BLACK PANTHERS IN MISSOURI

A Story told to me by my mother: 

It is so very cold today.  I wish I had a warmer coat.  I know the times are difficult, I hear that from my aunt every day.  I am supposed to be grateful they took me in.  I am supposed to be grateful I have a dress to wear.  I am to be grateful they let me eat whatever they don’t eat. 

 

I don’t want to cry, the tears running down my face will make my cheeks red and raw.  I will feel colder.  I wish the wind would not blow so hard.  I’m so glad I tied the dish cloth around my head like a scarf.  Aunt Irene will be so angry with me when she finds I took it.     The grass sounds like Rice Crispies when I step on it.  I wish I could have some Rice Crispies.  There wasn’t any food left this morning after they ate.

 

I smell snow in the air, I wonder if it will snow today.  I hope it waits till I get back to my aunt’s house.  It’s only two miles home but my toes will be so cold, they will burn when I take my shoes off.  I won’t be able to take the short cut through the woods if it snows. 

 

I can’t wait for spring, if it were spring, I would smell the grass growing, when I walked, the ground would make squishy noises from the rain during the night.  I would be finding the best stuff to munch on.  Violets are so delicious.  The flowers taste like little peppered bites and the leaves are the best salad I could ever want.   They don’t require cooking to eat.  Sometimes there is even a mushroom or two.  I shouldn’t think about eating, it will only make me hungrier.

 

Oh, hello, I am scared.  You are so beautiful.  I want to reach out and touch you.  Are you as hungry as I am?  Please, let me go to school, I am getting very cold standing here. 

 

Did you know you are very smelly, very shiny, and very big.  If you don’t eat me I will tell everyone about you.  I really need to go, I am going to be late for school.

 

Thank you, I will tell everyone not to hurt you, that you did not hurt me.

 

This is as it was told to me by my mother of her encounter with a black panther on her walk to school through the swamp in the back woods of southeast Missouri.

The year was 1932.  She had been taken by her aunt when she was three years old because they thought her mother was incapable of taking care of her.  Her mother had nine children.  She was the baby.  Her mom had been struck in the head with a baseball bat while she was milking their goat.  I was told they never found the person who did it.   She had a brain injury which left her with the mentality of a Twelve-year-old. 

 

Her children were “farmed” out.  One eight year old daughter ran away taking her six year old sister and five year old brother.  They lived in the woods, in a hunter’s shack for two years.  She fed and clothed them and took them to school every day.  Each Child has their own story of loss and depravation.   

 

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids. 

THE PERFECT TEA POT

I haven't been shy about my love affair with tea. I have more functional tea pots than anyone should have, and I also have the just for look at ones. Some of my functional ones have things I just do not like about them. So I am always on the look out for the perfect pot.

PERFECT POT PERAMETERS:

1. Must be easy to clean

2. Must have a pleasing design

3. Must pour without dripping

4. Must be able to use with one hand when pouring.

This is another pleasing product purchase. I received this Tea pot from Amazon on Tuesday.

1. It is wonderfully cleanable. It does not require another brush to clean the inside of the spout. It can go into the dishwasher (they recommend to increase its life span you hand wash).

2. It is attractive albeit not beautiful. The the pot's private part is wide and flat making it spill proof.

3. The wide spout makes a nice fast pour, and it doesn't DRIP.

4. The handle is positioned well so when you pick it up to pour the center of gravity doesn't change and you feel like you are dropping it.

Now for this pretty pot's plusses:

1. It has a stainless fine mesh strainer. Fine milled teas do not drift through it. Glass infusers do break.

2. it has an additional spring strainer for when you have teas such as sassafras root which need to be simmered for a while. it strains them out when you pour. (this is also a drawback if you want to brew your tea in the microwave. you have to take it out. (Replacing it when the pot and liquid is hot is detrimental to your fingers).

3. This pot is both microwave and range top efficient. You can use it on a burner and bring water to a boil as it it was a "Tea Kettle". The metal parts are all removable to use in the microwave. The special Borosilicate glass feels really thin and fragile but it takes a beating. I have 3 teapots made of this glass and I haven't broken them .....YET. knock wood.

4. It holds 50 ounces which is grand because with the two of us drinking I sometimes have enough left over to have some for later.

