Saturday, May 21, 2011
No watermelon at the Watermelon Festival in Newberry FL
I don't know who was more excited about having a sleep over the grandchildren or the adults. The delicious beef stew one of my daughters made was enjoyed by all. After baths and showers it was time for popcorn and a movie. Waiting for Rainbow Bright to come this G-Maw fell asleep on the couch. My daughter shook me awake and told me to go to bed and I sweetly complied. This morning I heard all about the fun and laughter they all shared. Nobody wanted to sleep with me and when asked why they all said because you snore too loud G-Maw. Fair enough I am at fault this time. I guess now that they are getting bigger they can tell us they don't get any sleep when they sleep with me because I keep waking them up. However I sincerely hope I don't sound the way they demonstrated for us. Have a pop tart kids and drink your milk kids. Yes I did change the subject and that is that. We all got ready for the Watermelon Festival near one of my daughter's house and got a prime spot without knowing that we were doing so. The candy that was thrown for the 4 kids was enough to fill a small grocery bag. They were allowed to eat one piece and then it was put away to divide equally among them. This being our first time we did not know what to expect except that is was $5.00 for parking. No handicap parking for the disabled in sight. It was a very long walk to get to the festivities and I had to sit down numerous times to rest. We finally made it to where the kiddie fun things were and after that we went on to the next field that had the vendors. We only bought something at one booth. We were looking for the watermelon decor accessories we were sure would be there, with a name like the Watermelon festival with the ad of free watermelon one would think there would be a lot of items to go with the theme. Well we never saw a watermelon and there was one item of accessories with a watermelon painted on it.What a disappointment. I did overhear a deputy telling someone of the difficult time they had with DOT trying to have the festival which was held at a different location this year. There's a story there. The few food booths they had weren't appetizing so we went back to my daughter's house and had Pb&j sandwiches and a most delicious drink of kool aid and 7up mix. Then we all chatted while the kids rested(we knew they weren't going to sleep). It was overall a very nice day together. The daughter I rode with had us back at my apartment by 4:00. When I was telling my sister what I got, I was searching for the bag it was put in and it accidentally went home with my daughter.lol I really didn't care as I was ready to lay down and rest awhile before moving around once I got home. Now I guess I need to get off the computer and cook dinner so until next time I leave you with Just This...Alice.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Finally Made it Back
So much has happened since I last posted. Sickness, birthdays, recitals, etc.
Shame on me for not taking just a few minutes out of a busy day to pop in and say HI to all you sweet people and let you know I was still here. This is sometimes hard for me to do and my typing skills are not what they were long ago.lol
Now lets see what time in my life can I share tonight....
This may sound Gorey to some but I will tell it in a kind way.
We were a self sufficient farm. That also involved raising our own meat. One time Pa got 100 biddies from the feed store to raise for food. Turned out there was a mistake of a few chicks and we kept them to lay eggs. On a Saturday morning bright and early we would start the fire under the ole wash pot and then set out for the chicken yard. When the first one's neck was wrung it was a shocker to us children. But being that we lived on a farm and knew about having to slaughter animals for our food, soon got us over the first shock of watching the chickens flop all over the place, and at times is seemed like they were coming after us for wringing their necks. Now if you remember mention has been made of being faintable over the sight of blood. Yeah right, the others decided they too couldn't stand the sight of blood and might faint at any moment. Now that left two of us to wring their necks. My oldest brother who was the pesticator and myself. We didn't seem to be doing the job fast enough and Pa told us to get one in each hand and go to town wringing those chickens necks. Well the party got in full swing then I have never seen so many dancing chickens in my life in one spot. My brother and I were doing the twist and the chickens were doing all sorts of dance steps all around us. Of course my brother had to make fun of me and goad me on about the task at hand and I got so mad at him that when I wrung the next two chickens necks they were left in my hands. "Sorry" I felt terrible to begin with for committing the sin of killing that I burst into tears over the happenings of my job. If you can imagine a 12 year old farm girl wringing chickens necks while squalling and tossing them in a pile, it was surely a sight for confusion with my brother laughing so hard he looked more like he was playing than working. The other girls had to douse the chickens in the hot water to loosen the feathers to pluck them easier while we were wringing their necks. Pa had already started butchering the plucked chickens getting them ready to put up in the freezer. Mama was in the kitchen frying up chicken and cooking collards, beans, mashed potatoes,gravy, and banana pudding for our dinner. The two youngest ones didn't have much to do in the line of work. About 50 chickens had been butchered by noon so we broke and ate dinner. No talking while at the table was my parents rule as well as eat everything on your plate and be quick about it, as we had to always get back to work doing one job or the other. While we girls cleaned the kitchen and put the leftovers away Pa went back to butchering chickens. This was also the time when I learned how to butcher a chicken all by myself. The only thing he threw away in the tub was the intestines. Waste not want not was his motto. The feet got skinned and eaten in chicken and rice along with the backs and necks. So I watched Pa for awhile then did it with his supervision and then he let me do it by myself telling me to not cut myself. I had a lesson in what a blood bath was about that day. The lessons learned came in handy later when I first got out on my own and had to cut up my own cwn chicken for the economical purchase price instead of the more expensive precut chickens. Well we didn't end up with 100 chickens in the freezer as they planned but close to it. It would certainly get us through the winter with the other meat we would butcher later in the Fall. It's amazing what we can do when we are in a position of have to do it or suffer the consequences like that day and many others on the farm while I was growing up. That was surely a long time ago, almost 50 years, and I can still remember it like it was just yesterday.
