Samhain

                                                    I'm ready for Halloween with my smoking
                                                    cauldron and Raven. 

                                           These three friendly witches arrived for the holiday.

Creative Kitchenry


I’ve been working on my kitchen for some time now, on a string bean budget. The last time it was remodeled was 1953. I was 5 years old then, and north of the Mason Dixon Line. But I gotta tell you that whoever built the kitchen cabinets was anything but a carpenter. My only recourse was to turn them into open shelving. I also had to paint over wallpaper, which was a challenge of its own. And why would I do that, you wonder? Well beneath the wallpaper is linen, and beneath the linen are rough hewn boards that make up the walls of the kitchen. They’re made of Heart Pine, which doesn’t exist any longer. Sheet rock wasn’t invented then. Having limited resources caused me to be creative, and I came up with a few good ideas.

Every few weeks, Elaine and I drive to Pearl to the thrift stores. We both enjoy looking at other people’s junk and it’s an inexpensive way to entertain ourselves.There’s a business on Highway 80 we pass, called Hub Cap Heaven. It never fails to amuse me. The owner of the store has hundreds of hub caps hanging up, inside and out. I couldn’t resist taking his idea into my kitchen. 

The pots I cook with are Revere Ware. My mother and grandmother passed them down to me and I have never had much desire to buy new ones. Over the years, I stopped cleaning the copper bottoms. Now that I’ve hung them on the wall, I’ve started the long process of bringing them back to their original state. Thanks to the Internet, I know how to do that now. I'm not there yet, but soon!

The Yankees are Coming!

This morning, when I passed the courthouse on my morning walk, there was a Yankee on the lawn. Just standing there. Somehow, it just didn’t seem right. Now that it’s past 10 in the morning, The Battle of Raymond is being reenacted, as I write this journal entry. The cannons are booming with deep percussive voices, and the windows are rattling in my old house. Some of the more powerful booms have stopped me in my tracks, and I found myself wondering how frightening it must have been, during the war, to hear those ominous rumblings of terrible things to come - the wolf at your front door.

 I think, though, reenactments are a man thing.There is something genetic that fires men to do battle Women are negotiators and less likely to resort to war. Perhaps if there was a better balance in power in our government (mainly more women), there wouldn’t be so many wars.   

Three Baskets

                                          This is actually a wall hanging with a mirror, Camelia
                                           seed pods, and gold beads.  It has single stitching on
                                           the inside, and diamond stitches on the outside. 

                                          This basket is made with honey colored artificial sinew
                                           and wooden beads.
 

                                          I bought a coaster at the thrift store and when I got it
                                          home, I found out that the middle popped out, and to
                                          my surprise, an intricate wooden crystal.  The fern
                                          stitch goes nicely, with a single stitch border  Oh yeah,
                                          a wall hanging too. 

Water Comes to Raymond, Part 2

Remember some months ago, when I insisted on a dishwasher, and its installation turned into a plumbing nightmare, where we had to resort to a hose to bring water into the house?  Well, now that the days are growing shorter, and the nights colder, it was time to run a new water line from the street to under the house. I was sure that Bill would wait until it started snowing, but fortunately, he picked a good week-end for us to tackle the job. After talking to a number of plumbers, and just how much it would cost for them to run the line, we decided to do it ourselves. I had to dig up two of my flower beds to make way.  All I can say is that both of us have never been so tired. My favorite part was where we had to dig up the connection to the street. This entailed kneeling, hanging upside down in a hole, and digging around the connection so we could get a wrench in to disconnect the old pipe. Now I know why plumbers charge so much.  And hey, check out Bill’s shirt. 

                                                             Bill with the Ground Hog

                                                                        More Bill

                                                                   It's a weary job.

Donnie's Yard

Remember the Tin Man?  Well, Donnie, his creator, has been busy once again, and I stopped by to take a few photos. He's got a flying witch in the front of his house, and a bunch of bears in his back yard. He told me to drive by at night to see the witch when she's lighted up. Donnie lives on Port Gibson Street, a few blocks from the square.  Check it out!

A Few Senior Moments in the Shower

This afternoon, after spending a number of hours house cleaning, I decided to take a shower and wash my hair.  I knew I had shampoo, but I didn’t have any conditioner, so I looked in the closet for a sample I had saved for just this occasion. It was a double packet, and it had notches, so all I had to do is tear it open once I was in the shower. Being an old person, I squinted until I could just barely read what was in each packet. I washed my hair as usual, but when I went to open the conditioner, no matter what I did, I couldn’t get it open. After many attempts, I started hollering, and my husband came to the rescue with a pair of scissors. I cut open the packet, and applied the conditioner (or so I thought). I got out of the shower, got dressed, and attempted to comb my hair. The comb stopped dead, and I discovered I had a rats nest. The knots were tremendous and no matter what I did, it just got worse. By this time, I was questioning just what I had put on my hair, and got my glasses and read the labels.  OK.  I applied shampoo and not conditioner. So I got back in the shower, rinsed my hair out, and applied my husband’s conditioner (or so I thought). Of course, I couldn’t read the label since I didn’t have my glasses. Got out of the shower, got dressed, and attempted to comb my hair again. Same as before. A rats nest. I started hollering and carrying on so much that my husband appeared once again to ask what the problem was. Red faced, I pointed to my hair. I pointed to what I had used. He looked at the bottle and quietly said that I had used shampoo. His conditioner was in the yellow bottle, not the white one. He said with a grin, “perhaps large numbers or letters on the bottles might help you in the future..”  I stood there speechless, helpless, sputtering. Then I laughed out loud and shook my head, realizing that I had brought the whole thing down upon myself. And why?  Because once again, I wouldn’t put my glasses on to read the label. You know, I have a friend who is going deaf, and won’t wear a hearing aid. For years, I’ve taunted him and told him how silly he was for not wearing one. I was tired of shouting at him. Guess I’ll have to call him up and retract my words, or at least give him a good laugh by telling him about my senior moments, even if it has to be in an elevated voice. 

Zucchini and Carrot Raw Vegetable Salad

Shred two large carrots.

Cut up half a zucchini into small pieces

Place both in a bowl.
 

 

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Add a small amount of olive oil.

Squeeze the juice of one lime onto the mixture.

 

Stir well.

Refrigerate for a short time before serving.

Kitchen Magic

Some years ago, I became fascinated with wooden kitchen spoons, and came up with a number of designs. The biggest challenge was putting them together. At first, I used glue, but as the temperature rose, the glue sagged and the spoons fell off the wall. Whoops! Back to the workshop.Then I tried screws.They worked, but not until I learned a lot more about screws than I really wanted to. That led to buying a drill, which in turn, led to other tools. Anyway, these are the ones that survived the journey from California.

                                                                   Rose with Spoons

                                                                Amber Kitchen Birds

                                                               Colorful Kitchen Birds

                                                                     Kitchen Music