Monthly Archives: November 2012

Grandma Hutchinson

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First, the Family Friday meme has a new home.  You’ll find it here on Blogger.

This week, I want to tell you a bit about my my paternal grandmother, Margie Victoria Isham.  She was born December 3, 1895 at Eaton Rapids, Michigan.

The baby photo is dated 1896.  Margie’s parents didn’t stay together.  Her mom raised her with some financial help from her dad.

I suppose that if you gals had a dolly like this one, that you would not play with her.  You would not let children play with her.  You would protect her, for she would be valuable.  She probably was back then as well.

To provide income, Grandma Margie’s mother ran a millinery shop.  Don’t you suppose that explains such a fancy hat for a young lady?

Margie’s father bought a piano for her, and with lessons she became a very good player.  She even played piano at the movie theater.  That was a neat job, and she got to watch the movies!  I asked her, “Wasn’t that hard to do?”  Her answer?  “Aww, there’s nothing to it.  You just watch the screen and play something that goes with what you see.  If it’s a love scene, you play something sweet and soft.  If it’s a chase you play something fast and loud.  You could do it too!”  For my part, I’m not so sure.

In 1907, her mother married Alfred Weidler, a German immigrant.  The family moved to Missaukee County, Michigan near Lake City.  There they farmed and raised bees.  At one time Weidler was, according to family tradition, reported to be the largest bee keeper in all of North America.  While it may be a “family story,” it does play a role in my Grandma meeting my Grandpa.

Grandpa’s folks wanted to get into the “bee business.”  They had heard about the Weidler’s and their operation in the same county.  I’m not sure how the business aspects went, but two young people met.  They were married November 3, 1913 in Lake City.

Here’s a picture of Grandma and Grandpa Hutchinson that was taken of them in 1940 shortly after I was born.

Grandma Margie was always a favorite of us kids.  She could tell great stories and had a most infectious laugh.  She passed away in 1989 at age 93.  Her life wasn’t easy, but she took it in good stride.

Update to Busy Today

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I’ve just put a bit of polish on the new home for Family Friday.  I hope you like it.

I’ll be posting the Family Friday Linky on that site on Thursdays at 6 PM Eastern Time.  It was a lot of work to setup the blog and design and create a banner, badge and favicon for it.  But it was fun.

See you tomorrow.

Busy Today

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I’ve got a [digital] construction project going for Family Friday.  I’ll update this post when it is ready.  Meanwhile, I’m taking regular breaks to stretch and to look out on an absolutely beautiful day.  I hope your day is going well.

Chuck (2:21 PM)

Pet Peeves

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Pet peeves . . . we all have them.  What is yours?  The other evening as Sylvia and I were returning home after dark, I was reminded of one of mine.  We met a fellow coming toward us on the narrow road with his fog lights on.  It was a clear night.

If you live in town, you probably don’t run into these bozos.  Out here in “the sticks,” they are all too common.  Okay, I know why they do it.  You turn those babies on and it lights up the night.  You can see what’s in the ditch–on both sides of the road.  You can see so much more than you can with just your low beams.  Also, our county is one of the top in the state for car v deer incidents.  So I do understand.  I just don’t appreciate.

Those fog lights cast a wide beam.  That includes into the face of oncoming drivers.  Aarrrgh!

Do you ever experience that?  How do you feel about it?

And what’s with drivers that pass you on the expressway, and then as soon as they are just clear of your front bumper, they cut right over to your lane?  :frustrated:

Coffee Lover Scores Win!

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It all started with the coffee cupping (aka “tasting”) class.  That taught me how to evaluate coffee with nose, mouth and tongue.  That’s when I realized that I could taste the filter in my cup, which was brewed in the Mr Coffee machine.  There was a common component to the flavor in my cup no matter what the grounds were that I used to brew the coffee.

The follow up class was on coffee brewing.  We were taken through a half dozen different brewing methods.  Our teacher would prepare the brew using each method and we would then taste the result.  The difference between brewing methods was huge!

Three of the methods used a paper filter to keep grounds out of the cup.  Our teacher would pour hot water over the filter, discarding the water, before putting in the grounds.  A light came on in my head.

Back home, I put the paper filter in the Mr Coffee basket and rinsed it with water.  With the rinse water discarded, I put my favorite grounds in the damp filter and brewed my coffee.  That first cup was completely different than anything I’d ever had through that machine.  It was great!

The problem came in the second cup and beyond.  That beautiful flavor and those subtle essences were being cooked out as the pot sat on the heating pad.  That’s when I remembered what our teacher had said about a vacuum pot.  Keeping the coffee on the heat ruins the flavor.

The solution was to use my large vacuum cup.  Now, I pour my freshly brewed coffee into that cup which retains the heat.  Two small changes made one huge difference in my brew.  Thanks Rodney!

An Invitation

Won’t you join me for I Did It! – Monday?  Please do and follow the link to the “I Did It!” blog and register your participation.  Tell your friends too.  Thanks.

Making Hay

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Two days ago, I posted this picture for Wordless Wednesday:

That’s my neighbor Bob cutting grass on the bottom two plus acres of our lawn.  We had talked about it over the summer.  I was elated willing to let him cut that grass, bale it and feed it to his cattle.  It saves me time and diesel fuel to not mow that myself.  At the same time it keeps that area from becoming overgrown with weeds, vines and brush.

That happened on Thursday before Thanksgiving.  The next Monday, Neighbor Bob was back to bale the “hay” into large round bales.

It didn’t take long and the baling was finished.  Normally as each bale is completely formed, Bob stops while the machine secures the bale and dumps it out the back.  That day as the bales were completed, he would drive the short distance to a spot near his barn where he let the bales finish the process and eject where they would require no further handling.  He is one smart fellow!

It sure is nice to have good neighbors.  We think ours are tops.

On Giving Thanks

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This is the one day a year that we set aside in this country to give thanks for the good things that we have.  For the founders of this tradition, it was about survival.  For some folks it still is.

I am thankful for faith, and the faith community of which we are a part.  I am thankful for health and that my physical needs are met each day.  I am thankful for my blogger buds and other friends that support and encourage.

This year, like most, I am primarily thankful for that young gal I met in 1957 at a birthday party that both of us nearly missed.  But we didn’t.

Four years later we would wed.  She has always been there for me.  A more perfect mate and companion is impossible!

I am thankful for our two sons who are in some ways as different as night and day and in other ways it is obvious they got their DNA from the same sources.  I couldn’t be more proud of them.

The daughter-in-law is as perfect a mate for our older son as his mother is for his father.  I remember when they were dating how they would sit in the family room at our house and talk for hours.

The granddaughter is now 20 and a junior in nursing school.  Beautiful, talented and loving, she takes after her mom.

Thanks to these five people, I can make it through whatever the future holds for I am truly blessed beyond measure.

Sylvia joins me in wishing each of you a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving.

No turkey will be consumed here.  Be at ease there big bird. :surrender: