I Hate When Snow Gets Over My Tires!

Photo found on Google Images: Romania

When I first met my husband, he lived in Pittsburgh and I lived in Portland.  We met in an online group (41Plus on Internet Relay Chat) back in 1996.  For the first year we mostly chatted online and occasionally talked on the phone, visiting face-to-face infrequently.  It was winter and it had recently snowed in Pittsburgh.  He said he loved to walk in the snow at night when it is falling gently and the world is lit from the snow.  All is silent, he said, with only his footprints showing anyone was around.  It was a lovely picture he painted and I responded with my famous statement, "Yes.  I love snow...as a concept."

Zoe love the snow

See, I don't really want to be out in it for any reason.  I just love to see it falling out my window, landing on the trees and the grass.  I love to see it first thing in the morning while it is all fresh and beautiful, before people have driven over the roads and brought the reality that there are other people in the world.  I have no desire to play, throw snowballs, ski, sled, nor make snow angels.  Hell, I wouldn't be able to get up if I laid down to make a snow angel.  I love to watch kids, watch families, dogs play in the snow.  But me?  Hot chocolate, Oreos, and a good book.

Doug agreed that he really hates when snow gets over the tires and he has to dig...drive a teeny bit...dig all the way out of his alleyway. And I laughed!  I said, "Hahaha!  Snow doesn't gets over the tires!"  

Understand our different references.
Pittsburgh snow:

Portland snow:

This week we have been hit with winter weather.  Nothing like last year's three snow storms, but we have had a little bit of lovely winter this week.  The part of the world that gets SNOW (rather than our sno) laughs at us that a few inches of the white stuff will shut down the city.  My elder son said when people make fun that we can't drive in the snow, they are talking about him.  

Because we don't often get snow--maybe an inch or two, once or twice a year at most--we love to take photos of the fluffy stuff.  So here's my photos of our yard.

It melted down a bit, froze overnight and then more snow arrived.  No pictures of the following morning with more inches over the small bit here.

I sent some pictures to family and friends in Southern California.  "Wow!  Lots of snow!" was the response.  If I had sent them to friends back east, they might have smiled and said, "What?  You didn't go out shopping in that teeny bit?"

It's all about perspective, isn't it?

A snow angel I did not make (Google images)

 peace~~~

What is That Knob Thingy Doing There?

Here's the deal.  Sewing is never an exact science; mistakes are often thought of as "creative changes" to a pattern.  We incorporate the little booboos into the quilt or the shirt and call it a day.  But sometimes that creativity ruins the flow of the pattern, the style of the clothing, the look.  Those are the booboos where we have to start doing the frog-stitch: we rip it rip it rip it.  And the handy little tool called a seam ripper is the best way to frog.

I'm not going to show you how to use the seam ripper. It's not difficult and a great many have already done this online.  So, go find a great YouTube to show you how it's done, or just follow this link:
How To Use a Seam Ripper

Nope, I'm not going to tell you how to use the ripper itself;  going to tell you about that little ball on the short tip of the ripper and what to do with it. 

Some people think the little red ball is just a pretty little decorative knob that protects fingers and fabrics from damage when using the ripper.  Some people buy rippers without a red knob.  I used to think it was, you know, just there looking pretty.  But this glorious red knob on this marvelous frog-stitch tool has a wonderful purpose (was that enough hyperbole?).

Most people hold the ripper with the long-pointy part down, like in this picture.  That's because most people only use the long-pointy part when they rip it.  And if you have a small amount of seam ripping to do, it's perfect.  But what if you have a whole border to take off on your king-sized quilt top?  Or a long seam along your ankle-length dress?  Picking and pulling and picking and pulling would take ages.  That's where the short-knobbed side comes in.  You can simply turn the ripper over with the knob down and zip along the seam.

1.  Start with the first couple stitches undone. 

2.  Keep the ripper at a slightly upper angle and catch the stitches inside the sharp "j" area that is between the long pointer on top and the knobbed pointer on bottom.

