New Year's Eve, first part

Christmas gift

Yes, I dreamed. And, got an egg.

Last night, I was disappointed because my mattress had developed a huge lump. I think Janet's comment about a mountain in the middle of her mattress halfway caused this dream. However, when I got up this morning, I could not find my purse. It was the lump.

I was so exhausted last night that I sat on my bed and did some things before I went to sleep, things I usually do before I get into bed, like taking my melatonin. I suppose I just turned my cover back over my purse. Oh, I turned off the light before I got in bed. My hip hurt all night. I found my cell phone in the bed the next morning.

The dream: all night long I fretted about various things and made phone calls to straighten things out. What things? Well, it seems I had bought something and expected to get it and the bonus in the mail. Bonus was missing. Then, I had won something that never came. So, this went on forever. Most of the details are faint memories.

If you remember, I talked to ATT regularly last year. I had to call Energizer to get my $10 WM gift cards. Now, Charter wants to call me three times each week to "help" me. That in itself is quite annoying because they want me to bundle, get faster internet. Of course, all this "help" is going to cost me money.

While in Walmart about six tonight, I had a horrid experience. I was in an aisle and saw something up really high that I wanted. Well, it was just too high while sitting in the electric cart. So, I pulled close to the shelf, leaving room to get off on the side nearest the item I wanted. As I stood up, there was not room to step off onto the floor with both feet. I just left one foot on the cart and placed my other foot on the floor.

Suddenly, someone hit my electric cart very hard. I gasped and looked around, trying not to fall down. Then, I saw the woman coming from behind me. She pulled her cart she was pushing, back toward herself and ram my cart twice as hard as she could until she got past me and another woman heading in the other direction. The other woman was elderly and rather frail and trying to get out of the bully's way. She really looked rattled.

I yelled at the bully to quit being a bully. She hurried off. I am overweight, but this woman could have easily taken me by her weight alone. I followed her, not yelling, just staying close enough to talk to her. She tried to get away and was furious that others impeded her progress, almost at a run by now. I gave her a piece of my mind and threatened to "have her taken care of" if she ever hit me or another person. Actually, I was not following her; she just happened to be going the direction I was.

She said it was all my fault for not pulling to one side. Well, I was at one side. I cannot get off the other side of the cart. She kept yelling that it was all my fault she had to hit me. Three times? Maybe she has better insurance than I do. ??? As I followed her, I had a parting shot.

I hope you live

to be two-hundred-years old and watch everything

you love dry up and die...

 

Happy New Year

 

I never said I was nice enough not to annoy someone like her.

 

She was tall and limping, besides being enormous. You would think she would sort of understand a person being in a cart. But, she came to the store on a very busy day, and expected everyone to move for her.

 

She was the only person in the store to act so unfriendly toward others. I did not take it personally since she hit a really elderly woman. Okay, I did take it personally.

 

Even the guy in the garden department who was all twitchy from needing his "meds" was not so unfriendly and mean. The tipsy guy who was buying more beer was really nice, also.

 

One little girl about five was walking along and not paying attention, looking back at her family who were all trying to warn her to turn around because she was going to hit my cart. I stopped when I saw her, but she ran into a table and hurt her neck just before she hit my cart. When she turned around, she only saw me. So, she was complaining about me. It was funny as she complained to her family who all were saying, "You ran into a table. She didn't hurt you. NO, really YOU ran into a table. That lady did not hurt you!" She never believed them and glared at me every time she saw me around the store.

 

Then, on the way home three trucks at three separate red lights tried a jack rabbit start and scared the pee out of me. I looked in the rearview mirror and the light was not turning. So, they were probably drunk already.

 

 

I am home for the night and ready to party...alone...lol. Do you think my scuppernong wine from two years ago is still good?

 

It is going to be a good New Year's Eve.

 

Your turn

Have you found some people who are really rude this New Year's Eve? 

Dinner and a Dream

 

Dinner

 

 

 Last night, I dreamed again. I was discussing what all I had to do today before exbf came. I planned to have dinner cooked by Monday night. But, I had done nothing. I tried to explain I did not have to get it done, I just wanted to get it out of the way. If I could remember who was hassling me to no end, I would have a thing or two to say to that person today.

Monday night, I became very sleepy even though I had slept enough for the last week. Okay, I gave in to lie down just a minute. I was too sleepy to even find the remote. I did not brush my teeth because it was not bedtime. Sleeping from 9 pm until 3:30 am was just enough sleep. And, I dreamed.

At 5:30 am I put blackeyed peas in the $3 crockpot. By then, I was sleepy, so I went back to bed. So, that was done/started  when he arrived at 9:30. During the day, I finished cooking the black eyed peas, baked sweet potatoes, cooked salmon croquettes, and opened a can of turnip greens. This is my absolutely favorite dinner during cool weather. Besides, the black eyed peas for New Years are done.

 

blackeyed peas in $3 crockpot

 



Usually, my blackeyed peas are almost mush. I think ever pea remained whole. Some people are grossed out by overcooked peas and want them perfectly whole. These were. This is the first time I have ever cooked blackeyed peas in anything other than a cast iron pot. I think they are not as good as the ones cooked in iron.

Salmon Croquettes

one tall can salmon, using bones and all juice/liquid.
2 eggs
chopped onion
salt
pepper
1 cup (or what you wish) of oats

I have no amounts of anything, so use what suits you. Fry in very little oil, just covering the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Exbf loves the crust. In a bit, turn and cook the other side.

If you mix this ahead of dinner time, the liquid and eggs will soak into the oats. Otherwise, the mixture will be sort of runny and won't hold together to form and transfer to the pan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He said there was no egg, but that was at noon. I forgot to ask when he locked them up. If there was an egg today, I will amend this post.

Right now, I am about to go to sleep. When I finish this, I will go to bed.

Your turn
Do you like salmon or any of the rest of this meal? Can you tell a difference if your blackeyed peas are cooked in a crock pot or cast iron?

Dehydrated Celery and Dead Cella; Dream and Egg

1/3 cup dehydrated celery

 

Because there appeared to be so little dehydrated celery, I actually got a 1/3 measuring scoop to accurately measure the product. The scoop was not really very full to overflowing. I actually could have added more celery without piling celery up in the scoop. Amazing!

 

compare diced, dehydrated celery to a penny

I don't have a picture of the head of celery that I dehydrated, but I have the results. However, the resulting amount is shocking. I think I had three cups of diced celery when I started. After dehydrating, the result was 1/3 cup dehydrated celery.

 

Of course, I or you must remember this is ONE HEAD, about ten RIBS  of celery reduced to 1/3 cup dried celery. I paid $0.69 for the celery on sale. This will come in handy. However, I am hoping that this next week will bring more sales for more dehydrating.

 

I cannot bear to eat raw celery unless it is chopped in tuna, potato or chicken salad. I just cannot stand the flavor or crunch of celery if eaten alone. However, when I finished the second picture, I was not going to put those four pieces back into the jar. So, I popped them into my mouth, expecting to gag. Surprisingly, I like the little celery rocks.

 

One last thing: never eat the celery leaves unless you grew celery without pesticides. The leaves are where the pesticides or harmful substances are stored.  I really hate to waste the leaves, but for my health, I will.

 

Cella

 

 

I killed this box of Cella Chocolate Covered Cherries in about 22 hours.

 

Let me show you how I eat these.

 

 

How to eat a Cella

 

1) pick up and unwrap a Cella Chocolate Covered Cherry

2) lean forward

3) bite the top out and make sure you get the cherry

4) chew the cherry and chocolate top

5) then, bend/lean forward again

6) pop the bottom into your mouth

 

Sometimes, I do not lean forward enough to bite the top out and not spill the syrup. Sometimes, I don't lean my head forward in order not to spill the rest of the syrup. Try not to do that. It is very sticky.

