Hi everyone,

Another very busy week here. It always seems to get much busier towards the end of term. Things get very hectic with planning for next term, finishing off things from this term, cleaning up and then there's meetings and other things that are involved with James's school. We're on holidays now which is quite relaxing, although I will be going over to school sometime, just to get things organised for next term.

We have a nice long break this time. About 2 and a half weeks. It runs into Easter, and Easter runs into Anzac Day, so it is a bit longer this year. Hopefully I might get some of the digests from this year onto the net. I'm also re-writing the episode guides, which is quite a task in itself, and adding extra parts to the site. Depends on how much time I get during the holidays. The poor old house could do with a thorough clean too, but I guess it sort of goes down the list of jobs to do a bit. I don't find housecleaning very stimulating, or rewarding!

Here in Australia, we are back to being Waltonless again. Foxtel have now stopped running The Waltons in their early morning time slot. They had repeated the first 4 seasons many times anyway. I keep wondering if we might get "A Walton Easter" now that Easter is getting closer. I know that it has aired in Britain, but it certainly hasn't been seen on Australian TV yet.

Have a great week. Goodnight everyone,

Karen.

Hi again, Karen!

I was just wondering if you plan to put any more of the past digests up on the web site. I'd love to be able to read those from your second and third year. I didn't discover them until the very end of the third year.

I didn't see "The Life and Times of The Waltons" listed at any time except April 3rd. (Tammy said it was also on other days.) Just curious if it is a series, or only the one show. Our cable company is getting less and less reliable and it is hard to find when things are showing. (We are still mad at them for taking off the unshown episodes of Snowy River!) I don't see other times listed on the TNN schedule on the web, either.

Be sure to keep us posted on your James's stage performances. Should be interesting to play a Puerto Rican, especially if he's never known a person from Puerto Rico! My 17 year old grandson is good with all things theatric, as well -- acting, writing one-acts for school productions, and now he is directing their next regular play set for June.

Hope your Easter term break is a relaxing and good time for you. Our kids would love that much time off for a Spring/Easter break. They always have to make up the winter snow days if there were more than the 3 allowed for, and usually don't get even a full week off. Best wishes to all!

C J

KAREN'S COMMENT: Your grandson sounds quite talented. James would like to do some directing too. At the moment he is also doing set designs for a Shakespeare play he is studying at school.

As for the previous digests, I have just put a search engine on this site so you can find things more easily. For example, the bible readings could have been entered as keywords and it may have answered some of the queries about them. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet but hopefully you might find it helpful.

Hi Karen (and Everyone, if you put this in the Digest):

I am upset because I had to answer my phone just before The Life and Times of The Waltons show came on TNN tonight. I'd been waiting for an important call all night, or I'd not have answered. Well, I missed the first half hour. I seems to have been quite an informative show about the actors' own lives. I hope someone writes in about it so I'll know what was on it. I know the last of the first part was about Will Geer because I turned it on as they were showing the scene with Grandpa's tombstone.

Thanks for your answer to me about where to find the earlier Digests on the Web. That was very nice of you! I'd tried a search and it did not give me those sites at all. I have an older Mac, which doesn't find things like a P C does. Some day...

I'm so glad to hear you are hoping to try to update more of your site. We are all so VERY grateful to you for everything you do. Just curious, how many are on your Digest mailing list? It must take a great deal of time. Many thanks!

C J

KAREN'S COMMENT: I'm sorry to hear that you missed part of the show. At the moment there are about 420 on the list. It sort of grows in fits and starts. There's been 4 new members this week, but a couple have been deleted as well. Just so everyone knows, if I get your email returned for some reason, a couple of times in a row, you get deleted. So if you are expecting a digest and it doesn't come for a couple of weeks, write to me and let me know, cos something must have gone wrong somewhere. Usually it's because people don't let me know of an email change, or because your mail box is full. If you write to notify me of an email address change, could you please put both the old email and the new one down. Sometimes people write asking for another members email address. I really don't know them. I have a list of addresses, but not the names which go along with them.

HI Karen: This is in response to Donna question about converting Celsius to Fahrenheit, take the number multiply by 2 and add 32 example 15c 15*2=30+32=64f. That should get you the with in a few degrees of the correct temperature Donna, or anyone else that is planning to travel up to Canada this summer.

Brenda Ann

KAREN'S COMMENT: Does Canada also have their temperatures in Celsius? I would have thought that being so close to the States that they would have used the same measurements. We used to have Fahrenheit and Yards etc, but over the years it has all changed to metric the thinking being that it is easier. I'm not sure of the thinking behind Fahrenheit to Celsius though. I knew there was some sort of formula which gave an indication, but couldn't remember it.

Hi Karen...

I wanted to compliment you on sending along the useful conversion chart in your recent digest. I think it has to be the coolest thing I have seen! I have always been curious about the differences in Celsius vs. Fahrenheit, Liters vs. Gallons etc. Now, I will be able to understand that and so much more! What a nifty little tool! I've already recommended this page to many of my friends. And of course, I always paraphrase it with...look what I learned in The Waltons Digest!

Thanks again!

Gina

KAREN'S COMMENT: I always preface my comments with "It's amazing what you can find on the Internet!" I did a search for a conversion chart last week, and I love this one. James pointed out that it would be useful for cooking too.

