Five Dollar Gasoline By Memorial Day

Get Ready Feet....You Will Be Walking More!

Just what is this $5.00 per gallon gas prediction??  I swear the distributors in this country are getting to be really greedy pigs.  They say they think the Iranian-US tensions will cause this.

Does your salary or your pension go up every whip-stitch?  NO it doesn't.  But believe me when the gas price goes up, food prices will go up, electric rates will go up and heck the price of every commodity on the market will rise ......... strained relations .... maybe the Iranians will close the strait of Hormuz.....gas prices will rise due to Iranian subsidy cuts.  Which is it?  All of them???  Then the news goes on to say there will most likely be a 20% electricity hike!!  WHAT!!!!  How are those on limited pensions, with no way to earn more money, going to be able to live??

I can see my feet getting more and more calluses.  I may be walking to the village unless I can find a neighbor going to town who will give me a ride.  And, getting to go other places on the weekend, may be a thing of the past in days to come....and a vacation is a big laugh.  Get ready for long days and weeks and month at home for a long period I'm afraid.  I hate gas prices....I hate increased food prices.....I hate to pay my electric bill.......and no way to get an increased monthly check amount.

Well....I guess I should just go out and get a horse....it will mow the grass.....provide fertilizer for the yard......take me places ...... and  will provide entertainment for the grandkids.   But oh my aching back scooping those big piles of poop.

Vintage Springfield Fire

These is an article related to Springfield suffering a fire in 1855.  Many fires have destroyed Springfield landmarks....more to come on the subject of fires in tomorrow's blog post.

From the Springfield Journal May 1855:

The Fire in Springfield.
From the Springfield (Ill.) Journal.
The sun this morning rose upon a scene in Springfield the like of which has never been witnessed here. More than half the block of stores on the west side of the square, commencing from the north, was in ruins, and the goods and furniture not destroyed were scattered about mostly on the State-House-square, presenting further evidence of the melancholy catastrophe. The great destruction was, without question, the work of an incendiary. The fire was kindled among the some boxes near one of the buildings, and such was the dry state of all the materials about that the buildings immediately caught fire, which was not arrested until nine stores and one or two buildings of less consequence were destroyed. The following is a list of the sufferers:
Clark & HenkleHenkle -stock mostly saved; loss probably $100. Mulquinn tailor shop, over Clark & Henkle -stock mostly saved loss estimated at $50. Thayer Co., dry goods merchants-stock of goods valued at $17,000; insured for $8,000-saved goods in amount of $10,000 or $12,000; in bad order. Canedy & Johnson,. Druggists, insured on stock and fixtures $6,500, on house $2,500-loss estimated at $9,000. Spear & Brother, dry goods merchants, insured $3,000 on goods, no insurance on house. Loss about $4,000. R.H. Beach clothing store, insured $5,000. Loss about $2,000. Irwin & Davis, dry goods merchants, insured on goods $5,000, no insurance on house. Loss estimated at $6,000. A. Freeman & Co., dry goods and grocery merchants, no insurance either on house or goods. Loss estimated at $8,000. Dr. Harp office, Primm Law office, and a barber shop over Freeman, (books, papers, & etc., mostly saved.) Loss estimated at $200. Springfield Coffee-House, closed, owned by William H. Camp, no insurance. Loss about $2,000. Bradford & Johnson book store, bindery, & c., house owned by N.W. Edwards, insured for $700. Bradford & Johnson had insured on stock $3,500; loss about $1,800. P.C. Canedy dwelling house saved by the most preserving efforts; back buildings with the west torn down. House and furniture, which are considerably damaged, insured. Clark Exchange Bank, which was fire proof, arrested the fire on the south, but for which, the whole block on the west side of the square would have been laid in ashes.
The progress of the fire, as it was going west, was arrested at Mr. Canedy dwelling house. S.B. Fisher store, on the north side of the square, while the fire was raging, was discovered to be on fire in the second story. It was soon extinguished, doing but little damage.
The present is a very appropriate occasion to draw the attention of our city authorities to the necessity of providing more efficient means than they have yet done for the extinguishment of fires.

                                                    ******
Thought For The Day

The unfed mind devours itself.

--Gore Vidal

Is it chilli or is it chili?  Is seems to be that in the Springfield area it's one way and to the rest of the world it's the other way.  So who is right???

In Springfield area this tasty concoction of beef, beens and hot spices is called Chilli!  In fact in 1993 the state legislature declared Illinois the "Chilli Capitol of teh Civilized Universe" and purposely spelled Chilli with two "LL's" so to get that in the laws of Illinois.  (No wonder this state is broke.....the legislatures have always and still spend their time thinking up and passing "REALLY IMPORTANT" things instead of unimportant things like how to get us out of this financial mess.)  When the legislature did this, the Texans were enraged!!!

