The Event ~ The China Trade Out!

Everyone has a hang-up, and mine is stuff with pictures on it.  Specifically, checks, dishes, t-shirts!

I do not like to eat off of plates with designs, flowers, picures, borders, etc.  I do not like to write on checks that have pictures on them, especially over the center of the check where I have to write on.  And I don't like to wear t-shirt with pictures.  Plain jane, simplicity.  That's me! 

When I was young and engaged to be married,  living and working in Denver, I succumbed to the ever popular door-to-door salesman pedaling his new-bride wares of silver, crystal, china, pots and pans, etc.  That was indeed the beginning of the end of the era of door-to-door salesmen.  I only bought china.  Good girl!  Even then, all the china had silly colored flowers or other such stuff on it.  But one set had only a few small white roses on white, and that is the set I bought.  White on white - the most plain set available.  For the first 35 years my china was carefully stored and displayed in a corner china cabinet that Grandpa Grabe built for me.  Only taken out two or three times a year for holidays or special company meals.

About five years ago, I put my "fine china" in the kitchen cupboard to be used nearly on a daily basis.  I did this because I discovered from the many auctions that we do, that china has no value,  nobody wants someone else's old china, and children definitely do not want to "inherit" it!  So why do we save nice dishes for special occasions??   So now I use it often.

HOWEVER, it has tiny little white roses on it, and whenever I use it, I am bothered by the roses when I set the plates on a patterned tablecloth - like a fall foliage tablecloth, or a red Christmas tablecloth with red poinsettias on it.  The roses don't go with fall leaves or Christmas poinsettias or spring bouquets, etc.  (By the way, I don't mind tablecloths with pictures or designs!)

From our auction activity and buying a houseful of personal property to feed into auctions, I ended up with a complete set of china that has been stored in my garage for two years, serving accessories and all.  It is almost identical to mine, except it is PLAIN white - no flowers, no design, no rim.  And it was just sitting in boxes in the garage.  I was going to give the set to Cash and Annie, but they got nice plain white dishes as a wedding gift.  So last week I got the brilliant idea to trade out dishes; put my "fine china"  with pretty (nasty) little roses on it in the garage, and bring in the plain white "fine china". 

I made the china trade-out with no regrets, no remorse over getting rid of "my" dishes.  Now I can feel good about setting a table with plain white dishes that go with anything!  How lovely!  Anybody want a nice, lovely set of beautiful white china with pretty little white roses on it? 

Now I can  enjoy using nice, unique tablecloths - simple or wild.  I seem to have a hang up with table cloths.  I like them.  A nice gift idea! A special event for sure - setting a nice table to share with family and friends.   Stay tuned for my next hang up!

The Event ~ San Antonio & Texas Trails

It was a really nice rest and relaxation for Tim and I in Texas for six days last week.  We took our first "old timers" bus tour trip.  I say that because we were the youngest couple of the 13 couples on this tour trip.  I would guess the others were within 5 - 15 years - under 75.  I guess that's what retired people do ~ travel via organized bus tours.  But they were a lively group regardless of age!  We hope to be lively when we retire!

That said, we both thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip, including the people and friends we made.  Once in San Antonio, we traveled exactly 1,150 miles in and around the area.  We visited the largest King Ranch, the LBJ Ranch, the YO longhorn and exotic animal ranch (including giraffs, zebras, etc).  We spent the night at a really fun dude ranch with free booze from 5 - 10 p.m., a t-bone cowboy cookout, followed by more free drinks and a refresher course in country dance.  The following morning we  rode horseback about a mile down the trail to a real outdoor cowboy breakfast.   

We visited the Alamo, some "painted" churches,  an old mission, an art ranch, an apple orchard, and a small German town.  We were treated to the biggest and yummiest apple turnovers and apple dumplings at the orchard. We went to  Corpus Christi where we spent a night and toured the USS Lexington ( an aircrafat carrier used during WWII). 

Back in San Antonio, we enjoyed lunch at  a Mexican market,  spent three nights on the Riverwalk, and took a boat ride through the river.  

