Thursday, April 27, 2006

Poke Sallet, Vadalia Onions, and Cornbread

My neighbor picked me a mess of poke sallet and I'm cooking it today. Ah, smells so good!! I grew up eating poke sallet every spring. Sometimes my Mom would cook it by itself or sometimes she mixed other wild greens in with it. She used to pick stuff she called, "Shawnee," but I haven't a clue as to what it was. She also picked "lambs quarters" and briar leaves and mixed that in as well. Then we normally had cornbread and onions with it. It's delicious of course. I've always heard "Poke sallet is the best spring tonic you can find; it gets your blood going." Not everyone likes it though. It does have a distinct flavor all its own.

I found this little one growing out in the yard. It's best to pick poke while it's young and tender. I always cook it some first and then pour the water off and then rinse it in cold water and pour that off and then start off with more cold water. I always heard it was poisonous and you had to cook the poison out. I know the berries are poisonous if they are eaten. Here's a picture of the berries after the plant has matured. I think back in the old days people used the berries for dye and maybe some still do. I found this canned poke sallet picture on a google search but I have never seen it for sale in any store I've ever been in. If so, I would have bought some!

You can cook it and then freeze it for eating during the winter.
I'm going to go slice the vadalia onions now. I found the first ones in the grocery store recently and got so excited. I love vadalia onions. Yummy good!! You all come on over and pull up a chair and dig in.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Here I Am Again


Well, the old body is feeling better now but still sore and bruised from my fall. A fall happens so quick. One second you are standing. The next you are down.

I have been trying to do some work around the house and haven't been on here as much as I'd like.

I was watching the Food Network last week and they said that you should let brownies sit at least an hour before you cut them. HAHAHA!! Like brownies are going to sit around for an hour before they get eaten?? Not in this house, no sirree!!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

The Fall Woman

If I have missed posting a comment on your blog in the past few days, then please forgive me.

Tuesday night I was going to sit down in a chair in the dark and when I did the chair was not there to catch me. I hit the floor with a crash and my back caught the edge of the chair as I went down. It knocked the wind out of me and I sat there for a little bit. It hurt so bad that night that I had to sleep in the recliner. I have a place on my back on the right side as big as my whole hand and it's every color of the rainbow. I also have a huge black bruise on my behind. That area apparently hit the floor first! I was trying to sit down in the chair beside of my husband's bed. I didn't want to turn the overhead light on in his eyes and the chair normally is right there, but I had pushed it back. I should have felt for it but I didn't. Believe me I will feel for it the next time.

It has really hurt. Getting up and down or turning over in bed seem to be the worst.

Today I mowed the lawn so I had to use the weedeater, the pushmower, the riding tractor, and the blower. Three of those you have to pull the cords to start them. It hurt so bad but it seemed like the more I used it the less it hurt! Tomorrow I probably won't be able to get out of bed.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Weird Things About Me

I was tagged by Abandoned in Pasadena to do a meme telling 6 weird things about me. Well......anyone who knows me knows that there is nothing weird about me at all. Absolutely nothing.

But I will give it a shot!

1. I hate for people to have their hair hanging in their eyes. Either cut it off or tie or clip it back!
(Martha Stewart always bugged me with her hair in her eyes.)

2. I hate using public bathrooms unless absolutely necessary.

3. My fingers are double jointed. I used to entertain the other kids on the school bus with my double jointed fingers!

4. I have some obsessive compulsive behavior issues. I always check the door at night at least a couple of times to make sure it's locked, even though I know darned well that I did lock it already!

5. In the bathroom the toilet paper must pull from the top down. If I'm at your house and it has to be pulled from the bottom then I just might change it to the CORRECT way!

6. The same applies for paper towels. They must pull from the top!

Gee, guess I'm weirder than I thought.

Monday, April 17, 2006

June Bugs?????

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and didn't eat too much. I didn't. It was a typical day here! I got a new bow for the wreath that hangs on the front porch! That is a birdhouse hanging above it.

We had a cold front that moved through yesterday evening but thankfully the bad storms went north of us. Some folks have been getting hit hard with tornados, places like NE and Iowa. I hope my buddy Cliff tied a rock around himself and his family so they wouldn't get blown away since he lives out in Nebraska! Speaking of Cliff, I had posted before how my brother used to toss those brown bugs on me, those that are drawn to lights at night. Here is a picture of one. Cliff said they are called June bugs.

