Well, we have a reason to celebrate - it is the last day of August. July and August weather has been brutal. Gardens failed, corn crops failed, soybean crops barely survived. I am generally canning 3 times a week at this point - tomatoes, pickles and beets. I have 16 tomato plants and am picking 1 - 2 tomatoes every 3 days, am just starting to pick 2 cucmbers once or twice a week. My spaghetti squash is growing and it seems like there are some young ones on there so maybe by Christmas. Ha! I may be able to do some more pickles but it isn't looking very good for tomatoes. I guess my Grandma Lucas's garden failed sometimes also.
We are starting to have a cooler day ever so often so I am starting to ride again. I have plans to put up panels to make my small arena/lg round pen. For those of you who don't know what "panels" are - they are made up pipe - they are about 12 ft long and 4 ft high and hook together to make a portable fence or corral. I have to move them with our tractor and chains as they are heavy. Best done on a cool day. Once they are up then I can start doing some "ground work" on my horses and mules. "Ground work" means I run my mules and horses around in a fenced area and make them do what I want them to do, not what they want to do. I then ride them and work on different skills - teaching them to back up, side pass, etc. My young mule, Johnny, just needs me on his back and riding him. I love working with them. I love having an arena where I can contain and control them.
The hay pasture is doing okay but we sure need rain. When we get rain, the pasture will grow which means we will have hay for winter. We need hay for winter. We have sold all of our Spring hay. Normally we have hay left over from our Spring cutting but this year, folks in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas have been calling and buying all the hay they can find. So we sold all our hay to them, hoping it would help them out. Now we need about 50 round bales (1500lbs a pc) to get us through winter. Round bales = you have probably seen square bales. In Calif. square bales are "3-wire bales" meaning they are bound with 3 strands of hay string (used to be wire) and weigh approx 90-120 lbs. Out here in Missouri, they have 2 wire bales weighing approx. 40-60 lbs. Round bales are equal to 16 2-wire square bales. It is wrapped in netting and can sit out in the weather because of the way it is rolled. The rain will run off the sides, whereas square bales just assorb the rain as they don't have anyway for the rain to run off. Farmers, years ago, would bale their hay, stack it in a pyramid then cut their dried corn stalks and lean the stalks against the side of the hay and hope the rain would run off.
Round bales of hay have to be moved by a large tractor with a steel spike on the front. You drive up to the side of the bale and stick that spike through it, lift it and move it where you want. When we are feeding our round bales, my husband brings in the round bale, I open the gate to the pasture, use a carpet cutter to cut the netting and unwrap it from around the bale, my husband drives into the pasture, lowers the bale, the horses rush up and they are happy and set for about 3 days, depending on the weather.
When we first moved here to the ranch, we didn't have a big tractor, only a small one. We had baled the whole 80 acres which gave us 3500 square bales of hay which filled our new barn. Our first winter arrived with gusto. My husband built a lift table for the back of his little tractor and would pile up 3 - 4 bales of hay on it, drive through the snow into the pasture, use a long rake handle to push off the bales for the horses. The horses have no trouble getting at the hay, even with the hay string on them. We had to do this twice a day, all winter long. It was so cold, we had to wear two layers of gloves, padded overalls, two layers of socks, Muck boots (water proof), ear muffs and warm hats. Even with all the clothing, you still got cold.
Since we had just arrived, we didn't have our water troughs set up for winter like we do now. Now we have trough heaters so the troughs don't freeze over. That first winter, we had to go out every 4 hours with a sledge hammer and a hay fork, break up the ice then scoop it out. Horses need water in the winter no matter how cold. Sometimes they will come up and stick their hooves in the trough to break the ice to get the water, if we don't get there soon enough.
It was a true adventure that winter. We moved our 5th wheel trailer into the barn in one end and I bought a used washed and dryer and set it up against a wall in the barn. I didn't have a hot water heater so cold water washing was what I had to do. BUT, when I finished washing, I had to undo all the hoses for the washer and let them drain, then run the washer to get the water out of the motor, unhook the dryer. We then put shop lights underneath the washer and the dryer, along with one inside each of them to keep all the mechanical parts warm and not freeze. One morning, after a snowy night, I came out of the trailer into the barn to do laundry and instead of the washer and dryer, there was just one big snow mound. The wind had blown so hard it blew snow underneath the edge of the barn and made a wave of snow which entirely covered both of the appliances. Oh my! Just another adventure.
It was a long first winter with much to learn coming from California. Our neighbors, Dale, Gail and Nadine watched over us, calling everyday, coming over and helping us learn how to live in the country in the winter. My California horses were wide eyed and trying to figure out why mom put them in a freezer. They learned about snow, ice, how good grain tastes when it is real cold and how to walk on "high heels". YUP high heels. You see the snow and ice build up under their feet and they will end up with 2 - 4 inches of ice/snow on each foot, trying to walk. I went out and knocked most of it off their feet - lets see that is 4 x 14 = 56 feet. Hmmm my back sure knew it was 56 feet. We don't have to do that every winter because that was an exceptionally cold and wet winter. I do keep watch and help them out if I see them with their high heels on.
Well that is it for today. Glad you could come and read my dribble.
FARMER'S COUNTRY REMEDIES AND HANDY HINTS: Lots of Cucumbers?
If you get lots of cucumbers, this idea will help in cleaning them.
Just put them in your washer filled with cold water and some ice. Put it on
"gentle" and, of course, NO SPIN DRY. It does the job well, fast and easily.
COUNTRY RECIPE'S: "Settler's Beans"
8 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 teas ground clove
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup ketchup
1 reg. can light red kidney beans
1/2 lb hamburger, fried and drained
1/2 teas garlic
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 reg. can butter beans
1 large can pork and beans
Preheat oven to 350 deg. Combine all ingredients and put in a very large casserole dish. Bake for 45 min. until bubbly.
Thank you for visiting and hope you enjoyed your visit.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
A Day In The Life of................August 27, 2011
. Okay all you Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Atlanta, New York City etc, I know a "bad day" for you is when you go to a cocktail party and someone else is wearing a dress like yours or you find out that someone else is using your personal hair stylist and you hate the gabby broad who is puttin' some trash out on the streets about you or you break a nail as you get out of your limo to go to brunch with Mrs. Whoever. WELL........us Real Housewives of RURAL Missouri have our normal challenges too. I have had "Murphy's Law" hangin' out with me yesterday and want to share with you what "an imperfect day" looks like in the country.
Yesterday, I got up at...UGG...4:30am to go ridin' with a couple of buddies of mine. I haven't been ridin' in 3 months because of the heat. We finally decided to try and ride early to beat the heat. Ya....great idea but I didn't think so when that danged alarm went off. I had caught up my mare, Cory, the night before along with one of her buddies and put them in a small trap. (Def - small trap = small little section of pasture, fenced off with hot wire, in most cases). I have had trouble in the past catching Cory when I wanted to go ridin'. For some strange reason, I can approach her and love on her in the wide open pasture when I don't have a rope in my hand, BUT.......when I have a rope she takes off a runnin' and I spend from 20 minutes to 2 hours catching, cussing and threatening to do terrible things if I catch her. Hmm do you suppose she is trying to tell me something? Like, "Hey I don't want to haul your big butt up and down canyons and hills for most of the day only to get a stale carrot at the end of the day!."
Well, so I put her in a small trap with her friend to keep her entertained for the night and she would be easy to catch the next morning at 5am. The alarm goes off = BUZZ! Coffee = check, boots = check, neck scarf = check, ridin' bra = check, comfy cotton shirt = check, favorite ridin' jeans = check, spurs = check. Out to the pasture IN THE DARK and with a rope in my hand. The mares start trotting back and forth, running circles around me. They are both sorrel (red) and both a little fat so it is hard to tell them apart, especially in the dark. They ran and trotted and ran and trotted and I refused to get mad at 5am in the damn morning. Okay, got them cornered and figured out which one was Cory. Started to walk up to her when Sancie, her buddy, reared up and broke through the hot fence which opened into a big beautiful green, dark, not moonlit pasture. She took off and Cory stood for a moment, looked at me as if to say, "See ya later!" Well you know the rest of the story. Now my horse, my precious Cory, my, now, ex best buddy, is racing into the night, laughing all the way and I am without a horse for my ride. CRAP! Go wake up my poor happy sleeping husband. "Honey, Honey? Are all the gates closed around the big pasture? The mares broke through the little pasture and are in the big pasture and I am afraid if the gates aren't closed they will get into the hay pasture." A moan comes from under the CPAP mask and the next words I hear are - "A Honey, everything is just fine - go ridin' and have a good time." What a great husband, even at 5am. In reality, he can't remember if he shut the gates but he doesn't give a hoot and just tells me what I need to know to get me out of his room so he can go back to sleep. Do I know this? YUP but I want to believe him, so I go off with some peace of heart and will blame it on him if I come back and they are in the hay pasture.
