Bing Bing

SILENCE!!!! night

My Hero - Achmed.
You folks will have to forgive for a bit. I just discovered embedding youtube videos and well.....I have to play yanno............

Muppets!!!!!

Ghosts of Christmas Past

All in honor of Ebeneezer Scrooge.............
Now that we are underway to December and all that entails, I thought I would take the time to stroll down memory lane. Maybe post a few pictures, tell a tale or two, and take a glimpse at the past here and there. This particular post will grow as time goes on and I remember to type out my fuzzy recollections.

The most logical place to start would be with me. Since I have the memories vividly etched in my data base.

My very first Christmas Memory -

I was 5. We had just moved to town in September (may have been late August but that is fuzzy). Editor's note here - My Mom just informed me it was in February. We moved into a small rental house that really did not have enough room for 5 people but my Mom made do. Christmas, I'm sure, was on my Mom's mind. I wouldn't know. She didn't really tell us details. Being 5 I just knew Santa would answer my wish list. Honestly, I don't know how we ate those first few months, because my Mom was just starting a new job after never really being in the workforce at all, going to night school (I believe)and basically just trying to survive.

One weekend day, my Great Uncle and Aunt knocked on the door. They were bringing us a tree. To my small mind, that tree was a Redwood. Huge! They placed it in the Livingroom and we all stood back and just stared at it. I remember laying under it at night, dreaming of Reindeer and sugar plums. That tree stood naked of decorations for what seemed like the longest time. Sure, my sister and I would haphazardly perch board game pieces and paper cut-outs in the branches but we would always take them away before anyone else would see them. I'm not sure why.

One day the tree blossomed into an array of wonder. It was decorated with glass balls, glass soldiers, lights and tinsel that seemed to find its way into every nook and cranny around the house. I don't think we (any of us) have a picture of that tree but my 5 yr old's memory is one of fantastical wonder. That was one spectacular tree. I was certain that no one in the whole world had one that fantastic, that special, that beautiful. I saw pictures of the tree in NY and in my mind that tree was a "Charlie Brown Tree" compared to ours.

In those days we always went to my Great Grandmother's home for a family Christmas get-together on Christmas Eve. Boring. I'm sure the adults enjoyed it but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that us kids hated and dreaded going every year. What I would give now to have that opportunity, only changed a good bit. We would get home late at night, get ready for Santa to visit and settle down. I bet my Mom hated Christmas eve what with having to scarf down cookies and milk. Maybe not, now that I think harder about it.

Christmas morning that year - oh my. I will never ever forget it. I have shared this story with my family over the years, told a few friends and I never tire of talking about that wonderful, magical morning.

We awakened to a living room stuffed to the gills with gift. I know, a child's mind expands what really happened but I swear, that room was stuffed. Toys, clothes, odds and ends, food, stockings overflowing with those traditional oranges and apples and nuts. My Grandmother (who had a key to the house) and her sister and BIL came in the night and set a spread for us that I will never forget. Personally, I thought Santa was off his rocker but as I grew older, I understood what happened.

Because of that memory, every year I do something extra for a stranger. It doesn't have to be much. Just that gesture to tell someone that "yes, they do count". I'm not ringing my own bell or trying to be superficial, I'm just stating a fact. One day in my childhood has caused me to think outside of my own little bubble. My elders taught me to give from the heart, even if I can't give from the pocketbook. For that I am eternally grateful.

If I could have a Christmas Wish this year, it would be to have the chance to sit down and say Thank You to my Grandmother, Great Aunt and Uncle and most especially to my Mom.

I can fulfill part of that wish -
"Mom - Thank You. For Everything".

Oh Look..........

Another post about Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all....
TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING,
BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP.
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,
I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.

THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -
THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE,
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION
WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT.

TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION,
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.
SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR,
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.

I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.
I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING, FLOATING INTO THE SKY,
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.
BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.


MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP.
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS.
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

Author Unknown

Thanksgiving Days Gone By

I was sitting and chilling with the kids today. We were discussing what we were going to do for Thanksgiving. This year is going to be a bit different. My MIL will be here (hopefully) this week so I plan to do a spread a week early. All the traditional stuff. Then we'll do a smaller one next week for just us.

Anyways, my kids were asking about my days growing up and our Thanksgiving dinners. Honestly, I do not recall any from my childhood. The earliest one I do remember was as a teen. But not the day, the day after. My middle sister and I were eating leftovers and sat at the table stuffing small olives with turkey. Do you have any idea how hard it was to put a sliver of Turkey into an olive? In between stuffing olives we pigged out on rolls with turkey, dressing and cranberry sauce - a sandwich if you will. Then we went out in her red VW Bug and looked at Christmas lights and sang from the top of our lungs every Christmas Carol we could remember the words to and some we made up.

