Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 5-16-06
Our community has been stunned of the death of Rocky Green. He will be missed by so many. He had a positive affect on all those that knew him. He was a wonderful coach and teacher. He was a pleasure to visit with always had a smile and had a good word to say about anyone or anything. During football season, Rocky’s parents would come thru the admission gate that I worked at and sometimes Rocky’s Mom would give us a bag of cookies. I do not think they ever missed game he coached. You could tell that they were so proud of him. Our hearts and thoughts are with his wife, Jamie and his family.
We were sad to hear that Virgil Cummins passed away. I always liked to talk with Virgil he had a kind heart. Virgil loved auctions about as much as I do. When the School had sold walls and things out of the old grade school, Virgil and Jim bought quite a bit of the interior. They decided to join forces and work together. Virgil and Jim worked many hours together knocking down walls and pulling nails. He was entertaining and we enjoyed his company. We will miss him, too.
Years ago in a ‘Blondie and Dagwood’ comic strip- Dagwood was confused about all the strange things that happened while he was away at work. While I have been away, I have wondered about some incidents. Once Jim and I had a Great Dane, named Josh and when we would leave home, we made sure that the dog was outside. One day we had been in town and when we got back, the dog was inside the house and the panel of the storm door was lying on the floor. We had a few ideas what had transpired while we were away but nothing that we could prove. Would just like to know exactly what really did go on.
Another thing I would like to know-Down home the house was rearranged and messed up. It is hard to tell whether the damage was done by man or be beast. We know that part of the damage is beast as they have left their calling cards, if you know what I mean.
Here is one more thing that I would just love to know what happened. We have a windmill by the road and in the past few months the pipe spout has come unscrewed and the water then just pumps on the ground. Once the pipe had been set upright on the outside of the mill the other times the pipe is just laying in the ground. These kinds of things are enough to make you go “HUH”.
I have thought that it would be fun to put up a camera to see what does happen while we are away. Perhaps we if we put up cameras around our pastures and empty homes and barns we could see just what is going on. If nothing else we might be able to answer the age-old question- If tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it fall does it make a noise?
Monday, May 15, 2006
Monday, May 01, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 5-02-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 5-02-06
Everyone has a favorite hobby to do in their spare time. Some like to play golf or cards or some kind of needle work or maybe just going to the coffee shop to see what is going on. At my grandmas house she did jigsaw puzzles. Granddad would try to help and get disgusted and suggest that he could use his pocket knife to make some of the pieces to fit. Granddad collected rocks, polished them and made jewelry. He just loved sawing a rock in two just to see what it looked like inside. He enjoyed giving them away as much as he did making the rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
My mom took up drawing and painting when we all left home. I guess she needed to peace and quiet to concentrate. As it turns out she was very good. She also liked to make doll clothes. Later on she started to do crossword puzzles, which just drove Dad nuts. I have found there are two kinds of people in this world, those who like to do crossword puzzles and those who do not. Dad and Jim definitely did not. They did not even like for Mom and I to do them when they were in the room. I like to do them right before I would go to sleep. One night as I grabbed my puzzle I found that it had letters in the boxes had been filled in. They were not words, mind you; just letters, and in some boxes there were more than one letter. As I was looking at it, trying to figure out what had happened to my puzzle, I heard a little snicker. Jim said that it looked like my puzzle is already done; Jim thinks he is sooo funny.
Now Mom is currently working on jigsaw puzzles. We got her a couple of unique puzzles for Christmas. She got one done with the help of the Spence kids at the Spence Family Christmas. Now she is working on the last one we gave her. It looked really different as it came with its own frame, glue and hanger so you can hang the puzzle when it is completed. The only kicker is - it is nearly impossible to do. She has gotten lots of help from her neighbors, Janis Allen and Darlene Caraway. I understand that there are plans to call in more reinforcements this week. With any luck it should be completed by next week at this time. I helped her little it is difficult and frustrating, maybe Granddad had the right idea, now where did that pocket knife go?
Everyone has a favorite hobby to do in their spare time. Some like to play golf or cards or some kind of needle work or maybe just going to the coffee shop to see what is going on. At my grandmas house she did jigsaw puzzles. Granddad would try to help and get disgusted and suggest that he could use his pocket knife to make some of the pieces to fit. Granddad collected rocks, polished them and made jewelry. He just loved sawing a rock in two just to see what it looked like inside. He enjoyed giving them away as much as he did making the rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
My mom took up drawing and painting when we all left home. I guess she needed to peace and quiet to concentrate. As it turns out she was very good. She also liked to make doll clothes. Later on she started to do crossword puzzles, which just drove Dad nuts. I have found there are two kinds of people in this world, those who like to do crossword puzzles and those who do not. Dad and Jim definitely did not. They did not even like for Mom and I to do them when they were in the room. I like to do them right before I would go to sleep. One night as I grabbed my puzzle I found that it had letters in the boxes had been filled in. They were not words, mind you; just letters, and in some boxes there were more than one letter. As I was looking at it, trying to figure out what had happened to my puzzle, I heard a little snicker. Jim said that it looked like my puzzle is already done; Jim thinks he is sooo funny.
Now Mom is currently working on jigsaw puzzles. We got her a couple of unique puzzles for Christmas. She got one done with the help of the Spence kids at the Spence Family Christmas. Now she is working on the last one we gave her. It looked really different as it came with its own frame, glue and hanger so you can hang the puzzle when it is completed. The only kicker is - it is nearly impossible to do. She has gotten lots of help from her neighbors, Janis Allen and Darlene Caraway. I understand that there are plans to call in more reinforcements this week. With any luck it should be completed by next week at this time. I helped her little it is difficult and frustrating, maybe Granddad had the right idea, now where did that pocket knife go?
Monday, April 24, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-25-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-25-06
A little over a week ago I had a new experience. I got to watch my neighbors burn a CRP field. It was amazing to see how everything works. Those guys are really organized and know what they are doing. That was really a good thing as if it was left up to me I would either burn little tiny patches or burn from here to the Mississippi River depending on the wind. They needed someone to be a ‘gofer’. I thought surely I could do that, but as usual I was out of harmony and slightly unbalanced as my harmonic balancer went out on the Dodge pick-up. If you do not know what a harmonic balancer is, it is extremely important; your vehicle will not operate without it. When I told Jim, he said, “Well, what do ya know, never had one of those go out before.” This did not surprise me at all since unusual things happen to me all the time what did shock me is that Jim has lived with me for over 28 years and he has not gotten used to me tearing up things that are odd. Now that I finally found the part getting it in will be another grand adventure I am sure.
Watching the guys burn reminded me of when we had fires when I was growing up. Someone would call Dad and tell him that there was a fire to put out. Where we lived it was usually lightening that started it. He would run out of the house and get a bunch of gunny sacks and put them in the horse tank and he grabbed some 5 gallon buckets of water put the sacks in the buckets. Then he would either take off or someone would pick him up and off they would go to fight fire. I remember that Mom was a little concerned but we just went on with whatever we were doing. It seemed like it always happened at night and when we would look outside sometimes we could see the glow of the fire and we could watch it die down, then we would have an idea that Dad might be on his way home.
