Thursday, discouraged :(

Made a large salad with lots of goodies for dinners.  Last of the potatoes, bread. leftover birthday cake and I cut up a quart of strawberries into a quart of honey yogurt for hubs to eat for breakfasts this week.  Have no idea what to cook today and really don't care.

     Paid all bills for the month and am totally broke.  Don't seem to be getting any where with studio debt but the monthly payments.  I thought there would be a little left over to put toward taxes but so far nothing. I have been holding a check since January hoping for enough to cover some of it and still not enough funds.  So frustrating and don't know anyway around it right now, just keep plugging away. Still have outstanding tuition so that may help will put the watch dog on it tomorrow.

     On a more positive note, I made the last payment to Hub's hearing aids of $600.00 so that is paid off!  The shop is doing really well and that is all me, what I really want is to have some money left over to sock on a bill and it seems like it is never there.    Okay, okay it will be okay.  Deep breath.  I can do this. You know bill paying day should be exciting and I should see that I am making progress, why does it always depress me?

     I was able to clean up the house, and I have to run errands today as in get everything out where it need to be as far as mail and deposits.  Run down a few medical bills ,etc. Pay a few things on line and then sew.  I have one more wedding dress and I need to call on a mother of the bride dress due out sometime in April.  I also have at least 8 pairs of pants to hem and a couple of formals to alter.

     Out My Window:  I hope the weather is nice tomorrow and I can have the young man come and do some work in the yard.  We really need to get the branches picked up if we are going to have an egg hunt on Easter for the kids coming over.  If this does not get done while I am home it won't be done before Easter.I have to think that far ahead.

story cont:

          After everyone had eaten as much as possible,  the women would pack up the baskets leaving what ever was left over for the Pastor.  Pans and containers left from the week before were passed  around and returned, a small discussion among the women would determine who would be bringing what for next week.  Some brought the same things over and over, but many others changed for variety.  Smorgasbord was something to look forward to every week.

      The younger girls were cranky and tired.  Audra was asleep on Nels shoulder.  Mr. Strom picked up Ruth and Millie protested that, "She was too big a girl to carry all the way home."  Mr. Strom did not mind, "She was not has heavy as hogs he had carried last week to and from the shop.  I am not too old as to be able to carry a little thing like her."  Millie was checking around to see if anything had been left by the boys, and thought of the six stories they would have to climb with the young ones when they arrived home.

     Nels made no rounds on Sunday.  He was looking forward to the afternoon to read the latest journals and rest.  Mrs. Strom insisted on keeping the three youngest downstairs.  Both Ruth and Audra were sound asleep and Violet was dragging.  She put two on the small sofa she had in her parlor and Violet was laid on the window seat that was cushioned.  "See, " said Mrs. Strom, "all tucked in." All of the the children changed clothes when they arrived home and Millie lay down with Peter.  Nels told the boys if they could not be quite to go down and out to the back yard of the apartment building.  "Stay far away from the Strom's windows if you are going to make a racket."  He wanted the little ones to sleep for a blessed hour or so. Nels often fell asleep on Sunday afternoon.  Try as he might to stay awake and read he just did not get enough sleep during the busy week.

     All too soon the little boys were bringing the three younger girls upstairs.  Millie changed the girls out of their Sunday clothes and put out bread and milk for dinner.  They had all eaten so much at the church no one complained about a simple Sunday supper.  The radio was turned on for most of Sunday late afternoon and evening.  Musical programs, and operettas, were popular on Sundays.  Readings of Shakespeare and Seneca were also available on one of the stations out of New York City.

      The favorite program of the younger children was the Grimm's Brothers hour. Nels was constantly amazed at the the number of new stations that he could get every week.  Radio stations were just starting to understand that dead air space did not make them competitive.  Regular actors were brought in and sound effects started to be come popular.  Stations that did not keep up with the public demands soon folded.  The young Bjorklund's waited all week for the fairy tale episode on the Grimm's Brothers Radio hour even Audra would quietly sit and listen.  

     On Sunday evenings after the radio shows, Osker and  Wilhelm would play their violins and the Bjorklunds would sing every folk song they could remember.  There was much laughter and fun when they tried to translate the Swedish words to English.  They made no sense most of the time.  Nels and  Millie  would pick out American melodies, which were fun for the children and helped with their English but the mostly stuck old tunes from the homeland. Tomorrow was a new week, soon the alarm clocks would ring and the day would start again.  Nels and Millie stayed up later on Sundays after the others went to bed.  They would talk about what was needed and make plans.  This was a custom they had learned from their parents.  Velkommen, to welcome in the week.

     The Bjorlunds had been in Brooklyn, for almost a year now.  They had arrived when Nels was eighteen years four months.  They had to reside in New York until he was Twenty one.  The families original plans had been to settle in Chicago, but plans can change quickly and without warning. Nels and Millie discussed the small size of the apartment.  There were many things that were good about this flat.  It was perfect for Nels radio reception, as it was a top floor on a tall building.  They had a bathroom close and only shared it with one other family.  They liked having access to the roof  in warm weather, and they had good neighbors and help close by in the building.  The problem was the flat's size.  The children were growing.  Nels was 6'1", he would not be the tallest of his brothers.  Where would they put their legs under the table?   They would not always be able to sleep three to a bed.

     It was getting harder and harder, to keep the younger ones in clothes.  The little girls they could pass down, but the growing boys ruined and wore out there things. The appetites of the boys were endless.  More and more food had to be purchased every month. Nels and Millie knew how to manage and they were not without savings.  But Millie worried that Nels worked too hard and she felt that she needed to help some way.  Get a job, even part time after school just something to take the stress of all the earning off of Nels.  Nels was adamant that she stay in school.  He argued that she was of more use to her siblings in what she did for them than any money she could bring in. They had savings, he could earn more, he had ideas.

     Millie's life was much easier in some ways here than is had been in Sweden.  They had no animals to care for, and no gardens to tend.  The main washing was done by a woman on the second floor freeing Millie to just Audra's diapers and that would not last forever. She had help with the mending and ironing five days a week and there was as much cleaning to do in a small place.  Even the stove and cooking were easier as it was coal and not wood that had to be drug in several times a day.  Coal gave an even heat that lasted
longer.   She had an ice box and not a cellar to keep things cold.  Food could be had almost daily and not stored for long periods of time.  Nels was right, Millie would fret and then finally see his point of view.  If only they could get a bigger place.

Cont:
           Nels buys a washing machine.

Well I have to get busy, chores are calling.

Have a great and productive day!

Kim