I, too, have admired the Queen.  Every time I think of her, my mind zooms back to when I was little and would always get a newsreel when I went to the movies.  Do any of you remember those newsreels.? We got 15 minutes of newsreels, 15 minutes of a cartoon, 15 minutes of whatever serial the theater was carrying at the time (beautiful young woman tied to the railroad tracks as the train was rushing down the tracks toward her was a typical ending to one episode) and 15 minutes of some sort of documentary or other.  I loved most the portion of the newsreel that showed the little princesses:  Elizabeth & Margaret Rose.  Do you remember that the younger was ALWAYS called Margaret Rose when she was little?  I think of Princess Margaret as being the grown up.  Anyway, They were almost always included in any newsreel, and I ate it up.

MaryPage - Yes, I remember the newsreels at the Saturday afternoon matinees. I think the damsel in distress was Perilous Penelope! My favorite serial was Superman. I'm behind you in years but also watched everything I could about the princesses. When I was  a teen  Life magazine had beautiful photos of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip with their children. At that time there was only Charles and Anne. Our local theater had matinees for 20 cents, popcorn for 10 cents and candy bars for a nickel. It was a very un-fancy place in our little town of 2,000 but we loved it.

Jenny - So glad you had a nice Christmas with your family. It's wonderful you are expecting a new baby in the family. It adds so much joy. (Take it from one with experience! 

Callie - Ellen leads an interesting life being involved in plays and filmmaking.

MarsGal - Sometimes we make decisions, as Sue did, that turn out for the best! I hope the little boy isn't too sick.

Marilyne - I keep the Echo where it can hear me if I should fall during the night. It has quite a large range. Another feature it has is answering trivia questions and other information.

We had a beautiful warm day. Hope it was the same for Jean. She's quite far north of me.[

Thank you, Beverly. Yes, he does seem to be recovering quickly.

I think I wore myself out on the computer yesterday. I ended up on it most of the day.

Oh, I DO remember five cent candy bars!  They cost five cents each all during my childhood.  When I look at what they cost now, I cannot believe it!  Most kids got twenty-five cents a week allowance when I was a child, and five cents of that had to go to Sunday School and, often, five cents to Brownies or Girl Scouts.  There would be no possibility at all of buying a candy bar at today's prices!

Mary Page -  My weekly allowance was also twenty five cents.   A nickel for Sunday School, a nickel for Brownies/Girl Scouts, and ten cents for the Saturday matinee.  That left me five cents to spend on something like a candy bar, a Milk Nickel, or an Eskimo Pie. (Anyone remember those?)  During the War years, there was one day a week, when we purchased a Defense Stamp at school, (10 cents), and pasted them into a book.  As soon as you reached $18.75, you turned the book in for a $25.00 dollar War Bond. I think it took ten years before you could cash the Bond in for the money??   As I remember, the stamps in the 10 cent book were a red/pink color, and the stamps in the 25 cent book were green?

Marilyne, I had forgotten about buying the War Bonds at school.  Later I bought bonds when I worked after school.  Our first car, a second hand Ford, was bought with my bond savings.  All paid for and was I ever upset when Larry insisted on trading in my Ford for an Oldsmobile.  His family only bought Olds so he said.  Bah and humbug were my feelings then and now.😁

Luckily when our neighbor brought over a Christmas gift, she wore a mask.  She called awhile ago and said she and her husband tested positive for Covid.  I sure hope we don't get it.

It was sunny earlier but we just had a rain storm pass through.  That is over but it is now overcast and dreary.  Remember how Mary Ann used to say when the sun was shining she was happy——my sentiments entirely.  Thinking of you Mary Ann.

I make cards for my family and was a busy bee yesterday.  There is one birthday in January, two anniversaries and four birthdays in Feb.  Making cards on my IMac keeps me updated on my computer.  Mostly I use my iPad for everything else.  I read on my IPad all the time since this pandemic.

It is so quiet here today.  We did have some bombing earlier in the month.  They usually only bomb an hour or so when they are training.  But the holidays have been very quiet.  No fly boys in the air over the holidays.  I guess you can tell that we live fairly close to a very large air base.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

QuoteAs soon as you reached $18.75, you turned the book in for a $25.00 dollar War Bond. I think it took ten years before you could cash the Bond in for the money??

You could cash in the Bonds earlier but you wouldn't get the $25.00. When I was working it was advisable to buy Bonds (made the boss look good.).  When I retired I had a stack of them that I held till they would not pay additional interest. After that date I periodically went to the bank to cash them in.. It was sort of like found money    There is a Treasury site that calculates what your bonds are worth at the time, and when they mature.

Uh, oh, MaryPage. You reminded me of the all the penny candy I ate when I was little. My friends and I would walk down to the little Mom and Pop grocery and return all the soda bottles we would find discarded along the way for the return fee to supplement our limited spending money. Then we would either spend it there or go down to the candy store and spend it on penny candy, popsicles and/or ice cream sandwiches. We would then head back to the playground and eat it all before we went home. Good memories there.

