Farm Breakfast

Well, as I have said before we grew almost every thing we ate from the pork to vegetables, fruit, and even the grain for corn meal and flour.

In the spring, summer and fall we always had a variety of fresh vegetables but in the winter all our vegetables and fruit were either canned, smoked, pickled or dried. We always had plenty of food. We may have had to eat the same thing a few days in a row and we would get tired of it but we never went hungry.

In the kitchen we had a wood cookstove, my granddad was an early riser, he got up about 5 AM summer and winter, he would get a fire going in the "Old Buckeye" stove and then he would start a fire in the kitchen stove. My grandmother would get up and get breakfast started. First she would put on a big ol' pot of coffee. We always had some kind of pork for breakfast, sometimes it was bacon, sometimes sausage we had canned or it could be a nice big slice of ham. She made a big pan of biscuits from scratch every morning. At the end she always saved a little bit of dough to make me my own small biscuits.

She would make a big skillet of gravy with the drippings from the meat. If the meat happened to be the ham she would make red eye gravy. Red eye gravy is thinner than regular gravy and is made from the drippings to which black coffee is added. Then she would also fry up some eggs. Man, that was some good eatin'. We always had oatmeal and corn flakes and jam, jelly or apple butter.

The biscuits would be hot out of the oven and she would split my biscuit open and slather it with butter and close it so I would have a hot buttered biscuit. When it was cold she always sat my plate on the oven door so I would be warm as I ate my breakfast. If I ate at the table I stood between her and my grandfather to eat. I was allowed to have one saucer full of coffee. Sometimes I drank my sauce from her cup and sometimes from my Granddads. She drank hers with milk and he didn't. I guess that is where I learned to drink my coffee white.

As a special treat we would sometimes have pancakes, not regular pancakes but buckwheat pancakes from buckwheat we had grown. I don't remember much about the buckwheat. I just know we grew it and it was special and we kept it in the end of the meal box.

She had some old iron griddles and she would mix up the pancakes and fry a whole stack of them. She would make her own syrup (no Mrs. Butterworth's for her). I still use the same recipe. two cups of sugar and one cup water, and a little maple flavoring, stir it until the sugar is dissolved and then a slow boil until it gets thick. Just thinking about those pancakes sets my mouth to waterin'.

Talking about all this food has made me hungry. I'm headin' for the kitchen.

That's it for today.

Friends

Well, it was another hot day in Spokane. I chose to go somewhere cool for the day. How can you go wrong with air conditioining and slot machines. It was a great combination - kept me cool and I returned with my pockets a little heavier than when I left. Thanks Dodie for sharing the day with me!

Dodie is one of my two best friends. We have been friends ever since we worked for the same employer some 40 years ago. She's the one that taught me the new math about my age. Since I have known her her age is always been 22 and I was always 21 (because I was younger). Then the grandkids came along she stayed 22 but I aged a year with each of my three grandkids so I could share their birthday with them. That brings me to my present age of 24. Isn't that new math wonderful!!!!! Someday I will write a blog about our friendship and how she has influenced my life over the years.

My other best friend Jean was my high school chum from the time we started high school some almost 50 years ago. (That old math just gets in my way!) We were best friends all through high school, shared many dates, proms and did the things high school girls do. We even went to college together. She raised her family in Tennessee and I in Idaho. That did not stop our friendship though. We try to spend as much time together as we can on my trips to Tennessee. In the interim we talk on the phone a few times a week. We can pick up the conversation right where we left off without hesitation.

With my interest in RVing I have found lots of other really special friends. RV'ers are a diverse group of people and I find that most interesting. They are the most caring, wonderful, sensitive people I have ever met. Through blogs and journals and a shared interest in RVing. you sometimes feel you know the person before you ever meet them face to face and you are able to pick up right where you left off.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud.” I believe this to be a true statement.

That's it for today, my friend.

Staying Cool

Well, Here's the scoop from Spokane today. It seems I always write about the weather.

We are having daytime temperatures in the 90's. It was 94 yesterday. The one thing you are not going to hear me complain about is "It's Too Hot!!"

I still have vivid memories of all those cold and snowy days last winter when the snow kept piling up to the windowsills. The summer is flying by and before you know it it will be fall and then that dreaded four letter word s**w. I won't be a happy camper then.

I am off to the casino to spend the "rather warm" day in the air conditioning. At least that's my excuse.

Photos today are some older one I have taken from around Coeur d'Alene.

Beauty Bay Campground on Lake Coeur d;Alene - Sites are really secluded.

Tent camping is allowed.

Can't miss the sign

That's it For Today.

Meeting The Dubrouillets

Well, it was a great day in Spokane!! Today was the day I get to meet Fillmore and his parents. REK and I drove to Coeur d'alene to Blackwell Island RV Resort to meet them . They had planned to stay a few days but only ended up staying overnight. I was thrilled that they took the time out of their busy schedule to visit.