But the state of the state being put aside, and back to chili or chilli, however the heck it's spelled, I love a good chilli/chili....but I don't want it swimming in suet grease like some of the famous chilli recipes in this area.  There are so many chilli cook-offs in this area and it's a well know fact that many national winners have been those from the Springfield area.....even Texans come to the area chilli cook-offs and leave with no prizes....ha ha ha.

The spelling of the famous two "L" chilli started with the owner of the Dew Chilli Parlor, Dew Brockman, in 1909 when he argued with his sign painter (and won) that it needed two"LL's" and that the dictionary said both were right. Other people in Illinois think the double "LL's" are because Illinois has two "L's".  I personally don't care, I just want to use the right spelling.

Through the years there have been some famous chilli dens or cafes or hideouts or taverns or whatever.  Some of those were the Dew Chilli Parlor, The Den and Mae and Ollie's Tavern which at the time was out on Price Street off McArthur.  I remember my dad  always talking about it.....my dad always loved a good chilli and was a frequent patron of all of the chilli places in town.....and of course I usually was sitting beside him at those places and learned to eat a mean bowl of chilli and even those hot kind!!  Although the old body can't take much of that at this time in my life, I still can tolerate quite a bit of heat.

I happen to have Mae and Ollie's recipe for their tavern chilli.....one of their relatives was in a chilli cook-off and I got it from there.  Going to chilli cook-offs has been a pleasurable past time for quite some time and wow are there some really bad chilli tastes and just a few really good ones!!  Here's Mae and Ollie's recipe....of course it has the heart -attack-maker suet in it...but I guess a little taste now and again won't kill me.....I hope!  Enjoy and when you find out how to spell Chilli/Chili, let me know.

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Succeeding In Life

What do you need to succeed in life?

Success in life is always obtainable but will you do it?  Will you go the extra mile in order to succeed??

I will....and I bet that most of my readers would do that too.  My definition of what's necessary to succeed in life is ..... have a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.

The wishbone will help you get what you want.  Can you imagine going through life without a wishbone.....you couldn't throw a coin into a fountain to make your wish. And you couldn't dream of better things.   Of course you should never let your wishbone overcome your backbone.....meaning you should be able to wish all that you want but don't let your wishes overcome your strengths and desires to try to get what you want....work for what you want and don't always depend on using your wishbone.

That backbone is really important....it lets you stand tall.....walk with grace and stamina and to have endurance and strength.  It also can take you places.....to the winner's circle or sometimes to not so pleasant places if you let loose and don't stand strongly.

The  real funny bone is in your elbow....you can hit it and it hurts like heck.  But to have a funny bone can also mean that your entire self is a jovial and good natured person who loves to laugh.  It means the person can look into a mirror and see a smile on their face because their funny bone is working.

You can let the wishbone, backbone and funny bone combination take you to the stars.  That wishbone will allow you to dream and come up with good ideas on where you want to go in life.  The backbone will allow you to stand your ground and stand up for yourself and it will take you there too. And, if you happen to fail and fall, the backbone will help you get up and on with life.   The funny bone will act as the door opener for you....the humor that surrounds the funny bone of life will give you a way to talk to people, to laugh with people and to get to know people in all walks of life.

If you are a person who doesn't care about these three things in your life, it might be that you need to "Stop Wearing Your Wishbone Where Your Backbone is.....and Bring On the Funny Bone!"

Just don't allow life to give you a fracture of any of these "bones of life".  A wish gone bad on a wishbone can destroy you.  If you lose your strong backbone, you might not be able to stand up for yourself and perhaps fall below the line.  And, if your funny bone of life becomes fractured, you may feel down and out. 

So bring out the old wishbone and give it a try, all the while standing up for yourself and start laughing like a fool.....it might do you good.

Greenview Timeline

1963  -   Rev. Ralph Edie resigned are pastor of the Presbyterian Church effective May 15.

1963  -   An Easter morning ground-breaking ceremony for the new $22, 000 educational building was held by the congregation of the Christian Church.

1963  -   Fire destroyed the K & K Market, the old locker plant, and Kincaid's tavern on April 25.  The opera house built in 1910 was completely destroyed.  Fireman from Greenview, Athens, Mason City and Middletown join in fighting the fire.  Four families had apartments in the buildings. 

1963  -   Phil Hagney, 21, was killed instantly in a car crash two miles north of Athens on Route 29 on May 9.

