Where Have All the Manners Gone??

OK, I know I'm old, and I realize things change over time. But I'm so sorry to see that one of the old ways that has been ignored by with new generations is plain good manners.

I watched a young man push his way through an exit door at a store the other day and slap the closing door in the face of an older woman coming behind him. Obviously, it never occurred to him to hold the door for the split second it would have taken to glance and see if anyone was behind him, old or young.

It's certainly evident every time you walk down a busy street. People used to automatically flow around oncoming "traffic". Now they barrel ahead and expect you to get out of their way.

And speaking of traffic ... well, the lack of manners behind the wheel is so rampant that we have invented a new phrase - road rage.

I could go on and on, but I do want to relate something I saw yesterday that leaves a glimmer of hope for this lost art yet. I watched a young mother with her 8 or 10 year old son going into a service station. When she reached the door the mom did not do what most would have done. She did not reach for the door. Rather, there was a barely perceptible pause at the door, and then her son opened the door for her. I wanted to get out of the car and go running to her to thank her for teaching her son how to be a gentleman!!

I know my own sweet hubby still goes around to my side of the car to help me get in and out. He helps me put on or take off my jacket. He walks on the street side of us on the sidewalk. He opens doors for me. And I could go on and on. He makes me feel special!! And how much time does it take him?? None, really. But it speaks volumes about the man that he is.

So I applaud this mom for teaching her son to use good manners in this day and time.

Remembering the March of Dimes ...

When I was a child polio was a horrible, terrible, fearful disease and no one knew how to keep from catching it!! It was 1949 when I started Elementary School, and I distinctly remember the little cards (there's one on eBay right now, if you're interested) we all had that we saved our dimes in. Each half circle slot held a shiny dime, and when the card was full, we turned in our contribution to finding the cause and cure of this unspeakably menacing illness. I still remember how proud I was to participate in that grassroots campaign to eradicate polio.

Millions of children and adults filled up those little cards, and The March of Dimes succeeded!! In 1955 Jonas Salk and his team found a way to vaccinate people to prevent this tragic disease.

Today's charities collect huge sums through telethons and receive large checks from corporations and foundations. But polio was defeated one dime at a time.

We do make a difference. Each of us makes choices in how to use our time and money that can help or harm humanity. I don't need to pray to God to open our eyes to what each one of us can do to help someone else. That is and always has been His Will. Rather, I pray that we would not blind ourselves by the fast paced, self centered lives we lead - that we each will have eyes that see and ears that hear.

Only God knows just what we could do if we all worked for the good of others!

Looking Back on 2008

I was shocked when I saw how long it had been since I posted to this blog. I've never gone that long in all the time I've had it, so my apologies to any who have been checking to see if I'm still kickin'!!

I'm not exactly sure what happened this year, but somehow it just went by in a blur. I've tried to look back and remember how all this time passed, and yes, there are some extremely significant events, but for the most part it is just that - a blur. And a fast blur at that.

This was the year that I finally received a diagnosis for my movement disorder that led to taking medicines that truly helped me. That was momentous, and I feel truly blessed and can't sing God's praises enough for leading me to the right doctors at the right time to get the right diagnosis.

This was also the year that my dear hubby passed his 5 year mark cancer free and was dismissed by his Oncologist. Our blessings just can't be counted!!!!

2008 saw all the years of working slowly and methodically toward a viable online business come to fruition, which is very satisfying and still a whole lot of fun for us. We've been grateful for the opportunity to help so many people find their lost lovies and ones from their childhood. They bless us daily with the excitement in their thank you emails when we help them find what they have been desperately searching for.

We added 2 "outside" cats to our family this year, too. We bring them in every other night just so our inside cat can learn to be a cat, and so we can keep them used to staying close to home. They have all three given us untold times to laugh and enjoy them, each with their own distinct personalities.

It's been the year when one of our daughters and her hubby had financial difficulties of a major proportion, which has caused considerable stress all the way around. We are thankful that we are in good enough financial shape ourselves to be able to tide them over until this bad time passes.

