Tuesday 4~ On Holiday

 

On Holiday

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...
Summertime means travel time for many people.
Let's talk about travel and holidays.

1. Will you be traveling this summer at all?

Not that I am currently aware of.  We prefer to do our traveling in the fall, but I am not too sure that we will even be doing that this year.  Everything has gotten too expensive and we really don't feel like traveling that much anyway. However, I never say never.  If the opportunity arises, and it's something we really want to do, then I suppose we might just do something spontaneous. (But I'm not holding my breath on that idea)

2. Will there be day trips in store for you? visits to the beach, evenings out:?

We do plan to go meet up with my hubby's brother and wife (and kids? not sure) for lunch one day this month. Our "kids", Benton and Rose, will go with us, and we will travel about an hour or so south to meet them at a restaurant that we always enjoy.   Other than that, I don't know of anything else at this moment.

We don't do "evenings out" now that we are old retired people. If we go anywhere,it is normally in the day time, and preferably for lunch.  We already did a visit to the beach for my mother's day treat, and I don't foresee us going again anytime soon. Too hot and crowded. (and too much traffic between here and there). Let's face it, we are homebodies these days.  We may take short rides here and there just to get out of the house, but that's about it.
3. Do you eat out more in summer... do you go for ice cream or treats more?

I wouldn't say that we eat out any more in the summer than we do in the rest of the year. We may average going out to eat once or twice a month year round.  Re: ice cream...if we want ice cream we buy it at the store and bring it home to eat. We can't justify spending so much for an ice cream cone as a whole carton of ice cream! Sorry to be a kill-joy, but we are retired and on a fixed income! LOL!

4. What is your favorite place to visit and what is the most exotic place you've been to?

Well, our favorite place to visit would probably be the mountains..north Georgia in particular, and that would be in the fall if at all.  Most exotic place I've ever been?  I'm not sure I could classify any place we've been as exotic. We live in Florida...isn't that exotic enough? LOL.  Never been to an island or on a cruise, and don't have any plans to do so. When we were younger we would sometimes go spend a night or two at the beach in a nice hotel, just the two of us. That was pretty exotic to us. Sometimes we talk about doing that again. I'd love to go just to wake up and see the sunrise on the beach and take a walk on the beach early in the morning before the crowds arrive. That's my idea of paradise. LOL. 

Sorry I wasn't more exciting on this week's meme.  We just aren't travelers anymore, and we are on a tight budget, so we are careful about what we do. And to be honest, "there's no place like home."  You can make your home as exotic as you like. It can be your own little hideaway if you need it to be...and since we are retired and no one else lives here with us, that's pretty easy to do. 

Now on another note, Let'swalk around my "exotic" yard and see what we can see...Oh, this is the first yellow squash to get big enough to eat...

And because our "boys" were going to be here for Sunday dinner yesterday, I picked the squash and cut it up to put in our tossed salad...

It was perfect!  We did add tomatoes from our garden also, but I keep them separate and let everyone add their own tomatoes since not everyone wants them.  

We also had hamburgers cooked on the grill by son Scott. However I didn't take any pictures of that or of us eating. DIL Rose is still in Minnesota, so son Benton came over and brought the 'pups' with him. I've told him he can plan to eat supper with us all week while she is gone if he wants to.  I always cook too much food anyway, so he might as well come and help us eat it. And so he did come again tonight, and I expect he will come tomorrow, etc. as well. It's good for us and good for him too, as I know he really doesn't enjoy cooking and eating alone all that much.

Finally we also have a zucchini squash growing. I will probably pick it before it gets too big and we will most likely put it in a salad too.  There aren't enough squash yet to cook up at batch, so I'd just as soon eat them in a salad.

Some of my wildflowers are starting to bloom that I planted:

And my blueberry bush is really loaded with berries, and they are finally starting to ripen!

Who is that hiding under the bush in my shadow?

Ah Ha! Caught you Blackie!!  He was right there under my feet, and sniffing at the blueberries. I hope he doesn't decide that it's something he wants to eat!! I have other plans for those blueberries!!

Now, talk about "exotic"...or maybe just strange and unusual...

