The Good Shepherd and More

I often mention the food pantry, and I thought I would show you a picture of it. 

The Good Shepherd Food pantry is supported by the thrift shop that is part of it.  This little building was a house, built onto. 

The volunteers here come from all the different congregations in Tonganoxie. 

As you can see, our shelves are currently pretty bare.  It's the end of summer. 

Ummmm... there IS some cereal.  We are low on soups, boxed potato mixes, etc.. 

The grocery store here, B and J Country Mart, is extremely generous to the pantry, and there is often salad mix and lots of baked goods to give to those coming in.  

On Tuesday and Thursday, the inmates at the Lansing Correctional Center deliver fresh produce here and several other places in Leavenworth County, to be given FREE to those who would like to have it.  

Our eggs have gone here for several years now, and a another lady has begun bringing some eggs, too. 

Keith and I are trying to get a few extra boxes of food each time we go to the store, and then taking it down with the eggs.  

I want to thank everyone for their kind birthday wishes... my birthday was actually last Sunday, and I had a most peaceful one here at home with my Honey. 

63 years YOUNG! 

Keith took this picture last night at the T Bones last game.  It was 102 when we left to go. 

This picture is remarkable for ONE THING. 

I NEVER WEAR FLIP-FLOPS (Thongs) OUTSIDE IN PUBLIC!!!!

I wore them Friday night and Saturday night, and I was glad I did!  

My gosh, it was hot and humid at the game, but we did enjoy watching our team for the last time this year.  I even tried to eat a hot dog (I can't swallow bread, really) and the kind lady to my left, who was sitting next to me, moved down with her husband when the rest of the row remained open, so we could all breathe a little easier.  Whew. 

I drank a LOT of cherry lemonade this season! 

We called flip-flops "thongs" when I was a girl, and that's how I still think of them! 

I've noticed in the mornings that the chickens in the old henhouse are slower and slower to come out. 

Even the (little) Big Guy didn't want to come out in the morning's humidity. 

Buddy stayed inside with the hens. 

And Boots at the other pophole wasn't much for coming out, either. 

Of course, it might have been Abby, the Scourge of the Chicken Yard, keeping them in.  She had just chased the ducks when I took this picture.  I had to escort her OUT. 

The asclepias is still going strong, and see the most unusual seed pods on them?  Wow!

That's a volunteer sunflower growing up amongst them. 

In fact, the hot border is still giving us plenty of color here at the end of August. 

I took this early this morning while it was still pretty clear, and I'm happy to say it's now very overcast.  I'm going to do some water and maybe cut some grass this afternoon.  I can't believe how much it's growing after the heat of this past week. 

I also ran to Walmart after I delivered eggs this morning, and bought some 1.98 mums in yellow and white. 

I can't wait to show you all what I'm going to do with them this afternoon. 

And what post would be complete without these guys: 

Ritz Crackers taste pretty good now, don't they, Kelly? 

You already know that, don't you, Kody?

Notice that Kelly is now almost as big as Kody! 

This is NOT a dead Polish hen. 

She is SUNBATHING.  

Incredible. 

PS

Keith has just come in from the post office to tell me that it is raining in Topeka, 50 miles to our west.  It is so overcast here that I am crossing my fingers.  

YAYYY. 

Everyone have a safe start to your Labor Day weekend! 

An Afternoon at the Museum

For many years, I have been interested in our family geneology.  My dad died so very young, at 55, that my sister and I were not even 20 when it happened.  He came from a farm family of Danish descent, from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany.  My mother's family was Irish on both sides.  We children were given copies of our family bible pages listing some relatives, and we had nothing much more to go on.  Neither family took pictures... in fact, I probably have less than 100 pictures of my family as we grew up in the 50's. 

A year ago, I took a class one night at the library in Tonganoxie, and brought home a packet of papers with lots of good information.  There they sat in their envelope, staring at me here in the computer room.  Then, one night, I searched high and low for the papers my mother had given my sister and me, showing what she knew of both sides of the family. 

I joined Ancestry.com.  For those of you researching your families, you know what that did.  Sleepless nights.  Long afternoons, when I sat down to look one thing up, and looked up hours later to see the afternoon had gone.  I am absolutely fascinated by the fact that we knew only my mother's dad.... as the old gentleman who slept after holiday meals.... and rarely addressed us.... and my dad's mom... who was not a cuddly grandma at all, but perched us on little stools in front of her to talk to us.  The study of our family history has brought literally HUNDREDS of relatives to light, and I am only about 4 generations back.  There, I have to stop and go to Europe, so I am fleshing out those who lived in America first. 

When finished, I'll present the findings to my brothers (and their kids) and my sister and her son.  My own kids will get copies.

It's good for people to know from whence they came.

As part of this study, I have stopped by the Tonganoxie Historical Site, (and am going to join the Historical Society).  It is in a dairy barn that at one time was the largest dairy in Kansas... and they also have a lovely church moved to the site, and a wonderful one room school.  I took these pictures there...

