Thoughts on Thursday

What a day to sit and think about my life as I lived it.

Imagine if you would a backwoods country family of seven youngins and the parents living in a one bedroom house built out of the pine trees Pa cut down. The front of the house faced south and there was a long driveway. We had a long narrow kitchen/dining room with a door leading to the back porch which had the only spigot we had for water. No indoor plumbing in the house. There was the old cowhide chairs that sat around the dinner table at the head and one side. The side next to the wall had a long bench Pa made for five of us to sit on when we ate out meals. There were two double beds (full sized as they are called today) and one single bed (twin) in the one bedroom for us girls to sleep on. There were five girls and two boys and everyone used to sleep in the bedroom until we got old enough for separating the boys from the girls and at that time Pa closed in part of the front porch to make the two boys a room of their own. We all had to use the outhouse before dark and then the pee pot was put in the bedroom at night for us girls. Mama and Pa slept in the living room on a double bed. Since it was a large living room their bed was against the wall separating the living room from the kitchen. They had their dresser and a night table. Around the rest of the room sat two cowhide rocking chairs, a settee (sofa) and cowhide straight back chairs for us youngins. In the winter time we would sit around the fire (the only heat we had) and shell pecans for Holiday cooking and dry peanuts for Spring planting. Sometimes the fire would pop so loudly it sounded like a gun going off. One time when my oldest sister was sweeping the floor she swept the dirt into the fire and all of a sudden that noise went off and she grabbed her neck saying ouch. A bullet from the 22 shot gun had managed to get swept into the fire and it grazed her neck by her carotid artery. That frightened everyone. We would bathe in pans of water and put on our flannel nightgowns and stand in front of the fire to get warm before going to bed. When the back side was good and warm we'd turn around to warm the front which had done got cold again. It looked like we were on a rotisserie the way we were turning. I hated getting into that ole cold bed at night during the winter and I didn't like the other girls arguing over who got to sleep with me because I was their heater because I generated heat and they would all pile on one bed and tell me to get in the middle to keep them warm. Being hot natured it always made me feel like I was smothering in a can of sardines.

