In my younger days, I played basketball. I loved playing basketball and as I was a tall girl, I started playing in our small school quite young. I was so proud when I was asked to play in a Jr. High Tourmament for the small schools in the area. I was in heaven, as I was only in the 6th grade.
I thought I was just pretty special as none of the other girls in my class were asked to play. We had all played basketball since starting school and it was the game to be played in small schools in our area.
We were in the finals and I was playing in the forward position. This was in the days of six players and Oklahoma had not started playing full court yet. Each team had 3 players on each end of the court and the center line divided our territory.
Now, being in the 6th grade, I was not as socially developed as the girls in the 8th grade. I was not afraid to play the game but something happened this day that I did not know how to handle.
My bra strap came unfastened. In early times, there were no sports bras and bras had adjustable straps. These straps were known to come undone at the most unconvenient times. This was the day. I did not think of being prepared and pinning my straps in the event this would happen. I had not had this happen in my short time of wearing a bra.
The game was close, We had the ball and I was holding my arm close to my side so nothing would flop. Coach was yelling at me to "get in the game" and pay attention.
Then the unthinkable happened. MY OTHER STRAP CAME LOOSE. I looked at the coach, called timeout and ran to the locker room. I was too embarassed to tell Mr. Coach what had happened.
I don't even remember what happened after that. I can't remember if we won the game. I just remember the humiliation and I ALWAYS, SAFETY PINNED MY BRA STRAPS after that.
I played in a lot more basketball games and tournaments but I will never forget the first time I played with the big girls.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
My Prayer this evening.
Father, I pray that you be with my sick friends and family today.
I know that you love them and that you have a plan for their lives, but it is so hard to watch them suffer. Hold their families in your arms and give them comfort and peace. Your will in our lives is the perfect will, for you know what tomorrow holds and we pray that we can let you be in charge and not try to take control of things. I have trouble doing that sometimes. Thank you for listening to me. I love you and I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen
I know that you love them and that you have a plan for their lives, but it is so hard to watch them suffer. Hold their families in your arms and give them comfort and peace. Your will in our lives is the perfect will, for you know what tomorrow holds and we pray that we can let you be in charge and not try to take control of things. I have trouble doing that sometimes. Thank you for listening to me. I love you and I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen
Friday, August 13, 2010
Why I Never Get Anything Done
Last night as I went to bed, my thoughts were in high gear about what I was going to do today. I had a list and I had a plan. I went to bed at 9:30 because I was so tired. This heat really drains me.
At exactly 7 A.M. this morning I awoke. This is one hour past my normal time. I am already behind with the schedule that I had made for myself. After breakfast, devotion, and a short chat with The Rancher, I decided to tackle the kitchen. Before I started, I found someone had brought me peaches so they had to be taken care of. It is now 9 o'clock. I talk to Andi and find out about the sick granddaughter, this takes 15 minutes. This is my vitamin A for the day, gets me started. After I hang up I clean off all of the kitchen cabinets. I stash so many things on them. I don't know why I don't just put things away in the first place.
The phone rings--It is Mom. She thanks me for the visit yesterday and we chat for 10 minutes. I sweep the kitchen floor, the entryway and front bathroom. While I am in the bathroom, I clean it.
Back to the kitchen..it is now 10:30. The Rancher wants early lunch. I prepare some fresh vegetables and peel potatoes. I fix chicken fried steak while the potatoes are cooking. I quickly mop the kitchen. LOVE THAT SWIFFER. Finish lunch and load the dishwasher. I have bought a new kitchen faucet and hope to install it today.
The Rancher wants to go to the local quick stop and have a soda and see if there is anyone to visit with. I go along. The thermometer on the porch says 107.8 the one in the truck says 108. IT IS HOT!!!! When we get home it is 4:30. My sweetie prepares to install the faucet. YEA!!! We get it installed with no mishaps and no extra pieces. Our Son comes in and wonders what was wrong with the old one. I told him if he thought it was so nice he could put it in his kitchen. He declined. My sister calls. We talk about her garage sale tomorrow. My husbands mom calls.
