Rememberance Day.................England.

Remembrance Day, or Poppy Day is this Sunday. It is always held on a Sunday. The true date is 11.11.11 The Eleventh hour and eleventh day of the eleventh month. This year will be 11.11.11.11
Wow.



The poppy is the symbol of the blood that was shed during WW1 but became the everlasting symbol for those who died in wartime, who were injured and who served their country. No matter how we feel about war, these men and women gave their all. When their country needed them they served.



My father was taken prisoner in Singapore and served most of his time in Japanese POW camps. My uncle who I never met died at Dunkirk on the beaches there and he is buried in France. He left behind a baby daughter my cousin Pat. For those men who never came back and those who suffered from wounds physical or mental because of their service............we Remember them.




In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Happy Birthday US Marines. Semper Fi..................

Thank you to all who served. That includes both my sons and son in law. Jason Schaub, Justin Schaub and Daniel Commins. Thanks also to their cousin Greg Schaub and their friends Joey Ahrens and John Fay who served with them, I am Proud to know you all. I thank God for sending you all home safe to go on with your lives having learned so much while serving.

Remember Remember the 5th of November...................

Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire night. In England the Gunpowder Plot. Try to kill our King and no one forgets. Treason is a serious thing to us Brits.
Remember remember the 5th of November,gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason Should ever be forgot...




On the 5th November 1605 Guy Fawkes was caught in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with several dozen barrels of gunpowder. He was subsequently tried as a traitor with his co-conspirators for plotting against the government.Judge Popham came to London specifically for the trial from his country manor Littlecote House in Gloucestershire. Guy Fawkes was sentenced to death and the form of the execution was one of the most horrendous which reflected the seriousness of the crime of treason.



The following year in 1606 it became an annual custom for the King and Parliament to commission a sermon to commemorate the event.This practice, together with the nursery rhyme it serves as a warning to each new generation that treason will never be forgotten.


Every year children celebrate by making a "Guy" with old clothes and stuffing it with paper. Then at the end of the evening he is burned on top of the bonfire. Children are allowed to go door to door singing "Guy guy stick him in the eye, hang him on the lamp post and there let him die" They receive admiration as they show off their guy and a few pennies to spend. There is a bonfire and fireworks in the evening and roasting of potatoes in the fire. Hot potatoes in their jackets never tasted so good. A great community get together was something to look forwards to for all the children and adults alike. I hope the tradition always continues for that reason alone. Far better than Halloween that seems to be taking over in England these days.

November walk in the Woods...............

Today is Saturday November 5th. I could not believe what a wonderful day it was again. What a great Autumn it has been so far this year. I was going to do so much in the house today, and get started on my sewing and other things but I could not stand to loose out on such a wonderful day. So Laura and Reina came over and we went for a walk in the woods. We went to the park so the kids could play on the swings after our hike. We began by hiking off onto the nearby trails and into the woods.



Gerry seemed to think it was cold but once we got into the trees the coats and hats came off. Reina and Tristen were oblivious to the nip in the air.



By the time we had gone up and down a few hills Laura and I were taking off coats and Tristen dumped his hat. The trail we chose goes past two ponds. I think they have names but I don't know what the names are. Anyway, this family of ducks were preening on this pond.





We passed on by without disturbing them and went to take a look at the other larger pond. This little chap was busy. A small red squirrel.



Then we walked for awhile besides the other pond in the hope of seeing some bird life. We saw this cute little nest that was now empty and abandoned. What a work of art it is, I would have taken it home but decided it looked nice where it was and maybe someone may use it again next year.



Here are the boys looking out over the lake/pond. It was about that time that Gerry swallowed a bug and we were laughing so hard at the fuss he was making. I didn't get a good picture or I would have put it on Facebook.



Back into the woods for a little way up the trail and then we heard the cows in the fields across the pond. There is a farm there where I used to get Lady's hay. The cows were enjoying some time in the fields and talking to each other in the afternoon sun.







We came back out by the lake/pond again and low and behold .......Sandhill Cranes.
The edge of the pond was still frozen from this mornings cold beginnings.






We left again and went back to the trail, it was uphill all the way back to the park. Laura and I left Gerry and the kids to play for awhile. We went back into the woods and tried to sneak up behind the cranes on the other side. First off we saw Woody Woodpecker looking for grubs. Pileated
Woodpeckers are quite impressive.