 

If you notice there is none of the white, sickeningly sweet white goo, that absence is why I love these so. Usually, if I absolutely want a chocolate covered cherry and I have one with the white goo, I use a knife, fork, and plate to perform the operation to remove the white goo. ....and people are staring in disbelief.

 

My dream last night revolved around my trying to get someone to carry very large frozen hens to put into the freezer and into the refrigerator. This came after a discussion last night with a WM employee about how her shoulder hurt when she moved her arm. She agreed that people just don't understand the problem it causes. She has what sounds like a torn rotator cuff. In my dream I was having to convince someone that I really needed help. My dream was frustrating.

 

One very warm egg waited for me today.

 

Your turn

Do you ever dehydrate celery? Was it shocking when you first dehydrated celery and it almost disappeared? Who likes that sickening white stuff in chocolate covered cherries? Do you ever eat Cella? 

 

 

UPDATE: $10.00 Energizer Rebate and Energizer Moneymaker at Walmart

I paid 2x$5.97 at Walmart=$11.94-$10.00 rebate=$1.94 as my cost for both of these. So, that equals
$1.94/16 batteries=$0.12 for each battery. Did I do the math right?

The price of $5.97 is a rollback price. These are more expensive elsewhere.

For a $1.06 moneymaker, go HERE.
I made a mistake on the Lowe's rebate ($5, not $10), so this one has more documentation in the post to keep me straight. Or, I may have picked up the wrong rebate.

What is an eGiftCard? An employee said it is a plastic card for $10 at Walmart. It will be mailed like the one last year. Correction at bottom.

Redeem though 4-30-15
Limit 4 $10 rewards
dates of purchase--not sure.

For Christmas, my nineteen-year-old grandson received from me a package of 8 AAA and 8AA batteries along with a three-pack of t-shirts and a package of six pair no-show socks and a lip gloss. The rebate on the batteries paid for the t-shirts on sale.

MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE PACK WITH THE YELLOW PAPER WITH THE CODE ON THE BACK. Other stores have similar deals with a different colored paper inside.

Correction: A reader corrected me. You will get an email that you print and take to the store to use like money or the plastic card mailed last year.  I debated this with a store employee, saying the egiftcard bit sounded like an email for the reward. She assured me it was just a plastic card like last year. So, now we know.

One egg and a dream.

Your turn
Who is participating in this rebate?

Turkey and Tilapia

Turkey Sandwich
 

I am not amongst those who get tired of turkey. Every year, I have a few turkey sandwiches. This year, I sliced the turkey extra thick and the cheese extra thin along with Miracle Whip on whole wheat bread. Usually, I put spinach on my sandwich, about six leaves thick all over. But, the spinach was down to one bag in the store, a bag that left a lot to be desired. So, I used the salad mix. Spinach on my turkey sandwich is much better.

 

 

 

Delicious with a glass of milk

 

If I still had dressing and gravy, I would still be in the mood for it, still enjoy it every bit as much as I did the first bite. . 

 

 



On to tilapia and bacon

For years, I did not eat bacon because I was avoiding the fat and nitrates. Now, I eat bacon judiciously. Today, as I was browsing internet articles, I was surprised by information about the lesser dangers of bacon as compared to foods we might choose instead of bacon, thinking those substitutes were ultimately better than bacon.

Since the media has convinced us that eating omega-3 is more healthy than Omega-6 and that fish is healthy, I already knew the dangers of farmed fish. I refuse to eat the farmed fish from China, but there are health dangers in farmed fish right here in Alabama and in your state, too. A few months ago, I searched in vain for homegrown, farmed fish. Then, I read how unhealthy farmed fish from anywhere is for us. So, I decided not to eat farmed fish.

Yes, I know that the chicken I eat is far from the best food for me. Read THIS  article to see how you can justify bacon on the basis of Omega 3 and Omega 6 content.

While I am not such a purist that I avoid bacon, I am mindful of what I eat....sometimes. Okay, most of the time. But, as we all know, little slips can sabotage our health.

Another egg, another dream.

Your turn
Are you one of those who tires of turkey dinner after the first meal? Do you have a favorite way to eat leftovers?  Do you eat tilapia or bacon? Were you aware of the elevated Omega 6 level in farm raised tilapia?

Rabid Reindeer and Roaming Dogs

Coke and Cella
breakfast

The reindeer was tied out to my clothes line, like dog on a dog run. In my dream it exhausted me. Was it rabid? Could it give rabies to my hens? Since I did not tie it there, would Animal Control be angry with me for having it tied up? Since it was just going crazy, leaping and crashing around, I was afraid to go and release it.  It seemed the anguish, reindeer's and mine,  continued all night long and there was no resolution. Part of the time, the hens were in their pen; part of the time they were out in the yard and steering clear of the reindeer.

But, I still wondered: was it rabid?

And, I got another tiny egg from Maggie May today. The egg is the size of Grade A Large from the grocery, but still about half the size Thelma gave me.

I suppose at this rate, I should start a new blog for a Dream Journal.

Later today, when the crowds have died down, I will wander out to see what there is to see...lol. Besides, I have a gift card sent me to buy sheets. My neighbor works at the store where I will shop. He can tell me if there are coupons now or will be in the next few days.

I only need one roll of wrapping paper, so I can get it wherever I find one for a quarter next week. I bought three rolls for a quarter each last year. I have a plastic box just for Christmas paper, not one sold for paper. It was cheap and long and the right length until I bought the three long rolls for a quarter each. They are in the way because of the length and no suitable storage space. Finally, I gave Michele a roll or two. So, since I am down a roll or three, I will buy more paper. Maybe not.

 

DOG!

 



Just now, I heard the hens in distress and a large dog barking. I ran to the window and saw Patsy Cline on the table and Thelma and Maggie May trying to get out of the pen through the crack in the door. The dog was behind the pen, near Patsy Cline and on the opposite side from the door. I ran to the door, grabbing my camera on the way since no one ever lets their dog run free. And, I cannot describe the dog adequately. Above, the dog was coming to where I am to challenge me.  I wish I were accurate with my pellet gun instead of chancing hitting my car or a window.


Okay, I am off to make a more nutritious breakfast.

Your turn
Have you ever dreamed about reindeer? Isn't candy a food group for a couple of days around Christmas?

The Real Santa

Christmas Lunch

Before the Santa story, this. I love turkey and chicken and eat chicken almost every day. This was lunch. Bagged greens with Roma tomatoes. There are more pieces of tomato under the chicken. I take the turkey and put in a very small bowl, shredded or chopped. Then, I put a small amount of oil-based dressing on the turkey and coat thoroughly BEFORE putting the turkey on the greens.. This way, I use less dressing and get enough dressing to make me happy.

Years ago when my sister was about twenty-five, she told me this story. Her friend, let's call her Dee, asked her mother if Santa was real. Dee was about eight and had heard things from her friends about Santa. Her mother told her not to tell any of the other kids at school, but her father was Santa. So, Dee kept her secret and told no one.

When Dee was a teen (17), she discovered that her father did not really fly around the world delivering toys every Christmas Eve.  All this time, she had thought there was a real Santa, her father. Of course, this was not what her mother meant.

So, have a merry-what's-left-of-Christmas. That story still makes me laugh. Dee was a child who wanted to believe.

I was crushed when I was eight and found out there was no Santa?

I will delete any comment that about the "reason for the season" or thinks it is wrong to pretend there is a Santa and tell that lie to children...lol. I am conflicted about pretend.

Your turn
So, do you have any stories about finding out Santa was not real? Your story? Anyone's story?

Cluck of the Bells

Of course, now I get to eat the Cella Chocolate Covered Cherries that I unwrapped too soon.

Click HERE  for an amusing Christmas Song by my favorites. Thanks to Janet, we have this to enjoy.

I dreamed a horrendous dream and awoke to no egg. But, the girls had lots of skin, overly cooked bones they can eat, and meat. Okay, they will get the vegetable and oats for dinner.