1963  -  Diane Zuhlke was crowned Queen of the 1963  Menard County Fair.  Diane was also crowned Queen of the Greenview Homecoming which was held September 10, 11, 12, and 13th.

1963  -  Rev. Edwin Otte was installed pastor of the St. John's United Church of Christ on November 10 and served as the pastor of that church and the Presbyterian Church.

1963  -  Greenview joined the country in mourning the death and paid homage to our slain president, John F. Kennedy who was slain by an assassin on November 22.  Business houses and schools were closed on Monday, November 25 the day of the funeral.

1964  -   William Rathsack was killed and his wife and another passenger, Carrie Freese, were both seriously injured in a crash between the Rathsack car and a Mason City school bus on highway 29 fours miles south on Mason City on January2.  On January 25 Mrs. Rathsack died from her injuries.

1964  -   Dr. Pulaskis announced he would close his office on March 12.  He had been appointed as a physician at the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home at Quincy effective March 13.

1964  -  Seven year old Ricky Miller, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Miller drowned July 4 in the waters of the Sangamon River, four miles west of Greenview.

1964  -  The new Edgewild subdivision was leveled for building and two new homes were ready for occupancy.  Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Hill were the first homeowners in this subdivision.

Thought For The Day

To find yourself,

think for yourself.

--Socrates

If I wanted to view a movie on a day when I was feeling poorly, a Disney movie would probably bring me right back up and make me feel upright instead of up-side-down.

I can't imagine what my childhood might have been like without Walt Disney films, shows, caricatures.  Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Bambi, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Woody Woodpecker, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Tinker Bell, Uncle Remus....and the list goes on.

My life was enriched by seeing these movies and the characters.  And I think I got my sense of humor from these characters.....maybe trying to act like them. 

May the future of our children and their children  continue to be exposed to Walt Disney and his wonderful world of entertainment.  A true American showman who made American a better place.

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Friday the 13th....Bad Luck Omens Will Get Ya

Do you always have bad luck on Friday the 13th?

There are persons who are really paranoid about Fridays which fall on the 13th day of the month.  When a month begins on a Sunday, the 13th will fall on a Friday.  Friday the 13th won't occur in January again until 2017 and then again in 2023.  In 2012 there will be another two months which will host Friday the 13th....April and July.  So if today doesn't hold enough bad luck for you, you can try again during these two months.

People have this superstition that the number 13 is unlucky and also that Fridays are unlucky.  I've never had a real problem with either (knock on wood)....but just watch.....today will probably be the worst day I've had in years.....sometimes when I say something then the reverse happens.....the luck of the Irish I guess....NOT!

When you fear Friday the 13th, it's called "Parakevidekatriaphobics".  What a mouth full that is!  It means the affected person is afflicted with morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th.  I don't have this....do you???  Doctors feel that perhaps 21 million suffer from this condition.  WOW!

Typically I just go my merry way on any Friday the 13th.  I remember having employees who refused to come to work on that day.  Some won't buy a lottery ticket....but I know someone who always goes to the casino on this day as she feels it is a lucky day for her instead of the unlucky day for most. 

Some of the legends/fears which surround this date are:  If 13 people sit around the table for dinner, one will die within the year. Many buildings don't have a 13th floor.  Many cities don't have a 13th street/avenue.  If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffery Dahmer, Theodore Bundy all have 13 letters in their name).  There are 13 witches in a coven.   But.......the Chinese and the ancient Egyptians think/thought the 13th is lucky.

If so many people think the number 13 is unlucky and many people think Friday is unlucky so that means:

   Unlucky 13 + Unlucky Friday = Unluckier Friday the 13th...the unluckiest day of all.

As you go through the day today, think positive.  Tell yourself and the devil spirits that this is the luckiest day you have ever lived.  Go buy a lottery ticket but be very careful when you drive there.....because your luck might just be that of an unlucky person.


Old Things In Greenview

Do you remember the old post office in the old bank building....it had those little boxes with the combination dial in the front.  Occasionally you see one of these at local auctions as they sold them when the new post office was built.

Do you remember when we had a marching band with an accomplished majorette....Janet Tice.

Do you remember when we bought school books and supplies at Whit Stone's drug store.

Do you remember when we had a laundromat in a really skinny building in the downtown area for a couple of years.

Do you remember when Greenview had a homecoming queen each year.

Do you remember when the grade school classes were involved in Biddy Basketball.

Do you remember when Doctor Pulauskis came to town and we finally had a doctor...and his wife was his nurse....and you couldn't understand either of them because they were natives of Lithuania!

