Happy Anniversary to Me…..la la la

Witchy outfit, kitty houseshoes, Trixie the stuffed dog, purse and tote.

Yes, it’s our 40th anniversary. I was only a babe when I stepped into the dangerous waters of marriage. Although my Fisherman and I are as opposite as anyone could be but we’ve made it this far and I see us making it to the end. Ups and downs have visited us but we’ve had a pretty peaceful life together.

Someone asked me yesterday what we were going to do to celebrate and I said, “Guess he’ll go fishing and I’ll go to church.” And we did. I would dare to bet that our home has had less screaming and fussing than many others. We basically have a good life even though we are so different.

The other afternoon I was setting out on the patio enjoying the coolness of the afternoon when a little witch appeared on the steps. She sure was a cute one and I think I’ll just keep her. Soon after I got to pick up this outfit and put it away…..again.

Then late yesterday afternoon, my Fisherman, Kate and I set out 25 everbearing strawberries in the garden. You would have thought just an itty bitty bit of wind would have been blowing but nooooooooo, it was HOT. The afternoon before us three went to the garden to pick my sugar snap peas that I wanted so badly. Of course the boys, Boopie and Sam, joined us. I think we finally picked about 2 cups and that’s probably the end of that crop. Mr. Gardener has hoed all the weeds from his garden so I was allowed to snap a picture to show you. He has made some threats before when I posted a picture on Facebook of a delicious dish he cooked for us one night. Men, they don’t like to brag about their accomplishments but I’ll tell you one thing, I’d put him up to about any man in the cooking department when you can get him to cook.

Peaches N Cream Corn with a Sweet Pea walking thru.

A no-weed garden.

So thankful for this peaceful day and 40 years of marriage to date. That’s a major accomplishment these days.

What a beautiful day….

Beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Weather is beautiful here today in south central Kentucky. A little warm but we won’t complain about it cause we’ve had so much rain, we welcome the sunshine.

My Fisherman’s day lilies are blooming fully and you can walk out the back patio and you have to smile – they make me happy. He’s just a born farmer; keeps the weeds out of the flower bed and his garden and then has another big patch over in the back field with potatoes, watermelons, cantaloupe. He caged his tomatoes yesterday afternoon. Makes me hungry for a fresh tomato off the vine. I’ll show pics when they start getting ripe.

I’ve ordered a strawberry topsy turvy planter with 25 strawberries included. I didn’t tell my Fisherman until after I ordered it and then when I did tell him, he said “no, don’t order it,” which I replied, “too late.” These are everybearing berries so hopefully will have berries a couple or three time during the summer.

The boys, Boopie and Sam, got a nice fresh bath last week on the patio. They weren’t too thrilled but sure smelled and looked better afterwards. Kate loves being in the water so she was a willing helper.

Scrubba, dub, dub

We sprayed some water in her little wading pool on Tuesday and she was so excited. I think she might have played in it for 5 minutes. Then out and wanting to do something else. So then we hook up the slip and slide, that didn’t last long either. I have to remind myself that a child’s attention span is their age so 3 minutes is about her limit unless she has my iPad and then it’s longer. I don’t when the cut off age is but believe me, my attention span is NOT 59 minutes.

Took Kate to the swimming pool and she loved it. She can swim pretty good but when she’s in the big pool, she still keeps her swimmies on. She will go from the baby pool to the big pool, back and forth, back and forth. She keeps that beautiful smile on her face all the time, probably gulping in lots of that chlorine water.

Tonight is the last t-ball game of the season. Don’t think any of us will cry over that. We have surely enjoyed watching Kate play. She really hustles in the field to get the ball and still continues to slyly take it away from anyone else that gets it before she does.

Let’s enjoy every day we have upon this earth, especially if we are blessed with good health, can walk on our own two feet, eat, breathe the fresh air and have ones that we love and love us.

Sweets for the sweet.

Banana Bread

The Suzy Homemaker mood has hit me again so I’ve been baking. I think that this is the best banana bread recipe I’ve used. Why, you ask………it is so moist you can’t stop eating it. I promise. Even my Fisherman has eaten it and he doesn’t do sweets except Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Peach Cobbler, Payday candy bars….very few sweets.

So here’s the link to that banana bread if you wish to whip up a batch:
http://www.eaternalbliss.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=9
I made 3 little loaves in my little Longaberger loaf pans – they are so cute, you almost hate to cut them but I do anyway.

