~IN THE DEAD OF WINTER..

NOT!!

That's my patio up there.  WHY I think I don't have to water in Winter when it's bone dry..is beyond me.
 Right now the wind is howling out there and those huge pine cones, some of them a good 8 inches plus in length, and hard as rocks, are falling like rain.  Almost.  Sometimes when I am outside I can hear them HIT with a bang on the side walk.  The tree is huge, I think it's called a Canary Pine, and I am hoping no one gets bonked on the head when walking down the sidewalk.  If they can dent a car, think what they can do to one's head.

When they fall from such height they can do damage,   PH planted that tree when he was in his twenties and I love it.  It's beautiful.  Now and then the city comes by and butchers everything in sight.  I've had a few arguments with them.

By the way..those of you who get snow..I hate feeling jealous, but I am!
It's Springlike weather here..lovely..but we NEED Winter.

On another subject, I'm finding I'm not the only one that has to force themselves to leave the house.
I never used to be that way..but when I do finally force myself to jump into my little truck and take off..it's wonderful!  Then I want to hit the mall (I'm kidding!  I only go in the back door on one side (Nordstrom) and on the other side of the mall..I hit Penny's if I need jeans..but I haven't done that in..ages because I can buy them right here while sitting in my comfy chair.
Yeah...I know.  Not good!

I think..I'm getting a bit too "comfy" with everything I need right at my fingertips on this computer.
Oh...and before I forget..the picture of the pine cones above was taken just moments ago!
I am back in business.
Not only that..I'm feeling better.

I missed Christmas ENTIRELY.  I took pictures but now it's to late to post any.
And my tree was SO pretty... *sniff *sniff
It's the one I ordered on line?  A Frazier Pine and it was wonderful.  Shipped from North Carolina on the 6th of December and still so fresh when we took it down that I hated to see it go.  I'll do that next year.
I used to love going out to the tree farm with the kids...etc. etc...not any more!
Hiking across those fields, feeling my eyes freeze shut, not being able to feel my feet....
Oh wait!
That's National Lampoon Christmas Vacation!!!
:)
Busy putting up hearts now...

Time to fix dinner.
Huge hugs!!
Mona

~WORDS TO DESCRIBE OUR LOVE~

There are none.

And they are gone.  The days flew by and I hated to see them go.  One dear friend wrote and told me that she knew they brought back memories of Patrick..and she was right...at least in part.  However, it is much more then that.  They are two of the most precious people on earth to me.  

Always there when life hurts me.  There is no distance too great for them to travel to be at my side.

No, it's not just the memories...it's love.  A deep abiding love we have for one another.

Have you ever been hugged so tightly that your face got squished?  I have!
I even went so far as to take a picture of them sleeping safely in our guest room.
I would wake up in the morning...and then remember they were in the other room.

I used to run and jump on them..and roust them out of bed!
No more running.no more jumping.  Just quiet sigh of contentment as I tiptoe away and make our morning coffee.  They are here!

It's been more than 60 years now since we met in high school.  We have gone through life together..
Because of them, I will be brave and fly in a plane again.. to see them, I would crawl!

My love to all of you.  Thank you for your words of support.
To clarify, I did not lose my blog.  My name was taken, along with some of my pictures and put out there as someone else's blog?  I'm not sure.  I didn't have to go through steps to regain my blog..it was never gone.  Just my blog name and photo's were taken.  If it happens again..I will have to give up my name I suppose.
Others have done it..and I guess I would survive..I just don't want to.
Again...thank you SO much!
Mona

~DARK PLACES OUT THERE...BE CAREFUL~

I'm back in business!  

In just this few past weeks so much has happened.  First, my pictures would not download onto my blog and while trying to figure out what was wrong, I discovered someone..some MONSTER with a very sick mind, had taken my blog name, grabbed a few of my pictures, one being my little Fairy Garden in my wheelbarrow,  and then proceeded to add porn.  

When I clicked on my blog name..up came a familiar picture of mine..but much smaller than I post, and I curiously scrolled down..a name appeared.  A strange name that appeared to be foreign.  After several of these came the pornography, absolute filth!

I began to shake.  I think I went into shock!  I had NO idea what to do or who to call ...so I ran!

I have not even gone back to investigate.

I came face to face with a faceless enemy.  I knew, of course that our blogs are "out there" as they say..and that there are lots of poor pathetic souls with twisted and sick minds that are so lost that they prey on others.  I KNEW that.  Or thought I did.

One other time, a woman, a relative of a blogger, began to harass me when I first began to blog and somehow I got through that.  But...this was different!  This time I didn't even know who or where this  "thing" came from.  

