Saturday, November 17, 2012
NO MORE HOSTESS by Lois M. Valentin
In memory of Hostess . A company that has been generational.
NO MORE HOSTESS by Lois M. Valentin
No more Twinkies,
No more Wonderbread,
And squiggley lined cupcakes will cease.
No more Donettes,
No more Ding Dongs,
Ho Ho's and Snow Balls.
Oh what will Santa eat?
Hostess, Hostess,
We will miss you the mostest.
Nature's Pride, Home Pride,
Beefsteak and more.
Just like Dolly Madison
They'll be waltzing out the door.
Hostess, Hostess,
We will miss you the mostest.
No more cheeese sauce, no more mix.
You have managed to take away, even the fruit cake.
Oh, what will the holidays will be ?
Will it be "good for goodness sake"?
Hostess, Hostess,
We will miss you the mostest.
Monday, October 22, 2012
TOTE BAGS IN HONOR OF TWO PEOPLE. BY LOIS M VALENTIN
TOTE BAGS IN HONOR OF TWO PEOPLE by Lois M Valentin
Two people that died last year brought sadness to many .Sadness filled our hearts. What could I do?
Since both people were associated with food pantries in their community. I decided to make tote bags in honor of them. this project started last winter and finally was finished last week, I gave 25 bags each to 2 churches that these people were parishioners of.
I am hoping that the churches could bless the bags in honor of these people. Using the bags as a fundraiser would help the churches raise some money . It would be nice if whoever bought the bags could, at least once, fill them up with groceries for the poor parishioners or for the food pantries.
The bags I made were small, medium , and large. Most were cotton. All made from reused, recycled, freecycled, thrift store finds , flea market finds, items I had on hand or that had belonged to my late mother.
And before you ask, no, I did not take any pictures. I thought about it but kept on sewing . Life also made me forget about the picture taking. Oh well!
Now that sewing project # 1 has been completed, now it's time for another project or should I say projects, It is time for me to sew gifts for Christmas or sew something and sell it to make some extra money to buy those things I can't make or afford.
Now my question is what to make. Time will tell.
Until next time,
Lois
Two people that died last year brought sadness to many .Sadness filled our hearts. What could I do?
Since both people were associated with food pantries in their community. I decided to make tote bags in honor of them. this project started last winter and finally was finished last week, I gave 25 bags each to 2 churches that these people were parishioners of.
I am hoping that the churches could bless the bags in honor of these people. Using the bags as a fundraiser would help the churches raise some money . It would be nice if whoever bought the bags could, at least once, fill them up with groceries for the poor parishioners or for the food pantries.
The bags I made were small, medium , and large. Most were cotton. All made from reused, recycled, freecycled, thrift store finds , flea market finds, items I had on hand or that had belonged to my late mother.
And before you ask, no, I did not take any pictures. I thought about it but kept on sewing . Life also made me forget about the picture taking. Oh well!
Now that sewing project # 1 has been completed, now it's time for another project or should I say projects, It is time for me to sew gifts for Christmas or sew something and sell it to make some extra money to buy those things I can't make or afford.
Now my question is what to make. Time will tell.
Until next time,
Lois
Friday, October 5, 2012
FROM MY FAVE COLORS TO THE POWER OF PURPLE
FROM MY FAVE COLORS TO THE POWER OF PURPLE by Lois M. Valentin
Throughout my life, color has played a role in my attitude and inspiration. When I was a child, I had light blue walls in my bedroom . My fave color was from the rays of sun combining with the dust particles on the sun beams shining in my room and reflecting on the wall and floor. They glistened.
I also like the colors I see when my eyelids are closed yet I am looking at color.. Seems like psychedelic patterns emerge. Often it reminds me of my hippie pants that were blue, green, orange, pink, and white stripes.
I made a purple and lilac bedspread for my 1st new bedroom set when I was 16. Unfortunately years later , a fire caused by neighbors children playing with matches caused me to lose most of everything just weeks after I moved from my mom's to my 1st apt. and weeks before I had my son.
When my children were very small, Sam, my wonderful landlord, let me paint or paper as long as I paid for it. The living room was the focal point. One time I painted the walls salmon orange, then put a mural of an orange tree in one corner of the room. Orange was my fave color- at that time.
Since my red sofa clashed, I made sofa and chair covers . One time all yellow. Another time brown and yellow print with flowers that matched the salmon orange on the wall. I even made vinyl plastic slipcovers. That was my 1st and last time. Never sit on them in the heat of summer.
