As I mentioned last time, I recently went through some of my stuff – papers, mostly – and I found some interesting things that sparked my interest. Obviously this one sparked my interest some time ago, because I cut out this clipping. I got a good laugh out of most of these. See what you think:
I especially like the first one – “The size of your foot has very little to do with your ability to get it into your mouth.” Oh my…how many times have I done just that??!! Far too many, that’s for sure. James 1:26 in the Bible tells us to keep a tight rein on our tongues. I’m old enough that you would think I would have a good handle on that, but I seem to keep putting my foot in my mouth all the time!
Credit Google Search and Pixabay
Number three is a good follow-on to number one, don’t you think?
Remember…your tongue is in a wet place and likely to slip!
Number eight is certainly one to remember. If you fall down, keep getting up! And you can fall down in many ways – not just physically. You can fall down mentally, emotionally, spiritually…any number of ways. Keep on getting up – one more time!
And number 10 is one I should really listen to. That bathroom scale is the bane of my existence! Of course, I don’t have to step up on it – but it’s like a magnet to me. I just MUST see if I’ve lost any weight since yesterday! Any of you out there like that? Frustrating, isn’t it?
I have no idea where I found these jewels of wisdom, so I really can’t give credit to it to anyone. But I thought it good enough to pass along.
I hope you got a chuckle out of these “sayings” – as much as I did.
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
I love to read. I REALLY love to read. I read a lot. Mostly fiction…some suspense…some mystery…with a bit of romance thrown in. Since I’ve retired from the working scene, I spend a lot of time in my glider, reading. Since I purchased my Kindle e-reader,
Credit Google Search and Pixabay
I read even more. That little machine holds 3,000 books – certainly more than my house would hold! I’ve tried to cut down on my purchases, and just re-read the ones I have and have enjoyed reading before. It’s kind of like visiting with an old friend.
Recently, when going through some of my stuff – papers, mostly – I found the following Blondie cartoon, by Dean Young and Denis Lebrun. It was a 2004 cartoon, so it’s been around quite a while. But it describes me to a “T” – see what you think:
I’ve been known to read the first chapter of a book, and then the last chapter. I like to know how it ends up, and if the characters end up together. And then I go back to see how they get there. I know…crazy, huh?
However, there was one book that I read that way, but when I gave the book to Karen to read (she had the same habit I did – first chapter/last chapter), I actually stapled the last chapter together so she couldn’t find out the solution before reading the entire book. To say she was furious with me, is quite an understatement! I even told her that if she unstapled that chapter and re-stapled it, I would be able to tell, as the staple “holes” wouldn’t line up.
But you see, it was an Agatha Christie mystery, titled And Then There Were None (also published as Ten Little Indians.)
And if you read the book, and know beforehand how it turns out, that really ruins the mystery! After Karen finally read the story, she was glad that I had stapled the last chapter, and she had to wait to find out “who done it.” But she was still furious with me.
One book that I love to read – that I don’t need to read the “last chapter” is the Bible.
Credit Google Search and ChristianBooks.com
Except for a couple of the books (Leviticus and Numbers – dealing with genealogies and numbers within the tribes), I find the scriptures fascinating. I’ve found ways to praise God in those scriptures. I’ve found ways to live as God would have me live and love and deal with what comes my way. I love the adventures that take place. I’m amazed at the battles the LORD fights and wins. I love that He fights my battles for me, if I just step aside and let Him handle it. Oh wow…I just love the scriptures!
So, all-in-all – I just LOVE TO READ!
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Recently I read a short story in a magazine that prompted a memory for me. It reminded me of a time back in the 1970’s when we lived on Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Florida.
Photo credit WJHG.com
Credit Google search
I don’t remember why I decided to take a CPR class on base, but I did. I passed the class and was certified to do CPR should the need arise. Perhaps I took it just in case I should need it with my young girls – who knows?
