Sunday Stealing

1. Have you ever played with a Ouija Board?

I've never even seen one except in movies or TV shows.

2. Favorite horror monster or villain?

Christine, the car in the movie of the same name.

3. If you were dared to spend the night in a “haunted house”, would you do it?  

As long as there weren't mice, rats, and spiders in it, yes.  I don't believe in ghosts.

4. Are you superstitious?

I don't think so.  I jokingly "knock wood" sometimes, often on my husband's head, since our last name is Wood.

5. Do you ever see figures in your peripheral vision?

Yes, but it's usually my husband, my dog, or my cat.

6. Ever made a potion of any sort?

Nope

7. Do you get scared easily?

Not at supernatural things.

8. Have you ever played Bloody Mary?

I've never heard of Bloody Mary except for the drink.  But I'm going to Google it pretty soon.  OK, here's what Wikihow says:  "Bloody Mary is a classic scary game where players try to summon the ghost of Bloody Mary in a bathroom mirror. All you need to call Bloody Mary is a lit candle and a bathroom you can go into by yourself. To get the most out of the game, invite your friends over so you can play together and tell each other what you see in the mirror. Don’t forget to turn off all the lights!"

9. Would you ever go to a graveyard at night?

I love graveyards at any time.  It would be no problem for me.

10. Would you rather go to a Halloween party or go trick or treating?

Please, don't make me do either one.  I go to bed early.

11. Whilst watching scary movies, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person with their eyes covered the whole time, or the person who falls asleep

If I'm enjoying it, I'll have my eyes covered but I'll be peeking through my fingers.  If it's boring, I'll fall asleep, because that's generally what I do with any movie.

12. Favorite scary book?  

A book of Edgar Allen Poe tales.  Also, I enjoyed reading "The Shining".

13. How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?

Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and I was probably 8 years old.  It was a silly movie and supposed to be funny, but I had scary dreams for a long time afterward.

14. What was your first Halloween costume?

I made my own costume, usually the same every year except for the mask.  I put my dad's overalls on, stuck a pillow in front to make a big belly, put on whatever mask I could fine and some kind of hat, and I was ready.

15. If you could have a spooky Halloween pet (black cat, owl, bat, rat, wolf), what would you pick?

A black cat.  

If you'd like to play Sunday Stealing, it's HERE, every Sunday morning.

cookies

 I just got done baking my favorite cookies; on Allrecipes.com, it's called "Grandmother's Oatmeal Cookies".  Everybody who tries these cookies likes them.  

The baggie goes to the grandson's house.  I have trouble staying away from chewy cookies, especially while they are still warm from the oven.  Yesterday I dipped pretzels, who knows why?  In cold weather, I'm always wanting to make cookies and candy.  Somewhere is a poem I wrote about how cookies are therapy for the winter blahs; of course, when you start adding pounds from eating so much, the blahs come right back.

For lack of any other excitement, let me show you what my husband's shop looks like with all the guts out of the Oliver tractor:

Cliff is rather proud of the fact he put wheels on his toolbox.

It's like an explosion happened and the parts of the Oliver 1650 went everywhere, albeit landing in rather neat (but greasy) formations.

We had chili yesterday and again today.  We might even go for a third day of it.  And that's it for today.

Thursday Thirteen

Thursday Thirteen

A few of my favorite songs...  

1.  Me and Bobby McGee, sung by the songwriter, Kris Kristofferson.

2.  Chiseled in Stone sung by Vern Gosdin

3.  Coat of Many Colors, written and sung by Dolly Parton

4.  Spanish Pipe Dream, written and sung by John Prine

5.  Just Bummin' Around, sung by Dean Martin

6.  Some Enchanted Evening

7.  To All the Girls I've Loved Before, Willie Nelson with Julio Iglesias

8.  You'll Never Walk Alone

9.  Surrey With the Fringe on Top

10.  Climb Every Mountain

11.  Just the Other Side of Nowhere, Kris Kristofferson

12.  Thank You Lord For Your Blessings on Me

13.  Whispering Hope by Anne Murray

This is an easy and fun way to do a blog entry:  You make up a list of 13 thoughts, things, people, songs, pets... you get my drift.  If you choose to do so, you can share it on the Thursday Thirteen blog, and also see what the others have done with it.  

Just checking in

I've decided we are going to go south at some point in the next several days.  If it rains, so be it.  If the sun doesn't shine, who cares.  I need a road trip!  I'll call Bed and Bones to make sure they have room for Gabe, which I'm sure they will; surely there aren't many people traveling this time of year.  The grandson will take care of feeding the cats.  