2008 did not find me exercising as much as I should have been, but I have been doing better the last couple of months, and hopefully will continue to work at it. Particularly since the end of 2008 found me at my heaviest weight ever in my life, exercising is that much more necessary. Not a good thing, for sure, but maybe that scale will push me to do more than I think I can.

It's also been the year I started driving again, now that I am not on medication that made me fall asleep without any warning. I don't drive much, as I am out of practice, but it sure came in handy when hubby had cataract surgery this year. It's just one more way that I feel better about myself this year.

I'm racking my brain trying to think of anything else that went on this year, and nothing comes to mind. What I've listed represents the important events, but it's a shame all the day to day happenings have faded away so quickly.

Yesterday's memories are worth more than I am able to give them, and that's a shame. I pray that the medicines I am on now will not leave me in such a brain fog at the beginning of 2010!

Finding the GOOD STUFF at Estate Sales is Getting Harder

We've been going to yard sales and Estate Sales almost every Friday for several years now as part of our Date Day. And we always have a good time, just because we are together. Oh, we're together at home, too. But we are doing our own thing - me on the computer and hubby reading a newspaper or using his computer. Not exactly activities that lead to paying much attention to each other. That's what makes Fridays so special for us, as we carry on more conversation in that one day than we probably do all the rest of the days of the week combined. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but it sure feels that way sometimes.

But of late the sales have been much less unique. It seems like all the paper items that fascinate us so much - all the real junk - has been thrown out before we get there. Hubby has said more than once that the big bags of garbage at the curb are where most of the items we would be interested in probably are.

There's been much less to rummage around through for most of this year. We still have a good time, but we're not finding as many treasures as we used to. That has led us to spending more and more time looking for the plush animals and soft dolls for our Dirty Butter Plush Animal Shoppe. At least we can still enjoy the hunt for those hard to find baby toys that people sell, not realizing how valuable they will be to a family who are desperate to replace some lost lovie.

We have kept a few of the treasured memories from our vintage finds. We have one 1800's autograph book of the lady's friends that is very interesting reading. They didn't just sign a name, but wrote short poems and notes to each other. And there's a lock of hair sewn into it. I used to take it to school and show it to my students and read a few of the entries to them.

I recently ran across a website where they sell an amazing number of old diaries, along with some handwritten letters from some famous people, and also some extremely old letters from everyday folks. If you are as fascinated by these windows into a time gone by you might enjoy looking at Tuscon Tiques Collectibles. I certainly enjoyed seeing all the interesting letters and diaries.

I can't imagine how they could have accumulated so many different hand written ephemera, but they have renewed my interest in this type of collecting and made me hope that we will again run across that perfect Estate Sale, where all the "good stuff" was not thrown away before they started the sale.

Yard Sale Memories

We're having a Yard Sale today to get rid of a bunch of our own clutter, plus try to sell the furniture and odd and ends from my parents' home.

Daddy's recliner is in the yard sale. We bought it for hubby's dad, Pop, and then moved it up to Daddy's house after Pop passed away. I don't know what it is about men and their recliners, but you would have thought we were evicting Daddy from the house when we made the switch to Pop's recliner!! But his old one swiveled, and that made it unsafe for him to try to get out of.

The chair looks great, is extremely sturdy, but two dear old men sat in it during the last years of their lives. I'll be glad to see it gone.

We donated a bunch of Mama and Daddy's things when I cleaned out their house as best I could. But there's something about putting them in a yard sale that seems downright disrespectful, you know? But it doesn't make sense to keep it all, and at least some of it was still unused - gifts that were appreciated but never touched, or thought too good for everyday use - just stored away. Kind of sad. Note to self - stop saving things and start USING them.

We've reduced the price on Daddy's 1969 Chevrolet Caprice, too, and hope to find a buyer before we have to store it in the garage for the winter.

