letters from my Aunt Mary....

Aunt Mary is a wealth of genealogy information. she writes stories of her memories and childhood. she sprinkles info from other family members she corresponds with in her letters. and she shares her rather interesting observations on life. She loves shopping at thrift stores, senior citizen adn church activities, meeting friends for coffee and pie, writing classes, and volunteering at The Vaile Mansion.

2-19-2015 Fred went into Dollar General in Chillicothe a week ago and Brenda was working there and recognized him. went to two thrift stores....found 3 heavy, crystal clear flowers (look like an Easter lily) with clear glass stems for a total of $5.00. The Vaile theme in 2016 will be crystal. I love when I find something pretty and unique and especially when at a reasonable price!!! The senior center has yoga lessons in a chair or standing by one and my Humana Ins. pays for it. II'm enjoying going. A few days ago when the temp.reached 33 degrees and there were a few bare patches of yard in the snow, I saw several robins in my backyard. Some were lifting dry leaves with their beaks. I also saw some joniquil shoots near the south side of my house. You probably heard that Dona Lynn's husband Ron died Dec. 22 3 months to the day she died. Aunt Dona washed her phone in the laundry. A cousin couldn't reach her, was quite concerned, had the police go check on her. One of my helpers at Vaile was knocked down by a pickup truck backing up to a dock at Cargo Largo. her elbow/arm broken in 3 places, had to have surgery. a pelvis hairline fracture that will heal on its own, many bruises. she thinks it will be 5-6 weeks before she can drive. She's the one who makes the pretty bows on the wreaths.

3-30-2015 Today would have been Roger's 63rd birthday. I'll always remember him as a young man who looked like Beaver Cleaver into his early teens and later (at least to me) like Tom Selleck. Way back before Al died, I had two impacted wisdom teeth surgically removed. Two writing classes have been enjoyable. We' ll have four more. The teacher gave us an assignment for this week. We're to write about the most unusual sound we've heard during the week. First off, I heard a woman singing karaoke, off key. I wrote that she was definitely overstepping her amateur bounds. Then, I did a second short account of hearing spring peepers along the ditch down behind my house making a joyful noise. I rejoice in the sound that I doubt many city dwellers have the pleasure in hearing. Now, which one to read aloud will be the question! For the story for the overall class length, I'm writing about trains. tracks going through the farm, trips I've taken. & the role they've played in my life. I would've gone bonkers without the trains allowing me to go home most weekends for many months after I began working in K.C. I've written: "Home was where my heart was and I was always eager to return." The annual tea party held at the Vaile was deemed a success. I helped in the gift shop. I dressed up, old fashioned look with a big brim hat. I think it's fun to dress up. One of the guys in tux who played a butler took my picture by a fireplace. He's the one who put pictures on FACEBOOK last Christmas. I helped in the gift shop prior also and the buyer treated me to a lovely tea party on 3/21 at the Blue Springs Historical Society. I took fresh flowers from my yard adn magnolias from a vacant house next door for the two gift shop rooms. On 3/22 I learned that the disabled veteran's thrift store has one color price tag for only 50 cents every Sunday. The color changes every week. I got 12 new looking books and the gift shop buyer bought 11 of them and a friend bought one. (Huckleberry Finn which I thought Fred might like.) yesterday p.m. I visited a friend in a nursing home and took her a solid chocolate Easter rabbit and some chewing gum. My pen pal in Mass. age 79 died on Dec. 12. one of her sisters sent me a copy of her obit and a computer printed, color picture. Aunt Dona's last letter on 2/20 told me about her niece Laura Marie, died of cancer. She was the daughter of George and Marjorie Phillips. The niece and Dona Lynn were close in age. I read a very good book, "RAINWATER" last week by Sandra Brown for book review at the library. I bet your mom would enjoy it.

from Parade Magazine. homemade tarts. preheat oven to 400. beat 1 large egg in a bowl. unroll 2 sheets of refrigerated pie dough and cut out 3-4" heart shapes using cookie cutters. arrange half the hearts on parchment paper lined baking sheet. topwith about 1 1/2 T. filling leaving clean border all around. generously moisten edges of remaining hearts with beaten egg. use your fingers or pastry brush. and align 1` heart on top of each heart on baking sheet, pressing very firmly all around edges to seal filling inside, crimp with a fork. Brush tops with more beaten egg. bake until golden brown and slightly puffed, 18-20 minutes. let cool on a rack, then dip in vanilla glaze and immediately decorate with sprinkles, sanding sugar or nonpareils. VANILLA GLAZE: whisk 1 c. confectioners sugar, 2 T milk, 1 t. vanilla until smooth. tint if desired with a few drops of food coloring. FILLINGS: cream cheese and raspberry jam, marmalade & a drizzle of maple syrup, thinly sliced banana & condensed milk, cherry jam & nutella. Mom made vanilla glaze and sometimes added peanut butter.

3-18-2015 A creative writing class: I am considering writing about trains. I love trains!!! Home was where my heart was, so thank God we still had trains between Trenton & K.C., Mo when I came to the city to work. I always longed to eat in the dining car when I 'd see the Rock Island Rocket's lighted dining car passing through our farm. It looked so elegant. All of my trips were late evening or nighttime. Finally in 2013 a day trip was planned for Columbia, Mo from Independence Senior Center where we rode 2 hours on a dinner train. I'm thinking of this for my closing: This day was a long time coming, but it's never too late to fulfill a dream. I've helped in the gift shop a portion of 2 days, getting ready for the March 28th tea party. One day, I tagged many scarves pushing the price tags string through openings in lace nearly drove me bonkers! very tedious! I did sit in a chair while doing this project. Virginia & Curtis are babysitting Sutton (2 1/2) their great this week. do you remember hearing about your dad eating Hostess HiHos on the train to visit Grm. Shafer? (deb: no.) I've been watching American Idol and there has been some good talent.