Random Ramblings

Feeling Better
I finally broke down and went to the doctor on Friday. I am on the mend now, I think. It is kind of hard to tell. One day I feel better and the next day I feel sick again. Thankfully, no one else in the house is sick.

Ad-Aware SE
I had a warning on my Ad-Aware SE that I needed to download new definitions, but every time I tried I would get an error. I finally googled it and found out that this version is now obsolete.
There is a new version, Ad-Aware 2007 that you can download for free, but from what I read, it isn't working too well. Several people had written in on the message boards about how hard it is to install and that it contains several glitches. Many people have uninstalled the new one and reinstalled the old one. I think this is a good sign to wait.

What Do You Think Of When You Hear The Song, Sweet Georgia Brown?
That's right! The Harlem Globetrotters! When I was a little girl, we would get so excited when they came on television. This week, we saw them again on TV for the first time in years. Of course we made our two sons stop what they were doing and sat them down in front of the TV like any good parents would do. They loved it! We had hot chocolate and for an hour watched the Globetrotters dribble, shoot, and throw buckets of popcorn and confetti water, yes they still do that! We even got to see Curly Neal. He is 66 years old now. He didn't play, but sat on the bench. It was an hour of pure joy. If all of life could be so simple.

Decluttering
Well...decluttering stalled when I got sick. In fact, he has piled up more stuff on top of the clean spaces I had cleared. Now I need to muster up the gumption to go back in and tackle it again. My mom called and said she had three large paper boxes with lids that I could have for the attic. Don't you just love boxes with lids?

Healthy Living
It has finally happened. After years of trying to eat healthier and exercise, dear husband has expressed an interest in doing the same! I know. Don't go into shock. We have been walking in the evening when he gets home from work if the weather permits. We have been walking a mile at our local park. It is a nice trail that goes through the woods and up and down hills, so you get a good workout. We plan to increase our distance as the weather permits. Right now, it is getting dark so early that we really can't walk longer. We are also lifting weights and I continue to do my Classical Stretch. I had lost 30 pounds before Christmas, but I put some of it back on during the holidays. Still, I am committed to living a healthier lifestyle and take it one day at a time.

And Finally...
If God had wanted sugar in cornbread he would have called it cake.

That's it for now. Take care.

Random Ramblings

Did You Miss Me?
I've been sick. I'm still sick. I thought I was getting better, but for some reason I feel just as bad today as I did when I was the sickest...most sick. I have a cold and sore throat and my ears are stopped up. I have kept a bottle of hand sanitizer nearby and have squirted it on my hands every time, and I do mean every single time, I have sneezed or blown my nose. I sanitize the phone when I use it and I sanitize the door knobs, light switches, and commode handle after I touch them. So far, I am the only one sick and worn out from all the sanitizing. It takes a lot of brain to remember to sanitize after each sneeze and blowing of the nose when you are sick and foggy from NyQuil. I have been staying away from my guys, too, and I am lonesome. I haven't had a decent hug since I have been sick. I guess you could say I am feeling very sorry for myself right now.

Homeschooling
We haven't missed any school since I have been sick, since youngest dear son can do most of it on his own. We did an experiment this week on substances that retard the growth of bacteria. Dear son dissolved a chicken bouillon cube in warm water and divided it up into four small juice glasses. In one glass, he added salt. Another, vinegar. The third one was left plain for a control and the fourth one went into the refrigerator. The glasses had to sit out for two days. We sat them on a TV tray in the living room. They looked like three urine specimens. Or three shots of beer. I couldn't decide.

In the last chapter of World Studies, dear son learned about a Spanish explorer, named Medana, who discovered the Solomon Islands. The native islanders were at first friendly, until Medana tried to use force to get food. Shots were fired and several natives were shot and wounded or killed. Several of Medana's men were ambushed after that. A landing party tried to go ashore after this and they were ambushed. Only one man made it back to the ship. They next day, they tried again only to see the angry natives on shore yelling and waving dismembered arms and legs. Medana decided that it would be best to go on to explore other islands. I love homeschooling.