So....
I did get some of the things accomplished, but not half of them. What I did do was visit with my daughter, Mom, husband, the neighbors at the Quick Stop and later Son, my sister and my other Mother. So it was a good day.
At exactly 7 A.M. this morning I awoke. This is one hour past my normal time. I am already behind with the schedule that I had made for myself. After breakfast, devotion, and a short chat with The Rancher, I decided to tackle the kitchen. Before I started, I found someone had brought me peaches so they had to be taken care of. It is now 9 o'clock. I talk to Andi and find out about the sick granddaughter, this takes 15 minutes. This is my vitamin A for the day, gets me started. After I hang up I clean off all of the kitchen cabinets. I stash so many things on them. I don't know why I don't just put things away in the first place.
The phone rings--It is Mom. She thanks me for the visit yesterday and we chat for 10 minutes. I sweep the kitchen floor, the entryway and front bathroom. While I am in the bathroom, I clean it.
Back to the kitchen..it is now 10:30. The Rancher wants early lunch. I prepare some fresh vegetables and peel potatoes. I fix chicken fried steak while the potatoes are cooking. I quickly mop the kitchen. LOVE THAT SWIFFER. Finish lunch and load the dishwasher. I have bought a new kitchen faucet and hope to install it today.
The Rancher wants to go to the local quick stop and have a soda and see if there is anyone to visit with. I go along. The thermometer on the porch says 107.8 the one in the truck says 108. IT IS HOT!!!! When we get home it is 4:30. My sweetie prepares to install the faucet. YEA!!! We get it installed with no mishaps and no extra pieces. Our Son comes in and wonders what was wrong with the old one. I told him if he thought it was so nice he could put it in his kitchen. He declined. My sister calls. We talk about her garage sale tomorrow. My husbands mom calls.
So....
I did get some of the things accomplished, but not half of them. What I did do was visit with my daughter, Mom, husband, the neighbors at the Quick Stop and later Son, my sister and my other Mother. So it was a good day.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Joys of Summer
Summer is a wonderful time of year when you are a kid and have two full months of freedom from school, homework and schedules. It is a wonderful time for teachers too. The last day of school for the year is met with great anticipation of the things that are ahead. Summer was never long enough, when I was a kid, there was always so much to do in the little towns that I grew up in. My earlier years were spent in the County Seat and all of my relatives lived nearby. I had a lot of friends that lived up and down the block too. It was a great time in the late 40's and early 50's to be a kid. No one worried about you walking down town to the local drug store for a soda or playing in the park alone or riding your bike around town in the cool dusk of the evening. There were no strangers in our town. Everyone knew everyone else and if a stranger came around.....everyone knew it. The only kidnapping we had ever heard of was the Lindburgh case and that was a long time ago.
Some of my favorite memories of summer were spent with Grandparents and at the cousins houses. They all lived in the country and I was in town. The farm had so many places to explore and we also had jobs. My family taught their children a work ethic as soon as they were big enough to handle a hoe, sit on a milk stool or gather the eggs and feed the chickens. A young girl also learned to make the beds, iron and help with the kitchen and household chores.
One of the busiest times in our family was when grandma's orchard started to produce. My paternal grandparents had a huge orchard with fruit that included peaches, apricots, cherries, apples, grapes, blackberries, pears, dewberries and raspberries. I doubt that my grandmother ever bought fruit unless it was pineapple. She even raised her own melons and peanuts. The wild sandhill plums were used for jams and jellies and even cobblers. I didn't much like the cobblers as the seed was left in the plum and had to be spit out.
When the fruit was ready, the entire family that was available came and we went to work. Each one had a bucket and we picked the fruit of the season. We sorted, washed, and prepared the fruit for the jars for canning. This was before freezers in our area. It was almost before electricity in that area. My grandma, Mom, and the Aunts, would get the fruit packed and start the job of processing. Part of the fruit was canned, part of it made into jelly and jams, and some of it was eaten fresh. The childrens job, after the picking, was to stay out of the way. We were glad to mind.
I can remember Grandma's kitchen floor being so sticky from all of the business of the fruit. When we walked across it, our shoes would click as we lifted them up, juice and sugar have a way of getting where they shouldn't be. Some of the things that we did get to help with was pitting the cherries, with the wonderful cherry pitter and peeling the apples. Grandmas also had an apple peeler. After the apples were peeled and cored, those peelings were cooked down and the juice was made into jelly. Nothing was wasted.
I have had a good crop of fruit this year. The apricots were plentiful and the sandhill plum bushes have been loaded. I am amazed at the people who would rather buy a jar of jam or jelly at the store than take the time to gather the rewards that God has provided for us. Gathering plums with my grandchildren was a special treat this summer. The younger ones spent most of the time exploring the plum thicket and eating but that is what it is all about. Grandpa, the kids, grandkids, and I had a special time together. I cherish that.
I HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE.
Some of my favorite memories of summer were spent with Grandparents and at the cousins houses. They all lived in the country and I was in town. The farm had so many places to explore and we also had jobs. My family taught their children a work ethic as soon as they were big enough to handle a hoe, sit on a milk stool or gather the eggs and feed the chickens. A young girl also learned to make the beds, iron and help with the kitchen and household chores.
One of the busiest times in our family was when grandma's orchard started to produce. My paternal grandparents had a huge orchard with fruit that included peaches, apricots, cherries, apples, grapes, blackberries, pears, dewberries and raspberries. I doubt that my grandmother ever bought fruit unless it was pineapple. She even raised her own melons and peanuts. The wild sandhill plums were used for jams and jellies and even cobblers. I didn't much like the cobblers as the seed was left in the plum and had to be spit out.
When the fruit was ready, the entire family that was available came and we went to work. Each one had a bucket and we picked the fruit of the season. We sorted, washed, and prepared the fruit for the jars for canning. This was before freezers in our area. It was almost before electricity in that area. My grandma, Mom, and the Aunts, would get the fruit packed and start the job of processing. Part of the fruit was canned, part of it made into jelly and jams, and some of it was eaten fresh. The childrens job, after the picking, was to stay out of the way. We were glad to mind.
I can remember Grandma's kitchen floor being so sticky from all of the business of the fruit. When we walked across it, our shoes would click as we lifted them up, juice and sugar have a way of getting where they shouldn't be. Some of the things that we did get to help with was pitting the cherries, with the wonderful cherry pitter and peeling the apples. Grandmas also had an apple peeler. After the apples were peeled and cored, those peelings were cooked down and the juice was made into jelly. Nothing was wasted.
I have had a good crop of fruit this year. The apricots were plentiful and the sandhill plum bushes have been loaded. I am amazed at the people who would rather buy a jar of jam or jelly at the store than take the time to gather the rewards that God has provided for us. Gathering plums with my grandchildren was a special treat this summer. The younger ones spent most of the time exploring the plum thicket and eating but that is what it is all about. Grandpa, the kids, grandkids, and I had a special time together. I cherish that.
I HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Happy Birthday Dawn
Happy Birthday to my beautiful daughter. She has grown into such a beautiful person. Of course she was a beautiful little girl. Don't you love that smile. She loved her horses and loved helping her Dad. That was a few years ago. We are proud of her and her family. First children always have it a little rough you know,as the parents have to learn on them. I always used that for an excuse anyhow. Dawn we are proud of you and your family. Have a Happy Birthday.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
What Time is it Anyhow??
