Flight to Heaven by Capt. Dale Black

I spent a good chunk of my day finishing this book, Flight to Heaven by Capt. Dale Black. I seldom find a book I can't put down.  This was one of the few.

In my opinion, it is much better, more well-rounded, more fulfilling than 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper.  And all of the glory goes to God.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

A "No List" day

Here's what I do when I don't have a list to guide me. 

Vacuum, fix a window, go to the post office and the library, clean two storage rooms, pull together a pile of stuff for a garage sale, bake two loaves of dog bread and make a pot of dog stew.  I also worked on my current yarn project.

Buddy is terrified that we're moving again because I've been making a big pile of stuff in the dining room.   Abby hates it when something changes.  I've had to sit at the computer every so often during the day so the girl can relax a little.

Just wait until we have the sale and strange people start walking around on our yard.  lol  It's going to be a trip!  But I'm happy because it's going to be good to get the dead weight out of here.  Yes!!!

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Good Morning, Dogs

My two dogs hate it when I sleep too long.  They get concerned for me if I'm not up and at 'em shortly after sunrise.  In summer, that's much too early for my taste, but apparently dogs like first light as much as the birds do.

Buddy comes to the bed with two tennis balls stuffed in his big golden retriever mouth.  He will casually spit them out by my ear, by my armpit, by whichever body part he thinks might attract my attention.  He wants me to throw the balls so he can chase them.  Great fun first thing in the morning, right?  I, being a human and not thinking too clearly after being recently fast asleep, throw them to get rid of the slimey things.  But that just plays right into the paws of a golden who loves to retrieve as much as he loves to eat.  Boomerang balls.

Abby has several ways of "seeing to my welfare". I might suddenly have a cold, wet nose pasted to my own nose.  She might sneak onto the bed and curl up next to me, suddenly raising the temperature of my environs to something over a hundred degrees. Or, my personal favorite, and I mean that, is that Abby has mastered the word "mom".  She will simply hum the "m" if the situation isn't too critical.  I'll hear a low, quiet, growly "mmmmmm".  If I don't respond, she'll do it again until I do respond.

The more stressed she gets, the closer she comes to completely saying the whole word.  Abby's early abuse has led her to an abiding distrust of men in general and tall, thin men in particular.  One time, the postman came to the door with a good-sized package for me.  He knocked, and I went out on the porch to take the package.  Abby was inside the glass door watching in horror.  Suddenly she came out with, "momomomomom".  The postman and I looked at her, then looked at each other in surprise.  Neither of us laughed, because Abby was so obviously in distress.  But we both heard her say the word repeatedly.

And none of this has to do with feeding or going outside.  Les does that for them.  Then they come to get me up.  Sigh!

I haven't needed an alarm clock all summer.  So, how is YOUR morning going so far?

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Long Weekend

Usually when I get a couple of days off in a row, I make a list of everything I want to accomplish and I cross it off when it's done.

This weekend, in spite of dust and weeds and pruning, my list will be short.  Dog bread and reading.  That's it!

Well, not really.  I know more than that will happen.  I get bored if I sit too long.  But I'm not going to make a list.  Everything extra that I do will just be an accident.  lol

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Another Blog by Me

Told you my life is never boring.

I've added another blog to my repertoire, http://kathisbooklist.blogspot.com/

There's not much I love better than books and, now that I've started blogging, this seemed like the perfect thing for me to do. 

I hope that, as you read what you like, you will add your book reviews to my book list so it will become a useful tool for people who want to know what to read or what not to read.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Borrowed Wisdom

I ran across this in another blog.  I really like it.  In many respects, it is a calling to follow where Jesus led.

The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© 1968, 2001 Kent M. Keith

A Simple Thought on Politics

I understand that life is not fair, but it would be nice to see a level playing field.

The left-leaning media and the liberals call the conservatives names of every kind - obstructionists, racist, bigot, the party of corruption, etc., etc.  And almost everything that is discovered to be true is practically a hanging offense.  If a RUMOR is started about a Republican, they have to leave office because of the "seriousness of the charge".  Just for a rumor!

If, however, the liberals in Congress are found to be guilty of sexual discretions, it's their personal business.  It may even be a resume enhancement.  (Should we bring up Al Gore's "package" photo?)  If one of the members of Congress used to belong to the KKK, it is never brought up, let alone named as racism. 

Credit where credit is due, Nancy Pelosi has called for ethics investigations into the last two issues that arose. 