One time I had a black vinyl sofa . I put up wallpaper with medium green ferns with a beige background. I made a gorilla costume for me which I used on Halloween. But at that time, the gorilla sat on the couch in front of the ferns so he looked like he was in the jungle.
My bedroom was medium blue and white which matched my floor.
As time went on as did places of living, my room became a haven of lilac and white. Besides working , going to school, raising my children, and volunteer in the community, I did find time to sew.
Moving seems to have been happened way too many times in my life. I always wanted a Campbell Soup kitchen with the Soup kids on the wall as cup holders .Black and white checked floors so I could create large checkers and play on the floor with my grandchildren. .. But that never happened. The closest I got were mugs and decorations. Now things are beige - very boring, not inspiring. Been like that for the past few years no matter where I lived.
My dream is to have my own place. A place that has storage and is filled with color. A place where I can get my grandchildren's swing set out of storage, paint it a new bright color, and place it next to my colorful house. . A place where I can have veggie and flowers gardens filled with color- almost like taking Farmville 2 and putting that into reality.
Years ago a fortune teller told me that someday I would have a large place with each room a different color. I am still waiting. I am also waiting for the green.
My blogger page GrammieLois'sOffice is lilac and white. I love lilac. Inspiration to a point.
Just days ago , an unexpected inspiration came along. Now I am all fired up to create again. On Facebook, a wonderful person posted a pic of a super large kitchen of bright purple, white and silver. My heart danced. I felt ALIVE. I felt powerful. I felt like ME . Me who used to have so many creative messages on my answering message that a certain Lawrence politician used to call just to listen to the new one of the day.
Now I wish I had a large pic of that kitchen sitting on my desk or at my sewing machine. Now I have to just find the post and look at it every day .
Now that I am more inspired, maybe I can figure out how to get that green paper that we all are looking
for . Or the pot of gold. That way I can get that powerful kitchen of purple.
Until next time,
Lois
Throughout my life, color has played a role in my attitude and inspiration. When I was a child, I had light blue walls in my bedroom . My fave color was from the rays of sun combining with the dust particles on the sun beams shining in my room and reflecting on the wall and floor. They glistened.
I also like the colors I see when my eyelids are closed yet I am looking at color.. Seems like psychedelic patterns emerge. Often it reminds me of my hippie pants that were blue, green, orange, pink, and white stripes.
I made a purple and lilac bedspread for my 1st new bedroom set when I was 16. Unfortunately years later , a fire caused by neighbors children playing with matches caused me to lose most of everything just weeks after I moved from my mom's to my 1st apt. and weeks before I had my son.
When my children were very small, Sam, my wonderful landlord, let me paint or paper as long as I paid for it. The living room was the focal point. One time I painted the walls salmon orange, then put a mural of an orange tree in one corner of the room. Orange was my fave color- at that time.
Since my red sofa clashed, I made sofa and chair covers . One time all yellow. Another time brown and yellow print with flowers that matched the salmon orange on the wall. I even made vinyl plastic slipcovers. That was my 1st and last time. Never sit on them in the heat of summer.
One time I had a black vinyl sofa . I put up wallpaper with medium green ferns with a beige background. I made a gorilla costume for me which I used on Halloween. But at that time, the gorilla sat on the couch in front of the ferns so he looked like he was in the jungle.
My bedroom was medium blue and white which matched my floor.
As time went on as did places of living, my room became a haven of lilac and white. Besides working , going to school, raising my children, and volunteer in the community, I did find time to sew.
Moving seems to have been happened way too many times in my life. I always wanted a Campbell Soup kitchen with the Soup kids on the wall as cup holders .Black and white checked floors so I could create large checkers and play on the floor with my grandchildren. .. But that never happened. The closest I got were mugs and decorations. Now things are beige - very boring, not inspiring. Been like that for the past few years no matter where I lived.
My dream is to have my own place. A place that has storage and is filled with color. A place where I can get my grandchildren's swing set out of storage, paint it a new bright color, and place it next to my colorful house. . A place where I can have veggie and flowers gardens filled with color- almost like taking Farmville 2 and putting that into reality.
Years ago a fortune teller told me that someday I would have a large place with each room a different color. I am still waiting. I am also waiting for the green.
My blogger page GrammieLois'sOffice is lilac and white. I love lilac. Inspiration to a point.