Sitting ducks, we are!  Trusting.  Thinking that our blogging community are folks we know, and that we are safe..and then suddenly, like a splash of ice water, we realize that someone is out there in their narrow, dark little world, perhaps jealous of what they do not have, crawling with their slimy minds, over our writings and pictures of our lives.  It's pathetic and sad.  

I was, and am, still tempted to just close down and not blog anymore..but how I hate to allow someone like that to put fear into me.  Still...how can one help but want to run from such evil?

So...I am here. 

I called in the Geek Squad and they came to our home and fixed my camera problem and I am back in business.  (I hope!)  I haven't tried yet..but I think all is well.

Please wish me luck.

And stay safe.  At least as safe as possible.

Love to all those I've grown to care about.  

Mona

~DECORATING..AND CHRISTMASTIME BLUES..

I've been missing in action, I know, but my "new" camera will no longer allow me to download my photo's..and I haven't been able to figure out what is wrong and the manual and even phone calls to Samsung, isn't getting me anywhere..

So... 

...since I cannot share any of my photo's ...  I'll just do the best I can.

I took this picture of my favorite coffee pot before my camera stopped working. I am trying to get our home decorated for Christmas.  The tree I ordered online arrived on Friday..and I am SO pleased!  It's just beautiful and I will do it again next year.  

Hopefully I will get my camera problem figured out and be back.

 We...finally have our wet weather..as you may have heard on the news.  When we get rain...we REALLY get rain.  It's called the Banana Express..since it comes from the direction of Hawaii.  

More later.  Please don't give up on me.  I'm just slow..and computer and camera problems leave me confused and flustered.

To be honest...I'm fighting the Christmastime blues...the 15th at 3:30 in the morning is the anniversary of Patrick's death. It does get easier as the years pass. It never goes away but it's bearable.

I know this time of year can be a delight..and usually is for me...but things are not always lovely and we can only cope.  Decorating and visiting your blogs is a huge help when I can't sleep and my mind won't turn off and I wonder at my loss.

I also wonder at my good fortune that I've been able to keep going.  Others have suffered worse.

Sometimes I give up and take a pill..it's just an aspirin with Codeine but it helps a lot.

So..that's it. :)

In spite of it all...it's really been a nice December.  I must remember to be thankful that we are together, at least most of us.  With a family as large as mine...it's nearly impossible now.

Yes..I must remember to be grateful!

More rain this week?  Maybe..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love, 

Mona

~AND SO ON TO CHIRSTMAS..~

Where do I start..

I guess here.. at the top of the page.

It was a lovely day, but long.

.

I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine.  If it was, then you are one happy person!

There were only 15 of us plus the baby. 

Christmas the number will go up by many.  

After dinner, we sat around the table and played a game.  Two teams.  Pick a name, give a hint and the team that guesses first gets a point.  It can be anyone..living or not, cartoon character..etc.  

Who did I drop in the hat?  John Wayne.  (Yawn)  PH drew Justin Beiber and had to put the name back. 

He didn't know WHO that was!  Made me feel better. :)

I think I've dropped way behind in my worldly knowledge...music wise and even film stars!  WHEN did that happen!  

Not only that..Howard and I got the softest of chairs..our food, coffee, dessert was brought to us..and we are smiled at fondly and lots of kisses and hugs!  

It was heaven.  

They all were beautiful and I forgot to take my camera, and was so carried away with the whole thing that I forgot  that I can take pictures with my cell phone!  

Sheesh!!!  

And so on to Christmas.... (I'm so excited!)  

Love, 

Mona

~LIFETIME FRIENDSHIPS AND ENDINGS..~

Well, I've made a decision.  

I've taken a few shortcut steps..and I hope you are sitting down....oh..it's not that big a deal, so you can stand..but this die hard "has to be a live tree!' has decided that this will be the very last year. 

So I am giving up a tradition.  I won't go out and search the Christmas tree lots for that perfect tree..or as of late, just a good fresh tree of the right height.no..not this year.  I ORDERED my fresh tree of the right size over the Internet!  Yes!  I did!

It will be delivered fresh (they say) shipping out on the 8th of December and arriving on the 12th, right to our doorstep from the East Coast.   

It's okay.   It's time.

Pumpkin cookies by my Maryalice.

The pumpkins on the porch are not gone, but the other Autumn outdoor decor will stay until after Thanksgiving.  

I am having guests for several weeks that will be staying with us, Or I should say WE are, so I have begun to ready the inside of our home for the Christmas holiday.  No, no decorations..just deep cleaning.. and furniture arranging, deciding where to put what.
This will be a special Christmas because my best friends from childhood will not only be with us, but it will likely be the last time they will come to California.  She is 78 and he is 80.  I know this logically, but my heart won't accept it.  We all double dated in high school.  Yes, all four of us.  Patrick and Mick  graduating the same year, 1952, and Neddie and I two years later. 1954.

