From this morning's perusal of the news:
"Anne Frank called them the Helpers. They provided food, books and good cheer while she and her family hid for two years from the Nazis in a tiny attic apartment.
On Sunday, the last surviving helper, Miep Gies, celebrates her 100th birthday.
It was Gies who gathered up Anne's scattered papers and notebooks after the hiding place was raided in 1944. She locked them — unread — in a desk drawer to await the teenager's return.
Anne died of typhus in the German concentration camp of Bergen-Belsen seven months after her arrest. British and Canadian troops liberated the camp two weeks later.
Gies gave the collection to Anne's father Otto, the only survivor among the eight people who hid in the concealed attic of the canal-side warehouse. He published it in 1947, and it was released in English in 1952 as "The Diary of a Young Girl."
Who has not been moved to tears by the words of a girl trying to find her place in the world while being confined to a small attic space in the midst of war? Who has read this book and not been profoundly affected by this young woman who died soon afterward in an event we call the Holocaust? I think I was 13 the first time I read it. And went through an entire box of tissues in the process.
This book gave birth to my love of history, and in particular the history of WWII. I've since read many books, fiction and non-fiction, relating to this time period. A couple of other favorites include Winston Churchill's The Gathering Storm (first in a six-volume memoir on the Second World War) and The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.
I read The Hiding Place when I was a new Christian and the concepts of forgiveness and praying for your enemy certainly rocked my boat!
What about you? Which books have affected you most profoundly? Why?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A Laundry Saga
I've had an on again, off again love affair with laundry my whole life. I remember helping my mom when we had a wringer washer. This was in the 70s but because we lived in a house without running water, she'd reverted to the older machine that didn't require a steady supply of water to operate.
I had Proverbs 31 arms back in the day from hauling all the water up from our well. The bucket held about 2-1/2 gallons and while most days we got by with six or seven buckets, wash day always meant many, MANY more because mom liked fresh water for each load. I dreaded laundry because my arms would just be flat out sore by the end of the day. Feeding clothes through the wringer took some arm strength too.
Do any of you remember these? In the 90s, a group from our church went on a short-term missions trip to Appalachia (my home stomping grounds) to help at a New Tribes training facility. My daughter and the other young girls on the trip had an absolute blast with these type washers. Of course, there was running water there so they just had to turn the tap on to fill up the tub. But those girls spent the week asking everyone if they had any laundry to wash. I think they felt sorta "little house on the prairie" as they happily played washerwomen.
Anyway, before and after the wringer washer we had a normal washer and dryer, circa the 1960s. Maybe a little more modern than this, but not much.
I mean let's face it, washing machines are not cars and their engineers were stuck in a rut for ages with the same old, same old coming off the production line year after year.
They may not have looked like much but they certainly did make life easier. Throw the clothes in the washer, take 'em out and throw 'em in the dryer, take 'em out and put 'em up. No need to haul up buckets of water, heating some on the wood stove before pouring it into the tub. Letting the clothes agitate, keeping an eye on the clock, running each piece through the wringer once, twice, sometimes three times to make sure you've gotten out as much water as possible, then into the rinse tub. Repeat process for "rinse cycle". Then hanging the clothes on the line, piece by piece. In the winter we had some indoor lines and the furniture would be draped as well. Of course, without a dryer to air fluff the clothes, you have to iron everything too. It took literally all day to do the laundry for one woman and two girls.
I've never had a new washing machine until now. Why buy new when you can get a used one for pennies on the dollar? And when you have a handy man hubby who can keep a washer running long past its life expectancy? But there were times. Oh yes, there were times when even with his careful ministrations, the machine would work but not all that well. The last machine we had in the U.S. required multiple spin cycles and even then the clothes were a little damper than they should be when we put them in the dryer.