We grew our own food and would sometimes get up very early and go to the field and plant, hoe, and pick til it was time to wash up and get ready for school. We had rocking chairs lined up on the front porch and when we picked vegetables from the garden ( 3-5 acres of each), we would sit and shell butter beans, speckled butter beans, peas (several varieties) and string beans green and yellow on the front porch. We would each have a big pan for shelling the vegetables in and sit and rock in unison at times. We didn't have a vehicle ourselves, we rode in the mule and wagon til we got a tractor and trailer, then we rode in that. It was a treat to hear a vehicle coming down our dirt road and we would try to guess who it was as very few people rode down our dirt road. Well one day we were all sitting on the front porch shelling peas and we heard what we thought was the neighbors youngin on his motorcycle. Now our closest neighbor lived a half of a mile away from us across the paved road at the end of our dirt road. The son would rip down our road on his motorcycle and rev it up as he passed our house. We heard what we thought was the neighbor kid while we were shelling the peas and it seemed to get closer and closer and we were all guessing when we would be able to see him. The noise got loud to where we were sure we should have seen him coming by the house and no one went by. The motorcycle sound kept going and going and my next to the oldest sister was laughing and we all asked her what was so funny and she told us that motorcycle we heard was her whistling dixie tail talk. We laughed til we had tears streaming down our faces over that. For some reason it just gave us the giggles that day. Pa got upset with us and said "Don't y'all know that is the height of ill manners to do that in the presence of someone else? You save that for the outhouse." Now our outhouse was a two seater opened back outhouse and we thought we were right uptown over that as most country folks only had a one seater outhouse sitting over a deep hole. Every Saturday we would clean because cleanliness is next to Godliness and that meant we raked the yard and hoed up any grass that crept in through the fence. I later learned that was why we had to sweep the house so much due to all that sand being tracked inside. We would get the ole wash pot fire started and use the scrub board and then put them in the wash pot to boil the dirt out of the whites. After the clothes were all hung out on the clothes line, we swept the house then scrubbed the floor and then mopped it to rinse it. Then it was outside for the other Saturday chores. Some would rake the pine straw out of the yard and some got outhouse duty. We had to rake everything out and then Pa would come with the kerosene can and light a fire on it. The used corncobs would sometimes smolder and we couldn't leave it til it was all out. Of course no one wanted to do the outhouse chore. And when we upgraded to the Sears and Roebuck catalog we thought we were rich folks. We tore off a page and wrinkled and scrubbed the page together to soften it up and it felt so much better than using those corncobs. I didn't know what toilet paper was til I went to school. Anyway when the floors and clothes were dry we would take them in and iron everything with a big ole heavy iron. Most of the ironing wasn't too bad but the boys dungarees were so hard to iron and stiff they were stiff. We had a bottle with a metal stopper that had holes in it for sprinkling the clothes before ironing. I often wondered why we didn't take the clothes off the line when they were still damp and iron them. Well that was the way to iron back then and that is what we did. No wonder it took all day to finish the Saturday chores. Then we would wash up cook, and eat supper, then clean the kitchen. We heated water in big pans for washing and rinsing the dishes and then we dried them and put them away on the shelf. Now this is where I would dread being in the kitchen. My oldest brother would put a hat or bonnet on a mop and walk by the window acting like a ghost and scare the daylights out of me and send me running from the kitchen to the living room. Of course I was told to get back in there and finish. Well I would and we only had electric wire hanging down with a light bulb over the two tables. The one where we prepared dinner and washed dishes and the eating table. To conserve electricity we would only use one at a time. So when I was finished with the dishes on my turn I would go to the light over the eating table and putt the chain and then go back to the other table to pull the chain to turn that one off. well when I reached for the light to turn it off my pesticating brother would reach up and pull the other light chain which left me in total darkness and he would run and hide behind the door and shut it which left me a hollering and carrying on to let me out which was entertainment for the rest of the family. I thought to myself one day "I'm gonna fix his little red wagon and get him by making it to the door before he closes it. He almost got it closed but I was fast and pushed on that door with all my might and it slammed open with him hitting the wall and the door hitting him. For his trouble he almost got a broke nose. That was the last time he did that little trick on me. There is so much more to come but for now I leave you with Just This...Alice

Goodbye to my daughter, her family, and 2010

December 31,2020. This evening I said goodbye to my middle daughter and her two children. This week I helped her pack up her household the best I could. Today the trucks came and she brought the children over to stay at my place til they were ready to leave. I cherish the time I had with them today as it will be a long time before I see them again. I was sad for awhile then reflected on many things about how good this move is for her family and thought who am I to wish different about their leaving. I rejoice in the position my son in law is filling. My daughter will continue being a sahm and that is a wonderful arrangement. I will indeed miss them greatly yet visiting will be so sweet and I have that to look forward to.

Reflecting on the year 2010.... There were many moments of joy with some moments of sadness. Did I accomplish everything I planned to for 2010? No I am even slower than before. Did I go out more than last year? No I went out less as it becomes more difficult to get out and about. But I will continue to go as much as I am able.
In December I made some more gifts for my family for Christmas. My daughter came and helped me decorate my space for the Christmas decorations contest which we won first prize. This was my gift for Christmas from my daughter. Oh the joy of Christmas and the little ones. We had a wonderful dinner and opened gifts. My oldest grandson told me that he didn't know I was going to get him what I did. He opened his scarf first and thought it was all he would get. I surprised him with one of the toys I heard him say he wanted so much. My grandaughters loved their dolls and scarfs. The youngest grandson who turned one loved his toy and his mom and dad loved the bibs I made for him. I shall just simply say everyone enjoyed and liked the presents. What did I get? The love of family around me. Pictures, candles, smell good stuff, clothes, books, and a whole lot of hugs.