But now, with the economic welfare of the country in grave danger, the House passes something semi-viable, and the Senate declares it DOA without so much as a proper debate, let alone a vote. 

Now who's obstructionist?  But no one is going to call them by that name.  It might hurt a liberal's feelings.

I just want a level playing field.

Kathi

Just a Stray Thought

Neither heaven nor hell is a democracy.

I could expound on that, but it seems to be worth individual thought.

Kathi

Some of My Inkle Weaving

My brother John made me an inkle loom.  I've been practicing weaving belts and bands on it.  Here's some of my work.

I'm going to try to make enough bands and belts so that I can set up a booth at one of the next farmers' markets.  The fourth Saturday each month is open to people who do handcrafts.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi

the Light

A couple of statements I heard this morning stuck with me in a big way.  The Scripture was Jesus saying, "I am the Light of the world".

There are many people who deny the Light, but no one denies the darkness.

One of today's stories: Two men went out to explore the world.  One took a torch.  The other decided he didn't need one.  When they returned, the one with the torch said, "Everywhere I went, there was light."  The other responded, "Everywhere I went, there was darkness." 

The point is, when you go, everything depends on Who you take with you.

Kathi

Two Sad Stories with a Pretty Good Ending

Buddy and Abby are our third and fourth dogs. 

First, we got Chester, a 5-year-old golden from one of my college roommates. He was a well-trained dog and helped teach us dog novices how to keep an indoor pet.  Chester lived to be 12 1/2 years old - pretty good for a large-sized dog. 

Chester lived with us for about 2 years and did okay, but not what I would call thriving.  I decided that, since he came from a house with another dog and a cat and two growing children, that our house was too tame for him.  We thought we would give him a dog friend.  And that's how Chelsea came into our lives.

Buddy and Chelsea

I had never raised anyone or anything from the ground up, so this was a REAL learning experience for me.  Chelsea came with a bladder infection, so we were up every two hours every night for a couple of months.  She went through three courses of medicine before it cleared up.  I was nearly dead by then, but somehow that bonded the two of us for life.  Chelsea was with me through three moves from state to state.  When I didn't know anyone around me, Chelsea was there.  I wouldn't say she saved my life, but she certainly helped maintain my sanity.

Two summers ago, on July 7th, we had to put Chelsea down.  She was 10 3/4. I told Les that I hoped Buddy could manage to be an only dog, because it was too hard to put our pets to sleep.  Well, Buddy made it five months.  Then he went from sad to really sad.  We both spend good chunks of our week working, and he was alone in the house for hours at a time. 

Finally, I relented.  I went on http://www.petfinder.com/ and tried to pick out the perfect dog to be Buddy's new friend.  What I found was a smallish female which looked like a black lab.  The article about her described her as a very laid back dog.

We visited with the family who had her (the lady works in our vet's office and we all knew each other) and learned this puppy's story - as much of it as anyone can know.

When I saw her, I immediately knew that her name had to be Abby, so that's what I'll use in this story.

Abby and her brother (who now lives in Michigan) were found wandering in the woods behind this family's place.  They happen to be dog rescuers.  The two puppies were about four months old, abandoned in the woods in November.  We don't know how long they were on their own, but it took a while to stop Abby from being a garbage eater.  We know they had been abused.  Abby had a spot under her chin that was caused by neither fungus nor bacteria.  Should we guess that it was a cigarette burn?  She also has a scar along the inside of her thigh.  Don't know when that happened.  She barks at all tall thin men - especially ones with lightish hair.  My brother John has to sit down before she'll crawl up to him for a timid petting.

The point of this story - tonight's point anyway - is this.  Abby was about 4 months old when she was found in November.  Backtrack that and you get July.  We choose to say that Abby was born on the same day that Chelsea died.  It is sort of poetic and gives me a small sense of continuity.  I am aware that they are not the same dog, not the same personality of dog.  Chelsea was all golden retriever down to her toe nails.  She was the consummate companion dog.  Abby, for all that she looks like a black lab, is 100% Jack Russell terrier.  We call her our terrier-ist.  She barks at everything.  She dances on her hind legs when we come home. She stands on her hind legs to look into bushes for birds.  She likes to climb. She runs rings around Buddy, who just stands and watches her with an Odie-like grin on his face.  She was a digger before we started feeding her better food.  She has caught and killed a couple of birds.  The girl is FAST! 

No, she isn't Chelsea, but she can share a significant day with her predecessor without any stretch of the imagination.  And she does like to curl up next to me just like her predecessor did.  She just doesn't take up as much space on the bed.

