Thanksgiving. A Good Day.

Wow!  we couldn't have asked for a nicer Thanksgiving Day.  It was 60ish.  Clear and Sunny.  and the Corn was picked.  Too bad it wasn't our corn! 

The meal was bountiful!  Delicious.  Plentiful.  With a big selection.  And great atmosphere!  and views. 

Conversation was diverse, interesting, non-political and having nothing to do about religon and opinions.  oh. . . errrr ...... was it?  (Get out! and stay out! ????)

No!  JK!  It was more like "the Smorgesboard Line forms to the right"   . . .

Children . . . little ones running hither and thither.  (wait.  did I just make those two words up?  hither and thither?)  I love the photo!

thank you on-line dictionary: 
hither and thither (not comparable)

1. To here and to there

For sure, the children were "to here and to there" and back again! 

Aunt Hannah!  I'll beat you!  (doesn't that just sound like sweet Morghan?)

Is this practice for walking "single file"?  For Indian trail walking?  What a great way to walk off some of those delicious incoming calories! 

We love the swinging bridge!

And the tree swings!

And the Tree House!

And return trips.

Oh, Erica and Dana? 

I'm thinking there might be a lot of return trips. 

Thank you! 

It was a great day!

Had to try it

I'm shocked.  I evidently didn't take a picture of my pumpkin.  I bought the Rhode Island Cheese Pumpkin at the grocery store in Mercer, Mo.  The pumpkin was not bright orange and it was sort of flat but I can't find a picture of it.  I even used it for a fall/Thanksgiving decoration in my entry way but never took a picture of it.  What? 

 . . . oh well, wait.  Here!  The internet has everything and here is a photo of my pumpkin!  Paler, flater.  Okay . . . more flat!  Certainly not a Jack-o-lantern pumpkin. 

But pleasing to my eye. 

What a surprise when I cut it open -- it has beautiful orange meat!

Himself asked me why I thought I had to cut open, scrape out and cook down a pumpkin?  Why?  he wondered.  I confessed that I didn't know but I had got it in my head that I needed to do this once in my life time .

So I quartered the pumpkin, and with Maddie's help, scraped out the seeds and the strings.  I threw the shell and the flesh in a roasting pan, covered it with foil and baked it at 350 degrees for an hour. 

I separated the seeds from the strings (the guts) and roasted them as required.  I salted them down with sea salt and fed them to hungry granddaughters.  Johanna tried them and said they tasted like wood chips!  but Morghan and Maddie chowed down on some and took the rest home. 

Salted Pumpkin Seeds

After baking the pumpkin shell, I scraped out the meat, drained it and froze up four pint jars.  I kept thinking the pretty orange color would fade but it didn't.  I think the cooked pumpkin is beautiful! 

We had to drain the "puree" then ladle the pumpkin into glass jars to freeze.  I didn't research further, but if you want to "can" pumpkin you have to leave it in pieces.  You can't "can" pureed pumpkin so I cooled it in ice water until there was not one little degree of heat left in it, and plunked it into the freezer. 

Isn't it pretty?  I used one of these jars and made some Pumpkin Gingerbread.  This "bread" or cake wasn't nearly as sweet as say, pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting, but it was good . . . and much healthier for a person.  Himself and I tried it right out of the oven but it was better the next day, after cooling.  That is unusual as most baked goods are best right out of the oven.    Again, I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the pretty gingerbread (sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon). 

What's wrong with me?  I'm out of practice!  I'll be working on that . . .

Missing in Action

Don't know why I haven't posted lately. 

I have been tongue tied, I guess. The Cat has had my tongue.

Maybe it had something to do with Uncle Gary's brain tumor, surgery, treatment?  But maybe that is just an excuse.  Maybe because my camera hadn't been working (Himself got me a new one!  BHH!)

I don't know  why I hadn't been writing . . . However!  let me tell you when I was looking at photos tonight and I had several inspirations crowd my brain for blog posts and joggle for first place, I was a happy camper!  I wrote up the Christmas decoration entry (around Blogger being down and dumb and not accepting my photos), it felt good! 

