Dear Friends,

 Dear Friends,

First thing I want to say is:

Another year gone. Fading into history. 

I know I have not posted for over a year, sorry. It's just I'm not sure what to share with people any more. Like what kind of history do they want to see. From a hundred years ago? I do have somethings I have not shared.

Do I share things from my past? 

One thing I have thought about is I have an old cookbook from 1908 but, it's in Swedish. I could translate it and share it that way. 

I do have other old books I can share. 

I am very open minded, most days. But I will say I have been working a lot of over time. So most weeks I only get one day off from work. Mind and body and housework usually win out over writing.

I know this post is very short but, like I said I need a new direction or something. Don't be afraid to make a suggestion from time time. Maybe that's what I need something to search for or investigate from the past. Challenge me.

Well that's all I have to say today.

I hope to hear from you soon. 

Your friend,

Sandy 

 

Merry Christmas to you all

 

Dear Friends,

I know it's been a long time since you heard anything from me. I want to say that everything is fine here. Like with everyone else this has been a very unstable time. 

I keep trying to think of different things I can post here. That and finding the motivation to do it. But I do promise I will post something from the past. 

So I hope to drop by again real soon.

Till then,

Your friend,

Sandy

Dear Friends, I'm back; Looking for what's next

 Dear Friends,

I know it has been a long time since I have written, I'm sorry. I am fine here. One of my excuses is, with all the nonsense going on I was not sure if looking to the past was a good thing right now. 

I do wonder how history will look back on this time.  But then again we should not forget the past in anyway. I know some of the letters I have shown you from the time around the Spanish flu does mention someone having the flu but I don't think there was any mention of anyone they knew dying from it. I guess I'll just have to go back over the blog and try to find some of them that mention it and let you know what to look for.

If you have been wondering what I've been doing during this time of uncertainty. Well, not a whole lot. We only hiked once this summer so far. Not sure if we will get any done this year or not. We also recently got a new dog.

This is Bella.

She was born June 16th.

We've had her for almost two weeks now. She is almost house broken already. She does like to dig and being a healer cattle dog she nips a little to much. So that is something we have to work on. And also get her use to a leash. I would like to someday take her hiking with us. 

I've been thinking about what else I have from a time gone by that I can share with you. I have a number of old books I could share with you. 

I have a book on President McKinley. Published the year he was assassinated. "Illustrious Life of William McKinley; Our Martyred President." 1901

A cookbook from 1908, in Swedish. I could maybe copy them and translate the recipes.

I have a book from  1891 called:" Bill Nye's Remarks". (Not the science guy). This one was a political humorist of that time. 

I have a book on the Titanic published the same year it sank. The only problem is it's in Swedish. My sister I think has the same book  or similar in English.

I do have more of the Fables I could share with you. 

There are more news clippings.

I could dive into my past. Share pictures or a few other things from my past. It is history that is slowly fading away.

There are a lot of other directions I could go in. If anyone has any suggestions about anything I will be willing to take it into consideration. Or if anyone has anything they want to contribute just let me know and I'll see what we can do.

Well, that's all for now.

I hope to hear from you soon.

So till next time.

Your friend,

Sandy

Four Fables with lessons to be learned

Dear Friends,
I hope all are having a good beginning to this new year 2020.
Mine has been very nice for me so far. I feel like this year is going to be a very eye opening year for me to the good. This year things will be a whole lot smoother then they were last year. Last year was one of those years, that you just want to say, "What was that?"
So since there are lessons to be learned, I will share with you four fables from the Riverside Literature book.Each tells of the lesson learned.

Here is the first one:

THE LION AND THE MOUSE

As a Lion lay asleep, a Mouse, by chance,
ran into his mouth. The lion shut his teeth
together and would have eaten him up, but the
Mouse begged hard to be let out, saying:--
"If you will let me go, I shall be forever grateful."
The lion smiled and let the Mouse out.
Not long after, the Mouse had a chance to
repay him, for the Lion was caught by some
hunters, and bound with ropes to a tree. The
Mouse heard him roar and groan, and ran and
gnawed the ropes, so that the Lion got free.
Then the Mouse said:--
"You laughed at me once, Lion, as if you
could get nothing in return for your kindness
to me, but now it is you who owe your life to
me."
This fable teaches that there may come sudden
changes of fortune, when the strong will
owe everything to the weak.