We plan to have one more sale this Fall, and hopefully finish getting rid of all of their old things and a bunch of our stuff, too, and then if we still have a lot we will do another one in the Spring. What's left after that will have to be sent off to the thrift store for sure.

We've had these boxes stored in one of the bedrooms we keep our plush animals and dolls stored in, so getting these out of the house will make it easier to get to our inventory.

Sifting through someone's past like this brings back all kinds of memories, but I can't keep it all. I've been steely eyed and put out things that I really would have liked to keep, but just can't. I won't miss them once they are gone, but it was harder than I expected laying them out to sell. Such mixed feelings are very normal I suspect.

We've been to many hundreds of these kinds of sales, but having one is going to be a new experience for us. Here we are in our 60's, and this is the first yard sale we have ever had on our own. Gee, another milestone has passed. LOL!!

Remembering a REAL Recession

It takes living for awhile to get perspective on the recent wild swings of the Stock Market and the Economy. We had two young children and were living in a trailer when the Recession in the early 70's hit. We were a one income family, with few debts, but it was still a difficult time.

I remember that somewhere along in that time frame we tried to get a mortgage to build a new home on our lot, and although we qualified for the mortgage, we could not get the loan ... because mortgage money had literally dried up. Sound familiar? The big difference between now and then was that we were very good credit risks, but we still could not get financing.

God has a way of watching out for us when we really think He's turned his back on us. We were so disappointed in not getting that house, and now I am so glad we didn't. You see it was one of those split level kind where the front foyer has steps leading up or down to the living areas. I have a Movement Disorder. We would be forced to move out of our home if we were living in one that involved using steps every time you wanted to go just about anywhere in the house. But that's easy to see in hindsight, not so easy to accept at the time. And yes, some years later we did build on our lot, and we're still living in our Dirty Butter Estates on Hard Scrabble Hill.

But I digress. What I do remember very distinctly were a few Christmas shopping sprees where my credit was denied at the cash register, because I had charged over my limit. (Back then even going over a dollar was enough to have a purchase denied.) It was embarrassing, and it didn't happen very often, but it did happen.

When our older daughter started using her first credit card some years later we were mortified to find that if she went over her credit line the card companies would just up her limit, or gleefully charge over the limit fees. But they never stopped her from charging anything. And they never seemed to mind how many cards she applied for and got, either. It was like a bottomless well of credit, and she simply thought we were old fuddy duddies for even suggesting that this was not the way it should be.

She's older and wiser now, but has had some life threatening health problems that have her and her husband watching their money very closely now, after lots of health care expenses ran their bills up again. At least this time it's not from the free spending days of her twenties.

So, some people say we are in a recession, and some are even saying we are in the beginnings of another Great Depression. But hubby and I have seen the Savings and Loan implosion from the 70's, the long lines at gas pumps when we were only allowed to even try to get fuel on certain days of the week, interest rates on home mortgages up in the teens, and we've seen the Health South, Enron, dot com bust, and plenty of other scary events in our adult years. And now the current economic "crisis". This situation seems to be a natural consequence of way too casual a view that far too many people, and companies, have had for way too long about the risk of incurring large debts.

I hear and see on TV so much fear about the current problems, and I'm not saying they are not real problems, but what I am trying to say is that we Americans have dealt with bad economies and scary financial times before, and we have gone on to thrive and prosper. We have been burned before by poor choices, and learned from our mistakes, and been better people because of it.

I hope people will look at history, find some perspective on today's news, and breathe a little easier. I know my hubby and I do.

Memory Slowdown Equals Bulging Pockets????

I can't count how many times in the last few months I have thought of something that would make a great post on this blog. Things come up in conversation or I see something on TV, or I remember something about the way things used to be ... all good starting points. The only problem is, by the time I can get to a place where I could jot down my thoughts ... they're gone.

Senior Moments? Medicine side effects? Brain Fog? Hard to say, but I suspect a little of all three. I know it is true that older folks tend to have less short term memory, but remember things from a long time ago a whole lot better. Certainly there are plenty of medicines that affect mental sharpness. I know from personal experience that some meds dull the mind. And then there's always the possibility that the brain fog is another symptom of my medical situation itself.

