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Kitty

25 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

My mother-in-law was a gem.  She was funny, cute, elegant, classy, down-to-earth, loved to laugh, and welcomed me into the family as a daughter.  Of course, it didn’t hurt that I married her first-born.  

Her name was Charlotte Emily, but I had never heard anyone call her anything but Kitty.  Occasionally a niece would mention “Aunt Charlotte” but that’s about it.  She rapidly became a second mother to me, and I loved her.

I was always curious as to where the nickname “Kitty” came from, and found it to be a most interesting and amusing story.  In her own words:

“…when I was in 7th or 8th grade, I was given a nick-name, Kitty!  This came about in the winter when we were skating on a small lake in Monroe, New York.  My sister Eleanor told some friends about an episode when we were living in Windham, New York.  Our Mother and her three daughters were enjoying the evening sitting on our front porch, when a small black and white animal came creeping up the front walk.  I began calling, “Kitty, kitty” and started down to pet him or her.  As I got up my Mother said, “That’s not a cat – it’s a skunk!”  Well, luckily, it turned and ran away without leaving the usual odor we associate with skunks.  That winter when we, El and I, were skating, El told this story and from then on everyone on the ice began calling “Here Kitty, Kitty!”  And I’ve been called Kitty every since!”

Mystery solved!  I’ve heard similar stories before, but not where the name stuck.

Her father was a Scottish Presbyterian minister, who immigrated to the United States from Scotland during the Potato Famine in 1910.  I remember her saying that she loved to hear the bagpipes play – it really got her blood up to a good boil!

She was devoted to her husband and their four children.  Being a U.S. Air Force wife, she moved and traveled frequently.  She had a flair for decorating, and her home was always elegant yet comfortable.  I remember the story of how, in 1947 after World War II, her husband was assigned to an installation in Italy.  He went over first, and then she made the trip with those four children in tow – ages 8, 4, and 2-year-old twins.  She was a brave woman!  They lived all over the world – many places in the United States as well as Italy, Japan, and Hawaii.

She was a great cook.  She taught me to make turkey stuffing the “New England” way – with bread rather than cornbread.  She taught me to make German Springerle Christmas cookies – the best I’ve ever eaten! 

She loved to have fun, and was a bit of a cut-up.  I will always remember her with me on the beach in northern California, dancing barefoot through the wet sand and kelp.

She left us in 2010, after about 10 years of dealing with Alzheimer’s disease, and so she actually left us many years before that.  I miss her, still.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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A Small Serendipity

18 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

I wrote this post back in 2014, and in re-reading it, I enjoyed the memory of it.  I hope my readers enjoy it, as well:

I really love the serendipities that happen in our lives at times.  Some are so large they just overwhelm us when they happen.  Others are just sort-of average, but just enough different to make us sit up and take notice.  And then there are the small ones.  Those that just happen in a flash…and then are gone, leaving us to wonder how/why did that happen?

Fred and I experienced that just recently when we went to Disney’s Magic Kingdom.  Busy day – lots of high school bands around – lots of Senior Trips around – kids in the same color t-shirts.  We usually enjoy seeing these groups.  Most of them are not terribly rowdy, and are just having a great time.   Occasionally we see them doing the “flash” thing – breaking into song or the “wave” or something like that.  

We had just finished a ride and were on our way to lunch, when a young man caught up with us and said, “would you be my stand-in parents?”  We stopped and I asked why?  He said his parents had just gone on a ride but he couldn’t get on, so…..  I began laughing and ask him what we could/should do.  He hesitated a minute then said, “how about a hug?”  And so that’s what we did – a group hug for the three of us – all of us laughing at the same time.  

And then he was gone.

I told Fred he was probably dared to do that by some of his classmates, but that was okay.  It was a fun thing.

MUCH later, I told Fred we should have told this young man that we couldn’t be his stand-in parents, but would stand-in GRANDparents work?  Nothing slow about me!

Photo credit – Google search; Disney.com

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Sailboat

11 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

THE SAILBOAT – reblog 

Growing up in New Mexico, there wasn’t a lot of water around – no swimming pools (except at the public ones), no ponds or lakesides, no oceans, etc. So, consequently, I was not really familiar with boats of any kind. That really didn’t bother me too much as I had a lot of other interests.

