My Revue on Marie Osmonds Book Might As Well Laugh About It Now!

If you like Marie Osmond this is a book to read. I grew up watching the Donny & Marie show, I use to buy her music and Donny's. This book is awesome to have and read. I got lucky and found this book at a thrift store to buy. Here is a little bit about the  book.

She talks about when she was three when she started to sing. This was when the Osmond brothers has just started to sing together. At this age she was going on the road with the family from show to show.

The two oldest brothers are deaf. The doctor wanted her parents to put them in a institution but her mother would not hear of this. Her mom taught them sign language and how to hear the beat of the music herself. The whole family learned how to talk to the boys with sign language.

When she was young she was having a weight problem. She was a chubby girl and she never did like this. It didn't help that her mom always had fudgesicles in the house. She had that problem when she got older and she had to lose weight for the Donny & Marie show. The way she did that was not eating but telling the family that she already had eaten.

I remember the very first Donny & Marie show. I would always watch it with my parents. I thought at the time this was the most awesome show. She does talk about the show in her book. 

She was married four times but two of the four times was to her first husband. She has eight children: one biological with her first husband, with second her husband two biological and adopted five children.

In order to get to certain events she had to fake dinners. By this she is talking about getting frozen meals and heating them up for the kids. Sometimes she had to ask people to hold seats for her and the family at one of the children's concerts because she was running late. Believe me I know what she was going through and I only have three kids to try to do this with.

She was on Dancing With The Stars for season five. She did have a hard schedule for the show with being a single mom at the time. In one episode she did collapse while talking to the judges. Marie, Mel B, Jennie Garth and Jane Seymour took their barbie style dolls and made a video call "Dancing With The Starved". Marie did this because she didn't know how to ballroom dance she only knew basic tap dances and some moves for Saturday Night Fever.

She was very close to her mom and when her mom passed away on Mother's Day. She felt like she had lost her best friend. She always went to her mom for advise and when she needed advise and her mom was not there for her she was lost. When Marie started her doll collection the first doll she made was the Olive doll and named after her mom. The Osmond's are a very close family, they are always there for each other. Olive passed away 2004 and George passed away in 2007.

She did have a bought with depression for awhile but has come over that. Then she had a problem again with her weight and her oldest son talked to her about it and that is when she went on Nutrisystem. Her son said that the children wanted her to be around for their children.

There is a lot more in the book but I do not want to put everything on here. This is a book to read and it is very good. I am going to leave you with a clip of the first Donny & Marie show. Please feel free to leave any comments!♥

Little House on the Prairie Series Based on The Caroline Years Little House in Brookfield!

I couldn't believe that I found this book at a thrift store. It is with the Little House on the Prairie books. The only difference about this book is it's about Laura's mom growing up. Yes this is about the Caroline years. This book is really good and I am going to tell you a little about it.

Caroline was born in Brookfield  Wisconsin on December 12, 1839. Her parents Charlotte and Henry Quiner. Her brothers and sisters Joseph, Henry, Martha, Eiza and Thomas. Caroline is the fourth child.

When Caroline was five years old her father went to work on a boat on Lake Michigan and never returned home. There was an accident on the lake and her father died. This happened on Caroline's fifth birthday. The way that the family found out was her aunt, uncle and Grandma Quiner came to the house and told them. From that day Grandma stayed to help her mom raise the children.

Caroline loved to help her mother with anything she could. Because she knew that always made her mother happy. One morning her mother was making hotcakes and Caroline just loved her mother's hotcake and syrup.

The girls would only go to school in the summer time and the boys would go to school in the winter time. That was because there was not enough room in the little schoolhouse for all of the kids and also the bigger boys where to busy helping on the farms in the summer time.

During the time the kids did not go to school there mother would make sure that the kids did school work at home. Caroline had a sampler that she would sew the letters of the alphabet on. That was the way she learned her letters. She had to sew one letter each day and read from a book.

All the children had chores to do the boys would split wood every morning and the girls had to make the beds and sweep the floors of the bedrooms. Caroline also had to feed the chickens and bring in the eggs. But on wash day the girls would bring in water for their mother. When their hands would get tired then the boys would bring in the water and the girls would bring in the split wood to keep the fire going for mother.

One Christmas her mother ran out of flour so mother, Joseph, Henry and Caroline went to town to get some flour. Mother needed it for her special Christmas bread. But the store ran out of flour. So mother went to the mill the man had two barrels of flour but one was sold and he did not want to open the other. He said it would sell for the full barrel instead of it opened. He would have more flour in two days he told mother. There was this tall strange man at the mill. That night there was a knock on the door and mother opened the door and the tall strange man was there he had a bad of flour for mother. She wanted to repay the man and he said no he was on his way out of town.

During the winter there was a real bad snow fall that came. The next morning Joseph went to check his traps but he could not find them. He told mother he could not even find the lake it had snowed so bad. Then he went to help Henry finish the wood and all of a sudden the door opened and there was an Indian behind Joseph. The Indians name was Crooked Bone he knew the childrens father. Joseph knew that his father talked to him. Crooked Bone seen Joseph out checking his traps he brought the family a deer. The boys and Crooked Bone went to the barn with the deer to cut it up.

This is some of what is  in the book I am not going to write everything that is in the book. If you like Little House on the Prairie like I do this is a book to get. There are so many books that I did not know about until I found this one. In the back of this book is a list of more books. Here are more books for you to check out.

The Caroline Years-  Written by Maria D. Wilkes
Little House in Brookfield
Little Town at he Crossroads
Little Clearing in the Woods
On Top of Concord Hill
Across the Rolling Rivier
Little City by the Lake
Little House of their Own

The Rose Years- Written by Roger Lea MacBride
Little House on Rocky Ridge
Little Farm in the Ozarks
In the Land of the Big Red Apple
On the Otherside of the Hill
Little Town in the Ozarks
New Dawn on the Rocky Ridge
On the Banks of the Bayou
Bachelor Girl

Then three more from Laura-
On The Way Home
West From Home
A Little House Traveler

I hope you enjoy these books just as much as I will. I plan on reading them and writing about them all. I would really like to hear what you have to say about the books also.

My Revue on Stevie Ray Vaughan Soul To Soul!

Stevie Ray was born on October 3, 1954 in Oak Cliff Texas. He was the second son to his mom and dad.

Stevie's love for music did come from his mom and dad listening to music and going out dancing. He does have an older brother Jimmie that is three and half years older.

Stevie did get an education but never graduated high school. The school was giving Stevie a hard time about the length of his hair. So Stevie cut the back of his hair short but kept his bangs long to cover his face. But the school would not let up on him so Stevie dropped out his senior year of high school. 

At age seven Stevie had a Roy Rogers guitar and he was playing for the company that came to the house. At first Stevie wanted to play drums then he wanted to play the saxophone but only could get a couple of squeaks or two out of it. Then he decided to follow his big brother and play the guitar.

That is when Stevie would sneak into Jimmy's room and start playing his guitars. He would also listen to Jimmy's albums. Stevie would listen to Eric Clapton, B.B King, Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed and more. He would sit in his room and practice his guitar playing the music.

Stevie's teenage years he was playing in clubs until two am then  going to school. But he was starting to fall asleep in school so he dropped out of school. He seen how good his older brother was doing with his band. Jimmy never graduated either. Stevie could play the music but couldn't read music. Kids would be drinking alcohol when they were teenagers and in the cars they would have a case of beer. Stevie played the rockabilly blues. He knew how to play that guitar so good. I just love listening to him on his solos.

Stevie had a great career with his music. But he was drinking and on drugs really bad. In September of 1986 Chris Layton called a doctor in Switzerland to see Stevie. Stevie was really bad he was spitting up blood, bleeding internally and if he didn't get help he would die with in a month. He had called his mom to ask for her help but she was not home. Eric Clapton told Stevie he would help him out with his drugs and alcohol problem. Eric had the same problem and tried to tell Stevie to get off the stuff earlier. Stevie did get clean   in late 1986.
    
On August 27, 1990 is when Stevie passed away in a helicopter crash. Stevie was leaving Alpine Valley in East Troy Wisconsin to go to Chicago. The Crash happened at about 1am after the concert. There was dense fog and they went into a 300 ft hill. It was at about 7:30 am his mom had gotten the news. By noon a shock wave went through the Texas capital and people where walking the streets in a daze. The tv, shops posted signs saying " We Love You SRV " . The city coliseum put on their sign "SRV R.I.P". By about 7:30pm  over 3,000 people had gotten together to mourn for Stevie. This is how much he has touch each of these people. They are all strangers and coming together for him.

