My car should have a warning sign on it saying, "This car stops at garage sales and flea markets."  It has a mind of its own and will suddenly veer off the selected direction.

Whether the car saw this cow or whether I saw the cow is debateable but it did screech to a stop at this garage sale near my office.  It was probably 95 degrees and all the junk was in the sun.

My husband, in addition to being a golfer and a frustrated farmer, is also a "cattle man."  You can't buy presents for him because he just goes out and buys what he wants.  So sometimes I get him a little gag-gift of a cow.  I saw this cow on the table.

When I got to the cow and picked it up it was just a Made-in-China plastic cow with a wood-grained look.   I didn't want the cow. 

BUT!!  This lady came OUT of the house into the hot sun because she was checking her customers.  She was hoping she would sell something.  SO!!  I bought the cow.  It cost $2.00 and I didn't even offer less.  I decided that she'd worked hard to put that stuff out, I'd made her come out into the sun, and I wasn't going to disappoint her.

Do you do that too?  Do you sometimes buy just to help someone?  It can't be an all-bad trait but I sure have a lot of junk at my house.  Now if the price had been $20 we'd have had a walk-away non-buyer!!!!

I've made fun of my husband twice on this blog site about his growing tomatoes and using hair and soap to scare the deer away from his plants.  He only has 4 plants because he has a full-time golf hobby that disallows gardening.

Well, yesterday, on the 4th of July he was able to harvest 3 tomatoes! 

He is one proud farmer!!  He says he got the best of those   #$%^&*!!#!   deer. His goal was to have tomatoes by July 4!  Victory!!!

Now I've gotta figure out whether we can eat them or just admire them. I asked him if he'd kept up with the expense of the tomatoes vs. buying someone else's home-grown tomatoes and he just ignored me.

If any of you need to know his secrets just go back and read the other two blogs.

We are thankful for living in a free country.  July 4th, 1776 was a great day.

But there's another close-by birthday that I'm very thankful for.  It's the 37th birthday of Title IX.  What's Title IX?  Younger people may not even think about Title IX but I remember it so vividly.

Imagine having a 13 year old daughter who is exceedingly bright, energetic, with nothing to do!

That's the way it was.  There were NO sports for girls in Searcy Arkansas and no organized games for girls in the schools or the community.  Boys had plenty to do.  In the school system there were organizations like the Key Club which allowed boys only!  And this unfair situation existed all over the country.

Title IX, when passed by the Nixon administration, required all educational institutions that received federal funds to treat men and women equally.  That meant the schools were going to have to add something for girls.  Boy's basketball team?  Add a girl's basketball team.  Football?  (Well, that's probably where the law has never been fulfilled but things are at least better.)  Track?  Add a girl's track team.

That blasted all boy's social club that was operating inside the high school was within a year or two (almost over the sponsor's dead body) of being integrated with the first girls.

Searcy Arkansas took note also and formed a committee (I was on it because of my loud-mouthed protests of needing something for girls) to hire a recreational director with one of his first duties to be forming a softball team for girls to somewhat equal the opportunities that boys already had. 

In the schools they started a tennis team for girls and my daughter joined it, excelled and still plays tennis to this day.  She played softball.  She joined every athletic activity that was available for girls in the city and in the school system and I firmly believe that all of the activities helped keep her busy in a wholesome way that made her a better individual.

So when we come to things we are thankful for and if you have a daughter you'd better put this on your list!  Title IX!!!!   Happy Birthday.

Once again, with REO properties you never know what or who you'll find.

Walk softly and carry a big stick could be a good motto!

Look who greeted me today at this new foreclosure property.  He was in the neighbor's yard doing a fine job of mowing the yard.

The neighbor said he'd borrowed him from HIS neighbor hoping some of the overgrown  weeds and shrubs could be modified.

I think that if he is a loaner, we could use him on this yard because even though it is in town it is a big yard.

We really don't need this loaner to be a loner, however, and need to see if he has a few brothers and sisters to help him on this yard!!

I think he was friendly but I didn't test him too closely. 

Last year I wrote a blog about Rainey, the broker's son who hangs around our office in the summer because it is boring at home.

