Another new week begins!  We're still enjoying our Indian Summer here,    but on Thursday a rain storm is supposed to arrive from the direction of Hawaii.   Hoping it doesnt get sidetracked and either break up, or move North to Oregon.

Speaking of Oregon  . . .  OLM, I'm relieved that you're back on your farm, and that you will have a normal level of comfort through the coldest months ahead.   I remember well, the cold Winter I spent in  Richland, WA, in Army housing!  I was young - in my early 20's  -  and was expecting our first baby, so it was a happy time for me.   Is your farm anywhere near the Tri-Cities, or the Columbia River?

Rick - I can relate to the rhythm of the freight trains and passenger trains.  I grew up in a neighborhood that was only about three long blocks from the railroad tracks.  We heard the trains day and night,  heading for or leaving from Los Angeles. The steam engines - now long gone into history.      Like you said, we quickly got used to that lonely sounding whistle blowing  during the night, and all the other train sounds.  Very soothing.

Good morning Marilyne, and all!

Yes, we are near the Columbia and Tri-Cities.

I haven't been doing much since my return. I'm still in my RV, recovering from moving everything back into it. Moving back into the house will be just as grueling. Not looking forward to it, though it must be done.

Hope you got rain!

We did get a good rain storm yesterday, and I'm grateful for it. Still pretty dark out at 6:45, so hard to see how things are looking outside. 

OLM,  Hoping you move back inside the house ASAP.  I can imagine that I would be longing for a  hot shower, and a comfortable night's sleep, plus all the other comforts that we take for granted.  Keep us posted on how you're doing, and how the dogs are adjusting?

Hope all who look into B&T today,  will leave a message.         

Check the discussion Photos Old and New for some interesting views from London UK.

A Penny For Your Thoughts
I felt sad this past Wednesday, knowing that the very last penny was being produced at the Philadelphia Mint.     A penny is the  first coin that many of us older folks remember . . .  especially those born during the Depression, when  every cent was saved and used..  I remember my mother giving me a penny to buy a single piece of candy at the store, or to press into the coin slot at one of those penny candy machines.
Now pennies are considered obsolete and disposable.  I still stop and pick up a penny, if I see one on the sidewalk or anywhere else, but there are those in the younger generations who actually toss them out, when they leave a store with a handful of loose change.
There were many pop songs written during the depression years that are about money - and some specifically about the penny.  Here's  an old favorite of mine,  recorded in 1936.
Pennies from Heaven,  by Bing Crosby

Sue and I spent a lot of time and pennies at the penny candy counter when I was young. A bunch of us would head on down to the candy store (yes, just candy and ice cream), on the way scavenging returnable bottles to collect our return reward at the local small grocer, and then head just a two blocks further to the candy store. On the way back home, we would stop at the playground to eat the candy before we got home. Mom often was a bit upset when we weren't hungry for dinner. I don't think we ever told her why.

Good afternoon friends!

I'm still in the RV, Marilyne. I got toxed pretty bad when I went into the house a few days ago to do laundry and get supplies. So I'll be here until thats cleaned up. I'm recovering. I did get a nice, long, hot shower before that. I'll try for another one as soon as I can. Here I have shore power, so lots more heat and I can run the dehumififier constantly. Its 20-25% less humid in here, even though its been pouring or densely foggy most days. This is our first dry day since I've been home. If we have several in a row I'll shower in here as the humidity will be manageable enough. I took the dogs in with me the time I went in for the shower and they loved running about in the extra space. Kato is finally adjusting to the noise and activity of the nearer neighbors. He's still not acclimated to the road traffic. He had to be reintroduced to our big black bull. I think he thought he was a bear when he's seen him prowling around in the orchard. I've been carding, spinning and watching videos today. I listened to a podcast about beekeeping in the winter. I've always wanted to keep honey bees. 🐝

MG 😃 I used to get a quarter a week for allowance. We'd walk down to the Plaid Pantry on 24th & Broadway and buy a half a lunch sack full of penny candy for a nickle. Good memories.

Quote from: OnLonelyMountain on November 18, 2025, 04:37:59 PMMG 😃 I used to get a quarter a week for allowance. We'd walk down to the Plaid Pantry on 24th & Broadway and buy a half a lunch sack full of penny candy for a nickle. Good memories.

