Thursday, November 19, 2015

Another Ramble

Things seem to be slowing down here in my little corner of the world.  Canning and dehydrating seasons are about finished.  I would like to dry some more frozen hash browns.  I just spread them out on the mesh lined dehydrator trays for drying.  No need to blanch and they keep forever.  To use them, I just soak enough for a meal in hot water for about 15 minutes and fry them up for a quick and easy addition to a meal.

It has been raining here for the last couple of days.  Not a steady rain, but more wave after wave moving through.  Luckily, we did not get the high winds that some in other parts of the country had to contend with.  Today is clear but cold - the temperature being 31 degrees about noontime.

The company that Oldest Son works for has ordered a new forklift for him to drive.  It comes with an enclosed cab that has heat and air conditioning.  Son stopped in last evening when he got home from work.  He surprised me with a treat of a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars.  Life is worth living if one has a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars.  :)  Anyway, he showed me his insulated gloves that were soaked clear through.  The roof on the forklift he now drives had kept him fairly dry and he was bundled up in several layers of heavy clothes.  But I think he will be really happy when the new forklift arrives.

Years ago I lived in northern Minnesota, near Bemidji.  That town has had statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox as a tourist attraction near the lakefront.  The Paul Bunyan statue is 18 feet tall and they have been there since about 1937.

Picture from the Bemidji C of C website.

There is a web cam there now and every once in a while I will go to their Chamber of Commerce website to watch the tourists taking pictures of themselves with the statues.  It is fun to watch the kids - they seem to have so much fun standing on Paul's foot or running underneath Babe.  I looked at it today and found that it was snowing heavily there.  Don't suppose it will take too long before the snow moves south and everything here will be covered in a blanket of white.

My family will get together on Thanksgiving at Youngest Son's home.  I always enjoy spending time with my family.  My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner is the pumpkin pies.  I may have to make some other treats for the kids.  It isn't often I get the chance to spoil my Grands.  I do have to be careful of the ingredients in whatever I make.  Maddie Mae has a peanut allergy, so peanut butter cookies are out of the question.  Maybe chocolate chip cookies.  I don't remember seeing so many kids with allergies when mine were young.  Maybe that's because so much food now is processed, where then most everything was made from scratch.

I'm off the get a couple of things done, like wash my kitchen floor (How one person can make such a mess of one floor, I will never know!) and put away the extra bottles of ketchup and cooking oil I bought for my food storage.  After a little supper it will be time to settle in with yarn and crochet hook.  Maybe I can find a good movie on Hulu to watch.  With all of the insanity going on in our world, sometimes it is nice just to sit back and enjoy a movie.  Even though I know that the terrorists are still flooding in and the perpetually offended are still causing more hate and discontent, and I know that the other shoe is apt to drop shortly, I still do rather love this quiet life for as long as it lasts.

10 comments:

  1. Some folks think modern allergies are due to all the chemicals that we eat and drink. My wife and I have been ignoring the news more and watching a movie for the last couple weeks. Between politics and murder, sometimes we just need a break.

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  2. Gorges...As much as I believe in staying alert to what is happening in our world, I think that sometimes we have to just live our lives - including a good movie now and then. I think it helps keep me sane, when sanity is in such short supply these days.

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  3. Mother, On my forklift there are 4 corner posts and metal bars across the top to prevent something from falling and thumping my skull. The "roof" consists of plastic wrap that I wrapped around said metal bars. It really doesn't do more good than psychological help. Four open sides and some plastic wrap is the extent of my protection from rain, wind, snow, etc. Duane

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  4. Oh, geeze, Son...I didn't realize you were that open to the elements. Hope the new forklift arrives soon! Love, Mom

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  5. Little Debbie Nutty Bars!!! It doesn't get much better than that. Love them.

    I've been doing Thanksgiving dinner for years, with 20 - 30 every year, but decided this year that it was time to take a break from this and turned it over to one of my daughter's. I'll still be making the pumpkin pies and several other goodies, but it won't be at my house. Really a relief for me.

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  6. Jim...I have to hide the Little Debbie Nutty Bars from myself or they would be soon gone!!

    Sometimes I wish I had room so everyone could come here for a holiday, but the older I get, the more grateful I am that I can just go to the home of one of my children. I do love making goodies to take with me, so it all works out. The important part is that we are together as a family.

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  7. I agree, Vicki, we all need a break and distraction from the world from time to time. We really appreciate our quiet little corner of the world. I guess I'm on a small break now, I couldn't think of anything to write yesterday. Sound familiar? (-: Blessings.

    Fern

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  8. I remember the Paul Bunyun and Babe the Blue Ox stories from when I was a very little kid. We had the Uncle Remus stories too but now nobody knows about them because they are deemed to be not politically correct.

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  9. Fern...We get so caught up in the news of the day sometimes that we forget we have real lives that need living. I check the news reports every day, but I also find ways to stop and sniff a rose or two each day, too. We have to take those breaks now and then or quite possibly go mad! And yep, I get the part about not finding anything to write about now and then. :)

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  10. Harry...Some of those Paul and Babe stories were actually included in my elementary school studies of Minnesota History! Some of my fondest memories of my Dad include his reading the Uncle Remus stories to me when I was just a little girl. The politically correct don't realize that those stories aren't racist. They are stories taken from the perspective of a well loved Uncle telling stories for the entertainment of children. And those stories always had a moral, like Aesop's fables. Of course, it seems that we as a society don't teach right and wrong any more. I think the story I remember the best is the one about the tar baby. That one has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with consequences for actions. As a kid, Br'er Fox and Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Bear were like old friends. So sad that the politically correct deprive kids of those wonderful stories.

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