Just days ago , an unexpected inspiration came along. Now I am all fired up to create again. On Facebook, a wonderful person posted a pic of a super large kitchen of bright purple, white and silver. My heart danced. I felt ALIVE. I felt powerful. I felt like ME . Me who used to have so many creative messages on my answering message that a certain Lawrence politician used to call just to listen to the new one of the day.
Now I wish I had a large pic of that kitchen sitting on my desk or at my sewing machine. Now I have to just find the post and look at it every day .
Now that I am more inspired, maybe I can figure out how to get that green paper that we all are looking
for . Or the pot of gold. That way I can get that powerful kitchen of purple.
Until next time,
Lois
Friday, September 28, 2012
PETEY AND GUADALUPE by Lois M. Valentin
PETEY AND GUADALUPE by Lois M. Valentin
Where do I begin? The middle? The end?
The beginning ? Perhaps somewhere
in between.
I am PJ McClaren. Everyone calls me PJ but
that is not my name. Not many people can pronounce it, not even my parents, so
that is why I am PJ . I used to hate it as it reminded me of pajamas. You know-
pj’s. LOL.
Right now I am a
silvery white haired woman who still lives in the same old place as my parents
and grandparents did. I grew up here. My
memories of life are intertwined with every part of this house and land.
Today was an unusual day.
The little boy next door came to the house
wanting to do odd jobs to make some money. Usually he sells lemonade
in front of his house but he can no longer do that because of some silly city
ordinance that to sell any food you have to have special permits, etc.
Bah humbug! He made the best lemonade.
Secret recipe he always said when questioned. Haven’t have lemonade like that
since I was a little girl.
“ Carlos, you can help me clear this small
path. I forever keep this path clear and clean. There’s a bench at the end near
the tree where I sit every day. Been doing that for decades. But I could always
use some help . If you help me regular,
then count on getting paid regular. “
Carlos thought and agreed. Then shook hands.
A deal is a deal.
He called his dad who said he would be by to
pick him up later.
When Carlos and I were clearing the path, I
noticed he was wearing an old 1/2 medallion from a chain on his neck. It
glistened in the sun. I have one almost like that.
When finished, he and I sat on the bench and
looked at the flowers.
“ My friend and I planted these flowers years
ago when we were little girls. Still to this day they blossom and grow so
beautiful.”
“ They are beautiful and they smell so good”.
“ Carlos. Carlito”
“ Coming papa”
Carlos and I walked to the gate to where his
father was waiting. As introductions were being made, I thought he looked so
familiar. Where have I seen him before?
“ I am Carlos Sr. , but please call me Juan. I
am called Juan after one of my mother’s friends“
“ Juan, Carlos and I were just finishing up
our work. Would you mind if he stays a bit longer so he can make me some
lemonade? I will bring him home myself."
“ That’s okay. No problem. “
After his father left, Carlos and I finished
our outside work then went inside.
Carlos looked around as I put all the
lemonade supplies on the counter.
“ I have a pic like this at my house. It’s on
the mantel of the fireplace.”
I froze. Could it be?
Best lemonade there is. I had Carlos make a
large pitcher so I could have it for the rest of the day.
As we were loading up the car so I could take
Carlos home, his pendant glistened again.
“ Papa, I am home”.
“ Hello
again, PJ”
“ Hello , Juan”.
“ Papa, PJ has a pic like this one on a table
in her living room.”
“ She does”?
I froze. Indeed it was. It was the same pic
of two little girls. Excitement filled my heart.
“ That’s a pic of my mother when she was
little. I was born late into her life.
She died when I was 10. My dad raised me. He died a few years ago. The portrait
on the wall was painted by my mother. It was her last one. They say she was
famous but to me she was and is mom. I put flowers there every day as we could
never find her grave.”
“ Carlos, may I please see your pendant for a
minute”?
Carlos and Juan look strangely as I turned it
over. Indeed. On the back was written Petey.
Excitement
and curiosity filled the air when I took off my pendant and turned it over. On
the back was written Guadalupe. Putting them together they matched.
“ Juan. Carlos. Can you please come back to my house? I have
to show you something”
They followed me home in their car.
“ What’s going on” Is it a surprise?
“ You’ll see.”
I was glowing with excitement. I pulled out a white binder I had on the
shelf. In it were many childhood pictures. Pictures of Petey and Guadalupe.
Pictures of Guadalupe and myself.
