What a Pill!

Just a funny couple of episodes today. My husband stopped in at the pharmacy (a little hometown one that we have been going to for many years) and picked up a renewal of his monthly supply. It is the first of the month, correct? When he set them on the table in preparation for lining up on the lazy susan in his particular certain order, (there should be 9 refills, yes NINE!) I counted and only could come up with eight! I'm the detail person, you see, and ONE was MISSING!  OK, after determining which one was skipped, and a phone call later, it will be ready for another trip to town tomorrow.

Then, he proceeded to cut all the tablets in one container in half as he has done for the past six months. The darn things wouldn't cut well, even though there was a hatch mark and he was using his handy pill cutter tool. They ended up being a pile of crumbs! I was bumbling around in the kitchen and heard his groans and saw that he was making a mess.  I suggested he call the pharmacy and get new ones because those darn things wouldn't cut correctly! They were faulty!

Discovery.............

You see, in the past, he would only get fifteen instead of thirty and was instructed to cut each in half as that was to be the daily dosage. They cut very well.  NOW the pill comes in the exact dosage that is to be taken and there is no cutting necessary!  An alert about the change in pill would have been nice, I think. BUT, if he had read the label he "might" have noticed that it says to take one a day and that the dose was correct.  

Such is life on the first of May of a rainy day. 

Very Good and Very Bad!

Today is "use up your baking supplies" day also called, "mustgo."  Whatever prompted me to bake cookies just might be the weather. It's lightly flo snurrying and cold outdoors. There was heavy frost on our vehicles this morning. Yesterday I hung laundry out, today I haven't even stuck my head out  - yet.

I have so many recipes for easy cookies that the ingredients in my cupboards ruled which to use. 

Let's see...1/2 box golden raisins (left over from tomato soup cake),  1/2 box dark brown sugar (left over from making pecan pies in January), and just exactly 1 tsp. pure vanilla remained from my winter projects.  Most households with ladies who bake, have a good supply of flour, baking soda, baking powder, eggs, milk and butter. Those I have. Today it will be simple raisin cookies. I almost can put together molasses cookies, oatmeal cookies, peanut butter cookies, grit cookies or civil war cookies (with coffee) but needed just a tad more brown sugar and didn't feel like cooking down the grits. I must remember to buy more pure vanilla. It will stand in line again with my lemon, almond, anise and peppermint extracts.   

The good part is that whatever comes out of the oven here is not left in stock for very long. The bad part is that we are both piggies so I try not to bake very often anymore. However, whenever cookies are just coming out of the oven and if I happen to see the young couple from down the road strolling by on their usual morning walk with the two little children, I usually can run out and share. She once told me the little boy calls me the "cookie lady."  I like to be called names like that. 

Revitalized for Sure!

On January 28, 2011 I posted a story about the damage and hope that came of Hurricane Irene as she hit my nephew's home. I just now see that our hopes for his recovery have been fulfilled . The furnace is running. The hens are laying.  He is gathering many eggs. Look!

Is Spring Just Around the Corner?

Well, I've not written in a while. My get up 'n go was lost and it just might be back a bit now.  It seems that I have been getting such great pleasure reading the great blogs of others, that I have been feeling a bit insignificant and lacking in the natural ability to write interesting stories lately. Not that this is interesting but at least it's a start. Of course, since I will have no access to my computer for the next couple of months, in July I might have better stories to tell.

Spring is slowly arriving here. I have hung laundry out once or twice, and my baking endeavors have dwindled down to only one - a tomato soup cake, which was recently devoured by us like we never have had cake; maybe because it had the wonderful cream cheese and butter icing!

