Weekend Doings

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I hope all of you are having a lovely weekend. The weather here is beautiful! It is lovely hearing the birds twitter, chirp and sing. I started this in the morning and now it is afternoon.. the day is going fast! It has warmed up and the ac is on and the only noise from outside is traffic. Our street used to be so quiet.

Yesterday I washed our quilt. It is nice having a washing machine big enough to hold it. It was a pain going to the laundry mat to wash. I hung it on the clothes line to dry. The bedroom smells of the great outdoors now.

I bought this quilt in 1992. I put it on layaway at Belk. I think it took me two months to pay for it. I was going to buy the pillow shams too, but by time I paid for the quilt the design was no longer carried. The design is called Pineapple. It is well quilted and should last the rest of our life and then some if it is properly taken care of.



Yesterday we went to a fish fry at Frank's brother's home. Tom can sure fry fish up good! The hush puppies, grits and fries were good too. There was also slaw. I can't eat slaw, but I'm sure it was good.

It was sure fun watching our grandniece. Hayden is cute, but she can get a little rough at times. She bit her Mama when her Mama took away a rabbit from her. The rabbit is the doorstop.. not real heavy, but heavy enough to hurt a toe. Katie is expecting her son on July 14th. I asked her if they had picked out a name and she said it may be "Double Trouble" if he takes after his sister :-)

Here Hayden is with Nugget. Of course they both move a lot!

A little kiss behind the ear.

I enjoyed talking to everyone. Even though they all live close by we only see them a few times a year.

Last night we watched the movie TAKEN with Liam Neeson. It was an okay movie. If I rated it... maybe 5 stars out of 10. The fight scenes just got a bit tiresome.

We usually make a run to WalMart on Sunday morning. They aren't very busy that time of day. Today I was too dizzy to go so Frank did the shopping. I woke up yesterday morning with a stuffy nose. When I got out of bed I could barely keep my balance. I have fluid in my ears again. I washed them out and put a solution of vinegar and rubbing alcohol in them. I also rinsed my sinuses.. oh joy :-( Hopefully that will do the trick along with the Zyrtec and I won't have to go to the doctor. Did I mention how tired I am of going to doctors?

This morning we made brownies... mostly Frank. Half will go to Frank's sister. She is undergoing a bit of stress now and chocolate always helps to relieve stress :-)

For dinner today we had grilled pork chops, green beans with freshly dug potatoes from the garden and buttermilk cornbread.

Rest for the rest of the day :-)

Bringing In The New Year

Click on pictures for a larger view.

Bringing in the New Year with food that is good and bad for you. We had blackeye peas with hog jowl and onion and mixed greens (turnip & mustard fresh from the garden) with hog jowl, onion and homemade pepper sauce... both dishes have other ingredients that I'll keep a secret. I can't tell all my recipes :-) We had corn bread and some sweet taters and pork chops too. It was all good. Lots of the greens went into the freezer, but some will be for tomorrow's dinner.

We always eat our big meal at midday. It makes it a bit easier to sleep at night. We eat very lightly in the evening... sometimes not at all. Today may be one of those days that I eat no supper. I ate so well at dinner.

I hope each of you had a good New Year's Eve. We just stayed at home and listened at our neighbor's children and their friends. The boys were playing basketball until very late. The girls talked, giggled and squealed. We were awakened at 12:05 am to the sound of fireworks and gunfire! Some people are so crazy and fire into the air. Hopefully when the bullets landed nothing was harmed.

Before going to sleep last night we thought about our first New Year's Eve together as man & wife. Frank had finished Army basic training and was sent to school (The School of Music) at Little Creek Naval Base (Norfolk) Virginia. I went with him and after we arrived we found out that I wasn't suppose to come with him. They let me stay :-) ... I would have hated those six months without him.