I won't cry.  I won't shed a tear.  I must only think on this with happiness and not let tears blur this happy occasion.  

The story of our two families, my seven and her five, could be a book.  Our trials and times.

Ups and down.  Laughter and tears. The times things were bad and we all lived together in each others small homes.  Not for long periods of time, once for six months, but until whoever was having difficult times came through and were back on their feet.  We had each others back!

My dearest friend Neddie and I.  Winter 2006  Because of Ned, I finally got the courage to let my hair go white.  Now we match. 

  

Our children, we found out later, thought they were all cousins!  They were shocked to know this was not true and the day came when the story of our friendship was told and cleared it up that we were not related.  They knew we had been friends through school, but still thought we were somehow related.  I remember the day when they came home from high school one afternoon and said " Mom, just exactly how are we related to the Walkers??  

:)

Sort of like the day they found out there was no Santa.

We filled the "Santa" truth with love.  Santa was symbol  of  the love of parents for their children.  I was also the one that explained to the Grands.  

However we put it, it worked.

Telling of our children of our "two family connection" was much the same.

Love and friendship that lasts a lifetime.
The value of this.  The blessing.

We all knew that such friendships are not common..as most folks will say "Oh, we could NEVER live with anyone like that!  I mean, how in the world did you cope with all those children in one small home.  

All I can do is smile.

Those memories are some of the most precious of our lives.

  

When they moved to Arkansas after their children were grown and gone, we were devastated, but we  coped.  They wanted to be near their children.  We understood, but now we know that is not always the best thing.  They bought a home and settled down..only to find that their church was becoming more and more their family out of necessity.

So...I wanted them to come home for Christmas this year and they are coming. We will be together this one last time.

No, Pat isn't here, and he was Mick's best friend.  We all went through high school together..so now one of us is gone.  I remember one evening we lightly talked about it.  I remember trying to get promises that none of us would leave the other.  I don't think it ever occurred to us that eventually one of us would be the last.  It was unthinkable.
Thankfully they were in California visiting us when Pat had a massive stroke and died suddenly just ten days later on December 15th, 1997 at 6:30 in the morning.

I have photo's through those years but they are in albums and many packed away and besides, they would have no meaning to anyone but us.   

Thus you have it.  The last real Christmas tree and the last visit.  

But, where there is life, there is hope.  *smile*

Love, 

Mona

P.S. (Seems I always have a post script)  Mick and PH have bonded and are great friends.  I've been blessed.  We all have.  

~A REAL TREE OR A FAKE TREE this year...~

You know, I get tempted, because Thanksgiving isn't at our home this year, to put my Autumn decor away and get going on Christmas.  

Not sure why, but I just cannot seem to do it.

The pictures below were taken with my  old camera a few years ago. 

Last years Christmas tree?  I just cannot remember.

  I think this may have been the year before..but..

here's what has me lying awake at night.  (I'm kidding!)  

I've been thinking of giving in and finding lovely fake tree and not going to the tree lots looking for that perfect tree. 

There are no more little ones to insist that we go to the tree farm.  

Okay, THEY didn't insist.  I wanted to go!  I was first in the car!  :)

But..I'm old now and beginning to notice that it's more difficult to do what I have always done.

My heart and my head want to go look..sniff deeply of the pine scent in the air...watch other people and their little ones search..ponder and then pass to the next tree.  

Too skinny!

To fat

A big hole in that one.

The top is crooked.!

Etc. etc.

But it's cold out, crowds everywhere.  Shouldn't I just find a pretty real LOOKING fake tree? 

So..I began looking.  I shopped the internet.  I saw the high prices and tried to think.."but..this is an investment!"  I found that a really pretty real looking tree cost..A LOT!  I do not want to spend that kind of money on a tree that is not real.  

Then I thought.. "What if I only get to use it a year..two..three..and besides, how many more Christmas's do I have to smell the sweet fragrance of pine and let the memories of taking my children to find that perfect tree come flooding back.  The hot chocolate and hot dog's by a roaring fire pit, and them running to find me when they finally find their perfect tree!

It all comes back to me every year.

So..our home will have a pretty fresh Nobel Christmas tree this year..and I'll decorate it..more slowly, and alone as PH and his late wife had stopped having  Christmas trees  and he just doesn't understand my need to do what I do. So I'll decorate it and sit by the fire with my PH and watch the lights blink and twinkle and enjoy the smile on his face when he sees the end result.

