Sisters

I'm so excited cause I'll be able to see both of my sisters this week!

1961 or 1962 with our cousin
This was us in 1966 so I was about 11, Paula was 8 1/2, and Terri was 7. This was taken shortly before I burned down the barn (in the background), and the toilet, which was over to the left (out of the picture).

Paula and I are meeting Terri in Brinkley on Friday to have a catch up afternoon. This picture is of Terri and I at one of the Blues Fests in Helena. I don't know who that dork is behind us in the picture, I guess he wanted to preserve the moment too.

Paula will be here for Thanksgiving and we plan to have a "girls" night over at Jerri's on Thursday night. In this picture, we're getting ready for Jaylen's first birthday party.The 3 photos above are of us in 1999, 2004, and 2005. I'm sad to say that we haven't all been together at the same time since then so you can see why I'm so excited. We have so much to talk about, so much to catch up on, it might take a while.

YouTube is My Friend

I spent an unknown amount of time yesterday composing a post only to have Blogger eat it up. You saw the result of my temper tantrum, I just threw up those two video links and let er go.

Today I'm not in a very good mood to start with so if I decided that if I spent the time for a lengthy composition just to feed that blog monster again, I'd probably throw this puter through a window.

I can't afford a new window, so this is what you get.

I love this guy and I'd like to adopt his attitude about life.

Some music never gets old.

I'm needing a little rest

I'll be back a little later, maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow. I'm just a little tired.
Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Grandma's Cures

When we were growing up my Grandma Fisher was in charge of most of our medical care. She nursed my sisters and I through everything from thorn wounds to measles and chickenpox and we survived it all, although that old saying, "What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger", comes to mind when I think of some of her cures.
Black Salve was one of the "cures" in the old, white-painted cabinet that hung on the wall of her kitchen. She brought it out when we had splinters or thorns that needed it's "drawing" power to bring the object to the surface so that she could do surgery with her sewing needle. I remember chasing the cows one day while I was barefooted, after being warned to put my shoes on before heading down to the pasture, and I stepped on a thorn that drove itself deep into my heel. It took weeks of black salve applications to get that old thorn out but it finally festered up one day and Grandma's skills with that needle extracted it.
Father John's was another of her "cures for what ails ya" and if we ever came down with a sniffle, she'd dose us up with a tablespoon of it. She used Grove's Chill Tonic (we called it Grover's) to keep us from getting colds and to build up our blood in the Spring after a hard Winter. There was much protest when she brought out those two bottles and I can even remember trying to run and hide to avoid having to swallow that nasty stuff, but she'd just wait patiently cause she knew I'd come out of hiding around meal time.
If you needed a laxative she had a bottle of Black Draught and if that didn't work you, pronto, she had an old stand-by, Castor Oil. As bad as the Black Draught tasted, you always prayed it would work cause the Castor Oil was a hundred times worse!
A little, blue, jar of Vick's Salve (actually Vick's vapor rub) was also a resident of her medicine cabinet. She'd rub it on our chests if we had a cough, rub it under our noses if we were sniffling, and put a glob of it in our mouths if we had what she thought was the croup. One of the main ingredients of Vick's is camphor and I've heard tell, since I've been grown, that it's a poison if it is ingested because it causes the death of liver cells. I guess it's a wonder that we're still alive, cause I know for a fact that, as a kid, I probably ingested what amounts to 2 or 3 jars of that stuff.

A little bottle of turpentine was in that cabinet too. In the Spring we'd get a drop of turpentine on a teaspoon of sugar to make sure we didn't have any worms. Sugar does not disguise the taste of turpentine and it tastes pretty much the same way it smells. She also used turpentine as a disinfectant, when I buried her butcher knife up to the bone in my hand between thumb and pointer when I was trying to punch holes in a jar lid for the frogs we'd caught, she poured turpentine in and on the wound and tied a bleached dish towel around it. I've got a scar from it, but the hand still works fine.

I suppose we were lucky that her medical skills graduated to a use of more modern pharmaceutical supplies by the time we were born cause I've heard stories of how she'd used kerosene (she called it coal oil) to disinfect and cure stuff like cuts and snake bite when she was younger.

Brent had one

I've been over at Law and Disorder to see what Brent posted and he had one of these buddies. I had to make one for myself.
I kinda like my tail.

