Everyone has heard of or I think you may have seen poison oak, ivy and sumac – vile vegetation which wreaks havoc with rashes and blisters and apparently if sweating please don't rub eyes. Once upon a time a friend started pulling a vine in my jungle of trees around the house. He also pricked his finger on a thorn. He noticed a small rash on his arm and then the next day he woke with a slightly swollen eye. He insisted this happened years before and it was ok. However, ye

Remember on those Inferno Midwest Hot Days! A few days ago, I was watching once again on the news how incredibly dangerous our garden hoses were then and today. What are they talking about? Actually, the facts behind the “killer garden hoses lurking in your backyard” are hardly scary. The news story centered on the fact that most garden hoses are made of polyvinyl chloride, better known as PVC. PVC has high levels of lead and other chemicals and, therefore, the claim was that

In the past I've been visiting family in the small town of Delta, Colorado. Plenty places to catch a hometown breakfast, Italian or a taco or two. When I passed Orval's Used Cars in Delta I realized it was not an ordinary car lot. The vehicles are mostly collectibles. The place is full of old cars from the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s that are offered as restoration projects. Delta is also City of Murals... Enjoyed those days of my Westward Journey... Nana

When you think of Grimm's fairy tales, they are deeply, deeply psychological. They're so powerful, so bloody, and really, really disturbing. Think about five-year-olds reading that stuff. Even 'Little Red Riding Hood' is a really freaky story. Grandma is gobbled up by a wolf, and the wolf is going to eat the girl. That's scary stuff. Or... I another & probably the scary thing, as weird as it sounds, was 'The Wizard of Oz' and the flying monkeys with the witch. I remember see

A moment last only a few seconds. A Memory Last Forever!

Anyone ever notice the word Saturday has the word "turd" in it? Thus the statement, "It's Saturday" can also be written as: "It's s a turd' ay" Along this train of though... Have you heard about "The little Irish math test"? Paddy wants a job, but the foreman won’t hire him until he passes a little maths test. Here is your first question, the foreman says. “Without using numbers, represent the number 9.” “Without numbers?” Paddy says? “Dat’s easy.” And proceeds to draw thre

To commemorate the 10th of the month; confess you know you have done these things too! 1. Carefully inspecting an item at the grocery store because someone is standing in front of the one you actually want. Just yesterday I was in the grocery isle looking for crab salad when the deli area was packed with people so now more than ever I find myself at least six foot away inspecting every cheese known to man until I could move into the area. All I needed was to reach the plastic

I still on my history learning mode... It seems like the corn cob pipe has been around forever. This year will mark the 157th anniversary of the first corn cob pipe being manufactured, which took place in Missouri. The company that manufactured that first commercial cob pipe is still in operation today in Washington, Missouri. Smoking pipe tobacco in a hand hewn corn cob pipe has surely been practiced for longer than 157 years. I suspect that in the Ozarks, where the pioneers

Not all days go as planned. A few days ago I had every intention of getting my car's oil changed at the local Wally World. However, I found out evidently now you have to book a reservation & after getting a parking space strolling into the store, I was told they had no bulk 5-20 Oil to change my car's oil. Their Surprise - Surprise oil was an up grade to Pennzoil and a $10 up charge. Nope this girl went out and drove to Take 5 Oil Change in Springfield. It was a much better

A few years ago, we asked our children what they thought were some of the reasons we are very close as a family. One of the answers that they had in common was “Family” When I was growing up, Sundays had a usual flow to them. My mother would put a chicken in the oven or pot with potatoes just before we all left for a drive. We would return home to a delicious aroma, have our main meal and then sometimes go “visiting” at the home of relatives. We always remained in our Sunday

Do you want to hear a funny story about the woman who kept objects for years because she thought she has sentimental feelings about inanimate objects or the memories they invoke? Once upon a time there was a man and woman who married. The guy was so romantic, giving her objects, letters & trinkets. No matter the worth of the gift, it was a very big deal. The woman appreciated the thought and hours of work that some gifts symbolized. Fast forward 48 years and the man has pass

Another find in the box of old pics was The family oil rig... Yes my Grandfather Kramer had several oil wells in Kansas. He sold heating oil to the local Missouri & Kansas communities. He even had a heating stove he designed and made to give to them if they bought their oil from him. Also, he refined his own gasoline & diesel for his own personal & companies use. Long Story Short... was that Standard Oil tried to buy him out but he refused to sell. My Grandmother was not too

Some of the following tidbits are for your entertainment... It might make for an iconic painting, but that famous image of all the Founding Fathers and Continental Congress huddled together, presenting the first draft of the Declaration of Independence for a July 4, 1776 signing isn't quite how things really went down. No such scene, with all the delegates present, ever occurred at Philadelphia. In fact nothing was actually signed on the fourth but just the day that the was d

I am a proud American. I took this weekend to celebrate the freedom of this great nation. Also to celebrate... America’s uniqueness. As an American we enjoy freedoms that do not exist in other countries, such as freedom of speech, religion, the press, and the right to vote, among many others. I pray that we can keep this nation strong. As a funny lady once said: "You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with guns, tanks, and soldiers who

I want to leave for an adventure sometime in the future. Few things in life make me more excited than a good trip. Days spent on the open road in places I've never been before and the attitude of adventure. I try to make my trips to be ones I'll remember for the rest of my life. I have realized recently that it is in good part because of the planning that I put into it. Disclaimer: Please excuse my, uh, let’s call it “enthusiasm.” While I was never in the Boy Scouts obviousl

A few years ago I was impulse buying and ran across a Marketside Breakfast Pizza at Walmart. Now I love Pizza but quite frankly I had reservations about a breakfast pizza with... "Eggs"? I had never bought a Savory Breakfast Pizza before. I'm not really a huge hard boiled egg person, so I assumed I wouldn't like it. On a whim, I purchased the pizza and tried it. To my surprise, it was really good. Honestly, I didn't even notice the eggs. The gravy and sausage really stood out