QUOTE of the WEEK: 8/26/13

Source: Anything About Guns

A FEW BLADES AND PAST MEMORIES

For those of you who hunt: Do you remember the kind of knife you used to field dress your game?  As I was growing up and would go hunting with my Dad, I always wanted to carry a hunting knife. It wasn't until I was 15 that I was able to have a hunting knife. 

My Dad had and old hunting knife that he had used when he was a youth. I was so excited -- I got to use his old Winchester .32 special and have the knife he used to use. I still have this knife and a few others. The one I got to use those first few seasons was a Schrade Walden, red and white handled, the blade well used from years of use.

I used this knife on my very first Bull elk when I was 16. That same season, Mom bought my Dad a new knife: a Puma White Hunter. He got to break it in that same season. He dropped an elk. I now have that knife, and cherish it with memories of hunting seasons past and of deer and elk that we harvested. . . and of others that we missed.

They were used for other things besides dressing out game. They were used for some of the camp chores, too. Later, as some years went by, my Dad bought me a Buck 119, as he thought that I should have a " newer " knife. I received it after Mom and Dad had moved to Arkansas. Before I got the Buck 119, I purchased an Air Force Survival knife. It worked really well for chores around camp and for dressing out game.

These knives have lots of memories attached to them. The Schrade Walden is from around 1946 or so. The Puma White Hunter was manufactured in the fourth quarter of 1969. And the Buck 119 is from around 1973. The Air Force knife, I'm not sure of when it was made. 

When I'm in the hills camping, fishing, or metal detecting, I have one or more of these knives with me. They all are good and will get the job done, from cutting back strap, to skinning, and even cleaning trout. When I have one of them on my hip, the memories are right there and new ones are added on.

Two-ingredient Pumpkin Cake (A Kathi Post)

I am very excited that Fall is coming. Children in our county went back to school yesterday. I went back to school yesterday, too, but that's another story.

My pumpkin has grown really big. It's a Triple Treat variety, which means it's good for cooking, carving, and seeds. I use the Square Foot Garden method of gardening, and I trained my pumpkin vine up. It makes me happy to see an 8 or 9 pound pumpkin just hanging on the vine four feet off the ground!

It won't be long before my pumpkin is ready to eat. Here is a recipe I really like (and use a lot) because there are only two ingredients.

Use a boxed cake mix and a 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix) or puree from your own homegrown pumpkin.

Seriously, just take the cake mix and add the can of pumpkin puree, then stir until it’s combined. 

Bake it in a greased pan in the oven on 350 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour, and you have pumpkin bread. Or cake. Whatever.

Sometimes I make it in a Bundt pan, but most of the time I just put it in a loaf pan 'cause I don't have to ask Jim to reach it for me.

Sometimes I frost it, sometimes I sprinkle it with powdered sugar, and sometimes I leave it plain and naked.
 
Anyway you make it -- it’s good!

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."  ~William Arthur Ward

It's back-to-school time here in our county. Enjoy your day!

"If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around."
--Jim Rohn

The best thing I've seen all week!

Saw this because of Chicks on the Right. Visit them, if you don't already: http://www.chicksontheright.com
Too funny!

WHO NEEDS A DEER STAND!

I guess a lot of hunters now use some sort of deer stand. My uncle, years ago -- over several seasons -- managed to fill his deer tag on a regular basis.

Some hunters use a tree stand. Others use a stand on the ground that is camouflaged.

My uncle had a different type of stand, if you can call it that. It seems that his "stand" was a fallen tree, or stump, or even a rock. You see, he had a urge. Of the bathroom type. He had to do a number two. He would find a nice spot, drop his pants, and commence to do what he had to do.

The first time, as he was doing his duty, a nice 4-point buck (aka 8-point to those of you from the East side of our country)  just happened to walk around the stump that my uncle was using. My uncle dropped the buck, did his paper work, then proceeded to field dress his deer.

The following season he had just dropped his drawers and was just starting to set on a log when this deer came up the trail. My uncle shot the deer. After he finished his paper work and field dressed his deer, he left his rifle leaned up against a tree and left. He couldn't find his rifle the next day when he remembered to go back for it.

A season or two later, while I was hunting, I saw what I thought was a stick that looked like a rifle. It even looked like it had a scope on it. As I got closer, I saw that it was indeed a rifle! It was the rifle my uncle had left. It was rusted up pretty good. and you could see where some critter --or critters -- had gnawed on the stock in several places. The scope was trashed.

After I was done hunting and had filled my tag, I took this rifle to my uncle back in town. Before giving it to him, I asked if he remembered losing it a few seasons back. He said that he did, and that he had borrowed it from his father, who didn't know he had taken it. 

My uncle cussed a blue streak and said that the old man had made him pay for the rifle. My uncle was teed off about it. I asked him if there was a reward for whomever found the rifle. And he said,  "hell no!", it was gone for good.

Well, I gave the rifle to him just as his dad walked in. His dad knew the rifle right away and proceeded to ream my uncle a new one again. I left quickly.

For years, we gave my uncle a razzing about how he got some of his deer. We said he cheated in getting those deer by using his white butt cheeks and farting to attract them. We said he burned the deer noses from the smell so bad that they could no longer smell him, that the deers' eyes were watering so badly that they couldn't see him. The teasing got bad.

