Whiskey Jugs

These three stoneware whiskey jugs sit in my stairwell along with the snuff jars. One of them came from G'ma Lottie's. My Dad would pick them up at farm auctions just because he liked them, so, every one in the family has one or two of them. Your G'pa J. was always dabbling in making wine and beer, so, I wouldn't be surprised if G'ma Lottie might have made some homemade whiskey at some point in time. Your Dad made some wine and "home brew" beer when we lived in Tulsa. He was always proud when a batch turned out to taste good enough to drink !!!

Something Old, Something New

Your wedding day, December 11, 1976, seems like yesterday to me !! Did we ask you if you wanted the money versus all the wedding expenses ?? But, when I look back at the cash that was spent, it was really quite a modest amount. My favorite memory of the planning was the day we found your gown. I can still picture you coming from the dressing room and the "aha" moment of "this is the one" !! As in all beginnings, do any of us have any idea where the years will take us ?? Or, what surprises those years will bring ??

A Tulsa Home

Today, I have been looking through photos I have downloaded onto my computer the last few years, trying to jog some memories for something interesting to tell you about !! I have a few more "collectibles" that have a story to tell, but getting close to exhausting the supply. If you have something I have given you that you would like to know about, send me a picture. I'm sure you remember this house in Tulsa !! The home where our own personal "Dennis the Menace" lived next door. Also, the home we lived in when your Dad brought Ringo to be our family dog. The Plymouth in the driveway was the first "brand new" car we ever owned. Your Dad finally had a garage where he could keep and work on his race car. I wonder what this neighborhood looks like today.

Memories of My Buddies

Ginger, the setter, and Amber, the Sheltie, were adoptees. Both started out as your dogs, they came to live with us, then ended living with my Mom and Dad. I loved having dogs when they had a yard they could go out to anytime they wanted. These two were great pals on my daily walks when we lived in Tulsa. Your Dad taught them to understand the spelling of w-a-l-k. If the word or spelling was even mentioned, I had to get my walking shoes on and go or they would not settle down !! Nowadays, I get my dog fix with friends and neighbors dogs, plus my smart little great-grand-dog, Jasmine !! AND, of course, Susie and Clarice when I get the chance !!

Have a Cup of Tea with Me

This pretty little teapot was a gift for my birthday several years ago, from my friend and neighbor, Willa. She loved having a cup of tea and a snack in the mid-afternoon and would often call and ask me to join her. After I retired, we had breakfast and coffee together nearly every day. These little afternoon rest periods were always a surprise and enjoyable. Willa loved teapots and could not resist buying another "pretty one". She must have had a dozen different ones, but, the afternoon tea was most often served from a vintage ironstone teapot.

Brass Dragon

Reading an article in yesterday's newspaper about Komodo dragons being on the endangered list, reminded me of this 6 1/2" tall "so ugly, he's cute" dragon. He sits along with other brass animals on the ledge above my back patio window. I have never liked him very much, although he is very unique. He was your Dad's favorite and the beginning of a small collection. Your Dad purchased him at a local store on the island of Okinawa. Being created from brass shell casings collected by the Okinawans during and after World War II, he is solid, not hollow, and very heavy. I think he adds a bit of humor to the collection.

Rose Bowl

I have a set of 6 of these pretty little 5" china dessert bowls in my kitchen cabinet. The marking on the bottom says "Germany". Mom had these amongst the truckload of things she brought back to Iowa from Ohio when she helped her sister, Bertha, clean out a barn load of family mementos. So, these once belonged to my G'ma Hanle and possibly belonged to her mother. A complete set of china with this design would be wonderful to have, don't you think ?? I think these were probably just a specialty piece, though. I like using them for sliced fresh fruits or applesauce -- they are just the right size.

Pretty in Pink

I purchased this pink depression glass "platter" at a farm auction in Iowa several years ago. It measures about 11" across and has a home in my china cabinet. Most times at auctions, boxes of miscellaneous items will be put up for bid. You may end up with items that you wonder what on earth you are going to do with, or, things that may be just plain ugly in your eyes, but, in order to get that one thing in the box that you really love, you bid and hopefully win. All the extra items are good for the next garage sale if the price was right !!

Djer Kiss Perfume

Have you ever opened an empty bottle of perfume and could still detect the scent ?? It is amazing how the odor lingers in those bottles for years. This is a fine example of that !! A little 2 1/2" vial that my Dad gave to my Mother when they were young lovers -- Mom and Dad were married in 1933, so this bottle predates that !! I came across this when I was helping Mom with some cleaning back in the early 90's. When I asked her where it came from and she told me Dad had given it to her when they were dating, I was in awe that she had kept it all those years. This was the first time I had ever seen it !! When you take the brass lid off, the top of the bottle has been broken, but, I, like my Mom, cannot bear to throw it away. It contains too many memories, along with the scent !!