Okay, I am not going to let this ruin my day so......I turn around and see Raindancer, my paint gelding (male horse with nuts cut off). "Here Raindancer, here Raindancer!" "Do you want to go with mommy today and have fun and get a carrot?" And he is saying, "Shit, here she comes and she wants me to haul her big butt around today when I am so enjoying this cool morning, crunching on this fresh grass, Shit!" Well he only has shoes on his front feet. They are supposed to have shoes on all feet to go ridin' but it's a long story so I won't bore you with the details and riding him with just two shoes will be fine where we are going. He is such a BIG, I mean BIG sweetheart. He is about 16.2 hands = that interprets to a long damn way down to the ground if you don't stay on top and this ole girl needs a step stool, a big log or rock to get on him.
GOTCHA!!!! Good boy, Rain. Okay, still dark, coffee in mug with fancy creamer in the truck and hot. Rolled flour tortilla with peanut butter, cut in half for lunch and stuffed in saddle bag along with gloves and knife and a bottle of gatorade. Everything loaded, horse loaded.......lights.....action and I put it in drive, grabbing my cell phone and trying to plug it in, opps! Windshield fogged over, turn on wipers, fogged on inside, turning on defogger and..................OH CRAP...........where did that damn tree come from......slam on brakes. I am not even off the ranch yet.. In all my early morning foggy confusion I drove up on the center lawn and was about to the end the life of my beautiful 12 foot silver maple. HA!
Okay dummy, pay attention, defog your windows, drive off the lawn and around the tree. Wonder what my husband will say when he gets up and sees the big tire tracks on the center lawn? Okay, open the gate with the remote........oh.....it's the remote is not working, of course. Maybe it doesn't function very well at 5:30 in the friggin' morning either.......so put the truck in park....get out and open the gate.
OKAY, now we're finally on our way. Wait a minute-----what is that RED LIGHT???? There is a red light shaped like a battery on the dash, blinking! Hmmmm I am going into the wilderness and if this light means trouble, I will be really unpopular if I have to call my husband to try and come find us when I am 60 miles away. OKAY....OKAY... turn around.....go back through the gate that won't open automatically like it is supposed to. Park the truck and trailer.......HONEY? HONEY? There is a funny red light on the dash. He groans, as only a tired husband can without cussing. He takes off his CPAP mask, puts on his slippers and undies and trudges......I mean trudges out into the cold dampness of 5:30am. "Well, it could be an alternator, but you can go ahead and go on today and I will look at it when you get home. "
Off I go, down the road, radio on and me sipping on my coffee with fancy creamer. No more troubles. I am runnning a little late but that's okay. Got to Jeannie's house across town. We loaded her saddle and tack (all the other stuff you need to ride a horse), her beer cooler, lunch, her big HUGE tankard filled with coffee and her horse, "Tomar". Shut the trailer doors, climb in the truck, turn the key and all I hear is = Errrr, Errrr, Errrrr, clickitty, clickitty, Errrr, Errrr. CRAP! The truck won't start.
Okay so we unload both horses, unload the saddles and tack and load everything into her truck and horse trailer and off we go. As we turn onto a road, the sun is coming up and very intense and shining straight into our eyes, so bright you can hardly see where you are going. There is something on the inside of the windshield which is preventing her from seeing the road. I roll down the window to keep her from driving off into a ditch. I find a neckerchief and try and clean it - there is some oily substance on the neckerchief which makes it worse. During this attempt, the big tankard of coffee Jeannie had set on the seat, turned over and spilled into my purse - RIGHT INTO MY PURSE - wallet, cell phone, tortilla/peanut butter sandwich .......YUP! Okay, I pour the coffee out of my purse, rescue the cell phone. It's okay. Set the tankard down on the floor between us as we limp towards the highway where the sun will be from a different direction and we will be able to see better. We continue down the road with me using a different wipe, trying to clean the windshield. It is clearing up. We turn onto the highway and...........the Jeannie's tankard of coffee, which didn't empty out all the way, NOW turns over and spills into her purse. YUP that's right. Ah...now it's empty.
I told Jeannie, I think God is trying to tell us we shouldn't go riding today. A few minutes later she notices her tank is running on empty. Conveniently there is a gas station at the next road. We turn into the gas station and gas up. Now we are an hour late to meet our friends, who are now on the trail and riding and the day is heating up fast. Jeannie looks at me and says, "God just doesn't want us to ride today, let''s go yard sailing".
I hesitated, about.....5 seconds and agreed. We turned around, went to Jeannie's unloaded the horses, took her other truck and went lookin' for yard sales and junk stores. Leavin' my dead truck and trailer behind, my horse in onen of her stalls in the barn. We found some good deals for stuff we didn't need, ate some great pizza and had a COLD beer. We arrived back to Jeannie's 4 hours later. I called my hubby and he directed me on how to jump my truck using Jeannie's truck. I hate jumper cables, they spark at ya and scare the heck out of me. Well, I did it and the truck started. I loaded ole' Raindancer and we headed off home. Everybody was happy. I got good deals for some great junk, Raindancer was happy because he got some good hay and got to flirt with a pretty mare.
NEXT DAY - Today
Going to try again, as a friend of mine is celebrating her birthday with a horse ride. SOOOOO up again at 4:15am. Coffee smells so good. I handcuffed, hog tied, bound up and tied down Cory in a barn stall so she would be there when I came to get her. Not really. I did put her in the barn with her favorite buddy, Denver! Denver is a 15 yr old UGLY (he is so ugly he is cute) buckskin mule. He is in love with Cory. They spent the night together in the stall. She was there when I went to get her and I am ready AGAIN. We put a battery charger on the truck the night before to recharge the batter. I put on my jeans, boots, spurs, favorite ridin' shirt. Got my frozen bottle of gatorade (it melts and is slushy by the time lunch rolls around), loaded my horse, unhooked the battery charger and hoped the truck would start. IT DID!!!!! Off I go......on time, no RED LIGHTS and runnin' smooth. As it grew lighter, I noticed it was overcast with dark clouds which looked threatening. Who cares! Arrived on time, picked up Jeannie, her husband and son and their horses and away we went. We were in the saddle by 7:30 and happy as little clams. We had a grand ride and I think the horses did too. We do spoil them with lots of carrots and rub downs. The butterflies were everywhere, the beautiful woods and vines were so green, the spring was running and thick with watercress (a delicious plant you can eat and put on salads and only found in fresh running streams). Cory is a Missouri Fox Trotter which means when she trots you don't bounce, it is so smooooooth. She is what they call a "gated" horse. We all ride gated horses so we were "gating" 1/2 the time and had a ball.
It was a glorious day! Thank you God.
FARM HOME REMEDIES: Recipe for cough syrup
This recipe is even safe for toddlers. Slice an onion very thin and alternate slices of onion and sugar. Place a bowl or plate on top of the layers and squish them down. Soon there will be juice forming which is very soothing for a cough. Best of all there are no medication side effects to worry about.
COUNTRY RECIPES: Mrs. Bleeker's Waffles
1 qt. of milk, a little sour if possible
butter - a piece the size of an egg
lard - a piece of lard the size of an egg
4 eggs
Mix well with flour enough to make a stiff batter. If the milk is a little sour, enough soda to cover a five-cent piece will be sufficient to raise the waffles; but if it is fresh, a teaspoonful of soda must be used. a teaspoon of salt,
Bake a quickly as possible (she doesn't give the the baking temp)
THANK YOU ALL FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT AND CAME AWAY WITH A LITTLE SOMETHING.
Yesterday, I got up at...UGG...4:30am to go ridin' with a couple of buddies of mine. I haven't been ridin' in 3 months because of the heat. We finally decided to try and ride early to beat the heat. Ya....great idea but I didn't think so when that danged alarm went off. I had caught up my mare, Cory, the night before along with one of her buddies and put them in a small trap. (Def - small trap = small little section of pasture, fenced off with hot wire, in most cases). I have had trouble in the past catching Cory when I wanted to go ridin'. For some strange reason, I can approach her and love on her in the wide open pasture when I don't have a rope in my hand, BUT.......when I have a rope she takes off a runnin' and I spend from 20 minutes to 2 hours catching, cussing and threatening to do terrible things if I catch her. Hmm do you suppose she is trying to tell me something? Like, "Hey I don't want to haul your big butt up and down canyons and hills for most of the day only to get a stale carrot at the end of the day!."