If you like Stevie Ray this is a must read book. It is excellent and I only did a very short parts of the book. I really enjoyed reading this book you learn a lot of what happened to Stevie growing up and starting his career. I hope everyone enjoys this book as much as I did. I am going to leave you with one of his videos.

My Revue on Randy Owen's Book Born Country!

If you are a fan of the group Alabama this is a book for you to read. Randy goes into very good detail about how he grew up and how him and two of his cousins started their band. I am going to tell you some of the book to give you and idea of how the book is. I really enjoyed this book a lot.

He was born December 13, 1949 in Alabama. His parents owned a cotton farm. Randy is the oldest of three kids. He has two younger sister's. While growing up he had a very christian life style.

His dad played the guitar and his mom played the piano. So he did have the music growing up and that is all he wanted to be is an entertainer. He never thought he would be a lead singer of a band he just wanted to be in the band playing his guitar. His parents would go around to different churches and play the christian music. They went in about a hundred miles radios.  When Randy got his guitar and his dad showed him some cords on it then Randy started to play with his parents.

Randy did get his schooling but didn't graduate with his class. He did graduate high school a year later. Randy is a very family oriented man. His dad had gotten sick and Randy figured his dad needed him more than him going to school. So he was helping his dad pick the cotton in the field instead of going to school. His junior high school principal found out and asked him why he is not in school. Randy did try to go back but the principal at the high school would not let him back in school. Then the junior high school principal called the high school and Randy was let back in school. He graduated high school and went to college and got a B.A. in English and a minor in Spanish.

The first name of the band was called Young Country then was called Wildcountry. The band was basically in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They played in a bar called the Bowery. This was a regular for them and they played anything that the crowd wanted to hear from Rock to Country music. They played here all year round and while Randy was in college. They started here in 1973 and Randy was writing music and playing that there too. The only day they had off at the Bowery was Sunday's.

In 1975 Randy and his wife got married. His wife grew up all over her father was in the Army. So she went to school all over the world. But one day her mom and some other ladies said that there was a band playing at the bar. And his wife wanted to go and here the band. That is how they met.

In 1980 three record labels called them. The labels are RCA, Capitol and Columbia. They chose RCA and they stayed with them the whole time they were singing and going on tour. Things really started looking really good for the band. This is the time they changed the name to Alabama. Randy, Teddy, Jeff and Mark really made a name for themselves and fast. Now everything was moving so fast for them.

The day they were suppose to go and sign with the company Randy got a phone call that his dad had past away. Randy couldn't drive back home so Teddy took them home. All Randy wanted was his dad to see how he made it with his music and he wanted to take his dad flying. There was so much that Randy wanted to do with his dad once he made it in the music business but was never able to do it. Randy never had time to grieve for his dad. He had to leave to start the tour for Alabama. So Randy wasn't really in the mood to go on tour but he did  it for the band. The band was doing 280 dates a year.

No one in the band ever did drugs or drank alcohol. In 1994 Randy was rushed to the hospital. He was awaken by a jet flying over the house very low. His wife woke up and said that Randy looked really pale and his heart was racing really fast. His wife called a friend of hers and she was a nurse. Her friend told her to get Randy to the ER really fast. It sounded like he was having a heart attack. Thank the lord it wasn't that he was having an attack of exhaustion both mental and physical. He just had to take it easy for awhile. They also think it could something to with the fact that Randy never got to grieve for his dad. 

Alabama always had a way to give back to people for helping them make it so big. Alabama gave back with charities. Like June Jam, Celebrity Softball, Golf Tournaments, Helping the Farmer's, St. Jude Children's Research. Along with St. Jude's the have a radiothon to raise money for the kids. There is over 280 radio station's that take one or two days to play music and play conversation with the kids and there families. They have raised over 500 million dollars in on year for the kids for research for the different illnesses. Alabama also received and award for all the help that they have done for the kids. Randy also goes and talks with the kids and the families at the hospital.

Their Farewell Tour was for forty cities in 2003 but ended up being a two year tour. They had gotten such and enormous response during the tour that they added another forty shows for 2004. They remember people coming to their very first shows wearing Lynyrd Skynryd t-shirts. This was really different for them. They just thought at this point in there lives they wanted to leave while on top. They didn't want to be starting to hit bottom when they left. During this tour Randy had gotten sick again. Everything started to spin on him. He had gone to the doctor and no doctor could find out what was wrong with him. It was Vertigo that is light headedness or dizziness. But he made it through the tour.

The band had a lot of awards like Entertainer of the Year, Group of the Year, Country Music Hall of Fame, Star on the Walk of Fame, Entertainer of the Decade and sold over 73 million albums and countless miles on the road away from the family. They also have over forty number one hit songs.

Randy was also friends with Dale Earnhardt. He was suppose to go and see him race the day Dale died. But his son had a basketball tournament and he went to go and see his son. Randy and his wife also went to Dale's house for New Year's Eve and having a great time there. Randy is also a Packer fan.  

I am leaving you with Alabama's very first video when they were called Wildcountry. This also has Randy's son in it. The song is called Tar Top. I thought this was just the right video to put on here it is their very first video and song. I hope to hear what you thing of this revue.

My Revue on The Led Zeppelin Saga Hammer of The Gods!

Yes I finally finished this book. I know it took me awhile to finish it. I was busy with a lot of things around here. I am sorry this has taken me so long.

Now about the book. There is a lot of things in this book just like the other Led Zeppelin book I read before and I did a revue on it. This book does go into more detail about what happened while they were on the road.

There was a tax exile that they had to go by so they didn't have to pay so much in taxes in England. They could stay in the states for six months then go back to England for six months. By doing it this way they only had to pay half as much in taxes.

The media blamed Jimmy Page's black magic on the accidents that happened to the band and the family's. But that was not true at all. It was just things that happen in life.

It still tells how the band loved to party when they were on tour. By using drugs and throwing things out the windows. This was something normal with them. When they would go to check in the manager of the hotel would ask for a deposit on the rooms for the furniture that would get thrown out the windows and the damage of the rooms.

The reason John Bonham would get so violent when he was drinking is because of being away from his family. He missed his wife and kids so much that it really hurt him. So he would drink to try to get rid of the pain. One thing about John I read in here is that John let his son play the drums during a rehearsal. He said his son just banged on the drums so hard that is sounded just like him on them. John was sitting out in the chairs and he said this is was the band looks like and sounds like. He thought that was so awesome.

The band never went for anyone making bootlegs of the shows. They would take the people in back and beat them really bad. It was the road manager and some other roadies that would do it.

The accident that Robert Plant was in with his family he almost lost his wife. The kids were not that bad but his wife almost died from that accident.

John Paul Jones was mainly to himself. He was always late for rehearsals and when they were leaving from one place to get to another show.

When the band was in the states Jimmy Page was getting death threats. He was always with extra security at the shows and at the hotels. He was not taking any chances with the threats.

Led Zeppelin did sell more albums than The Rolling Stones. When I seen that in the book I was so amazed by that. But then I read that they shared a recording studio and when Jimmy called and asked if they could have the studio one more day Mick Jagger said that it was alright. They were really good friends too.

They started a record company called Swan Song Records. The bands that they had there are Bad Company, Pretty Things, Detective, Maggie Belle and Dave Edmunds. This is just some of them that I remembered.

There drug and alcohol use was really bad. It was so bad that at Jimmy's house someone stepped on a needle and died in his home. Jimmy sold that house and bought another house. Then they were rehearsing at the new house and John came there drunk. When Benji who worked for Robert went to wake John up his face was blue and no pulse. He was dead. 

This book is really good if you get the chance please read this book. It really goes into details about what the band had gone through. I really enjoyed reading the book and if you are a Led Zeppelin fan you will love this book. I would really like to hear your comments on this.

Truth On The Little House The Books VS The Shows!

I have read all the books on Little House On The Prairie. I can tell you the shows one episode that goes with the books is the first two hour movie. That one is titled The Big Woods. I am going to explain what I am talking about by letting you know what is different in the books and the shows.

Laura's family did a lot of traveling while she was growing up. When they made it out to DeSmet, South Dakota that is were they stayed.

The Truth In The Books-

Mary, Laura and Carrie were born in the big woods in Wisconsin. Grace was born in DeSmet.
They only lived in Walnut Grove, Minnesota for one or two years. Then an Aunt came and talked Pa into working for the railroad. Pa would take care of the paper work and run the store.

