Happy New Year to all my faithful followers! At the end of this year, I would like to take this time to THANK all of you for following me & my Posts. I have always appreciated your likes and comments.

Now then, I think that this is the 1st time I’ve posted an image of me and what I look like. This is who you talk to via my FB Posts. This was taken on Christmas morning while helping my Wife, Eileen cooks Christmas Dinner. She took this photo. Eileen does all the cooking of the food. I just help out when & where I can. Normally I stay out of the kitchen because I can’t cook what she can. I would be just in her way.

The Christmas Table in our Dining Room before all the food has been placed and all the relation has arrived. My phone camera does not do such a good job taking pictures. Sorry for the blur in it. The Chair Rail you see, I put in a number of years ago to match the Table, Chairs, & Hutch. The Hutch has a number of crystal glass, plates, and figurines that are old and worth a bit of money. My Mother had some of them from the 1950s. We keep them in there for display and to keep the dust off them. The rest were purchased by Eileen over the years passing. The Dining Room does not get used that much during the year. Just when we have other people coming over for dinner. The rest of the time it just sits there and gathers dust.

And for the 1st time, this is my Loving Wife, Eileen. Taken by me & my phone again. “Leenie” as she is called most of the time is 6 months younger than me. She was born & raised in the Coal Region that is north of here. I call her a “Coal Cracker” at times because people from that region are known by that name. She has 2 Sons, Galen & Brian from a previous marriage. Her late Husband passed away in 1990 from Cancer. In 1992 she met me. We have been together since then. Her oldest son, Galen, is a retired PA State Trooper and Brian is working as a Food Specialist here in Reading. Both of her sons are big boys! Galen is 6’5″ tall & Brian is just a bit shorter. She has nothing to worry about when they are around her! Growing up in the Coal Region, she didn’t have much because her father just could not afford a lot. She grew up poor but managed with what she had. Just one of the things she had to put up with was while in Minersville High School, she had no heat in her bedroom. It was so cold in there she had to get dressed for school in the bathroom. It was the only place up-stairs that had heat! There were many times that her father could not afford the Coal to heat the furnace. It was cold enough to see her breath in her room!
So, this year has not been bad for me, but for Eileen, it’s a different story. Eileen has been having problems with her knees for a long while. A lot of pain, discomfort, & limping around. She had to get shot’s in her knees to get rid of the pain. This would last about 3 months until she’d have to do it all over again. Finally, it was recommended by the Doctor to have her knee replaced with an artificial one. This would mean major surgery! So, on June 6th she went into the Reading Hospital to have this done.
She stayed in the hospital for 3 days to start the healing process. Then she came home. Now, trust me, this is no fun at all! She was in pain for about 2 weeks before there was some relief from the surgery. It was terrible at times. She could walk but not very well until the healing process got better. I was there to help her out as much as I could. Now, 6 months have gone by, and she’s doing much, much better. It was a long, tough process that I don’t want to go thru at all!
For the most part, our year so far has been pretty good. I’m still doing and above ground so far. We are not going anywhere for New Years at all. Staying home. New Years Day we are having 10 people over for Pork & Saurkrut as we have done for quite a while. It is said that having Pork & Saurkrut brings good luck? Not sure about that one.
Thanks for stopping by.
Les