The most memorable Thanksgiving happened about 25 years ago. This was after middle sister was married. Dinner was always at Mom's house. Mom and I (well mostly mom) would do the bulk of the cooking. My Grandmother always brought her wonderful, famous Macaroni and Cheese pie, cornbread and sometimes a pie or two. Mom and I would set the table, putting all the foods in their dishes on the table so we could all sit down and eat. Sometimes we would put things out and go back to cooking or make a quick check on the guests.

Well, I had a cat. Mr Jingle Bell. My sister gave him to me for Christmas when I was 14. I think he hated my Grandmother. I really do. The feeling was mutual. Every time she visited, that cat would sneak up and bat her in the back of the head.

Back to the table spread. Picture a nice table, laid out with dressing on a platter, rolls, greenbean casserole, corn, carrots, cranberry sauce, pickles, etc and the "famous" macaroni pie. The Turkey and Ham had not made it to the table yet. Now picture a 15# cat, gorging himself on said macaroni pie. My mom almost had heart failure. She and I were the only ones who knew. What did Mom do? She very quietly took a spoon and "messed" the pie up so that no one would know. Nobody did but the two of us. Wonder why she and I didn't eat any that day? Um, Sis? Now you know. You ate cat spit that day.

After that, all of my Thanksgiving days have been pretty boring. But, every time I make macaroni and cheese, at least now everyone knows why I might grin and chuckle a bit.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving - everyone (well almost everyone) wants to have a bang up meal. It's tradition, doncha know?
Honestly, it has always been an expensive endeavor for me in years past. I don't have hordes of people gnoshing at my table. It's always just us. Sometimes I can cajole a relative to eat with us but most often, everyone has their own plans.
I have created a Thanksgiving Monster. Gotta have those dishes you grew up with. Gotta have more food than the NFL team of the year could pack away. Gonna have to relegate your menus for days to revolve around T'Day leftovers. Yeah the leftovers may save you cash for another meal but my goodness, one can only eat so much Turkey and stuff, no matter how you disguise it. Is it really a savings? Well yeah, if you do it the right way (heh - my way).

This year I have decided to scale back. I am going to use what I have on hand and really deep discount shop.
Here's my menu and the broken down cost:

• 12 # Turkey Hen - $5.88. I'm gonna grill that bird and add some peach wood to the coals. Baste with some honey every now and then. (Got this bird on a deep sale)
  

• Dressing - we here in the South call it dressing. We don't stuff the butt of the bird. Why would anyone eat anything that came out of a butt? Anyways - cornbread - a pan full . Bread crumbs - day old bread or whatever you have on hand cut up and toasted. 1 Onion, 1 stalk of celery, 1/2 a bell pepper all chopped up and saute'd in butter. Toss in some salt and pepper, some chicken broth and bake that puppy in a pan till it squeals. Um - maybe about $2.50, could be $4.00 depending on where you get your "stuff".

• Corn - a bag of frozen whole kernel corn, simmered with butter, milk and honey, some salt and pepper. Costs me $1.29 (no name brand, 1#)

• Taters - Well that's a taste thing there - I like sweet taters but everyone else likes plain Russet smashed taters. So I'm going to just do the Russets. Peel and boil until dead, drain, add butter, milk, salt, pepper, and a dollop of sour cream. Smash until there is nothing left to smash. For us - that's probably about $1.00

• Green Beans - what Southerner would have a Thanksgiving spread without Green Beans - Casserole that is.

Me - I simmer garden beans (we grew them and snapped them and froze them) in beef broth until just tender. Drain, toss with fresh chopped onions, cream of mushroom soup, and bake until just right. Add some of those cholesterol killer french fried onions on top and bake some more. Mmmmmmmmmmm Boy! I'm guessing about $2.00.

• Pumpkin Pie - Well the Halloween Jackolanterns didn't give us our pies. Hmmmph - at $7 a piece they should have............... Anyways - I use canned pumpkin and a premade shell. Add the spices and it tastes just yummy. I'm too lazy to make my own shell. Total cost about $3.00
•  Bread - I toss some ingredients in the ABM and let it do its thing. Hmmmm....never thought about it but maybe about a buck?

Leftovers - if you are lucky you can have another full meal. After that, nobody wants to eat leftovers. Here's what I do:

• The turkey gets stripped - all the meat I can pull off goes into zip lok bags for another meal a month from now. 
• The turkey carcass goes into the stockpot and gets simmered until it almost disappears. That's some good broth. Save it after it's cooled and strained and plop in the freezer for a pot of soup later down the road.
• Corn and carrots go in the freezer to become part of turkey soup.
• Dressing, if any is leftover, gets left out to dry. I grind it up and make breading out of it for other meats. Kept in the freezer it lasts a good while. 
• The goat loves leftover green bean casserole so that's where that goes.
• Instead of soup I may make a potpie but I still have that broth to use later.
• If there are leftover taters (rare here) I freeze them and use as a thickener for creamed soup bases.
  

