Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--May 30, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. (Thanks to Jo from Simply Being Mum for sponsoring FWF this week.)

This Week's Food Waste

I knew that we had some potatoes that had to be used soon, but I didn't quite make it to them soon enough. We had one potato that was unsalvageable. If it had only been shriveled, I would have soaked it and used it. But alas, it was rotting too. Oh, well. The other two made some good fried potatoes.

This Week's True Food Confessions

I grew up in a time and place when bacon was king. Every morning, my hard-working, lineman father would have bacon and three eggs, over-easy, for breakfast. This meant an accumulation of bacon grease in our grease can. Some people kept their grease can on the stove, but my food-safety-conscious mother kept ours in the refrigerator. But nevertheless, we always had a delicious supply of bacon grease to cook with. And, boy, did our food taste good. However, we eventually became enlightened nutritionally, and my father started having a bowl of Total cereal every morning instead of bacon and eggs.  That made it hard to fill the grease can and at some point it was gone all together. We adapted, but we still occasionally drooled over the thought of over-easy eggs and potatoes fried with bacon grease.

So last night, I was having a bit of nostalgia and we had bacon for supper. This was for two reasons--one was to try out some naturally cured bacon (it was good), and two was to have some fried potatoes and wilted spinach-- both of which can't really be done properly without bacon. At least, not from my perspective. And to round it out, we had roasted asparagus. We were lucky because the spinach and asparagus were fresh from Uncle Billy's garden.

I got a bit distracted with my malfunctioning camera, and burned some of the fried potatoes, but the rest were good.  Almost as good as I remember Mrs. Shepherd's were. Mrs. Shepherd was a neighbor who kept her grease can on the stove and had fried potatoes every night for supper. I loved visiting her around that time. I also wilted the spinach in the bacon grease. Yum. So last night, we had a delicious supper where I managed to slip some vegetables in with our bacon. :)

A Second Look--May 28, 2014

Are you one of those people who everything reminds them of a song? Or is that just me? A thunderstorm was kicking up as I sat down to write this and here is what I started to sing. (Luckily, I'm at home where I can sing as much and as loudly as I want.) 

The winds are blowing and the rain is falling, 
But joy is filling the air
Troubles and sorrows are gone forever,
But song abounds everywhere.

I was reminded of this song by the gusting winds, but I also see now that it has the perfect words to go with how I often feel when doing a Second Look. When I am stressed, I can forget about my troubles for a little while as I explore the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above (Oh no, another song crept in). I think it's time to stop singing and get to the business at hand.

Here are some things I saw this week during

a Second Look.

The Siberian iris around our wellhead are in bloom.

Different bearded iris are also blooming.

The peach tree didn't have many blooms this year, but there are a few peaches starting to form.

The purple sage are in full bloom.

Little blossoms that fell from the holly tree above.

Cranesbill

You can see the blue feathers are starting to form on the baby bluebirds. It won't be long now before they leave the nest.

You can see how much the birds have changed in less than two weeks.

Memorial Day--a look back .

This is a revisit of last year's Memorial Day's Post.

 Memorial Day--Leo's Story

Today is Memorial Day in the US--the day we remember the men and women who died while serving their country in the armed services. There are many different stories about these people and I'm going to tell one of them here about Ward's grandfather, Leo.

Leo, 1941

Leo was the son of Polish immigrants and as a young man joined the army is 1929. He became part of the Army Engineer division. Later at a dance, he met a smart and pretty young girl, LeeAnn, and married her in 1932. They soon added a baby boy to the family and two years later they had another. After renting a small home, Leo built a house for his growing family. Being an enterprising young man, he used discarded lumber from a railroad yard for much of the house. (By the way, the house that he built still stands firm today.)

Leo's and LeeAnn's happy life was not affected much when World War II broke out in Europe in 1939. However, the Army started to send units to Iceland to build defensive fortifications to be ready just in case. At the end of 1941, his unit was assigned to go to Iceland to help in these preparations. While they were in New York waiting for their boat, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The US immediately declared war against Japan and her allies, including Germany. The US was officially in World War II.