I Have too many clocks in my house. At least I have a lot of things that have the time on them. I don't know how this happened. It has a lot to do with the fact that everytime I buy something electronic--it has clock--watch--timepiece or whatever you want to call it made into it. In my kitchen alone are 5 different things that I can look at if I want the time. Well, actually, the approximate time, as none of them say the same thing. That would be partly my fault as I am the one who sets them. The digital ones on the stove, microwave, coffeemaker, and phone all blink when the electricity glitches, and that happens about once a day in the heat of the summer. I finally decided not to set the one on the microwave and coffeemaker. I fix the stove as it continually blinks if you don't and the phone resets itself. I really do enjoy the big clock on the wall with the hands that move slowly around and is pretty much right until I need to change the battery.
In the living room, I have a beautiful Grandfather Clock, inherited from a great Aunt. I love this clock, but it gains about 5 minutes every week and I am not sure how to slow it down as I did not inherit a book of instructions. There is also the proper time at the press of a button on the TV. Part of the day, there is a cell phone laying about the house showing me exacatly what time it is.
In each of the 3 bedrooms, there is a bedside clock. I just know that my company will want to know if they are oversleeping at my house in the morning. They may even want an alarm to wake them. HA! Through the years I have acquired the habit of having a clock in each of the 2 bathrooms. When my children were at home, this was suppossed to hurry them along and let them know that 15 minutes was long enough when someone else was waiting to get ready for school. I have a clock on the radio in the sewing room along with a decorative clock that my son bought for me.
The Den has the time on the computer, on the phone and a lovely barn timepiece hangs on the wall. At anytime, there are about 15 different places that I can look to see just what time it is. They all say different things. Oh the phones and computer are probably right as they are set with some satellite in the sky. The rest are set by me and I am not perfect.
In the home that I grew up in, we had a clock in the kitchen, and one in the bedrooms to get us up in the morning. My grandmother, carried her clock from the kitchen to the bedroom and back. She only had one clock, never a watch and probably was more on time than any of us are today.
For some reason, I have never put a clock in the utility room and Thank goodness, the washer or dryer does not have one. That's okay though as I am just passing through that room. I am glad that no one has bought me a clock for the patio or the porch, I think that would be the last straw. I just try to consider which clock I am looking and take a stab at the right time and be on my way, and I hope that I am not too late. That's my excuse and I am stickin' to it.
In the living room, I have a beautiful Grandfather Clock, inherited from a great Aunt. I love this clock, but it gains about 5 minutes every week and I am not sure how to slow it down as I did not inherit a book of instructions. There is also the proper time at the press of a button on the TV. Part of the day, there is a cell phone laying about the house showing me exacatly what time it is.
In each of the 3 bedrooms, there is a bedside clock. I just know that my company will want to know if they are oversleeping at my house in the morning. They may even want an alarm to wake them. HA! Through the years I have acquired the habit of having a clock in each of the 2 bathrooms. When my children were at home, this was suppossed to hurry them along and let them know that 15 minutes was long enough when someone else was waiting to get ready for school. I have a clock on the radio in the sewing room along with a decorative clock that my son bought for me.
The Den has the time on the computer, on the phone and a lovely barn timepiece hangs on the wall. At anytime, there are about 15 different places that I can look to see just what time it is. They all say different things. Oh the phones and computer are probably right as they are set with some satellite in the sky. The rest are set by me and I am not perfect.
In the home that I grew up in, we had a clock in the kitchen, and one in the bedrooms to get us up in the morning. My grandmother, carried her clock from the kitchen to the bedroom and back. She only had one clock, never a watch and probably was more on time than any of us are today.
For some reason, I have never put a clock in the utility room and Thank goodness, the washer or dryer does not have one. That's okay though as I am just passing through that room. I am glad that no one has bought me a clock for the patio or the porch, I think that would be the last straw. I just try to consider which clock I am looking and take a stab at the right time and be on my way, and I hope that I am not too late. That's my excuse and I am stickin' to it.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Summer Fruit
If you have read Andi's Ramblings or It Just Dawned On Me---You know that our family has been blessed with abundant apricots. Unfortunately, I do not have batteries for my camera and they are dead. I am not as fanatic over cameras and pictures as my daughters are. Shame on me. It might be that I grew up in a time when we didn't take pictures just to be taking them. I guess I just never got addicted to it. Anyhow just ask my daughter, Andi, as she can tell you that a roll of film of her eighth birthday party was finally developed when she was 20 years old. Not as clear as it could have been, but none the less we got the pictures, and proof of who broke the lamp.
