King Tutankhamun

I have always been impressed by the dedication of those who choose archeology as a life's work. The search for ancient tombs, deciphering of hieroglyphics and the persistence in the belief that something exists in a vast landscape of sand, rocks and boulders surrounded by cliffs, are stories ringing with romance and mystery.

Having previously read about the discovery of King Tut's tomb, I thought I knew a lot about it, but the book I'm reading by Thomas Hoving, “Tutankhamun, The Untold Story” is rich in detail and a delight to read.

The researched history of the dig, the relationship between the discoverers, Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon and those representing Egyptian authority, plus the description of 5,000 dazzling pieces of art being removed from the tomb, is an extraordinary accomplishment by the author.

One of the most remarkable accounts in the book is the finding of numerous items by an American millionaire 'treasure hunter', Theodore Davis. In 1906, Davis, who had been successful in discovering several tombs while excavating in the Valley of the Kings, found a small cup in light-blue faience with the royal cartouche of Nebkheperure  the throne name (prenomen) of Tutankhamun. He made a note of it, then forgot about it. In the following season, 1907-1908, he came across a crude pit measuring four by four by seven feet containing jars filled with linen, clay cups, bones of animals and birds, bags of some powdered material, wreaths of leaves and flowers and a miniature funerary mask. There were two small brooms. One of the jars had been broken and wrapped with a cloth inscribed with the name, "Touatankhamanon". Davis misread the importance of the items since the leavings were of such modest character and gave them to a curator of Egyptology at the Metropolitan Museum, Herbert Winlock, a member of the museum's expedition working near by.

It wasn't until 1921 that Winlock finally got around to examining the profusion of articles collected from Davis. Winlock concluded after studying the items they were materials used in a ritual banquet held within the tomb of Tutankhamun just before sealing it for the last time. This clue led to the discovery of the tomb 12 years later.

What I find so astounding is that Winlock not only deduced the nature of the ritual banquet, but its menu, number of guests and some of the clothes they had worn. Eight individuals wearing floral and leaf wreaths and linen headbands, one with the last known date of Tutankhamun, the sixth year of his reign, ate 5 ducks, several plovers, a haunch of mutton, and drank beer and wine. They had reverently used the two brooms to sweep up after the ceremony. The eight priests gathered up the dishes and cups,then stuffed leftovers in the pottery jars and buried them in the pit dug for that purpose. To have left these items inside the tomb would have rendered it unclean.

King Tut lived over 3,000 years ago, died at the age of 18 or 19, and was buried around 1350 B.C. Its mind boggling to realize his tomb and treasures, the richest ever discovered in the history of archeology, existed in silent tranquility thousands of years before being unearthed November 26, 1922.



Nebkheperure
prenomen of Tutankhamun

Wheel by KimB

Wheel

Seasons cycle one another,
Love revolves two together.
Three's the first to build the wheel.
Time as long as Love resides.

Then there's Four, the cycle's spinning,
For each a spoke, the pattern building,
Strengthens that which came before.
Love as long as Life endures.

Five and Six then Seven soon follows,
Eight and Nine, the pattern's laid.
Until the Tenth, the cycle's ending.
Life as long as Time prevails.

KimB 5/2000


note:
This poem was written in honor of my
Grandmother and Grandfather Abbott,
my Mother and all my Aunts and Uncles.

Political Conventions

The political conventions I watched on television this year were so different from the Democrat convention I attended as a spectator in Philadelphia years ago. Prior to that experience, my only involvement in politics was voting for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Having the opportunity to go in person to a political convention was a novel experience for me. We did not attend the Republican convention, which had taken place in Philadelphia a few weeks earlier, but had listened to it on the car radio while driving to Philadelphia to spend the summer with my husband's family.

Spectators were not allowed on the floor of the hall where the delegates from all the states sat, but directed to an upstairs balcony which was so crowded there was standing room only. The noise was deafening with shouting, horns, whistles and the singing of delegations as they spontaneously marched marched in a big circle around the sitting delegates of other states. The chairman would bang his gavel and beg delegates to please be seated while speeches continued on the podium. It was a scene of utter chaos. If delegates were not marching, they meandered among other delegates. Colorful banners and flags outnumbering delegates created a kaleidoscope matching the hustle and bustle of activity below us. As soon as one delegation obeyed the chair, another would burst into song and start marching. How anyone knew what was being said by speakers and what was being voted on was a mystery to me.

Many topics mentioned by speakers were subjects I had never paid much attention to and in many cases, had never heard discussed before. In the evening when my husband and I returned to his parent's home, we talked about the proceedings heard and witnessed during the day. I discovered that the unemployed are actually counted. Agricultural subsidies, taxes and the national debt was mentioned in every speech. When the convention was over, many of the delegates milled around outside the convention hall answering questions and visiting with old friends.

This year the convention plans by both republicans and democrats were affected by weather. Delegates were less rambunctious, more attentive to speakers. Gone was the jazzed excitement, color and civility of past conventions. Instead, reasons and blame for the current economic condition permeated speeches, increasing antagonism and intolerance toward those with an opposite opinion.

But there is hope.... what goes around, comes around, so maybe future conventions will rediscover the ways of publicizing why their party's policies are better for governing than their opponents, and we can have the jazzed excitement, goodwill and color once again.

June 23-27, 1936 Convention Hall, Philadelphia
Joseph T. Robinson of Arkansas Chaiman
1936 platform
Nominee for President: by Acclamation

Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt of New York  [speech]

Nominee for Vice President:

Vice Pres. John Nance Garner of Texas

Franklin D. Roosevelt 1936

John Nance Garner



Cuttin' the mustard

I like to slather a lot of mustard on my hot dogs and other sandwiches; no matter the type, yellow, spiced, or horseradish.

I remember when David, my nephew, was a young boy he would make mustard sandwiches when he came home from school and eat them outside while he played. At the time, I thought it a bit weird since he didn't bother to put anything else in the sandwich, but since then, I've come to appreciate the flavor of mustard.

On occasion when my son phones to tell me he is going to the grocery store and asks if there is anything he can get for me, I tell him I'm out of mustard and need some. He always asks what happened to the mustard he got for me a few days ago. I have to remind him that his few days ago was actually some weeks or even a month ago. He teases me about my appetite for mustard, and I have to reply that I can't let anything stand between me and my mustard.