We met a very nice couple who live in San Antonio who bought hay from us; they came to the hotel to meet us and took us out for a Texas steak dinner.  We went to a country music concert that was very, very good.   We were treated to two other barbeque lunches on the King Ranch and the YO ranch.  The food was of course very good and always more than we needed!  The hotel in San Antonio had a daily "happy hour" that served enough food to make a meal and included up to three beverages of choice.  Needless to say, we had our share of margaritas each evening.   

We also enjoyed a private wine tasting.  It was actually quite nice to sit on the comfortable bus and watch the scenery go by while someone else drove; and visit with people from all over (there were 11 states represented among the 13 couples.)  We saw a whole lot more than we would have if we were on our own, as many of these places we would not have even been aware of. 

This is the summer Texas is experiencing it's worst drought and heat record in history.  It definitely was very dry.  We saw dried up rivers, and absolutely no water in any creeks or ponds anywhere; and cattle trying to graze on bare dirt-dry range dirt land that used to be lush pasture for the cattle.  The week we were in Texas, there was a reprieve from the heat, as the temps only hovered around 98-100 degrees each day, a relief from the over 100 straight days of over 100 degree temperatures.  We were glad it cooled off a few degrees!  Notice what this bony, skinny longhorn has to graze on below!

Tim and I both agreed that this type of travel suits us quite well, and we will definitely seek out similar tour vacations in the future.  This was definitely a top-notch tour company.  Let's see,  I think I will look closely at the Niagara Falls and Western New York, Sweden and Norway Spectacular or perhaps Hawaii. 

Yes, this little vacation was an eventful treat for us ~ a Texas-style event!  We had f-f-f-u-n.  Oops! 

The Event ~ Friendships Rekindled

What a pleasant surprise when we got the call last week from friends we haven't seen for eight years.  Dan and Beth Forbes were coming to town over the weekend, and I was ecstatic that their agenda included a visit with us.  Their trip was quick, so we got together over breakfast at our house on Sunday morning.  Of course, Tim was the cook ~ he cooks breakfast every Sunday morning!  (yes, I know I'm so spoiled and lucky!)

I was so excited to see them again.  We last saw them when we stopped at their home in Boise, Idaho in 2003.  We got to be good friends with Dan and Beth when they moved into the house across the street from us on Avenue K in Scottsbluff, I think in the spring of 1987.   I remember taking a chocolate pie over to them when they were moving in to welcome them to the neighborhood.  One of the best things I did because a close, long friendship resulted.  We were sad to see them relocate to Boise. 

We shared a wonderful breakfast and lingered longer for five hours of great fellowship catching up with them.  Renewing old friendships is such a heart-warming event.  I look forward to the day when we will make another road trip to the northwest that will include a stop in Boise again.  Friends are among the most precious blessings in life.  Too often too many friendships wane through time and distance.  So it's  a real joy and a blessing to renew and revisit friends of the past, and keep that spirit alive into the future.

Dan and Beth are among those pictured in my August 19, 2010 post "The Season of Friends."

The Event ~ Ten Years Later

The entire USA nation is gearing up to memorilize the 10-year anniversary of September 11, 2001, the terrorist attack on America through the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in New Yorik, the Pentagon in Washington DC, and the plane crash in Pennsylvania which thwarted an attack on the Capitol, all resulting in the loss of thousands of lives of American citizens. 

This event is one that is etched on the minds of every American who was alive, still alive, and old enough to remember the events of that day.   It will not be soon forgotten, and in the last ten years we have been reminded of it almost daily as America continues to fight the war on terrorism to protect our country and its people.  It is debateable how successful this campaign has been in ten years. 

In my mind, this is the most tragic, devastating event that has occurred on American soil.  It has its place in American history books.  My grandkids and great grandkids will read about it, but will never comprehend it. 