Ahhhh, yes, - good memories. We got an allowance of fifteen cents- up to a certain age, then a quarter.  A standout memory about that is when we went to the local YMCA each week, we would duck into a local "candy store" (Now I think the local Bookie) and get some of those long strips of paper with the colored dots on it. I'm aware now that they were just sugar dots. Most of the candy from there was probably "as old as the hills", but we never cared.

OLM,  Sorry you had a little set back when you first got home,  but sounds like you're recovering.  The dogs seem to be adjusting well, and all three of you will soon be ready to face the upcoming Winter  months.  Hoping you will have some sort of Thanksgiving dinner next week?  Keep us posted on how you're doing. 

Good morning!
Rick, I remember those papers with the colored dots. 😆 I think I got pixie sticks, Jolly Ranchers, especially lemon and rootbeer (also mostly sugar) Zots and malted milk balls.

Marilyne, I spoke with my daughter about Thanksgiving. Typically we have it at my house, I make a bunch of it, like the main parts. They do sides and her husband's family favorite "oyster stuffing." Then everybody does the veggies, etc when they get here. The last few years the grandsons have been making home made rolls. Since I'm not up to doing what I usually do, and thats too much for them to haul over here, I suggested they have Thanksgiving at her house this year. And because I can't go to her house, I asked that they come to mine for a soup, chowder or chili type meal after Thanksgiving. She thought that would be fine. I'm not able to eat much right now anyway. For me, its the company, not the food.

I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving!

Ron returned to the mountain last weekend to continue winterizing. He did frame the hearth, and take up the inside chimney pieces, except for the transition which he hasn't gotten fabbed yet. 

OLM,   Good to see that you will be spending time with family over Thanksgiving weekend.   Even though there won't be the usual traditional dinner at your house, you can maybe enjoy some of the food, if Ron or your daughter brings it to you.
Hoping that you're feeling better every day, and that you will soon be moving back into the house for the Winter. 

Goodorning Marilyne, and everyone.
Thank you for your kind hopes for me.  They don't eat organic, Medically I have too. I think it will be a huge relief to my daughter that they don't have to cook organic this year.😅 So, no leftovers for me. Thats o.k., really. My husband and I discussed our alternate day menu: maybe smoker grilled salmon, maybe chowder,  maybe elk chili. I can't eat any of those things either. They're just less difficult to prepare for my daughter and her family. I have to eat a "mechanical diet." That means pureéd.😣 Literally, its not about food for me. Its about visiting. I'm looking forward to it!😍

I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving with all the things that make it traditional, and special, for you.

I thought this was a cute Thanksgiving Day cartoon, so decided to post it here and also in Library.
OLM - Hope you're feeling well, and that you have a nice Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to you too Marilyne!

It is a cute card.😆 I'm making beef veggie soup today. My daughter is having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at her house. Ron's going. They'll come over for a easier to prepare, smaller meal with me another day this weekend for my Thanksgiving. Either grilled salmon, or elk chili. I found out just now that they will all be running a 5k this morning.

Have a lovely day!

OLM,   Good Morning to you!  Looks like you had a nice Thanksgiving, so now you can start preparing for Christmas!  No rest for the weary!     

I've always been a "last minute" person when it comes to Christmas shopping, decorating and food preparation.  Fortunately, our two daughters will prepare  most of the food.   Three of our six grandkids will come over on Christmas Eve.   The two youngest are newly engaged, so we will meet the fiancé of each one, and have a chance to get acquainted.

Hope you're feeling well, and will be able to enjoy spending more time with each of your family members, over the next 25 days.
                     
 

Good evening Marilyne,

Sounds like you're going to have a lovely time! I'll get as many opportunities as my daughter and her family can squeeze in. It is band and choir concert season, as well as wrestling. I have to be patient.😬 Wait my turn and not be greedy!😄 I won't be up to decorating, making candy or cookies this year. So I don't have a lot to do. I do need to get busy and order presents. Thats about it. 

OLM:  I read your message in SS this morning.  So sorry to hear that your son is very sick, and in the hospital with sepsis.  A serious health emergency!   Please keep us updated on how he is doing?  I will pray for a swift and complete recovery.

Thank you Marilyne! Itwas life threatening. He is improving. He's home now. His fever is down, and has gone 24 hrs w/o vomiting. All those prayers have been wonderful!!!  Ron leaves to fly down there in 30 minutes. I, unfortunately, am forced to remain here. So thankful for all those who prayed! They are as much a tremendous comfort to me!