The picture shows one I took on Friday night.

Well, it isn't June yet and this picture of the green one is what we always called June bugs.

Looking it up though, it seems they are all called June bugs even though the brown ones are already here.......does that mean Cliff was right? I hate to admit it but I think it does, according to the dictionary anyway. Well, I'm still going to call the brown beetles brown beetles and the June bugs June bugs!

Friday, April 14, 2006

EASTER

E.A.S.T.E.R.

E is for Easter, coming soon,
A is for angels, near the tomb,
S is for stone which was rolled away,
T is for tomb, found empty that day,
E is for early morning, the women are glad,
R is for the Risen Lord, no reason to be sad.


HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER TO EVERYONE!!!!

Today's Joke

An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other. He says to the waiter, "Want coffee." The waiter says, "Sure, Chief, coming right up."
He gets the Indian a tall mug of coffee. The Indian drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere, then just walks out.
The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one hand pulling another male buffalo with the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter, "Want coffee."
The waiter says, "Whoa, Tonto! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?"
The Indian smiles and proudly says, "Training for position in United States Congress: Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull, leave mess for others to clean up, disappear for rest of day."

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

A Variegated Rambling

I think they could use this sign on our road! The speed limit is 35 mph but most folks think the speed limit is ever how fast you can hold your vehicle on the road. They might as well go ahead and put a sign up that says, "GO AS FAST AS YOU CAN," because most of them do anyway.

Another lovely day here. I got a hosta
set out. I have one on each side of the porch steps and this year one didn't come up. Cats are so good to help when you are trying to work out in the yard. I dug my hole and then went to get some fertilizer, the plant, and the watering can. Meanwhile the cat gets in there and digs around and does #1 and then starts filling the hole back in with dirt. Then when I come back she tears out of there and I have to clear the dirt out that she filled back in. Yeah, I'm sure she was trying to help. Anytime you dig up the dirt they think you do it just for them! I'm just glad she didn't do #2 in there.

I repotted a bunch of houseplants yesterday. This room where the computer is looks like a jungle. I still have a few more to work on. I am going to un-jungle it some. Just too many plants!

In my last post I was talking about people with funny names. I thought of one more. I knew a man by the name of Harry Head.
It's almost that time of the year for bathing suits.
Here is Miss Idaho.

Monday, April 10, 2006

What's in a Name?

I was thinking about funny names today. I'm sure kids have been teased unmercifully by other kids in school when their parents give them such names.

Here are some names I found

Adolph D'Plate, Anita Tissue, Ralph Upchuck, Holden D'Mayo, Bud Wieser, and Rusty Hook.

You have to admit that those folks probably get teased about those names! I went to school with a girl whose name was Ruby Lipps. The very worse first name I think I have ever heard was a teacher I had and her first name was Hortense. I thought how horrible it would be to go through life with a name like that. I also knew a man whose first name was Roach. I asked him what his mother was thinking when she gave him such a name. He said he didn't know. Poor guy.

What is the strangest name you have ever heard?

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Blister Alert! Blister Alert!

From all my yard work on Wednesday I now have a blister on my middle finger. When I posted my blog that day I still needed to use the weedeater. I tried to start it and it started several times but it refused to continue running. It's a Stihl brand and it's been a dandy one for starting. I hate pulling and pulling on something that will not start. This was my first time to mow the lawn this year so I really didn't have to weedeat that bad. I took it down where I got it from and the same shop I got the new push mower from. The weedeater I had before this one sometimes refused to start no matter what. I pulled and pulled and pulled on it. I took it over there to them and they would pull the cord and it would start and run just perfect. I got so mad at that stupid thing. They would adjust something a little and give it back to me. Never charged me for those visits. We just stood there by the trunk of my car while he adjusted something with a screwdriver. Then it'd be okay for a while and then it'd start in with being stubborn again. Enough was enough. I made another trip over there and told them I wanted something that would start on the first pull. The Stihl has been great until now. Still no trouble starting, just refused to run. They told me that I should drain the gas when I finish in the fall and then start it and let all the fuel run out of it. I think the reason I got the blister was from pulling on it and trying to get it to run.