I fully expected to get a used washer here. Had not planned on a new washer. But the Lord opened the door to get one and I have never looked back! If it's possible to love an inanimate object, I love my washer ☺
Isn't it pretty?! Here are the specs:
Cap. Neta: 12 Kg
Doble toma de agua: Fria y caliente
Temperatura de Agua: Fría / Tibia / Caliente (mezcla en forma inteligente las dos
tomas de agua independiente)
Panel de control digital
Potencia del aire seco (Semi- seco 30min/1hr/2hr)
8 Programas de lavado : Fuzzy, Delicado, Jeans, Tub Clean, Favorito, Silencioso, Enjuague inteligente, Lavado rápido
Dimensiones: (mm) 632 an. x 1.020 al. x 670 prof.
If you can read any Spanish at all, you may be intrigued by the "Potencia del aire seco" because I certainly was, and it's one of my favorite features. I call it the "air fluff" because it literally infuses air and fluffs the clothes while simultaneously spinning every little bit of excess water out. The 1 hour didn't do any better than the 30 minute air fluff so I just always do 30 minutes. I have removed items after this and had actual dry spots!
Between my handy dandy air fluff feature and the intense Argentine sun, laundry dries very quickly. Usually by the time I have a second load ready to hang on the line, the first load is dry.
There is something very satisfying about hanging clothes on the line. I think because it satisfies the OCD in me. I can be as obsessively compulsive as I want when hanging clothes. Socks neatly lined up, facing the same direction, pairs together so I can fold them over one another right on the line before unclipping the clothespins and dropping them into the basket, all ready for the drawer. I get immense pleasure from making sure all my blue dish towels are together in a row.
[The hubby would say it's a control issue. I won't disagree. With so many things in life I cannot control, it's nice to have something I can ☺]
And the smell! The heavenly smell of line dried clothes *sigh* Companies have tried to create air freshener and candles with that smell but they can't quite get it just right.
I can see that during the winter there will be days when I'll want a dryer. And we'll probably get one in a year or two. While I do enjoy doing laundry, I do NOT love ironing. So for some things it would be nice to be able to throw them in the dryer and have them come out fluffy and ready to hang, no ironing necessary.
But meantime I'll enjoy our sunny days and the thrill of seeing freshly laundered items blowing in the breeze, neatly lined up in rows as they should be.
I had Proverbs 31 arms back in the day from hauling all the water up from our well. The bucket held about 2-1/2 gallons and while most days we got by with six or seven buckets, wash day always meant many, MANY more because mom liked fresh water for each load. I dreaded laundry because my arms would just be flat out sore by the end of the day. Feeding clothes through the wringer took some arm strength too.
Do any of you remember these? In the 90s, a group from our church went on a short-term missions trip to Appalachia (my home stomping grounds) to help at a New Tribes training facility. My daughter and the other young girls on the trip had an absolute blast with these type washers. Of course, there was running water there so they just had to turn the tap on to fill up the tub. But those girls spent the week asking everyone if they had any laundry to wash. I think they felt sorta "little house on the prairie" as they happily played washerwomen. Anyway, before and after the wringer washer we had a normal washer and dryer, circa the 1960s. Maybe a little more modern than this, but not much.
I mean let's face it, washing machines are not cars and their engineers were stuck in a rut for ages with the same old, same old coming off the production line year after year. They may not have looked like much but they certainly did make life easier. Throw the clothes in the washer, take 'em out and throw 'em in the dryer, take 'em out and put 'em up. No need to haul up buckets of water, heating some on the wood stove before pouring it into the tub. Letting the clothes agitate, keeping an eye on the clock, running each piece through the wringer once, twice, sometimes three times to make sure you've gotten out as much water as possible, then into the rinse tub. Repeat process for "rinse cycle". Then hanging the clothes on the line, piece by piece. In the winter we had some indoor lines and the furniture would be draped as well. Of course, without a dryer to air fluff the clothes, you have to iron everything too. It took literally all day to do the laundry for one woman and two girls.
I've never had a new washing machine until now. Why buy new when you can get a used one for pennies on the dollar? And when you have a handy man hubby who can keep a washer running long past its life expectancy? But there were times. Oh yes, there were times when even with his careful ministrations, the machine would work but not all that well. The last machine we had in the U.S. required multiple spin cycles and even then the clothes were a little damper than they should be when we put them in the dryer.