Finally back - went into never never land with a nice case of depression     and yes bottom line I was ticked off at myself however - my trip into depression started on Mother's Day when my last living cousin whom I was closest to died - it was one bridge too many of the many losses that seem to be this road called aging... I'm not sure what discussions I was posting in but found this one and one other - at this point I do not think I will attempt to read all the posts to catch up but will just restart --- plus it appears there are a few changes to the site and so I have to catch up -

Seems like thanksgiving was yesterday and here we are only 2 weeks till Christmas - sheesh - I don't think I will do as much decorating this year plus everyone will be hither and thither - I'm looking forward of all thinks to read as many of the set of children's stories as I can - have the My Book House 12 Volume Set by Olive Beaupre Miller that is organized 2 of the books preschool and the rest are a book for each grade till 10th grade - I read from them to my children the early grades but after about the 6th grade they were too independent to listen to anyone read to them and I really would like to finish the set - the stories are wonderful and except for reading fantasy today there is nothing like getting into stories pre WWII meant for kids... and so along with maybe some hot cider or if it is as warm and it can be on Christmas then ice tea and I will spend the long weekend in bliss reading with no other plan other then maybe taking a short walk

Has anyone posting here made plans or will it be a repeat of the usual family gatherings?

BarbStAubrey - Welcome back. It's hard when we lose relatives and friends. I'm down to just my eldest son now, who lives here with me.  Christmas decorations are now down to a small fiber optic tree inside, and a wreath outside. Also battery operated candles in the front windows.

The changes you see to this site are probably the "Christmas wallpaper". I assume some things moved to fit it in.

Barb,   Good to see you posting here, as well as in Library~Bookshelf.   Hoping that Ciaobella, will return as well?  Messages have slowed down on all of our discussions, but we hope to keep this site going, as long as possible.   

looking at the title of this discussion and smiled - it has been many many years since I fished - nothing fancy but frankly its been since we vacationed when the kids were teens since I did any fishing - never as a kid got into much in the way of tackle and as a kid we used a net to catch minnows that we used as bait and so, it was only again when my own were teens that we ever stopped and picked up a box of bait - mostly we fished on a pier off some area of Padre on the Gulf... We either drove down to Padre for a week during Spring break or late Summer just before school started

Chilly here today but no where near the snow and wind going across the northern states that some of you must be experiencing - from the weather map it is either snow or rain - where the cold has dipped down in the middle of the nation so that we are getting a bit of the cold it is nothing compared to what most of y'all are experiencing - stay warm...

Hello everyone!  It's been a while since I have posted so I had to scroll and catch up with all your posts. 

Marilyne, I see you are concerned about this site continuing due to inactivity. I can understand your concern since our SeniorLearn.org site has recently been removed.  The administrator passed away in October, and it appears there were no arrangements or announcements to keep it going.  It has been in existence for over 30 years and I'm not sure if there is any way to get it back.  I am so sad Ginny passed, we knew she had been battling cancer but was not aware it had come back so aggressively. If anyone has any idea of how or if we could get the site back, I would appreciate any advice.  It holds so many wonderful book and other discussions that I loved being able to go back to.

OLM I am glad to hear you are in a more comfortable and warmer home. I admire how you seem to take things in stride and maintain positive spirits in the struggles you face with your medical condition. 

Rick, you brough a smile to my face mentioning the dot candy on the paper strip at your small local store.  My favorite candy I would buy after collecting pop bottles was Mallo cups.  They had cards in the package so once you collected enough you could turn them in for a free Mallo cup!  We never got any allowances or given any money whatsoever as a child so each day my older sister would go to the small Beer Stop store to get a Pepsi, and I would collect her bottles and ride with her to get my Mallo cup.

I noticed a couple of you mentioned trains and that brought a smile to my face because I grew up in a small rural town in Monroe, Michigan. We owned one small house which was used for rental income and lived in a larger house next to it on acres of barren land.  We had very large gardens which provided frozen and canned vegetables and fruits throughout the winter.  Anyway, across our rural road was a set of train tracks so I grew up listening to sounds of the whistle blowing, boxcars clanking on the tracks, and conductors waving to us and blowing the whistle when we would motion for him to.  We got so used to the trains going day and night we slept right through them.  Now I live in a subdivision across the Ohio line and at night every now and then I can hear the faint sound of the train a few miles north of my house and it brings such a soothing feeling inside me.

