Hey Mom, what’s for dinner?

The garden has been unbelievable. Yesterday we picked a lot of onions and peppers and Golden Pear tomatos. Today, even more. This is just a ‘taste’ of what we got today – there’s another bucket of Zukes & cukes as well. The bowl of stuff is cole slaw (from the cabbage) and the Honey Dew – well, we had to taste it, right? Otherwise, we have carrots, a lemon, tomato, bell pepper, kukes, zukes, squash….and whatever else you see. Tomorrow I am going to make my favorite cucumber dish (raita) which is similar to the Greek sauce they put on Gyros & Schwarma sandwiches. I also have a fresh, fat rabbit to throw in the pot; tomorrow we will have a spicy Jambalaya [that's why we need the Cucumber dip] with Rabbit, Dove, Venison sausage and throw in the garden and a bunch of fresh herbs like Garlic, Ginger, Oregano, Cilantro & Pineapple Basil. Here’s the pic: (And the date is wrong – I really took this a few minutes ago; just didn’t realize the date did not reset last time I changed batteries)

Where have I been???

For those of you following my blog on a somewhat regular basis, I apologize. I just haven’t been here for you – or ME for that matter! So where have I been?

May was a month of illness, a combination of many things but mostly female problems that happen to us as we get a little older. But also a bought of depression and a flu type thingey that was probably brought on by over work during an extremely busy and successful tax season. Thank God for job security.

Speaking of which, nope, hubby still hasn’t found work unless you call that monster garden & orchard of ours work. Oh wait, that IS work. We enjoy the bounty and I am amazed how much money I am NOT spending at the store except for the essentials: eggs, a little meat and milk. And chocolate [sugar free of course!]. Is chocolate an essential? That’s debateable unless you are a female or allergic. For me, it is purely a comfort food, but there ARE a lot of benefits to this.  When I eat a lot of carbs, even the good ones; I’ve noticed by balancing it out with some fat content that my body has an easier time processing it. [Of course bacon works just as well - another one of those ambrosia comfort foods] Another thing – I stay away from caffeine, but for just a tad found in most chocolate confections, I get a little extra boost. So, sugar-free, a little fat, a little caffeine and a lot of taste – make this the perfect picker-upper for myself. My family, on the other hand, can’t deal with it so well – these boys get ACNE. I don’t think it is the ‘chocolate’, per se, I think it is the fat inside. But they can’t resist it. If I make or buy something with chocolate in it – even my sugar free types – it sure disappears faster than I myself seem to be eating it. Same with the meal replacement drinks. I buy 4 at a time so that I have something when I run out the door in the AM to run errands. By Thursday, I have used one up during the week, but there don’t seem to be any in the ‘fridge????? Maybe I’m sleep-drinking. [not]

Ahhh…back to ‘where have I been?’ This past week, and here and there for a few weeks before, I have been working with shooting sports. This time, it was at Boy Scout Camp; which I work a week or two every summer for the past several years. Instead of the long drives I usually have to take with a half dozen smelly, stinky teen boys, I had the pleasure to go BY MYSELF and almost close to home; or at least under two hours! I spent a mostly wonderful week training young men on the gun & archery range - some to be instructors, some just to get merit badges and some in a highly intense competition to ‘be the best’. I am proud of the efforts of these young men and happy to say there is now a new Certified NRA Instructor & Range Safety Officer around to make sure that our youth stay safe and have another reason to be outdoors and have a good time. And two young men who persisted until they achieved their goals – one to get a perfect score, and one to just qualify even though he was very very small in stature. The smaller boy – my God you should have seen the smile on that face when he finally made it. He even hung around an extra day just to watch others shoot with a HUGE grin on his face, but not wanting to shoot himself. He was happy just to meet the goal and had no need to do anything more than soak of the happiness of the others as they pressed themselves to ‘do more-better-faster-higher’. “T” is a gem among boys, no, make that young men.

