Good Morning!
Today’s header is courtesy of Kare2012.
On this day in 1752 The Pennsylvania Hospital opened as the very first hospital in America.
In 1808 Judge Jesse Fell experimented by burning anthracite coal to keep his house warm. He successfully showed how clean the coal burned and how cheaply it could be used as a heating fuel.
In 1812 the term “gerrymandering” had its beginning when the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting law that favored his party.
In 1936 pumping began the process to build San Francisco’s Treasure Island.
In 1943 General Dwight David Eisenhower was selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
And in 2006, in Texas, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot and wounded a companion during a quail hunt. 😯
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Quote of the Day
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
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Today is Clay Crosse’s birthday. From claycrosse
Today is also composer Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf’s. From bartje11, who has like 2,000 videos. 😯
These guys performed their first US concert in D.C. today in 1964, 2 days after their Ed Sullivan Show US debut. Warning! It’s hard to hear the first 2 minutes with all the teenage girls losing their minds.
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Wandering Views 
I really am liking the photos everyone is sending in. I must have been dreaming about it, becasue I dreamed some people were in the Gulf of Mexico swimiming and I wanted to get a photo of it but didn’t have my camera. The kicker was that it was going to be my December Picture. Instead it is a wet, cold, 48 degrees outside. That is the high today. Have I mentioned I live in the Sunny South?
Mr P is headed over to Pensacola in this mess.
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I heard on the radio that Shirley Temple has died. She was 85. Just a couple of years older than me. The first movie Elvera saw was a Shirley Temple movie.
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If I put my coursor on Temple, I get a flat for “Insurance Careers” on “first movie” I get one for manufacturing careers, and “Shirley Temple movie” gives me Accounting Careers.
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She was one of the child stars that were able to transition to adulthood/real life. She was adored by many, but I don’t think she ever took herself too seriously or maybe that is exactly what she did…She was an Ambassador and I alway took great pride in knowing that she was really Shirley Temple BLACK. My best friend’s mother as we were growing up was supposed to be Joanne when she was born but her older sister named her Shirley. Our Shirley died when we were just 22. We now joke about “What Would Shirley Do?” Both gracious ladies, in the true sense of the word.
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All the photos from Mom’s early childhood show her in long ringlets like Shirley Temple. Mom had vivid red hair, and her younger brother says that everywhere they went, they got comments on her being a beautiful little doll. But she says she hated those curls and the long hair, and pleaded with her barber uncle to cut it short. He said he’d only do it if her parents approved, and apparently they didn’t. All her adult life she kept her hair short.
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Hello, y’all. They have already shut down some of I75 in the northern part of Georgia.
Husband is packed up to be at the office a few days. He has Mucinex, etc . for his cold. Prayers apprecisted. There is a tree beside the office that could cause a big problem especially at this time of year.
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Cheryl, seems I remember my MIL told me that when she was quite young she cut her sister’s hair. I think back then it was a religious thing to keep the girl’s hair long. MIL said her parents were so mad at her they told her she would go to hell for doing that.
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AJ has a Question of the Day: Have you finished shopping for your sweetie?
Miss Bosley is the main sweetie in our family. I have been condidering getting her some nail trimmers. I still need to buy them.
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Gravitar fix.
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My sweetie and I don’t shop for each other anymore. We stopped early on.
For Valentines day, 1956, I gave Elvera a handmade valentine. Made by me.
On the back I drew some hills and called it a “Hillmark Card”.
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My sweetie and I don’t necessarily shop for each other for Valentine’s Day. I make him a card and sometimes he makes me one. We get each other candy from an expensive chocolate store–though this year the roads have been too bad for me to venture out and we both still have a lot of chocolate from Christmas, so I’m going to tell him we either need to go there together today (we’re going to that city today) or skip it this year, because I won’t be going out by myself and I doubt he’ll want to make a special trip himself.
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I don’t know what we will get each other for Valentine’s day. We usually do candy but the Kid’s teacher has suggested we cut sugar out of his diet. All I know is that we both agreed that a giant Vermont teddy bear would be a really bad idea. 🙂
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I had the Vermont Teddy Bear conversation with Mr. P last night. I told him I could not think of a situation in which a Teddy Bear would be an appropriate gift for me, Vermont or not.