Regardless of the cause of the problem, I still need to deal with it. There are lots of ways to keep those current thoughts from slipping away so easily. There's the low tech way of always having a small notepad and pen handy, to high tech solutions, such as sending yourself emails or text messages from your cell phone. And I'm sure there are other ways to capture these fleeting thoughts, too. But I guess what I need to do is start carrying a piece of paper and a small pen with me everywhere.

I haven't carried a purse in years, opting instead for always buying pants with deep pockets. Now that I use a cane when we go to Estate Sales and such on our Friday Date Days, I really don't need to start carrying a purse, anyway. It's just one more thing to juggle, and I need to be able to concentrate on my balance and not breaking something!!

So it sounds like it's bulging pockets for me, unless I go for the Fanny Pack look, eh? Whichever I choose is not much of a fashion statement, but sometimes you just do whatcha gotta do!!!

A Tank of Gas

My hubby tells stories of him pooling his change with his buddies on Friday and Saturday nights to put a dollar's worth of gas in his friend Johnny's old car, so they could drive around and hang out together. They would go to Sky Castle's and one of them would order a coke while they sat and talked, and when the waitress would be about to shoo them out, another one of them would order something. It was all like a scene out of Happy Days! That was way back in the 50's, before we met and started dating.

I was reminded of his stories when I saw this in the newspaper the other day:

When I was in high school in the 60's, I could fill up my car with $2 worth of gas. Interestingly, I couldn't afford a tank full of gas back then, either.

So, is gas really all that high even now? I'm not so sure. Our first apartment was $52.50 a month. Our first home cost us $101 a month, and it was all we could do to qualify for the payment. My first teaching job paid a whopping $265 a month, after paying for college to get it. When you put the prices of everything else from way back then in perspective with what those things cost today, gasoline probably is right about where it should be. Not that I like paying $4.00 a gallon, mind you. But considering how much money everything else costs, I think our reaction to gas prices may be more emotional than intellectual.

Any thoughts???

Enjoy Our BLOG VILLAGE Family Memories Carnival

Join Us as we read these special FAMILY MEMORIES of some of our BLOG VILLAGE Friends!

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CyberCelt presents
Take Me to the River posted at Texas RV Travel blog

CyberCelt shares how her family outing at the river came to include the community at large.

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CyberCelt presents There is a Season posted at Losing Proposition

On Losing Proposition, Taro Phoenix shares how her family is moving into an itty bitty, teeny weeny, hobbit house for the summer.

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Sara Ost presents Just Fooling Around posted at Sara Ost, who is a GUEST of Naomi at Diary from England.

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Dirty Butter presents Playing Football at IHOP posted at Yesterday's Memories.

Happy memories of one of our Dating Rituals that we still enjoy.

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CyberCelt presents Autism in USA : Thimerosal Generation posted at Endangered Spaces.

CyberCelt shares a story on Endangered Spaces which is not for the faint at heart. It is not just about her family, but an entire generation.

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CyberCelt presents

Advertising for Success Blog posted at Advertising For Success

Eileen shares her experiences as a teenager in life-saving mode.

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Granimore presents Meet My Grandparents posted at And So Begins My New Life

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Beth presents Remembering The Country posted at Around The Funny Farm!

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NAOMI presents Diary From England: HAPPY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES posted at Diary From England

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Babs Mountjoy presents No Fool like an old Fool posted at A Walkabout's Weblog

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GP presents
It's B-r-r- in the Barn posted at
Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range

Lessons learned from our horses.

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GP presents
It Takes Strength to take a Risk « Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn

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Dirty Butter presents Plush Memories Lost Toys Search Service: FOUND - CUDDLEZONE BROWN CHIMP / MONKEY posted at Plush Memories Lost Toys Search Service.

This is a beautiful story of a family's quest to find a lost lovie, a child's love for his Go Go Beans monkey, and the wonderful conclusion to the search.

