A Tale

Most stories seem to start, you see,
in a time far distant,
Or with a ship putting out to sea.

My story is different, however,
About a sweet young thing
Who wanted to sing.
So off on an adventure she went.
Facing loud rumbling voices,
And deep, dark dissent.

Her journey was scary
But on she did tarry
Until she had shared
A tale of how she feared
A note and a sharp
That she should know

By heart. For there is
nothing as scary as to
Frighten Miss Mary,
A maiden so sweet
Minding her way
Down the street

Than to take her away
On a ship from the bay.
So this story now ends
With a la and a blend
As she sings and she sings
And she sings!

Christmas time again

Christmas is
Joy unfurled.
With a splash
Of glitter
And lights.
Christmas is
Dark, starry
nights.
But, lonesome
people, with
no one home
Are facing
 Christmas
All alone.
Sharing and
Caring, however
 Abounds. Providing
Joy to those
With the musical
Sounds.
Being kind to
Others Is
The reason to
Me. So
Celebrate New birth,
Be together, share.
Gather with others
Show them you care.

New Day

Early morning coffee.
Quiet, still, no sounds.
Dew, fresh and luscious,
Covers the ground.

Cool, crisp, almost frost.
Squirrel fast rushes by
Scurrying, quickly,
Almost lost.

Stopping, up on his
haunches now.
Checking, sniffing,
Looking, wow!

Suddenly the Robin
Into song launches.
Lulling us longer,
"Stay" he taunts us.

Coffee almost gone,
And so is the bacon.
Time to face the throng,
As the world awakens.

Sydney Kay

                                                                 Sydney Kay

Dreamer.
Sweet Smile.
Artist, sit for
Awhile.

Grand daughter,
9 years old.
Growing up,
Pretty, yet
Bold.

Here she comes,
In for a hug.
Holding on,
My heart
does tug.

Thanksgiving 2017

                                                  Thanksgiving 2017


I had a direction when I wrote this title. I had to leave, rush off to fun at Thanksgiving. So, now that I am back, I will just write from what thoughts come into my head now! I was thinking I would write poetry, but that is not coming just yet. The past two days have been a whirlwind of love. My husband is the best man ever. He always does the Thanksgiving Turkey when our family gets together. We usually end up with two days of whirlwind togetherness. This year, our middle daughter and her dear man came up the day after. Our younger daughter and her family managed to come down too. It was wonderful to have them together as it hasn't happened for several years. They only got to spend a few hours together and that always is sad, but to see them here, in our home, was a treasure. Middle daughter isn't the best fan of turkey, so she requested meatloaf. My dear hubby came up with the best meatloaf I have ever tasted. He always does. I cannot compliment him enough. I would never be able to handle it without him. I doubt I would even try. Then yesterday, the Saturday after, our oldest daughter and family were able to come to the youngest sister's home. They come there because the sleeping situation is much better. More room and places to play and just "be". We transported the done turkey roaster successfully, along with green beans with the onions on top. They had several salads and the dessert. We did NOT go hungry, lol. It was fantastic when it all came together. Their home is really coming together with the new kitchen almost finished. They still need to finish the ceiling around the main beam, the doorway into the utility room, and put down the flooring. They are putting the floor down sometime in the spring, I believe. My grandchildren who I don't see very often are growing up so fast now. The boys are nearly taller than me and one is 14 and the other soon to be 12! There are still two girls shorter, however, lol. I am sure that will change as well, probably sooner than I think!

Added December 3, 2017.

We went up to Hunter and Penny's house yesterday again. This time it was for Hunter's Birthday.
He is 12! I ordered a sheet cake with legos on it from Creative Cakes in the mall. Linda and I go there to write poetry once a month, and I wanted to buy his cake last year. Larry was going to make him one but had not said anything to me. I didn't ask Larry, just ordered it. I am so glad I did. They all thought it was really nice! After all, it is only money!  We went to town to get the cake and some groceries. It worked out really neat because we got the cake on the way out of town. Scott has gotten the utility room door hung and it looks really really cool! It is a dark brown, which surprised me. With the Kitchen white, I guess I expected them to go with white on the door also. But, it makes a really nice accent. He got more of the ceiling wall board up, and that is looking really professionally done. He is certainly a perfectionist! The work could not be better done by hired carpenters, I am sure. They put in a bunch of pot lights, which really make it look cool. He is getting nearer to being done all the time. He certainly puts in a lot of time at it. Today the other side of the family is at their home. With all the mess they had, we decided not to stay. We had cake and tea and then came home. Penny snuggled me really close. She seems to come to me first now. Not sure what the change has been, but I love it! That's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday Hunter!!

