Saturdays in South Georgia

 I was just beginning my Saturday morning...doing the normal things that I seem to do every Saturday morning...laundry, straightening the kitchen, mowing grass.  The phone rang and I was surprised to hear GW on the other end of the line.  He had taken the boys fishing at a local pond.  The fish were really biting and he didn't have a large enough cooler or any ice.  So I grabbed the cooler from the back porch, jumped in my pick-up truck and headed by Twice the Ice on my way out to the pond.

There is a back-story to this tale.  Local legend has it that the best bass pond in the county is located about 5 miles out of town on the Sylvester Highway.  I should correct myself...it is not a legend because the Jenkins family has proved that it is true!  Many years ago, one of Jack Jenkins' cousins, Rex, believed it so much that he bought the farm where the pond was located just to have fishing rights.  That might be the "legend" part of this story, but you will never hear a Jenkins admit it.  Anyway, our family has spent many hours on the banks of this pond proving the truth of this legend.  

As a pulled into the drive leading to the pond, I could see GW and the boys out on the dam having fun.  When I pulled across the spillway, Luca and Jack came running to tell me that I had to bring the cooler right away.  They already had two nice bass and GW had just caught another one.  We transferred the fish to the big cooler with the proper amount of "ohing" and "ahing" and before you knew it, I had a rod in my hand and was joining in the fun.  For those of you who have never fished a local pond, I will tell you that one can spend many hours on the bank trying to catch "the big one" with no luck.  No amount of wishing, hoping, or changing of lures will produce any results.  However, when you stand on the bank at just the right time and hold your mouth just right, you can pull in fish one after another.  This morning was just one of those times!  GW caught a few more bass and then I caught a nice one, too.  The boys were ecstatic.  Each time we caught a fish, Luca had to grab the cellphone and take a photo while Jack posed with the proud fisherman.  We spent about 3 hours casting, reeling in, and repeating the process.  I hooked a really big bass, but I was using Luca's lightweight Zebco rod and lost my fish just when I got him to the bank.  He literally too "hook, line, and sinker"!  Everyone was getting hungry so we decided to head for home, but not before one more cast.  Low and behold, I felt a huge tug on my line and reeled in the catch of the day.  I started yelling for GW to come and help me when he caught sight of my catch breaking the water.  He had caught a Speckled Perch and dropped him by the cooler as he ran to help me.  I don't know who was more excited...I was yelling and struggling while GW looked like he was going in the water after that bass.  Well, turns out that I caught the biggest fish of the day.  GW caught the most so we were both happy.

I couldn't help but wish that Steve had been with us on this little adventure.  Papa Steamer (as the boys call him) would have been proud!  I could almost hear him reciting his first rule of fishing which is emblazoned on a little sign that hangs over my refrigerator:

I left GW at his house cleaning fish.  I'm sure there will be a fish fry in our future!  We had no need to stretch the truth about this fishing trip.  I didn't measure or weigh my catch, but I think it just about equaled Steve's trophy catch that hangs on the wall in our living room.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  I'll let you be the judge.  Needless to say, the grass still needs mowing, but that can wait until another day.  Fishing is more important!

 

 

 

 

 

Fatwood

 It's January...almost February.  It's supposed to be cold.  However, here in the sunny south, "cold" is relative.  We have been enjoying weather in the upper 60's for the past few days.  So when the temperature took a dip this morning, it was a surprise.  It was 48 degrees this morning...springtime for my Ohio relatives...but with the wind blowing 20 mph, this transplant found it hard to get warm!  I was able to leave work a little early and decided that the thermostat had fallen into the "fire-in-the-fireplace" zone.  The torrential rain over the past few days had soaked my green firewood, so I knew that I would need a very hot fire to get things started.  The answer...fatwood!  If you haven't grown up in the south or at least lived there a long time, you are probably wondering what I am talking about.  It goes by many different names - fatwood, fat lighter, lighter wood, rich lighter, pine knot, lighter knot, heart pine, and lighter'd are a few more names for this magical substance.  It comes from wood that is left in the ground after a tree has fallen or has been cut.  The resin-impregnated heartwood becomes hard and rot-resistant over time.  Other parts of the wood, such as the joints where limbs intersect the trunk, can also turn into fatwood.  Most pine trees can produce fatwood, but in the southeastern United States the wood is commonly associated with the longleaf yellow pine.  It's easy to spot because the wood becomes very hard and turns translucent because of the resin or "pine tar".  It also has the unmistakable fragrance of the inside of a cedar chest!  The reason it is so valuable (just try purchasing it online from Orvis or L. L. Bean) is because you can start a fire from the greenest, wettest wood with just a few small sticks of this stuff.  It is highly flammable...easy to light with one match.  If you want to get technical about it, just look at what Wikipedia says about it:

Coniferous tree sap is a viscous liquid, that contains terpene, a volatile hydrocarbon. Over time the evaporation of the terpene changes the state of the sap; it slowly gets thicker until it hardens into resin. New fatwood leaks the sticky sap, while in aged fatwood the sap has hardened and is no longer sticky. At every stage of the aging process, fatwood will burn readily.

Want to know how "volatile" it is?  Old-timers used to grind up fatwood and make gunpowder out of it.  Well, for my purposes of starting a fire with wet wood, it works just fine!  There was only one problem this afternoon.  I was out of small pieces of fatwood.  When Steve was living, he knew lots of farmers that were clearing land.  Most would run up on two or three lighter'd stumps while clearing a field.  Steve was always glad to take these stumps off of their hands.  He had a large pile next to his shop in our yard.  He had to "man handle" the large pieces when they came from the field to get them into manageable pieces.  He would sit down at the shop with a hatchet, a 5-gallon plastic bucket, a pair of work gloves and an old stump/chopping block.  He would chip away at the large pieces to get "kindling" sized pieces.  You don't need big pieces for several reasons, the most important being you don't want your chimney to get coated with oily soot.  I was the "chaser" - chasing down every valuable splinter that flew off the chopping block as Steve whaled away and depositing it in the plastic bucket.  Steve kept his "stash" behind the workbench and would present his friends with a small bundle of the fragrant wood for their birthday or Christmas.  Boy, was that a huge digression!  Back to today.  I had some large pieces left down by the shop, so I gathered my tools and whaled away.  Before too long, I had a nice bundle to put in the coal hod on the hearth.  The extra benefit to this wood is that you don't need air freshener when you bring it in the house.  The smell permeates the whole house in a jiffy.  I had a great time doing this little chore and more than once I shed a tear as I remembered the wonderful times that Steve & I had "down at the shop".  But I wouldn't trade this experience or the memories for anything!  And for those of you who have no idea what fatwood looks like...

