Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Here are my contributions to the Project Red & Green I read about over at Anna's blog via Paul's blog. I'd post a link to both of them here, but, even though Mary tried to teach me how to do that, I haven't figured it out. I think someone is going to have to come over to my house and walk me through the whole process. I do have a link to Paul's over on my sidebar.



Found this stuff in the produce department at the store where I work.

A Royal Family in the Heart of America...



We had such a wonderful visit! Have a safe trip home!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Another annual Carson Picnic gathering is in the books for this year. We met for potluck at the Methodist Kitchen on the Burt COunty Fairgrounds in Oakland, NE. It's always good to see everyone and catch up on the extended family news.

After all the great food, those who remembered to bring swimsuits congregated at the city pool and enjoyed the waterslide. I liked these shots the best. The rest of my pictures are still in the camera and will get posted as soon as I use up the rest of the film. I'm still not using digital, but having seen LaDawn's camera, I am beginning to lean in that direction.




From Janell:
I found these kids in my barn Saturday afternoon. Sure, they look cute from a distance...



But look what they do when you get too close...



Thanks to everyone who came out and made our day so much fun!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

From Joe:

Just Catching Up...

Hello everyone, I went on one of my disappearing trips. I've been reading but not posting... So I thought I'd do a quick catch up post.

1. I am working on Part II of "How I got my cushy Job". Almost done, will hopefully post soon.


2. Finished up the 3 weeks in Basingstoke. Had a blast. Had dinner and lunch with LaDawn and family (apparently I had more fun than she did). I even saw some protesters just outside of Parliament (see pic... he he).

3. Went to Sarasota for a weddig at the end of June


4. Enjoyed 4th of July, posted the star spangled banner. 4th of July weekend was my first weekend home this summer.

5. Went to visit Stonehenge and Hardrock Cafe London.

Thought I'd post a few pics from the trip. I know one of them you wlll get a kickout of!












Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Ya'll Come!

First Annual Carson's Great American Hot Dog Experience
Saturday July 26
1:00 PM

Hot Dogs / Buns
Chili
Condiment Bar: Assorted relishes, onions, cheeses, pickles, kraut, ketchup, mustards, etc….

Potato Salad OR casserole (haven’t made up my mind yet)
Slaw
Deviled Eggs?
Baked Beans
Peanut Butter Bars (Sue – better make a double batch)

Late Afternoon:
Mexican Marys
Chocolate Pound Cake
Home Made Ice Cream – Maybe

RSVP to Janell via email.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Janell’s Missed Kodak Moments

You know those times when you’ve seen something wonderful and you say, “Gee, I wish I had my camera,” ? Here are a couple of Kodak Moments that I missed because I didn’t have my camera with me. Both involve my daughter Emily, because yesterday was her 23rd birthday. I would have put this up yesterday, but I was busy taking her out to eat at Olive Garden and buying her birthday present at Borders.

Emily was my primary horseback riding partner through her teen years. She had a horse named Jasmine and I rode on Bubba. (Jasmine was his mother.) Since Jasmine was the Girl in Charge, they usually walked in front of us for the first 5 minutes or so of our ride. I remember watching them from behind and admiring the way Emily looked in the saddle and the way Jasmine’s tail would swish around. When she rode, Emily usually put her long hair in a single braid and it hung down the middle of her back. Sometimes she’d sing. One of the songs I remember that she liked was by Jamie Oneal and the chorus went;
“When I think about rain, I think about singing
When I think about singing it’s a Heavenly tune
When I think about heaven, I think about angels
When I think about angels, I think about you.”
She was singing that tune one winter day when we went for a ride in the snow. Oh, it was a beautiful picture: It was in the late Spring, the snow was fresh and clean and the sky was a pure cobalt blue. I was listening to her sing and wasn’t really paying attention to where we were going and all of a sudden, Bubba found himself up to his chest in snow. That was the day I learned how to stay on when he was leaping.
I remember a time in the late Fall we were galloping through the stubble of a bean field and her horse stumbled and went down to her knees on the front legs. Emily was thrown forward and I learned what “head over heels” looks like. She scrambled to her feet, got hold of her horse and the first words out of her mouth were, “Are you all right?” Whatta gal.
Most of the time our rides were peaceful and without incident. We tended to walk more than trot or gallop and that’s still the way I ride. We rode a path that followed a tiny creek that ran south from where we lived. We caught glimpses of a lot of wildlife on those rides: geese, ducks, foxes, coyotes, deer, pheasants. And, once in a while, we could hear a beaver splash into the water by a grove a trees at one point on the creek, but we never did see one. We could always track the progress of their work on a dam until one year in August, we got 11 inches of rain in about 2 hours and that was the end of the dam.

She doesn’t ride with me very often anymore and she wears her hair too short for a braid. I’ll always regret not taking the time to get a picture of that. I guess I’ll have to store it in my mind.