MarsGal and Barbara, it seems we will have to communicate here since our book club site is no longer available.  I look forward to keeping up with all of you.  With Christmas just a couple of weeks away I am certain we are all hustling and bustling about buying and wrapping those last gifts and preparing the house and food for whatever the celebration may be for you this year with family & friends so please don't worry, things will slow down and we will all have a bit more time for posting in the New Year.

 

Ciaobella, good to see you here, and also good to see Barb.  I'm also sorry that the SeniorLearn site has closed for good.  What a shame to lose 30 years of messages from the many members who posted there over the years.   It's with a lot of sadness as well as smiles, when we look back over the years at a message board. Seeing old posts from those members who are no longer with us, brings back lots of good memories.   How I wish I could look back at Senior Net, which for me would be from the late 1990's.   

This site, S&F, was opened by Pat, after SN closed.   Unfortunately we lost the first couple of years of years of S&F, when we had a major crash.  So when you look back at the beginning of all the  folders, it doesn't go back as far as it should.   Still, it's fun to click on the first posts on every folder and see he names of the members who were active then. 

As I mentioned in Library, I looked in to read the posts in SeniorLearn, at least once a week, and way back, I used to follow the book discussions.  Why I never officially joined, I don't know?  I guess I thought I was too busy here in S&F.   Now that it's too late,  I wish I had joined

I know you're very busy with your church activities during the Christmas season.  For all the time spent, and the work you do,  I think they are very fortunate to have you.  And I think you are fortunate to have your Church, to bring purpose and meaning to your life.

Good afternoon, everyone!  I'm a little uncertain where to post so bear with me if I am in the wrong room. I posted this in another room and when I clicked preview it said I did not have permission to post.  Once I returned after signing in, I tried pasting it and it said this has already been posted. I am completely lost because I tried finding it and couldn't.  So... I decided to come here and post it and hopefully get help, so I don't encounter this issue again. Do you need permission to post in different rooms?  Which rooms do you all usually have everyday conversations in?

Gosh, reading all your weather conditions have me feeling a bit silly complaining at our 9 degrees feels like -2 when I awoke this morning.  I hesitated about going out for church, but I hibernated all day yesterday, so I thought I need to get out today.  I know I could stream Mass, but it just isn't the same plus I had a few more Christmas gifts to buy so off I went. Today is already the third Sunday of Advent known as Gaudete Sunday which focuses on JOY!  It's also an Italian tradition called Bambi Nelli, we bring our baby Jesus figurines from our nativities, and the priest blesses them.  Cute story... a few years ago I brought our baby Jesus figurines and placed them on the altar to be blessed.  At the end of Mass, we went home, and I realized I had left my baby Jesus figurines at church.  I drove back to get them and Fr. Ring looked up and said, "Can I help you?"  I said, "Well believe it or not I think I know how Jesus' mother Mary must have felt when she couldn't find him in the town square only to find him inside the Temple." We both had a good laugh. 

I noticed Jane is in here, is she the same one who was administrator of SeniorLearn.org along with Ginny?  If so, I wonder if there is any way of getting the site back. I truly am feeling so sad not being able to access the years of archived books and discussions. Losing Ginny has thrown me into a bit of a pit and not having the site makes it even more difficult.  I suppose in time I will learn to cope without it, but for now it's just so sad.    I am so thankful we have this site, and I know I will get better acquainted with it.

I want to compliment whoever placed the pretty winter decorated background.  It is very cheerful.  I think I am almost done with the shopping for the kids (6), grandkids (6) and great grandson, along with hubby, a few other relatives and friends and angel tree kids (3).  One of the angel tree names I chose I was told is a 45-year-old with special needs who is more like a 14-year-old who asked for a small transistor handheld radio with large headphones.  I told the woman in charge that might be a bit of a task to find since I'm not sure they even make them.  Luckily the salesgirl at Target was able to find a Walkman that would work. It's moments like this that always make me believe there really is a Santa!

Okay, this is a bit long and my dog Brinkley is demanding my attention so I will get going.  Everyone have a great day, stay warm and enjoy the snow from inside. Rick, don't attempt to shovel there is always someone who is looking for a few extra dollars to shovel for those who can't. 

Quote from: Ciaobella on Yesterday at 04:43:40 PMDo you need permission to post in different rooms?  Which rooms do you all usually have everyday conversations in?

Once you've signed in you should be able to post anywhere - except a couple of "Moderator's" boards.

The boards with the usual posts are this one, "   Norms Bait and Tackle", and "Soda Shop". But post wherever you want.