Comments made in the year 1955!
That's only 52 years ago!

'I'll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it's going to be impossible to buy a week's groceries for $20.00.'

'Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won't be long before $2, 000.00 will only buy a used one.'

'If cigarettes keep going up in price, I'm going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.

'Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?'

'If they raise the minimum wage to $1.00, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.'

'When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 29 cents a gallon. Guess we'd be better off leaving the car in the garage.'

'Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls.'

'I'm afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying DAMN in GONE WITH THE WIND, it seems every new movie has either HELL of DAMN in it.'

'I read the other day where some scientist thinks it's possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas.'

'Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn't surprise me if someday they'll be making more than the President.'

'I never thought I'd see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.'

'It's too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.'

'It won't be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.'

'Marriage doesn't mean a thing any more, those Hollywood stars seem to be getting divorced at the drop of a hat.'

'I'm afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.'

'Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.'

'The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.'

'There is no sense going to Lincoln or Omaha anymore for a weekend, it costs nearly $15.00 a night to stay in a hotel.'

'No one can afford to be sick anymore, at $35.00 a day in the hospital it's too rich for my blood.'

'If they think I'll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it.'

MOMENTS OF REASONS

Old age is winter, alas, for many people, but for those who are wise and optimistic, it is the happy and fruitful time of harvest.

So long as one continues to be amazed, one can delay growing old.

The entire life of a human being depends upon "Yes" and "No" uttered two or three times between the ages of sixteen and twenty five.

Old age arrives suddenly, as does the snow. One morning, on awakening, one realizes that everything is white.

It is by growing old that one learns to remain young.

If someone declares that he is able to do everything at sixty that he was able to do at twenty, then he was not doing very much when he was twenty.

Old age embellishes everything. It has the effect of the setting sun on the beautiful twilight of autumn.

As one grows old, one generally rids himself of his shortcoming's because they no longer serve any useful purpose.

There are four great periods in the life of a man; The one where he believes in Santa Claus, The one where he no longer believes in Santa Claus, The one where he is Santa Claus, and finally the one where he looks more and more like Santa Claus.

The good side of this, as old as one might be, is that one is always younger than he will ever be.

The person who considers himself too old to learn something has probably always been that way.

I truly hope that you find all your joy in the upcoming New Year. Isn't it wonderful...a completely brand new year...much like a clean slate...to do with as you choose. Make it the best year of your life...and fill it with love and joy and "pay it forward".

HAPPY NEW YEAR DEAR FRIENDS!

The blog has been quiet for the last few days as we have been resting and catching up with ourselves after the big holiday.

We have gotten a light dusting of snow during the last few days and it does look so pretty. The lack of wildlife seems strange as we have had so many wildlife guest in the yard before the holiday. Even the Turkeys have slowed their visits to see us.

I have spend the last few days playing in the "office/craft room" digging through my crafts to see what I can get completed. And I even got a few of my projects together and completed. It's such a enjoyable way for me to spend the day. I am so blessed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE.

WE HOPE YOUR HOLIDAYS ARE FILLED WITH JOY!!!

We really haven't observed very much wildlife lately. The Turkeys live in our neighborhood so we have to put up with them everyday. I know I can't keep them out of our yard but I don't appreciate all the fertilizer they leave EVERYWHERE!!!

We were surprised to have 4 small Deer visit our place yesterday. We haven't seen any of the Bucks or large Does in some time. They must move up the hill sides and deep into the forest.

We didn't put up any outdoor Christmas lights this year but I did hang our wreath and 'my' Christmas stocking...stuffed with "presents" of course! It does add a bit of cheer to our front door.
There seems to be a "freeway" going through our yard. I don't recall any permits or surveys going on.

The turkeys apparently stick pretty close to the same 'trails' as they travel through our neighborhood and the snow can certainly make that obvious to us.

So, are you ready for the Holiday? Of course I have at least one more gift to find so it's into town for me tomorrow. I hope your Holiday is filled with lot's of Happiness.

We witnessed the most beautiful snow storm today. When we first awoke this morning the wind was blowing hard and there was snow falling. The snow really didn't reach the ground because the wind was actually blowing the snow sideways. Then all of a sudden the wind stopped and the small snowflakes were floating gently down to earth. A bit later in the morning I looked out the window and it was beginning to snow very hard. Then the magic began...the largest snow flakes I have ever seen were floating out of the sky. Soon the snow flakes were so large the hill across the road disappeared. What a beautiful sight! I did go out on the front porch and took some pictures but I don't think they turned out very good.

Oh well, alright...here's one of the pictures. I hope you can make out the big beautiful snow flakes!

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had a bun in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 350 for about 20 minutes.

What a wonderful surprise for me today!!! My best friend Keewee called me! She lives in the western side of Washington State and of course we are now way over here in Montana so hearing her voice was just what I needed. Of course we laughed and joke and talked about old times. Gosh, I miss you girlfriend. Thank you for your kindness in calling me today.

Our weather is still unchanged without much snow. My sister-in-law emailed me from Central Washington and said they were heading out their front door to do some cross country skiing. Sheez! There seems to be snow everywhere but in our front yard! Oh, I know winter lasts through May here so I know we have plenty of opportunities to get our fair share.

One day her mother died. And on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of her bedroom, the daughter was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes "There" isn't any more.

No more hugs,

No more lucky moments to celebrate together,

No more phone calls just to chat,

No more "just one minute."

Sometimes, what we care about the most goes away. Never to return before we can say good-bye, Say "I Love You."

So while we have it . . it's best we love it . .

