Rhonda’s Ramblings

My friend Karen gave me a box of pears last week. Even if we ate a pear at every meal, that’s a lot of pears for two people to consume. Though, these pears are so sweet and deliciously juicy that we have been giving it the old college try. Still, lots of pears remain.

So, of course, I used pears in my meatloaf last night. And it was yummy!! I’m not sure that the yumminess had anything to do with the pears, or if it was because of the great recipe I followed. And by “followed”, I mean added various ingredients without measuring or following a recipe. I know you are dying for the “recipe”, so I’m happy to share.

1 lb ground beef (I use beef from a local grower)
1 package sausage (from the family’s pigs…very local)
1 egg
some diced onion
a few shakes of italian seasoning
a few squeezes of ketchup
a few drops of worcestershire sauce
a glug of milk
3/4 cups bread crumbs
one pear, diced

Mix it together all ingredients. Fill 6 muffin cups with meat mix and bake at 375ish until they seem done. Put the remaining meat into 3 small loaf pans and freeze to cook at a later date.

(This is really how I cook.)

Oh, I also made some pear butter in the crockpot. I sort of, kind of followed a recipe. It is also delicious.

And I made my weekly loaf of “good whole wheat bread”. That is the name of the recipe that I actually followed. Though I shouldn’t really take credit for the bread. The breadmaker gets all of the credit. I just dump the ingredients in the pan.

And still, pears remain.

It’s 3:56 a.m. and I am still awake. listening to some Andy Osenga.

I started organizing my cds, and that let to cleaning out some drawers in my room, which led to me finding some frames that I have been wanting to find pictures for. So, I almost opened up that Pandora’s Box of going through my photos, but then decided that would not be a wise choice..

I have way too much junk. I’m not sure how I have accumulated so much stuff in my short little life. And my sister and I just had a yard sale about two months ago. Much of my junk consists of craft items. Most of these haven’t been used in a while. But I save them because I don’t want to have to go out and buy them again when I am doing a craft project that needs that particular item. And I always think I will spend more time doing crafts than I actually do. I can’t tell you how many projects I have that are half finished.

Sometimes I wish I weren’t an American consumer. I wish that I didn’t have so many possessions and that I would be content with just a few things. Every year or so, I go through a stage where I really want to simplify and go “back to essentials, a chair and a lamp and the book that You wrote to me” (Margaret Becker). But the fact is, I like my stuff. If I had to live without it, I would. And probably wouldn’t be overly upset about it, but I do enjoy this stuff. And I continue to accumulate more stuff. Today, I got a really cute and fun picnic basket at the thrift store. Totally unecessary, but I love it.

Tomorrow is my only day off this week. And I don’t have any plans, which makes me happy. Of course, there are lots of things I need to catch up on. Bills, and cleaning and laundry and fun stuff like that. But I don’t have to be anywhere at any certain time. And I can just do stuff around the house and listen to all the cds that I rediscovered after reorganizing my cds.

And

Last night, the families that live in the houses next to me came to eat at the restaurant where I work. Then I saw them at church this morning. And while I was walking home from church, one of these same neighbors asked me if I could watch her two kids for a couple of hours this afternoon. Which I happily agreed to, in exchange for her letting me borrow some milk. Then about 30 minutes later, another of my neighbors brought over some lilac suckers that she had dug out of her yard, thinking that I might like to plant them. I shared some of the bounty of my garden with her. While I was watching the girls, I baked a cake for the son of one of the ladies that I work with. (He is 4 years old, and this was his first birthday cake )

This is community to me. And I love it. It makes me want to stay here.

And a story to reinforce what an old lady I am.

I never take Friday nights off. I did take one off the weekend of my sister’s wedding. And for a few other important things, but it is rare. Sure, it’s because usually I have nobody to cover for me. But this week, despite being super short on waitresses, I was able to tweak the schedule, so I work lunch instead of dinner. And what am I doing on Friday night? Going to a Taste of Home cooking school.