Buddy and Abby

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Cell Phone Pictures

As promised, here are a couple of pictures of the two cell phones I crocheted this afternoon.  One of them, in fact, is in the mail to its intended recipient.

The hardest part of the process was to make legible numbers with permanent marker on felt. lol

Kathi

Baby Cell Phone

Today I plan to crochet a couple of cell phones.  No, you don't have to adjust either one of your eyes.  I'm making a couple of toy cell phones for two toddlers that I know.

Here's the link for the pattern: http://www.instructables.com/id/Crochet-an-Amigurumi-Cell-Phone-Buddy/

I would put a picture of it, but so far, the picture belongs to someone else.  I'll take my own photos when I finish.

I've tried amigurumi before.  I've made a wolf, a couple of dogs, fish, a hedgehog, and a few other things.  It's basically crocheting in the round. Every stitch must be counted, and it's done in a spiral, so you don't have an end point in each row.  I can do it, but it isn't my favorite.  Also, I'm not fond of sewing the arms and legs and tails and ears and noses to the body.  It's hard to make it all come out exactly even.

Well, I've come across another style.  This one is done in knit.  Go to Google Images and put "mochimochi" in the search bar. You can knit ANYTHING!  There are knitted couches, skyscrapers, gnomes, bathtubs with each separate soap bubble, and a vacuum cleaner.  The little animals are really cute.  As I am not much of a knitter, I can't tell you all the tricks to this craft, but I have observed a couple of consistancies that seem to apply to all mochimochi.  Each finished piece is very tiny.  Many mochimochis are shown next to a penny or quarter.  The other consistancy is that every piece has two black dots for eyes.  Even the bathtub and each soap bubble have two little black dots for eyes. 

Well, I'm on to my crocheted cell phones.  I'll leave the mochimochi to better knitters than I am.  But they are fun to look at.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Pickle Dilemma

I have five or six cucumber vines growing in the garden.  There are only two of us.  How much can we eat by ourselves?  I've shared a few cucumbers with my pastor and coworkers.  The ripe fruit come on about 5 or six at a time.  That isn't enough to warrant hauling out a lot of canning equipment.

If I'm not going to put up the pickles in sealed jars, I have two other options.  I can used up space in my refrigerator with my recipe for refrigerator pickles or I can make what we used to call "pickle-sickles".  I have a recipe for freezer pickles.

I would never have opted for freezing them before this, but we recently got a compact box freezer.  My brother thinks it's too small to be of much use, but I'm not planning to freeze a whole cow.  So "pickle-sickles" it is.

This recipe came from my Aunt Florence.  I don't know where she got it.  I know her mother was a pickling ace.  Grandma pickled watermelon rind and those runaway cucumbers that she turned into "slippery jacks".

So here's what I'm doing this early afternoon.

Freezer Pickles

2 qts. cucumbers, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
2 Tbsp. canning salt

Mix together in a large bowl.  Cover with ice cubes and let stand for 2-3 hours. 
Remove any unmelted ice cubes. Drain well.

Mix with 1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dill weed.

Put in cartons and freeze.

M-m-m-m, tasty!

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

My Locket

Once a long time ago, I had a student in second grade who loved God.  I could say a lot of other things about her - like she was always one of my favorites - but other information won't help you understand this particular story.

I also had a favorite heart-shaped locket that was a gift from my mother.  I could wear it with almost anything, so it was frequently around my neck.

My young student  asked me one day, "Miss Eickstadt, what's inside your locket?"

I opened the heart and showed her that I had no pictures in it. 

She looked at me with wise old eyes and said, "Miss Eickstadt, it's not good to have an empty heart."

She went back to her desk and, though I was moved by her wisdom, I figured that was the end of the episode.  But it wasn't. 

Not too much later, she brought me a tiny, tiny paper heart cut with second-grade hands.  On the heart was written in second-grade printing the name of Jesus.  She helped me install the small masterpiece in my locket.

A few years later, I was once again wearing the same locket, when my girl asked me if I still had the heart she'd made in my necklace.  I carefully opened the locket and showed her her handiwork.  She offered to make me a new one - one that would have a smoother cut and better handwriting.  I told her that there was no way in the world that she could improve on her original gift.

I still have that little scrap of paper in my locket.  My heart is not empty anymore.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Ruach haKodesh

An evangelist whose work I appreciate studies Jewish histories and commentaries.  He then ties it to Scripture, giving us a fuller understanding of the world Jesus lived in. 