We told the local game warden that my uncle was using chemicals to get his deer. And then we told him about my uncle's history of how we got his deer. The game warden, knowing my uncle, played right along. He said that he was going to cite my uncle for blinding game by using his lily- white butt to do it. The warden said it was just like spotlighting the animals.

I am not using my uncle's name here because he is still around. Even though he is up there in age, he remembers and he might be a bit peeved that I told on him.

Oh well.

COWBOY QUOTE OF THE WEEK 8/5/13

"Good judgement comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgement."
--Unknown

FADED DREAM

Have you ever awakened to the smell of coffee, bacon, and fresh bread? Or, awakened with the smell of pine in your nose? Have you ever been rolled up in your bed roll, with a camp fire, snapping and popping, as it dies out for the night? With the stars so bright, and so many, that it seems that you can see the heavens go on forever.

Have you ever watched the sun rise from the back of a good cow pony? Or watched as trout jump in the early morning light on a beaver pond? Or awaken to the sound of a breeze blowing gently through the aspens? Have you ever listened to cows as they settle in for the night? Have you listened to the sounds of the forest as it starts a new day? Or the sounds of the forest as it readies for nightfall?

The sound of a small stream as it rolls over stones and tumbles over on small water falls. It makes for a lazy late afternoon of dangling your feet in the water. As you prepare to head back to camp for a supper of homemade biscuits, beans, steak, and apple pie fresh form the chuck wagon cook. The sound of someone chopping wood and the voices of men who are gathering around to fill their plates after a hard day of rounding up cows.

These are the things that I grew up with and the hunting, fishing, and camping all those years ago. I was just being on the ranch that I spent so much time on with family and friends and the men who worked on the ranch. They were so kind to me and my sister, all of them teaching a youngster the things he should know, like how to ride, rope, mend fence, and all the other things about ranching and being a cowboy.

They also taught how to see things from their eyes. Like, how to know when a cow is about to calf. Or when it's time to bring in the herd. And to cut out the yearlings that need to go to market. They also taught us how your word and a hand shake meant something. And, they taught fun things like how to play mumbly peg with a pocket knife. And how to roll a smoke. (I never could get one to roll right.) Horseshoes, poker, ( I always lost my allowance), riding a yearling calf (before mutton busting), how to saddle a horse (which is really hard to do when you are only about seven years old.)

They teased, and joked, and picked on me. And I enjoyed every minute. All I ever, really wanted to do was to be a cowboy. But times changed and I got older. The ranch is still there. It's owned by some big shot rich guy. All the places that I roamed, fished, and hunted are still there. Over the years my family and friends have been to these same places and have enjoyed some of the things that I enjoyed as a child.

But, people pass on and things change. The places of my youth are still there, but you can no longer get to them. Condos, cabins, and ranches are now on land that I use to roam. Beaver ponds that gave me so many hours (years!) of fishing are gone, drained, covered over, or destroyed just so some rich person can have their BIG cabin in the woods.

Before they closed it all off. I was able to do a little fishing in a beaver pond that I used to fish in when I was 17 or so. And not too far from this beaver pond was a group of aspen trees, and behind those was some heavy timber. This is where I got my very first deer. Now the aspens are gone. The heavy timber is gone. In their place is a road and a big metal building (a workshop, I think.) Someone has placed a mobile home there.

I wish that I could go back with a good cow pony and some cows to a place that I can call my own.

I just wanted to be a cowboy.  

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you."
--Langston Hughes

NOW YOU KNOW: Ancient Greek Army Ration

Philon of Byzantium developed a ration pill for his soldiers in 150 BC. This pill was the size of an olive and was made of sesame seeds, honey, opium, poppy seeds, and squill (which is a root plant I've never heard of).

The pills were made to provide protein (from the sesame seeds), hydrocarbons (the honey), helped a person be free of pain from hunger and/or discomfort (opium), and a general tonic (the squill).

Active soldiers got two pills a day, one at 8 am, and the other at 4 pm. They also drank vinegar on a regular basis.

So, now you know!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 7/22/13

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great."

--Mark Twain

NOTHING

Well, it's been hectic here. And I don't really have anything to say, or write about.

But, come Monday? There will be things to read. And maybe watch.

Just to make you laugh. . . (A Kathi Post)

I took this picture a couple years ago.

This is one of Jim's friends from as far back as elementary school. They still act as if they are in junior high, as you can see!

(Which is one of the things I like best about Jim. AND his friends.)

Happy summer!

ROLY POLY BUGS AS AMMO

Do you all remember roly-poly bugs, from when you were a kid? And do you remember having dirt clod wars? And do you remember pop guns and/or cork guns? And how about when you found out that you could take your pop gun or cork gun and shove it in the mud and shoot mud balls at one another?

Well, I found out about better ammo than mud. I found out that you could shoot roly-poly bugs out of your pop gun AND that those little roly-poly bugs would shoot further than wet mud. The hard part was getting enough roly-polys to last through the fight. That and that the roly-polys didn't shoot very well unless they were rolled up.

When they hit you, you just had some roly-poly guts on you instead of a glob of mud. You’d wait for the innards to dry then just wipe them off. If you tried to wipe them off before they are dry? Well, then it smears and, from what Mom told me, it does not always come off of your clothes so well.

The next hard thing about roly-poly bugs, is finding a good way to carry them. Sandwich bags don't work too well. The bugs get all mushy. Jars are too hard to carry and too easy to break. I found that if I used an empty BB tube with the cap that I could carry almost 50 roly-polys.