During the entertaining 2-hour presentation, you’ll hear humorous anecdotes plus handy tips, garnishing ideas and much more to make meal preparation easy and fun. Every guest will leave with a gift bag full of product samples, valuable coupons and the newest Taste of Home Brand Name Recipe Cookbook with over 150 recipes.

I think the cookbook alone is worth the $12 entrance fee. (I bought three of the past year’s cookbooks at the thrift store and I love them.)

I was just in the middle of writing a post about finding a box of my grandparent’s old pictures. But then my computer froze and I lost it.

But the basic points were:

1. My dad had big ears.
2. My grandparents loved National Parks (I think I got my love for National Parks from them)
3. I love seeing pictures of my dad and my grandparents in stages of life that I did not know them.

In other news, I am continuing my boring life and loving it. I have three days off in a row, which is quite rare. And so I’m spending the time baking, sewing and working in the garden.

I have really been praying and looking for opportunities to get to know my neighbors better. Since I live in a tiny little town, I really want it to be a part of my community. The two families that live to the west of me go to my church so that has given me a bit of an opportunity to get to know them better and to teach their kids in Sunday School. And this week, a couple of things happened that opened the door for me to pray with my next-door neighbor Jennifer, and to watch her kids while she ran some important errands. So, God is working things out. And she has adorably cute kids.

Yesterday I took the postal service exam, along with about 150 other people. And ours just one session of eight being held in my area. There were 15 choices of post offices to workat, ane wed could only choose three. Once you pass the test, you are put on a list for future employment at those offices for the next two years. And when jobs come up, you are given preference according to your score. So, I’m not sure how many job openings there really are.
But I was surprised at how rude and stupid people are. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still am.
First of all, they told us about 25 times to make sure that our cell phones are off. But did people turn off their phones? Of course not.
And people just can’t listen, I guess. Because they couldn’t follow simple directions like “Don’t open the book until I tell you to.” Or “Sit in this seat”. Plus people are just rude and dont’ treat people with respect.
My favorite moment was when one of the test takers wanted to get the attention of one of the men who was helping to administer the test. So, he called out to him, “Hey, old man!”. Nice. Do they not realize that they are trying to get employment? The funny thing was that the head test administrator heard him say it, and chastized him in front of everybody, and then told us that they were also a part of the interview committee as well. Nice way to make a good impression.\

In other news, I went to Walmart yesterday to return some things that my sister got at a wedding shower. Apparently, you can only return items without a receipt 3 times a year. And you only get store credit. Apparently this discourages people from stealing things and then returning them. So, they take your license number and put you into the computer. Well, when the cashier looked at my license, and said, “Oh my word”, I knew what was coming. Some comment about how I look so young, or how I look so different, or is that really me. I knew this was coming because I have received omments like that so many times in the past couple of months. But never before….though I have had this license picture since the week before my 21st birthday…so, a good 8 1/2 years. But apparently I have aged a lot in the past couple of months. Every time I use my credit card or go to Blockbuster, I am reminded of this. Granted, I look very sad in my picture. I don’t know why. And I do look quite young. I’m just curious why this is suddenly noticeable to everyone who checks my I.D.

In other, other news, I have taken up a new habit. Well, it’s not a habit yet, since I have only been doing it for three or four days. But I have been riding my (sister’s) bike to the post office at night. It is not very far, but it is all uphill, so my legs are like jelly when I get there. But nothing beats riding back down the hill. The wind at your face, the blanket of stars above you the crickets cricketing. The last two days I did it a tiny bit after dusk, when there was still light in the sky. But tonight, I rode after I got home from work at about 10:30 and it was much darker but enjoyable.

And in other, other, other news…I have lots of tomatoes and I don’t know what to do with all of them.

The House

Front Porch

Overgrown sunflowers in the backyard.

Porch Swing

My vegetable garden

Rose bush in the backyard.

There are lots more, but that will do for now.

I’m not super creative or artistic. But I am crafty. And there is a difference. I can’t take a blank canvas and create some beautiful masterpiece. I can’t envision something really artistic and then create it. But I can make greeting cards or scrapbook pages with stickers, paper and embellishments that I buy from the store. But I pretty much do variations of the same thing every time. Nothing extremely creative.