Photo credit Google Search – New Mexico – Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque

If you have ever lived in government quarters – as we did on any military base where we were stationed – then you know that, when you leave that posting, you are required to have those same quarters absolutely immaculate! Better than when you moved into them! And there would be an inspection of those quarters by an official inspector. If they found anything wrong – you were required to “fix” it before you were allowed to leave the base.

We had lived in quarters on Tyndall AFB, Florida for five years.

Photo Credit Google Search – Tyndall AFB, Florida

That’s almost too long, actually. Our usual moves were about every three years. I told Fred that we needed to leave soon, because I was beginning to put down roots – in a government duplex!!

Photo credit – Judy Wills – our half of the duplex – 1974-1979

He was finally given orders to relocate. So then the work of packing up and moving out began. After the movers had taken our belongings away, we started cleaning the unit. We had always thought we could do that ourselves, rather than hire someone to come in and do it for us. So I set Fred and the girls to cleaning, and I thought I would tackle the kitchen. I had planned on the weekend to do the entire kitchen. Unfortunately, the stove was so old that, in taking it apart and cleaning it – it took the entire weekend just for the stove!

By the time we had finished, we were exhausted.

Now….you may think there is no connection to cleaning and boats…but wait….

There was a gentleman who worked in the Weather Station with Fred, who LOVED boats! And especially sailboats. Not being able to purchase one for himself, he had contracted with another gentleman from Alabama to care for his sailboat.

It was a 33-foot Hunter that would sleep six people. It had a full galley and full shower. It had a small auxiliary engine to get us in and out of port. It was set up for ocean voyages and was one-person configured. Whenever the owner wanted to “play” with it, he would call and come down and retrieve it. That usually only happened once or twice a year. The rest of the time, our friend could take it out whenever he wanted.

And that’s what happened with us. He had offered to take us out for a sail, on the last day we were in town. And so we did, along with a couple of guys from the Weather unit. I was a bit confused when we motored out of port, thinking “what does this have to do with sailboating?”

But then he cut the engine and unfurled the sail. It was the most wonderful thing – so very quiet, and peaceful, and RESTFUL…just exactly what we needed after all that cleaning.

He even let our 8-year-old handle the wheel for a while. She loved it!

Photo credit – Judy Wills – Janet at the helm!

We’ve never purchased a boat of our own – never felt the need to. But it was an experience that we savored and have remembered all these years.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Bearded Barbet

4 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

The Bearded Barbet – reblog

We have lived in Central Florida since 1995 – our retirement dream.  We had originally thought we would retire here and “work” at Disney, doing something mundane, so we could see the theme parks to our heart’s content.  Well, it didn’t work out quite like that.  Within four months we had found the church where we felt God wanted us to be members, and so we joined it.

Within another six months – much to my surprise! – I became the Church Secretary.  Fred wasn’t too sure about turning in my application for the vacant position, but it just “felt right” to me, so I did.  And was hired (I was Church Secretary for nearly nine years).  I think it helped that I was an older woman, and my last position had been a Financial Secretary, and had learned to keep my mouth shut.  Financial and pastoral stuff is just something one doesn’t blab about.  Within another nine months, Fred was the Church Administrator.  It was nice working together, and we made the distinction of working WITH each other – neither of us working FOR the other!  Even with our desks in the same room, we just worked together, as it should be.

In spite of all that “work” stuff, we found time to go to Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal Studios.  We especially enjoyed going to SeaWorld after a stressful day at work.

Photo credit Google Search and SeaWorld

It just seemed like it was more restful there – not as frantic a pace as at Disney or Universal.  Perhaps it was the animals…I don’t know.  I just know that we enjoyed it and felt refreshed after spending a few hours at that theme park.

After we had been going to SeaWorld for a few years, we happened to go around a corner that we didn’t usually go around – and saw a bird “cage” along side one of the buildings.  We heard a strange sound coming from there, and stopped to see.  Inside the large cage were two of the most unusual birds we had ever seen!  And the sound was a raspy croak – called a “growling scrawk”!  

Photo credit Google Search

  WOW!  What were these birds??!!  The sign said “Bearded Barbet” – have you ever heard of that?  They, along with Toucans are mainly from tropical West Africa.