Winter
I hate it. It makes me itch and makes my bones hurt. For years, we had warmer and warmer winters and that lulled us into forgetting about what winter really was all about. This winter has made up for it. I also don't drive on slick roads and now have to worry about dear husband and oldest dear son when they are out at school or work. Oldest dear son nearly went into the creek this week on black ice. One car was already there. Dear husband and I have been talking about retiring to a warmer climate. As soon as I find one with no mosquitoes, I am moving.

Books
After I finished Anne of Green Gables, I read Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, by Rachel Field. Very good. This book would make a great read aloud. Each chapter is a little adventure in itself. It is about a little doll carved out of wood, but I honestly think boys would enjoy this book just as much as girls. Youngest dear son is reading it now and loving it. It is a book for all ages.

Getting Old
I have stopped coloring my hair. I doubt that this is even blog worthy, but I thought I would record it here for posterity. I hope by summer to be a natural gray. I have been coloring my hair for years and finally decided I was tired of fooling with it and wanted to let it grow out. I will be 47 this year.

A Clean Room Is A Happy Room

Did you know that "decluttering" is not a word? We use it all the time, how can it not be a word? I spent most of yesterday in youngest dear son's room trying to declutter.

I consumed the first part of the day in his room, and spent the rest of the day decluttering the rest of the house from the stuff I removed from his room. I'm sure there is a better, more efficient way to declutter, but there was a method to my madness and by the end of the day I had knocked a dent in it.

I bought three bright green wicker baskets at Big Lots to contain the stuff he uses most. The baskets are lined with a striped fabric. So pretty and clean looking. The smaller basket will be used for all the remotes that belong in his room that he can never find when he needs them. I corralled his magazines into two magazine racks and still had some left over. I'll deal with that later.

I found over ten pencils, two chap sticks, Christmas ornament hangers, a lid to my big stock pot, two large spoons and one ladle, four drumsticks, an arrow, Lego's, a dead bug, three of his Mystery of History memory cards, two balloons, and a bunch and I do mean a bunch of scraps of paper of varying sizes with numbers on them. He said the numbers were codes for video games and that he needed them. The Mr. Monk in me stapled them all together and placed them in a labelled file in with his magazines.

Today, I will tackle the shelves in top of the closet and the computer desk. I may even post pix if I ever finish. If you don't hear from me in a while, send help.

True Confessions

We still have the tree up. I had planned on taking it down after the first of the year and then a cold spell hit. I didn't want to have to get up in the cold attic to put everything away so I have been waiting on it to warm up a bit. It was 72 on Tuesday and I still haven't made it up in the attic. So...Merry Christmas!


I read Anne of Green Gables for the very first time this week! I don't know why I didn't read it sooner. I loved it, except for the sad parts. Yes, it has sad parts. They occur near the end of the book. I cried like a baby.


Remember the pix of the barn in the fog below? I took it in Townsend when we were looking for the old set where they filmed Christy. I thought it was just a beautiful old barn in the fog. A few days after I posted that pix I put in my Christy DVDs to watch some episodes just so I could see Birds Eye again. I watched the very last episode about the "Tea House" and there was my barn! I couldn't believe it. The sign is gone in the pix, but it is the barn they used when people would go into El Pano. When Mike Hickman told us the barn was still there that they used in the El Pano scene, I wasn't thinking about this barn. I was thinking of when Christy first arrived in El Pano and went to the Livery Stable to find someone to take her into Cutter Gap. I have had a pix of the El Pano barn this whole time and didn't realize it. Not only that, we think we passed the house that they used as the Tea House. Dear husband pointed it out while we were watching that episode. If so, I will get a pix of it, too, when we go back. I would love to go before spring. I am afraid the weeds will grow up and I won't be able to see as much.