We kept noticing some buzzards landing on our still very dry "Still Waters Pond", and it appeared they were guarding something and also kind of fighting over something laying there on the surface of the dry pond. These pictures are kind of bright because it was a bright sunny day, and also because my photo editor program is not cooperating with me on pictures from my "real camera", and so I am not able to edit pictures very well right now. I've got to figure out what's wrong, but it's a frustrating process, so what you see is what you get for now...

I tried to zoom in on what they are looking at, and because it was at a great distance, and also because of the bright sun, I wasn't too sure, but it sure looked like a fish!  Now, where on earth would a fish come from on top of our very dry pond????

A little later my curiosity got the better of me, and the buzzards had flown away, so I decided to try and venture forth across the dry pond, and I actually made it! Thankfully this was only as far as the island, and not all the way across, but still, it was a journey frought with a bit of trepidation because I was afraid the crust of the pond would break through and I would be in the muck beneath. But apparently the ground is SO dry, that wasn't a problem.  Anyway...YES, it was a FISH!!!! Amazing!  The only thing we can figure out is that most likely a big bird like an Osprey or maybe even an Eagle could have been flying over with the fish in its mouth, flying from the bigger lake nearby, and the fish fell out of its mouth and landed here on the pond. That's the only explanation we can figure out.

Oh, and to answer a question from the comments on my last post, someone asked me how deep our pond was before, and the best answer I can give is that when I was able to paddle the kayak around the pond, I had a long walking stick that I took with me, and I stuck it down into the water as far as I could at one point, and I would say that it was about 3-4 feet deep. There may be some other deeper pockets here and there, but that would be the average depth out in the middle of the pond when it is full. It's hard to believe it now when we see how extremely dry it is. And I do wonder where all the fish, frogs,  and turtles went when the pon dried up...and will they come back whenever the pond is full again? Time will tell. Keep praying for rain. We are supposed to get some starting this Thursday through next week.  

Here'a another unusual sight: the clouds this morning at sunrise:

Now on a very sad note...I learned this morning that our dear sweet friend Maura had passed away. She was 87 years old. This picture was taken in April, and I wrote about it HERE.

When we last were together in April, Maura had just recently lost her husband of 70 years, "Woody". He was 91.  After 70 years of marriage, you can well imagine she was feeling very much alone, even though her granddaughter and great-grandson had moved in with her to help out. But sadly she became very ill recently, and one thing led to another and she was placed in Hospice care over the weekend, and passed away peacefully this morning. 

I am still in shock. Maura was always such a lively and happy person, so full of the joy of the Lord. I know she is rejoicing in the Lord's Presence tonight, and also I know she is so happy to see her precious Woody and their son Mark again. Mark had passed away a couple of years ago after a very long illness.  So she is with the ones she loves and her pain and sorrow is over.  

One of my favorite pictures of Maura, taken at our previous home, where we were "neighbors" and spent a lot of happy times together.

Maura and her husband Woody. This was taken at our son Benton and Rose's wedding in 2017.  Such a dear sweet couple.  May they both rest in peace and in the joy of the Lord.  

"Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning."

Psalm 30:5b

John 11:25-26

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 

26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die..."

John 14:1-3

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God,  believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

And with that I will close for the night.  Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers .

Friday Foto Friends...A Step Back in Time

 Hello Again Friends! It's Friday already, and I usually post lots of photos on Friday as per our custom for many years...and I already had posted all the current photos that I had, so you know what I had to do?  Yes, I had to come up with something quick! LOL. 

So, this morning it was another cool start to our day with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees. I decided that it was "cool" enough to bake something in the oven. I don't like to bake on really hot days because our gas stove/oven really tends to throw off a lot of heat. But it felt comfortable enough this morning to do something that hubby loves for me to do...I baked some biscuits.  Well, recently I had broken the little glass jelly jar that I always use to cut the biscuits. It was just the perfect size, and it made me so sad when I opened up the cupboard and somehow the little jar had gotten bumped to the edge of the shelf and it tumbled out and onto the floor and broke before I could catch it. And even though I do have some other small jelly jars that would work, I liked that one because it had the perfect edge for cutting the biscuits.  