Christmas Eve

I set the alarm for 8:30 this morning and was still sound asleep at 9:30 when exbf came AND the alarm was still going off. That sort of shocked me. He fed the chickens and brought back an egg...yay Maggie May.

The turkey breast was still in the crock pot. Dressing was ready for the oven. He did not want corn with dressing. I never put the sweet potatoes in to bake. So, we had turkey, dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce. I never got the jello done either, long story.

After lunch we went to the Night at the Museum movie, or whatever it is called. The movie was much better than I thought.

After the movie, I went to Walmart to get Quaker Oats. I remarked to a cashier that this was the smallest crowd I had ever seen on Christmas Eve. She wholeheartedly agreed and said it had been slow all day. What's with that? Only the candy aisle was crowded.

We drove separate cars to the movie, since he was going on the a church event in Birmingham. Right now, I am freezing, but am trying to save on electricity. The city called me and told me they will put a concrete box around my new water stuff in the ground. The plumber did it the easy way for HIM and now things are on my side where the city does not have to pay. It will be on my side, so I have to pay for repairs. At least I won't need a shovel to dig down 8 inches to cut off my water or whatever. It is sooo much easier to lift a metal lid.

Christmas Day will be leftovers. I love them, so not problems...lol. Maybe I will bake the pie I never got around to baking before Christmas. I can catch up on washing.

So, Christmas is essentially over for me. All gifts were mailed and/or delivered. I can rest!  Is there a parade on TV tomorrow?

Later tonight, a green salad will offset a heavy lunch and candy.

Your turn
Is your Christmas celebration all over?

Another Dream, Another Egg, Short Post

I had a restless night in my dreams. However, that was the dream. There were so many places I had to go and worried about being late. But, I slept like a log. It was a peripatetic dream.

Maggie May has given me another egg, making five out of six days. Okay, I am just so thrilled to have eggs after over three months without.

Now, I have to go cook a hen and turkey breast, wash dishes in the sink, and cook the rest of the meal for tomorrow.

But, I have a post about snow for today that I will post in a few hours.

A Few Things

Crazy people in traffic
Today, I thought that Christmas Cheer was going to kill me. At a three-way stop, the woman on the left arrived seconds before me. After I arrived at the stop sign, I waited while the woman on the left cleared the intersection. A full thirty-seconds later after I stopped,  a woman on the right arrived. I waited while the person on the left cleared the intersection then started into the intersection while the woman on the right darted forward, a jackrabbit start, and almost hit me. This was five blocks from my house.

Then, I traveled another four blocks and was sitting at a light in a left-hand lane, waiting to make a turn. Soon, I could see a pickup truck with a screaming horn almost hit me in the rear as he barely missed me as he came up behind me. He swerved into the right-hand lane still holding down the horn.

I had the urge to go home. I was absolutely in the right both times. But, that would have made no difference if I or my car were injured.

Egg count
Maggie May gave me another egg today. That makes four out of five days I got an egg. We are on a roll!

Dream
I dreamed but it slipped away as I awoke.

Water
The owner of the plumbing company informed me he is a plumber, contrary to what someone said. And, it will cost me $150 labor to replace my kitchen faucet that worked fine before my water troubles.  AND, I have a water leak under the sink! That is a separate charge for me. Will this never end?

The plumber who put in the pieces under the sink did not put the glue on the pvc, just stuck it together. I figured this out later when the pieces just came apart. I glued it myself with the proper glue.

Plus, he informed me the under-sink was plumbed wrong. There is something that looks like an S that is not done to code because a double trap is not allowed. Don't ask me what this means.

While I was in the basement, I was pleased to see that the hole in the wall below ground level where the water line enters is not leaking. Since it has been rainy, maybe this was a good test.

Christmas Eve
Today, I bought a turkey breast, Stove Top Stuffing, bananas. I will cook the breast tomorrow evening and let it cook all night in the crockpot, bake sweet potatoes, thaw corn I put up myself, find a can of green beans in the kitchen and boil eggs and make gravy. The boiled eggs will be chopped up in the gravy. A jello salad is in the plans, too. I do not want to be cooking when he comes. Oh, I have Cella for dessert...lol. I may get a couple of pumpkin pies baked. Or, maybe apple pie. I think he prefers apple.

We are planning to go to a movie on Christmas Day. Only pg films are showing...bah humbug on that. I had my heart set on American Sniper, but it opens three weeks later.

Exbf has Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, So this is all for Christmas Eve with plenty of leftovers for Christmas Day.

Your turn
Has the traffic in your town turned ugly this Christmas? Have you ever had a problem snowball, having one thing after another fail or be revealed to you? What are your plans for Christmas or whatever day is the big celebration day for you?

Bobbsey Twins, Water, Egg, Dream, WWII Vet

Bobbsey Twins

As I struggled to get down the steps to the basement and back up, I was going like a baby, both feet on a step before I proceeded to the next. As I stepped, I made a noise that was just a thud with my flat-footed gait. As I went back up, the sound changed slightly. It reminded me of reading a Bobbsey Twins book where one of the little girls had knocked on the door of a person. The person said she was upstairs doing something, so that was why it took so long. As the twin left and for a while afterwards, she felt something was wrong, but could not pin down the problem. Finally, days later, she figured it out. The person said she was coming down the stairs, but the sound was of a person ascending. She realized the person was in the basement, and she wondered what the person was trying to hide. That clue helped solve the mystery. (Maybe that was Nancy Drew.)

I know I figured things out early and surprised my mother because the adults were all wrong sometimes. But, The Bobbsey Twin and the stairs was an early start to my listening for clues.

Water leak
I went to the basement because through the open door, I could see a huge water mark on the concrete. It turns out this is dripping through the floor, not around the water connections of the washing machine. So, there goes a $90 service call, at least.

Egg
When I came back from feeding the hens and freeing them for the day, I had an egg in my hand as I descended the steps to the basement. Living dangerously, I did not put the egg down, I just tried not to fall. Of course, putting down the egg would have been wise. So, Maggie May has laid her third egg in four days. This one was hidden in the pinestraw, so I wonder if I missed one.

Her eggs are still small. This hulk of a hen better step up her game and give me some jumbo eggs...lol.

Dream
The third night on the mattress and a third dream occurred. For some reason I was helping out with elderly parents of a female friend. The parents wanted to go see their daughter at work, something like a Huddle House or Denny's. At any rate, I kept telling them she was not working today, that she was at her main job. But, nothing would do.

Thinking they just wanted to see the building and say to each other, "See, there is where she works," I gave in. As we were at the corner where she worked, stopped on a six lane divided highway, I said, "Well, there is the Huddle House." They both bolted from the car and ran across three lanes to my left, and then they had to cross a two-lane road. I decided I could never catch them on foot when I realized they jumped out, so I waited impatiently on the light.

I heard them yelling as they got to the door. Someone yelled that their daughter was not working. Of course, they insisted that this was where she worked, not understanding that the person was not saying she did not work there, just that she was not there at the time. I got out of the car and waved to them with both hands, telling them I was coming in the car, to just stay right there. 

They misunderstood that and started running, more spryly than old folks should. So, I put up both hands and tried to wave them back. They thought I was motioning them to come. They continued hurrying with both hands waving toward me as traffic moved. This was the time for a decision.

After I decided that an abandoned car on this wide road was less of a problem than two elderly people dead, I abandoned the car. Someone else joined in the fray, trying to motion with upstretched arms for them to go back. Well, soon we all looked like hostages running with our arms up to signal we had no weapons.

My nerves were frazzled. ALL traffic was stopping on all six lanes as people realized there was a problem, like stopping for an ambulance. While it appeared we would not see them struck by a car, it now was evident that we were going to have to round them up. They were avoiding people and running willy-nilly around the intersection with an occasional foray into the lanes of stopped traffic, looking for me.