We managed to get a little closer to the Sandhill cranes but the pictures were not much better than from the other angle, thats OK more exercize for us. I must remember when walking in the woods to look up as well as looking down. With my vision being impaired now my perspective is all off. I use the smaller trees to grab to help me on slopes and I find they are not as close as they seem. While working that out I forget to also look up at the low hanging branches. No matter.........we did get to see the cranes. The grasses by the edge were also very pretty.






Then it was back up the hill again, I really must get in shape........huff puff.......

I chose Life...............with no regrets.

One day we were discussing abortion on Eons. I am against it in almost all cases. For me it is based in my belief in God. It is this belief in God that makes all life sacred to me and that includes animals.





When I was 19 I became pregnant and I was not married. It was not acceptable back in the 1960s and most people found themselves married off right quickly if they got into that position. I was living in London during the week, my parents had let me move away from home on condition that I came home on weekends. To keep me out of trouble I suspect. If abortion had been legal I would have done it rather than face my parents I am sure of that and to my everlasting regret. My mothers words to me when she found out were "you will bring no bastard into this house" and so I found myself alone and confused. I stayed away and kept my life in London. I somehow managed, and I found a mother and baby home that I could move into until the baby was born and they took care of the hospital. I worked until I was 6 months along and then was not allowed to continue working. Anyway......the Mother and baby home was quite fun really, all the girls in the same position and no one could really say much about our circumstance. We were expected to work to keep the place running, each with our own jobs. I especially remember cleaning silver and scrubbing draining boards and doing dishes. After our babies came, then our jobs changed. We were taught how to take care of an infant and there were other new mothers to compare notes with and talk to so it was not too scary handling a new born.
I had to decide if I was to keep my baby or give her up for adoption. I decided to keep her and make a life for us both. I was not sure how this was going to happen but I knew I could stay there while I worked things out. I was willing to do what I had to in order to do that. My dad came to our rescue and asked us to go home. He was not going to leave me alone and more or less made my mum accept that.
My mother had given up her job in order to take care of her brothers child, my aunt was going back to work and they were paying my mum to take care of their son. So........she agreed to take care of my baby as well. I went back to work when I was allowed to when my daughter was six months old. I gave mum half what I earned for our keep and for her help. Not a whole lot in those days. I took care of my baby whenever I was not at work. Mum got attached to her as my aunt had said she would.
It has not been an easy road for me, and I have not always thought I did the right thing in not giving her up but never ever regretted not having an abortion. The whole pregnancy and birth was a wonderful experience even under those conditions. Now I know that I did the right thing, I have 4 granddaughters and a great grandson and so I know that this is what was meant to be.
My stand on abortion is this. If we take a life we do not know who we are destroying. How could I not want these beautiful girls in this world. What right did I ever have to deny them life.?
When a young girl gets pregnant she automatically wants the easy way out, but she has no idea how the descision effects her life ever after. She does not think of it as a baby in those first couple of months and is in a panic. She wants to cover the pregnancy up and she wants her life back. Well.............we have to undestand that life is not all about us....once we have chosen that path and had sex, then we need to be able to follow through and either give up the baby to someone who really wants a baby in their life, or find a way to keep the child. In that case it should be all about the baby and the mothers personal life needs to come 2nd. That is the consequence of behaving like a mature woman before you are ready. I missed out on a lot of fun by keeping my child. My friends who were still living and working in London went to Lybia and were there when Kadafi took over. The thrill of a bloodless revolution. Going to work and seeing soldiers in the streets.......going to Aden when there were all of the troubles there......I missed it all and listened to my friends stories while I was home in the country working and having no social life. I would have loved to see the Middle East back then.
Social life came soon enough. Once the baby was sleeping through the night I could go out again when I wanted to. I always put her to bed and got her up in the morning no matter how late I got home. I was always there when she was sick.....took care of all her needs, but my mother was there as well.
My mum was one of those women who worried about "what will the neighbors think" our name and reputation was ruined she said..........what I learned was that every single one of them were by my side and helped me when they could. They were there for me, they found reasons to help me out and took an interest in my child and supported me emotionally. I learned what it means when they say "It takes a village to raise a child" ...........I had enough love and support from everyone I knew, everyone stood by me and so my mother eventually came around. My dad was always my rock and my continual support. They never met my grandchildren but would have been proud of each of them.
I eventually got married and had two more children in England and at home, thank heaven for the health care system there.
My two boys and my daughter have never thought of themselves as 1/2 brothers and sister. They forget they have different fathers and thats the way it should be.
Thats my story and why I am against abortion. There is another way. We should not kill what we do not know..........God has blessed me and He is my strength. The whole experience made me stronger and self reliant and after that I knew I could do anything on my own and I did not need anyone else to rely on only my Lord.
I can not sit in judgement on people who made a different choice but please don't defend that choice by saying its a fetus and not a child. At least mourn the life that could have been and give it deep thought because there really are other choices. I also believe that if its a question of the making a choice between the life of mother or child then it is the choice of those involved and their doctor. So for that reason I believe abortion should not be illegal. The answer lies in peoples morals and not the law. In education and conscience. I realize that not everyone believes in God and can not be bound by my beliefs but the world would still be a better place if people honoured life and respected it.

