Gone

Yesterday I to attend to some business that took me a distance from our small communit and closer to the location of the herb farm and packaging facility that the Farmer manages. I decided to drive over and check out his choice of paint color. He's having his office repainted.

The drive home took me past an old farmhouse that I had photographed for my photoblog last July.



At the time I'd walked through the inside and took photos. After entering I became aware that it probably wasn't a good idea to be in the house alone. There was evidence that it had been used as a drug/drinking hangout and there was a possibility that someone could still be inside. Luckily, it was empty.

These places are often structurally unsafe so I limit my adventures into these properties.

The house was a very ramshackle affair, with a strange arrangement of rooms, like a rabbit hutch. There was a section of house that was a cheap add-on and two sections of the upstairs were not connected, only separately accessible by two different staircases. The whole place said fire trap to me.

But the image I captured that summer day has a dreamy quality to it and it represents a lifestyle that is in danger of passing by the wayside.

As I drove down Route 47 just north of Huntley, Illinois, I looked to my left. The farmhouse, outbuildings and HUGE barn are simply........GONE. It's as if they never existed. And for that I am sad.

The Ghost in the Machine

OK, Blogger is officially acting wierd. My last two posts are out of order. If you want to see today's post on Catalog Love, please scroll down. Anyway, our governor is already old news.

- Suzanne

Our Governor

My Canadian friend over at Liberty Post asked the question, "How far can you stretch the 'truth'?...I'm watch CNN live and is he a sociapath or what? What's the scoop with that Blag guy?"

She was referring to our now ex-governor Rob Blagojevich who was impeached early this evening.

As the Chicago White Sox announcer says, "HE GONE!"



Yes, his behavior is disturbing. It's obvious he's living on that river in Egypt - DENIAL. His behavior and inability to take advice is legendary, resulting in one prestigious law firm dropping him as a client. His most recent lawyer quit. We're glad to be rid of his wife also. She's the one that pressed him to attempt to have reporters at the Chicago Tribune fired because they criticized him. They have not spent one night in our governor's mansion, would not live in our state capital and he was rarely in Springfield when the legislature was in session. If you choose to be in public life you'll need to get over yourself. It's not about you. AT ALL. The latest charges are just the tip of the iceberg. One of the most damning things to come out of this is the attempt by him to hold the chief executive of Children's Memorial Hospital hostage, threatening to withhold $8 million dollars of funding unless he donated to Blagojevich's campaign war chest.

WOW, that didn't take long. Wikipedia has already been updated.

Last night, Pat Quinn, our new governor said, "I hope he's got a ride home because he isn't flying in the state jet."

Here's what we say out in the country - Don't let the door smack you in the a$$. Seriously.

Catalog Love

My lifelong fascination and downright love of catalogs was nurtured in my childhood. My grandmother was infatuated with catalogs. She had one of those large stuffed pillows that resembled the back of a chair with armrests. Do you know what I'm talking about? From this queenly perch she would read through magazines cutting out interesting articles and ads, placing them in tall teetering stacks on her bedside table.

But the most time, energy and dreaming power was spent in the pages of catalogs. When money was tight, dreaming took on greater meaning. What fun it was to sit on her bed with her and think about ordering beautiful new coats or matching curtains and bedspreads. Dreaming has always been free!

"Basic Catalog Dreaming 101" involved a new Sears & Roebuck catalog. At some point Spiegel became the dream book. Over the years others came on the scene, some with merchandise certainly out of my reach financially but never out of the reach of my imagination.

No matter how beautiful their websites might be, I want a print version. I can't quite prop my large desktop computer on my chest when I'm sitting in bed at night. Give me paper and ink every time.

Here are some of my favorites from over the years:

Ballard Designs - Cool home decorating stuff lots of which is French inspired.

Horchow - Definitely high end dream level. I don't think I could even afford their clearance specials.

Williams Sonoma - I've banned myself from their stores, after my last pricey cake pan purchase, but the catalog is not off limits yet. Their catalog has always contained wonderful recipes.

Crate & Barrel - I've been shopping Crate & Barrel since the '70's.

J.C. Penney - Now that Sears no longer publishes a catalog, Penney's has filled with void. I'm currently looking at some embroidered silk drapes for the family room.

My new favorite is King Arthur Flour. If you like to bake, this is a terrific catalog filled with wonderful and affordable items. Woe is me because they carry at least ONE pricey cake pan.

I'm loving this cinnamon bear. He holds cinnamon and sugar for toast.



You know I love pie, so I want these pie chains.



I simply must have this gadget. You squeeze the handle and that swirly thing opens up. You scoop up some flour and close the contraption. You shake it over your work surface and just the right amount of flour comes out.



Who doesn't want some candy ladybug decorations?



Candy bumblebees are very useful......



....if you purchase one of those pricey cake pans.



PHEW....I'm virtually worn out and virtually broke but I'm in love with King Arthur.

How about you, do you read catalogs? Do you have a favorite? Is the online version OK with you or like me, do you need the hardcopy version?

How far can you stretch a chicken?

You're probably conjuring up images of a Rhode Island Red stretched out on a medieval torture device. I'm not talking about that kind of stretch but how many meals you can get out of one single chicken.

My family loves those slow roasted chickens from the grocery store and I'm a fan also. Not only do I not have to cook the bird, for some reason it's actually cheaper than buying a raw bird. The slow rotisserie roasting makes for a very moist and flavorful meat.

I'm sorry that I didn't get a photo of the chicken whole but my family dove in as soon as I unpacked the grocery bag. This was a very, very large chicken which made it possible to stretch it to create more than one meal. We all ate our portion served with green beans and sweet potatoes. It was delicious.