Do NOT USE this or repeat it in any way as this is going to be part of a book I am writing.

Yes, tana50, I may just go back to the floor. Just kidding as I love having a bed again.

WWII Vet
Make sure to read about my experience with the WWII vet below.

Your turn
Did you ever read the Bobbsey Twins books? How long does it take your hens to reach their full egg size potential after they start laying? Do you think I can dream a book.

WWII Vet

Robert opening body wash
(I promised not to show his face.)

 

When I decided to give something to an elderly person in a nursing home, I called to find someone. The original idea was to give to an elderly lady. However, the woman at the nursing home wanted Robert to be the one to receive a Christmas gift. She gave me a list of things he wanted, and I took them.

It seems the residents like body wash and he smiled a huge smile when he opened his own body wash.

special blanket
body wash
pens
notebooks
calendar
Werther's candy
other things I cannot remember
*tree--did not get, could not afford

I decided on my own to give a few other things.

*Tshirt with Christmas wreath and yellow ribbon. The t-shirt had "Support our Troops" and a helicopter, submarine, and two other machines for the other two branches.
*Small 4"x6' American flag.
*small flashlight
*knit cap
*little bag of candy I received at the Senior Dinner last week

The activity director said he wanted a 'special blanket.' I was concerned he was cold. She said he could have all the blankets they wanted, but he wanted something that was his alone. The throw I gave him was 50x60". He remarked with much glee, "Now that will keep me warm at night!" It must be hard not to own things like a blanket. As I passed the rooms, I did notice that there were different blankets on each bed. Maybe next time I will get to see his room.

He picked up the flashlight, turned it on, smiled at me and said, "Now, I can really use this!" Then, smiling, he turned it on and off, admiring it. He looked over the tshirt as I read it to him. The worker held it up to show him. His voice was strong as he told me how he prayed for all branches of our service. He berated the Germans and Japanese for the things they did "to our boys." Every nights he prays for all our serviceman.

When exbf asked where he served, he pointed out he said he never saw action. I quickly pointed out that the men fighting would not survive without support from men like him, so he served an important work in the war. He smiled and agreed, seeming to feel like he was understood.
Many older people speak in short sentences, sometimes just parroting what someone in the room says in a prompt. This man spoke in compound, complex sentences. He spoke in rather long sentences, and his syntax and word choice was sophisticated. This English teacher was impressed. He had obviously not lost anything to old age. He was 94, I believe.

The notebooks were composition books. I noticed he was feeling the back edge, the spine, of the notebooks. I asked him if he would have rather had a spiral notebook. He seemed not to understand. He just could not hear me. So, I touched the spine of the composition notebook and asked if he had rather have a spiral notebook, the ones with curly wire. He was adamant with his not and verbal, "Yes, that's what I want, the ones with wire." So, I told him I would bring back some of those. "Good."

When he finished with opening the gifts, he said, "Everything here is something I will use. Thank you.' Then, he smiled and then was sober, "This is all so nice. You are so pretty. The one thing that would make all this even better is if I had a hug." Sooo, I got up and hugged him. He had a nice strong hug but not too aggressive.

When he opened up the notebooks, he said he was going to write love letters as he smiled at me. The worker was surprised. He smiled at me and said he would write letters to his sister and her children in Nashville. I think he was a big flirt. He saw exbf who went with me, but Robert sort of acted like he was not there except when exbf asked him a question.

The only thing I could not get him was a small Christmas tree, but those were $20, an amount I could not afford. His blanket was one I bought for $1.50 on sale last year. The body wash was $1. The t-shirt was $4.97; Werther's $1 flashlight $2. So, I suppose I spent about $10+tax. All the other was pennies on sale through the last year.

I forgot to put in the sd card in my battery, so I got few pictures.

It made me sad that no one visited him, but they said he had no children. Well, that made it better in a way.

The activity director said he wanted 'good' notebooks. Unsure of what she meant, she said he wins the little spiral notebooks all the time, but that he wanted a 'good' notebook. Finally, I figured it out; he wanted the full sized spiral notebooks. It seems he records what happens everyday. He keeps a record of his day and what happens as far as activity. Maybe that is one thing that keeps his mind so sharp.

We went to him where a movie was showing. So, I felt we should not stay too long. I promised him I would be back before Christmas with the notebooks.

Another Mattress Dream

The second night on the mattress, and the second night of wild dreams. I knew everyone in the dream, which is sort of strange. The dream occurred at my house, which was sometimes this house and sometimes not.

It started off with Charlie being here to do something, not sure what. I have been asking him to come do some things that require more strength, more tools, and more skill than I have. One thing is to put a thing on my basement door, the little metal parts that one flaps over the other to put on a padlock. I still cannot find my drill! Men say, "Oh, that's easy!" ooooh, please come show me. LOL

So, Charlie and I were talking. He was standing in the middle of the floor, like he had just come in or was leaving. Then, my friends, a couple, came to the door. Then, they were sitting. We were having a pleasant conversation. I was wondering when the apology would happen.

background: She read something by Roach, "People who stay up all night researching medical conditions on the internet are called hypochondriacs." Or, something like that. She thinks it is wrong to research on the internet instead of going to the doctor, I suppose. At any rate, she will never walk again. I do know that after her knee replacement, the doctor told her she had an infection in her blood. The closest appointment with the doctor 120 miles away in Birmingham was 10 days away. I beseeched her to catch a plane to Nashville or to Mayo Clinic. She said if the doctor thought it was okay to wait, she would trust him. So, she never walked again and almost died. She was within hours of death. It all started with a knee replacement.

Now for more dream.

So, she was making chit chat and her husband was there, all pleasant. Since no apology was forthcoming, I asked her if she realized how rude she was and if she were ever going to apologize. And, I pointed out I had diagnosed the problem I was having. Well, no doctor disagreed. She got all hoity toity calling me "dearie" in a very condescending tone. I told her it was time for her to leave and she just refused. All this time I was pleasant yet firm. Charlie was somewhere, did not leave.

So, somehow, my king mattress was dragged for some reason off my bed. Then, the condescending friends were not in my dream even though I do not remember them leaving.

Charlie and I were talking when in walks a guy I had dated: one date, movie and dinner; second date, some kissing. Thirteen years later, a movie date and I told him to take me back to my car. We had not yet left the parking lot. So, this visit was a total surprise. He is just about the most pleasant man I have ever met, and the best kisser.

I said, "Oh, Hi B." He just looked at me. Then, I noticed his sweet smile was gone. He was stone-faced. He would not look at or respond to Charlie. I introduced them and explained Charlie was here to do a few minor things, that if I had known he was coming, he could have had my honey-do list. I laughed. He was not amused.

Then, I realized this was D not B. Oh, well. I was half embarrassed for a moment. THEN, I realized why he had been so quiet and why he was so pale. He had been injured and there was no blood along this long "crack' in his skin. He wanted to keep it closed, like he was embarrassed. But, he was begging me with his eyes. This was not at all frightening, just puzzling.

So, I went into the bedroom to put the mattress back. I was shrieking because there were lots of ants on one corner of the mattress. I sprayed it down completely, Charlie dusted all the dead and live ants off and we dragged the mattress back to the bed.

Then, when I went back to the living room, D had a band aid, the half-inch kind on his forehead. It was totally insufficient for the trauma, but he was happy with it. Then, Charlie was gone and I was trying to help D. Then I awoke. If I had thought or was capable, I could have gone into lucid dreaming and continued. But, I had to go to the bathroom.

I wonder if D has had an accident. I will email.

I know it is bizarre, but you know how dreams can be.

Your turn
Can the mattress be causing this sudden remembering of dreams? Do you have bizarre dreams that you can remember in detail.

WaterBOB--As God is my witness, I will never go without water again

Imagine my surprise when I found this on my doorstep on Thursday. A reader had said I was getting one from the company she contacted.  My only duty is to blog about it. Of course, my water emergency is over for now  even though I don't have hot water.