Notice I said "I've decided", not "we've decided".  That's because Cliff can take it or leave it as far as a trip anywhere is concerned, but I'm planning on us going for a couple of days, very soon.  I like not having to decide on the actual date, because I think it's more fun to just wake up and decide to go one morning.  

Every time I woke up last night I could hear it raining gently; I don't think it ever stopped.  I was curious to know how much rain we'd gotten, so I went out with the flashlight in  hand and saw there was an inch and a half in the gauge, and it's still raining.  My zucchini plants just won't quit; for the most part I just slice them, skin and all, and stir-fry them with some onions, carrots, and sweet peppers.  I fill up the skillet, cook it, and put what I don't eat immediately in the refrigerator for the evening "meal".  Cliff eats some of it, but I don't think it's anywhere near his favorite way to eat vegetables.  I just like eating something that has very few calories and is good for me.  I'm sort of wanting chili today, even though it hasn't been long since we had some. 

Since I'm not going on my daily walks barefoot now that it's getting colder, Cliff insisted on taking me to get some Muck boots for walking.  I have the tall Muck boots I used to wear for choring when I milked cows, but they are so heavy they wear me out before my walk is over.  I still wear them if there's snow on the ground, but otherwise I prefer the short ones; my old short ones fell apart a long time ago, what with wearing them to walk every day for years.  It is so much easier for me to walk barefoot, but let's face it... Missouri winters pretty much make that impossible. 

Cliff goes to his tractor club meeting tonight; it's the last one for the year, except for our annual Christmas potluck dinner.  He and the grandson are working on the Oliver 1650 project almost every evening after Arick gets home from work; I must remember to get out there and take some pictures while they're at it.  

I'm going to stop this drivel and go make some steel-cut oats in the Instant Pot for our breakfast.

I wish all my readers a good day.

Is it spring yet?

Granddaughter Monica came to visit with her 20-month-old daughter today.  We don't see our grandchildren often except for the oldest one who lives next door; his sister makes a point of visiting at least once a month, too, even though she's moved farther away.  We see the great-grandchildren even less, so it was a real treat to see how Brynn has grown and how smart she is; she's very shy, but after awhile she warmed up to us enough to smile and get nearer to us.  We didn't try to force ourselves on her or pick her up, we just let her get acquainted a little. 

Our trees are finally starting to change to their autumn colors.

We had planned to go to Arkansas when the leaves turn either this week or next, but the forecast is for clouds at home AND down there, every single day for the next ten days; if it's going to be cloudy all the time, I honestly don't want to go.  Cloudy days still affect my mood somewhat.  Also, someone told me Arkansas has been so dry this year, the leaves probably won't be very colorful.  We are thinking of doing something else for a road trip, and we have a couple of ideas:  my only requirement is that our trip needs to take us through Ozark, Missouri, to Lamberts.  We'll see how the foliage is around that area to get an idea about how things will look in Arkansas and go from there.  It wouldn't take a whole lot for us to decide to just call the whole thing off; that's how I am about going almost anyplace these days. 

Our separate bedroom situation is working out fine for both of us, although to my surprise, Cliff is the one sleeping better!  He said he only gets up once a night now.  I'm sleeping well for the most part, but I still wake up often.  That's OK, as long as I get back to sleep quickly.  Most nights, I do.

I think I'll get back to the book I'm reading:  "The Girl with the Louding Voice". 

Cliff's new project

I blogged in June about the two tractors Cliff bought from a nearby neighbor.  One was an Oliver 1650 (70 horsepower), and the other was a huge (to me) White with an air-conditioned cab.  He had no intention of doing anything with them except perhaps driving them around and possibly selling them later; he can hardly breathe on a good day, and sand-blasting and painting were, according to him, a thing of the past.  

We had a recent tractor run to Lexington with a few club members for a little boy with cancer who loves tractors; FFA kids from school also took part with their tractors, and there was a collection taken up to help with expenses; several people brought him toy tractors, too.

I told Cliff when we were home from Lexington that I'm sort of ashamed of this tractor, because all the others we've used with the club are painted up and pretty.  The rust bothered me more than anything else; for it's age, it's in great shape, with no significant dents.   