Leo and his unit continued with their orders to go to Iceland, but they didn't make it. Their boat was attacked in the Atlantic by a German submarine and had to be repaired before it could go any further. During the month that the repairs took, the soldiers got to go back and spend time with their families. No one knew that this would be the last time they would see each other.

Their boat was repaired, and they were finally on their way. They made it to Iceland and completed their work. However, on the way back to the states, the boat was attacked by another German submarine and this time it sank. The seas were rough which made it difficult for many to survive. Most went down with the ship. First Leo was declared missing at sea and later he was declared killed in action. It wasn't until several years later that his family knew the details of what happened because much of the information was classified.

LeeAnn was suddenly left with two young boys to raise on her own. A few months later, the unthinkable happened and her younger son was killed in an accident. Despite the terrible losses, she kept going. With various jobs, hard work, and the help of family she carved out a good life for her and her son (Ward's father).

When I met LeeAnn, these events had happened over 40 years ago, but it was like they had happened yesterday for her. She talked about the surprise that Leo was going to bring her when he got home from Iceland and still wondered what it was going to be. She showed me some of the subflooring that Leo built where you could read writing from the railroad cars. She talked about how long it took for them to declare Leo dead and how that affected her benefits. But mostly she talked about the surprise her husband was going to bring her. She thought that it was going to be something to do with their tenth wedding anniversary that they were going to celebrate when he came home.

On this day and everyday, we remember Leo and the sacrifice he made for his country. We also want to remember all of the other men and women who have died in service and hope that their stories have been told. But most importantly, we want to thank each and everyone of them and their families. Because of their sacrifices, we can live a good life today.

Thankful Sunday--May 24, 2014

I am thankful life's milestones.

Last week my niece graduated from the Coast Guard Academy. Moms and dads, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandpas gathered around to help her celebrate. I am thankful for this graduation and all of the other milestones that bring our family together.

First Jobs--Leo

I'm beginning a new series, First Jobs, in which I ask people about their first work experiences.

Today, I am talking with Leo. He tells about an early job he had during the 1940's. 

Tell me about your first job or an early job that you had.

I'll tell you about the first one that I got paid for. That was when I was about 11 or 12 years old. Before that job, I earned money by picking blackberries at the old gravel pit. I sold them door to door and would pick just enough so I could get money to go to the movies.

So, what was the job that you got paid for?

My friend and I helped with installation a septic field. After it was dug and the gravel and tiles had been put down, we laid shingles to close the top between the tiles. We also hauled cinders to put over the tiles.

How long did the job last?

The work lasted about a week during the summer. At that time, WWII was going on and my father was lost at sea. Also, my younger brother had recently died from an accident so my mother was preoccupied with things. She was happy that I was doing something productive for a little while. I made 10 cents/hour.

Did you think that was much money?

No, I thought I got ripped off. Even though I was a kid, I thought I deserved more. However, as I look back on it, I realize that he provided us with sandwiches every day. I guess that was considered part of my pay.

What did you spend your money on?

I think I spent it on movies and Cokes. That was what was important to me at the time.

Another time, we will learn about some more interesting jobs Leo had when he was in high school.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--May 23, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. 

This Week's Food Waste

a Carrot

One lone carrot shriveled up beyond hope this week. Luckily, the rest in the bag were good, but I promptly used them so they wouldn't have the same fate.

This Week's True Food Confessions

Years ago, Ward's grandmother gave me a set of microwave specialty cookware. She bought it for herself with great ideas that she was going to be doing all kinds of complicated cooking in her microwave. She had never been much interested in cooking, but microwave cooking (fairly new at the time) piqued her curiosity. However, she was already in her 80's and decided that if she had limited energy, she would use it to take care of her collies and tend her gardens. Thus after a little while, she passed the set on to me. I wasn't sure that I wanted it, but I took it anyway. I experimented a little and made potato chips, bacon and a cake in the microwave with some of the pieces  However, I couldn't see myself using it with any regularity, so I gradually gave it away piece by piece. The last to go was the microwave pressure cooker. Now, I am totally comfortable cooking with a pressure cooker, but I had no interest in doing that in the microwave. Quite frankly, I thought that pot was a total waste. That was until I gave it to a friend. She didn't ask for it, but she got it anyway. (That's another story.) And she was thrilled. She didn't use it in the microwave, but soon figured out that it was the perfect pot/dish to take to a potluck dinner. You see, it was a good size--not too big, not too small. It was made from thick plastic that provided insulation to keep the food either hot or cold. And best of all, the lid clamped on so it was easy to transport with no spilling. Who knew it was such a perfect pot? I didn't when I thought of it only as a microwave pressure cooker.  But she opened my eyes and then I wanted it back. However, she won't give it to me. :) I guess instead of the pot, I'll have to satisfied that I was reminded that it always pays to take a second look at things. 