Any idea?????  It came from a beauty shop and was used to give permanents! It looks like a medieval torture instrument! All those dangly things attached to your hair and the current was turned on!

This picture is marked "Captain Jim Hoey", "Meanest Man in Leavenworth County".

Hmmmm. He kind of looks it.

This is the Reno Methodist Church, which was moved to the site.  It can be rented for weddings, meetings, etc. and has a kitchen in the basement, along with a meeting room.

And this is the Honey Creek School, also moved to the site, and can be used by teachers for history lessons:

The whole site is lovingly maintained by mostly older volunteers, with donated exhibits and on a strict budget, I'm sure.  It's well worth a visit, and someday maybe I can volunteer there. 

Is anyone else having Blogger issues these days?  I notice slower navigation and difficulty in posting pictures at times.  I am just wondering if I'm alone. 

An Engaging Mural

On the side of the Ratliffe Drugstore in downtown Tonganoxie is this beautiful mural.  The painter's name has worn off, if it was there.  It depicts Tonganoxie as it was years ago.... and is still very vibrant and alive.

A Sunday Birthday Party

My friend Theresa's sister Tina threw a 50th birthday party for her today, three days before her 51st birthday!  Since she let the big occaision pass last year without a huge celebration, she decided now to have a "This is your Life" party for her sister.  We gathered in another of the old buildings in downtown Tonganoxie, this time, the Ratliffe Drug Store. (available for rental, but does not have bathrooms!)

It has many old things in it, sort of like a museum piece.

The soda fountain is still there, and allegedly still operational.

Birthday girl Theresa, left, being congratulated by friend Jody.

An ad on an old cabinet.  Okay, we're talking conservative Tongie here, folks.  A condom ad in the old drugstore?????  And a little Redi-Kilowatt guy to advertise them????  Things must have been livelier around here 40 years ago!

Saturday Errands

We live outside the little town of  Tonganoxie, Kansas.  It is about 14 miles west of the far west boundary of Kansas City, Kansas, which is across the river from the larger metro area of Kansas City, Missouri.  Whew. 

Tonganoxie is a smaller town, which has grown by leaps and bounds in the last ten years, as people have moved from the city cores to the countryside.  Like every other area in the U.S., we have been hit with foreclosure and job problems here, too, so while we have some vacant homes around us, on our road, there are all occupied homes.  We are blessed in that respect.  We live on a gravel road, off a main highway, so that we can unfortunately hear highway traffic, though it is blocked by a line of trees and a pasture that stretches from our north boundary to the corner.  If we were further off the beaten path we would have more good country silence, but it would also be harder to get out in the winter, so it's a tradeoff.

Now it's autumn, and the country colors are particularly wonderful, especially on a sunny October day.

I come out of our drive and go left down our road, to Sandusky, and go up and down the graveled hills until I reach 4th street, the outskirts of Tongie.  This old barn, a particular favorite of ours, is on the edge of town.



Just past the barn, we pass bean fields, newly harvested, just also on the edge of the town.

You know you are in a small town when the bean fields stretch almost to the city limits.

Next we see the town start to turn from country to city....

We start to pass businesses and restaurants on our way to the library.  Since the post office was moved across the highway outside of town a few months ago, there is little traffic, even on Saturday, but there are a number of small businesses thriving in Tongie.

One of my favorites is Wild Horse Antique and Consignment Shop, run by Michelle Selby, on Fourth Street, which is the "main" street (though we have a Main street, too!). It's full of wonderful old and not-so-old things, and I have found something every time I have gone in there.  It makes me feel good to walk in the door.

Michelle, selling me a wonderful light fixture (that proved too large for the kitchen!), a lovely  green straw basket intended for holding Christmas gifts, and a cute little reproduction J and P Coats tin.  I love going in her shop, it is decorated for fall and she hasn't jumped the gun with anything Christmas, like Walmart and the crafts stores... yayyyy Michelle!

My next stop was the library.

You can barely tell, but a patron is sitting in the sun, using his laptop at the picnic table!

Tonganoxie is a city of many churches....

Congregational

The Evangelical Friends Meeting

The Methodists, the Catholics, the Baptists, Assembly of God, and Christians are all well-represented,too, which tells us that folk around here are God-fearing and mostly good people.

We have a small hotel, recently remodeled into a bed and breakfast... I would love to run this hotel! It was built in the 1890s and has been a hotel, a rooming house, a bed and breakfast, and is now back to a hotel, run by absentee owners.  It's called the Myers House Hotel. 

And what would a small town be without country music, from Annie's Country Jubilee?

And the original train depot, here....

which I want to move magically to Calamity Acres, where it would be my scrapbooking studio and guest bedroom!

And lastly, what's a small town without some grain elevators, now for sale..... I can't think how I could use these, though!

Then it was on to Walmart, and Home Depot for a round of Saturday errands, and then home to do chores and watch a little college football.