Joy Neal Kidney's Blog, page 4

Needlepoint Farm

The Warren D. Neal farm, Madison County, Iowa, four miles south of Dexter. Old Creamery Road is along the right side, with a tiny red flag on the rural mailbox.

I stitched the needlepoint in 1976 for Dad, who built the house between about 1961 and 1963. Artistic license: Lilacs are blooming, corn tasseled, and the pumpkins are ripe. We still lived in Colorado, so I plotted everything from photos. 

It sits where my childhood house was, so everything else is very familiar. The upper part of the granary is where I caught a mouse but it bit my finger as I climbed down. I haven’t been fond of mice since then.

Sis Gloria and I helped pull “square” bales of hay off the elevator in the haymow which faced the house. We also played with Minnie and her kittens in there.

Dad built the house from 1961-1964.
1971 - the garage
1953 - granery
1973 - hoghouse on granery
1968 - wooden gravity wagon
1952 - hog shed
1964 - farrowing house
1960-1963 - grain bins

Dudley, my sister’s cat, the only “farm animal,” is on the porch.

The two-bedroom house has cement floors, except in the kitchen. Underneath the kitchen is the old cellar with steps leading down to it from a utility room. The cellar doors on the old house were below the kitchen windows, outside to the south.

There’s no furnace. Electrical heat radiates from the ceilings in each room. Above is an unfinished attic. Now my sister lives in the house, which she had painted white.

The basic needlepoint stitch seemed hard on my hands, so that hobby didn’t last as long as most of the others. Does anyone do needlepoint anymore?

Dexter Hog Oiler

An “Anonymous Participant” posted this on the Memories of Dexter–The Original One Horse Town Facebook page:

“Hi everyone in Dexter I’m looking for a Hog Oilers I’m curious if anyone out there would have one for sale they were made all over the country and there was one meal and [manufactured in] Dexter and I’m looking to buy one if anybody has one my number is 515-669-9953”

The Dexter Museum has a genuine Dexter Hog Oiler, manufactured by Marsh Mfg. Co, Dexter, Iowa.

Just what are hog oilers? They gave hogs skin protection and protection against insects. When hogs sought relief, they would rub up against the machine, causing the wheel to rotate and pour oil onto their bodies.Dexter Hog Oiler, owned by the Dexter (Iowa) Museum

The Dexter Hog Oiler was patented in 1916 by William J. Marsh, who operated the Dexter Hog Oiler Company until he sold it to a Cedar Rapids company.

So who is this Anonymous Participant looking for old hog oilers? Collectors Dan Laurie and his nephew Zac Laurie who have amassed a collection of more than 200 hog oilers.

 

Jury Duty

I used to look forward to serving on jury duty. In theory anyway.

My first summons was in 2008, while I was in the throes of fibromyalgia. I finally asked to be excused, sending in a request by my nurse practitioner.

I thought I’d be back to normal when the second one arrived in early 2012, but my symptoms hadn’t improved at all. That time I wasn’t allowed to mail the note. The nurse practitioner was required to fax that one herself.

The most recent mailing from them (2025) was a Federal Jury Service Qualification Questionnaire, ACTION REQUIRED. A paragraph for Excuse Requests included “70 years of age or older and do not wish to serve” highlighted in yellow, also an 888 number to call “and follow the prompts.”

Done.

This American citizen still isn’t able to “tolerate the obligations of jury duty.”

But my Favorite Guy was fascinated by the jury he served on. Have you ever served on one?

Victorian Fans Quilt (with lace)

84″ x 101″

I’d seen quilts made out of fancy handkerchiefs but I’d never seen a quilt with lace on it, so I don’t know where I came up with the idea of adding a strip of lace to each fan for a Victorian Fans quilt.

It was pieced (by hand) by my local quilting group, the Great Iowa Quilt Factory, in 1988. I quilted it by hand in 1991 and 1992, taking time to enjoy the process.

1993 – Victorian Fans was displayed at Hoyt Sherman Place in their Quilt Extravaganza IV, it won a red ribbon (second place) at the Iowa State Fair, and was part of a quilt show at the Stuart Care Center.

1996- The pink fans quilt was displayed at the Des Moines Convention Center during the National Evangelical Free Church Conference.

I sure hope that Granddaughter Kate will treasure this one someday!

A winsome response by “the lady who sits sobbing while watching ‘Finding My Roots’ on PBS”

I’d posted all five book covers on Facebook. FB friend Heidi Kerby Dugger wrote such a compelling response and gave me permission to share it. 