Do you remember there were multiple piano teachers in town and they held recitals for their students.....I remember playing Itsy Bitsy Spider at one recital during my first year of lessons.

Do you remember as a child growing up in Greenview, you had to make your own fun and never really feeling bored living here.

Do you remember having multiple grocery stores, multiple cafes, multiple churches, multiple bars, multiple gas stations ..... and we are left with nothing like this now!

These are just a few things to jog your memory.  We all have memories of growing up in vintage Greenview....some good, some bad, some fuzzy, some clear in mind and some we don't want to remember.....but we lived here and will always be a Greenviewanite.

Recipe
I like Hashbrown Casserole but due to the sodium content and the fat grams associated with the mushroom soup most hash brown casserole recipes use, I had to come up with a different recipe.  I found this recipe and really like it....it takes a bit of work but is worth it.  It's kind of like Cracker Barrel Hashbrown Casserole and I really like the taste better than the typical recipe using mushroom or chicken soup.

Lowfat, Low Sodium Hash Brown Casserole
26 oz shredded hash browns
2 cups lower fat colby cheese
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup milk
1/2 cup fat free lower sodium beef broth
2 Tablespoon lower fat margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt (I use low salt and only use 1/2 teaspoon and Mrs. Dash also)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine the hash browns, onion and cheese in a big bowl.  Mix the milk, beef broth, 1/2 the melted margarine, garlic powder, salt and pepper in another bowl and mix well.  Pour over the hash browns and mix well.  Put the other tablespoon of  low fat melted margarine in a no-stick skillet and when hot, add the hashbrown mixture.  Fry until brown and then turn over and fry until the cheese is melted (about 7 minutes total).  Spoon into a greased 8 x 11 casserole and bake at 400 degrees until dark brown on top....about 45 minutes or maybe a bit longer.

Thought For The Day

People hate those who make them

feel their own inferiority.

--Philip Chesterfield

There are advantages to being a woman over a man.....the men might not think so, but I think so....but I totally agree there are advantages of being a man,.

Being able to get out of a car and pee is a great advantage for a man....you can't imagine how hard it is for a woman to try to pee outside .... it ends up showing the old shiny white hiney in the squat position.  Not good. Some of the other advantages men have.... men get paid more....they typically get better jobs than women...they're physically stronger than women....and the list goes on.

But as I see it there are advantages as a woman.  we can attract men cause we have boobs....most men are boob men.  And when the lovely lady is pregnant they become gigantic boobs.  Us women didn't/don't get drafted to go to the service during war times.  We typically live longer.  We are stronger in soul and we don't get all ruffled when our masculinity is questioned....because we have none!

Women are "softer"...softer skin, softer personalities and softer voices are just some of the softer things.  We can wear clothes and look sexy....men just wear clothes and look .... well nice, but usually not sexy.  We are cuter!!

Men need us....even though most won't admit to it....to clean, to to cook, to keep their sanity, help keep them on the straight and narrow.

Just some other things we are good at:   we "put up with" men well, we are good listeners, for most of us, we like agreement better than conflict, we tend to pay a lot of attention to detail, we have more instincts toward crafts and the arts.

See there is an intrinsic value to being a woman.....if the job environment would just recruit us women and give us a chance to get our foot in the door, give us training, recognize and cultivate our talents and then support our efforts, the world would be much better......at least that's my opinion, biased as it is for the female population.

Now you men out there, don't become steamy and bent out of shape that there are advantages to being a woman over a man.....remember there may be after-life and second life rebirth in the hereafter, and, you could come back to earth as a woman the next time!

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Is Beauty A Thing Of The Past?

It took a lot of time in past years to get beautiful.

Now days, I think women abuse their skin a lot.  They tan a lot which can cause wrinkles and even skin cancer.  They use a lot of makeup which tends to clog your pores and lays in the wrinkles and makes your face look even older.  They use all kinds of soaps and cleaning products and don't get them rinsed off very well so that stays in the pores.   A gentle moisturizing cleanser would be the best but most don't use it.   Lots of women have facial acne because they use so much junk on their faces and the pores get clogged.

Just think about those days of old and the lack of beauty supplies.  There was no Oil of Olay or Mary Kay blemish concealer or wrinkle tightener or easy hair color (henna was available if you wanted red hair).  And you couldn't tan in the winter like people do today in a tanning bed so women went around with white as lily legs and face in the winter.

In order for the hair to be presentable, women had to pin curl their hair or put the curls in rags like my mama used to do for my banana curls in my long hair.  And older women loved to put finger waves in their hair.....I remember seeing many old women with finger waves down the back of their hair.  Sure perms were available since around 1905 when a person used cow urine and water and heated rollers to get a curl to last.  Perms were very popular through several decades and then not so popular due to the more desired straighter hair styles.  But in order to get it straight, flat irons were used or chemicals to straighten and all of that damaged hair.