I was so thankful for the rain Sunday night. I hope everyone remembered to give thanks to the Good Lord. As I am writing it is looking like rain and I sure hope God sees fit to let us have another nice shower.
A little over a week ago I had a new experience. I got to watch my neighbors burn a CRP field. It was amazing to see how everything works. Those guys are really organized and know what they are doing. That was really a good thing as if it was left up to me I would either burn little tiny patches or burn from here to the Mississippi River depending on the wind. They needed someone to be a ‘gofer’. I thought surely I could do that, but as usual I was out of harmony and slightly unbalanced as my harmonic balancer went out on the Dodge pick-up. If you do not know what a harmonic balancer is, it is extremely important; your vehicle will not operate without it. When I told Jim, he said, “Well, what do ya know, never had one of those go out before.” This did not surprise me at all since unusual things happen to me all the time what did shock me is that Jim has lived with me for over 28 years and he has not gotten used to me tearing up things that are odd. Now that I finally found the part getting it in will be another grand adventure I am sure.
Watching the guys burn reminded me of when we had fires when I was growing up. Someone would call Dad and tell him that there was a fire to put out. Where we lived it was usually lightening that started it. He would run out of the house and get a bunch of gunny sacks and put them in the horse tank and he grabbed some 5 gallon buckets of water put the sacks in the buckets. Then he would either take off or someone would pick him up and off they would go to fight fire. I remember that Mom was a little concerned but we just went on with whatever we were doing. It seemed like it always happened at night and when we would look outside sometimes we could see the glow of the fire and we could watch it die down, then we would have an idea that Dad might be on his way home.
I was so thankful for the rain Sunday night. I hope everyone remembered to give thanks to the Good Lord. As I am writing it is looking like rain and I sure hope God sees fit to let us have another nice shower.
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-25-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-25-06
A little over a week ago I had a new experience. I got to watch my neighbors burn a CRP field. It was amazing to see how everything works. Those guys are really organized and know what they are doing. That was really a good thing as if it was left up to me I would either burn little tiny patches or burn from here to the Mississippi River depending on the wind. They needed someone to be a ‘gofer’. I thought surely I could do that, but as usual I was out of harmony and slightly unbalanced as my harmonic balancer went out on the Dodge pick-up. If you do not know what a harmonic balancer is, it is extremely important; your vehicle will not operate without it. When I told Jim, he said, “Well, what do ya know, never had one of those go out before.” This did not surprise me at all since unusual things happen to me all the time what did shock me is that Jim has lived with me for over 28 years and he has not gotten used to me tearing up things that are odd. Now that I finally found the part getting it in will be another grand adventure I am sure.
Watching the guys burn reminded me of when we had fires when I was growing up. Someone would call Dad and tell him that there was a fire to put out. Where we lived it was usually lightening that started it. He would run out of the house and get a bunch of gunny sacks and put them in the horse tank and he grabbed some 5 gallon buckets of water put the sacks in the buckets. Then he would either take off or someone would pick him up and off they would go to fight fire. I remember that Mom was a little concerned but we just went on with whatever we were doing. It seemed like it always happened at night and when we would look outside sometimes we could see the glow of the fire and we could watch it die down, then we would have an idea that Dad might be on his way home.
I was so thankful for the rain Sunday night. I hope everyone remembered to give thanks to the Good Lord. As I am writing it is looking like rain and I sure hope God sees fit to let us have another nice shower.
A little over a week ago I had a new experience. I got to watch my neighbors burn a CRP field. It was amazing to see how everything works. Those guys are really organized and know what they are doing. That was really a good thing as if it was left up to me I would either burn little tiny patches or burn from here to the Mississippi River depending on the wind. They needed someone to be a ‘gofer’. I thought surely I could do that, but as usual I was out of harmony and slightly unbalanced as my harmonic balancer went out on the Dodge pick-up. If you do not know what a harmonic balancer is, it is extremely important; your vehicle will not operate without it. When I told Jim, he said, “Well, what do ya know, never had one of those go out before.” This did not surprise me at all since unusual things happen to me all the time what did shock me is that Jim has lived with me for over 28 years and he has not gotten used to me tearing up things that are odd. Now that I finally found the part getting it in will be another grand adventure I am sure.
Watching the guys burn reminded me of when we had fires when I was growing up. Someone would call Dad and tell him that there was a fire to put out. Where we lived it was usually lightening that started it. He would run out of the house and get a bunch of gunny sacks and put them in the horse tank and he grabbed some 5 gallon buckets of water put the sacks in the buckets. Then he would either take off or someone would pick him up and off they would go to fight fire. I remember that Mom was a little concerned but we just went on with whatever we were doing. It seemed like it always happened at night and when we would look outside sometimes we could see the glow of the fire and we could watch it die down, then we would have an idea that Dad might be on his way home.
I was so thankful for the rain Sunday night. I hope everyone remembered to give thanks to the Good Lord. As I am writing it is looking like rain and I sure hope God sees fit to let us have another nice shower.
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-25-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-25-06
A little over a week ago I had a new experience. I got to watch my neighbors burn a CRP field. It was amazing to see how everything works. Those guys are really organized and know what they are doing. That was really a good thing as if it was left up to me I would either burn little tiny patches or burn from here to the Mississippi River depending on the wind. They needed someone to be a ‘gofer’. I thought surely I could do that, but as usual I was out of harmony and slightly unbalanced as my harmonic balancer went out on the Dodge pick-up. If you do not know what a harmonic balancer is, it is extremely important; your vehicle will not operate without it. When I told Jim, he said, “Well, what do ya know, never had one of those go out before.” This did not surprise me at all since unusual things happen to me all the time what did shock me is that Jim has lived with me for over 28 years and he has not gotten used to me tearing up things that are odd. Now that I finally found the part getting it in will be another grand adventure I am sure.
Watching the guys burn reminded me of when we had fires when I was growing up. Someone would call Dad and tell him that there was a fire to put out. Where we lived it was usually lightening that started it. He would run out of the house and get a bunch of gunny sacks and put them in the horse tank and he grabbed some 5 gallon buckets of water put the sacks in the buckets. Then he would either take off or someone would pick him up and off they would go to fight fire. I remember that Mom was a little concerned but we just went on with whatever we were doing. It seemed like it always happened at night and when we would look outside sometimes we could see the glow of the fire and we could watch it die down, then we would have an idea that Dad might be on his way home.
I was so thankful for the rain Sunday night. I hope everyone remembered to give thanks to the Good Lord. As I am writing it is looking like rain and I sure hope God sees fit to let us have another nice shower.