I rubbed my finger along the wire mesh, and one of them hopped right over to the metal frame, and took a good look at my finger.  The mesh was tight enough that I couldn’t be bitten – and it’s a good thing!  Look at that beak!!  But it did try to “peck” at my finger.  And it scrawked at me a few times, before it flew back to it’s perch.

Photo Credit Google Search

Every time we went to SeaWorld after that, we would make sure we stopped to see the Bearded Barbet, and were thrilled each time.

Imagine our disappointment when we discovered that they weren’t there any more – and had been replaced by Australian Kookaburras.  Nothing wrong with Kookaburras, but they just weren’t the Bearded Barbet!

Ah – the wonders of God’s world.  They never cease to amaze me!

Psalm 8:1, 3, 8-9

Oh Lord, our Lord, how Majestic is Your Name in all the earth.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

 

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Christmas Once Again

21 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Yes, it is Christmas once again.  Comes around every December 25th.  I look back on all the Christmases that we have lived through – and they all bring fond memories to my mind.  The Christmases we experienced as children, my brother and myself.  My parents always did everything possible to make those times special to us. 

1952 – Bill and me – Christmas morning

My family didn’t have a lot of money, but we always had presents under the tree – and sometimes little ones hidden among the branches of the Christmas tree.  We really had to hunt for those!

I remember one Christmas that my Aunt Jessie had promised to give me a particular necklace that she had designed.  I was so looking forward to that!  Well, the only box left for me was a HUGE box!  I was beginning to feel disappointment, but began unwrapping that box…and found a smaller, wrapped box inside that one…and another smaller, wrapped box inside that one…you get the picture.  Sure enough, after about six or seven boxes, the last one was a small jeweler’s box – with that necklace in it!  What a fun memory that is.

I remember the Christmases were usually at our house, but as we got older (Bill and me) we would occasionally go to Aunt Jessie and Granny’s house for opening presents.  I loved that house almost as much as I loved ours, so it was a very special time.

1954 – Daddy opening his present – Aunt Jessie’s house

The gifts were more “grown up” then, but always wrapped wonderfully.  The idea of a “gift bag” had not been invented in those days, therefore much care and thought went into how each box was wrapped.  Aunt Jessie was particularly creative in that department!

1954 – Bill and me – opening presents at Aunt Jessie’s house

notice the wrapping on Bill’s present.

I remember that the first four years of our married life, we couldn’t afford a tree – even a small one.  Nor did we have room in our tiny apartment for one.  So I remember folding a small magazine (Reader’s Digest size) into tree shape then spray painting it green, and sticking small hand-made ornaments on it.  That was our tree.  I can’t even begin to remember how I folded that magazine!  I’ve tried several times with no success.  Oh well, it is a memory in my mind.

A.I generated image. Not the green painted mentioned above.

When we lived in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB) one of our girl’s classrooms had a hamster as a pet.  At Christmas break, no one could take her home (Wheezer was her name), so Karen brought her home – plastic cage and all.  Unfortunately, she died just weeks before we moved to Heidelberg, Germany.

1984 – Virginia – Karen, Janet and Muffin

I found another hamster in Germany, but he didn’t last too long either.  So we kinda gave up on hamsters.  However, when we moved to Virginia, near Christmas time, I purchased a hamster in secret, and had a neighbor keep her until the girls were in bed on Christmas Eve.  They were both pleased and surprised the next morning to find her. They named her Muffin.  I can’t remember how long she lived.  They are called “throw-away-pets” because their life span is about three years.  But the girls got a few good years of enjoyment out of her.

Our Christmases in Florida have been many now (we’ve lived here 30 years now), and usually with one set of our girls and their families with us.  Only once or twice have both girls and their families been here.  But they have been wonderful times together.

1997 – Kissimmee, Florida – Forrest and Katie

2009 – Orlando, Florida – The Lawson family

This year we will have Janet, Tom and the twins with us.  Karen and Brian were here for Thanksgiving.  They helped set up our Christmas tree and the outside decorations – things I hadn’t thought about, and probably wouldn’t have been able to do myself.  With Janet’s family here at Christmas, they will help take the decorations down and put away.  How’s that for timing?!  

