November 28th, 2023 - Leaves

 When living in Ontario or Maryland, the leaves fall quickly.  The people rake the leaves regularly into big piles.  Once a week the county picks up the piles, then it's done.  Thats the end of it.  In a short period of time the leaves are gone and everyone is happy.  Not so in Mississippi.  The leaves fall forever!  Every morning, homeowners are out raking their leaves.  Everyday more bags - it is never-ending.  

  Same is true for the landscape company.  The young man with the landscape company maintains the outside of our neighborhood and it never really looks wonderful because the leaves fall every day.  Every day the leaves fall and every morning homeowners blow, rake and bag and that's the story of owning property in Mississippi.

Love, 

Ruth

November 27th, 2023 - The Egg Bowl

 Before moving to Mississippi, I had never heard of The Egg Bowl.  I couldn't figure out what it was all about.  I discovered it was a fierce competition in football each year between Mississippi State and Ole Miss and was called The Egg Bowl.  The teams first played each other in 1901.  The game has been played every year since 1944, making it the tenth longest uninterrupted series in the US.  In 1928, both universities wanted a neutral site to play and chose the JSU stadium in Jackson as the site.  The term Egg Bowl came from several years of no score for either team.  The two universities began alternating sites for the game at their respective campuses and it is extremely competitive.  Now other states have picked up the routine and there are many in-state rivalry games, as in Mississippi, for the last scheduled game of the season.  There is no such rivalry as Mississippi and The Egg Bowl!  I overheard a conversation between 2 older men in my neighborhood about "The Big O".  I had no idea what they were talking about, so I had to find out.  I discovered as early as the beginning of the season that people start predicting what the score will be for that year at The Egg Bowl and that was what everyone was talking about.  It's a very big deal in Mississippi!  For several years the game has been played on Thanksgiving day and Mississippians plan their Thanksgiving meals around game time.   If you want the real factual information, look on Wikipedia.

Love,

Ruth

November 26th, 2023 - Rivalries

 Sports rivalries are interesting.  They strike up for no reason at all and for no apparent reason.  Many rivalries are college players who go on to become coaches and are just rivals- friendly rivals with no animosity, just fun in the competition.  

  Many rivalries strike up because of geography.  The University of Texas and Dallas have never been friendly teams.  They love to beat each other and for several years Houston was beaten.  Sometimes teams hate each other for some reason that I don't understand.  I really don't understand why Texas Tech and the University of Texas hate their football game, but they do.  The same is true for Nebraska and Nebraska State.  Today, the New Orleans Saints were playing against the Atlanta Falcons in Atlanta.  Once while in New Orleans, there was a radio station, NOLA playing.  Usually NOLA stands for New Orleans, La, but during the week that the Saints play the Falcons, the crawl on the station NOLA means, " No One Likes Atlanta".  The Atlanta people were very upset.  The game for the Saints  today didn't go well, they lost.  The same can be found for all sports basketball, hockey, baseball and right now football.  What a weird world.  People are hard wired to love their team.  In fact, moving to Mississippi, I have tried to fair it out as to where their allegiances are.  Some times it's where they grow up and it's certainly true for where people go to high school or college.  They cheer their team forever.  I really think it unites the country.  It's very interesting to observe as I have no allegiance to any team in the US.  I do however, cheer for the Cowboys and the Astros.

Love,

Ruth

November 25th, 2023 - Dinners

   Since Thanksgiving, we have been eating left over dinners.  We've still been eating all of the goodies left over.  We still have cheesy potatoes and the day after Thanksgiving, Donna brought over wonderful ham and sweet potatoes which we all enjoyed may times.  We finally finished today, so we have enjoyed our dinners.  

   Tonight our across the street neighbor, Greg will be going to a fancy birthday dinner with Donna and Anne Avery.   It is always difficult to celebrate a 60th birthday for a man.  On one hand, he has everything possible to own,  on the other hand you want to treat him for celebrating his 60th year.  They have found some interesting gifts and the dinner at Caet will be be pleasant. 

