Excellent question...

 

Life

 

Jimmy

 

Yarn & Marketplace & Someone to talk to

 Just over 2 years ago & I broke my right wrist, my dominant hand.  Gradually, a little arthritis has settled in & I've lost nimbleness in my fingers.  I used to crochet a scarf a week but I have not been able to crochet at all since my hospital stay in December.  It's part mental & part physical.  I had a yarn buildup (23 skeins) on Facebook Market place for $30.  I just need them gone. Mentally & physically.  

I had several inquiries but no one had committed yet but one woman, Debbie, said she wanted & she'd pay $40 but she could not come til today.  I trusted my gut & decided to wait. She came this morning & picked up.  (And paid $50!).  And stayed & talked for 2 hours. She talked about crocheting, her husband, kids & grandkids. She is retired & 69 & "didn't have much to do" so clearly she just needed someone to listen to her.  She was making a Chiefs pillow & I said, send me a picture!  She sent several of her projects.  And right before she left she said "now that we're friends" & I'm not sure about that but it was a fine encounter.

I learned at a school I used to work at that everyone needs someone to listen to them sometimes.  I'm certainly that way.  Like Debbie, if I find someone who will listen to me I'll talk on & on. Sometimes I don't talk to anyone for a solid week, sometimes it's public people--cashiers,bank--but no "conversation".  I know when I'm talking too much & try to temper it but sadly it doesn't always work. 

Debbie & I are probably not going to be friends. She lives in a small town about 15 miles away We have nothing in common.  But, sure...maybe 

It's weirdly strange...

One of the restaurants we used to go to occasionally before Covid was Cheddars.  They have burgers, salads & general dinner-y things.  It basically tasted ok but nothing special.  

One thing they did well was onion rings.  ORs are my favorite thing in the world & I try them everywhere.  Some come out of bags like I'm sitting at Sonic so they are pre-fabbed.  But if they are hand breaded with or without a beer batter, I'm usually a fan.  

So we went one day in 2021 & they told us there were no onion rings because they were short staffed & could not batter things.  I kid you not.  So we just left...no point in paying their prices if no ORs.  When I got home I dropped them a note on their customer support sight nicely pointing out that that was a stupid policy.  I don't remember if I got a response.

So, last week, I got an email from Cheddar's customer support telling me onion rings were back!  3 years later. I then posted it on Twitter & they responded with the above picture.  It's way cool!!  I wish they'd have responded with a gift card but that was a no.  They also said their Monte Cristo which is pretty good was never off the menu but it indeed was at our restaurant because I asked.  It's a battered thing too.

My Tweet:

We used to go to #Cheddars a couple of times a year because they had great onion rings. They went away during pandemic. I'd sent an email to website in 2021 voicing disappointment. Got email today from them telling me they are back starting today. #Bumfuzzled 3 years later!

 

Insanity

Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results

I'm officially textbook insane.

I was supposed to go with my nephew's wife,son & mother in law to a nearby historic town tomorrow. We made arrangements last week. I texted them today to make sure we were still on but, sadly no. They suddenly have other things to do. Maybe in a "couple of weeks".  But then again, in reality, probably not. 

Just more people I'm not a priority for.  It hurts my feelings.  Lots of things hurt my feelings.

When will I learn there is no one in my life anymore I can can't on.  No one. 

I won't ask again.  And embarrassingly, if they ask I'll say yes because sometimes I get so lonely that my pride doesn't even exist anymore. 

But I'm still insane.

Corn Relish

 8 cups corn.  I've used fresh, used frozen this time. Don't believe the servings on bag...I needed 5 bags when I should have needed 4.

3 cups bell peppers.  I mixed red & yellow. Green would have added to color but I don't like them. 