So anyway, this morning I thought, "Wait a minute! I have one of those vintage aluminum biscuit cutters that also has a little insert to make donut holes in my Hoosier Cupboard! It's about time I started using it for it's intended purpose!"

Here it is, with the little donut hole cutter removed...

Here's how it looks with the donut hole cutter installed...

This is so much fun! I feel like my grandmother using this old biscuit cutter and making homemade biscuits. (Well, they are from the Jiffy Biscuit Mix, but we won't tell!)

And here's how they looked after baking:

In keeping with this farm fresh old fashioned breakfast...I just happened to have some of what I call "Real Chicken Eggs"...they came from 'real chickens" on a little farm here in our community. Actually, a lady in our church has her own chickens and she brings eggs to the church for anyone to take home for free!  Usually everyone else gets to them before I do, but this time hubby made sure that we got a carton of them before they were all gone.  Oh my! They were SO nice and big and perfect!!!

And I probably shouldn't show you this, but here's my breakfast this morning...and this is MUCH better than the breakfast we had yesterday at that cafe' in town.  Oh, and thank you Mari for the Cherry Berry Jam. I'm still using it, and it's SO good. And yes, "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!" (Needless to say, I didn't want any lunch today).

And speaking of the breakfast we had yesterday, I mentioned in my post (see that link) that there was a sign on the wall that we couldn't figure out the meaning: 

And one of our very bright and astute blogging friends came up with the answer: Linda from "Just Linda", said it means "you're cray-cray", in other words, "you're crazy".  That does make sense now that I look at it that way! Thank you, Linda, for solving the mystery for us! I wish I had a prize to give you! If you lived a little closer, I'd say come on over for some fresh biscuits! LOL. (She does live within an hour of us, so maybe she WILL come sometime!)

So after breakfast I put the biscuit cutter back where it belongs, the Hoosier Cupboard. And one thing led to another, and soon I was taking pictures of everything in the Hoosier Cupboard.  HERE's the back story on the Hoosier Cupboard, among other posts, that you've probably seen before.

Over the years I have shared a lot of pictures of this cupboard, but I haven't gone into much detail about the things inside of it for a while, so I kind of got carried away taking pictures of things.  You may want to get a cup of tea or coffee or some iced tea and pull up a chair and stay awhile. This could take some time.

The "Hoosier Cupboard" was also called "The Step Saver" , because the way it was designed made it a kitchen cabinet that saved the homemaker a lot of steps in food preparation and storage of baking items.

Notice the Meat Grinder on the right end of the pull out enamel counter top above.

And notice the big flour sifter on the right below, and a  sugar storage bin on the left, with a handy twirling spice caddy in the middle.

The enamel counter top actually pulls out to give you a larger space to roll out pie dough or make those biscuits, or knead the bread...

The cabinet below has shelves that pull out to make it easier to reach items inside.  

There are drawers for silverware and utensils and dish towels, etc.,

(These are some of "Nanny Martin's actual dish towels that she embroidered)

 

and that bottom drawer below used to be a place for bread storage. It used to have a lid that slid over top of the drawer to help keep the bread fresh.  My mother in law said that she remembers that her mother used to keep her self-rising flour in that bin, and she remembers stepping into that drawer one time in her bare feet.  She said her mother told her when she found out about it years later that if her father had known about that not only would she have gotten a whipping, but he would have never eaten those "foot biscuits" and would've made her throw out that whole bin of flour! LOL.  Yes, my mother in law grew up with this cupboard in her home. It's that old. My mother in law would be 103 years old if she was still living.

She also remembers as a child climbing up on top of the cabinet to reach that old flat iron. (This is not the original iron that she remembers, but one that I actually got from my father's house).

She dropped the flat iron on the enamel countertop below, leaving a dent about the size of a 50 cent piece. (see below).  

Below you see my antique scales and also a collection of small creamers and little tea pots.

Inside the upper cabinet there is a spice rack attached to the door...

I use this wonderful old family heirloom (from my hubby's grandmother) to display a lot of vintage kitchen items that have been collected or given to me over the years by people who knew I'd love to have them in this cupboard. And I do...until we have to pack and move again...LOL. It's a job to pack it all up, but I still haven't decided that I'm ready to give it all away just yet. I enjoy it, and there's a lot of sweet memories attached, so until I am forced to move into assisted living or someplace much smaller, it will stay a special part of our home.