  We have discovered Abe, Anna's husband has eaten sweet potatoes for the first time. I could not imagine any person being 62 and had never eaten sweet potatoes, but he had not and enjoyed them.  We'll see if Anna cooks them in the future.

  Tomorrow we will have another brunch with Christina and the girls.  It has been a wonderful run of dinners and lunches with wonderful company and friends.

Love,

Ruth

November 24, 2023 Madison, Mississippi - The Ghost Writer

This is an unusual situation where Donna and Anne Avery get absolutely no credit for writing this blog. We discuss the topic of the day but then I dictate to them what we are going to say. I speak the words and either Anne Avery or Donna write the words and then it gets published under my name on my blog. They are okay with that situation and I appreciate it. I have very often read books and that I knew that had been written by other people and I know for sure that other people wrote that book. Not the names that are supposed to be the writer of the book. Sometimes they are written as a ghost writer and sometimes not credited at all and I have never felt that that is fair. There are good authors whose work sell very well who always credited 30% of the profit for the ghost writer and I have always approved of that. So I will always credit 30% of my profit to Donna and Anne Avery and 50% of 0 is 0, that is very little. But the whole concept of ghost writing in the world of literature is very interesting. There is actually a long history of ghost writing now that they track people's words on the computer and determine whose writing is actually this author or the other author. They determine there is a large percentage of the writing that we ever knew before. So this week, Anne Avery is now home from college and we are enjoying it. But soon she will be gone again and Donna and I will be back again working. That is the story of todays blog. A little bit of nothing. Love, Ruth. 

November 23rd, 2023 - My life in Mississippi

 Fortunately the weather in Mississippi has been beautiful.  Every day has been sunny with spots of rain, but the next two days will be heavy rain.   The TV lady tells me that it will be raining, but who knows?  

My life is not so easy because I am bound by pain medication and nausea medication.  If I miss pain medication,  I'm uncomfortable.  If I am miserable from the pain, my nausea gets worse.  It seems at 10:00 and 9:00 in the morning, I can regulate my medication, but the rest of the times, I don't do so well.  I am still walking and talking, but mostly I can only do one thing at a time.  Seems pitiful, but that's the way life is.  I will speak to the hospice nurse tomorrow to see if we can do a better job.  It seems that I should be able to do a better job.  Our festive Thanksgiving feast was delightful, cooked by Christina at my house.  Our traditional steak was delightful!  But unfortunately, I couldn't eat much.  Maybe I'll do better tomorrow.

Love,

Ruth

November 22, 2023 - Beautiful Mississippi

 Anna and Abe were here a year ago, but he was recuperating from hernia surgery so they really didn't pay much attention to the foliage.  This year they have paid more attention to Mississippi.  Yesterday, they spent the whole day in the wonderful, downtown Mississippi museums.  They left before 9:00am and arrived at home after 5:30.  They had a wonderful time.  They spent so much time with the carnage between the Spanish and the local people and the same type of carnage of the civil rights era of Mississippi that they were confused. It was interesting to see that people haven't changed a lot over the century, which is true.  They lived in northern Alberta at that time and had no idea what was happening in Mississippi during that era.  The whole thing was new to them.  

 We get a lot of rain in Mississippi as we do in Nova Scotia but not now in Ontario or Massachusetts.  Life is dry in other places, but Mississippi is still green so they are enjoying the huge trees and the bushes.  Like everything else, local people do not appreciate what they have, but Abe and Anna speak about it every time they come home.  

 What they came home with from both museums was, "Why were people so nasty?"

Love, 

Ruth

November 21st, 2023- Planning Ahead

 Last year, it was a disaster.  This year it will not happen again.  My Christmas cards went out in April so it became an Easter card but this is not going to happen this year.  On Saturday when all the cousins were here, we had a picture of me and all the cousins with me beaming in the center.  Another picture included David, Suzanne and Christina. Clever Christina was quickly on the job and ordered the cards on Monday.  They look great!  Brittany is going to help.  Though it does not seem appropriate to send a note,  I''ll just sign the cards, address the envelopes and let them fly!