If I had a camera on hand, I would have gotten to show you a scene that was incredible. The most massive dust devil I have ever seen in my life came in and picked up a small shed, twisted it’s metal roof off and splintered the wood, then tossed it all around the archery range. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. And many people are glad the old shed is gone so we can build a new one. [The old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" was in play] Now, a new, better, larger one will take the place of the old shack. There was a picture on the Weather Channel a couple weeks back of a tornado forming that started as a little dirt tossing around, then a brown cloud rose up from the ground and started flinging things around. That is EXACTLY what this dirt devil was like, except ours was more a choking cloud of beige/white caliche gravel and sand. It was about, oh, 20 x 30 yards when it formed, then it ‘blew out’ all over. Never seen one so large in my life. Many people were awed by the sight.

As for camp itself, well, there’s camp food. And a lot of walking. And 100 degree days. Only got a couple itchey bites – not bad. No sunburn. And my roommates – well, the scorpions were pretty easy to shoo away, no snakes this week and the one human was – um - nice and friendly and may read this blog sometime.  Now if a BOY, or young man, were to cry over something – I could sympathize because sometimes things at camp are pretty dang tough. The heat, no electricity most of the time, the bugs, dirt, strange food, mostly people you don’t know – it can break these young guys in amazing ways. An adult that volunteers to do this stuff should be able to handle it or know when to walk away. You don’t bring your problems to camp – you are there to help others ‘grow’. I actually LIKE camp, most of the time and it gives me a healthy respect for coming home. Now, if I could just get PAID to do the things I like……

A visit with Janet Riehl

I have long been a fan, hopefully friend, of Janet Riehl, [see her blog to the right - Village Wisdom extraordinaire!] When I hear the music and stories in her words, I am left breathless at the inspiration and emotion she evokes. So it is to my delight that to share a chance to interact with Janet and learn more about her life work. Story Circle Network will be interviewing SCN member Janet Riehl on Thursday (10 AM Pacific Daylight Time and 1 PM Eastern Time). Janet will be discussing her new CD that contains her story poems and music. This is a follow-on product to her memoir Sightlines. Again, if you can mention this in your blog or to your writing friends, we’d appreciate it. Anyone with questions for Janet, can post them in the Comments section below her great guest blog that also includes a writing rompt.

Here’s the link to her blog where questions can be posted.

http://womensmemoirs.com/2009/06/story-poems-as-memoir/

Mosquito spray

Tested out my Mosquito spray tonite. They have been riding in on the dogs so I thought I would try a little garlic spray on their coats to see if it would work. After I sprayed them, on a hunch, I sprayed my own arms and legs as well. We walked out at sunset and it worked just fine. The mosquitos flew around me but didn’t land. I don’t know if it works for very long, but it worked fine this evening. We’ll see how the long term goes. To make my garlic spray, I simply took one clove of garlic, cut into quarters and pressed through the garlic press. Then I microwaved the pulp with a cup of water for 4 minutes. I let this cool and strained into a spray bottle. Knock wood, it works fine.

Memories of Mom

Making Do by Rhonda Esakov

In many of my writings, recipes and so on, I noticed a trend when I mentioned my mother or my grandmother, their comments and how they ‘handled’ things. Whether it was a lean year with no money, a foreign location or just a drop of the hat moment, mom taught me one of the most valuable lessons in my life without even knowing she was teaching or without me even knowing I was learnin’. That is the art of ‘making do’.

I think the first time I really noticed this was during our first stay in a foreign country. Subconsciously, I wrote about this in my memoirs. Later, I wrote it in short stories. I write it in recipes that I am trying out or sending to a friend. If there is not the exact right ingredient to put into a recipe, I always know what to ‘make do’ with. If I don’t have a gift to give someone, there is always something around that I can throw together and ‘make do’ with [a centerpiece, a sewn object]. If I don’t have the right first aid, there is something on hand to ‘make do’ with. If I don’t have a new dress to wear – yep – I can cobble something to ‘make do’.