For instance,  as this evangelist tells it, when Moses had the tabernacle in the wilderness, the people could tell when the Lord was present.  The curtain to the Holy Place would move in and out like someone breathing behind it and the people would gather to hear what God had to say.  The word for "breath" is "ruach" which is the same word for "spirit".  Ruach haKodesh is the Holy Spirit or Holy Breath.  You can read it either way.

How does that tie in with our faith?  "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing wind...And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together..." Acts 2:1, 2a, 6a  The people gathered together because they knew what the sound meant - that the Lord had come down to tell them something important.

Doesn't that help you understand the events more fully?  I love learning things like that. 

I asked my mother-in-law where I could find this kind of good information in Jewish writings.  She hadn't heard of this story, but pointed me toward commentaries by Rashi.  I have only started and already found that God blessed the 5th day animals but not the sixth day animals.  Then He blessed the humans He created.  Why not the sixth day animals?  Rashi conjectures that if God had blessed the sixth day animals, the serpent would have been blessed too.  God never takes back a blessing, so He didn't give one on that day.

Interesting, I think.

Kathi

Silent Mosquitoes

I hate mosquitoes.  That makes me normal in most circles - at least on that topic.  The thing is, I hate the ones in southern Indiana worse than the ones in northern Illinois.

Why? you may ask. 

How often have I heard that high-pitched whine and dove for cover or under the covers, as the case may be.  At least the little pests up north give you fair warning.  And you have a fighting chance of figuring out where they plan to land so you can swat them away.

Down here, there is a race of mosquitoes that fly silent - stealth biters.  I was outside last evening talking with a neighbor and caught myself rubbing my legs with one shoe or the other because they started to itch horribly.  We parted company rather unceremoniously and ran for our respective doors to get away from the nasty critters that were eating us alive. 

The best and simplest thing I've found to take down the itch is to wash the area with a cold cloth, dry it and then put on some rubbing alcohol.  You still have to endure the itch for a minute or two while the alcohol works, but then the bites go away.  I was bitten several times last night and have no welts this morning.

I understand that the west coast has very few mosquitoes because the water running off the mountains has very little time to stand still and allow the pests to breed.  But I'm not sure I'd want to trade them for the earthquakes and massive fires and interesting politics.  Rubbing alcohol is less complicated.

Kathi

Tasty to Dogs

Les visited with a friend this weekend and came away with a shofar - a short ram's-horn type.  When he brought it in the house and tried to blow it, the dogs went nuts!  Since Les hadn't so much as put his lips to the mouthpiece end yet, it couldn't have been because of the sound.

I figure that, since the dogs have had pig ears, cow hooves (Wow, do they smell bad!! We only bought them once!), and bones of various sorts to nosh on, that they thought it was a new kind of treat.  Les figured a good place to put it that would be out of dog reach,  and Buddy took the stairs two at a time trying to head him off.  Buddy REALLY wanted that horn.

The only other time our dogs have been as eager to "borrow" a gift from Les was when my mother gave Les a hat lined with rabbit fur, just like the one her father used to wear to conduct funerals in South Dakota.  We have to keep that one on a high shelf in a closed closet or it wouldn't be safe for a minute.

I swear we should have named Buddy "Isaac".  He makes us laugh so hard sometimes.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Labor Intensive, but Tasty

Canning is messy, time-consuming and labor intensive.  Most of the time, it isn't worth the effort - unless the flavor cannot be duplicated anywhere else.

I do not like store-boughten pickle relish.  It is too sweet.  I make an old family recipe that is more of a bread-and-butter sweetness. 

Do you know the zucchinis that get away from you?  The ones that are about the size of a short-handled baseball bat?  They make great relish.  My friend brought me three extreme zucchinis.  Once I ground them up and added the onions and green peppers, I ended up with 10 quarts of relish.  That should last me for well over a year. 

I'm not a hot dog eater.  The relish will season my tuna salad, meat loaves, and a couple of other recipes.  Its gentler flavoring works better with food than store-boughten which, in my mouth at least, seems to want to be the star of the show.

Since I'm making the relish today, and I have the recipe out, I'll post it here for anyone who thinks the work might just be worth it.  You can use zucchini, yellow summer squash, green, red, or orange bell peppers, green tomatoes, cucumbers, and possibly green beans.  The recipe includes celery, but I leave that out.  Add onions, and you have a treat.

Chopped Pickle Relish

9 cups ground vegetables, see above paragraph
3 cups ground onions (proportions may be juggled somewhat)
Note how many quarts you get and multiply the rest of the recipe once for each 3 quarts you grind.