I fully expected to get a used washer here. Had not planned on a new washer. But the Lord opened the door to get one and I have never looked back! If it's possible to love an inanimate object, I love my washer ☺
Isn't it pretty?! Here are the specs:Cap. Neta: 12 Kg
Doble toma de agua: Fria y caliente
Temperatura de Agua: Fría / Tibia / Caliente (mezcla en forma inteligente las dos
tomas de agua independiente)
Panel de control digital
Potencia del aire seco (Semi- seco 30min/1hr/2hr)
8 Programas de lavado : Fuzzy, Delicado, Jeans, Tub Clean, Favorito, Silencioso, Enjuague inteligente, Lavado rápido
Dimensiones: (mm) 632 an. x 1.020 al. x 670 prof.
If you can read any Spanish at all, you may be intrigued by the "Potencia del aire seco" because I certainly was, and it's one of my favorite features. I call it the "air fluff" because it literally infuses air and fluffs the clothes while simultaneously spinning every little bit of excess water out. The 1 hour didn't do any better than the 30 minute air fluff so I just always do 30 minutes. I have removed items after this and had actual dry spots!
Between my handy dandy air fluff feature and the intense Argentine sun, laundry dries very quickly. Usually by the time I have a second load ready to hang on the line, the first load is dry.
There is something very satisfying about hanging clothes on the line. I think because it satisfies the OCD in me. I can be as obsessively compulsive as I want when hanging clothes. Socks neatly lined up, facing the same direction, pairs together so I can fold them over one another right on the line before unclipping the clothespins and dropping them into the basket, all ready for the drawer. I get immense pleasure from making sure all my blue dish towels are together in a row.
[The hubby would say it's a control issue. I won't disagree. With so many things in life I cannot control, it's nice to have something I can ☺]
And the smell! The heavenly smell of line dried clothes *sigh* Companies have tried to create air freshener and candles with that smell but they can't quite get it just right.
I can see that during the winter there will be days when I'll want a dryer. And we'll probably get one in a year or two. While I do enjoy doing laundry, I do NOT love ironing. So for some things it would be nice to be able to throw them in the dryer and have them come out fluffy and ready to hang, no ironing necessary.
But meantime I'll enjoy our sunny days and the thrill of seeing freshly laundered items blowing in the breeze, neatly lined up in rows as they should be.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The wobbly wheel of learning Spanish
I've been MIA for a few days, struggling with the busyness that is life and the stress of not feeling physically up to par. After a long refreshing night of sleep though, I'm hopeful today will be better.
The results from the blood work came back and indicated (1) I'm anemic. No surprise there as I have a history of anemia, going back to my toddler years when they gave me liquid iron which, in turn, insured several dentists a lucrative living. And (2) I have an intestinal fungus. EWWWW! I was so incredibly grossed out by that! Then I discovered when I googled it, that fungus is just another word for yeast. Doesn't yeast sound much more palatable than fungus? So now that we know what it is, we can aggressively fight it. Fight the Fungus!
I think I need a cup of coffee before I write on my blog in the morning.
The hubby started cutting in the paint in the dining room last evening. I'm LOVIN' the light sage green I picked. And hoping he can learn to live with it -- his preference was white with green tint. LOL I'll be doing the easy part today: rolling on the walls. When I have to cut in I have to tape everything off first. But my amazing hubby is capable of just having at it and getting it done, neatly and well.
I'm on my own with the painting today as DH heads out to Sta. Rosa to pick up our camera which has finally made it to the interior!!! Yay! I'm pretty excited to think about all the pretty pictures I'll be able to take for Project 365 ☺
Our son was telling us about the cool features on the new version of iPhoto that just came out. Like its ability to go through your photos and intuitively pick out all the ones with a specific someone you've already identified in one picture.
Which sounds great in theory. But who really wants a program that goes through and picks out all the pictures of you with baggy eyes and bedhead hair and slightly manic expression? Pictures you'd just as soon forget? iPhoto might want to include another feature that just ignores the truly bad pics in the process. Just sayin'.