There is a lily of the valley growing in a crack on the front porch and hundreds more are springing up in the front flowerbed before the ferns and hostas and seedum all take over. The creeping myrtle is all over the back bank. Some people know them better as periwinkles. Yes, the daffodils are fading and falling over, the birds are nesting here and there and everywhere and I saw a goose couple with 6 fluffy tagalongs but didn't have the camera then.  We put water filled soda bottles all along the rafters inside the front porch roof because the bird nests were getting way too messy to deal with, especially after the little ones hatch. They have to go elsewhere and I'm sure they have. This is MY nest! Oh! I almost forgot! The grass is growing - everywhere - and the 50 year old willows that were damaged by Irene are now missing - almost. 

And so Spring is really coming. Did I forget that it would?

My Resulting Thank You Card.

So SWEET! K-3 challenged kids who call themselves my "Peer Pals."

Posted~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012

Elementary School Project

Hi My Out of State Friends!

One of my dearest friends and neighbor is a school teacher and the Lifeskills class is doing a project where they are trying to receive a postcard from every state in America. If any of you would like to help them by sending their class a postcard from your state, they would greatly appreciate it and send you a personal thank you note. Their address is:

Lathrop Street Elementary

c/o Mrs. Benninger/Mrs. Petrewski

130 Lathrop Street

Montrose, PA 18801

Be sure to put a return address on your card and they will reply!

Thank you so much for your time and involvement in this project. I would really like for you to participate. Gere

By the way, I have really nice personal friends in TN, GA, WV, KY, WI, SC, CT, NC, VA, OH, NY, FL and more. I'll contact them via e-mail messages. I don't have anyone in MA, TX, or IL. This is why I'm hoping you'll participate.

Electronic Technology

There are plusses and minuses! For sure! We traveled yesterday 30 miles to our nearest Walmart store to stock up on items that we can't find here locally and for the bulk packages of paper necessary supplies and such. My husband takes one cart and goes his way with a list and I go my way with a list. We have a meeting spot near the exit and usually check out one at a time, depending who is finished shopping first. We then wait for the other to appear and head home.

I approached a line to check out and my husband was two people ahead of me, already scanned, cart all loaded, but he had a look of dismay as he stood there. I waved to get his attention. He didn't see me, but the clerk did. He was upset because his bank debit card was rejected - twice and he didn't know why. He told the clerk he'd have to wait for me and my card. She then pointed to me and he told me his problem. The man behind him was nice, waiting with only one item and not fussing at all. I moved forward, dug out my card and, it too, was rejected! I just said, "No problem, I'll write a check," and did so, and handed it to the clerk. She asked to see my driver's license photo - OK that was good. She then scanned my check and - GAVE IT BACK TO ME! It was just an electronic transaction, she said. The most ironic thing is, that I almost never carry my checkbook with me and did that morning. I have no idea why I stuffed it into my small purse, but how convenient that I did! On a day when it was needed!

Meanwhile the man between us just chuckled and waited patiently. He then checked out his meager purchase, paid with cash, moved on, and I unloaded my cart. When it came time to pay, I had to write another check, present it, and have it handed back to me. Meanwhile, the line behind me was growing quite lengthy! I couldn't wait to get out of there.

To the bank and then home we headed, still a bit rattled. The clerk at our lovely small hometown bank told us that the whole system was shut down for a while and was undergoing upgrades, BUT....it was up and running now!

Part 2. The PLUS

Our fourth grade grandson's class experienced the joy of talking with other fourth grade students in TEXAS on a live videoconference via webcam and skype connection. Their experience was published in the local paper. I've attached the link to the article here. It was a very good experience for all of them.

Check out the report. I found it very innovative and good for the youth of today. (you may have to copy and paste address in a separate web address line)

http://www.northjersey.com/community/announcements/138182249_Young_Giants_fans_and_Cowboy_fans_seeing_eye_to_eye.html

It wipes out our embarassing experience.

Revitalization Has Begun

Click on pictures for larger view

Example of Hope

Last August my nephew's home in NJ was flooded. As the water was subsiding and before the cleanup was hardly begun, September brought another flooding! The photos here don't really show the full impact, but today there is hope, even as total repairs are still being completed and cleanup is not finished.

