Tuesday, May 31, 2011

VINTAGE ROY ROGERS AND DALE EVANS TOYS

Remember Roy Rogers dressed in white always defeating the bad guys dressed in black. His famous German Shepherd, Bullet,  his trusty golden palomino horse Trigger and his lovely wife Dale Evans were on the show with him. Roy was known as the "King of the Cowboys." Dale was referred to as the "Queen of the West". When Trigger died in 1965 Roy had him "stuffed" as the taxidemists say. In 2010 Trigger was sold at auction for$266,500.00. Not bad for a horse that can't even run a race. When Trigger was alive he could do 150 tricks on cue and could walk over 50 feet on his hind legs. I don't know how old these figures are but they caught my eye and I snatched them up . The chair Roy is perched on belongs to another toy set that will be in my next posting.





Trivia: The name of Roy Rogers Jeep was.......... Nellybelle.

Did You Know?   The worlds five smallest countries would easily fit inside of Walt Disney World in Florida.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

WEIRD-OHS "DIGGER THE DRAGSTER" CAR-ICKY-TURE MODEL 1963

Another super "cool" model of the past. Digger "digs" chaos the most. Stear clear of this motor maniac or you'll eat his dust.

Helpful tip: If your dog has fleas, put flea powder in your vacuum cleaner bag. A lot of flea eggs in there. 
  
Trivia: Marriages that last more than thirteen years are more likely to end in a death than a divorce.( Is that good news??)

Friday, May 27, 2011

THAT LIFE CHANGING DAY FOR ME

That day was September 10, 1980. Some of us have a day in our life that changes the way we will be for the rest of our life and this was mine. I have never written or talked of it much over the past 31 years but feel that now is a good time to do so. Maybe my kids can understand more of me. Even though I was in a failing marriage at that time I was a happy go lucky 28 year old with my own bonded franchise food trucking business and had two terrific, much loved children. That night I had been at a business meeting in London, Ontario and was being given a ride home to Elora, Ontario by Ian, a friend and business manager. Normally I would have driven but my 1973 Thunderbird was in for a paint job. Anyway, what happened was that two westbound transport trucks were racing down the 401 highway when one lost control and came across the median head on into us. My friend Ian was killed instantly and yet I survived, barely. We were doing about 60mph and the transport was doing the same if not more so you can imagine what the car we were in looked like. To this day I still don't know what kind it was. I don't remember that night and there are some parts of my life that were erased from my memory. Brain damage does strange things to your mind. An eastbound trucker, Jack, stopped and had to lean over the body of Ian to put a fire out under the seat I was on. Thank goodness for his bravery and good thinking. The first hospital I was taken to told the paramedics that I would need "life support" so they then took me to Victoria Hospital in London. Apparently I came out of my unconsciousness briefly and it took 6 orderlies to hold me down on the gurney. That shows just how strongly adrenaline can affect you. I now know it's true when someone tells me that they heard of a woman lifting a car of her child. That night I was on the operation table for 11 hours while 12 doctors took their turns to work on me in their field of practice. INJURIES: My right eye had popped out severing the optic nerve. It was now blind. My nose was broken into 14 pieces and looked horrid. My face and skull had about 500 stitches. I had 132 broken and fractured bones altogether. They found out that my back was broken six days after admittance when they took an x-ray of my kidneys and saw the third bone in my lower back was broken because I had wore a seat belt that night. If I hadn't I would be dead. That was when the doctors induced what I call a "chemical coma" with morphine so I could not move and worsen the break. I woke up one month later.Every tooth in my mouth was either chipped, cracked, broken or knocked out. Several feet of my intestine was removed due to severe damage from the seat belt. (I now get heartburn a bit faster than I used to). In six weeks time my weight went from 180 lbs. to 135 lbs. RESULTS: Many months later I was taken to an optometrist to see if there was any way my right eye would see again. ( I always had to be driven in a station wagon because I had to lay on a mattress as it was yet too hard to sit up for long as I had a body cast and leg cast on for 6 months) Here I was in a body and leg cast looking into the optical lens with my hopes up for eventual sight restoration in my right eye when the doctor turned to another doctor and said," Come look at this eye, you can see the optic nerve severed and this eye will never see again." The other optometrist came over to look as the tears rolled down my cheeks. I'm crying now just remembering how I found out my eye was blind forever. That and now are the only times I ever cried over my loss. He was scheduling an appointment to have the eye removed because it was blind and also because it stayed cross-eyed. I said, NO!! He said it would come out within two years anyway as it would start to deteriorate. Every night for months at bedtime I would pretend the SMURFS (a childrens cartoon show) were working on my eye with their picks and shovels. Over time the muscles grew back on the eye and it started moving. I no longer had to wear a patch and look like a pirate. I'm not saying that the Smurfs fixed the movement of my eye but I sure do believe in positive thinking. To see it now people don't even realize it is blind. As for my nose a plastic surgeon known as Plastic Bob, redid my nose and it looks great. He even asked me whose nose I would like. I told him to give me Clint Eastwood's nose. As for the stitches on my face , they have faded and I grew a beard. All my broken bones healed. The doctors said that as time goes by I may feel some aches and pains and to get used to it. I have. After 50 dentist visits bridgework has given me a better bite on life. My broken backbone healed and my spinal cord was not severed they say due to how strong my stomach muscles were at the time.( I only had 2 percent body fat at the time of the accident.) Being 6 foot 6 inches tall I now weigh a comfortable 250 lbs. My marriage did finally come to an end in 1983. Shortly after that I met the most amazing woman ever. We married in 1988. I am truly blessed. I am more patient now. I appreciate things in a deeper fashion. I am thankful to those that let me share their life. So take time out to smell the roses because autumn can sneak up real fast. I found that out! Hope I haven't bored you today but this was a long time in coming. Thanks
Trivia: Some Egyptian mummies wore dentures.