I worried when I heard I was getting this because I assumed it would be very heavy, too heavy to handle easily. I doubt it weighs 2 lbs. Plus, it is small enough not to gobble up storage for other emergency items.

Cost and shipping was only $29.95. Somehow, I assumed that such a critical piece of equipment would cost more. No, it is very affordable.

Taking only 20 minutes to fill the waterbob would also be an advantage over filling jugs one by one. I would not have to go to the grocery store because I am thirsty and find I had no jugs of potable water. Yes, I did that. Leaning over the neighbor's water hose in the dark and rain to fill jugs and then haul them home would be eliminated. Yes, I did that. Prevailing on your neighbor to deliver them to my back porch has been eliminated, too. I know he would be glad I have this now.

The website clears up a few questions I had. "Won't the continuous exposure to sunlight spoil the water?" Well, I just need to cover the waterbob to keep sun or light from the water. I think a blackout curtain like the ones sold for day sleepers would work. Easy peasy.

This would be just the thing for me, a woman who has 100% disability, limited mobility, lots of pain, older.

Go HERE to the site to learn more. The video starts up immediately and is loud, so turn down your volume.

So, weight, cost and storage space are all much less than I assumed. You can go HERE to see a video and peruse the website.

Maggie May's First Egg

Maggie May's first egg

 

 Here it is. She should be proud of this, her first egg. She was born April 1st or thereabout if I remember correctly. So, at 8.5 months, she is ready. I suppose I could have gotten eggs sooner if I had fed her commercial feed. This is soon enough. I don't know when Buff Orphington's first lay. Do you?

Maggie May will probably lay all winter since she is young and eager to lay. My first girls layed eggs through four winters. Maybe this will encourage Patsy Cline to start again. Thelma will probably not lay until spring since she is almost six years old, if she ever lays regularly again.

This was her first egg, very small, but hopefully she will lay huge ones like Thelma did. She is much larger and broader than Thelma or any I have had before.

Maggie May egg on left; store large egg on right

 



Hopefully, I will not have to buy eggs again. I bought one dozen eggs this fall--the Large Grade A Eggs like the one on the right.

Maggie May has spent time on the next before in the last few weeks. However, there is never a  sign of an egg or eaten egg. Every time I find her in the nest, Patsy Cline is right in there with her! To Patsy Cline: Lay or get off the nest! Patsy Cline still spends an inordinate amount of time harassing Maggie May.

My computer cord is frayed and not working, so I may be off the computer for a while.

Your turn
Let's hear it for Maggie May! Yay! Do you rejoice at the first egg? Do your Buff Orphingtons lay later than other breeds?

First-night-in-bed-with-new-mattress dream

Well, I spent the first night in a bed with mattress, the first time since Oct 26, 2014. It is a momentous date and occasion to me.

I had trouble getting onto the bed. I was laughing at my self as I struggled. It is sooo tall. If I had gotten the box spring, the bed would have been higher than the ends and most of the back would have been covered.

Since I had put a folded king bedspread down to sleep on, I unfolded it like a sleeping bag and slipped inside with the USMC wool blanket over me too. I always take melatonin, 2 mg, and sleep soundly most nights. Last night, I slept soundly except for the dreams.

Melatonin makes some people dream wild and scary dreams, but melatonin stopped my dreams. At least, I am not aware of them often.

Last night was wild. In my dream I noticed that Maggie May was gone. She was nowhere to be found, so I was sad. Several days later, some young friends came over. I have no idea who they were. But, apparently in my dream I knew them. There was some discussion of going for a walk. Of course, I could not. There was joking about them pulling me or pushing me in some sort of wheeled contraption.

So, off we went around a town I did not recognize. Whatever I was being pushed in was not something I recognized. I careened around town, afraid I was going to die if they wrecked it. At one point, they were talking about all the birds and wondering what they were. I looked. This was near a park or in the park. There were guineas, turkeys, chickens of all breeds, maybe thirty birds altogether. THERE right in the middle was Maggie May. I called Deee-lie-laaah in a high voice and she turned and looked at me. I waved and called again. She made a move to me, then turned away. I figured she had chosen where she wanted to be.

Okay, so I was glad she was alive. But, she was not home where she would be safe. That made me sad. About two days later, I awoke to an unusual ruckus. There in the grassy part of the back yard was Maggie May and the birds from the park. I was really happy she was back, but I wondered how I could feed them all. Also, I wondered how long it would take for them to kill all the grass with foraging and poop, If I called Maggie May to close her up so she could eat her nightly ration of oats, would her new crew come in, too?

Then, I woke up.

Your turn
Do you dream about your chickens or animals?

A Winner for Giveaway II

This is how I chose. I wrote down the three entries and numbered them. Then, I called Charlie and asked him to choose a number from 1 to 3. He chose 2, so the winner is

CAROL PAVLIK

 

Email me your address, Carol. 

Look what came to my house today!

two guys and a....

 

 

in place

 

 

 

A reader of my blog emailed and told me she would buy a mattress for me over the phone and have it delivered. You better believe I thanked her and went mattress shopping. I picked out three, and this is the one she sent me. One mattress was ridiculously over-priced. The other was suspiciously low. This one was juuust riiight.

I set atop a bedspread because the bolts that hold the frame together might rip the mattress. Now, I know why the box spring has those pieces of plastic on them. I think the king bed frame had pesky things to snag the mattress. At any rate, the problem is fixed until I can get some little plastic things to cover the ends of the bolts. I had them in the cart at Lowe's and failed to buy them. I suppose I left them in the parking lot.

I have a plastic cover in order to zip this up and encase it. Now, I have to get a pad to go on top and sheets. Since I can only sleep on cotton, this will be an ordeal. I will go to the thrift store and see how long I can stand. 100% cotton and cheap will be hard to find. Maybe I will find a pink or white set of flannel sheets in cotton. Who knows.

Exbf can help me put the plastic cover on. Thanks to Michele, I have a bed to put the mattress on.  I feel like I am recovering my human-ness.

By the way, this was the only flippable mattress in the store! Now, they are not made to flip from one side to the other, just to swing around and sleep on the other end. Weird?

So, who's a happy camper? ME! Thanks again, sweet blogger!

Your turn
Have you seen the price of mattresses lately? Serta Perfect feels the best, but that comfort is costly.

My Coke Rewards 30 Points for 12-pack

Free 12-pack

I got this free 12-pack and have three other coupons coming. SLUGGY  has  more details about how many you can get at this time. I could only get one.

Tomorrow, I need to post some more points when it is light and I can see inside those caps. Some nights, I put a small flashlight behind the code in order to see it better.

Your turn
I know some people don't drink Coke, don't live where these are available, and do not want to participate. But, who is getting these coupons?

I Asked Myself,

Is it dead?

 

Did I run over it as I parked?

 

 

 

 Well, is it dead or sleeping? This is not the "playing possum" position even though the possum is not moving...at all, even when I spoke to it, stomped, and kicked leaves and rocks its way. I prepared for it to leap at me, all teeth and hisses.

The front wheel is going to hit it if I just back up, and I don't want to move it. How lucky can I get with a dead possum? Finally, I just backed out and cut my wheel so as not to squash it.  ugggh.

As I leaned over to look at the possum to determine if I could see wounds, I noticed that little black specks were all over the ends of the light fur. I leapt back as I realized the thing was lousy with fleas. I sprayed the area around the possum and soaked its fur in Raid flea killer. This is the kind with the lavender clear cap. It kills fleas and eggs.

I left a trash can in the front yard with two WM bags to use as gloves inside the trash bag to put it in. It took Tony two horrid days to get it. Luckily, I never hit Ms. Possum in my comings and goings, making sure it was behind the car instead of under the car. I was quite sure she would not crawl under the car for me...lol.