Oh wait, isn't a Second Look another one of my themes? That's a little ironic, isn't it? :)

A Second Look--May 21, 2014

It's been the drama of the birds this week or maybe I should say the confusion of the birds. Or let's try that one more time. It's been the week of my confusion about birds.

The sparrows nest is getting refinements now with pine needles and feathers lining the twig frame. No eggs yet. I'm still torn as to whether or not I should remove the nest and hope for a "better" bird. On the other hand, maybe the sparrows will be happy with their spot and leave other nests alone.

The 4/5 of the bluebird eggs have hatched. However, I'm a little worried because two times yesterday they were "sleeping" when I peeked at them. I think it was probably a protective measure so they wouldn't attract attention to themselves, but they were opening their mouths wide when I looked at them earlier in the week. To tell you the truth, they looked dead to me, but I saw a parent going into feed them later, so I guess that's a good sign.

And the most curious of all were the chickadee chicks. When I checked on them last Friday, I found another nest being built on top of them. It was the same nest material as the first one, so I guessed that it was still a chickadee doing the work. My first guess was that as the chicks were growing, the parents were building up the sides of the nest to protect the chicks. However upon further investigation, I found the nest had been built on top of the babies. I removed the new nest and one of them promptly opened its mouth to be fed. I was gone for a few days, but upon checking the box again yesterday, all of the babies were gone. I hope this means that they fledged. They were certainly not ready on Friday, but things happen fast in the baby bird world. However, whatever was working on the nest before, has been working on it again. I'm going to watch it a little longer to see if it's a sparrow. If it is, there is no doubt that I will clear the nest. However, I'm hoping that it's another chickadee.

If you haven't caught on by now from reading this blog, I like to watch birds, but don't know that much about them. I've learned a lot since we put up a feeder a couple of years ago, but still have a lot to learn. Just ask Aunt Martha, my bird expert. In the meantime, I enjoy watching, learning, and being confused by them. :)

When I'm not preoccupied with the birds, I'm finding new things blooming everyday. I'm hoping soon that most of the trees will be done, and my allergies will improve. We'll see. Presently, the oak are almost done blooming and the wild cherries are just starting.

Update: While doing a little research while writing this, it's possible that the sparrow's nest may be a wren's nest. Did I mention that I still have a lot to learn?

Here are some things I saw this week during a

Second Look.

 

Baby bluebirds. They are a day or two old on the left. Notice the one on the upper right is wrapped around an egg. The picture on the right shows what they looked like five days later.

  

On the left, you can see the new nest being built on top of the old one. On the right, you can see one of the baby chickadees poking its head out after I removed most of the second nest from on top of it.

The sparrow, maybe wren's nest.

More Siberian iris are opening up. However, this is the only bed so far with them blooming.

The first bearded iris has bloomed.

The bees are buzzing around the rhododendron which is in full bloom.

This is the second kind of wild cherry to bloom.

Although their prime blooming is over, all of these flowers are still providing color.

Thankful Sunday--May 18, 2014

I am thankful for a walk along the beach.

Sometimes getting out of your regular environment can be very restoring. I am thankful that Ward and I got a chance to do that yesterday with a walk along the beach.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--May 16, 2014

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. 

This Week's Food Waste

None

Okay, maybe not None, but pretty close. There was a little lettuce that went slimy before it got used and a few almonds that I dropped on the floor at work. If it had been at home, I might have eaten them anyway, but not from my work floor.  However, the squirrels and blue jays really enjoyed them. 

