GRIT

Thanks to GenaB, a misplaced Texan from Tyler now living in Grand Junction Colorado, I know that I am a GRITS.

Girl
Raised
In
The
South

What an appropriate acronym!

You know, we Texans could just be a GRIT

Girl
Raised
In
TEXAS!

I better go get my hair dry and put on some makeup. We did the yard today and have plans to go to Jefferson to a Bike Benefit in a few minutes. A high school classmate of mine is performing...mentioned him once before I think when he, his wife, and their band performed at Sam's Town in Shreveport. They are setting up outside so we won't be couped up with the smokers.

Later!

Stormy Night---Windy Day

I heard a coyote crossing our property sometime before midnight. He yipped all the way across behind the house. I started to get up to take a look out the window...but was too lazy. We woke in the wee hours to lightning and thunder. And I mean it was just right outside our window. I looked out the bedroom window to make certain the two big oaks out back were still standing and not ablaze.

I stopped at a couple of estate sales this morning on the way to the grocery store. Okay...big detour around the grocery store. ;o) The sales were as different as night and day. One had some wonderful stuff! Franciscan dishes. Pottery. Silver as well as silverplate. Some crystal. Tablecloths and napkins. I purchased a nice (probably not crystal but still nice) two tiered serving piece $8, three tablecloths without a single spot on them...one with eight matching napkins all for $10!!, three dainty lady's hankies $5, and an American Fostoria cruet $15...I'll have to watch Carol's bag next time she visits or it may walk out the door with her!!!

I bought the crystal/glass serving piece and the tablecloths and napkins for our library's Friends group. We've been doing a little catering and providing our own items chancing that something gets broken or stained.

The hankies and cruet (as mentioned) are mine to keep.

Then...the other estate sale. I did not see one interesting thing. Wait! Yes I did. A Brother zig-zag sewing machine. If I needed yet another machine I would have seriously considered this. But, with three machines already...;o) The poor lady had the 'blue goose' or duck or whatever everywhere. I would've considered the dishes until I saw the goose/duck. Shudder. Reminds me of when we were house hunting. Someone younger than me had completely redecorated her in-law's home before moving in. Blue...blue...BLUE carpet and those blasted blue geese everywhere! And this was in 2003...not 1995!!! I told Sam that if we bought the house the blue carpet would have to go. His statement? "But it's new!" I didn't care. The couple who did buy it were retirees from the Dallas area. First thing they did? Ripped out the new blue carpet. I rest my case!

Not necessarily these...but similar.

Enough of that. Now for some fun.

I am a Southern woman. This proves it. Changes to fit me are in italics.

Southern women appreciate their natural assets:

Clean skin.

A winning smile.

That unforgettable Southern drawl.

Southern women know their manners:

"Yes, ma'am."

"Yes, sir."

"Why, no! I'm not that kind of girl!"

Southern women have a distinct way with fond expressions:

"Y'all come back!"

"Well, bless your heart."

"Drop by when you can."

"How's your Mama?"

Southern women know their summer weather report:

Humidity

Humidity

Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:

The beach

The river

The crick

Southern women know the joys of June, July, and August:

Colorful hi-heel sandals

Strapless sun dresses

Iced tea with lemon

Southern women know everybody's first name:

Honey

Darlin'

Sugar

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:

"Fried Green Tomatoes"

"Driving Miss Daisy"

"Steel Magnolias"

"Gone With The Wind"

Southern women know their religions:
Baptist

Methodist

NASCAR

Southern women know their country breakfasts:

Red-eye gravy

Grits

Eggs

Country ham

Mouth-watering homemade biscuits with Mama's homemade jelly

Southern Texas women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:

Fort Worth

Dallas

San Antone

Houston

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:

Men in uniform

Men in tuxedos

Rhet Butler

Southern girls know their prime real estate:

The Mall

The Beauty Salon

The Rodeo Arena

Texas Motor Speedway

Southern girls know the 3 deadly sins:

Having bad hair and nails

Having bad manners

Cooking bad food

More Southernisms:

Only a Southerner knows the difference between a hissie fit and a conniption fit, and that you don't "HAVE" them, you "PITCH" them.

Only a Southerner knows how many fish, collard greens, turnip greens, peas, beans, etc., make up "a mess."

Only a Southerner can show or point out to you the general direction of "yonder."

Only a Southerner knows exactly how long "directly" is, as in: "Going to town; be back directly."

Even Southern babies know that "Gimme some sugar" is not a request for the white, granular sweet substance that sits in a pretty little bowl in the middle of the table.

