Starting Over

Earlier this spring I started a blog on another site only to have to erase it because of misunderstanding directions. So here I am starting over. Because I am a writer and because I like to write, I figure a blog is a good way to practice my writing. I used to tell students the two rules for becoming good writers:
(1) Read. Read. Read.
(2) Write. Write. Write.

Therefore, my friends and relatives often get long missivess from me when I practice my writing in order to follow that second rule. Even tho I tell the receivers that they can delete my emails without reading them, I sometimes fret they may feel compelled to read them out of politeness. If I write a blog, no one will have to read it unless they chose to do so.

Here are the previous posts from earlier blog:


Woodsong Notes
Sunday, 3 April 2005
Going to Golconda
Topic: Trail of Tears
Yesterday after attending a seminar on multiple sclerosis in Marion in the morning, I met a friend and we drove down to the spring meeting of the Illinois Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association at Golconda. The Pope County Historical Society has done a wonderful job there and we met at their great museum.
After the meeting we were able to walk up the stairs to the top of the concrete levy or dam and view the Ohio River and make a conjecture about where the Cherokee had arrived when their ferry boat reached the Illinois side of the river. Then we walked up the hill past The Mansion (where I hear great meals are served) and visited the Buell House and the log cabin next door, which the Historical Society had moved up from Bay City. The state now owns the Buell house, but the county historical society attends to it and takes folks on tour of it. There were so many wonderful old houses in Golconda. One was the red brick Sloan House on top of a high hill right above us as we walked up to see the Buell House. The riverboat captain named Sloan had built it, and it had the widow's walk on top looking out on the river.
It was a stimulating day, and the icing on the cake was to find out that our granddaughter's team at Johnston City had been in the finals with Pinckneyville, where our oldest granddaughter is assistant coach. The JC team won. The girls' little sister pitched at Marion at a l0 o'clock practice game. Gerald went to that and then on up to Pinckneyville.


Posted by sueglasco at 4:43 PM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Updated: Sunday, 3 April 2005 4:46 PM CST
Thursday, 31 March 2005
Spring Break at Woodsong
Topic: Grandchildren
With the two Lake Saint Louis grandkids here, others have come and gone this week.
Three were having so much fun yesterday that they elected to skip their big cousin's make-up softball game at Murphy with Gpa and stay here so that one could play Gameboy and two could continue making styrofoam boats to sail, catching minnows at the shallow creek-like run-in to the lake, and of course making a home for the minnows in our "art room" where we have a collection of "stuff" for just such creative work.

We declared the Easter egg experiment that Trent started on Monday a great success. Sure enuf, when an Easter egg is covered with vinegar, the shell will turn to "rubber" when the acid does its thing.

Trent made Ramon noodles for his breakfast. (Doesn't everyone eat them for breakfast?) And we had enuf left over for the three to have small bowls for their first course at lunch plus ham and left-over shells and cheese he'd made the day before. I don't think anyone touched the veggies I had added to the menu. And last night we had blizzards in addition to their kids meals at DQ when we took the Marion grandson home. Getting any food into Trent is a great victory, so all three meals were a success.

The kids were hungry at lunch because all three walked around the lake together with Gma before we ate. We found two dead turtles by end of south end of lake. Why? Was this somehow from the rain storm on Sunday night? We saw one lone duck egg at south end of lake by the water also. Lots of hen bit and purple nettle and tiny blue flowers next to the ground, but not many other wild blossoms right now.

We had a scare in the evening when electricity went off because of thunder/lightening storm, so I provided us all with flashlight in case it happened again. Fortunately, it didn't. So Trent was able to make us popcorn--depleting the world's oil supply as his Gpa noted this morning when he observed the oil standing at bottom of popcorn bowl in family room.

We watched a really good Disney channel basketball movie about some Jewish kids in Philadelphia wanting to win a tourney with what had been a very poor team. I was reading--but I ended up watching with the kids it was so beguiling. Then at midnight we sneaked upstairs with out flashlights so as not to wake Gpa and had cereal for a midnight snack.

It was almost l a.m. when we finally got to bed--all electing to sleep in same room with the two double beds just in case it stormed again. After a final unpleasant flap over hushing up and going to sleep, we made it to dream land. The light wakes me up in the mornings, so I don't manage to sleep in like the kids to catch up on my sleep as much as they do. My spring break will have to come next week. Ha.


Posted by sueglasco at 11:04 AM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Wednesday, 30 March 2005
A Swollen Lake and Swollen House Population
Topic: Grandchildren
We woke up the morning after Easter with the lake higher than we had ever seen it. Three grandchildren were sleeping here as all the kids are on spring break it turns out. (Except the teacher whose school is not on break.)

Another grandchild joined the three and they played hard all day. Gerald took three of them in the paddle boat to the island. (One was too tied up with his Gameboy to go along.)
Gerald has found a field of daffadils in a back field and brought a load of them to the house in his "mule" and took them over to the island to plant. I look forward to seeing a host of them there in future years!

I was proud yesterday because I only had one child here, and he and I walked around the lake and then came back and he fixed us shells and cheese for lunch. He is a good cook. (His sister had gone home with a cousin the night before.) I don't like the total absorption in Gameboy, but we all cope the best we can with that. I like for him to get exercise, and he acted interested in everything as we walked around the lake.

Kids are coming and going as schedules allow and we will be going to our second softball game at Murphysboro this afternoon (a make-up game). We beat Goreville 7-1 at Johnston City last night. The two kids who came home with us for the night and Gerald and I went to MacDonald's for a hamburger afterwards. (That was Trenton's requested place.) Tomorrow we go to Vienna to play there. (Gerald had lunched with Gerry and the two girls up there at J.City while we ate shells and cheese here.)