 And the result of using this miraculous substance...

 

As a friend of mine used to say...I'm toasty warm and deliciously wonderful.  Good night, all!

Who needs a gym membership when you have a fireplace?

 I have always loved a fire, especially when it is in your living room, right next to your comfy chair in a brick fireplace with a raised hearth!  Having a large stack of books on the end table is icing on the cake.  I guess my love of fireplaces goes back to my childhood at the 3 Bears' House in Cedar Mountain, North Carolina.  When I was growing up, my family spent the whole summer at the cabin.  It was a rustic place with the sun shining through the spaces in the batten & board siding, shaded by majestic Carolina Hemlock trees.  The stone fireplace in the living room was made from the rocks that had been drilled and blasted out of the ground when the spring was made...that's "spring" as in a hole in the ground from which comes the sweetest and coldest water you can imagine, as opposed to "spring" as in the season following winter.  The fireplace was built by my grandfather, Solomon Alexander Jones, who used rudimentary tools in all of his construction jobs.  It is the focal point of the living room, which measures about 30 by 50 feet.  The beams across the ceiling of the room are poplar logs, complete with bark, which were cut from the woods surrounding the house.  Evenings would find us gathered around the fireplace enjoying the warmth that would take the chill off of the mountain evening.  Our family would usually be joined by aunts, uncles and cousins who would come to enjoy the fire and the company.  Since we didn't have a television (or a telephone, for that matter) the "elders" would entertain us with stories from their childhoods.  Tales of wild hogs, moonshine, square-dancing, farming and bear hunting would keep the kids wide-eyed for hours. So when Steve and I built our house in 1984, a fireplace was at the top of my list.

So I know you are wondering what a fireplace has to do with a gym membership.  It's simple.  In order to have a fire in the fireplace, you must have wood to burn.  The wood has to be purchased or cut from your own property, hauled to the house and stacked in the woodpile.  Last Saturday, that was my project.  I usually purchase my wood from a kindly old gentleman who has a shop on the side of the highway just south of Coolidge, Ga...about 8 miles from my house.  The afternoon was cold and gray.  However, the 45 minutes it took me to unload the wood and stack it on my patio were just as effective as an afternoon at the gym.  Cardio, weight training, cross-training were all included.  The best thing about this activity is that at the end, you not only have an increased heart-rate and some calories expended, you have enough fuel for a winter of cozy fires.  That's what I call a win-win!  

And now back to our regularly scheduled program

 Before I was so rudely interrupted by the happenings in Washington D.C. the other day, I was talking about making some positive changes in my life.  I was inspired to do this because of the Kilted Coaches.  They believe in fitness...both body and mind.  The "body" part is the diet and exercise program.  I am doing well with both of those by bicycling every morning and eating right.  The "mind" part is a little harder.  I began by scheduling myself in a way that I hadn't done since Steve's death.  Going to bed at a certain time, getting up at a certain time, exercising at a certain time, journaling every day, eating at certain times, etc.  They also believe in setting goals that fit into a vision for your life.  They have a catchy acronym for their goals setting process called S.M.A.R.T.  Each letter stands for a characteristic of your goals:

S = Specific.  Your goals should be specific enough for you to be clear on exactly what you are trying to achieve.

M = Measurable.  If you expect to be successful, you have to be able to measure your progress and quantify your results.

A = Achievable.  Make sure that the goal you set for yourself is something that you can achieve or you are doomed to failure before you even start.

R = Realistic.  This goes along with achievable.  Make sure that your goal fits in to the reality of your life.

T = Timed.  Set a time limit to achieve your goal to keep you focused and motivated.  This can always be adjusted.

Following these guidelines makes the goal-setting process a whole lot easier and the goal-reaching process a lot less stressful.  It was amazing to me that just by scheduling my day to include a time for each action that would help me attain my goal of mental & physical fitness, I could energize my life and actually be excited about fitness in a way I never had been able to before.  The last guideline - Timed - is something that I haven't talked about yet.  My short-term goal is to lose at least 20 more pounds by the end of April, 2021.  My long-term goal is to maintain my goal weight.  In order to do that, I will have to be SMART and stick to my scheduling/eating/exercising regime.  Right now, I don't want to put a time limit on that.  I hope this becomes my lifestyle.  Only time will tell.

Don't ever say...things couldn't get any worse!

 I had intended to write about my life-style changes today, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  After watching enough of the happenings in Washington D.C. yesterday to make me sick (which only took about 10 minutes) I decided that I need to write just a little about the current situation in our country today.  A few points for background and a frame of reference:

1.    I am a Christian and have been all my life.  I don't go around grabbing people by the lapels and spouting scripture.  I try to live my everyday life by Christian principles that were taught to me by my mother, father and grandparents. 
2. I am educated.  I took full advantage of the educational system through elementary school, high school, college and graduate school.  Being a librarian, I firmly believe in life-long learning and have practiced that through 45 years in the profession.  I continue to learn every day.
   
3. I am a historian/genealogist.  I believe the past has much to teach us and that we are fools if we ignore it.  I also believe that "family" is important and that it stretches beyond blood relatives.
4.  I am independent and strong-willed.  Anyone who knew my mother, Vera, knows that she passed this trait along to me and my brother and that we have done the same thing for our children.

Many years ago, I joined the Facebook community.  It was about the time that my daughter married her first husband.  My reason was purely selfish.  Maggie and her friends were sharing photos and events on Facebook and I didn't want to miss out on anything.  I continue to use Facebook as a way to keep up with friends and family members who live too far away for regular visits.  I have reconnected with long-time friends over the years and have found it to be a rewarding experience...most of the time.  In the past few years, the "attitude" of Facebook has changed and the isolation of the quarantine because of COVID last year took it to a whole new level.  The national news outlets have also changed drastically.  You don't get the facts anymore, you get the broadcaster's opinion.  You can't just listen to a speech from the president and draw your own conclusions.  You have to be told afterward by a news commentator what the president meant when he spoke and how you should believe.