The Last walks of Autumn............................

Autumn walks

I see Autumn leaves all swirling down
In shades of olive, scarlet, amber and brown.
I take deep breaths of cold crisp air
and catch a stray leaf in tendrils of hair.
I raise my face towards the sun
It's weaker now that summer is done.
My last eager walks in woodlands deep
before all is done, and put to sleep
under blankets of snow and freezing ice
everything now is so special, so nice
The sky is so blue, so pristine and bright
soon it will be leaden and looking like night
I don't want to miss out on these heavenly days
I want to soak up these last gentle rays
JKS 2011 Nov

Old Friends.............

I love Facebook. I just check in every day and say hello to friends all over the globe. Some are new and some are old. Some I have not seen in 40+ years and some I have never met. Its a wonderful thing this technology. I enjoy small glimpses into their daily lives and giving them a part of my own. I know we can't tell a lot about each other in such brief encounters but its a connection, and one that is so easy now. Before it was a matter of setting aside time to write a letter and mailing it, then waiting for the reply. Now it's instant if you want it to be. It's also a great way to share photos and just so much more. There was a group started on Facebook about the town near where I came from.....Dunstable. I had fun reading that and a friend thought we should start one on Houghton Regis and so I did. What great fun that has become. The group has grown by leaps and bounds and so many stories and pictures being shared. It has got people outside into our old haunts taking pictures to show everyone and rummaging through their own collections of old pictures. Oh the memories. We are remembering how our village used to be when we were growing up. Nothing like the place it has become. Some of the younger members do not remember the village any different to what it is now and they are learning how some of the place names came about and what it was once upon a time when us old folks were young. For most of us old Houghtonians the village had not changed since our fathers days and grandfathers all the way back to the beginning. It was a small village with gas lights and thatched roofs. A farm community with a village pond and a green that was used for the original purpose. The pond for wagons to go through so that the wood in the wheels would not become brittle. The Village green became the place for soccer and cricket and a play area for kids. They took out one of the big farms to build the London overspill estate and tore down the old Tithe Barn and all the farm buildings in order to make it. All the thatched roof cottages are gone, the public houses have dwindled or become eateries now.




Some lovely buildings remain, just a glimpse of what we once knew. The church that has stood for hundreds of years. The Kings Arms. The Chequers. The manor house on the green is still there with its tunnels that are supposed to go all the way to the church, blocked in now no doubt. The Crown public house is still there but little else of the old village. The ponds are gone and built upon. There are faint signs here and there, where the hairdressers are you can still see exposed beams from way way back. The village we knew was quiet and slow moving, everyone knew everyone and their families knew each other from hundreds of years back. Those same families are most likely gone now because the children (like me) moved away. There is only one Hines left in the village and he had girls.





Talking to others from the village about the places we played and the things we did, its a far cry from what children do now. We were content outside, finding our own games and troubles to be in. The pranks that kids got up to were so innocent compared to what people do now. No less troublesome to the parents of the time no doubt. Back then our village police man rode a bike and he would take a child home for punishment if the need arose. In my dads day the local Bobby would deliver a good "thick ear" and take the offender home for another one from the father of the child. Today we are not allowed to do much about wayward children and the world is a worse place for that.