Credit Google Search and wkw.com
In any case, at that time I was attending Gulf Coast Community College, majoring in music. I remember that I was on my way to class one day, and had stopped in at a McDonald’s, for lunch.
Just as I got settled at an outside table, some people helped a lady outside and laid her down on the tiles. My first thought was: “OH NO!! I’M GOING TO HAVE TO USE MY CPR!!”
Fortunately, it wasn’t needed. The lady had lots of help, and didn’t need CPR.
But that brings me to the story that brought that memory to me. It’s MUCH funnier than I experienced. See what you think:
It was a story of a lady (a grandma)
Credit Pixabay
who had just received her CPR training and certification. She and her grandson were out school-shopping in a mall. When she spotted a group of people standing around someone on the floor, she ordered her grandson to “stay here” and headed to the group.
She told the onlookers to “step back! I know CPR!” Just as she knelt down to begin CPR, she was grabbed by both shoulders and lifted to her feet. Looking up into the face of another man, who was looking strangely at her, he explained that he was an undercover cop and was trying to arrest the man on the floor.
Even the thief was looking at her strangely.
I laughed and laughed at this story. I hope you did, as well.
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
In previous musings, I mentioned that in 1983 we left Heidelberg, West Germany, and rotated back to the United States. Fred’s next assignment was to be at Langley AFB, in Hampton, Virginia. We looked at lots of houses before settling on a house in the “woods” of Seaford, Virginia. It was about 13 miles from Langley, but Fred didn’t mind the drive, and the schools in York County were top-notch.
We soon joined the local Southern Baptist Church – Seaford Baptist Church, and began our time there, not expecting our time to be longer than the usual three-year tour. But God had other plans for us, and we stayed there nearly 13 years.
1991 – Seaford Baptist Church – old sanctuary (far left), classrooms, new sanctuary (right)
As the first Thanksgiving arrived, we were pleased to find that Seaford Baptist Church had a Thanksgiving tradition with Zion United Methodist Church, also in Seaford. That tradition started years before we arrived on the scene.
Zion United Methodist Church, Seaford, VA Credit Google Search and Zion United Methodist website
On the Wednesday evening before each Thanksgiving Day, there was a trade-off. If the joint services were held in the Baptist church, then the pastor of the Methodist church gave the Thanksgiving message. The Baptists hosted the service, the Baptist ladies furnished the after-service desserts, and the Baptist church choir sang the special music.
Credit Pixabay
The following year, the services were held in the Methodist church and the Baptist pastor gave the message. The Methodist ladies furnished the after-service desserts, and the Methodist choir sang the special music. It was a wonderful time – and the shared messages and fellowship time gave us opportunities to meet our Seaford neighbors, and worship together. That’s the way I believe God intends us to do.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Fred and I wish you all the very best of Thanksgiving this year – and the blessing of thanks-giving to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
We’ve been away from Virginia these 24 years, so we aren’t sure whether or not this tradition has continued. We only hope it has. It was a wonderful tradition.
Credit Pixabay
To God Be The Glory
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Do you like soup? As we’ve gotten older, I find that we enjoy a meal of soup and either crackers or fresh sourdough bread. Yum!
A few years after we were married, my mother-in-law gave me a cookbook from military wives.
All kinds of recipes in that book. I found a “vegetable-beef” soup recipe that I tried, and we both enjoyed. However, I’ve not tried it in so long a time, that I’m not sure which recipe I followed. Therefore…no vegetable-beef soup from my kitchen.
When we were in Germany the first time (1967-1970) I purchased a cookbook (in English) of good German recipes.
One of the recipes is of mushroom soup. Now, I realize that not everyone likes mushrooms, so this one isn’t for you. But Fred and I really enjoy mushrooms – especially fresh ones – so this soup just hit the spot. I had to tone down the amount of salt in it, but it is wonderful!
Another soup I found that we enjoy, came from a small little booklet I picked up somewhere, with recipes that made good use of cider vinegar, olive oil, and beans.