This Week's True Food Confessions

You may have noticed that I haven't done a food post for a couple of weeks. I stopped taking pictures for a while, so with no pictures and no new recipes, I didn't have much to post about. I'd like to say that I didn't have any food pictures because I was preoccupied with taking pictures of all the spring flowers. But that wouldn't be true. I have been distracted by other things and paying attention to our eating hasn't been that high on my list. However, all has not been lost. I've been concentrating on working more vegetables into our dishes as well as serving more leafy greens. Also, we had some fresh asparagus from Uncle Billy--nothing like it! And we grilled our first non nitrate hot dogs. I've been meaning to try them for a year or more and we finally got around to it. They were good and while I wouldn't exactly call them a health food, they're a step up from the last ones we had. We're going to be gone for a few days, and I'm not sure what we'll be eating. However, I am taking along some healthy snacks for the car.

Until next time...

A Second Look--May 14, 2014

It's that time of year. Every time I turn around outside, something has changed. New things are blooming and the grass is growing fast enough that we're going to have to get hay cutting equipment soon if we don't catch up on the mowing. We've had a lot of rain this past week and the humidity and temperatures are rising. In fact, the last couple of days, we've had temperatures in the high eighties.

Also, I saw a fox in the yard recently. This is an unusual occurrence since they are usually out at night when I'm not. In addition, the ground hog holes finally look active with fresh digging around both the front and back entrances. And speaking of seeing new things, I put up a hummingbird feeder and have seen two of them feeding from it. We often get hummingbirds later when the tiger lilies are blooming, but I wanted to see if I could attract them sooner. We'll see if they continue to come. But the best things I saw this week are the chickadee chicks. Baby birds definitely fit the "so ugly, they're cute" idea.

Here are some things I saw this week during 

a Second Look.

The azalea continue to bloom.

The first of the Siberian iris have started to bloom.

I was excited when I found this Jack-in-the Pulpit wildflower.

Another wildflower, the buttercup, is giving a nice show in the fields now.

This is the fox I saw trotting across the yard in the middle of the day.

The lily-of-the-valley are blooming.

Five of the six chickadee eggs hatched. I don't know exactly how old these chicks are but I guess a week or less.

Meanwhile, the bluebird continues to sit on her eggs.

Across the yard, the sparrows are building a nest. Once again, I have not shooed them away as recommended. Maybe they'll leave the other nests alone if they have a good place for their own.

Yesterday, this was a tight little bud. Today the rhododendron had buds opening all over it.

Another Garden Tour

As part of my Mother's Day gift, I took a home garden tour in Georgetown, a famous neighborhood in Washington, DC. Think history, rich people, and senator's homes. That's some of what you'll find there. The tour has a long tradition (86 years) with the local garden club and is their main fund raiser for beautification projects in the area.

The tour definitely took us out of the suburbs and into the city. Streets were crowded, parking was difficult, and everything was more expensive. However once we were situated, we had a good time meandering among the houses. Everything was within a few blocks of each other and the weather was good. It started to rain about 2/3 of the way through, but that wasn't bad either because it was not cold.

Come take a virtual tour with me.

The sidewalks were brick in front of the houses and had small flower beds spaced along them.

 

The front entrances to some of the houses were right on the sidewalk and some of them had a bed/small yard in front.

To get to most of the gardens, we had to go down long alleys between buildings.

Many of the gardens/yards were small and all of them were surrounded by a fence.

Grass was a rare sight because of space limitations in most gardens.

This was the only vegetable garden we saw although we did see herbs planted here and there other places. I think the lack of veggies was for two reasons--shady lots and small spaces. The gardens with this house were large and terraced across three levels.

The houses often seemed to be in a jumble. Many of them were 100-200 years old and had been added onto and modified throughout the years.

This was one of the larger and older houses we visited. All of the residences we saw were currently being lived in.

This modern garden fit perfectly with the modern style architecture of the house it went with. The house was impressive but seemed out of place among the older brick homes.

This dinosaur visited all of the gardens along with a little boy who was touring with his grandfather. The dinosaur often stopped to eat as he as doing in this picture.