About 3 weeks into the "national lock-down" last year, I stopped watching the national news each night.  It was just too depressing to watch.  I also began to censor what I was reading on Facebook.  The meanness, nastiness and unkindness in many of my friends' posts did a real number on my psyche.  The isolation of the pandemic was bad enough.  Being a "people" person, I thrive on interaction with those around me.  Living alone after Steve's death made it imperative that I continue to interact with everyone around me so that I didn't become a hermit.  But the restrictions of the pandemic made that impossible and the negativity of social media and the news sent me into a tailspin.  So, I quit watching any news and only read uplifting and neutral posts from Facebook.  I immersed myself in good books...what else would a librarian do...and was able to weather the isolation with the help of some excellent characters and stories in the "Outlander" series of books.

Fast forward to this week.  The happenings in Washington yesterday brought out the worst in Facebook posts and the news.  I can no longer escape to the pages of a book because Diana Gabaldon writing fast enough.  I have realized something about the opinions expressed on social media.  It has taken me almost 70 years to form my philosophy of life.  It has taken you however many years old you are to form your philosophy of life.  My 10 minute sound-bite on Facebook is not going to make you change your philosophy and your 10 minute sound-bite isn't going to change mine!  So let's stop the bickering and get back to uncomplicated interaction with our friends and neighbors.   I am making a conscious effort, starting today, to live by the philosophy expressed by L. R. Knost (noted children's author and child-advocate) in this quote:

Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world.  All things break and all things can be mended.  Not with time, as they say, but with intention.  So go; love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.  The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.

Will you join me?  I hope so!

 

New Year...New Plan...New Me!

What can I say...it's been waaaaay too long since I have added anything to this blog.  I have no excuses...only a bit of background information.  Since 2005, my life has been a train wreck, a dumpster fire, and a goat rodeo all rolled into one.  It started with an almost life-ending automobile accident and proceeded through my husband's cancer diagnosis and eventual death at 56 yrs. old, my son-in-law's unexpected death at 31 yrs. old, my cousin/sister's death at 56 yrs. old, my mother's death and two aunts deaths in the same year (Mother was 102 and the aunts were each 100), and my retirement...all during a 5 year span!  To say the least, I had to do a lot of adjusting, coping, grieving, reinventing, suffering...well, just insert your own emotion here.  I think I have been through just about all of them.  I have tried to keep myself busy over the past 15 years in an attempt to adjust to everything that had changed in my life.  Fast forward to the last 9 months.  The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting quarantine threw me into an isolation that I did not handle well.  I had no place to hide, nothing to take my mind off my life, and too much time to think and be alone.  So, being the headstrong...well, downright stubborn...person that I am, I finally got tired of my pity party and made up my mind to do something about it.  I started a diet and was determined to lose the weight that had piled on during those 15 years.  Luckily, my daughter was doing the same thing so we partnered for support.  It has gone very well since August, 2020.  I have lost 20 pounds and am roughly halfway to my goal.  HOORAY!!

With all of that time on my hands, I began to get very serious about my genealogy.  I have always been interested in family and grew up with a very strong oral tradition of stories from my relatives.  History and a good mystery really interest me, so genealogy was a natural.  Fortunately, my public library has Ancestry online, so I began to fill in some gaps.  I have a strong Scottish/Irish heritage and expanded my research several centuries back.  At the same time, I began reading and watching the "Outlander" series.  I watched first and then began to devour the books.  I was propelled by several similarities between my own family heritage and Jamie Fraser's.  Let's face it, who wouldn't want to be related to that fabulous Scot!  Having read all 8 of the published books (and waiting not too patiently for the 9th book) and watched the TV series at least twice, I decided to take my research to the next level.  I have booked a trip to Scotland for me and my daughter.  We will spend 9 days in Scotland in June, traveling through Edinburgh, Pitlochry, Inverness and the Isle of Skye.  We will be visiting many of the areas from the Outlander books and I am totally pumped!  

Never settling for so-so, I decided that as part of my plan to lose weight and get in shape, I would find a fitness plan to push me.  I'm not one for the gym...the hours are never quite suited to my schedule and it's just not my thing.  I was looking online for something when these 2 Scottish fitness experts popped up on my Facebook page one day.  I guess the algorithm kicked in to my searches for travel in Scotland and my Outlander fetish.   These guys are great.  They are called the Kilted Coaches and they do all of their workouts wearing kilts!  I don't know about you, but I love a man in a kilt...think Sean Connery!  Anyway, they have an online fitness program, complete with exercises, food, and support.  So I signed up!  Yesterday was my first day and I began to think that I had made a mistake.  My 70 year-old body had written a check that it couldn't cash!  The exercises were a bit intense to say the least. Combined with the fact that I have had several injuries (broken collar bone, broken ankle and broken elbow which still has pins and plates) and I haven't exercised in years, I realized that I would have to start slower.  So this morning, I got on my stationery bike and peddled for 30 minutes.  I doubled my heart rate and stayed in the fat burning zone for 28 of the 30 minutes.  I hope my legs will get me to the shower!

Another thing that I realized through all of this was that over the last 15 years I had been in limbo.  My life before all of these events had been fairly well ordered.  I had work, church, wife/mother/daughter duties and those kept my life running along by a schedule.  All of a sudden, my husband was gone, my children were married and off on their own, my mother was gone and my working life changed dramatically.  I was just floating along like a boat without a rudder.  I had no exact time schedule and no one depending on me.  Bottom line...I got lazy.  The Kilted Coaches talked about setting goals in their introductory session.  So my goal is two-fold...lose weight/get in shape and get back to a routine schedule.  No more eating supper at 9:00, no more staying up until 2:00am, no more laying in bed until I won't tell you what time!  Nope!  I have scheduled a bedtime (11:00-11:30pm), I plan to wake up every morning no later than 7:00am, exercise for 30 minutes, journal for a few minutes, shower and get ready to conquer the world...or at least the patrons at the public library!  We'll see how it goes.  Don't worry, I'll keep you posted.  An just for accountability, here's my goal...

