The Iron Bowl

                                 Let me tell you about SEC college football...

             There's nothing like it. I swear! Okay, I won't swear... but I promise. How's that?

The IRON BOWL is Saturday. What's an Iron Bowl you are asking... it's not a Bowl game at all. It's the rival Alabama/Auburn game. And, those two teams... oh my. Let me tell you, there's fierce loyalty amongst the fans on both sides. To some it's fighting rights.

I happen to know. You see, my family is split right down the middle. My son couldn't be a bigger Bama fan and my husband and I were/are fans as well, not as big as Mike but we always want Bama to win.

On the other hand there are my two daughters... dyed in the wool Auburn fans. Not sure where that came from. None of our family went there.

My son went to U of A in Tuscaloosa. My husband graduated from U of A in Birmingham. So, we got a reason to cheer for Bama, right? Roll Tide Roll.

I will be watching the game alone. Maybe that's best. hehe. Hubby is gone now but I can still hear him yell "Yabba Dabba Do" every time Alabama would score. I'll be doing my own cheering. Nobody to hear me but then again nobody's against me, either. Hmmmm....

Two/Too Many Thanksgivings!

                                                              Today is Thanksgiving!

                                      I've spent the day all by myself. That's fine with me.

I think I am still stuffed from the two Thanksgivings I've had already and just decided I didn't need another one.

Last Saturday we all gathered on the Eastern Shore at my granddaughter's home. That was quite the feast. I'd never had pheasant before so now I can mark that off my 'bucket list'. It was good. And, of course, we had all the traditional dishes. I took my homemade cranberry sauce. Easy-peasy on this old grandma!

                                     Some of the group keeping eye on the food in the kitchen.

And, some gathered around the table. 

Now isn't this a beautiful pumpkin pie? Wish I could claim it but it was daughter who made it. 

We can't have Thanksgiving without sweet potato casserole.

And, how about his cute little turkey? It's butter... to go with the rolls of course. 

                Then on Tuesday night we had our Thanksgiving dinner here at our apartment complex.
                                               
Here's just a portion of the crowd. You can bet on a crowd around here if there is food involved. hehe

My Plate

Look at all these desserts. And, the bar was completely full of veggies, turkey and stuffing so the olives and deviled eggs had to hang out on the dessert table. 

Not a bad place to hang out, I'd say. 

This is some of the food. The staff did the turkey and the residents provided all the rest of the food. We've got some pretty doggone good cooks around here. 

So, don't you think I was wise to just hang out at home today, maybe have some soup or something. What do you eat after Thanksgiving ... leftovers or something entirely different? 

Happy Thanksgiving

Crazy Hat Day

Have you ever heard of Crazy Hat Day?

Me, neither but we had one here yesterday.

I fretted over what kind of hat to make. I got on Pinterest and found a few ideas but when it came time to make my hat... I just grabbed some fall foliage out of a vase and stuck it into my straw hat and ta da...

Most of the participants weren't very inventive but here's a few pictures of some of our group.

Can't wait for Crazy Hat Day next year!!

Nice Girls Sleep In Cold Beds

                                                                   Dec 9th 1950....

Elbert and I are getting married. I am so excited. He's been in the Navy almost three years, been fighting in a war... yep, he'll just get his marriage license... no sweat. My Mom would have to sign for me so we three go to the courthouse and got this "I don't care if you have been on your own, fighting and all that, buddy, you are not 21 and you'll have to have a parent sign for you".

Oh, boy... that was upsetting so he went back home to get his Dad. Mom and I waited in town and we waited and we waited... and finally here he comes ALONE. Where's Dad? He wouldn't sign!

So, what to do? We'd just go to Mississippi. You didn't have to have permission there and you could lie about your age and they didn't care. We'd heard you could get married 24/7. We hopped into the car with his cousin, C, and his wife D and headed west.

D's parents lived near the state line. We pulled up in front of their old country house and visited a few minutes and then continued our journey. It was Saturday and dark by the time we reached town. The courthouse was closed and no, they did not perform ceremonies without a license! DUH.