The only problem was if the lid came off in your pocket. Have you ever stuck your hand in a pocket that is full of roly-poly bugs? They squish and leave a kind of smelly wet spot on and in your hip pocket. That was not good when Mom would go to clean out your pockets before doing laundry.

I swear, you could hear her scream from two blocks away. A friend asked me once if I heard a scream while we were at his house, which was two blocks from my house, and I told him I heard it, but didn't know why someone would be screaming during the day. Well, I found out why about ten minutes later when my friend’s mom said that there was a phone call for me from home.

Yep. It was Mom. And she was NOT a happy camper. I went home real fast. I mean, it's not like I had left them there on purpose. It, just kind of happened.

I learned how to do my own laundry that weekend. And Mom went to get her nails done. She ended up having to find a new nail salon. And I learned,to never wash a red t-shirt with your socks and underwear. Do you know how hard that is to explain to your buddies in the locker room?

I think I was the only kid in school,who went comando for awhile, until I could get some new shorts. And that was when I was in junior high in the late 60's early 70's. And you know. It's pretty cold going like that in the winter.

GI Joe and Lillie - This is a good one

Just in case you haven't seen this one yet. It is a good one.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 7/8/13

"A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself."
--Joseph Campbell, Professor and Author

It's the mother person! (a Kathi post)

Those of you who read here regularly know that Jim's mom (Dennie) passed away last month. Jim's dad (Jim) has been gone about a year and a half.

Dennie was one of my very favorite people ever. I was SO lucky in the in-law department. She called herself "the mother person," and after awhile, so did we all. I'd answer the ringing phone and hear from the other end, "It's just the mother person."

Dennie was fun and funny. She was nice, but not in a sickly sweet way, and not if you weren't nice to the people she liked, loved, and cared about. In fact, one of Jim's nasty aunts (well, I guess it's really his ONLY aunt) said bad things about me to her after we had spent a BUNCH of hours in a car together, and Dennie told that she was hanging up the phone and didn't walk to talk to her again until she could talk nicely. Thing is that most of the bad things his aunt said about me that day were true.

Dennie had a great smile and wonderful laugh, and she was a hugger. One of her frequent phrases was about hugging. She'd say, when we got ready to hang up from a phone conversation, "Hug the boy's neck for me" -- meaning Jim. Or if I said something by phone that she particularly liked, she'd say, "I just want to hug your neck!"

And she meant it! She hugged everybody. Often.

When Jim's nephew Grant was killed in Afghanistan, there was a service for him and two other guys at Fort Carson. After the service, there was a receiving line of family members, and the soldiers in attendance came through the line on their way out. There were probably 150 of them. She was at the front of the receiving line, and she hugged each and every one of them. Well, since the line started out with hugs instead of handshakes, that meant WE all hugged every one of them. But the thing was? It did feel right. It was comforting to hug them and be hugged. If someone else were at the front of the line, though, I'll bet we wouldn't have had that.

My sister Kristi and I have a history of laughing hard. We've been kicked out of places because we just couldn't stop laughing. For example, one time we were at Woolworths (do you remember Woolworths?) We tried on wigs and laughed. We looked at products and laughed. Then we were walking down the cleaning aisle and it smelled of mothballs. I said, "Have you ever smelled mothballs before?" and she said of course she had, and I asked her how she got their little legs apart. We laughed so hard I thought we were going to pee, then we were told to leave. And yes -- we were adults, not kids, at the time. We'd laugh so hard that we couldn't breathe, then we'd try to say, "I-can't-breathe-I-can't-breathe-I-can't-breathe-I-can't-breathe-I-can't-breathe. . .," in a high-pitched, oxygen-deprived voice while laughing, until we could finally recover enough to actually breathe.

Anyway, I tell you that as a gauge to how hard we laugh on a regular basis. But one time Dennie and I laughed so hard that it surpassed the mothball incident.

We were at a convention together, Jim, me, and his parents. After dinner, Jim and his dad were "off gallyvanting" (as Dennie would say), and she and I went back to the room. We were just going to sit on the beds and watch TV or talk. She was a tall person, and simply got on the bed and sat back against the pillows. I am much shorter, and had to generally take a running leap (if you could call it that) to launch myself up onto the tall bed. I'd been doing it for two days, but on this particular evening, I just couldn't do it. Each time I would try, the slickness of the bedspread and the slickness of my skirt conspired against me, and I'd just slide back off to have to try again. Pretty soon it was to the point that it was ridiculous, and we started laughing and couldn't stop. We laughed SO hard, and I could do nothing but hang on to the edge of the bed, half on, half off, and laugh. Well, that's when the guys came in, and we couldn't stop laughing long enough to even tell them why. Jim snapped pictures of us, which made it even more ridiculous. That was the hardest I ever laughed in my life, and I was glad it was that way.

Jim's dad made me a whole bunch of .38 caliber wax bullets, so that I could "practice shooting in the house." He even went so far as to make them from vanilla scented wax so they were more feminine. He was completely serious, and took me to his basement to his shooting range (a plywood board propped up against the wall on some milk crates) to try them out. I totally thought he was kidding.

He was not.

After I shot a bunch of them, I went back upstairs to visit with Dennie, and she just looked at me with a straightface and said, "I'll bet you never even KNEW you needed to practice shooting in the house!" We burst out laughing.