The carefree American ways are pretty popular in becoming beautiful nowadays but a lot of persons just don't make it to the beauty point.  The New York minute is used in the beauty schedule so the procedure lacks results.....It seems to be ... go tan so the skin is dark (and if those same persons were born a really dark skin they would be using skin bleach).......take a shower in the hottest water one can and not use an exfoliating brush or fiber scrubber on the body so that the persons have layers of dead skin......scrub the facial skin with chemicals and put on the multitude of layers of make-up and blue and green eye shadow and layer after layer of mascara.  Then straighten the hair with a flat iron and spike it up (which I do love this style for me) and use root pomade and then half a can of hair spray unless your hair is easily trained to stand up (mine is). 

Voila...most might think after doing all of this un-natuaral and damaging procedures it becomes instant beauty in the eyes of the beholder but, maybe not to everyone else.

Maybe we need to go back to the olden ways.....scrub the face with water and use a mild cleanser like Ponds.  Then apply moisturizer on the face.  Take a cooler shower and scrub off the dead skin....and use a moisturizer on the body too.  Get a simple hair cut that is cut to swing naturally and don't use Permanent Waves or chemicals to straighten...go natural if one has naturally curly hair.
And by all means, stay out of those tanning booths and out of the sun in the summer....and if you must be out in the sun, use a sunblock of a high number.  Believe me you will be sorry in your older years when your face looks like it has cracks and crevices as deep as the grand canyon....just sayin......

What Do You Remember About Your Youth??

In Greenview it was pretty slim pickens so we made our own fun.  these are things I remember from my youth.  Keep in mind I was accident prone and always having mishaps....my dear mother always said she hoped she lived to see me grow out of it....she didn't live that long.



1.   Playing baseball at the old grade school ball diamond....boys and girls together on the teams.....just about every day in the summer.

2.   Playing of the swings and teeter totter (a friend....no names mentioned.... jumped off when I was in the air with my legs crossed underneath and bingo I broke both my legs....ouch!!)

3.   I got on my pony, Playboy Pat, just after my dad brought him home from winter pasture.  He was full of vim and vigor and bucked me off and I broke my arm just about 1/2 inch below my shoulder.  Old Pulaskis taped my arm to body for weeks....my break occurred the on Palm Sunday and it was about the middle of a hot June before it was finally not taped....hot and sweaty and stinky to boot!!

4.   I was riding my bike up towards the high school and got to Godbey's house and a car turned the corner in front of me and I fell in the gravel and almost got run over.....I had gravel embedded in my elbow and my knee.  Old Doc Paulaski used a wire brush to get the gravel out of my ouchies.......I about pee'd my pants on that one.



6.    I remember good times of going to West Food Store and buying a hunk of bologna from him which he wrapped in white paper and his girlfriend Esther would take the money .... then a bunch of us kids would go to the park and pull off hunks of bologna and eat it...dirty hands and all.

7.   I remember going to see movies in the park on a big screen.

8.   Many times us kids would ride bikes to the country to visit our  friends and relatives.  My grammie lived about 3 miles out to the northwest and my friend lived just a bit further than this....I would peddle to grammie's and get refueled with Tang and cookies...then I would start for my friend Karen's house.  By the time I got there it was just about time to start for home.

9.   If you read my story of my childhood fears of death in earlier blog posts, you know I hated and feared death and didn't want to be anywhere near a dead person....I hated the clown make-up the morticians used and the hands lying on the belly (reposed in death).

10.  And it was always good to remember the ice cream cones at Emma's with the free cone papers at the bottom; going into the locker plant to get things from the locker because it was so dang cool; going for a ride with my friend Sandy's mom because they had an air conditioner in their Plymouth;  permanently borrowing apples from townfolks' yards and taking them to the park to sit and eat; riding around town on our bikes and later in the family huge ghetto cruiser car. 

And of course always remembering that I was and am a small town girl....who never grew up......I'm still young at heart and always will be.


Recipe

A Favorite Recipe

Take a cup of kindness,
mix it well with love.
Add a lot of patience
and faith in God above.
Sprinkle very generously
with joy and thanks and cheer -
And you'll have lot of "Angel Food"
to feast on all the year.
       --unknown author

Thought For The Day

Think like a man of action

and act like a man of thought.

--Henri Bergson

As I go along in life, I value certain things which enrich my life.....these are some things I think about......