Did it just snuggle up to the tire to die?

 

two days later

 

 

 I was sitting inside when I heard a ruckus in the yard. Chickens were fussing, first one, then two, and finally the third and last one. This went on about three minutes as I got my shoes on and some oats for them.

They were all three in the yard on the side next to my crazy lady neighbor, the one who did not hear ten minutes of my screaming and the dogs' barking and growling. Well, I went out talking to them softly. No help. They were obviously very frightened. I stood talking in a soft voice, showing them I had oats, something that will always make them run to me or their pen. This time, none of the three had any interest in food. That showed me they really were afraid. So, I stood very still and stared at certain places in the yard, hoping to spot movement.

 The crazy lady next door snatched her back door open, glared at me, and slammed it. Yes, the hens were noisy, but how loud can three hens get? And, it was about 2:30 pm. I walked toward their pen on the other side of the house, calling them softly and giving their shrill food call--deee lie lah--while they tried to decide what to do. Maggie May and Patsy Cline ran for their lives in the center of the yard rushing straight for me. Thelma walked slowly close to the fence, with measured and cautious steps, looking at the hole from two feet or less. When she got to the hole, she stood still and stared at it for about three seconds and ran for her life, tripping on a board, hitting her chin on the ground, regaining her footing and rushing right into the pen. So, there was something probably going into the hole. Yes, chickens do have chins, don't they?

I do live an exciting life.

Remember, today is the last night for Giveaway II. Enter by midnight.

Your turn
Do you have any thoughts on these incidents? What could be in that hole?

Sorry, Cella Surprise

only chocolate covered cherries I will eat

 

As I left in a hurry, I stopped short because there was a package in the way. I took it with me because I just knew it had to be something good. As I drove, I struggled to open the tape with my keys. Finally, I drove with one hand and yanked some newspaper out. Ooooh, pieces of chocolate nestled in the crumpled newspaper. So, I attacked those and tried to drive. Then, I started snatching things out as I drove. Wow, a pretty box to open. I did, and this is what I found. My one thought--I will save this until Christmas Day.

Now, everybody knows I love the Cella Chocolate Covered Cherries. So, I was not surprised the giver chose these for me. An envelope contained a donation. The Christmas card contained a generous donation check to help with my water problem...yay. Then, I read the card--do not open package until Christmas Day. Ooops, I broke a cardinal rule--open and read card first. Where are my manners? How many times did I enforce this with my children? sigh

Oh, yeah, hand sanitizer for my days without water. Well, water is on but things don't work. And, I still owe money, lots of money.

Now, I could have the 12 Days of Christmas going if I could get about 11 more of these. Who care about ladies dancing and lords leaping? Just introduce them. They will settle down and find other things to do.

Thanks generous friend for the monetary help and Cella cherries. You may reveal yourself if you wish.
xoxo

Your turn
What candy would you want in a box on your steps?

Tulips: They Are Back

Dec 4, 2014



Okay, this won't be a weekly subject like it was last fall through spring. I never put the tulips away. I never dug them up. They sat in the swing all summer. Right after Thanksgiving, I noticed they were coming up. Is this the way they are supposed to grow, breaking the ground now? Did I do something wrong? What should I have done? Do I need to do something besides just let them be? They will freeze here. Do tulips normally poke through at this time of the year?

You can hand me a new-born baby, and I am fine. Give me a plant and I am so nervous, out of my element. Okay, some plants I have down pat. Bulbs? I don't understand bulbs. Well, yes, I do. But, what do I do with them next after they bloom?

Your turn
Any thoughts?

Giveaway II

Tags on--$65

 

 

This sweater has not been worn and cannot be returned. I will mail this Wednesday. Enter now.

It is a 3X, a gorgeous Christmas Red, not the orangey red as above. Those are tasteful beads and sequins on the front. This would make a wonderful gift or you could wear it for Christmas yourself. I no longer want it and will not wear it.

Only Lower 48 states are eligible.
You must be a follower.
1 entry per day. (5 possible entries.)
5 entries for posting on the your blog and sending link to this post.  5+5=10 possible entries/chances.
Deadline-Tuesday night at midnight.

Enter and reaon this blog only and read the Previous Post--Christmas Grump.

Christmas Grump

 

two of each

 

 

I awoke this morning feeling rested. Today was the day I was going to go to the PO, get boxes and mail things. As I neared the PO, I noticed something was occurring at the Civic Center. Cars were filling the huge parking lot and people had parked as far away as three streets over. So, I circled, passing the PO and pulled into the Civic Center. The tornado in 2011 took down the big sign out front were the events were posted. Since we got a smaller sign, they left off this nice feature to inform of us the upcoming or current events.

Not to be denied this knowledge, I had pulled into the front to find out what was going on. As usual, there was someone out smoking a cigarette. The guy was a city councilman dressed in an apron. He said the Senior Citizen Christmas lunch was occurring as we spoke, and yes, I had time to go home and get dressed. In 25 minutes I was back, ready to eat. Speaking to that guy was the last pleasant moment I had.

Since there were probably 500 people and six handicapped spaces, I just wanted to part without walking a block or three to get in the door. Arriving inside, I noted the table set up for whatever was not manned. So, I went in. As I went in, I saw there were lots of empty places at the tables straight ahead. So, I made my way there, only to have a very large woman walking in the opposite direction almost knock me over. Seriously. If it had not been for two of the servers standing right next to me, I would have fallen. My back and knees were in excruciating pain.

I really appreciated them grabbing me, but they would not let go. I objected loudly and told them to get their hands off me. They would not listen to I am okay; let me go since I have my balance; thanks, but I am okay now; you are hurting my back; quit pulling on me.

Both women objected, saying they did not intend to hurt me. They said they were trying to keep me steady. A third woman had a lunch for me. She told me I could not sit there because that was for handicapped folk. I have a 100% disability! I AM sitting here.

I was trying to move a chair and they were talking to me like I was a little child and trying to push me to the chair, telling me to quit moving it and don't move the placemat. Eat where the chair and placemat were placed. Sheesh. There were two sets of table legs I would have to straddle, and I was supposed to sit/eat on the crack between two tables.

The places for the handicapped had no chair, so people in wheelchairs could sit there. All the people I saw in wheelchairs were crammed into the aisles. They had a friend or spouse who was not allowed to sit with the handicapped person...sigh.

Before I could catch my breath, the women were hovering, asking me if I wanted milk. No, but I would like some water. We have no water! No water at all? NO. If I con't have something to drink, I will choke and throw up. "I will get her water in a cup. Will that be okay?" Great! She brought it back and said she would come and refill it. I never saw her again, but I tried.

There was a man who was quite amiable and very handsome in a Teddy Bear way. Then, I found out he was a minister....gah, just shoot me now! He sat across from me and down one seat. Two other women sat across from me and one down. When I wanted water again, I kept mistaking who was and was not a server. One of the two women said to me very haughtily, "Those people are guests, just like you, and they are NOT going to get YOU water. I felt foolish although I had figured out these people were not servers. But, the woman could have been a little kinder.

Finally, I got up and bought water in a bottle.

A woman came by, a server, or someone who was not a guest, telling us to get two of the extra fruit packs that had the Christmas tree cookie on it. We all said "thank you" and sat with our double fruit pack, two tree cookies, and I took my milk. I was talking to the guy, trying to eke out a bit of pleasantness from the event.

Then, some woman with some power came and scolded me harshly about getting two fruit packs and two cookies. I told her someone told us to take two. The woman said no, to only take one. Her voice got even meaner. We did not obey her which seemed to really annoy her. The two other women tried to speak up, too, but the woman just laid down the law and left. We all kept what we had. Never saw her again!

The meal was cooler than room temperature--thin slice of turkey from turkey roll, dressing muffin cooked a cupcake pan, slimy canned gravy, a tiny tub of butter, tiny tub of cranberry sauce, a roll, green beans with water chestnuts. There was less cranberry sauce in the little tub than I usually take in one bite. I would say the cranberry tub had less than two teaspoons of cranberry sauce. This is not a complaint, just an observation.