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Kilroy_60 presents The Christmas Spirit posted at Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers.

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GP presents
Nurturing Nature posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.

The beginning of the spring season, with its renewal of life, is a good time to renew our spirit…

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Thanks to all who entered our Family Memories Carnival, and to all of you who have taken the time to read our entries.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of a BLOG VILLAGE CARNIVAL using our Carnival Submission Form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our Blog Carnival Index Page.

Daddy's Car is on eBay this Week

I did it. I finally bit the bullet and put the ad for Daddy's car on eBay for this week. I had so hoped that someone local would buy it, but we don't live in an affluent area, and all that most people saw was an old car. Those who did appreciate what a unique automobile it is can't afford it. So, after having it on Craigslist for a week with no inquiries, it was time to try eBay. After all, we have a Feedback rating of 1187 there, and an excellent reputation.

I don't like the format that eBay uses for selling automobiles at all, and really do think my own website presentation of Daddy's car is a thousand times better. But, it's a matter of getting the right person to see it.

I put the ad together and then spent about a half hour talking myself into and out of and then into pushing the button to submit it. There's no doubt about it. It has been so much harder for me to give up that car than I would ever have anticipated. Much, much harder than the house, since one of our daughters bought it.

You might wonder why I chose to put a photo of the engine on this post. If you have ever taken the time to look at some of the listings on eBay for vintage cars, you would know that most of the time they look like rusty pieces of junk, unless someone has already restored it and is selling it for up in the 20 and 30 thousand dollar range, with some much higher than that.

The contrast between the way Daddy took care of this engine and the way most of the other engines look that are up for bid is dramatic.

So, I really do hope it sells this week. If it doesn't I'll have to go through that emotional struggle again deciding to re-list it or not.

Finally Getting Serious about Selling Daddy's Car

Back some time ago I wrote about getting Daddy's car back in running condition and putting it out in the yard with a FOR SALE sign on it. We posted a FIRM price on it, so we would not be bothered by lots of local folks thinking it might be a $500 car. We have had plenty of people stop, a few who sounded like they would be back with the money almost immediately, a couple who seemed to really appreciate what a gem it is, and some who wanted to customize it and ruin it, as far as I was concerned.

None of the local people who had always said they wanted to buy it when Daddy died have shown any interest in doing so. Wishful thinking.

So, since we will be having a big Yard/Estate Sale next month some time, it seems like it is time to start really trying to sell the car. We still have not put it in the paper, because I just wasn't as ready to part with it as I thought I was. I finally took lots of pictures of it this week. I couldn't resist giving the trunk a parting caress as I came back in the house. It's almost like saying goodbye to Daddy all over again. I have been working the last couple of days on putting up a website about the car, so I am coming to terms with the fact that we really are going to sell it.

It was sad and fun at the same time for me to go back and re-read all of the posts I wrote about some of Daddy's cars, starting with his first automobile in 1914 up to this, his last one, and I put the link to this post in the sales page, so collectors and those who enjoy nostalgia could enjoy reading them, too.

9 Year Old Driver! Vintage Auto Memories Part I

First Driver's License - Vintage Auto Memories Part II

Life Before the Bottom Fell Out - Automobile Memories Part IV

Just Married - Automobile Memories Part V

Daddy's Idea of a Vacation

Burma Shave, Stuckeys & Hand Surfing Memories

The Year Daddy Hated to Drive to Chicago

1969 Chevrolet Caprice - His Last Automobile

Selling Daddy's Car

I am glad I decided to make the website, as I posted almost 60 photos, so I will always be able to revisit it any time I want to, for as long as I want to.

It may have a new owner sometime in the future, but it will always be "Daddy's Car."