Well, so I put her in a small trap with her friend to keep her entertained for the night and she would be easy to catch the next morning at 5am. The alarm goes off = BUZZ! Coffee = check, boots = check, neck scarf = check, ridin' bra = check, comfy cotton shirt = check, favorite ridin' jeans = check, spurs = check. Out to the pasture IN THE DARK and with a rope in my hand. The mares start trotting back and forth, running circles around me. They are both sorrel (red) and both a little fat so it is hard to tell them apart, especially in the dark. They ran and trotted and ran and trotted and I refused to get mad at 5am in the damn morning. Okay, got them cornered and figured out which one was Cory. Started to walk up to her when Sancie, her buddy, reared up and broke through the hot fence which opened into a big beautiful green, dark, not moonlit pasture. She took off and Cory stood for a moment, looked at me as if to say, "See ya later!" Well you know the rest of the story. Now my horse, my precious Cory, my, now, ex best buddy, is racing into the night, laughing all the way and I am without a horse for my ride. CRAP! Go wake up my poor happy sleeping husband. "Honey, Honey? Are all the gates closed around the big pasture? The mares broke through the little pasture and are in the big pasture and I am afraid if the gates aren't closed they will get into the hay pasture." A moan comes from under the CPAP mask and the next words I hear are - "A Honey, everything is just fine - go ridin' and have a good time." What a great husband, even at 5am. In reality, he can't remember if he shut the gates but he doesn't give a hoot and just tells me what I need to know to get me out of his room so he can go back to sleep. Do I know this? YUP but I want to believe him, so I go off with some peace of heart and will blame it on him if I come back and they are in the hay pasture.
Okay, I am not going to let this ruin my day so......I turn around and see Raindancer, my paint gelding (male horse with nuts cut off). "Here Raindancer, here Raindancer!" "Do you want to go with mommy today and have fun and get a carrot?" And he is saying, "Shit, here she comes and she wants me to haul her big butt around today when I am so enjoying this cool morning, crunching on this fresh grass, Shit!" Well he only has shoes on his front feet. They are supposed to have shoes on all feet to go ridin' but it's a long story so I won't bore you with the details and riding him with just two shoes will be fine where we are going. He is such a BIG, I mean BIG sweetheart. He is about 16.2 hands = that interprets to a long damn way down to the ground if you don't stay on top and this ole girl needs a step stool, a big log or rock to get on him.
GOTCHA!!!! Good boy, Rain. Okay, still dark, coffee in mug with fancy creamer in the truck and hot. Rolled flour tortilla with peanut butter, cut in half for lunch and stuffed in saddle bag along with gloves and knife and a bottle of gatorade. Everything loaded, horse loaded.......lights.....action and I put it in drive, grabbing my cell phone and trying to plug it in, opps! Windshield fogged over, turn on wipers, fogged on inside, turning on defogger and..................OH CRAP...........where did that damn tree come from......slam on brakes. I am not even off the ranch yet.. In all my early morning foggy confusion I drove up on the center lawn and was about to the end the life of my beautiful 12 foot silver maple. HA!
Okay dummy, pay attention, defog your windows, drive off the lawn and around the tree. Wonder what my husband will say when he gets up and sees the big tire tracks on the center lawn? Okay, open the gate with the remote........oh.....it's the remote is not working, of course. Maybe it doesn't function very well at 5:30 in the friggin' morning either.......so put the truck in park....get out and open the gate.
OKAY, now we're finally on our way. Wait a minute-----what is that RED LIGHT???? There is a red light shaped like a battery on the dash, blinking! Hmmmm I am going into the wilderness and if this light means trouble, I will be really unpopular if I have to call my husband to try and come find us when I am 60 miles away. OKAY....OKAY... turn around.....go back through the gate that won't open automatically like it is supposed to. Park the truck and trailer.......HONEY? HONEY? There is a funny red light on the dash. He groans, as only a tired husband can without cussing. He takes off his CPAP mask, puts on his slippers and undies and trudges......I mean trudges out into the cold dampness of 5:30am. "Well, it could be an alternator, but you can go ahead and go on today and I will look at it when you get home. "
Off I go, down the road, radio on and me sipping on my coffee with fancy creamer. No more troubles. I am runnning a little late but that's okay. Got to Jeannie's house across town. We loaded her saddle and tack (all the other stuff you need to ride a horse), her beer cooler, lunch, her big HUGE tankard filled with coffee and her horse, "Tomar". Shut the trailer doors, climb in the truck, turn the key and all I hear is = Errrr, Errrr, Errrrr, clickitty, clickitty, Errrr, Errrr. CRAP! The truck won't start.
Okay so we unload both horses, unload the saddles and tack and load everything into her truck and horse trailer and off we go. As we turn onto a road, the sun is coming up and very intense and shining straight into our eyes, so bright you can hardly see where you are going. There is something on the inside of the windshield which is preventing her from seeing the road. I roll down the window to keep her from driving off into a ditch. I find a neckerchief and try and clean it - there is some oily substance on the neckerchief which makes it worse. During this attempt, the big tankard of coffee Jeannie had set on the seat, turned over and spilled into my purse - RIGHT INTO MY PURSE - wallet, cell phone, tortilla/peanut butter sandwich .......YUP! Okay, I pour the coffee out of my purse, rescue the cell phone. It's okay. Set the tankard down on the floor between us as we limp towards the highway where the sun will be from a different direction and we will be able to see better. We continue down the road with me using a different wipe, trying to clean the windshield. It is clearing up. We turn onto the highway and...........the Jeannie's tankard of coffee, which didn't empty out all the way, NOW turns over and spills into her purse. YUP that's right. Ah...now it's empty.
I told Jeannie, I think God is trying to tell us we shouldn't go riding today. A few minutes later she notices her tank is running on empty. Conveniently there is a gas station at the next road. We turn into the gas station and gas up. Now we are an hour late to meet our friends, who are now on the trail and riding and the day is heating up fast. Jeannie looks at me and says, "God just doesn't want us to ride today, let''s go yard sailing".
I hesitated, about.....5 seconds and agreed. We turned around, went to Jeannie's unloaded the horses, took her other truck and went lookin' for yard sales and junk stores. Leavin' my dead truck and trailer behind, my horse in onen of her stalls in the barn. We found some good deals for stuff we didn't need, ate some great pizza and had a COLD beer. We arrived back to Jeannie's 4 hours later. I called my hubby and he directed me on how to jump my truck using Jeannie's truck. I hate jumper cables, they spark at ya and scare the heck out of me. Well, I did it and the truck started. I loaded ole' Raindancer and we headed off home. Everybody was happy. I got good deals for some great junk, Raindancer was happy because he got some good hay and got to flirt with a pretty mare.
NEXT DAY - Today
Going to try again, as a friend of mine is celebrating her birthday with a horse ride. SOOOOO up again at 4:15am. Coffee smells so good. I handcuffed, hog tied, bound up and tied down Cory in a barn stall so she would be there when I came to get her. Not really. I did put her in the barn with her favorite buddy, Denver! Denver is a 15 yr old UGLY (he is so ugly he is cute) buckskin mule. He is in love with Cory. They spent the night together in the stall. She was there when I went to get her and I am ready AGAIN. We put a battery charger on the truck the night before to recharge the batter. I put on my jeans, boots, spurs, favorite ridin' shirt. Got my frozen bottle of gatorade (it melts and is slushy by the time lunch rolls around), loaded my horse, unhooked the battery charger and hoped the truck would start. IT DID!!!!! Off I go......on time, no RED LIGHTS and runnin' smooth. As it grew lighter, I noticed it was overcast with dark clouds which looked threatening. Who cares! Arrived on time, picked up Jeannie, her husband and son and their horses and away we went. We were in the saddle by 7:30 and happy as little clams. We had a grand ride and I think the horses did too. We do spoil them with lots of carrots and rub downs. The butterflies were everywhere, the beautiful woods and vines were so green, the spring was running and thick with watercress (a delicious plant you can eat and put on salads and only found in fresh running streams). Cory is a Missouri Fox Trotter which means when she trots you don't bounce, it is so smooooooth. She is what they call a "gated" horse. We all ride gated horses so we were "gating" 1/2 the time and had a ball.
