About gDonna
The photo is my son and myself. Now days you can get a photo made to look old like this one. This photo was taken when this was the new look.

Harry S Truman was president when I was born and world war II had ended. I grew up in a time when lunch was put in a brown paper bag and a sandwich was wrapped with wax paper. There was no such thing as pantyhose, we wore stockings that attached to the rubbery clippy things that attached to the girdle. Convenience stores were not common and when we took a trip we packed a picnic basket because many places did not have fast food. Highways had places to pull over and stop, some with picnic tables. Read more ....
 

Donna's Diary Posts

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The diary readings april 26 - May 2
Today we continue the diaries of Lil and Lena. Our first diary is of Lil and Bob. This is during ww2 and the year is 1943. Lil and Bob are in their seventies and Bob does war duty by going to the top of a local hotel to watch for war planes. Lil is a homemaker and the writer of the diary.Monday April 26. Fine day, watered front lawn - Bob M. called in a.m. - Bob home late 1:45 Easter Card from Ada McK.Tuesday April 27 Rain all day & still at it. Worked nuco & made jello - Bob home at 1:30.Wednesday April 28 Rain this a.m. clear in P.M. up town to shop - over to call on Emma in Early Eve.Thursday April 29. Nice day - Done the washing Bob home late, Bob  ......
The Diary readings April 19-25 ,1943
We are continuing the 1943 diary's of Lil and Lena. our first diary is Lil and Bob. This is during world war II , Bob and Lil are in their mid- 70's and Bob does war duty by going to the top of the towns hotel to watch for war planes. Lil is a homemaker.Monday April 19 , 1943. cold wind-not doing much-Bob cut lawn in backyard-R&M over in eve-Tuesday April 20. still windy-Bob home at 1-15- uptown to shop- Bob got a new sweater-Wednesday April 21. nice day- cleaned & demothed the couch- Bob resting- Ralph & Koky came up Ralph being transferred to coast artillery-Thursday April 22. warm day- watered lawns in forenoon- Bob cut front lawns & trimmed edges-Friday April 23. good Friday. light rain ......
The Beauty in Living Simple
Charles and I are trying to take our simple life to another level. We are trying to live in a way that there is very minimal cost in the things we do as it was in the past. We are living like the past but our real expenses are from today and there is a big difference. As time moved on, many things that did not cost anything now have attached fees. We disconnected, got rid of, or put away many modern items we once used. We do not have a television in our house anymore, we did keep a very small one to get news and weather but we found that with internet that we did not need a television anymore. Internet is not something we need, but useful ......
The Diary readings April 12 - 18
We continue reading the diaries of Lil and Lena. To find the Diary readings Starting January 1943 look for the red and black diaries. We continue with Lil's diary. Lil and her husband Bob are living in 1943, world war 2 is going on. They are both in their 70's and Bob does war duty by going to the top of a local hotel for war plane watch. Lil is the writer of the diary.Monday, April 12, 1943. Fine & Mild. Worked Nuco & worked couple hours in yard - Bob home late 2: P.M Moved tree for Ruth. Tuesday, April 13. Nice day. Bob home at 1:15. Up town to shop. Ruth & Judy along. Wednesday April 14. Cloudy bu ......
When you think you are doing well
I started this post early this morning and then my server crashed and then there is the weather. But I am back hoping it will stay up. (There is wax paper under the ground beef and bacon.) I am writing a recipe below to go with a dish that we make. With our ww2 history study we have meat rations now. So this dish helps to stretch meat.One strip of bacon and 2 ounces of ground beef, small amount of asparagus or zucchini, one medium onion cut into wedges, one spring onion chopped, 2 cloves of garlic, Tablespoon oil. Cooked rice, for the two of us we cook 3/4 cup of measured dry rice. In a skillet, cook diced bacon, remove the bacon, put onions ......