Add 1/4 pickling salt and let stand several hours or overnight. I put it in an enamelled stock pot.

Drain off the juice.  (If you save the juice before adding the salt, it's an excellent soup base with any flavor you care to add.)

Rinse and drain again.

Add:
4 cups vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3 cups of sugar
2 Tablespoons mustard seed
1 Tablespoon celery seed
1 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
Boil the whole batch about 7-8 minutes and can while still hot in clean jars.
Or:
I usually can cool product and put in a hot water bath for 10 minutes instead.

Please follow all the rules for safe canning, sterilizing the jars and lids, etc.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Unexpected Harvest

Every year I plant a garden.  I always put in some of the tried and true plants - the ones I know I can grow successfully.  And most years, I try an experiment of some kind.  This year I tried container gardening.  For the most part, it was a dismal failure.  Probably my fault, but whatever, it didn't work.

One thing I tried was to grow potatoes in burlap sacks.  It seemed reasonable at the time.  To grow potatoes, you have to start the seed potatoes in a trench and gradually mound up the dirt as the vines grow.  The new potatoes form along the stems and need to be kept underground so they don't turn green in the light and become poisonous.  Burlap sacks can be topped off with fresh dirt, making this a perfectly good idea.

Well, the roots grew out of the lower part of the sacks and the vines didn't look as healthy as I had hoped.  I finally planted them, sacks and all, in the ground as a last ditch effort. "Ditch", get it?  The vines died and rotted.  I finally pulled up everything I could see, dumped the dirt and tossed it all in the trash.  A valuable lesson - don't do it that way ever again.  lol

Another one of my experiments was to plant a small herb inside the rotted stump of a tree.  Maybe that would have been a good idea, except the plant does better in partial shade and this stump was in broad daylight.  It was hard to keep the soil moist enough for the poor little thing to thrive.

After watching my herb choke and gasp for a couple of weeks, I decided I'd better put it in the ground alongside the rest of my former container experiments.  The best place to put it was in the spot where I used to have the potato sacks.  So I grabbed my garden gloves and my trowel and went back to do a little transplanting. 

Lo and behold, I struck potato!!!  The baby potatoes didn't die when the stems were pulled.  I rooted around to find all the potatoes and came away with a little more than I put into it. 

I gave up on one plant and, in trying to save another, I found that the first one had borne fruit after all.  There's a sermon in there somewhere.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Sea-sick Ladybug

Once when I was pretty young, my mother looked at the way I'd made my bed and told me, "If a ladybug walks across your bed, it will get seasick."  The bed was rather rumpled.

After that, I worked really hard to get the ripples out of my blankets and make the bed smooth.  I hated the thought of a ladybug throwing up on my bed.

Mother has no memory of saying that to me.  I, on the other hand, have never forgotten it.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Children Listen

When I was teaching and then when I had a daughter, I used to think that sometimes children listened to you and sometimes they didn't.  I was wrong.

Children always listen to you.  Whether they appreciate what you say, whether they follow your advice, that's another matter.  But be assured, they will be able to recite back every word you utter for years to come.

I personally have my mother's voice in my head at the most inopportune times.  Usually when I want to do something willful.  Yes, still - on both counts.

I've taught lessons to children I swore were sleeping, only to have them repeat the lesson a year later.

And Angela quotes things I've told her when we chat. 

I'm very glad that one thing my mother told me was that if I didn't love children, I should not be a teacher.  Well, I always did and I tried to apply that to mothering, too.  That way, when "my children" quote me, I get a lot of love back.

Don't ever bet they aren't listening.  You'll be surprised someday.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Blanket for a Baby

My nephew and his wife are having a second baby.  Even though I'm the oldest and always got the new stuff, I don't think a second - or third - or fourth, etc. child should have nothing but hand-me-acrosses.

Here's a new blanket I made for the second baby:

And here's the spoolie (knitting nancy, spool knitter...) I used to make it.  I spool knit about 32 yards of tube and then crocheted the windings side-by-side.

It will be a winter baby.  This should keep the little one cozy.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Rose of Sharon Flowers

The bush my sister started for me is as tall as I am.  I shared a picture of the bush in general.  Here is a close up of some of the flowers.  The thing is blooming its head off.  Wow!!

Grandma's Weather Lore

I've looked at books about weather lore, how cattle turn their backs to the wind, "red at night, sailor's delight...", those kinds of weather foretelling.  But Grandma taught me one that I've never seen anywhere else.