I have been having trouble getting my blog to load. Has anyone else been having trouble? I guess that is enough confessing for today. Take care and have a good one.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

We started the new year with snow and colder temperatures. It was 11 when I got up this morning. The birds were in a feeding frenzy all day yesterday. I shot two rolls of film and hopefully got a couple of good shots to put on the blog. Not only were they eating the seeds and suet that I put out for them, they were also eating the cat's food out of his dish. The blue jays and one titmouse kept flying down on the porch to carry away morsels of cat food. We had jays, cardinals, chickadees, titmice, wrens, downies, red bellies, and doves. I think I managed to get a pix of each. I had a new visitor, a white throated sparrow. I haven't seen them in quite a while. One of the cardinals had something wrong with one of his legs and was hopping around on one foot the whole time.

The road up here in the holler is a sheet of ice. School has been called off in the county for the rest of the week. The cat's water froze into a solid block of ice three times yesterday. Last night, when dear husband drove me to the post office, I noticed foot long icicles hanging from the roof.

I think I am getting too old for cold weather. For several years, our winters have been much milder and I have forgotten what it is like to be cold. I hate it. It hurts my skin and makes my bones ache. The snow is beautiful, but it is too cold to go outside and play. Our high today will be 25. Today would be a good day to cook a kettle of soup beans or make some chili. I usually make more oven meals in the winter to help heat the house.

When I was a teenager, all the kids at church used to meet at a couple's house up on the hill and go sledding on Big Mack truck inner tubes. They are huge inner tubes that up to four people can ride on at one time. It was a very steep hill with a couple of drop offs. We would ride down the hill, across the lane and if we were going fast enough down into a neighbor's driveway. My first night on the hill, I was afraid to ride. I just stood around the fire and watched, until one of the guys picked me up and sent me down the hill alone backwards. I went down the hill, over both drop offs, into the lane and hit the neighbor's mailbox, knocking it down! Thankfully, I wasn't hurt and couldn't wait to get back up the hill to go again. We played until late at night, going down the hill, standing around the fire talking and drinking hot chocolate. It is one of my favorite winter memories.

A New Year

2007 is gone and I survived. That is the first thing that popped into my head when I thought about blogging about the upcoming new year. We as a family survived another year of dealing with Type 1 diabetes. Youngest dear son had good reports at all of his doctor's visits this year. Dear husband made it through another year of working in the coal mines without an accident or injury. I praise God for that. Oldest dear son finished up his next to last semester of college with good grades. He will graduate this May and I am happy to say that we did not have to go into debt to pay for his education. He was blessed to receive two scholarships and he worked out most of the rest.

In 2007 I lost a total of 28 pounds which was a major accomplishment for me. I still have a few more pounds to go. We are now trying to eat healthier as a family so I am hoping that my good eating habits have rubbed off on my guys. I still need to work on getting more exercise.

On New Year's eve, we all stayed up, or got back up, and toasted in the new year with a bottle of cheap champagne. We do not drink and the last time we had a drink was in 2000 when we bought our first bottle of cheap champagne to ring in the new year. Blek. We rode with dear husband to the wet part of town this year and he bought the most expensive bottle he could find which was...............twelve whole dollars and seventy-five cents. Blek. Either cheap champagne is really bad or we just do not like champagne. Either way, it was fun and we all laughed as we sipped our champagne out of punch cups that belonged to dear husband's mom. Youngest dear son was not allowed the pleasure, so he sipped on Diet Rite Cola. It was fine with him. We hugged and kissed and shouted Happy New Year. We watched Dick Clark on ABC. Then we went to bed.

So today is a new day of a new year. A brand new start. A fresh start. We pulled out the books this morning and started our second semester of homeschooling. Youngest dear son prayed a magnificent prayer and we sang This Is The Day That The Lord Hath Made. Then I read the second chapter of Proverbs which turned out to be very appropriate for the start of a new semester.

I made a few resolutions...more like a continuation of the ones I made last year. I would love to eliminate all sugar and white stuff from my diet. I have already cut down a lot in 2007. I need to exercise more and tone. I also would like to have a quiet time each day. A real quiet time, not just after everybody goes to bed. I am too tired to think by that time and I can't really function early in the morning to plan it then. I need a quiet time during the day when my brain will cooperate. Just some time set aside for thought and not worry. Constructive thought. A time that I could plan goals and meditate on my blessings. I have never been able to do this. Maybe this will be the year it does. I'll let you know. It hasn't happened so far today.

