Mandy - Molly's great aunt

My sister posted this on Facebook today.  Mandy was truly the greatest dog we ever had (sorry Molly and Bailey I love you both) This made me tear up. I am using it without permission because she was mine also.

Ginny Jackson

Yesterday was the 29th anniversary of "Mandy's" death. Mandy was a Sheltie mix and a great "mutt"!! The secretary at Whittier where Jay was teaching had a neighbor that had a dog who with 10 puppies and she was getting rid of them. The secretary found homes for most of them and Jay brought the mother and 4 puppies home in 1970. 

We found homes for all of them but I couldn't let the last one go. She slept in Jay's room until December 8th when we had our Sheltie "Smokey "put to sleep" due to cancer. I was a mess and that night Jay asked if I wanted Mandy to be in my room. 

She went with me everywhere and shared my life for almost 14 years. She stayed on the dock when we were swimming in Leech lake. Barked if anyone came into our houses but only if I was home; if I wasn't home she didn't make a sound. 

She was a "garbage dog" and if she could get it she inhaled it. Once mom was holding a doughnut, talking and Mandy reached up and took it. She stole an entire loaf of banana bread off the table and ate one of mom's opal earrings. (We think, she was caught chewing/licking one and I wasn't about to check the backyard! 

She even dragged me across a field on the Red River Valley when I lived in Halstedt Minnesota to what I thought surely must be a wild animal only to find some movie popcorn someone had thrown out their car window. She almost died once for eating something she had found in our neighborhood in the days people let their dogs outside without being leashed or fenced in. 

She and I won our dog obedience classes competition but she refused to come when called and led me on many a chase. UNTIL Jay spent some time with her and a leash with treats and "by God she was going to learn to come!" (and she always did....for me. Jay)

She cornered a skunk once but didn't get sprayed, laughed (I think) when I got in the car parked in front of mine and panicked, and forever will be in my heart. She will be at the head of the pack of other dogs who are in my heart when I cross the "Rainbow Bridge."

Addendum.  I asked Ginny for more pictures of Mandy Here they are: (Note the best way to view them is to click on the first picture and then click through to see them all in a sort of manual slideshow.

Country Curiosities Photos by Bob Kelly

These country curiosities were found around rural areas of Maxwell and Collins, and on this day the gravel roads did not disappoint!  Most are self explanatory and thus there are no descriptions for individual photos.  Just look at them and all around the photo and interpret your own understanding of the images and enjoy!

Something Yummy for Saturday

My father's aunt Erma Simser lived in Pasadena California.  The only time I ever rode in a helicopter was once when I was visiting my Aunt Ellen who lived in Santa Monica and went over to see her. It was exciting.  It was also fun to go out to eat with my great aunt and her friends and have them all order cocktails at lunchtime.  Most of the time there was no drinking in the house where I grew up and never by any of my older relatives. So to see a Manhattan and a Rob roy ordered by these elegant ladies was different.  Erma came through Ames many times on the train and stopped to see us and take us out to dinner. She always wore a hat. She was a retired librarian and became a world traveler after retiring.  Ginny wrote about her in the cookbook. In many ways she was responsible for me becoming Master of my Lodge.  I would write to her (carefully - see Ginny's note) and tell her of what I was doing in the York Rite and the Eastern Star. (She was a Fifty Year member of OES.) and one time she wrote back "What are you doing for your Blue Lodge?"  I went and asked to start through the line because of her question. 

Tuna Casserole, Erma Simser's recipe

“Erma Simser was Jay's great-aunt. She used to mail the letters he wrote her back with the mistakes he made corrected in red. Her reasoning was that she didn't care if anyone else's writing was perfect; she wanted his to be. What I remember most about Erma was that whenever she traveled, she always mailed mom, Jay and I gifts. I have worn a silver bracelet she sent me ever since she got it in Africa. She must have traveled there prior to 1964 since I know I received it when we still lived "the second house north of the Casey Motel on old highway 69.” Ginny

1   can           Cream of mushroom soup ¾  cup          Milk ½  cup          Mayonnaise 2   7 oz cans   Tuna, drained 1   pkg          Frozen peas, thawed 2   cups         Celery, sliced 2                  Hard cooked eggs

½    cup   Black olives, sliced 2     tsp   Oregano 1     cup   Corn puff cereal 1     tsp   Salt 1/3  cup   Parmesan cheese, grated lemon peel 2     tsp   Dried parsley

Procedure

1   1.In large bowl, mix soup, milk, and mayonnaise.

2   2. Break up tuna.

3   3. Fold into soup mixture with peas, celery, eggs, olives, and oregano.

4   4. Place in 2 quart greased baking dish.

5   5. Mix cereal, butter ,salt, and cheesed in small bowl.

6   6. Place on top of mixture.

7   7. Bake: 350° until cheese on top is melted.

8   8. Sprinkle with parsley.

Oven Temperature: 350°F

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Author: Erma Simser

Source: Jay Cole Simser

Mom worked at Doane Agricultural Service and also took care of my grandfather and sister.  She appreciated easy things to fix after working all day. The following almost became a staple at our house and I still like it. Perhaps I shall fix it again someday.

Tuna with Chinese noodles

"This recipe was something mom could fix after a long day at work. In the days before microwaves and not very many frozen meals; this was not always easy." Ginny

1  can   Cream of mushroom soup 1  can   Tuna fish, drained

½  cup    Milk 1   pkg.  Chow mein noodles,

Procedure

1   In a saucepan cook, soup, milk, and tuna fish.

2   Serve over the noodles.

Source: Ginny Jackson

Found For Friday

 A six-year-old goes to the hospital with his mother to visit his Grandpa. When they get to the hospital, he runs ahead of his mother and bursts into his Grandpa's room. "Grandpa, Grandpa," he says excitedly, "as soon as my mother comes into the room, make a noise like a frog!"

"What?" said his Grandpa.

"Make a noise like a frog because my mom said that as soon as you croak, we're all going to Disney World!"   

 I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.

I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words.

 PMS jokes aren't funny; period...

I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

 Did you hear about the cross-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

When you get a bladder infection urine trouble.

 Broken pencils are pointless.

What do you call a dinosaur with an extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

 I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.

All the toilets in New York's police stations have been stolen. The police have nothing to go on.

I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

Velcro  - what a rip off!