CRUISING

When I was a young girl my uncle came by the house one day and brought a beautiful blue bicycle.  I joyfully rode that bike until I outgrew it.

A bicycle is a means of freedom for a kid.
The wind in your face as you roll down the avenue. 
Zooming down a tall hill.
Getting from point A to point B.

When I was a young mother, we would take our 6 children for a Sunday ride.  My husband rode in front, baby seat attached to his bike. I brought up the rear with a baby seat on my bike, and four kids on bikes rode between us.  We covered miles and miles together, down country lanes and neighborhood streets.  It was a great way to pass time and build relationships.  

One of my daughters just moved to a bicycle community in Florida.  It has been fun watching their family get on their bicycles and ride to the post office, library, and corner hamburger stand.  Every day my grandson rides his bike to school and I was privileged to ride with him last week.  

Then I remembered that when my husband retired we purchased cruiser bicycles.  Shiney black bikes with 7 speeds.  Big comfy seats.  Mine has pink rims and fat whitewalls with a basket to carry my straw hat and water bottle.  My sweetheart's bike has red rims.  

At first we rode our bikes often.  Then it got more difficult to get our bikes to the Tobacco Trail where we ride.  Slowly our bikes began to gather dust. 

This week we built a PVC bike rack that fits into the back of our truck.  We put our bikes in the back of the truck and drove to the trail this afternoon.  

It felt so good to pedal those four miles today.  We went slow and steady, as cruisers go.  We were passed by a jogger and we smiled.  Other bikers, helmets on their heads, were spinning and sweating as fast as they could go, and we smiled.  Joggers, heads down, concentrating on their gait, fists clutched as they plodded along, kept going, never looking up to see the beautiful countryside, and we smiled.

Tomorrow we will go 6 miles, smiling all the way.  I'll wear my straw hat and enjoy the wind in my face.  A bicycle is a great means of transportation, and exercising, no matter how old you are.

New Year, New Goals

It has been a long time.  It is time to start again.

As I've been reading my past posts I feel inspired to try and write some musings again.

Thank you mom, for the encouragement to start fresh.

Life has a way of marching on and on --whether you want to march along or not.

Since my last entry three and a half years ago, our family has grown and changed.

My opportunities to study the "BIG PICTURE" have increased.

I've learned, even more, that we are all subject to the consequences of choices, some choices we make, some the choices of others.

I have a strong conviction that the world can be a better and happier place if people will just be kind to each other.

I can't control anyone except me.

SO,

I will try harder to be kind to others.

I will share my smile more freely,

I will try to meet rudeness with gentleness.

I will try to slow down and let others go first.

I will look for a positive spin in a negative situation.

I've learned that most people carry a heavy burden.  Kindness from those we meet, as we walk along our path of life, will help lighten our load.

I'm making a goal this year to smile more often. It is a service to others. It is contagious.

Give it a try, you might make someone's day a little brighter.

😃😊😍😘😀😄😊😌🙂🙃😇😉  😊😃😌😉😊🙂😍

A children's song I taught my children went like this:

A smile is like the sunshine,
It brightens up the day.
Gives your eyes a twinkle,
And chases clouds away.

Sunday Dinner

I remember as a little girl going to my grandmother's house after church for dinner.  It was fun and exciting because all of my cousins were there, the adults were busy visiting and doing dinner things so the kids were free to play.

The house smelled so good. Grandma made the most delicious roast and mashed potatoes. Her yeast rolls truly melted in your mouth. She  brought the most amazing foods forth from the most humble ingredients and surroundings. A woman to be admired for sure.

I remember watching her intently as she prepared her roast, seasoning it just so, browning it perfectly.   Over the years I  learned to make the "Sunday Roast" pretty good.  As my kids grew up and left the area I have received many telephone calls asking advice about their Sunday roast adventures.

I have learned that I like a roast the old fashioned way, slow cooked in the oven. To me the taste from the slow cooker or crock pot just wasn't the same. A mental memory needed to be met. Tradition had to be passed to the next generation.

Recently my daughter invited us for the weekend. On Sunday after church we sat down for dinner. She served the "Sunday Roast" cooked to perfection. Later she revealed that it came from the crock pot, achieved without any browning. Since then I am in love with the simple new version of grandma's recipe for family bonding around the dining room table.

Sunday Roast
2 1/2 pound beef roast
1 package powdered ranch dressing mix
1 package powdered brown gravy mix
1 package powdered Italian dressing mix

Wash off the roast and place in the slow cooker

Stir the powdered mixes together with a half cup of water and pour over the roast.  Let cook on low for 6-8 hours .

When ready to serve remove the roast, thicken the liquid left in the crock pot with some cornstarch or flour, turn to high for a few minutes. Stir and serve.

Enjoy.

TRASH--a card game

I have been spending quite a bit of time these last few months entertaining grandchildren.

I am always on the outlook for fun and easy games to play with multiple children of varying ages.

My daughter, Cara, introduced us to TRASH the other day, we spent the whole visit playing the game with her three children ages 3, 6 and 10.

We introduced the game to 5 of our other grand children this last weekend, and they enjoyed it as well. 

I will take the cards along when we go visiting with my parents in a few weeks, I think they will also enjoy the game.

Here are the rules.  See what you think.