Back to the reason for this addition to Perils of the Sandcreek Ranch. We did and still do have a wonderful crop of apricots. It makes me sad how many have gone to waste. I know that my grandmothers would be so ashamed of me for the waste. They each would go out each morning and gather all of the "windfall" fruit and either make it for lunch, make jams and jellies or can the fruit itself. Nothing went to waste. I have made jams, pies, froze apricots, gave buckets of the fruit away and begged others to come and get it. It seems that this is a bumper crop year for everyone. I heard one friend say that she was just putting them into peoples cars at church. Made me think of the squash season. You know everyone locks their car doors for fear of being blessed by everyone who raises them.
This morning, I went with the Rancher to check cattle on the west end of SandCreek and decided to check on the plums. I have NEVER seen so many plums. The bushes are loaded and hanging over the banks of the creek. We had two buckets and filled them with ripe fruit. There are areas that are still green, some just turning and an abundance of ripe ones. God has blessed us. I told the Rancher that we had to gather all that we could as it was the best crop we have ever had. Is this a sign that we will not be having any for several years? I always freeze several gallons for the years we don't have any. Making too much jelly at a time is not good.
Sandhill Plums make the best jams and jellies. I can hardly wait. I remember my grandmother telling of packing a lunch and the family taking the wagon and making a day of picking sandhill plums. They were the only fruit available in the early days. Grandma also made a wonderful Plum pudding and cobbler. She didn't always take the seeds out though and we had to be careful when eating it.
If you haven't had a hot piece of toast topped with homemade sandhill plum jam, you don't know what you are missing. Grab a bucket and head for the country. The thickets along the roadsides are loaded (if they haven't all been picked). Gather the kids and grandkids and make a fun time of it.
Back to the reason for this addition to Perils of the Sandcreek Ranch. We did and still do have a wonderful crop of apricots. It makes me sad how many have gone to waste. I know that my grandmothers would be so ashamed of me for the waste. They each would go out each morning and gather all of the "windfall" fruit and either make it for lunch, make jams and jellies or can the fruit itself. Nothing went to waste. I have made jams, pies, froze apricots, gave buckets of the fruit away and begged others to come and get it. It seems that this is a bumper crop year for everyone. I heard one friend say that she was just putting them into peoples cars at church. Made me think of the squash season. You know everyone locks their car doors for fear of being blessed by everyone who raises them.
This morning, I went with the Rancher to check cattle on the west end of SandCreek and decided to check on the plums. I have NEVER seen so many plums. The bushes are loaded and hanging over the banks of the creek. We had two buckets and filled them with ripe fruit. There are areas that are still green, some just turning and an abundance of ripe ones. God has blessed us. I told the Rancher that we had to gather all that we could as it was the best crop we have ever had. Is this a sign that we will not be having any for several years? I always freeze several gallons for the years we don't have any. Making too much jelly at a time is not good.
Sandhill Plums make the best jams and jellies. I can hardly wait. I remember my grandmother telling of packing a lunch and the family taking the wagon and making a day of picking sandhill plums. They were the only fruit available in the early days. Grandma also made a wonderful Plum pudding and cobbler. She didn't always take the seeds out though and we had to be careful when eating it.
If you haven't had a hot piece of toast topped with homemade sandhill plum jam, you don't know what you are missing. Grab a bucket and head for the country. The thickets along the roadsides are loaded (if they haven't all been picked). Gather the kids and grandkids and make a fun time of it.
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