Skywatch Friday #5 The Ozarks Sky

Hello to everyone visiting my blog.

My first sunset was taken on Saturday Dec. 6,2008

The next one was taken on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008

The clouds were so thick you couldn't see the sun for a while and then all of a sudden it burned through!

Just a few minutes later the clouds started to really break up

This one was taken on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008

A few minutes later

It's amazing to me how much the sky changes in just a few minutes here in the Ozarks.

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page anytime after 7:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Thursdays to see sky photos from around the world. You'll be glad you did.

Going to the Grandparents for Christmas

This is all 11 of the grandkids taken around 1967

We used to travel to my Mother's hometown for Christmas. She and her only sister grew up in Jewell, Kansas. My Aunt and Uncle had 7 children, and our family had 4 children. When we all met up at the Grandparents home that would make a grand total of 17 people! My Grandparents had a nice fairly large home with a full basement which they had set up enough beds for all of us cousins to sleep. All the grown-ups would stay up stairs. This led to many a fun-fest for us kids, we only got to see each other maybe twice a year so when we did get together it was pretty wild!

Grandmother Palmer reading a night time story. Notice the porch swing on the right.

There were many things to do in that basement. We had an old trunk full of old clothing, dresses, furs, hats and such that we could dress up and have fashion shows. We had a box of all sorts of toys, some homemade and some store brought, for others to play with. There were all sorts of nooks and crannies that we could hide out in during a game of hide and seek. There was also a vast library of Little Golden Books purchased for the younger kids, and many old books (history, reference, and encyclopedias) my Grandfather had collected if we wanted to read. There was even an old record player with mostly the old 33 or 78 records. We even had an old porch swing hung in the basement for us to swing on! When it was time to sleep my Grandmother would always sit in a rocker and wait for us to settle down and go to sleep. There was no talking allowed or you might hear your name and a shuss. To this day I can hear the creaking as she rocked! Another thing I remember is that for quite a long time there was only one bathroom if that house and it was upstairs. Can you imagine, all those folks and one bathroom!

An early family picture. My folks on the left, Grandparents sitting, and then Aunt and Uncle on the right

My Grandparents were pretty old fashioned and expected us to be little gentlemen and ladies while we were there, you didn't talk back and you followed orders or you might get that stern look that only grandparents can get away with. They were really wonderful loving people that had a very high standing in their community so you couldn't act up while in town either. If you did, someone would be watching and of course parents would be told and then your name was mud.

This is inside the Jewell County Rebpulican office

My Grandfather, Everett was the Editor/Owner of the Jewell County Republican Newspaper. He had followed in the footsteps of his father, W. C. Palmer in that respect, the Palmer family owned the paper from 1870 through 1965. I can remember going to the newspaper office to watch him work, which was very interesting indeed. They use the old Linotype press to publish a weekly paper and it was truly a family affair, my Grandfather's brother, Randy was the guy that set up blocks of type in the proper layout for the paper. My Aunt tells me he could read that stuff when it was upside down and backwards. You could always find your name in the local section as the grand-kids being in town was always news to the town people. I always felt just a little famous when I was there because everyone always knew who we were and would speak to us.

My Grandmother was bookkeeper, homemaker, event coordinator of the family and she always had something fun and interesting set up for us to do. She was an excellent cook and put on some wonderful dinners for us all. Always setting the dining table with tablecloth, silver and formal dishes for us to use. Of course, us kids were required to help out in some way, doing the silverware, delivering food dishes to the table, or more likely peeling potatoes or snapping beans. Some of the older kids were required to wash dishes after dinner too. None of us minded these chores because it was just something that had to be done and it was such a treat to all be together.

My First Award! PROXIMIDADE!

I recieved this just the other day from Old Lady Lincoln and this is what she said:

Apparently who ever receives the award is to pass it on to 8 friends. I know how busy most are, especially this time of year, so I won't be upset if you can't do it.


Also this was sent along saying that "Blogs that receive this award are 'exceeding charming,' says its author. This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award.



I want to thank Old Lady Lincoln for thinking of me and giving me my first award! I've only just started to do any blogging and have found her and all the others I have met so far to be lovely people. I enjoy following some, participating in a couple weekly things, and just reading other people's blogs. However I haven't branched out enough to accept this nice award. So I guess I have to politely decline and give a heartfelt thank you for including me!

Skywatch Friday #4 The Ozarks Sky

Hello fellow skywatchers! I have only two pictures to share this week but hopefully you will enjoy them.

The texture of this sky is just amazing! This was taken Friday Nov. 28

This was taken on Dec 1, the night of the Moon, Venus, Jupiter conjuction. I ended up spending a lot of time out in the cold that night!

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page anytime after 7:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Thursdays to see sky photos from around the world. You'll be glad you did.

Conjunction of the Moon, Venus and Jupiter 12-1-08

I got a chance through all the clouds we've been having to get a couple shots of this historic night. Here is a link to explain what you are looking at: SpaceWeather.com And here are my pictures.

This one was taken at twilight, you can still see the clouds hanging around.

This one was a little later, one of my neighbors was walking by and thought I was crazy because I was hooping and hollaring about how cool this was! Before he left I had him looking too!

Turkey is done and Christmas is next!

It's been a while since I've posted anything here so I going to write about a few things I've been doing lately.



I cooked my turkey earlier this week, ate a bunch of it and then cut up the rest of it for freezing. I ended up with 6 quart size bags that I mixed light and dark meat in. I will use them for my rice cooker dishes and soup. I also boiled the carcass yesterday and made stock. I ended up with a bunch of bags I put in the freezer for the same use. I'm not going to have to buy chicken for a long time!







I decorated for Christmas around the house and bought a nice Norfolk Island Pine plant that had some pretty little ribbons on it. I had one before and obsiously I didn't take care of it right because it only lasted about a year or so. I'm reading up on it this time and hopefully it will last longer. Notice the large stocking? I got that last year with my gifts inside.














This is my stuffed rottweiler dressed as a reindeer.














Some candle holders set in a decorative fashion. Notice Santa is here.











I had to go outside to get this picture. Not much order to these lights but at least they flash and look festive!



So that's what I've been up to lately. And guess what? I'm actually in a holiday mood now. How about you?

Skywatch Friday #3 The Ozarks Sky

We had mostly cloudy nights this week but I was able to get a few pictures to share.

This was Sunday night's exceptional offering.

This was Monday night's sky, looks like a wool blanket to me.

This was Tuesday nights Big Sky.

Visit the Sky Watch Friday home page anytime after 7:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time on Thursdays to see sky photos from around the world. You'll be glad you did.