Cliff had the 1650 tuned up and running great, so he decided to drive it to the benefit.  Well, it was an interesting ride!  Once we were on 24 highway, we were going faster than I've ever seen a tractor go.  When he went on the roundabout that leads to 24, it felt to me like the silly tractor might turn over, and it went even faster on the straightaway.  I just now asked him how fast it was going, and he said he'd guess about twenty miles per hour.  It has a high-speed transmission, he says, which gives it the ability to race down the highway.  At that speed, I experienced a few bounces sitting in the carryall, which wasn't a lot of fun.  When it was all over I told him the only time I'd be sitting in that carryall would be in a parade, not on the highway.

As we were going home, the clutch was slipping on any little hill; Cliff spared me this information, knowing I can sometimes be a worrywort.  However, as we approached our town to start up a long hill,  he told me what was happening; he had to go to a lower gear because the clutch wouldn't hold in high gear; from there on, we just crept along, but we made it home.

I asked him if he was going to fix the clutch, or get a new one.  "Oh, I could use it around here like it is," he said.  Keep in mind this tractor was built in the same year our oldest child was born:  1967.  

Somewhere along the line, though, he changed his mind; I guess he's decided it's a good cause for which to die, because he's talking about painting it; now I wish I hadn't confessed to being ashamed of it, because the project has officially started.  However, the grandson has offered to do the sand-blasting, which is NOT a fun thing to do.

It's been gutted

Here are all the missing parts

The grandson finds the instruction videos for Cliff and they watch them together.  Cliff has been through a lot of Olivers in his time, without Youtube, but this will definitely help him.  He's never put a clutch in any of them, though; he has put one in an Allis Chalmers.  Notice the grandson's cigar: he smokes that for inspiration.  Cliff would never attempt all this if it weren't for Arick's help. 

Wish them luck.

Tractor events

After about two years of not participating in any of our tractor club events, we finally got back into some activities with them.  First there was the parade at the Higginsville fair.  I think there were fourteen tractors there.

It was a very warm day and there wasn't any shade where the tractors were gathered, so I took a chair and went across the street to sit in the shadow of a tree, from where I took this picture.

There's Cliff, sitting on the carryall he built for me to ride in.  That's our recently-bought Super C Farmall.  It was already painted when we bought it, although if you get up close to it you can tell Cliff didn't paint it; his paint jobs are a lot more smooth and shiny.  It is a very good tractor though, and it's small enough that we can haul it on our trailer.

The weekend after the fair, we went on a memorial drive for one of the fellows who started our tractor club; they began with just five members.  We started out our drive at the farm where the fellow we were honoring had lived, and had a light lunch of sandwiches.

There was the sweetest little boy there, playing very nicely by himself all that time, although his parents kept telling him not to throw gravel.  I wonder if there is any little boy anywhere who doesn't want to throw rocks and gravel?  He was glad to pose for a picture, and then showed me a trick of his, performed with water-bottle-caps:

Then we rode to Lexington and into the graveyard.

We stood around the grave and people who knew James well told stories about how the tractor club was formed, and some of the fun times they'd had in the beginning of it.  Some of his relatives were with us, one driving his tractor and another driving an antique truck he'd been very proud of.

From the graveyard we went to another club-member's house and had home-made ice cream.  It was a full day, for sure, and we were worn out when we finally went home.  

Sunday Stealing

1.  What's something you've recently accomplished solo?

I sang a solo at Church this morning.  

2.  What's one product you use that never ever fails?

Cast iron skillet

3. Have you found your place in the world? Where is it?

You bet I have, right here

4.  Worst movie you ever saw?

I don't know, because if I hate a movie I stop watching it.

5. What's the last fun thing you did?

Finding wonderful veggies in my garden in mid-October

6. What's your favorite Italian dish?

Pizza

7. Have you ever been to France? Any desire to visit there, and if so what would site or city would you most want to see?

Haven't been and don't want to go.  England would be nice, but truly, I'd just like to see all of the United States.

8. Have you ever been to Disney, any of the parks at all? Are you a Disney superfan or something less than that? They're open right now so tell us, would you go if you had the time/money/a free trip?

I watched the original Mickey Mouse club in the 50's.  I remember when Walt Disney was on Micky Mouse Club telling about his new venture that had just opened: Disneyland.  At that time I would have given anything to go, but I never wanted to go as an adult.

9. Your favorite place to go when you want to be quiet as a church mouse? Would those who know you well describe you as more church mouse or perhaps more like mighty mouse?

I can be quiet as a church mouse here at home, or I can walk out to the woods at the back of my place.  I have no idea how others describe me. 