It was a glorious day! Thank you God.
FARM HOME REMEDIES: Recipe for cough syrup
This recipe is even safe for toddlers. Slice an onion very thin and alternate slices of onion and sugar. Place a bowl or plate on top of the layers and squish them down. Soon there will be juice forming which is very soothing for a cough. Best of all there are no medication side effects to worry about.
COUNTRY RECIPES: Mrs. Bleeker's Waffles
1 qt. of milk, a little sour if possible
butter - a piece the size of an egg
lard - a piece of lard the size of an egg
4 eggs
Mix well with flour enough to make a stiff batter. If the milk is a little sour, enough soda to cover a five-cent piece will be sufficient to raise the waffles; but if it is fresh, a teaspoonful of soda must be used. a teaspoon of salt,
Bake a quickly as possible (she doesn't give the the baking temp)
THANK YOU ALL FOR VISITING MY BLOG AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT AND CAME AWAY WITH A LITTLE SOMETHING.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
A Day In The LIfe Of.........August 21, 2011
Well, Howdy!
I haven't written in a couple of days - been busy outside as the temperatures dropped briefly to in the 80's so out in the garden I go. This Real Housewife mowed her garden (the grass around the vegetables), pulled weeds, retrained the vines of cucumbers and spaghetti squash, prayed over the tomatoes as they are only producing 1-2 tomatoes a day compared to 40-50 a day in a good year. So no cannin' goin' on at this Missouri Housewives kitchen. Called a friend while having my coffee and asked another Missouri Housewife what she was doing? "Just pickin' ticks off my dog." Launa came to pick up a big round bale of hay and as we loaded it in the back of her pick up, my husband noticed a large 3 foot plant in the back of her truck bed. He told Launa as he loaded the hay that he hoped he didn't hurt her plant. Launa started to giggle. She said, "Well the truth is, it's growin' in the bed of my pickup, I haven't cleaned out the old hay since last winter." Sure 'nuf it was growin' all right - it was rag weed. Only in Missouri and only with Real Housewives of Rural Missouri.
Jane, Missouri
Me and my horse ridin' buddy, Jeannie, went for drive a few days ago. Goin' for a drive in rural Missouri is always fun and interesting. Drove into the town of Jane, Missouri - tiny little town with a couple of old gas stations, post office, a diner and a little grocery store. That's about it as far as thriving businesses. There are other old buildings with two or three signs on them of past businesses, boarded up, vines growing up the front, junk stacked up in front or on the sides. As you drive through town, which takes about 4 minutes, you pass a beautiful little shady cemetery, sitting off to the side of the road by a stream. As we pass you can tell it is an old cemetery as some of the head stones are just that, stones. We decided to stop and look around. What we found was so moving. About 1/3 of the cemetery was filled with head stones of Civil War heroes. Some of the headstones were just big rocks stuck in the ground with no carving, some fallen over. A few of the head stones were so old and grown over with moss, that you could not easily read the name or the date.
On one of the graves was a man's name, Mr. Tom Kirkpatrick, with his birth and death dates. Then there was a much smaller head stone right next to him "Wife of Tom Kirkpatrick" with no dates. Another headstone read "Mrs. Heddy Rowe" no dates, but very old. As we wandered through this beautiful area we noticed many "death dates" of 1918 and a family of headstones all with that date but some days apart and some months apart. I did some research and the Spanish Flu had been the culprit. It was so sad to see whole families wiped out. You stand there in the shade of these beautiful trees, a soft breeze blowing and almost hear the stories of families. There are several family plots which were so old and had antique decorative cast ironwork fences around the plot. I wondered if any of these families had anyone left to visit the graves. Had the families been wiped out with either the Civil War or Spanish Flu or other illnesses that swept through when there was no medical way of treating it?
We spent over an hour and could had spent more as we drifted through families and tried to figure out their stories. Some graves had headstones with fishing rods and reels engraved on them, some with deer antlers carved on them, others with big logs indicating a timber man.
We left there with many thoughts about those families went through and maybe our families also. We wandered down the road, mostly with old wood sided homes, flowers in the garden, large trees and vines, curtains in the windows. Folks have lived here for a very long time. As we were leaving town we spotted a small store which sat all to itself on the curve of the highway. It was a very old building - dog trot style. "Dog Trot style" is a style of building and homes they built in the 30's and 40's which is a bungalow style. This store had a large big window. The front of the building was all done in old barn wood and the sign was made out of old barn wood with the letters "The Jane Store" painted in red. Writing on the front window advertised sandwiches, home made pies and cookies, good coffee, antiques and enamel ware.
We decided to stop. As we opened the old wooden screen door, which was controlled by a big spring, we were hit with the smell of fresh berry pie. The wooden screen door slammed behind us with that old familiar sound from when I was a kid. I used to sneak in the back door and sneak into the kitchen and get a handful of Oleo. Oleo was margarine and mom would leave it out on the table and it was soft and good. I loved it and it was responsible for many scoldings from mom.
We were met by an older (in her 80's) lady, Mrs. Pecks, dressed in a dress and big flowery apron. She immediately announced, "Howdy girls, I'm just baking some fresh berry pies and have some apple pies going in the over after that. Also have fresh cookies, tell your friends." She was so adorable, her hair all permed, shiny white and in place. The store had the old oak wooden plank floors, an old wooden counter with a register. There were shelves of antique this's and thats, which I love, and had to have that candle board - looks like a bread board with a handle and 3 metal candle holders on it so when you had to carry a candle through the house in the evening to light your way- you had 3 instead of 1.
In the center of the store were 3 little tables with 4 chairs each. The chairs were all those chrome style with vinyl backs and seats from the 50's. The tables had table cloths which were old handmade quilts covered in a thick clear plastic covering so they would not get stained. Absolutely beautiful! Mrs. Pecks said she had lots of quilts just layin' around so she decided to display them by putting them on the tables. Then the opposite wall of the little store had every color of enamel ware you would wish for. For those of you who don't know what enamel ware is - your grandmother most likely had a big popcorn bowl that was enamel ware - most likely black and white specked or blue and white or maybe even red and white. Before plastic, this was the cheapest ware for mixing bowl, baking pans and Honey pots (potty pots w/lids beside the beds at night so you didn't have to go out into the snow to go potty).
Mrs. Pecks daughter was tending the front of the store while Mrs. Pecks was baking in the back. Great conversations. At one point I asked if I could use the restroom. Mrs. Pecks heard me and said, "Yes, girl, go out the front door, take a right and go out into the woods and there is a white cement brick little building." Okay so I did as she said, out the door, took a right, and looked to the left. There out in the woods was a little white cement block building, the size of a wooden outhouse. This one had a old rusty tin roof and an old wooden door with chipping white paint. The old copper doorknob worked and the cement floor was painted white and covered with leaves. The wind had blown in a storm last night and guess some got stuck in here. There was a very old white porcelain pedestal sink with very old handles and a faucet which, of course, was dripping. At the base of the sink was a long hose which was to long so it looped several times before it hooked up the back of the old toilet. Well I found out what the hose was all about - when I flushed the toilet the hose started jumping up and down and looked like it was alive. Hmmm guess it was the water for the toilet.
Back in the store, filled with delicious smells, we bought some homemade still warm cookies. So good. They sold Amish jams, homemade pies and cookies, homemade sandwiches and real good country coffee. We will be going back to The Jane Store soon.
So for all those Real Housewives of Orange County, New York and where ever - this is what life is really like for "Real" housewives.
HOME FARM REMEDIES & HINTS: Bee stings, Hiccups and Hot Pepper burning/hands
Bee Stings - A slice of onion placed on a bee sting will take the pain away
Hiccups - Eat a spoonful of peanut butter to get rid of hiccups.
Hot Pepper burning - If your hands burn and sting after handling hot peppers, pour rubbing alcohol on them.
COUNTRY HOME RECIPES: Fried Oatmeal
For that leftover oatmeal try this!
Pressed cooked oatmeal into a cake pan 1/2-inch thick. Cool until firm.
Cut into squares. Fry in butter until browned, turning once.
Serve with syrup.
It's good!
Thanks for visitin' and come back soon.