Here is the second one:

THE LION AND THE BEAR

A Lion and a Bear chance to fall upon a
Fawn at the same time, and they began to
fight for it. They fought so fiercely that at
last they fell down, entirely warn out and
almost dead.
A Fox, passing that way, saw them stretched
out, and the Fawn dead between them. He
stole in slyly, seized the Fawn, and ran away
with it for his dinner. When they saw
this,they could not stir, but they cried out:--
" What wretches we are to take all this trouble
for a Fox!"
This fable teaches that when two people fall
to fighting for something, a third person is apt
to get it.

Here is the third one:

THE HUNTER AND THE WOODCUTTER

A hunter was looking for the tracks of a
Lion, and he asked a Woodcutter whom he met
if he had seen any tracks of a Lion, and if he
knew where the Lion was hid. The Woodcutter
said:--
"Oh, I can show you the Lion himself."
Then the Hunter was pale with fright, his
teeth chattered, and he said:--
"I only want to see his tracks; I don't want
to see the Lion."
There are those who are brave with words
only, not with deeds.

Here is the fourth one:

THE DOG AND THE WOLF

A dog was lying asleep in front of a stable.
A Wolf suddenly came upon him, and was
about to make a meal of him, but the Dog
begged for his life, saying:--
"I am lean and tough now; but wait a little,
for my master is going to give a feast, and then
I shall have plenty to eat; I shall grow fat, and
make a better meal for you."
So the Wolf agreed, and went away. By and
by he came back, and found the Dog asleep on
the house-top. He called to him to come down
now and do as he had agreed. But the Dog
answered;--
"Good Wolf, if you ever catch me again
asleep in front of the stable, you had better not
wait for the feast to come off."
This fable teaches that wise men, when they
escape danger, take care afterwards not to run
the same risk.

Each one has a very good lesson that still applies to this day.  Maybe some people in charge should be sent these lessons. Maybe then they will plan things better and consider the consequence of how they are going about things.

Now here are a few pictures from springs gone by.

 Written on the back of this one: May 8, 1923   Berglund's woodshed

 Written on the back of this one:  Spring April 1939

 Written on the back of this one: Kitten on top of a cow.

Well that's all I have to share with you today.
I hope you will come back soon for more Fading History.
Till then.
Your friend,
Sandy

HANS IN LUCK: Part II

Dear Friends,
Sorry I have not posted sooner. The only excuse I can give is the holidays.
I'm sure you will understand.
Christmas for me was fairly uneventful. Except for the fact my fridge is not working. We ordered one on black Friday. It was suppose to be here on the 15th. No show. Now I'm told it won't be here till maybe the 6th of January at the earliest. So I'm not a very happy person right now. They never called to say that there was a delay in getting it. I did let them know how unhappy I am right now. After this I don't plan on doing business with them again. I could name them but I won't.
Anyway, other things are looking up for me. I like to look at it this way. Once this is settled things will be a little better. 2019 was not a good year. One phrase I've seen a number of time concerning this year: " What the Hell was that?" I like to say that 2020 will be better. We will be able to see things more clearly.

Here is the second part of Hans In Luck:

II
The Pig, The Goose, The Grindstone, and
Nothing.