The Olesons- Mr and Mrs Oleson did own the store in Walnut Grove. But that did not last long because they had to move to New York. Then after awhile they did move to DeSmet and Mr Oleson was a farmer there. His crops did not do good at all and he decided to move back to New York by Mr Oleson's family. So that is the only times Laura knew Nellie.

There are a lot of people that are on the show not even in the books. I am not going to put all the names on here but I will put some: Albert, James, Cassandra, Doc Baker, Grace Edwards, John Jr, Carl, Alicia, Jonathan, Alice, Andy, Miss Beadle, Nancy Oleson, Adam Kendall, and Jenny Wilder. These are just some of the people not in the books.

Mr. Hanson- He sold the land in Walnut Grove to the Ingalls and then he moved out of town. He never owned the mill.

Mary did go blind and she did go to college in Iowa. But she never became a teacher for a blind school. Also she never was a teacher at all. The one that was a teacher was Laura and became a teacher at the age of 15 years old. She did give the money to her Ma and Pa so Mary could go to the blind college. When Laura wasn't teaching she was working in town doing sewing to earn the money. This was all in DeSmet.

Mary never got married and never taught the blind. After college she moved back home with Ma and Pa.

Reverend Alden- He was in Walnut Grove and then he tried to get the church out in DeSmet. But he was not able to get that one. He did keep in touch with the Ingalls.

Almanzo's family lived in New York and then his family moved to Minnesota. Almanzo and his oldest brother Royal moved to DeSmet to by land. Royal had a feed store in town and Almanzo had a farm. This is how Laura and Almanzo met. They got married in DeSmet and later moved to the Ozarks in Minnesota also called the Big Red Apple.

Ma and the girls took a train to DeSmet South Dakota to meet up with Pa. That is because Mary was to sick still to travel at the time. But Pa had to leave with there Aunt. 

The Extra They Put In The Show-

That the Ingalls lived all the time in Walnut Grove.

The extra people in the show that is not in the book.

Charles never worked for the mill in Walnut Grove.

Laura was never a teacher after her and Almanzo got married. She was a housewife.

The only one that saw Mr. Edwards after in the Indian Territory was Charles. That was in South Dakota when Charles went to buy the homestead.

Ma and Pa never had a baby boy.

No Nellie's restaurant. Laura was never at Nellie's wedding.

There was never anything about Charles moving the family to go gold mining.

Laura never had her own horse until her and Almanzo got married. That is because her Pa thought that was to dangerous for Laura.

Rose was born in DeSmet, South Dakota.

The house in Walnut Grove was not that big. It was one floor and two big rooms with a kitchen.

Laura and Almanzo never had a Bed and Breakfast Place. Almanzo was a farmer growing wheat and oats. He also raised horses, cows, sheep and chickens.

No Little House The New Beginning books. 

There was never the Carter family in the books.

Nellie was never in a wheelchair around Laura.

Laura was never around when Willie got married.

The arguments that Laura and Almanzo got into. In the books Laura and Almanzo loved each other so much. 

This is just some of it. I was thinking about this last night and I was talking it over with my boyfriend while watching the show. I told him I would really like to write this to let people know. He said to write it on paper and the write about it. With reading the books I just couldn't believe how different the show is to the books.
I am really sorry this is long again but wanted to point out the main differences. I hope to hear your comments on this.

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes I am done with the next book. The last three are smaller books about a hundred pages long. So it did not take me as long to read them. This is the last book of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

This book is basically a diary of letters from Laura to Almanzo. It is during a Trip Laura took to see Rose in San Fransisco, California. Laura took the train from Mansfield, Missouri to San Fransisco, California.  Laura left on August 21, 1915 - October 22, 1915. With them living in Missouri and by Almanzo's family Laura was called Bess this is a nickname Almanzo gave Laura while they were courting. The reason for her being called Bess is because of Almanzo's oldest sister Laura to not confuse the two of them.

Rose was really homesick to see her Ma. Rose wanted to see her Ma so bad that she paid for Laura to take the trip there. Laura didn't need any money except for her food on the train. Rose told Laura that she would give her Ma spending money for out there. Rose really wanted Ma and Pa out there but she knew one of them had to stay home with the farm. So Almanzo stayed home with the farm.

Laura met some really nice people on the train on the way there. The first night on the train she sat next to a German man he was really nice. He layed his coat on her while she was sleeping because it had gotten cold in the train. The first train went from St. Louis, Missouri to Kansas City. Laura's next stop is in Denver and with the rain there was a wash out of four hundred feet. So the train is four hours late into Denver. Then the next morning she went from Denver to Salt Lake City Utah. Then the next train is from Salt Lake City to San Fransisco.

Laura's letters on the way there basically tell Almanzo what she was seeing while on the train. She said the lands out west was brown and dry. Then all the hills and the flat lands. All the animals she is seeing and the trees and there was a dust storm. There was one farm she seen on the way that must have had two hundred or more of cattle.

Laura got to San Fransisco on August 29, 1915. When Laura was walking from the train to the ferry Rose was there. Then Laura and Rose got on the ferry it was really foggy that night. When they got off the ferry Rose's husband Gillette was there and he took Laura's suitcase. They had to take the streetcar from the ferry home. Between the train, ferry and the streetcar it took a whole day to get the motion of all that out of Laura.

Then the start of going and seeing everything for Laura. She went to the beach and went wading in the ocean, then they saw the ship named Gjos that came from Norway, they saw Niles flying a plane, the Tower of Jewels, the fireworks from the fair, the forbidden gardens, Chinatown, Little Italy, from the beach she seen the prison Alcatraz,California's Fruit Cannery,The Palace of fine Arts, Muir Woods, Rose's work the Bulletin and the Exposition.

The Exposition Laura went and had a great time. There was so many different things in there to go and see. Like people making different kinds of foods from different countries and they are making different things that they make. Laura bought a wood carved chest to take home with her. There was a lot more that she had seen in there.

Laura wrote to her newspaper back home about the Exposition. The paper was called The Ruralist. They asked her to write about it while she was there and send it to her and they would pay her for it. So Laura started to do that while she was there. But one thing happened and slowed Laura down. She fell getting off the streetcar and hurt herself. She was with Gillette and he rushed her to the hospital she had to stay there for a couple of days. She was fine in a few days.

In the back of the book is some recipes that Laura had gotten from the people at the Exposition. Here are the names of them Russian Forrest (Like a deep fried cake), Mexican Tamale Loaf, German Honey Cake, Italian White Tagliarini ( It's a noodle), Croissants ( French Crescents), Chinese Almond Cakes. I did write these down for myself if you would like any of them let me know and I can send the recipes to you.

Sorry this is long but there is still a lot more information in the book to read. This was really nice to see how much they really loved on another. I hope to hear your comments about this one.

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes I am done with the next book. Actually this one should have been done after These Happy Golden Years. But they didn't find the papers until after she had died.

This one starts of the first year Laura and Almanzo were married. She didn't want to live on a farm she wanted to live in the city. But Almanzo said to give it a four years and if she still felt the same way they would move to the city. Almanzo built a house on the tree claim to were the house would have some shade for Laura. There was a pantry that he made a lot of shelves and draws. This pantry was a labor of love for him. It was right off the kitchen. Almanzo had fifty acres of wheat and he was raising horses for money. Laura thought that having your own business was better than farming. But Almanzo let her know that farming you are your own boss. The next day that they had moved into the house Laura was cleaning and unpacking her things. Almanzo had gone to the neighbors to help with the wheat threshing. Then the neighbor would come and help him with his. Laura didn't like the idea of having to cook for all of the men. She remembered when her Ma had to do that and Laura and Mary had to help Ma make all the food for the men. They still went for there buggy rides too. One day Almanzo came home from town with a big plow he said he could get more land plowed to have more wheat next season. But he had to hitch all four horses to it. Then another day Almanzo came home with a small gray pony and said this is yours Laura. You and her can learn to ride together. So Laura ordered a real pretty saddle for the horse and she named her Trixy. There first Christmas present was one together they ordered some glassware that they needed. On the bread plate it said " Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread". One day Laura was feeling sick for about a week until the doctor told her she was pregnant. She would faint when she got out of bed. This was at planting time. Then that fall when it was about time to harvest the wheat a hail storm came and ruined all the wheat.