I know there are other pluses but I can't think of them. I absolutely love this pot

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ehugos-Stovetop-Infuser-Borosilicate-Beverage/dp/B07YBFN18V?th=1

THE ART OF LOVING

 

                                                          The Art of love. 

Growing up, for me, was an experience of love and hate.  I loved the mornings and hated what the rest of the day might bring.  Each day I knew there would be a breakfast which no restaurant could produce.  Did you know fixing breakfast is an art.

 

The arrival of cold cereals put breakfast on the back burner.  It seems people began taking the easy way out.  It sped things up.  Moms were convinced the kids were getting their proteins and calcium in cereal.   Only grapenuts, shredded wheat (not the sugary little things) and raisin bran made the scene at our house.  Then, it was for times when Mom had to get all six of us, herself, and dad out the door at the same time. 

 

A weekday breakfast at our house always had Juice, usually orange.  Some days, to our delight we had grapefruit.  Each grapefruit halve was already segmented so you could dip your spoon in and grab a succulent piece.  Mom had already sprinkled a teaspoon of sugar on the top.  You could see the crystals glistening.   There was a method to this because it prevented us from adding more sugar.

 

The “Fruit” of choice of the day was followed by an egg, 1 slice of bacon and one piece of toast.  There was usually strawberry Jam or grape Jelly for the toast.   (No matter how much you wanted it you didn’t ask for a second egg.)   On Days we didn’t have eggs in some form it was usually a cooked cereal.  All of us loved Cream of rice.   I don’t remember having rice very much.  If we did, it was usually Mom’s version of Spanish rice and it was served at dinner.

 

The best breakfasts were on the weekends.  We never knew if dad would be helping with the cooking.  If he did, it was making pancakes.  He loved to make and eat pancakes. 

 

Mom went all out on the weekends.  Sometimes we had fried potatoes with onions along with our Bacon and eggs.  We always knew if dad was going to be at breakfast there would be grapefruit for sure.  Sometimes on the weekend Mom would make French Toast.  This was another time we always wanted to have more but there was a limit of two slices.

 

This is not about the art of cooking; in our house it was the art of love.  No matter how mom felt, no matter how tired she may have been from staying up making our costumes for Halloween, we always woke up to the smell of coffee perking, knowing it was that time to get up, dress, and come to breakfast.  

 

The table was already set with tablecloth and napkins and what ever dish ware would be needed.  No one had to wait, the food magically appeared.  No one worried that someone got more than another, everything, each plate was masterfully the same.  The Plates were always preheated, so the food wouldn’t get cold on the way to the table. 

 

Years later when I visited, I watched her magically prepare the mornings repast.  She didn’t have to do it, we were grown and could get it for her, she took and gave happiness in the giving. 

 For Seventy years, rarely a day missed, she fixed breakfast for our dad. 

Through an everyday act of living, she made it into an Art of loving. 

Today April 11, 2022, would have been their Seventy-eight wedding anniversary.

 

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids. 

CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING 2021

I  have seen many responses of what people received for Christmas.  Steve and I usually buy something for the kitchen.  This year we didn’t.  In fact, we didn’t get anything for us for the holiday season.  Why? There was no reason.  With writing out medical checks and roofing checks and new guttering checks.  It seemed we had already given enough. 

 

This morning I couldn’t sleep and got up at 3 AM to process the 10 lbs. of Chicken I had cooked the night before (it had cooled to the point it could be handled).   We cook for our barn cats.  Yes, they get regular cat food, but we top dress it on the cold mornings to give them a special treat for catching all those mice who come into the barn.  They are also good in the summer to keep the snakes out of the barn.

 

I am getting off the subject though.  The topic I was going to write about was gift giving.  Not just for Christmas but for any time.

 

This week I had picked up a freebie from the marketplace on Facebook.  A lady had bought some freezer bags for her vacuum sealer. They ended up not what she wanted.  She put them up for free.  They were exactly what I needed, but alas another person got there first.  NOT!  They never picked up.  She wrote me and said they are on the porch.  This is Friday the day before Christmas.   It was great I was going to be the recipient.  I didn’t know anything thing about the lady, but I had Steve take a copy of one of my children’s books too her as a Thank you.  I figured if she didn’t need it, she would have a friend with a little one.

 

She wrote me the nicest thank you note on messenger.  She had 3 little grands under 3.  She said the 3-year-old will love it.  I thought, gee it was so simple, she sounded like it meant so much to her.