I have no idea how mustard came into existence. Maybe cave men got tired of seasoning meat with wild onions and wild garlic and wanted something with piquant taste and started chewing combinations of wild grasses and seeds. However it happened, I use it to enhance other foods besides sandwiches. I use it in recipes for baked beans, mixed with mayo in potato salads and in various sauce recipes. In fact there are hundreds of recipes using mustard on the internet.

Incidentally, the idiom, 'cuts the mustard' refers to high standard and excellence. If someone says 'can't cut the mustard', it means failing in excellence.



Mustard Flower

Theater: San Jose Jazz Summer Festival by Richard

The San Jose Jazz Summer Festival was a great outing for Frances and me. This is our second year  attending this wonderful jazz festival! With great excitement we prepared as if we were going on a big trip.

Starting on Saturday, we began our preparations. I purchased French baguettes, to make a few ham and cheese and some chicken sandwiches, along with bottled water, soft drinks and grapes. The next day, we loaded the car, got out the suntan lotion and hats, and drove off to the Festival.

Upon arriving in San Jose, I parked the car and we headed straight for the main stage located in the Plaza de César Chávez. We found a shady spot under a large oak tree, the ideal location, to watch the entertainment. By noon the entire area had several thousand spectators.

The entertainers crafted their skills to perfection. When the musicians were playing, it was wonderful to watch and listen. The people were swinging and swaying to the music, and many were dancing. During all this, Frances and I ate our lunch and enjoyed the many venues while holding hands, just enjoying the moment. I mostly enjoyed the saxophone music.

We were lucky, the summer weather was great, in the 80's. We had a wonderful time but after seven hours, we had to leave to feed our dogs. We stopped by the In and Out Burger on the way home to have bite to eat because we didn't want to cook dinner.

Needless to say, it was a long and enjoyable day but we are already looking forward to next year's San Jose Jazz Summer Festival.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]




San Jose Jazz Summer Festival 2012

Baby Blankets

Without plan, only happenstance, I find myself knitting baby blankets as fast as I can knit and purl the stitches.

When a young acquaintance and his wife announced they would soon be the parents of their first baby, a boy, I decided to knit a baby blanket for them. I had never knitted a baby blanket in all my years of knitting, but I took on the project with an attitude that such a small item would be ezpz and proceeded to knit a blue baby blanket.

Soon after finishing the blue blanket, my sister told me, one of her granddaughters was expecting a second child and I volunteered to knit one for her. Without knowing the baby's gender, I chose the color yellow, but before it was finished, I learned the baby would be a girl. I embellished it with bands of pink flowers and had it ready for the baby's arrival.

Just as I finished knitting that blanket, my son's stepson and his wife announced that their third child was on its way. Having completed two blankets without much difficulty I was game for another and told them I'd knit one for them. Again, without knowing the gender, I finished a yellow blanket using a reversible pattern.

I was as surprised as the parents when they discovered they were going to have twins, a girl and a boy. They did not know I had already knitted a blanket and it was assumed I would make them in shades of pink and blue to match room decorations.

What to do, Percy? What to do?

I haven't chosen the patterns yet, but diamonds are a girl's best friend and there are lots of patterns using diamonds to choose from so there are two more blankets in my future.




Colored Yarn

My Time in the Army Part 2 by Richard

I met the company commander and was given a choice to work in the office or outside, but I asked to work out side, which I enjoyed. I made friends with several men as we worked helping the Air Force with their communication needs.

My company unit was known as “special personal attached to the US Air Force”. We worked on several Air Bases in Germany and France. The food in the US Air Force was much better. For breakfast one could order eggs any way they wished and the lunch and dinner meals were also good. On Sunday, for lunch and dinner, we had to make do with cold cuts.

One cold winter night, I had guard duty starting at 10 PM protecting the ammunitions, but due to an alert, I wasn't relived at 8 AM the next day. When I got back to our building, I was cold, hungry, tired and sleepy, I ate and had a long rest.

There are many other things I could talk about but one of the most noticeable was all the damage to all the cities and small towns caused by the war¹. The large cities received the most damage; there were blocks upon blocks that were totally destroyed and the most of the small towns were also damaged. I hope we all learn from this, so we will never again, have a world war.

We all had to learn how to count and to exchange our money into German Marks and to speak some German. Our dollar was worth 4 Marks and twenty cents.

I was able to do some traveling and to see several cities, which included the following: Paris, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and many cities in Germany. One of the German cities I enjoyed was Wiesbaden, which is favorite German vacation place.

My 18 months in Germany went by so fast and it was time for me to go home to the USA. I took the same trip home from Germany, first to Camp Kilmer, next by train and ship to New Jersey. Then on to San Francisco by TWA air lines and on to Fort Ord.

I was discharged on November 19,1954 and left the Army with $300.00.

I enjoyed my time in the service, which allowed me to see things one just read about. It also help me to appreciate many things: mostly life.


1. Strategic bombing during WW2 Describes the purpose and results of Strategic Bombing during WWII. A list of bombed cities in Germany can be found on the right side of the page: RAF Estimates of Destruction

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard and is Part 2 of 2]




USS General H. W. Butner (AP-113)

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

Kim

Years ago there was a commercial for some special cookies. The husband brought home many lovely presents for his wife but she always answered, “What no cookies?”

I had the same problem with cucumbers. I got lots of other really nice vegetables but no cukes. I got lots of tomatoes, potatoes and beans but no cukes.

Every visit to the garden I would see these long cucumber vines meandering all over. My watermelon didn't meander at all and I keep thinking: Did I plant them in the wrong pots? No. But week after week went by and still no cukes.

As it was getting to the end of the season, I decided to pull up these “very unsatisfactory” cucumbers and headed out to do battle with the vines which were everywhere. I picked up the first one and it was rather heavy. Too heavy for a vine and I thought it was wrapped around one of my water lines. So I reached around the pot to untangle it and and discovered the weight wasn't a tangled water line, it was a CUCUMBER! A BIG CUCUMBER!

I was a bit stunned to see it but then I realized that the cucumbers where heavy and were hanging down from the vines and were hidden behind the pots and under other foliage. So I pulled and tugged on every vine and if it was heavy, there was a cucumber on the vine, all hanging down like big green icicles.