Truly? The wax bullets were a thoughtful thing and one of the best gifts I ever received. Not because I needed to practice shooting in the house, but because my father-in-law loved me enough to think of me, think of my safety, and think of something he could make me that would show that. He was, as you may have guessed, also one of my favorite people.

I miss them both a lot.

The good news is that Jim has the best qualities of them both, and I am very lucky to have him as my person.

What I wouldn't give to pick up the phone and hear,  "It's just the mother person."

Happy Independence Day to You!

HAVE CRADLE WILL TRAVEL: II

Ok, I made mention about my sister liking stained glass and such. And, well, I guess I can see where it could be kind of neat to be able to work with glass. They have a glass museum in Seattle. Really, they do all kinds of neat stuff. Blown glass of various shapes, colors, textures, and lots of other things to boot. Slivers of glass in different colors and squeezed together, then bonded, and you have a scene of the country side.

Blown, stretched, and shaped. You have flowers, or shapes of people, or of fish and critters under the sea. Stained glass visions of knights and dragons. I was truly amazed and in awe of some of the things that they did with glass.

It can be something as silly as a child's drawing being brought to life in glass. Or as detailed as a vase for flowers.

Or, a walk on a bridge and overhead it is like you are on the bottom of the sea looking up. 

Walking on the bridge also shows off various shapes and sizes of vases and sculptures of different styles.

I really did have a good time with my sister here. She was like a little kid in a candy store. She bought a hand blown star fish. She said that it called to her. Who am I to say otherwise!

This is the girl that almost beat me to death with the doll leg after I ran over and demolished her doll with my peddle car. I still have dreams of that one. I only mention this because, they had a doll that was blown from glass. Its head, arms, legs were separated from the torso. I would have taken a picture,  but my sister had this funny look in her eye, and I think she was reaching for one of the legs.

HAVE CRADLE, WILL TRAVEL.

I like road trips. I always have, since I was a little kid. I wanted to be one of the guys from the old TV show "Route 66. "  I also wanted to be on the ultimate road trip. On the TV show "Wagon Train" with Ward Bond, they were on their way to California, but never seemed to get there.

Anyway, I was gone most of last week. I went on a road trip with my sister. Not the most happy happy, let's have some fun type of sister. She is way older than me (by two years) and does not really know how to have a good time. Her idea of a good time is teaching water aerobics at the rec' center. Or watching a documentary on stained glass.

Me? I like to boogie (like that word?) down the road. And if I see something that catches my interest, I stop and check it out. I like history, so a lot of the historical markers and such are a must stop, and read, and look. But, with my sister doing some of the driving, we didn't do a whole lot of that.

We were on a mission, of sorts. My brother-in-law made a old style baby cradle. We were taking it  from Denver to a little town just south of Seattle, Washington. It was for a young couple who just had their first child, a little boy. My sister asked me if I would go with her on this trip, and I felt honored to do so. You see, the young man had been in the same unit as my nephew who was killed a couple years ago. I had met him at a picnic in my nephew's honor some years back, here in Colorado.

This young man is now out of the service from wounds he received in Afghanistan. He is now a proud father. Robert, my brother in-law, made this cradle for his new little boy. It will be a family heirloom to be handed down through the generations to come. I was honored to get to go with my sister to deliver the cradle.

It gave my sister and I a chance to talk and to reminisce about our childhoods and to talk about family. Things that she remembered at times, I could not remember. And, if I brought something up, she also could not remember some things. We were in a hurry, but not in a big hurry. When we arrived at their home, there was excitement and hugs, and a few tears. My sister held the baby for awhile and would not give him up so I could hold him. But that's okay.

We stayed and chatted, drank some ice tea, and I took some pictures. My sister and I left and drove on into Seattle to a hotel for some good sleep. I found out on the first night on the road that sleeping in a reclined front seat of a Subaru Outback at a truck stop does NOT make for a good few hours of sleep.

I also found out that it takes Robert several months to do one of these cradles. I think the man is wasting his time driving a truck. He ought to be making more of these and the wooden toys that he makes. I think he could make a good living at it. Unless my sister likes him out of the house now and then when he is on the road.

(continued tomorrow)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 7/1/13

"Gratitude is what starts the receiving process."
--Jim Rohn

Quote of the Week: 6/24/2013

“I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”
-- Mark Twain

OLD LITTLE BOOKS

Here are some of the books my dad had when he was growing up. I can remember reading them myself, several times, through the years. I have some others, but they do not have a front cover. It's funny sometimes, the things we keep for all of these years.

I have some others that I will post about in a few days. Here is a hint for you guys. Bob cat, wolf, bear. That just might give it away.

WET AND DRY VAC: Ours is not the best.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of you own a wet and dry vac. Ours is a bit different then a lot out on the market. Ours is mostly used in the kitchen, dining room, and sometimes on the patio and, every once in awhile, in the living room.

If it is liquid, food crumbs, or any type of food, it gets sucked up so fast that there is never a five second rule -- or even a two second rule. 'Course, it won't clean up dog hair or dirt. Or suck up water if your basement floods.

But it sure does a bang up job for those spills in the kitchen!

STICKY BUTT

Any of you ever have a sticky butt? I have. Twice. 

First time, I must have been about 4 or 5 years old. I just happened to knock over a BIG jar of honey. And, of course, I didn't move. It flowed all over the seat of the big old patio chair I was sitting in.