For Christmas 2023, my Christmas cards will be not be late this year!

Love, Ruth

11/20/23 Madison, MS - The New Beginning

     I am delighted to be starting the next series of my blog. Today is a very special day because Anne Avery Boling, the younger daughter of my neighbor, Donna, is coming over to say a word from her to you all. Anne Avery has just returned from her first semester of college. I will be interested to hear all about it! So, enjoy my words and also Anne Avery's words. A splendid system we have going on here. Love, Ruth

    

    Hello there! I am Anne Avery Boling. I am Ms. Ruth's neighbor and I am delighted to be a guest on Rambling with Ruth. As mentioned above, I am now in college at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA. It has been great! However, I am so happy to be back home for the holidays where I am able to spend time with my family and also Ms. Ruth. I have truly enjoyed being neighbors with Ms. Ruth. She is such a wonderful person inside and out and she always has the best stories to tell me. It has been a delight to speak on this blog today and I hope I will be able to make another with Ms. Ruth some day. Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Anne Avery Boling 

November 19, 2023 Madison, Mississippi. Traditions

Good afternoon, folks! This is Mary Frances Dickie (granddaughter #4), coming to you live from Grandma's living room. Over my lifetime, we have always had some sort of meal-centric tradition. When my family lived in Bethesda, MD, we would get together with Grandma and Grandpa on Wednesday nights for dinner. Sometimes they would bring dinner to us, and sometimes we would bring it to them. On very special nights, Grandpa would make a delicious stew. When we moved down to Mississippi, the tradition shifted to Sunday brunch and has stayed the same ever since. Whenever Grandma and Grandpa were in town, we would have a Sunday meal together and catch up. So today, my mother Christina, my little sister Molly, and I have brought our Sunday brunch to Grandma's house: waffles and hashbrowns and bacon and eggs from Waffle House, per Grandma's request. 

There is nothing quite like breakfast food when you crave it. And there is nothing quite like sharing a special meal with family and friends. Anna and Abe have driven down from Pennsylvania to join us in Mississippi, and we have enjoyed catching up with them. We are blessed to have a place to sit and eat together, looking out over the Reservoir, where white pelicans are currently dive-bombing their own Sunday brunch. And Molly has just begun putting out Christmas decorations, including a bottle full of colorful lights, a table centerpiece of pinecones and berries, and an ornament that looks like a pig with wings. "Prettiness all around," Grandma says. 

You might think we're jumping the gun putting out Christmas decorations, but why wait till after Thanksgiving? We Dickies tend to follow tradition only when it makes sense. For example, most people have turkey on Thanksgiving, but we've learned over the years that we prefer steak. So this Thursday, we will have steak as our main course. What a treat! And with school, work, and life getting so much busier after Thanksgiving break, sometimes it's hard to find the time to break out your garlands and ornaments and numerous Santa Claus figurines. Therefore, we make do with the time that we have, and put them out before Thanksgiving. Decorations are all on display at my mother's house, too! 

As the holidays approach, we are so thankful for the time we get to spend with family and friends. My sisters and I are especially thankful to have always had traditional time carved out to spend with our grandparents. We look forward to it every week, and we look forward to more family time this coming Thursday. 

O'NOVEMBER 13, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. A Wonderful Weekend.

 We had a wonderful weekend with all the cousins along with David and Suzanne.  David and Suzanne worked all day.  They bought a new television for me and installed it on Saturday.  Friday night, Christina including Kate that came from Greenville for dinner along with Molly and Mary Francis.  Saturday morning at 9:30, everyone arrived and we were all delighted to be together.  The cousins were pleased to be together as well as the adults.  Me most of all.