My First Presidential Election - The Man with a Hole in His Shoe

Photographer William M. Gallagher won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for this photograph of Stevenson on the campaign trail in 1952. The image of the "Man with a Hole in his Shoe" remained with Stevenson and served as a symbol of his efforts during the 1956 presidential campaign.

copied from the Princeton University Library

This 1952 election is the first one that I was old enough to get interested in, plus that's about when we got our first television. That year Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon won over Adlai Stevenson and John Sparkman, from my own state - Alabama. We learned about the democratic process in school that year, and our teacher made it all fun, mock election and all. Of course, those were the days when the national conventions were really interesting, as there were sometimes many, many ballots of delegates before the Republican and Democratic candidates were chosen.

Obviously, there is no way that the Republican convention will be like that, but it is possible that the Democratic Convention could be very interesting this time, particularly since the Democrats have what they call Super Delegates. These power brokers are not committed to any candidate, which can make for an interesting convention.

Now add in the Ralph Nader Green Party candidacy, a situation that many Democrats believe cost Al Gore the election last time, and we could be in for some great convention watching.

And it's been a long time since I watched either convention, because they have been very boring to me for years. Just like some folks enjoy a stock car race more if there are lots of wrecks, I think I will enjoy the Democratic Convention more if there is some drama in the candidate selection process. Talk about Reality TV!!!

Hmmm.... Looks Like I'm a Conservative Republican

I still remember when I registered to vote. Back then, you had to be 21 to vote, and at that time you had to pay a poll tax. In Alabama, you also had to pass a quick test to be sure you could read English proficiently. I don't know if that was the case outside the South or not. I do remember that getting rid of those requirements was one of the goals of the Civil Rights Movement. Being white, I never knew if it was true that "Colored" people were given much harder materials to try to read than "White" people, but that is what protesters claimed at the time. As I remembered, the poll tax was just a couple of dollars, so I never did understand what the big fuss was about that.

As far as I can remember, I have voted in every local, state, and national election since then. I consider it my duty as an American to exercise this right, and believe in the old adage that you can't complain about politics unless you vote.

Now that the caucuses are over, and the candidates are starting to advertise on TV in Alabama for the upcoming Primaries, I thought it might be interesting to take one of these online quizzes that are supposed to tell you which candidates match a person's views on a variety of issues. As all such quizzes go, there were some questions where I didn't like any of the answer choices, but all in all this one was very thought provoking. And the results were interesting and useful to me personally.

Does that mean I'm going to vote for the candidate who matched my views? Not necessarily, but I think it does give me an idea of which candidates I should pay the closest attention to.

So, here's the results of my quiz:


80% John McCain
75% Mitt Romney
74% Mike Huckabee
65% Fred Thompson
61% Tom Tancredo
59% Bill Richardson
58% Hillary Clinton
58% Rudy Giuliani
57% John Edwards
57% Barack Obama
51% Chris Dodd
48% Ron Paul
44% Joe Biden
40% Mike Gravel
32% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Do You Know What This Is?????????????????

One of our readers has been trying to figure out what this unusual vintage item is.

I found your blog and noticed that it mentioned that if someone was looking for a 'particular vintage collectible' to contact you. I'm kind of working in reverse... I'm wondering if you would know what this item is...

Its total length is no more than 6 inches. I'm really at a loss, and would appreciate any help you can offer. Or if you can direct me to someone that could help, I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!
Sheila

The first thing that popped into my mind was that this is part of a desk set from the quill pen era. They used fine sand in a container to pour on the paper, so the ink would dry without smearing.

The other thing that came to mind is some kind of unusual open salt, back when people didn't use salt shakers at the dinner table.

I did suggest that Shelia email Kovel's Komments, on the chance they would choose her object to identify for their free newsletter. If you know another place that might be able to help, please let us know.


OK, I put out my guesses.... now it's YOUR TURN.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS????

SANTA .... He's EVERYWHERE!!

We have always had a lot of fun finding unusual items at Estate Sales on our Friday Date Day, but this little Santa decoration caught my eye, and the more we looked at it, the more unusual it appeared. If you click on the picture, you will see that all of the dolls in Santa's stockings have sad faces! Doesn't that seem strange to you?