The second year Almanzo wanted to get a mortgage on the homestead but he would have to live on the homestead in order to get it. So he had to build more rooms on the homestead shanty before moving in there. This is not the same as the home on the tree farm but the acres are connected. So on there first Anniversary they moved into the new home on the homestead. Then Almanzo found some people to rent the house on the tree farm. They had lost a lot of money to were he could not get all of his notes paid off in town and this was the only way to get them paid off. After breakfast the day after moving in Almanzo when to cut the hay for the animals for the winter. On the fifth of December after they had there afternoon dinner Laura just wanted to sit by the stove and that worried Almanzo so he went and hitched up the team and went to get Laura's Ma. Then they came back and he had to go to town to get the doctor. Laura was having Rose. Rose weighed eight pounds when she was born. Her Ma stayed to help Laura for a few days because Laura had to stay in bed. Then when Ma went home it was just the three of them at home. That Christmas Laura said the best present was a Rose in December. The day before Christmas Almanzo went to town and came back with a clock that stood two feet high and it would chime. There was a blizzard in April and Almanzo couldn't see his way back to the house. But he made his way some how to the door. This Summer was really dry and the wheat and oats didn't give them as much as they thought. But would pay some of the bills for them.

The third year Almanzo went to town and came home with a hardcoal heater for the sitting room. Instead of moving the cook stove this heater would work longer. Rose was crawling around now and they had to keep the floor warmer for her. This took different coal then the cooking coal. Almanzo couldn't get enough warm clothes to keep him warm when he is working outside. Laura made him a shetland wool undershirt for Christmas. They went to see her family for Christmas that year. On the way back home it started to snow and Almanzo had to stop the horses and get out to try to find the road and then he had to walk the horses the rest of the way home. For a surprise for Almanzo's birthday Laura invited her cousin Peter and the Whiteheads to dinner. Then the day after Laura came down with a cold her Ma came to see  how she was and her Ma took Rose home with her so she would not get sick. The cold got worse and settled in Laura's throat then the doctor came out and said that she had diphtheria. It was a good thing that Rose was by Laura's family so she would not get sick. Almanzo took care of Laura then he came down with it so they had to find someone to care for both of them and Almanzo's brother Royal came and took care of both of them. Laura's attack was very dangerous and Almanso's was light. On the last day they were both up and around and the doctor told them not to overexertion themselves. They had to fumigate the house before Rose could come home. Almanzo didn't go by the doctors orders and he was having problems with his legs and he found out he had a slight stroke. He had good days and bad days after that. But it never stopped him from doing his farming with the help of Laura. He had planted his fields and then one Sunday cousin Peter came to talk to Laura and Almanzo about owning some sheep to make some money. So what they did was went half in on that and moved back to the house on the tree farm.The only way they would take the sheep is if Peter moved in and he took care of them. Peter agreed to that and they shared the money.  Almanzo and Peter made a barn for the sheep and it was built right on with the other barn. Now they had cows, horses, hens and the sheep now. They had another bad summer with the wheat it all dried up on them.

The fourth year was called A Year of Grace. The plowing begun with the haying it took all four of the horses to do it. Laura had to help Almanzo hitch up the horses and also watch Rose at the same time. She lost sight of Rose and asked Almanzo if he sees her and all of a sudden she says here I am hiding behind one of the horses tails. Then Almanzo said they would try one more crop and see what happens next year with it. All the bills just kept worrying Laura because she didn't like to owe money to people. The horses were so tired that they could not break the ground no more so Almanzo bought two oxen to do the work. Oxen are slower to get the work done but they can do more work. Now there was more work for Almanzo and Peter in the barn with the horses, colts, cows, calves, oxen chickens, hens and the sheep. One winter day it started to snow really bad while Almanzo and Peter were in town and they heard wolf howl and then another. Laura heard it to and she was at home Rose was asleep in bed. The wolves go after sheep and Almanzo was worried about them getting into the barn after the sheep. Laura took the dog and she went to the barn grabbed the pitchfork and check out the barn and everything was alright. When Almanzo and Peter got home Almanzo yelled at Laura for going out there to check on the stock. They made $250 in wool from the sheep that year. Then you have some new babies from them for next year. Some of the lambs had to be bottled fed because the moms didn't want to feed them so Laura took them in the house to take care of them and Rose played with them. This was another bad summer very hot and everything just dried up on them again. This is the year that they had the baby boy that suddenly died on them. Laura got so depressed about that but then she knew she had to take care of things in the house. She also had Rose to take care of. They had horses, cows and sheep to sell for money plus the wool.

I know I made this a long one again but there is still a lot more in the book. I always tell myself to make it short but so much information in the books.  I am sorry this is so long and I hope to hear your comments. Thank you for taking your time to read this!♥

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes I finished the next book. I told you these are really short books. This one was written by Rose Wilder Lane. She used Laura's diary about moving to Mansfield Missouri.

For seven years there had been very little rain almost none. They could not grow a crop on the fields in DeSmet South Dakatoa. The grass was really brown and hardly had money for food. Laura was working in the dress shop making dresses and Almanzo was doing side jobs to make money.

Mr Sherwin had sent Almanzo and Laura of the land of the big apple. Under the picture it said The Gem City of the Ozarks this was in Mansfield Missouri.

So Almanzo and Laura decided that they were going to go there and start a new life. They saved up one hundred dollars to buy land out there. Laura put the money in a sewing box that Almanzo made her out of cigar boxes. Before they left they were living with Laura's Ma and Pa. So they packed everything up into the wagon said good bye to everyone and they left for the land of the big apple.

They left on July 17, 1894 at 8:40 am. It was Laura, Almanzo and Rose. The land that they were crossing was real brown and the crops were really bad. The weather was anywhere from 90- 120 degrees in the shade. They would camp at night and tried to get by a creek or river. I was usually cooler there and so the horses could get something to drink.

The Cooley's went with them and they had two wagon's and the oldest boy drove the second wagon. Almanzo and Mr. Cooley would take turns being in the front.

On Sunday's they would stay at the campsite. Because that is the Lord's day and not to be doing anything.

One the way they ran into wagon's going both ways. Some people that they talked to said there is nothing in Missouri. Some people lost there crops there. The places were they camped they talked to Russians, Germans and all sorts of different people. Almanzo traded things so he could get water and food for the family.

They went through Nebraska, Kansas and finally got to Missouri. When they got into Missouri the water was so clear there like glass. Finally on August 30, 1894 they made it to Mansfield Missouri. They made camp and Almanzo went to the bank the next day to see about land. This took about four days until he found just the right piece of land that he wanted.

Then the next day he took Laura to the land so that she could see it and make sure this is what she wanted too. They both loved the piece of land and they bought it. Then the next day they moved to the land and there was a log home there. There was no window but a cut out in the logs for windows. The floor was an earth floor no wood.

Almanzo promised Laura that the next Spring he would start building her home she wanted. The way that he built it is using the wood and stones on there land. Nothing was bought to build the house.

I was going to try to get the map out of the book to put on here. If I get it I will still put it on here. I am trying to get it to download. Like I said this is a very short book so not really much to tell you. This one is a have to read book. She really goes into details about on the road.

I would really like to hear your comments. Thank you for reading this!♥

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes another book finished. There are three more books left. The next three are smaller books. One is going to be like a diary from Laura and another is going to be letters that she had written to Almanzo. But first about this book.

Pa was taking Laura to the Brewster's claim. Mr. Brewster is the one that came with Mr. Boaster to talk to Laura about teaching the school in his town. Mr. Brewster's was twelve miles south of town. When they got there Mr. Brewster opened the door came outside and got Laura's things. Then Pa went back to town. He introduced Laura to his wife and his little boy. Then Mr. Brewster went to do his chores before Supper.

Mrs. Brewster was very mean and told Laura her bed was behind the curtain. Behind the curtain was a narrow couch with a blanket and sheet on it. Mrs. Brewster never said another word to Laura the three months she would be there. Laura tried to help her but she just always gave Laura an evil look. When Laura would go to bed Mrs. Brewster would start yelling at Mr. Brewster about Laura being there. Asking him why they had to board the teacher why couldn't anyone else do it. All Mrs. Brewster wanted to do was go back East to her family.

Then on Friday's Almanzo would come with his sled and pick up Laura and take her back home for the weekend. Then on Sunday afternoon's he would pick Laura up at home and take her back to the Brewter's. He did this for three months so Laura would not get homesick. Laura was only fifteen when she got her first teaching job. All Laura could do on Fridays while she was at school teaching was listen for the sleigh bells then she knew Almanzo was there to pick her up. Then when her three months were done Almanzo asked her if she would still like to go for sled rides on Sunday afternoons and Laura said yes.

The superintendent came to visit the school and seen the good job that Laura was doing teaching the kids. Laura asked if he would like to say anything to the kids and he told them to make sure they stay real warm.

