aprons.....

from a dear friend.

The History of  'APRONS'   I don't think our kids know what an apron is.  The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required less material.  But along with that, it served as a potholder for  removing hot pans from the oven.  It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.    From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.   When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.   And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.   Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.   In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.   When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.  It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.   Send this to those who would know (and love) the story about Grandma's aprons.  REMEMBER: Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.  Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.  They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.  I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love...

on my way to the bank......

if  any of you ever see me out and about in smiley face sweat pants. please shoot me!

just past mid august

It was cool this morning. Some showers, but sun by 10a.m.  breezy for quite some time and finally the heat kicked back in by 2p.m.  fans on, but No need for air conditioning.

New windows were not installed today because of the showers and talk of rain off and on for the day.  Disappointed as this means the bedrooms are all in disarray and will stay that way through next week. This messiness preys on my mind but i am trying to ignore it.  Andrew will start moving things around when he gets home Saturday. Then moving them back last minute when ever the builder decides to come.  I Don't blame Andrew especially since we have no clue when they will be coming, and everything is ready today at this end. oh well... life happens.

All in all, it is still a fabulous day. I have to consider something for dinner but i have had a refreshing shower and change of clothes. 

Mega wash to start Friday, but not much else to do.  hubby is home Friday. He will be packing and leaving Sunday afternoon for calif.,  i have a party Saturday afternoon for friend Elaine.
busy weekend.....

happy birthday hubby!!

life is good in the country.

another showery day

Walking dogs in between showers and the air is so fresh and clean.  It is cool and breezy, humidity is not a factor this early in the day.  birds singing, weeds have died back and the look is pre-fall....a little less greenery to obstruct the eye.

Andrew leaves today for a trip to Minnesota. Hubby and i will be..empty nesters' for a short period of time.  I have already adjusted buying/cooking since Ross left. I notice that i have less and different things in the refrigerator.  Andrew mentioned that i should still make the same amounts of some foods (that he enjoys) and i don;t mind a few leftovers to start the next day's meal.

I like making the largest meals with Possible leftovers early in the week so that everything is gone by the weekend.  Since we have take out Friday, left overs sit.  Pizza Saturday means left overs are still sitting. By Sunday evening i like an easy pasta /veggies meal: no left overs for Sunday dinner!  Trash pick up is Monday early morning, so Sunday is the day to clean out the refrigerator...bye bye left overs!

During recent lunches with friends, i have noted i cannot eat as much as i once did.  Also Dinner time on those days finds me not hungry after the larger lunch and usually  a salad for dinner will suffice.  Older Friends have talked about lunch time being their heavier largest meal.. and it almost seems a natural progression instead of a forced change of habit. interesting....

life is never dull here in the country.

found it at the food market.

Stopped at the Comcast store today to take back an extra cable box and swap out another box that has given us intermittent problems.  It is always a pleasure to stop in. Good service and People who react to the way you treat them. I always leave satisfied that i got what i came for. 

Afterwards i stopped in at Redners food market to pick up yogurt and fruit.
Long check out lines necessitated some magazine reading while i waited and browsing  the end caps with their last minute items which may be of interest to those with a few extra bucks in hand.  What i saw made me hesitate for just a moment, then i  reached for a bag,  Mary Jane candies. 

This is another favorite candy from my childhood.  it is amazing to read the list of ingredients and wonder how it can still get it's distinctive flavor, a sweet molasses chewy outside with a little peanut buttery inside.  This is a candy that can pull the fillings put of your teeth if you are not careful.   I wondered about buying a bag. I ended up telling myself i could suck on them to keep my fillings safe which i did.  yum.. just the way i remember them. Mary Jane's.   The wrapper is the same wax paper yellow with a red bar in the center. after all this time.. over 50+ years.... still the same. 

Interestingly enough Mary Jane's are made by the New England Confectionery Company, located in Revere, Massachusetts.

if you are looking for things made here, in the U.S.A. this is one worth adding to the list.

Mary Jane's

Go USA!!!!

2nd weekend in august 2011

We have a fabulous crop of Hosta flowering their little roots out this year.  Some fancy, more unusual varieties but also many of the  plain big green leaved ones too.  Flowers seem to be either white or lilac colored.  Tall spikes depending on the size of the plants.  The scents are all similar too. 

I was admiring one area of hosta, doing so much better with less dense shade.  I stopped to smell the flowers and did a double take.  They smelled like the candy wax lips i got as a child in south philly candy stores.   What a hoot!   I have been back there a few times to smell those flowers in case it was my imagination.  There scent is still reminiscent of those candy wax lips from so long ago.

Thanks mother nature, for the trip down memory lane!

wild flowers in august 2011

I have noted this flower here and there, for the last 30 years. While beautiful, it is always an after thought because i just happen across it and always in different places each time.  This year i have two areas with larger healthy plants, happy with their accommodations i presume .   I am tryng to encourage the seeds to stay where the plants are blooming .. and maybe cultivate a few more next year.

i have no clue what it is, except for exquisite.

actually has a pink/purple center.

those little onion looking things behind the flower are the unopened buds.

this plant is growing in tandem with Margareta daisy.

notice the lacy, fern like leaves.