February 10, 1941

In 1941 my grandfather George lived on a farm with his brother Edward and 2 sisters Catherine and Dorthy( my sassy aunt Dot ). None of them were farmers so I'm not really sure why they decided to go in that direction. From the letters he writes to Frances, I believe he was trying his hand at chicken farming. Some where along the way this venture must have failed for him. When ever George refers to "the girls" in his letters, he is talking about Aunt Dot and Aunt Catherine.

Aunt Dot, George, Grt Grandmother, Grt Grandfather, Uncle Ed, Aunt Catherine

Sunday Night

Dear Fran:-

Just finished checking on the incubator for the last time and before going to bed, to toss and turn, thought this would be a pretty good time to dash off a few lines to my dear Fran, a swell girl.

This morning after coming home from church, and eating a quick breakfast, I dashed down to the incubator room to check up, as usual, and much to my surprise, there were a few chicks hatched out, so I guess it won't be long now, tomorrow is the 21st day, and I expect to be the proud father of 1500 chicks. I will bring you a cigar Saturday. That was one of the reasons why I left church so quick this morning, and I also knew if I did see you Fran, I would want a date, which I can't have now until Sat. the 15, only six more days, but each one like a week. I sure will enjoy seeing you again, and I'm hoping that works the other way.

When Mother came up from York today, she said that she expected to see Frances here, I think that she is getting anxious to meet you Fran, and I know that both Mother and Dad will like you as much as the rest of the family. Swell people at times.

The girls, also wanted to know when I am going to bring you to dinner. So we can get together and pick a date, for a Sunday if it's okay with you. I have lots to tell you, but I will keep it until Saturday when I'll see you about eight or a little after. I want to go to church first.

Goodnight and lots of
Love
George

January 25, 1941

In 1941 my Grandfather and Grandmother began dating. During that time, he wrote her numerous love letters. For some reason, I have all the love letters. I had promised my family members that I would copy the letters so that everyone would be able to read them. I started doing that on a blog back in the summer and once I went back to work...well, lets just say I got really busy. I'm going to try again...and not be a big lame O this time. I'm also going to put them on my main blog for all to enjoy! Now on to the cast of characters....

Character#1 My grandfather middle back row!



Character #2 My Grandmother last one on the left.

The first letter in my stack is dated January 25, 1941. I'm assuming George had just recently met Frances. I'm guessing that they probably met at church. George at the time lived on a farm in East Berlin, PA and Frances lived in the town of New Oxford which was about 15 miles away. And so began a DeVine Romance!

Dear Frances,

I believe at one time I told you that I did not like to write letters. Well you can start calling me a liar. Because here I sit, trying to think up some excuse for writing to you. The only thing I can find to blame it on is the snow, (10 inches of it) which will keep me from seeing you for a few days. But I have some wonderful memories, which will hold me for awhile.

Things sure are a mess out here in the sticks, with all the roads and lanes drifted shut. I suppose we will be shoveling the mile and 3/4 into town tomorrow morning at day break, so the farmers can get their milk out, and bring feed in for their stock. Lots of hard work, but you get something out of it that you can't buy for all the money in the world.

How is everything in New Oxford? I was looking for you Sunday, but you kept your word and went to late mass so I was disappointed once more. Such is life. But I am looking forward to the time when I can be in some ones company whom I enjoy very much, meaning F.M.W. What does the "M" stand for?

You sure did make a hit with my sisters, the other night at the church meeting. When they came up here Saturday, they told me all about the wonderful speech you delivered. I wish I had been there, but I can't bake cookies.

If you can make this letter out, and would like another, let me know. Hoping to see you soon, I remain, with love,
George C DeVine

A big thank you to my cousin who sent me a disc of old family pictures and also the research she did of the family history. I will try to not be a big lame o this time.