Did you know that honey gets into every crack and crevice? And that you should not then sit in sand or near an ant hill? And, that all kinds of bugs and creepy crawlers like honey also? Not to say anything about hummingbirds.

I never knew how fast and how many hummingbirds will attack a honey soaked butt and crotch. It was like the attack of Peal Harbor all over again, except the attackers were much more colorful. My dad could not move quick enough to help me. He was too busy laughing and watching me run around the yard, swatting and dodging, weaving, jumping, and rolling to get away from the hummingbirds!

Then, I made the mistake of running towards our neighbors house. He and his wife were bee keepers. By then, I was really going bonkers. Them bees were worse than the hummingbirds! By then, my dad decided to help. I'm sure he meant well. And, he said, he thought it was water, but it was a 5-gallon jug of sweet tea that he threw on me.

Now, I love my dad, and now I can tell this since he has passed on. I'm sure when my turn comes, he will be right there at the pearly gates, ready to give me what for for telling on him. Anyway, by the time the grown-ups got me into the house, I had ants in my pants, sand and dirt up my butt crack. Hummingbird feathers and bee stings all over my body.

To this day, if I hear a hummingbird I break out in a cold sweat and start for the door. Ant piles are jumped on and destroyed. Bees bring on this uncontrollable arm swinging and running around like a chicken without a head. And forget about me EVER having southern style sweet tea. And my sister in Arkansas wonders why I won't come and see her.

I'd hate to scare the you know what out of her when the nightmares come back. The funny thing is I still like honey!

I think I will tell the other story of a sticky butt at a later date. I swear I can hear hummingbirds outside the window!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 6/17/13

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. "
--Oprah Winfrey

NEW PHONES FOR EVERYONE

This will take some doing. But, if we all pull together we should be able to get it done.

Okay, first everyone needs to get some soup cans. Make sure they are clean and that there are no sharp edges. We don't want anyone to lose a ear.

Next, we need string. Lots and lots of string.

Everyone should remember how to make a string phone. If you don't, just ask one of us old farts. That will work as long as none of us have lost our childhood memories.

Next, we need tons of wax to smear on all of the strings. Ear wax does not work. Plus, its hard to get the amount that we would need. Then once we all have our soup can phones, we just all connect them together!

And there we have it -- a new phone system. And if it gets hacked, we have lots of string to tie them up with so we can ship them back to DC.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 6/10/13

"Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity."

--Louis Pasteur

POKY STICK

Did you ever have a poky stick? Everyone needs a poky stick.

Poky sticks are real handy to have. You can have them in different lengths. I got my first poky stick, I guess, when I was about six years old. I remember getting it out of a wood pile. It was a couple feet long, and could also be a sword, or a spear, when needed.

It seemed that every kid, boy and girl, had one. But, I never saw any of the city kids with a poky stick. I guess they thought that they just didn't need one. We used them for all kinds of things, like poking them in rat holes or into drain pipes for snapping turtles. And they came in pretty handy, when you found a dead cat or dog along side of the road that had been killed by a car. They were poked. Even some critters that had been hit by the train were good for a poky stick.

We would carry our poky sticks every place we went. You just never knew when you would need it. And we took them home, and had a special place to keep them, so that it was there, ready for you everyday. We used our poky sticks as stick horses, swords, rifles, spears, and just about anything else we could think of. We poked dead bugs, snakes, and hollow trees were fun to poke. And, yeah, we poked one another too.

We would take a old tin can and put it on the end of a poky stick, then fling the can at someone. If you got hit by the can, you were frozen, until some one came along with their poky stick and tapped you with it. We could spend hours playing with our poky sticks. They were good for getting snakes. And for crawdads. And even getting a old bull frog now and then. But, as we got older, we gave up our poky sticks for other things.

Even now, at the age of 57, everytime I go camping or hunting and we have a camp fire, I find me a poky stick. It's good for moving logs in the camp fire or for stirring the embers when you go to put out your fire. And, as from a previous story, to check for mice when you use the potty in winter.

Everybody should have a poky stick. You never know when you might feel the need to poke something!

OOP'S (Maybe)

As Mom used to say, "Oh, feathers!!!" She said that when she had made a mistake or something was not quite right. So, "Oh, feathers!" (instead of my usual choice words). My knee does not seem to be getting better as I think it should.

The doctor said to wait for about another two months, when I last saw him, which was about two weeks ago. At that time, my knee seemed to be somewhat better. I was walking a bit more, and riding a stationary bicycle for about 10 minutes at a time three times a week.

Well, I was limping along, coming up our driveway from getting our mail, when all of a sudden it felt like my knee was about to dislocate itself. Thankfully, Kathi's car was there for me to catch myself with. The doctor said it was all right to walk without the knee brace as long as I didn't try to walk my miles around the lake or get overly aggressive with my walking.

I mean, it's not like I was skipping up the driveway or doing hopscotch. And, I wasn't swaggering. My swagger died years ago. Since jacking up my knee the last of March, I kinda do the Tim Conway shuffle, like he did as the old guy on the Carol Burnett show of years gone by. I sat on my butt for over a month on our couch. (For you younger people, it would be called a sofa.)

I sat for so many days, that I wove a butt grove in the couch cushion to the point that we had to get a new couch. Kathi likes the new one, 'cause her feet can touch the floor when she's sitting on it. Me? My knees are up around my chest and it makes it hard to see our TV. And --  it's harder to get my now fatter butt up off of it.