My post has been delayed due to weather
Todays post will be up tomorrow or the next day. We are getting weather warnings already this morning for severe weather, straight line winds, possible tornadoes, hail, flooding, lightening and the works. I was trying to get todays post up quickly before the storms get here and about 3/4 through with the post my site went down. Not due to weather but server issues. I lost part of the post that I will have to redo. So instead of taking a chance, I will wait it out and do some housework and sewing. :) See you back in awhile. Grandma Donna
Diary Readings April 5 - 11, 1943
We continue with our diary readings from 1943. We pick up on the diary of Bob and Lil. Lil is the writer of the diary. Bob and Lil are in their mid 70s and Bob is doing war duty by going to the top of the town Hotel to watch for war planes. Bob also works in the community cutting lawns and odd jobs. Monday April 5, 1943. Showers and Sunshine. Done the washing & got it dry. Bob home 1:20 - up town & done shopping & paid bill. Tuesday April 6. Fine day. usual house work & worked Nuco. Bob cut lawns. Wednesday April 7 Fierce cold wind. Done the ironing. Helen, Elizabeth & baby here from 11 - 4. Nice visit - all had ......
The Observation Bench
Spring arrived this month and has put out some brilliant colors after a grayish winter. I will enjoy this moment in time of these beautiful colors and warm and coolish days before the heat will once again put me into inside hibernation. I feel a sense of urgency to get as much done as I can to beat the heat.We started pruning the herbs and cleaned out many of the beds but still more to go.We have had some good rain to help the spring flowers.Then we get too much at times. This is over 4 inches of rain this day.There is something about our soil where we live. We can get torrential rains and then our soil is completely dry three days later. I must study about this ......
Diary Readings March 29 - April 5, 1943
Continuing the diary of Lil and Bob. They are in their seventies, this is during world war 2, Bob works odd jobs and does war duty by going to the watch tower to watch for war planes. The tower is up on top of a tall hotel. Lil has few words in her diary but still important bits of the war and rationing.Monday, March 29, 1943. Rain most all day. Nothing doing. over at Ruth's in a.m. Bob home at 1:40Tuesday, March 30. Nice & Sunny. Planted some carrot & lettuce seed. Bob cut lawns. wrote Helen. Wednesday, March 31. Fine day. Made Nuco butter. Called on R. Ambruster. Bob home at 1:15 Up t ......
This costs nothing
The History Studies that Charles and I have done have taught us many things and I want to share this very important part of what we have learned and what we are trying to do now to put us in a better position to be able to live more like the past. To live like the past we have to undo many things. It is not easy to live more like the past coming from a excessive modern time that we live. It costs nothing to sit on that bench shown above and enjoy a beautiful day and watch and study nature. That bench was a iron frame that someone threw out to the curb for the trash truck to pick up. It did not have a seat so Charles picked it up and put a seat in this lovely ......
Diary Readings March 22 - 28
We continue the reading of our diary from Lil and Bob. I type out the diaries as was written by the writers.Monday, March 22 1943. Fine day - Took a home hair shampoo. Bob late home, stoped to shop on way home. Tuesday March 23. Fine day. Done the family wash. Bob home at 1:30 cut the lawns.Wednesday March 24. Fine day. Made butter or mixed butter and Nuco - done some out door work - Bob cut Frahms croquet lawn.Thursday March 25. Nice day. Ruth & Judy in part of forenoon waiting for Bob to come home for a chance to go up Town. Nothing done. Friday March 26. Light shower in a.m. Fair in P.M. Ruth & Judy over. Letter from ca ......
1940s life then and now, the missing closets.
I have started using a file box for our garden seeds. Since starting the study of 1943 I keep trying to remember my childhood living in our house that was built in the year 1940. Our house that we are living in now is very similar to my childhood home built in 1940. That home had better storage space and since I have been trying to make things fit into our home and it just will not organize as it was long ago I finally figured out what the problem was. Storage space.I found a publication that I want to share with you and I cannot take pictures of this because I do not know if it is for me to share but I did find this publication from 1940 of closet spaces. ......
One foot in 1943 and one foot in 2022
We can tell the month of the year by where the sun comes into our home. The dining room window faces east and the sun has moved over enough now to reach the stove. I love how the sun affects our home all through the year as it rises and sets at different points each day. Many people never pay attention to this but it is part of God's perfect plan and there are so many things for us to notice if we just would take the time to do so. This sunlight will only be in this area for a short time, each morning it will move to a new location ever so slowly throughout the house.We should adjust our life to where we do not miss the important things and we should teach ou ......