10. Do you bake your own bread? Last time you had hot out-of-the-oven homemade bread? What's your favorite kind of bread?

I have a bread machine, but I don't use it often because we can't stop eating it until it's gone; I probably used it 3 months ago.  I make corn bread often to go with soup or beans, and I make banana bread occasionally.

11. What's something you might say is 'the greatest thing since sliced bread'?  

The Internet

12.  Share with us five little things you're grateful for today. Small blessings. One catch-they all must start with the letter T.

Tea... Earl Grey, especially.  Tractors, because that's what keeps my husband happy.  Tomatoes, garden fresh.  The temperature today (72).  Time, because I've had 77 years of it already and I intend to live to be at least 80 .  

13. Tell us where you were and something about what life was like when you were 20- 21.

When I was 20, I was acting like an idiot.  I married Cliff when I was 21 and straightened out quite a bit.

14. What's on the menu at your house this week?

Anything that sounds good on a particular day.  With the cooler weather, I'm making lots of soups.

15.Something you recently purchased where a coupon was involved? Do you regularly shop with coupons? 

I like the concept of coupons, but I always forget I have them.

You'll find this little challenge every Sunday at the Sunday Stealing blog.  Join in!

Thursday Thirteen on a Saturday

I forgot on Thursday.  Better late than never. 

Vegetables I use

1.  Potatoes.  I've seen some articles that say good old spuds shouldn't be counted as a vegetable because they're unhealthy.  Well, they grow in the ground: that makes it a vegetable, I don't care what you put on them.  I come from a generation whose parents served potatoes almost every day.  I don't cook them as much as I used to when I had children at home, but Cliff and I love us some taters, be it mashed, scalloped, baked, or fried.

2.  Onions.  I seldom go a day without using onions.  I put them in casseroles, soups, potato salad, meat loaf, and so many other dishes.  I made a four-serving ham casserole yesterday that calls for two teaspoons of minced onion.  Really? why bother with so little?  I put half a cup of onions in it every time I make it, and it's delicious!

3.  Cabbage.  Boiled, made into slaw, or stir-fried... with or without kielbasa; a little bacon grease doesn't hurt it.   It's also an ingredient in my hamburger stew. 

4.  Carrots.  I'm hardly ever without them, and they keep well.  They're good in soups, or cooked with pot roast.  If I'm low on vegetables for a meal, I'll make creamed carrots or glazed carrots.

5.  Celery.  I'm not a big fan of celery by itself, although I will occasionally put some peanut butter on a rib of it for a snack.  But so many of my recipes call for it that when I buy a bunch, it seldom goes bad. 

6.  Sweet peppers.  Cliff and I are crazy about stuffed peppers, and they are also a frequent ingredient in main-course recipes.  They go bad really fast, so I dice a lot of them from the garden and freeze them in a freezer bag.  That way they are available when I'm making spaghetti sauce and chili in winter.  

7.  Broccoli and cauliflower.  I like broccoli with butter or cheese sauce.  Cauliflower is good with cheese sauce too, and it's nice to munch on raw or use in salads.

8.  Lima beans.  I forget about them sometimes, but we both like them.

9.  Green beans.  Ah yes, the old staple almost everybody likes.  My sister, the best cook in the world, once told me green beans are better if you just put a teaspoon of sugar in it per can (or for two cups of fresh ones), so I add that, along with a little bacon grease.  They are also good cooked with kielbasa.

10.  Corn.  I like frozen corn from our own garden, but I don't buy much canned corn at the store.  I do have a meat-and-corn bread recipe that calls for a can of creamed corn, so I usually have a couple cans of that around.

11.  Sweet potatoes, any way you make them.  Mashed, baked, candied or just buttered a little.

12.  Tomatoes:  Home-grown for eating fresh, and canned, chopped ones for chili and spaghetti sauce.  I like to make my own sauce.  I also use canned tomatoes for my smothered okra, speaking of which...

13.  Okra when it's in season.  Fried is our favorite, but we like smothered okra too.  Sometimes I slice some and freeze it; I'll throw it in most any vegetable soup or hamburger stew, but not too much, or it will make the soup taste kind of slick-ish.

 

Things are working out

Yesterday I got my memory foam mattress topper; I get them for all our mattresses.  This twin bed I got was a pretty cheap one.  With the topper on it, I am sleeping like a queen, it's so comfy.  