Remember those little colored dots on a long paper strip?

When our kids were little I would buy the wrapped penny candy &  put hooks on to hang on the Christmas tree.... picture a tree with 300-400 pieces of candy. The neighbor kids found an excuse to come over every day to have a piece (I kept plenty to restock), didn't break the bank & all the kids loved it. I did buy every kind I could put a hook on, do remember the dots & the pixie stix. My fav was the peanut butter bars, remember them? Nice & crunchy. I tried it a couple years with the great grands but their mothers won't let them have many sweets so I didn't keep it up.   

Rick, you reminded me of an egg cooker I bought years ago, held 6 eggs & was electric, had a little measuring spoon to put a tiny amount of water in & don't think I tried it more than a couple times & gave up, never did get the hang of it. No idea what I did with it, still in the box somewhere in this house, I guess. It had something to puncture the egg but I didn't trust it.... Hard telling what can be found in this house after 33 years.

 

Shirley, my egg cooker is the most used appliance in my house!  My daughter got one and immediately insisted that I get one. I had just learned the way to do "perfect hard boiled eggs", and prefer the cooker to that.  It's easy to puncture the eggs, at the large end, mine uses ONLY distilled water and takes about 2.0 ounces of water (less for soft-boiled egg); has it's own little measuring cup.
My other "most used appliance" is my Slow Cooker.

Quote: Tomorrow ( 1st January ) is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.

~ Author Brad Paisley.

Jackie - That's a positive way to look at the beginning of a New Year.  Here's hoping the upcoming "book" that we each write in 2022, will have a happy ending for all of us. 

 

The "BOOK OF 2021" is one we will not likely want to "read" again.
Out with the old, in with the new.     

Fridays.  We had to bring our dimes in on Fridays, and Miss Saxton would call out our names, and we would go up to her desk and hand her our grubby little dimes and have our names checked off in her little book.  She would hand us one stamp.

I have SUCH feelings like homesickness when I contemplate how hard every man, woman and child, of whatever age, worked so hard to win that war.  World War II.  What I am so homesick for is that tight, Certain feeling of togetherness we had.  I want that in MY United States of America once again.

Somewhere around this house I have some Savings Stamps, Ration Stamps, and some of those little Tokins.  Have some Green Stamps too, but they had nothing to do with the Government or the War. 
I guess now they don't really need those Bonds,. They just put it on the Credit Card, and we pay for it later.

I've been worried about Jenny, and her family, after seeing TV news coverage of that horrific fire storm in Colorado.  It happened in a residential community between Denver and Boulder, and I knew that Jenny and Bob live in a Denver suburb.  I saw a message from her on Facebook, and they are okay, as well as the rest of their family. 
Seems like some catastrophe going on somewhere in the US, every day.  I hope all the bad news lets up in the coming New Year.   

Good Afternoon Everyone! 
The New Year is a coming!! 

I have been having trouble with
my Windows 10...  so today I
finally gave up trying to fix it
and installed "Ubuntu Linux 2004

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HJ7K8KL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The cost was under $14 for a new
Operating System ... 

I installed it right along side Windows 10,
to see just how much I like it...
And it works,  and I love it. 

Hopefully everything will go well.  I
have already  put in the important things
and the others will be installed later. 

I had used Ubuntu years ago when I
built my own computer  so I was looking
forward to see how I like the latest
Ubuntu Linux  operating system ...

It is much improved since then so
I am very pleased  with it.  I was going
to go out and buy me a Mac Book
but instead I switched operating systems.

I sure hope that it continues to work
so well for me. 

Have a good New Years EVE Everyone!
Sandy

Sandy,
Did you get the Flash Drive and operate from there, or did you download it?

Rammel,

I got the flash drive but I had a hard time
trying to run it from there.  So I decided to down load
and install it next to Windows ... 

The install worked very very well. 
I am so glad that I decided to do this again.. 

I am so pleased with the way that it is working for me...

Sandy

Happy New Year, to you Jackie!  You're the first one  in S&F to celebrate the New Year.  We still have eight hours to go, before the clock strikes Midnight! 

Every year I post this New Years Eve poem by Robert Service.  This year will be no different, since I think it's witty and clever, as all of his poetry is.  Always makes me smile, which is a good way to start the New Year.