Then I’ve made some yeast rolls – made them two days in a row but still haven’t got the texture I want. I did break the ole Hamilton Beach mixer that my dear mother bought me at Service Merchandise back in the early 70’s. Does anyone remember that store? Louisville had the nearest Service Merchandise back then and we bought a lot of stuff there – such as watches, appliances, etc. I was trying to use my dough hook and mix up the dough for these rolls and wham….snapped the top of the mixer from the bottom. Dough was too tough. So then I had to drag out the ole bread maker which I don’t think has ever made an eatable loaf of bread but I used it just to mix the dough. It worked but still the texture wasn’t soft enough. We did end up eating all the rolls from the last batch I made. So I’ll try again and then post pics and the recipe link of those later. They are beautiful rolls and I’m sure delicious IF you can get the texture right.

Last but certainly not least, I’ve made 4 batches of frozen strawberry jam last week. If you’ve not eaten it, I beg of you – give it a try….very easy and the best, especially when you pull out a container out of the freezer in the winter which I doubt will last that long. My brother in law has one row of strawberries. They haven’t done as well because we’ve had so much rain but I made 3 batches out of that picking. I drool as I think of that fresh strawberry taste anytime of the year. Baby food jars are perfect to freeze this jam in but plastic or glass works.

Strawberries, sugar, mix mix mix

I’ve had a sourdough starter for almost a year ; every two weeks I would end up making 3 big loaves and giving 3 big loaves away cause no one at my house would eat it except me. Delicious but will add the lbs to your body. So I’ve decided to give the sourdough up for a while and when that urge hits me again, I can ask for another start from my friend. I don’t like the pressure of having to make bread or throw away some of the starter at a certain time.

Kate and I made chocolate chip cookies yesterday after church. I let her mix up part of the batter but she enjoyed eating the chocolate chips more. Then we baked and cooled and stored in ziploc bags. My fisherman did eat several of these, but who can resist a good chocolate chip cookie?

Ohhh sweets, I could live on them.

Casey Anthony said what?????

Remember when the Casey Anthony case first came to our attention? I was so engrossed in the happenings I could hardly wait from one day to the next to watch Nancy Grace give ole Casey down the road. How could a mother, no matter what her age might be, know that her little girl, Caylee, is missing for 30 days and not tell someone? Casey acted as if nothing was wrong, if anyone asked “where’s Caylee”, she’d say “with the nanny.” Ha – how many young, unmarried girls, unemployed have a nanny? I got so caught up in this story that my heart ached, thinking what horrors this poor little girl went thru, at first hoping she would be found alive and happy but no, when finally found she had duct tape over her mouth and was close to her grandparents home where she lived with her mom.

Then Casey was in and out of jail – she was protected in jail, keeping her to herself so no one could hurt her – people all over the U.S. were furious and ready to throw her to the wolves. Me included.

Now the case is just going to trial. Again, I am slowly getting caught up – Casey has now changed her story from “she’s with the nanny” to “she drown in the grandparents swimming pool and Casey didn’t tell anyone cause her Dad sexually abused her (Casey) when she was 8.” And yes, you read that right and no, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. This girl cannot tell the truth and now she wants the world to believe this story? I think not.

People, wake up – what is wrong in this picture? Now Casey sits at the table with her lawyer, Jose Baez – who is paying for her defense – the good people of Florida. I’m sure they are thrilled with that. The case will last 6 to 8 weeks. I know we are not to judge but when it comes to child killers and abusers and molesters, I’m glad I’m not the one in that Judge’s seat.

You can keep up with the latest at http://www.local6.com in Florida or the morning shows are reporting the events of each day.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Yesterday after church, Kate and I were on our way home and low and behold there were 2 mowing tractors just mowing away on the side of the road. My heart sunk as my first thoughts was “What in the Sam Hill are these guys doing mowing on Sunday?” Now don’t get me wrong, I’m sure not the godliest example to look at but growing up my Dad would never have mowed the yard on Sunday if it’d been shoulder high – wait, I need to correct that – he didn’t mow, my Mom push mowed. So Mom wouldn’t have either. I feel that America has lost all respect for God – Sunday is like any other day – we might go to church IF we feel like it or there’s not something better to do.

Reading many different blogs recently (in fact blog-reading, I think, is an addiction), I’ve been surprised at how many bloggers question if there is a God and some say definitely there is not. This makes me sad as I can testify that God lives daily in my life – am I just imagining it???? If so, don’t wake me up. We all have choices in life —–I choose to believe. He lives within me. I can feel Him. If you choose not, I feel sorry for you. If you’ve ever felt the spirit inside, you would agree with me.

