Friday, May 23, 2008

Remember "Them" when eating Eggie Pancakes


One of the things I forgot to mention and remembered late last night was that all of you are blessed often by your ancestors remember those GREAT Eggie Pancakes or the crepes. Here's the list in case you want to thank them for your food, when you bless it for breakfast, lunch, & or having eggie pancakes for dinner:

Minna Ortmann Loepp & David F. Loepp
Martha Marie Loepp McKean
Winniford Lyle McKean O'Connor (Granma Commer)
Adrian Francis O'Connor Wellman (Granma Boby)
Susan Kay Wellman Lazenby (Granma Feather) I guess Susie, too.
You know, that's like the name Sue to me.

Thank often--Pup pup, Freckles, Sadie, and Little for always eating the first ugly pancake for us all. It was the sacrifice to the dogs. Always, it's the really messed-up one. I never made any of you eat crepe that wasn't perfect. :)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

There's a Secret In My Family. David Loepp


The names most familiar with our family have been Irish, Scottish, and Welsh and of course, the Norwegian from Steve. No one really talks about my Grandma McKean being Polish, and born in a small community near Danzig, then called, Prussia. I've been thinking about him and his wife Minna Ortmann (a German girl) quite a bit since our trip back to my daughter's new home in Arkansas. We did lots of site-seeing and if there was one site I wanted to see was that of my great great grandfather's grave in Adair, Oklahoma. Oh, you guys think I was grave hopping. yep. Not! It's actually very near to where my daughter Bree lives. I found his grave all alone in a large section. I'm assuming it's a family site, because he is surrounded by no one. My grandmother Minna moved back to Hull, Iowa. His grave said, in German, Here lies our Beloved Husband and Father. Geb (birth) 29 April 1841, Gest (death) 29 Oct. 1898. Under the dates it reads and translated to: "Sorrow in our loss. Hope in our reunion." The family will be together someday, I know. He was my age when he died and probably of appendicitis. His grave stone is tall, but you can tell it's rarely visited because we had to do a lot of repair. Bree's going to check on the site after the storms. I am amazed that I found it without any directions and the cemetery is large. There were motorcycle tough guys there and they were very sad. All of them were outside the gates and walking in for a graveside funeral. I lost myself--happens often, no surprise to my family, and was jumping up and down and hugging the grave monument. I started yelling to Steve and the family. They were parked out by the big Harley dudes. "Come see, I found him!" I was still jumping up and down until my husband reminded me they only buried (still) people a couple feet from the surface because of the ground water level. I was so happy, I forgot, I wasn't thinking...there were people there grieving.

The motorcycle riders, as tough as they looked, were so sweet and also happy for me. I told them I hoped they were able to put a marker there, because someone like me will be hugging it later.

My little green book talks a lot about my Great, Great Grandfather Loepp and my Great Grandma McKean told me stories of him and the family. He was impulsive, very happy and sang beautifully. Minna, his wife was the somewhat opposite. Oh, she may have sang beautifully, as he did, because as a gift to his bride...David gave her a collection of American folksongs from his adventurous trip to America, earlier. Minna was a happy and outgoing person, but deeply religious and strict. Minna Ortmann Loepp was very educated, of course a strong woman that took care of her family and herself long after David had passed-away. She loved America.

I want all my children and grandchildren to know how precious and brave these pioneers were. And hope, I can share the little green book with them and tell them about how my great grandmother took off with a real cowboy through hostile Indian Territory and then married (whoa) in the Ouray Courthouse and homesteaded in beautiful Ridgway, Colorado.

I don't know why we don't talk more about our ancestors. It's good to collect names and stories instead of junk collections in our homes. I love genealogy and every time I see my pedigree and family group sheets, I go right into a song, "Genealogy, I Am Doing It," I didn't get my ancestors pretty voice, but I love singing that song. Kinda' like when someone says the word, "substantial", I always have to repeat that word. That's the only one, but I can't help it--even under my breath. My whole family knows that I do that. Do you think that part of my story is going in my little green book? All of this blog stuff is sounding so crazy. I didn't eat my cologne box, just for future reference.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Another Post....Hmmm

Just how wonderful are wonderful shoes? These shoes were my shoes for working in an office full of lawyers, attorney secretaries or administrative assistants, and major suit-lovers. I mostly wore my tennies with nice church dresses and these shoes were very white-white, mule Converse tennies. Cheap, doesn't even describe them, they were a whole $3 dollars. They fit perfectly and even have great support on my non-existent arches.
I no longer work in an office and everything I really work at, is outdoor; in the yard, petting horses in the horsepens, milking goats, kicking rocks, (not on purpose) have been an adventure for the both of us, my shoes and me. I've cried in them, I've actually washed them a lot, I've laughed-'til I hurts, in them. I will NEVER throw them away. I'm in my nightgown in the picture with them on. No telling how many germs must be on them and they might smell. Don't ask anyone, please. I don't ever want my thoughts to go there--thinking my favorite shoes have a smell. It would be wise for me to write that we do own bucks, goats that are boys, in rut. They smell. My shoes do not smell like buck, thank you very much!
My semi-white shoes are great to fly in (I don't fly, I mean, like go in an airplane), easy to slip off. My children think I'm so nuts that maybe I fly on a broom at night. Not funny! My dear shoes go with socks, hose, and never need tying. I have knotted them. The very best thing is if I trip or a large animal steps on my foot; like my husband--my foot slips right out--shoe stays squished. They have saved me from injury, given me comfort, and when the baby goats, sheep, and puppies smell my tennis shoes they know mommy is here. Kiely, too. lol You know me...I could talk about this forever. I could even clog to Riverdance in these shoes. (that's not true, but in my dreams) Yes, Larin, you CAN call them my basement shoes, but you're the only one. Now ya'll know why I wear those knarly, yellowed, dirty, but clean...Oh, my! They are cross-trainers--they do everything!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Susan's New Blog Message


See these two little pictures? Well, my new purchase today has made me think about candy all day. They're a cologne box and a bottle of cologne. Where does this come from? I've moved them all over the house; both of them together. I pick them up and take them with me everywhere. I'm glad to have especially the cologne. It smells good on the inside, but I want to eat the box. Reminds me of a candy box I had when I was a little girl. And the cologne itself, yum. It's Kool-Aid. Smells actually like flowers, but my imagination is going somewhere else. It's really hot today and maybe, just maybe, I'm having daydreams of summer when I was young. I don't know, but I don't want to eat the box and drink the cologne tonight. Where should I hide it?

I love my new blog. Thank you "Cutest Blog On The Block" Hope I can continue to make it cute. lol Ta-da!