When I went to crawl into bed with Cliff yesterday morning, my side of the bed was still made!  Obviously he didn't do any tossing and turning.  When he woke up beside me, he said, "I don't think I got up even one time last night."

Bingo!  I figured I might have been the cause of our meetings in the night at the bathroom door, and apparently I was.  This morning I peeked in "his" bedroom after I got up and again, the bed was still made on my side, not a wrinkle in it.  That isn't why I peeked in, though; I was checking to make sure he was still alive.  You might think I'm joking, but when you get to a certain age and still have your spouse with you, it's something you just do; Cliff sometimes checks on me, too.

In my last entry I mentioned worrying a bit about Cliff not being able to rouse me if he woke up needing any kind of help in the night, since he's at one end of the trailer house (deaf as a post) and I'm at the other; he has a few health issues.  A long-time Internet friend from the old AOL Journal days, Carlene, suggested I get a baby monitor.  I haven't gotten one yet, but that will solve the problem perfectly, and I'll bet I could get a used one for very little money on Facebook Marketplace. 

As for Gabe, I decided I can't sleep well with him in bed with me.  Cliff reminded me that we had an old pet taxi out in the garage that's the perfect size for my dog, so he sleeps in that now, although if I wake up at 3:30 and go back to bed, I let him out to join me for the last hour or so of my time in bed.  His big kennel is still in Cliff's room; that's where I put him if we are going someplace for a few hours, and it's still the one he takes refuge in if it thunders, or if he hears something that sounds like a gun.

Here's another thing:  I moved the Bose into my room.  It seldom got any use in the living room, but now I listen to three or four CDs as I go to sleep.  I already had a TV there, but I don't like going to sleep to the sound of a television.  I mentioned to my husband that I needed a clock and another Alexa; he told me to just take the Echo Show from the kitchen in there and I'd have both in one package; he gets good ideas sometimes.  I still need a bedside table with a couple of drawers, but I found a cheap used one on Marketplace that's exactly what I need if the lady ever answers my message, and she lives within 15 miles of us.  So I'm pretty well set up.  Cliff's bedroom gets neater all the time because I keep moving my "stuff" out.

I got my hair cut yesterday and picked up the few groceries we needed.  I was excited to actually buy some chuck roast, which is something I had given up on ever buying again!  Price Chopper had it on sale for $3.99 a pound.  Still ridiculous, but I took the plunge and spent $19.00.  There are two small roasts in the package; they will be a real treat, one at a time.  When Cliff and I first got married, you could get chuck roast for 39 cents a pound.  

  Autumn seems to have arrived for good, and I'm fine with that; this is the time of year I used to be depressed, but thanks to a tiny pill I was prescribed this summer, I am NOT depressed.  Just think, I could have had much nicer winters in the past, had I known there was something to help me.  

But now... 

Life is good.

Cliff and I are separating

Now that I have your attention... 

My husband and I both get up several times a night, me more so than him.  I noticed recently that we were often awake at the same times, and wondered if maybe when one of us got out of the bed, it woke the other; I asked him whether he thought we'd sleep better in separate bedrooms.  He said, "Try it and see."  

There was a time my snoring bothered Cliff, but he's too deaf to hear it now.

I should mention that because of my trouble sleeping (and maybe my snoring, too), he once wanted to go sleep in the guest room himself;  I just didn't feel like that was right.  A married couple should sleep together!  Besides, I told him, I'd be washing twice as much bedding.  And that was that.

Well, this time it was my idea, and I do believe it's going to work.  The guest bedroom, now MY bedroom, is tiny, though.  We've always had a queen-sized bed in there because that's what we had when we first moved over here.  Yesterday I looked on Craigslist for a twin bed and found one twenty-five miles away: a brand new, never-used mattress, box springs (or whatever they call them now, with no springs in them), and a bed frame for a very reasonable price.  We bought them.  

I made do with the twin bed last night by using big sheets folded in half, but I ordered twin-bed flannel sheets from Amazon yesterday evening and they have already arrived.  Tomorrow the mattress pad will be here.

I had slept in the queen bed in that room for two nights and slept pretty well.  Gabe has always slept in a big-dog kennel near my side of the bed before, but that kennel would take up too much room in my new quarters.  I let him sleep on top of the covers with me; part of the time, though, he got down and went under the bed to sleep, then he'd get back on the bed.  Now that I have the twin bed, there really isn't room for him, so I got the small pet taxi out of the garage today.  He can sleep in that beside my bed.  It's not so big, and I can put it in the closet during the day.  He thinks he's walking in tall cotton, sleeping with me.