The next afternoon I made a salad with mixed greens, yellow peppers, carrots and sliced almonds topped with some cubed white meat. The salad dressing is compliments of Chocolatechic. This is a terrific dressing and after I served it at Christmas the Farmer declared that it's the only salad dressing he'll eat. Here's the link to Chocolatechic's sa;ad dressing.



What's left is the carcass with a small amount of meat left on it.



Tomorrow I'll strip the bird of the meat and boil the rest to make some chicken soup, adding celery, carrots, onions and parsley. The meat will be added and some homemade egg noodles. They are so easy to make.



This batch is made with whole wheat flour which results in a very dense and filling noodle.

EGG NOODLES

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 pinch salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk

In a large bowl, mix flour and salt together. Add beaten egg and milk. Knead dough till smooth, about 5 minutes. Let rest in covered bowl for 10 minutes. On a floured surface roll out dough to a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into strips of desired length and width. (you can use a pizza cutter). Air dry before boiling. Boil as you would pasta.


At that point I will have reached the end of stretching this chicken.

How about you? Do you stretch chickens or beef roasts?

Who Knew?

I have to sit back and say, "What a week". It's only Wednesday and I feel like I've been in a whirlwind.

This came in the mail.



I'm not quite sure if it is targeted to me personally, or to me as the daughter (and daughter-in-law) of elderly women. When I was young I believed that life would get easier and less complicated. That's not the case at all. We are the sandwich generation, attempting to launch our children and caring for our elderly parents. The problems get further complicated by the fact that siblings must agree on decisions made on behalf of the parents. We haven't had to make any of those decisions yet but I can imagine trouble brewing. Good gravy, it's complicated!!!

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I'd like to talk about an incident that I briefly mentioned in our Monday Morning Staff Meeting. I've been a bad blogger, a very bad blogger. I broke one of my cardinal rules invoving comments. Very early in my blogging experience it became apparent to me that I needed to read a blog for awhile, to get the lay of the land and a sense of the personality of the writer before I started leaving comments.

It's not a problem with some people because they're authentic. Heidi, the Milk Man's Wife is one such person. She's funny, open and friendly. It didn't take long before I knew it would be OK to joke around and she wouldn't be offended. I also knew that I could drive up to Wisconsin and camp in her yard! And that's just what I plan to do next spring. We're going to the Norski Nook to eat pie, She's the kind of person who would help a friend find her grandfather's old one room schoolhouse.

While leap blogging this week I decided to hop off my normal lily pads and jump over to some more serious blogs in the land-o-academia. I left a comment in response to the characterization of a group of people, suggesting that we don't fall neatly into categories. WHOA! Response was a terrible swift sword in which I (and one other woman) were deemed to be



I'm a TROLL. Who knew? It's news to me because I was raised to be MIDWESTERN NICE. My transformation was painless. Someone must have put a pod in my bedroom one night! I've been blogging, reading blogs and commenting on blogs for over 4-1/2 years and this is my first foray into Trollhood.

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I believe that the universe compensates for negartive experiences. Sure enough, yesterday something really nice happened to me.

Occasionally during the day I check Sitemeter to see who's reading and where they're from. I'm always stunned when I discover someone reading from Russia, Tokyo or Indonesia. It's just amazing that we can be sharing on a global scale.

Then I check the referring sites. Most people are clicking through a blogroll to my site. I'm always mindful of those who generously list me on their site Thank you!!! People can also click through on your comment.

Yesterday I noticed there were several visitors who had followed a link from Pioneer Woman's blog I was curious because she doesn't have a blogroll that I know of, and I haven't commented on her site recently. So I jumped over there to see what was going on.

She had a wonderful post thanking her readers for nominating her for the 2009 Bloggies. She invited everyone to vote in all categories and asked people to provide a link to their favorites sites....you know, personal favorites who are little known in the blogosphere. Now, here's the thing, when you have 5,000,000 - that's FIVE MILLION - page views per month, you're going to get 6,000 comments. 11,011 comments!!! That's 28 pages of comments, posted by regular people like you and me, providing a link to all kinds of really cool blogs. It would probably take a year to visit them all but I might give it a try.

Some are known to me, such as Post Secret and Deep Fried Kudzu. Others are cool finds, like Cake Wrecks.

Lo and behold, in comment #5976, Johanna mentions my name. Thanks so much Johanna, I really appreciate the positive feedback. Your one act of kindness nixed any negativity that I experienced earlier.

In my book this one good experience far eclipses my new negative status. Anyway, if I'm going to be a troll, I'm not going to be just ANY STINKING TROLL. I'm going to be the Queen of the Trolls.



Mazaltov, y'all.

In Dry Dock for Repairs

Previously on "At Home..." I related the story of nearly puncturing my lung due to a undergarment malfunction.

Well, the undergarments are at it again. A while back I purchased a very expensive, good quality engineered support system. I was more than I'd ever spent for a item of clothing that would never see the light of day. But I have come to the conclusion that there's not a bra out there that can contain a piece of wire determined to escape.

It was obvious that no amount of pushing and lecturing would coax the wire to stay in it's place. I put the bra into dry dock and made plans for a repair.

I found a sturdy piece of fabric and cut a small patch. Working with tiny pieces of fabric isn't the easiest chore but many hours of sitting with my grandmother stitching small embellishments on hats gave me the necessary skills.



Using a piece of stong quilting thread I made tiny stitches all around, covering the hole in the trim that allowed the wire to escape.

We'll see if this patch holds. I certainly wouldn't want to get stabbed while dancing on my upcoming cruise!

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Hey all you peeps! It's time for our weekly staff meeting. I hope the past week went well for you and that you were able to cross lots of things off your "to-do" list.

Last week I made the decision to ask someone else to bring the treats but time got away from me and I forgot all about it. I'll be honest with you, I don't know where the time goes. And honestly, I cannot figure out how I got everything done back when I was working full-time.

Anyway, i thought it would be nice to have a nice raspberry clafouti this morning. It's not nearly as good without some freshly whipped cream.



You can find my recipe here - Raspberry Clafouti.

Dig in. I've got plenty of these lovely pressed glass dessert bowls from the local Goodwill store.

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The nominees for the 2009 Bloggies have been announced. Sadly, my pick for the Canadian Blog of the Year (Liberty Post) was not mentioned. BUT, one of my other favorite blogs Chickens in the Road written by Suzanne McMinn was included under the heading of Best Kept Secret Blog. You can vote for her HERE.

Congratulations Suzanne! If you haven't already discovered her, you should. She's got a forum where you can share and ask questions. It's fun.

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My blog friend Alaura over at Cottage Rose has given me an award.



Thanks Alaura!

I'm supposed to link to ten people. I'm usually very, very lazy about this and instead just tell everyone to consider themselves tagged if they wish to participate. But this award specifically states that you should choose ten that show good attitude or gratitude. It seems important to me to do this now because in the last few days I've visited some blogs that are alarmingly filled with negative me-me-me-me-me-isms and it's drained me.

Here are some interesting, positive attitudes and sincere gratitude. Let's have more of this!

A Haven for Vee
All Buttoned Up
Bella Della
Bittersweet Punkin
Chickens in the Road
Chocolatechic
Life in Red Shoes
Million Little Stitches
Rue
Stitching by the Lake
White Crow Walking

That's more than ten but I needed a little more to counteract the effects of those negative blogs I stumbled upon this week. Life is too short to focus on that stuff.

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You're not going to believe this but somehow I missed National Pie Day. It was on January 23rd. What the heck?

I'm the person who's made a commitment to finding the perfect piece of pie and I totally miss pie day? What's up with that?

This probably means I'll have to do some extra research.

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THIS JUST IN - Our Illinois Governor continues to find new ways to embarrass himself and leave his constituents speechless. In this article you'll discover that he considered appointing Oprah to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Obama. I guess he felt she had plenty of money to enter into the bidding that he "imagined" in his mind. And hey - he never felt the need to be in our state capital when legislature was in session, so why should he start now?

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Does anyone have anything they'd like to add? Anything you want to discuss? If not, let's go get a second helping of clafouti.

The Way Back Machine

The time: 1955
The place: Illinois

This young couple had to fight off the objections of both families who thought them to young to marry. She was barely 17 and he wasn't much older. Pronouncement were made concerning how young and foolish they were.

"It will never last," said someone close to the family.

But they were young and in love, and determined to make a life together. And they did.

This is my aunt and my uncle who are now married 54 years.

It reminds me of an old song, ".... it goes to show you never can tell."

P.S. The reluctant flower girl is none other than myself, in a dress sewn by my mother and a hat and basket made by my grandmother.

Small Town

With a population of 300, Troy Grove is half the size of our small community. There's no reason to exit the interstate unless you live in the area because there's no gas stations, fast food, hotels or stores.

They have something better including WIld Bill Hickok's historic marker and some nice houses. Here's one with some lovely gingerbread trim.



This older building is attached to a newer structure and it's used for storage. The architecture tells me that this was once a bank.



I love the little post office. It's very small and shares the building with a Grange Hall. The Grange is a rural organization. I haven't been in a Grange Hall in many years but I remember it as being a type of social organization. This is a very small Grange.



Surprisingly there are two places to eat in Troy Grove. There's a small place is called "The Kidd Inn".



I don't know who "Kidd" is..... the faded image on the sign looks like Hickok and the playing cards are a reference to the poker hand that he was holding when he was shot dead. A pair of eights and a pair of kings, which in the poker world is known as "Dead Man's Hand".

From the information on the sign it appears they're only open on Friday and Saturday. Friday is fish fry and Saturday is chicken. I think every small town in northern Illinois has a fish fry on Friday night.



The other establishment is on the edge of town and it's called "Chubby's Corner", home of the World's Largest Ham Sandwich. Wow, that's quite a claim. Unfortunately I was in town very early on a Sunday morning and Chubby's wasn't open yet. But I do intend to drag the Farmer back with me to see if their claim is true. And maybe, just maybe, they might also serve pie.



And last but not least, what's a small town without at least one Our-Lady-of-the-Bathtub?



This one was quite lovely.

Thanks for coming along with me to Troy Grove, Illinois, birthplace of Wild Bill Hickok.

Next week we're going on an adventure to the birthplace of yet another famous person born in Illinois. Stay tuned.

Road Trip - The Wild, Wild West

If you've been reading for awhile you know my penchant for getting off the interstate and poking around side roads to see what I can find. An old friend of mine travels all over northern Illinois and Iowa and is on the lookout for interesting barns for me to photograph. A couple of years ago he spotted an unusual stone barn that is visible from I-39 just south of Paw Paw where the wind farms are located.
I searched Mapquest and found the closest exit and drove out to see if I could find my way along back roads to photograph the barn up close. The exit was at Troy Grove, Illinois and this is all it says on the road sign. There's nothing to indicate what's hiding in tiny Troy Grove.



I headed west towards the town and to my surprise I came upon this sign:



To me Wild Bill Hickok was a figure from the wild, wild west.

