Hark! Back! Issue #12

June 30 Update: Far Guy was admitted to the hospital in Grand Forks ND on Tuesday afternoon, he has a lung infection…perhaps by the time you read this he will be much improved and out of the hospital. 

July 1 st 9 pm update Well he is improved but not ready to be discharged yet he is very tired, I spent most of the day with him. His breathing is better, he is still getting IV  antibiotics. 

April 30,2008

An Old Recipe Box

I have an old recipe box. I paid a whopping 84 cents for it at KaMeapART a long time ago. The price sticker is still on the inside cover.  It was manufactured by Ohio Art of Bryan Ohio.  Imagine that something that wasn't manufactured in China....it may be collectible.  It has seen better days...kinda like me.  This recipe box is tin, it is a funny goldy/yellow color and has daisies on the top and a pot of daisies on the front. I have lots of other recipe boxes some tin, some wood and some a heavy cardboard.  I just keep tucking recipes into this old one.

What is on the inside is what is important. A very disorganized bunch of recipes, the favorites are toward the front. When I am in a pinch for an idea nine times out of ten...this is where the recipe will come from. Over the years I have collected recipes from friends and noted on the recipe who it was from.  Some are on recipe cards and some are on scraps and bits of paper.  Some are handed down from one person to another...tried and true.

Arvilla's Pie Crust (Arvilla got this recipe from Emma Lyons who used to cook at Doc's.)

5 Cups flour

2 tsp salt

2 Cups lard

1 Cup cold water

Mix with your hands and a fork...makes 12 shells

On the scrap of paper there appears a quote "Savor Every Moment, Take Joy In Every Day" I recall that day over coffee when I asked Arvilla for her famous melt in your mouth pie crust recipe.  She said "You can do it kid"  well I saved the recipe for too long without trying it...because if I have a question there is no one to call.  It's funny how a little slip of paper can bring you to tears.  Arvilla died last Saturday:(

**********

Arvilla was a wonderful neighbor and friend, I still miss her friendship. 

Last week at the Fly In a relative shared with me that at the Father's Day Fireman's Picnic someone made the best apple pie with the flakiest crust...so flaky they must have used lard.  Made me smile and think of Arvilla.  Possibly it was her recipe. 

The scrap of paper remains in my recipe box. I wrote at Arvilla's a long time ago.

Egg Coffee

 Egg Coffee is a Scandinavian thing... it is Church Basement Coffee.

Egg Coffee

Boil 9 cups of water in a coffee pot on top of the stove.  In a bowl mix an entire egg (Yes you can use the shell too if you wish) into 3/4 cup of coffee grounds with 1/4 cup of water.  Drop the egg and coffee mixture into the pot and let is simmer a bit then add a cup of cold water to help settle the grounds a bit, use a coffee strainer to strain into a cup and enjoy!

Most likely the best coffee ever!  Our neighbor Arvilla made egg coffee all the time.

Far Side

1991

In 1991, Osage had its Centennial.   Some how I got roped into helping with the Centennial Quilt.  Anyone in the community could make a quilt square, it was quilted and still hangs inside a glass case at the new Osage Community Center.   

 The photo was taken inside the old Community Center/Senior Center/the school where I went to 5th and 6th grade...I believe we are in the 6th grade side of the schoolhouse.  I believe my Mom took this photo.  These photos were were amongst my Mom's many photographs. 

I am at the end of the quilt in the red shirt...my shirt says Pine Springs Resort as that is the resort that we owned at that time...a summer fishing resort with eight cottages and a campground. 

All of the ladies are gone now...on the left is Grace...she made the best cookies ( she and her husband lived two farms away from us), next to her and quite hidden is Auntie Esther/Far Guy's Aunt...we loved her very much.  I am not sure who the man is in the photo...maybe Mel?   Standing talking to me is Dorothy...I went to Release Time classes at her home when I was in Grade School...in later years I helped her teach Release Time ( Release Time was always on Wednesday and was like Sunday School...called Release Time because the kids got released from school to attend...we would form a line and walk over to Dorothys house) Dorothy dedicated an area in her basement for Release Time.  Then the lady in red...is Harriet...a sweet lady...her husband Ray was a favorite ...when my baby brother and I would be with our Dad at the repair shop...he would buy us soda out of the Coke machine!  Then there in her red shoes is Olivia...in these years she always made me a cake for my birthday...she made the most delicious chocolate cake with boiled icing...sometimes when she would make the cake and it wasn't my birthday she would call me to come over to have coffee with her and Walter!  Olivia worked for my Mom for many years cleaning cottages at my parents resort...she was the best kitchen cleaner ever. Olivia also grew huge Dinner Plate Dahlias. 

I wish I could recall the conversation that day...I do not...but it was still a good day.

Grace, Auntie Esther and Olivia all stitching away.  Dorothy is in the background. 

Good memories of some great women.

Far Side

Osage Boat Works

 When my baby brother and I were little my Dad worked Road Construction and was only home on weekends.  Our Mom got a job at the Osage Boat Works.   Her clothing was spotted with white and green paint and pieces of fiberglass. My baby brother and I were too little to stay by ourselves so we went to "Arvilla Care" Arvilla was a much loved neighbor lady, we loved her and going to her house when our Mom went to work.  Arvilla was a really good cook!

