Homegrown Popcorn

We just love popcorn in our house, especially when you pop it yourself in a pan and use a little butter to flavor it. Not imitation butter or margarine, or the imitation flakes. Not microwave popcorn that leaves a layer of partially hydrogenated oil as a coating in your mouth, but home popped popcorn!

It is one of Chris' favorite snacks. He might say he's full, but then offer him some popcorn, and he has yet to refuse. I make it when we go to the movies, and sneak it in. Not only because I'm too cheap to pay $5 or $6 for a bucket of popcorn, but because it tastes better than what is offered at the theaters. We have modified our butter to only a little butter and we mix it with olive oil, which is actually good for you, so now its "healthy" popcorn!

One of my recurring fun memories of childhood is when Gramps decided to try to grow popcorn one year. I might get part of this story wrong, because the memories of a child sometimes do that, but I only remember him planting the popcorn one year. I think it had to do with the fact that corn cross-pollinates, and he didn't want the hassle of the cross pollination between the popcorn with pretty much everything else. He had field corn for the pigs and chickens, and he planted a lot of white and yellow corn for all of us kids and his kids and company and for canning, and such. The popcorn would then be no good at all, and it would alter the quality of the other kinds we liked so much.

Picture and more info found here.


After the popcorn ears were ready to be harvested, we pulled them off the corn stalks and started to process them. I don't remember if we had to let them sit awhile, or if they were already hard on the corn stalk. I think they were hard. We then shucked the corn and put all the ears in bushel baskets. Mom got a few bushels for us to process at our house, and we helped Grandma do hers. I do remember getting blisters that sometimes popped, because we had to use our thumbs, fingers and hands to pop off the kernels. Then, we had to pluck out any that were not good, may have had a worm in it, or the like. We packaged the shelled popcorn and put it in containers in the freezer. Even the kernels were small, they popped really big popcorn.

It was interesting to find out that the oldest known fossilized popcorn kernels date back 80,000 years from a buried city in Mexico City.

Really good/fun recipe for popcorn balls, made with marshmallows, I've yet to see a kid who didn't like this one, given to me years ago by a friend:

POPCORN BALLS -- 1X and 3X

1/3 cup unpopped popcorn -- 1 cup unpopped corn
2 tsp olive oil -- 6 tsp olive oil
3 cups miniature marshmallows -- 9 cups miniature marshmallows
2 tsp butter -- 6 tsp butter

Pop the popcorn with the olive oil. Melt butter in a separate pan and add marshmallows, stir until all melted together, stirring constantly. Pour marshmallow mixture over popped corn, stirring gently. Coat hands with oil or butter, and shape popcorn mixture into balls.

Owen & Mzee

Christopher asked us to read him a pile of books tonight, but one he keeps pulling out is the story about the orphaned hippo, Owen, and the grumpy 138-yr old tortoise, Mzee. It's a true story, about how they became best friends, and where they live in Kenya, Africa. Because Owen was only a year old when the two met, he was still learning how to be a hippo. Mzee taught him how to eat, and how to behave, not a likely outcome between a reptile and a mammal.


(These two pictures were borrowed from their official website)

Here are pictures and a brief story about their friendship

and here

Owen was eventually introduced to another orphaned girl hippo, Cleo, and they are partners now. Because Cleo was rough around the tortoises, Mzee had to be relocated to another area of the park, which meant the breakup of Owen and Mzee.

I tell you, we really, really should learn from animals. They do what works, they make things work. They live honestly.

But, off the soap box, this is a really FANTASTIC story about unlikely friends!

Happy Birthday, Mar Ran & Ann!

Happy Birthday to a woman who is ageless and timeless and eternally beautiful on the inside and out! And that is the truth! Ann is a wonderful human being, a best friend, beautiful woman and we are so very fortunate to have her in our lives! My only regret is that we didn't get to know her before 2002. But I feel like I've known her all my life! Anyone who meets her becomes her friend. She's like a mother to me and a sister at the same time.

Bill & Ann at their home



It would take me days to sum up all that Ann is to so many people, and even then only scratch the surface. It's a fun project I intend to do and complete. For today, we will wish her the best birthday of all, and MANY more! Wish we could have been there with you to help celebrate!



She's the President of our son's fan club! She has members in CA, TX, LA, OH, IL, NY, NC and more! People we've never met! We were fortunate to get to take our new baby to her house on our first visit we had with him. She made him feel a welcome to the family that has just grown ever since.



He trusts her implicitly. Today he called her to sing the birthday song for her, as only a 5-yr old can do. Yay!



Ann just loves his curls, so we let him keep them last Christmas when we drove from NM to CA. She always makes him feel so loved, how could a child be so lucky, how could we have gotten so lucky to have her!



Mar Ran & Chris



Married almost 45 years, and still happy together!



Ann's hobbies are too numerous to list, would take days to describe and give them credit. Here's her annual tradition of a lamb cake that she makes every Christmas. She's been making them for decades!



A money boutonniere, a gift for one of Bill's award ceremonies.



Ann has some of the most beautiful porcelain dolls. She makes the body parts, fires them up in her own kiln, paints them, makes their hair, and makes their clothes. I never saw such an amazing collection of dolls. She gave me one of her baby dolls that she made, before we got Chris. She slept in his crib until he arrived! Here is one that stands near the fireplace. On this day, she was keeping company with the cookies, carrots and milk left out for Santa's visit.