Troy Grove was once named Homer and it is the birthplace of Wild Bill Hickok. It's a very small town, only 300 residents and smattering of houses built around a small park. The park contains a granite slab with a marker, paying homage to the hometown boy.



The plaque reads:

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok

Pioneer of the great plains, born here May 27, 1837. Assassinated at Deadwood, Agusut 2, 1876. Served his country as a scout & spy in the western states, to preserve the union in the Civil War. Equally great were his services on the frontier as express messenger & upholder of law & order. He contributed largely to making the west a safe place for women & children. His sterling courage was always at the service of right & justice.

To perpetuate his memory this monument erected by the State of Illinois
A.D. 1929

That's certainly an interesting piece of writing but it hardly paints a realistic picture of the man. The wild west was almost a thing of the past by the time Hickok and his contemporaries reached middle age. He was friends with Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane. At her request, Calamity Jane Cannary was buried next to Hickok.

Watch an old film of Annie Oakley shooting her rifle.

It's interesting to note where these famous western legends were born.

Wild Bill Hickok - Troy Grove, Illinois
Calamity Jane Cannary - Princeton, Missouri
Buffalo Bill Cody - Le Claire, Iowa
Annie Oakley - Willowdell, Ohio
Billy the Kid - New York City

There's no information out on the interstate about this Hickok memorial and I never would have found it had I not been poking around the countryside. I wonder how many other interesting things are tucked away on the back roads.

I'm going to find out!!

Come back tomorrow when I show you more about the tiny town of Troy Grove.

Road Trip - Harvesting the Wind

Are school kids still required to learn about regional crops and livestock production as part of their geography lessons?

I distinctly remember memorizing which food products were produced in each state. The same for livestock. It certainly wasn't a "country" curriculum because I was raised within spitting distance of the city of Chicago.

My fourth grade teacher Miss Leifson went as far as to require us to construct a diorama of the city of New Orleans, complete with boats bringing corn and wheat down the Mississippi River. We also had to include boats arriving from the Caribbean loaded with bananas. She brought in pralines made with pecans from Georgia and we listened to Harry Belafonte's Banana Boat song as we finished our work.

Wisconsin makess cheese, and Georgia grows peaches. The Florida panhandle was covered in cotton and peanuts. What's Kansas? Wheat, of course. Illinois is corn and soybeans with some pork and beef added to the mix. But as I have mentioned several times the wind is as much of the landscape in Illinois as the cornstalks and bean fields.

Illinois is all about wind. I get nervous if the air is still.

If you drive through north central Illinois on Route 39, you'll come across two large wind farm operations. I was amazed when the first one was built but the newest crop of windmills are unbelievable in scale.

Have a look.



I can guarantee you these are very large buildings. The barn is 2 to 2-1/2 stories tall.



The telephone poles literally look like matchsticks. The footprint of each windmill is actually small and the farmers plant all around the base of these monsters. The electricity produced by these huge machines is not used locally but sent elsewhere. The investment must be huge, and the maintenance also.

Our wind is brisk but I can't imagine that it would be enough to move these humongous blades.

Have you seen a wind farm? They're quite amazing and you don't even have to get off the interstate.

Tomorrow we get off the interstate at an exit that has no gas or hotels...... just a surprising secret!

What you're up to.......

Thanks to everyone who responded at the Monday Morning Staff Meeting. I'm always interested in what you're up to.

My sister Pam is blogging for the Boone County Conservation District's Heritage Gardens. She's encouraging gardeners to Plant a Row for Hunger. (Scroll down just a bit, it's the Jan. 20th entry).

My blogging friend Vee is thinking about baking a muffin train. She bought the cake pan for the grandkids but what do you bet that they'll enlist her to bake and decorate?

Heidi, the Milk Man's Wife is describing DANGEROUS FARM TRICKS.

Jeanette marched in a Stock Show Parade in Texas which sounds right up my alley. She doesn't have a blog, so I can't link. Jeanette - get thee a blog!!

Chocolatechic, a resident of Pothole, Ohio was busy creating a dessert I have dubbed "The Phoenix". Believe me, it's in your tummy's best interest to snag a dinner invitation to her home.

Blue Ridge Gal has been busy SCANNING OLD PHOTOS. She's requested some help, perhaps a Photo Scanning Committee. I'd love to volunteer but she's several states away. Sorry.

Down in Atlanta, Molly is cooking up a large pot of soup, CHICKEN TORTILLA one of my personal favorites. Stop over and check it out.

Mary is snug inside her Little Red House, checking out the QUALITY OF LIGHT.

Cheesychick is covering the story on local TRACTOR PULLS.

Mim is a woman after my own heart. She's KNITTING AND DECLUTTERING. She's having second thoughts about posting photos of the decluttering efforts. Go over and encourage her.

Becky is QUILTING and it's very inspiring. I haven't done any quilting in the longest time because I've been making aprons non-stop. She's making me want to switch gears for awhile.

Look! There's more quilting going on, this time out in Washington state at PIECEFUL AFTERNOON.

The Significant Snail is celebrating the discovery of METHANE ON MARS. She made some donuts from scratch and I'm waiting for the pictures!

Laura, the Spirit Witch is putting us all to shame with her multi-tasking efforts. She's been MAKING SOUP AND KNITTING A SCARF. That makes me a slacker!

Mary, from northern California gave me some great advice on excursions to take while we're on our cruise. Thanks! I appreciate your input. It helped us make some decisions.

Bella Della has shown us how to make a SIMPLE MEAL. Unfortunately, cucumbers do not agree with me so I'll just be having the potatoes. Yum.

Joanna made CHOCOLATE CAKE and I want a piece before it's all gone! Please?