So, the cukes are in the bag now and have been a lovely addition to salads and gazpacho for our very hot summers.



The Elusive Cucumbers
and Other Garden Goodies

My Time in the Army Part 1 by Richard

I was drafted and went into the service December 6, 1952 in San Francisco, California with about fifty other men. We all took the oath to protect the USA against all enemies foreign and domestic, and then transferred to Ford Ord, near Carmel Ca. We were processed for a week with shots, etc and testing for various assignments.

I was assigned to the Signal Corps and sent to Camp San Luis Obispo with several other men. We went through 8 weeks of basic training and 8 weeks telephone communication. I was always the first to receive KP and guard duty because of my last name begins with “A”.

When we received our orders for assignments over seas, I was lucky, again my name was the first selected and I was assigned to the U S Air Force in Germany¹.

I received a seven day leave before leaving for Germany. I visited family and friends during this leave. My orders were to travel by train from Oakland Ca, to Los Angles Ca, and then on to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey. This trip took five days. I then went aboard a troop ship, the USS General Butner and sailed off to Bremerhaven, Germany.

This was a very interesting trip and again, I was first to receive guard duty because of my last name. I had the 10 PM to 2 AM duty. The first few days, there was a heavy sea running with huge waves, which were fifty or so feet high. When the ship was at the bottom of the wave trough, all I could see was water all round me. I was lucky I didn't get sea sickness but a lot of other men did. When the weather and the sea improved the men were allowed on deck for fresh air. By the way, the food was not very good, I still remember those beans and “shit on a shingle”; which is creamed hamburger on toast.

As we passed through the English Channel I could see the White Cliffs of Dover. The next day we arrived at the port of Bremerhaven, Germany. The next day I was on a train headed for Kaiserslautern Germany and then by jeep to US Landstuhl Air Base².


1. US Army in Germany Bremerhaven.
2. Landstuhl and Ramstein were separate bases until 1 December 1957 when they were combined into one unit.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard and is Part 1 of 2]



US Army Signal Corps

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

Kim

I think the picture says it pretty well...  We did GOOD!

Tater Harvest 2012

Thoughts of Iowa Falls Part 3

Dad's interest in short wave radio began around 1930 and became an enduring hobby.  He was a licensed amateur operator sending and receiving code as well as conversing with amateurs around the globe.  He took great pride in building transmitters allowing him to make contact with Asian and European countries.  We children learned a lot about radio from him and years later, Esther and I became licensed operators.

Mail was an important factor in everyone's life.  Families kept in touch thru letters. Family members who farmed in Nebraska wrote about conditions for planting and harvesting.  Family in Kentucky passed on news of those living in Tennessee and Georgia.  In turn, those in Iowa passed on the latest job reports.  Everyone's health was of prime importance as was weather. We knew who was down with a cold, when babies were born, who had been hospitalized and how those with heart trouble were faring.  We in the north worried about the south when the Ohio river flooded; the south worried when blizzards or drought hit the north.

Telephones were not yet in wide service. We always had a phone since Dad worked for the phone company.  If a family was lucky enough to have a phone, it was generally placed the center of the house on the first floor, and when the phone rang in the night, one had to go downstairs to answer it.  In those days the phone bell rang until it was answered or the party calling disconnected.  Receiving a long distant phone call, like telegrams, usually meant bad news and were costly.

The first auto the family owned was a Terraplane Hudson.  On Sundays the whole family piled into the car for drives thru the countryside.  There were no seat belts and the smaller children were able to squeeze in beside us older children in the back seat.  Mom  sat next to Dad who drove and held Jerry, the smallest on her lap.  Dad taught me how to drive on those Sunday drives and as time when on, he gave Adeline, Mickey and Charles driving lessons.

There was an innocence and a peaceful sameness to those long ago days of our childhood, but continuing news of the depression, dust storms, soup kitchens, newspaper photos, radio reports of Japanese invading China, Italians invading Ethiopia and threats by Germany's Hitler, crept thru the country.  President Roosevelt held fireside chats on the radio and people across the country gathered around radios and listened intently to his words which kept the nation from being gripped in a state of despair.  The country joined him in keeping the faith that good times would come again, so it was with shock and disbelief that we heard Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor. From that day on, our lives were never again the same.

[Editor's note: This is part 3 of 3 parts]

1938 Terraplane 4-Door Sedan

Thoughts of Iowa Falls Part 2

When we lived on the acreage, (which was on the edge of town), the younger children went to the one room country school, but  Adeline and I walked to the high school in town.   When we moved back to town, we attended the same schools as before moving to the little farm.

Our pets were owned in common, meaning they were family pets, except for the white calf.  We all took turns feeding the calf and staking it to fresh grass areas, but we always referred to it as Jerry's calf.  We all knew it would be sold one day, which didn't seem to bother Jerry or the rest of us, but until then, it was called, 'Jerry's calf'.

Dogs dominated our list of pets, but we also had a piglet.  It had been brought into the house and kept in a cardboard box near the cast iron range so it would be warm and given special care. We  petted and played with it.  While it was small, we played with it outdoors and  when we came inside, it came in too and stayed in a corner of the kitchen near the stove.  As it got bigger it was barred from the kitchen and would squeal to be let in.  It was very smart and learned how to jiggle the screen door so that the latch would pop open and crack the door just enough so it's snout could push it open and come inside. Eventually it joined the other pigs at the barn.

Everyone helped with the chores as they were able, even the youngest.  Some chores were more fun than others; we liked helping Dad work with the bees.  Once, when the bees were swarming, Charles caught a swarm on his arm by throwing a clod of dirt into the air as they began leaving the hive. He was able to put the swarm into an empty hive without getting stung.
    
Those days seems quite idyllic as we recall them now.  As children, we were unaware of the hard work and long hours Mom and Dad put in every day to keep the family fed and healthy.  Dad's job with the telephone company lasted thru the great depression and until he retired from the company years later.

We always had large vegetable gardens and canned and preserved the extra harvest.  The asparagus and the surplus of honey from the bee hives, chickens, eggs, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries were sold.  We had our own milk and  raised some of our own meat which helped too.