I do enjoy getting out when I go with my girls even though it is hard on me. We went to the mall in November and I found some wonderful items for gifts that didn't break the bank.lol As we took a break and had a nice lunch, I presented each of my daughters with surprise gift to let them know how much I love and appreciate them.They didn't cost very much but it was something that would remind them of us and our time together. November is also the month my son's dog passed away from some kind of quick cancer. My son found a quarter sized spot on her neck and took her to the vet and learned of her fate. Within three weeks the cancer had grown to the size of a softball. My son had time to make peace with her passing and laid her to rest. I referred to her as my grandchildog.

October was a very warm fall for us for the most part. It was also the month we signed our new lease for the apartment my sister and I live in. I loved the photos of the grandchildren in their costumes as they were trick or treating.

September brings nothing to mind at the moment of any eventful happenings.

August was my youngest daughters birthday.

July was my oldest daughters birthday,

June passed right on by me.

May is my middle daughters birthday and also my birthday.

April was when my youngest daughter brought flowers and planted my pots for me. It was beautiful and got many compliments.

March, Feb.,and January were the beginning of the year and sorry to say with the exception of my son's birthday have been forgotten.

Back to now and the clock ticking toward the year ending. Will I stay up and watch the new year come in? That is way beyond this ole gal's bedtime. I think I'll have a little cranberry juice and toast to the happy event and go to bed and let the old year show itself out and the New Year find its own way in. Will I make resolutions for the new year? They don't seem to work out so I'll just say I will try my best to be and do the best I can be in 2011. For the moment I think that's enough. Until next time I remain Just This...Alice

Sometimes things just don't turn out like we want them to. I brought out my converter and photo card to try some photos on here. Someone and that was probably me moved it and now it has been some time since it has been misplaced. So no photos til it's found or I buy a new one. Until then another story from my youth.
This time of year we would always go to the Coast for fish with roe in them. About 4:00 a.m. I would get up with my dad and start breakfast. Grits, sausage, eggs, and of course biscuits were prepared and we all sat around the table. After teh blessing we all ate and back in that day there was no talking allowed or the offender would get a quick backhand from whichever parent that was the closest. It was a quick cleanup afterward then packing all we needed for the trip. Mr. Wes and Ms. Alfie would come chugging up the drive in the old pickup truck they drove. Mr. Wes had a wooden leg and wasn't to quick to get around but he sure could tell us how and where to put the items we kids carried out to the truck. A couple of #3 washtubs, #2 washtubs, foot tubs, went in first. Everything was stacked accordingly to conserve space.Cast iron skillits, cast iron kettle, grease for cooking and dreams of a fishfry on the way back home out in the Chinkipen (sp) forrest as we called it. We were a family of 9 total. Loading up to go was a given. The 4 adults and the youngest child rode up front. The rest of us rode in the back with all the stuff we were taking with up plus we all had a quilt to wrap around us to stay warm. It seemed to help that there were sideboards surrounding us to keep us from falling out. It can be bitterly cold to ride in the back of a truck in November when it is cold for Florida. Pa and Mr. Wes would check to make sure everything was secure. Then they would get in the front and off we would be. We would head out to the dirt road and turn south to hit the highway. There was a shortcut to get further down the road on SR51 and that is how we went. In the predawn of the day we in the back could hear all kinds of sounds. My aggrevating brother would call out watch out for that hawk he's comming after you when we hit a low hanging limb. Of course this would cause us girls to quickly cover our heads with our quilts and remain that way til it was good and daylight. When we would arrive at the coast, we would all pile out of the truck and there were many that would look our way and whisper. When we started pulling the tubs and buckets out they showed us the whites of their eyes very well. We children were allowed to walk off the boardwalk down to the waters edge and look for shells. Sometimes there would be funny looking things in the wake of the high tide. Once there was this funny looking fish that looked like a kite to me (I later learned it was a stingray) and of course it was the perfect opportunity for Buddy to get one over on me. He told me it was just a dead fish and to pick it up by its tail. I picked the thing up and got a swift shock that ran from my hand down to my feet. I slung that thing down and went into some kind of a fit jumping around and kicking. When I finally settled down and could move again I went over and whallopped Buddy on his arm so hard he fell over. After that I stayed in the little shack where they were selling the fish. It didn't take long to get everything taken care of either. The tubs were set out and a layer of ice went down then a layer of fish and on and on till it was full with ice being the last layer. Then we took some tobacco sheets and tide them around the tubs to keep the wind off the ice. We loaded up again and were on our way once more. We took a side road on the way back and found a little clearing and parked. We were all given jobs to do and all went smoothly for the most part. Mama and Ms. Alfie were cooking the cleaned fish, grits,pork n beans, and hush puppies in no time. Pa took us kids out in the Chinkipins and we started gathering them. Those things had some kind of armor on them. If you weren't careful they would hurt your fingers. There were prickly points all over them. It was like picking up giant sand spurs and I was so glad when Pa said that ought to be enough. Of course Buddy had his devilment self up to no good when he hollered watch out Alice there goes a snake. Well I did the snake dance for him and ended up falling in a patch of those Chinkipins and hollered like that invisible snake done bit me. We made it back over to the campfire and Mama and Mrs. Alfie was dishing up tin plates to the rim with food. That was some of the best eating I can think of for an outing for the family. Of course we had to clean up and load up once again for the trip home. I was never so glad as when Buddy fell asleep. Oh what a peaceful ride I had home. I enjoyed that very much. After arriving home and unloading everyone and everything, we got to work cleaning the fish and preparing them for the freezer. I had learned at an early age to do the chores associated with living on a farm without being a sissy about it. My sisters were either smarter than me or wimps cause they would get out of it every time. I won't go into any details about the chore but it took all afternoon til just after dark to finish. We ate some supper and then Mr. Wes and Mrs. Alfie loded up their share and went home and we put ours in the freezer. Since Pa didn't want varmits comming around after the fish remains we had a bonfire and raked everything up in a pile and shoveled it onto the fire. Then it was time to wash up and get ready for bed. We didn't have an indoor bathroom so we had pans of water on a shelf that we would take a sponge bath out of. It was a good feeling to lay down and go to sleep that night. Until next time I leave you with Just This...Alice