Bittersweet Punkin (a.k.a. Robin) shared an idea to create GIFT TAGS FOR NEXT CHRISTMAS and I'm getting right on it.

My friend in the Red Shoes is recovering from HER DAUGHTER'S WEDDING. She assures me it's survivable.

Cottage Rose has proven that A MAN CAN MAKE A QUILT! Yes, it's true and the quilt is much nicer than anything I've made.

KatKit is covered in BUTTERCREAM FROSTING. She does some great work.

Lori is putting away Christmas decorations. Her home was on a Christmas housewalk this year. She's also DISCOVERING THAT SHE'S A GRACE.

LDF has REDESIGNED HER OFFICE. Great job!

Tam is thinking ABOUT EASTER. Wait....that's way too organized.

My poor friend Thirkellgirl is cleaning up a flooded basement, something I can relate to. UGH.

DJ is living out her dream at the BAY CITY GENERAL STORE in Southern Illinois and I'm wanting to visit. Can anyone say road trip?

I hope you visit some of these great people. It's a Blog Hop!!

Are You Hungry Jack?

My family has always been big lovers of pancakes. Regular pancakes, Swedish, French and the delicious Dutch Baby have all been part of the breakfast scene around here.

At some point I simply got tired of buying boxed pancake mixes and decided to come up with a basic mix that I could embellish in a number of different ways.

Here's the basic mixture:

Pancake Mix

6 cups all purpose flour
8 tsp. sugar
8 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredient well and store in an airtight container.

Pancake Recipe (Serves 3-4)

1-1/2 cups pancake mix
1-1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 TBSP. cooking oil

Mix all ingredients well. Melt some butter or oil in a frying pan and add the pancake
batter 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time. Use less milk if you desire a thicker pancake, more
milk for a thinner pancake.

Variations:

1 tsp. vanilla for more flavor
sliced bananas and nuts
blueberries
coconut and pecans
cinnamon and nutmeg
cinnamon and sliced apples
chocolate chips

Give this mixture a try and see what you think. I'd love to hear of some other flavor combinations.

Enjoy!

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Where did the week go? I can't believe it's time for another staff meeting.

This morning I brought in some of McDonald's new coffee selections. There's a selection Mocha, Latte and Capuccinos on the table. They're all good although the mocha is a little sweet for my taste. They're very affordable compared to that other coffee company so not to worry, I didn't break the bank on this one. There's also a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. I had to drive a distance because the local shop closed down. Sigh.

I'm thinking about asking someone to bring the treats for the next meeting. Watch your e-mail, it might just be you! It will be your chance to shine. Be thinking about one of your famous recipes, something that you'd be willing to share with us.

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It has occurred to me that we haven't formed any committees. Do we need them? What do you suggest?

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Unbeknownst to you, I made a impromptu trip to central Illinois on Saturday. Our daughter had car problems and I went down to help out. The drive down was tense. High winds were causing blizzard conditions and it was slow going but I arrived safely.

My daughter and I had a girls night out on Saturday evening including a trip to the movie theater to see "Marley and Me". My niece had told us that the movie was touching and I'd agree with her. Have you seen it?

How about The Day the Earth Stood Still? I'm a huge fan of the 1950's original. I'm not quite sure a remake could improve upon the story. At the urging of my neighbor Susan I searched out the original short story that was the basis of the movie. It was interesting but I'm going to need to discuss the story in depth with her.

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Some of you have asked about our upcoming cruise. The Farmer and I love all kinds of travel including exotic, eco and local travel.


Tikal - Mayan Temples in Guatemala

We're cruising once again with a group of our neighbors.


St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

In four weeks we'll be flying to Los Angeles and boarding a Norwegian ship to Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo san Lucas. Have you been there? Any suggestions on what not to miss? I'd love to see an old Spanish colonial city and perhaps the Baja desert.

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I'm going to go around the room and ask everyone to tell the group what you're working on. If you've got pictures or a blog entry, please link so that we can all see and get inspired.

Who's going to go first?

The Way Back Machine

The time: Circa 1963
The place: Northern Illinois

This is my grandmother's friend Martha. You remember her, she's the dramatic one. What am I saying? All of my grandmother's friends were dramatic.

This is obviously a staged photo with Martha sitting at her small folding leaf dining table. Why do I say it was obviously staged? Because her place never, ever, EVER looked this neat and orderly. Her apartments were always packed to the rafters (literally) with books, magazines, patterns, fabric, trims and everything else imaginable.

She was insistent on one thing though. There was always a spot carved out of the chaos that was her dining room table and in the midst of the crazy clutter was one perfectly arranged place setting of beautiful china, crystal and sterling silver. It was her way of staying civilized in her jungle of possessions.

I notice that she's wearing her white uniform. One of the many accomplishments in her life was the fact that she graduated from nursing school. She was also a renowned milliner in Chicago and towards the end of her life she was an expert on herb gardens and was the curator of a garden at a local college. She never ceased to be excited about learning.

Like I said she was quite a character. Was your childhood populated with colorful characters? Inquiring minds want to know.

We're Crying Uncle!

I'm sick to death of talking about the weather but the truth is, that's all we're talking about around here.

There are parts of the country that have us beat but yesterday morning it was 22 degrees below zero and that was without add the wind chill factor. It's dangerously cold and many, many vehicles would not start this morning including several of ours and our neighbors.



Caution must be taken when driving the back roads because if you get stranded you can quickly find yourself in a dangerous situation.

I did have to go out briefly yesterday and was stunned to see three people walking along the side of the road. One was only wearing a sweatshirt - no coat!!! It was a crazy sight but they were on a busy highway which made it almost impossible to stop. What were these people thinking? They were walking away from the county court house building and I know for a fact that public transportation is available from that location.