The Passing of the Year

My glass is filled, my pipe is lit,
My den is all a cosy glow;
And snug before the fire I sit,
And wait to feel the old year go.
I dedicate to solemn thought
Amid my too-unthinking days,
This sober moment, sadly fraught
With much of blame, with little praise.
    •   
Old Year! upon the Stage of Time
You stand to bow your last adieu;
A moment, and the prompter's chime
Will ring the curtain down on you.
Your mien is sad, your step is slow;
You falter as a Sage in pain;
Yet turn, Old Year, before you go,
And face your audience again.
    •   
That sphinx-like face, remote, austere,
Let us all read, whate'er the cost:
O Maiden! why that bitter tear?
Is it for a dear one you have lost?
Is it for fond illusion gone?
For trusted lover proved untrue?
O sweet girl-face, so sad, so wan
What hath the Old Year meant to you?
    •   
And you, O neighbour on my right
So sleek, so prosperously clad!
What see you in that aged wight
That makes your smile so gay and glad?
What opportunity unmissed?
What golden gain, what pride of place?
What splendid hope? O Optimist!
What read you in that withered face?
    •   
And You, deep shrinking in the gloom,
What find you in that filmy gaze?
What menace of a tragic doom?
What dark, condemning yesterdays?
What urge to crime, what evil done?
What cold, confronting shape of fear
O haggard, haunted, hidden One
What see you in the dying year?
    •   
And so from face to face I flit,
The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!
Old weary year!  It's time to go.
    •   
My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
And I prepare to meet the New:
Old Year! a parting word that's true,
For we've been comrades, you and I --
I thank God for each day of you;
There!  bless you now!  Old Year, good-bye!

Robert W. Service
   

Marilyne..
..i am up and about, time now here in UK is 8.am, this is the time you should now be stepping into your New Year of 2022 if UK is 8 hours ahead of you..

Now to read your Poem, thank you...Yes " Goodbye Old Year "

Rammel.
..its my last three books i dont want to read again..

Wishing everyone a a good year in 2022!

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL‼️

We spent a very quiet NY Eve, just the two of us.  Can not enjoy any of the TV coverage anymore.....and haven't for years😡. Couldn't one station do some Guy Lombardo for us old folks?  I am just a old fuddy duddy, I guess, but there is nothing enjoyable to watch anymore.  I do not know any of the singers.....better just leave it at that‼️🤪

We finally got some measurable snow New Years Eve.  We were going to go to Vail to be with our two oldest sons and families, but staying home was a very wise choice. 

Thank You, MARILYN, for your concerns regarding the horrendous fire here in Colorado.  I am sure by now that many have heard we had a horrible fire that burnt down nearly a thousand homes. Thankfully there is one confirmed death and 3 more assumed dead.....a miracle if that is all.  Where all of these homeless people will go is a frightening thought.  Homes are scarce in this area to begin with😩. One of our Senior Net friends reached out to me within a hour of this horrifying news, offering Bob and me a place at her home if needed.  She lives in Pennsylvania.......what a kind and thoughtful lady 🙏🙏 our Ardie Matreski is. We live about as far away from these fires as we can be, living in the very south part of the metro area. Son Mark could see the horrible smoke from where he lives in Greeley but is still quite a way from it. 

I liked your poem, MARILYN.  I was not one bit sad or sentimental to see 2021 GO AWAY.....I hope and pray 2022 will be a much better year for ME personally and for our world  in general.  I am with you, MARYPAIGE , I want my UNITED STATES of AMERICA to go back to the caring and patriotic way it used to be‼️🇺🇸🇺🇸

We are watching my Bronco Game.....it is going as expected....NOT WELL😩  We are playing with 7 first starters missing due to Covid.  Lost our quarterback a couple weeks ago to injuries.....like my mama always said after a loosing season... "just wait until next year"....we have been saying that for too many years now‼️😩😡

Enjoy your first Sunday of 2022. 

Jenny

A belated Happy New Year to all of you.

Nothing much going on in this part of the US of A.  Going to write my first birthday check of the year and it will sure feel funny writing 2022.

Happy, Happy New Year 2022,
I wish you all the best,

Great work to reach your fondest goals,

And when you're done, sweet rest,

I hope for your fulfillment,

Contentment, peace and more,

A brighter, better new year than,
You've ever had before.



One of those little short poems off the Internet  but it says what I am thinking about all of you.

GOOD MORNING from cold and snowy Colorado⛄️🎿⛷🏂⛸🛷

 It has sure been cold here this week.  We thought sure we were never going to see measurable snow in 2021, but we did.  We saw on the news that Greeley CO where our son and family have recently relocated to, had -24 New Years night. 

Thank you, JEAN, for sharing the nice poem.  It is always strange to have to write the new year numbers for the first few times.  I am going to happily write 22 because I am DONE DONE with 21😡

Enjoy the start of your new week.

Jenny

Good Morning Everyone from the
cold (in the twenties) Rocky
Coast Of Maine.   

I spent New Years Eve watching:
CNN New Year's Eve with Anderson Cooper
and Andy Cohen.     

I found these two guys very
very funny.   Different then
years gone by when I was   a
younger person?   Yes, but enjoyable
and very funny, none the less.

I feel that I do not have enough time
left to fret over the way
things were, so I choose to
actively seek out something
that I CAN ENJOY FOR THE moment
and let the past have its own
joy for me to remember.   

All my wishing in the world is not
going to make things today the
way there were in the past.
So I choose to concentrate on
enjoying the moment while I still
can. 

And it worked,  I really enjoyed
New Years Eve with CNN. 

Today I am off with Kelly to
get my INR done.  A few moments out
making sure that I keep my mask on
and stay away from crowds.   

And the beat goes on!!! 

Have a good day,  everyone.
 love   Sandy