Hi,

Just a quick query. I have been watching the Waltons in the UK and we have just has an episode where Geoffrey and Serena have gone back to their father. Is that all we know about it? Is there any future information on what happens?

Thanks,

Mary

KAREN'S COMMENT: Mary, I'm sure someone who has seen these episodes more recently than I, will write and let us know all about this. Stay tuned....

Hi Karen,

I got to see the Life and Times of The Waltons on TNN yesterday evening. It was wonderful! It was great to see something just recently made on the cast and show. It just goes to show that the Waltons are still very popular :o)

Jon Wamsley said that often right up until the last second before they started filming the children would be laughing and tickling each other, and that is the energy that comes across often in the episodes. It was neat to learn that almost everyone was just being themselves on film. I guess that's what gave the show such a sense of real life, because in many ways it was. The children played together and all of the cast were very close.

Grandma was just as "tart" in real life as on screen. Earl Hamner recalled the day of Ellen's audition for the part. He said he told her she was playing grandma far too harsh, that his own grandma was a very loving and caring woman. Ellen replied that all the other characters were too perfect, and without a bit of tart in the family the show would never make it :o)

Also, I had heard about Eric Scott loosing his wife to leukemia after she had their first child, but I did not realize how tragic the situation truly was. He said on Monday they found out she had leukemia, on Tuesday they did a c-section to deliver the baby, and on Wednesday his wife died. So within 72 hours he became a widow and a father. That must have been very hard!

The show also had a few clips from the making of the Christmas album, but no mention of another reunion movie.

I loved Richard Thomas' comment about the reunion movies! He joked that the purpose of the movies was to show people how much older and fatter they all were! LOL

It was great to see everyone again!

Nicole

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks for sharing this with us Nicole. It does sound like a great, and very enjoyable, show. I'm so glad that Ellen Corby said her piece and the role of Grandma was written the way it was. I guess too, it's a tribute to both Earl Hamner and Ellen, that Grandma ended up being written in that way. What a memorable character.

Hi Karen and everyone,

Your summers are really sizzling aren't they ?

Here in England we have had quite a mild winter, but the arrival of spring has brought a cold spell of weather and some areas have had a heavy snowfall.

I never miss reading the digest every week. The topics discussed are so many and varied.

We have just seen the last episode in season 8. Jim Bob graduates from school and joins the army. It's just after the D day landings in France and the last scene is quite a tearjerker as the family gathers to see Jim Bob, Ben, Jason and John Boy leave the mountain to go fight in the war. It seemed strange though, that Olivia wasn't there to wave them off, as Michael Learned had left the series some time earlier. It will be interesting to see what happens to the boys during season 9. I haven't seen this before, but I'm assuming they all return safe and sound to the

mountain.

On the subject of families having enough to eat during the depression, I expect people had to be quite resourceful and self sufficient to a certain extent. Families like The Waltons would probably have grown their own vegetables etc, and kept a cow for milk and chickens to provide eggs. Just a thought.

Regards

Sue

KAREN'S COMMENT: That final moment of that last episode in season 8 is a real tearjerker isn't it? I simply can't imagine what it must have felt like to watch all the young men in the family head off to war. Especially after the losses of Curt and GW. How helpless the women must have felt. I like the earlier episode of The Fox (think that's it) from season 4, when Grandma tells of how it was for her to sit at home knowing that Grandpa was off fighting the war.

I imagine that The Waltons, and more self sufficient people in country areas, would have been better off than their city counterparts, who simply did not have the space to grow food. Some city people kept chickens though and would have had vegie patches. I think it would have been a huge challenge to have fed your family during that time. You would have needed to be resourceful I think.

Hi everyone!!!

I would like to thank Tammy for telling everyone about the Life and Times show about the Waltons. I taped it and enjoyed it very much. I have been reading the digest for a while and I would like to thank you Karen for this together each week. I am 16 and I don't come across many people with the same interest. On the show they mentioned that there was another reunion show already written, oh i hope they air it. Richard Thomas is a wonderful actor in all the diversity of his roles. He was on a TV. movie of Little House on the Prairie (Pa) and had a part in the movie Wonder Boys where he played a professor, plus in his role on The Practice that's already been mentioned., but of course my favorite is John Boy.

Lauren

KAREN'S COMMENT: At 16, Lauren, I had exactly the same problem. No one else seemed to like The Waltons! We're a unique bunch aren't we? It will be long awaited wonderful news when they finally release a filming date. :-)

Hello! I have just a quick question for all reading the Digest. I am looking for a Waltons episode on video if anyone can help me out. The episode is "A Waltons Easter"...the special that ran in 1997 - (not to be mixed up with "The Easter Story" where Olivia is sick). It is the one in which John Boy and his wife have their triplets...the last Waltons special ever made. I saw it and never videotaped it which was a major mistake. Since Easter is coming up I thought it'd be running again, but I haven't heard anything about TNN running it...have any of you? Also, if anyone videotaped it previously and wouldn't mind sharing it, I would appreciate a copy!! This is the only episode I don't have on tape, and I'd like to complete my collection. Thanks in advance!

Kim

KAREN'S COMMENT: Kim, you've given poor John Boy and his wife an extra baby...they had twins! Anyway if anyone can help Kim, can you please let her know. I'm sure someone will be able to help you with your collection. Lucky you!