A few more Christmas cartoons. Snowballs favorite.
Weekend Christmas with the family. Actually here and not on Zoom. Grandson Dillon was the portrait photographer. Such Joy!
 |
| Granddaughter-in-law Courtney |
 |
| Granddaughter Beth |
 |
| Son Tandy Bill |
 |
| Me |
 |
| Grandson Dillon - photographer |
 |
| Grandson Tandy Ryan (Home from Navy) |
 |
| Me again. |
I was so happy to have my Grandson Michael visit this week. We had a wonderful time. I introduced Michael to ATCs (Art Trading Cards) and he made these two for me. It is easy to tell that he is the artist in the family!
 |
| Granny Annie and Michael |
 |
| Michael's ATC of Bates House in Psycho |
 |
| Michael's ATC of a spider |
Elephant's Child gave us these clever idioms to use today for our Words For Wednesday prompts.
Has the cat got your tongue?
Curiosity killed the cat.
Let the cat out of the bag.
Dog tired.
Sick as a dog.
Like a dog with two tails.
The elephant in the room.
A one-trick pony.
Open a can of worms.
Busy as a bee.
WHERE IS OLGA NOW by
Granny Annie
“Okay!”' Elliott screamed, “Who opened this can of worms? Someone must speak up. Frasier, has the cat got your tongue?”
Frasier pretended to be busy as a bee, ignoring the elephant in the room. There was not a doubt that this young man had let the cat out of the bag. He had ruined the Christmas surprise for Olga.
Elliott had worked very hard and was dog tired planning this surprise and Frasier had spilled the beans. Elliott was sick as a dog about it.
“It was not my fault!” Frasier insisted. “I told Olga to stop shaking the boxes and reminded her that curiosity killed the cat, but she kept poking around.”
“Frasier, you are a one trick pony! I should have known never to let you guard the secret.” Elliott yelled.
“I couldn't help myself” Frasier replied. “Olga was like a dog with two tails when the key fell out of the box.”
“Well, where is Olga now?” Elliott demanded
“She off driving her new red Lexus!” Frasier responded with a look of fear and trembling.
Yesterday I had a great Facebook face-time with my granddaughter Beth. I caught this screenshot through her protests.
Then I had a genuine in person visit from my grandson Michael. He is here for the weekend. Joyful interludes with visits from the Grands for this lonely Granny Annie. Luke Skywalker managed to sneak inside while the dogs were outside. He was happy to see Michael and visa-versa.
Thanks Elephant's Child for this weeks WFW prompts.
Bent
Icon
Never
Quiet
Half
Hope
and/or
Other
Mean
Particular
Little
Life
Anthem
I NEVER SAW HIM by Granny Annie
His name was Morris Furry and he lived across the street from our Kansas home. Ron would see Mr. Furry often when the old man was bent over the wood pile chopping a day's supply. We owned the Furry house as well as the one we were living in and we were remodeling both. Everyone in town thought of Morris Furry as an icon. While Ron and others saw him often, I had never seen the quiet man who was known to always wear a red shirt and overalls. I would spend at least half of each day working in the Furry house, cleaning out junk that had gathered there over the years. It was dusty and dirty and I had little hope of ever turning this into our home.
The Furry house was at least 100 years old. Morris and his sister had lived there after their parents died and Morris had taken care of his sister until she married and moved away. It was then people realized Morris was different than other folks. He wasn't a mean man, he was simply particular about things around this property. They never saw Morris again in town but would glimpse him once and a while passing the property. Every time Ron was working around the Furry house, he would often look up and see Morris watching and nodding at him then giving a little wink to signify that Ron was doing a good job.
The remodel was finished on the Furry house and Ron and I had planned to live there for life. With the radio on, we danced to our favorite song Waltz Across Texas. We would laugh and Ron would twirl me around. It was sad when our dream ended due to Ron's illness. We had to abandon our dream and move to Oklahoma. However Morris is still there because once in a while people hear the anthem of the place, Waltz Across Texas, flowing through the trees and we know Mr. Furry misses us.
People, let me tell you bout my best friend.....Blue Ball! "Don't touch this!" Frankie-Doodle loves her blue ball and will show it to you but will not share it with you. If you even reach for it, she is gone. They even sleep together.
 |
| My Best Friend |
 |
| Don't touch this |
 |
| and...we're off |
Do you prefer practical or impractical gifts. Permanent things or disposable items?
Sunday Selections brought to us by Elephant's Child, as an ongoing meme where participants can post photos languishing in their files. Just a few giggles from me.
