Dead Snake or Deaf Snake?

   So little happening these days so there is so little to post about. 

                                 Think I will tell you a story. 

After my husband's retirement from the Navy, we moved to the countryside in Alabama on a 40 acre farm. Quite a different setting than what we were used to but I set about being a 'country' girl.

I wanted a flower bed so Elbert dug up a spot and edged it with cross-ties. ICYDK (That means In Case You Don't Know) cross-ties are the large wooden supports that the rails are attached to in making a railroad. 

I'd planted some flowers and one day went out to check on the first blooms when a snake came slithering by and wiggled down into a hole in between two of those cross-ties.

Now, you gotta understand... I HATE snakes. I scared of them, have always been, don't like them around. 

I was home alone, no one to ask to come take care of this snake for me so I went into the house and got my husband's revolver. I was nearly as skittish about guns as I was snakes so I walked toward that flower bed holding it out in front of me with both hands, like I thought the thing was going to bite me. 

I got back to where I last saw the snake, didn't see him, figured he was still down in that hole so I aimed that revolver straight at that hole. I emptied that gun, bam, bam, bam, etc. the bullets flying right into that hole. 

I headed back to put the gun away feeling pretty proud of myself. I either had a DEAD snake in that hole or...

I had a very DEAF one. 

Moonshine Baked Apples

I am not opposed to trying new things. In fact, I love it when I can 'steal' an idea from someone else.

I was watching Mary McCartney''s cooking show on Discovery+ and she and Kate Hudson were making maple vodka peaches. 

A lightbulb moment.

On a bus tour with Royal Tours (before the Pandemic) one of our stops was at Palmetto Moonshine in S. C. Just for the heck of it, I bought a pint of Moonshine (apple pie flavored moonshine). It's been in my fridge ever since.

So, I bought some apples. Halved them, scooped out the cores and poured a tsp., of moonshine in each apple half. Topped that off with some brown sugar and baked them.

Not sure if the apple taste I was getting was from the apple itself or the moonshine. But, no matter where it was coming from, they sure were good!!

'Cotton-pickin Day'

 It's going on 5...

I haven't accomplished a cotton-pickin' thing all day. Oh, I made a list before I went to bed last night. 

Had great intentions....

and then this morning it all fell apart. 

Good thing about it... I don't have to do anything I don't want to. And, today was the DAY! 

How was your Day?

Do You Have A Favorite Book?

 I love to read!

Been doing it ever since I learned how! 

But, I am not a book-keeper. There are few books in my apartment. For one thing, no storage space and the other is, after a time, books start smelling musty, full of dust mites and my allergies act up. So, I am thankful that I can order books to read on my Kindle... it never smells musty ... but it might start if I don't clean off that smear of hot cocoa I got on it. 

I can't say I have a favorite book. I can't say I have a favorite genre. Whatever catches my interest at the moment is what I am 'into'. 

But, I do have some very old books that I hang onto for sentimental sake.

There's the booklet my Mother had when she went to school. It's 'Enoch Arden' by Tennyson. 

And, the speller my granddad had when he was in school in the late 1870s. 

During WPA days in the Roosevelt years, my Mom worked at the library repairing books. When they couldn't be repaired for public use, she could bring some home to me. 

This one I enjoy to this day!

Then there was 

        a book I got as a Christmas present back around 1939 or 40. 

You might say these are my favorites! Because they hold a lifetime of memories, of me learning to read them, enjoying them as I grew up, of reading them to my children and then my grandchildren. I must drag them out and read them to my great-grands. 

Do you have favorite books from your childhood? Or from now? I'd love to hear about them. 

I Did It! Vaccine #2 is Done!

                I went for my 2nd (follow-up) vaccine today. 

The first one was a breeze. I hardly felt the injection, didn't get sick or even sore or nothing! I got this!

And, then I started hearing stories about the reactions some people got with the second one. Gee, that really revved me up for the next appointment. (sarcasm intended here)

Even my grandson-in-law (he's a doctor) Just telling you that so you will know that doctors aren't immune  to pain. But, his arm was so sore he could hardly move it for several days. 

So, I get up this morning, piddle around here, ignoring the clock until I couldn't ignore it any longer. My dr. office is just two blocks away so I didn't have a long drive ahead of me. I got there, parked at an end spot in the parking lot (you know, the curb is in front of you but there is also one along one side of your car). I will explain why that is important later.

I got checked in. An aide came and got me and I walked into the SHOT room. 

And, here comes the nurse. I didn't look. Those needles always look like they are for giving an elephant a shot! 