3.  Start zipping, holding the top fabric taunt.  Keep the fabric and the zipper straight. I tend to keep my thumb and finger on the knob to keep it straight.  Some people lay the fabric on a table and tug it a little while they are zipping in order to keep it taunt.

See how it is at a slight angle and fabric is taunt.  By the way, I don't usually keep the top fabric away from the bottom fabric, but am showing you the ripper as it zips.

4.  Zip along.  If your fabric gets caught, stop or you will cut the fabric.  Sometimes you need to remove the little pieces of thread trapped between the seam and the ripper.
 

5.  Easy peasy ripping.  All because of that sweet little red knob that's been hanging around on the ripper forever. 

Happy frogging!!
peace~~~

That Sleepy Little College Town is Greater than the Whole

David and Margaret Home

Dad and His Daughters

My father worked for Waltersheid Electric in San Dimas, California for many many years.  He was able to do electrical work for lots of people and many different companies such, as Vita Pakt in Covina.  Loved working there because he could bring home orange juice and lemonade.  I loved their lemonade.  He crawled through a great many attics, down crawl-spaces, and through yards.  Two of his favorite places to do work were in that sleepy little college town of La Verne: The David and Margaret Home and Leroy's Boys Home.  He loved having the young kids come watch him work and ask him questions.

Hotel La Verne

The David and Margaret Home in La Verne was the first orphanage in the area.  It's history is directly connected to the building of the sleepy little town that was built by the Church of the Brethren and expanded by the citrus growers.  See, back when La Verne was known as Lordsburg in the late 1800s, there were no children services nor safe places for orphaned or abandoned children.  Poor thangs just roamed the streets and relied on strangers for food and bedding.  This bothered the President of the First National Bank, Henry Kuns.  So he purchased 18 acres of property and constructed the La Verne Hotel.  Now remember there was already an unused hotel--Lordsburg Hotel--that became the basis of the University of La Verne.  But Kuns build this hotel with another purpose in mind.  In 1910 when it was completed, he had donated it to the Women’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church for the purpose of establishing the David & Margaret Home for Children.  The orphanage was named after Kuns' parents. 

Whitney Building in 2018

By 1925, the hotel needed major repairs and so Kuns bought more land and the children moved into the newly built Whitney Building.  The rest of the land was used as a farm to help feed the children and to house administration outposts.  All this was right near the center of town so the community could be involved.

Over the years the organization continued to build housing--in 1964 the first residential cabin was built in order to make it more "homey."  The kids transitioned out of the Whitney building and into the welcoming housing.  Today the acres are filled with housing and classes and administration and families.  The mission of the organization has remained the same: to empower children.  But the organization has grown to include so many services.  Here is a list of the services they now offer.

Leroy's Boys Home

Now you would think one children organization was enough social services needed in such a small town, but the township didn't stop there.  There were troubled kids in the town and Leroy Haynes, a chaplain for the youth authority, thought there was a better way than kid jail to help these kids.  In 1946 he and his wife bought a large estate near the foothills of La Verne and opened the doors to Leroy's Boys Home.  They started with 10 residents.  Today they are still working with the community, having changed the name to the Haynes Family of Programs.  Like David and Margaret Youth and Family Services, they have expanded what they offer by tenfold.  The organization, still located on the same estate, now has 18 buildings, including six residential cottages and a state certified K-12 non-public school. They annually serve more than 450 boys and girls of all ages, and their families, through four programs:

1. Non-public School
2. Residential Treatment
3. Mental Health Services
4. Community Outreach

The Haynes Family of Programs is dedicated to helping children with special needs relating to emotional development, autism, Asperger’s Disorder, learning disabilities, abuse, neglect and abandonment.

Leroy's Boys in the 1950s

One of the connections between them that these two organizations have is that they both have transitional housing for kids who age out of programs like Foster Care (D&M Home) and schooling (LB Home).  No way are they going to just dump the kids out on the street simply because they reach 18 years old.  Yay for them!  Who would think that such a sweet little town would welcome and support not one but two incredible organizations that were created to house and help kids and are still going strong today?  