I haven't written in a couple of days - been busy outside as the temperatures dropped briefly to in the 80's so out in the garden I go. This Real Housewife mowed her garden (the grass around the vegetables), pulled weeds, retrained the vines of cucumbers and spaghetti squash, prayed over the tomatoes as they are only producing 1-2 tomatoes a day compared to 40-50 a day in a good year. So no cannin' goin' on at this Missouri Housewives kitchen. Called a friend while having my coffee and asked another Missouri Housewife what she was doing? "Just pickin' ticks off my dog." Launa came to pick up a big round bale of hay and as we loaded it in the back of her pick up, my husband noticed a large 3 foot plant in the back of her truck bed. He told Launa as he loaded the hay that he hoped he didn't hurt her plant. Launa started to giggle. She said, "Well the truth is, it's growin' in the bed of my pickup, I haven't cleaned out the old hay since last winter." Sure 'nuf it was growin' all right - it was rag weed. Only in Missouri and only with Real Housewives of Rural Missouri.
Jane, Missouri
Me and my horse ridin' buddy, Jeannie, went for drive a few days ago. Goin' for a drive in rural Missouri is always fun and interesting. Drove into the town of Jane, Missouri - tiny little town with a couple of old gas stations, post office, a diner and a little grocery store. That's about it as far as thriving businesses. There are other old buildings with two or three signs on them of past businesses, boarded up, vines growing up the front, junk stacked up in front or on the sides. As you drive through town, which takes about 4 minutes, you pass a beautiful little shady cemetery, sitting off to the side of the road by a stream. As we pass you can tell it is an old cemetery as some of the head stones are just that, stones. We decided to stop and look around. What we found was so moving. About 1/3 of the cemetery was filled with head stones of Civil War heroes. Some of the headstones were just big rocks stuck in the ground with no carving, some fallen over. A few of the head stones were so old and grown over with moss, that you could not easily read the name or the date.
On one of the graves was a man's name, Mr. Tom Kirkpatrick, with his birth and death dates. Then there was a much smaller head stone right next to him "Wife of Tom Kirkpatrick" with no dates. Another headstone read "Mrs. Heddy Rowe" no dates, but very old. As we wandered through this beautiful area we noticed many "death dates" of 1918 and a family of headstones all with that date but some days apart and some months apart. I did some research and the Spanish Flu had been the culprit. It was so sad to see whole families wiped out. You stand there in the shade of these beautiful trees, a soft breeze blowing and almost hear the stories of families. There are several family plots which were so old and had antique decorative cast ironwork fences around the plot. I wondered if any of these families had anyone left to visit the graves. Had the families been wiped out with either the Civil War or Spanish Flu or other illnesses that swept through when there was no medical way of treating it?
We spent over an hour and could had spent more as we drifted through families and tried to figure out their stories. Some graves had headstones with fishing rods and reels engraved on them, some with deer antlers carved on them, others with big logs indicating a timber man.
We left there with many thoughts about those families went through and maybe our families also. We wandered down the road, mostly with old wood sided homes, flowers in the garden, large trees and vines, curtains in the windows. Folks have lived here for a very long time. As we were leaving town we spotted a small store which sat all to itself on the curve of the highway. It was a very old building - dog trot style. "Dog Trot style" is a style of building and homes they built in the 30's and 40's which is a bungalow style. This store had a large big window. The front of the building was all done in old barn wood and the sign was made out of old barn wood with the letters "The Jane Store" painted in red. Writing on the front window advertised sandwiches, home made pies and cookies, good coffee, antiques and enamel ware.
We decided to stop. As we opened the old wooden screen door, which was controlled by a big spring, we were hit with the smell of fresh berry pie. The wooden screen door slammed behind us with that old familiar sound from when I was a kid. I used to sneak in the back door and sneak into the kitchen and get a handful of Oleo. Oleo was margarine and mom would leave it out on the table and it was soft and good. I loved it and it was responsible for many scoldings from mom.
We were met by an older (in her 80's) lady, Mrs. Pecks, dressed in a dress and big flowery apron. She immediately announced, "Howdy girls, I'm just baking some fresh berry pies and have some apple pies going in the over after that. Also have fresh cookies, tell your friends." She was so adorable, her hair all permed, shiny white and in place. The store had the old oak wooden plank floors, an old wooden counter with a register. There were shelves of antique this's and thats, which I love, and had to have that candle board - looks like a bread board with a handle and 3 metal candle holders on it so when you had to carry a candle through the house in the evening to light your way- you had 3 instead of 1.
In the center of the store were 3 little tables with 4 chairs each. The chairs were all those chrome style with vinyl backs and seats from the 50's. The tables had table cloths which were old handmade quilts covered in a thick clear plastic covering so they would not get stained. Absolutely beautiful! Mrs. Pecks said she had lots of quilts just layin' around so she decided to display them by putting them on the tables. Then the opposite wall of the little store had every color of enamel ware you would wish for. For those of you who don't know what enamel ware is - your grandmother most likely had a big popcorn bowl that was enamel ware - most likely black and white specked or blue and white or maybe even red and white. Before plastic, this was the cheapest ware for mixing bowl, baking pans and Honey pots (potty pots w/lids beside the beds at night so you didn't have to go out into the snow to go potty).
Mrs. Pecks daughter was tending the front of the store while Mrs. Pecks was baking in the back. Great conversations. At one point I asked if I could use the restroom. Mrs. Pecks heard me and said, "Yes, girl, go out the front door, take a right and go out into the woods and there is a white cement brick little building." Okay so I did as she said, out the door, took a right, and looked to the left. There out in the woods was a little white cement block building, the size of a wooden outhouse. This one had a old rusty tin roof and an old wooden door with chipping white paint. The old copper doorknob worked and the cement floor was painted white and covered with leaves. The wind had blown in a storm last night and guess some got stuck in here. There was a very old white porcelain pedestal sink with very old handles and a faucet which, of course, was dripping. At the base of the sink was a long hose which was to long so it looped several times before it hooked up the back of the old toilet. Well I found out what the hose was all about - when I flushed the toilet the hose started jumping up and down and looked like it was alive. Hmmm guess it was the water for the toilet.
Back in the store, filled with delicious smells, we bought some homemade still warm cookies. So good. They sold Amish jams, homemade pies and cookies, homemade sandwiches and real good country coffee. We will be going back to The Jane Store soon.
So for all those Real Housewives of Orange County, New York and where ever - this is what life is really like for "Real" housewives.
HOME FARM REMEDIES & HINTS: Bee stings, Hiccups and Hot Pepper burning/hands
Bee Stings - A slice of onion placed on a bee sting will take the pain away
Hiccups - Eat a spoonful of peanut butter to get rid of hiccups.
Hot Pepper burning - If your hands burn and sting after handling hot peppers, pour rubbing alcohol on them.
COUNTRY HOME RECIPES: Fried Oatmeal
For that leftover oatmeal try this!
Pressed cooked oatmeal into a cake pan 1/2-inch thick. Cool until firm.
Cut into squares. Fry in butter until browned, turning once.
Serve with syrup.
It's good!
Thanks for visitin' and come back soon.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
May 2011 - The Tornado
Saturday May 21st was a typical Spring day - our Spring season here in Missouri is full of rain, sun and tornadoes. Every year there is tornadic activity. Our local news stations show a color radar of our section of the country they call "The Four States" because we are in the far southwest corner of Missouri. The four states include Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. So when it looks stormy, we tune into a local tv station and watch the news tape traveling across the bottom of the screen to see if your county is included in the bad weather prediction which could be "Severe Thunderstorms" "Thunderstorm Watch" "Tornado Warning" or "Tornado Watch". Well on this day there were storms predicted. We did get rain throughout the night and into the next day, Sunday, May 22.
Sunday morning, raining and storm warnings. Had to do the general chores - sweeping, dishes, feeding birds, laundry etc. Pulled weeds, tilled the garden and planted the young tomato plants, planted the Dill, the pickling cucumbers and the spaghetti squash. It began to rain again. Went inside, prepared dinner and got a phone call. It was about 4:00pm. The phone call was from my riding friend, Jeannie. She was at Freeman Hospital and had been there since yesterday. She had fallen off her horse and fractured her wrist. She was waiting for her husband to come and get her to take her home. He was still at work. I told her I would come get her, bring her home and help settle her in. She thought about it for a few minutes, changing her mind several times and finally decided she would wait for her husband. Freeman Hospital is located about 2 blocks away from St. John's Hospital - their parking lots touch each other.
I sat down to watch a program on tv and it was interrupted by local news/weather alert. There were tornadoes sighted touching down in several locations across the Four States. The radar showed the storms with tornadic activity headed west from Kansas towards Missouri and especially our area which includes Carthage, Diamond, Joplin, Duequene, Webb City and Carterville.
As I was watching they showed a view of downtown Joplin which was from a camera located on a tower near St. John's Hospital. The weatherman is watching the skies and what looks like as a "squall" which is a heavy downpour coming out of some black clouds. Then all of a sudden the weatherman and his crew start yellin' " tornado, tornado touchin' down in Joplin, take cover, Oh My God, tornado, tornado touchin' down, we are seein' debris - Oh My God." Then the camera goes black and so does the connection - silence!!!!! such scary silence.
Well our godson, JonBoy, lives in Joplin, works at night as a Sheriff and is asleep right now. I call him, woke him up. He answered saying, "Hi Mom, I heard the sirens." I yell, "Jon take cover, a tornado is touchin' down in Joplin, call me back." We hang up. And then I wait. I am watching the television, changin' channels to the other local channels - no one had any info except that there is a report of a tornado has touched down in Joplin and debris was sighted. Debris is whatever is torn up on the ground is in the air, chairs, roofs, cars, metal, siding, roofing tiles, you name it. Then the reports starting comin' in - major touchdown in Joplin, St. John's Hospital was hit and many homes destroyed plus major stores on Rangeline Blvd, which is the main center of Joplin.
The phone rings, Pat and I are in the living room watching the reports. JonBoy is calling to tell us he is okay. The tornado hit within a few blocks of his apt. He is headed out to help and find his friends. Our hearts sunk - the rain was fallin' hard here at the ranch. We go outside in the barn and stand in the doorway to see the heavy rain in the pasture. As we are standing there, the rain lightens up. I spot a big flock of birds way up high in the sky. Can't make out what kind of birds, and they seemed to be playing in the thermals like big birds do. We watch this huge flock of birds, trying to figure out this strange sighting as birds don't do this when it is raining.
As we watched the flock of birds gets lower and lower and then.........big pieces of plywood, 12 ft sections of metal siding, thousands of broken roof tiles start raining down on our ranch. Those weren't birds, they were pieces of peoples houses and trailers and buildings. Then papers, wet and shredded started falling along with rubber gloves, file folders - our hears sunk - tears in our eyes - the deadly silence was horrific as we watched evidence of shredded lives float down onto our pastures. Some of it was from Joplin High School, cheerleading files, folders, bits and pieces of books. Then remnants of medical files and reports floated down, all rain soaked and torn. We just stood there in awe and not knowing what to do. More wire and air ducts and papers and Taco Bell sacks and insulation ---all coming out of the sky----drifting down gently----everything coming down in deadly silence.
What do we do? We just stand there....dazed! Then more alerts are coming over our weather radio (everyone is encouraged to have one out here) with threats of more tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. We call JonBoy again - he says, "Mom you can't believe what has happened, it looks like a war zone. I have been pullin' people out of piles of destruction, got to go, I'll call later." Jonboy called us later to say he found most of his friends and there are now 28 people staying in his little 2 bedroom apt tonight. They have gone out and found some food which was difficult because there is so much debris, you can't go down most streets and a lot of the fast food places are destroyed including Walmart.
Here we are 27 miles away, not knowing what to do. The local stations are telling folks to stay home, all emergency crews are there and more arriving from 5 different states. I get a phone call from my niece is in Oklahoma visiting her mom. She lives in Calif. She is an emergency room nurse in the Navy. She jumped in her truck and was on her way to Joplin (4 hrs drive) and worked for the next 2 days with no sleep.
You feel powerless, helpless, not knowing what to do. People wandered around town in Carthage in a daze. I went to Walmart and it was so very crowded with people filling shopping baskets with blankets, paper plates, plastic ware, toilet paper and paper towels, tents etc. The man is front of me bought 20 $50 gift cards to hand out to folks. Walmart was more crowded then I have ever seen it at any time of the year.
For the next three days we lived under threats and sightings of tornadoes, afraid to leave our homes and checking in with people who were on the emergency crews (friends) asking what we could do. They said, please stay away and stay home. People coming to Joplin
wanting to help were just getting in the way of the rescuers trying to find people trapped in the destruction.
A local radio station immediately started taking calls from anyone and trying to answer questions - "We need cots, we need gloves to go through wreckage" Someone else would call in saying they own a store and have hundreds of gloves to donate. On and on and on. Calls coming in looking for relatives and friends, leaving phone number and locations. This went on for 1 month. Finally there were locations set up to reunite people and pets. There were over 3000 pets found and taken to the shelter to hopefully be reunited with their loving owners. All but 600 were reunited and they found new homes.
I could go on and on about the volunteers, donations that came in and continue to come in. All this does is remind us of a beautiful country we live in - no matter what the newspapers and news programs try and convince us of.
Today, August 13, 2011 almost 3 months later most of the debris from the almost 2 mile wide and 7 mile long destruction is removed. Homes are being rebuilt, St. John's Hospital is empty but has temp facilities set up and it will rebuild. The high school and elementary school have temporary locations in empty buildings and are incredible. All the children have and will receive book bags with all the supplies they need. The high school students are all receiving IPADS free.
My friend Jeannie, was in Freeman Hospital at the beginning of all this. Her husband had just arrived to pick her up when nurses ran into the room she was in and immediately moved her and her husband into the hallway with hundreds of other hospital beds filled with patients and people on crutches etc.
They were unharmed. If I had gone into town to pick her up, I would have been right at the location where the tornado touched down. When we figured it out - it took our breaths away. It was not my time to go. I have other tasks to do on this earth for Him.
I have so much to be thankful for. This is only a strong reminder.
Thank you for visiting my blog today. Please come back as I love to share.
FARMERS HOME REMEDIES - Bee Stings, Cuts and Bruise
Bee Sting - A slice of onion applied to a bee sting will take the pain away.
Cuts and Bruises - To cuts and bruises make an ice pack to keep on hand. Fill a zip lock type sandwich bag with 2 cups of water and 1/3 cup of rubbing alcohol. Zip shut and place in freezer. The slush type ice that forms will mold to most parts of the body when placed on the cut or bruise and it will bring relief.
MOM MARGE'S VEGETABLE CASSEROLE - My step Mom, Marge Tuthill (great cook)
1 can green beans - drained
1 can white corn - drained
1 can water chestnuts - drained and chopped
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese grated
1 can cream of celery soup
1 tube of Ritz Crackers
1 stick of butter chopped
Mix together and top with tube of crushed Ritz crackers
Add butter on top
Bake 45 mins at 350 deg. ENJOY!!
Sunday morning, raining and storm warnings. Had to do the general chores - sweeping, dishes, feeding birds, laundry etc. Pulled weeds, tilled the garden and planted the young tomato plants, planted the Dill, the pickling cucumbers and the spaghetti squash. It began to rain again. Went inside, prepared dinner and got a phone call. It was about 4:00pm. The phone call was from my riding friend, Jeannie. She was at Freeman Hospital and had been there since yesterday. She had fallen off her horse and fractured her wrist. She was waiting for her husband to come and get her to take her home. He was still at work. I told her I would come get her, bring her home and help settle her in. She thought about it for a few minutes, changing her mind several times and finally decided she would wait for her husband. Freeman Hospital is located about 2 blocks away from St. John's Hospital - their parking lots touch each other.
I sat down to watch a program on tv and it was interrupted by local news/weather alert. There were tornadoes sighted touching down in several locations across the Four States. The radar showed the storms with tornadic activity headed west from Kansas towards Missouri and especially our area which includes Carthage, Diamond, Joplin, Duequene, Webb City and Carterville.
As I was watching they showed a view of downtown Joplin which was from a camera located on a tower near St. John's Hospital. The weatherman is watching the skies and what looks like as a "squall" which is a heavy downpour coming out of some black clouds. Then all of a sudden the weatherman and his crew start yellin' " tornado, tornado touchin' down in Joplin, take cover, Oh My God, tornado, tornado touchin' down, we are seein' debris - Oh My God." Then the camera goes black and so does the connection - silence!!!!! such scary silence.
Well our godson, JonBoy, lives in Joplin, works at night as a Sheriff and is asleep right now. I call him, woke him up. He answered saying, "Hi Mom, I heard the sirens." I yell, "Jon take cover, a tornado is touchin' down in Joplin, call me back." We hang up. And then I wait. I am watching the television, changin' channels to the other local channels - no one had any info except that there is a report of a tornado has touched down in Joplin and debris was sighted. Debris is whatever is torn up on the ground is in the air, chairs, roofs, cars, metal, siding, roofing tiles, you name it. Then the reports starting comin' in - major touchdown in Joplin, St. John's Hospital was hit and many homes destroyed plus major stores on Rangeline Blvd, which is the main center of Joplin.
The phone rings, Pat and I are in the living room watching the reports. JonBoy is calling to tell us he is okay. The tornado hit within a few blocks of his apt. He is headed out to help and find his friends. Our hearts sunk - the rain was fallin' hard here at the ranch. We go outside in the barn and stand in the doorway to see the heavy rain in the pasture. As we are standing there, the rain lightens up. I spot a big flock of birds way up high in the sky. Can't make out what kind of birds, and they seemed to be playing in the thermals like big birds do. We watch this huge flock of birds, trying to figure out this strange sighting as birds don't do this when it is raining.
As we watched the flock of birds gets lower and lower and then.........big pieces of plywood, 12 ft sections of metal siding, thousands of broken roof tiles start raining down on our ranch. Those weren't birds, they were pieces of peoples houses and trailers and buildings. Then papers, wet and shredded started falling along with rubber gloves, file folders - our hears sunk - tears in our eyes - the deadly silence was horrific as we watched evidence of shredded lives float down onto our pastures. Some of it was from Joplin High School, cheerleading files, folders, bits and pieces of books. Then remnants of medical files and reports floated down, all rain soaked and torn. We just stood there in awe and not knowing what to do. More wire and air ducts and papers and Taco Bell sacks and insulation ---all coming out of the sky----drifting down gently----everything coming down in deadly silence.
What do we do? We just stand there....dazed! Then more alerts are coming over our weather radio (everyone is encouraged to have one out here) with threats of more tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. We call JonBoy again - he says, "Mom you can't believe what has happened, it looks like a war zone. I have been pullin' people out of piles of destruction, got to go, I'll call later." Jonboy called us later to say he found most of his friends and there are now 28 people staying in his little 2 bedroom apt tonight. They have gone out and found some food which was difficult because there is so much debris, you can't go down most streets and a lot of the fast food places are destroyed including Walmart.
Here we are 27 miles away, not knowing what to do. The local stations are telling folks to stay home, all emergency crews are there and more arriving from 5 different states. I get a phone call from my niece is in Oklahoma visiting her mom. She lives in Calif. She is an emergency room nurse in the Navy. She jumped in her truck and was on her way to Joplin (4 hrs drive) and worked for the next 2 days with no sleep.
You feel powerless, helpless, not knowing what to do. People wandered around town in Carthage in a daze. I went to Walmart and it was so very crowded with people filling shopping baskets with blankets, paper plates, plastic ware, toilet paper and paper towels, tents etc. The man is front of me bought 20 $50 gift cards to hand out to folks. Walmart was more crowded then I have ever seen it at any time of the year.
For the next three days we lived under threats and sightings of tornadoes, afraid to leave our homes and checking in with people who were on the emergency crews (friends) asking what we could do. They said, please stay away and stay home. People coming to Joplin
wanting to help were just getting in the way of the rescuers trying to find people trapped in the destruction.
A local radio station immediately started taking calls from anyone and trying to answer questions - "We need cots, we need gloves to go through wreckage" Someone else would call in saying they own a store and have hundreds of gloves to donate. On and on and on. Calls coming in looking for relatives and friends, leaving phone number and locations. This went on for 1 month. Finally there were locations set up to reunite people and pets. There were over 3000 pets found and taken to the shelter to hopefully be reunited with their loving owners. All but 600 were reunited and they found new homes.
I could go on and on about the volunteers, donations that came in and continue to come in. All this does is remind us of a beautiful country we live in - no matter what the newspapers and news programs try and convince us of.
Today, August 13, 2011 almost 3 months later most of the debris from the almost 2 mile wide and 7 mile long destruction is removed. Homes are being rebuilt, St. John's Hospital is empty but has temp facilities set up and it will rebuild. The high school and elementary school have temporary locations in empty buildings and are incredible. All the children have and will receive book bags with all the supplies they need. The high school students are all receiving IPADS free.
My friend Jeannie, was in Freeman Hospital at the beginning of all this. Her husband had just arrived to pick her up when nurses ran into the room she was in and immediately moved her and her husband into the hallway with hundreds of other hospital beds filled with patients and people on crutches etc.
They were unharmed. If I had gone into town to pick her up, I would have been right at the location where the tornado touched down. When we figured it out - it took our breaths away. It was not my time to go. I have other tasks to do on this earth for Him.
I have so much to be thankful for. This is only a strong reminder.
Thank you for visiting my blog today. Please come back as I love to share.
FARMERS HOME REMEDIES - Bee Stings, Cuts and Bruise
Bee Sting - A slice of onion applied to a bee sting will take the pain away.
Cuts and Bruises - To cuts and bruises make an ice pack to keep on hand. Fill a zip lock type sandwich bag with 2 cups of water and 1/3 cup of rubbing alcohol. Zip shut and place in freezer. The slush type ice that forms will mold to most parts of the body when placed on the cut or bruise and it will bring relief.
MOM MARGE'S VEGETABLE CASSEROLE - My step Mom, Marge Tuthill (great cook)
1 can green beans - drained
1 can white corn - drained
1 can water chestnuts - drained and chopped
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cheddar cheese grated
1 can cream of celery soup
1 tube of Ritz Crackers
1 stick of butter chopped
Mix together and top with tube of crushed Ritz crackers
Add butter on top
Bake 45 mins at 350 deg. ENJOY!!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
A Day In The LIfe Of.........August 7, 2011
Howdy! Well we are having the roughest, driest summers we have ever had. The locals say they have not seen a dry summer like this for 30 or 40 yrs. The vegetable gardens are really taking a hit - Usually you don't have to worry about watering except for about 2 weeks. This year I have had to water my cucumbers 15 mins each day, water the tomatoes every other day, the young fruit trees in my orchard 2 times a week and our other young trees once a week, at least. The black berries burned up pretty much and so did the raspberries but they are coming back. This is my first year for raspberries and they are starting to produce again, we might have raspberries again in a few weeks.
We just sold all of our hay rounds, except for 8. The folks in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma are hurting for hay. One of the folks said some guys have come down there in Arkansas and are selling the round bales for $85/a rnd. We sell ours for $35 and will keep that price - we can sleep at night.
Put up 22 jars of Bread and Butter pickles yesterday - they are soooo good. Have decided I am going to do most of my canning in pint jars instead of quart jars. My step mom, Marge, told me she put up some Bread and Butter zucchini. Sounds good so I am going to try it. Also doing some research into dried green beans. They sell them in the store as a snack with a little salt. I have a dryer so I will try.
The hummin' birds have gone through 2 qts of nectar so I have to fill them again - last night there was up to 25 hummin' birds out there at the same time. Have to put out the tomato plants we started and are in the window in the house. They are about 1 foot high with blossoms. Was eating a sugar baby water melon and planted one of it's seeds and it is growing in my window so will put it out in a week or so. Tomatoes are ripening so will pick today and blanch them, freeze them and when I get a larger production I will make some Stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce and salsa.
Winds have come and clouds are a gatherin' which brings hopeful thoughts of thunder storms.
That is all for today - have to get to my chores.
FARM HOME REMEDIES: Prevent Nose Bleeds - Mrs. Andy J. Byler (Amish)
To prevent nosebleeds - eat peanuts regularly
COUNTRY HOME COOKIN' RECIPE: Oatmeal Cake (Teresa Templeton)
1 1/2 cups oats
2 1/4 cup boiling water
- let this stand for awhile, then add
1 1/4 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teas. baking soda
2 teas. cinnamon
1 teas. salt
1 teas. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts
Mix all the above together and bake at 350 deg for 35-45 mins
Topping-
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup cocoanut
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 Tablespoons milk
Cook all of this on top of stove until the sugar is dissolved. You can add more, actually should double to make it really good.
Put topping on hot cake and put under broiler to toast cocoanut.
THANKS FOR VISITING AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.
We just sold all of our hay rounds, except for 8. The folks in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma are hurting for hay. One of the folks said some guys have come down there in Arkansas and are selling the round bales for $85/a rnd. We sell ours for $35 and will keep that price - we can sleep at night.