I hope that writer's block is well and truly behind me!

It is beginning to Look a Lot

like Christmas!

and it is beginning to feel a lot like WINTER!  A day time high of only 26 or 27 degrees today and we had our coldest night of this winter just last night or the night before. 

Himself did a nice job decorating this year and he's so good at putting the lights on a timer so we don't have to go out and turn them on and off.  I like it! 

Those new candy canes were a bit of a traumatic adventure as I saw display candy canes in the Menards store but couldn't find a boxed set.  So I asked the guy stocking the shelves.  Well, it wasn't really his area but as he was my age and remembered the old days of customer service, off he went to check.  Mind you, I'm shopping with Himself.  So I feel pressure.  And I feel pain.  Himself's pain : ) 

Stock (old) boy comes back and says there are 25 boxed sets somewhere.  So he and I and Himself recheck every shelf and hem and haw and practice patience and finally after about 20 minutes, he finds them!  upstairs!  where they will never sell!  So he brings them down and I grab mine and off we go to check out! 

And I like my candy canes and I'm glad we got them but as we are checking out, I realize these are NOT the ones on display, these are shorter!  I'm happy tho and I'm not going back to tell him because he worked so hard to find these!  But you know what?  There's another 25 boxes of Candy Canes in that Menards store somewhere! 

These candy canes have about 8 settings. One setting has each candy cane lighting at its own time, solo, and jumping up and down off the ground, twisting and shouting! Jiving!  Wow!

Himself has selected a more sedate mode. 

Wordless Sunday

Sometimes Nana runs out of words

But I never run out of photos.

And I never run out of love. 

Don't you just love Children.

Especially my beautiful children

and their loved ones

and my grandchildren. 

  

Mysteries, revisited

This was taken by Aunt Beth.

Erica!  Look out! 

This was my first time, catching one in a digital photo.

The Axe Murder House, Villisca, Ia

This was taken in Red Oak, IA the same trip as the photo above. 

Was someone watching me, while I watched him? 

Why is that third window so different?

This is just pretty, as I was cruising thru photos this evening.

Grand River bottom.

Highway 34 east of Afton, Iowa

This was taken by Erica, I think.  On my surprise birthday tour in 2003.

Was this house in the Sherman Hills area?

Lots of construction going on in the photo and I've come to learn that construction might mean more dry wall orbs . . . but one never knows!

 

Jordan Cemetery, my 2003 birthday "haunted tour".

Erica took this picture.  

Whew, a breath of fresh air!

Nana needed sunshine and brightness.

I don't think I ever used this photo in letter or email. 

Wish my motabilism would pick up again

 and that I could be run thru the rewind channel

 and end up like this again. 

Oh, if wishes were horses we would all ride like Kings. 

As your Granny would say. 

There was something odd here at the Carl Cemetery

in Adams Co, Iowa but I 'm not sure the camera

recorded whatever caught my eye.

I have always wanted to go back and have another look see.

Who's willing and available?

PS:  don't forget your digital camera!  love, Ma

Country Roads

Southern Iowa, Northern Missouri. 

Pretty country and getting prettier.  

There are Amish communities springing up in several different locations in Southern Iowa and Northern Missouri.  Here, one pretty Sunday morning, the Amish gathered for a Sunday morning worship service.  There must have been 20-25 buggies.  Take that times 4 people (on the average? per buggy) and that was 100 simple folk gathered together for fellowship. 



 Himself and I were well pleased to see this many buggies in one place.  We may never see that again. 