A little over a week ago I had a new experience. I got to watch my neighbors burn a CRP field. It was amazing to see how everything works. Those guys are really organized and know what they are doing. That was really a good thing as if it was left up to me I would either burn little tiny patches or burn from here to the Mississippi River depending on the wind. They needed someone to be a ‘gofer’. I thought surely I could do that, but as usual I was out of harmony and slightly unbalanced as my harmonic balancer went out on the Dodge pick-up. If you do not know what a harmonic balancer is, it is extremely important; your vehicle will not operate without it. When I told Jim, he said, “Well, what do ya know, never had one of those go out before.” This did not surprise me at all since unusual things happen to me all the time what did shock me is that Jim has lived with me for over 28 years and he has not gotten used to me tearing up things that are odd. Now that I finally found the part getting it in will be another grand adventure I am sure.
Watching the guys burn reminded me of when we had fires when I was growing up. Someone would call Dad and tell him that there was a fire to put out. Where we lived it was usually lightening that started it. He would run out of the house and get a bunch of gunny sacks and put them in the horse tank and he grabbed some 5 gallon buckets of water put the sacks in the buckets. Then he would either take off or someone would pick him up and off they would go to fight fire. I remember that Mom was a little concerned but we just went on with whatever we were doing. It seemed like it always happened at night and when we would look outside sometimes we could see the glow of the fire and we could watch it die down, then we would have an idea that Dad might be on his way home.
I was so thankful for the rain Sunday night. I hope everyone remembered to give thanks to the Good Lord. As I am writing it is looking like rain and I sure hope God sees fit to let us have another nice shower.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-18-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-18-06
I have been to Ozona, Texas. My purpose for leaving home was to cook for turkey hunters. This was my second time to be down there. Last year it was green and probably about as pretty as it could be, but this year was a different story. They are in need of rain. The wind and the dirt blew and it was hot, last year I about froze to death. Once or twice the sky would build up like it was going to rain and it would even lightening but no rain.
It is so dry that the sheep and goats can not make it back to feed or water. About the second day 3 of the hunters came in with a little baby Billy goat. They said that they were on top of a peak and found a dead nanny with a baby and a ewe sheep and two babies’ dead and this one was being attacked by vultures and when that baby saw the guys he came a running and jumped in their arms. So they brought him into camp. I poked a hole in a finger of a new cleaning glove, and put some warmed milk in an empty water bottle, put the finger of the glove over the top of the bottle and he was a ‘happy camper’. When I asked the owner about the orphans he told me that if we would happen on to any more that we could take them home with us. He explained that since it costs more to feed and raise the little orphan than they can get for it at the market it is not worth the time and trouble. He did tell me that he used to give away all of his orphans but people would go out and find a baby curled up asleep and they thought that it was an orphan when in fact, it was a baby that the mother had left for just a short while. So he said he had to quit letting people take babies when he came up with bawling ewes and nannies. . This man owned several sections of rough and rocky land and it would be impossible to check on each and every goat, sheep and cow. I had given the baby the men had found to the hired man and he took him and was concerned and asked where the guys had found him. His kindness made me feel better.
The last day, one of the hunters bought in a baby nanny goat. The baby had been crying for her mother for three a days. The hunter could not take hearing the little thing cry any longer and bought it in for us to feed. I brought her home and found a good home for her. She was so cute and traveled better than most kids. (I made a funny, get it, kids.) Taking care of those little babies brought back memories, when we were raising sheep and goats. And Dad telling me not to over feed the lambs as too much milk would kill them. One year we had 13 orphaned lambs that we raised.
One of the guides brought in a six foot diamondback rattlesnake. They usually do not kill them, but this one was cranky and attempted to strike him, so the snake had to go. He brought the snake to camp and then when every one had seen it he left it coiled up by the gate where I passed several times a day. I told him that his dead snake had startled me a few times and asked if he could move it. He was very nice about it and he did move it, to a plastic bag and put it in the freezer as he has plans to have it made into a belt. At least it was not a clear plastic bag, but it did give me the shivers every time I opened the freezer.
It was so nice to come back and see green. So again I am happy to be home right here in Comanche County. Mom and I have always said this is the limit of our endurance. We can not take it any colder- hotter- wetter- drier; you get the idea. There is no place like home.
I have been to Ozona, Texas. My purpose for leaving home was to cook for turkey hunters. This was my second time to be down there. Last year it was green and probably about as pretty as it could be, but this year was a different story. They are in need of rain. The wind and the dirt blew and it was hot, last year I about froze to death. Once or twice the sky would build up like it was going to rain and it would even lightening but no rain.
It is so dry that the sheep and goats can not make it back to feed or water. About the second day 3 of the hunters came in with a little baby Billy goat. They said that they were on top of a peak and found a dead nanny with a baby and a ewe sheep and two babies’ dead and this one was being attacked by vultures and when that baby saw the guys he came a running and jumped in their arms. So they brought him into camp. I poked a hole in a finger of a new cleaning glove, and put some warmed milk in an empty water bottle, put the finger of the glove over the top of the bottle and he was a ‘happy camper’. When I asked the owner about the orphans he told me that if we would happen on to any more that we could take them home with us. He explained that since it costs more to feed and raise the little orphan than they can get for it at the market it is not worth the time and trouble. He did tell me that he used to give away all of his orphans but people would go out and find a baby curled up asleep and they thought that it was an orphan when in fact, it was a baby that the mother had left for just a short while. So he said he had to quit letting people take babies when he came up with bawling ewes and nannies. . This man owned several sections of rough and rocky land and it would be impossible to check on each and every goat, sheep and cow. I had given the baby the men had found to the hired man and he took him and was concerned and asked where the guys had found him. His kindness made me feel better.
The last day, one of the hunters bought in a baby nanny goat. The baby had been crying for her mother for three a days. The hunter could not take hearing the little thing cry any longer and bought it in for us to feed. I brought her home and found a good home for her. She was so cute and traveled better than most kids. (I made a funny, get it, kids.) Taking care of those little babies brought back memories, when we were raising sheep and goats. And Dad telling me not to over feed the lambs as too much milk would kill them. One year we had 13 orphaned lambs that we raised.
One of the guides brought in a six foot diamondback rattlesnake. They usually do not kill them, but this one was cranky and attempted to strike him, so the snake had to go. He brought the snake to camp and then when every one had seen it he left it coiled up by the gate where I passed several times a day. I told him that his dead snake had startled me a few times and asked if he could move it. He was very nice about it and he did move it, to a plastic bag and put it in the freezer as he has plans to have it made into a belt. At least it was not a clear plastic bag, but it did give me the shivers every time I opened the freezer.
It was so nice to come back and see green. So again I am happy to be home right here in Comanche County. Mom and I have always said this is the limit of our endurance. We can not take it any colder- hotter- wetter- drier; you get the idea. There is no place like home.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-04-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 4-04-06
Easter Season is here again. This time of year is endearing to me. Do you remember when this was when we bought our white shoes? And new spring dresses with a bonnet and white gloves. Oh, Easter was wonderful. We got to boil eggs and decorate them, take them to school and some of the older kids would hide them and we would have an Easter egg hunt. Sometimes some of the kids did not boil there eggs and we would have leakage, if you know what I mean.