I also gently told him I had enough Duck Dynasty merchandise, although I am enjoying my Daily Devotional.
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Husband asked if I wanted anything for Valentine’s Day. I told him some dirt would be nice. He asked if manure would do. I said it would.
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How long would you have to keep finding a place to put that big Teddy Bear before it went to the attic?
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mumsee’s so romantic. 🙂 Actually, my dogs would love some good manure for Valentine’s.
My mom loved Shirley Temple when she was growing up. And I must say she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders as an adult. I was just thinking about her the other day, in fact, wondering if she were even still alive since it had been so long since I’d heard anything about her.
She was a cutie in those early “Good Ship, Lolipop” style movies.
That is a great fox photo, Kare, it looked good small but it’s wonderful in its normal size.
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Yes, love that fox, again, today! He or she would make a good Valentine’s gift. Still pondering that stuffed cat…I have not been brave enough to ask if it is a done project. 😯
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Thanks, foxes are awfully cute. I have a fox skin that nobody wanted, so rather than throw it out, it now is the dust cover on my piano keyboard. (We were decorating an old house and it was hanging in the closet – everyone was creeped out by it, but it seemed like such waste to toss it) I love that the tail is so thick and fluffy.
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I have a little rabbit skin that son got somewhere and he was going to toss it but I saved it. I’m with you Kare, thinking it makes for a good dust cover.
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Oh, animal skins.
When I was growing up we rented a house that had a huge evergreen tree in front — great climbing adventures and it also provided a sheltered natural “tent” area underneath it’s lower branches where the neighborhood kids and I had at least one dress-up tea party and played “Lassie” or cowboys, depending on our mood.
One day, my mom noticed what appeared to be a dead animal under there while I was at school. Thoroughly unnerved by it — and not wanting to explore any further — she called animal control and the guy came out.
Pretty soon there was a knock on the door and the officer held up a fox fur ‘stole, complete with the head and tail and little feet. “Here’s your dead animal, lady,” he said, fairly disgusted.
A couple years later my grandmother made me a Davy Crocket hat out of it. It had the most lavish long tail in the back and almost perfectly matched my own red hair. 🙂
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We don’t usually buy gifts for one another on Valentine’s Day, either.
I had to laugh when one of the men, who recently sang at a program with my husband, sang a song for his wife in honor of Valentine’s Day. He was complaining afterward that he was looking straight at his wife and suddenly a man (who is an acquaintance) sat down right in front of the wife, completely blocking the view. He had looked down momentarily and was not happy to look up to gaze into his wife’s eye’s only to see this man.
The thing that amused me was that the song was Josh Turners and speaks of locking the door and dancing all night long. It is quite suggestive. I like the song, but I would not want it sung to me by my DH in public. He has dedicated songs to me, but more in the romantic or true love sense. Perhaps this dates me, but I believe their is a big difference between that and the theme of the song. I don’t know what his wife thought. I am not sure if this is a world view difference, a gender difference or what. The couple is in the same age group as us.
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Lucky you, donna. My mom made those kinds of hats for my two brothers. I was upset, so she found some scraps from an upholstery job and made me an Indian headband complete with feathers. That was nice, but not as nice as a coonskin cap! A couple of years ago I bought one of the coonskin caps for a grandson. It had a hole in it, so was discounted. We made a good story out of that hole and he was one happy boy. It was at a Laura Ingalls Wilder festival.
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My sweetie has said he doesn’t care about receiving anything for Valentine’s Day. His birthday is the day before, and he doesn’t really care about getting birthday gifts, either. The kids and I still buy him something for that, but usually not Valentine’s. He sometimes gets me something for the holiday, though. Whether he does that or not doesn’t matter to me, but I always enjoy any gift he does buy.