Hell Is Living With A Sick 10-yr-old Boy

Zach has a virus. He missed school yesterday to visit the doctor, he missed today because he still feels yucky, and will miss tomorrow so I can keep feeding him the meds. I'm HOPING,,,,praying,,that he can return to school on Thursday. If not, ya'll can come visit me in the padded cell I'll for sure be visiting.

Redneck Driving Etiquette

1. When approching a 4 way stop, remember the vehicle with the largest tires always goes first.

2. When sending your wife down the road with a gas can in hand, remember it's impolite to ask her to bring back a 6 pack of beer.

3. Remember that the median is not a passing lane.

4. Never tow another car using panty hose and duct tape.

Tired, Tired, Nanaw

I bought groceries this morning.

I put them away while starting Sunday dinner. We had chicken-n-dumplings, peas, cornbread, cheesy scalloped potatoes, and (bought) pumpkin pie.

Jilly Beans decided she'd like to stay over with Nanaw and PopPop tonight. I've been trying to talk her into going to sleep but she's not ready cause when I say, "Beans, aren't you ready for night-nights yet?" She says, "No, No, Nanaw, wait, wait."

Friday Slots and Saturday Fishing

Last night's dinner was wonderful. I had lots of shrimp, salad, and some mussels. I finished up with a few bites of a dark chocolate dessert with a strong cup of coffee.

We played a little before dinner and I managed to win $90 with my $5. After dinner I put in another $15 and didn't hit for anything. I suppose it was a good thing I didn't win a jackpot because I nearly spilled my drink when I won the little bit that I did, a bigger win would have probably killed me.




We went fishing on Old Town Lake this morning and didn't get nary a nibble. I took my camera along so I didn't get the least bit bored.

Quickie

Had a fine dinner last night and played the slots a little.

Went fishing the morning and took my camera.

I'll be back later with photos cause right now I need a nap in the worst way.

HughesNet Still Sucks and A Rare Night Out

The Terrorist has left for school and I'm sitting here waiting for 8 a.m. to roll over on the clock so I can call those lying bastids at HughesNet again. I think the only qualifications you've gotta have to work for these folks is to be able to lie consistently, and not know where the hell you're going or where you've been.

After vigorously voicing my complaints on a form for the BBB in Maryland, I got a call from the corporate offices of HughesNet informing me that they were seriously looking into things and they'd have someone in tech support coming out to put things right.

He came, Wednesday of last week, this guy who's only been with the company for about 4 months, and spent several hours piddling around before telling me that he'd have to come back, on Friday, to finish.

Friday came and went.

Monday came and went.

I called the fella in MD who called me back to say the tech would be here by noon.

The tech guy called and said he had to install a new dish and it was too windy that day so he'd appreciate it if he could wait until Thursday to come out. I told him fine, but my frustration was mounting to shotgun levels.

It's Friday and he didn't come yesterday. He also didn't CALL yesterday. I was at home all day waiting even though I had a load of stuff to do in town. I'm now irritated, agitated, and aggravated. I'm ready to bite nails folks!

Maybe I'll be able to ease some of my frustrations tonight. We're going to dinner with friends at Sam's Town Casino over in Tunica, MS. They have a seafood buffet on Friday and Saturday nights and that's some of my favorite kind of groceries. And dang it, I might even take a 20 to put in the slots while I'm there.

Turkey Funny

Castles

I love old castles and I love meandering through them and imagining what life was like back when they were built for the Nobels and Royalty who lived in them during the middle ages. I've been fortunate to be able to visit a few old castles over the years and I wouldn't trade the experiences for anything in the world.

My first visit to a castle was in Edinburgh, Scotland. We vacationed there in the summer of 1970 because my stepmom's sister was married to a Scotsman and we went to visit them. Great Britian isn't a huge island, but I remember that drive, from the little village we lived in just north of London all the way up north to Scotland, as being a long one.

The Edinburgh Castle was awesome and my clearest memory of the day we spent there, and in the Princess Street Gardens, was the HUGE fireplaces located in a few areas on the ground floor of the castle. They were so big that you could stand up in them with plenty of room overhead.

The floors were worn smooth from the hundreds of years of being trodden upon and the rooms were big and drafty, and very cool even though it was a hot summer day outside. I could almost imagine how freezing cold it must have been in the winter months.

Kasteel Hoensbroek in Limburg, The Netherlands.

Marion, Herman, and I, sitting on the drawbridge at Kasteel Hosensbroek.

