HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there lived an old couple, Andy and Ura Mann. Ura had loved Halloween since she was a little girl. Every year she looked forward to the children trick-or-treating. But every year no one came. Ura thought & thought about what to do.

She said, "Handy Mann, (at Halloween, Ura developed a strange speech defect & everything that began with the letter A had an H added to it.), we must do something to make the children visit us this year." Andy went to his shop & began working. He worked long into the night, hammering & welding. When he was finished, Ura still wasn't sure this would bring the children.

Ura told the children, "This Halloween will be special. Wait & see!" She walked away, laughing mysteriously.


When the children heard the news, some were excited and gave directions to others.



Some were afraid and hid under rugs,




and even tried to hide in trees.




Others were shocked,



but some grew tired of waiting & went to sleep!



Ura said, "Handy, in the past I have bought pencils, raisins, toothpaste, and happles and no one visited us. What can we do?"

Ura visited their neighbors and asked their advice. She asked the father, but he couldn't hear her. She asked the mother, but she couldn't see her. Finally, she asked the daughter, but she couldn't speak. Ura was sad because the No Evil family - - Hear, See, or Speak - - could not help.



The night before Halloween, Andy was having a bedtime snack. Ura shouted "Handy, that's it!! You have given me an idea that will guarantee the children to visit us this year!" Ura smiled and said, "Thank you, Handy!" "Ura welcome!", Andy replied. Ura ran to the store and brought home:

CANDY!!!!

There was a long line of children at the Mann home this year. It was a very Happy Halloween!


HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM TEXAS!

Visitor at Home

I came home this afternoon, put the trash can away, & was almost to the porch when my left foot almost stepped on this!



I jumped back & started yelling for Behm. He couldn't hear me, so I had to go back to the pick-up & call him. He shot it from the porch. My hero!

Halloween Memories

Trick or treating in Wichita Falls with my cousins.

Glass Kitchen drive-in gave little ice cream cones for treats.

Halloween carnivals at Antelope gym with Bingo tables in middle of gym floor, cake walk, & marriage booth. Yes - marriage booth!

Taking my girls trick or treating.

Lots of clown costumes - rodeo, circus, sad.

Trash bag dresses with lots of make-up!

Lots of good memories!

Visitor at Work

We had an uninvited guest at work today! How he made it to the 3rd floor is a mystery. I hope his mother doesn't visit us!

A Scary Night

Grammy & Grandad lived in the country at Squaw Mountain. Their house was the next-to-last house on a dead-end road.

When I was about 8 years old, my aunt (age 14), cousin (age 11) & I stayed home from Wednesday night church. The church everyone attended was probably 2 miles from the house. There wasn't any phone at the church, no cell phones, & no way to communicate with our parents.

We were brave. We were big girls. What could possibly happen to us? We would be okay for 1 hour...at night. . . .in the dark country. . .alone . . . right?!

After everyone left, we turned on the T.V. Did we watch something safe, funny or educational? Of course not! We started watching THE TWILIGHT ZONE!

The episode starred William Shatner (before Star Trek fame). He was traveling in an airplane in a thunderstorm. Every time he looked out the window he saw a Thing on the wing. He called for help, but of course when other people looked nothing was there. He finally closed the curtain, but he kept trying to fight off the urge to look again. Finally, he couldn't take it any longer, pulled the curtain open & the Thing's face was pressed against the window!!

We all screamed & turned off the T.V.! I don't remember staying alone at Grammy's again!

THE TWILIGHT ZONE marathon was on T.V. about a month ago & this was one of the shows I watched. Even 40+ years later, I was saying "Don't open the curtain! Don't open the curtain!".

Rush Hour

Living in the country has its advantages. This is what my morning commute usually looks like. It makes me nervous, thus the shaky picture! Driving & taking pictures is not recommended.



No rush hour traffic, unless I go to work with Behm & the traffic is terrible! Noisy, cutting in front of others, & trying to be first.



As a matter of fact, some are really bull-headed!

Garage Sale Santas

Getting ready for Christmas? Bought these at the Methodist church garage sale yesterday. Little elf to sell on eBay, skinny Santa to add to the collection, & cowboy Santas!

LUNCH IN THE PARK

Tuesday was a beautiful day to have lunch in the park!









Nothing better than a Herd Burger, a good book, & sunshine! *Note the title of the book THE MURDER BOOK - - lots of grease, cigarettes & UV rays. Perfect title!*

SPELLING

I have always been proud of my ability to spell words correctly. If there are any misspelled words in a newspaper article or on television advertisements, I always catch them. The older I get, the more I find myself doubting my spelling. I'm sure I will make mistakes writing this blog.

When Behm's father was president of the Pioneer Association he had to write a welcome letter to be published in the Pioneer book. I typed the letter & checked several times to make sure there weren't any mistakes. When the book came out, I hurriedly checked the letter & one misspelled word jumped out at me. I worried about that word the rest of the night. As soon as we arrived home, I checked the copy of the letter we sent. There were no mistakes.

This year in the memorial ad for Behm's father, his sister's name was spelled incorrectly. I know it is a big publication with few people to work on it & it is hard to catch every word, especially a name.

When I was in elementary school, I won the Spelling Bee for our school. The school was a small country school with few students. I went to Jacksboro for the county-wide bee.