I told Cliff not to be surprised if he wakes up one cold winter night and finds me beside him, though.  I may need the benefits of his body heat.  And I still crawl in beside him when I'm waking him up every morning, screaming in his good ear to make conversation... because, you know, he can't wear hearing aids in bed.

The only person who has used the spare bedroom in the last few years is our son when he makes his annual visit, and I'm not sure he will like the twin bed.  However, his son lives next door in the old house and has three bedrooms upstairs, so it isn't like he'll be forced to use my little bed if he doesn't want to.

The grandson doesn't think this experiment will last.  If it doesn't, it's no big deal, but so far, so good.

Sunday Stealing

1. Who is your favorite singer?  What do you like about him or her?

Dolly Parton.  If I could choose anybody's singing voice, I'd choose hers.  To my mind, she has the voice of an angel. 

2. Write about your first memory of going to the doctor.

The time I was seven years old and I got sick, vomiting for no reason.  We went to Dr. Croxdale in Villisca, Iowa and he couldn't figure out what was wrong.  I was put in some little local hospital for several days, being fed through my veins, still vomiting.  Whatever was wrong with me, I got better and went home after a week in the hospital, never knowing what my problem was.  

We did NOT go to a doctor unless there was something terribly wrong, which is probably why I was seven before I had a doctor experience I remember.

3. Write a poem about writing poems.

When it comes to writing poems, I've always thought I could, 

But one thing I'll confess to:  Not all of them are good.

4. Write a poem about vacations.

We don’t have the money to go on vacation.

Besides, it’s quite pleasant at home.

I’ll leave it to others to travel this nation:

The pasture’s as far as we’ll roam.

 5. What is something interesting that no one knows about you?

I've blogged about everything, it seems.  But most people may not know how hard it is for me to just be a decent person and show some grace to every human.

6.Why is it so important to help other people in need?

If I don't, who will?  Honestly, I need to be a lot more helpful to others than I am.  I live so much of the time in my own head, I tend to be pretty self-centered.   

7.Would you rather finish a project early or do it at the last minute?  Why?

I no longer have projects because I never finished them anyhow.    

8. If you had three months left to live, what would you do?

Exactly what I'm already doing every day.  I love my life.     

9. If you could be a flavor of ice cream, what flavor would you be?  Why?

This is too ridiculous to answer.  Next question, please.    

10. What is the hardest thing about being a kid?

Having to behave and be told what to do all the time.  And the fact that people don't always believe a kid who is telling the truth.

11. Would you rather be tall or short?  Why?

I'm rather tall at 5'7".  I like my height.  I feel sorry for short people because they need less calories than tall people, so it's easier for them to put on extra pounds.    

12. What is the greatest challenge facing people in our world today?

Accepting that we all have a right to our own opinions; if we could learn to do that, we'd get along much better.  We need tolerance.      

13.What is the scariest experience you’ve ever had?

We've had some close calls when we had the motorcycle.  A couple of those were pretty scary.      

14. Write a poem about music.

My tastes are somewhat limited in music of all kinds; 

It’s country, blues, and gospel songs that live within my mind, 

And also old-time standards, as sung by Frank and Bing

My rowdy side likes Janis Joplin’s screaming way to sing.

15. Write about a favorite memory of something you did with your best friend.  

I've been married to my best friend for fifty-five years, and made so many memories I wouldn't know where to start.  

If you'd like to participate in the thievery, You'll find the Sunday Stealing blog HERE.

 

Cooking while blogging

I pulled up a two-pound turnip this morning, which made almost a pan-full of Thanksgiving Day Creamed Turnips which I'll have gone by tomorrow, I'm sure.  Cliff doesn't like turnips.  

Now I have some smothered okra cooking.  When I have tomatoes, I use some from the garden.  Now, though, I just open up a can or two of tomatoes.  Cliff ate the better part of the last double-batch I made, so I'm making more.  It's actually done, I just have to cook it down so it will stay in its place when we put it on our plates, instead of the liquid running all over.   

I will also be making some stir-fried zucchini and onions before we eat at noon (dinner), since my August planting of zucchini is producing like mad.  AND... we have four stuffed peppers left from yesterday.  Yes, it's too many things for one meal; but I don't cook in the evening, and when we're raiding the refrigerator we'll have some things to choose from.   The creamed turnips will be all mine! 

