Pictures from the Past

Mid-May of 2007 was the last time we stopped in Riverton at Dwight and Velna's house. We had been in Orem, for Ron to attend the Woodturner's Seminars at BYU, and Louise had come down to Ann and Paul's to spend some time with us. This was a precursor to our year from purgatory - both of us having our individual challenges. And we haven't been back to Riverton or Orem since them. Have to reform! In the meantime, these pictures were in the internal memory of my camera, not on a memory stick. To my frustration, I couldn't figure out how to retrieve them without reconnection the USB camera port....Finally, after almost memorizing the inscrutable instructions that go with the Sony camera, I was able to move the pictures to a memory stick. In fact, I did it so well, that I managed to put each picture on that stick 8 times each - overkill, for sure. Anyway, I was glad to retrieve these three special pictures to add to my family album.

Z is for Zucchini

This is all we have left after our give-away yesterday. Yes, we still can find people who don't have any. But, if they get to the possible behemoth size, you can do one of two things with them: (1) decorate them and enter them into the contest at the Franklin County Fair, and/or (2) chop them up and add them to the compost pile.
Found this recipe, and think it's pretty good:
Zucchini Patties ( found on the Internet, attributed to a Sherry McCarty of Albuquerque, NM)
Ingredients:
1 cup baking mix (Bisquick)
1/2 shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded zucchini
2 tablespoons chopped onion (optional)
2 tablespoons butter

Instructions:
1. Combine Bisquick, cheese, salt, eggs, zucchini, and onion in a mixing bowl. Blend well.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet (I used olive oil)
3. Spoon heaping tablespoons of zucchini mixture onto melted butter Fry for 3 to 5 minutes per side, until golden brown. Place browned patties on a paper towel. Add more butter (olive oil) to the skillet when necessary for additional batches. Serves 5 to 6.
This recipe first appeared in American Profile Magazine, and came from a website called "Relish"
You might include diced red peppers, or crumbled cooked sausage or hamburger - or use a sharp cheddar.

What to do with a bucketful of Zucchini

Ok, at the risk of changing the mood of the blog for a few days, I thought it might be fun to find out what everyone is doing with produce from the garden. Has anyone tried dilly beans (made with string beans)? Yummy and so easy to do!
On the other hand there is the "Z" (zucchini for those non-gardeners). My neighbor brought over a few pieces of the following "z" coffee cake and I was left wanting more. Don't know if it was because of the frosting or what, but I thought I would share the recipe because it is quick and easy, and I had never seen this recipe before (that I can remember).
2 cups grated zucchini (or a little more - whatever!)
1/2 cup oil
Mix these together and set aside.
Mix together the following:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar (could this be reduced - only an experiment will tell you)
1 1/4 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
Add dry ingredients to zucchini mixture. At first it will be kind of dry, but the consistency improves as you stir.
Add 2 tsp vanilla and nuts, if you like them.
Pour in pan (greased? or ungreased? Hmmm, the sharer of the recipe didn't include that little tidbit). Bake at 375 for app 22 minutes.
Frost with Duncan Hines Creamy Homestyle coconut frosting - see, I told you there was a reason I really liked this little cake.

The Beaded Purse - Early Style

This little beaded purse used to live in Mother's cedar chest with the other treasures of the past, including Mother's flapper dresses and the elegant green dress with the hobtnail-type trim. Judy remembers it as being our grandmother Louise (Mach-Krajicek)'s - Perhaps Louise will remember its' origin? Somehow I associate it with Aunt Rose (Kray) Allgeier, but my memory about these things may be faulty, too. Anyone who knows and remembers, please let us know.

Ross Leaves For Afghanistan

On Tues, August 18, Ross reports to Everett, WA and thus begins his one year recall assignment. Afghanistan will be his home where he will be directing a medical team. As the Petersen clan gathered to bid Ross a safe return, he reminded us that he is a very good shot.

A more somber moment with his much loved beagle.

Our families have indeed gone north, south, east and west.........they leave one shore with the sure knowledge that another shore awaits them.

TURTLE HEADS

For Judy who has every plant on earth, but no turtle heads.

"Home in the Valley"

For those siblings who purchased the book on Powell's first 100 years, let it be known that I am in the picture of the band on page 117. I'm the only feminine French horn player, and you can see me if you look straight up from the majorette on the far right. Just in case you wanted to know. ;-)