The soup from that recipe book makes up a good, tasty, hearty soup. It includes cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, chili peppers, potatoes, onions and garlic. Wow is that good!! And on a cold winter day it is especially good. And yes, we DO have cold winter days here in Florida. A bowl of that with crackers – just yummm!
If my readers remember, I mentioned that my Dad was an avid hunter, and we ate a lot of venison in my growing-up years. One of the things that Mother made from some of that ground-up venison, was chili. I know that doesn’t really qualify as “soup,” but then again, on a cold winter day, chili is really hard to beat. I’ve tried many times to make Mother’s chili, even going by her recipe, and I just can’t duplicate the taste or texture. I guess it just took Mother’s touch to make it just right.
However, I think our favorite soup came from a recipe from my wonderful sister-in-law, DiVoran. Actually, my Mother gave me the recipe, stating it was from DiVoran. After I had made it up one time, and told DiVoran about it, she said she didn’t remember making it, and would I share the recipe with her…which I did. It is a potato and leek soup. Chicken stock, celery, potatoes, onions, and leeks. It doesn’t take too long to cook up, but with fresh sourdough bread….umm-mmm, is that GOOD!!
The only time I’ve ever had soup that I didn’t like was once when we were eating out at a restaurant. This place is known for its breakfast, but the other two meals of the day aren’t their best efforts. In any case, I ordered their vegetable soup – and it came with about ½ inch of oil on the top!! Yuk!! I’ve never had soup like that before – or since!
Any good soup recipes from your kitchen out there?
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
I had thought the house in Kissimmee was going to be our “forever” house. But since we were both working at our church (I was church secretary and Fred was the church administrator), we didn’t enjoy the drive to and from work. So we started hunting for a house closer to the church.
While I told Fred we did NOT have to live in that housing development, it turned out that the house we found was, indeed in that housing subdivision. We’ve been in this house now for 20 years. I’ve told Fred that I am NOT leaving this house except in a body bag!! That’s all the moving I care to do in this lifetime. (Just so you know – Fred and I have moved 15 times. Fred, with his family and ours, has moved 37 times!)
This house is about 300 square feet larger than the house in Kissimmee, and it feels like it. While the Kissimmee house had cathedral ceilings, this one doesn’t. But they are 9′ 4″ tall, and give it the feel of space.
You enter the front door into the living room/dining room area. A fairly large room, we have room for the piano, love seat and chair, as well as the sideboard with hutch, and table and chairs in the dining area. Even when we expand the table, it is still a comfortable size.
I know it’s Christmas, but shows the entry and living room, with part of the dining room table and chairs.
The dining room
From the dining room into the kitchen/family room
That wall, on the kitchen side, includes cabinets and drawers, and the refrigerator. After another doorway is more cabinets and the stove.
The kitchen
Around the corner is more under-cabinets and drawers, and the sink, which looks into the family room. The counter along that part of the kitchen is two-stepped, and is 15′ long. Lots of space! At the end of that is walking space and the pantry – which is quite large!
The Family room
Turn left past the pantry and you will see the second bathroom on your right, the laundry room/entry to the garage on your left, then the two remaining bedrooms. We were pleased to find the builders had upgraded the bathroom by putting in two sinks in the long counter space.
The laundry room and door to the garage – “launching point” for anything going out with us
Down the hallway: Right – bathroom; left – laundry room; the two remaining bedrooms
Then, if you head toward the back of the house, you will see, at the end of the family room, double French doors leading to the patio. (We had the patio extended and screened in)
2009 – My brother Bill Lites and son-in-law Ron on the patio
Turn left at the doorway and you will be in the Master suite. The bedroom is roughly 18′ x 15′, and has a large walk-in closet. There are double French doors leading to the patio, as well. The bathroom has a glass-walled shower and a garden tub. And the toilet is in its own little room, with a door to close. Nice. There are two sinks in the large area with a mirror covering the entire area. There are glass bricks for a window over the tub, which I thoroughly enjoy!