As a friend you are not replaceable but you can hurt me with your attitude and your actions.  But please don't step on me and sour the friendship as I might not recover and you might lose me as a friend. 

Your life is a canvas.  Treat it with respect and grandeur.  It comes but once and it is like a valuable piece of artwork. 

Laugh each day.  Even if it's at yourself...it will do you good.  Or laugh at me instead if you don't feel like you are funny enough to prompt laughter.  I do some pretty stupid things so just think of those stupid things you know I've done....generate that laughter.

Recognize you aren't perfect.  Eat your humility like a fine piece of chocolate.....life is full of mistakes and none of us is immune to that.

By all means be genuine.  Don't mask yourself and try to be something you aren't.

And last of all be full of love for all mankind.  Love in itself is perfect if you let it be.  It can turn sour but you sometimes have to work to make sure it works.  There are no exceptions to perfect love and be sure to let it come if wants to come to you.

Have a good day because you deserve it.

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Hilarious Notes

Do you leave notes???

Sometimes the aggression comes out in the note writer.....and some of these notes show it.....I think some might have been written by passive aggressive persons.....Ha ha ha

Old Tyme Pictures Of Surrounding Area

Ashland Farmers State Bank 1909

Broadwell Pig Hip Restaurant and Museum

This was a restaurant from 1937 to 1991

and then became a museum only.  It burned in

2007 and was a truly great loss of memorabilia.



Huge fire in 1909 in Decatur downtown when an entire

block was destroyed.

Lincoln 1916 - Broadway looking west.

Lincoln 1932 Alveys Drug Store

Recipe

I love Salmon Patties but didn't eat them for years because I had always fried them in margarine.  With the availability of the fat free cooking spray I learned I could make the patties and spray them and bake them and they are still just as good.

Salmon Patties

1 can pink salmon

1 egg

1/4 cup minced onion

1/4 cup flour

1/4 to 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs or crushed crackers

salt and pepper

Drain juice and save in case you need to add some to the mixture.  Take out the bones if desired.  Mix the egg and onion with the salmon until sticky, then add the flour and crumbs.  If it is too dry add some of the salmon juice.  Form into patties and put on a baking sheet which has been sprayed with Pam or other fat free spray....then spray the patties.  Bake at 350 degrees F until brown.  Turn over at about 15 minutes.

Thought For The Day

If poverty is the mother of crime,

stupidity is its father.

--Jean de la Bruyere

Yesterday I heard a noise and went to investigate.  I saw only the dog and a pile of books lying on the floor beside the dog. She was lying quietly with her eyes closed just as if she were pretending sleep. 

Since the dog seems to understand English better than any dog we ever had I thought I would ask her what happened.  She sure does understand the words "eat, ride, go pee, outside, food, upstairs, basement, bath and many many more". 

Since this old dog is so well versed in the English language I pointed to the books and asked her "what is the kerfuffle doggie?"  She didn't move.  I knew right then she was the culprit....she somehow got those books to fall.  Not long ago she was mad since we were gone and pulled some stuff from the coffee table and promptly chewed it up....of course it was important...something I had to send somewhere. 

This dog is nearing 13 and she is reverting to her childhood.  She chews up things, she whines and wants her way all of the time.  Doghood antics of a young dog it seems.  But of course she is like a member of the family....she gets her way.  So I picked up the books and went away.  I put them higher this time because I didn't want them destroyed......so this time she went upstairs and dug through the laundry basket and got my socks out and chewed holes in two pairs. 

This is certainly not the first time she has chewed my socks when she is upset with me....I buy more socks than any person I know because I somehow get big holes in them....teeth marks believe me.

Doggie is going to spend a few nights in the cold garage is she doesn't watch it......dang dog!





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A House Painted Pink

Would you paint your house pink??

A couple of days ago I happened to be driving down the street and lo and behold I see a pepto bismol pink house.  The front door and the window casings all were painted pink  God awful color if you ask me.  And to boot the fence was a bright blue.  It was so bad that if a person didn't have diarrhea, just looking at this pepto color was enough to give it to you.

As I sit here pondering about writing to tell you I saw this horrible pink house, it makes me wonder just why would anyone want to paint their house bright pink?  And pepto bismol pink to boot.  As I see it there could be a number of reasons.....I'm not sure they would be considered valid reasons but....

First of all I will give them the benefit of a doubt and say that maybe they bought the wrong color.  uh huh....sure!  Or maybe the store mixed the wrong color and all of those gallons of pepto bismol would go to waste so why not go ahead and use it on the house. uh huh....sure!