I'll hope the children find time to come and see it..

I'll set the dining room table as though Christmas dinner were going to be here, and I'll put toys under the tree for decoration instead of stacking it with piles of gifts for my children as their father and I did so many years ago.

I'll put my little gifts for PH under the tree, and hope he will get used to what I do at Christmastime.

  Our family has gotten so large that each of my children only give gifts to their own little families  and one gift to put under the tree for our gift exchange game at my daughters home. 

Traditions change.

We gather in a huge circle..both for Thanksgiving and for Christmas and hold hands.

Our gift to each other is just being together.

A prayer is said and then we speak of my daughter, Sandy, and her father, both victims of cancer, and their stepfather who was only with us for six years.  Another victim of cancer.

Then..

someone (usually one of my crazy sons) always says something funny..and everyone laughs..and our holidays begin.

I've noticed something.

Not a single one of my grown children have fake tree's!  

I'm in a rush to decorate, but I can wait!  It's tradition in our family to wait..and so I will.  But if you are decorating early for Christmas, I'll come and peek at your beautiful decorations!!  

Nope..it's not in me to decorate early but when you have lots and lots, I can see why some dear folks start early.  I believe it's their Christmas gift to others.  

*smile*

Love, 

Mona

P.S,  I put some candy canes in a little vintage creamer in the living room..I just couldn't help it!!

~ORGANIZED? I CAN'T EVEN SPELL IT..~

I'm just kidding around.
Sort of.
Am I the only one that just plain runs out of steam?  Probably not..but right now as I look around and see all of the Autumn decor that needs to come down and get packed away, as much as I love the season, I am having a difficult time facing it this year.

I know!

It's disgusting!

Then I look at my photo's ...while searching for the one I just took that I intended to post this evening..and I think..
OH..this one!  This one is a favorite!  (see how easily I get off track?)
But then I think, "Didn't I already post this one?"  and I try to stick to my plan..and I keep looking.

Ohhhh...this one.  This one is a favorite...
To me she is stunning!!  but then I'm great grandma so of course I think that.
  And..again I pause!  I think "Wasn't this one posted not long ago?"  and I keep looking.
You see my pictures are ALL over the place and none are organized, so when I want to find the ones I've downloaded...they are nowhere to be found and I keep going.

This is her daddy.  It's homework time.   Ad is my first grandson.  His father is my eldest son and the second grandchild to be born to us.
I can feel my heart swell with love for them.  They really don't live all that far away..just off toward L.A. but too far to see them very often,  Everyone is working..and well..you might understand.
They will come to see me soon.  They tell me they are coming and I wait.

Posing on a gold carpet in Hollywood California.  What does she dream of being when she grows up?
She now speaks three languages.
(I don't even speak one all that well!)
Takes direction flawlessly,
Knows how to pose for the camera.  (does NOT take after her great grandmother!)
Gets lots of love,

She could grow up to be a teacher?  Work in computers like her Daddy?
Be a great woman or a homemaker and Mommy?
Whatever she chooses, I hope she grows up to be loving.
.....and I wonder.  How much of her life will

I get to see.  Will I see her grown?
Will she want a cottage or a condo?
I know I won't get to see her children, but I wish I could.
I wonder....what will her life be like?
How I wish her great grandfather could have seen her.  How proud he would have been.

Love and hugs,
Mona

...now what was the picture I was looking for?  I MUST get organized!  :)

~MY LITTLE LOVE..~

It's late..and I have nothing.  I haven't taken any photo's but at least the Halloween decor is all down and put back in it cartons and stored away for another year.

I had so much I wanted to write about and I even made notes,... then misplaced them.

How could I do that?  NO idea.  They were right here on my desk..but my desk and my brain are a matched pair lately!

 So..for lack of any planning on my part..I'll just do a quick little post and show you my 

Mele as a puppy..

...and my sweet Mele now.

She is such a good girl!  I love my little dog.

*sniff*

:)

PH's daughter is visiting from Maryland..and things have been so busy.

I know you understand. I mean, you DO, don't you?

Love,

Mona

~THEY SAY THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING..

My sweet PH handed out the candy.  I had a flu shot and didn't feel like running to the door.

I had a Hallmark Witches Spell Book that holds the candy and when you open it, it talks.

Mele would bark to say someone was at the door..and PH would answer the door with the box of candy, I could hear him telling the little ones that they had to open the box and get the candy out...and of course when the box was opened it would begin it's Witchy giggles and begin chatting...and the children would get so excited!

From then on...PH made fast tracks to the door every time the bell rang.  

After it was all over...he was smiles from ear to ear..plus he always had to come tell me what they were wearing..and how cute they were...and how they would jump when the box began to talk to them!