So on Sunday afternoon all the boys would be out in town on there sleds. They all had a great time. Laura did go back to school after she was done teaching the three months.

Laura gave all her money to her Ma and Pa so that Mary could come home for the summer. They all missed Mary very much. Her Ma wanted her to keep some of the money so she could get material to make herself some clothes and she said that she could work on Saturday at the dress shop to make money to get the material for her dresses. The lady at the dress shop also made Laura a hat to go with her dress.

Laura helped Mr and Mrs Mckee out. They had a claim but Mr. McKee had to stay at the lumberyard to save enough money to get tools and seed to make a crop on the claim. But he wanted Mrs. McKee and there daughter to go out to the claim to live on it to hold the claim. But Mrs. McKee would not go out there alone she wanted Laura to go with her. They paid Laura a dollar a week to stay with her as one of the family. Mr. McKee came out there on Friday and went back on Sunday. Then one weekend he gave Laura a letter from her Ma it said Mary was coming home. Then at supper Mrs. McKee seen something was wrong with Laura  and she asked her. So Laura told her and Mr. Mckee said that she was going home and he would get someone else to help out. Mrs. Mckee said she didn't want anyone else she would be fine now.

One Spring day Almanzo came to the house and asked Laura if she would like to go for a ride in his new buggy. She said yes and she went to get her new hat and went with Almanzo. They went for buggy rides every Sunday afternoon. Then one day he came there with Nellie Oleson and Laura was very upset. This happened for about three weeks. Then Laura told him if he was going to be bringing Nellie with not to come and get her. So the next Sunday he came by himself with two new horses. He was breaking two horses and wanted to know if Laura would like to go with him to break them. She said yes and went with but Ma and Pa didn't like that she was going.

Then in the fall Laura had another teaching job at the Perry school. This one you could see the building from the house. So it was walking distance for Laura. Laura was a little upset about it because it only had three children in the school. But she did real good. She made twenty five dollars a month teaching this school. She gave the money to Ma and Pa and then Pa asked her if she minded getting a piano for Mary when she came home. Laura said to do it.

Then one Sunday Almanzo asked Laura if she would like to go to singing classes and she said yes. So on Friday nights they went to singing classes.

Then on a Sunday buggy ride Almanzo asked Laura if she would except a ring. She said depends on who it was from and how it looked. So the next Sunday Almanzo gave her a ring and Laura liked it and he asked her to marry him and Laura said yes. Then in the Fall Almanzo and Royal went back to Minnesota to see his family for the winter. Then on Christmas Eve there was a knock at the door and Laura opened the door and it was Almanzo.

Then in the Spring there was another teachers examination and Laura had to take it. This would be the last time she would take the test and be able to teach. Then the school year ended and Laura told the teacher this would be the last time he would see her. So she never did graduate school because the teacher never gave her the test to graduate.

So Laura taught another school for the last time and with that money she asked her Ma to help her make some clothes and sheets and pillow cases. So her and Ma did that.

Then one Tuesday Almanzo came and asked Laura if she wanted a big wedding or not. Laura said no but Almanzo's Ma and sister were planning a big wedding. But Laura and Almanzo didn't want a big wedding so the next week they went to the reverends house to get married.

Sorry this is long but like always there is a lot of information in the book. But there is still a lot more than I had written. I hope you do enjoy this and I hope you do get the book to see what more is in there. Please let me know how you like this revue. Thank you for reading this!♥

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes I have finished the next book. As I am going to the next book they seem to be getting shorter to read. It just be me too. I have been reading about six or seven chapters a night too. It is I just can't put the book down.

So in this one it starts out that Pa comes back and asked Laura if she wanted to work in town. Ma don't like that idea at all. Because there are to many strangers coming to town. Laura would be helping a lady sewing shirts for the men. Laura liked the idea because she could help Ma and Pa get enough money to send Mary to the blind college. So Laura did take the job but she would not start the job until that have moved back to there homestead.

They moved back the next day and Pa had a job in town helping the men build a church. So Pa and Laura walked back and forth together. The lady she was working for had a sewing machine that she worked on and Laura was sewing by hand. Laura was making twenty five cents a day  and she had dinner with them. Laura sat by the window and did her sewing and she glanced up and looked out the window watching the people walking by.

When they would go home Pa and Laura still had there chores to do. Pa also had to get everything planted like the corn, wheat, oats and Ma's garden had to be done. Laura's job only lasted for two months. The only day off she had was on Sunday. Because back then that was the Lord's day so you could not work on that day.

There was a mouse in the house and the mouse had chewed some of Pa's hair off one night. So they had to get a cat to keep the mice out of the house. One day Pa went to town to talk with the men and he came home with a kitten. The kitten could fit in Pa's pocket that is how small it was. The girls were so happy when they seen the kitten.

Then later in the summer there was a lot of blackbirds in the fields eating the oats and the corn. Pa took his shot gun out there to try to kill them but there was to many. Laura was afraid that there would not be enough money then to send Mary to college.

Then in the fall Ma and Pa took Mary to Iowa to the college. She had to take a test to see if she could go to the college. Laura had to watch Carrie and Grace while Ma and Pa were gone. Mary passed her test and stayed at the college. While Ma and Pa were gone Laura and Carrie did the fall cleaning for Ma.

Pa did the haying and took all the hay into town. He said they would spend the winter there again just in case it would get real bad and he never did fix the house for winter yet. Then all Laura could think about was having to go to school to get her teaching certificate so she could get a teaching job to help pay for Mary's school.

Then they moved back to town and Almanzo's sister Eliza Jane was the teacher at the school. Nellie was telling the teacher that Laura thought she could get away with everything because her Pa was on the school board. So the teacher was really mean to Laura and Carrie. Eliza only taught until Christmas break then a new teacher came his name was Mr. Owen. He was really nice to all the kids and didn't put up with anything.

At the church on Fridays they had the literaries. This was were all the town people came for like debates, plays, spelling bee and all different things. The first night when Laura put her coat on someone touched her shoulder and said hello. It was Almanzo Wilder and he asked if he could walk her home and she said yes. Then after this day he walked her home every Friday.

Then Mr. Owen the school teacher decided to have a exhibition this was with all the children in school. Laura had to remember everything about the presidents for this. The whole town showed up for this and there was not enough room in the school they had to use the church. Also the school superintendent was there that night. Laura thought she would forget everything when she seen all the people there. When she was putting on here coat Almanzo came and helped her with her coat. While walking home he said he was making a sleigh to go riding in the snow and asked Laura if she would like to go for a ride in it. She said yes so when it is finished he is going to take her.

The next day Mr. Boast came to the door with another man. This is an old friend of Mr. Boast and he asked Laura if she would like to teach a school it is fifteen miles south of town. Laura said she is not sixteen yet and Mr. Boast said you never tell anyone your age. It is only for two months and it pays twenty dollars a month and a place to stay. They said the Superintendent is in town to give Laura the teaching test. Laura said yes and the men left to get the Superintendent before he left. The man came to the house and gave Laura the test she passed it with flying colors. She got her teaching certificate.

I know this is pretty long but this book just had a lot of information that I wanted to put on here. You have to read this book it is so good and it tells you a lot of what happens to them. This is just some of it not all of it. If you like Little House like me you will love the all the books.

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes I finally finished this book. I can't believe I already finished it. This book felt like it was dragging on but it really went into detail how long a winter really could last.

In the fall Laura helped Pa get the hay from the field. Pa would take the pitchfork and toss the hay into the hay wagon. Then Laura would stamp it down. They did this all day long. It took about a week to get all the hay from the field into the barn. Not only did Laura help Pa out but she also had her other chores to get done also.

Then one day Pa went into town to get a few things that they needed. He was in the store and a old Indian man came in and just kept saying winter seven. No one could figure out what he was talking about at first. The the old Indian man said bad winter seven. Pa figured it out and when the old Indian man left Pa said he meant we are going to have a bad winter that will last seven months. Then Pa left the store and came home and told the family. He said we have to move to town we can not stay here the house is not ready for winter yet.

Ma said when they moved to town that Laura and Carrie could go to school. Laura didn't like the idea of going to school. That is because she didn't know any of the kids like she did in Walnut Grove. She was asking Pa if she really had to go to school and he told her yes. Carrie was really excited to go to school. Laura said Ma is teaching them really good that they didn't need to go. Pa said he promised Ma if there was a school in town that the girls would go to school. 

Pa still had his building in town that he had built. So they packed everything up and moved into town and lived in the building for the winter. Sure enough the old Indian man was right in October there was a three day blizzard. It was so bad that you couldn't even see across the street to the store. The winds were whipping so bad that the window would rattle. Pa strung a clothes line from the building to the stable so he could find his way back and forth to go and take care of the horses.