Castle Hosensbroek was a combination of old and newer. They added onto it in the 1700's (I think) so when we toured there was a point where it seemed we stepped out from one era into another.

In the older part of the Castle were the huge rooms, massive fireplaces, and dark and damp rooms. James even visited the dungeon but since I freak in closed, dark places, I stayed to stay where there was more light. This castle had something that other castles I've visited didn't have, they had an indoor bathroom! I expect it was added long after the castle was built and didn't amount to more than a dark little cubbyhole with a bench seat and hole that went down to the dungeon. Actually, it was much nicer than the old outdoor toilet's I've been in!

The newer part was more elegant and decorative. There were drapes and tiled fireplaces, wonderful old furniture, and windows.

Kasteel Arcen

We only toured the grounds of Castle Arcen but what wonderful grounds they were. They have every sort of garden imaginable so, as you wander, you can from a simple Japanese garden into a quaint English garden. There were rose gardens, tropical gardens, and water gardens. While we were there they were having a Koi auction so we stopped to watch for a bit. Some of those big, ornamental fish sold for more than most folks earn in a month.

Kasteel Stein

This Castle is in the town of Stein, where we were staying with our sweet Soony and her parents, Herman and Marion. This view is of the newer part of the Castle and during the time of our visit in 1995, it had been converted into a rest home for nuns. When I visited in 2004 it had been converted once again into apartments, and because Soony's in-laws lived in one of them, I was able to visit it again when we went for dinner there one night. The apartment was absolutely beautiful!

The older part of the castle is in ruins but is still on the grounds.

Valkenburg Kasteel ruins

We only saw this castle from the street below. It sits atop a bluff overlooking the city of Valkenburg, where the shopping is great by the way.

Now, for some fun stuff. I found this site a while ago where you can take a tour through a castle. All you have to do is type in your name and give your castle a name, click on the drawbridge, then follow the little mouse.

Day 6

We're finally seeing some fall colors around here. This old barn sits down in a little valley, one of the few in our area since we are mostly flat until you get to Crowley's Ridge.

I took this cause I thought they were pretty.

Jerri called last night to tell me about the Bean's latest antic. It seems she decided the bucket that was used for storing her blocks would make a good hat. It got stuck on her head and it took several minutes of struggle to get it off. Bubbie had decided to try to cut the plastic handle but Jerri gave it one more push and finally got it off. I expect that trick was worth several more gray hairs.

It's a good day when,,,,

I wake up and know I don't have anywhere to go and can just stay at home for the day.

I don't have to raise my voice even one time to get Zach ready for school.

The sun is shining and the sounds of the dishwasher, washer, and dryer, don't interrupt my watching The Price Is Right.

The house is clean and I don't have to pick up 1,001 items that others have left laying around.

There aren't a sink full of dirty dishes left by the dirty dish fairy when I wake up.

One out of 5 ain't so bad, I didn't have to yell even one time this morning! Now, I'd best get my lazy butt dressed and moving so I can run into town and take some movies back.

I'll take my camera and maybe I'll see something to inspire a shot.

Kiddies 4, Nanaw -2

Possible Insanity

Jilly Beans stayed with me Thursday night, Abby stayed last night, tonight the Chick (Alexis), MeriKate, and Krysten, are having a sleepover at my house.

Am I brave, or what?

PopPop hasn't heard about the plans yet, he may head for more peaceful pastures when he does.

Snacks, DVDs, hot dogs, chili, corn chips, popcorn, and juice, are in stock and ready to be distributed.

Toby's New Trick

I bet Stanley Steemer got a load of work after this aired. I almost called them myself!

And I thought I was having a bad day,,,,,

Awake a little after 7 cause Jami felt the need to bring the girls over that early so she would be able to study for her 8:30 class.

Had to go to town, with 4 kids, to do the banking, buy gas for my truck, and buy groceries and I'm getting to old to herd 4 kids in the grocery store. I now know for certain that I'd rather be cooped up with wild, ebola carrying, monkeys than to be closed up in a truck with 4 kids.

Anyway, in the news today, or yesterday,,,hell, one day,,, and I can hear these dudes relating their bad luck stories to their good ole boy friends later on,,,

"Well,,,, I was driving home to Arkansas from Texas and the cops stopped me for speeding and started inquiring about those 2 dozen heads I had in that trailer behind my truck,,,,,"

"I was out huntin today, stopped to cross over a fence, and danged if my ole dog didn't shoot me!"