Back to my original ramble. As a child growing up, we never ate out on Sunday, didn’t do much of anything – my Dad was very strict in this area. Today he is 88 and loves to say he hasn’t spent a cent on Sunday for a zillion years. Now I’m not like that at all but I do not use Sunday to do my weekly grocery or Walmart shopping. Why does it matter, you might say? Maybe it doesn’t to you but I feel like I should do such during the week. I do eat out on Sunday and may get gas on occasion. You’re probably saying “She’s a nut” and I admit I am but for me, it’s the right thing to do. What happened to respecting the day of rest?

Yes, I do live in the Bible belt of the USA. I can see that with each generation we are drifting more and more away from God. Look at your grandparents, how were they different from you? If time continues, the churches may all eventually close because we have found something more entertaining, that’s what it’s all about anyway….we want to be entertained. We don’t want to sit and be told what we should and should not do.

We have choices every day, what is your choice?

Who’s on first???

Heads up for a big hit!

This ole gal is tired today. I’m trying to act like I’m 25 or 30 or 35 or 40…..and I ain’t. Monday night I took Kate to dance class, Tuesday Kate and I spent the day with our Fisherman at the doctor then when we got home I drove about 60 miles round trip to see my Dad who was in the hospital. Wednesday night we had swim lessons, Thursday night t-ball game and today, Friday, I’m ready to stretch out on the couch but I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.

If you’ve ever experienced watching t-ball games, you probably remember the laughs that were shared among the parents and friends. At my age I truly enjoy seeing Kate participate in all these different activities, but I ask myself if I really “got it” when my son was that age. I think not – at that time I was so busy with work, learning to be a mom, etc.

Last year Kate played t-ball, she was about 2 ½. She spent most of the time roaming around when her team was in the field. When the other team hit the ball, all the kids would run for the ball but not Kate – she would run toward the crowd of kids and then fall down in the soft grass and laugh. Someone would have to get her up and get ready for the next batter. Once she hit the ball and then strolled over to the dugout – I said, “Kate, run to first.” She said, “Nah, I don’t want to play anymore.” Finally a little bribe of popcorn following the game got her attention. Love that popcorn.

This year she has been so much more mature. She loves the games. The problem this year is that when her team is in the field, she wants to get all the balls that are hit and throw them back to the coach. If another kid gets the ball, she kindly walks up and puts that little hand out and 99% of the time, the other kid hands over the ball to her. Not sure what she’s saying but it’s working for her.

After the game, we head to the snack stand and buy popcorn, that still works too.

The Dreaded “C” Word

The most dreaded word you want to hear from a doctor has to be “cancer”. You have more than likely had it affect you through a family member or friend. Everyday it seems someone else has…..shhhhh…… “cancer”. So now the victim isn’t one of us cause they now have “it.”

Life can be so changeable in the snap of your finger. An ingrained memory for me was in April of 2000 (wasn’t that the year when the world was suppose to end?). My Fisherman had worked on construction all day, came in the basement to clean up before coming upstairs. We were laughing and talking about our day at work.

About 6 p.m. he started in the bathroom to take his shower and the phone rang. Our family doctor asked for my husband; when he came to the phone, Doc says “I’m sure you have prostate cancer.” I guess that’s one way of not beating around the bush. As I look back, I said “Doc knows what a hard head you are and he had to just blurt it out to get your attention.” This was the results from a blood test he had had several weeks earlier that we had almost forgotten about.

With that one phone call our lives changed dramatically. We then started the hurry up and wait game. We would rush to have tests done but then have to wait, wait, wait for the results. No news was good news. Surgery was planned within a couple of weeks. The doctor said he was a miracle to have survived.

Since then he has had 3 more surgeries, a lipoma in the left thigh; then it came back; then it came back again – the last time the tumor was now a sarcoma (not a good word) and was the size of a watermelon. Radiation for five weeks followed the surgery. Yuk.

The cancer specialist then said, “Oh, it’s just a matter of time, it’ll show up somewhere else.” Isn’t that encouraging? My Fisherman goes back continuously to 3 different doctors for tests and check ups. Recently he felt a place in his stomach – more tests – results 2 weeks later read that it’s “nothing to really worry about” – looks like scar tissues or a hematoma – but let’s do an MRI just in case. So now we are waiting until next week to hear the results of the MRI.

Hey – but good news – the sun is shining today in southcentral Kentucky and I’ve seen many smiling faces today.