At our house we never ate the eggs I have heard that many people did eat their colorful eggs. But Mom was not fond of the idea. On Easter Morning the Easter Bunny would have been at our house and hid the eggs that we had colored. Then we would have such fun in looking for the eggs and a few little extra things would be hidden as well. After that we were off to church. This is where the new dress, bonnet, purse, shoes and white gloves came into play. My Grandma Cary always said that our dresses should be purple. One year Grandma and I had dresses made of the same purple material. I was so proud to match her. When church was over we would go to Uncle David’s, our house, or the Grandparents house for a wonderful meal we would alternate each year. When Jim and I were first married we went to Uncle David’s and Aunt Theo’s home for Easter Dinner. Aunt Theo always had a good dinner prepared and there was a bunch of us. Jim said that she always had something exotic to eat. But exotic to Jim was duck or lamb. Aunt Theo always had 2 meats- something like chicken or beef and then something a little different. And that was exotic to Jim, but it pleased her to know that Jim thought she was a good cook. So this year I wish you all a HAPPY EASTER and to all you kids good luck in finding those eggs.
Easter Season is here again. This time of year is endearing to me. Do you remember when this was when we bought our white shoes? And new spring dresses with a bonnet and white gloves. Oh, Easter was wonderful. We got to boil eggs and decorate them, take them to school and some of the older kids would hide them and we would have an Easter egg hunt. Sometimes some of the kids did not boil there eggs and we would have leakage, if you know what I mean.
At our house we never ate the eggs I have heard that many people did eat their colorful eggs. But Mom was not fond of the idea. On Easter Morning the Easter Bunny would have been at our house and hid the eggs that we had colored. Then we would have such fun in looking for the eggs and a few little extra things would be hidden as well. After that we were off to church. This is where the new dress, bonnet, purse, shoes and white gloves came into play. My Grandma Cary always said that our dresses should be purple. One year Grandma and I had dresses made of the same purple material. I was so proud to match her. When church was over we would go to Uncle David’s, our house, or the Grandparents house for a wonderful meal we would alternate each year. When Jim and I were first married we went to Uncle David’s and Aunt Theo’s home for Easter Dinner. Aunt Theo always had a good dinner prepared and there was a bunch of us. Jim said that she always had something exotic to eat. But exotic to Jim was duck or lamb. Aunt Theo always had 2 meats- something like chicken or beef and then something a little different. And that was exotic to Jim, but it pleased her to know that Jim thought she was a good cook. So this year I wish you all a HAPPY EASTER and to all you kids good luck in finding those eggs.
Country Gal March 28
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 3-28-06
I like to watch commercials. Which is a good thing since it seems that most of your favorite TV shows are mostly advertisements. But I have notice a sad change. The sign in a café window that said “home cooking” was a plus and you would want to eat there as commercial food was not what most people were looking for. Now in the commercials they advertise that the canned soup is your favorite restaurant soup not what your grandmother made. This makes me little sad. Frankly, I have not been that impressed with soup from restaurants unless it was homemade.
Here in our community we are in a mother lode of great cooks. We have some ladies in Comanche County that I would put up against any famous restaurant. One of the greatest compliments that I ever get is when someone asks for a recipe. The only thing is that most of the time mine is not original; they are some that someone else was gracious enough to give to me. I have a couple of Bob Pierces recipes. He was one of the best cooks I have had the pleasure to work with. It gives you a nice feeling when you are making something special and you remember that person. Bob and I cooked at the Christian Church many times. Bob always said what he thought.
I have been accused of putting way to much thought in food. When we go on vacation I like to plan our trip by meals and where we are going to eat. When we went to Jennifer’s wedding, back in 2003, on the way home I wanted to go to a restaurant where they advertise the hand thrown roll. I had been thinking about it for days. This particular eating establishment was in Springfield Mo. And as most sportsmen know that there is a Bass Pro Shop in Springfield there, as well. So on the way we had discussed purchasing his gun and I was going to eat in a neat place. I had my taste buds all worked up for ‘Lamberts’ and Jeff was determined to buy a gun. By the time we got to Springfield it was getting late, we drove up to Lamberts and it was packed out. The guys started to whine that it would take to long to get seated and they would not have time to shop in the sports store. So being the only girl in the car I was out voted. So instead of eating in a restaurant with a fun atmosphere they made me eat at a sandwich shop that was across the street. For some ridiculous reason they thought it almost the same thing why after all I could see the building from where I was sitting. So I thought that we could shop at Walmart for firearms and call it a great day! But then again I was out voted and we went to the Sports store. The men did not want to wait to eat but they did not mind waiting 45 minutes for someone to help them with their purchase. That place was so busy you could not move without bumping into someone. I was not that impressed. Now I am still waiting to go back to Springfield and do what I want to do.
I like to watch commercials. Which is a good thing since it seems that most of your favorite TV shows are mostly advertisements. But I have notice a sad change. The sign in a café window that said “home cooking” was a plus and you would want to eat there as commercial food was not what most people were looking for. Now in the commercials they advertise that the canned soup is your favorite restaurant soup not what your grandmother made. This makes me little sad. Frankly, I have not been that impressed with soup from restaurants unless it was homemade.
Here in our community we are in a mother lode of great cooks. We have some ladies in Comanche County that I would put up against any famous restaurant. One of the greatest compliments that I ever get is when someone asks for a recipe. The only thing is that most of the time mine is not original; they are some that someone else was gracious enough to give to me. I have a couple of Bob Pierces recipes. He was one of the best cooks I have had the pleasure to work with. It gives you a nice feeling when you are making something special and you remember that person. Bob and I cooked at the Christian Church many times. Bob always said what he thought.
I have been accused of putting way to much thought in food. When we go on vacation I like to plan our trip by meals and where we are going to eat. When we went to Jennifer’s wedding, back in 2003, on the way home I wanted to go to a restaurant where they advertise the hand thrown roll. I had been thinking about it for days. This particular eating establishment was in Springfield Mo. And as most sportsmen know that there is a Bass Pro Shop in Springfield there, as well. So on the way we had discussed purchasing his gun and I was going to eat in a neat place. I had my taste buds all worked up for ‘Lamberts’ and Jeff was determined to buy a gun. By the time we got to Springfield it was getting late, we drove up to Lamberts and it was packed out. The guys started to whine that it would take to long to get seated and they would not have time to shop in the sports store. So being the only girl in the car I was out voted. So instead of eating in a restaurant with a fun atmosphere they made me eat at a sandwich shop that was across the street. For some ridiculous reason they thought it almost the same thing why after all I could see the building from where I was sitting. So I thought that we could shop at Walmart for firearms and call it a great day! But then again I was out voted and we went to the Sports store. The men did not want to wait to eat but they did not mind waiting 45 minutes for someone to help them with their purchase. That place was so busy you could not move without bumping into someone. I was not that impressed. Now I am still waiting to go back to Springfield and do what I want to do.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 03-21-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 03-21-06
When our kids got out of school I thought that the need for a mini-van was over. I was sadly mistaken. Now that we have a pair of Great Danes the need has returned. You may ask why. Well, if you ever hauled a pair of Danes in the back-seat of your car you would understand. It was just like when the kids were little. Jennifer went with me to take the dogs to Hutchinson the see Doc Lindsay. Josie, the female Dane, stretches out across the back seat with leaves little room for the male, Jake. One the reasons Jennifer went along is because Jake still thinks he is a lap dog. He is now over 100 pounds and since my lap is dimishing I do not have room for him especially if I am driving. Josie rides much better but Jake wants the window up then he wants it down, he is sitting on Josie or he is sticking his head in the back window, or he tries to stretch out on the floor in the back. It was certainly an interesting ride. We were really tired when we got home. Now I understand people who have dog trailers and special ways to transport their animals. It is not just for the comfort of the people it is for the comfort of the dog as well.