Back in the early 80's there was a similar cold snap that lasted for 21 days, if my memory is correct. At that time we were in our former home dealing with frozen pipes and an uninhabitable second floor. The two kids, the Farmer and our dog all shared a queen size hide-a-bed positioned in front of our fireplace. It was literally three dog nights with only one dog. Our furnace ran nonstop for four days and I was afraid it would blow up.

The weatherman promises temperatures in the 30's next week but I'll believe it when I see it. That will be a heatwave. Stay warm and safe everyone. The Farmer and I are looking forward to a cruise in four short weeks!

Timber!

Surely a small forest of trees has fallen victim to my habit of making lists. However, my list making talents cannot hold a candle to a former co-worker who kept a list to organize her lists!

She knew something was terribly wrong when she found a list in her eight-year-old daughter's room that included a detailed plan for her day including "bathroom break" and playtime scheduled down to the minute. Something had to give. She has since learned to relax a bit.



My lists are definitely a bid to stave off the ravages of time on my memory. It's impossible to count the times that I've returned from a shopping trip with everything except what I went for in the first place. I was wasting alot of time and gas, since I live 9 miles from anything.

Three-by-five index cards are my material of choice simply because they're sturdier than post-it notes or just plain paper. But index cards ain't what they used to be. They are flimsy, flimsy, flimsy!!

Why all this talk of lists? Because when I opened up my wallet at the post office today there were no less than four lists inside! Some things had already been crossed off and usually before this point I combine and create a new list. The colorful list in the center is a post-it note taped to a recipe for bruschetta. I've been using this as a bookmark.

I make myself laugh when I read them. A perfect example of humor is the use of exclamation points.

flowers
vase
circle labels
lettuce
salad dressing
find sunglasses
butter
cheese
big pot
eggs
make sauce!
get money!

Yeah.....get money, for sure!!

Nature's Miracle is one of the items on a list. Here's a plug for that stuff. This stuff is terrific if you have pets that have accidents. That's me! I need more.

Included on the lists are places I want to remind myself to visit when I'm out running errands, such as.....

CUPCAKE SHOP

There's a new one in nearby Geneva and I still haven't visited. I really need to get over there before they close their doors. It has been known to happen to me.

I've heard there's a guy out there who saves all his lists and publishes them. I'm quite sure mine aren't that interesting. I've also see a book at the bookstore comprised of lists someone has found in shopping carts. Amazing material. You could write interesting stories based on someone's shopping list.

kitty litter
olive oil
chocolate syrup

Please tell me I'm not the only list making fanatic, besides my former co-worker of course!

Otherwise Engaged

Sorry I couldn't visit with you yesterday but I was otherwise engaged.

Last spring I contracted shingles. Believe me, I would not wish this on my worst enemy. I have a very high tolerance for pain but this was simply beyond the pale. It's impossible to adequately convey the insane amount of pain involved. Suffice to say that a person could easily become addicted to pain medications faced with such an outbreak.

Unfortunately, due to my age and other medical problems I developed a condition in which the pain continues, in a greatly reduced intensity, for up to one year. My physician prescribed a drug which was a godsend to me, allowing me to create a somewhat normal lifestyle.



For some reason I mistakenly believed that I had refills, when in reality I was on my last few pills. No matter, the pharmacy faxed the doctors office requesting a refill. Days later I discovered that the insurance company was requiring the doctor to provide proof that it was medically neccessary. You know, I really don't think physicians are in the habit of prescribing meds that aren't necessary and the cost of the medication makes it unlikely that a patient will fork over the money unless absolutely necessary.

I could be wrong.

I'm still waiting on an answer and unfortunately my actiivity level has suffered. Most of yesterday was spent in bed with little energy to do much but read.

This is just a very small problem in the "world-of-insurance" and there are many people who are faced with huge battles involving life threatening situations. My sister has been put in the unenviable position of being a dragon slayer when it comes to dealing with insurance companies on behalf of her daughter (a transplant patient).

An acquaintance of mine quit his medical practice in disgust saying, "I struggled through many years of medical school and training to treat patients NOT to spent my entire day battling with insurance companies".

I'll be on the phone today, directly to the insurance company, rattling cages and slaying some dragons of my own.

I know there are plenty of horror stories out there. What's your experience?

And the Forecast is.....

The forecast last night called for blizzard conditions after midnight. I made plans to rise very, very early to help deal with the snow before the Farmer and our son left for work. Thankfully the blizzard failed to arrive, allowing me to sleep in. The house is incredibly cold this morning which means that the temperatures have plummeted again.

Last night was bunco night with the neighbors and talk turned to comfort foods. My neighbor Anne mentioned two of the all time favorite combinations, grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup and homemade macaroni and cheese. I was always shocked in the past when younger co-workers would mention things like Spaghettios or Kraft macaroni and cheese as comfort foods because when I was growing up there was very little food that came out of a box.

I recently cooked a wonderful pot roast from that cache of Black Angus beef purchased from a local farmer. I love beef roasts because they allow me to make plenty of gravy and in this house gravy is a beverage!

Now don't say ewwwww, because gravy isn't bad. Since my beef is very lean there's little fat, it's beef juices thickened with corn starch.

Here's the story of how the tradition of my favorite comfort food developed. My parents would occasionally make a large beef roast for dinner. I said occasionally because with four kids our budget didn't always include a cut of meat such as a roast. Of course on the first evening we'd finish all the beef and all that was left was the savory beef gravy.