Then he said.. "You know, I've never handed the candy out to the kids before."  and I said "Never? and he said "Never!"  How about that.  Always a first time for everything.

He had fun, I could tell!  

Patient man, my PH!

**************

Well.. apparently my new camera has the ability to do things like this.

Take photo's and run them one after the other.

Not at all sure how to stop this thing..or even if it will show up on my blog..but..when I discovered markings on my mirror...needless to say it sort of frightened me.  So..(don't laugh) I said..as I took each picture..."..if there is some one there..make an X" and continued to snap pictures.  You can see the attempts...and finally an X of sorts was accomplished.You can see where the marking begins and ends...  I didn't know this was in my camera..or how it got animated.  Kinda drives you nuts, doesn't it?

I've shown you this crazy mirror before..but this was just kind of interesting.
I'll find something else to bend your ear about tomorrow..okay? :)

At first I was really upset..but I am sort of used to the antics that go on around here..and it doesn't bother me.  (maybe just a bit)

I used to have the worst time keeping my computer mouse on the pad, in spite of the fact that there was a wrist rest..it would shoot out the back of my hand and onto the floor...so many times during an evening when I was trying to write letter..or blog..that I felt like throwing the thing against the wall.  That was when it all began.  Now we just go about our business...and ignore it.  Sometimes I'm startled..but no harm done.  

So... sorry I don't know how to stop this thing..just thought it was interesting.

What do you think?  Weird isn't it?

I PROMISE..I WILL NEVER POST ANOTHER PICTURE LIKE THIS!

Love,

Mona 

~EVERY NOW AND THEN...

Yes, every now and then, I do something...

...besides play the piano..gardening..

 ...housework, reading and decorating..  

cooking..and shopping, but....*sigh*

not very well. 

:)

Love,

Mona

P.S,  My header?  Who knows..I sure don't.  

~ IT'S ABOUT DECOR AND FUN and SERIOUSLY SPOOKY STUFF..~

...and ..CANDY!!

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!  I LOVE AUTUMN AND I LOVE THE DECOR...

I have no clue where or when I found this cake, but it was unusual  so I clicked on it way back when I first found I could save photo's by doing that.  It never occurred to me to write down where I found it..so if it's yours..just email me and I will give you credit.  Simply lovely!

I fell in love with this tablescape...if it is yours..do let me know..it's one of the neatest ones I've ever seen for Halloween.

Isn't this just charming?   I have been saying I wanted to copy this..I forgot I was going to do it..but maybe next year.  :)  

Do yo see those little black cat pots?  I  :)  almost can't stand it they are so cute!

If it's yours...just let me know..you CLEVER person!

Do you think this house is haunted?  :)

Yes, this home has history.  It is in my husbands family on Ingalls Island off the coast of Maine.

When I went in..there was a rocking chair..with an afghan over the back.  The sink still had the old hand pump.  It still works.

Everyone on the island uses well water that is either pumped or brought up in buckets.

PH and I walked the island. 

The strange thing was the only birds I saw..or heard ..were seagulls.

We spent a few days on the island, picking blueberries and raspberries..and watching the tide come in and cover the levy with ten foot of water.  It comes from two sides and meets, making it impossible to leave the island until the tide goes back out.  

The island is where I learned the meaning of the old saying "Time and Tide wait for no man!'

Person's have been known to come running across the Levy with their suitcases banging against their legs and the family yelling and screaming and encouraging them to keep running.  The Levy is covered with fairly good sized stones to keep it from washing away and is NOT easy to run on!

I was determined to see the tide come in and cover the levy so one day I sat and didn't move until the levy was covered in the ten foot of water. 

Yes, there is a little boat with a motor moored at the little dock.

So..do you think it's possible that Spirits could be there?   The island has been in the family for more years than one can remember.  

I believe.  I'm a believer.  

But then I believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.  :)

Just one more day...

Wish I was a kid again sometimes..but not now.

Not now.

Love,

Mona

~IS MY REPUTATION RUINED?~

Actually, if it wasn't ruined before...it will be this time!  But I am going to take a deep breath and just jump into the water...if it's icy.. :) I'll survive.

How's that for the "dramatic?"  

So..

this is what happened.

This is Frank and I.  I was sixty five and he was seventy.

This is NOT a good picture of either of us..Frank was a nice looking man and this photo was horrible.  He looked cranky and the light hit him and washed out his features.  It's just a bad photo..but I can't find the photo's we took the day we got married.   Below is another one of the family toasting us at a reception we gave so the families could meet.

This is another bad picture.
In this picture my son is on the left and my sister on the right.  We are that tired pair in the background.

