Hello and happy Thursday. How has your week been so far?
I am backing up to last week. I did get the three extra days off last week. On Wednesday I took my sister to Knoxville to UT hospital to have a procedure done. We arrived early and got out before lunch so that all worked out great.
I will have to say, for most of my time off, I have been a knitting fiend. Well let me add crocheting to that as well. I worked on my nephew’s afghan, a pair of socks and another cap. I also googled how to make a daisy granny square and did a few of those. So as usual I was all over the page. I did spend one day cleaning my house and then another day cleaning my mother in laws house. This house now belongs to us so we are responsible for it. It needs some improvements so we will be working on it as we have the time.
Look at all of this. The yellow is the cap I am working on. The red and gray is the sock and you can see the trial granny square I did.
This is the daisy granny square. This was my first one. I have some different colors. I plan to make several and use them for a pillow. I used these colors just to experiment.
This little bag I use to put small knitting or crochet projects. I used it this time for the cap I am knitting. These are actually make-up bags but they fit so well into my purse and I can take my knitting anywhere. People are always curious when they see you knitting or crocheting and want to know what you are making. I am always happy to share and even teach them a stitch or two if they are game.
I finished an entire sock on Sunday. I started the second one, which is never as much fun, and I will wait until I have completed the pair to show you.
We haven’t done a lot of Christmas decorating around here. We actually ordered a new Christmas tree and it should be here tomorrow. We did put life sized Santa at his post in the upstairs window. Kitty Kitty loves him and she loves to stand beside him. Crazy kitty.
Outside view of Santa in the window. I love coming down our driveway and seeing him in the window.
On Monday I left work early and took my car to Knoxville back to the dealership to have that dark window tint removed. If you missed an earlier blog post where I bought a new car, the story is I didn’t realize how dark the tint on the windows actually was until I drove it at night. It took about three hours to remove the tint and they gave me a tiny loaner car to use. I did a little shopping to kill the time. I was so glad to be able to see through the windows. The tint on my new car was just too dark for me. It made me very nervous driving in our rural area at night.
This loaner car seemed very small to me luckily I only had it for a few hours.
Tuesday night at dusk we looked out the window and couldn’t believe this beautiful purple hue. The clouds cast a purple reflection onto the water. I have never seen the lake this color. It had been cloudy all day and at dusk just a tiny bit of light was trying to shine through. It was just beautiful.
I hope your week is going well and you are gearing up for a great weekend. I am off to work on some knitting. I don’t know what is wrong with me I just feel the need to knit or crochet. I better take advantage and get some projects finished before Christmas.
Happy Monday. It is Veterans Day today. Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States. It is a day to honor military veterans, persons who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Happy Veterans Day to all of our Veterans. Thank you so much for your service. I want to share a very special veteran and a story with you. My brother Donnie.
When I was about four years old my oldest brother Donnie enlisted in the US Army. This was during the Vietnam War. My brother Allen also enlisted, a few years later, in the US Air Force. This particular story is about my brother Donnie.
Donnie was the first of our family to leave and go away. He left for a few months for basic training, I think in Virginia, and then not long after that he was sent to Thailand. I think he got to come home one time before leaving for Thailand. We had never been separated as a family quite like this.
I never really knew how hard his leaving was for my mama until I read her diaries and journals she left behind. She wrote about how bad she missed him, and how she would smell his clothes and the soap he used just so she could feel close to him. About the only way we had to communicate was through letters. No FaceTime or cell phones or anything like that existed. We did have the occasional land line phone call but it was very rare. The rates were unbelievable and the timing of where my brother was stationed just didn’t work out a lot.
I started first grade right about the time he had to leave for Thailand. I went to school and told everyone about my big brother and how he was a soldier and how brave he was. It’s really all we could think about at our house. We all missed him so badly. My parents stayed glued to the nightly news to hear updates about everything going on with the Vietnam War.
Every morning when I went to school we had a little assembly time where we would gather with a couple of other classes. We met in the cafeteria and sang songs. I will never forget the day I heard them singing “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” I thought they were singing “When Donnie Comes Marching Home”. WHAT??? They had written a song just for my brother!!! Oh I was beyond proud. I stood up straight and tall and vowed to learn every word of that song by heart. I could not wait to tell my mama.
As soon as I got off the bus that afternoon I ran straight into the kitchen where my mama was cooking dinner. Guess what? Guess what? I told her there was a song written just for Donnie, and they sing about how happy everyone will be when he comes marching home. I sang a few lines for her. She knew the song I meant, but she didn’t say anything. I thought she would be so happy but she had the saddest look on her face. It was several months later that one of my classmates pointed out to me that it was not Donnie, in the song, it was Johnny. It still didn’t change the meaning to me and I would still replace Johnny with Donnie every time I sang it. I vowed to do this until the day he really came marching back home.
When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, is a song from the American Civil War that expressed people’s longing for the return of their loved ones who were fighting in the war. It was first published in 1863.
When Johnny comes marching home again, Hurrah, hurrah We’ll give him a hearty welcome then, Hurrah, hurrah The men will cheer, the boys will shout, The ladies, they will all turn out, And we’ll all feel gay, When Johnny comes marching home.
It was many years later, after reading my mama’s diaries, that I realized why my mama looked so sad every time I sang that song. It was because she didn’t know if he would make it back home. Many people did not. Lots of people we knew, neighbors, friends, did not make it back home to their families. It was an unbelievably sad time for so many.
Last week we celebrated my brother Donnie’s 77th Birthday. He has been through so much in the last few years. He had tonsil cancer and has had some heart issues. He never lets it slow him down. He is the hardest worker I have ever known, many times having two jobs at a time. He can do anything. He does everything for his family. He is a true hero.
Today is the day we celebrate our heroes but really we should celebrate them every day. They are the reason we are able to live our lives in freedom.
Southern Patches 