This incident sort of reminded me of when Dad and I hauled our lambs to market. Mom stayed home and prayed. We had to take them to the train in Maize, Kansas. It was extremely exciting as we never went to the Wichita area often. And we got to eat in a restaurant; if memory serves we ate in Attica. We did not eat out often and hardly ever just Dad and me. The down side was that we were in the pick-up, which is a wonder that we made it, which was one of the many reasons Mom was praying. The sheep were loaded in the stock racks in the bed of the pick up, this was before we had trailers. Dad would put one layer of lambs on the floor of the stock racks then he would put a floor of boards on top of them then another layer of lambs, I think we ended up with three layers of lambs. We were quite a sight to see. People would pass us and honk or pull us over as we had a lamb with his leg hanging out or it appeared that we were about to lose our load, which would not have been impossible. We terrorized most of the towns that we went through. It seemed like it took us four hours to get to Maize. We had to leave early in the morning as we had to meet the train on time and we certainly did not want to miss the train. We made it thanks to Moms prayers and it was a great father and daughter time. I think now days they call it quality time. It seems that we had a lot of that. I have a few more stock rack stories but that is another column or two.
When our kids got out of school I thought that the need for a mini-van was over. I was sadly mistaken. Now that we have a pair of Great Danes the need has returned. You may ask why. Well, if you ever hauled a pair of Danes in the back-seat of your car you would understand. It was just like when the kids were little. Jennifer went with me to take the dogs to Hutchinson the see Doc Lindsay. Josie, the female Dane, stretches out across the back seat with leaves little room for the male, Jake. One the reasons Jennifer went along is because Jake still thinks he is a lap dog. He is now over 100 pounds and since my lap is dimishing I do not have room for him especially if I am driving. Josie rides much better but Jake wants the window up then he wants it down, he is sitting on Josie or he is sticking his head in the back window, or he tries to stretch out on the floor in the back. It was certainly an interesting ride. We were really tired when we got home. Now I understand people who have dog trailers and special ways to transport their animals. It is not just for the comfort of the people it is for the comfort of the dog as well.
This incident sort of reminded me of when Dad and I hauled our lambs to market. Mom stayed home and prayed. We had to take them to the train in Maize, Kansas. It was extremely exciting as we never went to the Wichita area often. And we got to eat in a restaurant; if memory serves we ate in Attica. We did not eat out often and hardly ever just Dad and me. The down side was that we were in the pick-up, which is a wonder that we made it, which was one of the many reasons Mom was praying. The sheep were loaded in the stock racks in the bed of the pick up, this was before we had trailers. Dad would put one layer of lambs on the floor of the stock racks then he would put a floor of boards on top of them then another layer of lambs, I think we ended up with three layers of lambs. We were quite a sight to see. People would pass us and honk or pull us over as we had a lamb with his leg hanging out or it appeared that we were about to lose our load, which would not have been impossible. We terrorized most of the towns that we went through. It seemed like it took us four hours to get to Maize. We had to leave early in the morning as we had to meet the train on time and we certainly did not want to miss the train. We made it thanks to Moms prayers and it was a great father and daughter time. I think now days they call it quality time. It seems that we had a lot of that. I have a few more stock rack stories but that is another column or two.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Country Gal
Country Gal
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 3-14-06
It is St. Patrick’s Day again. Did your family have any traditions? We did not have anything that we did every year but I remember one year when my grandma put out her garden. This was at a time in our life when things were not the best as my granddad was confused and I think Grandma needed the garden to give her something else to think about. I think she must have been in her eighties and Dad called Charlie Lenertz to plow up her garden for her. Charlie had a little Ford tractor and it was small enough to get in her garden spot and her garden was large enough to require more horse power than we could muster to dig it up with a spade. It made easy work until I found out that we had to smooth it up with rakes. That was not so easy. But I was kind of a whiner, I know that is hard to believe but fact is stranger than fiction. The plowing needed to be done by early March as Grandma said that we to plant the potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day by the light of the moon. And we did. It is a fond memory that I have thinking about Mom, Dad, Grandma and I out in the garden in light of the moon planting all those potatoes. It seems that we planted two or three rows of spuds. When I moved back I thought that I could carry on the Cary garden. That is when I discovered that I have not only one black thumb but two. I tried to garden like Grandma but I had to learn that there was only one Alta Cary. Grandma not only had a vegetable garden she also had two or three flower beds. I tried but I just can not get it done. I would like to blame the grasshoppers but I think it is more than bugs. I bet Alta could have outsmarted them. In the spring I just want to plant everything. Oh I get big ideas, this is the year for a nice big garden, then when it gets hot and the harvest winds start to blow it loses its appeal. I think there is a word for that but I would rather not hear it.
It was a sad day when I heard on the news that Don Knott’s had died. Don Knott’s brought a lot of joy and happiness too many people. He was a wonderful ‘Barney Fife’. One of my favorite lines was “nip it- nip it in the bud.” He will truly be missed.
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 3-14-06
It is St. Patrick’s Day again. Did your family have any traditions? We did not have anything that we did every year but I remember one year when my grandma put out her garden. This was at a time in our life when things were not the best as my granddad was confused and I think Grandma needed the garden to give her something else to think about. I think she must have been in her eighties and Dad called Charlie Lenertz to plow up her garden for her. Charlie had a little Ford tractor and it was small enough to get in her garden spot and her garden was large enough to require more horse power than we could muster to dig it up with a spade. It made easy work until I found out that we had to smooth it up with rakes. That was not so easy. But I was kind of a whiner, I know that is hard to believe but fact is stranger than fiction. The plowing needed to be done by early March as Grandma said that we to plant the potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day by the light of the moon. And we did. It is a fond memory that I have thinking about Mom, Dad, Grandma and I out in the garden in light of the moon planting all those potatoes. It seems that we planted two or three rows of spuds. When I moved back I thought that I could carry on the Cary garden. That is when I discovered that I have not only one black thumb but two. I tried to garden like Grandma but I had to learn that there was only one Alta Cary. Grandma not only had a vegetable garden she also had two or three flower beds. I tried but I just can not get it done. I would like to blame the grasshoppers but I think it is more than bugs. I bet Alta could have outsmarted them. In the spring I just want to plant everything. Oh I get big ideas, this is the year for a nice big garden, then when it gets hot and the harvest winds start to blow it loses its appeal. I think there is a word for that but I would rather not hear it.