[Editor's note: This is part 2 of 3 parts]

Beehive Swarm

Thoughts of Iowa Falls Part 1

The letter from my brother, Richard, mentioning his memories of childhood and our life in Iowa before WWII was a delight to read.  Memories of the houses we lived in, the schools we attended, work and play during our childhood allow us to relive those days tinged with the sweetness of age. 

Being older than my 5 brothers and 2 sisters, I recall each of their arrivals in the family and I enjoy remembering them as babies and later as play companions.  Although my sister, Adeline and I were close in age and able to participate in activities the younger ones could not, we eight children often played as a group. 

We older children helped look after the younger ones and I was often asked to baby sit when Mom and Dad both had to be away from the house.  We enjoyed a tremendous amount of liberty and we came and went as we chose until supper time, although we usually told Mom where we were going or asked permission to do something not usually allowed.  

For as long as I can remember, the whole family ate the evening meal together. Besides the immediate family, we often had friends and visiting relatives at the table too. 

The various dishes of food,  breads,butter and relishes were placed on the table and passed around with each helping themselves.  Adeline and I learned to set the table at an early age and as we got older, helped Mom prepare the evening meal.  Then we washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen afterward.  All my brothers and sisters learned to cook and three brothers earned their living as cooks. 

The foods we ate were home grown vegetables, beef and pork from animals we had raised or purchased from local farmers who had butchered  recently.  At breakfast time bacon and eggs, with hot biscuits or pancakes with corn syrup or sorghum, or a choice of cooked oatmeal or dry cereal was served. School lunches varied depending on which school was attended.  We came home for lunches or packed them to eat at school.  On rare occasions we were allowed to buy a hamburger at a small cafe near Dad's office. The evening meal was served soon after Dad got home from the office. The meal usually ended with a dessert, home made pie, cake or pudding.  Fruit was usually eaten as a snack or with dry cereal at breakfast time. During berry season shortcake was a daily dessert.

[Editor's note: This is part 1 of 3 parts]

Sorghum

Theater: Bill W. and Dr. Bob by Richard

Frances and I went to the San Jose Repertory Theater and watched the play Bill W. and Dr. Bob.

The play is about two men with alcohol drug addiction. The time is early 1900's,and the stage is long bar, plus roll out home living areas and bedroom rooms, with telephones of that time, and with background Charleston music.

Bill W, is in the hospital, very sick and down on himself when he receives a dream or an awaking and becomes sober for several months. Bill is then invited to New York for an interview for a job. Bill becomes uneasy after arriving in New York, and Bill wants a drink. Bill knows he needs help and needs to talk with another addicted alcohol. He makes several calls before making contact with Dr. Bob.

They meet and started immediately taking about their problems with drinking alcohol and their many attempts to stop drinking. Bill and Bob found that they could discuss their addictions freely because they shared the same experiences and that they were not able to share these with non drinkers.

From these meetings and discussions it becomes very clear to Bill and Bob, their drinking addictions affected them and all people they loved. Bill and Bob know they could not change the past, but the future they could. So they started working with other people with alcohol drug addiction.

These changes were the foundation of Alcoholics Anonymous as we know it to day.

Frances and I left theater with a better understanding Alcohol drug abdication.


[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

Kim

"So, how's the garden doing?" you ask. In short: FANTASTIC!

Stuff is popping up and overflowing everywhere. Here's a run down of what's happening.

Pot 1: Taters

They are going "a house a fire" as Grams would have said. The pot is full of green stalks each of which is a tater plant. Part A of the strategy is working; at least I have a pot of green stalks.

Pot 2: Bush Beans

They now have flowers on them but our recent heat wave (+106F) sort of left them a bit dazed but they are perking up well. It also helps I'm giving them more water too since our Central California Summer is starting up.

Pot 3: Cherry Tomatoes

We've had several small harvests and added them to salads and they taste.... YUMMMM!

Pot 4: Pot Cucumbers

I don't think they understood the word “pot”, as they are growing and vining everywhere! They have lovely small yellow flowers though and nice green leaves. Nothing yet but I'm hopeful.

Pot 5: Pot Zucchini

Now surprisingly, these guys know the word “pot” and I have 2 plants that are large but not overflowing. They have the standard zucchini look and flowers but it took me a bit to realized that the veggie part was sort of a dwarf zucchini.

The plants have rather large stickers on them and I use plastic gloves to reach in and get the harvest. I also found out you need to harvest when the flower is still open. These dwarf zucchini's don't get any bigger like the traditional zucchini.

I see them in the stores now called Gourmet or Petite veggies. We've had several harvests and they are just wonderful sliced raw on a salad.

Pot 6: Tomato

It's a tomato! We have several green ones but no harvests yet. So nothing there to brag about.

Pot 7: Watermelon

Hmmm... I dunno here. I have a lot of plants with pretty leaves and some have flowers but I thought watermelons were going to vine like the cucumbers and flow over the pot sides, but these are not doing that. I think they should be having a chat with those cucumbers.

Past Harvest Report:

My garlic was not successful though. I harvested it, and well, it was rather a disappointment. Not even really garlic. So no “stinking roses” for me.

But the carrots made up for it. I harvested out the two pots and I had about 15 lbs of wonderful and colorful carrots! We've had them in salads, soups and stews. These will be on the winter plant list for sure!

Pot Zucchini Flower

Cherry Tomatoes and Petite Zucchini

Wall of Passed Time

I share a fun activity with my two adult children playing a computer game called A Tale In The Desert 6. Every year and a half a new Tale starts and the game varies in the requirements to reach higher levels, but the basics of the game remain the same each telling. There is no violence in the game; avatars learn to do the menial chores of a burgeoning society in Egypt.

Growing flax, weaving thread into linen, making bricks, gathering clay to make jugs and firing them in a kiln, feeding camels and and sheep, growing vegetables and mining for ore and gems are among the jobs avatars do as well as solve puzzles and build monuments.

When the three of us are in the game at the same time, we talk on the phone, conference style and play the events and projects as a team. At the beginning of ATITD 6, my son commented that he wanted to make bricks, a million of them. I said if he made a million bricks I would make a million jugs and wondered what a million of either would look like.

I said that I would make a wall with the bricks, but it was explained to me that the game wouldn't allow stacking them in a heap. Being virtual, you can make them, store them carry them, but not stack them. You can only see them as single units. The same with jugs. When I saw what they would look like as single units if dropped on the ground, I began to think of ways of using them in a statue vignette.