So, we pile into the car once again and head back to the little country house. I mean country!! Their only heat was fireplaces and it's December! We sit around in the front room talking for awhile and finally D's Mother says, "I got you young folks a nice fire going in the back bedroom with plenty of covers on the bed".

I look at Elbert! He looks at me! Nothing had been said about us not being married. What were we to do? This was back in the day when couples didn't sleep together until marriage... well, at least nice girls didn't. And, I was a nice girl.

Guess where I slept that night? In a cold room in the bed with D. My almost, but not quite, husband and his cousin C slept in that big fluffy bed in the back bedroom with a fire going and comfy covers.

                                                                   Dec. 10th 1950

We did go back to Mississippi the next morning. We did get married and lo and behold we stayed married for 60 years,

                                                       without his Dad's permission!

We had no wedding pictures! 😢 but here is one of me in the navy blue suit and white felt hat with a spray of orange blossoms around the brim that I wore. Got that snapshot after the fact.

Staying Inside The Lines

                                                Let's see, what's on my agenda today?

           We are going on  the van to George's Steak House for lunch. Oh yummy!

I am so thankful that we residents can get together and do fun things. I am driving less and less. It had already started, this being nervous in lots of traffic. I am not going to say that old age has a thing to do with it (he he) but it does. I drove clear across country one time (in my young days) with a car full of kids. I've always been a good driver and never minded it.

NOT!

                                             I had a wreck a year ago. It wasn't a bad one.

                 But, I am just not as willing to put myself out there to be somebody's target anymore.                                                                     Oh, I do drive.. if I have to.

So, I am doubly thankful today for the van

and for my grandson who will be my chauffeur anytime I want.

And, my daughter and her hubby who take me places.

Joining Thankful Thursday

Oh, and while I am thinking about it. Christmas isn't far away. Done your shopping yet.

If not let me make a suggestion

Order this book for the females on your list. (It's not a guy's book)

It's on Amazon.

Now I was a sly old dog, wasn't I? Yep, I wrote it

Just doing a little advertising. 😀😀

Eating High On The Hog.

I can't believe I've been so busy... just love it.

Monday went like this. After I had posted my Memory Monday, this happened.

Noon... Lunch with my girlfriends at Decoys Restaurant. These are the ladies (minus one who couldn't make it) that meet every other week. We've been doing that for four years now. The two gals across from me, they are from Pa. originally. They had tuna melts. I've never had a melt of any kind!

 The girl sitting next to me had a shrimp boil. And, me... can you see how tall that crabmeat sandwich is? I finally had to take the patty out and slice it in two. But, we had fun and that's what it's all about.

At 3:30 I was back downstairs in the community room for a Hot Cider Social...

Cider all gone so back upstairs to take a nap... I couldn't so at 6 I head back down to watch a movie. 

We saw "Gifted Hands" a story about Dr. Ben Carson, the famous pediatric neurosurgeon (and presidential candidate). It was good. 

I met a new neighbor, a woman named Karen. She's nice. She has just moved in to the apartment under me so I will have to be more careful about stomping around up here. I hear every step the woman who lives over me makes. Hallelujah she doesn't move around much! 😀

Home again just in time to see Dancing With the Stars. I was just heartsick over James Van Der Beek not getting into the finals. He was my favorite! 

I woke up at 8:15 this morning. Oh my gosh, I gotta get ready to leave...

A bunch of us went an hour away to Rocky Hock, N. C. to the Rocky Hock Playhouse to hear a concert and have a scrumptious lunch. I swear... I gotta quit eating all the time! 

My lunch... can you believe that I ate the whole thing.... Oh My Gosh. I am gonna be bigger than the side of a barn if I don't watch it!! 

                                    The entertainment really put me in the Christmas spirit.

 I took video and now I can't figure out how to get the durn thing off my smart phone onto my blog. I've tried a ton of stuff. I did post it on facebook, though. Well, something new to explore...

Y'll take care now. Have a good night. 

Band Members In The Big City

My gosh....
Where did this past week go?

It's been a week since my last post and I apologize for that. Just felt like a sloth this week with little ambition. Do you ever get to feeling like that? It sucks.

So, it's Monday again and time for

I've gotten some very positive comments about my little memory stories. Thank you all so much!