So, the next day my siblings and I would heat up the gravy for lunch and serve it over soft white bread. Wonder bread was preferred. It was simply known in our house as bread and gravy.



Fortunately for me on this day I had enough pot roast left to make a bread and gravy sandwich with beef.

Is it cold where you are? Have you resorted to your comfort food, or do you return to your comfort food when you're not feeling well?

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Can you believe it's time for another staff meeting? Seriously, where does the time go?

I'm a person who is strongly attached to reality and I know that some of you only attend this meeting for the food. It doesn't matter. If all it's takes is bribing you with food to sit through a meeting, that's a small price to pay. I'm not above bribery folks! Plus I remember a lifetime of meetings where the only thing I was remotely interested in was the food.

Having mentioned the food I won't keep you in suspense. This morning we're going to be feasting on lobster tails! Did you think I was kidding when I said we spare no expense here "At Home"? The only problem is, they're not the kind of lobster tails that are served with drawn butter. It's too early in the morning for that anyway.

I drove through a snowstorm to Caputo's Italian Market for THESE lobster tails:



They're simply wonderful concoctions of the lightest, flakiest layers of puff pastry that's formed into a long cornucopia shape. They're filled with a very light creamy filling.



I bought plenty. There's one for each of you so no fighting. Let's dig in. The coffee is on the back table.

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I'd like to thanks everyone for their encouragement and suggestions on the subject of possibly returning to work. It means a lot to me that you can assure me that Excel is not rocket science and that most offices prefer to train in their methods. I was thinking out loud and there are a lot of considerations including my health. People with Lupus must pay close attention to getting enough rest and avoiding stress. Not working outside the home has allowed me to tailor my daily activities to my ever changing health patterns. This is something I will give consideration before making a decision. Thanks for giving me ideas and things to think about.

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It was good to have the Farmer home on Saturday. He's no spring chicken either and working six days a week for months on end takes a toll. We had lots of fun on his day off. Doesn't this look like a fun "togetherness" project?



He blew the snow and I moved cars around. Actually, we can have a good time together no matter what we're doing. Well, except for laying concrete. THAT was work.

We also took a trip to pick up his new eyeglasses and he was nice enough to take a detour down a rural road we'd traveled the night before. I wanted to take a photo to illustrate a problem out here in the country.

Here's the Farmer waiting patiently in the car while I snap some photos.



There's the problem. Can you see it on the right hand side of the road? What do you think it is?



If you guess a full size sofa and loveseat you'd be correct. A big problem in rural America is that people think it's some type of free-for-all dumping ground. Sofa and loveseats are the least of it, there are literally hundreds of dogs and cats dumped on the side of the road in farm country.

Someone in the county roads department is going to have to pick this up and dispose of it.

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Are you successful in keeping track of awards and passing them along? I'm afraid that I've been a slacker in this area. I've promised to be better about it. I've just receive this from Jeni. She's one of my readers from down under in Queensland.



Holy cow....I wish I looked that fabulous. Look at that sheath dress and Audrey Hepburn hat.

Anyway, I'm supposed to name five addictions and pass along the award to five readers. If you've been reading for awhile you'll know the drill. Consider yourself tagged if you'd like to participate.

1. fabric
2. yarn
3. vintage costume jewelry
4. photographic equipment
5. books, books, books

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I'm going to go around the table and ask each person to recount something amazing that's happened to them recently. I'll start.

Last night was our annual neighborhood progressive dinner which consists of appetizers at one house, after which we split up into smaller groups for dinner at a designated home and then all gather again for desserts at one final home. My neighbor Jack is an amateur astronomer and we were discussing the fact that it was the very night when the moon is closest to the earth, resulting in the largest and brightest full moon of the year.

It had been dreary, overcast and snowing for days and it seemed that there was little chance to enjoy the full moon. Late in the afternoon before the dinner began the sky cleared up.

The Farmer and I left the dessert house at about 1 a.m. and walked a distance to the car in in bright light of the moon, the snow crunching under our feet. It was quiet and so very beautiful, everything a shade of sapphire blue. As we came to our corner we were greeted with the sight of a dozen very large deer jumping and playing in the snow, charging and hopping like a group of school children, all light by the magical moonlight.

That was amazing!

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The Way Back Machine

The time: Summer, 1982
The place: Our kitchen, Bartlett, Illinois

We'll title this one, "Baking a Chocolate Cake". Although on second look the bowl is small for a whole recipe of cake batter.

Our daughter would be born in a few short months, but for now this little guy was an only child. That meant that he didn't have to share the bowl with anyone. Doesn't this look like fun?

I can remember that wallpaper in the kitchen and how many books I poured over before making the decision. I also remember, years later, how insanely difficult it was to remove it. I swore off wallpaper forever and I've kept my vow.

The framed piece on the wall was an old piece of filet crochet that said, "Bread".

I'm stunned to think of how many years have passed since this happy little moment baking a long forgotten chocolate cake.

A Day Off

Today marks the first Saturday the Farmer has had off since before Halloween.

So you will excuse me if I spend the day with him.

Come back tomorrow for another episode of the Way Back Machine.

Keeping Track of Stuff

Those of you who have been reading for awhile know that when my stepfather passed away I took up his quest for the perfect piece of pie. Everyone needs a mission in life and some are more mundane that others. Most people would choose something more ambitious such as ending hunger or discovering dark matter, but those quite as delicious as sampling pie.

I also keep track of silly stuff, jotting down notes when I travel and keeping a mental record of such things as the cleanliness of bathrooms. Suzanne over at Chickens in the Road has been hunting down and photographing outhouses, which is what got me to thinking about bathrooms.

