LARD and BITEY THINGS

Bluegate Hill

The setting: Rural Vermont, circa 1964

My grandmother Gail was a wonderful farm cook. I can see her in my mind's eye-- standing at the red formica counter in her shirtwaist dress with an apron tied at her waist, mixing up a batch of homemade cake doughnuts or rolling out a crust for raspberry pie. 

Being a young mother during the Great Depression, she had to make do with resources close at hand. Foods like doughnuts and pies require shortening but my grandmother used lard. Have you ever tasted lard? Sure, try a spoonful! I'd recommend against trying it plain, but my oh my did it ever elevate the flavor of those doughnuts to blissful deliciousness! They weren't fancied up with any glaze; they were simple and plain. And delicious, in case you missed that fact.

Being a child of nine or ten years old, I wasn't cognizant of how many were made. I just knew they either popped into my mouth or into a clear plastic freezer bag for later consumption. Later?? But..baked goods are so much better in the NOW. Nevertheless the filled bags were stored in the old chest freezer in the kitchen cellar. The farmhouse was old and upon opening the cellar door, the air reminded of that fact. It wasn't unpleasant but rather a comfortable, homey scent. The wooden stairs were wellworn and shiny with use--to the point where the edges were rounded. I was usually accompanied by one of the current cats..one I recall the most was named Smoky because of his gray coat.

There might have been a washer and dryer down there but I honestly don't remember. The important item was that chest freezer that held all those goodies! Whenever I was asked to fetch something from it, I was admonished "Be careful when opening the freezer--it bites." Oh. Good to know! What does that mean to a child anyway? I quickly found out when I touched the metal handle--a fun little buzz, I thought. I had already experienced the buzz from hot wires around the pasture but not being otherwise educated in the various mediums that can be electrified, that first contact was a bit of a surprise.

A day in the life of Jingleberry the Elf

December 20

Dear diary,

Brrr! I can't remember when it's been this cold in the reindeer stables! Comet and Blitzen are the biggest complainers--huffing and snorting this morning when I came to muck out their stalls. (Hey, somebody has to do it--do you think all that soiled hay just magically disappears?)

See, the reindeer have to go outside when their stalls are being cleaned and when it's exceptionally cold, like today, they are NOT HAPPY. Yeah, it's the cold that makes your nostrils stick together when you breathe. Nothing that a nice hot cup of cocoa won't cure, though!

It took me a few hours to get all the stalls. Eight reindeer can make a lot of--oh yeah, Santa told me that I need to watch my tongue. Some elves have an easier time of it, but hey, we're only elves, right?

Lunch was. . .oh I forget, since I am writing this at the stroke of midnight. I think dinner was good but I'm too tired to remember that either.

Santa wants us up at the crack of dawn to double check the toy inventory--not a good thing to be one doll short!  Good night, diary.

On the last day of school and summer vacation

I recently joined a women's writing group in which we have various writing prompts to stir up our creative juices. The latest one: you can guess by the title of this entry ;)
 When I was in grade school many moons ago and as school's end was drawing near, I said to my mother that I could "feel the sweetness coming on". I am now in my sixth decade and my mother is well into her eighth, yet both of us still remember that little quote. She brought it up in conversation recently which has prompted me to ruminate on just what constituted that "sweetness". Did it mean that I would suddenly behave more sweetly? No, I think rather that it was more like what the actor Jackie Gleason used to say: "How sweet it is!" It meant that my days would soon be free from schedules and homework. It meant that I would be traveling to Vermont for a long visit at my grandparents' farm. Times of playing in the sweet-smelling hayloft with my cousins, over-stuffing my belly in the strawberry field, and walking barefoot in the brook all the way down (about a mile or so) to the general store/post office that my uncle owned and operated. My grandfather was the previous owner and postmaster until he retired to work the farm full-time.
 But back to the good stuff! There would be time to slip behind the postal counter and rummage through the drawers for rubber stamps and ink pads. My hands would bear "Return to Sender" or "Paid". Time to run my fingers along the well-worn counter and inhale the scents of ink, paper and warm wood. Time to grab all the Orange Push-Ups and Pixie Stix that my cousins and I could ever wish for and head back up to the farm. 
I have so many wonderful, cherished memories from those visits that will last me a lifetime of smiles whenever they are brought to mind. 