Our New Year's Eve was spent at the Old Dominion Motel. It is no longer in business and I can find no trace of it on the internet. It was not the greatest motel. As I pulled back the covers that night I saw a sheet covered in rusty spots. I didn't want to stay there, but we didn't have any choice. When you have limited moneys you can not be very choosy :-)

We managed not to contract any diseases at the motel. The next day we found an apartment close to the base. The one bedroom apartment rented for $75 a month. The bed was horrible. I was pregnant with our daughter at the time and my back was not doing good then because that is where she decided to nest... in my back. Frank managed to find a piece of plywood to put under the mattress to make it almost bearable to sleep. I didn't get enough sleep at night and would take naps during the day. The bedroom had a day bed that was a bit better than the bed, so that is where I took my naps.

Frank had long days at school and I kept myself busy at home. We did our laundry on the weekends. We took long walks on the beach and flew kites on the beach.

I had my clock radio that I had gotten as a graduation gift, so I was happy with my music to listen to.. Frank had a record player and I had a few records to add to his collection. We would go to sleep every night listening to the record player. Frank wanted something besides music so he bought an old tv for $10. We did not get much more than snow on that old tv.

That is how Frank and I started out our first New Year together as a man & wife. not an exciting story, but part of our story :-)

I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known. -- Author Unknown

Sigh.. Merry Christmas

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Sigh... I feel much like Santa in the above picture. A bit tired and just want to snuggle up and sleep. Right now we have no pet, so the snuggling will have to be with Frank... which is even better.

I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was great. We had dinner at my Mama's on Christmas Eve. The food was good for the most part and we ate too much. My dressing didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I guess it has just been too long since I made it... it was edible. My sister-in-law made a sauce of cherries and pickled beets. Frank liked it okay, but it was a bit too pickled beet for me. I'm not fond of beets. My carrot cake turned out great. My Mama makes a great Rave Cake... she directed my brother how to make the cake and he did very well at making it. My brother also made pecan pies that were pretty good. We all ate too much. I didn't eat anything else the rest of the day.

On Christmas Day we went to Frank's sister's home for pizza. They make great pizzas. Our grandniece and two grandnephews were there and they were a joy to watch. Hayden and Jeremy are under a year old... Jeremy will be one in January and Hayden one in February. Jeremy's brother, Nathan is about two years old. Next year there will be two more grands for the Christmas party.

There was also pound cake, chocolate covered peanuts, and some ginger snaps... all home made by our niece and niece-in-law.

Needless to say we ate way too much. Later in the afternoon Frank and I went for a mile walk. I'm slow, but I can do it without hurting much. I only ate a small apple for a snack later in the evening.

We really shouldn't eat for another week.... but don't think that is going to happen :-) We'll just walk more.

Today we plan to rest.


We called our children yesterday. Sonja got a job, but for only Christmas Eve. The day before Christmas Eve she sees a man in the grocery store buying a lot of sugar. She told him he must really have a sweet tooth. He opens up his jacket and shows him the Honey Ham emblem on his shirt. He is the manager of Honey Ham. She tells him that she has been trying to see him for days about a job. Anyway he hires her and she worked all of the hours they were open Christmas Eve... maybe 10 or 12 hours (I couldn't hear her that well). She got paid $7 and something an hour. The manager watched her all day and she did things for extra sales... plugging the turkey breast and when they were out of 8# hams she would sell them on the 9# ham. Sonja said other workers were getting small packages... 3# hams.. at the end of the day. The assistant manager gave Sonja her package and said the manager really wanted to let her know that her work was appreciated and they would definitely want her back at Easter. Sonja didn't open her package until she got home. It was a big package and inside was an $83 ham! Sonja was so excited talking and she was so proud that she impressed the manager. Sonja was proud that she did better than those 110# blond 20 something year olds. It's too bad the job was for only one day. She is going to go to Good Will and buy a bicycle so she can expand her job looking. They have no car. Which is good because Sonja is the worst driver.

David was tired. He and his wife, Tish, spend Christmas with her parents. Tish's sister, niece and brother live with her parents. Hannah is about 7 years old and David and Tish are like her second parents. David said there was a new puppy in the house... a lab/pit bull (what a mix!) Anyway it cried until David let him sleep on the couch with him.



A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold. -- Ogden Nash