I opened the door to the locked room. This
time Juan and Carlos froze. This room was a dedication to my long time
childhood friend. On the walls I had hung many of her portraits that she
painted throughout her years. Each one
told a story of an event in her life.
Amazement
and excitement filled the air. Tears ran down my face as I realized that the
baby in one of the portraits was in fact Juan . Tears ran down their faces ,
too.
“ Juan and Carlos, can you please come with me
to the bench at the end of the path. Bring the shovel . We must hurry.”
At the base of the tree, Guadalupe and I had
buried a time capsule. It was agreed whenever it got dug up, the items would be
sold and the money would be split fifty fifty.
Carlos and
Juan dug until they hit the chest. Actually at the time of its burial,
Guadalupe and I called it a treasure chest. They pulled it out of the ground so
we could open it in the house.
“ Carlos, do
you remember you said you could never find your mother’s grave. Please look at
the stone which was just in back of the flowers . “
On the stone was hand carved “ Guadalupe”.
“ Every day I come here to sit with my best
friend and tell her of my day. Guadalupe was cremated. This is her burial
place. This is where she wanted to be buried. We hand carved our own stones
when we were teenagers. Mine is on the shelf under this bench. Guadalupe’s
stone used to sit on the now empty shelf under the other bench. Her bench.
I had Juan
take out my stone so everyone could see it. Hand carved was “ Pietra Jane” with
a line going thru it. Under it was carved” Petey”. Petey was what Guadalupe
called me. It was my childhood name.
Tears ran down everyone’s face. Juan has his
mother. Carlos has his grandmother . And I have the family of my best friend,
Guadalupe.
THE SUMMER OF HELL
THE SUMMER OF HELL : Another move is in the Future by Lois M. Valentin
As some of you know, I had to move AGAIN at the beginning of summer. The reasons why are plentiful but private. The chaos of moving went from 2 weeks to almost the entire summer. Storage units . Hotel rooms. hotel rooms with AC. Beds, Floors. The car in 90 degree weather. Fire drills. Lockouts. Sharing. Perseverance. Both communication and non-communication. Survivalists. Goals. Brainstorms. Anger. Hopefulness vs hopelessness. Tears and comfort.. Prayers. Lack of money. Bathrooms. Hand can openers. Microwave. Wi-Fi. Coffeemaker. Libraries. Laundry .
New Apt. Yard filled with garbage. Garbage cleaned up. Needed to get own garbage barrels because none were supplied. Some neighbors still haven't, so it seems.
Neighbors. Children. Bikes. Dogs and cats. Parents in building sitting on porch. Ahh! The sound of life.
The power goes out a lot and the smoke alarm goes on a lot. . The landlord said to my face that there has never been a problem with the electricity here.
Now it is Sept. A neighbor is moving out. Electric company was going to shut my electricity off for nonpayment yet all my bills are payed 100% up to date. What the heck was going on?
A neighbor has lived here 3 months and has never received a bill.
A MAJOR SNAG. My acct is connected to a meter which was labeled on the outside wrong. The meter itself is connected to another apt. The actual apt # , my address was listed in the company's data as being another apt in the front. A loop check was done of all apts. No one's acct, address, meter or labeling were correct. A total mishmash of errors by whoever. Now the waiting game. Waiting for the worker's system data to get into the company's data- then watch for the bills. A meter reading had been previously scheduled for a few days after. The worker said it would take 24 hrs to get through the system and they might scrap that month's bill and start fresh from that date. The person at the company's phone said it doesn't work that way. It might take months. And yes, we will have to pay the bills- even though the meters had been associated with someone else's apt.
We either will get the same, lower or higher bills. Any bets on what I will get?
Until next time.
Lois
As some of you know, I had to move AGAIN at the beginning of summer. The reasons why are plentiful but private. The chaos of moving went from 2 weeks to almost the entire summer. Storage units . Hotel rooms. hotel rooms with AC. Beds, Floors. The car in 90 degree weather. Fire drills. Lockouts. Sharing. Perseverance. Both communication and non-communication. Survivalists. Goals. Brainstorms. Anger. Hopefulness vs hopelessness. Tears and comfort.. Prayers. Lack of money. Bathrooms. Hand can openers. Microwave. Wi-Fi. Coffeemaker. Libraries. Laundry .
New Apt. Yard filled with garbage. Garbage cleaned up. Needed to get own garbage barrels because none were supplied. Some neighbors still haven't, so it seems.