So on he jogged, and all seemed now to go
well with him. He had met with some ill luck, to
be sure, but he was now well repaid. The next
person he met was a Farmer carrying a fine white
goose under his arm. The Farmer stopped to
ask what o'clock it was, and Hans told him all
his luck, and how he had made so many good
bargains. The Farmer said he was going to take
the goose to market.
"Feel," said he, "how heavy it is, and yet it
is only eight weeks old. Whoever roasts and
eats it may cut plenty of fat off it, it has lived
so well."
"You are right," said Hans, as he weighed
the goose in his hand; "but my pig is no
trifle." Now the Farmer began to look grave, and
shook hi head.
"Hark ye, my good friend," said he. "Your
pig may get you into a scrape. In the village I
just came from the squire has had a pig stolen
out of his sty. I was very much afraid whn I
saw you that you had the squire's pig. It will
be a bad job it they catch you; the least they
will do will be to throw you into the horse
pond." Poor Hans was in great fright.

"Good man," he cried," pray get me out of
this scrape. You know the country better than
I; take my pig and give me the goose,"
"I ought to have something into the bargain,"
said the Farmer. "However, I will not be hard
upon you, since you are in trouble." Then he
took the string in his hand, and drove the pig
away by a side path, while Hans went on, free
from care.
"After all," thought Hans, "I have the best
of the bargain. First, there will be a capital
roast; then the fat will keep me in goose-grease
for six months; and there are all the soft white
feathers. I shall put them into my pillow, and
then I shall sleep soundly. How happy my
mother will be!"
As he came to the last village on the way, he saw
 a Scissors-grinder with his wheel, working
away and singing merrily. Hans stood by looking
on for a while, and at last said:--
"You must be well off, Master Grinder, you
seem so happy at your work."
"Yes," said the other; "mine is a golden
trade; a good grinder never puts his hand into
his pocket without finding money. But where
did you get that beautiful goose?"
"I did not buy it, but changed a pig for it."
"And where did you get the pig?"
"I gave a cow for it."

"And the cow?"
"I gave a horse for it."
"And the horse?"
"I gave a piece of silver as big as my head
for that."
"And the silver?"
"Oh, I worked hard for that for seven long
years."
"You have done well so far," said the
Grinder. "Now if you could find money in
your pocket whenever you put your hand into
it, your fortune would be made."
"Very true; but how is that to be brought
about?"
"You must turn grinder like me. You only
want a grindstone; the rest will come of itself.
Here is one that is a little the worse for wear; I
would not ask more than your goose for it;--
will you buy?"
"How can you ask such a question?" replied
Hans; "I should be the happiest fellow in the
world, if I could have money whenever I put my
hand into my pocket. What could I want more?
There is the goose!"
"Now," said the Grinder, as he gave him a
common rough stone that lay by his side,"this
is a capital stone; only use it cleverly, and you
can make an old nail cut with it." Hans took
the stone, and went off with a light heart. His
eyes shone for joy, and he said to himself:--

"I must have been born in a lucky hour.
Everything I want or wish for comes to me of
itself."
Now Hans began to be tired, for he had been
traveling ever since daybreak. He was hungry,
too, for he had spent his last penny. At last
he could go no further, for the stone was very
heavy. He dragged himself to the side of a
pond; there he meant to drink some water and
rest awhile. He laid the stone carefully by his
side on the bank, and stooped to drink; but he
forgot the stone and pushed it a little; down it
went plump into the pond.
For a while he watched it in the deep clear
water; then he sprang up for joy, and again fell
on his knees and thanked Heaven with tears in
his eyes for taking away his only plague, the
ugly heavy stone.
"How happy I am!" he cried. "Surely no
mortal was ever so lucky as I." Then he got
up with a light and merry heart, and walked
on, free from all his troubles, till he reached his
mother's house.


What a story. He started with a piece of silver as big as his head and by the time he reached his mothers house he had nothing. I wonder if his mother was able to get him to see how much he was taken advantage of by everyone he met. I do wonder what he did for seven years. Was he a good worker or did he only do the minimum amount of work?
What do you think is the moral of this story? 

Trying to find figure out what I should show you this time I found a news paper from here.
I scanned two things from The Star News Thursday May 11, 1978:

 I'm actually in this one. I'm on the left. 

I story on a local business. Believe me a lot has changed.

I choose another picture from the past:

I wonder how different this view is today.