 

Back to the chicken.  While I am processing the chicken, I am using a Colander.  It is plastic, and it collapses (folds up).  I received it for a Christmas Gift from my SIL.  You’ll say, “Strange gift for Christmas”  I’ll answer, “Every time I use it I think of her”.  In fact when I see it not taking up space in the cabinet, I think of her.  A very meaningful and helpful gift.  It is not something I would have bought myself, because I have other colanders.  I love it.

 

Another gift I received for my birthday was from my son.  It was a box of 30 Elmer’s kids glue sticks.   I squealed when I saw it.  He had heard me cursing because I was always out of glue sticks when I needed them.  Every time I open the box to retrieve one, I smile and think of him.

 

My daughter, years ago bought me a gift, which keeps on giving, for Chanukah.  She went to Williams Sonoma.  Admittedly she could have bought me knock-offs and I would have been just as thrilled.  She purchased  several sizes in each color; orange, yellow, green.  They were silicon spatulas (they year they first came out). I am using them still.  I use them to bake every gift which goes out the door.  They are used to cook her dad’s favorite chocolate ice box pie.  I don’t know what I would do in the kitchen without them.  Every time I use them, I think of her.  I would have never bought them myself.

 

A gift doesn’t have to be extravagant; it literally is the thought that counts.  Thinking of the person when you are picking a gift and choosing something especially for them, is what is important. 

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids.

JOURNEYS

 Yesterday I learned I lost a friend. I thought about the people who have passed through my life.  Some have literally sailed through.  Others have taken siestas and came in and out through the years.  There are the friendships which defy being placed anywhere, you wonder why them.  

It made me think, what kind of friend am I?  Whose life have I drifted in and out?  Where did I camp out?  Who am I?

 

The journeys, we travel, each unknown,

Every turn, down a path unknown,

Should we walk, do we run,

Will this be disaster, will it be fu

 

We stop, wonder where it will lead,

Will we gain knowledge or greed?

Blessings or hardships, what’s in store,

Will we be ready for them and more?

 

Are we prepared for the surprises ahead?

Have we been lax and headed to bed,

Did we take a moment this day?

Did we take time to say?

 

Was it important, what was said?

Was each moment the last we had,

The journey with the twists and turns,

Did we take time to learn all we could learn?

Other blog sites by me:

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids.

AMAZON / NETFLIX: "THE ICE ROAD" / "UNHINGED" MOVIE REVIEW

 I am an avid movie viewer.  I love good movies and will watch movies over and over through the years.  We purchase the ones we adore.  

Recently it seems the programming list of movies we like is getting shorter.  We are finding movies are soap-opera types, sit-com types, a reason to use the "F" word...and the lists goes on.  Special effects are either non descript run of the mill, or so computer generated they leave a lot to be desired.  The plagiarism among the films is atrocious.

Now for a good action Movie.  It needs to have elements of surprise.  It needs to be unpredictable.  There needs to be some suspense. It needs a great story and a super ending.  the good guy needs to win.  Netflix has a winner in that category.  

"THE ICE ROAD"  With Liam Neeson.   

This is the trailer    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zjikObAJHk 

It kept me on the edge of my seat.  I was actually cheering for the good guys and wanting to demolish the bad guys.  The acting and the filming was believable.  you did not feel anything was computer generated.  It was a very scary movie for me, but didn't leave me with bad dreams.  If I were in a theater while watching it I would have been asked to leave because I was so vocal in my responses to the action.

Mind you I did not like the reality show "Ice road truckers".  I do recommend this for a, your heart in your throat movie to watch.  BTW we are Liam stalkers...if it has his name on it we watch it.  (there has been some disappointments)  This one does not disappoint.

For the worst movie of the year award:  Amazon's "UNHINGED"  with Russel Crowe.  The only thing I can say good about this movie is the acting was superlative.  The realism was over the top.  I left the movie afraid that might happen to me.  Why?, because I have seen road rage, I have seen temper rages, I have seen irrationalism, all and more. Why someone would write, let along act in a movie like this is beyond me.  

This is not a horror film, but what it introduces, the idea is horror.  Everyone wonders why our children are filled with skee ball ideas.  Well this is a prime example of where the ideas are hatched. 

Why did I continue watching, because I couldn't turn away.  I was like the bystanders in the movie, they watched everything unfurl and didn't do a thing.  I couldn't turn away not even at the scariest and most real moments.  I couldn't believe what I was watching.  My husband walked out of the room.  he was visibly shaken by the movie.