Test for Tutorial

The book is finished and I am going to try to add pictures along with the directions. If it doesn't work I may need some help. Until then I remain Just This....Alice

TASTEFUL TUESDAY

Wow what a day. Got discharged from home care, cut out fabric for some pillow case dresses, made supper and now I am exhausted.
So here goes the tasteful part. I used Shake and Bake Barbecue on center cut pork chops with as much fat as possible removed. I preheated the oven to 350 while I prepared the chops. The directions say to wet the meat but this time I didn't. I wet the boneless chicken breasts the first time I used the product and it just clumped and stuck to the sides of the bag. I hate wasting anything so this time I emptied the pouch onto a plate and after washing the chops, I let them drain as I was trimming the fat. I took a chop and layed it across the Shake and Bake and then turned it over as needed to make sure it was coated well. Then I put it in a 9X11 inch glass baking dish. I repeated for all 4 of my chops then put them in the oven. I got a simple recipe for Broccoli casserole off cooks.com,Here is the recipe as written: 2 pkgs. frozen broccoli
1can mushroom soup
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons minced onion
2 cups cheddar cheese shredded
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup butter
Cook broccoli and drain. Beat eggs and add soup, mayonnaise, and onion. Add broccoli and shredded cheese and mix well. Put in a greased casserole dish. Top with crackers and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or til top starts to brown.

This is how I tweaked it:
2 bundles of fresh Broccoli heads cooked and drained
1 can of cream of celery soup
3/4 cup of Kraft mayonnaise
2 cups of extra sharp cheddar cheese shredded
2 beaten eggs
1/2 package of seasoned croutons