Glass bricks over the garden tub
We have been quite comfortable in this house, seldom wishing for more space or more anything.
God has blest us with all the adventures we have been through, and we are grateful.
I hope you have enjoyed this journey with me, and have been able to visualize some of the houses I have described. Perhaps some of the pictures have helped with that.
Thank you for your time and attention. This has been a fun trip down memory lane for me, and perhaps so for the rest of my family as well.
May God bless YOU in your adventures in life.
~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Fred retired from the Air Force and from Langley AFB and we stayed in Virginia for another seven years in that house.
Both of our daughters had married, and we decided we didn’t want to live in snow anymore in the winters.
My only sibling – my brother, and his family, live in Florida and we had visited them many times, and liked it.
And so we came to Orlando, looking for a house. We actually settled on a new house in Kissimmee, in a new subdivision.
It was a three-bedroom, two bath, split plan house, with the master suite being on one side of the house, and the other two bedrooms and bath on the other side. I liked that idea – the separation was convenient when we had visitors staying with us. The living room/dining room were sort of together, so that was something we had to arrange furniture around. The kitchen and family room divided the master bedroom suite from the other bedrooms.
The master bathroom was an interesting shape. Along one wall were two sinks in a counter space, and a long mirror covering the entire area. At the end was the glass-walled shower, and next to that was a garden tub. There was a window over the tub with an “orange slice” at the top. We eventually had that window filmed for privacy. The toilet was in a room off the next wall, with a door. Interesting and convenient.
This small chest of drawers is now in the guest bedroom
There was a small wall space between the bathroom and closet. Only wide enough for a narrow chest of drawers. We had one TV and some book cases in the bedroom with us, as well as a dresser. The closet was a walk-in closet; small but efficient.
At the end of the hall leading to the other bedrooms and bath, was the space for the washer and dryer. Along that hallway was a narrow pantry.
The second bathroom had a door in it, leading to the back yard. Since so many houses in this area have pools, that door was for the purpose of coming in the house after getting out of the pool. We didn’t have – nor did we want – a pool, so I covered each pane of clear glass in the door with “crystal” contact paper, so all things going on in the bathroom were private but still let in outside light. It had a single sink, a toilet, and the tub/shower. Small but quite efficient.
The ceilings in this house were modified cathedral ceilings, peaking over the kitchen. They were finished with the popcorn finish. There were many cabinets and cupboards, and the sink looked out into the family room. There was the usual refrigerator and stove and dishwasher included. It was a quite comfortable kitchen to work in.
There was door leading from the kitchen to the garage – a double-car garage. There was an open doorway from the kitchen to the dining room/living room.
There was a patio in the back yard. There were sliding glass doors in the master bedroom and the family room. It was covered, and made of concrete. We didn’t use it much. I had thought of screening it in, and we might have used it more, but we never did.
When we began thinking of moving into Orlando, realtors kept telling us we needed to put in a pool, as no one would buy it without one. We didn’t need or want the expense of adding a pool, and as it turned out, the lady who bought the house didn’t want a pool! So it would have been a real waste of money to put one in. It might have even negated a sale to have one.
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
As told to DiVoran Lites by Her Mother, Dora Bowers
In May 1939, my father, Roger Bedell, died in our home town of Canon City, Colorado. Since Ivan, and I; and our baby DiVoran were living in Lovelock, Nevada, we headed home in our 1921 coup for the funeral. Because our trip took place on Decoration Day, every cemetery we passed had bouquets of flowers on the graves. I saw them through tears, knowing I would not see my Dad again this side of heaven.
Photo credit Pixabay
Once home in Canon I dug in and didn’t want to leave, so Ivan drove back to Lovelock and packed up. Back in Canon City, he got a job with the gas company, where my Dad had worked.
In time with a loan of $100.00 from my grandmother Dora Bell Hunter, we were able to buy a house on River Street. The house cost $900.00 and our payments were $20.00 a month.