We had tried to keep the Gameboy in the car during the ball game explaining that Trent would have opportunity to see two of the best high school softball players in the United States at this game. Well, he said if they are so good that I don't get bored, I won't turn on the Gameboy. The game did get a little boring, however, and he sat on the blanket with the gang of kids there--and eventually the Gameboy came out of his pocket. Ha.

Gotta quit this entry as there are three grandkids today waiting for our walk around the lake. Gerald has gone to J. City to roll the lawn up there to surprise our daughter-in-law. He has already rolled our lawn and mowed it for the first time this morning.


Posted by sueglasco at 11:48 AM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Wednesday, 23 March 2005
Gerald's Birthday
Topic: Grandchildren
Gerald was 75 yesterday, and we celebrated with his brothers and one sister-in-law at breakfast yesterday as this is a custom of the brothers. Their sister called from Wyoming, and we passed the phone around and all got to talk to her.
Rain cancelled the softball game we had planned to go to, but nevertheless the local extended family met at 6 for supper in honor of Gerald. Three local grandchildren got to attend. Cards and greetings and yet another call from grandchildren in Freeport made his day full of people who love him wanting to wish him a Happy Birthday.


Posted by sueglasco at 12:18 PM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Saturday, 19 March 2005
Cecelie's Birthday
Topic: Grandchildren
Today Cecelie reached six years on this planet. We were so happy six years ago when we got the phone call about her birth on her great grandmother Ada Glasco's birthday!

Gerald went to Edwards County to see granddaughter Erin play three softball games. We won all three games and Gpa came home bragging on our Erin.

He also brought home Brianna and Trent from their camper up at Wayside, where their mother had gone back to the field and found herself helping Brian. After supper, Mary Ellen came and picked the kids up and I sent a plate up for her to heat for Brian in the camper's microwave.


Posted by sueglasco at 9:57 PM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Friday, 18 March 2005
Spring is just around the corner.
Topic: Gardening
Gerald tilled the garden the other day. As of yesterday, he has lettuce, onions, peas, and some okra planted.

Farmers are in the field. Our son-in-law came down yesterday afternoon from Lake Saint Louis to start farming. He has their camper set up at Wayside Farm, and the electricity and water have been turned on up there.

There are seven or eight duck eggs in the nest in the day lily bed, and the nest by the front porch has even more. There are eggs in the one remaining floating nest. Gerald put up some new interesting looking nests on posts this year hoping ducks could fly in them, but that other animals could not. As far as I know, the ducks haven't started using them yet. We'll see if this experiment works.


Posted by sueglasco at 5:59 PM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Thursday, 17 March 2005
Looking out the bedroom window...
Topic: Ducks,Geese, Deer

Early this morning, while Gerald was talking to our daughter on the phone, he called for me to go to the bedroom window if I wanted to see deer grazing. I hurried but I needn't have, for the five adult deer and one younger one were in no hurry to leave the green grassy field on the other side of the little lake by our home. As I watched the deer, I was also enjoying the three wild geese who flew up from the lake only to return soon afterwards gliding down and then sliding a bit across the water as settled to swim. Soon they were joined by two more. The ducks were also there on the water and on the side of the lake. Each morning I am awakened by the duck who is laying an egg each day in the nest directly beneath that bedroom window. There are usually five or six of the ducks around the area chattering and showing off their beautiful feathers--all so different in design. I try to watch without moving, so that my image in the window does not frighten them.


Posted by sueglasco at 11:25 AM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Tuesday, 15 March 2005
Softball season again!
Topic: Softball
BRRRR! It turned cold on Sunday and continues with a biting wind. At least it is biting if you are at Anna fairgrounds watching a late afternoon softball game as we were today! Johnston City and Anna-Jonesboro High Schools started their 2005 girls softball season today. Our Johnston City team won 5-4 against my alma mater, but it got pretty interesting in the last couple innings. We were once ahead 5-0; it was so cold that we were hoping for another 5 runs quick so we could quit early and go home. But then A-J started scoring including one home run, so we were just lucky to end the 7th inning with us still ahead. It was so cold that I know it hurt the girls hands to catch the ball.


Posted by sueglasco at 8:57 PM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Updated: Thursday, 17 March 2005 11:26 AM CST
Saturday, 12 March 2005
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Mood: happy
Topic: Flowers, wild and tame
The weather has been fantastic today. When I took lunch over to my elderly shut-in neighbor, she was sitting on her tiny porch enjoying the feel of the approaching spring.

I weeded my day lily bed this afternoon. Pulled crab grass and hen bit and imagined how lovely the yellow day lilies will be this summer. Our neighbors gave us the day lilies in 2002 the first summer we lived here; and since I do not have a green thumb, I am very pleased when they bloom.

We had a call from a son-in-law and he and their kids are camping over at the other farm. He hooked up electricity there today.


Posted by sueglasco at 11:59 PM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Updated: Thursday, 17 March 2005 11:30 AM CST
Wednesday, 9 March 2005
Going to my brother's home
Mood: rushed
Topic: Illinois 109th Infantry
Mostly I am trying to find out how to add a new entry to the blog. However, I am excited because tomorrow morning I will be driving up to see my brother and his wife at Mattoon. I am taking a little gift for their first great grandchild, and I am taking some of the Civil War papers for our great grandfather William F. Martin, who entered the Civil War with Company E of the Illinois 109th Infantry. I find some of the entries most puzzling and am wanting some help to figure them out. I need to get to bed so I will be rested for my day trip.


Posted by sueglasco at 11:29 PM CST post your comment (0) link to this post
Updated: Thursday, 17 March 2005 11:29 AM CST
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