I should be able to finish the painting before Spanish class this evening. We're working on preterite simple and preterite imperfect. *sigh* Why, oh why, can't we just always use the simple? Which is so...well, simple. We ARE seeing improvement but it's still very confusing at times. It's just a matter of using and practicing the new skill a LOT until it becomes intuitive, like riding a bike. You think you're never going to get that wobbly wheel to go straight and then suddenly you're flying down the street yelling "Look ma, no hands!" I look forward to the no hands stage but for now I'm still struggling with a wobbly wheel.
The results from the blood work came back and indicated (1) I'm anemic. No surprise there as I have a history of anemia, going back to my toddler years when they gave me liquid iron which, in turn, insured several dentists a lucrative living. And (2) I have an intestinal fungus. EWWWW! I was so incredibly grossed out by that! Then I discovered when I googled it, that fungus is just another word for yeast. Doesn't yeast sound much more palatable than fungus? So now that we know what it is, we can aggressively fight it. Fight the Fungus!
I think I need a cup of coffee before I write on my blog in the morning.
The hubby started cutting in the paint in the dining room last evening. I'm LOVIN' the light sage green I picked. And hoping he can learn to live with it -- his preference was white with green tint. LOL I'll be doing the easy part today: rolling on the walls. When I have to cut in I have to tape everything off first. But my amazing hubby is capable of just having at it and getting it done, neatly and well.
I'm on my own with the painting today as DH heads out to Sta. Rosa to pick up our camera which has finally made it to the interior!!! Yay! I'm pretty excited to think about all the pretty pictures I'll be able to take for Project 365 ☺
Our son was telling us about the cool features on the new version of iPhoto that just came out. Like its ability to go through your photos and intuitively pick out all the ones with a specific someone you've already identified in one picture.
Which sounds great in theory. But who really wants a program that goes through and picks out all the pictures of you with baggy eyes and bedhead hair and slightly manic expression? Pictures you'd just as soon forget? iPhoto might want to include another feature that just ignores the truly bad pics in the process. Just sayin'.
I should be able to finish the painting before Spanish class this evening. We're working on preterite simple and preterite imperfect. *sigh* Why, oh why, can't we just always use the simple? Which is so...well, simple. We ARE seeing improvement but it's still very confusing at times. It's just a matter of using and practicing the new skill a LOT until it becomes intuitive, like riding a bike. You think you're never going to get that wobbly wheel to go straight and then suddenly you're flying down the street yelling "Look ma, no hands!" I look forward to the no hands stage but for now I'm still struggling with a wobbly wheel.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Week 6, Project 365
I may have mentioned my love of laundry a time or seven. I get such pleasure seeing clean towels (or clothes or sheets) marching neatly down my line ☺ 
Street performers abound during the summer months. These ladies from the Andes wearing typical clothes from home and playing their wooden flutes draw quite a crowd. Their music is hauntingly lovely. This was as close as I could get, so I tried to fade out all the tourists along the edges. 
As you all know, I'm VERY careful to drink only bottled water now ☺ I'm guessing the blood work will show that we didn't entirely eradicate the parasites in December and they've returned with a vengeance. But it's not because I've been lax about the water! Here's a bottle I had this week. Notice how the design on the label is repeated in the lower half of the bottle. I just thought that was a great design and marketing strategy...it fairly screams "Fresh mountain water from the Andes!" 
A common sight at most Argentine gatherings is an asado (Argentine bar-b-que) but this was bigger than usual to accomodate the crowds attending the Encuentro Anual de Colectivdades (International Food & Music Festival) this week. 
Without a flash, the photos hubby took that night didn't turn out very well but I played with this one until I thought it was half-way presentable. I thought the sepia effect went well with the old fashioned outfits these folk dancers are wearing. 
We've harvested our first tomatoes! With these I made fresh salsa which we dipped up with tortilla chips (found some at Walmart!) and along with supper last night we each enjoyed a bowl of teeny tiny cherry tomatoes lightly salted. Little bursts of fresh garden goodness! I'm one of many participating in Project 365 and you can check out the others by visiting host Sara from ...Making music from your heart to the Lord.
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