Let's look at overall cost - for a really good spread in my house -

$20.00.

Yep, that's it. That includes everything, spices, additions, etc. Take it a step further and you can break it down even more - into meals. I get at least 4 meals out of Thanksgiving dinner. $5 a meal ain't none too shabby. Feeding 4 people for $5 a big meal is wonderful in this economy. Having Turkey Broth in the freezer is even better. I don't know about you but heating up a pot of broth when you are feeling puny is a great thing for us.

Here's hoping you all have a great Thanksgiving Feast!

What is it about Visitors?

No, I'm not talking about the new TV series "V", although I have tuned in and think it may end up on my lineup each week. I remember getting all po'd when the original was on and I had to work that night. I didn't have a VCR at the time so I missed pretty much all of it back in the 80's. Of course it didn't help having a supervisor at the time that was manic about not missing an episode - he would make absolutely sure he was off on the nights "V" came on and also "Beauty and the Beast".
Anyways, I digress.....
What is it about having visitors coming to your home for a few days that puts you in a panic cleaning mode? You know you clean daily. Dust, vacuum, wash hand prints off the walls, mop, the whole nine yards. But let anyone say they are coming to stay for a couple of days and OMG! It's Panic Mode time! With capital letters!
You know full well your visitor is not going to look behind a door, or lift a curtain or perhaps move that canister on your counter or traverse to the very back corner of your property to discover your newly laid compost bin yet you positively, in your mind, know for a fact that they will. While you are sleeping. When your back is turned. Or better yet, in front of you when you least expect it. You know they are gonna do it and stand there with an "AHA! I gotcha" look an their faces. Humiliation. Feelings of inadequacy. It's all in your mind you know. At least that's what we tell ourselves.
I am expecting a VIP visit in 2 weeks. Yep, my Mother In Law. She's the sweetest (aside from my Mom) woman you could ever meet. I love her almost as much as my own Mommy. However, when my Mom visits, I make sure I don't have dirty dishes on the counter. That's it. She knows me and wuvs me anyways.
There's something about in laws coming to visit. You feel as though you are under a microscope (even though you aren't, hopefully).
Today I have washed every curtain in the house, pressure washed the new blinds I just bought about 5 months ago, scrubbed windows I know any sane person won't even think to look through, and now it's off to the carpet and upholstery. Hmmm...thinking maybe a quick pressure washing of the siding of the house may be in order. I gotta mow the lawn, trim the hedges, weed the flower beds....sheesh. I should be under the impending doom of Visitors more often. Oh wait....the dog needs a bath!
Hubby put the pressure washer up in the shed and I was standing on the back porch almost wanting to yell "NO!!!! Leave it out, I need to wash some shoes or something". That sucker is coming back out tomorrow and I am gonna use it!

Dear Peanut

Dear Peanut, 
 

I have some issues with you right now that I would like to hash out. And now is as good a time as any with you laying over my arms while I am trying to type on the computer. You don't even look comfortable and you can't breathe lying like that with your butt higher up than your head but your brain is the size of a walnut so I will forgive you.

First of all, the litter box. Is it your goal to poop on the rim of the box? Because if it is, bravo! Mission accomplished, you can stop now. You have proven your point. It is not funny anymore, and I have run out of sticks in the yard to clean it off with. The box is big enough, and you are still small, so don't even go there.

Now... making pointless, incessant noises. If I take something away from you because I am tired of hearing it scoot across the floor for the last 2 hours, it does not mean to go find something else to mess with. I mean really where do you find this stuff? A wad of paper? A bottle cap? Is that really that fun to play with?

I put things on the coffee table because I want them there. I do not want you to knock EVERYTHING off of the coffee table in one of your mindless "tearing ass through the house for no reason" adventures every single day. Once in a while, it is amusing. Every day, it's not that funny.

Your hiney stinks. I mean REALLY stinks. Like the worst poop you've ever smelled. Why do you smell soooo horrible? I thought cats were clean! I have never experienced this smelly, stinky cat phenomena with any other cat on this Earth. Why, God, did you give me the most stinky cat in this solar system? And Peanut, why do you insist on showing me your 'dairy air'? I know it stinks, but what am I supposed to do about it? Bathe you??? LOL! Remember the last time that happened? I still have the scars... Also, when you sit on my arm, please have the kindness to put your tail over your hiney so it doesn't come into contact with my skin. I might catch something.