So, it's not surprising that it was a Santa collector who bought him from us on eBay. I struck up a conversation with Brian, and asked him if I could share some of the pictures of his collection that he sent to me. He plans to write a book about Santa collecting, and it looks like he has plenty to write about!

Tommee Tippee Memories

Sometimes we find old things at Estate Sales that just flood my thoughts with childhood memories. One such item we found not long ago was a Tommee Tippee set of an old food dish and child's drinking cup. They were definitely used a lot, and this cup does not have the sippy lid, but the old decals with the teddy bear were enough to send me into a nostalgic reverie. I used the weighted round bottom double handle cups with our own children, but this set is quite possibly from when I was a small child, and could very well have been like a set that I would have used.

I tried hunting down some history on the Westland Plastics Co. that made these way back when, but had no luck. Most of the weighted vintage cups that I could find on the Internet were assumed by the sellers to be from the 50's, but my immediate nostalgic reaction to this set would place it in the early 40's.

So, does this set look familiar to you? Can you help me place an age on them? I'd love to hear your stories about how old things like this can evoke powerful memories.

I Just Discovered Freecycle!!

I have just recently discovered the FreeCycle network, and wanted to pass this information along to all of you. If you check the main site you can look for a FreeCycle group that is close to you. I ended up joining 4, I think. I opted to get individual emails, but you can have it sent as a digest, if you don't want your mailbox filled with all the posts.

And what, you ask, is FreeCycle?? It's a place to post items you want to GIVE away, not sell. And it's a place to ASK for stuff you need. So far, I've only been reading, rather than asking or taking, but I find the whole process fascinating. And I do intend to get involved, once I can get myself off my duff and do some serious house uncluttering. You are expected to offer more to Give than to Ask, as that's what keeps it going.

I did answer a request from a lady looking for a cpap machine, with several links to places that sell them at discount online. But she wrote back that someone had already given her one. Considering how much trouble I'm having getting used to my brand new cpap machine, I can imagine lots of people have one they are not using.

It is heartwarming to see that there are so many people with such a spirit of generosity, and also a desire to keep "things" out of our landfills. This is even better recycling than taking things to the Thrift Store!

Although the stuff is not free on Craigslist, we have just recently gotten one of these for our area, so now I try to check there if I need to buy something. The advantage in this is that there is no advertising cost, and the items will be local. This saves all the shipping/handling cost of buying online, and does provide another opportunity to reuse something that someone else is no longer needing.

I remember as a child that all of my hand me downs went to a distant cousin of mine, who lived out in the country. They still used an outhouse, which meant that they were dirt poor as far as I was concerned, and I always was glad to give her my old toys and books. We didn't have any other children in the family to pass our girl's things along to, so their hand me downs always ended up being given to the Thrift Store. I doubt if that was nearly the lesson in generosity for them, compared to actually seeing or knowing the person who would receive the outgrown lovies, as I had been able to do.

FreeCycle would definitely be an easy way to teach today's children the satisfaction of being generous, plus the importance of using our resources wisely. And buying second hand, either at the Thrift Store or from a place like Craigslist, might be a good way to combat the pervasive materialistic attitude of so many of today's youth. And, if we teach our children how to be good stewards of their possessions, we will be more likely to bring up a generation that values living green.

So why not check out the FreeCycle network in your neck of the woods. You might be surprised to find one nearby. Then get busy sending all that stuff you don't use any longer to someone who can make good use of it. It's a Win-Win-Win situation. Win for you - less junk at your house. Win for them - getting something they need for free. And Win for the environment - one less item ending up in a landfill.

Living a Green Life - At Least Trying To

I think I was somewhat of a hippy before there were such things as hippies. At least, that's the way I felt at the time. I was actually a teenager in the late 50's and early 60's. Joan Baez was my favorite singer, not Elvis. I listened to Classical and Folk Music and consciously tried to not conform. No drugs or free sex, though. Sorry, that's where I drew the line.