In a large bowl I added cream of celery soup,mayonnaise,beaten eggs. I mixed this together then added the shredded cheese and mixed. I then added the broccoli and gently mixed together. I poured it into a 9X11 glass baking pan I prepared with cooking spray. I crushed the croutons while still in the bag with my rolling pin. Then I sprinkled them over the top and put in the oven timing it so both my BBQ'd pork and it would be done at the same time. I sliced some tomato and cucumber and put it in a small bowl and poured about a cup of white vinegar on it and tossed then refrigerated it til supper was done in the oven. Placing 1 pork chop on a plate and a large spoon of broccoli casserole next to it, I added a couple of slices of tomato and about 6 slices of cucumber to the plate. It tasted so good. We now have the rest put up in the freezer for dinner another day. I just love cooking for today and another day at the same time. It saves time when I can pop it in the microwave and tell my sister dinner will be ready in a couple of minutes.
Tomorrow my daughter is bring her two over to visit with me so she can go walking around the Sports Complex track across the road from me. Until then I remain Just This... Alice

This is a picture of two of my daughters when I had the Maxwellhouse Velveeta party. They came a little early to help with getting everything together. The problem is several photos were taken prior to the guests arrival and then we were too busy to take any more. We had such a fun time.



If this works, I can say I at least dit this right one time. If I got it right I will certainly try more posts with photos. This is just a test to see if I am doing this right so don't think I've finally lost it alltogether. LOL

Frugal Friday

I don't know how many people shop at the Dollar General Store but today I did. Talk about bargains. A nice blouse $4.00, knee shorts $4.00, socks $1.00, sandals I already have. So for around $10.00 I have a nice outfit for Monday. I love being frugal with my shopping. I simply refuse to pay full price for anything like this. They even have some groceries. All my cream of chicken, celery,mushroom soups were 2/$1.00. Beat that WalMart.
Now that I have mentioned WalMart here I go......I absolutely hate what they are doing to the store here. They are taking away the craft department. So many older women are in need of a fabric store here and that is what I wrote them about a year ago when this same thing came up. They will not stop til they have a monopoly on shopping in small city's like the one I live in. Some time back we could go to WalMart and sit in the little radio diner and have a light lunch or just a drink and snack to tide us over while shopping. They took that away. Never mind elderly and disabled people need a break during many tasks such as this. I see they are even taking away some of the benches elderly people would sit on while waiting for their family to finish their own checking out after helping them shop. WalMart gets no stars from me for their store. Today I chose not to go there for anything. Our one local vegetable/fruit stand got my business and I got better quality fresh local food. I will get my meats and frozen foods later as I have to break up my shopping due to my condition.
Being on a fixed income causes people to make choices of how they spend their money. Housing and monthly bills come first then groceries. If there is anything left is isn't for entertainment it would be for the medicines they have to have. I never realized how hard people had it until it happened to me. When the money runs out that's it and there is no more til the next deposit from SSD. But through this comes the silver lining....we don't have to worry about what movie to watch or where to go out to eat or if we will go to the ball game on Friday night. There is no money in the budget for that and I am certainly OK with it. I have learned why older people like staying home so much. The madhouse rush for everything in life. We can't move that fast anymore so we get in the slow lane and when that gets too fast we park it. We might venture out for an occasional ice cream cone and drive up and down the main streets in town for a little bit of fun on a school night...gas in the car permitting. Then it's home for the time being.
You might ask how do older people spend their time at home. Time flies when you are older because we forget what day it is a lot of the time. Go to bed for a little nap and wake up thinking it's the next day. Some people work on making quilts and other craft work. Now as far as I know and from what I have seen men just putter around from one thing to the other without accomplishing very much. The most fun thing to do and I find myself doing this at times which is to go back in time in our minds and think about all that we have done and where we've been and who we've seen and realize that it really didn't mean as much as we thought it did back then.
Think about the elderly people who live in your neighborhood and try to be kind to them and if you are inclined to go walking and see them sitting on their porch, they would probably love to have you walk up to the porch and let them know who you are and as their neighbor you would like to visit for a few minutes. You may have took 5 minutes out of your walk but the gift you just gave them was worth more than gold or silver because you made them feel like someone cared enough about them to stop and say hi. Being old is a lonely thing and many of us haven't learned how to cope with the challenges of growing old. Today I feel older than I am after having to go out. Tomorrow I will still feel old because I am. lol Til the next time I remain Just This...Alice