Man in Kilt

For Elsie...and every other red blooded woman in blogland. But, most especially ... for me. P.S. Ducky, Your mother does NOT want the visual of you wearing your kilt on your motorcycle. Shudder!

Men In Kilts

We went to the Tartan Festival in Minden Louisiana again this year. My friend Nancy wants to know what they wear under the kilts. I kept watching this particular kilt wearer but never could catch him bending over. Sigh. Nancy, I tried. Thought about tripping him but I think Sam realized what I was thinking and gave me "the look." Kilts weren't the only dress of the day. Look at this dapper gentleman. This guy evidently doesn't like walking. Then...there's the music... ...And sheep dogs rounding up the Scottish Highland Cattle. They were "over yonder." My little camera did a pretty good job of zooming in on them, but the clarity suffered. I think this is a Norwegian Fjord horse. You could ride for $2, but you were led around, not turned loose on the horse...so I passed. The Irish dancers from Mississippi performed again this year. He is doing the "plank" dance......as in walking the plank.Last year I ate Shepherd's Pie. Sam ate Haggis. (Gag me with a spoon! But it's not the idea of cooking it in a sheep's stomach...that's just a vessel for cooking. It's the garbage that is put in the stomach that gags me - liver, heart, lungs. No wonder they season it...to disguise the taste of the innards!) This year we had coo burgers. That is - Highland Cattle burgers. Highland beef is leaner. The burgers would've been really good if:
1. They were fully cooked - not rare.
2. The meat was hot - not stacked in a foil pan covered with foil and allowed to cool.
3. Hamburger buns had been toasted - just wave 'em over the grills please!
4. The meat had been seasoned before cooking. Bland, bland, bland!

So, next year I already know what I'm getting. Meat pasties, Scotch eggs, and taddies. My mouth is watering already! So much so that I've already got the butter coming to room temperature. I'm baking shortbread in a few minutes! Photos to follow!

Seeing Stars

I was trying to find this quilt on my blog to show Da Judge. Couldn't find it. So here it is! I made this for Brook (step-daughter) before she got married four years ago. She likes to celebrate her Scottish heritage so I found and adapted this design for the black borders...machine quilted in a yellow-orange variegated yarn. See the stars in the yellow border?This was my first venture with batiks. Honestly, this quilt was so out of my comfort zone! Nothing that I would make for myself, but it think it fit Brook perfectly! Staying with the star theme, I researched constellations on the internet and picked the perfect patterns for the black areas. Casseopia (the Queen) for Brook...the other side has Cephus (the King). ;-) Perfect for a wedding gift dontcha think?! The next year for Christmas I pulled out the leftover batiks and came up with this... The batik circles remind me so much of aggie (agate) marbles. I named this "Don't Lose Your Marbles." The pieced back. Brook's husband, Cody, asked me if I had any more of that fabric left. LOL Turns out that I did! Recently Brook made a request...she wanted to "commission" me to make some arm covers for her leather sofa (one of the dogs had way too much fun while left unattended in the house. I had to purchase a base fabric, but then sprinkled more circles over the batiked peace symbols...quilted them down...and made the arm covers for the sofa. (NO! I didn't charge her...I gave them to her.) I don't have any photos because they wouldn't fit my sofa. That project just about wiped out my batik collection...

How Cute is This?

Friends of the Library Catering Event

We catered another meeting for the local Business & Professional Women. I did a dessert this time.

Cherries with water and sugar cooking on the stove top. Pie pastry chilled in the refrigerator then rolled with my new rolling pin......that my dear husband made for me! (I gave him the burning element for Christmas.) Biscuit size circles cut out...pricked a couple of times with a fork...brushed on some milk and sprinkled on some coarse sugar crystals...and baked.Warmed filling was ladled into teacups and topped with a pastry circle. Someone else made the peach cobblers. We called them Peach Teacup Cobbler and Cherry Teacup Cobbler.

They received rave reviews! In other words, I had nothing left to bring home except a few pastry 'biscuits'.

ARRGGGGHHHHHH!

Cranky Old Woman time...I've been on the automated phone system with the Social Security Administration following a phone call from Mama. The rural route mail carrier is circling her incorrect address...from before the enhanced 911 calling system went into effect. She tried calling SSAs 1-800 number. The automated hussy inside the phone could not understand Mama's "Shirley. S H I R L E Y." So...I told Mama I would give it a try. First time...something was wrong with the information. I tried again leaving off her maiden name because she probably did not get a Social Security card until after she and Daddy married. That didn't work either. Heaven forbid a human being comes on the line! 45 minutes later...no luck at all. So...I get on the computer and try it. Nope. Something is still not jiving with the information SSA has. So it looks as if my poor decrepit mother is going to have to go to the nearest SSA office. Sigh.

March 30, 1951

No wedding photo available. This is the first that I could find. Shirley had just turned 16 on March 17 when she married Leslie who turned 20 that April. Daddy was a truckdriver. I don't remember if he had me call...or if he did the calling and I just picked them up...but he wanted one dozen long-stemmed roses. In a long box tied with a ribbon. The florist misunderstood and put them in an arrangement. Mama was still surprised. Their last portrait...August 2000 They should have had more time together.

Scanned Photos

I was playing with my scanner, scanning photos out of my high school annual and posting on Facebook. Yeah...gonna make some enemies...that's for sure! LOL I noticed these.

We still lived in Lake Jackson here. Seems like I remember...Mama and her sister, my Aunt Ruthie, came to visit. Jonathan looks to be about 16 or 17 here...maybe...so about 2000.I really like this photo of Jonathan.

Cast Iron

I mentioned my covered cast iron skillet in the Irish Soda Bread post. Everyone...and I do mean EVERYONE who likes cast iron and sees my covered chicken fryer...well...they are just flat out jealous! I've had it...like forever! Initially used for frying chicken...which I don't do any more...it is the best bacon fryer ever! I can tuck and layer six slices of bacon in the skillet and cover it. The grease does not pop all over the stove top. I do not drain the grease off every time I use it. I just cover the skillet with the lid. And just leave it on the stove top. I know...I know! Not 'classy' at all. But hey! This is my kitchen! And MY COVERED CAST IRON CHICKEN FRYER!

Mama Another Year Older

Saint Patrick's Day is also my mother's birthday! She was born March 17, 1935 in Bowie County Texas. A home delivery, she was so puny that the doctor laid her on the trunk to die. Her grandmother walked in and asked, "Why is this baby over here?" The doctor gave his verdict on her ability to survive. Mama Durham picked that little girl up, cleaned her up, and she survived. She survived to marry and have four children. I have the distinction of being Favorite Daughter. I am - ahem - the only daughter. But even if I had sisters...I'd still be the favorite. I just know deep down in my heart that that IS the way it would be. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

She supported me - literally - as I buried my first husband. Helped her sons as their marriages ended and supported them as they made new beginnings. She has buried her parents and her husband of almost 50 years...and she still survives.

Here we are with the Blocker family quilt. The family that the tenacious Mama Durham was born into. An article about the quilt ran in the local paper here in my hometown and in the New Boston paper near where Mama grew up. The photo was taken Christmas 2010.

Giving her a couple/three options for lunch, she asked me to pick up barbeque and bring it to her house for lunch Wednesday. I also delivered this...a purse I made for her. Complete with my label sewn inside. I do everything I can to keep the Favorite Daughter designation! ;-)