  We had married in Las Vegas and had been busy getting this gathering together and we were both worn out.  I just wanted to sleep!

I do hope you are sitting down.
I met Frank on MATCH.COM  Indeed I did!!
We met for the first time online the day after Thanksgiving.. and
 met in person on December 7th, 2001, and were married on New Years Eve just three weeks later.
See?  I knew you would be shocked~!!
So was I!  So were our children and that's putting it mildly!

He, like Howard, was one of the sweetest men I've ever met.  Strong, kind, funny.  He was an outdoors man.  The antlers you see on our walls now are from him.  He was a hunter and fisherman.
He branded cattle, rode horses, owned rifles and loved the outdoors...and I grew to love Frank dearly.
He had three great kids....all grown with families.

I had a wonderful life with Frank.  When we married he insisted that I retire..and at 65, I was ready.
We traveled, we went deep sea fishing, we fixed up the home he had bought shortly before his wife died..and he was like Howard in that he and I worked together on things on our home..planting a rose garden..tree's etc.
We had fun.

Match.com was my first experience on such a site and it worked.  The only thing I remember of what I wrote in my "bio" was "I love cute shoes and soft sweaters!"  The rest has left my memory.  Why I remember that I don't know, but looking back I would not have thought it would have appealed to a man.

We nearly didn't meet because I had put in the wrong address.   When I finally agreed to try match.com..I said I would give it three days.  My friend kept telling me "Well you aren't going to meet anyone by doing nothing.  Do you expect some nice man to just walk up and knock on your door??"  Of course she was right.  I had girlfriends and as dear as they were to me..I was lonely.  So, when the three days ended..and there was NOTHING,  not a single word,  I was so embarrassed that I went to Match.com  to cancel my page.
I almost hit the button to delete and then I suddely noticed it..the address had a type O!  We fixed it and left it for another day.  The following morning...I got the surprise of my life!  There were so many responses that I couldn't believe it.  I called my friend...and we had a great time reading them and decided to print some of the ones that were interesting.   The third one down was Frank, but he had no picture and lived very far away.  Still, there was something...so I answered his letter and he contacted me.  After a week he wanted to drive the three hours to meet me.  I agreed but I told him I thought that three hours away was too far.  He disagreed!  :)

 We met for the first time on December 7, 2001 and were married on New Years eve..just three weeks later.
I know it was quick...but my instinct was right.  Just as it was 7 years later when I met Howard.
Frank and I were married for 6 years and on March 22, 2007,  I lost him to liver cancer.
I've blanked a lot of it out..and I know I seldom speak of Frank.  I know I had a hard time wrapping my mind around what had happened to him..and like Patrick..Frank was apparently healthy..then suddenly, in late January,  he came home with terrible pain in his left arm..I rushed him to the hospital.. He was gone from me by March 22.
Nedra, my best friend since high school, took a plane out from Arkansas and stayed a month with me.
I think I went a little mad.
I'd had enough of this life..my son was losing his kidneys..I was worried sick and I had to leave our home..and return to Riverside to be with my son, Dan.  Danny became my priority and it probably kept me sane.  I was needed by my son.

Isn't it amazing what you can survive?  And this is nothing to what some folks go through.

It seems I'm not the type to let life beat me..and I won't let it beat those I love.  I needed to be with my son.
The children all came..my Sandy took a plane immediately from Georgia..and all four girls came.
Eventually everyone returned home and I was alone in a town far from home..so I packed up and another dear friend, Ann, took a bus to be with me and helped me move back  home to Riverside..
and here I met Howard...and eventually began to live again..

I've written a book here ..and just think what it would have been if I had put ALL the details down.
Suffice to say..you can survive anything if you give life a chance.
There have been times, I've wanted to just give up.
I still cry, sometimes too much...but I have Howard to make me smile...and my precious family and the dearest friends in the world.
Someone always walks beside you..you are never alone.  I thought I was when Patrick died..but I was not.
It's Patrick who walks beside me and makes me carry on.
Love,
Mona

~MY SECRET IS OUT..~

Telling family secrets isn't really wise....but who cares.

How did we meet?  :) No one guessed...and if you thought it, you never said it..and..

at my age..his age...NO, it can't be!  

Yep...

On "E HARMONY"..
uh huh...it's true.

My first husband of 43 years died at just 63 years old, of cancer of the lungs.
Four years later I met and married again.
When Frank, my second husband died at 78 from liver cancer..I returned home to Riverside.  A couple of years later I met and married PH.
We don't tell people...and here I am blurting it to ...the world!