The Farmer and I have been lucky enough to have stayed in some pretty wonderful digs, such as a five-star hotel overlooking Millenium Park in Chicago. The bathroom was decorated in a style which I'll call urban chic with fluffly bathrobes and live orchids. I remember thinking, "I bet this is what Oprah's bathroom looks like."

The bathroom in our little thatched roof casita in Belize had water delivered by plastic pipes half buried under the sand.

Here are the best and the worst bathrooms ever, and an explanation as to why they earned the ratings:

BEST PUBLIC BATHROOM -
Just off I-55 in Litchfield, Illinois.
It's been a couple of years since we stopped at a gas station that also housed a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant. The bathroom was absolutely spotless. I've never seen anything like it. When I met the Farmer at the cashier where he was paying for our gas and a couple of Cokes I told the woman, "That's they cleanest bathroom I've ever seen."

"Thanks", she said. "I'm responsible for cleaning it."

I complimented her profusely. Here's a woman who was given the uneviable task of keeping a public bathroom clean and she took that responsibility seriously. It was not beneath her, nor did she take the attitude that they weren't paying her enough to clean that room. She was a terrific employee.

WORST PUBLIC BATHROOM ..... EVER

Our tour bus pulled up to the visitor's center at Mayan temple complex at Tikal in Guatemala. This place is one of the wonders of the world and we stepped off the bus a short distance from the very modern looking visitor's center. As we walked across the parking lot it became apparent that everything was not as it appeared from a distance. The day the construction workers pulled away was the last day anyone had laid a hand on the building. It was obvious that no effort had been made to maintain or clean anything. The bathroom was a fright. I would have rather used an outhouse or simply ducked behind a bush out in the jungle. What made things a thousand times worse is that these bathrooms were located just behind the "restaurant". It's no wonder the open air restaurant was empty. Not a soul would dare eat in such a place. People come from all over the globe to visit this place and they can't find a bucket and some soap. Shameful.

I can't be alone in my silly habit of keeping track of "stuff". What do you keep track of?

Look - She's a Dinosaur!

There are those moments in life when we just feel inadequate and worse still, irrelevant. And there are times when we feel like dinosaurs in the land of sleek gazelles.

January 9th marks the two-year anniversary of the end of my employment with the local newspaper. Although this unemployment has been good in terms of dealing with my health issues, there are other considerations that are not so positive. My paycheck would certainly not change our lifestyle but in light of the declining value of our retirement funds it could balance some shortfalls.

The Farmer and I would in no way blame anyone for the "losses". The losses are on paper only and we're old enough to have weathered some tough times and some very deep and scary recesssions. I suppose if you live long enough you reach a point where you're unflappable. We've never created dreams for our future that couldn't be amended, scaled down, revised or even tossed out the window if need be. I think we could be happy in a log cabin. With running water, of course.

My mind lately has been contemplating returning to work at least part-time. The Farmer is working incredibly hard and my job keeping the home fires burning feels a bit inadequate. I feel the need to make some concrete contributions to our fast approaching future. I was proud to be the partner who carried our family health insurance for many years.

But there's a problem. I'm a dinosaur.

See this typewriter?



It's something I bought at a thrift store and almost the same model that my father bought for me as a graduation gift. It was the latest model in a time when an electric typewriter was unheard of outside of an office setting. Copy machines were cutting edge technology, only afforded by the largest corporations. Carbon paper was the tool of the masses.

In my work life in the printing and publishing industry, advances were made in small spurts and finally in great leaps and bounds. At the time I received the typewriter, personal computers were the stuff of science fiction.

What does this all mean? It means that when I peruse the job offerings at the local hospital and community college I realize that technology has slipped through my fingers. I'm familiar enough with Microsoft Word to write a letter, but nothing more. Excel? Not a clue. Power point? Hmmmm, nope. They're asking for "documented proof of proficiency."

To tell the truth I'm not in any mood to be learning these things. Poke me with a fork..... I'm done.

So what's a girl to do? I'll just keep searching for a doctor who wants a "people person" to work in the office and interact with patients..... some old dinosaur physician who never got the memo about Microsoft Excel. Yeah, that's my plan.

And the Winners Are........

Thanks to everyone who commented and threw their names into the drawing.



The winner of the mink hat is.......



And the winner of the bustier lamps is.......



To answer Jeanette's question about the lamp, I think it was a gift in one of those Christmas white elephant gift exchanges.

Marlene and Mogsy, please e-mail me with your addresses.

Those of you who were interested in the recipes, I'll be e-mailing you.

I've found some other interesting items in my de-cluttering mission and I'm going to offer them up for adoption next week sometime. I apologize for being such a crappy comment acknowledger, but things have gotten away from me around here. Besides, I'm trying my best to live up to Pam Kitty Morning's example. If you look on my sidebar you'll see that she's my blog's official Crappy Commenter. She's been doing a great job.

You'll also see that I have an Official Grammar Nazi. She's done a great job of catching all those dangling participles, but I just seem to be a terrible student when it comes to apostrophes...... or is it apostrophe's? No, it's plural. That would be apostrophes.

Stay tuned for tomorrows episode of My Llife when I discover that I'm a dinosaur in a world of sleek gazelles.

Two Dog Night

It's very cold here in the midwest. Nineteen degrees last night but it seemed much colder. Every window feels like it's wide open and I've been pouring over the J.C. Penney catalog looking at insulated drapes.

The Farmer and I snuggled close.

It was a two dog night.


Pancho and Cisco keep warm.

I think it was a two long-horned steer night too!


Nearby Resident Norm's Pets

I think we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the weather. One thing's for sure, it's never boring!