It was hard, but I made it to my car, walking down slope this time.

I was manhandled, shoved, talked down to, almost physically coerced into submission, and finally escaped. I finally made it to my car, walking down-slope this time.

Today was a beautiful, blue-sky day. I sure hope the Christmas Grump leaves me alone for the next two weeks.

With four apples and four orange, plus my bananas and $99 pineapple, I have a full week of three fruits each day for the next week. Win!

Update:
The man said wistfully, "Well, I suppose this was worth the
$1 I paid. I had no idea there was a charge. But, at this point I never got the promised ticket for door prizes, and most of the prizes were gone, so I just did not worry about the fact I did not pay.

Your turn
Have things been conspiring against your normally happy self?  Or even against your pleasant self?

See? I Knew It!

So, Chickens were King of the Jungle?

Your turn
Have you ever read Mental Floss? Do you subscribe to Mental Floss? I have always wanted to but....

A Winner

And the winner of Giveaway I is

.....
     .....
          .....
               .....
                    .....
                         .....
                              .....

Sue!

 

Congratulations!


Stay tuned for another giveaway.

Persimmon Memories

I love persimmons. There are few special memories in which persimmons are the stars. Persimmons are the first fruit I remember. They mark a time when I had my first memories of many things. Plus, many of the items I only remember in the context of persimmons.

When I was about thirty-two, I was talking to Mama as I usually did, just rambling on about things that she seemed to enjoy. I was the only child who hung around to talk even as a little child.

As usual, I started out with "I remember when..."

Mama, I remember when we went to pick persimmons when we lived in Fraiser. Do you remember that? I was so hurt when you would made me walk to get persimmons. The year before, you let G (brother) and me ride in the baby buggy. Then, when you had S you made me walk and she and G rode. That really hurt me feelings.

My mother listened in silence, stunned silence. She said, "Linda, I know we have never talked about this before, EVER. I have never told anyone this story. So, you aren't repeating what you heard and thinking you remember the story. I just cannot imagine how you remember this, but you had to have remembered it. You were ONLY two! I don't know how you can remember things when you were only two! I don't remember anything before I was bitten by a snake when I was six and almost died. You were too little to remember." Yet, I did. Then, I told her how the house was laid out, where the furniture and beds were located. She was even more shocked.

We did walk down the gravel road. I am not sure it is called gravel because the small rocks we walked over were the size of golf and tennis balls. Some of the rocks were much larger.

These two early seasons of eating persimmons and our going on foot far away from the house with only Mama  are two of the sweetest memories I have.

When I was a teen, we lived in a place with a barn and a chicken yard. The chickens were housed in one of the little sticking out leanto things on a barn side. The chicken yard had a persimmon tree in the middle. I went to the chicken yard to get persimmons that had not yet fallen from the tree. If I dropped one, I let it lay. Any other time and place, I would have picked up the persimmon, dusted it off, and eaten it.

At the first college I attended, there were persimmon trees planted along the frontage and up the driveway. It was at this school that I met my husband. He wondered if those things on the trees were edible. I assured him they were. He asked the name and then said he had never heard of them or eaten one. He was from New York.  Since this was early November, I had an idea. I sweetly volunteered to go get one for him. He was thinking very highly of himself to have this Southern girl volunteer to make the long walk just to get something for him.

I handed the shriveled persimmon to him. He was furious I would give him something rotten. He scowled and talked sort of mean in front of people. I suddenly had a better idea, "Oh, okay. I will get a better one."

As I walked down the hall and turned toward the front door, I told everyone he had never had a persimmon, didn't like the rotten one, so I was going to get a better, firmer one for him. People stopped talking and stared at me as I showed him the ripe, rotten-looking persimmon. Ours eyes met. I continued as they tried to stifle their smiles and true feelings. I stopped the college president as he was going into his office and told him as I showed him the nice, ripe persimmon. Our eyes met and he had a gleam in his eyes.

When I returned, I cupped a nice round, firm persimmon in my hand so people could see it, telling them he might like this 'nice' one. The tension was palpable in the hall. I brought him the unripe persimmon and he took a big bite as people dissolved in laughter. The hallway erupted with their shock.

He could not speak, but he managed to say, "Oo di da om pupus?"  He gulped water and said the same thing dripping into the water fountain. "You did that on purpose." Of course, it was hard to understand. It was a good joke. Later, I told him not to ever talk to me the way he did when I brought the ripe persimmon.

He finally asked me out and we dated and married. I am quite sure the students and professors who were in the hall and the ones who came out to see him with the astringent persimmon have never forgotten the incident.

The astringent taste is tannin. This is a health hazard. No matter how much water you drink, the astringency remains for way too long.

The secret to ridding your mouth of this feeling/taste? Drink buttermilk. I ran to the house as a teen to find a way to relieve my distress and grabbed buttermilk and poured a glass. One sip ended my problem. Even people who hate buttermilk will probably prefer buttermilk to the astringent persimmon feeling.

For about ten years, I visited a persimmon tree after the first hard frost and ate a few each day. Finally, one summer it was removed. I was so sad about the loss. I just parked at the curb to get my persimmon fix on public property. Right now, I have no idea where there are persimmons that are free.

Persimmons, ripe ones, are good for you.  The tannin can be removed in unripe fruit, making them edible. Try google. Plus, something called bezoars (lumps) form in the stomach when too many unripe fruit is consumed.

The skin is NOT the problem and the black is okay.


First man, you probably have virginiana or texana variety, not Fuju or hachiya...probably spelled wrong. You do not want to wait so long that the fruit drips or smells like it is going to wine.

Your turn
Do you have a cure for the astringency? Have you ever gotten an unripe persimmon?

Free Coke 12-pack

This is only 30 points.

Visitors from Another Blog Here at My House

Dawsey, Cleo, Einstein, Michele

This weekend, I have had four friends who have helped me immensely. They carried simple things, not too heavy, but too heavy for me. Plus, I cannot carry things over and over. They sorted stuff I have not been able to sort for years. It seems that I have let things go, but the truth is, the effort, the walking, the lifting is next to impossible.

At no time did I lose control of what stayed and went. I worried about that lots before they came. I did relinquish control of the kitchen to Cleo. She did things I never expected. If she had asked, I would have assured her she did not have to do that, like clean off the counter to the corner. Now, I have a box of things to sort as I sit instead of standing and leaning forward.

Michele is a very down-to-earth woman rearing wonderful children, wonderful humans. First hand, I have seen her humor and her honesty. And, I did not realize she is tall. She and Rose look like my younger daughter. They saw pictures and agreed. I have been amazed by this fact since I first read her blog.

Cleo is a very take-charge person. She spent two days washing my dishes. She made decisions on her own, but did come to ask questions. The only thing I did not allow her to do was return dishes to their place in the cabinet. She probably would have done it mostly correctly, but that search for one thing would have frustrated and tired me. So, she agreeably left the dishes. Now, my whole kitchen is covered with lovely, clean, and DRIED dishes. I swear I will not use another dish that must be washed until I have water in the house. She even took the dirty ones out of the dishwasher and washed those. Since she was running out of room, I showed her how to use the oven to place dishes to air dry. Now, I have to remember not to turn on the oven. This makes seven weeks without water.

Cleo is the official dishwasher for their home. She certainly has gotten it down pat. I remarked that as a teen, I complained about doing dishes. When Cleo tackled the job, I felt very confident she would complete the task, but she went beyond what I expected.

Einstein

Einstein is a very handsome young man. VERY handsome! He helped in the sorting, tossing, and put together something I will tell you about later. I can see where he got the name Einstein. He did what I needed to have done without a grumble or the least bit of evidence that he would rather have been doing something else. He fed my chickens and counted them for me. O course, the chickens did not leave home when I had three young people to chase/herd them home for me.