Well that's it for not so until next time I leave you with just this... Alice
Shame on me for not taking just a few minutes out of a busy day to pop in and say HI to all you sweet people and let you know I was still here. This is sometimes hard for me to do and my typing skills are not what they were long ago.lol
Now lets see what time in my life can I share tonight....
This may sound Gorey to some but I will tell it in a kind way.
We were a self sufficient farm. That also involved raising our own meat. One time Pa got 100 biddies from the feed store to raise for food. Turned out there was a mistake of a few chicks and we kept them to lay eggs. On a Saturday morning bright and early we would start the fire under the ole wash pot and then set out for the chicken yard. When the first one's neck was wrung it was a shocker to us children. But being that we lived on a farm and knew about having to slaughter animals for our food, soon got us over the first shock of watching the chickens flop all over the place, and at times is seemed like they were coming after us for wringing their necks. Now if you remember mention has been made of being faintable over the sight of blood. Yeah right, the others decided they too couldn't stand the sight of blood and might faint at any moment. Now that left two of us to wring their necks. My oldest brother who was the pesticator and myself. We didn't seem to be doing the job fast enough and Pa told us to get one in each hand and go to town wringing those chickens necks. Well the party got in full swing then I have never seen so many dancing chickens in my life in one spot. My brother and I were doing the twist and the chickens were doing all sorts of dance steps all around us. Of course my brother had to make fun of me and goad me on about the task at hand and I got so mad at him that when I wrung the next two chickens necks they were left in my hands. "Sorry" I felt terrible to begin with for committing the sin of killing that I burst into tears over the happenings of my job. If you can imagine a 12 year old farm girl wringing chickens necks while squalling and tossing them in a pile, it was surely a sight for confusion with my brother laughing so hard he looked more like he was playing than working. The other girls had to douse the chickens in the hot water to loosen the feathers to pluck them easier while we were wringing their necks. Pa had already started butchering the plucked chickens getting them ready to put up in the freezer. Mama was in the kitchen frying up chicken and cooking collards, beans, mashed potatoes,gravy, and banana pudding for our dinner. The two youngest ones didn't have much to do in the line of work. About 50 chickens had been butchered by noon so we broke and ate dinner. No talking while at the table was my parents rule as well as eat everything on your plate and be quick about it, as we had to always get back to work doing one job or the other. While we girls cleaned the kitchen and put the leftovers away Pa went back to butchering chickens. This was also the time when I learned how to butcher a chicken all by myself. The only thing he threw away in the tub was the intestines. Waste not want not was his motto. The feet got skinned and eaten in chicken and rice along with the backs and necks. So I watched Pa for awhile then did it with his supervision and then he let me do it by myself telling me to not cut myself. I had a lesson in what a blood bath was about that day. The lessons learned came in handy later when I first got out on my own and had to cut up my own cwn chicken for the economical purchase price instead of the more expensive precut chickens. Well we didn't end up with 100 chickens in the freezer as they planned but close to it. It would certainly get us through the winter with the other meat we would butcher later in the Fall. It's amazing what we can do when we are in a position of have to do it or suffer the consequences like that day and many others on the farm while I was growing up. That was surely a long time ago, almost 50 years, and I can still remember it like it was just yesterday.
Well that's it for not so until next time I leave you with just this... Alice
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