Since a vignette can have 25 items raised at different heights, I came up with the idea of making a wall using a pattern of jugs and bricks .The next step was experimenting with the idea and building a practice model on the top of a near by sand dune. Stacking two statue bases doubled the distance of the wall, then by repeating stacked bases, we could continue the wall for any length we wanted.

It was decided to build the wall in a straight line and in an area without mountains or sand dunes if possible so the next move was a walkabout to fine the right spot for our wall. Between scouting trips I made over 6000 jugs and added them to the stash of bricks and other materials we needed for the wall.

In order to make the jugs and bricks we had to collect clay from clay beds, build kilns in which to fire the jugs, build a warehouse to store all the materials and grow flax to make the rope and linen required for the statue bases.

The wall project will last as long as this phase of the Tale does. So far the wall reaches beyond 100 coordinates of the map grid and we continue to add to its length.

[Editor's note: you can follow our progress from the game wiki: Wall of Passed Time.]

Wall of Passed Time 100 coordinate milestone

MrsB's PDF Book for 2011

[Note: Editor's Post]

MrsB's blog stories from 2011 are now available for download!  Click the link in the download section to get your own copy of all the wonderful posts made by her and other members of the MrsB's blog circle!

While you're over there, you can get some of the other books and copies of the fabulous cookbooks made by MrsB and Esther too!

Hope you enjoy all the stories and memories.

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

Mrs B

My gardening gene has prompted me to plant something so I've started propagating African violets from leaves. Besides germinating avocado seeds in water, I hope to be successful with mango seeds.

Years ago I watched Aunt Nettie plant the top of a pineapple, but I never thought of growing one myself. Seeing how easy it is in YouTube demonstrations, I plan on trying my luck growing one or two.

At one time I had carrot tops thriving in glasses of water on a kitchen shelf and I may start growing a carrot plant along side the avocado seeds. Propagating geraniums and chrysanthemums are also easy and fun to propagate.

I once attended an adult evening Botany lecture where we were shown how to clone ferns in water, but I'll not get around to cloning one since it seems my mission in life is saving the planet by germinating avocado seeds.

I hate to throw the seeds away when I make guacamole so I have a continuing supply of them, but I forget to keep the proper water level for germinating, consequently my stash of seedlings range from several to none.

[Editor's note: I had no idea you could plant a pineapple but you can! Here's a link to a site that tells you how to do it. How to plant a pineapple ]

Pineapple top can be used for planting

Tea Parties

Tea Parties

When Taffy was a little girl
She often came for Tea
She and I would sit a while and talk
as we munched on sugar cookies
And drank tea from pretty cups

Taffy's all grown up now
And never comes to call
She's too busy now for parties
So there's nary one at all

Perhaps she would come again
If she had time to spend
She and I could sit awhile and talk
And once again eat cookies
And drink from pretty cups

Marion Bigelow June 2012

Memories of Iowa Falls by Richard

The past few days, I began thinking about our life in Iowa Falls Iowa, and recalled several good memories about the wonderful times we all shared which included the following:

• I recall living in town in a two story home, and then moving to the country to a small farm the folks rented from Mr Brown.


• It was really great to have our own garden and raise our own vegetables, which Mom use to feed us.


• I can see Mom now, cooking on that wood burning stove and baking bread and cakes which we all enjoyed.


• Can you see us all making ice cream on those hot summer days? I can.


• I recall going to those country schools which were one room and one teacher, teaching all the grades.


• We had to walk about a mile or so, and when it was time to go home, I was always hungry. So when we passed an apple orchard I would go over the fence to get an apple or two.


• In the winter months we would each take a potato and put in the school furnace to have with our lunch.


• I remember the swimming pool, which was a long walk from home. Jerry and I would go anyway. We didn't have the money to get in, so they let us to pull some weeds for access.


• We moved back into town when Mr brown sold the property.


• Things begin to change. The war came and all our lives changed also.


• Marion and Adeline went into the service. Mom went away to work at a factory on the war effort. Dad stayed home to watch the younger children.


• Then Mom and Dad went to California to visit Marion and Adeline and were so impressed with California, upon their return to Iowa Falls Iowa, they decided to move to California. Dad quit the Telephone Company. They packed up everything and we moved west.

I hope this note will help you also to recall some those fond memories we all shared.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]

Apple Tree

Synchronized diving

When I was surfing the TV channels I came across the Olympic trials for Woman’s Synchronized Diving. What a beguiling sport! If a sport can be called, 'lovely', this word certainly applies to synchronized diving. I was mesmerized watching the women perform. Their graceful twists and turns seemed effortless as they dived into the water with almost perfect timing. It takes exquisite skill and a high degree of aestheticism to achieve such beautiful dives.

Having been unaware that the sport existed, I was surprised to learn synchronized diving had been a new form of competitive diving at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Back in the 1930's, Aquacades and swimming meets would showcase precision swimming where a group of swimmers would create designs in the water and morph from one design into another. On occasion there might be a display of synchronized diving as a skillful stunt much like those in a circus.

Now that its a recognized sport, it's hard to believe it took so many years for it to become a competitive sport.

I understand there is a special way of judging the events. Both men and women compete in two events. Two divers of the same gender attempt the same dive from adjacent 3 meter springboards, but share the platform on the 10 meter board. Each diver has one of the nine judges watching his or her performance in addition to that of the other five judges.

Roseline Filion (foreground) and Meaghan Benfeito
Photograph by: Mike Ridewood

Photo Credit and Story Link:
Roseline Filion (foreground) of Laval, Que. and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal compete in the preliminary for women’s synchronized 10m platform at the FINA Visa Diving World Cup at Olympic Aquatic Centre in London,
England, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012.
Photograph by: Mike Ridewood

Canary babies

I'm glad to report two canary babies are busy learning bird language from their parents. I'm sad to say that the third baby didn't make it, but the two that did are replicas of the parents. Only their size lets me know which are the babies and which are parents. Its too soon to tell if the lighter brown will be female as is the mother and the darker brown with black patterns on the wings will be male like the father.

Both parents feed them and their little wings flutter like a hummingbirds as they hold their mouths open as wide as possible to be fed. They are learning to fly from perch to perch across the cage and they like sitting and balancing on the swing.