Welcome to fall in the Pacific Northwest--rain, rain, and more rain!  After four months of no precipitation at all, the rains have finally returned.  In looking over my last entry, I see that I was hopeful that the garden my husband & I planted would do well.  HAhahaaa---this was a very very dry summer which spelled bad news for all things growing.  I only got two rows of corn weeded in early July before visiting my mother in Montana for two weeks.  Oh no!  In those two weeks, the remaining 9 rows didn't get much attention MUCH to the weeds' delight.  Yep you guessed it--they took over!  Result: very little corn, and what we did get was pretty meager.  Ah well, such is life.  On the other hand, the tomatoes did pretty good--I was able to freeze at least five gallon-sized bags for later use in spaghetti sauces, chilis and stews:)  We also planted onion starts this year--wowsers, are they ever sweet!!  Harvested six boxes of yellow Satina potatoes also :)

Now all that needs to happen is for the marsh to fill up with water so ducks & geese will have a place to winter.

Time flies. . .

Time flies when life gets in the way, doesn't it?  Time and tide wait for no man, so the old saying goes, and that has certainly proven to be true!  In my case, to blog or not to blog--ah that is the question!  I love to write, and can do so much more effortlessly in this medium rather than longhand, for my brain often works faster than my pen and the result is "WHAT?  I can't read my own writing!"

Life, since my last entry, has brought interesting challenges my way--a daughter becoming a United States Marine, a middle-school granddaughter coming to live with us for most of the school year, then a black op adventure of tough love that has resulted in my oldest daughter and her husband disowning me and my Marine cutting off communication with me for over a month.  Add to that mix my mother having colon cancer surgery (subsequent checkups have been clear, praise God!) and there you have it: borderline high blood pressure LOL

But on the upside, it's just my husband and me again, and there is peace to be found at last.  The garden was planted in May, and by the looks of the corn, we may very well see it "knee-high by the fourth of July."  More positives: Cats purr; chickens lay fresh eggs; love & support from family is constant and nonjudgmental.

Wednesday wanderings

Now before you get all riled up thinking that "Oh no, is she going to title every blog with the day of the week?" let me assure you that no, I will not be doing such a thing.  Well, the jury's still out on that.  Do you think I would run out of words that begin with the first letter of every day?  I might eventually switch to phrases.

But today is about wanderings.  This morning I wandered down to Seattle with my friend who was picking up her daughter from the airport, which we did just fine.  However, upon leaving the airport, we couldn't get into the proper lane to exit to I-5 northbound, so we did a bit of wandering on 405 instead.  South, I might add.  Oopsiedoodle! Don't ask me how far out of the way we went, because I can't remember!  Suffice it to say that we ended up having to wander west off an exit which put us on another road.  Hrm.  Oh yes--E.Valley Road, wherever the heck that is, then we took a left at my friend's daughter's advice (she was tired from her flight but didn't dare close her eyes til we were safely northbound on I-5!) and found the exit for 405 north.  Woohoo!  Off we wandered---all the way to Everett, where we knew there would be a hookup for the interstate and the tired girl in the backseat could finally get some shuteye.  We did a bit more wandering on the way home--into Taco Bell for one person's taste, and Subway for the other two.  After getting back to Lynden, I had to feed my car at the Safeway fuel pumps or she'd never get me home.  Upon arriving at the farm, I noted my in-laws' white van parked in the driveway, so I got out and wandered back to the garden where they were planting seed.  That was a nice bit of wandering because with 70-foot rows, I got to stretch my legs!  The last bit of wandering that I intend to do today is to my bed!

Tuesday thoughts

Swivel chairs are great.  Especially on wood floors:)  My eight-month-old granddaughter spent a recent Saturday with us and one of her accoutrements included a walker.  Oh my, did she and Grammy have fun!  We would race from one end of the house to the other--she in her walker and me in my green swivel chair.  I knew she was enjoying this activity because at one point I had returned to the front room and was peeking out from behind the piano.  Little Missy was leaning sideways to see around the corner and a grin split her little face when she espied me:)  She also crinkles up that cute little nose, pants and waves her little arms up and down when she's excited about something.  Like magazines on the coffeetable---yummy things to chew on!

Chickens are funny critters.  I have a baker's dozen and when I let them out in the afternoon to free-range, they make a beeline for the birdfeeder which is placed in front of the living room window.  Hens really do look like a bunch of little old ladies hitching up their skirts as they run.  Rudy the rooster, of course, follows along at a more leisurely pace.  Personally, I think it's because he is trying to avoid being henpecked.

Halfway through June already, can you believe it?  And my summer is already starting to fill up with plans:  a trip to Yellowstone NP for an early 80th birthday bash for my mom; my 11-year-old granddaughter coming for a long visit in July, then flying back to Oklahoma with her in August.  Then back to the farm to make apricot and peach jams--yum!  Last year was a banner year for fruits, but this spring has been so cold and wet that we won't have as many to choose from.  However, we should have more apples than last year's harvest.