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

As a young child I  had a unique outlook on life.  Since each experience was new to me, I lived in a constant state of surprise and amazement.  As I became a young adult, I seemed to be so sure of everything.  There was no gray area in my way of thinking...it was all black or white, yes or no.  But as I became an adult and assumed the accompanying responsibility, the subtleties of life brought on feelings of doubt and second-guessing.  It became harder to judge situations as right or wrong and easier to see both sides of any story.  Having reached maturity (that's a euphemism for getting old) I seemed to have reverted to those childhood feelings of surprise and amazement.  However, I am not amazed at the "newness" of things...I am amazed at how things just seem to work out.  Paul puts it like this in Romans:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.

The operative words in this statement are according to His purpose.  My life experience has shown me that God has His own timetable and lately, that doesn't seem to be the same as my timetable!  And let's don't even talk about His purpose, because my plan isn't even on the same page.  However, if I calm down, let go and look for God's plan...well, that's where the amazement happens!
This was made evident to me this evening as I read a Facebook post by my fabulous son, GW.  He was the subject of an Alumni Spotlight article on the Cook Street School of Culinary Arts webpage.  This story begins when GW was a senior in high school.  As he thought about what he wanted to do with his life and the education that would be necessary to attain his goals, he decided that military service would be the best route.  He could serve his country, make a living and earn money to pay for his education.  He passed all the tests with flying colors and the recruiter said his scores were so high that he could be a nuclear physicist if he wanted.  However, there was one small problem...he had a slight hearing loss in his left ear and the Air Force wouldn't admit him.  Not even our senator and good friend, Saxby Chambliss, could pull the strings necessary for GW to get in.  He was very disappointed.  He ended up getting a Soccer scholarship to Middle Georgia College and then transferring to Valdosta State University, where he earned his degree in Criminal Justice.  He wanted to go on to graduate school immediately, but wasn't sure if he wanted a graduate degree in Criminal Justice or Public Administration.  In the midst of his deliberations, Christmas happened.  I usually give the kids money and let them purchase what they want, but I like to have at least one gift wrapped and under the tree to make Christmas morning more fun.  I looked all over town for a large cooking pot for GW, because he had borrowed mine while at VSU.  I couldn't find one in any of the stores.  As I searched the shelves at Lowe's for something else, I found a cookbook published by the company that makes Webber grills.  It had recipes and instructions to cook everything on a charcoal grill.  Since grilling had been one of Steve's favorite pastimes, I bought the book for GW.  And as they say...the rest is history!  He began cooking out of the book for his friends and found that he really enjoyed it.  In a few months, he told me that he had decided where he wanted to go to graduate school.  He wanted to earn a culinary degree.  He found Cook Street in Denver, Colorado, and excelled in his classes.  He did a 3 month internship in Italy after graduation, but when he returned home, he couldn't find the job he really wanted.  He worked in Chicago, taught cooking classes at the Arts Center and worked for a time at Park Regency Nursing Facility.  Nothing really suited him and he was truly disheartened, when by chance (or most probably, by God's plan) he found the job at Sweet Grass Dairy.  A year and a half later, he couldn't be happier.  To be highlighted in the alumni spotlight for his Alma Mater is icing on the cake...excuse the pun!  So here I am on a Tuesday night, amazed at the plan of God and that I (and my family) are a part of that plan.  If you would like to read the article about GW, you can find it at the Cook Street webpage.

P.S.  For my family...take note of the distinctive "Stinson mouth" that GW displays...the family trait of biting your tongue when you are hard at work!

Evidence that cooking is in his blood...he was assisting
the caterer at Angie's wedding at age 10.

Migliore di Sesso...quasi

There's nothing much on television tonight except the Grammy Awards, and I don't particularly want to watch a bunch of rappers strut around with all their bling and make acceptance speeches while murdering the King's English.  Just call me old fashioned, or maybe just old.  So I sat down at the computer to see what was happening on Facebook.  Maggie posted about satisfying her sweet tooth on a Sunday night and showed a photo of Sea Salt Caramel Gelato.  My mouth is watering so profusely right now that I can hardly type!  It's a good thing I don't live in Perry, Georgia, because I would probably have my freezer filled with every flavor of gelato that is made and I would also weigh about 300 pounds!  But seeing that gelato brought back memories of the trip the Maggie & I made to Italy in 2009 to visit GW.

After GW graduated from culinary school in May of 2009, he traveled to Italy for a 3 month internship.  He spent the first week at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners in Costigliole d' Asti, Italy.  

ICIF school.  I would have a hard time studying in such a beautiful place.

GW and his classmates at ICIF.

In August, Maggie & I traveled to Italy to see the sights and visit GW.  He was working at a restaurant near the town of Busseto, which is about 90 miles south of Parma, in the Emilia-Romagna province.  

Our week in Italy was quite an adventure...much too long to recount in just one post.  Suffice it to say, anything that could go wrong did go wrong!  I will recount some of our adventures in future blog posts.  Tonight, as I saw Maggie's post about gelato, I could almost taste the smooth creaminess of true Italian gelato.  We sampled enough of it during our week in Milan that I consider myself somewhat of an expert.  We were expecting warm weather during our stay because it was the middle of August.  However, we did not expect a record-breaking heat wave.  To add insult to injury, the Europeans have a very interesting attitude toward air-conditioning.  Most of the buildings were equipped with air conditioners, however, because all of the doors and windows were also open, you could hardly tell the difference between the temperature inside and outside of the buildings!  I thought that a nice glass of ice water (I knew better than to ask for sweet tea) would keep me cool, but I soon learned that there was only one ice cube in all of Europe and it was on loan to France the week we were in Italy!  So, even though it was hard, I forced myself to eat gelato to keep cool.  It is hard to describe the creamy texture of true Italian gelato to anyone who has never tasted it.  And the flavors...everything from vanilla & chocolate to cantaloupe and pineapple.  

You can see that I ate gelato at all hours of the day...and night!