It was a sad day when I heard on the news that Don Knott’s had died. Don Knott’s brought a lot of joy and happiness too many people. He was a wonderful ‘Barney Fife’. One of my favorite lines was “nip it- nip it in the bud.” He will truly be missed.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Country Gal-by Vanita Blundell 2-28-06
Country Gal-by Vanita Blundell 2-28-06
My family is upset with the dogs in our family. Many years ago Jeff rescued a lab cross puppy out of the dog pound. We named him Mutt so we had Mutt and Jeff roaming out in the pastures and doing whatever a boy and his dog might do. Since Jeff was a Calvin and Hobbs fan he had lots of ideas, most of them were: let’s say creative. I could say more but I just do not have enough time right now to tell you about it. Mutt on the other hand was a little more helpful. Jack, the old dog that we had taught the pup how the kill raccoons and skunks. Now before all of you nature lovers get excited, the coons were a real problem and I do not think we put much of a dent in the population. The dogs just got part of the ones that were doing what they should not be doing. So Mutt was a wonderful asset to our family. The problem started with Mutt attempting to howl with the coyotes. He is not very good. He makes the most horrible noise than you can imagine. The howling goes as long as the coyotes howl. Even the neighbors have heard him from their home.
We took in Moms dog, Billy who barks at everything and anything. The big thing with him is thunder, not that we have had a lot of that lately, but when it does he will chase the thunder all over the place. If thunder could be caught Billy would have had it. He has not gotten the knack of howling but he can out bark any wild animal. You would think that they would get hoarse from all of the noise they create.
Now that I got the Great Dane, Jake, Mutt has taken on the task of teaching Jake how to howl as well. Mutt should know that are some things that must not be passed on; howling and moaning is one of them. Jennifer makes sure that the Dane is in the house before she has her first attempt to sleep since he does not howl in the house, yet. Mutt could come in but since he is getting on in years instead of killing skunks he just annoys them at the front door of the house and of course he gets quite smelly not to mention the front door. I do not know if you realize that when a skunk sprays, if hits vinyl siding it is the most awful yellow oil that is almost impossible to remove. Jim and I have been trying to get it off but it is just terrible. If you come to my front door you will not want to stay long.
We do love our dogs but just like anything else they can be real stinkers.
My family is upset with the dogs in our family. Many years ago Jeff rescued a lab cross puppy out of the dog pound. We named him Mutt so we had Mutt and Jeff roaming out in the pastures and doing whatever a boy and his dog might do. Since Jeff was a Calvin and Hobbs fan he had lots of ideas, most of them were: let’s say creative. I could say more but I just do not have enough time right now to tell you about it. Mutt on the other hand was a little more helpful. Jack, the old dog that we had taught the pup how the kill raccoons and skunks. Now before all of you nature lovers get excited, the coons were a real problem and I do not think we put much of a dent in the population. The dogs just got part of the ones that were doing what they should not be doing. So Mutt was a wonderful asset to our family. The problem started with Mutt attempting to howl with the coyotes. He is not very good. He makes the most horrible noise than you can imagine. The howling goes as long as the coyotes howl. Even the neighbors have heard him from their home.
We took in Moms dog, Billy who barks at everything and anything. The big thing with him is thunder, not that we have had a lot of that lately, but when it does he will chase the thunder all over the place. If thunder could be caught Billy would have had it. He has not gotten the knack of howling but he can out bark any wild animal. You would think that they would get hoarse from all of the noise they create.
Now that I got the Great Dane, Jake, Mutt has taken on the task of teaching Jake how to howl as well. Mutt should know that are some things that must not be passed on; howling and moaning is one of them. Jennifer makes sure that the Dane is in the house before she has her first attempt to sleep since he does not howl in the house, yet. Mutt could come in but since he is getting on in years instead of killing skunks he just annoys them at the front door of the house and of course he gets quite smelly not to mention the front door. I do not know if you realize that when a skunk sprays, if hits vinyl siding it is the most awful yellow oil that is almost impossible to remove. Jim and I have been trying to get it off but it is just terrible. If you come to my front door you will not want to stay long.
We do love our dogs but just like anything else they can be real stinkers.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 2-21-06
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 2-21-06
Have you ever thought about trash? I say that we have way too much. You know when you drive by other peoples homes and everything is just perfect. No trash-no junk lying around, no signs of pets, or anything out of place. And to top it off the inside of their homes are just as flawless. I wonder if any of those people sleep. I guess I am just a slob. There are certainly more ambitious people than me. But what I want to know are they happy? I know they must be exhausted, and when I get that tired I am cranky. So do you think that neat and tidy folks are miserable? There must be a down side to perfection.
The one reason that I like snow is that it is the one time that the outside of my house is just as pretty as it is anywhere else. It is like when my Granddad Cary would put on wallpaper, he would say that new wallpaper covers a multitude of sins. That is how I feel about a nice DEEP snow. I just do not know how to keep ahead of garbage. I cannot believe how much there is. Everything that you do creates trash.
I can remember that my grandma would wash and rewash her foil, plastic bags, even bread sacks. She had a miniature clothesline over her kitchen sink, after she washed her dishes she would recycle her way. She had a use for almost anything and everything. She did not have the garbage that we have today. But the garbage they did have, they burned. We are not suppose to burn our trash now, especially since it is so dry, but we use to burn everything. Most of us had places where we would dump our trash barrels or just something that would not burn.
That was the first time I can remember driving. It was Virgil’s job to haul our burned out trash barrels off. He would let me go with him and, if I remember correctly, we did not have a driver’s door on the pick-up and I do not think that the floorboard was much better, so I sat in his lap and he would let me steer the pick-up. Virgil was a great brother; we had a lot of fun together.
It was exciting to go through your old trash piles or someone else’s. Sometimes you would find something that you might want back. If you could find one of those holes now, you might find all kinds of treasures. Some of the treasures you could put on e-bay and sell it for more than it cost you when it was new and in working order.
I can tell you that people will buy anything. Since Jennifer has been here she has shown me the fun of the internet. We were just looking around the net and she wanted to know what kind of cats you can buy. We found Bengal cats. They are small domesticated Tigers. The thing that got me was the price. Those silly cats were selling from $1,200 to $12,000. I think we are all in the wrong business.
Have you ever thought about trash? I say that we have way too much. You know when you drive by other peoples homes and everything is just perfect. No trash-no junk lying around, no signs of pets, or anything out of place. And to top it off the inside of their homes are just as flawless. I wonder if any of those people sleep. I guess I am just a slob. There are certainly more ambitious people than me. But what I want to know are they happy? I know they must be exhausted, and when I get that tired I am cranky. So do you think that neat and tidy folks are miserable? There must be a down side to perfection.
The one reason that I like snow is that it is the one time that the outside of my house is just as pretty as it is anywhere else. It is like when my Granddad Cary would put on wallpaper, he would say that new wallpaper covers a multitude of sins. That is how I feel about a nice DEEP snow. I just do not know how to keep ahead of garbage. I cannot believe how much there is. Everything that you do creates trash.