While I enjoyed the gardens, my favorite thing of the day was this garden club lady's outfit. I think that's because she was wearing pink cloth gloves. Oh, the fashions of days gone by. Sigh.

Thankful Sunday, May 11, 2014, Mother's Day

I am thankful for my mother 

and other mothers of all kinds.

My tired mother and me. At this point she had three kids and one on the way.

My mother is an amazing woman who came from a very difficult upbringing. Despite that, she beat the odds and rose above her beginnings to make the life for me and my sisters a good one. For this I will be forever thankful.

Also on this Mother's Day, I want to take time to remember the other mother figures in our lives. Such as the fun aunt who is always around for their nieces and nephews. Or the scout leader who wants to give kids the same opportunities they had as a kid. Or the teacher who makes a very real difference in the future of the kids they teach. And the list goes on. Thanks to all of you out there for your dedication and commitment to make life better for all kids whether you gave birth to them or not.

Who has been a mother figure in your life besides your own mother?

First Jobs--Ward

I'm beginning a new series, First Jobs, in which I ask people about their first work experiences. Today, I am talking with my husband, Ward. He tells about jobs he had during his teens in the 1970's.

Tell me about your first job.

I remember three early jobs that I had during the summers. One was a dishwasher in an officer's club, one was on a construction demolition crew, and another one was on an asphalt crew. I think the most significant of these was the asphalt work.

photo credit

Were you on a highway crew?

Not exactly. We worked in a private trailer park fixing potholes in the roads there.

What were your duties?

The first thing we did each morning was to clean the laundromat at the park. After that, we started our road work. 

How did you fix the potholes?

First we'd take picks and shovels and clean the holes until there was no more loose debris in them. Next the boss would back up the dump truck full of asphalt and tilt the back of the truck. One of us would balance on top of the truck sides and push out the asphalt onto the road. The others on the ground would rake the it into the hole. Then we would run a steam roller over it. When that was done, we moved onto the next hole. If you were the one balancing on the truck, that ride could be scary.

The job sounds hot and dirty.

It was definitely hot, and it was pretty miserable when I was working in very hot and humid weather with hot asphalt. It was also very dirty. From the dust, tar, and sweat, our clothes could get messed up pretty quickly. We wore the same ones every day.

It also sounds dangerous. Did you ever get burned?

No, but my brother did. He worked there with me. One day, I was shoveling asphalt from the truck and some of it accidentally went into my brother's gloves. He ended up with blisters on his hands from the hot tar, but he wasn't out of work long.

Was there anything you liked about this job?

Even though it was hot, I liked being outside. In my dishwashing job, I was in the basement without windows. I didn't like that.

You said that this job was the most significant among your early jobs. Why?

It exposed me to a lot of new things. For example, except for my brother, my coworkers were ex-cons and drug addicts. Their stories about jail and their sexual and other exploits were things I had never heard before. I wasn't sure if I were impressed or scared. However, I did know that I wanted a better future for myself than they had. Many times my parents had given me the advice of, “Study hard and get good grades. That way you can go to college, and have a good job some day,” After this job, I finally understood what they meant. 

Thanks for your story. Even after all of these years, I learned new things about you.

A Second Look--May 7, 2014

Spring is in full force now. The plants and animals have emerged from their winter hibernation and are now growing excitedly in the sunshine. Or maybe I should say that I am watching excitedly as spring emerges in the warm sunshine. Can you tell that today was a perfect day? Warm sunshine, blooming trees, and flitting birds. Who could ask for anything more?

Here's are some things I saw this week during a Second Look.

The last kind of daffodil is blooming. This one has two small blooms on the end of one stem. The earlier blooming daffodils are fading.

Three blue jays have been fighting over one of the suet feeders. This is right outside the cats' favorite window so they are quite excited these days.

The dogwoods are in full bloom now.

The bluebirds have added another egg to the nest.

Pansies that were planted last fall are in full bloom now.

The sparrows are back.

One kind of our wild cherries is blooming.

The trees seem to be leafing out overnight. In this picture you can see maple, dogwood, sweet gum, and pine.