Bellagio Conservatory

Hilery and I made a trip to Bellagio yesterday to see their new springtime display in the Conservatory. Of course, it was beautiful, as always !! There was every kind of springtime bloom that you could think of. A "greenhouse" is enclosed to house live butterflies. The ladybug was created with red carnations. A person can walk through this botanical garden, but, never see everything there is to see. The horticulturists that create this display pay attention to every detail.

Springtime

The flowering plum in front of my courtyard has been in full bloom for a couple of weeks now. Actually, the red leaves are beginning to push themselves out on the branches and the pink flowers are falling. This tree is my sign that winter is over and a hot summer is on its way !!

Vintage Trophy

This old trophy was presented to your great-granddad, C. J. Rose. The inscription reads, "Little Glidden Tour, 1911. Presented by Hyperion Field & Motor Club, to C. J. Rose, In recognition of the true sportsmanship shown in night drive from Council Bluffs to Dubuque." This was when he drove that Hupmobile across the state of Iowa. No one in the family knew this trophy existed until G'ma Mom (Minnie, the wife he left with 4 children) passed away. It was found in a trunk with mementos of her lifetime. G'ma Ruth thought your Dad should have it since he was into stock car racing. The trophy now sits on top of the curio in the front entry hall. Now, I have to go Google that club and car and see if there is any history on the Internet !!

Brothers

Another old picture that I just love !! My Dad's family were members of a Lutheran church and this was taken on Dad's confirmation day, which as I understand, took place when he was 16. This would date the photo at 1927. His youngest brother, Calvin, looks to be just a few months old, so he may have been baptized at that same time, since they are pictured together. It always has amazed me that no matter how financially stressed families may have been, they always had at least one nice "dress" suit of clothing. And, it seems, there was always enough money to have professional photographs taken.

Take Your Medicine

These vintage, over the counter, medicine bottles have been part of all the "things" on top of my kitchen cabinets for about 10 years. Before that, they were on a shelf over the wet bar, which is now my computer niche. One of the larger bottles was found in the walls of the old house that was demolished when your G'ma and G'pa Johnson were getting ready to build their house in town in 1956. The rest of them were collected through the years on different shopping excursions. With the added straw flowers, they make a fun addition to all the paraphernalia that I have to clean every so often !!

Dealers in the Making

Your Dad's job transferred us to Las Vegas in August of 1985 and within the month, I had enrolled in a dealer's school to learn the ins and outs of dealing blackjack. We always loved to play the game when we visited Las Vegas, so, I thought being on the paying side of the table was where I needed to be. That November, I was hired at a casino called Lady Luck in downtown Las Vegas, then moved on to the "strip" at Circus Circus in March of '86. In June of 1990, the company opened their new hotel/casino, The Excalibur, and I dealt there the remainder of my "career" until I retired in 2005. I fell short just a few months of spending 20 years with the same company. Twenty years of dealing casino games sounds like a long time, but, the people I worked with and for, plus the changing faces of tourists everyday, made the job fun and the years, short !! This photo was taken that fall of "85 -- we three gals became friends at the school and every day after classes, we would go to different casinos to check them out. Marlene, on the left, moved back to the Midwest a few years ago, to work on one of the riverboat casinos. I have lost touch with Kim, the young girl on the right.

Remembering

I took this photo last summer when I was back in Iowa for my 50 year class reunion. This is the house on the farm we moved onto when I was 4 years old. The house itself, looks much the same as it did in 1944, but the grounds have changed a lot. There was a fence around the yard, a big mulberry tree at the front corner of the driveway and another tree where a wire clothesline was strung between the two. I can picture the sheets and towels blowing in the breeze on that line. Some of the smaller buildings like the hen house and outdoor toilet have been removed. This is the farmstead where my sister and I found the baby skunks thinking they were kittens. I learned to ride my bike in this driveway. A lot of childhood memories connected with this farmstead !!

"Glamorous Corvette"

I had a dream last night that I was back in this
Corvette driving around. I parked it in a parking garage and when I went back to get it, a Volkswagen was in its place !! I know you remember when your Dad put us into a snowbank with this car !! I remember a teenage daughter of a friend told me I was too old to be driving a Corvette. This yellowed photo was taken back in the 70's, days of the "big hair" -- my days spent as a "glamorous" blond !! I was in the hairstyling business, so it was not expensive to keep up with bleaching those dark roots !! Fun to remember those younger days !! It would be fun to have that car out in my garage today !!

Ben and Ada

I love looking through the old family photos - wouldn't it be fun to be able to have a bit of conversation with those long gone relatives ?? This couple is your great-great grandparents, Ada Kendall and Ben Trealor with their only child, Minnie, your great grandmother. I don't have a date for this photo, but, Ada and Ben were married November 16, 1882 and Minnie looks to be a young teenager, so I would guess late 1800's, early 1900's. Your Aunt Joan is creating a wonderful scrapbook about this side of the family. I think I need to be asking her some more questions !!