I can remember that my grandma would wash and rewash her foil, plastic bags, even bread sacks. She had a miniature clothesline over her kitchen sink, after she washed her dishes she would recycle her way. She had a use for almost anything and everything. She did not have the garbage that we have today. But the garbage they did have, they burned. We are not suppose to burn our trash now, especially since it is so dry, but we use to burn everything. Most of us had places where we would dump our trash barrels or just something that would not burn.
That was the first time I can remember driving. It was Virgil’s job to haul our burned out trash barrels off. He would let me go with him and, if I remember correctly, we did not have a driver’s door on the pick-up and I do not think that the floorboard was much better, so I sat in his lap and he would let me steer the pick-up. Virgil was a great brother; we had a lot of fun together.
It was exciting to go through your old trash piles or someone else’s. Sometimes you would find something that you might want back. If you could find one of those holes now, you might find all kinds of treasures. Some of the treasures you could put on e-bay and sell it for more than it cost you when it was new and in working order.
I can tell you that people will buy anything. Since Jennifer has been here she has shown me the fun of the internet. We were just looking around the net and she wanted to know what kind of cats you can buy. We found Bengal cats. They are small domesticated Tigers. The thing that got me was the price. Those silly cats were selling from $1,200 to $12,000. I think we are all in the wrong business.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 2-07-06
Sunday evening Jennifer and I had decided to watch the Super Bowl. It is not because we like football it is because we like the commercials and the half time show. We have not watched one game on TV all season long so we were not excited about the game itself just what would come with it. In the future, I would not recommend this type of approach. It makes the football game last forever and it just does not work. We thought the commercials were sadly lacking and were not up to Super Bowl standards. We did like the Fed Ex cave man the best. We have been told that we have a sadistic sense of humor, which is probably true, since in the commercial the caveman was squished by a dinosaur. We thought the half-time show might be good after all, it was the Rolling Stones. I thought they looked so old, I just kind of felt sorry for them. I should not be critical of them since Mick Jagger said that they could have sung at the first Super Bowl 40 years ago. Not many bands are still together after 40 years. Jennifer has gotten me hooked on watching Grey’s Anatomy and it was continued which really depressed us so our Sunday evening was a little disappointing.
Jim came home at end of Super Bowl, he and his brother, John, had gone to Tulsa to see their mom. Donna is taking radiation treatments for the next 5 weeks.
It is that time of year again. Skunk season. I guess every farm has its problems. When I was growing up we had rattlesnakes but that was about it. Here we have wasps, bumblebees, grasshoppers, skunks and raccoons. I am not trying to tell you that we did not have these where I grew up but, as I remember not in excess. I have an excess of these varmints. The bumblebees worry me, as I am allergic to them. I think that I have every kind of wasp or mud dauber there is. However, the skunks are something else entirely. The skunks are so very busy and our dogs are so very stinky. I would like to know why my dogs chase the skunks to the house and corner them against the house, and annoy them so they will spray and smell up the entire house. I have tried to explain it to the dogs that you chase the varmints AWAY from the house not towards the house. Once I went to leave the house and they had a skunk trapped at the front door. That was just great. Our dog, Mutt, who has helped in the skunk department is getting old and just gets things stirred up. However, I have to remember I am not as good as I once was (I think there is a song for that) so I should be happy that he is trying to teach the new dog how to handle those smelly little creatures. So far, the skunks are 4 and the dogs are 0. I think we might need reinforcements.
Sunday evening Jennifer and I had decided to watch the Super Bowl. It is not because we like football it is because we like the commercials and the half time show. We have not watched one game on TV all season long so we were not excited about the game itself just what would come with it. In the future, I would not recommend this type of approach. It makes the football game last forever and it just does not work. We thought the commercials were sadly lacking and were not up to Super Bowl standards. We did like the Fed Ex cave man the best. We have been told that we have a sadistic sense of humor, which is probably true, since in the commercial the caveman was squished by a dinosaur. We thought the half-time show might be good after all, it was the Rolling Stones. I thought they looked so old, I just kind of felt sorry for them. I should not be critical of them since Mick Jagger said that they could have sung at the first Super Bowl 40 years ago. Not many bands are still together after 40 years. Jennifer has gotten me hooked on watching Grey’s Anatomy and it was continued which really depressed us so our Sunday evening was a little disappointing.
Jim came home at end of Super Bowl, he and his brother, John, had gone to Tulsa to see their mom. Donna is taking radiation treatments for the next 5 weeks.
It is that time of year again. Skunk season. I guess every farm has its problems. When I was growing up we had rattlesnakes but that was about it. Here we have wasps, bumblebees, grasshoppers, skunks and raccoons. I am not trying to tell you that we did not have these where I grew up but, as I remember not in excess. I have an excess of these varmints. The bumblebees worry me, as I am allergic to them. I think that I have every kind of wasp or mud dauber there is. However, the skunks are something else entirely. The skunks are so very busy and our dogs are so very stinky. I would like to know why my dogs chase the skunks to the house and corner them against the house, and annoy them so they will spray and smell up the entire house. I have tried to explain it to the dogs that you chase the varmints AWAY from the house not towards the house. Once I went to leave the house and they had a skunk trapped at the front door. That was just great. Our dog, Mutt, who has helped in the skunk department is getting old and just gets things stirred up. However, I have to remember I am not as good as I once was (I think there is a song for that) so I should be happy that he is trying to teach the new dog how to handle those smelly little creatures. So far, the skunks are 4 and the dogs are 0. I think we might need reinforcements.
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 2-14-06
I have come an important conclusion. I should not have a more than 11 cows in one pasture, absolutely no more than 30. I have found that I have a terrible time counting. It gets very frustrating I count my cows and thinking that I have one missing, so I drive all over the pasture looking for one stretched out and can not find anything. This gets exasperating and with the price of gas it is expensive, then I go back to the herd and count again and find that they are all there. I would like to think that while I went off to look for the straggler she came in behind me. Or as I am counting I am looking out the window that will not go down, while not running over the baby calves who just love to get in front of me, while trying figure out if there is one or more cows behind the bull that stands in the most difficult position. Sometimes I think that Dad was right about those devils sitting on the fence posts. I am not a multi-purpose gal. I have also learned that is essential to string the feed in one line, when you feed in two or three lines the cows are inconsiderate and will not stay in one line, no, they move all around.
I have a framed picture that was Jim’s dads, it was an old calendar, it is entitled ‘Short Cut’. It is a cowboy on horseback counting the Hereford cows going out a pasture gate. The cows are just pouring out and the dirt is flying, but behind him the fence is down and there are cows spilling out the hole, so his count will not be correct.
Sometimes when I look at it, I think that is just about the way life goes. Even when you are doing the best you can and what needs to be done, nothing is for certain. One time my mom asked Keith Marsh if he felt secure with his job. He told her that the only thing that he was secure in was the Lord.