Relics of the Past

Sewing clothes for children, darning socks, and mending everyone's clothes was an ongoing occupation in our house as we were growing up. By the time we were in Junior High School, Mother was teaching me how to sew with the treadle sewing machine - admittedly I was very proud of my handiwork. We ordered fabric, thread, etc. from Montgomery Wards, or Sears Roebuck. I have several old "Monkey Ward" spools of thread in my stash. The old green metal box, with paint almost gone from it, was used to hold the straight pins - thin pins with a tiny head poked in the red tomato pincushion that were so easily to lose. After a day of sewing, we had to scour the floor for any strays, both because they were needed, and because Mother didn't want anyone to step on them. I remember once when we were older and had our own families, Judy called me from her home in Washington to me that she felt liberated because she had just swept the floor and hadn't bothered to sort out the straight pins. There is a moral there somewhere, but I'm not up to speed today, so you'll just have to bear with the anecdote. The blob of old beeswax in front dates way back. When you darned socks or did any other hand mending, you pulled your thread through the beeswax to make it stronger and less apt to tangle. I didn't know how to darn the holes in toes and heels until I came home from my first quarter of college. There were some holey socks, and Mother "made" me sit down and taught me how to darn them. Sad to say, I don't do that any more, but I do have the beeswax. Someday, when I'm gone, my kids will look at that blob and wonder (1) what is it? and (2) why did I bother to save it.

I went back to live in the white house with blue trim and roof from the summer of 1971 to the summer of 1973. During that time, all of the old glass doorknobs began to fail from wear, so Burchell replaced them with new ones - not so pretty, for sure. I asked for the old knobs, and gave each one to my siblings - do you all still have yours? Just wondering.

Penrose Church

Dwight is feeling grumpy, we all are busy with stuff, but when I ran across these photos, which are very poor in quality, I thought perhaps you might enjoy seeing them. If I remember correctly, the film these photos was on got wet (or something), but Mother felt the recording of the dismantling of the Penrose Church should be preserved. So, through the ripples in the film, see if you can imagine where Dad and Uncle Norman took out tubs and tubs of honey comb. Even though the front steps are hard to pick out, I remember spending hours on them. And I suspect we all wish we had the tin ceiling tiles. Wonder if we could find them in the dump piles across the river?

The Real Salt Shaker

I do believe that Louise is correct in the fact that the little blue salt and pepper shakers were considered too small. I remember Dad at one meal shaking the blue one and saying forcefully that he couldn't get anything out of it and he wanted a "real" salt shaker.

Mother replaced it with this version and it was used at the table thereafter.

Remember East Side Grade School?

Ron and I stopped in Thermopolis on a side street under a shady tree to make a sandwich and eat a bite before going on our way to Burlington. I happened to look over to the new grade school, and saw this name on the side. Check your first grade report cards, Louise and Dwight, and you'll see that Ralph Witter signed his name as our principal (before the days of Helen Hays). I forgot that he had gone to Thermopolis and stayed there for years. Just interesting.

Wedding Present 1930

This salt and pepper set was given to our parents for a wedding present. (I do not know who the giver was. ) While they were small and required frequent refilling, the pretty blue glass earned a place of honor in the white cupboard above the refrigerator. They were used on special occasions and whenever we could talk Mother into letting us use them for a tea party.
Does anyone know any more about them?

Happy Birthday Louise 2009

Happy Birthday to Louise

Because Louise was born in July, and the days tend to be very warm, I thought it would be appropriate to post a winter picture of her. Love this photo - I suspect we all know right where she was standing (approximately) when this was taken on South Church Street in Penrose.

I remember how I wanted to be like her - pretty and smart. And I remember how Dad would call her "Louisie Babe" - at least in my memory. And the year she taught school in Powell was the same year I was in 3rd grade, so I felt very important - and at the same time very sad that I couldn't have her for my teacher, to say nothing of being in the same building where she was teaching. Life has been very good to us as sisters - I continue to learn from Louise, and to admire her determination to find happy and good things in each new day. When the day comes that I call her and ask "how are you" and she says something like, "miserable, life stinks, I can't keep doing this, etc." I will know it must be the worst of days!

Happy Birthday to a wonderful sister. May this next year be a wonderful one for you.

It's Louise's Day!

I remember reading a book from a long time ago, called "Our Hearts Were Young and Gay", and this picture reflects Louise's youth and perhaps not quite "carefree" days, but I love this posed picture taken with the Baby Brownie that Dwight gave me. (Didn't we love kitties?)

This is the latest picture of my beloved older sister, taken when she came to Preston with Cheryl when Cheryl taught the mystery quilt at our quilt guild in June. Louise was still recovering from her knee surgery, but she enjoyed sitting and chatting with others, while working on some applique blocks, and it was great to have her here. She was always trying to guide my footsteps - sometimes in ways that I didn't appreciate. (Why did I have to keep my things in the cabinet from infringing on hers?) She kept a scrapbook, so I kept a scrapbook. She collected pictures from The Saturday Evening Post, and other magazines for a teaching file, so I did the same. We cut out paper dolls and played with them. We learned to cook together, and did the dishes together - Louise washing and me rinsing and drying. We told each other stories, and when I wasn't old enough to see some of the movies that she went to, she told me about them blow by blow. She taught me how to count to 15 in Spanish when she took it in high school. And on and on. It's wonderful to have sisters, and share interests, hopes and fears and faith with. So, Happy Birthday, Louise - and, as we like to sing the addendum - "And many more". May your day be very good.