Lastly, I am allergic to you. I know this isn't your fault, but knowing this, why do you insist on rubbing the whole length of your body on my face?

Okay... I just pulled a CAT HAIR out of my eye. No wonder my eyes are itchy if you are purposefully depositing your dander into my eyes! What are you trying to prove here? That you know I'm stuck with you? While you're busy carrying things about the house in your mouth to deposit them into some area that I haven't discovered yet- would you mind bringing me a piece of sandpaper to me so that I can alleviate the itching you've caused me? Oh- while we're on this subject, I need my hair ties back- I know you have them.

Thanks !!

.

Helpful Hints and Stuff

I'm always on the lookout for anything to make life easier and ultimately save some cash. I got a catalog in the mail a couple of weeks ago, no clue what it was. It had a list of hints and tips in it that I tore out and saved. I've looked all over for a way to give attribution to these tips but they all point to different places so here's some that I read -

For gardening -

• Use the cooled leftover water from steamed vegetables to water your houseplants.
• Use plastic "peanuts" from your shipping packages in the bottom of your flower pots to aid in drainage.
• Add a crushed eggshell to a container of water. Let sit for a few days and then water your plants with it. This works really well for tomato plants as the extra calcium will help deter blossom end rot.
• Poke holes in the bottom of a tin can and add mothballs. Place upside down (holes facing up) in your garden to discourage 4 legged pests.
• Dig up a dandelion plant and put a few drops of pure white vinegar in the hole. The vinegar will kill any root left and grass will grow over the treated spot.

I just looked at page 2 and it was nothing more than 1/2 hints suggesting you buy the book to get the whole thing. Nah, not happening. The internet can offer as many if not more than a book could. So I'll stop at the gardening part since I am in the full "garden" swing right now.

So far I think perhaps we might just do better winter gardening in the greenhouse than we do in the regular garden during the summer. Everything is growing like crazy. Hubby had to tie the cukes to the trellis he made and today, looks like more coaxing is in the works. I think I may have some tiny little budding blossoms on a couple of the tomato plants. The whole thing will take some extra work since Mother Nature cannot do her job naturally. We'll have to hand "fertilize" each and every blossom that comes along - no buggies or wind to do it for us.

As I was taking care of Nanny Belle McPhee this morning, I stood gazing at our pool. Such a lovely, verdant shade of green. We haven't gotten the cover on it yet - we got the cover out, cleaned it off and well, it's sitting, nicely folded up, on the picnic table. I may just buy some fish and raise my own They'd have the perfect growing conditions, that's for sure. I can just picture my daughter sitting on the deck, fishing pole in hand, murmuring "here fishie, fishie". She'd catch one, give it a name then toss it back and we'd never, ever be allowed to eat it.

It's November!

The days of the year are getting shorter. Halloween has come and gone and now it's time to start thinking Turkey. Looking around I see the change of the season. The trees are turning bright gold and orange, even brown. Less grass to mow. Gardens going to sleep. While we have already had a couple of frosts, the weather sure isn't accepting that it's Fall. Locally, the farmers are pretty much getting their fields ready for the winter slumber. Visually it looks like everything is done and it's time to hunker down for a "cold winter's nap".

Behind the scenes is another story. Once the gardens are set to rest, the mental work begins. Planning for next year. Figuring out what did well and didn't and trying to capitalize on that and hope your predictions are right.

I spend my winters thinking about what we did the past growing season and try to figure out how to do it better. "Did that new variety of whatever work well or should I go back to something old and tested". Thumbing through seed catalogs and dreaming of growing everything I see is a favorite past time of mine. Alas, I know my limits and try not to venture too far from my tried and true varieties.

Our greenhouse is doing very well. The volunteer mystery plants have been identified - Cucumbers. They are starting to send out their tendrils so a trellis of some sort must be installed. The volunteer tomato plants are thriving, as is the Basil. We planted Sugar Snap Peas last week and they are starting to come up. We are not having any problem keeping it heated at night when the temps get into the 40's. During the day it goes from as little as 10 degrees warmer to 50 degrees warmer than the outside air. That's calling for some close attention so it can be ventilated to regulate the temperatures. I'm looking forward to using it to start my transplants for next year's big garden. That should save me a ton of money as transplants are expensive in these parts. Plus I'll be able to start the plant varieties I prefer and know will do well in my garden. Many years I am restricted to what the garden centers offer.

So far, about 12 trees have been cut down. Still many more to go. Two are going to cause a real issue when their turn comes - pretty big size, they are leaning, and are too close to our storage shed and the pool. Those two will have to be cut down a few feet at a time. The goat is in pine needle heaven right now. She stays right at the pile of branches and has an all you can eat buffet. It's a good thing we don't milk her because the milk would taste awful.