Fred and I wish all my readers a wonderful, blessed Christmas 2025.  While this year has been a hard one, we are thankful to be living another Christmas.  And we are so very thankful to God that we have family and friends who are so close to us.  God has blessed us mightily.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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Aerobics and Hearing Aids

14 Dec

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

AEROBICS AND HEARING AIDS – reblog

I wrote this back in 2013, but enjoyed re-reading it.  I hope you do, as well:

 I have been an “exerciser” for many, many years of my life.  As a matter of fact, I began jogging more than three months before I shamed Fred into jogging with me. We’ve never stopped doing something in the way of exercise.

 So it came as no surprise to me to find an “aerobic dancing” class beginning shortly after we arrived in Heidelberg, West Germany.  One of the military wives was teaching the class.  I took the class and loved it!  The interest was so great that she wanted to have a partner to help teach – and she selected me.  I taught the remainder of the three years we were in Heidelberg.   This was our logo and color.

During that time, there was one lady in my class who always stood in the front row and to my right (I was facing away from the students).  As we conversed, I thought she had a speech impediment.  After we got to know each other a bit better, she told me that she had been born with some hearing loss.  She wasn’t totally deaf, but enough so that she couldn’t hear the way most words were sounded.  That explained her speech.  But she had hearing aids that helped her so much, and she could understand all the cues I shouted out in the class.

As interesting as all that is – to me anyway – that’s not the end of the story.  We returned stateside and began our life in Virginia.  Our oldest daughter had met her future husband while in high school in Heidelberg (his father was our American pastor), and he had returned to the States to attend college – where she was attending, of course.  They married a few years later.

One evening, around Thanksgiving time, I received a call from our son-in-law, saying that, on their way to see his parents in South Carolina, our daughter had fallen asleep at the wheel and they had crashed.  I was furious that he would only say that she was “in with the doctor” and wouldn’t give me any more details – like…..is she still alive???!!!

I asked if he wanted us to come and take them back home (they were only about an hour from their apartment).  He agreed.  He then said, “wait, here is the paramedic who will give you directions to the hospital.”  This young man came on the phone and gave me the directions – with the very same intonation that my aerobic student had!!  I knew at once that he had hearing loss, and not a speech impediment.  And, by God’s grace, I was able to understand every word he said – the first time!  No repeats.  God had prepared me, all those years ago, for that very moment, when I would need my wits about me, and to understand this young man’s instructions.

I could end the story there – that is the main thrust of it – but I want to tell you of God’s gracious hand in all this.  You see, when our daughter fell asleep, the car drifted, and our son-in-law looked up and screamed, which woke her, and she drastically over-corrected.  That caused the car to roll several times.  Amazingly, there were no other cars around them – just down the road a bit – no other cars involved in the crash.  There was an off-duty ambulance behind them that stopped, and the paramedics gave aid.  They could have rolled off a bridge and crashed onto the road below them – but they didn’t – they just rolled to a stop on an embankment.  While the car was totaled, our children only suffered a few cuts and bruises.

Our God is loving and faithful and gracious, indeed.

O Lord, you will keep us safe and protect us…

Psalm 12:7

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possib

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Wood Inlay

5 Dec

SUNDAYMEMORIES

Judy Wills

Reblog

I wrote this back in 2013, but enjoyed reading it again.  I hope you do, as well

I’ve never thought I would be particularly interested in wood, types of wood, or just about anything related to wood.  I guess the first time I really became interested was when I was graduating from high school and a local furniture store gave a Hope Chest to every graduating girl in my class.  Now, I must say that the chests were VERY MINIATURE!!  More like a keepsake box.  But they were made of cedar, as a real hope chest would be, and finished beautifully.  After all these 50+ years since that time, my miniature hope chest still smells wonderfully fragrant.  That’s probably why I love the fresh smell of cedar so much.

When we were stationed in Germany in the late 1960’s, we came across some wood inlay pictures that really caught our eye.  The intricate “jigsaw puzzle” work of the artist…and the different color of the woods used…were fascinating.  We purchased just one picture, thinking that was all we could afford.  And while we cherished that picture, we couldn’t help but wish we had purchased more.

Marienplatz – Garmisch/Partinkirken 

Back to Germany we went in the early 1980’s – and we began our search for more of those wood inlay pictures, and especially by the same artist.  And we found them!  We snapped up two more.  All of the scenes are of places in Germany that were important to us and our memories.  We treasure them.  And we learned that this particular artist had cut enough puzzle pieces to make pictures for up to five years after his death! Amazing.  