Other times I remember that Dad liked this picture. He thought it looked like Jims dad, Vernon, Dad would talk to the picture and say, “Vernon, your count will be off”. Then he would just laugh.
When we worked cattle for the other ranchers you knew that the day was almost over when we took the cows back to pasture and two cowboys would get on each side of the gate, we would slow the herd down as they wanted to get an accurate count as to what went back in. It was great when both of them got the same number. I was always glad to be in the back and not the counter. I have one neighbor that is gifted with counting. He gets a perfect tally almost every time. Sometimes I think it might be easier to count their feet and divide by 4.
I have come an important conclusion. I should not have a more than 11 cows in one pasture, absolutely no more than 30. I have found that I have a terrible time counting. It gets very frustrating I count my cows and thinking that I have one missing, so I drive all over the pasture looking for one stretched out and can not find anything. This gets exasperating and with the price of gas it is expensive, then I go back to the herd and count again and find that they are all there. I would like to think that while I went off to look for the straggler she came in behind me. Or as I am counting I am looking out the window that will not go down, while not running over the baby calves who just love to get in front of me, while trying figure out if there is one or more cows behind the bull that stands in the most difficult position. Sometimes I think that Dad was right about those devils sitting on the fence posts. I am not a multi-purpose gal. I have also learned that is essential to string the feed in one line, when you feed in two or three lines the cows are inconsiderate and will not stay in one line, no, they move all around.
I have a framed picture that was Jim’s dads, it was an old calendar, it is entitled ‘Short Cut’. It is a cowboy on horseback counting the Hereford cows going out a pasture gate. The cows are just pouring out and the dirt is flying, but behind him the fence is down and there are cows spilling out the hole, so his count will not be correct.
Sometimes when I look at it, I think that is just about the way life goes. Even when you are doing the best you can and what needs to be done, nothing is for certain. One time my mom asked Keith Marsh if he felt secure with his job. He told her that the only thing that he was secure in was the Lord.
Other times I remember that Dad liked this picture. He thought it looked like Jims dad, Vernon, Dad would talk to the picture and say, “Vernon, your count will be off”. Then he would just laugh.
When we worked cattle for the other ranchers you knew that the day was almost over when we took the cows back to pasture and two cowboys would get on each side of the gate, we would slow the herd down as they wanted to get an accurate count as to what went back in. It was great when both of them got the same number. I was always glad to be in the back and not the counter. I have one neighbor that is gifted with counting. He gets a perfect tally almost every time. Sometimes I think it might be easier to count their feet and divide by 4.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
January 31, 2006
Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 1-31-06
This week we have been on the road. It seems that once you make plans, something else comes along to add to them. We had planned to go to Tulsa to visit with Jim’s mom, Donna, as she is there for more tests. We were to leave on Friday, so I got the feeding done, I had some things to do at the church, the rental house was having some problems we had to check out, had a low tire had it changed to find out that one tire was ruined and the other back tire had two nails in it. That meant we needed to buy two new tires. We finally got on the road a little after, 4:00. We got to Tulsa in good shape had a nice visit with Donna. Before we left we found out that Jims, Uncle Alvin Blundell, passed away. His service was to be in Ulysses and the burial in Springfield Colorado on Monday morning.
While we were waiting for the service to start one of the pastors looked familiar. I kept looking at her and I told Jim that I thought I knew her, Jim was not as sure. When the service was over I got a chance to visit with her and I was right I knew her, it was Suzie Woods. Suzie and Jack lived here for a few years. Jack worked at the Peoples Bank. Suzie is a pastor at a church in Walsh Colorado. You never know who you will see when you leave town. Suzie said to say hello to everyone so ‘Hello’ from the Woods Family.
Jim’s dad, Vernon is one of seven children 5 boys and 2 girls and this is the first sibling to pass away. He has lost one brother-in-law, Hank Eds. That is amazing that they all lived to see their children grow up and enjoy grandchildren. All families should be so lucky. The oldest son, Carl James, was born premature and they put him in a shoe box and kept him in the warmer of the stove. That was before you had babies in hospitals with all of the medical staff and equipment. The warmer was not entirely successful, but he did survive. I told Vernon that his mother must have been a great woman. She passed away in 1965 in a flood.
I cannot imagine having that many children. Having seven children means that poor woman was pregnant for 63 months. That is 5 years and 3 months of morning sickness, mood swings, food cravings, water retention just to name a few. Now most of you men may not think that is so bad unless your wife gets a little testy during that time. I know Jim would not go through it again as there were a couple of times his life was truly in jeopardy. My sister had a dog once that when she was expecting her litter of pups she would, if she could, lure a cat into her pen and would rip off the cat’s heads and play with it. That pretty much explains my attitude with my last child, who now we know as Jeff. So that would be why we only have two kids. Now you know the rest of the story whether you wanted to know or not.
This week we have been on the road. It seems that once you make plans, something else comes along to add to them. We had planned to go to Tulsa to visit with Jim’s mom, Donna, as she is there for more tests. We were to leave on Friday, so I got the feeding done, I had some things to do at the church, the rental house was having some problems we had to check out, had a low tire had it changed to find out that one tire was ruined and the other back tire had two nails in it. That meant we needed to buy two new tires. We finally got on the road a little after, 4:00. We got to Tulsa in good shape had a nice visit with Donna. Before we left we found out that Jims, Uncle Alvin Blundell, passed away. His service was to be in Ulysses and the burial in Springfield Colorado on Monday morning.
While we were waiting for the service to start one of the pastors looked familiar. I kept looking at her and I told Jim that I thought I knew her, Jim was not as sure. When the service was over I got a chance to visit with her and I was right I knew her, it was Suzie Woods. Suzie and Jack lived here for a few years. Jack worked at the Peoples Bank. Suzie is a pastor at a church in Walsh Colorado. You never know who you will see when you leave town. Suzie said to say hello to everyone so ‘Hello’ from the Woods Family.
Jim’s dad, Vernon is one of seven children 5 boys and 2 girls and this is the first sibling to pass away. He has lost one brother-in-law, Hank Eds. That is amazing that they all lived to see their children grow up and enjoy grandchildren. All families should be so lucky. The oldest son, Carl James, was born premature and they put him in a shoe box and kept him in the warmer of the stove. That was before you had babies in hospitals with all of the medical staff and equipment. The warmer was not entirely successful, but he did survive. I told Vernon that his mother must have been a great woman. She passed away in 1965 in a flood.
I cannot imagine having that many children. Having seven children means that poor woman was pregnant for 63 months. That is 5 years and 3 months of morning sickness, mood swings, food cravings, water retention just to name a few. Now most of you men may not think that is so bad unless your wife gets a little testy during that time. I know Jim would not go through it again as there were a couple of times his life was truly in jeopardy. My sister had a dog once that when she was expecting her litter of pups she would, if she could, lure a cat into her pen and would rip off the cat’s heads and play with it. That pretty much explains my attitude with my last child, who now we know as Jeff. So that would be why we only have two kids. Now you know the rest of the story whether you wanted to know or not.
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