The moderator looked like a fairy tale picture of an evil witch. When it came my turn to spell, she stood in front of me, leaned forward & shouted (or so it seemed to me) the word "queer". My heart was pounding, my knees were shaking, & I spelled "u-e-e-r"! I was so humiliated! I knew as soon as I said it I was wrong!

I received the pen pictured above for being a finalist. I don't know why I've kept it all these years. I guess to remind me that even the best of spellers can make mistakes.

Just call me "MS. SPELLED WORD"!

FALL

These flowers only bloom in the fall. Mama & Daddy's flower bed is full of these! They multiply every year.



I love fall!! The weather is crisp without being too hot or cold. Every time I see acorns, I think of elementary school. I remember coloring mimeographed pictures of acorns & squirrels.



Pumpkins on the court house steps.




Deer are still safe right now. Only a few weeks until hunting season opens. They are really beautiful animals, but I always watch for them when driving. I love to see them jump over fences. So graceful.



I thought it was too late to get a close-up of these flowers last week. We drove for miles & finally saw these. After that I saw them everywhere!




I love fall, except it means winter is coming & I hate cold weather!

Watermelon Seeds

Just added new Warped Greeting card to my Etsy shop! Go check it out!

GARAGE SALES

Want to see my garage sale purchases from yesterday? Sure you do!!

Of course, I can't resist books. This book has some great vintage pictures of western women along with stories of their lives. Just leafing through the pages makes me realize how easy I have life now.



This rooster is on a block of cork. I think he matches the bread box I have of Grandma Kinney's. I'm going to try to find a frame to fit.



I thought this was something else, but liked the picture. I guess I need to get my glasses changed.



Old wedding dress pattern. May try to make a card with the images.



Cute paper coasters of Santa! Another project to do.



I also bought a basket, some small frames for projects, WOMEN'S DEVOTIONAL BIBLE, & an old white porcelain coffee pot that needs a lot of cleaning. Total purchases: $4.05. I love bargains!

Lunch

Yesterday at lunch, I went to the local drive-in & tried to use my card. It was denied. I thought I still had credit, so I tried to check the balance & it was denied. I paid for my order & went back to work & checked the balance on-line. The amount had been deducted from my account. Well, that ticked me off!

I called the drive-in & began explaining to the manager that my card had been denied. He interrupted & said none of the cards were working. I then told him the amount had been charged to my card. He told me to wait a few days & bring in the receipt & I would be refunded. Bull-s**t!!

After work, I stopped & asked for the manager. I explained again what had happened & he proceeded to tell me none of the cards were working at any location. I showed him both receipts & he stood there & looked at me a while. Finally, he said he would give me a refund.

I drove away with $3.23 in hand & felt like I had won a major victory! Normally I would let something like this pass, but I was not going to pay $6.46 for a sorry Jr. Burger & Coke. I can use the money to buy 2 Cokes today!!

BLUE

 

This old pick-up is on one of the places we raise cattle. I just love the style of it!

 

Sunday was a blue day for pictures! This bus is in someone's pasture. If these vehicles could talk, I bet they would tell some great old tales.

THE ROOM

I had high hopes Saturday. I had the whole day to stay at home. No running around Wichita, no cooking, no auctions. I was going to clean THE ROOM!!

When Behm & I married, he had a 4 bedroom house. Now we have 2 bedrooms, 1 office, & 1 huge walk-in closet (otherwise known as THE ROOM).

No, we didn't move. I'm a pack rat! I collect lots of things, but I don't really know what I have because most of it is in THE ROOM somewhere.

I love old records, books, paper items, games, Christmas decorations, anything that is a bargain at auctions, etc. They all end up in THE ROOM.

I have sold a lot of items on eBay. My girls love to go shopping here. Everything is free!!

Anyway, back to cleaning. I had a plan. Clean one corner at a time. In the corner is a huge wooden toy box filled with record albums. That's where I started.

I moved them into another room to sort through them. I did throw a lot away, kept some to record to CDs, & some more to try to sell.

Now I had this big empty box that needed something in it. So I emptied a plastic container of games & put the games I wanted to keep in there.

But then I had these other games I wanted to sell. I wanted to empty the container so I could get rid of it. What to do with the games to sell? Throw them in the toy box & hope I get back to them? Yep, sounds like a plan!

Next, I found 2 boxes of 8 track tapes. I started recording them. Of course I had to listen to them.

Then I started recording albums. Songs don't last very long when you're trying to work between songs. After running back & forth for a while, I finally gave up.

No - - not recording albums. Cleaning! Now instead of THE ROOM to clean, I have 4 rooms to clean!

 

I think this may be the best solution I can come up with!

 

Now I can't see all the piles of junk!

BOOG

 

For as long as I can remember, which is a long time, Daddy has called me "Boog". Not all the time, but often. His granddaughters & great grandchildren are also called "Boog".

I always thought it meant "booger", but in a good way! I never knew where the name came from until several years ago.

After Grammy (my grandmother) passed away, a lady who had known her a long time, told me she was saddened to hear about Boog. I know I looked at her strangely, but I didn't know who she meant. So I asked her. She said Grammy was called Boog. I don't know if Grandad called her that or how it started.

Here's Grammy & Grandad. I miss them both.