My Favorite Shots From The Trip

I now know this is the barn that was used in the El Pano scenes in the TV series Christy.




Cades Cove at dusk.

Meeting Birds Eye

I am a true daughter of Appalachia. Born and raised in the mountains of southeast Kentucky like my mother and grandmother before me. It is no wonder then, that I fell in love with the book, Christy, by Catherine Marshall. It is my heritage. My mother and grandmother lived as the characters in the pages of her book lived. Poor, but proud. Uneducated, but extremely intelligent. Leary of the outside world, but always willing to help a neighbor.

I have read the book many times. I have loaned several copies, only to have them not be returned. My first copy was a birthday present from my oldest dear son who was in the 6th grade at the time. I have been to the real Cutter Gap in Tennessee. The real Fairlight's grandson still lives there. I have visited the Museum of Appalachia where one of the episodes of the television series was filmed. I bought a couple of props that were used on the set...an old art book with leaves pressed in the pages and a small wooden bowl.



Mike Hickman as Birds Eye Taylor

During our trip to Townsend, I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Hickman. Hickman played Birds Eye Taylor in the TV series. He works at the motel where we were staying. You could not meet a nicer man. He told us that he had recently had a stroke and that it had affected his speech. It was barely noticeable. I learned that years ago, he had done volunteer work at a mission in our county. We talked for a few minutes and then he said he wanted to give me something, even though I hadn't asked. He walked over to a filing cabinet and took out an 8x10 pix and autographed it for me. He told me he had finished filming a new movie, The Lena Baker Story which should be out in 2008. We talked a few more minutes and thanked him for his time.




Hand drawn map


As we were leaving, he asked if we had been to the old TV set where Christy was filmed. We told him that we hadn't. He took out a piece of paper and drew us a map to the set! To have played the bad guy in the series, you would not believe what a sweet soul Mike Hickman really is. He told us he wasn't "near as mean" as Birds Eye. We thanked him again and left to go to our room, somewhat stunned at how nice he was.

The next morning, we left the motel just after daylight to go look for "Cutter Gap". The fog was so thick we couldn't see anything. We stopped and talked to a little old man who had walked down his driveway to get his morning paper. He told us that we were driving right by it, but that the fog was so thick you couldn't see anything. I was disappointed, but glad to know that we were in the right place. We will try again another trip. The Smokies have always been such a special place to me. Now I have another reason for loving them.

How I Spent My Christmas Vacation

One of the cool things about homeschooling is that you can make up your own schedule. We live in a state that requires 180 school days a year. I break this down into four 9 week quarters and plan breaks around each quarter. Each year we put the books away for Thanksgiving and don't start back until after the first of the new year. This gives me lots of time for shopping, baking, wrapping gifts, and visiting with family and friends.

This year I had the pleasure of meeting one of my dear friends in Townsend, a little town on the peaceful side of the Smokies. Karen and her family were on vacation in the Smokies and invited us to come and visit them. Dear husband had some days off, so we went down on Friday and spent the night. Here are some pix of our trip.

Fighting Creek

Cataract Falls

Deer grazing in the cove

Church at dusk in the cove

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick note to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Things have been very busy here! I promise to write more as soon as possible. It may be after the first of the year.

Here are a few pix to brighten up my empty blog until my return.

Norris Lake: Drought Conditions

Dear husband and oldest dear son fished on Norris Lake back in November. These pix showing the condition of the lake were taken by dear son.

Normally, the water would be all the way up to the tree line.

The rocky bank is now exposed in this pix. Water is usually covering this bank.

Not much water at all in this pix. The water usually covers this area from treeline to treeline opposite the lake. There are several spots inaccessible on the lake now. The launching ramp that we usually use is so far out of the water now that it is closed. The last I heard, we were 15 inches behind in annual rainfall.

Butterflies

First To Leaf Out; Last To Fall

We have two Bradford Pear trees in our front yard. They are the first trees in this area to leaf out in the spring and they are the last trees to lose their leaves in the fall. Sometimes, it will even snow before we are able to rake leaves. They have beautiful white blossoms in the spring that seem to glow in the sunlight. In the fall, they can turn red, yellow, orange, and almost black or dark cherry color.