Life goes on, one day at a time, but its amazing how tragedy can be forever etched on the mind, more so than historical victories.  I can remember exactly where I was on that day ten years ago; and also exactly where I was when John F. Kennedy was assassinated November 22, 1963; when the space shuttle Challenger exploded  in mid-air shortly after take off Februry 1, 2003; when Robert Kennedy was shot in California June 6, 1968; when Princess Diana was killed in a Paris car crash in a tunnel  August 31, 1997; when hurricane Katrina wiped out New Orleans August 29, 2005.

But where are the victories and celebrations of America?  Are there any beyond the announcement of the end of World War II?  (I wasn't around for that one, but it's in the history books!)

We can vividly remember the celebrations within our own families - the happy times, the memories created.   But beyond that, our brain seems to etch tragedy over triumph.

I saw a church sign just the other day that said "God doesn't promise to protect us from storms, but he does promise to get us through storms."    9-11 brought the nation together under one God - for a fleeting moment in time.  It was a very brief moment in time when the nation in unison actually turned to "one true God" in prayer and supplication. "One nation under God."  Then it was back to business as usual in efforts to remove God from everything important ~ like government, schools, families, businesses.  Don't get in my way God.  I'll call you when and if I need you ~ that seems to be the common thread among so many people, including many, many Christians.

Now, as we prepare to "celebrate together" the ten year anniversary of the most tragic event occurring on American soil, we will hear many refer to the "grace of God", "prayer", etc for another fleeting moment.

I thank God for life, and for getting me through the storms of life, because it is the storms of life that  draws one closer to God.  Drawing close to God and STAYING there (close to God) is the challenge.  How often we drift off in left field.   He is surely disappointed when we do not acknowledge His hand in our life.

So anyway, as we all share in the media hype, the special programs, rewatch the chilling events on tv, bow our heads in praise and thanks to the God of all nations, ask for His continued blessings on this country, I hope we all acknowlege that God is still in control and He will continue to be with those who seek Him in many more storms of life to come.  Remember, God doesn't throw things in our path to disrupt it and then walk away.  He has a plan for us. 

Now let's remember the victories of life, the pleasant events, and count our blessings, all of which are undeserved but continue to be poured out from the hand of God.

The Event ~ Startled by a Rattlesnake

Last week I was startled when I walked upon a snake while out on a real estate call with Tim.  Not a big snake ~ only about an inch in diameter and about two feet long.  He was pretty much stretched out, half in the weeds and half on the sidewalk.    I've encountered snakes in the past, and it's always startling, but they are usually garden snakes, or bigger bull snakes.  I even picked one up, years ago in Bayard,  off the garage step only to have it twist it's head around and bite me in the finger ~ a puncture on each side of the finger.  A snake is suppose to be picked up by its head, but I guess I wasn't close enough to the head to immobilize it.  Actually, a snake isn't suppose to be picked up at all!!

So I walk up on this snake, startled, and stand there for all of at least two minutes, first wondering what kind of snake it is, and then wondering if I should just proceed to walk around it ~ between it and the building which was about two feet of walking room.  I thought to myself, that the walking movement that close might cause him to strike.  In those two minutes of me just standing two feet away wondering what to do, the snake was constantly hissing his black tongue at me, his beady little eyes not losing contact with me. 

The rattle was there, but then, I've never heard a real rattlesnake, and all snakes tend to make some funny kind of noise, so I still wasn't sure if I should just continue to walk aroaund it towards the car. I thought just don't bother him and he won't bother me.   The rattle continued and I really got concerned, so I backed away and went back inside the building where Tim and the owner were talking.  I asked if he had rattlesnakes in the area, and he said not that he was aware of.

We all went back out, and the snake had since coiled up beside the building in the same place.  Sure enough it was a rattlesnake.  The owner got a shovel, hit it over the head and then cut the head off with the shovel blade.  Then Tim tells me that small rattlesnakes are more deadly than big ones, and that snakes can strike up to at least the distance of the length of their body.  Like the two feet distance between it and me!!

So all that time I was within instant striking distance of that snake, way too close for way too long.  And being barefoot in open sandals, he could have struck like lightening, and I wouldn't be around to be writing this now.  Gees, that gives me the creepy willies! 

