Just need to talk to my friends (144)

Iris L.

Lorita, I've been around one cow up close.  My extended family had a farm in North Carolina and my brother and I visited in the summers when we were children.  That's when we learned about milking and other farm activities.  In those days we could see many cows and horses in pastures along the roads on family farms.  The scenery was so bucolic.  Not so today.  I refuse to eat veal.

Iris

Mint

Lorita have never tried to raise turnips.  My parents didn’t either.  One of my grandparents did.  Can remember sitting on the porch with him and him peeling it with his knife and we ate it raw.  Thanks for sharing your cow pictures.

Rescue mom sounds like you fix your beet stems like I fix my Swiss Chard.

Ron you handled that well.  You did not accuse her of anything but guessing she knows you have caught on.  Yet you didn’t really burn your bridge.  So if you were really stuck you might be able to get her.  Just take your cash with you.

My poor mother ordered four rose bushes.  She said she was going to have The Lawn Mower Guy (LMG) help her set them.  The LMG retired a few weeks ago.  Don’t know what happened but couple of days ago told me she was going to do it herself. Felt guilty so on Saturday went over to dig the holes for her.  Of course she didn’t want me to just dig the holes for her, she wanted me to work the ground up, told me I wasn’t using right shovel etc.  Told her I didn’t have time, but reality is, and that is what I should have told her is I’m not able physically to do all of that.  That would do my body under.  She said you just quit and I will do it myself.   I’m realizing this more and more she is not able.  These are big hearty, hale looking roses too.  Don’t like working with them.  They had wicked looking thorns.  So this morning she told me she was going to hire someone to plant them.  The man who she says she is  going to hire, doubt if he will come, we shall see.  She said he told her she could call him anytime.  From past history guessing he is not going to come in a day or two, we’ll see.

The landscaping around the house was so full of weeds.  Went back on Sunday and did that.  Took me three hours. At home try to just work a couple of hours at a time at yard work as makes it easier on my muscles.   What really is bad is that she throws a fit if I mention putting mulch down.  I may have to get strong enough mentally to just do it a little later on this summer when less busy here. That means I would have to pay for all of it though. When I was doing it she comes and tells me that she left the scissors on the wall for me to cut the dead daffodils off.  She could stand up and do that.  Told her would not have time for that and maybe she could do that as it would be pretty easy.   The wall bed and garden still need done.  She has a little of the garden done.  She is past all of this but of course has no realization of this.  She just needs a small apartment with a few pots of flowers.  Maybe I can just work a few hours each week at it.  Won’t be perfect but maybe won’t get too bad.

She told me her neighbor lady had to put her husband in rehab because he keeps falling.  Guessing he is there to stay.  He has vascular dementia and think they are in their 80s.  Mom said she acts like she is wore out.  I’m sure she is.  They were very nice neighbors.  Mom was over there bothering the neighbor because she was wanting to hire the LMG to mow the lot between the two houses.  She let mom, so maybe it will help her out a little, but it feeds mom’s issues unfortunately.

Well take care everyone

ronald71111

Sunday supper was always a special meal growing up, with family around the table and good vittles. Yesterday we had salmon patties, broccoli, pork and beans and rolls. Now with all the turnip greens talk I've decided next Sunday turnip greens, cornbread, some type of beans, pickled tomatoes, and maybe pork chops. I know growing up we had a lot of baby Lima beans over rice with either chicken or pork chops. 

We hadn't seen the neighbor all week since mondays sitting with Lou and she use to call or come over for a brief visit a couple of times a week. Yesterday after I called her she was over for a few minutes and talked like nothing had changed. Cant figure!

Ron

Lorita

Morning,

 It's a chilly morning but supposed to be in the mid 70s today.  Will be a six star day, then tonight the bottom falls out and we're back to real wintertime tomorrow with a freeze predicted for Wednesday morning.  Got that stinkin' trash taken down just at daylight.  Had the whole back of the Gator filled with broken-down boxes and trash sacks.  I sacked up a lot of empty feed sacks into black, plastic bags.  Until this year I've always kept up with it and not had empty sacks laying around - but, this year I got behinder and behinder so it'll take a while to get it done.  I thought when it was either really wet or there was snow on the ground I'd burn them - didn't get it done.

 Today in OKC they're having a memorial of the Murrow Bldg. bombing - can't believe it was actually 26 years ago.  Judith, did you feel or hear the explosion?  I remember we went to Eureka Springs the next weekend and people in Arkansas were talking about it and how sad it was.

 Iris, I love cattle and being with and taking care of them.  I dread the time when I won't be able to have them.  I think anyone who works with them and then can't any longer, really misses it.  They're peaceful, sweet (for the most part) animals who love their little ones.  Much better mothers than a lot of people.  When I feel down or just don't feel well I can go out and be with them and I feel much better.  I love to watch and listen to them graze.    I let the new mom and Missy out north of the house to graze after I got back from taking down the trash.  When I got up and looked out Missy was having breakfast.

 Sara - I love raw turnips - haven't had any in a long time.  I like to peel them and slice them fairly thickly, then cook them in a little bit of water until they're fork tender.  Guess that's the way my parents fixed them.  Charles liked them cooked almost to a mush - probably the way his mother cooked them.  So, when we had turnips I cooked them both ways.