You see the finger with the blister and you see which finger it's on? Hrrumph!

Friday, April 07, 2006

After the Rain........





We have had a stormy afternoon and now there is this beautiful rainbow in the sky. I think it's the prettiest one I've ever seen. It goes all the way across and is so vibrant in color! Pictures don't do it justice. It lasted for a long time too. Now it is replaced with some heavy dark clouds with lightening.

I think the rest of the evening can be spent like this.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

It's Over. Time to Celebrate!


Well, the Sexiest Male Blogger voting is over. Thanks so much to everyone who voted for
Ralph. He ran a good race and we had fun with it. Thanks to Cliff for being such a great PR guy for Ralph. From what I can tell at Best of Blogger Ralph came in 2nd place, which is really great. He has well over 100 votes. So give yourself a pat on the back Ralph. You done good!!

Thanks again to all who voted. You folks are such a great bunch of blogging pals.

Here's one more picture of Ralph that I stole from Cliff's site. I'm sure it was funny man Cliff that wrote these words on the picture. So there's goes the 2nd place sexy male blogger riding off into the sunset to buy Preparation H. You go Ralph. You go!!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Spring Yard Chores

Today is a lovely spring day. I have been working in the yard and I have plenty more to do. Yesterday the push mower bit the dust. Yep, deader than a doornail. Its body was already beat up and held together with some wire in parts, since yours truly kind of nudged it a little with the car last year. Well, it was parked at the end of the garage and I just failed to hit my brakes in time. Could happen to anyone you know. I don't have much to push mow, but I went and bought a new one. I got the cheapest one they had, but it still cost close to $200. I guess it's been awhile since I had bought one because I was surprised. I figured I could get one for about half that much. Shows you what I know. They delivered it for me and took the old one away. Hubby told me to take the blade off the dead one before they took it, since we had bought a new mulching blade for it, so I did.

Then I tried to start the riding mower only to find out the battery was down on it. I just bought a new battery last year. I hooked it up to the charger and left it overnight, so it was fine this morning. Now the lawn is mowed. I still have to use the weedeater though.

I got the Mantis tiller (wonderful machine they are) out and tilled me up a spot to set out some sweet onions. I love sweet onions! I don't think I'll try anything else this year. I do have several herbs around in various places, mixed among the flowers. I usually set out a few tomato plants but they don't do very well, and they are reasonable at the Farmer's Market, so I think I'll just stick with onions.

This donkey here is trying to talk and you know what he's saying? He's saying go to Best of Blogger and vote for Ralph C. Today is the last day and I know everyone will be glad!! But it's just been fun to do. Ralph has been such a good sport about it, and so has his PR man Cliff You just can't find nicer folks than these two guys. I really appreciate everyone who votes, or voted, for Ralph. It looks like he'll be coming in 2nd place, which is wonderful. Somehow I don't think it will make him get the big head though. He's far to nice for that.

Now I must go use the weedeater and set out my onions!

Monday, April 03, 2006

April 3, 1974

I'm still the campaign manager for Ralph but I wanted to do a different post for today. I still urge you to check out Ralph's site and see his fireside chat. If that doesn't win you over, then I just don't know what will!! You can go to Best of Blogger and cast your vote daily through April 6, for Ralph C.

Today's headline says "Storms Batter 8 States, Leave 23 Dead" My heart goes out to those people.

Today is a date that I always remember because on this date in 1974 our home was destroyed by a tornado. I was 19 years old. Yep, revealing my age here, but that's okay.

This is the history of that year: One of the worst tornado outbreaks ever recorded occurred in April of 1974. In a huge area covering 13 states and two Canadian provinces, 148 tornadoes touched down in a stormy 24-hour period, killing 309 and injuring 5300.
11 states were declared disaster areas. In the most active 6-hour period, over 20 reports per hour of tornadoes were received.