Even though we were walking everywhere we went and sweating some pounds off during the heat wave, I realized that I couldn't eat gelato to cool off all the time.  One afternoon when we finished a tour of Milan, Maggie & I found another way to cool off that didn't add any inches to our waist and didn't cost a penny.

Dangling our feet in the fountain in front of the Sforesco Castle in Milan, Italy.

After reading all of this, I suppose you are wondering what the title of this post means.  I'll give you a hint...it's in Italian and describes what eating gelato is like.  I'll leave it to you and the Google translator to figure it out.

Hand and Foot

I love to play games...not the kind of games people play nowadays in relationships with other.  The kind of games I like to play involve cards, dice, letter tiles, giving clues and COMPETITION!  In my family, playing games is a long-standing tradition.  My Pe-Paw Stinson started it all, I guess.  He loved to play dominoes and cards.  Me-Maw & Pe-Paw were my daycare providers way back in 1953 when my mother went back to full-time teaching.  I can clearly remember sitting in the front room (that's what my grandmother called the living room) in his green chair by the window and playing dominoes for hours.  When he had a broken leg, we filled his cast with Tic-Tac-Toe games.  During the summers in Cedar Mountain, Pe-Paw loved to play a card game called Rook.  We still have the deck of Rook cards at the cabin.  My dad inherited this love of games in a big way.  When we would make our 14 hour car trip from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Cedar Mountain, North Carolina, every summer, Dad would always keep us entertained with games.  We used to "Count Cows" for hours at a time.  The teams were usually me & Dad against Mother & Bert.  We would count any cows that we saw on our side of the road.  We usually would set a limit for the game...play for 2 hours or until we reached Pineville, Kentucky.  Each time you saw another pasture of cows, you would add them to your previous total.  However, if you passed a church or a cemetery, you had to "bury" all you cows and start over at zero.  I loved having Dad on my team because he was always driving the car and knew where all the churches & cemeteries were located.  He was known to have taken a slight detour in order to avoid a cemetery!  Dad also loved to play card games.  He had a very sharp mind and could always remember which cards had been played and the highest card that was left to be played.  The cabin was not equipped with a television, so at night, we would play games for entertainment.  That's where a great tradition was started.  To this day, when the family is gathered at the Three Bears' House, we clear the table after supper, call all the relatives who like to play, gather the family around the large table on the back porch and play games until midnight.  There is no one in my family who is shy and retiring.  We all get rather boisterous during the games and competition is intense!  No one is left out of the game playing.  Ages range from 4 to 101.

Game night at the cabin.  Peyton is the youngest at age 9 and Nonnie is the oldest at age 101.  

Even the pets are included in the games.  Puddin loves to sit in my lap and watch the action.

So when I was asked last night by a friend to substitute for a missing player at their game night, I was thrilled.  Aileen McNair, Beth Sheahan, Patti Suggs and Fran Ambrocelli usually play games on Friday nights.  Patti was out of town, so I was invited.  Each person brings one course of the meal, they play a little while, break for supper, then play some more.  The evening is finished with a wonderful dessert.  Last night, we met at Fran's house.  She is the owner of the Barber-Tucker-Crawford House, a historic Bed and Breakfast in Southwest Moultrie.  We gathered around the kitchen table and played Hand and Foot.  It is a wonderful card game that is kind of like Canasta.  You play with a deck of cards for each player, plus one more deck, so an electric card shuffler is almost a necessity.  I had never played before, but since card games are among my favorites, I easily picked it up.  There was lots of laughter and the competition was keen.  For supper we had Spinach Salad, Chicken Tetrazinni, and homemade bread.  After 2 games, we finished the evening with toasted Pound Cake and Pistachio ice cream.  It was a wonderful night...playing games, eating good food, meeting new people and remembering my family tradition of playing games.

Kailey, Todd, Angie, Melody and Pam playing games when we gathered at the cabin for Nonnie's funeral. What a fitting way to remember her!

Oh Where, Oh Where Has This Blogger Been?

It has been a week since I have posted on my blog and I am honored to say that several people have reminded me of that fact.  So...people are actually reading what I have to say.  I really don't have an excuse for not blogging.  I have not been particularly busy for the past week, nor have I been out of town and away from my laptop.  I have just been uninspired and lazy.  Since Steve's death, I have noticed that I have experienced many of these periods.  At first I thought that it was my reaction to the grief of losing him and that I was going through periods of depression that were marked by listlessness, inattentiveness and generally feeling like I was in a fog.  These periods seemed to be brought on by events or situations that reminded me of Steve...his birthday, Christmas day, our favorite song playing on the radio, seeing one of his friends, or a finding a letter in the day's mail addressed to him.  As time wore on, I found that I could prepare myself for the "big" days on the calendar like anniversaries, birthdays & holidays.  If I psyched myself up for several days before the event and planned something different for that day, I could trick myself into not going into that deep, dark hole of sadness & anger that would pull me into the fog.  After 5 1/2 years, I was mastering this technique to the point that I actually seemed normal.  However, I began to experience these periods of fogginess for no apparent reason.  Such has been the case for the past week.  Over the weekend, it hit me like a lightning bolt.  In January of 2007, having finished radiation & chemotherapy, Steve's doctors performed several tests and determined that he was cancer free.  We were so elated and celebrated with BBQ and our friends.  Three days after that party, Steve experienced a day of disorientation and an inability to communicate effectively.  More tests determined that he had 2 brain tumors.  Dr. Johnson immediately scheduled Steve for Gamma Knife Surgery.  I was terrified, but Dr. Johnson assured me that it would be okay.  The procedure does not involve a knife and it is not surgery.  Steve's tumors would be subjected to concentrated bombardment with Gamma rays to kill the cancer.  On January 31, 2007, the procedure was performed.  It was like being in a Science Fiction movie.  A large metal cage was screwed into Steve's skull and he was placed in a contraption that looked like a CT scanner.  I was a nervous wreck, but Steve was happy because he was in a chemically altered state and all he had to do was lay there, listen to Willie Nelson albums and sleep.  The treatment was successful and 6 weeks later, tests showed that the tumors were shrinking.  The lightning bolt that hit me over this past weekend was the recollection of what we thought was a turning point in Steve's recovery and the realization that it had dredged up strong emotions that triggered "the fog".  So, I guess I'm not "over" Steve's death just yet.  That's very hard for me to say, because everyone thinks I am so strong and able to handle this.  If they only knew!  But recognizing what is happening is the first step in making it better, so I guess I am on the road to recovery.  I just wish I could move on and be whole again.  I'm like the person who prays for patience, but wants it right now!