I shudder to think the writers may have thought that making this movie  would be a deterrent to road rage.  It is your TV, you can watch what you want, but there is lots more excitement that is in line with fun.

Try the "Transporter" series with Jason Statham.  Or Re watch The Mummy Series.  How about the hokey "Fast and Furious" series.    There are so many better Movies than "UNHINGED.  

BTW  I've never hated a movie as much as this, to write a blog on it. 

Other blog sites by me:

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids.

REFLECTIONS, MOTHER'S AND FATHER'S DAY

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It  has been over a year since I have written in this blog.  Life happened.  A year ago I lost my father.    Four years ago in the same month I lost my Mother.  They would have been married Seventy years if she had lived nine days longer.  

Today I was working on downsizing my collected "Stuff".  I opened a box of papers intending to throw most of them away.  On the top were three papers.  I went to the computer and found they were not in the word files.  I needed to type them in.   While putting them down for posterity, I thought these might be pertinent for others, at least a variation of the text.  

I miss my parents even though I was separated by distance for over fifty years.   I miss being able to call and tell them about the day's discoveries, or the up coming adventures.  I miss hearing about their future plans and the adventures they were still having.

Father’s Day

_{Every day is Father’s Day.  You don’t get holidays off.  You are always on the job.  From the moment your first born is conceived you are a father.  In that moment of time you became a counselor, instructor, religious director, personal shopper, medic, travel agent, party planner, dentist(remember all those baby teeth), college director, marriage counselor, financial planner, and last but not least rescuer.  I am sure there are many hats you have worn.  Your job description is constantly changing.}

_{You have six children, who are now grown with children of their own.  Your Job has taken new directions.  You were not given the privilege of auditioning for these roles.  They were thrust in your lap.  You were given another set of hats to wear.}

_{You are a father, grandfather, great grandfather, each requiring full attention and dedication.  Each with new hats and none you were able to try on first to see if they would fit.} 

_{You have been adlibing, winging it, doing your very best for sixty-one years.  On this day, dedicate to fathers all over the world, I want to tell you, you have done an awesome job.}

_{You are a supreme Haberdasher!}

_{With love,}

_{Your first born.}

_{---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------}

_{To Mom on Father’s Day}

_{Father’s can’t be father’s unless there is a mom.  You are there making the house he built into a home for the children he has given you.  You are there helping him to feed, clothe and plan the future of the family.  Sharing every moment and every decision.}

_{You are a gourmet cook, a seamstress, a maid, a medicine woman, an organizer, a librarian, an interior decorator, a human resource director, a teacher, a children’s activities director, an educational planner, a chauffeur, there have been too many jobs you have had to hold to list them all.}

_{You are worth your weight in gold.  Every haberdasher needs a loyal dedicated partner.}

_{With love,}

_{From a recipient of superb partners}

_{From a Daughter on Father’s Day}

_{I am sixty years old,}

_{A little girl I see,}

_{No matter how old I am,}

_{My dad you’ll always be.}

_{I remember many things,}

_{When I was two you rescued me,}

_{From the fall on the furnace grate,}

_{Which was as hot as hot can be.}

_{Do you remember a morning car ride,}

_{In the rain, to my elementary school,}

_{I was leaning against the car door,}

_{It swung open; I fell out like a fool.}

_{Later, in that same year,}

_{Some discipline you thought I did need,}

_{My head, by accident, the sink did bump,}

_{Split right open, went for stitches indeed.}

_{My first formal dance,}

_{When I was just thirteen,}

_{A dress from the Purple Shop,}

_{You made me feel like a queen.}

_{You smiled and had the camera there,}

_{The dress was blue and had no straps,}

_{You looked lovingly at mom,}

_{Saying, “She’s growing up perhaps.”}

_{Many times, many places,}

_{With Mom at your side,}

_{Many memories, through the years,}

_{Together you have cried.}

_{Tears of happiness and joy,}

                                         Tears of sadness and need,                                        

_{There have been many tears,}

_{Because you planted one tiny seed.}

I love you

Other blog sites by me:

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup 

who has become a hidden treasure.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,
cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,
 Tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.
 Check out "A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind. 

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-mystery-in-making.html

http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

http://bakingatbabas.blogspot.com/

an intro to baking for kids.