We lived in Madison County, KY. I was not home at the time. It's a very long story if I told everything about that night, so I won't go into it all. At that time I thought tornado's only happened in KS to folks like Dorothy and Toto. We had never had one before and I just never really gave them much thought. However that night all the conditions were right for horrible storms over a very wide area. I knew we had had a bad storm because it hailed and the wind blew so hard where I was, at a friend's house, that it screamed through the storm windows and I could not even close the front door even though there was a storm door already closed! I found out later that the tornado passed within 1/2 mile of where I was. However when I went home I went the other way and still didn't know we had had a tornado. When I got about 3 miles from home I saw someone in the road and it was my brother and nephew. They were waving me down and had walked out that far. My brother told me what happened and I just could not image it in my mind. He said that they had gotten into the storm cellar and Mom and Dad were okay. He wanted to go to check on his wife who was working 2nd shift at Westinghouse. Once we got back out on the main road I had to drive around power lines and uprooted trees where it had crossed the road. It killed 4 people in our area, 2 of which we knew. We ended up walking back in that night and the lightening was constant like those little veins of lightening all over. The church we attended was about a quarter of a mile from our house and I could see it was still standing when the lightening flashed. We walked down there and stayed the rest of the night. I spent that night praying for the most part. We were all wet and Dad wanted to go back to the house and find some blankets but I begged him not to leave so he didn't. Me, Mom, Dad, my brother and his girlfriend (his wife of many years now), spent the night there. My oldest brother, his son, and wife returned to their home which was not damaged. My other brother lived in VA at that time.

At daybreak we walked back up and I just couldn't believe the damage. Things it takes years to build are destroyed in a few seconds. We lived in a huge 2 story log home with 3 chimneys, so it was extra strong. The kitchen, living room, and one bedroom were pretty much okay except for windows blown out, etc. The barn and the tobacco stripping room were gone. The smokehouse walls were gone but the floor stayed intact and the cellar was under there. The dogs survived. We figured they had gotten into the enclosed back porch which stayed intact. Dad's pet turkey died when the walls of the smokehouse fell on him. Dad always regretted that he didn't think to bring him in the cellar with them, since he had been right there as close as he could get. Chickens were scattered and many killed and some hurt so bad that they had to be killed. Many of them roosted in the plum trees in the yard. The tractor which was parked in the barn and had a heavy plow hooked to it survived with just a bent up steering wheel and other dents. It had blown the barn down on it and then off it. I had a pony and a horse. The pony was down in the field and he was okay other than being stiff and he had a lot of knots on him but no open wounds. My Dad's car was over in the hollow behind the house and it was totalled. My brother's car was upside down on top of a blown over tree. He was able to salvage it and it was okay other than dents. Later that day my Dad took off walking and he came back with my horse. He said he found him way back on the neighbors land and he was down in a low place and probably had been blown in there. One side of him was total mud. He had a big hunk out of his nose. One eye was messed up, but he got over everything and was okay. He was so stiff he could hardly walk for days though. I often wondered what it would have been like to see the storm through his eyes!

At first I was very angry with God. I couldn't imagine how he could do that to us. I realized later how foolish that thought was. We were alive and no one had been hurt in my family! What a blessing that was. Material things don't mean a thing when you get right down to it. We come into the world with nothing and that's what we'll leave with. My anger turned into gratitude that it had not been worse than it was for us, and it didn't even compare to people who had lost loved ones. No comparison at all.

My Dad had planned to retire that year and had already bought another home, so we had a place to go to, we just had to move earlier than planned. We moved and the first thing my Dad did was build a storm cellar.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

EVERY VOTE COUNTS


I'm trying to be a good campaign manager but since this my first time at being one, then I'm not sure about what kind of job I'm doing.

In the picture of the 2 men in the cornfield the one on the left is Cliff Morrow who is the PR man. You can check out his post here at Cliff's Blog . Ralph, on the right, I nominated for Sexiest Male Blogger. Therefore he made me his campaign manager. You can check out his site here and read his campaign promises! Ralph is a Colorado State Forrester. What can be more sexy than a man who loves the forest and nature? He is truly outstanding in his field!

I know Ralph is the best man to vote for and worthy of this honor. I urge you to cast your vote for Ralph C. at Best of Blogger. You can vote once a day through April 6. You just can't go wrong with a guy like Ralph. Please help us elect him and cast your vote each day.

And.......as Gomer Pyle, USMC would say......."Thank ya, Thank ya, Thank ya!"
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