A Visit With My Sister and a Walk Down Memory Lane

I've spent the past week in Greensboro visiting with family.  It's been
wonderful.  My sister and I have had a blast and I got to spend lots of
time with my niece and her sweet little girl.  The first thing we did upon
my arrival, was head to a Zumba class.  Sherri has been doing this two
or three evenings a week and she's lost all kinds of weight.  She wanted
me to try it out and see how I liked it.

The class was held in a gym with lots of other women of all ages
and sizes.

For an hour, I jumped, bent, twisted, turned and tried to move  my hips
in every way imaginable.  The routines were fast and I had to keep my
eyes on the leaders to keep from completely embarrassing myself.  Sherri
said, "Don't worry if you mess up.  Nobody's really watching you." And
she was right.  If you try and keep up with this fast music, you don't have
time to do anything else.  I turned the wrong direction more than once and
when I couldn't keep up with the fancy footwork, I just made up my own. :)
The objective is to keep moving!

So what do I think of Zumba?  Well, let's just say I have a ballet personality
and this Latino inspired "party"was a bit intense for me. And some of those
dance moves...well all I can say is, I'm glad no one was watching me.
Anyway, it is a great workout, and it sure beats walking on a treadmill.
If you do the routines full out, you can burn up to 1000 calories in an hour.
Not bad!   If I lived closer to Sherri, I would go with her, just because it
was a fun thing to do with my sister and I could easily stand to burn 1000
calories an hour! A group exercise class is a nice change from my
normal routine.  I think I will look for some options closer to home.

I spent the next day with my niece, Jessica and her daughter, Abbie.

Isn't she adorable?  I took tons of pictures of this little girl.

I couldn't help myself.

Our first stop was to Gate City Yarns, a great shop in downtown

Greensboro.

This place was a feast for the eyes and of course I had to touch 

all of them.  So beautiful!   My mind was going crazy thinking

of all the things I would like to make......if only I knew how.

I've started a knitting class and my first project will be a scarf.  I needed 

to get a color that would match my coat.   Decisions, decisions.

I ended up choosing a soft brown, fall color.  Jessica chose a green and

purple to make a scarf for Abbie and a brown and cream flecked for herself.

I think a yarn store might be my new favorite place to hang out. 

It's a strangely comforting place to be.  

We went to lunch at an Asian restaurant of Jessica's choosing.

The meal was good, but watching Abbie was the most fun.

When the raisins were gone and the fussing began, Jessica 

had a bag of tricks up her sleeve that even kept me entertained.

Boy, have times changed since I was raising my children.

Did you know that you can watch the Cat in the Hat on the

cell phone?  Abbie loves the Cat in the Hat.

(Sorry for the blurry picture, but you get the idea, right?)

The next day we loaded up the car and took a little trip into 

Winston - Salem to visit some locations we remember from

our youth.  My sisters and I were born there and we spent the

first years of our life in a little house on Louise Road.

Sherri and I both remembered the house, but were saddened by the 

condition we found it in.  The windows were broken on the front

and the paint was peeling.  The house was empty so we were able to 

get out and walk around.  I said a little prayer before getting out of the

car - this has become a rough neighbor"hood" over the years and 

probably not the safest place for us to be.

We peeked in the windows and were surprised by how small the 

rooms were.  The kitchen and living room were tiny.  The house

had four bedrooms and one small bathroom.  Everything was

so much smaller than our childhood memories recalled.  We 

both remembered sitting in that tiny kitchen in front of the 

stove while the cinnamon toast cooked in the mornings.

The green paint was the color of our home when we moved.  

We walked around the yard remembering the trees we played in and

where the swing set was located in the back, which also seemed a

whole lot bigger to us.  Does everything seem larger than it really is

to a little child?

About forty years ago, we had our pictures taken in front of 

this house in our Easter dresses and bonnets.  Our mama always

made sure we had beautiful Easter clothes.   Good memories.

We also both remember our trips to school in the old Renault

without heat.  How funny is that?   Each day on our way to

school we passed this Shell.

Thanks goodness Jessica was with us as we spent our time driving

around looking for all these old places.  She is a google guru and 

with that fancy phone of hers, she helped us find everything we

were looking for and also supplied interesting information to go

along with it.   The Shell company built eight of these stations

during the 1930's and this one in Winston- Salem is the only

one still standing.  It has been renovated and is in great shape.

Of course we didn't know any of this - we just remembered the

Shell that we used to ride by on our way to Forest Park school

I was surprised this school was still there, after all it has been more 

than forty five years.  It has been added onto and renovated, but parts 

of the school were the same as we remembered.

For the most part, I have good memories of that school.  The only bad

thing I can remember is struggling to learn my multiplication tables and

being moved to the "dumb" math class as a result.  That little ordeal 

traumatized me and was the beginning of my math phobia, which 

unfortunately I still deal with today. 

Our last stop was to the church we attended - Southside Baptist.

I have nothing but good memories about this place. This is where

I learned to love Jesus.  I remember sitting in the sanctuary with

my family and watching my mom sing in the choir.  Because the

church was locked, I took this picture through the front door.  It

is just as lovely as I remember.

I remember going to Sunday School and Vacation Bible School 

where I learned how to sing "Jesus Loves Me" and other songs.

I loved going to church.  My best memories are from the live nativity 

that the church presented each Christmas (and still does today).  My 

family all participated.  My sisters and I were angels (yes, we are still

angels :) that stood behind the manger.  My dad was a wise man and

my mom was one of the  angels in the tall trees that were set up on 

the lawn.  (Although that tree may not have been as tall as I remember,

I know she had to climb a ladder to get to the platform to stand on).

The church brought in live animals which was an amazing thing for 

"city kids" to see.  We were taught how to move very slowly as we 

changed shifts and we always had hot chocolate to drink to warm us 

up.  That little white gown and tinseled wings and halo was the best 

of dress up clothes. It was an experience that had great impact on me

and I still think about it every Christmas.

I'm so thankful my parents understood the importance of taking

their children to church each Sunday.

After visiting our old neighborhood, we called our dad and thanked

him for having the foresight to move our family when he did.

When the city schools began bussing elementary children miles from

their homes in order to integrate the schools, my parents said, "no

way".  We moved out of the city and into the country.  It was a 

good move for our family.  But we will always remember our

time in this area of Winston- Salem with much fondness.

This was the home we moved into in Jonesville and where 

my Dad still lives today.  Many good memories were made

here as well.  I had a blessed childhood.

Besides reminiscing about younger days, Sherri and I spent

a lot of time balancing out our exercising (we took long walks

along with our Zumba class) with some great eating.  We 

decided we didn't have enough time to go to all her favorite

eating establishments, but we gave it our best effort!  I had

an amazing lunch at her favorite Greek restaurant-

Mythos Grill.

Yes, I love Greek food. Chicken slouvlaki........delicious!!!!

Later on, we went to Feeney's.  Oh, how I wish we had a

Feeney's in my town.

With eight or nine delicious flavors(that change daily) to choose from,

you serve  yourself and then add your toppings.

With all these things to choose from, I went pretty conservative.

Lime custard yogurt with graham cracker crumbs, a few cheesecake

squares and a little whipped cream.

Tasted just like Key Lime Pie, which I dearly love.

Here's a random sight that made my mouth drop- the largest chest

of drawers in the world is located a few miles from my sister's home.

Now, that's a claim to fame for sure.

We went to see Old North State play at the Green Bean in Greensboro

(more on that in another post) and we took Jessica and Abbie back to

their home in Richmond just in time to have a little hurricane experience.

On our return trip to Greensboro, we had to wait in line for 40 minutes in

order to gas up our car.  It's always eerie to me to when I see sights like this.

How dependent we are on fossil fuel.

With power outages and grocery store shelves empty of food, it is a

reminder of the need to be prepared, something I'm always working

towards. 

If your still with me at this point, you deserve a star or maybe a piece

of chocolate or a Feeney's yogurt creation!  This has been a long post, 

but man, we fit a lot into this past week.  

Having sisters that are also your friends, that you enjoy spending

time with, is truly a blessing.  And I have two of them, so I'm 

doubly blessed!  I love my family!

*MYOF Goals -#12- Nurture relationships with extended family

                          #16 - Exercise 50 minutes a day, 5 days a week

A Quick and Easy Dinner

If you planted cherry tomatoes, you might have more than
you know what to do with right about now.  I know I do.
I came up with a nice, quick pasta sauce that puts those
cherry tomatoes to good use.

While visiting my sister and her family, I whipped up this dinner
for them to enjoy after a long day at work.  I admire women who
work outside of the home and still have enough energy left to
come home and cook a meal.  I just don't know how they do it.

It was nice to have a photographer follow me around while I cooked.
I'm used to setting up a tripod and taking my own pictures.  I felt
a little like I was on a cooking show.  :)  Thanks to Sherri and Jessica
for taking all the photos.  We made a good team.

To make the pasta sauce, I cut all the tomatoes in half.

I used fresh garlic and lemon juice.....

I chopped lots of garlic, about four large cloves,

and sauteed it in a few tablespoons of olive oil.  With the pan on medium

heat, I let the garlic cook a couple of minutes (being very careful not

to let it burn) 

and then added the tomatoes to the pan.

At this point, I turned the heat down and let them cook slowly for

about ten minutes.  I didn't want them to get mushy, just lightly

cooked, so you still have a little pop of tomato flavor in each bite.

I added about 1/4 cup of feta cheese (more or less, depending on 

your feelings about feta),

and a couple spoons of capers.   Then I squeezed fresh lemon juice

over the top and seasoned with salt and pepper.  

There you have it.   A ten minute pasta sauce with five ingredients. 

Very Mediterranean.  I've also made it with shrimp added during the

last couple of minutes of cooking time and that was delicious too.

Served with a green salad, over angel hair spaghetti it was pretty

yummy.  

I have a recipe for some amazing garlic knots that I made to go with

our pasta.  I got this recipe from my friend Pam and I promise you,

they will become the hit of any meal.  Never, I mean never make

them unless you have enough people to help you eat them.  They 

are addicting.  Now, you can't say you haven't  been warned.

They are so easy that you will feel like you are pulling off a magic

trick.   You begin with canned biscuits.  I know...... this is not the

kind of thing I usually have in my kitchen.  In fact, I think this is the

only time I ever use canned biscuits, but trust me on this, it works.

Buy the large, buttermilk variety and cut each biscuit in half.

Roll each half into a rope

and tie into a knot.  Bake as directed on biscuit can until lightly 

browned.  While they are baking, in a ziplock bag, put about

1/4 cup of olive oil, dried parsley and oregano or other Italian

seasonings, garlic salt and finely grated parmesan cheese.  

I never measure any of this, but you need enough oil to keep

the mixture from becoming a paste.  I just shake it all into the bag

until it looks the way I like it.  You'll have to experiment

on this, adding more oil if you need it.

When the biscuits come out of the oven, let them cool for a minute

so you don't melt the plastic bag.   Then put a few biscuits into

the bag and shake, shake, shake, coating each biscuit with that oil

mixture.  After you place them on your serving plate, you sprinkle 

a little more cheese on top.

Don't those look amazing?  Serve while they are warm and still

soft from the oven.  Your gonna love them.

Scott and Sherri did.  They also liked coming home from work and

having dinner prepared for them.  Cooking dinner is the least I can do 

to thank them for their hospitality.  Sherri kept saying, "This is so nice."

and Scott kept saying "I'll take another one of those rolls." 

I love cooking for appreciative people!

We also had a brownie cheesecake for dessert......but I'll save that for

another post.

*MYOF Goals-  #10  Eat three meatless dinner meals a week 

                             # 12 Nurture relationships with extended family

                             #23  Try 50 new recipes

Keeping Chickens

I love keeping chickens.  I feel like I have a real farm, because I have 

chickens.  They are calming to me and lots easier than horses, which 

we had for a number of years.  Yeah, horses.......I just can't tell you how

happy I am that part of my life is history.  Horses are big work and 

chickens are little work.  I enjoy hearing their chatter in the mornings

when I come to open up their coop and it totally cracks me up to watch

them run.  They just make me smile.  

Of course the best thing about having your own laying hens is the 

supply of fresh eggs.  I'm totally spoiled.  There really is a difference

between factory eggs and fresh eggs.

This is the first egg I collected in 2009.  That was a very happy day

for me.  Since then, I've had a number of different hens.

Last year I lost all but one to predators.  That was a very sad day.

I love the idea of letting my chickens free range around our property,

but that turned out to be a bad idea.  We think they were killed by a 

pack of dogs.  I cried a lot.

One hen escaped and we found her the next day hiding outside our

door.  We named her Lucky.  

Now I have seven hens - a mix of Orpington Buffs and Rhode Island

Reds. They are old ladies and have slowed down on egg production.  I've

been collecting anywhere from two to four eggs a day.  Within the next 

few months, I'll be getting fifteen new Rhode Island Reds who are just

beginning to lay.  I love the big, brown eggs from a Rhode Island Red and 

these new hens will lay all the eggs we'll need (and more) for a couple of years.

Chickens are fairly low maintenance.  They have to be fed and watered 

daily.  When I let them out in the morning into their fenced in pen, I clean

the coop, which takes about five minutes.  When I have time during the 

day, I will check in with them, bringing them kitchen scraps or garden

goodies.  They love lettuce and tomato and any grain product, like old 

bread.  You should see them come running for bread crumbs.   It's a 

good way to use food that otherwise might be thrown away. Rather

than ending up in the garbage, it's eaten by the chickens who then

produce more food - eggs.   A nice arrangement.

Once a month, I do a more thorough cleaning of their coop.  I clean

out all the old shavings and straw and scrape up poop off of the 

floor and shelving.  Poop is a part of keeping chickens.  They poop

a lot and it has to be dealt with.  It makes great fertilizer for the 

gardens.

I clean out the old straw, which usually has had a broken egg or two in it.

I then use this old straw for mulch in the gardens or in the lot for the chickens

to scratch in.

This hen didn't waste any time climbing in a box.  We call her

Broody, because she is a broody hen.  She wants to sit on the

eggs all the time, thinking she is going to hatch them.  It's

definitely not going to happen, because it's not a fertilized egg.

We have to force her out of the box each day, and she doesn't 

like it one bit.  I've recently learned that this particular breed

(Buffs) tend to be overly broody.  With my limited experience,

I would agree.

Before putting down fresh shavings, I sprinkle livestock dust around 

to help keep the mites and other pests away.   

The coop smells so nice when I put the pine shavings down.

And the chickens love to scratch around in the fresh shavings

and straw.

In the evenings, I go to the coop and the girls are usually already

on their roost.

I thank them for the eggs, turn out the lights and head back to the

house.  It's a nice way to end the day.

Chickens are an enjoyable hobby and an important part of our

plan to live self reliantly. I'm very grateful for them.

*MYOF Goals - #18    Work on monthly storage and preparedness goals.