2 small onions

3 stalks celery

2 cups water

2 1/2 cups white vinegar

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp pickling salt

3 Tbsp corn starch

2 Tbsp water

Mix everything together in a large pan.  I actually used my Instapot on saute setting.  Bring to a gentle  boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix together water & cornstarch, add to relish mixture to thicken. Boil for 2 more minutes.  Ladle into sterilized jars. Put lid & ring on, put in water bath for 15 minutes.  Hot jars, hot contents.  Wait to hear pop & seal to go down on jars.  Let cool.

To sterilize jars, use canning wrack, put in hot (not boiling) water, cover at least 1" above cans with water, boil for 10 minutes.   I did not do this but will next time.  Vinegar keeps film off jars, leaves them nice & shiny.  

I ordered a Ball canning book from Amazon but it was damaged when it arrived.  Ordered another.  Next stop:  Tomato-Bacon jam.  

I could possibly be out of control. 

My life

 

Peach Dumplings

• ▢Ingredients Ingredients 
• 
  
  
• 
  
  
  
• Ingredients 
• 
  
• 1 can I can peaches
• ▢2 cans crescent rolls (8 rolls each)
• ▢1 cup packed brown sugar
• ▢1½ cups unsalted butter
• ▢1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢Pinch salt
• ▢8 ounces lemon lime soda i.e. Mountain Dew or 7up

    Directions

    Preheat oven to 350.   Pam a 9x13 pan.

    Drain & pat peaches dry

    Unroll crescent rolls & divide at perforation.  Place a peach slice      into a crescent triangle.  Sprinkle with brown sugar. Roll into            crescent, place in pan.

   In sauce pan, melt butter & brown sugar, Bring to boil. Remove            from heat, add cinnamon, vanilla & salt.

   Pour butter/sugar mixture over rolls in pan,  Spoon sauce over           rolls, spoon over to saturate rolls.  Pour soda over rolls.  Bake 25       minutes.  Sauce will thicken.

   Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days,.  Reheat in microwave for 1         minute.

    

  I used Sprite.  And I halfed recipe so it fits in a 9x9 pan.

  This is very easy & completely delish. 

Round Rubber Grippers

Back in the dark ages, I worked for Southwestern Bell & we always had sales promotions.  We had one where we would get tickets for a drawing & there were some good prizes but the consolation prize was a "round rubber gripper" & I got a bunch of them.  This had to be prior to 1995 because that was the year Southwestern Bell morphed into SBC Corporation.  And I retired in 2010.  Now, I'm in the middle of summer cleaning & found 3 in a box,plus I had 2 in cabinet drawer.  Basically I'm a little panicked to find I only have 5 left. 😂  Maybe they'll last me for the rest of my jar opening life.   

And my boss Cathy built a new house that year.  My friend Virginia made her a blue round rubber gripper flower arrangement for her as a housewarming gift.  

Cruffins

It's supposed to be a cross between a croissant & a muffin.  Easy to make, but...

3 Tubes of crescent roll sheets

1 C sugar

1 T of cinnamon

6 T butter

350 degrees

Mix sugar & cinnamon.

Flatten croissant sheets. Spreatd 3 T butter on each. Sprinkle sugar/cinnamon.  Roll tightly, cut into 2 rolls. Then cut rolls lengthwise.  Roll up from ends til it looks like a cinnamon roll. Bake in a standard muffin tin for 20 minutes.  Those are the official instructions.

First thing is crescent roll sheets are $5.29 a tube. $15.87 is for 12 muffins is a little much.  A little  much. I instead used pie dough, which of course has no yeast so it won't rise like a normal cinnamon roll. I did use a muffin tin but they were not done in 20 minutes. Next time I'll just use a cookie sheet & toothpicks to hold them together.  I took them out of tin & finished baking on cookie sheet for an additional 8 minutes.

Taste is really good though it's hard to not like anything full of cinnamon & sugar.  The texture reminded me of when my mom would make extra pie crust & we got to put them in the oven with ...guess...butter,cinnamon & sugar.  