Photo credit Pixabay
In those days, part of our income came from Ivan’s job and part of the old cars he fixed up and sold for $35.00 or so. We had a boarder and that helped. Also we raised chickens. We had many fusses about the chickens. I thought I knew more about taking care of poultry because I was raised on the farm. He thought he knew more because he’d helped his parents with the chickens in a pen out back of their apartment house on Greenwood Avenue.
Of course, our fusses were nothing compared with the big fight the whole world had fallen into in Europe. Before he died, my Dad said there would be another war. In December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States declared war.
About that time, I kind of figured I was pregnant so I went to the doctor and he took a sample of my water then had the lab inject it into a young female mouse or rabbit. If her ovaries were enlarged that meant you were expecting.
Those were turbulent times for all of us: but I was pleased to be adding to the small family I loved. Since we already had a girl, we prayed for the baby to be a boy.
In June it was hot and I was big. Everyone told me I was carrying a boy because my stomach stuck way out rather than filling in around me as stomachs were believed to do with girls.
I must have looked pretty pitiful, because when the man came to collect the last installment on the pots and pans he’d sold us, I told him I couldn’t pay him. I needed the last $3.00 for a magazine subscription I’d ordered. He took one look at my condition and then, to my surprise and delight, gave me a “paid” receipt and left.
DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn. She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”
Leaving Heidelberg was difficult – we really loved being in Germany. But our three years were up and it was time to rotate stateside. We did a circuitous travel to England for two weeks (Please see my posts starting in July 30, 2017 – November 26, 2017 about that trip.). We then flew to New York then eventually to Virginia, where Fred’s next posting would be at Langley AFB in Hampton, Virginia.
We found our house, signed the papers then flew to Tampa, Florida for a week’s visit with Fred’s parents.
July – Clearwater, FL – Fred’s parents, Karen and Janet
From there we flew to Albuquerque for a visit with my Mother and Aunt Jessie. And then back to Virginia to begin that adventure.
July – Albuquerque – My mother and step-father, Fred, Karen and Janet
The house was available for us then, but our furniture had not arrived, so we stayed one night in temporary quarters on Langley AFB. One night was all it took. It was August and HOT…HOT…HOT! And the air conditioner was broken – and no fans! We tried to sleep, but couldn’t. We were all up about 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. to drink down as much ice water as we could.
The next morning, we borrowed mats and a card table (sound familiar?) and cooking equipment and went to our house. We slept on the floor on the mats. It wasn’t easy, but at least we were cool!
The house was barn-shaped, but had some neat features.
It had four bedrooms and three full baths. One bedroom and bath were downstairs, and we used them as a guest unit. The master suite was the width of the house, and had an en-suite bath with a shower only, no tub. The second bathroom upstairs had the full tub/shower. The other two bedrooms were upstairs, as well. One of the bedrooms, that faced the front of the house, had a little door in the closet, that led to some “attic” space, the length of the house. That was so convenient!
Downstairs was a formal living room and a separate dining room which was just off the kitchen.
Dining Room – left is the hallway to the guest bedroom and bathroom
There was also a family room that was wood-paneled and had a wood-burning stove in it.
My mother in the family room
Fred’s parents in the family room. Wood paneling and the wood-burning stove
I really liked the kitchen! The previous owners had renovated it, so that one wall that had been just empty, now held cabinet space and drawer space, as well as the stove. They had also installed a microwave – but they had cut a hole in the wall and made a brace on the wall in the garage to hold the microwave. All we saw in the kitchen was the front of the machine! We also didn’t hear the machine when it was running. Nice and quiet. The space where the stove was originally (next to the door leading to the garage), now became a very large pantry. There was cabinet space galore, and a window over the sink, looking to the back yard. The refrigerator was at the end of the cabinets, next to the doorway to the dining room.
In the back yard, there was a patio made up of slate sections. There was a trellis at one end, and a big tree at the other. Someone had installed a pull-across line that could be used to hang clothes to dry. I love the smell of sheets dried in the air, and so did that frequently.
