November 16th and we are in for cooler temps as this morning it is in the 50s

 TERRY

As I write it is a little past eight AM and I think Terry is half awake and half sleeping.  Sometimes when she is like that she will fall back to sleep for a while but not always.  She had a visit from the OT yesterday and PT is coming today late late afternoon.  So I think she will have at least 4 visits this week in her journey to get back to good health.  BUT as I say "one day at a time".

Again I have tennis at 10:30 today.  Yesterday was a very interesting day on the courts.  On Mondays we play two courts and then switch after 45 minutes.  We draw to see who we play with.  I happen to get Frans for a partner and I would say he is somewhat better than I.  We got a weak draw in the first 45 minutes and won 6-0.  We then changed courts and came up against a couple of guys whom anyone who is a betting person would have put their money NOT on me and Frans.  Well the match went back and forth with us leading 4-2, then falling behind 4-5 and then playing to a 6-6 tie.  We did have enough time to play a tie breaker BUT it did not happen.  I am 99% sure one of the guys we played against really did not want to play another point as he did not want to risk losing 6-7!!!  I would label him a poor sport to some degree.  When we play everyone wants to win of course but we always compliment our partner AND the other players as well when a very good shot is made.  Not the guy we played against yesterday.  For us that is my definition of a poor sport.  Anyway it was a fun day.  Today I play with guys who are OK on the court BUT not at the level of our play yesterday.

MY STORY TODAY

Our farm house when I was living at home.  I put a circle because when I was at home that was the porch which was a cement slab and the door was off of the porch.  The door was changed sometime later.  You can see an exhaust coming out of the lower roof.  That was put in when Dave helped Dad put in a bathroom in the entry way.  When I was at home the entry way had the separator for the milk, a place to hang coats and the washing machine.  The window you see was put in later as well.  In my growing up years ALL the windows in the house were the old double hung that were much much larger than the one you see And all of them let in the warm air as well as the cold air!!!   Also in the middle of the circle was a window that was covered later.  But my real point today is the "in house" toilet that was a relative of our "outhouse".  Of course hiking out to the outhouse in knee deep snow was not much of an option so Dad built a potty place upstairs.  He constructed a cube between the two bedrooms that was right by the middle chimney you see.  It was about maybe 4X4 with a curtain for a door.  There was a metal container with a lid on and inside of that was a 5 gallon bucket.  Presto, we had our indoor bathroom!!!  Well as one would know there was NO drain so it usually was up to Dave or I to keep an eye on the 5 gallon pail.  Hopefully before it got too full one of us needed to lift it out of the metal stand, carry it down the stairs and out the door and then take it to a place where it could be emptied. Now it was IMPORTANT to not let it get too full as one could figure out what might happen.  That was our winter toilet.  Of course it was well stocked with Sears and other catalogs and any other paper that was a bit soft!  I should add that at a later date, after I was not home anymore, Dave helped Dad put a bathroom in the entry way and I have NO idea what they did for waste.  We had No sewer lines.  Maybe a chemical, I do not know.  I think Mom's bathroom was not in all that long before the fire destroyed the entire farm.  

I would be remiss if I did not mention the small tower on the roof of the house.  Up until 1956 it held the wind charger for the batteries that were charged on a windy day.  That ceased to be necessary when REA brought in electric power maybe in the very early 50s.  Then in about 1958 Ronald brought home a TV and the antenna was mounted on it.  I do think it stayed that way until the fire.  

Such is my story today.  There may be more in the future about taking care of chickens by dipping them in boiling water etc.  Or dehorning little calves and dealing with blood squirting ALL over the place before one could sew the skin up!!!  As one can tell farming was exciting in many ways!

That is it for this morning.   Except I do need to post one more picture.  Sister Joan sent me a VERY VERY nice gift which tends to disappear but that is life.  Just in case one can not tell what it is that is the best food every, lefsa!!!  It does go really well with FP as I promise I am telling the truth!

I admit thinking about my life on the farm from 1947-1966 it makes me sound like old, old old!!!