With the blizzards the girls only went to school on the good days. But Laura got to know the girls and she was really sad because she couldn't talk to them at all. Then they ran out of coal for the heater and they closed the school until spring.

The blizzard was so bad that the trains couldn't get to town. They were all stuck in different towns so there was no coal, food or wood coming in to town. There Christmas barrel from Reverend Alden was on the train and they couldn't even get that. There was a turkey and all the fixing to go with it for Christmas dinner.

Then by the New Year they had to use hay to heat the building. Pa and Laura would twist it and tuck the ends in to use in the cook stove. They even ran out of kerosene for the lamp and ran out of meat. The only thing that they had to eat for the rest of the winter was bread and tea. But didn't have no sugar to go in the tea. The stores didn't have any food on the shelves or in the barrels. They didn't have any white flour they only had wheat. They had to grind that down in a coffee grinder to make flour out of it.

They were almost out of the wheat flour and Pa went across the street to the store were all the men went. Someone said that there is some more wheat that someone has on his claim. The man stayed on his claim for the winter and it was south of town. So Almanzo and Cap took there horses and sleds and went to find this man to try to buy some wheat for everyone in town. They made it back right before the next blizzard hit. When that blizzard was over everyone split the wheat to last until the train would be able to come to town.

Then April came and all of a sudden everything started to melt. They had to break  the ice from around the trains so they could get through. It took a couple of weeks to get that done with men working with picks to break the ice. The snow made the rivers overflow and the roads real muddy. Finally the train came to town and they had the food, coal and wood.

There Christmas barrel finally made it and a couple of days later they had a Christmas dinner. They invited the Boast's to come and join them for Christmas dinner. They all had presents in the barrel too.

I hope you enjoy this revue about this book. Please let me know how you like it.

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes I have finished the next book. This on is really interesting and I learned more than I thought I would with this book.

They are still by Plum Creek and Ma, Mary, Carrie and baby Grace all have scarlet fever. So Pa and Laura are taking care of them all. The Nelson's have it too so there is no one to help Pa and Laura. The doctor is coming by everyday to check on everyone. The scarlet fever went into Mary's eyes and she went blind.

Then one day there is a horse and buggy coming up to the house but Laura can't tell who it is. It stops in front of the door and it is Aunt Dorca from the big woods. Ma is still very weak and she came to the door to say hi and let Aunt Dorca in. Aunt Dorca came to see Pa to let him know that Uncle Hi was out west with the railroad and he had a job for Pa. It is keeping books and running the store if Pa was interested. Pa was very interested but Ma said Mary was to weak to travel. So Pa went to see if Mr Nelson could keep an eye on Ma and the girls and in a couple of months bring them to the train station. Mr Nelson said yes. So Pa left with Aunt Dorca the next day. When Pa left he told Laura to be Mary's eyes and tell her what she sees. Laura told him she would be Mary's eyes.

In the couple of months Ma and Laura had packed up the house. Mr Nelson is going to send there things to them. Mr. Nelson came to the house to pick up Ma and the girls it was time to go to the train station. When they got there Ma told Laura to watch the girls while Ma went to get the tickets. Laura was telling Mary everything she could see. The train was very loud as it was pulling up to the station and the horn was so loud it hurt there ears. When the train stopped a man came down the stairs and helped Ma up into the train Ma was holding Grace in her arms and he asked if that was her satchel and Ma said yes. He grabbed the satchel and brought it in the train to Ma. Ma told Laura to help Mary up the stairs and in the train. The girls were so excited to be riding the train.

The train started heading out west to the Dakota's by Pa. While the train was going the conductor came and punched a hole in everyone's tickets. Then they got to the city that afternoon and Pa was not there by the train. So the man helped Ma and Grace off the train and he said he would take them to the hotel when he was done with the train. The man had to help turn the train around because that was as far as it went. The man grabbed the satchel and walked Ma and the girls to the hotel and a girl told them they could wash up around the corner. Then when they were done to come in the dining room and have something to eat. When they got to the dining room it was filled with a lot of men eating. So Ma and the girls sat down and had something to eat. When the men were done they left and the girl asked Ma if she was waiting for someone. Ma said yes and the girl said that they could wait in the sitting room. So they went to the sitting room and waited for Pa to come. He didn't come until late that day and he said it was to late to start out.

The next day the left for camp and it was a very long ride. It took all day to get there. They stopped to have lunch on the way but the girls were so tired of being in the wagon. It was dark by the time they got there and all you could see coming up to the camp was a little spot of light. Pa stopped in front of this one shanty and Uncle Hi was outside and he helped Ma and Grace off the wagon. Aunt Docia said come inside I have supper waiting for you. They only stayed at this camp for a couple of weeks. Then men were starting to break the camp down. Pa couldn't leave until the men were done breaking the camp down.

Then it was time to leave there and go west more to Silver Lake. This took another whole day to get to. The girls were tired of bouncing in the wagon. But like always Laura was telling Mary everything that she sees. They stopped to have lunch and then on the road again. It was late when they got to the next camp. Pa seen the dot of light and he said they are almost there. When they got there a man was outside holding a lantern. It was Uncle Henry from the big woods with cousin Charly. Ma was so surprised to see them all the way out here. Then Uncle Henry helped Ma and Grace off the wagon and cousin Charly helped the girls out of the wagon. There was a voice inside saying come in and it was cousin Louisa she said she had supper keeping warm for them. Then when they were done eating Uncle Henry took them to there shanty. The next morning it was loud with all the men getting ready to leave to go to work.

It started to get cold and the men were getting ready to leave Silver Lake to go home. Pa said that the shanty would not be warm enough for them to stay there. Pa wanted to get homestead there for them to live on but never had enough time to go and look. He said they would have to go back east for the winter and everyone was upset for traveling this far. Uncle Henry was going back to the big woods to sell his land. Then the surveyors came to talk to Pa about them staying in there house because they had to leave in a couple days to go and take care of something and would not be back until spring. Pa told Ma about that and she was really happy. They left everything behind dishes, pots and pans, beds and food and coal for the winter. They said they could have all the food and cool for the winter. It was a big house two floors and it was huge. The next day they moved into the house. The only thing the men asked Pa to do was watch the tools.

The next day that they moved in there Laura ran ahead and checked the whole house out. She couldn't believe how big it was. She was running through the house. When Pa got there with the wagon she ran outside and told Ma to come in there to look how big it was. Then the next day there was a knock on the door and it was Mr. Boast coming to say good bye to Pa and telling Pa he was going to get married and come right back. Pa said it was going to snow and be real hard to come back in the snow and Mr. Boast said he would make it back.

Then on Christmas Eve they were singing and all of a sudden you could here a voice outside calling for Pa. It was Mr. Boast and his new wife outside. Pa went and helped them and Mrs. Boast came in the house and Pa and Mr. Boast went and put the horses in the stable. Mr. Boast said that his sled was stuck in the snow down a ways. Ma made them some supper and said they could spend the night there. So they spent Christmas with Mr and Mrs Boast.

Over the winter Pa found the land for the homestead. So in the spring he went to Bookings to put money on the homestead. There was a big crowd and someone else wanted the same land as Pa. Pa seen Mr Edwards in Bookings and he bought land north of them. Pa spent the night on the door step so he could get the land. In the morning Pa put the money on the land and came home.

The camp was starting to turn into a town and Pa went to make a little house on the land for them to move into. The surveyors were coming back to the house. So in a couple of days it was moving day onto the new land. This was the last move for them. Pa promised Ma he would make the home bigger when he was able to.

I hope you enjoy this revue on this book. I would really like to know what you think of it please leave your comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this!♥

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

Yes I have finished this book last night. I hope everyone is enjoying my revue's as much as I am writing them. So far for me this book is more like the show. There are a couple of things in the book different from the show. I will let you know when I get to that part of the book.

The family had left the Indian Territory headed east they went through Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and came to Minnesota. They came to a town called Walnut Grove. Pa had asked if there was land for sale here and someone told him about some land. A man was going to move and wanted to sell his land. Pa took the family to the land he was looking it over and a man came up to the wagon and Pa asked if he was Mr. Hanson. The man said yes.

This house was built into the bank of a hill. There was a stable already built there too. The house was built of sod and had vines around the doorway. Ma said the house was very clean Ma told the girls that Norwegians are very clean people. You could walk on the roof of the house and not even know it was there. The house was only three miles to town now.