I didn't want to marry again, but after a year I began to realize I didn't really want to live the rest of my life alone..and that this time the window of opportunity was closing even faster than when I married Frank at 65.  I registered with E Harmony but I knew my chances at 72 years old, were slim to none.
I was wrong.  PH found me, wrote to me and we met at a coffee shop near our homes...For a week a call came daily asking me if I wanted to go here, or there..until finally I told him I had to get some washing done..that I had chores to do!
He was such a dear man~!

He would call and invite me to dinner saying he was going to cook for me.  

I would drive up in my little Toyota truck and there he would be, standing in front of the big window watching for me.  

By the time I got to the porch..the door would be open.  A hot cup of tea would be sitting on the table.

We were married three months later.  

We  had lived and raised our families in the same town, just about five miles apart. 

We shopped the same stores..went to the same post office.  Our children are close in age.

We both married the first time in the 1950's.  Me in 1954 and him in 1956.

We both have grown children.  He has just two and two grandchildren.

Me?  I have seven and 14 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.

His life changed!  

I love him.  He takes such good care of me and I of him.  I love to do things for him..and he is the same way.  

Sometimes I will muse out loud about something I need to get done..(and this is the truth) the next time I look, it's done.  

At first it sort of rattled me, and I was afraid to mention anything that needed to be done.

I had to MAKE him sit and finish his paper or a program he may be watching..so I am learning not to mention ANYTHING that needs to be done until he takes a break from his reading..or...whatever.

If I do mention something, I preface it with "NOT NOW, but when you are finished reading the paper, can you please help me.......etc. etc.   It works.  (Most of the time)

All three of my husbands were the youngest of two boys and all three had brothers several years older.  No sisters for any of them.

Just an interesting fact. 

I could not have married more wonderful men.

Now...do you want to know how I met Pat and Frank?  :)  

No..no you don't.  LOL

Love,

Mona

She makes our family complete!

~ THOUGH AUTUMN LEAVES ARE FALLING...

... the pear tree leaves are still green... and refuse to admit it's time to drift to the ground..

..it's pumpkin carving time.

This is my Mary and my little great, Emily!

"I could carry ALL of these!"
(She has such a CAN DO attitude!)

Whats Autumn without pumpkin cookies??  Right?

Telling a fortune...just for fun.  

...and MORE and bigger pumpkin cookies!!

My precious pumpkin tea set, a gift from daughter, Mary.  It will go back to her one day.   Fall always sees these on my dining room table!

My  very favorite Autumn painting by a wonderful artist I found on Ebay.

My sweet, sweet patient husband that I adore.   I was so lucky to find him to go through these golden years with.  I am NOT a loner...  Thank you, God!  

Would you like to know where I found this gentle man?  Just ask.  :)  At the grocery store?  Through friends?  At church?  Back in high school?  At the local gas station where he offered to help me pump gas..  Did he hold the door for me at the bank?

Or...

did he accidentally bump me at a stop light and take my name and address?

On E Harmony, one of those places on line?  At our local super market where we got to chatting while in line..and he walked me to my car..and helped load my groceries?  Or on Match.com (another online place?  At a local pub?    Take a guess.  :)

My precious girl...Mele!   She has seen me through some of the saddest days of my life.

She hears me laugh more often now.

Did I tell you that I love this time of year?  Even with my sometimes sad thoughts of my loss..

I've been blessed.  How can I be sad for long.  

I can't.  :)

God is good!

Love,

Mona

~SENTIMENTAL ME....

The photo's above are a few of my grands and my children.  I thought it made a nice Autumn header.

I have no material...I didn't take any new pictures..at least nothing worth publishing.

I did go shopping and picked up a couple of cute things to add to my Halloween collection today.

Last week we went to the mountains..for  a Hoedown..and it was fun.  The dinner was great, the music was wonderful good old country Hoedown ..but the pictures I took  turned out blurred. They presented a stage play "The Haunting of Sleepy Hollow"  ..and not a one turned out.  

So..I'll show you the only picture that did turn out.
We arrived at the Riley's Ranch at Sundown..and it was beautiful.
 I live about 45 minutes, less without traffic, from these mountains and in the opposite direction to the West  is the Pacific Ocean.  I live right in the middle.  Then if we kept on driving on through the mountains we would arrive in Palm Springs!

We are four hours from Las Vegas, Nevada.
South is Mexico and Yuma Arizona where Pat and I went to be married at 17 and just barely 20 years old.
That beautiful young man will be gone 18 years this December 15th.  I lost him in Autumn.  Autumn Leaves was our song.  Those Autumn leaves are beginning to drift by my window...and I miss him.
I always do and most of all, this time of year.