All Southerners know exactly when "by and by" is. They might not use the term, but they know the concept well.

Only a Southerner knows instinctively that the best gesture of solace for a neighbor who's got trouble is a plate of hot fried chicken and a big bowl of cold potato salad. If the neighbor's trouble is a real crisis, they also know to add a large banana puddin'!

Only Southerners grow up knowing the difference between "right near" and "a right far piece." They also know that "just down the road" can be 1 mile or 20.

Only a Southerner both knows and understands the difference between a redneck and a good ol' boy.

A Southerner knows that "fixin" can be used as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.

Only Southerners make friends while standing in lines and when we're "in line," we talk to everybody!

In the South, "y'all" is singular, "all y'all" is plural.

Southerners know grits come from corn and how to eat them.

Every Southerner knows that gravy is a breakfast food and that fried green tomatoes are not a breakfast food.

When you hear someone say, "Well, I caught myself lookin'," you know you are in the presence of a genuine Southerner.

Only true Southerners say "sweet tea" and "sweet milk." Sweet tea indicates the need for sugar and lots of it. Sweet milk means you don't want buttermilk.

A true Southerner knows you don't scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 MPH on the highway. You just say, "Bless her heart"...and go your own way.

Another Quilt

This is for the project I mentioned on a previous post. I hope to be able to share the details before the end of next week.

The weather's been nice one day, wet and/or cold the next. Yesterday nice. Last night it thundered and was just a bit wet but cold this morning. This afternoon, clear and if you stayed out of the wind, short sleeves were perfect. Tomorrow it's supposed to be clear. Thursday wet. Friday clear. Ah! Just another spring in northeast Texas!

I did a bit of cleaning in my flower beds close to the house yesterday. Gotta lot left to do.

Dogwoods, Bluebonnets, and Wisteria

I finally took the time to take photos of the dogwoods. I had a wonderful drive home from subbing at high school today. Stopped by Mama's for a few minutes and ran the programs on her remote. LOL Don't know what she did, but she could only pick up one channel on her bedroom television. I handed her the remote and told her not to "touch anything from the waist down" on it.

The photos were all taken on the way through "the country" between her house and mine. This piece of property actually butts up to the back of our property. We were amazed at how close it really is after the property was logged last year. The logging definitely opened up the sky to the dogwoods. They are solidly peppered across the slope.

I mentioned them growing in layers when they weren't exposed to full sunlight.

Here's that "lollipop" tree again.
Just a note about the wisteria...you can tell where there's an old house place by what grows there...daffodils popping up in the middle of a pasture beside one old oak tree. Wisteria takes over everything. Someone once told me about her love for wisteria...but you only gave a plant to someone you hated. ;o) I stopped in the middle of the road to take these. The heady perfume nearly made me drunk!

The bluebonnets are in my yard. They just keep spreading and spreading much to Sam's chagrine. Of course I do everything I can to help them spread! From previous posts, you've seen them close to the house around the azaleas.

Beautiful Rain

We had about 3/4 inch of rain today. Never heavy at any one time, just nice slow drizzling day. Predictions are for rain through Saturday.

I haven't gotten into my flower beds yet. Been too busy with the quilting project. I have the final quilt sandwiched and ready to start quilting. As soon as this rain stops, I've got to get rid of the weeds and put down more mulch.

Sam saw a hummingbird today! I got the feeder out and made syrup for it. I'll hang it tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I took these photos yesterday. I filled the bird bath immediately after taking the photos. That frondy thing is a Deitz lily. The little green just to the right is a hosta starting to emerge. See the bluebonnets in the foreground?!

More bluebonnets ready to bloom in front of and to the side of the azaleas. And another hosta. To the right of the azaleas are nandina bushes. Just about everything is going on four years old. Small bushes, huh? Because the windows are so low, Sam wanted miniature everything. They seemed to just lay on top of the ground for the first two years. Oh, look at the green water hose too. ;o) I told ya, I haven't worked the beds yet!!

The black snake is my soaker hose. When we laid out the beds, I wove the soaker hose around the shrubs then covered with mulch. Sam's theory is that the mulch helps to clog the soaker hose so now it resides on top of the mulch.

More Signs of Spring

I love babies! When the colts and calves start hitting the ground it is just further verification of spring. This pretty baby belongs to our neighbors and friends.
I've been quilting. I have a project going on. Details of which I can't fully divulge now. Some friends found out what I was planning, then they elaborated on it for me by sending 'kits' for children's quilts, fabric, quilt blocks, and even money to help with the project. I have made five quilts (albeit small) in just a few weeks. Some were already pieced, some fabrics to coordinate, two I dug around in my stash and came up with something.