Genesis 3:15 says: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."  Women and snakes have been bitter enemies since Eve encountered the snake in the Garden of Eden and succombed to its temptation. 

That snake almost bruised my heel, but we bruised its head instead!  That is one event I don't want to repeat!

The Event ~Still in the Kitchen

The kitchen is the hub of the house in most homes.  I think that holds true for my kitchen as well.  I love being in the kitchen, but I don't like to cook.  However, I like to do kitchen projects, like baking bread or cookies, seasonal canning, and, yes, a holiday meal.  I'm not good at planning or cooking everyday meals, but I can enjoy planning and fulfilling an event meal. 

It seems this time of the year, it's hard to get out of the kitchen. It starts with the rhubarb early in the season, followed strawberries when I can get some.   Last week it was corn. 

Then it was pickle relish.  A friend gave me an abundance of cucumbers from her over abundant crop.  With my carrots, onions, peppers, and green tomatoes, it was time to make sweet pickle relish.  I try to do this every two or three years and make enough to last that long. 

Now I have zuchinni waiting to be made into bread, cabbage waiting to be made into cabbage burgers, and blackberries to pick.    I did chop and blanch two heads of cabbage for the freezer, which will be added to vegetable soup this fall.  I have to get to the farm truck and buy a box of peaches for preserving for the winter and making into jelly.  

Yes, working in the kitchen is a rewarding event; and  it's hard to get out of the kitchen at this time of the year.   But I am always glad to turn my (our) kitchen over to Tim when it comes to cooking a meal. 

Here's my simple recipe for pickle relish that I have been making for forty years.  It's the same one my mother used to make when I was growing up.

PICKLE RELISH:   Fill a kitchen sink with cucumbers, green tomatoes, carrots, onions,  a few green peppers, and a few  red peppers.  Grind through a meat grinder, alternating veggies as you grind.  Add 1 cup canning salt to about two gallons of relish mix.  Mix well.  Drain by squeezing through a colander and squeezing out  excess juice with hands.   Put drained relish in big kettle.  Add six cups sugar and six cups vinegar to 12- 16 cups of relish. Adjust vinegar/sugar amounts per amount of relish.   Mix well.  Heat to boiling.  Put hot mixture into hot jars.  Turn upside down and cover with towel to help heat to seal lids.  Excellent on hamburgers, hot dogs, and ground meat sandwich mix. 

The Event ~ Preserving the Gold

It doesn't get any more golden than this!  And there is nothing better in August than juicy, sweet, golden corn on the cob.  No one in our family stops with just one.  When corn on the cob hits the dinner table, there is usually enough for 2 - 3 ears per person or more. 

(Now I understand that our newest family member, Annie, grew up enjoying a 1/2 or 1/3 section piece of one cob, and that was a serving!  Ye gads, Cash had to retrain that eating habit in a hurry!)

Next best thing to eating corn on the cob is preserving those golden kernals for winter meals.  It's a family affair when family is around.  From pickin' to shuckin' to cuttin' to baggin'. 

This is the first year in many that we actually raised our own sweet corn, only because Tim plowed up an alfalfa field and planted it to corn, and he planted a small triangular corner to sweet corn.  Usually we buy it from a local farmer or street vendor.  

So it's been a long time since Tim has had to irrigate a corn field.  But that's where it all begins. 

Not only did I freeze those golden kernals.  I also made some corn relish!

Preserving the gold and preserving the memories ~ an event worth preserving!

The Event ~ The Family Picnic

It's always fun to have a family picnic.  It's kind of a Stricker family tradition.  The Stricker family used to always have Memorial Day picnics with many extended family present when Grandpa Alex Stricker was still living.  The attendance has waned through the years, but the picnic still happens, even if it's only a handful of family members and a two hour lunch picnic, followed by a short softball game.  This year we had a nice attendance on Saturday, August 13, with about 50 family members present, some that hadn't been around for many, many years.     The infamous softball game still takes place in the park after the bellies are full!