Caramel Bars And Cookies

1 stick margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup self-rising flour
2 eggs
2 cups brown sugar (yes, really this much)
1 cup chopped pecans

Melt margarine in an 8" x10" pan.
Mix all other ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
Add melted butter from pan.
Stir and pour back into pan.
Bake 30 minutes at 350.
Cool and cut into squares.
Dust with powdered sugar.

*Fairlight's Notes*
I don't have an 8x10 pan so I used a disposable 8x8 and it worked just fine.
I melted my margarine in a glass mearuring cup in the microwave.
I have only made these once and we loved them!
The next time I make them, I am going to add one teaspoon of cinnamon and I am going to wait overnight before I try to cut them into squares. They were still kind of gooey when I tried to cut them after 2 hours. They set completely overnight.

These are so rich, but they are light like lemon squares. I also like them because I have most of the ingredients on hand all the time.


Christmas Cookies
I picked up a copy of Ladies' Home Journal yesterday to read about the McCaughey Septuplets turning 10 and I found some really clever Christmas cookies. My favorites are the Peanut Butter Rudolph Reindeers and the Dulce de Leche Chocolate Bars. You can make two variations of the chocolate bars. My favorite is this beautiful red, white, and green swirl pattern using melted white chocolate and red and green food coloring. Very beautiful and unusual. I could not find a link to the recipe or pix, but be sure to check out the Rudolph cookies. They are adorable.
Merry Christmas!

Random Ramblings

Keeping Christ In Christmas Cards
Dear husband and I went Christmas shopping yesterday and I realized I hadn't bought any Christmas cards. I love to send out cards, but I am finding it harder and harder each year to find cards with a nativity scene or even a religious message. I am amazed at what you can find on the front of a Christmas card. Now I love a good tractor as much as anyone, but I don't want one on the front of my Christmas card. Nor do I want a picture of Santa fishing out of a big fine bass boat. I'm not anti-Santa and I have nothing against fishing...I just don't want them on my Christmas cards. I finally found, after looking through the whole selection, a box of religious themed cards on the very top shelf. I must remember to look for cards earlier next year.

I Didn't Know That!
Our county has a time capsule. I had no idea. We went to our local Christmas parade on Saturday and we stayed behind to walk through town and take pix of the courthouse and some of the older buildings. Our courthouse was burned during the Civil War. I walked around looking at the memorials and monuments and right there in front of the statue of the Dough boy was the lid to a time capsule. It will be opened in 2076. I doubt I will be around for the opening. ;-)

On a side note, for as long as I can remember there have been benches on the lawn in front of the courthouse. These benches are the gathering place for men, many of them quite elderly, who like to whittle. I do hope you know what whittling is. They sit and talk and whittle in the sun. Years ago, I had a great uncle who lived to be quite old. He loved children and loved to hand out silver dollars. He was a staple around the courthouse for years until he died.

Do We Really Need...?
Have you noticed that we now have several kinds of Charmin and Dawn? Do we really need seven types of Dawn? This is not counting different scents or the Dawn Power Dissolver and the Dawn Power Dish Brush. If you count scents, there are 16 different types of Dawn. I remember when there was just one. It was fine. I still use it.

Charmin! Leave the Charmin alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Now there are three kinds of Charmin...Charmin Soft, Charmin Strong, and Charmin Basic. *Sigh* Really. Can't we have soft and strong? Why do we have to pick between the two? We miss the plain old Charmin and didn't have any complaints when they decided to start making three different types. At first, I bought up all the regular Charmin I could find. Then, when I couldn't find anymore, I went with strong. It was too thick and dear husband didn't like it at all. I switched to Soft and it was too soft. Finally, I went with Basic. I bet you thought I was going to say it was just right! Well, it's not, but it is our favorite of the three and it happens to be the cheapest. Watch and see. They will stop making it and I will have to start all over.

