There is change in the air

No, I'm not talking about politics (although one can only hope).  There is a cold front coming later this week.  The mornings have been pleasant with a cool breeze, temps in the fifties. There was a brisk wind all day yesterday, so I used extra clothespins when I hung our sheets on the line; of course, with the breeze, they were dry in an hour or so.  When I take Gabe out at 4 AM, it feels autumn-like.  Starting tomorrow our highs will be in the 50's and 60's, with lows coming dreadfully close to a frost this Sunday.  I don't consider that bad weather, maybe just normal for October in Missouri.

I enjoyed church at both locations yesterday.  It's Pastor Appreciation Month, so we're having an appreciation dinner next Sunday for the pastor of the Baptist Church in town.  There have been a few more people in attendance lately, for which we are all grateful.  I'll be cooking a few things to take to dinner, so I won't attend the Methodist Church that day.  

Cliff bought two 880 Oliver tractors recently:  One was considered a parts tractor that he'd use to fix what is wrong with the other one.  The parts had set outside for five years and hadn't been running even when it was parked.  Cliff just couldn't stand walking around it wondering if he could get it running, so he fiddled around with it and soon had it running.  I peeked out the window to see which tractor I was hearing and wasn't surprised it was the parts tractor.  I will tell you, though, that sometimes that's the easiest part.  There is so much more to consider when a tractor has been tossed aside for years, so it will likely remain a parts tractor.  He isn't having the greatest success with his brother's tractor, so it's taking longer to get everything right.  He only works on it when Phil is here to work with him, so it's been set aside for the last four or five days.  I took a very short video so you can see the old junker still has a little life in her.  It isn't running smoothly, but it runs!

I've related how I feed the two cats a little wet canned food in the evening.  Mama Kitty has been hanging around the house quite a bit since I started doing that, but last night we got in the car and left for a couple of hours, so the dog and cats were going to eat supper an hour late.  Although Mama Kitty had been on the porch when we went on our errand, she was nowhere in sight when it was time for her to eat, and I haven't seen her all day today.  I think she pouts when I don't feed her the way she's wants to be fed:  She's lived in our barn for years and never seems to leave the property, but you just let us go on a road trip for a couple of days and she'll be gone sometimes for a week afterward.  I have pronounced her dead right on this very blog at least four times, but she's made it 12 years!  About the time I think I will never see her again, she shows up acting as though nothing happened.  

I have a unique problem around here:  I use bacon grease to season green beans, and I put bacon grease in the skillet when I'm making sausage gravy.  However, bacon is expensive, and two people can only eat so much of it.  The thought crossed my mind yesterday that there should be a store that sells bacon grease.  After all, there is precooked bacon you can buy, so they must do something with the grease.  I finally thought of Google (duh) and typed in "Does anybody sell bacon grease?"  

Turns out the answer is yes, but it's $14.99 for 14 ounces, which is less than a pint.  If you buy a gallon it's just $21.99, but good grief, who wants a gallon container of something sitting in the refrigerator for years!  Keep in mind, there isn't any room for a large refrigerator in a trailer house; normally that isn't a problem here, but I do have to be careful how much I put in it, or something will get lost or hidden.  I guess I'll just keep buying bacon and use the grease sparingly.

I recall when my Uncle Leo had a hog butchered, they would keep their five-gallon bucket of lard in the entrance to the cellar, where it would stay relatively cool.  Then they'd just keep a small amount of it in the house.  

I will just have to be sparing with my bacon grease.  It isn't good for us anyway... but when did that ever stop me?  OK, that's enough of my greasy talk.  Here's a picture I took of Mama Kitty atop the chicken-house-that-used-to-be-my-cabin, day before yesterday.  I don't recall ever seeing her up there before.  I imagine she had her mind set on a bird landing in the tree behind the chicken house, but in this picture, she is sleeping like a baby.

I hope everyone is having a good day.

Sincerely, 

Donna