My mom actually drove from Billings, Montana so she could see the kids and grandkids while they were here for the weekend and the family picnic.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother and a wonderful mother-in-law.  They both look so fun and happy in this picture, a real tribute as they are both in their 80's, both still driving, both still fun and young at heart.  Bless them both!

During the weekend, those at my house found time to put up a little corn, make some ice cream, have a Friday nite hamburger fry, and play a little ball or a board game.   

 

Yep, family time is always an eventful time!  We can never get too much of it. 

The Event ~ One Kid at a Time!

So it's been awhile since I've posted.  I keep racking my brain for something to journal about, but am at a loss.  But we did get the opportunity to have a couple of the grandkids come stay for a week ~ one kid at a time.  To thoroughly enjoy our time with them, and because Tim and I are both "at work", we can only take one grand child at a time.  Not that we don't enjoy all of them at any given one time, but the "one-on-one" time is so special for both Tim and I to enjoy.  Mostly the kids go with Tim during the days, simply because he is around the farm and on the go and they can go with him wherever.

Jakob spent a week with us, catching a ride out west with some family friends.  He was a big help to Grandpa, irrigating, helping to bring in the big hay bales by driving the jeep in and out of the fields.  Grandpa tried to teach him how to drive tractor and rake, but never got to the point of letting him go on his own.  A little more practice needed!  We enjoyed dairy queen blizzards a couple times, and a trip to the fair for fair food. We hope our grandkids keep enjoying coming to the farm, helping out a little and learning more life skills that farm life has to offer.  He would still be here if he didn't need to go home to start his fall football practice.   Jakob will turn 13 next month ~ Sept 14.  A teenager!  

So a quick early morning trip to meet Janel in Brady was scheduled to get Jakob back home and bring Mathilda back with me.  She will be here a week until the whole famiily comes out for a Stricker family picnic.  Mattie has enjoyed the two kittens, keeping them by her side continuously and letting them sleep in her bed each night.  They are so cute and cuddly  - the kittens, but Mattie is cute and cuddly too!

We have noticed Mathilda eats like a horse!  That surprises both Tim and I, they way she puts away the food!   She loves to parade around in Alexis' old prom dress; and then dress the cowgirl part to go with Grandpa, in her boots, western shirt, hat and jeans!  The hillbilly teeth have always put a fun smile on all!

Over the weekend we did find time to bake zuchinni bread together.   She enjoys being a big help in the kitchen. 

Mathilda will be eight in two weeks, Aug 22. 

We must enjoy the grandkids as much as we can because they grow up so fast, and am sure as they get older spending time with Grandpa and Grandma will not be high on their "want" list as their desires and schedules mature and change.   But the memories will always be imprinted on their minds and hearts.  Nothing will erase the memories. 

One thing that hasn't changed a whole lot with kids on the farm, is that it still seems to be all work and no play.  It seems like we have always worked, worked, worked on the farm when our kids were little and often they worked right along beside us.  Play was far and little in between.  We just keep working with the grandkids by our side and play is far and little in between.  Our own kids all have fine, strong work ethics I'm sure due to learning about hard work as a child.  So I trust that the concept is not all bad!   We promise we won't take advantage of our grandchildren and abuse the "child labor laws"!!   We love our grandchildren and spending time with them "one kid at a time" is an event to be enjoyed and cherished!

The Event ~ Strawberry Season

Strawberry season is usually meaningless to me because I have never been able to raise a good strawberry patch.  I hear stories of  Grandma Katherine Stricker's overproductive patch in a gravel hill.  I currently can share in the joy of Janel's small strawberry patch bearing a productive harvest.  Usually this time of the year I can only buy those not-quite-ripe-white-on-the-inside strawberries offered in the store.

However, recently on the evening of July 3rd we joined cousins Connie and Rich for a July 4th bbq at their farm in Hemingford.  It's always fun to go there in the summertime and view her beautiful yard, flowers and garden because she is such a green thumb talented garden tender.  Connie has a productive large strawberry bed and she let Annie and I pick strawberries while waiting for the food to be ready.