You see, the firemen came and saved his "girls." Their coop and yard were at the back of the home and they were almost lost.

These photos of yesterday were kept only as reminders of the devastation that so many have endured when the weather ruled. Today there is light at the end of the tunnel and - RENEWAL! The girls are laying!

Example of Interior

Example of Front Yard

Example of Back Yard

Example of Hen Yard and Coop

Example of Front Yard Street

Example of Compassion

Example of Front Yard - Strike Two

After all, It's Only a Table

But…it's also the activity hub of the cabin. It's the main place where we work and eat and do so much more. It's the nerve center, the core of living here.

It's a bench for making small repairs and sorting everything that's moveable; a worktable for craft making and handmade creations. This table is a desk where mail is read, important papers are signed, letters are written, bills are paid. It is the point of attraction for visitors as they seem to always gravitate to it without being led; a social centerpiece for conversation, discussions and game playing. It's a place for common daily happenings such as dispensing pills AND dealing with spills!

We sit here to watch television, look out the window at weather conditions, and see various walkers and vehicles approaching. Binoculars are kept handy on one of the nearby chairs to observe unusual or rare wildlife appearing on or around the lake.

Now I know that a kitchen or dining room table is a staple in almost all homes. This one is special to us. It used to belong to my husband's mother. She gave it to us about forty five years ago when she moved from New Jersey to Michigan to live near her eldest son as she was aging. To the best of our knowledge, the table and four chairs have been moved to four or five different homes throughout its 71 years. That number of its age is assumed by a stenciled stamp on its bottom with the date of 10-20-41. There are no manufacturer labels located anywhere on it and I can't tell you what kind of wood was used for its construction. I can say that is a tough table although some of its screws work loose every few years. Most older things have a screw or two loose, don't they?

Yesterday we bought a new piece of clear vinyl to recover the tablecloth. The old covering was getting lumpy with age. (Another feature of older things.) This entails a two "man" effort so I helped and then a light went on! Take pictures of the naked table! It was the perfect opportunity to observe and preserve its underside. After tightening all of the screws and nuts and flipping it back up on its legs we viewed the pictures. It was only then that the very dusty cross braces were revealed in their full beauty! I quickly ordered it to vamoose and now proclaim them free of the stuff.

Our office and workplace and television lounge and place for sustenance is back in good order.

CLICK on photos to view in larger format.

Fresh made warm meat loaf sandwiches are now being served..........

Have a seat on a chair with a 70 year old original patina!

Elementary School Project

Hi My Out of State Friends!

One of my dearest friends and neighbor is a school teacher and the Lifeskills class is doing a project where they are trying to receive a postcard from every state in America. If any of you would like to help them by sending their class a postcard from your state, they would greatly appreciate it and send you a personal thank you note. Their address is:

Lathrop Street Elementary

c/o Mrs. Benninger/Mrs. Petrewski

130 Lathrop Street

Montrose, PA 18801

Be sure to put a return address on your card and they will reply!

Thank you so much for your time and involvement in this project. I would really like for you to participate. Gere

By the way, I have really nice personal friends in TN, GA, WV, KY, WI, SC, CT, NC, VA, OH, NY, FL and more. I'll contact them via e-mail messages. I don't have anyone in MA, TX, or IL. This is why I'm hoping you'll participate.

"Mom, You Smell Like the Cabin!"

Of course I do. How often have I heard those words from one of our kids. After all, the fifty two year old cabin is totally made of absorbable wooden logs and planks throughout. I want you to close your eyes and smell the cabin with me now.

Think of wet bathing suits and towels, wet mittens, boots and jackets drying over the beams. Think of a fireplace burning brightly with hardwoods. Breath deeply. Dogs, several dogs. They were here.