Here he is again.  He needs to borrow 30 cents again and reminds me

that his credit is good.  He paid me back last year.>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now here he is beaming at me

after he has paid me back the

30 cents WITH INTEREST this

year.  He actually gave me

35 cents because he wants to

make sure his credit is really

really good with me.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

And then I suggested to Rainey that he could earn a few more cents

if he'd work around the office for us.  He said that he'd already

straightened the magazines (he had) and he'd already loaded the

dishwasher several times (he had) and he ran errands for us.  I

suggested that he clean out the dirty refrigerator and he gave me

this look after I showed him the condition of the refrigerator.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

He's our pet!  And he's a sweetie!  But don't tell him I said that!!

Regular readers will know that my husband is a golf lover.  He played in another tournament this weekend and the highlight of the fun weekend was the dance held on Saturday night.

It was the 12th Annual Todd Alan Simpson Memorial Golf Tournament with proceeds going to endow scholarships annually to high school graduates. 

Todd lost his life in a traffic accident and the family sponsors this tournament each year. 

They brought the energetic band from Memphis, Dr. Zarr and the Amazing Funk Monster, this year.    Their ad says this, "Grab your bell bottoms, climb aboard some platform shoes, and get ready to show off your best "Saturday Night Fever" moves -- when Dr. Zarr's Amazing Funk Monster is playing, there's no way you can resist the dance floor!"

This photo was taken before everyone crowded the dance floor and since my husband had played in 100 degree temp all afternoon, guess who had to go home before the crowd got merry? 

I taught school for 12 years, way back there before cell phones.  There were plenty of distractions even then. 

In the "Dear Abby" column in the newspaper this morning a young girl was complaining about her fellow student's phones.  They were supposed to be turned off in classes.

How'd the kids solve this problem?  The kids have such high-pitched ring tones that the "older" teachers could not hear the ring tones because of the frequency!!  Therefore the kids sit back there with innocent little faces getting text messages.  This kid in the column was complaining about the "mosquito" tones that hurt her ears and the other student's ears and wondering what she should do.

Our kids today are SO smart if they'd just channel all this intelligence in the right way.  And I'm glad I'm no longer in the teaching profession!

Right in the midst of downtown Searcy we have this little park that has been decorated.  It is between two buildings in what was a little parking area.  The city has come in and painted murals on the back wall.  I have always loved murals.  It fascinates me that they can be so accurate from a distance and then you walk up to them they're made up of broad strokes that are not so accurate at all.

How much the park is used may be questionable because right now the temperature would be too hot and in the winter it might be too cold and it is not right beside a restaurant so you could sit and have lunch outside.  But nevertheless it has a charming mural that make me stare at it each time I drive by.

20 years ago Professional Escrow opened their doors in Searcy Arkansas. 

The owner was a super-sharp and well-trained lady named Hazel English. 

She had worked at one of the savings and loan operations that had suddenly become defunct.

She knew all about closes and assumptions of loans.  She announced that her entire business would consist of closing loans for real estate companies or people selling their own homes and the office was to be in downtown Searcy.

We thought she was nuts!  We snickered and said, "Well, why would anyone pay her to close a loan?  Our broker closes them for nothing!" 

And they did.  The brokers made up their closing statement and had it signed and collected the monies, dispersed it and all was well.

Then one day my broker said, "I'm not taking the responsibility of closing loans anymore.  We're going to send all of our closes to Hazel at Professional Escrow."  This rest is history.

She had a successful operation.  She sold it, retired and it is still going strong.  Today they are having their 20th anniversary and we are all invited. I've gotta sign off on this blog and head for the refreshments and door prizes!!!

 Congratulations to Professional Escrow, Searcy Arkansas, for 20 successful years and great service!!!

Wouldn't it be interesting to know how many photographs were taken beside the family car?  It's the same now. 

We have a long-running love affair with our cars.  It's no wonder.  Cars were more controllable than horses! 

This picture was found in our Duncan family archives.  I hope someone in Searcyland can tell me who they are.  The house is neat, too, with a chimney, front porch, and double-hung windows.  As a child I can remember climbing under the houses and playing where it was cool and dirty. Note this house, as lots of houses were, is on a foundation but is not enclosed so entry was easy.

I guess my mother never made me afraid or acquainted with Black Widow spiders or poisonous snakes!