Ironing Then and Now

Hey,  Y'all,
Well, I was pressing cloth for the quilt this morning about 6:30 a.m. and got to thinking about when we moved to the farm in 1947 when I was fourteen years old and my sister was twenty-two. We were the only two girls in the family, and since my mom worked in Knoxville and came out to the farm only on weekends, the ironing and other housework fell to us. 

First, I got to thinking about the ironing board we had. Which led to thinking about the chairs we used. We had cane bottomed chairs, upon which the ironing board had to be placed because it was just a board, period. It was fashioned from some kind of heavy wood by Bernard Bell, the father of some of my cousins, many years earlier. Of course, it was covered by heavy cloth of some kind and padded. 

We  ironed either in the kitchen or in the living room, due to having to heat the irons on the  Kitchen cook stove or the warm morning heater that was in the living room. Right about now, you may be saying "Heat the irons???" Yes, they were the kind that you had to have at least two and usually three of. The handle was detachable and all the flat irons were placed on heat and used till they were no longer hot enough. The handle was used to pick up the iron and use it. 

They were not easy to use, by any means. We had no electricity when we moved to the farm. I studied by lamp light at night. We had no inside water or plumbing. We scrubbed clothes on the washboard, and wrung them out by hand, and hung them on the lines. I thought about all this as I sat at the ironing board, filled the iron with water to make it iron smoothly, and placed the iron on the rest at the right end of my folding ironing board. What a life!


Well, I gotta go fix my breakfast and get ready to do stuff. I did my laundry yesterday in an automatic washer, dried it in an automatic dryer and folded it while I watched television. What a life, indeed!


This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. A belated Happy Birthday to my Taiwanese granddaughter (by choice) Jennifer Chang. Bye for now. More later.

Happy Birthday to Grandson, BJ!

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I've been kind of busy the last few days working on Teresa's quilt, and, of course, Sunday was church day. On Sunday afternoon, Carol came over and helped me by drawing around the template on a bunch of the quilt squares. I really appreciated the help and the visit. I now have all the pieces ready to go onto the quilt.


I did want to post today, because today is my grandson, BJ's (Guillermo's) birthday. He is 26 today. BJ is in the U.S. Air Force and stationed up in North Dakota. He is Teresa's son. Both his dad, and his stepdad, Tom, and Teresa were all Air Force members. It is a proud tradition. He is a wonderful young man, and I love him dearly. Happy Birthday to you, my dear BJ. I don't have a good recent picture of him, or I would post it. 

Today, I need to tackle the cutting of the background cloth  of the quilt, so I will do that after I have my breakfast. I cut up half an apple while ago and am going to put that into my pancakes and have...ta-da! Apple pancakes!


I do need to go to Hobby Lobby and buy some cloth for the front of the quilts because I have only enough for the backing. First, however, I am going to cut and wash the cloth I have. It is still on the bolt and I always wash new cloth so it won't shrink after it is a part of the quilt. It is easier to wash and press if it is in one or two yard pieces. 

I had supper last night at Fuddrucker's with some of the seniors, and enjoyed that. I ordered the salmon burger, thinking it would be a salmon patty (you know, mixed with other ingredients) and was surprised to see it was a slab of salmon on a bun. It was okay, but not what I had my mental mouth prepared for. Next time, I'll know not to order that particular item. :)


Only two more episodes of "The Closer" and then that will be all she wrote, so to speak. This is the final season, and like most fans, I want more! Oh, well, that's the way the cookie crumbles, the old ball bounces, etc., etc. It was fun while it lasted. I am sure I must have seen all the reruns at least two or three times. I just went to a website to see what Kyra Sedgwick has in store for later. It seems there are six more episodes which will air next summer to lead into a new show called Major Crimes, which is a spin-off of The Closer. Kyra is planning to do some Broadway acting, and is married to Kevin Bacon for the past 22 years. 


Well, my breakfast is waiting to be made and eaten, and I have laundry to finish sometime today. I may even get dressed and go outside sometime today, although yes, it is going to still be in the hundreds and hooooot! I may just wait till tomorrow or Thursday to go out. 


This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

That's My Story

Hey, Y'all,
Well, here it is Friday already, and since I don't really have an update of any kind, I thought I would just tell you a story. A couple of weeks ago, Carol, Daryl, and I went to see Hello, Dolly and something happened while we were there. It COULD have been very exciting, but it didn't even rate a jump. This is what COULD have happened. 

It was kind of dark in the theater and while we were sitting there, I looked down at my pants that I had on, and thought I saw a spider on my lap. I stood up and shrieked "SPIDER! SPIDER!". I had an open bottle of water in my hand and had just taken a sip of it. I threw the open bottle up into the air as I jumped up. The man sitting next to me wound up with water all over his lap. OOPS! The ladies in front of me stood up and started screaming, "Where is it? Where is it?" and feeling all over their bodies, knocking at their clothing, and looking like they were going to faint. Finally, management came over and asked, "Is there a problem?" 

I said, "I believe there was a spider on my lap," and started to point to where I saw it. UH-OH.. It was only one of the stars on my pants that I saw and thought it was a spider there in the dark. I wilted down into my seat and wished I could disappear. Carol and Daryl wished it even more. 