Well that's all I have to share with you today.
I look forward to sharing more things with you in 2020.
I hope you will come back soon for more Fading History.
Till then.
Your friend,
Sandy

Hans In Luck: Part 1

Dear Friends,
I hope this post finds you all well. I know I should have posted sooner. But, to tell the truth, I have not been in the mood to sit down at the computer and write. Not to say I don't have anything to say. Just not in the mood. Maybe it's the coming holidays. Maybe it's just other things in life getting in the way. Maybe I'm just procrastinating about getting somethings done. Oh well, I'm here now.
It's finally looking like the Decembers I remember from my childhood.

This was taken Thanksgiving at my parents house. There is more snow on the ground now.
Anyway, here is the first part of the next story from The Riverside Literature Series:

HANS IN LUCK
1.
The Silver, The Horse, The Cow, and The Pig

Hans had served his master seven years, and
at last said to him:--
"Master, my time is up; I should like to go
home and see my mother; so give me my
wages." And the Master said:--
"You have been a good and faithful servant,
so your pay shall be handsome." Then he gave
him a piece of silver as big as his head.
Hans took out his handkerchief, put the piece
of silver into it, hung it over his shoulder, and
jogged off homeward. As he went lazily on,
dragging one foot after the other, a man came
 in sight, trotting along gayly on a capital horse.
"Ah!" said Hans aloud, "what a fine thing
it is to ride on horseback! there he sits as if he
were at home in his chair; he trips against no
stones, spares, his shoes, and gets on he hardly
knows how." The Horseman heard this, and
said:_-

"Well, Hans, why do you go on foot then?"
"Ah," said he, "I have this load to carry;
to be sure it is silver, but it is so heavy that I
cannot hold up my head, and it hurts my
shoulder sadly."
"What do you say to changing?" asked the
Horseman. "I will give you my horse, and you
shall give me your silver."
"With all my heart," said Hans. "But I
will tell you one thing-- you will have a weary
task to drag it along." The Horseman got off,
took the silver, helped Hans up, put the bridle
into his hand, and said:--
"When you want to go very fast, you must
smack your lips, and cry 'Jip.'"
Hans was delighted as he sat on the horse and
rode merrily on. After a time he thought he
should like to go a little faster, so he smacked
his lips and cried"Jip." Away went the horse
full gallop; Hans held on tightly, but soon he
was thrown off, and lay in a ditch by the road-
side. His horse would have run away, if a Cow-
hers had not stopped it. Hans soon came to
himself, and got upon his legs again. He was
greatly vexed, and said to the Cowherd:--
"This riding is no joke when a man gets on
a beast like this, that stumbles ans flings him off
now once for all. I like your cow a great deal

better. I could walk along at my ease behind
her, and have milk, butter, and cheese every day
into the bargain. What would I give to have
such a cow!"
"Well," said the Cowherd," if you are so
fond of her, I will change my cow for your
horse."
"Done!" said Hans merrily. The Cowherd
jumped upon the horse and away he rode.
Hans drove his cow quietly, and thought his
bargain a very lucky one.
"If I have only a piece of bread-- and I cer-
tainly shall be able to get that-- I can eat my
butter and cheese with it. When I am thirsty I
can milk my cow and drink the milk. What can
I wish for more?"
Now he came to an inn; he halted, and gave
away his last penny for a piece of bread, and ate
it. Then he drove his cow toward the village
where his mother lived. The heat grew greater
as noon came on, till at last he found himself on
a wide plain; it would take him more than an
hour to cross the plain. He began to be so hot
and parched that his tongue cleaved to the roof
of his mouth.
"I can find a cure for this," Thought he;
"now I will milk my cow and quench my thirst."
So he tied her to the stump of a tree, and held
his leathern cap to milk into it; but not a drop
was to be had.