Farmers have always had to know how the weather and the climate would effect their crops.  If you cut hay before a rainstorm, it will rot on the ground.  You have to have several dry days in a row and get the hay under cover or stacked before a rain.  Grandma was a farmer's wife, so she was in on all the secrets.

Here's the one I've never seen anywhere else.  On your calendar, mark the first thunderstorm after spring starts.  If you live on a line even with or near the southern border of Wisconsin, the first frost will be 6 months after that date.  I tried it for 13 years and Grandma wasn't off more than 3 or 4 days in that whole time.  I'm learning the spacing for southern Indiana.  Last year, it came out to 6 1/2 months.  If it comes out fairly consistent after a few more tries, I'll have the local formula.

You might try the experiment for yourself.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Fog

This morning, it's either foggy or very, VERY humid.  In my opinion, it's both. 

There's a bit of weather lore that I have to remind myself of before August 1st.  I need to count the fogs in August.  That will tell me how many snows there will be this winter.  Last year, we had a very foggy August with 13 fogs.  Not all of them were clamp-down, can't-see-anything fogs.  Most of them were just really thick air. 

Once we got into November, I started counting the snowfalls - anything measurable.  It started snowing around Thanksgiving and pretty much didn't stop until the end of March.  There were 13 measurable snows.  The last couple weren't much, but they were enough to count.

After Christmas, the school kids didn't attend a complete week of school until well into February.  Boy, did they have snow days to make up!

So now I've reminded myself before the month of August begins.  I'll mark my calendar all month so I have an accurate count.

Anyone want to try it out for themselves?  Will it work where you live?

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Refrigerator pickles

There is a brand of pickles on the market that we particularly like.  What I've found is that, if you save the juice, you can wash and cut up new cucumbers and pack them in the same juice maybe once or twice before you have to start fresh.  You can't put the jars on the shelf.  They have to stay in the refrigerator.  Give the cucumbers a week or two to absorb the juice, and you'll have yourself a tasty new batch with the same old flavor.  No muss, no fuss.

Thanks for visiting with me,

Kathi

Transplanted Tomatoes

I'm happy to say that the tomatoes I transplanted a week and a half ago made the trip safely.  I can't say that they are thriving yet, but they don't look as sad and there are finally some small tomatoes on the vine.  Phew!  I wasn't sure that I would have any crop at all this year.

It does look like I'll have spaghetti squash to spare and the cucumbers are turning out plenty of little cukes.  I've already made a couple of jars of refrigerator pickles and given more away.

Short and sweet today.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

College Student - Again

Today I started the process of going back to college.  I had to request my transcript and on Thursday next, I will be registered for two fall classes. 

When I called the registrar at my alma mater, I found out that seniors can audit the classes there for half tuition.  I feel very grateful that my local college offers full credit and free tuition, asking only a couple of small fees.  I think I will go for a master's degree.  Why should Angela have all the fun?  lol

Thanks, Ivy Tech.

Kathi

Garden

About four years ago, my Kentucky sister Lori made a cutting from her own rose of Sharon bush and sent it to me for my yard.  I've seen them around here, so I knew the plant would be able to grow in my area.  Here it is this short time later, taller than I am by now and full of flowers for such a young thing.

Thanks again, Lori.  I love it!

I like spaghetti squash on occasion and one time I saved the seeds.  There are several squashes growing on my five vines.  I may have to share some squashes with my friends, as there looks to be an excellent crop.

The weed-inhibiting tarp (Weed-ex? Something like that) reduces weeding in the garden and keeps the ground-growing veggies clean.

Some old Wal-mart bags tied around the base and hung upside down make great scarecrows.  Once I watched an evil bird swoop down into my garden and pluck a baby cucumber plant right in front of me! 

I string yarn across the garden above the planting hills.  I hang a garden ghost above each hill.  The birds can't quite make out if the ghosts are dangerous or not, so they leave my plants alone.  If you try this, make sure you cut the handle loops.  If you don't they can catch on growing leaves and damage them on a windy day. Garden ghosts are much quieter than pie pans.  I'm not sure if they scare rabbits though.  Hence the fence.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

An Israeli Tour Guide Joke

As the tour bus was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, the tour guide explained that the Dead Sea was so salty that nothing could live in the water there.  No fish live in the water, no birds live around the edges.

The bus traveled along the shore of the Sea until the tourists suddenly yelled, "Stop the bus!!"  They all piled out and raced the the water's edge where an elderly Israeli man was standing with a fishing line trailing in the salty water.