Crafty Saturday

I love craft projects!  I have done so many cross stitch projects that I can't remember them all.  My easy chair used to be so covered up with bits of thread from my various projects that it was hard to tell what the original color & fabric really were.  I also like to do glass etching, painting, and sewing projects.  If I started right now and did nothing but craft projects for which I have already purchased the materials, I would have to live to be 150 years old to complete them...and that probably wouldn't include eating & sleeping.
This morning, I decided to work on a glass project.  I saw it, of course, on Pinterest.  It's a project to turn regular wine glasses into chalkboard wine glasses.  The finished glasses have chalkboard bases on which your guests to write their names so they don't get their own glass mixed up with someone else.  After the party, you simply wipe off the name and use it over again.  I started by taping the stem so I could get a nice, clean line.

Next, I mixed the paint.  You can use any indoor paint you wish, but make sure it is flat finish.  Pick any color you like.  Interestingly enough, I chose Claret.  You mix one cup of paint with one tablespoon of unsanded grout.

It is easiest to dip the base of the glass into the paint so that you get a smooth coat.  I transferred the paint into a disposable paint tray and began dipping.  You have to turn the glasses so that the paint is even and then prop them on the side of the tray to make sure most of the paint drips off.

After most of the paint has dripped off, you can stand the glasses in waxed paper and let them dry.  The paint is really thick, so it takes a long time for them to dry.

I can't wait until they are dry so I can try them out.

The Little Things

Have you ever noticed that human beings are always waiting for "the next big thing"?  Cars, movies, fashion trends, books...we are so busy looking for the "big" things that we miss the "small" things that can really make a difference.  This notion really got my attention yesterday.  I have undertaken several renovation projects at my house over the past few years.  My aim has been to improve my life and lift my spirits.  In my bathroom, I  had the old fiberglass tube/shower removed, a new tile shower installed, new tile laid on the floor and new paint on the walls.  A couple of years after that, I bought all new appliances for my kitchen, new tile put down on the floor, granite counter tops and tile back splash installed.  I love these improvements.  It is really a joy to cook in my new kitchen and I really love my shower.  I have been looking at my living room and planning some improvements there also.  I have thought about painting, maybe a new area rug and even some new furniture.  The room seemed very crowded.  I have two overstuffed chairs with detached ottomans.  Steve & I decided several years ago that recliners just didn't seem to hold up to the heavy use they were getting at our house and that ottomans might last longer.  But lately, they always seem to be in the way.  As my two dogs race up and down the hallway and through the living room as they chase each other in play, the ottomans go careening across the floor.  One chair is so close to the doorway from the hall into the living room that I was always stumbling over it.  I even went so far as to stop by Turner's Furniture store yesterday to look at recliners, chairs and chaises.  I soon realized that I was going to have to spend close to $500 to purchase a new chair and then I had to figure out what I would do with the chairs that were already in my living room.  On the way home from the furniture store, I had an epiphany.  Why not just re-arrange the furniture and see if I could make more room.  I moved one of my chairs & ottoman across the room and voila...the room seemed larger!  How easy was that?  I sat in my "new" room for the rest of the afternoon and evening and marveled at the simplicity of this solution.  If simply moving a chair across the room could make it feel like I had enlarged the area, what small thing could I re-arrange in my life to open my mind and refresh my attitude?  I haven't found it yet, but I intend to try very hard to discover it this year.  It will probably turn out to be something so simple & obvious that I will wonder, "Why didn't I notice this before?"

Katie & Mama J

There are many activities that I enjoy.  However, three that are at the top of my "favorites" list are cooking, doing crafts and spending time with my family.  It is a rare thing when I get to do all three at once, but today was one of those days.  Katie Garofalo (my son's girlfriend) came to the house around 9:30 this morning and we spent the day making candy, baking bread, etching glass and visiting.  I was in hog heaven!  Katie has been wanting to try out some candy recipes from a marvelous book she owns that is all about chocolate.  Talk about "right down my alley"...I would eat my shoe if it had chocolate drizzled on it.  I also have a few recipes from various Southern Living books.  So we compared recipes and decided to make Turtles.  Before we started that project, I mixed up the dough for Aunt Rhoda's bread and set it aside to proof ...that's fancy culinary jargon for "rising".  Katie realized that we were missing a couple of ingredients for the turtles, so she ran to Winn-Dixie while I did some prep work.  I chopped and toasted pecans and assembled wax paper sheets.  When Katie returned, we unwrapped and heated the caramels, then melted the chocolate.  Before you know it, we had a cookie sheet full of turtles.

A sprinkle of sea salt on top and they were finished.  Now all we had to do was keep our hands off of them until the chocolate cooled and hardened!  I took my mind off the turtles by finishing the bread.  After kneading and shaping the loaves, they went into the oven.  We had plenty of time to complete the glass etching project.  Tomorrow is the Secret Pal Tea at the Presbyterian Church.  Anyone who is so inclined can  put their name in the hat and pull out a name.  We remember each other once a month throughout the year with small gifts, cards, and surprises.  In January, we have a party and reveal ourselves to our pal.  I planned to etch a trifle bowl for my Secret Pal and Katie was interested in learning.  In between steps, we enjoyed some lively conversation.  The bread was done in an hour and when I took it out of the oven and placed it on the cooling racks the aroma of the bread & the chocolate-covered turtles was too much to resist. 

One loaf went home with Katie for her & GW to enjoy, two loaves will be shared with friends and you can see what we did with the other loaf!  There is nothing like the taste of bread, fresh from the oven.  The craft project turned out very well, also. 

If your eyesight is good, you can see the name of my Secret Pal on the trifle bowl, but I know I can trust you not to breath a word to her.