Hooray!

Hooray! One of the baby canaries is out of the nest.

I didn't see when or how it happened. I just discovered the little guy sitting on the floor of the cage in the late morning.

As the day went on, he hopped around the bottom of the cage and when the parents fed him, his little wings went '90 to nothin' as they filled his beak. It hasn't hopped onto the lowest perch yet but it did stand on the foot rest of the seed cup for a while.

It has the same shade of light brown of the mother bird. The two babies still in the nest seem to have the darker color of the father, but they huddle together in such a way its hard to tell one from the other. They fill the nest and its only a matter of a day before another leaves the nest.

Baby Timbrados

I have three tiny baby Timbrado canaries. A day separates each little hatchling and they were such tiny blobs they were hard to distinguish as birds. I think my little finger nail was larger than each blob.

They are a few days old now and Number 1 blob is beginning to show the tiniest of feathers. This morning for the first time I saw one of them holding its mouth wide open waiting to be fed.

The parents are very attentive and feed the babies the special treats I put in the feeding cups. I give them hard boiled eggs with the yolks, cooked rice, cooked carrots and various fruits. They will eat seeds when they are a bit older.

I have yet to hear peeping sounds from the babies, but their tiny wings and beaks show they are taking on bird shapes. In time I will know what gender they have. I hope I have a male that will sing as nicely as the father bird does.

Spanish Timbrado Canary Song

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

KimB

I think someone forgot to tell the bush beans and watermelon seeds I planted about “how long it takes to germinate”. All the packets said 3 weeks so I wasn't expecting THIS!

Bush Bean Seedlings

Watermelon Seedlings

And my strategy on the taters … that seems to be working too! WOOTS!

Tater Plants

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

KimB

Well it's that time of year again: tweeting birds, sun, rain, heat and the smell of compost in the air.

This week I made my way out to the garden pots and took stock of what was there and what I wanted to do with it all.

The winter planted carrots are still going strong. It's getting very hot here so they will bolt soon but I picked another dozen or so nice ones.

We checked on the garlic but it's way too soon yet but there was hope and we took out a smaller plant to check: it's still a baby garlic bulb but it will taste great.

The beets were not that successful, like the turnips I didn't plant them deep enough and they mostly laid on the surface. I saved 2 nice beets and a half dozen small specimens and the rest hit the compost bin.

My re-planted and new strategy for getting taters is working! I have about 15 or 20 tater plants popping up in their bucket. I gave them some organic plant food and this year I'm hoping for something better than a few marbles. I put in a big mix of taters: reds, yellows, whites and Russian fingerlings.

After taking stock of what was still there I headed down to the local nursery and picked up 2 new pots and some tomatoes and seed packets. I picked out a Better Boy tomato for sandwiches and Sweet Million cherry tomatoes to make the summer tomato and basil salad that Allen likes. I also picked up a packet of bush beans and will see how they do in the pots too.

But this year I am going to be “adventurous” and “daring” and take on a “big challenge”. I am planting watermelons in a pot. Yeah... I know... not likely but I have a “plan”. The plan is: put the seeds in the pot and let the vines trail over the edge and they can sprawl all around one end of the side yard on top of the gravel. I picked the baby round watermelon type so I hope we get something tasty in a bit.

Between the taters and the watermelon it will be a challenging season!

Always To Be Remembered by Esther

My sister Marion, sent me an E-mail she received from a cousin, it was so much history I was not aware of, and it remind me of a time I went to see where my brother Charles was buried.

All my brothers and sisters served in the military. Most of them served in the Marine Corp, one in the Navy and one in the Air Force. Charles was in the Marines and served mostly in China.

That trip was a very emotional one, for we were a very close family. My daughter and her husband Arthur, drove me to Marion’s house. Together we went on to Houston, Texas, and spent the day visiting Marion’s son Bob.

It was a nice day to go out to the Military Cemetery where Charles wanted to be buried. It was a long trip and both Marion and I were remembering stories about how we use to play and little events we did as children growing up back in Iowa. The eight of us children made for some stories and we had to laugh at most of the tales.

We arrived at the entrance to the Cemetery and Bob drove around to where we wanted to go. I had never been to a large town where the larger cemeteries were, and I was surprise to see how large this one was. It reminded me of my third grade teacher who asked the class if they could visualize how much a pile one thousand pennies would look like and how many one dollar bills would it take to make an inch high stack. I was never so impressed, as seeing how far to look in any direction, to know I could not fathom what I was seeing in front of me today.

Through the years, I have watched on TV, when the news would show those who gave the ultimate price returning home in honor and I would give a silent prayer for their family.

As we walked to where Charles' marker was, we read the names, and there was so many and so young. I will always know I could not see the whole cemetery, nor know how many was the count of all who rest there or in all the other cemeteries there are. It is a great price to pay for our freedom. Since then I have a better idea of how to think of what "big" means.

Our family has one Marine and one Air Force member still living today, and I hope it will be quite a while for them before they to will be gone.

I will always think of how a pile of pennies look and how many one dollar bills it takes to make a one inch stack. And how many are at rest in all the Military Cemeteries. Which I still can not imagine how huge it is.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Esther]

ABBOTT, CHARLES H
PFC US MARINE CORPS
WORLD WAR II
DATE OF BIRTH: 05/16/1927
DATE OF DEATH: 12/21/1998

BURIED AT: SECTION M2 SITE 841
HOUSTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
10410 VETERANS MEMORIAL DRIVE HOUSTON, TX 77038

USA Veterans Nationwide Gravesite Locator

Houston National Cemetary

Fads

Hair styles of women are a 'statement' of the latest fashion in clothing. From the extreme arrangements of Marie Antoinette, to the short, shingled cuts popular with women of the Flapper age in the '20's, women readily follow the latest trends. I have no idea how the fads get started, but they sweep the nation over night it seems. The women on the street, as well as those appearing on television, all wear their hair the same way.

In my opinion, the latest hair fashion makes women look like cyclops. Hair is draped over one eye so that only the other eye is seen by an onlooker. During a conversation in person, or as seen on a television screen, when a women is interviewed or reporting the news, a lock of their hair hangs over one eye in fashion. No effort is made to brush the lock aside as the interview or report continues. Apparently the woman believes this is attractive, but I find myself wondering how the woman can see thru the hank of hair. I stop listening to what's being said and start brushing my own hair away from my forehead, wishing the woman would do the same.