Imagine fishes being cleaned in the kitchen sink, pot roasts, hams and meat loaves in the oven, Thanksgiving turkeys roasting. Now divert your odor receptors and fine tune your memory smells of all sorts of cookies, cakes, pies and puddings. Remember what they smell like? How about bacon sizzling in a cast iron pan? Coffee, tea, hot chocolate - do you like these? Burned chili or brussels sprouts?

Do you know the odors of pickling spices, dill, vinegar, lemons? Peeling hard boiled eggs? Apples and applesauce being made! A complete dinner consisting of just cooked corn on the cob! How about fruits, such as strawberries and elderberries simmering in a kettle in preparation for jams and jelly making? And then there is the paraffin warming to seal the jars. Speaking of paraffin, crayons! Then came permanent markers. Oh, I'm off on a tangent again.

The medicine cabinet supplies now; Vicks VapoRub, Resinol ointment, iodine, alcohol, Gold Bond products, Packer's Tar Soap, Lifebuoy, Old Spice. Cleaning supplies - specifically Clorox, Parson's Ammonia, Lysol, Pine Sol, Old English, Windex; Hoppe's gun cleaner! one of my favorite whiffs.

Camphor mothballs for the woolens, and Lindane, an antiquated and toxic pesticide that was once used for pests such as carpenter ants; each has it's own pungency. Then there are the glues holding things together - Duco cement, dum dum, super stuff, putty, caulk, spit.

During the last two years of my working days, we lived here in the cabin and I was always worried about smelling like "cabin." Maybe I did, but my co-workers were too kind to mention it directly to me. It's not offensive, just "cabin." Not fungus, mold, dirt or dust, but old. Honest!

Is your olfactory organ stimulated yet? I think you may get the idea of all the years of sweat and tears and life.

Hopefully you are! Today we're permeating the logs and walls and ceilings with the fragrance of baking a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies, from scratch, of course.

And we definitely smell like cabin!

Snow Event

That ISN'T!

WE have 6 inches of fluffy stuff.

All sorts of hullabaloo and warnings and this is all we get!

A scare for many.

One of the nice things about fresh snow scenes in the early morning is that the earth seems quieter - for a bit.

I took photos through the kitchen windows so you can see for yourself.

Crews were prepared to work all through the night and the only ones busy were those removing damaged cars from ditches when drivers forgot how to drive in light snowy conditions.

Pea Soup

I absolutely LOVE split pea soup! The kind that's made with a well-picked-off ham bone. My neighbor doesn't favor it and my nephew, who is an excellent "from-scratch" cook politely turned me down, claiming not to be a fan of pea soup. Oh, well...all the more for me! Actually I offered to swap a taste of mine for a taste of his roasted butternut squash soup but it was not to be.

I think I love it so much because of my first day at school. I remember that day very well, down to the tiniest details. You see, I didn't want to go. I was being the obstinate child that appeared often in those days. Mother took me by the hand we marched out the door and down the road anyway, with me protesting, even though I had my favorite pink dress on with the little white flowers and was wearing my turned down cuff Sunday School socks with the pink stripes. By the way, the dress was made from chicken feed sacks.

We walked the mile, yes it's like you hear, but we DID - and the teacher greeted us at the classroom door. She was very pleasant and smelled nice. I clung to Mother's skirts and wailed. Finally, after a promise from her that we would have split pea soup for lunch I relented and became a kindergartner with high hopes to just get through the four hours and have that wonderful treat as soon as Mother came for me and we could walk the long mile back.

Who would have thought peas could appease so well? That soup would be considered a TREAT?

Wonder what she did with my 2 year old brother when she was doing all that walking and preparing my soup? The promise was kept and who would know that it is remembered so well 70 years later!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pea Soup

Ham bones cooked in 16 cups water for 7 hours on low setting

Strain/drain ham bones

1 lb dried split peas put into broth

2 cups finely chopped onion put into broth

Simmer 3 hours, stirring often

Serve with warm honey cornbread muffins slathered with butter