"What are you doing with that fishing line?" the tourists asked.  "You can't be catching anything in the Dead Sea?"

"Give me twenty bucks and I'll tell you," the man replied.

A quick collection of small bills was handed to the man as the tourists' curiosity got the better of them.

The grizzled man smiled and told them, "Yours is the fourth bus I've caught today."

Thanks, Jonny Segal,

Enjoy,

Kathi

The Best Part about Israel

After I'd spent a couple of days in Israel, I caught myself reading my Bible under the covers with a flashlight after my roommates had gone to sleep.  Seeing the land itself settled for me the extreme accuracy of the Book. 

If we look at a map, we say that the Galilee is north or "up from" Jerusalem.  Yet the Bible says Jesus went up from Galilee to Jerusalem.  That sounds backwards until you take into account the landforms.  Galilee is close to sea level while Jerusalem is up on a hill surrounded by several hills.  You literally ascend in altitude when going from the north to the south.

Here's another one:  "A man was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho..." (Parable of The Good Samaritan).  In fact, you go so far down that your ears will pop a few times while making the trip.  The Dead Sea, just south of Jericho, is 1388 feet below sea level, the lowest point on dry land.

If even the prepositions are correct, then so must be every other word as well.

The most important part of the trip to me was this:  I've been to the tomb - and it's empty.  Nothing solidifies my faith more than the empty garden tomb.  Seen it, touched it, been in it.  Very awesome!!!

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Israeli Music

In 1983, when I was on a tour of Israel, everyone on the bus was given a tape of Israeli music.  I love singing and the music, being in a minor key, has a wonderful, haunting sound. 

I listened to that tape until I had all the songs memorized.  I'm sure that I wasn't pronouncing all the Hebrew words correctly, but it was okay because no one I hung around with would know the difference.

Then, some years later, I married a man raised as a Jew but converted to Christianity.  Now and again, we go to family events like bar and bat mitzvahs.  The ceremony reminds me of a traditional church service.  There is a section that resembles a liturgy followed by scripture readings and a sermon.

Much to my amazement, when the congregation started singing, I recognized the songs.  I'd spent years learning the same music from the Israeli tapes.  God prepared me for my husband's family.  Not one of them understood how I knew the words to the songs they sang in synagogue.  I have to admit - I felt much more at home with them once I found out I could share their worship.

I wonder sometimes just how old those songs are.  Might they be old enough that Jesus would have sung them when He went to service?

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Israel

It's been almost 30 years since I visited Israel.  The trip was pretty much unexpected and I barely had time to get a passport before the trip.  I took 14 rolls of film with me, the most frames per roll that I could buy.  By the fourth day, I was the only one who was still able to take pictures.  Everyone else had run out and buying film in Israel was rather expensive.

I ate everything that wasn't nailed down and lost weight.  (Only had one sugar in ten days - a piece of baklava.)  We walked miles every day.  I took notes while we were walking.  I almost jumped off the bus to live in the Galilee.  It was beautiful!  No wonder Jesus spent a good chunk of His time around the lake. 

Breakfast was a buffet with fish, fruit, and waffles with date syrup.  I'd love to find a way to make date syrup.  It was amazing!  After breakfast, I'd grab a pear and tuck it into the seat pocket on the bus to eat for a snack while we were traveling. 

Lunch would often be at a kibbutz where the meal would be rice with a tasty vegetable sauce and an excellent piece of fish or other meat.  I'd never had hummus before.  I never liked spinach until I ate a spinach souffle in Israel.  The last meal we had before the flight home was in an Italian restaurant.  They served in the usual Italian manner of leisurely eating.  Our tour guide got nervous about getting us to the airport on time.

I spent six months trying to duplicate the bread we ate in Israel.  My oven isn't hot enough to properly bake pita.  And as for the bread twisted into a loop that we tasted in the Arab section of Jerusalem - I hope they serve that in heaven - because I have no hope of getting it right and I'm pretty sure I won't be visiting the country again in this lifetime.

I still have a Coke can with the traditional red and white logo, but in Arabic and in Hebrew.  The can is a much heavier grade of metal than our cans are. 

Thirty years.  Huh.  The memory is a tricky thing.  It doesn't seem like that long ago.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Easier for Comments

If you've tried to post a comment on my blog and weren't able to, I apologize.  I'm still fine tuning the settings.  If you want to try again, you should be able to let me know what you think.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Retaliation

Here's to all my neighbors who shoot off firecrackers after midnight for the entire week before the 4th.  Tomorrow morning at 6 am, we're going to send our dogs out the door with only one word, "SQUIRREL!!"  I hope you enjoy your morning as much as I've enjoyed your evenings.