 

Annie and I each picked a bucket full of fresh strawberries.  On the morning of July 4th, we spent time in the kitchen together making strawberry jam and sauce.  We also added jalepeno peppers to the jam, which everyone seems to like. 

Then we picked an armful of rhubarb and made rhubarb punch and rhubarb sauce.  In addition to the jars of jelly Annie and Cash were able to take back to Denver with them, Annie also took a bunch of rhubarb home with her to make some crunch and pie desserts for Cash.  It was a fun, eventful bonding time for Annie and I in the kitchen. 

To follow that, this past Saturday I returned to Hemingford to go to the country quilt shop and Connie invited me to pick the last of her strawberries.  So I brought another bucket home and made seven more pints of strawberry jam.  M-m-m-m, so good!  Connie says she has like 15 gallons of strawberries in her freezer waiting to be made into jam this winter! 

We had waffles with fresh strawberry sauce and real whipped cream for supper Saturday nite.  This was a real treat for us.  Thank you Connie, for sharing your strawberries!

The Event ~ It's a Mystery, I'm Clueless

For most of the years that I have been actively quilting, I always seem to start a new project in the spring and summer.  Haven't quite figured that out because winter is suppose to be the time to work on projects like that.  Maybe it's because I'm not fond of outdoor yard and garden work, and my quilt projects pacify me in place of active outdoor gardening.  While most people are beautifying their yards with flower beds, I shudder at the thought of trying to make my yard beautiful with flowers.  It's a lost cause for me for the most part.  I struggle with yard work.  It puts me in tears every spring!  I have appreciated so much anything Cash has done in my yard through the years.  He enjoys it.  I don't. 

Anyway, that has nothing to do with the mystery alluded to in the title above.  But has everything to do with quilting in the middle of summer.

As I am finishing up Cash and Annie's quilt ~ which is turning out remarkedly beautiful for a scrappy patchwork, I'm also embarking on yet another quilting project.  I usually don't finish one and start another so close together.  But the quilt shop was hosting a summer mystery quilt project.  I've never participated in a mystery quilt project before, but decided I would do this one.

Instructions were to buy certain yardages of fabric:  a medium print focus fabric with lots of color; and a light, medium, and dark complementing fabric.  Instruction clues are given once a week for six weeks.  The last set of instructions being options of how to set the pieces together for the finished product.    I have no idea what the pattern is, how it will look.  It will be pieced together mysteriously as we are given clues (instructions) a little at a time.

So I've purchased the fabric, and cut it according to the first clue.   It sits here now, as I wait for the next clue. It's a mystery to me, and right now I am clueless.  I am pleased with my fabric choices.  Just hope I am pleased with the finished project!  Stay tuned.

I am not a die hard quilter, but it is something I enjoy.  To my own amazement I have actually made well over 30 quilts throughout the years.   Many of these quilts are pictured in an entry dated May 24, 2010.  Each of my kids each have at least two or three, including their own baby quilts, and each of my grandkids have at least one, and a few have received two.   It's an eventful hobby. 

The Event ~ One World Many Stories

Today I entertained approximately 400 children at the grand opening of the Lied Scottsbluff Public Library.  The summer reading program theme is "One World ~ Many Stories".  Woody brought his suitcase as he was about ready to embark on a trip around the world.  Come to find out ~ it was full of books from many different countries.   That's how he was going to travel around the world ~ through books.  That's how children see the world.  He invited all the children to join him on his journey. 

Delilah sang a song "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly".  She looked at me as though I was an old lady.  I wasn't very happy with her doing that!  But all the kids thought it was funny.

Aunt Edna in all her wisdom encouraged the kids to turn off the televisions and computers and spend time reading.  The program was during her afternoon nap time, so she had a hard time staying awake but she did want to let the children know how lucky they were to have such a wonderful new library.  She didn't have computers and cell phones and radios and I Pods when she was a little girl.  But she did have a wonderful library and she too journeyed around the world through books.