Sydney and time

Sydney, you are growing, bold.
First a baby, then now
a young lady, 9 years old.

I know time is not that fast,
but to Grandma,
Moments and days just don't last.

Weeks fly by, then months and years.
Slow down Time, or
I will be in tears!

Even though time goes swiftly
We write, text and call,
Isn't that nifty?

But what else can we do?
Just savor the time that we DO
spend with you.

Love from Grandma Kate

Thinking of long ago

                                                            Thinking of long ago.


I have been in the mood to write lately. I think it might be because I am feeling nostalgic as the Holidays are here. I wrote a few poems the past couple of days. They are not finished yet but I got them started lol.

I have also begun to watch Holiday Movies on Netflix. Soppy ones are the best kind don't you agree?
They make me feel good and that is a good thing. It takes reality away and they are always very hopeful.

The way the world is we need all the hope we can get. We need to send good vibes out into the world. So many horrible things have been happening and still the law won't do anything to stop them. The rest of the world thinks we are insane over here in America land. I am getting to the point of agreeing with them.

So as Thanksgiving nears I feel like typing about some of the things I am grateful for. I am grateful for having a warm home to live in. I am thankful for my health. It has been pretty good for a while now. I am grateful for every day of Life I get. I am grateful for having a family that loves me. Even when they might not agree with me or don't like some of my choices. I am thankful for grandchildren that love me and cannot wait to come and spend time with us. That means a lot more than they realize. They continue to grow by leaps and bounds. In a weeks time they change so much. Think how much they change in six months! I just started writing to Syd and Tyler this summer. I now have gotten busy and have drifted away from writing to them. I wrote to Hunter and Penny for Halloween too. Lacey said they really loved getting mail from Grandma. I am so thankful that my daughters have grown in to such beautiful, caring women. 3 our of 3 ain't bad. I am grateful that I got to spend so much time with each of my parents as they neared the end of their lives. It was the toughest thing I have ever done but I still did it. I will never regret that. I hope they knew how much I did still love them. I did not see them as much as I could have, but I went as often as I could. I am grateful for friends. Some come and go but that is okay. I am so dumb with some things that I say. The words seem to get out of my mouth before my brain can stop them. I think part of that is that I don't get to talk to people other than family very often. I need to remedy that. I have been thinking of joining some group just to have time to myself. I just have not found the right group yet.

When I look back on this past year it has been more good than bad. I am still battling weight but I still win more rounds than I lose. I am grateful for books and notebooks and magazines and art stuff and other things I love. I don't need any gifts anymore because I finally have reached a dream I did not even realize I could reach. Thank you daddy for saving and gifting me the money you would never spend on yourself while you were alive. Thank you for paying for my stay in that cute little cabin near Emmetsburg. It was a wonderful place and I never meant for you to pay for it. It was so generous of you to pay.

I will be forever grateful for Larry. I have not been as appreciative of how much he does for me as I should be. I think the reason it rubs me the wrong way is guilt. I should be doing a lot of those things. He spoils me so much and I really love it. I have been helping him more to show him how much I do care about him. I don't know why I had to be so crazy for the times I was. The bad thing is I think my daughters are in that place now and I don't know how to fix them either. Hormones can really mess people up!

Hunter will be here tomorrow, so I'd better finish this for now and go to bed. Goodnight!

This actually turned out to be more about now than long ago, lol. I have been doing some thinking about when I was little and when my daughters were little and of course watching my grandkids growing up so fast.  

Tiny new Penny

Tiny little fingers
bunched up tight

Sleeping so soundly
Snuggled in, pure delight.

Soft breaths come quickly,
 and cooing does too,

When she goes home
Oh what will we do?

Big blue eyes sparkle
And talk to me too.

Secrets we share
And lots of smiles too.

Special grand daughter
I love you and I sing

If you only could know
How much Joy you do bring.

Old ways, New Ways

Thinking of my family today,
one two three.

Plus me and my hubby,
that's five, you see.

Old times were
where it was at.

Now rules have changed
How about that?

We used go over the river
and through the woods

But now it's a jumble
of who gets whose kids?

Oh for the simple times
When we were little.

Wake up and find
Myself in the middle

Of a jumble of kids
All shapes and sizes.