My wonderful neighbor, Donna, has agreed to write my blog as I dictate to her.  What a blessing I have with my friends, so the blog will continue.  Hallelujah!!!

November 12, 2023 Madison, Mississippi Pretty Nifty

 Greetings, all! This is Kate Dickie on the blog. For those of you that may not know me, I am the eldest (and tallest) of the granddaughters. This weekend was the first time in a long time that we were all able to be together as a group. And what a lovely weekend it was. We had a marvelous time yesterday, as we spent the day playing games, eating food, and, as Grandma says, "putting our feet up". Some of us found ourselves tired out by all the fun we were having, so we took it upon ourselves to take a nap. It was the perfect refresher that gave us plenty of energy to take on the sushi smorgasbord that my mom (Christina) and Uncle David picked up. It was absolutely delicious and we enjoyed every bite. 

This afternoon we brought Grandma some lunch, and spent some time in the TV room chatting. I announced that I had the perfect ending to the blog post I had written in my head, and Grandma urged me to write this post while I as here, before I fly home to South Carolina. Earlier today my sister and I were discussing blog topics, and we thought, what better topic than some of our favorite Grandma-isms? So here I will provide you with a list. 

1) "Always have a plan." 

This ensures that you are preparing for your future. It is also good to have a backup plan. And a backup plan for your backup plan. 

2) "Pave the way with petals instead of thorns"

Tact and diplomacy go a long way to serve you in the long run.

3) You can get along with anyone by finding one thing you like about them. 

Then you just focus on that good quality, and try not to linger on any negative traits. 

4) "Sometimes, you just get lucky"

This is one of my favorites. Especially after a lovely weekend with the whole family, because I agree. Sometimes, you just get lucky.

November 11, 2023, Madison, MS: A Wonderful Mississippi Day

Hello there! Allison and Abby Dickie here. We are thrilled to be the third ever guest writers on Rambling with Ruth! Yesterday was a lovely day. After all the girls picked out our paintings, we spent the morning chatting with grandma and catching up. Soon after, Kate, Mary Frances, Molly and Christina arrived from Christina's house in Jackson. It has been several years since we've seen each other and it was lovely getting to know them as adults. After a lunch of sourdough sandwiches, we took family photos, and Grandma picked a great photo for her Christmas card! The afternoon was spent studying and 'putting our feet up' as Grandma likes to say. Grandma's house is beautiful and big (it reminds me of the big houses in storybooks), so it a great space to study! Christina ordered a sushi feast for us and we all ate while watching the Texas Longhorns football game. They narrowly beat TCU 29-26, which made us all very happy. Soon after, we were tucked in our hotel beds thinking of all the wonderful memories we made. We are heading back to school now, but we will always remember this weekend as one filled with love and laughter. I think Grandma was very pleased having the house full of young people, and we're sure she will also remember this weekend for the rest of her days. 

Lots of Love, 

Abby and Allison Dickie 

November 10, 2023 Madison Mississippi, The Dickie Girls Have Arrived

 Hello to the Blogsphere! The Dickie Girls are here! We are honored to be the second ever guest bloggers on Rambling with Ruth. It is Samantha and Sarah Dickie here, two of David and Suzanne's daughters. Ever since we arrived this Friday night, we have all been fighting over who will get to be the second-ever guest blogger. Thankfully, in our adult years we have become much more accommodating to each others needs and decided to share this beloved responsibility. 