After introductions we visited for awhile at their RV. JoAnn gave me the "nickel tour". She has done some modifications to their RV. I loved the Southwestern flair.

After visiting for awhile we drove to Azteca, a mexican restaurant for some dinner. I won't mention whose plate this is but I can tell you a little of it went home in a "Go Box" and was eaten for lunch today.

JoAnn and Doug at the restaurant -

After dinner we went back to the RV where Doug, JoAnn and Fillmore posed for some "Jenny's Desk" Photos. Move over Howard and Linda!!!

Fillmore had to show off his "Doggles" .

I had great fun visiting with Fillmore. I have to say he is my favorite #1 standard poodle. He is so smart and I have never met a more well behaved poodle. Not only that he is downright smart. He understands english and follows commands and can even tell his right from his left. Now how cool is that? I know SOME people who can't do that.

How can you not fall in love with this face?

What nice people. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and I look forward to seeing them in the Southwest and spending more time together. My life has been enriched by meeting the Dubrouillets.

With hugs and handshakes , and wishes for a safe journey to Colorado we parted company.

To all my friends and family, I ask that you keep Doug and JoAnn in your thoughts and prayers as they deal with Doug's health issues. If your church has a prayer list please add the name of Doug Dubrouillet.

That's it for today.

Fillmore's Comin'

Well, the emails have been flying fast and furious between Fillmore's parents The Dubrouillets (Jo Ann and Doug) and elevenfootrv (Jenny).


Doug and JoAnn's E mail

We're trying to figure out our schedule for the next week or so. If we should decide to head to Spokane, would you be available to visit later this week?
Hugs, JoAnn

Jenny's Email

I am so excited that you have Spokane in your sights Hope to see you soon
Hugs, Jenny and kisses to Fillmore



Doug and JoAnn's Email

We MIGHT be in your area tomorrow. We're waiting on call backs from doctors before we know for sure if we're going to continue in that direction or head somewhere else. I'll let you know as soon as we know.
Hugs, JoAnn

Jenny's Email

....I can't wait to meet Fillmore the Cyber Dog!! and of course you guys too....

Anxious in Spokane
Jenny J



I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I have been in love with Fillmore ever since Howard and Linda posted his first pic on their Journal. Now I don't exactly remember when that was but it was a couple of years ago. I have been waiting patiently to meet Fillmore and now it looks like it will be a reality. I know it will be so fun to finallly get to visit with him person to dog. Although I am sure Fillmore is more person than he is dog.



Here is a photo of Howard and Linda wih Fillmore. I have had this photo on my desk since Howard posted it way back in "Ought Six" (May 2006). It's one of my fav's!!








Porter Wagner used to get me excited when he sang one of my favorite songs "Company's Comin'. The words just keep turning over in my head and they will till I get to meet Fillmore!!

Here's the lyrics to Company's Comin'

Oh man I'm excited I'm almost out of breath

What I saw the light that made me run myself to death

I was on the mountain side when I looked down below

And glory be I thought I'd better come and let you know

We got company comin' company comin'

we got company comin' up the road



They're down the road about a mile

they'll be here in a little while

There's company comin' up the road



Well Granny change your apron

and Willie shine your shoes

Sally put your new dress on

we got no time to lose

I'll go find a welcome mat

and spread it out with cheer

I don't know yet just who they are

can't pick 'em out from here

But we got company comin'

company comin' we got company comin' up the road



They're comin' up the mountain side

Susie don't you run and hide

There's company comin' up the road



We'll run out to the henhouse and wring a neck or two

We'll have chicken and dumplings

and some yellow gravy too

Grandpa get your fiddle down

they might want a tune

Everybody hurry cause them folks will be here soon

We got company comin' company comin'

we got company comin' up the road



Let them all shout out aloud

they'll be here in a minute now

There's company comin' down the road



Oh we got company comin' company comin'

we got company comin' up the road

Let them all shout out aloud

they'll be here in a minute now

There's company comin' down the road





That's it for today!! Anxiously Awaiting Fillmore's visit.

Blackberries Old and New

Well, I used to think that only blackberries came on a vine, you picked them, canned them, made them into jam or jelly or even that luscious blackberry pie my grandmother used to make. Oh it was a wonderful day when the snow was up to the windows and she would drag out the dough board, send me to the cellar for a can of blackberries and she would whip up a pie or two in nothing flat. The taste of that blackberry pie warmed me through and though and my cares were few.


Today the word Blackberry has a whole new meaning for me. To be a "24" year old computer geek in the world today you have to keep up with the times so when I decieded it was time for a new phone I bought something called a Blackberry.


Now this phone is supposed to do everything but slice bread. Well, tell that to a "24" year old wannabe computer geek who can't tell her beta glitches from her accelerometer.

Getting it set up was easy as long as the technical person was on the other end of the phone line. But when that support was gone everything my little pea brain had worked so hard to consume had flown right out the window and was sitting atop a telephone pole somewhere waiting for me to remember --

All these rows of icons what am I to do with them ? Ringtones ? VZ Navigator, SMS and MMS, Applications, Media --And what about this QWERTY keyboard . How will I ever learn to type with my thumbs? Texting? what's that -- this "geek" doesn't text.
Well, my grandpa told me you're never too old to learn.