When I was in high school. Yes, I did go to high school he he. I joined the marching band.

It was great fun.

I played the trombone. I wanted to be a flutist but they had enough flutes and

needed a trombonist.

Ta Da. Me

My memory today is of a trip we took. We worked hard, raised enough money and went to Philadelphia to march in the 1949 American Legion parade. 

I didn't have enough experience with my trombone so I carried a flag in that parade.

Well, to put it bluntly.... I didn't know how to toot that horn yet.

Our band director arranged for us to have our own railroad coach.  When we'd get to a city, the train car was just pulled to a side track and it would be waiting for us when we got ready to move on. Boy, we felt like we were VIPs. 

We also had sightseeing stopovers in Washington D. C. and New York City.

Oh man, we were country kids turned loose in the city!! (we had chaperones, well most of the time)

When we were on a bus tour of D. C. I looked out the window and saw President Harry Truman taking his morning walk. The bus pulled on and I got no picture. Darn. 

We saw a lot of the sites in D. C. and went on to New York. I wrote some of the cutest little letters and cards to my folks back home. I'd never done anything like this ever...

One night in the Big Apple, we were let loose on our own. Now, I was a very cautious girl even back in those days and only walked with friends down to a eatery a couple block away from the hotel. But, the stories I heard about what some of the other band members did... oh my. 

I wonder if their parents ever found out!!!!

Up until my high school years, I was raised by a single mother. We lived in the house with my grandparents and an unmarried aunt. The aunt took care of me while Mom worked. We had nothing. So, this trip was a Big Deal to me

Memory of Hubby Making Chief

First of all, just let me say that I am so grateful for all the men and women who have fought in numerous wars to keep us free. God Bless Them All.

and now a memory from my past.

My husband was in the Navy for 22 years, working his way up from Seaman Apprentice to Lt. 

One memory I have is the day he made Chief.  Isn't he handsome in his Chief's uniform?

I just had to say that! he he

We were living on Midway Island and the 4-plex apartments we lived in had the laundry room out back. The road ran between our apartment building and another one. I am setting the scene here.

I am doing a load of laundry when I hear this roar coming up the road. I turn around and it's a Navy Jeep (we didn't have civilian vehicles on the island) and my husband is hanging out the passenger side waving a Chief's hat. He'd gotten his promotion!!

When he came in from work that night he was dressed in his navy work khakis and sporting a box of cigars. He didn't smoke but he was passing those congratulatory cigars out to anyone and everyone. 

He, and the others who had made Chief, had to go through an initiation. Wives weren't allowed. But, a friend saw that I got the photos that were taken that day for the base newspaper. 

First of all they had to go through a mock court martial.

You can tell my hubby is nervous. He's sweating up a storm. Poor baby.

They had to put their clothes on backward and march around the base. Sorry I missed that. 😃

They were made to eat out of a pig trough with all sorts of food poured into it.

They were marched down to the ocean and went through a bunch of stuff there.

I wonder where that picture is? Couldn't find it for this post. 

But, he was so happy to go through all that because he had worked hard to get that Chief's hat. And, I was so proud! 

Winter Shopping

Winter is here at last!

Not that I want it to be winter but as the seasons go, so must we.

We are to have our first freeze tonight. I started to bring in a couple of coleus plants but said, I don't want to deal with those things all winter, dropping leaves all over my carpet and they already look like they are on their last leg!! So, tonight... goodbye coleus!

I went clothes shopping day before yesterday. And, I bought this CUTE winter white short coat/jacket. Made me feel so sassy!

I don't ever want to give up my sass! So, I also bought this outfit, too.

and this sweater coat....
for just tossing on to run downstairs to get my mail or run to the store.

Just about everything I had was black or dark blue. It was so darn dull. I am tired of melting into the background! Time for me to shine!

Have you bought anything new lately? It will pick up your spirits and change your look and your attitude. So, go shopping.

Going, Going, Gone!

                                             Good Morning, all you sweet blogger friends.