Another cloudy day in Kentucky

This spring has been very rainy and cloudy in southern Kentucky. Today Kate and I went to church. As we drove toward the church, she says “I love to go to church.” I wonder how long she will continue to say that – she’s now 3 1/2. It worries me that this upcoming generation could attend church less and less. So many other things to do – more fun – and many don’t see the importance of serving God. Anyone that truly has the love of God in their heart has that desire to worship him, go to church to hear the word.

Today we had a great service. The music and singing so touching to the soul – the beautiful voices singing from their heart. At the end of the service the preacher had the congregation hum “Amazing Grace” as the organ player played the song. Can you imagine the sound of over 100 people humming it – he had talked about the slaves humming as they worked many years ago. Just think about it.

I’ve heard Praise Teams sing at different churches but this particular group of young women are wonderful. I admire each one of them and their precious voices will touch you to the core. I love it.

I’m so thankful for our freedom to live our lives as we choose. Should we worry when our loved ones don’t believe as we do? I do.

Kate wanted to eat at Wendy’s today. The ole chicken nugget kid’s meal – isn’t it great? While in line a young divorced guy came in with his 5 yr old daughter and 4 yr old son that Kate goes to day care with. We ended up sitting with them. I sat across from the 3 kids and they are so precious. My heart aches for these young children – their parents already divorced – time divided amongst the mom and dad. Why? Although their little hearts have ached over the loss of a full time parent – there are many other children that are being abused and kicked around but still my heart aches for these good kids too.

If you have a nice warm house, something to eat and peace, give thanks.

Memories from yesterday

Would you like to be 16 again? 21? 30? Not me, I’ll be 60 in July but that’s ok. Although I’d do many things differently, life has been good to me.

My childhood was quite simple. We never had a lot of money, I can remember Mom saying Dad gave her $10 weekly for groceries (compare that to my $100+). Mom made all my clothes which meant you took off your “good” clothes when you got home from church or school. My Dad was religious to the point of no tv in the house and I always had to wear dresses.

Attending high school in the 60’s I didn’t feel out of place because all the girls were required to wear dresses or skirts. The year after I graduated, the rules changed.

No tv in the house wasn’t too bad since we (my brother & I) never knew the difference. We did listen to a lot of Motown – Aretha, Temptations, 4 Tops.

In the late 50’s my parents owned a small hardware store on Main Street in our rural town. On Saturday afternoon my brother and I would usually stay with our paternal grandparents (Pop & Mom) until about 9:00 p.m. when our parents closed the store. We loved watching Perry Mason and Gunsmoke on tv. Mom C. would always pop popcorn and have cokes in a big glass with ice.

I don’t remember being “bored” – we accepted how life was. Dad was against about anything that kids considered “fun.” He wouldn’t let us have comic books. My aunt and uncle often visited relatives in Tennessee who owned a drugstore. The comic books that weren’t sold in a certain time period were given to them after the front cover was ripped off. My aunt and uncle kept us supplied with comic books. We’d sit on the couch loving every minute of reading Archie and when Dad drove in the driveway we’d grab the comics and hide them under the couch cushions. He never knew.

Today at 88 if you asked him, he’d say “My kids never read that trash.” A feller has to do what a feller has to do for a little entertainment.

My mother was so loving and good to us but she never crossed my Dad. He was definitely the ruler of the house. Things were his way or no way and he is the same today as he was then.

His life was working at the hardware store during the day and going to church at night. Our family went to more revivals than I could ever count. At 7 years old I started taking piano lessons which led to my brother later singing at churches with me playing the piano for him. Thanks, Mom, for making me practice all those years.

I’m thankful to say that I have memories of peace in my family – no yelling and screaming, no cussing, drinking, no mistreatment but love and protection from the people that loved me. I hope you can say the same.

Country as cornbread

Who can make cornbread like Mama used to make? I think I about can. Here’s the pics and the recipe if you want to try it:

Ingredients

Country Cornbread:

2 cups cornmeal
1 heaping Tbsp self-rising flour
1 egg
Buttermilk – enough to make batter wet and stirable

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Take 8″ cast iron skillet and splash canola oil with about 2 Tbsp. Put skillet in oven to get oil and skillet really hot while you are mixing the batter.

Stir in as listed above. Then remove skillet (use potholder – instructions for my brother) and sprinkle bottom with some cornmeal (this makes a good crispy top) – then pour batter in skillet. Bake until top is very golden brown. Take out and dump on a plate – delicious.

Slap some butter on a big piece with a cold glass of milk!! Delicious also with a can of Luck’s Pinto Beans.