Boats loaded and ready to be sold ...photo taken about 1956.

Far Side

Bingo, Death and other stuff

I wandered through the yarn shop again this week.  Some new yarn may or may not have come home with me.

My Dad and I went to Bingo, I bingoed once...Dad is in a bingo funk, he hasn't bingoed in a long time.  He thinks we should switch tables and maybe his luck would change. Dad has a bit of a  memory problem but he can still play bingo.  He asks me "how many numbers did I miss?"  He misses a few ( I daub them for him) but not enough to quit going to bingo.  He takes a special medication to help with his memory...he calls them his memory pills.

One of our old/former neighbors died.   Florence had Alzheimers so she has been gone for a long time....now the physical just follows the mental. She had been in a facility for a number of years.  My parents went up North for her funeral.  Luckily the weather and road were good for traveling. Florence loved window boxes full of Red Impatiens and spots of bright flowers here and there at their lake home.

Far Guy is having a bout with severe shortness of breath...the weather is changing??/or maybe he is coming down with something?? I will keep one eye on him...maybe even two.

Far Side

Gifts from friends

This was a great week for gifts!

Always fun to get something in the mail or from neighbors that stop by with a bag of gifts!

A Border Collie Table Runner and Coasters from special neighbors Leah and Jo.  The gift made us smile!  I had fun finding Border Collies that looked like our Chance...we still miss him everyday.

Soap, lotion, cuticle cream and lip balm from Araignee's Tangled Web...she has more hobbies than I do!

Yes Far Guy was woodcarving at the dining room table when I took photos.  He has a special board he uses at the table to catch chips and it also protects the top of the table.

Sheila at woodcarving shared a pattern with him...and another fellow was cleaning out his garage so we have all kinds and shapes of basswood for carving.   One of the pieces was just perfect for his project. 

We have not yet picked a Christmas Ornament for this year...we have two ideas and will see what makes the cut...so to speak.

Far Side

Wistful Wednesday: 1990

A Lucille between two Evelyns.   That was Far Guys old neighhborhood.   His parents Marvin and Evelyn, next door was Emil and Lucille and then Ray and Evelyn.

Emil and Lucille’s lawn was off limits…the boys… Far Guy and his friends used the alley…cause no one wanted Emil to call their mothers.  Emil was a crank, he didn’t like kids and he made no bones about it.

Far Guy says “poor old Emil …he hated boys and he was always watching Mark and I, it seems like everything we did wrong Emil was there to notice.  One time I was locked out of the house …I knew how to get into the house by going through the basement window, so naturally I was on my way through the window when Emil showed up shook his finger at me and said “I’ve got your number.”  Emil had a row of cabins in his yard next to our property line…so he was the eagle eyed neighbor. He must have been watching everything in the entire neighborhood.   One of my sister Jan’s friends was accused of stealing vegetables from Emil’s garden.” 

Lucille and Evelyn

The ladies at Marvin and Evelyn’s 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1990.

Emil died in 1977 the neighborhood relaxed after that.

35 cents

I might be the last of the big spenders. We attended an Estate Sale at Hazel’s old house.

I bought some Hazel’s to add to my Shiny Brite collection. 5 cents each

Two Shiny Brites.

One ornament marked West Germany.

It was a fun estate sale I got to visit with an old friend and met her husband.

These are a few of Hazel’s hankies that came home with me.  The two on the right still have their old labels and were made in Switzerland. 5 cents each and I bought four.

I did buy some other stuff…but they are gifts for other people so they don’t count.

I knew Hazel from the time they moved to Ponsford in the early 1950’s.  Ernie used to work for the County and Hazel worked at Ringer in town, they had three children and the middle child Janet and I were good friends. She was a year younger than me. We rode the same bus driven by Ivan until the route changed.  We went to the same church and were also in the same Confirmation Class.  I liked to visit on the nights that Hazel served flat bread and broasted chicken…she was a really good cook.  Hazel died this past winter she was 87 years old, I was unable to attend her funeral. It is hard to be in two places at the same time and sometimes you have to take care of those closest to you.

Old Timers

Recently two of the area old timers died.  Both women in their eighties.  They lived good long lives and their lives should be celebrated!

Hazel was very active in the community with 4 H and Blood Drives and she was on the Township Board back when my baby brother and I used to trap gophers…she used to make some awful faces as she counted out those smelly gopher feet.  Even though we kept them in the freezer in a jar they started to unthaw as they were counted.  If the firehall ran out of food at the Father’s Day Picnic…she would bring over flatbread so we had something to eat.  Hazel had three children, I was very good friends with one of her daughters but I have not seen her in years.  Hazel made the best deep fried chicken I have ever tasted.  Their house had a front porch and it was a perfect place to sleep during the summer. As far as I know Hazel moved to Ponsford in 1951.  She moved to town a short time ago to be closer to the dialysis unit.