We lived in that house nearly 13 years – the longest we had lived anywhere.
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
Getting ready for our move to Heidelberg, West Germany, we sold our car and traveled by train to Albuquerque.
Sandia mountains, East of Albuquerque – Credit Google Search
We spent some time with my Mother and Aunt Jessie before flying to Washington D.C. for some time with Fred’s parents.
1980 – The White House – President Jimmy Carter in residence
We then flew to Frankfurt, where our sponsor picked us up and drove to Heidelberg.
There were no housing units available at that time, so we were placed in temporary quarters – for one month! It was, essentially a hotel room. We arrived in time for the 4th of July celebration. There were to be fireworks, but at that latitude (same as Labrador, Canada), the sun didn’t set until nearly 10:00 p.m., so the fireworks didn’t start until about 9:30 p.m. But we enjoyed it, none-the-less.
We were finally able to get into government quarters. Again, we were in a stairwell, with six apartments to each stairwell, with three stairwells to each building.
The building across our courtyard – same as our building – the inside courtyard
We had requested the third floor again – yes it’s inconvenient to drag groceries up there, and lug laundry down to the basement, but in the spring, summer and fall, when it gets hot (no air conditioning at all), we could open the windows and get a lovely breeze blowing through. It was well worth it. Our apartment was on the end of the building, and we could see the high school across the street, as well as what was going on down on the street. I liked that view.
Our building. Top left is our unit. The white Mercedes was our car
Walking in the front door was a short hallway. Immediately left was our bedroom – a fairly large room. It held our dresser, chest-of-drawers and two night stands along with the bed and a furnished wardrobe. The full width of the room had windows with a marble sill, facing the side street.
Immediately right from that hallway was a “swing” door into the kitchen. I actually closed it off with a bookcase across it, and set the telephone on it.
Front door and short hallway. Bookcase in the hallway – our bedroom across from it.
Doorway to the kitchen to the left in this picture
Proceeding down the hallway you entered the “great” room – dining room first, then living room in one space. Again, as in Florida, I “divided” the room with our large sofa.
1983 – Judy and friend in the living room, looking toward the dining room and into the kitchen. One alcove to the left.
Turn right into the great room and you are in the kitchen. Again, I blocked the swing door with a small table and used the table for other things.
The blocked door, the dishwasher, the narrow pantry doors.
I kept the plates in there so they were easy to reach by our girls when setting the table.
Big, tall cabinets on one side, with a narrow pantry with shelves near the swing door. A window at the end of the room, and on the other side was more under-cabinets and the stove.
The sink and stove
The window at the end of the room
Within the great room we had two alcoves – one with closing doors. I left them open and placed a desk in that area, with my typewriter usually set upon it. In the other alcove was my piano.
1981 – Karen in front of the piano in the open alcove
We had the TV set under the end-of-the-building window,
Christmas window treatment, and decorations on top of the TV set with bookcases and stereo equipment on the opposite wall.
From that room left of this picture, you walked down a very short hall directly into the bathroom.
Bathroom window treatment
To the right of that was one bedroom, and to the left was the third bedroom. The right bedroom had two windows – one at the end of the building, the other facing the side street.
Karen’s bedroom – window to the right, another to the left
One window covering in Karen’s bedroom
The third bedroom had windows and a long, marble window sill.
1982 – Janet’s bedroom – windows to the right
Windows in Janet’s room
In the basement was the laundry room – washers and dryers furnished, and a room with clothes lines if you cared to dry your clothes that way. Opposite that were “cages” that held items such as our bicycles, etc.
Above our particular apartment was empty space. I frequently held my aerobic classes there when I was unable to use the gym on base.
Opposite that was another bathroom, and six “maids” rooms. Ours held twins beds, a dressing table, and a wardrobe. When we had guests, they stayed there.
~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~
Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .
Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.
After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.
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