I checked out a book from the church library Sunday, I Love You Unconditionally…On One Condition: Everyday Choices for an Extraordinary Marriage. I haven’t read very far into it yet (only the acknowledgements 😉 ), but if it turns out to be a good book, perhaps there will be some things I’ll find to put into practice, and those will be my Valentine’s gifts to hubby. 🙂
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Shirley Temple: As a little girl, I thought her role in ‘A Little Princess’ was the last word in entertainment. My hair grows in natural “Shirley Temple” curls, so I was often compared to her growing up (I don’t look like her in any other way, except maybe the short stature 🙂 ). She was a talented actress and her talent at tap-dancing was phenomenal. It was refreshing to read of her adult life and how it didn’t follow the typical pattern of child-stars.
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Here’s an article about Mrs. Black…
http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/Iconic-Child-Star-Shirley-Temple-Dies-Hollywood-Actress-US-Ambassador-Obituary-244853681.html?_osource=Newltr_Station_Hdlines_Connecticut
I like that she said her best role was the one as wife, mother, & grandmother. It sounds like her own mother’s efforts to protect her & not let her get spoiled helped her grow into the fine woman she was, rather than another ex-child-star basket case.
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I have childhood memories of sitting around with my family on a rainy Saturday afternoon eating popcorn and watching Shirley Temple in one of her films.
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Took me at least 10 tries to get on and into the comments today. So, if I disappear, it will not be from lack of trying.
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Hi Jo!
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Where did Jo go?
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I lost a comment.
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Bosley tested negative for feline leukemia and feline auto immune disordrt.
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well, that is good news.
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Shirley Temple: among the belongings in Mom’s possession when she died was a boxed set of Shirley Temple videos. I watched each once (and only once). When my husband-to-be was collecting things to sell at his parents’ upcoming yard sale, I gave him several things, including the Shirley Temple videos. He told me that instead of putting them in the sale, he gave them to his mother, who was happy to get them. I thought that was cool–they went from my mother to his mother.
Oh, this morning we got an unexpected package delivery: the cousins from my mom’s side with whom I was sharing photos and information last week sent me a bouquet (two roses and several carnations). I’ve never had flowers “sent” to me, that I can remember. My husband doesn’t like to buy roses right on Valentine’s Day anyway, since they are more expensive, so now I have flowers without him spending any money. 🙂
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Goodbye to The Little Princess and The Littlest Rebel, one of our last connections to better days. Here she is with Victor McLaglen, under the direction of John Ford:
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Here’s the best of the 2014 valentines I made.
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On Facebook, our old friend from WMB days, Kyle A, asked his FB friends to share our thoughts about Valentine’s Day, such as if we celebrate it & why. Here’s what I wrote…
The reasons I like Valentine’s Day (although I do not think of it as an actual holiday):
* Red is my favorite color.
* I like hearts. (I have three heart-shaped wreaths in my bedroom. Kitschy, I know.)
* We don’t take it too seriously, but we try to have a bit of fun with it. I don’t get bent out of shape if my husband doesn’t lavish me with flowers & such (which he usually doesn’t do anyway )
* But he does buy a bunch of chocolate for us (me & our now-grown daughters) for about half price (or less) on February 15.
* We usually have something red for dinner, like spaghetti & meatballs, which happens to be one of my husband’s favorite meals.
* Winter is long, so a day in the midst of it to be silly with hearts & chocolate & whatnot is just a nice little break, in a way, from the usual daily routine.
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Has anyone else noticed that on the News/Politics thread, there are two #5s?
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Karen, Did you receive my email?
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Love the picture of the fox, Kare! And the greenery! It’s been a long time since we’ve seen that. 🙂
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Yes, I noticed that too. Kare has been telling us all about the feet of snow up there and now we know!
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Kim – Yes, I did, thank you. Sorry, I forgot to acknowledge it.
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Mumsee – Peter asked for summery pictures. I do have a great picture of a wolf, but the background is quite snowy…
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I want to see the wolf in the snow! I understand our wolves are brought down from you so we have the large ones rather than the smaller ones that were native to the area.
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Snow is a long way away. I would like to see what you all are dealing with. My favorite picture so far is Aj’s Duck, Duck, Goose.
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The storm arrived. Bosley is quite interested in the sound of sleet hitting windows.
Please remember to pray for us.
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