Moustache Cup

This was my G'pa Hanle's moustache cup. And, what is that ?? Well, the cup has a divider in it -- the front half has holes in it for the coffee to come through. Supposedly, this would keep him from getting coffee on his moustache as he was drinking. The marking on the bottom says Austria. Mom had this on a knick-knack shelf in her kitchen for many years. I think she probably remembered seeing him drink from it. I think it is a beautiful piece of porcelain and it has a home in my china cabinet.

Fancy Pants

These pretty little Lefton porcelain figurines were my Mom's. She had them on an end table in her formal living area. I don't know whether she bought them herself or if they were a gift from one of her friends, but, I know she always loved pretty little "things" !! When us kids were cleaning out the house after Dad died, no one else wanted these gals, so, I latched on to them. I know I have a lot of "stuff", but, things like this always bring me wonderful memories.

First Grade

This old 1946 photo came to mind when out of the blue, an old high school classmate called Thursday evening and he had just arrived here in Las Vegas. His hobby is skeet shooting and he came to enter a tournament. I see Dennis most every time I go back to Iowa as he is a neighboring farmer. We grew up down the country road from each other and our parents were good friends nearly all of their lives. His time here is well filled with his tournament, but, we managed to have dinner together Friday evening, then played black jack for a little while. The Bristle farm was in a different country school district than the one I went to, so he is not pictured here with me and my classmates sitting in the school yard. Arthur and I, on the right, were in first grade -- Richard, Terry, and Linda were in kindergarten. With nine grade levels in a one room country school, lesson planning for the teacher had to be quite a chore. I regret not having more photos of the schoolhouse, the teachers and the classmates.

Elda and Elmer

This wedding portrait of my Dad's only sister, Elda, was taken in 1946 when she married the love of her life, Elmer. I was again a flower girl, along with a niece of Elmer's. We were dressed in yellow and shared a basket of yellow and white carnations with baby blue ribbon trim. This time, the flowers were real !! It's really strange that I don't have as vivid of memories of this wedding as the one a year earlier. The only other person in this photo I can name is the man on the far right -- Delbert -- a brother to my Dad. Elda and Elmer spent their life together as dairy farmers in South Dakota. They raised 3 sons, one of who now manages that same farm. I don't do well with keeping in touch with "far away" relatives. Mom always kept me updated and now my brother does a pretty good job at it !! Your Aunt Shirley is probably our best family historian, though.

Lehman and Irene

This wedding portrait, dated 1945, is of my Dad's first brother, Lehman and his new wife, Irene. I was the flower girl, dressed in blue and carrying a basket of blue and pink crepe paper carnations. On the far left is the best man, Lloyd, another of Dad's brothers. The woman on the right is Dad's sister, Elda, who a year later, married Elmer, the man next to her. The maid of honor was Irene's sister whose name I do not remember. After the wedding at the country church, there was a reception at the Schultz farmstead. The party went on into the wee hours, even after the bride and groom had disappeared. Kids were allowed to stay up as long as they wanted (or as long as they could keep their eyes open). A fun time was had by all !! I love these old photos in their "cardboard" frames.

70's Oils

Here are a couple of my oils that I painted back in the 70's. I sold both of them and wish I had them back, although, I don't know where I would hang them if I had them !!! The "Old Prospector" was one I painted because I just loved the look of the old man in a photo in a magazine. A good friend and neighbor, Opal, saw it when it was finished and framed, fell in love with it and told me she would pay whatever price I set. I thought I set a price higher than she would pay, but, not so. It still hangs in her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The nude was a commissioned piece - some friends, John and Jodi, wanted a painting to hang in their bedroom and hadn't been able to find anything they liked. They gave me a photo they found in a magazine, liked what I did with it and purchased my painting. I have lost touch with them over the years-- hopefully, they still treasure it !! The small "Watermelon Pickles" is a copy of a still life painting I liked. It hangs in my kitchen in a collage collection of two other paintings and treasures. I often think about how much I enjoyed oil painting, but, have no desire to pick up a brush these days -- I am loving the altered arts !!!

I Love the Saturday Auction

This gorgeous cut glass vase was the one I have had my eye on for the last two weeks at the Saturday auction and they finally put it up for bids !! It belonged to my friend, Willa, so I really wanted to have it (whether I needed it or not) ! It measures about 9" tall and 4" across the top. My friend Sharon and our mutual friend, Lana, accompanied me -- it was the first time Lana had been to any kind of auction, so now she is hooked, too. I was able to purchase this vase for $10 which was much less than I expected to have to bid. I think I will have to buy a bouquet at the grocery store and use it before I find a permanent home for it !!