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Clean laundry
When I was little, my mom washed and hung our clothes outside on the clothesline to dry. We had a dryer but keeping costs down was important and our clothes smelled terrific afterward. Over the years, we lost grass in our backyard and the clothesline poles rusted. Using the dryer became more convenient. My parents also raised English Springer Spaniels so I imagine the dogs playing fetch with our clean clothes was an encouragement to bring the chore inside. The Amish in Indiana still dry their clothes outside and I couldn’t help but take a picture because of the fond memories that surfaced. Seeing white and colored clothes, newly cleaned,…
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#AtoZChallenge: Nature
Mama fox and one of her kits. A fallen tree is their habitat so we can’t clear it away. Photo by Diane Weidenbenner. My husband and I have .7 of an acre on the north side of a small town in Indiana. It’s an older neighborhood and one that isn’t “hip” anymore. All the chain restaurants, the Walmart, and the mall with Macy’s and Carson’s is located on the south side. We enjoy less traffic up north, and an Applebee’s was built shortly before we arrived. People would ask where we moved to and the follow-up comment was “They just built an Applebee’s up there, ya know!” Yes, we’ve heard!…
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#AtoZChallenge: Donkeh
I like animals – I always have. Domestic or wild, I have a deep respect for all living things (except for wasps and spiders but that’s for another time). © 2005 by Diane Weidenbenner When I first moved to Indiana, on my way to work, I would drive by this beautiful donkey. He was never busy doing too much but he always looked content. I think he belonged to the farm that was nestled next door to his field. He had soulful eyes and beautiful fur. One day I decided to make friends with this handsome animal so I pulled my car over, went across the road and began talking…
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Baking and Christmas memories
My family doesn’t have many Christmas traditions but I treasure the ones we have. Baking sweet treats during the holiday is one of my favorites. My Grandma Rose was the master baker in our family. She played bridge with ladies each week and they took turns bringing a dessert. Between her friends and Grandma’s eagle eye for yummy recipes in the newspaper, she acquired the best recipes imaginable. When I was little, I’d sometimes stay overnight with my grandparents on Friday, and Saturday morning my Grandma and I would make cookies together. This was after she served her famous Swedish pancakes (crepes) for breakfast! She knew most of the recipes…
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A to Z Challenge: “K”itties gone bad
Being an animal lover, I couldn’t help posting some older photos of some of the cats that we’ve had (and still have), doing amazing things. So, thank you for indulging me with this lighter post that is mostly photos. Hope you enjoy them as much as I had captioning them!
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“O”rigin
My dad, Sterling, and my nephew Matt. A person’s “origin” can mean several things. It can be a place/location where I was born (Denver, Colo.), it can be a culture from where my ancestors originated or it can be my very beginning, which I consider to be in God’s image/likeness. My brother, sister-in-law and I took a trip to Pennsylvania last year, to meet some first cousins that we’d never met before. My dad was from Allentown and we discovered cousins on my dad’s sister’s side of the family. It was so much fun to see the physical similarities and commonalities, even though we’d never met each other before. During…
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Blogging A to Z: “H”-istory is awesome!
Photo by Diane Weidenbenner, 2015, Indiana. Who remembers drive-in movies? I took this photo in Indiana on one of my country drives, and it brought back fun childhood memories of times spent at our favorite drive-in movie theater in Denver, Colorado. The movie theater that we frequented was the Cinderella Twin Drive-In movie theater, which opened in 1973 near the Cinderella City mall (aerial view below). It had two screens, ran first-run, double feature movies, and could support 800 cars total (which translated into thousands of viewers). It was about 10 minutes from our house and when the weather was good, it was the place to be! It operated March…
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Help me reach my goal …
I’d like to write at least one blog a week in 2011. As you can see, I’m starting this goal a little late – it’s March already. To spur me on, I’m asking for friends to visit my blog and click “follow me” on the top right-side menu. You can sign in using your Google, Twitter or Yahoo account. You’ll be notified when (and if) I write a new blog post. So, in essence, you’re keeping me honest and motivated to complete my goal. In return for your faithful following, I will try and give you a chuckle or laugh at an interesting anecdote or happening in our meager lives…
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Happy New Year!
I’ve had 12 glorious days off of work – woo hoo! Tomorrow is my first day back after Christmas vacation and I’m apprehensive. I’ve gotten fairly comfortable not going into work, although I enjoy my job at my non-profit marketing position for a Christian organization. It’s not that I don’t like to work. I’ve worked since I’ve was 15. It’s more that I have so many things to do in my “off time” such as knitting, making jewelry, spending time with my husband, playing with and walking the dog, cooking and baking, drinking Chai tea at the local coffee house while trying to write the great American mystery novel. There…
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Sunny disposition
It’s this time each year when winter is in full swing, the days close in darkness at 5 p.m. and the wind chill is 0 degrees. Originally from Colorado, where it can snow 12 inches one day and be 50 degrees and sunny the next, I need to actively remind myself what it is about this season that I love, now that I live in Indiana. It’s not uncommon for skies to be overcast for days on end and for freezing rain to accompany or precede beautiful snow. So, here goes: 10 things I like about winter, in no particular order: snowflakes, falling snow, crunchy hard-packed snow, all things snow-related…