So, anyway, I'm thinking that when I get back to the doctor, I'll probably be getting an MRI of my knee. I personally think that I will have to have surgery or something. I'm not too happy about it, but whatcha gonna do? I may have to also figure a way to get around to do some fishing. Or, maybe I could just set on my fat butt and work on my tan.

Now, if I could just teach Nugget how to pick up his own poo. And how to mow the yard. Then it might not be so bad.

DEATH OF A LOVED ONE: A poem

To our eyes the sun sets
And the sky grows dark,
And the feel of a strange, cold wind
Creates a chill, which we can not subdue.

We feel that the darkness
Has never been this dark before,
And that the light in our lives
Has been forever shut out.

But the light that we now miss
Has not been subdued or even dimmed.
It has gone beyond the horizon
To brighten, even more, our FATHER'S HOUSE.

And if through faith,
We think along these lines,
We do not see the end,
But only the dawn
Of a new and glorious day!

 By John "J.C." Speight
       (1972)


Today is the day that we have the service for our Mom. And I want to thank all of you for the kind words and the cards. They mean a lot.

This poem was written by a friend, and grand father to our son, my son, who lives with his mom. He lost his grandfather on Memorial Day. JC was 89 years young. He had a zest for life. He served in WWII on a B-17. He never bragged about it, but would get a look in his eyes when he talked about missions and buddies from that past. He even had some of my son's uncles go with him to a reunion to see and fly, once again, in a B-17.

I was proud to know him.

Thanks for bearing with me through this time.

Well, I'm sad

My mom passed away Monday. I've been thinking of what to blog about it, but I've got nothin' right now. 

I'm sorry; so look for me in the next couple of days. Thanks.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 5/20/13

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
-- William Arthur Ward, American writer

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 5/13/13

"Thought is the blossom; language the bud; and action the fruit behind it."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

KNEE UPDATE: It works... Kind of.

Well, my knee is getting better. It is going to take some time for it to get back to what it was. I managed to ride a stationary bike for about 3 minutes. YAY! So, I need to work on that. As far as walking goes, I'm doing pretty good. It's easy to overdo it. I need to remind myself before that happens. I need to take it slower, and not try to walk a mile or more every day like I was doing.

It swells up pretty good when I overdo it. Setting with my knee bent at the computer? I can only keep it bent for about 5 or 6 minutes at a time. So, some of this was done standing up. Sleeping is okay, as long as I don't roll over. I wake up every time I roll.

There is a lot that I'm getting antsy about -- yard work, gardening, poop patrol for Nugget. Things that need to be taken care of. Like, our truck needs an oil change, it needs to be washed and waxed. I need to get the '67 Charger up and running and ready to sell. Get new tags on our boat. And, and, and. . . the list goes on.

Plus, it's time to do some fishing! HERE FISHY FISHY! And time to get out and do some metal detecting,  camping, prospecting, gold panning, and such. I've got projects to do, like re-doing a Coleman stove. And, Kathi has things that she would like done. I've still got a sofa to move and replace.

The list is growing. The leg is willing, but just not up to snuff yet. I'll get there.

OLDIE BUT GOODY: Knife stain remover

All of us guys, and lots of ladies also, have a few knives laying around that we don't carry with us every day. Grandpa and my dad, every year, at Spring time, would start getting ready for fishing. Out came the tackle box and the old knives they used for gutting, scaling, and filleting. Plus, they would pull out their hunting knives also.

They would take the knives and clean the stains off of the blades. First, they would crush a chunk of red brick, with a hammer, to a fine powder. Then they would raid the kitchen and take a large potato. They would cut the potato in half and dip the cut end into the brick dust, then rub this on the stained knife.

It would remove small rust and blood stains. Grandpa had the same knives in his tackle box for over 30 some years. When he passed, my dad ended up with them. My dad gave me the ones he had. I've used them for more than 20 years.

Now that my dad has passed, I have those knives as well. It's time to get a tater or two and find an old red brick, so I can set out on the patio, clean some knives, and day dream about past fishing with Grandpa and my dad.

I've got a whale of a tale -- or two!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 5/6/13

"Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men."
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Writer, artist, and politician

A knee update and some unbelievable stuff (not in a good way)

A friend shared this with me. I thought it could not be real or more ridiculous, but it appears that it probably is.
Go take a look:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/05/01/Breaking-Pentagon-Confirms-Will-Court-Martial-Soldiers-Who-Share-Christian-Faith

That is very upsetting. And unreasonable. And makes no sense. What do you think about it?

On personal news: I went to the doctor Monday. He could see some improvement, so I got a different knee brace instead of the immobilizer. He told me I could walk, do some knee exercises, and drive as long as it doesn't hurt.

I go back in a month and if I have improved some more, I'll be good to go -- just time for healing. If it looks as if I have not improved or have backslid, I'll have to have an MRI and maybe even surgery. So, I'll be good and do my best.

Thanks to those of you who sent comments and/or well wishes. You helped!

I have more for next week. I'm working on getting back to blogging now that I can sit at a computer a bit.

Take care. And thanks for stopping by.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 4/29/13 And, EXTRA

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work."

--Thomas Edison, American inventor and business man



YAY! Today is the day I get to see the doctor about my knee. I hope that I can get rid of this knee brace. It's driving me batty. The weather is nice, and I have a REAL bad case of cabin fever. So, I'll let you all know what goes on later on today.