They are all machine quilted on my regular sewing machine...no mid-arm or long-arm quilter.


I played with this one more adding more quilting. The center section is basically straight line quilting with a few swirls following the pattern. Flowers are quilted in the pink cornerstones with an all over quilting pattern in that pale pink border. The entire outer border and cornerstones are a large meandering.

I love this fish quilt. I used the sunflower quilt pattern located here http://www.fabricfreedom.co.uk/QuiltsAndProjects.html but went shopping in my stash. I made the top, then using a fusible, fused the fish directly on the top in a random pattern. After edgestitching them down, I layered the quilt and quilted in slightly wavy lines across the quilt representing (in my mind anyway) ocean currents. This is a fun quilt!

In a week or so, I will tell the 'rest of the story.'

Click on this

Yard Work

I should be doing my spring yard work. It's not going to happen this week! I've been volunteering at the public library nearly every day this week. The Friends group is getting ready for our annual book sale on Saturday. If you are in town, please stop by the Courthouse Annex and buy us out! ;o)

I drive by the dogwoods on the way to town or back home and just don't stop to take pretty photos. In the meantime, look what is happening in my very own yard!

Remember the pear trees full of white blossoms? This is what the trees look like now. All pretty and green.

The redbud is really pretty.

All those azalea buds are now blooms...

Bluebonnets! Wait until they all bloom. I am so excited!!

Preach On, Sister!

You MUST see this! Be sure to go to the bottom and turn off the jukebox first.

Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, Me-o My-o

Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have good fun on the bayou.


Chorus:
Jambalaya, a crawfish pie and a file gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.


Thibodeaux, Fontainbleau, the place is buzzin'
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style, go hog wild, me oh my oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.


Jambalaya, a crawfish pie and a file gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou.


Thank you Hank Williams Sr.! I haven't always been a fan of Country & Western music. Very few teenagers share music tastes with their dads. But many of these old songs that I rolled my eyes at way back then...I remember word-for-word. ;o)


Why am I into C&W tonight? timetries saw my post and recipe for Gumbo. While she and her husband were on their Daytona FL bike week trip, he ate Shrimp Jambalaya really liked it. tismetries asked if I had a Jambalaya recipe. I found a dozen or more recipes in my cookbooks. I settled on one that seemed really familiar and cooked it tonight. Yep. Correct recipe.


First, last night after supper I took my one and only package of frozen south Louisiana wild Gulf shrimp out of the freezer. (Do you know how hard it is to find shrimp in grocery stores not near the Gulf coast that's not from Thailand or China?! Just pert near impossible!) Anyway, I put the package of rock hard frozen shrimp in a dish and left it on the counter. I asked Sam to remind me to put it in the refrigerator before we went to bed. An hour or so later, he stuck his head in my sewing room door on his way to bed. I wrapped up what I was doing, walked into the hall, looked toward the 'other' end of the house to find it dark. Then, I went to bed. When I walked into the kitchen this morning...yep. There sat a bag of room temperature shrimp. Sigh. Sam's office is off the kitchen. He walked past the shrimp on the kitchen island as he left the room and turned out the light. Drats. I bought more shrimp this afternoon. If he was fishing any at all, I would've labeled the other bag and thrown it back in the freezer...as it is...all wasted.


Anyway. Here's the picture of what's left after our supper:


And here's the recipe.

Jambalaya

3 tablespoons bacon grease (or vegetable oil)
3 tablespoons flour
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium green (bell) pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 cups water
2 cups cleaned raw shrimp
salt and pepper to taste
parsley
green onion top, sliced
2 cups cooked rice

Make a roux with the oil and flour, cook until light brown. Cook until onions are soft. Add tomato sauce, water, shrimp, salt, and pepper. Simmer 30 minutes. Add cooked rice and simmer five mnutes longer. Serve hot. Garnish with parsley and green onion top.
tismetries! I hope your husband enjoys his Jambalaya!!!

Dogwoods are blooming! If we didn't need the rain, I'd say unfortunately it's raining and I can't get a decent photo yet. But we do need the rain. This was taken about 7:30 a.m. on the way to school Wednesday morning. I hadn't realized the dogwoods were in full bloom until Sam mentioned it. This tree is in a pasture so is almost a "lolly-pop" tree. In their natural state in the woods, the larger trees filter out the sunlight and the dogwoods seem to grow and bloom in feathery layers. When the weather breaks, I'll try to get some more photos.