Now it's trips from
One Ex to the other

To see who gets
The very best prizes.

Stories of my Dad, my Mom and Me too

                                                        Stories of my Dad, two


 When we were growing up, my dad was gone a lot. He was always working,usually 2 jobs each day. Then afterwards, he still had the chores around the farm to do. I always missed my dad and was so happy to get to spend any sort of time with him. Back then, he would let me come in the milk barn just to watch him and Jim get the cows milked. I just wanted to see them and spend some time with both of them. I really liked my baby brother too, but he was just a tiny baby at that time and I could only play with him so much. You think when your new baby brother or sister come they will be your constant buddy, but it never works out that way. Dad worked construction jobs too, sometimes from dusk till dawn. We would be in bed before he would come home. It was a lonesome time when he was gone. I remember lots of stories he would tell us at night or when we had company. It was always so much fun to listen to him because when he was little he had horses and dogs and kittens to tell us about. He even had a part in the local rodeo. That surprised me because I never realized that was what they did at Saddle Club! I was going through some old photos and it dawned on me then. They would even have parades with their horses. He and mom would even ride the same horse in different entries sometimes. I will get some of the old photos copied and post them here. Dad was always tinkering on old cars and trucks too. He loved anything to do with motors. Most of the time he was fixing something on one of our vehicles that was not working. Good thing he loved doing it! Our cars were always breaking down in some way or another. Later on,when I was about 15, I would spend some time with daddy. Sometimes it was while we were waiting for supper to get done. We would talk and usually, I would either comb his hair or rub his shoulders as they were always sore from the hard work he did. He loved me to comb his hair, even though he never had very much of it to comb! He told me how much it helped him relax and let go of the tension of his day. We would talk about our day or just sit quietly watching the latest news on T.V. Soon after this time, I would become responsible for getting the supper meal prepared and the table set so that most of the time, it would be ready when mom would come home from school. She was a teacher and was usually gone until almost five o'clock and sometimes even five-thirty. I was not the best cook, but I learned how to organize a meal and get everything done at the same time. Quite a skill for a youngster!I used to wait and wait for my daddy to get home. Then shortly after, we would have to go to bed. I cannot imagine working 2 or 3 jobs and still trying to be happy with children. But he and mom both did it. Mom worked as full time mom for many years, then went back to college to get her teaching degree. She then taught for 6 or 7 years before her health couldn't take it anymore. She really enjoyed teaching, beginning with kindergarten, then moving up to higher grades. I think she was working with 6th graders when she retired. She was really good at it, too. She would spend hours on her own time getting displays ready, or reading and checking papers. I was happy when I got to help her cut out letters, or glue them down. On the other hand, I was jealous of those kids who got more of my moms time than I ever did. I was, after all, still a little kid myself. An older little kid but still young.

When mom got her teaching degree, she looked and looked for a teaching job in Missouri where we were living, but none of the jobs available paid very much. So when writing and phoning her mom, she found out that beginning teaching jobs in Iowa paid much more. So, at 13 I got to move! I was really glad at the time because I had had it with outdoor bathrooms. The incident with the Wasps will be written about at another time. Dad's hobby (when he had any free time), was playing the piano or accordion. He would get together with his brother and they would have a good time. They both played the accordion. Don had found them and bought them in Germany when he was in the service.

One of my most favorite times was whenever we would go visit my cousins in Missouri. I have often wondered how my life would have been changed had we stayed in those Missouri hills. It was more of a chore moving back to Iowa than it had been when they moved down. Mainly, because there were 3 children going back. Going down there was only a little boy and a little girl still in mommie's tummy. They moved a lot like the Beverly Hillbillies. We loaded up our pickup truck, the car and I think someone helped us move. I cannot remember who it was for sure. It could have been the Merrill's or the Baileys. I will have to ask Jane. I doubt I have it written down anyplace here. I don't remember seeing any photos of it either. I was more than glad to go. No more stings and a flushing toilet! Even when it froze up in the cold Iowa winters, we still did not have to go outside in the snow!!! There used to be a lot more snowstorms back then. The snow would pile up almost to the rooftops. It drifted into our yard and stayed because there was a dip in the yard just big enough for the snow to layer. There are several photos of it being over dad's pickup. Dad always managed to have newer vehicles quite often. When we moved back to Iowa, he and mom bought a sporty car. It was a 1969 Dodge Charger! I still can barely believe they bought it.