TRASH

2-4 players

1 deck of playing cards

SKILLS: Players should be old enough to recognize numbers and have a desire to learn to count--

This game is great practice to learn these skills and wonderful fun if you already have them.

FIRST HAND:  Deal each player 10 cards, lay them out face down in a straight line 1-10.

 Place remaining cards, face down, in center of table.

WILD CARDS:   If a KING is drawn or turned up, it is a WILD CARD and can be used for any face down card as desired.  If the numbered card for the space that the wild card is occupying comes available, it can be traded out and the KING put into a different spot, or, if at the end of this hand's play, passed on.

TO PLAY:  Youngest player starts the play by choosing a card from the center pile.

If it is a card from 1-10, put it in the proper place and turn over the card from that place. 

If it is another number card between 1-10, put it in the proper place. 

 Play for that person continues until a face card or number card that cannot be used is turned up.

TO CONTINUE PLAY:  If a QUEEN or JACK is drawn or turned up, that players turn is ended and the card is placed in the center of the table, face up, starting the TRASH PILE. 

 If a number card is turned up that cannot be used, the card is passed on to the next player that can use the card, starting with the person directly to the left.

 If there isn't a player that can use the number card it is placed in the TRASH PILE. 

 The player to the left then draws and play continues as before.

TO WIN A HAND:  The first player to have all of their card slots, 1-10 face up, wins the hand.

Play can continue WITHOUT ANY PLAYERS DRAWING, until no further plays can be made.

SECOND HAND:  Players retain face down cards on the table and turn in all cards that were face up. Those players that turned over ALL of their cards receive one less card than the previous hand

 (If the last hand was 10, this one is 9 and so on on until just 1 card is dealt)

CONTINUING PLAY:  Deal each player the number of cards needed, face down, in a row.

First player to go out the last hand is first player for current hand.

GOAL OF THE GAME: To be eligible to go onto the next step

 (from 10 to 9 cards. etc.) all cards must be face up.  

At the end of the hand, any remaining face down cards remain on the table and are counted toward the number of cards needed for the next hand.

Only those players with ALL of their cards face up can receive one less card.

Players with ANY cards left FACE DOWN will stay on the same step as the last hand.

(Example:  for the first hand 2 cards remained face down, turn in the 8 face up cards and receive 8 new cards to place face down with the original 2 making 10 cards face down for the second hand,

 while those who had all 10 cards face up receive only 9 cards )

 The first player to successfully reach 1 card, face up, is the winner.

HAVE FUN

Even More Whiteness

As I have been helping my son whiten his clothes, we have also been working on underarm stains.

Again...don't know why his clothes seem to have this problem and ours don't--same machines and products, yet different outcomes.

Along with the super whitening, I found this recipe for underarm stains that also works great.

REMEDY FOR YELLOWED UNDERARMS

1 part Dawn dish washing liquid

2 parts hydrogen peroxide

some baking soda

mix together

using a brush apply liquid to affected areas

let stand for about an hour

If needed, brush more peroxide to affected areas, wait awhile longer

rinse clothes out before washing as usual.

Some of the shirts we treated cleaned up with the first application, some needed more peroxide, scrubbing and time.

All of the shirts came out clean and white, you could almost see it working before your very eyes.

I love clean laundry.  

PS...I put my liquid fabric softener into a clear glass iced tea jar with a spout, it looks so nice sitting on the shelf in my laundry room.  I like the clean lines.

Bright White

My son's white clothes have been looking a bit dingy lately.

He does his laundry in our machines, with our same products, yet the outcome is quite different.

I've been on a quest to help him return to bright white, and I am winning.

I have been making my own laundry detergent for a number of years now, and it works great.

I just found a recipe for super whitening, and it works great, too.  Say good-bye to dingy, off white undies, and hello to bright whites once again.

EXTRA WHITENING POWER CLEANER

Bring 2 large pots of water to a boil

1/4 to 1/2 cups laundry detergent

1/2 cup powdered dishwasher detergent

 **1/2 cup bleach

1/4 cup borax

Place boiling water and cleaners into a large bucket.

Add clothes, one at a time.

Let soak a few hours, or overnight.

Dump bucket full into washer.

Wash on hottest setting--no extra detergent is necessary.

If possible--dry in the sun.

Works best on cottons.

**If synthetics need whitening--omit the bleach--

Substitute 1/2 cup peroxide and 2 tablespoons lemon juice-- proceed as before.

The results have been wonderful, hope it works as well for you.

White clothes should be white, not dingy grey--right?

Family Motto

We just had a family reunion.

WOW

Family drama, chaos, joy, laughter, fun and bonding

We have been planning this reunion for 3 years with the finishing details over the last 6 months

In April we sent a formal invitation and included this scripture from 4th Nephi and titled it:

 OUR FAMILY MOTTO

10 And now, behold, it came to pass that the people of [David] did wax strong, and did multiply exceedingly fast, and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome people.
11 And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them.
15 And it came to pass that there was no contention in the [family], because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
16 ... and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
17 There were no...ites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God.
18 And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered.

Too soon our children grow and leave home.  My heart fills with joy when I can be with any of them and fills to overflowing when they come to our home.  To have all of my family in one place at one time is becoming a rare experience to be cherished .  I am deeply blessed.