Neuschwanstein Castle 
Konigsee 

But we’ve found other wood inlay that intrigue us, as well.  While visiting in the Chicago area, we stayed in a great old house that is now a Bed & Breakfast.

Roxana Bed & Breakfast 

It is situated on a lake that is reported to have been a playground for the likes of Al Capone and his cronies.  As a matter of fact, the room we stayed in was dubbed the “Al Capone Room,” and had pictures of him, one of his famous cigars, and two bullets he might have used.

Al Capone 

But what interested us the most was the dining room and sitting area.  When the new owners purchased the house, most of the rooms had wall-to-wall carpet.  When they pulled it up, thinking to replace the carpet, they found the most beautiful wood inlay floors imaginable!  So they left them uncarpeted, and open to admiration.  We most certainly admired them.  Just think of the imagination and planning that went into putting these floors down.  Beautiful!

Our favorite Mexican Restaurant in town has a gorgeous wood inlay Aztec calendar hanging at the front of the restaurant.  I’ve seen quite a few calendars before, but none this beautiful.

I’m still a carpet girl – and here in Florida, we have either carpet or tile.  But that doesn’t stop me from admiring the craftsmanship of those artists from long ago.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

 

 

 

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After Thanksgiving

30 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

As with last week’s blog, I wrote this a few years ago, but it fits this year, as well.  Enjoy!

Well, Thanksgiving 2023 has come and gone.  It’s amazing to me how fast that happens!  You gear up for it, then POOF!  It’s over.

So what do you do now?  Well, Christmas is on its way now, and there is soooo much to do to get ready for that.  However…there’s still some turkey left over.  Okay…more than a little turkey left over.  What to do?  Well, there’s always turkey sandwiches…made on a hoagie roll with thin slices (or thick if you like) of turkey, lettuce leaves, tomato slices, sliced onions, pickles and any condiments you like (mustard? Mayonnaise? Oil and vinegar? Some kind of salad dressing?).  Cheese of course.  Warmed in the toaster oven perhaps? Or just eaten cold.  Subway…eat your heart out!

But our very, very favorite way to eat up that leftover turkey is by picking the turkey carcass clean of all the meat (light and dark) and cubing it up in about 1″ or smaller pieces, and making my Mother’s recipe of Turkey Tetrazinni.  Fred says it is his favorite part of the turkey!  I’ve included the recipe below.  I cook it in either a 9″x13″ glass pan, or a 10″x10″ Corning Ware dish.  It works well with either.

This recipe makes quite a bit, and with just the two of us eating it, it takes a couple of days to finish it off.  But we manage to do just that!  We really enjoy this dish.  I’ve never tried to freeze any leftovers, so i don’t know how it would work.

I hope you will try this – and enjoy it as much as we do.  It’s a GREAT way to finish up the turkey!

TURKEY TETRAZINNI

By Agnes Lites Yearout

1 cup cooked rice**                                                             2 Tbsp flour

2 sticks diced celery                                                            2 cups (total) broth and milk**

½  onion, chopped                                                               Salt & Pepper to taste

1 small can mushrooms with juice                                    1 tsp Worchestershire Sauce

¼  lb. butter (1 stick)**                                                         ¼ lb. grated cheddar cheese

                                                                                                Cooked turkey, cubed

Cook celery and onion in butter until transparent.  Combine vegetable mixture, flour, broth, mushrooms and juice, and seasoning to make the sauce.  Add turkey and most of the grated cheese to the sauce.  Cook until cheese is melted and mixed in with the sauce.

Put cooked rice in a greased casserole and cover with the turkey sauce.  Top with remaining cheese.

Bake in a 350º oven for about 20 minutes.

**SOME NOTES:  

  1.    Instead of butter you can substitute ½ cup Olive Oil
  2.    For the “broth and milk” – if you have any turkey gravy left over, use that and top it off with milk to make the two cups.  If no broth or gravy, use chicken bouillon and milk.
  3.    This is really good over cooked thin spaghetti or Vermicelli (we like Angel Hair pasta the best).  We like the pasta better than rice.  We’ve not tried it over Couscous, but I think it would be good, as well.  Cook the Couscous in chicken bouillon.  I’ve also made it with egg noodles and that is good.
  4.    I like sliced mushrooms, but stems and pieces can be used as well.
  5.    I am usually more generous with the cheese – we like cheese!

Enjoy!!