Stanley Allgeier, our First Cousin once Removed

I received word from our second cousin, Jan Brockett, that her father, Stan Allgeier had passed away on July 9th, right after midnight. The only time I met him was when he came to Washington in the late 1980's with his second wife, to visit Dad and Elna. We corresponded quite a bit over the years because he was very interested in genealogy. As you can see, he had a very long life; only the last couple were spent in a nursing home. Be sure to click on the obituary so that you can read it.

Grace and Shannon

Another Family Connection

I was going to make phone calls this morning to pass on this fun email, and then I was going to find the picture of Mary Coucum and post it, but this is a quick way to share and then everyone can chime in. With a houseful of young people from the BYU 197th coming for FHE tonight (Costco cookies are sounding like a great refreshment), and with bedroom furniture still scattered around the house, there is much to do - even if it is just moving a layer of dust. I found the information about Mary Coucum to be very interesting, and had never heard that before.

Anyway[s] (for Dwight), this email came yesterday as a result of the blog. I will follow up with the sender - we can all learn from each other - the more we share the more we learn. It is a happy thought to hear the author of the email talk about being 35 - I think this is a sign of the times. Dwight's Jim and Louise's Cheryl have expressed alot of interest, Judy's Shannon is busy doing research and finding great information, and others are beginning to poke around - How thankful I am for the younger, sharper minds pitching in.

Following is the content of the email:

"Maybe you are already familiar with the Gehring family (my great-aunts Dixie Edwards and Dana Openshaw have done a lot of genealogy work on our family). We are a large family based primarily in Utah (especially the Orem/Provo area). I was looking at some genealogy work on my family and I know my great-grandmother, Belva Erickson Gehring was a daughter of Erick and Eliza Belle Wasden Erickson; I also know that Eliza was the daughter of John Brooks Wasden and Caroline Savage Wasden. As you know, John Brooks Wasden was the son Thomas Wasden and Mary Coucum Wasden. I found information that Mary Coucum Wasden was a cousin and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria. As I did some research on Mary, I found your blog site.

Making things additionally interesting, and I'm not sure if you have any connection to Charles W. Penrose, but my great-grandmother Katherine Bopp Penrose was married for a short time to a son of Charles W. Penrose. No children were born to this short union however.

I don't know if you are familiar with our family, but I found your blog interesting and I recognize some of those photos posted. I am only 35 and haven't done the research on our family, but if your family and my family haven't met or contacted each other, there may be interest in doing so."

My Quilt

This is one of the quilts that Mother made during her last year. That would be 28 years ago. Since then it has been on my bed. It has kept me warm on cold nights, during storms with no electricity, and flung all the way back on warm summer nights. But most of all it has brought sweet comfort when the nights got too long.
After using it all this time, I just recently discovered the complete pattern that she created as she put the squares together. I have replaced the flannel on the backing at the foot and at the top where I/we tuck it under our chin to keep out the chilly draft from the open window.
Good nights are always welcomed and valued.

Penrose and Penrose Cemetery

I know, these markers have been posted before but I thought I should post them again. Cheryl cleaned out the weeds on both sides just a few minutes later.

Penrose Roads and Cemetery

More Penrose

The giant cottonwoods stand guard over the site of the little brown house where I spent the first nine years of my boyhood.

The rule is, everyone who visits Penrose must take a photo of the little white house where I spent five years of my boyhood, and others spent much longer. My room was on the right near corner, with two windows.


The Penrose Shoshone River Bridge. Can you imagine how the torrent of water narrows to pass under this undistinguished bridge? Used to be, you felt you were home when you saw the old railroad bridges across the river as the privileged entrance into Penrose. Now, no feeling at all.

Coming off the Byron highway down to Penrose

Penrose

Our Penrose Valley where we grew up. Heart Mountain in the background, standing sentinel

Did you know the river we explored is now a public access area? Who could have known?

Looking east from the bridge

The river was running at peak level. You can see barely a riff where the water runs over the dam that sends water to the Sidon canal. The reservoirs, canals, and rivers in Wyoming were all full and running at capacity.

Aren't we getting fancy? A sign for the Penrose road?

Mule Days in Ralston are a Big Deal

Plus I forgot to mention annual Mule Days rodeo, parade, and mule auction, when one lane of highway blocked off for two block long parade, attracts mules from all over the country, a major mule event. Unfortunately, Jimmy Dunton's bar is extinct. I will include further details and advantages of Ralston as I become inspired to mention them. Beats the traffic on I-15 in Salt Lake City, fer sure.

Those who already know what this little
building is will know what this little building is

Ralston remains the place of choice for a retirement

villa. Many options, low population, pub, convenience

store, gas station, railroad track, highway, luxury dwellings,

what more could one ask?