Remembering - Venturing Out - Pecan Carrot Cake - Potato Salad

First I am trying to catch up on reading your blogs and looking at your photos. The ventures have taken a bit out of me.

Remembering -

A couple of nights ago I awakened and started sneezing. Reaching for a tissue made me remember handkerchiefs.... isn't that a funny looking word :-) I can remember when we didn't have tissues and had handkerchiefs. Mama would keep one tucked in her pocket book or dress pocket... if there was no pocket she tucked it in her sleeve. As I got older I did the same. Daddy always carried more than one hankie... now that word isn't as funny looking. There were five of us children and someone always had a runny nose. The hankie also became an instant wash cloth with a bit of spit to wash that smudge off of one of our faces.

Here are a few hankies from my past. The two print hankies are from my teen years and the others some that my children gave to me as a Christmas present... it seems just like yesterday.



Venturing Out -

Yesterday I ventured out. It was time for Frank to get his hair cut. I waited while he had it cut. We are now sharing the same hair stylist. Frank always wants what he calls a "Andy Griffith" hair cut.... the cut is actually shorter than that though. Our hair stylist learned to talk in a saw mill... another way of saying she talks loudly. That's not bad if you are sitting across the room, but a bit rough when you are sitting in the stylist's chair. Another stylist is out of the question. This place gives the cheapest cuts in town and she does a better job on my unruly hair than anyone I've been to... so a bit of loudness is worth putting up with.

We then went next door to get a couple of things at Winn Dixie Supermarket. They used to sell sugar and butter cookies in big plastic buckets, but none in stock this year. The cookies were good for store-made. Maybe after Christmas we'll be up to baking some.

Next we went to the Marine base. Frank went into the dispensary and dropped off some scripts to be filled. Then we went to the commissary. This is a small commissary and it was busy. I couldn't stand any longer so I waited in the car while Frank went through the check out. It took him for what seemed like forever. The first woman in line... she didn't have enough money to pay for everything. (I saw this same woman in parking lot and she searches through her purse for money to pay the bagger and pulls out a wad of money at least three inches thick... you wonder!.. but then maybe it is all ones) The next people.. the woman kept shopping while checking out.... she wanted pizza dough and the cashier asked a worker that passed by if they have it and worker said no. They have pre-made dough in dairy case and freezer section. Frank knew this and stayed quiet. Of course by time Frank gets all the groceries on the counter they open up another check-out. Next stop was to pick up our meds at the dispensary. It was a tiring day.

Earlier in the week Frank went shopping for a new recliner for him and he looked at some mattresses too. We had looked at mattresses before my back surgery, but I hurt so much that I couldn't tell that any mattress was better than what we had. On Frank's searching trip he found a recliner he liked and he said he thought he found a mattress that I would like. This morning we went back to furniture store that he found his treasures. I laid down on two different mattresses. One has two different firmnesses... one on one side and other on flip side. I couldn't tell much difference in the two mattresses. Frank asked if he could flip the mattress over so I could see if I like the softer side of that mattress better. He flipped it and I did like it better. We'll take delivery on Monday. So we now will pay on a recliner and mattress set for about a year with no interest. I say about a year... we always pay off before the year.

After the furniture store we went to Ryan's to eat. I ate too much. My favorite thing on the menu is their cooked baby carrots.

Next stops were Sam's Club and Lowe's. I sure was tired by time we got home. We watched some recorded tv shows and relaxed a while.


Pecan Carrot Cake and Potato Salad -

Tomorrow I plan on... with Frank's help... making a Pecan Carrot Cake for our Christmas Eve dinner with my family. We'll freeze the layers. My sister-in-law called this morning and talked to Frank. She told him what she would be bringing to the dinner. She said she is bringing mashed potatoes, so we didn't have to bring potato salad. Frank said he is bringing potato salad no matter what. He only gets to eat it a few times a year. Oh... Frank said he heard my brother in the background say that he wanted potato salad too. I have not put this recipe on my blog yet. I do have it online: Southern Potato Salad . The recipe is for a reunion size potato salad. The recipe can be halved and it will fit in a 2 quart bowl... which is still quite a bit. I usually make the half recipe for Frank and me. Frank likes to use the potato salad as a dip for saltine crackers. The potato salad will stay good for at least a week.

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. -- Charles Dickens