Quote of the Week: 04/15/2013

"When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes, print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all three options are bad for average Americans."
-- Ron Paul

Quote of the Week: 04/08/2013

"The measure of a man's character is not what he gets from his ancestors, but what he leaves to his descendants."
-- Unknown (if you know, please let me know so I can give proper credit)

Monday, Monday. . . (A Kathi Post)

Jim had agreed to let me video him telling a story or two to post here while he's unable to sit long enough to write.

Friday was the day, but he just totally did not feel up to it, which is understandable. The mind is willing, but the body won't cooperate. My apologies that there is nothing to see from Jim right now.

So, instead, I have a review of Purex® Natural Elements® Tropical Splash liquid laundry detergent. And I have three coupons for a FREE bottle to giveaway to blog readers. I am a Purex Insider and help spread the word about the Purex® family of laundry products. As an Insider, I receive sample product and incentives in exchange for participating in brand related activities.

Many who have sensitive skin or allergies have a hard time using scented laundry detergents.Purex® Natural Elements® contains naturally sourced ingredients with natural fragrance extracts. You may find that you can use this even with sensitive skin, because it is hypoallergenic and dye-free. 

I used this on four laundry loads last week, including one load of "dog-laundry." When I opened it up to pour it into the washer, I really appreciated the pineappley-coconutty scent. It smelled SO clean and fresh!

After the laundry dried, I couldn't smell anything except clean, fresh laundry. I like a nice fruity scent, but I guess it's good that it did not linger, 'cause Jim might not like it as much as I did.

Well, and the dog, too. Usually when I wash his bedding, he sniffs for a bit before he will lie down on it. This time? Nothing. It cleaned nicely (a result of the "dirt-lift" action). Even the dog bed was perfectly clean.

Purex provided three coupons for a free bottle of Purex Natural Elements detergent. It comes in three scents -- Tropical Splash, Linens and Lillies, and Lilac and Lavender, so you can choose which scent you'd like to try. To win, please just email me directly at kathleennoland(at)yahoo(dot)com. Winners will be selected at random next Monday, April 15. Hey -- that's tax day. Don't forget to get your taxes in by Monday! I'll email the winners on Monday, and expect them to respond with their mailing addresses by Friday, April 19. If they don't? I'll choose runners up.

Thanks for coming by, and thanks to those who have left comments for Jim. He is truly NOT a sit-on-the-couch kind of guy, but he's having to live that way for now, so your comments and encouragement really help him. Bye for now! Kathi

So, Jim went to the doctor about his knee. . . (A Kathi Post)

So, Jim went to the doctor about his knee.

Basically, he is to keep it in the knee immobilizer, elevated, and with ice for four weeks. FOUR WEEKS! That will not be easy for him, at all. The theory is that there is torn cartilage, and that it will heal itself in those weeks. Let's hope!

In addition, he can't really sit at the computer (we have just a desktop), so he will not be blogging for those weeks.

You're stuck with me in the meantime.

Nugget is really good about doing whatever we are doing. So, if Jim has to sit around, Nugget is happy to do so, too.

Jim agreed to tell us a story or two on video, so there is that! He's thinking about what to tell you all and I hope to get the first one up by the weekend.

In purple thong news -- I guess he will have to wait until he can stand again.

The good news is that we saw Bob a few weeks ago. He asked Jim to tell you that he thanks each of you who contributed to the fundraising efforts that he thanks you from the bottom of his heart. 

Jim was planning on an update blog post about seeing Bob, which I will do for him soon. There is a Jim & Bob photo to post with it. I like to take a photo of them each time we all get together. They've been friends since the fourth grade. I sure wish I could have seen photos from back then. I didn't meet them until we were all in high school.

I guess that's all I know today.

Thank you for stopping by! Nugget says, "Hey!"

An Update on Jim, a Review of Dial Coconut Water Body Wash AND a Giveaway (A Kathi Post)

Update, 4/1: Congratulations to the three winners of the Dial Coconut Water Body Wash: Kelly R., Alyssa M., and Carole A. Your coupon for a free bottle will go out in the mail on April 3.


Hi, Jim's readers! I just wanted to let you know that Jim has hurt his knee and is, basically, couch-bound.

He was outside in our backyard last weekend when we had a bunch, bunch, bunch of wet snow. He zigged when he should have zagged. The top of his leg went one way, his knee went the other. Nugget thought that was a fun game, until Jim had to drag himself into the house (I wasn't home), then Nugget got concerned and knew the game was over.

The urgent care place imaged his knee, but there was too much fluid surrounding his knee to really know what is up, so he's on ice, pain meds, ibuprofen, and has his knee/leg propped up. He has to use crutches to get around, 'cause he still can't put weight on that leg.

He's one happy camper, I'll tell ya (NOT)!

He can't get to the computer or sit in a regular chair yet. Easter Services look like they aren't going to happen for him. I think I can get him in the car and into the recliner at my mom's house for Easter dinner. We'll see.

In the meantime, maybe I can get him to tell us a story that I can tape and post. Though, he is pretty grumpy, so maybe not. We'll see about that, too.

In the meantime, here is a review about Dial Coconut-Water Body Wash. I received a free bottle of it for review purposes. The review and opinion of it are my own.

Also, I have three coupons for a FREE bottle for you! To enter to win one, please email me directly at kathleennoland (at) yahoo (dot) com.
I'll have the random drawing on Monday, April 1.