We are hoping to go to Arkansas later this month to see the fall foliage.  I've been plotting and planning where to go and what to do.  We will eat at the home of the Throwed Rolls, Lamberts.  A blogger friend had mentioned a place to eat in Springfield, Missouri that I thought we might try, but when I googled it I saw they are mainly a sandwich and hamburger place, and I'd rather eat burgers and sandwiches at home.  So we'll go to Lamberts.  We'll take Gabe to Bed and Bones; we will probably only be gone for a couple of nights and days.  I always think it would be fun to take the dog, then I think about going in to eat someplace and leaving him in the car.  He's very happy at Bed and Bones, so I don't worry about him there.  The oldest granddaughter used to watch him sometimes, but she has moved farther away now.

OK, I have a second load of clothes to hang on the line, then get to the zucchini.  I hope my readers are having as nice a day as I am. 

Thursday 13

THURSDAY THIRTEEN: Some of the unforgettable books I've read, in no particular order

1.  The Good Earth, by Pearl Buck

2.  An Hour Before Daylight, by Jimmy Carter

3.  Seabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand 

4. Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, by James McBride

5.  The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

6.  Considering the Horse:  Tales of Problems Solved & Lessons         Learned, by Mark Rashid

7.  Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

8.  Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen

9.  Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger

10.  The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini 

11.  A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

12.  American Dirt, by Jeanine Cummins

13.  Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls

Choose any topic you want.  If you like, you can share the link to yours at the Thursday Thirteen blog.

 

Nothing to say, but I'm saying it anyway.

Back to autumn weather again,  This morning it was 44° when I got up, and still in the mid-40's when Gabe and I walked.  Did I wear shoes, you ask?  Nope.  I did this video of my feet walking, and I see I was walking faster than normal; cool weather makes me walk faster without even thinking about it, then my knees are sore the next day.  There are always seeds and leaves and such sticking to my feet when we get done, but I just rinse them off at the outside faucet.  

Gabe got off into the stickers again.  When we got back to the house, I slowly pulled each sticker, one by one.  Most of them were the straight kind that don't hang on to dog hair.  I spent quite a while getting them out, and he didn't mind it too much because it didn't hurt him.

I'm sure it will get worse when his hair is all grown out for the Schnauzer cut, but I'll bet he'll be warmer when he goes outside this winter.  Last year I kept thinking I'd get him some doggie pajamas, but I believe his new "do" will keep him warm enough to sleep at 60 degrees, which is where we set the furnace for sleeping.

Cliff and I got our booster shot at CVS in Lexington today.  We were going to get flu shots too, but the lady giving the shots said she thought it would be better if we waited at least a week for that.

I'll shout it to the world!  I'm not afraid shots are going to kill me, abort babies, put chips in my body, or any other kind of nonsense.  Some of the people out there remind me of spoiled five-year-olds folding their arms across their chests and saying, "I don't HAVE to and you can't MAKE me."

I have been feeling pretty feisty with the cooler temperatures we have.  Can you tell?

Hey, the Chiefs won yesterday.  Cliff never liked football until 1974 when we moved to north Missouri for awhile; there were only a couple TV channels, and not much worth watching, so he decided to learn to like football, which didn't take him long.  At that time, I would have never thought a time would come when I'd sit beside him yelling for the Kansas City Chiefs, but I'm a confirmed fan now.  I don't care about any other teams, but I've gotten attached to the individual players; the guys on the team are what keep me watching.  Watching Tyreek running like a whirlwind, or Pat Mahomes throwing a football to Kelce, makes my day.  And who doesn't love Coach "teddy bear" Andy Reid?

Cliff finished his recent book and asked me to find him another one to read on the iPad.  I immediately thought of one I read in the past that he would love; I figured it would be available, since it was published in 2003.  Well, obviously it's still in demand, because there's at least a two-week wait for it, even with many copies in use.  Cliff needs a book the next day after he finishes one because he doesn't like to ride the recumbent bike without something to pass the time.  I put a hold on that book (The Devil in the White City), then found him another for now about the search for Abraham Lincoln's killer.  He likes non-fiction, and I'm getting very good at finding books that appeal to him.  I can't wait until he gets hold of that first book, though.  It's one of the best I've ever read.

Enough of my scattered thoughts!  

Peace.

Sunday Stealing

SUNDAY STEALING

1. Do you like bleu cheese?

It isn't something I would buy, but I could eat it.  But who cares to know that?  Nobody I know.