Now then, for what really happened...During the intermission, I looked down and saw one of the dark blue stars on my pants and for a split second thought it could be a spider. Inside, I jumped, and that was it. Period. I just imagined what COULD have happened that would be funny.

my pants with blue (spider) stars

Outside near my garage is a beautiful plant that I call a Trumpet plant because the blossom resembles a trumpet. I don't really know its proper name. The blossom is white and blooms around midnight. It has many blossoms waiting to bloom during the summer, and after blooming out, they wilt shortly after noontime. 

this has many blossoms that are in varying stages of development

I am posting a picture of a couple of the pieces for the quilt I am making for Teresa. I begin the quilt by 2 inch wide strips of cloth and then cutting them into 8 inch lengths. I then stitch five of them together and then using a six-sided template, I draw around the template onto the square. I then cut out the six-sided piece. There will be 120 of these pieces in each quilt. 

Square on left, six-sided piece on right, template in upper right

Well, that is about it for today. I did get my kitchen mopped this morning. I sat in the kitchen and read a book just after breakfast. It is by Lisa Scottoline and is called, "Think Twice". I started it last night and just couldn't put it down this morning, so I finished it. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

A Recipe for Egg/Sausage Casserole

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I have been up since a little past 5:30 this morning, and have finished pressing all the squares for the quilts I am working on. I've had breakfast, put a Cornish Game Hen in the crockpot for my next couple of lunch/supper meals, and have finished reading a book I began last night, called "Wicked Appetite" by Janet Evanovich. Just couldn't put it down this morning after breakfast. 

Fulfilling a request made in the comments to yesterday's post, here is the recipe for Egg/Sausage Casserole that I use. I got the recipe originally from the internet and adapted it to my own taste. This is my adaptation.

Brown one pound of hot sausage in a skillet, crumbling the sausage as it cooks. When it is done, put sausage into a bowl lined with paper towels. That drains the grease from it. Let it cool. While it is cooling, beat together 6 large eggs, and 3 cups whole (4%) milk. 


Butter a 9x13 glass baking dish, and crumble 10 slices of potato bread into it. Top it with cooled sausage sprinkled over it. On top of that, sprinkle a cup or so of Mexican style shredded cheese, and another cup or so of Habanero cheese. Pour egg and milk mixture over all of the contents of the dish. Cover it with a piece of heavy aluminum foil and place in fridge overnight. 


The next morning place covered dish in cold oven. Turn heat to 350 degrees and bake for approximately one hour, and if you wish, you can remove the foil about 10 or so minutes before the hour is up. After casserole is "set", remove and enjoy. Yum!


It is about two weeks before my eye appointment with the cornea specialist. I am not concerned about it, because I am pretty sure that I will refuse a transplant if that is what his recommendation will be. 


Well, that is about it for today. I may try to clean my floors today, since I am not going out anywhere today. We'll see. I am not on any particular schedule for doing anything. I can smell the aroma from the bird cooking in the kitchen. 


We did have some rain this morning. Not anything to write home about, but a lot of thunderboomers. The sky is blue now. We have been cautioned about overusing electricity and water, because of the intense heat over the past sixty days. They are saying we might drop to 99 as a high when September begins. We shall see. I know the trees could very well be dying because of the heat. They have been talking about that on the news as well. 


Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

A Visit to the Eye Doctor

Hey, Y'all,
Do you ever stop and talk to people you have never met before when you are in the grocery store? Well, I do (no surprise there, is there?) and yesterday, I stopped beside a lady who had company coming in for the next ten days. She was looking at the canned biscuit section and I said, "Now, we don't need those, do we?" 

She replied that she was thinking about making pigs in a blanket for her incoming company. I replied it would take a lot of the croissant rolls for that and suggested a sausage/egg casserole instead. She said that it sounded interesting but how does one make it. So as we stood there, I gave her (from memory) the recipe for it. She is the same kind of cook that I am (namely, adapting recipes instead of following exactly). I told her I wasn't sure of the exact amount of milk but gave her an approximate amount and she was okay with that. Hope it turns out okay for her. I don't know her name or telephone number, so I am just trusting that it all works out for her. 

This morning I had an appointment with the eye doctor because I have been having some trouble with my vision clarity. I discovered that my cornea in the left eye is cloudy. (Looks like rain????) She is sending me to a cornea specialist in the area on September 8th. I ain't a-fixin' to have a cornea transplant and you can bank on that! 

Tonight is church night (choir practice) and our church suppers begin again tonight, since school is back in session. Hamburgers and fries tonight, along with cake and ice cream for dessert. Sounds good to me. 

I am going to go into the kitchen in a few minutes and heat up some of the chicken livers and gravy I had for supper last night, to have for my lunch. Then it will be some more sewing of quilt pieces. I did go to the library while ago to return my books and check out some new ones. The ones I got today are all new best sellers. Yeah!


On this past Sunday, one of our Sunday school class members returned after visiting family in Oregon and brought each of us a jar of apricot marmalade. YUM! I had some on toast for breakfast yesterday morning. Wasn't that so very thoughtful of her? Thank you, Lois!