First paragraph from Samantha: 

    Well hello! We got here on Friday night and were greeted by our parents at the Jackson airport and promptly went to the hotel to chat before getting to bed for our big day on Saturday. We woke up this morning around 8 am and all got dressed, got our Starbucks coffee and teas and are now here at Grandma's house! I am coming from the University of Virginia, where I am a fourth year undergrad and also in my first year of my Master's of Athletic Training program. I am very happy to be following in the healthcare footsteps of the Dickie Family and when things get challenging, I often ground myself in the fact that the Dickie Family is strong, and we don't give up. The trip was lovely and very easy as I only took two hour long flights, unfortunately I am coming from the exact opposite direction of my other family members and did not enjoy a flight with my other three sisters Allison, Abigail and Sarah. This did give me time to take a nice nap on the flight and to catch up on some school work, which I was very pleased with. Now we are at Grandma's house, which I have always enjoyed. The view is very peaceful and the art collection is marvelous. Grandma told us we could take a small art memento from the breakfast room and I picked a piece that Grandma and Grandpa bought from New Orleans. I love it very much and am excited to hang it in my room in Virginia. My mom also said that because I am graduating from graduate school soon I get to pick two pieces of Grandma's downstairs collection like Sarah did when she graduated from Law School this past year. My mom told me to keep this to myself but I am so excited I just can't help myself. Additionally, if they are mad, maybe they should just go to grad school. Now I pass the torch to Sarah, who I am sure will wow everyone with her very smart law school vocabulary. 

Second paragraph from Sarah:

    Hello to all the Rambling with Ruth readers!  I am quite honored to be a guest writer on the blog. As one of Grandma's granddaughters, I have been a reader of the blog since its inception, so I am borderline giddy after being asked to contribute. I arrived in Jackson last night after two short flights, one from Dallas to Houston and then Houston to Jackson. Luckily, I am located on the west side of Jackson so I got to fly from Houston to Jackson with Abigail and Allison. Flying with your sisters is so much better than flying alone. After an short evening of catching up with my sisters and parents, I woke up excited to see Grandma and spend some time together. I haven't seen Grandma in person in awhile because of my law school schedule, but we have talked on the phone consistently throughout my law school journey. She always keeps the calls short and sweet, checking in to see how I am doing, telling me that she's proud of me, and to encourage me to "keep my nose to the grindstone." As soon as we arrived, Grandma announced to us four girls that she wants us to pick out a piece of art from the small breakfast nook to remind us of our weekend here together. I have chosen a piece called "Canadian Geese" which will always remind me of my Canadian roots and my Canadian grandmother. Grandma and Grandpa's taste in art is something I am glad to have inherited. It is one of the many things from my grandparents that I intend to carry on with me. 

We are currently all sitting in the living room looking at old photos and having fun conversations about good times and good memories. What a blessing it is to be all together, there is nothing like family. 

November 9, 2023 Madison, Mississippi, Guest Writer

 Hi everyone, it's Suzanne Dickie, Ruth's daughter in law.  David and I are visiting here in Mississippi and Ruth asked me to write her blog tonight as her guest writer.  We arrived this morning after an easy two flights from San Antonio through Houston then landing in Jackson. Ruth has had a few visitors as well as us in the house so, it has been a busy day of chatting and catching up.  We forget how lovely the view is from the house over looking the reservoir; very peaceful and serene. Ruth has a wonderful community of friends here who check in on her and share their gifts of food and friendship.  It was nice to meet a few of them today.  Ruth is in good spirits and as she would say, she is "walking and talking".  We are looking forward to spending time with her, helping as we are needed and simply being together.  The whole Dickie family will be here this weekend --all the grand daughters--which has not happened in a long time. I expect that Saturday, the house will be filled with laughter,  conversation and fun! Memories will be made and we are thankful to be together with Ruth.  

November 8, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. Credit Scores.

Ken and I never had trouble with our credit scores.  To my knowledge, it was never an issue.  Our scores were always high.  But not so with all our helpers.  Not so Anna in Canada but all our helpers here in Mississippi.  This has been a constant refrain.  Kendria could not get a credit card.  And Ken china paid all cash.  Portia worked hard to fix her score when she was returning to school.  But  my current helper  has still a problem.

She needs  a new car but she must out a large foe downpayment because she has  poor credit.  One morning I explored how she got poor credit.  In high school she was sent two credit cards, which she used to buy stuff.  And she never paid it back.  It went from there to worse.  Now she has a mess on her hands.  And  she  has a mess on her hands.  Evidently, being poor goes along with being pool..  Not easy being poor.  