Violet better known as Vi died last week.  She had a wonderful sense of humor and usually a smile on her face.  She made the best sauerkraut and Wild Plum Jelly.  She had seven children.  Her son Johnnie and I were friends…we were born just two days apart and attended school together for twelve years.  Vi moved to the Ponsford Prairie back in 1929 with her parents.  She moved to town a few years ago to an apartment…Grandaughter Ashley lives at the farm now.  Only a few people use my first and middle name together..but Vi did.

Both women will be or have been buried in the Linnell Cemetery…where I can walk down the rows and recall many old neighbors.

There are not many old timers left…Jim and Irene have moved to Assisted Living,  Far Guy’s Aunt Louise lives in an apartment next to the Nursing Home.  My parents moved to town many years ago. Maurice moved to town a number of years ago.  Up on the prairie Margie and Alice are still in their homes but have children living with them as far as I know.  Rueben and Hilma are still living on their home place.

One by one the older generation is disappearing…and as I am getting older I realize that soon I/we will be the older generation.

Wistful Wednesday : Cookies, Cakes and Ice Cold Drinks

When I was little it was a real treat to go visiting.  We went to Roy and Lorraine's just a little ways down the road, they were our next door neighbors in the country. They had two children, both older than me.

This is Lorraine, she made me many birthday cakes, and what was so great about her cakes is that she made two of them..a big one to share and a little one that was all yours.  This photo was taken at our farm when I was four years old in 1955. She must have been very busy baking cakes..as her husband Roy and I shared the same birthday.

Lorraine always had cookies..always. What goes better with cookies in the summertime than a cold, icy drink. Now not everyone had ice cubes..ice cubes were lots of work. The refrigerators had room for one ice cube tray...maybe two if you were really lucky.  So you had to be on top of the ice making at all times. 

  Lorraine had a set of aluminum glasses very similar to these.  She had jewel colors..I remember asking for the ruby red glass and the sapphire blue glass. When it was handed to you, the glass was very cold..you could hold it up to your cheek and feel the cold. The outside of the glass would get all wet as the glass warmed up.

These glasses were made by Color Craft of Indianapolis, Indiana.  I bought these at an Antique Shop over the weekend. I will serve some Kool-aid to the Grands this summer in these old glasses that have many good memories associated with them:)    

Garden Party

I was invited to a Sunbonnet Garden Party. I couldn't go, because I had no sunbonnet. Someone, who will remain nameless found me a sunbonnet to decorate, so I had no good excuse. I could have made something up of course.. like an incapacitating hot flash relapse..or a sudden uncontrollable urge to nap all afternoon. I thought what the heck..maybe I can get some good photos. Maybe I can get some good blog fodder.

These lady/party thingys are not my thing to do. Sometimes I can be a sociable person, but not often, and it is a struggle for me to hold my tongue in check. I got ready to go and Far Guy said, "I can't believe you are going, have a great time, try not to piss off the entire neighborhood." Well maybe someone new moved into the neighborhood..you know someone well read, someone that might be a breath of fresh air...someone new who hasn't had the pleasure of meeting me yet! I have no idea who will be there, but I know there are a few women who I could just do without. "Digging Lady" was not there, she was a no show, probably too busy weeding or digging up someone else's gardens to attend.

This particular group of ladies, are lake ladies, you know the ones, their husbands love to fish, they love to garden, and are inundated by company every weekend..so they cook and clean all week getting ready for the next weekend. Not quite my cup of tea so to speak..and none of them enjoy dog company in their lives either..perfectly ordered retired lives have no room for muddy paws..canine or feline. They do take time out to enjoy a free lunch at a garden party, it is probably the only break they have all week from their kitchen duties. The conversation .. local restaurants..mindless gossip..health issues.. nothing of substance..nothing about which I had an opinion that I could or wanted to share. I was perfectly behaved, polite and ladylike.. I did a fairly good job of being civil..and I didn't make anyone angry..or see red, or shake their head. Of course the real me was held in check.... I did answer a few plant questions. I don't mind sharing my knowledge..most of these ladies are former customers. I actually like two of them..they are real people..I saw a photo of the gals that were invited to the Garden Party series a few weeks ago..that group had a newbie.. I will probably meet her next summer. Soon all these women will disappear into their houses til next summer, except for their coffee time on Tuesday's ..they are history.

Sometimes I wonder Is it me that is strange..or them.. I have nothing in common with most of them. If I hear a spot of gossip..I ask the person straight up..I heard this.. is it true or is it all gossip? I detest small talk..why don't they want to talk about the state of the economy..the war in Iraq..child abuse..the meth problem..drunk driving.. interesting blogs they read..or discuss something they have read..or share a joke.. a home remedy..a childhood memory..something fun they did with a grandchild.. I just don't get it.. I have so many interests and opinions..and very few people that I can actually share them with. I guess it is no wonder that I find the very best company for me is Far Guy and Chance, relatives that can't ignore me all the time..and a few extra special people who like me just the way I am..old and kinda cranky:)
Far Guy took a photo of my hat before I left, it turned out pretty good..plus it had personality!