Heidi Kerby Dugger

Finished my second reading of Meadowlark Songs! Joy, your legacy is priceless. You have a way that draws us in, encircles us in a huge family hug. I don’t know if I’ve told you that I am adopted and only know partial family history. I’m the lady who sits sobbing while watching “Finding My Roots” on PBS. Stories, histories…it’s what I long for, what I love. There is a shape in our makeup that can only be filled with that history.I think the stories help complete us and propel us forward with the help of the Master Bricklayer. We stand on a strong foundation of our kin; bricks that ground and support us generation by generation. To lose or never have the stories, good or bad, of each woman in our “motherline” is a travesty.Thank you for demonstrating the importance of keeping the stories alive. And, thank you for the homage you pay to these amazing women. Their contribution continues, their blood still gives us. life. Thank you, friend!

The German U-boat captured the day I was born, two days before D-Day

The German U-boat U-505 was captured two days before D-Day, also the day I was born. The captured U-505, flying an American flag, taken under tow by fleet tug USS Abnaki. Special Collections & Archives Division, Nimitz Library, U.S. Naval AcademyIf you’ve been through the German sub at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, this is its fascinating story.

Happy Birthday, Leora’s Dexter Stories!

Published June 3, 2021. I think of this one as my first COVID book. In early 2020, my right shoulder was replaced and about that time COVID began to take over our lives. My Favorite Guy didn’t want me exposed to it while recovering from surgery so he took over grocery shopping. I only left the house for physical therapy on my shoulder.

I didn’t want to hear Mom’s stories about her family living in poverty during the Great Depression. They were usually aimed at daughters who grew up with plenty of food and clothes (even bobby socks) and piano lessons, which she longed for.

The research waited in a notebook–newspaper clippings, family letters, and stories Mom had told about those days. By then, I’d make notes of any episode she wanted to share. I just needed to weave the heartbreaking stories together with the winsome ones.

A labor of love.

Because of the letters and photos to their “Navy boys,” who joined so they’d have enough to eat, readers become acquainted with each of the seven youngsters during those poignant growing-up days. Is that why it’s readers’ favorites of the Leora books?

Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression is probably my favorite as well!

A well-timed and welcome review!

 

What a well-timed and welcome review!

I haven’t felt well enough to do my favorite radio interviews for Meadowlark Songs, even over the phone.

Thank you, Vicki!

“Meadowlark Songs” by Joy Neal Kidney

 

Grandparents and College Graduation

SCI graduates, Guy and Joy Kidney, June 3, 1966, Cedar Falls, Iowa. (My 22nd birthday was the next day.) Dad and Mom’s car is right behind us.

All of my living grandparents attended my college graduation, although it was held a couple of hours from where they lived.

My folks (from rural Dexter) took Grandma Leora Wilson and picked up my sister from Iowa State University to watch me graduate from the State College of Iowa in 1966. Grandpa and Grandma Neal, also from rural Dexter, drove to Cedar Falls as well.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was probably a big deal for Kenneth and Ruby Neal. I’m their oldest grandchild, the first in the family to graduate from college. Grandma Ruby was my only grandparent to complete high school.

My freshman year was made possible by the poignant generosity of Grandma Leora.

Guy and I had gotten married the weekend before, ahead of all my cousins scattering across the country for the summer, so this meant two trips to Cedar Falls for them in just a week. No one from Guy’s family attended, so we were doubly thankful for the three generations who came to celebrate with us.

Because of the threat of the draft for the Vietnam War, Guy had a delayed enlistment in the Air Force (until August). Three years later he got orders for Vietnam.

The Iowa State Normal School was founded in 1876 to train teachers. In 1909 it was renamed Iowa State Teachers College. It became the State College of Iowa in 1961. Guy and I were freshman the fall of 1962. The school became the University of Northern Iowa in 1967.

Finally, an answer

My Favorite Guy can text!

My Favorite Guy finally has his own cellphone, rather than using my last castoff. He’s been tenacious about learning how to use it, even how to text.

That came in handy last week when I had a test and needed to be sedated. After being sent back to the waiting area for the test to begin, he texted son Dan and his wife. Then again when I was in recovery.

Finally, a note about the diagnosis: Crohn’s, a lifelong condition that can’t be cured. 

Although surprised by it, I finally have an answer to the miseries of the last several months. Very few people are diagnosed with it at my age. Most people develop it before the age of 30, but I’m thankful it didn’t show up earlier.

I don’t know how quickly the steroid prescribed might offer relief, when I get to try it. The pharmacy closed early Friday because of the lack of staffing. I’d certainly like to enjoy lunch out with my Favorite Guy later this week for our 59th anniversary!

Then learning to live with this new disease.

What’s next?

A heart surgeon next month. But what about “we’re watching your aorta”? Well, it’s time to talk to a surgeon. Another new experience, as Grandma Leora used to say.