Photo Credit by Google Search and Betty Crocker website

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

23 Nov

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I wrote this a few years ago, but thought it would fit this Thanksgiving time.  Enjoy!

I have many and varied memories of Thanksgivings throughout my lifetime – all of them happy times with family.  I don’t remember making my own turkey or dressing until Fred and I had been married for five or six years, and had moved to Wiesbaden, West Germany with the U.S. Air Force.  Then I was sort-of forced to try my hand at cooking a turkey, whether I wanted to or not!  I did find that it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it might be.  

I have to say here, that neither I nor my brother, Bill, can remember what kind of dressing (or stuffing) our mother made!  I suspect it was cornbread dressing, since Daddy grew up in Louisiana and that’s more likely what was made there.  I never tried to make cornbread dressing, as it isn’t Fred’s favorite.  However, his mother, who grew up in New England, taught me how to make bread dressing, New England style.  So that’s what I’ve made ever since.  It’s what our girls grew up eating, and they – and we – love it!  

All that to say that I do remember some things about Thanksgivings along the way.  I remember the cranberry/orange/pecan relish in gelatin that my mother made in small forms that were placed on leaves of lettuce.

1955 – Albuquerque – Granny, Daddy, Mother, Bill

Dessert time at the Lites Thanksgiving table

Mother’s cranberry relish dish on lettuce leaves on the table (red)

1956 – Albuquerque – Thanksgiving meal

DiVoran, Bill, Judy, David Bowers (DiVoran’s brother)

Daddy, Granny, Dora Bowers (DiVoran and David’s mother), my Mother

I remember the sweet potato dish she made.  And of course there were always mashed white potatoes and lots of turkey gravy.  Pumpkin pies with whipped cream was the dessert.  I don’t remember any other kinds of desserts.

Since our girls are grown and gone to their own families for Thanksgivings now, Fred and I have fallen in the habit of going to Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving meal – usually lunch.  We can get a wonderful meal of turkey and ham, sweet potato casserole, another vegetable of our choice, mashed potatoes and gravy.  Along with pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert.  All for one low price – and I don’t have to cook it or clean it up, either!! 

Photo Credit Google Search and Cracker Barrel website

However, this year will be different.  We have some very good friends in town that we have dinner with once each week – standing date.  Across the street from where they live is another couple that we are all very good friends with, as well.  We have a meal with them once each month.  Usually for Easter or close to Thanksgiving, they will have a meal for a bunch of people, and we  are invited.  Easter brings certain types of foods.  Thanksgiving brings the turkey and ham, etc., and I ALWAYS bring my bread dressing.  This year, they are holding the meal actually on Thanksgiving Day.  So we get to celebrate that wonderful time of family and friendship on the Day itself.  We are blest.  And my bread dressing will be on the table, with probably none left at the end of the meal.

Since we live in a community called Hunter’s Creek here in Orlando, we receive a monthly magazine called “Life at Hunter’s Creek.”  Last year, this was the cover of that magazine.  Since I like to bake and make cookies, this really caught my eye.  I would like to show it here to wish one and all a very

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Discipline

16 Nov

Reblog

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

I wrote this back in 2013, but it seems fitting to post it again.  It never goes out of style!

As I’ve mentioned in previous musings, I’ve been going through stacks and stacks of papers and pictures that we have accumulated.  I’ve found a number of cartoons that my Mother had cut out – probably the newspaper – and sent them to me.  And I’ve used some of them in my Old Things R New postings.

Today, however, I would like to share something that we found in my Mother’s Bible following her death.

She was always a hard worker, whether it was at the job where she was paid (she was an accountant, and worked at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque to supplement Daddy’s paycheck, to purchase things that we might not have been able to have otherwise), or when she purchased and opened the Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio, or when she was cleaning the house, cooking our meals, doing the laundry….  She was a hard worker.

I think the only time I ever saw her sit down and “rest” was after dinner and clean-up from that, to watch a little TV.  One of her enjoyments – especially in her later years – was to sit down after breakfast, with a cup of her favorite coffee, and peruse the newspaper.  She would read it from cover to cover.

But this little snippet of information is a real insight into her life.  I think it was a testimony to the way she lived her life, and the way she saw life.  It certainly makes one take notice about the wisdom of the words.

What do you think?

Her favorite scripture was Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

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 and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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