Monthly Archives: October 2012
Lynn's Comments: Lynn Lake, as I have said so many times, did not have the warmest climate. On the rare occasion that Katie did want to wear a dress, it was often too cold to go outside in one. At one point, Kate was determined to wear a pretty summer dress she'd been given. I let her do it. Fortunately, it fit over a warm sweater and her winter snow pants!
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Lynn's Comments: When a kid is hungry, no explanation for why one should wait will curb the appetite. A kid wants to eat NOW. Dinner time for us was always at 6 o'clock when Dad came home. Nothing was allowed beforehand because it would spoil our appetite. Many a dinner was already "spoiled" because I had to wait so long to eat it!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Lynn's Comments: I don't remember mushrooms being a bone of contention for us growing up because fresh ones were too expensive and canned ones simply disappeared into the stew. Mushroom soup was a staple gravy base and casserole sauce, so it didn't count either. When actual fresh fungi were finally introduced to our palates, we were all grown up. It's our children who have had the luxury of rejecting one of the most delicious culinary delights known to man!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Sometimes, the old chestnut command "If you don't like what we're having, make your own dinner!" backfired. I found the best way to make a less-than-yummy repast disappear was to offer no alternative at all. This, of course, might result in a stoic refusal to compromise followed by a midnight raid on the fridge. The one consolation was that they would eat at midnight the now frigid dinner they'd rejected at 6!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Lynn's Comments: I loved making up names. When I thought up the word Grubberware, it immediately conjured up the idea of a party where toilet brushes, rubber gloves, plungers, and other unattractive bathroom cleaning stuff would be displayed and sold. This meant I could draw toilet-related stuff (which was rather discouraged) and possibly get away with it. I guess there's a part of me that will always want to bug the guy in charge.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Lynn's Comments: After reading Tom Sawyer, I was convinced that spooks really did come out at night. My dad was no help; he loved to tell ghost stories. The Brothers Grimm book was a favourite of my grandfather's. Between the two of them, my brother and I were reluctant to go out in the dark until the year that my grandma gave us flashlights for Christmas. We used these to expel ghosts from corners, creeps from closets, and bugs from the bed sheet, until the batteries ran out!
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Like my mother, I couldn't resist the hungry faces of kids at the door. It's amazing, isn't it, how fresh baking makes folks magically appear.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Here is another true-to-Johnston-life happening. Rod decided to carry on his father's tradition of making pancakes on Sunday morning but cancelled his next performance due to lack of interest. In colder climates, even pancakes aren't enough to make one leave a warm, toasty bed!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Lynn's Comments: When we had people over, my kids often sat quietly at the top of the stairs hoping for worthwhile gossip or a chance to sneak into the kitchen and swipe some goodies. I knew they were there. I could easily have shoved them off to bed, but as long as it wasn't a school night, I figured, out of sight, out of mind. This liberty came to an end when Aaron, after a huge ingestion of pop, decided to burp the alphabet. The hallway created the perfect amplifier. He was in bed by the time he got to "P."
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Because this storyline took place in late October, I had to make up something that would cover both the houseware party and Halloween. Imagining that John had picked up a costume for Michael created an opportunity to have some fun.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Lynn's Comments: This isn't something my husband would have done, but I would!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Lynn's Comments: It was fun to imagine this scenario: tea-sipping ladies caught off guard, shrieking at an evil face in the window. Funny situations like this drifted into my imagination so easily. I loved drawing facial expressions, and I loved making up names like "Nedwitt." Writing and drawing something like this was a joy.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Lynn's Comments: As I imagined this scenario, it occurred to me that the women I hung out with were all pretty strong willed and assertive. One of us would certainly have gone out to confront the delinquent outside, and she would have been armed!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Lynn's Comments: Once again, my husband complained that I had made "John" look like an idiot. He wished that I'd make him the hero once in a while, which I thought I did! It's just that comedy requires somebody to be the fall guy, and, unfortunately, John was an easy target.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Lynn's Comments: The night I went trick-or-drinking, I wore a white-blonde wig, a Dolly Parton-style outfit, and my false teeth. In a British accent I'd learned from my mother, I greeted our wary hosts who repeatedly begged me to tell them who I was. I was one of the few revellers that night who got to do the big reveal the following day.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Lynn's Comments: When we moved to North Bay and there were many neighbourhoods to canvass on Halloween, we knew that one of us would be carrying Katie home. One night, I saw a friend pulling a wagon behind her as she accompanied her costumed children and I said, "Whoa! Is that to carry all the loot they're gonna get?" and she said, "Nope...it's to carry THEM!"