Random Musings

Lately I've been recalling songs or bits of songs that I remember from my childhood. There are some mental images in my mind that I have no photo of and could never recreate for anyone, but they are still there, clear as ever. The church I grew up in had hardwood floors. The floors were from the boards of the original church building, and the pews had been made by the men (hence they were too tall for almost everyone else and there were wooden foot benches for many of the women who were under 5'). By the time I cam along there were carpet runners in the aisles and up front. But between the pews...pure hardwood. And when the men started tapping their feet to the music, it was like a drumbeat. This song came to mind last week while we were all fervently praying for my cousin's wife. Clint Short was a WWII vet, a German POW, who had a beautiful voice (and big feet). I can hear his heel tapping out the beat as his head bobbed and he sang this song. As a kid I often wondered if

Some people have table runners.  I have a tomato aisle.

When I was a kid, if we ran through  the kitchen while my Mom was using the pressure cooker, she would scream hysterically that we were going to blow the house up. So when we got married and my mother in law gifted us with a pressure cooker I was less than thrilled. I tried to use it twice, and after that it wasn't worth the stress. Years later she gave me an electric one, and I absolutely love it.  Yet she had this huge gadget called a pressure canner that you can can almost anything with. It looked monstrous. She actually had two in two different sizes. I figured if a stove pressure cooker scared me, know way was I going to use one that had so much pressure it could can something. And then my Dad bought one a few weeks ago. My Mom even said it was amazing (though Dad is the one operating it). He loves it.  Since out garden is only producing small handfuls of vegetables this year, I thought I would try making vegetable soup...which requires a pressure canner. So today we jumped of

As my Facebook feed continues to fill with news from people back home who are very sick, I've continued to be amazed at all the photos of people gathering for fun at restaurants and other locations with no social distancing or masks. How many reports must there be of people stuck in the ER because there are no beds left in the ICU before people take this seriously? MeMaw Ivy ( what AL people call their Governor...some endearingly, some derisively) has finally mandated face masks in public are now a requirement. Hopefully this will help things slow down. Phyllis, my cousin's wife, was moved out of a normal hospital room into the ER so she could be placed on a ventilator. It was over 24 hrs before they could get her in the ICU. I'm praying the machines will give her lungs the rest they need to heal. The family would like for her to be moved to a hospital in Birmingham, but high school friends who work in those hospitals say things are just as bad there. So I'm praying for

Garden - things are moving at a slower pace than normal this year. Not sure if it's because I've not fertilized as often as in the past or because I planted a week or two later than normal. We lost all our squash plants; not thrilled with two of the four tomato breeds we picked out (the Homestead goes bad too fast and is prone to worms and falling off the vine fairly easily; cherry tomatoes we just don't need quite that many). So far I've not had enough tomatoes to can yet; but hopefully by next week I can put up a few. Corn is finally starting to fill out, but not sure we're going to get two ears to a stalk as in the past. Beans have flowered but still are not putting out. Snakes - I don't want to see another one. In the last three weeks we've killed two in the hen house...both of them over 5' long.  I saw a medium size one (between 15-24" - hard to tell when their slithering in their s shape) while cutting grass, and I've seen three small to m

As reports from friends continue to come in from TN and AL of people I know who either have COVID or have a relative of theirs with the virus, it was a bit disconcerting to get my email from the Wake County Board of Elections detailing all the precautions we will be taking this fall for the safety of both the workers and the voting public. I'm thankful they're taking this seriously (I knew they would) and are and will be doing everything in their power to make elections safely happen. And yet, it still makes me pause. There's still so much unknown about this virus. Parents are being asked to make decisions about their children's education now (will they attend school or do online school), when we are still several months away from the start of school. A lot can change between now and then. My sister was telling me that if a student is out sick, they will have to be tested for Covid before they can return. My niece has a lot of sinus and throat problems, so this would me