My Find
Dear husband and I do not buy for each other for Christmas, but this caught my eye and I would really like to have one. It is a turntable that not only plays records but has a cable to hook to your computer so you can burn your old albums to CDs. I love albums. Even the scratchy, staticy ones. I have some old Bonnie Raitt albums that I love and haven't been able to listen to since our old turntable gave up the ghost. These are albums that she made before she was famous. It would be nice to record all our old music to CDs, but I would still like to be able to listen to the original recordings. Dear husband was much more careful in the way he took care of his albums before we married and most of his are still in great condition.

I guess that's it for now. I will close by saying Merry Christmas and sharing a quote from one of my new Christmas cards. I love it.

Jesus is the gift that perfectly fits the size of every heart.

Azalea Bush Leaves In Fall

Random Ramblings

Made In America, Or Is It?

Dear husband had to buy a new pair of work boots this weekend. He bought a pair of Red Wings that had this tag attached:

He was pleased to find a pair that were made in the U.S.A. He bought them and brought them home only to find a label inside the boot that said "Made in China". He was not one bit pleased. This really should be against the law.

Another Photography Contest

Yes, I, the one who said she would never enter another photography contest, did. Forgive me for lying. I had no intentions of entering, but dear husband asked me if I would enter another local contest. This one was much bigger and scarier than the one I entered earlier. I took second place on this pix in the Flowers category:

Opossum
We saw the opossum last night. We were pulling in the driveway and the headlights caught him scurrying along the creek bank. He hasn't been back to the bird feeder since dear husband moved the wire he was using to climb up onto the roof. He looked fat and sassy, so I am pretty sure he has found another food source. That's good.

Elk
I saw my first elk in the wild this week! Well...he wasn't really in the wild; he was on the side of the road and several cars had stopped to watch and take pix. What makes this especially interesting is that elk were introduced into this area in 1997 and I am just now seeing my first one. It only took me 10 years. I hope to get pix soon.

Random Ramblings

Snow Birds and Snow
Wednesday night we had a thunderstorm with lightning and strong winds. It was very warm and we even ran our ceiling fans. I heard the heat kick on around 7:30 that morning and by noon it was snowing!

The Friday before, I had watched a Dark-eyed Junco on the pump house roof. The minute I saw the bird, I knew we would be getting snow. We have been bird watching for years, and I have never seen a Junco without seeing snow. I know that sounds hard to believe, but it is true. They always bring snow. We only see them in winter. I think this one paid us an early visit.

Putting The Books Away

Today is our last day of school until January. We have already finished our first semester and it feels good to have it behind us. When we first started homeschooling, we followed the county school's schedule. Then, after a couple of years I decided to make out a schedule that would fit our needs better and prevent burnout. It is the single greatest decision I have made in making our homeschool experience a success.

Now, we start the week after the Fourth. It is so hot and buggy here that we are inside during the hottest part of the day anyway. We take a week long fall break. We go nine more weeks and then put the books away for Thanksgiving and don't start back until after the first of the year. This gives me the whole month of December to shop, decorate, bake, wrap gifts and really enjoy it. I am not in a rush because we have set aside this time to be with family and friends. Any school we would do during this time would just be rushed and half-done. We still get out around the second week of May. We also take off all days that dear husband is off from work. Below is a sample of our schedule. I color code each quarter and leave blank all days off. This is the easiest way I have found to keep up with my schedule with just a glance. Here's a sample of my School Calendar:

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Brownies From A Box

I have never been able to make brownies from a box. They always end up hard as a brick on the edges and soft or even raw in the middle. I was looking for a little something sweet to put in dear husband's dinner bucket this week and picked up a box of brownies. Guess how they turned out?.........Perfect! They are delicious and the texture is perfect. Fudgy from one end of the pan to the other. They were Duncan Hines brand and I think they were called Chocolate Chunk. I followed the directions for "cake-like" brownies, but they are very fudgy and "brownie-like". I baked them in an 8x8 disposable pan. Just had to share this in case there is another person out there who is brownie challenged like me. :-)

I guess that's it for now. Toodles.

But Only God Can Make A Tree

Sweet Potato! Mighty King Of The .....Yard!