Kathi

A Bit of Great-Grandpa

I have been told that Great-grandpa was the owner and head chef of an inn in Austria-Hungary.  The Emperor Franz Josef used to stay there when he travelled and Great-grandpa cooked for him.  This same great-grandfather sold his business and moved to Alberta, Canada, near Edmunton where my grandmother remembered him trading goods with the natives. 

I've always enjoyed being a little creative with food.  I can mix flavors in my head and know what they will taste like when I finish.  Once, I horrified my mother when I invented something entirely new and made it for a family party. 

It went something like this:

Take a large cookie sheet. Grease it.  Put down a fine layer of flour and a little salt and pepper. Slice apples thin and make a layer of the slices.  Lay chicken pieces on the apples.  Top the chicken with pear slices (I recall using canned pears.)  Thinly cover with more flour, salt and pepper.  Bake at 350 until finished - about 1 hour.  Drain off the worst of the grease and serve.

Everybody loved the chicken!  Eventually, my mother asked me where I had found the recipe.  I told her that I made it up.  "You made food for a party that you'd never tried before?!!!!" Here's where the horrified face appeared.

"Yes." I was perfectly matter-of-fact.

"How did you know it would turn out good??!!"  More horror at the thought.

"I knew what it would taste like in my head."

She didn't understand, and I didn't know that not everyone could do that.

Please don't look for me on one of the cooking challenges.  I'd never make it on Hell's Kitchen, or Chopped, or any of the others, but I do know how to make tasty food.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

P.S.  Add a little cinnamon to your chocolate chip cookie dough.  It makes a world of difference.

Summer Treat

My midsummer birthday (and lack of air conditioning) made me decide that an oven-baked cake was too hot to be worth the trouble.  But one must have a birthday treat, mustn't one? So here's what I developed:

One pack of strawberry-banana gelatin
Add one cup boiling water
After it properly dissolves, add 1/2 cup cold water and 1/2 cup cold apple or pear juice
Put in refrigerator to partially set.

Take one graham cracker crust
Grate a carrot
Chop about 1/2 cup of celery
Add about 1/2 cup of walnuts
Pour partially set gelatin over the chopped veggies and allow to finish setting

Top with a little whipped cream if desired

Alternate flavor:  Lime gelatin with pear halves and walnuts

No need to start the oven and heat up the house and it's still a visually satisfying treat and very refreshing.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Switching Crafts

I have always been a fast crocheter, as in "speed of light".  Somewhere around 1990, I visited with my aunt, uncle and cousins in Canada.  I wanted to make a couple of afghans for them and didn't want to mail them across the border - postage, forms to fill out, you know.  So I crocheted two good-sized afghans in 9 days.  Gave myself tendonitis in my elbow and learned to brush my teeth and comb my hair left-handed.  It took months to recover from that.  Now I crochet in smaller increments.  I also trade off with knitting and loom knitting.  It keeps me going with my yarn arts without hurting myself.

A couple of years back, my brother John made me an inkle loom.  I love it!  Even when I overextend myself, weaving belts and straps is easy on my joints and theraputic for my soul. 

I talked to a committee lady at the Farmers' Market a week ago.  Every fourth Saturday, crafters join the farmers with homemade goodies.  When I explained what I was doing, her eyes did that surprised - delighted flicker.  She told me whenever I wanted to sell my work, I would be welcome.  I don't have a fourth Saturday off from work until August.  And then again, that's only a couple of months.  I'd better get weaving.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi

Senior Status

Goodwill gives special discounts to seniors on Wednesdays around here.  I had to laugh when I would go in and claim the discount - and got carded.  Imagine being carded because you look too young for a senior discount! 

Ivy Tech offers free tuition to seniors (with certain qualifications).  I went in today to sign up for some classes.  Somehow even being carded now is becoming less funny. 

When I was in college during the Viet Nam War, having started life shortly after the blowing up of the first atomic bombs, my generation was persuaded that we would never live past the age of 30.  Well, we passed 30 - and were astounded.  Then we passed 40, and then 50.  Now my BABY sister is 50 and I'm a "Senior". 

I'm still amazed we haven't blown ourselves up.  Maybe that's a little PTSD from the atomic bomb drills of my youth.

Thanks for visiting with me.

Kathi