The Monster Under The Bed

I was never afraid that monsters were hiding under my bed when I was a child.  But in recent days, I wonder...  I have no idea what got into me this morning.  Maybe it was spring fever, brought on by the balmy temperatures we have experienced in South Georgia during the last week.  Most probably it was the need to find my missing sock.  Whatever the reason, this morning, I decided to clean under my bed.  What was I thinking?  I have a king size Tempurpedic mattress and lots of pillows.  I stripped the sheets off and put them in the washing machine.  I tried to just roll the whole bed frame aside, with the mattress still on top, so I could vacuum the carpet.  That didn't work because while the mattress is in one piece, the bed frame and box springs are in two pieces.  I quickly determined that the mattress had to be removed...easier said than done.  For starters, there is not enough room in my bedroom to just pull the mattress off the frame and lay it on the floor.  I had to stand it on end so I could walk around with the sweeper.  It was not a pretty picture.  It looked like Cirque Du Soleil meets the World Wrestling Federation!
I swear...that mattress was like Frosty the Snowman who magically came alive.  Almost exhausted, I was horrified when I saw what was under the bed.  I started to take "before and after" photos, but I was afraid the Health Department would arrest me if those pictures were published on the world wide web!  I found not only one, but two missing socks.  But the best was yet to come!  My Jack Russell/Rat Terrier, affectionately known as Puddin', has been using this space as her secret hiding place for the past 5 years.  I found squeaky toys, tennis balls, and chew sticks.  That was to be expected.  However, what I didn't expect was that Puddin' has developed a love for pecans.  Before Christmas, I bought 50 pounds of pecans, had them cracked, and picked them out to give as Christmas presents and also to put in the freezer for baking.  Apparently, Puddin' has been raiding the wastebasket where I have been throwing the empty shells and carrying them under my bed to see if she could find one little piece of pecan that I had missed.  I think she has been training my new puppy, Sweetie Pie, to do the same thing, because I don't see how one dog could do all that damage.  I found a Tupperware container that I didn't even know was missing and lots of shredded paper.  There must be some ingredient in paper that works on dogs like catnip works on cats, because Sweetie Pie is addicted.  I also found some unrecognizable items that I quickly sucked into the vacuum.  Puddin' does not like the vacuum cleaner.  She barks at it even when it is not running.  With all the noise I was making as various items were being sucked into the hose, she was adding a few more decibels with rabid barking!  Poor little Sweetie Pie was so undone by this spectacle that she hid under the chest of drawers.  I could barely see her nose sticking out.  I didn't find any dust bunnies...I found dust elephants!  Could this be the reason for some of my allergies?  At any rate, I finally finished with the vacuuming, sprayed the mattress with FeBreze, and started moving the bed back into place.  My shins will never be the same.  I must have run into that bed frame 5 times before I got everything back in place.  Immediately, the dogs wanted to inspect my work.  As they jumped onto the bed, they were overtaken with fits of sneezing...the FeBreze didn't agree with their sensitive noses!  I had a good laugh, which I needed after my workout.  With clean sheets (there's nothing quite like that smell) and bedspread back on the bed, Puddin' and Sweetie Pie just had to make one more inspection.  It's too bad I have to tear it all up tonight when I crawl into bed.  Would it be too weird to sleep in the guest bedroom tonight?

The ladies have to check out the bed.

I guess it passed inspection and is suitable for napping!

California Here I Come...

I seem to remember a song from my childhood called California Here I Come.  The lyrics are:

California, Here I Come
Right back where I started from
where bowers of flowers
bloom in the spring
each morning at dawning
birdies sing at everything
a sunkissed miss said, "Don't be late!"
that's why I can hardly wait
open up that golden gate
California, Here I Come

I have been thinking about my blog from yesterday for most of today.  Anyone who knows me very well knows that I do not like exercise.  Oh, I love to get out in the yard and dig in the dirt, pull weeds, trim shrubs and plant flowers.  I even like to do things like painting walls, moving furniture, pressure washing the porch, and washing the car.  However, I do not like organized physical activity, such as sit-ups, squats, running, or deep knee bends!  So when I announced to the world last night (well, at least to a few friends who follow my blog) that I was going to be riding my stationery bike, it didn't dawn on me that I really have to keep this exercise thing going...probably for the rest of my life if I continue to try out home-made bread recipes!  I jokingly wondered how long it would take me to pedal to California.  As I thought about that today, several things connected in my mind.  One of my dream trips has always been to fly to San Francisco, rent a convertible and drive down the coast highway to Monterey.  

I happened to mention this dream to my brother a couple of months ago.  He & his wife have traveled the world and he told me that was one of his favorite trips.  He suggested we plan to make the trip next January so we could see the Elephant seals in Big Sur.  I said, "Sure."  I should know not to mention anything, however casually, to my big brother.  Today, he called me and related his idea for our trip to San Francisco, Monterey and Yosemite!  So...California, Here I Come!  And just to make my bike riding a little more interesting, I have decided to keep track of my mileage and see if I can pedal to San Francisco by next January.  I will keep you up-to-date on my mileage and when I pass through interesting areas, I'll post information and photos.  It should be loads of fun.  Anyone want to join me?

The View Through the Handlebars

2013 has been about moving myself to a better place.  I have been using this blog to boost my attitude.  I have been cleaning my house and de-cluttering (as much as a professional pack rat is able to).  I have begun to organize my life and plan to keep it organized.  I am trying to relax and let God's plan for my life begin to work...that has been the hardest thing for me to do.  So, I figured that as long as I was in the mood, I would take this opportunity to get myself in shape and improve my health.  I am not exactly unhealthy, but my blood pressure needs improving and my doctor says that my cholesterol could also be lower.  That was very hard for me to believe, because my cholesterol hasn't changed since the last time I had it checked a couple of years ago...still at 150.  However, I guess the rules have changed and now instead of under 200 being the optimal level, it is now supposed to be under 100.  My doctor wants me to take medication, but I hate taking pills so I am trying the diet & exercise route.  You can tell by the blog title that my exercise bicycle has become my new best friend.  I have it set up in the living room, right in front of the television.  I plan to ride twice a day for a total of one hour.  However, I don't plan to kill myself at the beginning.  Tonight I pedaled through part of Castle.  In the morning, I will ride for a little longer and build up to my goal.  I have recorded my weight and measurements...which will not be posted on this blog until I reach my goal.  I hope my health improves as much as my attitude has so far.  Ten minutes and two and a half miles tonight.  I wonder how long it will take me to pedal to California?  I'll let you know when I get there!