Us girls loved to pick wild flowers. We climbed trees and played in the chalk pits and fields. Innocent but fun games with our friends. We didnt need or want toys we made our own fun. Just as well as no one had the money for them. Inside things were books and crayons and paints. Outside we made our own chassis out of old pram wheels we found that had been dumped in the hedgerows by the visiting gypsy band. We got wooden boxes from the grocers if we could and spent ages putting it all together to race them down Bidwell Hill. We were scavengers. I never had a bike and neither did any of my friends. We would go down to the Green to play on the swings though or traipse along the footpaths in search of birds nests or rabbits lairs. Mud pies and dugout dens or tree houses were the big thing to do. I remember Mick Bird and myself digging out an underground home that we put corrugated iron on for a roof, covered it in branches and got a candle to light the place up.We would just sit for ages in there thinking it was the best thing in the world especially if it rained.



Most of my childhood was spent with my friend Margaret who lived at Grove farm. We loved the outdoors and I learned a lot being there. I learned about what made the hedgerows and about the critters that lived there. The woods and fields and all that grew or lived in them. I saw how a sheep was shorn and dipped, and how to get eggs from under a cranky chicken. I saw a lamb being born and the wonder of it all..........baby cows and what a disaster foot and mouth disease used to be to the farmers and the animals. I remember fowl pest and farms being wiped out by it the smells of burning carcasses that permeated the air. Of having to walk through disinfectant to get on or off any of the farms to prevent the spread of disease.
I will be forever grateful for my life, for my childhood and now for being able to remember it again with old friends .

I am not gone...............

"I give you this one thought to keep -
I am with you still - I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone
I am with you still - in each new dawn."



poem attributed to Mary Frye

Oneida Point and around..............

Today we went for a walk in the woods. It was a gift, a lovely sunny and warm day and it's October. It has to be one of the last we will get so we just had to get out and enjoy it. First of all I wanted to drive up on Miller Hill just off Dunn's Farm Road. It was an unpaved road through the woods and looks out all over Lake Michigan. We could not walk to the overlook because we had Tristen with us so the view was somewhat impaired by the electric pylons. I had no sooner taken the picture than a Bald Eagle flew right in front of me. I could not get a picture as the camera was still processing the last shot. This view shows Sleeping Bear Bay and Sleeping Bear point. The Bay is where Glen Haven beaches sit and the coast guard station lighthouse.



Close up of the first picture



The road below is Dunn's Farm Road. I have cut that out of the picture though. The next one is the road through the woods. It takes us out by the Homestead near Point Oneida.



This area is in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Most of the farms have been bought up and are now preserved. We took Miller Road and walked through the fields and into the woods.



So here we go, off through the fields that have been mowed to make a lovely trail, and it is well worth the trip to the lookout. With a 2 year old there was not much hope of seeing wildlife but that's OK. This is cougar land, they have been seen as well as scat being found



Then off into the woods. It was such a beautiful day and with the sun shining through the trees was just perfect for walking. Tristen and Gerry had their walking sticks.



It is a bit of a walk to the lookout for little 2 year old legs but he made it all the way and up the hill. There is a seat at the top but he only stopped long enough for a picture.



There are lovely views and I bet on a clear summer day its spectacular.



You can see Lake Michigan and through the fields and farms below. I love the clouds in this shot.



We found the old Werner Family cemetery overlooking Lake Michigan. It is well taken care of and loved.


So then I took some pictures of a few of the farms at Point Oneida. Tristen got a piggy back ride back to the car because he was tired. These farms and barns are now owned by the National Park service. There are many more but we will show those another time.


This is the D.H Day farm a local landmark that can be seen from the top of the dunes and all around.



A bonus for us was by the Dune Climb, we saw what looks like a Muscrat nest or a Beavers den. I think its a Muskrat though.



Then it was lights out for our rosy cheeked cherub who was no doubt dreaming of fun filled days and the things he had seen and done.

The Moors..............

Evil winds blow cross the moor.
Boats get scuttled upon that shore
Such pounding of great hideous waves
Echoing through subterranean caves.
Lightening cracks and thunder rolls
Deep underground like awakening trolls.
Mists and rain roll in banks of fog
Imagination sees the red eyed dog
Devils hounds glide and bay
For unwary travelers who carelessly stray
Out on those moors all wild and cold
Pay heed to the stories by firesides told
Light windows with candles to guide folks back home
The moors on such days are no place to roam.


JKS Oct 2011