Monday, July 14, 2008

My Blogstock Report

I’m struggling to find the words to describe what a privilege it was to be involved in Blogstock ’08. Let me begin by extending my heartfelt thanks to the Morrows and Campbells for hosting this three day event at Cliff’s place near Tekamah.

I guess the official definition of Blogstock ’08 would be a convergence of friends who became acquainted with one another via their personal blogs on the internet. The activities: we rode a float in Tekamah’s Independence Day parade and along the way we collected donations of food and money for the local food pantry. We had a great lunch at the Silver Hills Vineyard and Winery. Most of the remaining weekend was spent at Cliff’s, chatting, eating and riding horses. FYI: Cliff makes the best barbecue chicken in the Western Hemisphere.

I went through three rolls of film (yes, I still use a 35 mm film camera) and got some good pics of the parade, the float, Nora at the vineyard, Jamie Dawn on horseback, Cliff’s grandchildren being adorable, Jerry snapping beans, and a nice collection of hat pictures to send to Paul’s hat blog. But I think the one I put up here describes the event better than any other picture I took.

This is Nora from Indiana and Jamie Dawn from Arkansas meeting in person for the first time in their lives. It looks more like a reunion than a first-time introduction, doesn’t it? And that’s what it felt like to be in the presence of these fine people – it was more like a family reunion than a convergence of friends. You can find links to their blogs over at the left. They include Nora, Jamie Dawn, Jim, Cliff, Ralph, Rachel, Desiree, Lazy Blogger and Jerry.

I hope we can do this again next year.





Computer is home again. I found the best computer repairman in Nebraska - The Computer Guy in downtown Fremont. Bless his heart. He's in the yellow pages if you ever need him.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

A Sunday Poem from Janell

Based on Numbers 22: 1-35

It was back in the days when Balak was king
And Israel, fresh out of Egypt was camping
In the Moabite plains, across the Jordan
Balak looked over that Hebrew horde’ n
They’d just licked the Amorites, left most of ‘em dead
A matter of fact that filled Balak with dread.
King Balak couldn’t buy a clue
As to how to defeat them, or what he should do.
So after he gave it considerable thought
He came up with a rather despicable plot:
He fired off a memo to Balaam of Pethor
A Midianite Priest he’d dealt with before.
He said, “You ought to see all these Israelites here!
They came out of Egypt and I’m up to my ears!
I know that there’s way too many for me
To take the offensive and cause them to flee.
So I’m asking your Spiritual help with this mess
I’ll pay you to curse them so I can be blessed.
So if you’re not busy day after tomorrow,
Please come over here, help me deal with this sorrow.”
He sent the note with his most trusted men
They spoke to Balaam, who said, “Wait here.” And then
He said, “With God I must discuss this bribe,
We’ll see what He says in the morning light.”
God came to Balaam and said, “What’s this?
Who are these outlaws you’re calling your guests?”
“They are messengers sent by the Moabite King
He wants me to help him to break up the ring
Of the Israelites camped in his back yard,
To curse them, he thinks, for me won’t be hard.”
God shook His head and said, “Don’t you dare do it.
If you do, I will see that you do not live through it.
If you try it you only will make a big mess,
These children of Israel by ME have been blessed!”
So Balaam got up the next day and said
“Go back. I do not wish that I was dead.
Tell Balak I won’t be involved in this thing,
I don’t care if he is the Moabite king. “
Then Balak sent Balaam a large delegation
Of the noblest Nobles of his generation.
They increased the ante, then sat down to wait
For the greedy Balaam to jump at the bait.
The offer was rich and Balaam was swayed,
So he saddled his donkey the very next day.
And headed for Moab, with two servants in tow,
When all of a sudden, that donkey wouldn’t go!
Now the donkey saw plainly an angel, armed
And she didn’t wish to come to harm,
So she veered to the side and ran into field,
Balaam then beat her, and she had to yield.
Then through a vineyard, with walls on both sides
The angel appeared, disrupting the ride.
She cringed in fear against the wall
Crushing Balaam’s foot, making him bawl.
He beat her again, so she had to move forward
Til the Angel came back, still wielding a sword.
This time, the donkey just laid herself down,
Making Balaam look just like a clown.
God opened her mouth and she looked up and said,
”Why do you hit me so hard on my head?”
(Now wouldn’t it make you sit up and take notice
If the donkey you rode could suddenly quote us?)
“You made me look stupid!” was Balaam’s reply.
“If I had my sword, you’d have to die!”
She said to him, “I’ve carried you faithfully your whole life through,
Have I ever so much as jostled you?
Would I stop if there wasn’t some thing in the path?
I’m trying to save us from God’s Holy wrath?”
The truth of this statement, he had to admit,
She’d never before given him reason to hit.
Then God opened his eyes and he saw it, too,
He fell on his face and the day he did rue.
“Balaam,” the angel wanted to know,
“Why would you mistreat your faithful mount so?
If she hadn’t seen me and done what she did,
I would have struck you and now you’d be dead.”
“I have sinned,” he confessed, his head hanging low,
“I’ll go back where I came from if you’ll let me go.”
The angel replied, “You can finish your work
Next tome, don’t be such a hard-headed jerk!”