I received the bottle of Dial Coconut Water Body Wash on a day that I had grown tired of my shower soap, so I was glad to have something new to try. 

I am one of those people (sorry) who have to smell things when I'm at the store so that I am not disappointed in a new product when I get home. So, first thing I did was to flip the top and take a whiff.

The scent is light and clean, and does not smell as coconut-y as coconut/tropical scented tanning lotions, but that smell (while pleasant) is kinda fake. This scent was more like a real coconut, which is much lighter. It is nice.

When I used it in the shower the next morning, I loved that just a small amount really foamed up on my bath poof. It rinsed clean, leaving just the slightest scent on my skin -- not coconut-y, but fresh and clean scent. When it was wet, the scent was reminiscent of the Sail(r) pipe tobacco my Dad used when I was little. I don't think it was coconut-scented (maybe cherry), but that's what it smells like to me. It is very nice. Another reviewer wrote that it smells like Smarties candy to her. 

Don't forget to email me for a chance to win a bottle so you can try it for yourself!

WIN $1,000 by entering the Dial Coconut Water sweepstakes! They are also selecting 250 winners of the Coconut Water body wash there. 

MULTITASKING -- NOT! 3/14/13

Multitasking. Lots of people do it. Me, on the other hand? I suck at it. I'm one of those who does one thing at a time, then moves on to the next thing to be done. To those of you out there who can multitask -- my hat's off to you.

I've tried so many times to multitask. Then it ends up that I then have a 100 or so things to do and it seems that none of them are ever completed. It puts me in a foul mood and I just want to tear things up or say to hell with it! Then I don't do any of the things that need doing.

So, I'm going to try, again, to do just one thing at a time and see what happens. One thing that may not get done every day, as has showed on this blog, is blogging every day. Not that I don't want to. But, I really need to get some things done that are of importance.

So, I'm going to forgo blogging for a week or two (are you going to miss me?) and see about getting some things done that have been put off for too long.

I'll be back, and will follow up with some of the things I have to get done. I have a few projects I want to do. And, if I can get the camera and someone to run said camera. I will post. So I ask that you all be patient and I will be back in a week or so.

Now, if I can just figure where to start.

EYE SPY

A question for all of you hunters out there. A friend asked me about binoculars, and what would be a good investment. He asked that they not cost a arm and leg ($100 or less). And, he asked that they not be so huge that they are a pain to wear around his neck. (He has some neck problems.)

I have had a few pairs over the years and they have all gone to the great spy glass heaven or have walked away with relatives who do not return things as they should, or at least not in working order. So, if you all could give me a hand and help me figure out some decent binoculars for him? It would be of great help.

I use whatever kind I can find. 'Course, you get what you pay for. And I don't know all that much about binoculars. So, any help would be good.  Thanks.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 3/11/13

"If you want to truly understand something, try to change it."
Kurt Lewin, German-American psychologist

USED OIL: 3/7/13

Anybody got use for used oil?

Here is one way to reclaim old motor oil for other uses. It comes out clear and free of carbon or other foreign particles.

First, place the used oil in a clean container with an open top. Next place the container on a table, rack, or shelf. Then take a length of rope and place it in your container of oil. Let the rope hang off the side of your container and place the other end in another clean empty container, underneath your oil container.

Use a little bit of wire to make a hook, or coil around the upper part of the rope that comes in contact with the edge of the upper container to hold the rope in place.

"Capillary attraction" causex the oil to rise in the rope and run into the container.

I'm sure that you can come up with all kinds of uses for this oil around your home or on the homestead.

Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blend - A Review by Kathi

Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends cereal sounds good. It describes itself as crispy mango flavored flakes combined with real coconut shavings and coconut flavored granola clusters.

It features:
10 g whole grain
120 calories
6 g sugar
9 essential vitamins and minerals including 60% daily value of iron
4 wholesome grains
0 g trans fat, 0.5 g saturated fat, and 0 mg cholesterol
I guess that means it is good for you.

I like fruity cereals and I like Honey Bunches of Oats, so I thought I would really love this cereal. Though it is good, it wasn't exactly as awesome as I expected. I think if the mango were pineapple instead, it would be tastier to me. The mango just didn't seem to "fit."

I'm not saying it wasn't good. I just think it could be better.

I do like the crunch, and I think it tastes better as a dry snack instead of as a cereal in a bowl with milk. It would also be really good as a yogurt mix-in. 

So give it a try and tell me what YOU think of it. Post gave me three coupons for a free box, so three of you will get to try it free. If you are interested, please email me directly:  (kathleennoland at yahoo dot com). Please reply by Sunday, March 10, to be included in the drawing for the coupon for a free box of the cereal, so I can get the coupons out to the winners on Monday.

You can "Like" Honey Bunches of Oats on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/honeybunchesofoats
and you can follow them on Twitter @HBOats

Also! The Purex® brand is teaming up with Honey Bunches of Oats and Outrigger Hotels and Resorts to launch a monumental prize giveaway: The 2013 Tropical Trio Sweepstakes! One lucky winner will be sent on a tropical paradise vacation to Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach! Enter to win a chance to spend your days relaxing underneath the warm, Hawaiian sun and your nights exploring Waikiki’s never-ending nightlife.
Enter at: http://insiders.purex.com/tropical-trio?id=44511
Good luck! I hope you win!
I was provided with a free box of Honey Bunches of Oats Tropical Blends by Post so I could sample and review it. My participation was voluntary and the opinions are my own.