As a teacher, I always stressed the Three R's - Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle. And we tried hard to follow those principles as Early Marrieds. But over the years, it's just gotten too easy to not Think Green. I think the Microwave oven may have been my ecological downfall. Just think of all the waste, not only in packaging, but in transportation and processing.

The drought this summer has led me to look hard at all our wasteful practices that we have accumulated ever so slowly. Now, I'm saving our gray water to use on our brand new Lasagna Compost area. This is a double Green whammy, as I'm finding a useful way to recycle all the wood chips left over from having 3 trees cut down this Summer. I know our AC bill will be huge this month, as we had something like a dozen days over 100 in a row, but we caulked every niche when the house was built, and we keep the drapes closed. There's not much else we can do to lower that energy use, other than to raise the temp. That's not going to happen, as DH has to be the hottest natured person I've ever known.

But we do recycle all our newspapers, food scraps, plastics, and cardboard, thanks to the compost heap and a neighboring town, which has a large recycling center. I've been doing the research to make 2 rain barrels, so we won't be without water so much next year when the drought returns. We have plans to landscape the yard, and I'll be using as many drought resistant plants as possible, and planning on ways to limit the grass areas.

We buy most of our books, and many of our clothes at a nearby Thrift Store, not because we can't afford better, but because we enjoy the hunt, and the bargains. We buy a lot of toys there, too, which eventually are sold to parents looking to replace a lost or worn out lovey.

DH drives with the Cruise Control on as much as possible, set to 55. People whiz by us, but we get the last laugh at the gas pump. We do a lot of driving on our Date Day, but that's the only time we are extravagant with gasoline. Even then, I map our route to cut out as much mileage as possible, and to stay out of stop and go traffic on Highway 280 (the most congested road in Alabama) coming home.

Our whole eBay business is based on helping people re-use items we buy at Estate Sales, and it's very satisfying to know that we have helped someone find something they have been looking for.

Oh, and I still love Joan Baez songs, but now I enjoy Elvis, too. Thanks to DH, I've learned to enjoy Rock and Roll, Jazz, the Blues, Blue Grass, Southern Gospel, and no telling what else. But I still am a hippy at heart.

Reader Needs HELP Finding Mother's Carnival Glass Bowl

Carnival Glass collecting involves a lot of reading, research, and spending time studying examples of the original pieces, in order to tell the reproductions from the originals. With that said, we received this email recently from someone who was looking at our Dirty Butter Estates items on eBay, but I'm just not knowledgeable enough to be able to answer our reader, who is also named Rosemary. If you could help her out, I'm sure she would really appreciate any information or suggestions for resources she might use to find a picture for her mother to see.

In the late 1920's early 30's my mother won a carnival glass dish/bowl by tossing a coin in the dish. She had the dish for many years but it got broken. My sister and I have been looking for one for years. My mother said it was about 6-8 inches across and plain. She describes it something like a console bowl. She said it had lines underneath and rounded down at the top. I saw something on e-bay that might be it, but not sure. It is a salad bowl. Do you know of anything like this?

Rosemary

If you or a friend is knowledgeable in this area of collecting, I'd appreciate it if you would post a comment, or send this post to your friend.

Washing Day Memories

Here's another vintage item we found at an Estate Sale that I bet you haven't seen in a long time, if ever. This one sold very quickly on eBay, and the buyer was tickled to get it.

For those of us old enough to remember, this quaint clothespin bag may bring back memories of the wonderful smell of sun dried sheets. I remember putting the wet clothes on the clothesline being one of my chores at home. It was a struggle for me to lift the wet sheets up and get them pinned up, without dragging them on the grass. The sun did a great job of naturally bleaching out all the whites, but the colored clothes suffered in the sun.

Of course, back then, everything was cotton, and had to be ironed. That was the horrible part of the chore. We had a maid, so I didn't have to do that part, and I remember being very glad that Mama didn't make me do it.

I was very glad when we got our first clothes dryer, and I wouldn't want to go back to all that washing day routine, but I'll have to admit that I do miss the sun dried smell.