Perhaps they knew exactly what they were doing and wanted it pink so everyone would talk about it.  Maybe they thought it would get them on reality TV.  Sometimes weird things get you on those kind of shows doncha know.  Look at the convicted former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich....his hair is weird and it got him on a couple of  reality shows....and his wife was on one too and she even ate a tarantula (now that is weird!).  See people do weird things for weird reasons.

Perhaps the city paid them to paint it pink so it could become a phenomenon on the city register or in the historical register.  Or the city wanted a pink house that was easily recognizable in their quest to give good directions from one spot to another in the city.

By jove I bet I have the real reason.....they wanted to attract Better Homes and Gardens to take pictures and do a feature story....or maybe House Beautiful would be better......or maybe Mad Magazine if you ask my opinion.

But for now the pink house mystery and why they painted it that awful pepto bismol pink will remain a mystery....cause I'm not gonna go up to the door and knock for fear that someone who looks like the Addams Family "Lurch" might open the door.

Old Tyme Greenview

1959  -  Mrs. Earle Eldridge sold the Eldridge and Eldridge fertilizer business to Schrock Fertilizer Service.  Burton Zeitler and family moved to Greenview and Mr. Zeitler assumed the management of this business.

1959  -  One of the oldest buildings on the village squar was razed on March 9.  The building was located between the Legion Hall and the Greenview Fire Station and was reportedly built in about 1867.  Conklin Barber Shop is housed in the new modern building.

1959  -  A barn on the Billy Ross Edwards farms was destroyed by fire when struck by lightening August 29 during the storm that hit this area.

1960  -  The last runs of the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio passenger trains between Bloomington and Kansas City were made April 14, marking the end of rail passenger and mail service to and from Greenview.

1960  -  Leslie McKee retired from the grocery business after devoting thirty years to the business.  He operated the McKee Grocery at the same location for twenty-three years.  (Note....for those of us who remember Les and Gerald, the business was in an old garage of sorts and had partial dirt floors.....not too clean but the hunks of bologna were good and most only used this store in times where the other grocers weren't open!)

1960  -  On November 21, at about 8pm a fire struck and completely devoured the James Willis home on the Milo Vogt farm south of Greenview.  The Willis family was not at home when the fire started.

1961  -  Arnold Berg, owner of Berg's Autobody of Greenview and James (Perry) Altig became partners in a new business venture called Greenview Welding and Machine.  The shop and business was in the northwest part of town.  James (Perry) Altig died later this year on December 20 at the age of 42.

1961  -  Mr. and Mrs. Jack Luscher, owners of the Greenview Review for over thirteen years sold their interests in this weekly publication to the Petersburg Observer effective June 26.

1962  -  The new post office was officially opened for business in Greenview on Tuesday, January 2.  Andrew Fitzgerald was postmaster with Miss Jennie Godbey as clerk.

1962  - Minister Lyle Brassfield minister of the Greenview Christian Church for almost five years resigned to accept a pastorate in Alma, Michigan.  Rev. Richard Robinson was called as the new minister of the Christian Church.

1962  -  Donald Beatty resigned as Superintendent of the local schools to accept a similar position at Northwestern Community Unit School in McDonough County.


Recipe

I love coconut pie and I really like it when I don't have to make a pie crust.  This pie makes its own crust...and is really good.

Magic Coconut Pie
4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups milk
1/2 cup melted margarine
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coconut

Gradually add sugar to beaten eggs.  Beat in milk.  Sift dry ingredients and add to first mixture.  Add melted margarine, coconut and vanilla.  Pour into 2 eight (8) inch pie pans which have been lightly greased.  Bake in moderate oven 350 degrees F. for about one hour or until set, depending on different ovens. (Note I have used a 10 inch deep dish pie pan instead of the two eight inch pans.)

Thought For The Day

If it doesn't absorb you, if it

isn't any fun, don't do it.

--D. H. Lawrence

If someone throws something at you, you duck.  It must be something in our instinct to know when to duck and when something is coming.  Most of the time at least.

If you think about a fly sitting on the kitchen counter, he knows when to fly away.  He knows that fly swatter is coming his way.  Now, I really don't how he knows but in the case of my fly swatter, I miss every time.  I must be as slow as molasses in my swing of the swatter.  But, when I think of a fly's eyes, I once read where they see motion so I guess when they see this big mama coming at them, they prepare for flight, probably thinking I'm going to sit on them or something.  They don't even think about the big swatter I have in my hand...they worry about the "big" all right...good and big.