I’ll share one of my sad memories of how I had to pass on ‘the make do principle’ to a young relative of mine. Out of the blue, I got a phone call from one of the young children of a relative. She was crying on the phone about nobody home [she was about 9-10 and watching her 2 years younger sister] and there was NOTHING to eat in the house. They weren’t very close by or I would have rushed over and fed them AND stayed in the house with them until a ‘responsible’ adult came home. But here’s what I did. While the little girl dragged the phone cord [what’s cordless??] around the kitchen, I had her look in the pantry, the cabinet and the ‘fridge. There really wasn’t much to be found. But what I have her find was this: ketchup, crackers, butter and spices. They needed something hot in their bellies but also, they were little and there is also the need for taste without yuck. While still on the phone, I talked her into boiling water and taught her how to make ‘ketchup soup’ with a few spices thrown in. These kids loved ketchup, so the idea wasn’t as nauseating to her as it was to me. I had seen her and her sister dip fries into ketchup, all the way to their knuckles, put it in their mouth, suck off the ketchup without taking a bite and then do a double dip. Ick!!! Anyway, while I had her warming the ‘soup’ slowly, I had her take a fork and mash some butter, add some cinnamon and sugar, then spread it on some crackers. I told her not to cover all the crackers, but only half of them. They sat down to a warm meal of Aunt Rhonda’s Okay soup and crackers for dipping and then had the delight of cinnamon crackers to top off the meal. I told her she couldn’t and could not let her sister eat any of the cinnamon crackers until after they each had a half bowl of soup. They ate it all and learned a valuable lesson – not making do, exactly, but to learn that some people are dependable and will help them in their most desperate moments.

So now, when I need to clean a nasty spot and don’t have any fancy store bought stuff, I make do. If I’m cooking – I have become a genius sometimes at substituting [another fancy word for making do]. I can make a rug out of plastic bags, a pair of breezy slouch pants from a sheet or a pillow case out of a shirt, rouge out of lipstick, a serving tray out of cardboard and pretty paper or foil, a centerpiece out of my endless supply of emergency candles and a little greenery from the yard and scraps of material, a baking pan of foil and more. I simply don’t often panic and rush out to a store when I need something quick or don’t have a vital piece. Like my mother inadvertently taught me, I have learned the art of ‘make do’ and hope if ever I pass anything on to my child, that it is to have faith and make do.

HerStories Memoir Challenge – Month 4

Little Heathens – Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression By Mildred Armstrong Kalish

Filled with recipes and ‘making do’, Little Heathens transports the reader back to the days of the Great Depression with a refreshing story that immediately welcomes you. The writing is vivid, clear and refreshing with almost the flow of a novel. I really like the way Kalish breaks the book down into sections such as ‘Chores’, ‘Farm Food’, ‘Gathering Nuts’, ‘Leisure Time’ and ‘Animal Tales’ without actually disrupting the time flow of the story. Not only for the recipes and how-to-do-it instructions, I will continue to read and refer back to this book for its timeless advice and feeling of well being I get when I visit the Iowa farms of the author’s memories.

Above is the short review of a book I recently enjoyed. I had so much fun relearning some of the things I remembered from my childhood and visits to both of my grandparents’ farms in Missouri and the Aunt/Uncle farms in Iowa and our own small garden. The author’s family learned many ways to ‘make do’; which is something my mom taught me in life and I’ve often mentioned in my own memoirs. During today’s lean and distressing times, people would be well advised to look into their own lives and find better ways to ‘make – do’ as many of our families obviously learned during periods of war and depressions. Be sure and check out some of the other stories reviewed by myself and others at the

May Day

Whatever happen to May Day and the baskets we used to make? Sort of like a Valentine’s Day treat, we used to make the cutest little baskets and put candy, flowers, etc in them and give them to people we love. If there was a particular girl or boy we liked, we would try to sneak in as a secret admirer and hang it on their door or locker at school. If they caught you, you had to give them a kiss. But it also is a nice gift for someone you love. My son and I went walking this afternoon and dug up some wildflowers – we didn’t pull them, we tried to get the roots so we could plant them at home in the hopes they would grow or at least propigate.  They are planted and watered, hope they grow. My son got Blue Bonnets and Purple Verbena for me. For him, in the may basket, he got some sugar free chocolate and a candle for his ‘boy smell’ room. Here are some pictures of some of my cacti in bloom to enjoy this fine May Day.