Neighbors. Children. Bikes. Dogs and cats. Parents in building sitting on porch. Ahh! The sound of life.
The power goes out a lot and the smoke alarm goes on a lot. . The landlord said to my face that there has never been a problem with the electricity here.
Now it is Sept. A neighbor is moving out. Electric company was going to shut my electricity off for nonpayment yet all my bills are payed 100% up to date. What the heck was going on?
A neighbor has lived here 3 months and has never received a bill.
A MAJOR SNAG. My acct is connected to a meter which was labeled on the outside wrong. The meter itself is connected to another apt. The actual apt # , my address was listed in the company's data as being another apt in the front. A loop check was done of all apts. No one's acct, address, meter or labeling were correct. A total mishmash of errors by whoever. Now the waiting game. Waiting for the worker's system data to get into the company's data- then watch for the bills. A meter reading had been previously scheduled for a few days after. The worker said it would take 24 hrs to get through the system and they might scrap that month's bill and start fresh from that date. The person at the company's phone said it doesn't work that way. It might take months. And yes, we will have to pay the bills- even though the meters had been associated with someone else's apt.
We either will get the same, lower or higher bills. Any bets on what I will get?
Until next time.
Lois
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
METAMORPHIS OF GRAMMIE LOIS'S OFFICE
Hi everyone,
First of all , I would like to apologize for not posting as I did before. It's been a while. Life's ups and downs interrupted. I have to move again through no fault of my own. I have been packing and pre-moving things to storage. Even had to get another bigger unit for my bed. California King takes up space. I got it from Freecycle. It is sooo comfy. But now it is in storage and I am sleeping on the floor until I find another place to live. Hopefully in July.
Another reason I am pre-moving is that I will soon have SLT eye surgery for my glacoma. First my left eye, then when that heals, I will have the right eye done. I certainly don't want to think about moving during that .
Second, during the past few months, I have been inspired by many people to revamp my office. Ms. Annie Bella from Corner of The Bedroom Studios and Latrice Murphy from All Occasion at Fave Craft made me rethink my space and purpose. Somehow my craft , sewing and research area turned into a library of research with no space for anything else. I do not need 4 bookcases of research plus notes.
When I lost my printer due to a roof leak during a major storm before the Halloween snowstorm I began to write notes. It was during a bout of entering the notes into my genealogy program that I realized I had triplicate notes. Note taking so many times also hampered my story writing. That system will also be revamped.
So with the event of a new place to live, I am going back to being organized and label everything. My creativity has been stifled far too long by my 'chicken scratching' which I call my notes. Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon , my creative, artistic self will be emerging. The library will be 1/4 or less of the room or incorporated into my sewing and craft areas.
Praying that this happens soon as my life seems to be currently in storage units. I'm also praying that I win the lottery. :)
So far now I will end. Hopefully you are keeping cool during this 100 degree heat.
Until next time,
Lois
First of all , I would like to apologize for not posting as I did before. It's been a while. Life's ups and downs interrupted. I have to move again through no fault of my own. I have been packing and pre-moving things to storage. Even had to get another bigger unit for my bed. California King takes up space. I got it from Freecycle. It is sooo comfy. But now it is in storage and I am sleeping on the floor until I find another place to live. Hopefully in July.
Another reason I am pre-moving is that I will soon have SLT eye surgery for my glacoma. First my left eye, then when that heals, I will have the right eye done. I certainly don't want to think about moving during that .
Second, during the past few months, I have been inspired by many people to revamp my office. Ms. Annie Bella from Corner of The Bedroom Studios and Latrice Murphy from All Occasion at Fave Craft made me rethink my space and purpose. Somehow my craft , sewing and research area turned into a library of research with no space for anything else. I do not need 4 bookcases of research plus notes.
When I lost my printer due to a roof leak during a major storm before the Halloween snowstorm I began to write notes. It was during a bout of entering the notes into my genealogy program that I realized I had triplicate notes. Note taking so many times also hampered my story writing. That system will also be revamped.
So with the event of a new place to live, I am going back to being organized and label everything. My creativity has been stifled far too long by my 'chicken scratching' which I call my notes. Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon , my creative, artistic self will be emerging. The library will be 1/4 or less of the room or incorporated into my sewing and craft areas.
Praying that this happens soon as my life seems to be currently in storage units. I'm also praying that I win the lottery. :)
So far now I will end. Hopefully you are keeping cool during this 100 degree heat.
Until next time,
Lois
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