There's sifters (one was my mother's, and the other was my hubby's grandmother's).

And there is this "Smoothie Mixer and Measure"...I never noticed it was called that before!

My mother used to use this to mix up the flour and water to make gravy!  I sometimes remember to use it, but mostly use a pyrex measuring cup to stir mine up.  This actually does a much better job.

I thought "smoothies" were are relatively newer idea, but I guess not!! LOL.

From here on I will be showing you what I have stored in those upper cabinets...a collection of old bottles, cups and saucers, spices, tins, tea containers, all kinds of odds and ends from the past...I hope you will enjoy the  step back in time...

Not sure where these tobacco tins came from...I think my father found them and gave them to me for my collection of old tins. Ever hear of "Presbyterian Mixture" tobacco before?  That was funny.

Phosphorated Iron , General System Tonic, "Highly recommended for Rheumatism, Nerves, Stomach, Blood, Liver, Kidneys, Bladder and Bowels." Only $1.00 per box!  I wonder what was in this stuff, and why don't we have this today? It could solve all our medical problems at once!

Oh, but you HAVE to have some of this "Red-Cloverine-Salve", for just 10 cents! It's the "Best Salve on Earth".  It's "Absolutely Pure", and it's used for sores, burns, cuts, bruises, chapped hands, face and lips, sore throat, chafes, galls, catarrh, tetter (?), sunburn, and SPECIALLY RECOMMENDED FOR WORST CASES OF PILES, PIN OR SEAT WORMS, AND ECZEMA!"  It was "discovered by a physician and used by people of refinement everywhere!"   Oh my! I sure wish I had some of this, don't you?????  LOL>

I am happy to have these old cook books that belonged to "Nanny Martin" as well. They are full of great old recipes that you never hardly ever hear of anymore.  Sometime I will have to do a special post on some of the recipes, but I think I've done enough for today!

Oh wait...this cup of tea and cookies has been sitting here waiting for someone to come and drink it and eat the cookies for ages...yes, it's fake, but it has faked out a lot of visitors before! LOL  (Pardon my dust in some of these pictures. I didn't take time to dust before I started in on this project. LOL).

I found this hand towel in the drawer...it actually came from my father's collection of train items....

Also, that larger wooden bowl above was Nanny Martin's bread or biscuit making bowl...a Dough Bowl I guess you'd call it.  

These door latches with the H on them show that this was an authentic "Hoosier Cupboard", built in Indiana probably back in the very early 1920's.  My mother in law was born in 1923, and she remembers it being in their home for her whole life.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my antique Hoosier Cupboard.  As I said, it's a family heirloom, filled with many memories and stories of loved ones who lived and laughed and loved and baked and cooked and served their family with this cabinet as a silent witness to it all. If this cabinet could talk, it would have many more stories to tell that I don't know about.  Now it serves our home, more as a decoration than as a working cabinet, but it still serves a purpose as a reminder of those who came before us, and the many sacrifices they made to help give their children a better life, filled with good memories and the true food that nourishes.  

Proverbs 22:6 NKJV

6 Train up a child in the way he should go,

And when he is old he will not depart from it.

This verse may not go along with this story on the surface, but when you think about it...it does...because the central theme of my husband's grandparents' home was sharing the love of Christ with others. Their home became a sanctuary for church services at least once a month, as they belonged to a church group known as the Plymouth Brethren, and there were traveling ministers who would come to their home and teach the Bible and serve Communion.  My husband was a very little boy when these ministers would come to his grandparents' home, but he remembers them very fondly, and credits them with forming his early Christian faith and eventually becoming a minister himself. (Not in that church denomination, but still as a conservative Bible believing Christian minister).  The ministers and other members of the little congregation would stay at their home for Sunday dinner afterwards, and I am quite sure this cupboard saw a lot of activity in preparation of those meals.  I also have the dining room table and buffet and china cabinet from their dining room...but that's another story for another time.  Here is a link to one store about the table, in case you want to read it now that your curiosity is triggered. LOL.

Thank you for hanging in there with me if you made it this far.  I hope you have a blessed and beautiful weekend.