Costco has regular Pillsbury crescent rolls in bulk so I'll check the price & will try again. If still too expensive, I'll use the pie crust again.  

She Shed,Sorta

 

First thing to make clear is I own a 3 bedroom house & I live here alone.  But I was scrolling Pinterest & came across she sheds, which is a woman's "man cave".  It's a building or room that's a get away from whatever is going on everywhere else.  Even your home.  Technically it's a way to get a break from your family or life for a few minutes.  Or hours.  A place that is only hers, where no one else's opinion matters.  It's anything she wants it to be.  And again, I live alone so that's the way it is in my house but now I want a she shed.  

Since another building would be A. Stupid & B. Not practical, I've thinking about a she room.

More later.

Dream Today

First, in my defense, I don't sleep well at night.  I go to bed about 11 but most nights I'm still awake at 3am.  So when I do finally go to sleep, I usually sleep hard & sometimes I sleep late. I'm usually up about 9 but sometimes I sleep later.  Today it was noon & I probably would have slept later except I have a reminder alarm that goes off at noon. 

My body was trying to wake up before but I was dreaming clearly & didn't want to wake up. I was trying to hold on to the dream.

It was Christmas Eve at the house in Spur. I can't exactly tell when but Cathy was there & she passed away in 1997.  Cathy's kids weren't in the dream but she had a friend with her who was a little annoying. Mom,Cathy & I made part of the lunch but friend didn't help cook or clean up. She kept music up loud & turned it back up when someone turned it down. My mom didn't like a lot of noise but it didn't matter to friend. She talked on her phone all the time but that didn't happen before 1997 so of course not everything was accurate. Cathy had great friends forever but I don't remember this one.   

My dad was grilling hamburgers & that was very much not reality.  Not once in his life did he grill anything. He didn't seem happy about his role & in reality he would not have enjoyed. 

I remember washing piles of dishes with Cathy drying them. That certainly felt normal. We'd made mom sit down to talk to us but annoying friend was sitting next to her, talking on the phone. She is not invited to my next dream.

Spur doesn't have a bakery but dream Spur did. About  3pm on Christmas Eve, Cathy decided she wanted a fancy,fluffy cake. I adored my sister but this is absolutely typical of her.  She always had great ideas but her follow through was iffy.  Basically, she had trouble getting her stuff together.  So looking for a cake on Christmas Eve afternoon sounds just like her. We went looking but nothing was open. To be fair, she was from a larger town where the cake might have happened. But it was not in a town of less than 1000. 

For the record my mom had been baking all week.  I don't remember what in the dream but normally there would have been probably 2 pies, a cake & wonderful fruit salad. 

It wasn't in the dream but later on that night we'd be playing poker, Sorry or Yachtzee. Steve would be there too.

If their was more, I must have been waking up or the alarm went off & I don't remember.

But I woke up crying because I didn't want it to stop.  I wanted it to be Christmas Eve with my mom & daddy & sister. They are all gone from this earth but are waiting for me in Heaven. I wanted to hold on.

I'm having a little bit of a tough time today because I can't seem to stop crying.  It'll pass.

Byron W Lacy

Byron W Lacy, You spoke to my heart

I don't know Byron W Lacy although he was my Facebook friend.  When my friend Susan came to Tech, she had gone to a JUCO in Athens, TX  (forgive me for not knowing the name) and she had gone to school with Byron and she had a book that had poems in it and I wrote them in my 'Nothing Book' back in 1976.  I wanted to put them on this blog but wanted  Byron's permission and he generously gave it to me.  So with the full knowledge and notice that he retains full copyrights and ownership here are the 2 poems I copied all those years ago:

Something Good

There were times

When I would rather

Have slept forever.

I saw you

In dreams then

And that was better

Than not seeing 

You at all.

I took to leaving

The alarm clock

In the kitchen, unset,

Where I couldn't 

Even hear it's ticking 

And moved my bed

Where the sun

On slipping through

The uncurtained window

Would not catch me

Sleeping.