I recently continued my father's legacy of helping support La Verne kids by donating four lap blankets and a quilt to the David and Margaret Youth and Family Services.  The next round will go to the Boys Home.
peace~~~

Just a Sleepy Little College Town

Sometime around 1932, my father moved to La Verne, California.  His mother and grandmother shared the responsibilities of raising four children.  Gramma bought a sweet little farmhouse with a wrap-around porch, a second story, and a great big sun porch in the back.  I loved that house.

Gramma's House

As a kid, staying overnight with Gramma meant 50cents or a dollar in my pocket, a short walk with Gramma downtown to the toy store, and walking home twirling a baton.  I always bought a baton.  When Gramma died in 1982, the house was sold.  I drive past it every time I come south to visit Mom.

Mom moved to La Verne to the Hillcrest Retirement Community in 1997 and then she moved into the Woods Health Services after her stroke in 2014.  I visit her every six weeks or so.  The little town hasn't changed much in all the years I've known it.  

After the land was used by Native Americans and other early settlers, the land where La Verne now sits was owned by Isaac Wilson Lord.  He was a Los Angeles business owner who, in 1887, convinced the Santa Fe Railroad to come out his way through his many acres of land.  In May of that year, he made a bold move and set up parades and street music in both Los Angeles and San Bernardino, enticing people a free ride to Lordsburg.  Over 2500 people accepted and Lord sold over $200,000 worth of lots. 

Lordsburg Hotel/University of La Verne

As City of La Verne history said, "Building began immediately. The most notable building was a large hotel with more than 60 rooms. Lord and others had invested some $70,000 or more in it. Water mains were put in, a post office opened, a newspaper published and stores opened, all within four months."

Then the railroad competition began with Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads vying for customers.  Passenger rates dropped to $1/person from mid-west to Los Angeles.  It brought an influx of people to the area--most to just look around; some stayed.

With the hotel completed, waiting for paying customers, the little town of Lordsburg was ready to blossom.  Only it never happened.  Not one paying customer ever stayed at this glorious hotel.  It seemed throughout the area there were few residents and many businesses.  

In 1889, M.M. Eshelman arrived from the midwest.  He was a member of the Church of the Brethren.  Along with George McDonaugh, also a Brethren, they made an offer to Lord for the hotel.  The offer included 100 city lots in on the deal. They offered $15,000 for the lots and the hotel.  They wanted to make a college out of the hotel.  They enticed many Brethren to join them so their kids could go to college.  It worked.  By November, they had formed a Brethren congregation and by fall of 1891, the college opened with eight faculty members and 135 students.  Also in the northern lands there were a few ranchers.  They called their area "La Verne," meaning "growing green."   

Citrus groves with Mt Baldy in background

The ranchers didn't have time to be concerned with the little college town.  They had their own problems with the elements.  Rain.  Drought.  Snow.  Winds.  They dug deep wells and by 1890 they had tried planting citrus groves.  They went well and more citrus groves were planted.  During its peak in 1919, more than a thousand carloads of fruit were being shipped annually, and the output continued to grow. The growing, picking, packing, and shipping of oranges, grapefruit and lemons influenced all of life in the town.

In 1917, town people and ranchers voted to change the name of the town to La Verne.  They had tried back in 1912, but Lord still had a majority of land ownership and he balked.  But then he died and TaDa!  La Verne it became.

Lighting smudge pots

In the 1940, the citrus trees began dying and the owners tore many groves out and sold the land as housing lots.  I remember waking in the night while at Gramma's hearing the fire house warning bells and the people going out to the groves to heat the trees with smudge pots.  I would wake up the next morning with black soot in my nostrils and mouth.  This practice was stopped in the 1970s, but those of us near citrus groves knew the sound and results.

University of La Verne

But now they are gone, all the groves.  There are some 30,000 people living in La Verne today.  But somehow it has remained that sleepy little college town that the Church of the Brethren once developed and La Verne citrus growers expanded. 

peace~~~