Pa had met a neighbor his name was Mr. Nelson. Pa had bought a cow from Mr. Nelson and she had a wreath of roses on her. The Nelson's called her reet but that is a Norwegian name but it means a wreath of roses. The cow has red spots in a circle.

In the spring Pa was working in the field to plant the wheat and also Ma's garden. At night time he was working on there new house he was building. This was with wood that Pa was buying. The house was going to have lots of windows, an attic for Mary and Laura's room, a bedroom for Ma and Pa and Carrie. Pa also bought Ma a brand new cooking stove for the new house. When Pa was done with the new house they all grabbed some stuff and walked to the new house and they couldn't believe how beautiful it was. Then Ma seen the new stove and was very happy.

For there first Christmas there the girls prayed for new horses. Because the ox were real slow for Pa in the field. The ox could not do the work of horses in the field. So on Christmas day they went to the stable and Pa brought out two new horses. The girls were so happy that Pa got his horses.

Then in the Spring the girls had to start school in town. This was the first time they would be going to school and seeing the inside of a school. Mary was nine years old and Laura was eight years old. Ma was a school teacher so she was teaching them there school lessons. But Ma said when they come to a town that has a school the girls will go to school. There is no school in the winter time.

At school is when they first meet Nellie Oleson. Nellie called them country girls because Nellie lives in town and her Ma and Pa own the store. Nellie was having a party and she invited all the girls in town. When they all got there she said no one could play with her things they had to play with her brother Willie's toys. Nellie was very mean and nasty to the girls that lived in the country. Then two weeks later Mary and Laura had a party and invited all the girls. Nellie didn't like it in the country she was even nasty to Mary and Laura's Ma. Nellie had a fur cape and she was showing it off.

Then Pa heard that every Sunday there was church. So on Sunday everyone put on there best clothes and they all went to church. The Reverend Alden was there and he remembered talking to Pa. Pa had told the Reverend the girls names and he remembered. He called the girls his little country girls.

Pa said the wheat was growing real good. When he would harvest it he would be able to buy new things for everyone. Then all of a sudden the next day a very different cloud came over. This looked like a storm cloud but it wasn't. It was a big cloud of flying grasshoppers. They all landed and started to eat everything including all the wheat in the field. The grasshoppers even stuck to your clothes. This lasted until winter then they started to walk to the west. It is really surprising that they knew which way was west.

Then one night the family put on there good clothes and there was a surprise in town. It was really cold outside but all the town people were asked to come to town. Reverend Alden has another church out east and all the people in his church had gotten together and brought presents for everyone in Walnut Grove. There were presents on the Christmas Tree in the church. Some of the presents were wrapped and some weren't. Ma had gotten a new shawl, Pa had gotten a new coat, Mary had gotten a new blue coat, booklet with bible pictures, bag with candy and a popcorn ball and blue mittens. Laura had gotten red mittens, a bag with candy and popcorn ball, china jewelry box on the top was a tea cup and saucer and a fur cape with a muff. Carrie had gotten a bag with candy and popcorn ball, rag doll with a china head, china dog it is white with brown spots.

Pa had to go away at harvesting time so he could make some money to pay the bill for the wood. So the girls had to be on there best behavior while Pa was gone. He was gone for a long time when he came back it was starting to get real cold. He said he would be able to make a new crop in a couple years. The grasshoppers had laid there eggs all over the land.

Then a real bad blizzard came and there would be three days of real bad winds with the snow then one sunny day. This is how bad it was all winter long. On one of the good days pay walked to town he said he would make it back before it snowed. But he didn't come home for three days. He was stuck out in the bad weather for three days and he survived it. When Pa came home it was Christmas Eve. He had gone for oysters, crackers and candy for the girls stockings. But he was so hungry he ate the crackers and candy. The girls said they didn't care as long as Pa made it home.

Well that is the end of this revue I hope you all like it. I hope to hear your comments on this revue. The next book will be about By The Shores Of Silver Lake. Thank you for taking the time to read this!                                                                                

My Revue on Almanzo Wilder!

I know I have done the revue on the Farmer Boy book. Then someone mentioned to me about Almanzo having more siblings. Then after doing some research I found out that these siblings were never mentioned in the Farmer Boy book. So I decided to write this about Almanzo so everyone had the chance to know a little more about him.

Almanzo James Wilder was born on February 13, 1857 in Malone New York and he passed away on October 23, 1949 in Mansfield Missouri at the age of 92. 

He married Laura Ingalls Wilder and he was the father to Rose Wilder Lane.

He was the fifth child to James Wilder ( 1813-1899) and Angeline Day Wilder (1821-1905) both were farmers. His siblings are Laura Ann (1844-1899), Royal Gould  (1847-1925), Eliza Jane ( 1850-1930), Alice M ( 1853- 1892), Perley Day (1869- 1934).

The two siblings not mentioned in the books are Laura Ann she is the oldest out of the children and Perley Day is the youngest out of the children. About Laura Ann is they didn't want to confuse the readers with the two Laura's. When they moved out to Spring Valley Laura Ann spent most of her time by her aunt and uncle's house. But Laura Ann and Laura Ingalls did meet and did do sewing together. After Laura Ann's husband passed away she moved down to Louisiana by Eliza Jane.  The only thing I could find on Perley Day is that he had moved to Louisiana also. He did marry and had children.

In 1875 the Wilder's left Malone New York to head out wet due to crop failure. They settled in Spring Valley Minnesota in 1879. Almanzo was 22 years old. Almanzo, Royal and Eliza Jane moved to Dakota Territory buying land there. Later it would be called De Smet South Dakota. He settled on his homestead with the intent to harvest acres of wheat. This is were he first met Laura Ingalls.

Laura was 15 years old and Almanzo was 25 years old when they began courting. Three years later they married on August 25, 1885. They lived on Almanzo's land and began their own farming operations. The on December 5, 1886 they had Rose.

In 1888 while Rose was still a baby Almanzo and Laura were stricken with Diphtheria they both survived. Almanzo suffered from a less common illness called " Neuritis" and part of his lower limbs were temporarily paralyzed. When he got better he still needed a cane to walk.

In 1889 Laura gave birth to a son and in early August there son remained unnamed and two weeks later he passed away of convulsions. The same month they lost there home and there crops caused by a drought.

In 1890 they moved to Spring Valley Missouri and lived with Almanzo's family. Then from 1891-1892 the moved to Westville Florida in hope it would help Almanzo regain strength with the warm weather. They moved back to De Smet South Dakota in 1892. They rented a house in town and they lived near Laura's parents and Rose was able to start school early.

On Jully 17, 1894 they moved to the Ozarks of Missouri.  They seen a brochure of " The land of the Big Red Apple". On August 30 they arrived near Mansfield Missouri and put $100 down payment on 40 acres. The land was all hills and Rocks undeveloped land. That is how Laura named it " Rocky Ridge Farm".This was there final home for 20 years. There luck has changed for the better and they were happy and successful. Laura got her dream home that Almanzo built and he built custom cabinets. The farm eventually expanded to 200 acres of poultry, dairy, fruit, horses and goats. They were every active with the community and church.

Almanzo spent his last year tending to a small vegetable and flower garden and doing his wood work, carpentry and tending to his goats. He also aided his wife with greeting car loads of Little House Fans that found there way to Rocky Ridge farm. When Almanzo passed away he suffered from two heart attacks.

Many of Almanzo's possessions and handiwork can be seen at Rocky Ridge Farm and at the Laura Ingalls Wilder/Rose Wilder Lane museums as well as the Malone, New York and Spring Valley Minnesota museums.

Rose's book called Free Land is based on Almanzo Wilder.

My Revue on Little House on the Prairie!

I finally finished reading the Little House on the Prairie book. I couldn't believe it has taken me this long to read it. I was trying to read in the evening but other things happened. I hope you all like the revue.

Pa decided to move out west because there was to many people in the big woods now. So Pa took the family to Indian Territory in Kansas. They all had to say good bye to Grandma, Grandpa, the Aunts and Uncles and Cousins. Then they all got in the wagon and left. They had to cross the lake before it started to thaw out. As they were crossing the lake you could hear it start to crack.

When they came to a creek it didn't look to bad. So Pa started crossing the creek and then he realized it was deep and started to run real fast. He didn't think of putting the dog in the wagon at the time. Half way across the creek Pa had to get out of the wagon and guide the horses across. They finally made it to the other side but no one seen the dog. They all figured the dog had floated down river. Later that night when the set camp and the girls were going to bed Laura seen eyes looking at her in the dark. Pa picked up his rifle and pointed at the animal and the animal came closer and Pa realized it was there dog.