I spent yesterday evening making cards, and it reminded me how much I enjoy doing “crafty” things. I haven’t done much lately, mostly because it’s summer, and I don’t love spending my free time inside. Or because we were planning a wedding. But that’s one thing I like about the winter. I can stay inside on the cold winter evenings and work on craft projects. I need to be more crafty.

I feel like my life is not nearly as out of control if my house is neat. So why is it messy so often? If I would just make sure to straighten it every day, then I would feel so much better. Sometimes I think when there is so much to do, it’s overwhelming, so I just do none of it, rather than take one thing at a time.

So, today, I did a lot of those little things. And it feels so good to come home from work to a clean house, and knowing that all my bills are paid.

My yard is out of control. But some neighborhood kids raked it today for me for a couple of bucks. Which made me happy and made me feel like there is one less thing for me to do.

I will never be the kind of girl who has it all together and whose house is spit-shined, which is okay with me. But I would like my life to be a bit more organized.

Well, I have a lot to say. But I probably won’t say any of it.

I had a wonderful somewhat old fashioned 4th of July with the family. BBQ, homemade ice cream, homemade pie, a cheery summer sun-dress, a straw hat, a ride in the 1961 convertible, fireworks, sparklers, and family and friends and celebrating this great country that we live in. What more could one ask for? Well, except for hanging out at the river…that’s what I really wanted to do and wasn’t able to.

I’ve had lots of thoughts that I’ve been wanting to write about…but somehow they never get typed up. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about poverty, in America and around the world. But you will just have to wait to hear them. I have also been reading quite a bit. I just finished the first book in the Mitford series, and a book of selected writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and am now reading Cry the Beloved Country.

And speaking of books, can I say that libraries are possibly my all-time favorite invention? Free books and free cds. How amazing is that?

I am currently making zucchinin bread. I don’t know why I am making zucchini bread so late at night. It seemed a good idea at the time, but it takes an hour to bake. And I am tired. But as soon as it’s done, I’m going to bed. And by the way, if any of you all need zucchini, I have an over-abundance.

So, I think that I mentioned that I won first place in a pie-baking contest at our local rodeo. I saw a request in the local paper for pies that they then sell to make money for the rodeo. Since I love to bake, and don’t really have anyone to bake for, I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised and quite proud when my strawberry rhubarb pie won first place…and happy to receive a $100 gift certificate to a kitchen store and a blue ribbon that now hangs in my kitchen. But word travels fast in a small town. The next day, everyone at the bar knew that I had won the contest. A couple of the guys were judges. So, it was kind of fun.

But then last week, Doc, (one of the judges), asked me if I would be willing to bake four pies for a Jr. Rodeo barbecue they are having this weekend…and asked me how much I would charge. I told him that of course I wouldn’t charge anything, because I just enjoy baking. Then he talked about how he was going to advertise that he would have pies from and “award winning pie baker”. Which made me laugh. Because that’s dumb. But it also worried me. That’s a lot of pressure. What if it was just a fluke that my strawberry rhubarb pie was so good, and they are really disappointed in these next pies I make?

And then, Bob, a kind older man who brings my sister and I fresh fruits and veggies on almost a daily basis, brought me some blackberries last week and requested a pie. He later reported that his pie, was “out of this world”, and better than the ones he makes. He asked if I could make him four pies to take to a church social this weekend. He brought me almost 5 gallons of blackberries to use and offered to pay me to make them. That’s a lot of blackberries…and 8 pies is a lot of pies to make. But I think it will be fun!

Though I’m not sure how I got myself into this pie making business.

What a wonderful day!

Church…I have come to love my quirky little community. My sister is attending with me for the summer…and she has already joined the worship team. And I helped out with Children’s Church today. There are only 4 kids and a wide age range, so that makes it a bit challenging. I’m excited because I am teaching Children’s Church next Sunday…and it’s the first time that I have done that in a long time…at least in this country.