Jamesport, Mo is a small town about the size of Afton with some old brick store buildings, businesses housed in old houses and crafts, collectibles and antiques for sale.  Outside of Jamesport on gravel and black topped roads are more Amish businesses.  There are country stores, greenhouses, horseshoe schools, bakeries and furniture stores housed in homes or on farmsteads.   Jamesport is a tourist area and not all the stores are owned by the Amish.  Some are "English" that might employ young Amish girls to bake or wait tables and to give atmosphere.  Still, the town and shops are picturesque and there are horse and buggies and farm wagons using the streets and the roads -- and little boys in straw hats and little girls in bonnets.  And the pace and the clip clop of horses plodding down the streets and byways, slows the thoughts and soothes the frenzy of folk from a different life style. 

Just east of Leon, Ia when you turn south and take the curvey, blacktop "short cut" to Lineville, Ia, there used to be a Mennonite Church sitting on the right, or the west of the county road.  This summer, the Church burned to the ground.  We aren't exactly sure when it did, but it is gone.  Could it have been burned intentionally? awaiting a bigger, better church?  That just doesn't seem right.  I don't think the Mennonites would have been so wasteful.  I think they would have taken the wooden Church down piece by piece and reused what they could.  It does seem that the Spiritual Community will rebuild on this site. 

One recent Sunday, just at noon, we were headed home and witnessed the sight of a couple of hundred of gentle folk, gathering for a funeral.  Himself had to pull to the shoulder to allow the Procession to pass and as it did, the folks to arrive first were getting out of their vehicles and walking to the grave site.  It must have been a pretty prominent person that died as it was a large funeral. 

Amish sect folks use horse and buggies for transportation.  Mennonites own cars and vans.  You might see Mennoinites in Wal-Mart in their lighter colored clothing, their tennis shoes and the women wearing the little white caps.  Mennonites are more modern than the Amish. 

We saw this hay field with Amish made hay bales in Northern Missouri.  Okay, it might have been southern Iowa.  Those two areas sort of blend together in this old one's mind.  But we can tell these bales are Amish as they are not as neat and uniform as high tech "John Deere" bales -- but they are pleasing to the eye. 

As is this huge house in western Decatur Co or eastern Ringgold.  I can look at this house all day!  At first, I supposed it was a school of some kind but I have looked all over the internet and cannot learn a thing about it.  So now I'm assuming it is a large, old farmstead house.  I may have to stop and knock at the door someday, in order to learn more.  I'll keep you posted! 

I really do enjoy my back road travels.  I just never know what I am going to find. 

Bring it on!

Summer!  Bring it on.  My favorite time of year.  

As dry as it has been, at least we are still getting some tomatoes.  The cucumbers have rolled over and died -- too hot.  But the tomatoes and peppers are hanging on.  I'm nursing one little cucumber plant, trying to hold it for cooler weather but honestly, I'm really thinking about replanting some cucumbers as I have not had my fill. 

I love all the animals at the county fairs, especially the pigs.  You just don't see pigs in hog lots anymore.  The majority of pigs in Iowa are raised inside a building.  Now, isn't that crazy?  Why don't you fence a pasture good and tight and turn the hogs outside.  Less cleanup, less smell, more fertilizer on the pasture.  Then the next crop of pigs, move them to a new pasture and let the first one grow clover or grass or whatever big pigs like to eat.  Oh, what crazy thoughts I have.

It amazes me that the pigs have their own water fountains and this one had the ambition to (half-way stand up) to drink.  The fat ol' hog in the next pen was laying with his head below the fountain and letting the water drip into his mouth! 

This display took "Best of Show".  If you look close, there's someone in the photo looks familiar. 

Can't go to the fair without eating "fair food".  Corn dogs and slushies.  Tenderloins. French fries and onion rings.   Not too many "on a stick" options at the county fair but who needs pork chops on a stick or deep fried snicker bars anyway? 

The kids sure enjoy the fowl and rabbit barn.  There are ducks and geese, chickens and bunnies of all kinds. 

See that duck in the corner? He said "aflack; aflack" 

June Specials

I had been by this restaurant many times in the last month or two, but something made me read it yesterday:

Specials

Chicken Strips w/banana            $4.99

Tacos & Small side salad            $4.68

                                ?????????????

SHUT UP

I don't know.  Do you?