My goodness. Lots going on around here. I got my hair cut yesterday. And, I have decided to stop coloring it. I mean, at 85 don't you think I can go gray now! Big decision because I loved having people tell me they can't believe I'm that age. But, on the other hand, people think I'm younger than I am and they expect more out of me because of that. Reckon I will get treated differently if my hair is gray? We'll see.

I thought I'd give a try at learning to play mah jong yesterday.  But, the lady teaching was old and she was bragging about being in tournaments but she could not think of how to play the game. So, we got the rack which she never explained what it was for. Then  we picked out 13 tiles and lined them up. So, she's checking her instructions and adds some tiles to ours, then checks her instructions again and takes some away. Anyway, after 45 minutes and I still had no clue what she was doing... and neither did she... I got up and left. I don't have the patience I once did. It went with the hormones, I think.

I am so excited. I sent off my money to go on a bus tour to the Greenbriar Resort the middle of December. And, I am going by myself. Oh, boy... I am going to get into so much  trouble fun!! I can't wait to go and I can't wait to share it with you.

Here is a picture I 'borrowed' from their website. I may get worn out just going from one end to the other! and please, don't give me a room a hundred miles from the elevator!!

Two Dear John Letters

As I said last Monday, each Monday I will doing a memory of mine. 

If you'd like to read that post click here. 

                    I had met my 'feller' and he'd gone off to be a sailor, all the way across the country.

I don't know where I got the idea I was the only girl he'd asked to write him. After all, it was his first time away from home and he'd be lonely so why not have a lot of letters at mail call? Right?

But, no, I thought I was the one and only even though we'd never dated at that time. Gee, I was so young and so 'green'.

                       Well, one day I am sitting in class behind a girl that I didn't know very well.
      Her name was Lola. And, I'm a giddy, silly girl and I brag to her that I am writing a SAILOR.

                                                         So, she says "Well, I am, too"

                                     I ask her who her sailor is and she says "Elbert Barton".

                                                                        "Me, too".

Oh boy, I was upset. He was writing us both. Guess what he got at mail call the next week?

                                                Yep... you are right. Two dear John letters.

         Lola may get what Lola wants in the song, but this Lola did not get Elbert Barton! I did.

Our class picture: I am 2nd in 1st row on left and she is last girl in row 3. Guess we'd gotten away from each other by the time for class pictures to be taken. he he.

Oh, BTW, the teacher is Lucille Smith who just happened to be George Lindsey's aunt. You remember "Goober" from Andy Griffith show, don't you? Well, he'd come into to her class room and pester her for money or other favors. He was so goofy even back then. He made us all laugh. She didn't laugh so much! 

Eastern Shore Entrees

I continue with our night at the book-signing/chefs gala.

For me, the star of the entrees was the salt-encrusted fish. I'd never seen that done before, nor had I tasted any fish prepared in that manner. It was fascinating to watch the chef fill the cavity of that fish with lemon and onion and then pack it in salt.

It was then placed on a flat metal surface over an open flame and baked for 20 minutes. 

Once done, the salt crust was broken and peeled away and the fish served. Yummy

There was Spot as well. Very bony so I didn't eat much of that. tiny, little bones. Scary. 

But, doesn't it make a pretty picture?

And, some said it was oyster pie but that wasn't on the menu so I don't know what it was. And, sweet potato biscuits with country ham and fig preserves. Now that was good.  I ate more than one!

I LOVE collards. And, they had the best collards I've had in a long, long time. Here the guys are setting the big black pot over the open flame and that pot is filled with yummy collard greens. 

They also served turnips and greens with a benne seed vinigrette. They were not quite as good but tasty anyway. And, potatoes roasted in a large grill. 

This is Hog Island sheep with Marsh Hen gravy. I didn't try that. Something about the Hog Island and sheep.. well, I sort of lost my appetite there for a minute. 

The Eastern Shore of Virginia has been for generations a source of seafood and fowl to prepare for the table. Surprisingly we had no fowl on the menu but it's a main staple for the residents. My granddaughter goes duck hunting with her husband then prepares them for a meal. She also will walk out of her house, across the yard with a fishing pole and catch their dinner off the pier. 

She's been married and living on the shore for less than a year and has fit into the culture there very well. I am so happy that she has found her happy place.