Okay - lets get started -

Now , how was it she said to make a call - well just push that red button , then hit the green button and type in the number and make your call and push the red button -- Oh no that doesn't work!!

Shouldn't have pushed that red button again.

Back to square one.

I think I got it this time.


Nope that wasn't it either!!



Oh what I would give for a slice of blackberry pie with ice cream.




That's it For Today!!

Happy Dog Days

Well, the 4th of July has come and gone and now the "Dog Days" of summer are upon us.
Webster's dictionary defines "Dog Days" as

1 : the period between early July and early September when the hot sultry weather of summer usually occurs in the northern hemisphere

2 : a period of stagnation or inactivity

But where does the term come from? Why do we call the hot, sultry days of summer “dog days?”

In ancient times, when the night sky was unobscured by artificial lights and smog, different groups of peoples in different parts of the world drew images in the sky by “connecting the dots” of stars. The images drawn were dependent upon the culture: The Chinese saw different images than the Native Americans, who saw different pictures than the Europeans. These star pictures are now called constellations, and the constellations that are now mapped out in the sky come from our European ancestors.

They saw images of bears, (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor), twins, (Gemini), a bull, (Taurus), and others, including dogs, (Canis Major and Canis Minor).

The brightest of the stars in Canis Major (the big dog) is Sirius, which also happens to be the brightest star in the night sky. In fact, it is so bright that the ancient Romans thought that the earth received heat from it. Look for it in the southern sky (viewed from northern latitudes) during January.

In the summer, however, Sirius, the “dog star,” rises and sets with the sun. During late July Sirius is in conjunction with the sun, and the ancients believed that its heat added to the heat of the sun, creating a stretch of hot and sultry weather. They named this period of time, from 20 days before the conjunction to 20 days after, “dog days” after the dog star.

The conjunction of Sirius with the sun varies somewhat with latitude. And the “precession of the equinoxes” (a gradual drifting of the constellations over time) means that the constellations today are not in exactly the same place in the sky as they were in ancient Rome. Today, dog days occur during the period between July 3 and August 11. Although it is certainly the warmest period of the summer, the heat is not due to the added radiation from a far-away star, regardless of its brightness. No, the heat of summer is a direct result of the earth's tilt.

When we were kids we spent our lazy summer days chasing junebugs, picking weeds, and playing in the cornfield. Most days we would end up at the creek for a dip in the nice cool water. Even just wading in it seemed to cool you off a bit. If we managed to scrape up a nickel or a dime we would walk a mile and half to the store for a cold bottle of pop or maybe an ice cream bar. Sometimes we would go for a trek through the woods and sit underneath a laurel bush on the cool pine needles. After the sun had set and the evening had cooled some we would catch lightning bugs in a jar.....

Sitting here in this air conditioned room with access to the whole wide world makes me long for a day of simple old fashioned summer fun.

That's it for today.

Happy 4th of July

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

This flag flies proudly over Veterans Cemetery in

Mountain Home,TN where my father is buried.

This flag flies proudly over Sunset Memorial Park

Mountain City, Tn where my mother is buried

and this flag flies proudly over Spokane Valley, Washington




Thank you to the many brave men and women who work every day to keep our country safe.

That's it for today.

On A Mission

Well, I was on a mission - to get the flag pole fixed before the Fourth of July. The rope was old and frayed and the eyelets that kept the flag intact had decided to fly the coop last week. That prompted the neighbors from three blocks away to knock on the door and let me know my flag was loose and they were afraid it was going to touch the ground. I was only able to find one of one of the eyelets so first it was off to the hardware store for parts.


Now you would think that a store as large as Lowe's would have some idea of what I was talking about. The lady assured me they did not carry parts for flags but she could sell me a small flag for $39.95. I didn't need the flag just the parts. 3 hardware stores later most of the parts were found at Home Depot where the nice gentleman had some good ideas and sold me what I needed.

Will these swivel screws work?




A Ladder and A Pole

Back at home when I tried to attach the rope it would not go through the little pulley hole and the rope broke with the pulley 30 feet up in the air. No way to attach the rope.

Now that is a lot of rope!
Buddy and Charlie are excited about all the goings on.....

Its off to Harbor Freight to buy a pipe wrench...now lets see what size would I need??

A big one --- and just in case a BIGGER one

The pulley and the rope

When in doubt use a little electrical tape

or a bit of bailing wire

Ah....the pulley is on the top




Almost done - now if I can drill a hole for the handle.

And the flag will fly proudly over the Spokane Valley


Now, I just have to figure out how to get rid of those pesky light wires in the photo.

I also have to give credit to my very able assistant, Mr. REK MacGyver, who provided expertise on this very important job. Without that expertise I would probably still be looking for a bigger hammer.

That's it for today!!