Well, lunchtime and I hear my name being called out by the livers and gravy. It is getting louder by the minute. Ha ha. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Just an Old Sew and Sew

Hey, Y'all,
Yesterday, I was just an old sew and sew. I stitched together 90 squares for my new quilt. I didn't do a lot of other stuff, though. I decided I would just stay in yesterday and sew. 

This morning, however, I only put together fifteen squares while I was waiting to go out for the morning. I left here this morning about 9 a.m. and headed to Wally World where I had a sausage biscuit and an individual apple pie, and yes, I did give away the extra pie. Goodness knows, I sure didn't need it, and really didn't need the one I ate, but ate it anyway. Ha. 

After I had my breakfast, I headed out into the store to locate a few things I needed and a few I didn't need. You can't get out of Wal-mart for less than fifty dollars, you know. If you can, you are a better man than I am, Gungha Din. 

By the time I left there, it was beginning to really heat up, and I headed on to the Kroger shopping center near my home and got my ears lowered. (For those of you who don't recognize that expression, it means I got a hair cut, revealing more of my ears than usual.) There is a little beauty shop in the shopping center that I go to when I need a hair cut. 

Then I moved my car closer to Kroger's and went in there to spend a few shillings so I could most likely add some pounds. Ha ha ha.

Speaking of pounds, I bought some chicken livers to cook. I have been craving them, and of course, they are not good for me because of the cholesterol they contain, but they are good for supplying the body with iron, which I do need. I guess it all kind of balances out doesn't it? I reckon so. For supper tonight, I cooked the chicken livers, made some country gravy (from a packet mix), cooked the one ear of fresh corn that I purchased, and thoroughly enjoyed it all. Of course, I had a lot of leftovers. I may eat them and I may not. Usually, one feast of livers is enough to satisfy my craving for them. 

Daughter Carol made some business cards for me with my picture and my blog address on them. How cool is that? Now I have them to pass out to people who seem to be interested in reading my random thoughts and ramblings. 

It was a little past one p.m. when I got home from all that stuff, and hot as blue blazes. Ever wonder why people say hot as blue blazes and not red blazes? If you look closely at a hot burning flame, the center of it is blue (especially one of those blow torches). Pretty hot, I would say!

Well, I am going to do some more sewing this evening. Not much on television tonight that I can figure is worth watching. I can put it on something that doesn't require a lot of attention and have noise in the house. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Bye for now. More later.  

A Failure to Stand

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I went to hear a "Country Strings Concert" last night at a local church and it was really good. It was mostly Bluegrass and old time gospel music. I went with some of the other seniors from my church. The temperature was still hovering around 107 when we met at our church to drive over. It was probably still around 102 when we left to come back just an hour later. 

When we got there, we saw a huge display of quilts that the ladies of the church had made to sell. They were the kind that are stitched together using threads pulled through and tied every so many inches apart. The quilts were quite beautiful.

At the door to the sanctuary there was a table set up for people to donate money to the cause for which the concert was being held. It was a benefit for the people in Joplin, Missouri following the terrible tornadoes that ripped through their city several months ago, and I think it was for one family in particular. 

We went in and sat down. There were about ten members in the band. The concert began by the playing of our National Anthem. Everyone stood up - that is - everyone but a woman in front of me. I saw her friend motion for her to stand up, but she just crossed her legs and folded her arms in front of her in a position of rebellion, and took another drink of her soft drink in the paper cup she had carried in. I sang as loudly as I could fairly close to her ear. 

Just before we sat down, I asked her if she was a United States citizen. She said yes, she was born and raised in the U.S. Then I said, "Don't you stand when the National Anthem is being played?" Her reply was, "Occasionally, if I feel like it." I know she wasn't ill. I know it is a free country, and we don't HAVE to stand when our country's anthem is being played, but she should try living in another country where they don't have the freedoms we do, and see how she likes that. I'll bet her attitude might change then. They walked out in front of us, and I know she wasn't walking like anything was hurting her. I would like to have kicked her behind for her.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the music...I knew and sang along with every song they played. I even "Yee-Hawed" once in a while after they finished some of the songs. Hope that won't keep my friends from taking me anyplace again. Ha. Of course, other people cheered and whistled as well. 

Last night, just after I went to bed, I started sneezing, and spent the night in that manner. Some time during the night, I had a nosebleed, and it stopped. Then this morning just about getting up time, it started again. Those nasal tissues are very delicate, and the kind of sneezing I do is the WHAT-CHOO kind. I have it stopped for now. It never lasts very long. I am not planning on going out any today. I think two of the grandkids will be over to mow my yard today. They are so good to do that for me! It may be Matt and Amy.

Breakfast in a little while, and then working on Teresa's quilt pieces. I have 3/8's of the squares stitched into individual squares. That means I have 150 left to do, before I do the next step in the quilt. Each square has five strips of cloth stitched together. Then each square has to have the seams pressed flat. Then each square has to be cut into the shape it will take (a six sided shape). That is only in preparation for the quilt to begin taking shape. I am hoping to have the quilts finished by Christmas. 

Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.