I guess something good

Has come out of

Your not needing me

As much as i need you.

I give the cat more attention

And she's happy;

I neglected her

Far too much before.

***

The Soft Goodbye

If you had really cared for me,

You would have told me

That someday you wouldn't.

***

Thanks Byron.  Thank you for touching my young heart then and my old heart now.  Thanks for letting me publish these poems.

I Love Texas Tech Baseball. And Another Thing...

 

I saw this shirt in a local stores ad & I adore it.  I went looking...it's a $50 shirt, not what I'd normally pay for a shirt.  Especially a white one.  I probably need a bib the same size. I'm a little messy.   But no surprise...it's all mine!

In December, I was in the hospital for pneumonia & since then I've lost about 15 pounds.  I bring this up because I tried on shirt in store (over clothes) & I tried a medium which fit & a large which was a little bigger. But I'm scared I will gain weight back & then it won't fit.  I have a week to exchange & it's hanging in closet while I think.  Hmmm.  I can't decide.

Editing to add: I tried shirt on again today. & while I still have trouble wrapping my mind around a medium but I'm going for it. 

My Cheap Charcuterie Supper

 Am I creative or what?   I'm pretty happy with it.

I'm thinking of my Mom as I'm eating this.  Mom liked to eat. Sometimes she over ate but it didn't take much. At Furr's Cafeteria, where it was all you can eat, she always had 2 trays but she didn't eat everything. She saw something that she wanted to taste & got it but sometimes it was only a bite or 2.  And her lunch table always had about 10 bowls but they were small ones.  A half a cup of this, a bit of that.  She liked variety. 

See, she'd had to take over cooking when her mom died when she was 16, for her dad & brothers. Then she married my dad at 17 & had 2 babies by the time she was 21 and me 10 years later.  Then another 10 years later, she had my nephew, after my sister passed away. So she had to cook all the time. And she always tried to please everyone & she did a great job. But she loved things like fried chicken & liver & onions (yuck) which my dad wouldn't eat. So she ate them when we were out. And she especially loved sitting at a table & having someone bring her food.

She always loved the grocery store too.  We have a store called Market Street that has a section of salads & hot foods.  And at the end of the aisle, in the back of the store they have fruits & vegetables. They work hard to display them & some days they are gorgeous. When I look at the entire aisle, I think how much mom would have loved it.

I think she would have liked my charcuterie supper. I wish she was here to share with me. She is my inspiration!!  ❤❤❤

2024 Book Page

 

1. The Last Commandment            Scott Shepherd

2. Fly Away                                    Kristin Hannah

3. The Yards                                    A F Carter

4. All That Is Mine I Carry With Me    William Landay

5. The Caretaker                              Ron Rash

6. Defending Jacob                          William Landay

7. The Nothing Man                   Catherine Ryan Howard

8.  Winter Garden                        Kristin Hannah

9. The Five-Star Weekend           Elin Hilderbrand

10. The Engine House                 Rhys Dylan

11.  Summer Island                     Kristin Hannah

12. Table For Two                        Amor Towles

13. City Under One Roof            Iris Yamashita

14. Special Circumstances           Sheldon Siegel

15. The Island                               Elin Hilderbrand

16. The Trap                                Catherine Ryan Howard

17. Home is Where the Bodies Are    Jeneva Rose

18. Incriminating Evidence          Sheldon Siegel

19. Hang the Moon                       Jeannette Walls

20. Listen For the Lie                   Amy Tintera

21. Criminal Intent                        Sheldon Siegel

22. 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo   Taylor Jenkins Reid

23. Final Verdict                            Sheldon Siegel

24. Dark is the Grave                     T G Reid

25. Thin Air                                     Robert B Parker

26. The Perfect Marriage                Jeneva Rose

27. None of This is True                 Lisa Jewell