Thanks for your prayers and concerns.

Our friend Lisa is at her RV home at the beach.  She says the view of the ocean is much better than the view of the empty shelves here.

Nite Shipslog                       

This and that

 Autos of beauty 1999 Buick

For today, (Thursday):

In the midst of the bathroom I am trying to repair a compressor Son Mark dropped off for me to play with. In the process I needed a part, so off to NAPA to get it. I smiled as I walked in, the counter was set off by 2 inch wide yellow emergency tape; having a note not to go beyond the tape to keep the 6’ separation. They would prefer you to scan your card, rather than pay in cash.

Our next door neighbor has a cute Beagle. She isn’t out a lot, but when she is out she comes to the fence to give me some beagle sugar. Heidi will lick my cheek the turn and start the beagle sniffing to see which animals have invaded HER yard. Sometimes we exchange beagle HOWLS, I am a little louder than she. She stirs up the dog just past neighbor Jim’s houses and they talk a little, howling back and forth. Then she is back inside. Believe it or not, Stormy D does not like Heidi! (LOL)

I did stew beef, rice and gravy Yesterday. My girl fried fish today, mmmm good.

I did the running yesterday and shopped. I still smile as I pass the paper products aisle. WHY was there such a run on paper?

Chicken, shrimp, mouth wash and canned peas on the list, All the meat, shrimp, fish and MOST canned veggies were GONE very little mouth wash.

Take care and be safe.

Nite Shipslog