While he was trying his luck and doing very
ill, the uneasy beast gave him a kick on the
head; the kick knocked him down, and there he
lay a long time senseless. Luckily a Butcher
soon came by, wheeling a pig in a wheelbarrow.
"What is the matter with you?" asked the
Butcher, as he helped him up. Hans told him
what had happened, and the Butcher gave him
some water.
"There, drink and refresh yourself. Your
cow will give you no milk; she is an old beast,
fit only to be killed and eaten."
"Alas, alas!" If I kill her, what would she
be good for? I hate cow-beef; it is not tender
enough for me. If it were a pig now, I could
do something with it; it would at any rate make
some sausages."
"Well," said the Butcher," to please you, I
will change, and give you the pig for the cow."
"Heaven reward you for your kindness!" said
Hans, as he gave the Butcher the cow. He
took the pig off the wheelbarrow, and drove it
along, holding it by the string that was tied to
its leg.

Well what do you think of this story so far?  So far he started out with silver as large as his head, and now he has a pig. Do you think any of his trades were very smart or did all the others see a not so bright person?
Stay tuned  till next time for the conclusion of this tale.

Since it is winter time and Christmas is almost here I'll share with you once again a few pictures I posted before.

 A winter scene from the past that looks like it does today right now.

 A Christmas greeting from the past.

Me and my siblings at Christmas time.(I'm on the right).

Well that's all I have for you today.
I hope you have a good week.
Come back soon for more Fading History.
Till then.
Your friend,
Sandy

The Star-Gazer plus three more stories

Dear Friends,
I hope this finds you all well. As for me a couple of changes. I no longer have the dogs. Two other family members have taken them. I hope they will be well taken care of. The husband has now gone back to work. So I once again have most of my nights to myself.
The weather here is now turning colder. I'm not sure if I'm ready for winter. But there is nothing I can do to change what is heading our way.

Anyway, here are four short stories from the Riverside Literature Series:

THE STAR-GAZER.

A certain wise man wont to go out every
evening and gaze at the stars. Once his walk
took him outside of the town, and as he was
looking with all his eyes into the sky, and did
not see where he was going, he feel into a ditch.
He was in a sad plight, and set up a cry. A
man who was passing by heard him, and stopped
to see what was the matter.
"Ah, sir," said he, "when you are trying to
make out what is in the sky, you do not see
what is on earth."


THE BOY AND THE NETTLE.

A Boy playing in the fields was stung by a
 Nettle. He ran home to his Mother, and told
her that he had but touched the weed, and it
had stung him.
"It was just touching it that stung you,"
said she. "The next time you meddle with a
Nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will not hurt you."


THE DOG IN THE MANGER.

A Dog once made his bed in a manger. He
could not eat the grain there, and he would not
let the Ox eat it, who could.


THE BOY WHO STOLE APPLES.

An Old Man found a rude Boy up in one of
his trees, stealing apples, and bade him come
down. The young rogue told him plainly that
he would not.
"Won't you?" said the Old Man. "Then
I will fetch you down." So he pulled up some
tufts of grass and threw them at him; but this
only made the youngster laugh.
"Well, well," said the Old Man. If neither
words nor grass will do, I will try what virtue
there is in stones." With that he pelted the
Boy heartily with stones, which soon made him
clamber down from the tree and beg the Old
Man's pardon.

These are my brief summary of these stories.

Story number 1.
If this story was wrote today the person would not be looking at the stars, but at their phone.  Same result.

Story number 2.
If you have ever come upon nettle you will know that just lightly touching one will sting. I'm not sure about grasping some boldly will not hurt you. Never tried have you?

Story number 3.
Sounds like someone that will do what they want but not let someone else have what they need.

Story number 4.

The man gave the boy two chances to get out of the tree safely. It took something hard to really get his attention.


Here are a couple of newspaper clippings:

 I think this is someone grandma knew from Birnamwood.

This is a clipping from The Chicago Sunday Tribune July 18, 1954.

Here is a picture I might have shown you before:

Not sure who these girls are. There a number of pictures of them.

Well, that's all I have to share with you today.
I hope you will come back soon for more Fading History.
Till then.
Your friend,
Sandy