The next morning they started on the road again. Then Pa found a prairie and it was close to a real good creek. He said they would settle here and make this home. He said this would make for real good crops. The next day Pa went to get logs to start building the house. Then the next day Pa and Ma started to build the house when they were half way done a log fell and it sprained Ma's ankle. Pa had to go and get more logs for the house and while he was getting the logs he met a neighbor Mr. Edwards. Then Mr. Edwards said he would help Pa finish the house and the stable.

Then Pa had gone to the creek with the horses another day and he met another neighbor Mr Smith. Mr Smith said he would help Pa dig a well so they didn't have to go to the creek all the time.

Pa had met some men moving cattle and they told Pa he could help them and they would give him a cow. So he went home and told Ma and she said it sounds like a good idea. So the next morning Pa went and helped them and he came home with a cow and a calf. The men said they couldn't separate them.

I was starting to get cold and Pa said he had to go to town to trade his furs for supplies. Pa was hunting for furs so he could trade them. While Pa was gone he had asked Mr. Edwards to come and help Ma with the chores. So the next morning Pa left early for town. He was gone for four days and Mr. Edwards came and helped Ma with the chores. When Pa came home he had all the supplies that Ma wanted he also had gotten glass for the windows so it would stay warm in the house.

Then it was Christmas and Mary and Laura was afraid Santa would not know were to find them. Mr. Edwards was asked to Christmas dinner but Pa said the creek was running to fast for anyone to cross. So Ma and Pa said that Mr Edwards wouldn't make it. Then there was a knock on the door and it was Mr. Edwards. He said he was to town and seen Santa. The girls asked him if he was sure it was Santa and he said yes. He also told the girls that Santa asked him if he knew the girls and Mr Edwards said yes. Then Santa asked him if he could bring them there presents because he knew that they were very good girls. So Mr Edwards told Santa he would make sure the girls got there presents. He also brought sweet potatoes for dinner.

Then it started to warm up and Pa had to make another trip to town. This time he had to get a plow so he could plow the field. He brought more furs to trade for it and he had to get more supplies. While Pa was gone some Indians started to camp down by the creek. Then one night they started to make a lot of noise and scared Mary and Laura. It was the Indians war songs. Pa said that the Indians want to get the white man off of Indian Territory. Then about a week later Pa was going to go outside to plow the field and he called Ma, Mary and Laura to the door. It was like a parade of Indians going right pass the house. They were all leaving from down by the creek.

The next morning Pa came from the field with Mr. Edwards and Mr. Smith. Mr Smith told Pa that the soldiers were coming and moving the people off the Indian's land. So Pa told Mr. Smith he was leaving the next morning and said that Mr. Smith could have the plow and the cows. Mr. Edwards said he was leaving and Pa told him to go with them. Mr Edwards said he is taking his boat and going south. That afternoon Pa put the cover on the wagon again. The next morning Pa and Ma packed the wagon and they went towards Missouri.


This is my revue of the book and I hope everyone likes it. I don't have the next book I am going to the library to get it today. So hopefully I will have the next book revue very soon for everyone.

My Revue on Rose Wilder Lane!

Rose Wilder Lane was born on December 5th, 1886 in De Smet, Dakota Territory. She Passed Away on October 30th, 1968 in Danbury Conneticut at the age of 81. She  was an American Journalist, Travel Writer, Novelist and Political Theorist. She was noted as one of the founding mothers of the American Libertarian Movement.

Rose was the first child to Laura and Almanzo Wilder. She is also the only Grandchild to Charles and Caroline Ingalls. The family had their fair share of hardship with crops failure, illnesses and chronic economic hardships. Her family moved a lot while she was younger to Minnesota, Florida, De Smet South Dakota and to Mansfield Missouri. When they got to Mansfield Missouri this was the last time they had moved and this was home since 1894. Rose went to high school in Mansfield and in Crowley Louisiana. In Crowley her Aunt Eliza Jane was a teacher there. So Rose lived with Eliza Jane's family. Rose graduated in Crowley in 1904 and she graduated at the top of her class. Rose took three years of Latin in one school year. Rose was never able to go to college after high school because her parents just didn't have the money for her at the time.

So after high school  Rose went back home to the farm. For the next five years after high school Rose worked as a Telegraph Operator at the Railroad Station. Then before she was 18 years old she moved to Kansas City being a Telegraph Operator there.

In 1909 Rose married Clare Gillette Lane. He was a salesman and occasional newspaperman. Around 1910 Rose had a son he was either still born or died shortly after birth. Rose had complications with her surgery and she was never able to have anymore children. The next few years Rose and Clare travel for various marketing and promotional schemes around the US. She would write to her Ma and Pa telling them that she was really happy. But the truth was she was really depressed and she even tried to commit suicide by drugging herself with chloroform. But luckily that didn't work she just woke up with a really bad headache.

1912-1914 Rose was one of the earliest female Real Estate Agents in California. Rose and Clare sold property separately for more of the commissions. Rose sold more than her husband did. The job cause a lot of separation for them. This cause a lot of trouble for there marriage and they ended up getting a divorce. After the divorce Rose did see other men but she never married again.

In 1915 Rose had not sold any property because of the World War happening. One of her friends had gotten her a journalist job with the San Fransisco Bulletin. The job she was doing was called the stopgap job. But then the editors seen her work and then all of a sudden Rose's photo's and bylines were running in the  Bulletin. She wrote about the lives of Henry Ford, Charlie Chan, Jack London and Herbert Hoover. During this year her Ma came for a visit to see her. At this time Rose and Clare were either separated or divorced and Clare was just living there for the time. But Rose never had the heart at the time to tell her Ma that she was getting a divorce.

In 1918 Rose quit her job at the paper and her divorce was finalized. Rose became a free-lance writer from 1918-1940. Rose's work would show  up in Harper's, Saturday Evening Post, Sunset, Good House Keeping and Ladies Home Journal. Several of her short stories were nominated for the O Henry Prizes and a few novels became top sellers. In 1920 Rose became one of the highest paid female writers in America. She also had Bipolar Disorder. She had real bad depression in her mid life. She could not finish any of her own writing. So she would do ghostwriting for the other writers to edit there work.

In 1930 Rose went home for a visit to Ma and Pa's. Rose read a rough draft of Laura's about the hard childhood in the pioneer land. Rose then realized that her mom could write like her. It is a shame Laura didn't write sooner. Rose helped her Ma get her manuscripts published. No one knows if Rose had part in editing any of the chapters for Laura or not. Rose was at the house and a cousin of her Ma and her's came for a visit. But her Ma was busy writing her second book. The whole family was really proud of Laura for writing these books. They never thought she would become this famous for writing the books.

In 1940 Rose lived in Danbury Connecticut. She bought land a few mile away from Danbury. It was a rural area. Rose had to cut her expenses to the bare minimum to live a modern-day life like her ancestors lived. She did not believe in paying income taxes. A friend of Rose's Isabel Peterson talked Rose to moving to Danbury.

In 1957 Laura had passed away. The town people put together a non-profit corporation to buy the house and the farm for a museum. The money the town was going to pay Rose for the house she had the town keep it for the up keep of the house and the farm. Rose also donated many of the families belongings to the museum.

Rose had become an adoptive grandmother to Roger MacBride. Roger is best know as the Libertarian Party's 1976 Candidate for President. Roger was the son of one of Rose's editors. Rose and Roger became close friends when Roger was little. In edition to being close friends he was her Attorney and Business Manager. He also became the heir of the Little House Series when Rose passed away. After inheriting the rights to the work of Laura and Rose  Roger agreed to the commercialization of the Little house t.v. series. Roger also was the author of "The Rose Years" the Little House series. This was about Rose growing up from age seven to nineteen.

Rose did pass away in her home in her sleep on October 30th 1968. She was 81 years old.

I thought I would end this with a list of Rose Wilder Lane's books that she wrote:
The Story of Art Smith 1915
Henry Fords Own Story 1917
Diverging Roads 1919
White Shadows on the South Seas 1919
The Making of Herbert Hoover 1920
The Peaks of Shala 1923
He Was A Man 1925
Hillbilly 1925
Cindy 1928
Let The Hurrican Roar 1932 (Better known as Young Pioneers)
Old Home Town 1935
Give Me Liberty 1936
Freeland 1938
The Discovery of Freedom 1943
On My Way Home 1962
The Woman's Day Book of Needlework 1963
The rediscovered writings of Rose Wilder Land, Literary Journalist 2007 ( Edited by Amy Mattson Lauters)