2. Coke or Pepsi?

I've never been much of a "pop" drinker.  Now the only time I have it is when we eat a Whopper meal at Burger King; I always get a Coke with my meal, because somehow it goes great with burgers and fries.  That would be probably once a month, on average. 

3. Do you own a gun?

Cliff does, and what's his is mine, I suppose.  I'm too clumsy to use a gun; I'd probably end up shooting myself.

4. Hot dogs or cheeseburgers? 

Cheeseburgers that I make myself at home, but I like hot dogs too.

5. Favorite type of food?

Old-fashioned farm-type food like my mother and aunts cooked.  Once in awhile I get a yen for pizza, but that's not often.  Oh, and fruit.  I love fruit.

6. What do you drink in the morning?

Two cups of Earl Grey Twinings.  The rest of the day I settle for Lipton or herb teas of some sort.

 7. Can you do a 100 pushups?

I couldn't even do that in my prime. 

8. Tattoos?

One; I got it nine years ago, I think.  You can read the story of my tattoo HERE, and see a picture of me getting the tattoo.  

9. Do you wear glasses?  

Yes. 

10. Phobia?

Driving.  That's why I've never had a driver's license. 

11. Piercings?

My ears were pierced long ago, but I'm allergic to everything from stainless steel to solid gold, so I could never wear earrings.  My daughter inherited this same allergy. 

12. Can you whistle?

Not at all, and people make fun of the way I look when I try to whistle, so I don't try. 

13. Surgeries?

A tubal ligation after I'd had my two babies and three knee surgeries. 

14. Like gambling?

Only those scratch lottery cards, once in a blue moon (even though I seldom win anything over a dollar).

15. Do you like to dance?

I would have loved to learn to dance as a teenager, but my parents didn't approve of dancing.  It doesn't matter, because I was such a loner as a teenager, I wouldn't have gone anywhere to dance anyhow.

Garden triumphs, garden failures

I can't believe I'm still getting green beans from the garden; not only that, I'm getting enough to share with my friend, Paula, who said the bagful of green beans I gave her this morning was more than her garden gave her all year.  The ones I picked yesterday were better quality than I've had all summer, and we'll be having our share of them for the next couple days.  Green beans have always been one of the easiest thing for me to grow, but we've not had much rain all summer.  That has affected all growing things.  At least the grass and trees stayed green, so it's been a pretty, although very dry, season. 

In the foreground you can see turnips growing, but the next row are the old, tired green bean plants.  We got about 3/10 an inch of rain last night, so maybe we'll get still more green beans.

I threw caution to the winds several weeks ago and planted a new row of green beans.  At least half the plants didn't do well, but the ones that remain are now flowering!  If it doesn't freeze for a couple weeks, I could very easily have beans from those plants.  It's amazing, really.  That's zucchini, on the left.  I think there are only about eight green bean plants, so even if it doesn't frost, I probably won't get enough to use.

That tiny zucchini is around five inches long.  You don't often see zucchini growing in the autumn, but I believe I'll be eating some zucchini before long!  When I plant it in spring and summer, squash bugs kill the plants after I've had one or two.  And people who offer to give me some always let them get huge.  I like them no bigger than eight inches long.  You can buy them at the store, of course, but they've been around so long they aren't even shiny any more.  I hope squash bugs aren't around in autumn.

See how tall my okra is?  I have to lift about my head to pick some of them.  Yes, I have some cabbages too, but unfortunately the cabbage worms outlasted my Sevin dust and there's none in the stores now.  I did bring one huge head of cabbage in and, I think, got all the worms off it, leaving plenty of cabbage to use. 

There are my strawberry plants, still sending out runners... except for three or four slackers that tried to die; they are healthy plants now, but I doubt if they'll put any runners out.  I had to pull the soaker hose away from them to let the runners spread out.  The tiller is back there, covered from the rain, but I'm done with it.  I told Cliff he may as well put it away for winter.

I love that big, six-inches-across Hibiscus blooming near my clothesline pole.

My cousin, Betty, gave me the seed that grew into my favorite flower of all time.

And there are more flowers coming!

Look very closely at the photo below.  It isn't just another picture of my dog; he has little straight sticker things sticking out of his beard everywhere!  They are easy to remove; unfortunately, the sticktights in other places are not.  This is what happens when he gets off the mowed path on which we go for our walk.  He looks like a porcupine infected him.   You may not be able to see them; if not, then it's just another picture of my dog.