She says 'Big stick'. and I wait.  A little twinge and then she walks off with the needle in her hand. I'll be 'John Brown', she's finished. That's cool.

I wait 30 minutes like they tell me to. I took my crossword puzzle book with me but listening to the other people waiting was more fun. One lady was 94 and she was spry as a spring chicken. And, some old gentleman (I couldn't see him) talked non-stop to the nurse. By the time he left, she knew his life history. And, so did the rest of us. 

Well, it's been 9 hours since I got stuck! Nothing yet. No fever, no chills, no aches... I am going to quit listening to every Tom, Dick and Harry that talks about these shots.

You just watch... I am bragging and I bet you anything I get sick during the night. Just for spite! 

Oh, I meant to tell you about parking my car. I had to cut the wheel pretty sharp to get in the spot. I am walking back to my car and died laughing. One back wheel was perched up on the curb and my car is sitting catty-wampus.  

How did I not notice that when I got out? Maybe worrying about that needle, reckon?

Just a Nutty Old Lady

 I am just a 'spring chicken' when it comes to posting YouTube videos.

Can you believe that?

At 87 I am a 'spring chicken'.

But, I have discovered 2 (and, believe me, there are a ton more oldsters on there) who have had YouTube channels and they are older than me! Both have already passed but the videos I saw, one sweet lady was 92. Her channel was 'Depression Cooking'. and the other one was 107 and she's in the kitchen cooking with her granddaughters. I love it.

YouTube is not for the young... we oldsters are taking over!

Just type in Latane Barton to find me, if you are interested.

If you just think I am a nutty old woman... that's ok too. 'Cause when you are old you can do whatever you darn well please.

Hot Dogs Coming Out My Ears!

I am becoming very enchanted with the idea of shopping online. Oh, I've ordered things for quite some time like household items, clothes, books, etc. 

What I am talking about is groceries. I am loving going online (I use Instacart) choose what I want or need in my kitchen and within two hours it is at my front door... up all 3 flights of stairs, 😀

The problem I am having is, I was used to feeling, touching, reading labels back in the day of going to the grocery store. 

            I can't touch or feel anything on my computer screen. 

       I bet you are saying, 'I wonder where she is going with this.'

Well, I am so totally accustomed to hot dog weiners coming in a package of 10... or is that 8? Anyhow... the number of the weiners and the buns don't ever match. I wonder if they do that for a reason? 

So, I was hankering for a hotdog the day I ordered my groceries. So, I got weiners, got buns. 

When I pulled that package of wieners out of the grocery bag, I dang near fell over. There were 24 wieners in that package. 

     I wonder how long it is going to take me to eat 24 hotdogs? 

Not to worry... I am freezing a chunk of them. 

I bet I look more carefully next time I order groceries on the computer before I click 'order'. 

My 'Rocking Chair' Time Has Come

When I had a very busy life I would wonder when my time would come that I could be like an 'old grandma' and sit in my rocking chair with not a care in the world. Even into my eighties I still had so much going on that the question was never far from my mind. 

The Pandemic hit and I couldn't do any outside activities but I was busy getting ready for the publisher a revision of a book I had already published 30 years ago. So, I still wondered about that rocking chair.

Yesterday morning I got up and looked around. There was nothing to do! Well, not anything that HAD to be done. 

                                         So, what did I do all day?

I watched tv, finished a book I was reading, fixed myself stuff to eat and at the end of the day I went to bed.

That was the strangest feeling! I made it.... I finally have my time to not worry about scheduling, finishing projects, doing a darn thing.  Oh, and by the way, while I was watching tv, I was sitting in my recliner and guess what... it's rocks. 

       So, there I was that little old grandma sitting in my rocking chair.                            I wonder how long the euphoria will last! 

Best Super Bowl Commercial

 I'm a college football fan.  (Roll Tide)

                                Not 'into' professional games. 

But, I did have the super bowl on tv last night. Not sure why. Maybe because everyone else said they'd be watching.  

Even though I was playing solitary on my tablet while the game was going on, I would pause and see what the commercials were all about. Some of them so mundane, some downright stupid. 

But, the one 'Re-United States of America' really got me. We so need this preached to us at this difficult time of our history. So, Jeep Trucks. You had the best commercial for the Super Bowl night. 

Congrats to Jeep!

However, Jeep did not get good reviews for their efforts. Some said it was too 'over the top'. 

Was I not paying attention? 

Perhaps one part of my brain was on the commercial, one on my game of solitaire. 

        Oh, and by the way, Congrats to Tampa Bay for the big win.