Lets Go Bowling

Check out my cool new bowling ball camera bag! It's so super cute and my camera fits in it perfectly. I needed a safe place to keep my camera and you all know MaryDeluxe could never be happy with just any old boring camera bag. Hmmm, now I think I need to get it pinstriped and it'll be perfect for toting around. I know you want one now too, so go get your own Acme bowler bag here on Amazon!

A Teak of a Good Time

Hey All! Is this week over yet?? This has been the coldest, longest, busiest week for me and it doesn't seem like I've gotten anything accomplished at all! Have I ever mentioned just how much I HATE winter. I HATE winter! How long till spring? When can I get out in my garden again? Okay, enough of my bitchen on to teaktastic news!

If you are local folk and live in South Central Pennsylvania and you like mid-century teak...oh and ya got nothing to do on Saturday, you just have to check out this auction! It's full of the most amazing teak furniture and a KILLER, to die for atomic teak clock....I'm not kidding! What a bummer cause I can't go to this auction...I would so be snagging this clock, let me tell you. I might be out of floor space but I got lots of wall space left.

On to the pictures..... I didn't take any of these...I borrowed them from the website.

Hello...KILLER CLOCK!!!

Do you think this little old lady was a freak about teak?? I sure do! That's not even all of it. There was also a very cool glass and teak coffee table. Want to see more??? Check it out here: Jan. 9th, 2010 auction. Wanna go? Be there by 10am and wear your long johns it's gonna be a cold one!

Rockabilly

Am I a subculture of Rockabilly? Is that where I fit in? I mean, I do listen to Rockabilly music and I live a vintage lifestyle. Does that make me some sort of Rockabilly gal? What would you consider me? What does Rockabilly mean to you? Who considers themselves "rockabilly" out there? What is it that makes you consider yourself a rockabilly? I'm very curious..please share with me.

In case you are wondering about all my questions....I ran across this photographer Jennifer Greenburg who spent 10 years photographing "The Rockabillies" basically all her friends and then made a book. The book comes out this month. She did an interview in Timeout Chicago and see more of her pictures on her website.
Some very cool pictures...I'm curious about the rest of her book.

I Wanna Be A Girl Scout

Girl scouts are cool, they make the best cookies! Thin mints or perhaps Samoas! Yummy. Years ago at an auction I bought a box that had what I call girl scout hats in it. I don't know if they are all official girl scout hats but one of them did have the official Be Prepared girl scout pin on it!

Today I decided to rock my girl scout hat with some curls and pig tails! Of course, I'm probably not wearing my hat the proper girl scout way. I would probably get kicked out for being a rebel!

Below is the proper way to wear a girl scout hat....

New Year New Me

I'm gonna say it...I'm happy that 2009 is over! It wasn't the worst year by far for me but it wasn't the best either. I learned a lot this year about myself and the type of people that I want to have in my life. A big relationship learning year. Woohoo!

Not only did things not work out for me with men this year but they didn't work out with men twice! But hey, I worked out personally a lot this year and got to see the 120's on my scale again! This completely makes up for my bad luck in the romance department. I also have a new motto to use when I start dating again...."sometimes things just don't work out" *this must be said as you shrug your shoulders, cock your head to the side, and throw your hands up. * This takes all the responsibility of the failed relationship off both parties involved and puts it in the hands of fate. Nice huh!

My new quote of 2009 by Helen Keller: “When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one, which has been opened for us.” This quote works really well with the above motto...sometimes things just don't work out! Lets face it, bad things happen all the time to us...it's called life! But being able to find another door to open and walk through is what's really important. This is a lesson that I have learned this decade. In these past 10 years, I've had lots of changes that have happened to me with jobs, relationships, and health. I can definitely say that I'm a stronger person because of those experiences and I wouldn't change any of them no matter how hard they were to go through at the time!

This year I discovered that I really like me! I'm a pretty swell gal...I mean I have my moments...hehehe...but all in all, I feel good about the life I'm living. And well, if somebody slams a door in my face every now and then, that's okay, because I'll just go open another one! After all, there are plenty of people out there who have open door policies! I can't help but think that 2010 is gonna be my year! I can just feel it!