I don't think us humans have the uncanny ability to see motion as well as the fly so if someone throws something at us, our reflexes, and especially my reflexes, are such that we might get hit with the flying object.  Yesterday it was the pillow the other person in this house threw to me so I could lie down on the sofa and become the goddess of the tv remote.  Yes it hit me....but being a pillow it didn't do much damage.....just did damage to my ego because I didn't see it coming.  Guess I need to get my eyes checked....when you can't see a huge pillow coming you way, the glasses just aren't right!!!

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Insulted By The Brush

Has Your Toothbrush Ever Fought Back?

Every morning it's the same.  Get up, do the strenuous stretching in order to prevent muscle sagging.  First the neck from side to side to help with that sagging old neck skin.  Then the facial muscles .... give yourself a facial a day is like yoga for the skin.  Then comes the body stretching....left arm over the head and hold for the count of 15, then the other arm over the head....next comes putting your hands on your shoulders and doing the chicken wing circles, first frontwards then backwards for about 10 circles each way.  After that comes bending towards your toes and holding for 15 seconds then standing upright and putting your right leg forward and left leg stretched out behind you and holding for about 15 seconds.  Whew...stretching done.  Next comes brushing the teeth to get rid of night ick.

Go into the bathroom and ..... where the heck is my toothbrush???  It's the white one with the green and red stripes....it's an Aquafresh.  The only one in the house that is an Aquafresh.  Easily recognizable brush and not likely to be used by the tooth fairy or others in search of a toothbrush to use.  I had this toothbrush for quite a while and should have replaced it but....dang it....it was my favorite.  It fit my mouth and around my toofers just right.

I searched the bathroom.  First the toothbrush cup, then both drawers in the vanity.  Evasion!!  Come to me little toothbrush but no it didn't.  It just didn't want to be found!  Was it fighting back?  Maybe be it was tired and didn't want to enter the black hole, full of bacteria and that awful smell of morning breath!!!  Where are you my little striped brushie......LOST!  I absolutely couldn't find that brush and had to open a new package which we always keep on hand for guests who arrive with no toothbrush in hand. 

So now I have a new toothbrush and feel very insulted that the old one hid so well just to avoid me this morning.  But.......the latest news is that I found that little sucker ..... in the bottom of the waste can.  It fell from the counter and must have jumped about one and a half feet to land in the waste can.  Wonder how that happened?  Maybe the tooth fairy came and saw the pitiful shape of that pathetic brush and helped that brush jump to the waste can. 
I feel insulted .... my brush didn't even care enough to say goodbye.  It fought back and won.  Goodbye old friend.  I'll say goodbye even though you didn't.

Springfield At Its Best

Did you know that when you google Springfield Illinois metro area it shows it consists of two counties.....Sangamon and Menard.  That is so interesting because Menard County at one time was considered a part of Sangamon county.  No wonder we all have an interest in Springfield and the near area.  We are a part of it.  I love the history of our small town, but our ancestors weren't the best picture takers and after a while the photos run out.....at least until I can find some more in my quest for the old stuff.

Here are some more photos and photo postcards of old Springfield places and businesses.  You should be able to click on most pictures to get an little larger view.   Enjoy!

1917 Bressmer's Ad

1917 YMCA Ad...YMCA at 317 South 7th

1962 Autorama Car Show at the State Fairgrounds

Centennial Building 1925

The Dome Building at the State Fairgrounds early 1900's.

The Dome building was originally built for the Columbian

Exposition in Chicago.  When it was dismantled, it was brought

to Springfield and rebuilt on the state fairgrounds.  This dome

 building later was destroyed by fire.  It was located to the east of where the Exposition building is on the current fairgrounds.

Recipe

Hardee's Type Biscuits
4 cups self rising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk

Mix ingredients together.  Do not knead the dough.  Roll out on a floured board and cut with a biscuit cutter.  Brush top with buttermilk before baking at 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes.

Thought For The Day

The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror.

It grasps nothing.  It regrets nothing.

It receives but does not keep.

--Chuang Tzu

The kid in me comes out frequently.  The stories I want to write showcases me as the protagonist.  Me, as the lead character, probably just wouldn't work.  I would be too much of a drama queen.  I love drama. 

Then after the story would begin I probably would want to then be the antagonist.  Because starting a good conflict never hurt anyone.  The kid in me just wants to bust out and be here!

But I must contain those feelings.  It might not be normal for someone to want to be a kid so much.  One who wants to jump rope and chew bubble gum and ride on the merry-go-round and the carousel and skate on the sidewalk and jump rope.  Then do the limbo walk and the Mexican hat dance.  Can you imagine how this might affect an older person?  Three days in the old recliner with a heating pad as well as an icepack and a double dose of arthritis medicine.  I think I will restrain myself.

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