These are the beautiful San Bernadino Mountains  where so many people come to spend time in Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead, etc.  We have skiing and summer sports.  I was born here in Southern California, as was my mother and all my relatives, so these are places I've gone as long as I can remember..except a short time of my childhood when I lived in Oregon during WWII.
You must click on the photo to see how desperately our mountain ranges are suffering from lack of water.  I love California..and as much as I love to travel and was delighted with the beauty of other states..California is my home..it's where I belong.

Our subtle season's are wonderful in the sense that we can go find the color, or go to the snow in nothing flat...go deep sea fishing...or to a mountain stream..  We have the giant Redwoods...we can watch sea creatures at play, such as Seals and little Sea Otters, etc...and the Whales pass our way.
Anything that hurts California, hurts me.
If I go South there is Mexico.
Things have changed so much that it's sometimes confusing to me.
Makes me sad.

I don't think there is a state in our Country that I don't have a sort of connection to and that I care about and where dear ones live.
I have blogger friends in probably every state and through them I have come to know a bit about them and their state on a personal level.
We are one.  Why can we not remember that.
How lucky we are.   How lucky I am to know all of you.
Call me a sentimental old fool..it's ok, I don't mind one bit because it's true! :)
Lov'n hugs,
Mona

~I CONFESS ~

Every day I intend to do a post..just to let my blogger friends know I'm here..but every day I end up putting it off.  If I knew the reason why, I would say.  I don't.

I'm not ill.

I'm not really depressed.. perhaps a bit.

The week has not been bad..so..  :) I'm back.

 I did accomplish a couple of things this past week that I have had on my "To do" list for a long time.

(I don't really have a list.. well..except in my head.)

The little iron front fence has been removed and the rust chipped, sanded and repainted by a professional painter, and put back in place..

 ...and my little red bench has been repainted by the same man that did the fence and in the same paint as the house trim and placed away from the lawn sprinklers at the far corner of the garage that needed some interest.  This works for me. 

I saw this gorgeous Dragon Fly sitting on one of the tippy top branches of our peach tree and thought he was worth capturing.  Isn't he/she(?) just beautiful.  Matches my little red bench to a T!   :)

 Front porch cleaned, power hosed, stripped of overgrown plants and dead ones, fountain scrubbed clean and adjusted and all ready for the season.  EVERYTHING had to come off the porch and it was knee deep in old dead plants and pots and a foot high in clippings and gunk!

 Yep..came out of my doldrums and got busy and accomplished something!  

I love this little flower box on our bedroom window.  The button mums have finally bloomed..and I'm loving it!  

I LOVE taking care of a home..maintaining it..homemaking to me is a constant thing.  I am a closet cleaner too.  I confess.  I love to clean and see things sparkle.  I have never seen homemaking as a chore but as a hobby that takes some skill.  It's been a lifetime of learning..and something I never tire of.

Just a fact.  :)

If you hate housework...that's okay.  No two people enjoy the same thing.  To me, homemaking does not stop at the front door.  It's inside and out.  It's a full time job and I never liked working outside our home.  Many of my friends prefer it..I never did.

Do you still love me?  :):)

Lovin'hugs! 

Mona

~I'M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE..

Not really...that was a TRICK!  heh heh!

Introducing a few..um heads of the kitchen?  Do you mind?

A bowl bull of kitty heads?  In the kitchen?  Gross, but Halloween is coming soon and I wanted to be a tiny bit scary.

Just a bit?  (shhhh..they don't know they don't have bodies...)

I still treasure this bit of art work.. the remains of a poor foolish little Fairy that didn't believe in Witches..  I don't believe that, do you? 

....but see what it says on the lid of the jar?  My little neighbor girl comes over every year and looks for things she has seen before...and this one in particular.  She always lets out a squeal..kids love to be scared.   

She is so cute.  She began her visits about four years ago..and this year..was not too happy with my delay in decorating.  (neither was her mother)  

 Black cats, and crows and ghosts, and black candles...I love it!

I think her button is glowing...hmmmmm..  

Her name is "Beth"...I thought it suited her..don't you?  :)

Every time I look at her, I get the urge to look behind me!

I...think it's that grin of hers.  Soooo...moving right along...

Sorry...she won't tell me her name.  Says it would shock me..so I've stopped asking.

:) Says to mind my own "beeswax!"  Honestly!!!  Some Witches!!!

Says his name is "Barry" and that he sings.  He says the crows that live in his hat sing with him.

Barry?  Really?  I don't believe a word he says.  

Then again...

****************

Okay, I've blown enough smoke for today.  :)

Can you tell I'm feeling good, even if it IS  1:00 in the morning?  

Huge hugs!

Mona