Diary readings March 15 - 21
We will continue with our diary reading for Lil's diary. Bob and Lil are in their 70s and this diary is written in the year 1943. Bob does war duty by going to the top of a hotel to watch for war planes. Lil writes the diary.Monday March 15, 1943. Frost Sun out all day. Bob had car serviced at Murphy's this a.m. - home at 1:30 P.M.Tuesday March 16. Cloudy day. Worked butter. Made Jello & done a bit out doors. Bob home earlier. cut Frahm's Lawn. Wednesday March 17. Rain all forenoon. - Bob home at 1:30 P.m. no outdoor work today. Thursday March 18. Light frost. Fine day. Bob home at 1:30 had lunch. Uptown to shop. Frida ......
Making A Home Comfortable
I wrote a post many years ago called A comfortable home. It has been awhile since that post and I decided to make a new post about Making a Comfortable Home. Here we are about two weeks from spring. Many trees and bushes are blooming and just beautiful but I guess they did not get word that a freeze is coming by the end of this week. I hope they make it through the cold. Each year I get surprised how some things will withstand whatever weather throws at them. This petunia that has lived two years now through soaring heat and below freezing temperatures. It is the first time we have had a petunia do this in our yard. This has given me hope.W ......
Diary Readings March 8 - 14 1943
We continue with this weeks diary reading. I will start with the diary of Lil and Bob. Lil and Bob are in their mid 70's and Bob is doing war duty at the watch tower and Lil is taking care of home.Monday March 8, 1943. Rain again most of the day. Bob late, stopped up town to shop and see about F locker. The Marshalls Called.Tuesday March 9, Showers. Done a bit of outdoor work. Bob burned garbage and cut lawns.Wednesday March 10, Rain most all the day. Bob home early, washed the car. Got our Red cross membership cards. Thursday March 11, Fog in early a.m. Sun all afternoon. Done the washing. Up to Bank with Bob to buy Bond ......
Marching into March
It is March 1, 1943. Our history project is now taking us on a new journey of rationing. A good lesson for us all, no matter if we are doing this history study or just reading along. Our azaleas are in bloom now and I try to imagine what our town looked like on March 1st in 1943. If I walked downtown in 1943 the sidewalks would be busy with people going about their business. People would be heading to Bloomberg's to shop and wool coats are on sale, men's suits have handsome new blends. Sometimes I wish it could all go back to how it was because it made more sense but there are some things that were not good. I do not like to romanticize the past because ......
Diary readings March 1, 1943 - March 7, 1943
We resume our diary readings. We are starting with the diary of Lil and Bob. Lil and Bob are in their mid 70s. It is 1943 and the point system of rationing is starting and Bob has war duty and he is assigned a few hours per day to go to the top of a hotel to watch for war planes. Lil's diary is short because it is a five year diary and there is little space to write but we still pick up on history facts.Monday ,March 1, 1943. Fine day. Bob home Early - up town to shop, Ruby A in to tell us Bab's has measles. Marshalls are here in eve-.Tuesday March 2, Partly cloudy Light Frost. Bob home early- down to Helena and to see Elizbeth baby- Richa ......
Understanding the Point System and around the house.
Now we are getting closer to our big changes in our history study. It is time to register for our war book number 2. There is now a ban for buying canned food so the grocery stores can take inventory and no one can purchase canned Meat, Fish Vegetables and Fruit until March 1 and then after that,only with money and war ration stamps. It is time to learn how the point system works. Above is a photo of what we will see in the grocery ads. The number before the food item is how many points it will take to purchase that item. We see Tuna, 3 points, peaches 24 points. Cheese 8 points, Margarine 5 points etc. When people go to the grocery ......
Lil and Lena's Diary readings February 22 - 28
Each week I have been doing a Diary reading post and then a regular post the next day about the history study and what is going on around our home. Some weeks there are extra posts with information about our history study. This is today's Diary readings, you can go back on my home page to find the beginning readings, they are all under Living like the past section. Now we pick up on Lil and Bob's on February 22 1943 Monday Feb 22, Rain all day. Worked butter and Nuco. Sent stork card to Elizabeth at cottage Hospital. Bob home very tired at 1:30Tuesday, Feb 23. Cloudy but not much rain. Bob home 1:30. Up to register for ration book 2. Done the shopping Clisbus ......
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