November 6, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. Two Hours Long.

My neighbor brought me dinner last evening.  Ans while I ate we watched Antiques road show.  She loves the program too.  And her husband was working in Vicksvurb do she joined me.  And last evening they were showing two hours so we watched for the second hour too..  Britany leaves at 8 so Donna stayed to be sure I was set for bed before she left.  I is pathetic but true that I do now walk across the house without Bethany behind me.  So I was unable to write my wee blog last evening.

In the middle of the night I took a pain pill and this morning I was shaky I was unable to do anything except stay in bed.  But now I am better  So here we go again.  And that is why I did not write my blog last night.  Pathetic but true.  

November 5, 2023. Madison, Madison, Mississippi. Footnall.

 Of recent years, I have  watched very little professional football.  I have watched  a bit of college ball, but almost never on a Sunday.  So day was an usual day when I watched the whole game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadenphis Eagles.  It reinforce my feelings abler the game.  Do they players know the rules or  to they ignore the rules because the referees  only call half the  penalties they see.  Even then, the number of flags were huge.  I bet there were 50 flags thrown during the game.  There were more penalties than plays I think.

The game was exciting because the Cowboys were always on the cusp of winning.  But at the end, the Eagles won.  The Cowboys did not deserve to win.  The whole game was ridicules.  But it was still fun.  

November 4, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. Being Poor.

 When Ken and I married, we were poor.  We lived over a hardware store in  not so desirable neighborhood .  But we did fine.  And we had a good life.  The transportation was excellent.  We had no car.  We had no debt.  We had one land line.  I paid cash for my groceries so I never over paid in the store. And we bought nothing.  No problem.  I was teaching and Ken was at medical school.   No problem.  We did fine.  After a couple of years we bought a car, a 1953 VW bug.  We paid cash.

When we returned from Mexico the year Ken was ill, we got o know people who worked hand to mouth.  They were poor.  Thee difference was that they ended a dependable car.  The public transportation is poor. So the helpers were required to have a good car.  And they must have a smart phone, which is not cheap.  So these helpers are poor but have expensive payments.  Being poor in 2023 is not as easy in 1958  in Toronto.  Being poor is not easy.

November 3, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. My Shower Chair.

 I have graduated to the chair in the shower.  Ken Used a bench in the shower but it is not nearly as convenient as the chair.  In Mexico, Wendy put a plastic chair in the shower as there were no hand hols on the wall but here in Mississippi I have four bars in all sided of the shower so I have had no trouble managing.  But the Hospice nurse asked if I would like to have one, I said yes.  And I must say that it is convenient.

It is a nice one.  It is small and even though it has no arms, there are hand holds on the seat so I can easily sit down.  And Britany did not even though she washed my back, she managed to stay drive.  My shower chair is a winner,  

November 2, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. Surprise # 2.

 It was not a surprise.  David and Suzanne  were coming to visit me in November.  They were coming early  on the Thursday and returning to San Antonio on Sunday.  So I was pleased but not surprised.  But then I received a big surprise.

All four girls are  flinging into Jackson on the Friday.  Now that was a delightful surprise indeed.  They will all stay in a hotel and they will rent a big vehicle.  I am not sure what we will do when they are here but I know we will have a good time..  David and Suzanne arrive in a week today and all the girls the next day.  Now I am not in love with surprise parties but I was certainly pleased with my surprise.  I was so pleased to hear.  

November 1, 2023. Madison, Mississippi. A Surprise.

 Sarah was surprised and delighted with her surprise.  I sen her four fancy cups and saucers as a house warming for her new apartment.  Kate  liked the sam surprise when she moved into her new apartment so I decided ti repeat it with Sarah.  She was delighted.  Now she will have a tea party with her friends.  And I was pleased.