 Don't let your mother cut off the tops of the daffodils.  If you do, they won't bloom the next year.  All the energy for the new flowers are in the tops.  That's one reason our yard looks so bad for a few weeks - there's daffodils scattered everywhere and Bryon has to try not to cut them down until they turn brown.  I trimmed the big knock-out roses yesterday - quite a lot of winter kill so now those branches are laying on the ground all around it.  They have thorns on them, too.  The one out toward the barn needs to be trimmed some, too - just the tips.  Maybe I'll get that done today.  The two new ones are looking really good and will grow a lot this year.  Looking forward to getting my Gerber Daisies.  I checked this morning and my caladiums will be shipped around the 22nd.  I won't plant them until the ground is pretty warm.  When Mr. K. did some work on the fences they cut back my Tropicana rose and clematis that was on a post at the corner.  I keep forgetting to look to see if they've come out.  The clematis should be all right and do hope the rose is.  The clematis is dark purple and the rose is orange and when they bloom together, they're beautiful.

 Sara - do you know that when you plant rose bushes if you put some Epsom salts in the hole and mix it in a bit, they're supposed to do better.  I've tried it but don't know if it helped or not.   Yard work is hard so please don't overdo.  Around here it's hard to find someone to mow for you.  After it got to the point Charles or I couldn't do it, we went through three or four prospects.  They'd come one time and that was it.   Finally got Bryon's name, called him and he and Shane have done the work since then.  Also other little things I needed done. 

 When I looked out south I didn't see any of the girls except Rose Bud who wasn't far from the house so drove out and gave her some feed, then checked the south pasture - no one there.  Finally did see them drifting down from the MH.  Always feel better when I see them.  Mom and baby are north of the house - out of the lot.

 Ron, your Sunday supper sounds good.  I laughed when you said "vittles".  I hadn't heard that in a long time.  My grandma always said vittles.  We used to have salmon patties fairly often, then we'd make sandwiches from them the next day.  I also remember when I was growing up, sometimes mother would open a can of salmon, put it in a bowl and we'd eat it like that with crackers.  It's kind of odd and interesting how different families eat; the family of a friend who I would sometimes spend the night with would have eggs with gravy on them for breakfast.  Couldn't handle that.  And, I'm sure some of the things we had were strange to them, too.  I remember every  year the FFA would sell Blue and Gold Sausage.  We always bought some and we'd have sausage gravy over biscuits.  Really good. 

 Glad your neighbor came over to visit with you all.  Maybe she realizes you know she took the money and, hopefully, she won't do it again.  Like Sara said, don't leave temptation around when she's going to be there.  Might inconvenience you some but I know you'd feel better about it.

 I'll stop and find something for breakfast.  Did get my Jimmy the Baker's crumb cakes and left one out of the freezer so might have part of that or cereal.  Kind of hungry this morning.

  Enjoy the pretty day if you're in our area.  I know there's snow and very cold weather just north of us, so stay warm.

ronald71111

Lorita,  I'm sitting here this morning watching the virginian and was wondering how many times you or others are reminded of years gone by. I was watching the wife make loaf bread; had several sections of dough, put some flour on her hands out of the old flour sifter, needed the dough, placed it in the pan and beat it down. I just see so many things on these old westerns from drinking water from the gourd to slopping the hogs. 

Ron

Lorita

Isn't that the truth, Ron.  I watch lots of old westerns and The Waltons and am reminded of things I'd forgotten.  You mentioned drinking water from a gourd - we never did that but surely did from a dipper.  I saw someone getting water from a bucket of water drawn from a dug well with a dipper - hadn't thought of that for years.  We had a well, a drilled one and I still have the well bucket from it, I think.  I don't remember us using it but do remember that from a neighbor's well that was by the porch.   So many things we did back then that we've forgotten.  Those were a kinder, gentler time when you weren't afraid to leave your doors unlocked or to go anywhere.

 When I was in school, they'd take us to the fair around noon and we'd stay until late at night.  We wandered all over the fairgrounds, not afraid at all and our parents were comfortable in letting us do that.  That would not happen now.

 Maybe that's one reason I like to watch old shows, westerns and others because it does remind us of things we used to do and how things were.  Think about how things have changed during our lifetime - what in the world will it be like 25 years from now?

Mint

Lorita think she just wanted me to cut off the dead blooms.   The guy came and set her four roses.  She said he told her he couldn’t come today.  She told him he had to because she had soaked them in water over night.  She said he did a good job.  Im glad, didn’t want her to lose the roses but I can’t not do things like that.  It is why start my own plants and only buy small things at nursery.  Small things usually do the best in the end anyways.

She put alfalfa meal in with her rose.  That is what the instructions said to use.  She has ordered quite a few roses from them in past.  They always send really nice plants.

jfkoc

I was at home at the time of the bombing and yes, it was felt. The room shook and the chandeliers swayed. Dick would have been across the street from the front of the Federal Bldg but his deposition was called off. 

We  had two friends hospitalized. 

We always folded the daffodils in half and secured with a rubber band.

Iris L.

Judith, that was a miracle for your husband.

My husband and I were married in his country.  He really did not want to move to the U.S., but my medical care was already set up here.  Three months after he arrived, the bombing occurred.  He was very upset and wanted to return to his country.  I reassured him that this type of violence was a one-time event, so he stayed.  Unfortunately, I was wrong about the violence.  

Iris