Grandma's Gleanings
Words and Thoughts from Grandma
Nothing smells better than line-dried clothing, nothing! That fresh, outdoorsy smell cannot be duplicated, regardless of how many posy-scented dryer sheets you stuff into the machine. But if clothes are hung out to dry on a day void of a breeze, be prepared to put your iron to good use, for those shirts are …
That old train overpass has been there for years, a landmark from my childhood. I remember passing under it while riding my crowded school bus, barely clearing its arched, stone roof, squeezing through that narrow tunnel. I recall walking under that ancient structure on the way to the local creek that weaves a path …
What a welcome surprise was in store for me! God had afforded me an opportunity to help out a sister who was struggling physically, and after four hours of housework and laundry, this ole’ gal was pooped out. On my way home, I thanked God for blessing me with this open door of ministry …
We had the privilege of taking two of our grandchildren on an outing to one of our favorite spots this past summer. We carefully planned the departure time so that we would arrive at our destination early, be the first ones into the animal park, beat the crowd, avoid the heat of mid-day, and …
WEEKEND REMINDER: Monday, November 25th, is the deadline to enter our Chick-fil-A $20.00 gift card giveaway! If you haven’t already, please sign up via email on our blog page, or through Facebook messaging. Here’s a sneak peak of our December giveaway…a $25.00 Amazon gift card just in time to catch some last-minute Christmas sales! Details …
I have NEVER been a big fan of perfume, I am the one reduced to weepy eyes, a stuffy nose, and bouts of sneezing if I’m exposed to strong scents in an enclosed area for any extended amount of time. Even an encounter with a flowery dryer sheet can send this gal into an …
I don’t always pick up on things immediately, but one insight that I gained when I officially crossed the threshold into senior citizen-hood came to me effortlessly, and here it is…weeding one’s way through the myriad of insurance packages available is one tangled, complicated, expensive endeavor. Allow me to put that into layman’s terms, …
As a parent, I have experienced this dilemma far too often. The children become hyper-focused on one topic, getting a pet, any pet. Oh, please, not this again! Now the type of pet has run the whole gambit variety-wise: rabbits, hamsters, fish, ferrets (ewww, smelly), crabs (also smelly), stray dogs, and homeless kittens. If …
I’m probably trapped in an old-age rut, but my morning routine generally plays out in a similar fashion every morning. Arising early, predawn, I open my back door, step out on the deck, and am immediately greeted by my four not-so–feral-anymore kitties, all brimming with hunger and loudly vocalizing the need for food, NOW. …
Preparations were well under way for the upcoming Christmas program, costumes had been prepared, songs memorized, promotional material distributed. The elementary children had worked on one specific selection with undeterred effort. It was one tough song, a medley of familiar tunes from Classical composers, all set in a Christmas fantasia highlighting the song, Deck …
My husband is an avid, committed LEGO nut, and I’m not talking about the self-contained kits available at your local Walmart. He purchases his plans online, and they are HUGE projects-castles, cathedrals, and even the Taj Mahal. He tediously organizes the supply list, purchases each piece individually, files them into craft boxes, then goes …
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Ah, that trite, overused, proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism in the face of adversity, a can-do spirit that can overcome the worst of misfortune. Lemons, by nature, are sour, representing those sour times in our lives, when everything seems to go awry. But the truly optimistic …
Fear and panic would invade the peaceful charm of my childhood; the warning siren would sound, and we would all respond as we had been dutifully trained, DUCK AND COVER! I grew up during the dark years of nuclear proliferation, with each new test revealing a more powerful, more deadly, hydrogen bomb. At the height of …
We have two special Mondays coming your way! On Monday, November 18th, we will be celebrating our 100th devotional post. Please consider joining us in the celebration by planning to surprise someone with a kind deed on that day. What a joy it will be to put a smile on a weary face, lift the …
On April 16, 1942, in the midst of World War II, the SS Alcoa Guild, an unarmed and unescorted merchant ship, was ambushed by a German Sub U-123 approximately three hundred miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Fortunately the Nazi vessel was out of torpedoes, but the enemy still managed to assault the Alcoa …