Another fashion I see on television, is a style that looks scraggly. Wisps of hair stick out in all directions giving an unkempt appearance. When the most serious topics of the day are being discussed by a woman with this hair style, I always have the feeling that she's a scatterbrain and what ever expertise she may bring to the conversation is lost on me.

I am also amused by women who ignore their years and wear their hair long and flowing like a teenager. Perhaps those prepping a person for the TV camera are to blame. since they think hair brought forward on each side of a woman's neck is more feminine.

Who knows what the next fad will be. What goes around, comes around. I wouldn't be surprised if long braids wrapped around one's head became fashionable again.

Marie Antionette

Theater: 101 Years of Broadway by Richard

Frances, my valentine, and I had the pleasure of seeing the musical revue 101 Years of Broadway. The musical revue was about several of the best musical Broadway shows, with the actual stars singing the beautiful songs. It was incredible and fascinating to watch listen and enjoy.

Neil Berg was the musical director and producer who also played the piano and the lead in the New York Band. The cast of Ron Bohmer, Chuck Wagner, Sandra Joseph, Andrea Rivette and Lawrence Clayton all were so talented that they brought the music to life in such way, it was magical.

This musical revue transformed the audience and my self back in time, as if we were back watching these musical plays again. Frances and I left the theater with a better understanding of Broadway Musical productions.

To Neil Berg,the cast, and the band, well done.

[Editor's note: This story was written by Richard]

Skipping Stones

Today as I surfed the television channels to find something interesting to watch I stopped for a few minutes to watch cowboys in the movie, Broken Trail, to skip stones across a creek. I had seen the movie several times and knew the plot, but didn't remember the skipping stones scene.

It brought back many memories of standing on the bank of a body of water with family and friends on picnic outings and competing to see how many times we could skip a stone and how far it would go.

These little competitions were never planed. It was a spontaneous move on the part of someone in the group to pick up a stone and skip it. Now and then a stone wouldn't skip, in which case, the group telepathically appraised the moment and as a group, silently agreed to mosey on our way, or automatically begin competing to see who could skip stones the best.

At any one skipping session we could spend an inordinate amount of time developing our skill. Of course there had to be a good supply of skipping stones available. Skipping stones is one of those childhood skills that stays with one, but you never hear anyone bragging about it. When I saw the two old cowboys in the movie casually showing off their skill to each other, I realized we do take pride in our accomplishments and draw on them when we want to show off.

Skipping Stones by Alan Bray

Superstitions

I am not a superstitious person and I do not believe in the supernatural, but I do believe in something we call luck or chance. It's hard for me to define luck, but I think I am a lucky person. I feel lucky. That doesn't mean that I think I'll win the lottery, or come into a fabulous inheritance. It's just a feeling I have.

I not only have a feeling of being lucky, I make up little reasons why I'm lucky. I know my pretend lucky signs are just that, pretend, but they are fun and I change or add to the list when it suits me.

Currently, Camel cookies are a sign of luck. I buy animal cracker cookies in a large plastic 14 0z size container from Sam's. When I grab a hand full of cookies and find a camel cookie, it's lucky. If I get more than one, the luck doubles.

I also pretend numbers in sequence bring me luck. When I glance at the clock on the microwave and it reads, 2:20 or 4:44, that's lucky. Whenever I check the time on my cell phone, any combination of like numbers brings luck and if there are more than two, the luck goes up accordingly. The other day, on the 25th of January, I woke early and checked the cell time. It read, 25,5:55,55 Now that is REAL LUCK!!!

Camel Shape

Sponge Garden

I am growing a tiny garden on a kitchen sponge.

One day while I was filling my canary and parakeet seed feeders I wondered what would happen if I sprinkled some seeds on a wet kitchen sponge and kept it moist for a few days. I had a hunch the seeds would sprout and if so, I'd have some fresh greens for the birds to eat.

Since this little experiment worked, I'll start several sponge gardens and test various seeds to see which sprout easily, perhaps lettuce seeds.

Sponge Garden

Humor by KimB

Humor

Humor is a welcome twist,
In the midst,
Of the angst.

Cause by the dread,
And the fear,
That ends the year.

Of forms to be filed,
And taxes to pay,
By end of the day.

While we race through the forms,
to finish on time,
and avoid any fines.

Gives us a laugh and a grin,
and Humor it’s said,
keeps us ahead,.

Puts a smile on our face,
as we contemplate fate,
and review our estate.

In the State & the Feds,
We know if we search,
There’s an abundance of mirth.

And in spite of our woes,
Shows there’s fun to be seen,
On lines in between.

KimB Feb 1996

Trees

To celebrate Arbor Day in Houston, Texas, volunteers planted 25,000 trees in four of the cities parks. The goal is a million trees for Houston.   Back in my grade school days, the school made planting a tree on Arbor Day a big event by having children plant the tree.

Long before I seriously began my study of art, I used to draw trees. I found the various shapes of trees interesting and drew them on scraps of paper. When we lived on the asparagus farm, there was a beautiful poplar tree along the gravel road that I could see from my bedroom window and I often made drawings of it.

Among the trees I knew in my childhood was Black Walnut, Butternut, Oak, Maple, Flowering Lilac, and many kinds of fruit trees, including pear, apple, cherry and plum. Living in California we had Orange trees, tall Palms, giant Sequoias and Pines. In Texas I became familiar with Magnolia, Myrtle, Dogwood and Pecan trees.

For some years I was a member of the Arbor Day Foundation and would receive 10 free trees every year to plant in the area in which I lived. I either planted them or gave them to others who would plant them. The Arbor Day Foundation has a Hazelnut Research Project inviting people to become patrons and receive three Hazelnut bushes to grow. One can Google for more information about the project at the Arbor Day Foundation Hazelnut project.

I once saw a magnificent collection of 2 and 3 hundred year old bonsai at a museum in San Francisco. I've tried making bonsai but was never able to keep one growing for more than a short time. I either over watered them or had to leave them behind when I moved.