Then after church, my sister and I went exploring. Some of the neighborhood kids told us that there is a swimming hole nearby that they call Catfish Pond. So my sister and I decided we needed to find this spot….which we were sure would just be a mudhole. But these kids weren’t so good at giving directions. They couldn’t remember if you turned left or right or uphill or downhill. So we decided just to explore. And we didn’t find Catfish Pond, but we did find our way down to the river. And it’s not too far, really. But because of the late rains (it was still raining last week), the river is pretty high and pretty swift. So, we had to trek across lots of sliding rocks to get to a spot that was wadeable…and then it was freezing. But we had a great time. And on our way back one of our neighbors told us that there is a cave not too far from the river that is really fun to explore. So, we will have to do that soon.

And then when we got home, my sister made some yummy dinner with fresh yellow squash and zucchini. (Not from our garden…ours won’t be ready for a day or two.) And then I got to go outside and enjoy my beautiful yard. Well, it’s more beautiful if I ignore the fact that there are lots of weeds and it needs to be mowed badly. But my sunflowers started blooming yesterday. There are lots of roses and gladiolias and zinnias blooming. And there are consistently about 10-15 finches hanging on or around my little finch feeder. And I picked some radishes from the garden, and just enjoyed the beautiful evening (and then mowed a bit). I usually work in the evenings, which sadly means I get to miss the beautiful sunsets and the stillness of summer nights. So, I enjoy them when I can.

And here is a picture I took this evening:

Look how tall my hollyhocks are:

And my pretty plums:

I love living in a small town. I have always been torn between my wanderlust and my desire to put down roots in smalltown, USA.

Right now I’m leaning toward the small town.

I love my small town life right now. I work in a restaurant where I get to know a lot of the “locals”.

I attend church with my neighbors. People who literally live next door or a block away. Of course that also means that when those same neighbors are fighting and cussing at each other, I get to hear all of the drama.

Friends and neighbors give me tomato plants and squash plants. One man who comes into the restaurant came over and rototilled my garden for me. Another guy from the restaurant is lending me his weed-eater. The neighborhood kids charge 5 bucks an hour to weed-eat my backyard. Granted, they don’t do a great job, but it’s still worth it.

Not to mention the computer and digital camera that customers have given to me.

At church on Sunday, Sue, one of the ladies who lives up the street told me about her favorite memory of my grandma. Every summer, my grandma would have a Vacation Bible School in her front yard for the local kids. My grandma would go around the neighborhood ringing a bell and announcing that VBS was happening, and Sue was so fascinated that she had to send her kids to VBS.

I entered a pie in a contest at the rodeo. And when I came to work the next day, everyone at the bar already knew that I had won first place in the contest. (I also won a $100 gift certificate to a kitchen store!!) I was SO stinking excited…about having the best pie, but also for the gift certificate. (It was a strawberry-rhubarb pie.)

I moved to this little town over 3 years ago, never wanting to stay. But here I am three years later loving it…and unfortunately probably having to leave it…well at least this house.

But I’m enjoying it while I can. I’ve been spending a lot of time gardening. Yay! And maybe getting chickens soon! And I have been reading the Anne of Green Gables series, and the Little House on the Praire series. Both of which make me want to be more industrious and homemakey (it’s totally a word ) .

I’m such a country girl at heart.

So, I’m just catching up on my internet life today, which really is impossible to do in a couple of hours. But I checked my blog and was surprised to see that there have been recent comments. That’s fun!

I don’t have much to say, really. I’m still here. And I won’t have internet access for a while, still. But life is good. Spring is here, and I’ve been working in the garden, feeding the birds, making a quilt, baking …and other old lady homemakey stuff. So, nothing’s changed.

That’s all for now.

Eric’s wife has a couple of cool websites. That is if you are into crafts or decorating at all. And a great story about her dad who learned to crochet. So, it’s not just for women.

Crafts at home
Decorate at home

So, check them out.

You won’t believe how excited I just got when I saw a hummingbird having lunch at my hummingbird feeder. It is a new feeder that I just put outside about an hour ago. And they have already found it. I have two hummingbird feeders and three birdseed feeders in my yard. I get lots of birds at the birdseed feeders, but not at the hummingbird feeders, since one of my neighbors has about a kajillion hummingbird feeders, they all seem to eat their meals at his house. But I’m gradually wooing them to my house.