Put up 22 jars of Bread and Butter pickles yesterday - they are soooo good. Have decided I am going to do most of my canning in pint jars instead of quart jars. My step mom, Marge, told me she put up some Bread and Butter zucchini. Sounds good so I am going to try it. Also doing some research into dried green beans. They sell them in the store as a snack with a little salt. I have a dryer so I will try.
The hummin' birds have gone through 2 qts of nectar so I have to fill them again - last night there was up to 25 hummin' birds out there at the same time. Have to put out the tomato plants we started and are in the window in the house. They are about 1 foot high with blossoms. Was eating a sugar baby water melon and planted one of it's seeds and it is growing in my window so will put it out in a week or so. Tomatoes are ripening so will pick today and blanch them, freeze them and when I get a larger production I will make some Stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce and salsa.
Winds have come and clouds are a gatherin' which brings hopeful thoughts of thunder storms.
That is all for today - have to get to my chores.
FARM HOME REMEDIES: Prevent Nose Bleeds - Mrs. Andy J. Byler (Amish)
To prevent nosebleeds - eat peanuts regularly
COUNTRY HOME COOKIN' RECIPE: Oatmeal Cake (Teresa Templeton)
1 1/2 cups oats
2 1/4 cup boiling water
- let this stand for awhile, then add
1 1/4 sticks of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teas. baking soda
2 teas. cinnamon
1 teas. salt
1 teas. vanilla
1/2 cup nuts
Mix all the above together and bake at 350 deg for 35-45 mins
Topping-
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup cocoanut
1/2 cup chopped nuts
2 Tablespoons milk
Cook all of this on top of stove until the sugar is dissolved. You can add more, actually should double to make it really good.
Put topping on hot cake and put under broiler to toast cocoanut.
THANKS FOR VISITING AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Rules and Just Knowin's from Living in the Country
August 6, 2011
Well it has been a few days since I wrote - sometimes I get to busy. I've been visitin' Nadine in the hospital and she has been entertaining the nurses and doctors with her stories and great humor. She is doin' better. Doc told her that her jalopy is wearin' out and she needs an oil change ever once in awhile.
So I was a thinkin' those ladies in New York and New Jersey - those "Real Housewives" have no clue. I guess their rules are 1) don't steal your friends hair dresser, 2) don't wear the same dress twice, 3) don't shop at Walmart for your clothes, 4) don't pay any less than $150 for jeans.
Well, here are the rules and knowin's (things learned) of the Real Housewives of Rural Missouri:
1) Always do the Missouri wave when passin' a vehicle on side roads (left hand on wheel, last 3 fingers wave)
2) Don't hit those little turtles on the road
3) Turtles only cross the road for two reasons - sex and "It's gettin' ready to rain heavy"
4) When you return a dish or container to your neighbor - never return it empty, cookies will make them smile
5) When you see your neighbor's cows out - open the gate, chase them in and close the gate - then call them and let them know - let's hope those were their cows!!!
6) Don't go pickin' wild blackberries without puttin' Seven on your legs and arms - otherwise you are Thanksgiving for Chiggers - aka "No See Ums)
7) Put a radio out in your corn and turn it one at night to keep the raccoons away
8) Don't start your vegie garden until the wild blackberries start to bloom and the Hedge trees are budding in the Spring.
9) Plant your lettuce on the last snow fall in Spring - it buries the seed just fine
10) Shake out your Muck Boots before puttin's them on, might me a mouse in 'em
11) After some good long rains, don't go walkin' in your dirt garden unless you want to grow about 3 inches (mud on your boots that won't come off to easy)
12) When mowin' along the highway, make sure you stop when a car comes by as your mower is shootin' rocks
13) Dig out those Thistles before they bloom - always throw them away - don't burn them
14) In the Spring and Summer always check your body for ticks before you go to bed
15) Keep your dry goods in sealed jars so mice won't get at them
16) When you dig your potatoes, cover them with straw outside for a week then put them in boxes under your bed - they will be good all winter
Well, there are a few rules and knowin's for living in Rural Missouri
GOOD OLE' COUNTRY RECIPE - Quickie Butterscotch Fudge
(unknown author)
1 pkg Butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy of smooth)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Melt chips in microwave, mix in peanut butter and pecans
Pour into 8x8 pan and refrigerate
Soooooooo Goood
Well it has been a few days since I wrote - sometimes I get to busy. I've been visitin' Nadine in the hospital and she has been entertaining the nurses and doctors with her stories and great humor. She is doin' better. Doc told her that her jalopy is wearin' out and she needs an oil change ever once in awhile.
So I was a thinkin' those ladies in New York and New Jersey - those "Real Housewives" have no clue. I guess their rules are 1) don't steal your friends hair dresser, 2) don't wear the same dress twice, 3) don't shop at Walmart for your clothes, 4) don't pay any less than $150 for jeans.
Well, here are the rules and knowin's (things learned) of the Real Housewives of Rural Missouri:
1) Always do the Missouri wave when passin' a vehicle on side roads (left hand on wheel, last 3 fingers wave)
2) Don't hit those little turtles on the road
3) Turtles only cross the road for two reasons - sex and "It's gettin' ready to rain heavy"
4) When you return a dish or container to your neighbor - never return it empty, cookies will make them smile
5) When you see your neighbor's cows out - open the gate, chase them in and close the gate - then call them and let them know - let's hope those were their cows!!!
6) Don't go pickin' wild blackberries without puttin' Seven on your legs and arms - otherwise you are Thanksgiving for Chiggers - aka "No See Ums)
7) Put a radio out in your corn and turn it one at night to keep the raccoons away
8) Don't start your vegie garden until the wild blackberries start to bloom and the Hedge trees are budding in the Spring.
9) Plant your lettuce on the last snow fall in Spring - it buries the seed just fine
10) Shake out your Muck Boots before puttin's them on, might me a mouse in 'em
11) After some good long rains, don't go walkin' in your dirt garden unless you want to grow about 3 inches (mud on your boots that won't come off to easy)
12) When mowin' along the highway, make sure you stop when a car comes by as your mower is shootin' rocks
13) Dig out those Thistles before they bloom - always throw them away - don't burn them
14) In the Spring and Summer always check your body for ticks before you go to bed
15) Keep your dry goods in sealed jars so mice won't get at them
16) When you dig your potatoes, cover them with straw outside for a week then put them in boxes under your bed - they will be good all winter
Well, there are a few rules and knowin's for living in Rural Missouri
GOOD OLE' COUNTRY RECIPE - Quickie Butterscotch Fudge
(unknown author)
1 pkg Butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter (crunchy of smooth)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Melt chips in microwave, mix in peanut butter and pecans
Pour into 8x8 pan and refrigerate
Soooooooo Goood
Monday, August 1, 2011
A day in the life of..................August 1, 2011
Good Afternoon - I am not into blogging today but felt an obligation to just check in. The weather is blistering - the local folks out here say they have never seen if this hot for so long. I said that I didn't think that at the end I would bake to death - I would rather freeze to death. We are watering our young trees, watering the vegie garden and the flower gardens.
Nadine has fallen ill and she is in the hospital. She is the type of person that you expect to be alive the rest of your natural life but she is 83 and her little body is in such bad shape. She had diabetes, COPD, bad heart, a colostomy and who knows what else. Went to see her today in the hospital and she is feeling better but losing blood and they don't know where. She thinks she has a bleeding ulcer. But you know she was feeling better because she started shouting orders at me and signing me up for her class to learn how to make her rolls (yum) and her beerrocks (Yum yum). She says when she gets out I am to "git over to my house and sit your butt down and we are goin' ta cook." Yes, Mam!!!!
Anyone reading this today, I would appreciate a little prayer for her. She is a dandy.
Nadine has fallen ill and she is in the hospital. She is the type of person that you expect to be alive the rest of your natural life but she is 83 and her little body is in such bad shape. She had diabetes, COPD, bad heart, a colostomy and who knows what else. Went to see her today in the hospital and she is feeling better but losing blood and they don't know where. She thinks she has a bleeding ulcer. But you know she was feeling better because she started shouting orders at me and signing me up for her class to learn how to make her rolls (yum) and her beerrocks (Yum yum). She says when she gets out I am to "git over to my house and sit your butt down and we are goin' ta cook." Yes, Mam!!!!
Anyone reading this today, I would appreciate a little prayer for her. She is a dandy.
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