The pile of trash behind Eistein is what they removed from my home and carried to the road. My garbage needs to be on the road on Wednesday night. Exbf will be here on Wednesday, but he would be hard-pressed to be able to repeatedly carry loads to the road. Three children made short work of this. Of course, they carried it out during the days here.

Dawsey is a joy and a good helper. I think he helped with the feeding and counting of the hens. He had a smile on his face and interesting things to say, a good conversationalist. He picked up things I could not. Of course, a gallon of water is rough on me.

I tried to do some things with my left hand because the problem was immediately to the left of my chair. Then, I could barely move my left arm without my fingers to my neck tingling. Things a baby could hold were impossible for me to hold up. The pain in my shoulder was incredible. This continued so that now I cannot hold a glass in my left hand and cannot raise my arm even to shoulder level.

They witnessed my physical deterioration as the day wore on, but I tried to hide it. I had to use a walker eventually. Of course, just sitting upright caused my great distress. The most injured knee swelled all the way to my ankle. Thankfully, the next morning swelling had subsided. always have my feet up on the ottoman when I sit.

On Friday, I kept my feet on the floor too long instead of putting my feet and legs on my ottoman. Saturday morning, I tried to be more careful on Saturday. About 8 weeks ago, I reinjured my left knee and have horrendous pain in my leg, knee, and down the outside of my lower left leg.

During the week before they came, Michele and I talked on the phone. I did not want to witness her horror or pity when she found out I had no bed or bedroom any longer. I told her on the phone, chattering away, telling her that now I just need a single bed, not a king-size bed as I have had since 1980. She said she had a daybed she no longer used, brought it to me and set it up in the space we cleared for it.

This is where Einstein shone. He had a set of some sort of tools and put the daybed together in short order. I was impressed. I still did not have a mattress, but it beats sleeping on the floor as I have for the last six weeks. I will get a mattress today. No, I cannot afford it. The nearest Craig's List mattress is 20 miles away. No one is selling a mattress in our local paper with ads only.

There is a mattress factory here that sells seconds from the factory. My only problem with all this is that I do not have a vehicle to move a mattress and cannot think of anyone who does. Oh, the people next door do, but that is not an option. I do have ideas of whom I can ask to help me with the mattress moving. And, I hope I can find money to replace this utility money I am spending.

Einstein and Cleo

 

 

 

 

 They are standing right inside my side door in front of the door and picture window. This room is an added-on room from the fifties, incorporating the back porch. The trim is very plain, unlike the 1902 construction of the rest of the house. You can see the back and side of the daybed. It is very sturdy, unlike some cheap daybeds I have seen.

Dawsey, Cleo, Einstein, Michele

 

 Michele agreed that I am not a hoarder as some have suggested. I am someone who lost six room and had most of it dumped into three rooms. Plus, 9/10 of the boxes in the room were empty. They carried many of those out to the road since rats had been in or around them. Yuck!

 

 

When things were unearthed, I gladly gave them up for the most part. Some I gave to her or the children. Einstein gladly took the stop watch off my hands. I have never been able to use a stopwatch for whatever task I have at hand. I want it and need it. But, I just decided to give it up and admit my limitations. I am no dummy with electronics or gadgets or directions, but I have admitted defeat--Temporarily. For my mystery shopping I must time things to the second. So, I will use a watch with a second hand. Michele laughed at  the huge watch I have to time things. Yes, it is huge!

 

 

As I said, I refuse to cook until I have water. I started out 7 weeks ago with the sink full, the dishwasher full, and a fever. I was taking antibiotics and very ill. So, things went from bad to worse to worst around here. The water situation degraded the cleanliness and added to more stinky dishes. Actually, they turned the water on for me to do dishes, wash clothes, bathe and wash my hair. Then, about 8 hours later, they turned it off. On another occasion, they left it on for four days, despite my begging into the voice mail for them to turn it off.

 

This Wednesday when exbf will be here, I have ham to heat, greens to open, and sweet potatoes to bake. Then, that night the church has the weekly dinner. So, I dodged that bullet of cooking for him this week. I will be slicing ham for me to eat this week even though the salt in the ham makes my knee swell even more. I have paper plates, tumblers, and finally bought plastic bowls. All the plastic utensil I just keep around were dirty, so Cleo has washed all those. "Cleo, my offer stands of a home here." lol

 

I don't have to cook for exbf, but I feel I cannot just take his kindness and help without at least feeding this lifelong bachelor who does not cook. He is very easy to please, eating leftovers if that is what I have for him. If I cook a crock pot of chicken the day before he arrives, that is not really leftovers, but planned leftovers. It has become increasingly difficult for me to cook and do things we do during the day. We eat out when I ask to do so. One day, on his own because he could see my pain, he said we could go out to eat. Oh, I think I was sitting down, crying because of my problems when he said not to worry, we could just go eat at Ruby Tuesday...my favorite place in this town to eat with the best salad bar ever.

 

The dishes in the kitchen were stinking when they came here, before Cleo jumped right in. The commode has been stinking since day 2 of this seven weeks. Once a day, I pour two gallons of water in the tank, sort of knocking down the stench when I flush. I put a cleanser in the commode once a day and scrub. It is never good in there. The chair I am sitting in is actually going to fall down some day and has its own rotten odor...lol....too many people have sat in this chair after working in the yard. When I have complained or put something over the chair, implying the person was ruining my furniture with grass-mowing-middle-of-the-summer sweat, I have been portrayed as a person who thinks more of a chair than a human. Well, at least one-third of the stench in this house has gone. I will shop thrift stores for a replacement for this chair. Anyone who offered me one would be great. Of course, it must fit me, my back, legs just like this chair bought in 1970 fits me.

 

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Michele drove the crew around the block and got about a 10, possibly fewer vinegar jugs and drinking water jugs of water for me. They went to my friend's house, the one with the turquoise and orange porch décor, and used his hose in the front flowerbed. As I said, I cannot bend that far and hold it while I fill a jug multiple times and carry it times multiple jugs.

 

This weekend has been a killer for me, but well worth sitting up for as long as I did. I needed something and Michele insisted she bring children and help. They actually uncovered a whole chair and sofa. This will never happen to me again. Of course, there are two more rooms that need to be routed out and sorted, thrown out, donated or just stored in a storage unit I have.

 

When we talked on the phone, Michele objected to my giving them food. When she arrived, I told her I go to multiple food banks and that some of the food is not anything I can eat. Plus, there is too much of some items.  For instance, cooked spinach comes right back up. I do love all cooked greens and love raw spinach, so she got spinach in the can. Or, I have too much of some things--tomato products, including spaghetti. And, pasta. Yes, I could not go so often, but I never have too much whole grain bread, meat, or canned pineapple...lol.  However, these are not often in the box. The persons running the food banks know we go to multiple ones. They are not government subsidized, so there are no problems. The people say that if we don't like or cannot use a food item, to give it to someone who will eat it. I did. So removing excess boxes was a great help to me.

 

 (By the way, I know my neighbors' mini blinds work. This weekend, the ones facing my house were opened for the first time in the two years she has lived there. If anyone wants to "visit" me, let me know...lol. The only time my neighbor was here, she rushed over to tell people working in my yard what not to cut! The junk privet shades her back window. I suggested she go and get trees from Lowe's to plant to shade her house. I am very much allergic to privet, but only realized this last year what was bothering me.)

 

Thank you Michele, Cleo, Einstein, Dawsey. I love you all.

 

My weekend was spent with affable people--wonderful woman, extraordinary children, and getting some help. And, I was able to wash my hair and shower for the first time in 8 days.

 

This is totally NOT edited, but I may do that over the next few days.

 

 

Your turn

Have you ever needed help and had someone entirely  unexpected offer and actually show up and do the job.