Modern Inconveniences

This post should have been written yesterday, but because of a "modern inconvenience" I was unable to type.  Thus, I am doing today what I planned to do yesterday.  By now, I'm sure you're very confused, so let me explain.
I have two very large Bradford Pear trees in my front yard.  Steve & I planted them just a few years after we built the house, so after 28 years of growing, they are quite large.  I really love those trees because they remind me of my home in Cincinnati.  Although Moultrie is beautiful in the spring, the fall leaves much to be desired.  I always miss the beautiful show of colorful leaves when the first frost can be felt in the air.  The Bradford Pear trees supply a bit of color in my front yard every fall.  It is for that reason that I savor every last leaf on the trees and refuse to rake them until all the color is gone.  This year, that ran almost until Thanksgiving.  By that time, I was so busy with holiday plans that I just didn't have time to do yard work.  Every time I made plans to tackle the job, it would rain and spoil my plans.  So on Saturday morning, I rolled up my sleeves, put on my work gloves, started the John Deere lawnmower and attached my new yard sweeper that I had purchased last fall.  This modern convenience allows me to cut the work time almost in half.  It also saves my arms & back from strain.  I had only made two passes at the front yard when I noticed that the sweeper wasn't tracking correctly.  Upon further investigation, I found that the wheel had come loose.  I found a concrete block and propped up the axle so I could see how to fix it.  It wasn't anything major...just the plastic housing around the wheel had jarred loose and allowed the wheel to become disconnected.  I quickly repaired it and got back to work.  Two more passes at the yard and the same thing happened again, only this time, I left the whole wheel mechanism scattered across the front lawn. I decided that the repair would take more expertise than I possessed, so I went to plan B...the leaf blower!  Now I was really reminded of Cincinnati because this is how we cleaned the yards there after the leaves had fallen.    Before cranking it up, I filled the gas tank on the blower so I wouldn't have to stop to refill it in the middle of my job.  To my surprise, it took two more fillings of the gas tank to finish the yard!  All in all, it took me 3 hours to blow all of the pine straw and leaves into appropriate areas.  When I turned off the blower, I was surprised to find that my right arm was still under the impression that the blower was still running.  My arm vibrated and tingled for the rest of the afternoon, just as if the blower was still going.  In addition to the vibration, my muscles were so fatigued from the chore that I could hardly lift a glass of tea.  I plopped down in my chair to watch the football playoff games and didn't move for several hours. So my modern convenience turned into an inconvenience instead.  I must admit that the yard did look beautiful and I had received quite a workout, so the afternoon wasn't a total waste of time.  I still have to figure out how to fix the yard sweeper.  Maybe that roll of duck tape will do the trick.

40 winks

I have found another perk of retirement...afternoon naps!  I found this out quite by accident.  I had been working all day making cookies, taking Sweetie Pie to the vet for her final shots, doing laundry and scanning some photos.  By 3:00 this afternoon, I had finished all of my chores and decided to relax in my easy chair and do some reading.  I am reading a book by one of my favorite authors; Jan Karon.  She left a career in advertising to write books.  Her most famous series is the Mitford series.  Father Tim Cavanaugh is the main character in this delightful series that takes place in the fictional town of Mitford.  Shepherds Abiding is a wonderful Christmas story.  I started it long before Christmas, but the rush of the season prohibited me from reading as I should.  So, on this balmy January afternoon, I decided to catch up.  About 10 pages into the book, I found myself so relaxed that I fell asleep.  Approximately an hour later, I awoke to the dogs and my book in my lap.  I didn't get much reading done, but I felt very refreshed and ready for more work.  I remembered that Bert Harsh, Vice-President at Riverside Manufacturing, Library Board Chairman and good friend, used to take about an hour nap after lunch when he retired.  I now understand why he did.  I'm not sure if it will be an every afternoon occurrence, but it certainly wouldn't bother me if it turned out that way.  I can't wait until spring so I can relax in my rope hammock while I nap.



A Cup o' Joe

One of my favorite indulgences is a good cup of coffee.  Long before Starbuck's was around, I was enjoying gourmet coffee.  In my late teenage years, General Foods came out with their International Coffee flavors.    Each flavor was inspired by flavors associated with various countries and came in a cute little tin, decorated with the colors of the flag of each country.

My favorite was Suisse Mocha.  Inspired by Swiss chocolate, this flavor had the most inviting aroma.  I also liked Cafe Vienna which was flavored with cinnamon and Orange Cappuccino, from Italy.  All you needed was a cup of hot water, a tin of coffee and a spoon.  Money was tight for my parents back then.  My brother & I didn't know it at the time because they always provided for all of our "needs" and most of our "wants".  So spending hard-earned money on fancy coffee was probably a big stretch for my mother, but she did it anyway.  Truth be told, she enjoyed it as much as I did!  When I went away to college, Mother would send me packages to lift my spirits.  She called them "goody pokes".  They included candy bars, cookies, or other supplies that I couldn't find in the small village of Cullowhee, but there was always a tin of International Coffee nestled among the other items.  A cup of that coffee would transport me back to my home and I could almost picture Mother sitting across the table from me enjoying a cup.  

During the recent Christmas holiday, I organized my kitchen pantry and discarded out of date items.  As I burrowed deeper into the pantry, I uncovered a bag of ground, chocolate-flavored coffee.  I instantly remembered that Mother had put it in my Christmas stocking years ago.  It was still sealed so when I opened it, the fresh aroma filled my nostrils.  I wasted no time in readying my single-serve coffee maker and brewing a cup.  I added a detail that was a trademark of Vera.  She always liked to drink her coffee or tea from a china cup.  No clunky ceramic mug or Christmas cup would do for her.  She wanted a dainty, china cup.  In fact, she loved china cups so much that she started collecting them.  I am proud that she entrusted them to me several years ago and I proudly display them on the buffet in my dining room.

So this morning, as I drink my customary cup o' joe, I am remembering many times in the past when Mother & I shared coffee, laughter, and most of all...love!