And care for it and fix it when it's broken .

And take good care of it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage ....

And friendships ..

And children with bad report cards;

And dogs with bad hips;

And aging parents and grandparents.

We keep them because they are worth it, Because we cherish them!

Some things we keep -- Like a best friend who moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that Make us happy, no matter what.

Life is important, And so are the people we know . .. And so, we keep them close!

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, You could miss it."

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle"

We had another sunny day today here in Montana. JW worked a full shift at the Darby Napa and I attended a Christmas concert in Hamilton at the Performing Arts Center. What a beautiful concert. The talent in this valley is amazing! All of my hiking/walking group attended the concert together. We had so much fun.

As we were leaving the concert the wind started to blow pretty hard. And the wind chill factor had to be very low. I was glad to return home and curl up on the couch with a warm cozy blanket and the TV remote!! Now, that's living!!

We awoke to a snow storm this morning and we had planned a trip into Missoula to do the Costco thing. We headed out at 7:30 and by the time we had drove through Hamilton we left the snow behind.

That made it great for traveling but by the time we arrived in Missoula everyone that lived in Missoula were out on the streets and in the stores!! We had forgotten how crazy it can be driving in heavy traffic...a small deer herd in our neighborhood constitute a major traffic jam!

But we did manage to get some Christmas shopping done and I did enjoy going to the large mall while we were in town. All the Holiday decorations were so pretty. But it still feels the best to arrive back in our quaint little town of Darby and return home. Ahhh...Home Sweet Home!!!

If parking your vehicle at night involves an extension cord, then you live in Montana!

Our weather is staying chilly this week but no new snow has fallen. J.W. and I did drive into Hamilton and did some Christmas shopping yesterday. We had to hurry from the truck into a few stores because the breeze made the air feel like it was 20 below outside! Brrr.

I suppose that I should get busy and put up the Christmas tree...the Holiday is approaching rapidly. Putting up the tree does involve moving the furniture so I have put it off as long as possible. So I will sign off and get started pushing the big furniture around to make room where there was never any room before!!! Ah, yes, I am secretly a Magician!!!!

This photo was taken a few weeks ago because we don't have much pretty snow left on the ground. But I thought the icicles made a very interesting picture.

It has been staying in the low 20's during the day but as low as 5 in the evening. So I have been staying inside keeping myself busy. We have FINALLY decided to get started on painting the living room. The new color in the kitchen has made such a huge difference that we knew we had to get busy in the living room. But as you can probably guess, while we were in the paint department I said "I have a strong feeling we should go with the very first color we had talked about...not any of the ones we had did paint tests on our walls." JW looked at me and smiled and said "Are you sure?" and I said "let's look at the original color again." I was able to find the color without any trouble and as we stood there and looked at it we both agreed that it was the ones for us!! Amazing. But that's why they say you should paint a sample then live with it for awhile before taking the big step. It sure worked for us! I will share before and after photos when they are available.
I thought this was an unusual picture as I was heading over to JW's machine shop the other morning. There are 2 different human footprints, a cat that passed through the yard and of course our neighborhood turkey gang. There were also deer tracks but none quite close enough to get into the picture. Boy, lot's of traffic through the yard that day!

There were about 30 Elk that came through the pasture next door and headed up the hill across the road from us. Apparently they are still up there because I have seen a few of them wandering near us looking for food. We know the weather is taking a turn for the worse when the Elk come and stay close.

Even the birds have been few and far between. I had to go out and actually break off the icicles that were hanging from the feeder because the birds couldn't get to the places to perch on it to feed.

Our winter wonderland is already beginning to wash away in all of this rain and today the temperature at 6:30 a.m. was 40 degree's. Even though I dislike the Turkeys that come around, I do feel sorry for them as the snow was so deep that their strange feet just sunk through the snow and on top of that their feathers are completely wet from all the rain. So they have been having a difficult time in this recent weather. They have found the bird feeder so they visit it often to see if there are any seed leftovers on the ground from the smaller birds. I hope they leave me a few of their beautiful feathers in return for the bird seed.

I just read through some of my posts on my blog and I realized the photo of my son was actually so dark that even I wasn't sure it was really him! (just kidding Son!). So I have posted another picture that actually shows Sons face so you may recognise him!

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I last posted. I have been in a battle with my photography program and for quite some time it was winning. I was using my laptop to post with and suddenly my photo program decided not to communicate with me on my computer or thru my camera. After many emails to the photo site I gave up and went back to my desktop computer and after uploading the new updated version my photos went right into my system. Dang!!


So it's back to publishing beautiful winter photos. This is the only snow storm we have had so far but it is beautiful. The temperature has been holding in the 20's for the last week but they say there is more snow on the way. My walking/hiking group have 2 more walks this next week...Monday and Wednesday, so the forest should be offering some wonderful photo opportunities for me!


We have been enjoying the Turkey's that have visited us frequently and there have been several Deer in our yard and also a large herd of Elk wandered through and are staying on the hill across the street from us for the last few days. It was funny (cause it wasn't our fence!!) as the herd of Elk came through the neighbors pasture. The larger Elk in the herd tried to climb through the fence and the younger ones were smart enough to just jump the fence and cross the road. But the larger ones struggle for some time and many of them left lot's of hair on the barbwire fence before they made it out of the pasture. Many of the wires were stretched but none of them broke....this time. It's a common sight here to see a herd of Elk go through the neighborhood then to see the farmers go out and do the necessary repairs to their fences. Oh, the joy of living in Montana!

I hope all of you are keeping warm and safe as we enter into the winter season.