So let this be a lesson whenever you ride,
Unless you’re declared to be on God’s side,
If it’s a despicable deed you‘re about
Always listen to your mount!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

My Twin

I never knew it before, but I have a twin. Okay, so we were born in different states 12-15 years apart to different sets of parents, we have no siblings or relatives or blood type or DNA in common, but I’m telling you, we’re twins. Soulmates. Sistahs from anotha motha, as my daughter would say.

Not long after I started working as a checker at Hy Vee, my twin came to work part time. Her name is Janene. When Dolly introduced us to each other, I said, “It’s nice to meet you. People call me Janene all the time.”

She said, “Yeah, people are always calling me Janell.”

Then simultaneously we both said, “Or Jeanette.”

And the fun just continues every day. Janene works from 5-10 PM and I’m 3-11 so we started to call ourselves “The Ladies of the Evening” but Janene likes “Girls of the Night” better. Dolly and the other supervisors call us “The Twins.” They consistently call me Janene and they call her Janell, though once in a while, they actually call us by our given names. But we’ve each learned to answer to both names. One night, we switched nametags and I started calling her Janell and she started calling me Janene and it was a long time before the Supervisor on duty even noticed. To his credit, we were pretty busy that evening and he probably didn’t get a chance to think about it until things slowed down a little in the later hours. Another evening, we did a three-way nametag switch with one of the Courtesy Clerks – a teenaged boy named Alex. The switch came to light when the Supervisor asked Janene, “Where’s Janell?” I was actually standing at the register right behind him.

And she answered, “Janell is out bringing in carts.” (This is something only the Courtesy Clerks do and I would never have been sent out to the parking lot to forage for carts.)

He looked at her nametag, which said “Alex” and then it dawned on him what we had done. He rolled his eyes and walked away shaking his head.

Our little nametag switching game is keeping them on their toes, though. I’ve noticed they get our names right more often than not nowadays.



PS; I received good news from the independant computer repairman and I am hopeful that my 'puter will be home, soon.

(PPS Ralph; I put up a new post over at Nellie's)

Friday, July 04, 2008

Happy Fourth of July Everyone...The Star Spangled Banner

I am posting very late on the 4th, I wish you all a happy independence day. Please make sure to take a moment to reflect what it means to be an American. You are living in the greatest nation on God's green earth. We owe all of it to 55 men (all wealthy) who gave their lives and their fortunes for our liberty.
I was listening to FM radio the other day (I tore my self from talk radio this week) and heard a dj on a local station ask his listeners if they knew the words to the star spangled banner. I was stunned, disgusted and disappointed in how many callers he went through before he finally found someone who knew the lyrics / words to our National Anthem. Maybe its a sign of my age, hopefully not, but it appeared that not many people knew the words (I wonder what a national poll would be reveal).

I was taught in grade school along with saying the Pledge of Allegience everyday and the entire class sang America the Beautiful every morning Needless to say, I knew the Star Spangled Banner as well... So that's how I am honoring the Independence day, posting the words/lysics. Conduct your own poll, I plan to. Ask people in conversation if they know the words of our National Anthem. Personally, anytime I hear the song, I get chills. Do you?

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight
O the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
For the land of the free and the home of the brave
Happy Independence Day!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

From the front line

At my store, we have a series of questions that we ask each customer. You've probably heard them all at the places where you shop. While most people respond with about half their attention, every once in a while, someone surprises me with a snappy answer, as in the following:

Q "How are you today?"
A "Better than I deserve." (Most popular response: "Fine. Hower you?")

Q "Did you find everything?"
A "I wasn't looking for everything."
(Most popular response: "Yes," as they unload a cartful onto the belt, "I only came in for two things.")
Second most often heard: "No," as they angrily unload a cartful onto the belt. "You're out of ____________ , which is what I came in for in the first place."

Q "Do you want your milk in a bag?"
A "No. Leave it in the jug. It's easier to pour that way."

Q "Would you like some help out to your car with your groceries?"
A "Only if I can take the carry-out boy home with me."

Tuesday, July 01, 2008


Hey there!

Things are back to semi-normal, except for the downed computer. Still logging on at the library.

My grand-nieces were here for ten days and we had a grand time. we rode horses and cooked and they watched movies and played videogames with Jack. Randy got them addicted to Sudoku puzzles, took them golfing and to a softball game. For Kendra's point of view you can go to her blog - (link at left).

My friend Renee came out one day and broght her horse Ghost, who got excited and dumped Renee into the mud. Thus the photo. You'll note that tho Renee was plastered with mud, at least the horse kept himself clean!

Emily had a good experience on the mission trip to Idaho and she took some great photos of the Idaho sky & mountains. But, can you believe it? She said they never once had POTAOTES for a meal. What's up with that?

I am looking forward to seeing a bunch of you at Blogstock in a few days. I have to work Thursday night, but will be present and accounted for on Friday and Saturday.