Buntings

There is a flock of Buntings that have temporarily made their home near my chicken coop. There are approx. 20 of them, with at least 3 brilliant blue (Indigo Buntings) and at least 2 Painted [rainbow] Buntings. And assorted others. They are so gorgeous! I’ll keep putting food out for them and hope they make a home nearby.

Above is a picture of the Rainbow/Painted Bunting. The ones in our yard have a much more vibrant red breast than is shown. The one below is the Indigo Bunting (male). The females seems to be golden, brown with a little blue on them. There are some green ones as well; I am not sure what they are. When they are done annoying our little chicks, they are resting in a nearby Cedar tree.

Roses are Red, and Yellow!

I had to go out this evening and get a couple rose pictures before the deer eat them. The Yellow Rose [Oregold - Hybrid Tea Rose] is just starting to open and I have to move the pot around the yard because this one is especially yummy to the deer. We had it planted in two different places but finally decided to dig it up and place in a pot. Tonite, as I walked out my front door – the deer was about 3 yards and closing on my front drive – determined to get the rose. I chased her off, ran in, grabbed the camera and got my shot just before the sun set. Then I move the bush! Here’s the Yellow beauty:

 

 

Hopefully, the roses will open more tomorrow and not get eaten by the deer. This next rose is just a common climbing red rose, I never looked up it’s name, I call it Meter Man’s Bane, guess why?

Winds of change

I guess what I really want to say is when WILL the winds change. I think so far this has been one of the windiest years I can remember in the 30 years I’ve been in Texas. And believe me, I would know as for years and years I was a sky watcher and wind watcher because of one of my favorite sports – skydiving. But that’s past – I haven’t participated or judged or taught that in over 10 years. Still have fond wishes and ‘what if’ longings though!

What is this wild flower? It smells like heaven!

Thanks to my diligence and the wonder of herbs, my dog’s eye infection is well on the mend. The visit to the vet last week only netted a drop in cash and the advice that we take her to a Vet eye doc and maybe have the eye removed. I think the wind just blew something in it and scratched her and it was just getting infected. I should have taken pictures to show the before and after, but I guess that’s just too gross. Tea compresses, rosemary wipes, saline flushes and so on have done so much in one week. They all even feel good to me. I was looking at a hot tea bag I was getting ready to discard tonite and decided I needed to put it on my eye. What a treat this dog has been getting! The smell, the moist heat, closing the eye for a couple minutes – instant boost. Probably good for my skin too.

This past week is showing everyone’s bad sides and like one of my friends recently said – the wind is making us tired and cranky – it is just wearing us out. And for my gardening friends, and myself, the cold ‘on-again’ & ‘off-again’ isn’t helping. Do we put the plants out? Cover or uncover, heat lamps or not? Plant or don’t plant. It has been crazy. I have radishes the size of golf balls, good onions of every size, collard greens to my knees and at least 8 feet long and more – but can’t risk the tomato, pepper and other seedlings. May as well grow one of the tomatoes in a pot in the house – it’s at least a foot tall and rar-in’ to dig it’s toes in the dirt.

I imagine the little birds and animals are a little confused as well. This AM, when it was 40 degrees out, my poor little hummingbird was visiting one of his feeders. It looked challenging in the wind. In the evenings, we’re always visited by two hummingbird moths as well [two different sizes] and they are confused when we take the lemon tree and move it inside. They aren’t afraid of me anymore and will fluff right up into my face to check my flowered shirt and and make sure I’m not full of nectar.

I heard news last week that my dad is moving to a VA home instead of the very expensive private care facility he is in. The surprising thing is that the VA home is larger, cleaner, more modern and near to a hospital. It seems the care there appears much better too and they have much better therapy facilities. I hope the staff is as caring as some of the VA nurses I know in Texas.

I’m trying to think of good things to say but the ‘whine’ in the back of my brain keeps popping up, so I’ll stop here before I start ranting about my son, my husband, the government, the school systems and everything else. Let me go bury myself in a complicated tax return please!