Little White Hen

 It was quite a surprise to see chicks scurrying around this little white hen.
 She is such a good mama.

 A wild turkey ten times her size came up to check out her chicks. She ruffled up her feathers and chased that no good turkey away.

 I love to see her out clucking to her hatchling's. Showing them where food is and keeping them safe from harm.

Bread & Butter Pickles

 We're having a bumper crop of cucumbers, so I decided to make bread & butter pickles.

 I found this recipe in Grandma Lida's cook book.

Bread and Butter Pickles

6 quarts sliced cucumbers

6 medium onions, sliced

1 cup salt

6cups vinegar

6 cups sugar

1 tsp. turmeric

1/2 cup mustard seed

1/4-1/3 tsp. cayenne pepper

 Combine sliced onions and cucumbers with salt and let stand 3 hours.

Drain well. Rinse and drain. Combine vinegar, sugar, turmeric, mustard seed, celery seed and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil. Add cucumbers and onions and heat just to simmering point. Avoid actual boiling or it will soften pickles. Pack in hot, sterilized jars and seal immediately.

 Makes 9-10 pints.

Turn The Page Tuesday-Sea Glass by Anita Shreve

 I picked this book up at a thrift store last Summer, I think mostly for the cover.
 This novel took me awhile to get into but I'm glad I kept on reading.
 Each chapter is about a different person seeming to have nothing to do with the last. When these people come together it gets very interesting.
 "Sea Glass" takes place during the great depression, an era that has always fascinated me.

 "Young newlyweds starting out their life together in a derelict beach house on the New England coast soon discover how threatening the world around them can be."

 This book starts out with Honora the heroin of this novel.

 Honora sets the cardboard suitcase on the slab of granite. The door is mackereled, paint-chipped-- green or black, it is hard to tell. Above the knocker, there are panes of glass, some broken and others opaque with age. Overhead is a portico of weathered shingles and beyond that a milk-and-water sky. Honora pinches the lapels of her suit together and holds her hat against the wind. She peers at the letter "B" carved into the knocker and thinks, This is the place where it all begins.

This is fascinating to read  when adversary comes how each persons character comes through some good & others bad.

 For more great books to read pop over to Some of a Kind

Peace Gardens

 We visited the Peace Gardens Saturday.
 These gardens are located on the border of The United States and Canada. They where created to promote peace and are full of beautiful flowers, fountains and walk ways.

 Here is a monument as you enter the Peace Gardens.

This is what is written on the native stone.

To God in all his glory.....

We two nations dedicate this garden and pledge ourselves

that as long as men shall live

we will not take up arms against one another.

Dawn met this little frog and was hoping with a kiss

he would turn into her prince charming.

Here is a picture of the gardens with the peace towers in the distance.

Behind them is a chapel with sayings carved in stones.

Here is a clock made of flowers.

It is different colors at differing times of the year

depending on what is in bloom at that time.

If you get a chance take a trip to the Peace Gardens.

It's a Dogs Life

 This is a spot on the beach in the beautiful Pungent Sound area where Dawn and I traveled last month for my niece Brittany's wedding.

Shortly after arriving at the charming rented cottage we decided to stretch our legs. We found a trail leading down to the beach. This is a spot of beach with houses along the shore.

We sat on a log to take in the views.

Two lady's in sun hats and sandals where walking towards us surrounded by dogs. As they approached I reached out to pet a dog.

The beach gals said only one of the dogs was theirs. The rest had just tagged along for a walk down the beach.

After they passed an old Newfoundland lumbered down from a near by house and sat down right beside me. I petted his soft head for a bit. After awhile he got up and hobbled down the beach.

 Dawn & I decided to walk to the country store to get a refreshing drink.

 Laying just inside the door was a big black lab.

 The young store keep says "Rex, go to the beach. You can't stay in here all day."

 So Rex gets up and heads out the door to the beach.

 It seems as if the dogs in the small town of Indianola are community owned.

Or maybe they own the community?

Things That go Bump in the Night

 Something very strange happened in the dark of the night.
 I suddenly woke out of a deep sleep to my big brave husband turning on the light and scurrying out of the bedroom pulling the door shut behind him.
 What caused such odd behavior was flying back and forth through our bedroom at breakneck speeds, a small black bat.
 I quickly pulled the covers over my head and peeked out to see the man of the house in nothing but his birthday suite peeking through the door and the bat whizzing by right above the bed.
 I pulled the covers over my head again.
 Making a rush decision I slinked over to the patio door and opened the screen, all along hoping that creature of the night wouldn't fly into my hair biting me and passing on a deathly bout of rabies.
 After several more frightening pass's back and forth the bat made a quick exit out the opened door.

  What has happened to my night in shining armour who would stop at nothing to save a damsel in distress?

My Home Town

 Growing up in a small town has it's quirks and funny tales. I just visited my home town of Elgin, Oregon.

 My brother Todd & his wife Gidge bought a house & are raising a family in this great little town. The house they bought was our shop teachers home. It has a huge shop in which they found my uncles Phil's name carved on a bench.

 We got to spend the day wandering around Elgin, looking at Grandma & Grandpa Simmons big brick house and homes we lived in as children.
 It brought up old memories of growing up in this small town.

1. We used to walk the dogs to the cemetery and play around there.

2. Running all over town on Halloween night.

3. Having "Black Plastic" as our band for school dances.

4. Being a goat farmer on Cricket Flat.

5. Helping Grandma at her hardware store.

6. Watching bats fly through the night sky catching bugs.

7. Playing in Grandma's huge lilac bush's.

8. Eating BBQ fries and 10 cent ice cream cones at C-zers drive through.

9. Going to the Elgin Stampede (our local rodeo)

10. Walking to the grade school from the high school for lunch, stopping at Vickie's on the way back and missing my first class after lunch.

11. Reading every dog or ghost book at the grade school library.

12. Fishing in Phillips creek.

14. Going roller skating.

15. Santa coming around in a fire truck to deliver treats to all the houses on Christmas eve.

16. Playing "PAC-Man" at the pizza parlor.

17. Watching "Grease" at the theater. The same one my mom used to go to as a girl, with a bullet hole in the screen. Shot by a movie goer who got a little excited when the bad guy came on the set.

18. Buying penny candy at the "corner market"

Tell me some memories of growing up in your home town.