We lose many trees when hurricanes and tornadoes happen. Knowing how beneficial trees are to our environment, I think the government should start a national push to re-forest the country. Trees might help us thru those hot days of summer as the planet continues to warm up.

Lovely Trees

Weather

I can't believe the warm January days we are having here in Houston, Texas. It has been 70 degrees and higher with no predictions of cold weather. Several times recently, the weather reporter on TV has said cold weather was due , but it never materialized.  I have experienced various winter weather patterns in my life time, but frigid, snowy days dominated.

In those long ago school days, my siblings and I wore heavy coats or snow suits and snow boots. The boy's snow boots had a knife pocket, which I always thought unfair since the girls boots were just plain. We also wore knitted hats with pom poms on the top which were called tokes [sic, recte tuque].

One of my earliest memories of blizzards was when I was in the first grade and walking home from school. I was unaware that it was a blizzard, only that it was very cold and the wind was so strong I had to walk backward when the cold gusts pushed me off the sidewalk. The sleet pricked my face and walking with my side turned toward the wind helped. About half way home, my mother appeared in the blowing snow and sleet and held a newspaper in front of my face and put her arm around me as we walked the rest of the way home.

In those early school days of my childhood, Dad was often asked to leave his inside job of switch board operator at the phone company to help linemen who were working to restore telephone lines that had come down during blizzard conditions. It would often be late in the evening when he would get home. Mom would have steaming coffee and a hot meal waiting for him. I watched as he took off his heavy clothes and unlace his boots, and rub his hands together to get them warm, all the time telling Mom about how bad the weather was and how many miles out in the country side they had to work.

Having a 'white' Christmas was special, and we were rarely disappointed. One year my husband and I spent the holidays with his family in Philadelphia. I had been told about the sledding on the hill near the house, but there had not been snow all season so I was not going to enjoy a sled run down the hill. Imagine my surprise when we woke Christmas morning to find everything covered with a thick blanket of powder snow!

My first Christmas away from home was in San Francisco and I spent the day joining other sun bathers on the beach under the Golden Gate bridge. The temperature was 85 degrees. I still remember how strange it seemed to wear my bathing suit on the day I opened my Christmas presents.

The Mistral winds of the southern of France are similar to the Santa Anna winds of Southern California. When my husband and I were on our walking trip thru France, Switzerland and Italy, we experienced them on the return route to Paris. We were told by the inhabitants that the Mistrals often lasted a week, and after experiencing them for three days, we understood what people meant when they said Mistrals could drive you crazy.

Living here in Houston, I've become familiar with hurricanes and hot, humid temperatures of 100 plus degrees. While watching videos of glaciers breaking apart in huge chunks, demonstrating climate change, I can't help but wonder how people will cope and endure the drastic changes predicted. Humans are resilient and resourceful, so I have no doubt they will find ways. I can only imagine the strange garb they will be forced to wear to protect themselves. In the meantime I will continue to knit sweaters for cold, windy days, and blankets for cold winter nights.

Highways and Byways
I knitted this blanket for my son's Christmas present 2011

Flower by KimB



Flower by KimB 2005



Election Money

The huge amounts of money the candidates campaigning for President have raised and continue to raise is an OBSCENITY! Where does all this money come from? It certainly isn't coming from those in the 99% who are looking for work and struggling to put food on the table or families desperately trying to avoid being homeless.

There is a race between super PACs to raise ever higher and higher amounts to pay for television adds, which spew negative propaganda against competitive candidates. The media also adds to the mania with endless speculation night and day of who's up and who's down in the hourly polls they run.

The schism between beliefs of what government is and how it should work is drastic. Some advocate business oriented programs with less regulation. Some want government to limit personal rights. Some threaten loss of national security if their views are not accepted. They all invoke the constitution intimating they alone know exactly what the founding fathers meant but rarely mention liberty and justice for all.

In my opinion, its the power elite doing what they do best, make certain they continue being the power elite.

Is this any way to elect a president?

Even though worker capacity and motivation are destroyed when leaders choose power over productivity, it appears that bosses would rather be in control than have the organization work well.

Margaret Wheatley, How is Your Leadership Changing?©2005

The Egypt Game

I'm playing the Egypt game again. The name of the game is A Tale In The Desert 6. There is no combat in the game, only role playing with avatars of people and animals. Avatars can plant and grow veggies, fish, build buildings and monuments, create fireworks and have festivals. Avatars achieve levels by solving puzzles. Each 'Tale' last about a year and a half, then a new 'Tale' starts. This is the 6th version of the game or "telling".

So far I have reached level 5. When you earn a new level you get "zapped" by lightening. My palace is on the Red Sea right on the waterfront. I have plam trees and date palms in the courtyard.  I have sheep and camels too. If I want to travel to any other part of Egypt, I have to take a chariot to where ever I want to go. I do not plan on reaching a high level in the game as some players do.

I enjoy doing the simple things and have as much fun as those trying to be the first to reach the highest level possible. In the last Tale I designed a mall with trees, fountains, and lanterns.

I may do something similar this time. It all depends on how much time I devote to playing the game. I started knitting a baby blanket for Heidi, my sister Esther's, granddaughter, who is expecting a baby next month. We don't know if it's a boy or girl so I am using colors that will be for either.

Getting ZAPPED!

New Year 2012

New Year aspirations of 'peace and good will' burst into full flower as we sang Auld Lang Syne and toasted each other for health, wealth and happiness. During the hours of celebration we forgot personal troubles as well as those plaguing the nation.

As holiday events fade into memory and the ringing bells of 'peace and good will' fall silent, our economy again takes precedence and we concentrate on matters personal.  Our personal resolves give way to old habits as government officials continue to seek ways of easing the plight of those who have lost, or are losing the 'American Dream'.

Air ways have become saturated with rhetorical boasts of politicians declaring they have solutions to the nations problems, Our teetering economy is causing a great deal of apprehension. The belief that hard work would let you live the 'American Dream' is no longer true. The struggle to maintain this illusion does not result in achieving the great 'American Dream' much to the chagrin of those who have lost jobs and homes thru no fault of their own.

There are solutions to the disparity of those who have and have not. We just have to be courageous enough to opt for them. Perhaps this is the year we will find a way for families to get back a semblance of tranquility and prosperity and the country regain a stable economy.

Auld Lang Syne (English Translation)

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
and surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine† ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS