Family Reunion

Today I attended our family reunion and had a good time. Delicious food, good conversation, catching up on family news, thinking about those who didn't make it this year and those we lost since last year.

I got up early and put my ham in the oven to bake. I cooked collards and cornbread to go with it. I had intended to bake rolls but didn't take them out of the freezer in time to thaw. So much for a short cut I took the other day. They'll be there for the next time I need some. I didn't make any dessert but there was plenty without a banana pudding or peach cobbler. Tonight I will have my most favorite comfort food ever. Cornbread and milk. I crumble up some cornbread in a cereal bowl and pour some 1% milk over it then spoon full by spoon full I taste pure sweet memories of going to town on the mule and wagon to have the corn we planted, hoed out the weeds, fertilized, harvested from the stalks and put in piles. Then my Dad would come along with the mule and sled and we would fill it up and keep picking the corn off the stalks and piling it up for his next trip. It was taken to the corn crib and piled on one side of the wall dividing the corn crib into two spaces. After the corn was all harvested and stored for the winter we would shuck and shell what we needed as we needed it. For the chickens we would usually shell it right off the cob and scatter it about the chicken yard. For the hogs we would shell it and then soak it for them to eat for a treat. most of the time they ate it without soaking. The cows took care of the stalks left in the field for their winter grazing. When it came to food for us, we would load up shelled corn on the wagon. Yellow corn was for cornbread and white corn was for grits. Off we would go to town around to Mr. Box's Grist mill. It was so fascinating to watch those two wheels grind that corn into little specks. When it was all ground Pa and Mr. Box would come to an agreement as to Mr. Box's share of meal and grits for grinding the corn for us. Off we would go in the mule and wagon headed back home. But on occasion we would stop off and Mr. Howland's store, which was more like a shack back then, and we were given a nickle to get some candy, an ice cream cone, or a candy bar. Yes that is all that stuff cost way back then. Part of the ride home was mostly silent with each of us intent on what we were eating. We didn't care that automobiles were speeding around us, we'd just throw up our free hand and wave. Not realizing that we were way behind the times in the mid to late 1950's it never crossed our minds that they were making fun of us and that was what all their laughter and shouts was about. We would make it home in time to do the evening chores while Pa put the corn meal and grits in their containers. Fresh ground corn meal was made into cornbread for our supper and what a supper we would have. Southern women know how to cook like no other when it comes to hospitality cooking. At least two meats and sometimes three. Several vegetables like green beans, butter beans, peas, greens, squash or even okra. Always cornbread and sometimes biscuits. My goodness what a feast we would have when company came. And we had company that evening. We liked to have company as the adults would sit around and talk and we children would get to play after supper and the dishes were done and put away.

Pardon me but it is 6:35 and I am off to have my cornbread and milk. So til next time I leave you with Just This...Alice

I have been grilled

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Won't accept the link says it is broken so we'll try this instead.

I wasn't successful in putting the badge to the side so here it sits.
It's good to be grilled by Grandma's Briefs and I love her blog which is seperate from her grilling but accessable on the page.. You may want to check her out for some fun posts.

Yesterday I set out to pick up some fabric yard to make a rug I found on free cycle. I git to within three miles and my tracker broke down. It was only a few minutes and a couple knowledgable in auto mechanics stopped. Then another vehicle stopped and offered the use of a cell phone for calling a family member. The Lord sure was good to me as the man checked out the tracker he found the problem, my altinator was no longer working. They charged up my battery for about 30 minutes and told us that when that went out to try charging again to get it home to my brother's house. It only lasted for me to go a few feet down the road and them cut off again. Well my brother was looking for something in his truck and a dog came up to him and scared him so that he shooed him away and ended up shutting the door on his thumb. OUCH! I saw that happen and felt so bad. Here he was trying to help me and ended up getting hurt. He called my other brother who just happened to be on vacation this week and he came in his big truck with a chain and hooked right up to my tracker and pulled us to the house about 5 miles away. I don't know if any of you have ever had to be towed this way but if so you knopw how hard it is to steer and use the brakes. I almost kissed the back end of that big truck 3 or 4 times. I was scared stiff throughout the journey to his house. I am so blessed to have 2 brothers that are willing to help someone out in need of assistance. The younger brother took off the old altinator and took it to Auto Zone, used my debit card without any problems at all (my daughter had a world of trouble and it got froze when she took my package to the post office last Monday), and brought back a new one and put it on. Tracker started right up and this morning after my oldest brother took his wife to the hospital for routine tests they stopped by my apartment and got me to go get my tracker. After visiting for a little bit I got in and that little darling started right up for me too and I was on my way. Thank you Lord for putting the people I needed in the places they were so I got the help I needed. If there is anyone out there having vehicle trouble I pray that they receive help just as I did so they are not left in this heat very long. May we all be an angel to someone in need this way. Until next time I leave you with Just This...Alice

Happy Birthday America! God Bless You and me.

Americans sing Let Freedom Ring while celebrating is what it is all about.
For those who lived, fought, and lost their life for us I thank you. For their families, I am sorry for your loss.
May we all remember the principles this country was built on and who is at the head. May God continue blessing us and remain at the head and in all we do as a country.
Men may fail but God does not so in him I put my trust.
Though I am disabled I can still stand long enough to say the pledge to the flag. I don't understand why others that can don't or won't.
I say that pledge for what it represents and not for any other group like or dislike.
We are Americans born here while some chose to move here legally or not.
As a guest in another country I respect their culture and language and never try to change it.
I hope others would respect our country and way of life and don't try to change it.
Of all the countries in the world I feel this is the best for me to call home.
May we all treat each other with kindness and respect. May we all work toward one common goal. May we all be truthful and stop trying to take advantage of others. May we be loving and giving and strive for the good of all mankind. May we give freely to our own in our own country first.
It really saddens me to see what I was told end up not being true after all. When someone in another country has better household furnishings than I do will not receive a donation from me. Yes I do have compassion and empathy but I also have eyes to see that I was mislead. I have in my life time pumped water from a hand pump, drank from a pond of water or a river. I have worked in the fields like a slave yet I was not labeled one. I went without shoes and walked just fine, perhaps some laughed at me but I still walked. I didn't have all the fine dining food that many had but I still ate when it was meal time. Hard work planting,hoeing the weeds out, harvesting, and preserving the food and animals for winter got us through. My clothes were patched but they were very clean as I was adept at using a scrub board.
We rode in a mule drawn wagon to get about followed by a tractor and trailer when money was made to purchase a used one. We often did our homework by kerosene lights. We had a roof over our heads and it may not have had the beauty of others homes but it kept us dry. We didn't have indoor plumbing so it was a long walk to the out house instead just down the hall. It was a hard life but I made it through the hard times with an appreciation for the good times like no other. People back then used the golden rule and said Yes sir and No mam when asked a question. We need to bring back the respect for others that was lost when society deemed it necessary for mothers to go to work. Children do not learn at most day cares. I worked at one and tried my best but it just wasn't there. But the checks from the government were put to good use by the owners. Children are not the same away from home that parents think they are. I once worked at a bowling where many parents dropped off their children and then went to the next town and partied because we have a dry county. The sad thing about that is that some left their children there and didn't come back to get them when we closed. Workers gave many children rides home after working til two and three in the morning after working a day job. As a single mom with four children after two divorces, I did my best to take care of my children and spend time with them. All four of them graduated high school and two of them did it with honors. One graduated college and is a teacher. I had a motto that one excuse was as good as another when it came to whining about how hard it was to take care of my little family.
I tell you this because in my opinion people quit trying after being downtrodden and robbed of their dignity for so long. I just wish all the executives and CEO's would have to live the life of a few of us and then see if they would be so all fired selfish with their pocket books and wallets here in OUR country. I feel we should take care of our own first. GREED has came calling for its due and it will be a sad situation for many. How many have used what God has provided, with the titles they have to earn big money, to help those in genuine need here in our own country. How many have misused the charities they have established for its true purpose instead of ten cents of a dollar going to the needy it should be ninety per cent going to the needy with ten percent going to those running it. I am sad to know that so many people have been duped into giving so much money thinking they are helping someone in need and they are just giving money away to some glorified panhandler that made it off the street into a fine office. I would ask the American people to research before giving your money away as it might not be going where you think it is. Personally I prefer to find a local family who I can see is in need and help them when I am able. WAKE UP AMERICA and take care of America first. If a country is in need in a disaster help is definitely warranted. We have been in our own disasters yet I haven't seen or heard of other countries helping us. If they have and the media has with held that bit of information from us I would wonder why. Too much power has been given to too many people and it is destroying us all with a greed for more.
This is how our country stands today. A leader who will not pledge allegiance to our country's flag and blatantly so. Too many hands in the till and emptying it out quickly. Lies being spread by the media telling us only a small part of what is really happening around the world. Our men and women are giving their all to help protect this country and when they come home to what when they need our help. That should be the top charity we have for those who served and risked their lives for a country they call home. Those families who loose a member of the military should be compensated for the loss of that life as it was given freely while doing a job for the USA.
I simply can not understand how the drug companies have been given so much leeway that they are killing people with bad drugs given as medication to help heal. that's for another time. I'm tired and ready for a nap and as I don't get much sleep I try to get it when I can.
My oldest daughter was born on this country's bicentennial birthday and I want to wish her a very Happy Birthday also. Happy Birthday Airalisha. 35 years ago I welcomed a sweet little baby girl early then almost lost her because they didn't think she was early because of her birth weight. I just had big babies is all. We just don't know what we think we know sometimes. Until next time I leave you with Just This...Alice