Did You Know?  Forty-five year old former soldier, Alan Perrin, who is almost blind and has only one arm, hit a hole-in-one at his local Exminster Golf Club, near Exeter, Devon, England, in April 2009. He and his golfing partner could hardly believe it when, after searching for several minutes, they finally found the yellow ball in the hole.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

VINTAGE DIME STORE TOYS, BUT THESE WERE 29 CENTS, 1950's

Remember the "5 and dime" stores. That's where our blessed Moms would take us and we would end up getting a surprise toy from her just because she loved us. Well mine always did. The cost of these surprises never hurt her pocketbook too badly either. Here we got 8 cars and trucks for 29 cents. Good grief, what a deal !!!!!








Trivia: There is enough salt in all the world's oceans to cover the United States with a layer one and one half miles deep.( Pass the pepper please.)


Did You Know? Doctors were surprised at a hospital in Wuhan, China, when they saw a 4 year old girl with six fingers on her right hand. What was particularly unusual was that the fingers were each almost identical, with no obvious thumb. As the hand prevented the girl from gripping objects tightly, doctors performed surgery to remove one of the extra fingers and reconstruct the muscles.

MORE CAR SHOW PICS , I AM A MOPAR MAN

Just a few more.
Trivia: The white half-moon under your fingernail is an air pocket. No one even knows why it is there. (Something to ponder about as you sit at the corner of Linger and Wait.)

Did You Know? A mouse made its home inside an ATM (automated teller machine) at a gas station in La Grande, Oregon by building its nest from 16 chewed-up $20 bills.(cheap rent)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

SOME FLOWERS PLANTED FOR MY LATEST FOLLOWER

Just for you Karen.
Trivia: From the age of 20 to his death at the age of 90, Winston Churchill smoked an estimated 300,000 cigars. Reminds me of the song, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes".

MORE CAR SHOW BEAUTIES

A few more nice rides.
Trivia: From 1950 to 1971 , buying or displaying a Chinese stamp was considered "trading with the enemy".

Did You Know? A couple in Fresno, California, have a highly unusual pet. Their Bearded Dragon has two names,Zak-n Wheezie, because it was born with two heads. It was predicted by experts that they would not live long, but Zak-n-Wheezie is still going strong and is possibly the longest living two-headed Bearded Dragon in the world.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

CAR SHOW BEAUTIES, EVEN A 1969 PLYMOUTH "ROADRUNNER"

Here are some more vintage cars. I did not have my car  (1969 Plymouth Fury 1) entered as there was a lot of work to be done on our flower gardens. I will show those pics once the flowers bloom.
Trivia; People drink coffee in every state... but Hawaii is the only state that grows it. Aloha.


Did You Know? A three year old Asian elephant whose front left foot was caught in a trap is able to walk again after he was fitted with a prosthetic foot. After cutting away 5 inches of infected tissue, surgeons in Cambodia made a cast of Chhouk's stump so that a false foot could be created. He needed no anesthetic while the limb was being attached, just a steady supply of turnips and bananas.

Monday, May 23, 2011

1956 FORD MERCURY

We had a car show this weekend in our little town. It was nice to see how well taken care of these old autos are. This 1956 Mercury reminded me of the one I owned when I was 14. That was in 1966. I purchased it from a "shifty" guy who said he didn't need it anymore as he had bought a newer model. He said it would be a good car for me when I turned driving age of 16 in two more years. So I paid him my hard earned $25.00. Later that month another fellow offered to buy it from me. After some dickering over price we came to the agreement that he would pay me $60.00, his ownership of his 1951 Chevy Sedan Delivery (like a stationwagon only without windows along the sides) and his cowboy boots. He agreed. One week later he wanted the deal killed because the Mercury could not be driven safely as the frame was bent. I didn't know and he sure was mad. An older brother of mine was with me so I agreed to pay back $50.00 and his cowboy boots (they didn't fit me anyways) but still keep the 1951 Chevy. We put the 1951 Sedan Delivery to work by painting "Black Bart's Odd Jobs" on the sides with our phone number. We got some calls that paid us for taking trash to the dump. We soon stopped that as their were so many holes in the floorboards that the dust from country roads and the dump were choking us. I sure was learning fast in those days.

Trivia: The first vehicle to use inflateable rubber tires was Queen Victoria'scarriage in 1846.


Did You Know? A male traveler at Los Angeles International Airport, California,was found to have 14 live birds strapped to his legs under his pants. Customs officials became suspicious after spotting bird feathers and droppings on his socks, and tail feathers protruding beneath his pants.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

WEIRD-OHS "MUMMY'S CHARIOT " CAR-ICKY-TURE MODEL 1960's

Another freaky model for your nightmares. These were cool to have and assemble in the 60's. Kids everywhere couldn't wait to show everyone how they painted or customized their models. Kids don't make models now like we did back then. This one has parts that light up in the dark if you don't paint the whole thing. That's why some parts such as the wheels were not covered in anything. Enjoy.
Trivia: An adult crocodile exerts a force of over 1500 lbs. between its jaws. Humans exert 40 to 80 lbs. OUCH!!!


Did You Know? A judge presiding over a drug trafficking case in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, released the defendants- identical twins- because police officers couldn't prove which one had originally been arrested.