I did not manage well trying to join Six Sentences so this time I will try Feline Friday. Thanks Messymimi for posting these. Here is Luke Skywalker. If he sneaks into the house, I know exactly where to find him. I only have Luke and his mother Olive but I am including a drawing of a time when I had 14 cats.
 |
| Luke in hiding. |
 |
| Come down now Luke. |
 |
| Cat attack!! |
and/or
Unusual, life, walls, serenity, mapped, madness
WORLD PLAGUE by Granny Annie
She packed the passports in her go-bag. They were perfect and she owed Wallace a lot of money for making them. Her alias was going to be easy to pass off as her own name. Sandra (now Janice) was ready to begin her mission. She made it through TSA and customs without a hitch, mentally thanking Wallace all the way as her fake ID worked beautifully.
A lush garden surrounded the estate and shielded Sandra from the swimming pool. Water fed the pool from the rivers above the mansion. While it was a lovely site, the guests did not seem to enjoy the forced pool play. The young girls were not all teenagers. Some were very little. This was disturbing to Sandra. While she was caught staring at this site of her mission, she did not hear the rustle in the bushes.
“Who are you?” a
loud voice demanded.
“Oh, excuse me sir” Sandra replied. “You will find this unusual but I was out walking and simply stepped inside this garden to hide so I could pee. I will be on my way now.”
“Not on your life!” his voice boomed. He produced a gun and pointed it at her as he directed her to the house. It was well hidden behind the walls and her abduction could not be observed from the road outside. They walked through sliding glass doors and she was led to a large man seated in a leather recliner. The guard handed the man her ID. “Well Janice Wilson, it appears you have wandered into the wrong garden to pee.”
“I am so sorry sir.” Sandra replied with a look of innocence and serenity on her face. “If I have seen something I shouldn't have, I promise I will leave and not tell anyone.” “You won't tell anyone, that is for sure, but you also will not leave “ the fat man responded. “With your looks and cute figure” he went on, “you will made a fine addition to our group. You did see all the lovely girls outside didn't you Janice? Well now you are one of them. You will be sold into slavery, just like the rest. Many of our clients appreciate a little older gal.”
Sandra had not checked in as agreed and Wallace had mapped her location on the GPS. The conversation about selling the women into slavery was recorded as evidence and the SWAT was ready to enter the estate and put and end to this horrible madness.
I cried when I ran across these videos. There was a time our little 10 acre plot was active and full of life.
My 50 year old son and my 24 year old granddaughter loved acting crazy at our 3 person Thanksgiving. I think they got high on turkey.
 |
| They are playing a game she learned on TikTok |
 |
| The scissors were to cut the string on the water bottles. |
 |
| The plate with whipped cream was supposed to fly in his face. |
 |
| Instead he caught it and got it in her face. |
 |
| I was glad when she put down the scissors. |
 |
| Still the encounter continued. |
 |
| But it was a happy ending. |
Today is the 105th anniversary of my mother's birth. I miss that wonderful woman every day of my life. Happy Heavenly Birthday Mama💓💖
 |
| Mama 1915 to 2007 |
 |
| Mother in 1959 |
furnishing
tablet
platform
arrow
frame
content
AND/OR
vase
eagle
ballroom
propelling
brand
epilogue
FOOD
DISTRIBUTION by Granny Annie
Phyllis could not be sure what others were furnishing. She would make her best effort to fill the baskets with bread, milk and canned goods to distribute to the homeless. Hopefully these things would help.
Children Brix and Bunny were each given a drawing tablet and crayons to keep them busy and out of the way. Phyllis planned to have them sit on the platform in this large dance-hall so she could keep an eye on them.
Volunteers were gathered to hand out the food while other people were lined up to receive the donations. There were arrows posted for standing at social distances and each face was framed with a mask. The people seemed content to wait...at first.
Phyllis did not like the big doors to the ballroom left standing open. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a large eagle came swooping through the doors over the heads of the guests. This was unheard of. Why would a wild bird enter this sanctuary and begin propelling itself at the people?
Brix and Bunny were delighted with this intrusion and began jumping up and down on the platform. This caused a brand new heavy vase in the corner to crash to the floor.
The sound of the crash caused a panic as everyone headed for the doors, crowding and pushing thus creating a disastrous epilogue to this tale.
I live on the Grand Lake O' The Cherokees. It is a beautiful place to live but when the leaves fall and the color is gone it is hard to find pictures worth taking. However, on my drive Sunday I passed this place that is less than a mile from my home. It is a the rock quarry. Trucks loaded with crushed rock move in an out of the location every week day. We buy the rock from them to fill our drive way and for other projects. Often we hear explosions from there that feel like we are having an earthquake. Our yard and field might look green and grassy but underneath there it nothing but rock. It is good to know this mountain of minerals serves a purpose.
A quarry is a place where rocks, sand, or minerals are extracted from the surface of the Earth. A quarry is a type of mine called an open-pit mine, because it is open to the Earth's surface. ... The most common purpose of quarries is to extract stone for building materials. Quarries have been used for thousands of years. They serve a functional beauty in our area as a source of income for many workers.