My brother got me a really cool birdbath for Christmas. But it’s a bit cold right now for the birds to be bathing in, but it does look cool in my yard. Hopefully the birds will enjoy it in the hot summer.

I’m such an old lady. And very content with that.

A house with daffodils in it is a house lit up, whether or not the sun be shining outside!

I know I’ve blogged about this before and probably even used the same quotes. But it’s that time of year again. Daffodils have begun to bloom.

I really enjoy seeing the flowers in their natural environment. But it has been pouring rain and VERY windy the last few nights. So, I had to rescue these poor flowers. They were all knocked down and lying on the ground. And I love to have the fragrance and the beauty of their loveliness fill my house.

I picked huge bunches. This is only some of them:

cheering up my kitchen table:

on my woodstove (that I rarely use)

and in my window box

I love the Christmas season. Though it is often a little too packed. My mom’s birthday, my birthday, Christmas day, New Year’s, and my sister’s birthday are all packed into a 3 week window.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year….Well, I like spring and summer and fall also. I love all the seasons. As a side note, do any of you tell “scary ghost stories” at Christmas time? Last year, my family and I were at Arches National Park on Christmas day. How fun was that? Very fun. Christmas roadtrip around the southwest. So, I know I had my Christmas cds with me in the RV…and now, this year, I can’t find them. They must be at my mom’s house somewhere. Lots of my stuff is still there, because, you know, I was moving into my grandparents house temporarily 2 1/2 years ago. I loved the Christmas road trip last year, but it will be nice to have a more traditional Christmas this year. And really, I have a great job. They give me lots of time off. Pretty much anything I request. Which is nice.

My tree is decorated beautifully. Vanessa helped me hang the lights outside on Saturday, and we made persimmon pudding with persimmons that she liberated from a tree. But since Jesus is the reason for the season… ( I wonder if Christian bookstores are still filled with everything imaginable with this phrase on them. I haven’t been to a Christian bookstore at Christmastime in a while.) So, my house is all festive for the season, but I didn’t have a nativity scene and this made me sad. I was my mom’s house the other night, and she told me that my nativity scene was there. Having no recollection of having a nativity scene, I was eager to see what she was talking about. My recollection of it is still kind of fuzzy, but I know that I bought it in Honduras.

I really like it, because it is not all glitzy and gaudy. It is very primitive perhaps. But I love that about it. It is made out of natural things, such as leaves and cornhusks and seed pods.

So, yeah…that was a very stream of consciousness post.

Today’s high: Making ornaments and decorating the Christmas Tree. Enjoying the crisp air and beautiful day.

Today’s low: That’s hard. Nothing comes to mind, really. I guess rude people in the store. Some people just don’t realize they are not the only ones who exist.

When I was at Target today, I saw a tree-topper that I really liked.

(For some reason, I have recently fallen in love with the color red) It wasn’t very expensive, but it was a little damaged, so I asked if I could get a discount. At first she said that she could give me 10% off, which I would have been perfectly happy with. But I eventually got 25% off. So, at that point, I had a tree-topper, but nothing else to decorate my tree with except for lights. Oh, and I had no tree. So, I went and bought a tree. Yes, a real live tree.

In my family, we all have our own Christmas ornaments from when we were growing up. And the deal has always been that we get them once we have our own house, or have established ourselves outside of my mom’s house. But none of us are married, and so we always still have Christmas at my mom’s house. And none of us have really had a Christmas tree outside of her house. So, I could get those ornaments and decorate my tree with those. Which I probably will.

But, until then, I decided to go with the star theme of my tree-topper, and spent the evening making my own ornaments.

I bought a bag of wooden star shapes, painted them red or outlined them in red and hung them with raffia.

Then I found some wire in my craft box, and made some star shapes, which I then wrapped in raffia or in more wire.

And here is the (half-finished) product. I still have more ornaments to finish. I love Christmas.