The County Fair

I entered a jar of these in the local county fair.



Saturday, some friends and I went to the fair to check it out. It was a rinky dinky hot mess. But, in the exhibition hall we found the pickles. Ten jars were entered. Nine jars had ribbons. Any guesses on the jar without a ribbon?

I love these pickles, so I'm okay without the recognition. But it started a whole week-end of self-doubt, which brought on a serious case of the blues. I cried a lot.

I feel better now and am laughing about the pickles. Maybe not so much about the other stuff.

What A Week!

My friend Patty had to put her cat down last week. My sister had to put her 17 year old beloved dog down Friday. Of course, I am still morning the loss of Prissy.

But the really bad stuff happend yesterday.

My cousin Pat and her husband James own several business, one of which is a used car lot. A man came into the office of the car lot yesterday and shot James three times. James is in intensive care at the University hospital.

Please pray for Pat & James.

Goodbye

I'm fighting the tears as I type this. Today, I said goodbye to my pretty Prissy, my companion and comfort. I loved her dearly and truly know that she loved me. My father laughed about her dedication to me, her constant need to be touching me.


This was our first Christmas together. Look at that face!


Festive, huh?


How many cats do you know that love a bath?

She never liked to play. I remember once I spent about $12.00 on a clockwork mouse. I called her into the room, wound it up and set it on a table. She looked at the mouse, looked at me, back to the mouse, back to me. Then, while looking at me, she casually reached over, knocked the mouse off the table, and walked away.

I was going to publish the slideshow of a day in the life of Prissy, but instead, click here.

You know, remembering all of this has made me smile. I hope you don't mind.

I Really Hate To Do This...

But I need a moment to vent.

I have an infections inside my nose. It is red and swollen and hurts a bit. I look like Rudolph.

Yesterday while drying my hair, I noticed something dark, went to get a closer look, a clump of hair came off in my hand.

The cat bit me on my knuckle and my entire hand hurts.

The button popped off of the slacks I was planning to wear to work.

And I spilled cat food all over the floor.

I'm just not happy right now.

Movie Nite

My friends and I get together every other month to watch old movies. We've been doing it for a few years now and we've seen some really great movies.

We also bring food.

Lots of food.

So we got together last Saturday night to watch Bell, Book, and Candle with Jimmy Stewart, Kim Novak, and Jack Lemmon. We also watched The Big Sleep with Bogart and Bacall.

Our hostess made a lovely baked ziti, a Greek salad, and some caramel cupcakes. I made a blackberry cobbler and picked up some Publix fried chicken. And we had meatball subs, Caprese salad, and watermelon.

I also made watermelon margaritas. I love watermelon and I, unfortunately, love margaritas. To quote Ina Garten, how bad can that be?

So we had good food, good drink, good conversation, and good movies. All in all, a great night.

I'm Tired

I'm tired of Mel Gibson.

I'm tired of Chelsea Clinton's wedding.

Though I love her, I'm tired of Sandra Bullock's marital woes.

I'm tired of commercials for personal injury attorneys.

I'm tired of political campaigns, and we're just approaching the primary!

I'm tired of the heat.

I'm tired of the humidity.

And, like everyone else in the world, I'm tired of the gulf oil spill.

In other words, I can't watch television, listen to the radio, go outside or look at the internet without being more tired. Good thing I've got a big pile of books to be read.

The Taste of Summer Sunshine

I brought home an assortment of tomatoes from my dad's garden last week. This year is not the bountiful harvest of the past, but I came home with enough to keep me in tomato sandwiches for a while.

And I've had a few.

I gave in to one of my dark desires over the week-end, however, and had my favorite breakfast. Toast and tomato.

I know, it sounds simple. But let me explain a couple of things. I only use real butter and I don't use a toaster to make toast. I either melt butter in a frying pan and toss bread into the melted butter or I spread butter on the bread and place it on a baking sheet under the broiler. Whichever way I choose, the bread is infused with real butter.

I top all of this buttery goodness with vine ripened sliced tomatoes and sea salt. It is divine!

Years ago, a baby sitter sliced open left-over biscuits and slathered them with butter. She then toasted them in the oven and placed a slice of tomato on each half as it came from the oven. I have loved it since but never have biscuits in the house. Thus, the toast.

The acidic sweetness of ripe tomato, the yeasty goodness of the bread, and the creaminess of the butter combine to remind me of what I love about summer.