Ann,
You are amazing! I hope you have the most wonderful birthday day, week and month! Can't wait to see you in person again!

Love to you both always!

Good girl, Maya!

Every day brings something interesting, amusing, or downright surprising!

Today, Maya came home!

The news was shocking, to everyone! So, here it is.

Sure, she looks so sweet and innocent. Fact is, she cannot be trusted off leash. Since we got her, every opportunity she's gotten to get loose, she won't come back. You have to trick her. The first time, she ran out of the neighborhood when a visitor let her walk out of our back gate, and she ran down for about 20 minutes with Mike in pursuit, occasionally checking behind her to see if he was still following.

In California, she got loose twice while we were at work. Once she and Peso knocked down a wire gate, the second time they got out the front door because the latch didn't catch and the double screen doors just pushed open. Both times, the girls ran and ran for hours, then eventually came home. Then slept for about 3 days, obviously very tired.

Today Mike came home from work and let Maya out into the back yard. Apparently the side gate, which needs a minor repair to keep from pushing out at the bottom, wasn't properly latched. Workers have been at the house day in and out for the past two weeks, so the gate has been opened and I didn't double check the latch last night. Gas company, Verizon, power company, water company, and so on. Turning on utilities in the state of Virginia is a multi-step process, apparently.

So, Maya got out when she was let out.

The way we found her -- Chris and I weren't home yet, so we didn't get to play this time. However, Mike was walking through the living room and noticed her walking up on the small porch on the front of the house, from the front window. Good thing he saw her! She's not a vicious dog, as many may assume or like to think. But, historically, she has not gotten along with other animals, especially dogs. There are a few on this street, and while they are supposed to be leashed or in a fenced yard, there were two loose ones walking around just last week. Fortunately, not today!

Since staying at the temporary apartment in Hampton, VA, located about 3 miles from the house, Maya has gotten used to her multiple daily walks. I usually walked her about 30 minutes each morning after Chris' bus picked him up. Then, sometimes we'd walk again at least 20 minutes in the afternoons when the bus dropped him off. Usually, she got at least a 20 minute walk around the paths each night. There were days she would get short-changed, but not often. Days when we had to make an appointment or it was raining too hard.

We figured out her maximum walking time is 30 minutes. Period. I found out the hard way, of course. We were walking one day and decided to go longer than usual. About a block from the apartment, she stopped in the road and laid down. Didn't want to move. Gentle coaxing got her to get up, and we finished at a slower pace. A couple weeks later, we walked 30 minutes, and had only gone a little bit further than usual. Almost to the apartment, she stopped again. Just came to an immediate halt! No fuss, no argument, just stopped. So, we keep it under 30 now.

Her hard work is showing, we believe she's lost a few pounds, she definitely feels better, as do we. An added bonus we are not complaining about. Now, she will agree to go out in the back yard, but she waits to do "her business" until she goes for a walk. Smart girl!

Since we are on the subject of Maya, check out the really neat dog kennel at Juanita & Dan's house in Arkansas. It's about 8 x 10' and perfect for putting in a visiting dog. It has a shelter inside, for sun and if it's raining. We didn't know if we'd need to use it during our visit, but held it as an option for if we went on a day trip.

Wrong answer! We knew she didn't like small crates, as we witnessed her break one when we first got her back in 2001. We have always crated our dogs, and the LOVED their crates. Not Maya, not ever! She was only in the kennel for an hour or so, and this is the damage she did in that short time, all with her teeth and jaws. I wouldn't have believed it, but we saw her doing it. Well, now we know. She still doesn't like to be crated. Instead, we kept her in Cindy's bedroom for the 4 days, taking her in and out, walks a couple times a day, and she was happy. There sat the guinea pigs only a foot above her head on the desk, and she never bothered them. Just doesn't like to be confined in a kennel.

Her little piggies, Lucky & Lisa

In her old age, she has become nervous about thunder and lightning storms. Imagine our surprise when we found her on our AIR mattress at 1 AM back in NM when a storm blew through while we were sleeping. I was just grateful she didn't pop a hole in the mattress with her nails.
Oh, she NEVER gets on the furniture. Has never wanted to, never even snuck up when we weren't looking. This summer, she even hid in the shower stall while I was taking a bath, because a storm rolled on thru (I know, not supposed to be in a tub during a storm, but we survived).

Maya's a good girl, I'm glad we have her.

Note to those with large or older dogs, especially the breed Akita: be sure to have their thyroid levels checked when they get older. We found out the hard way that Maya's thyroid wasn't working back in 2005, a very costly financial and emotional lesson, I might add. When the thyroid stops working properly, it affects a lot of things, such as metabolism. For dogs, it is guaranteed to make them testy and less patient. She's been on her medication ever since that spring, and she's much happier now, for sure. For her protection, we will absolutely never ever leave her in the presence of a child under 16, for any possible reason. Kids get to say hi, then she goes away. Christopher has learned to respect her space, as well. One thing we learned: dogs are very predictable. Kids are unpredictable. For the protection of kids, we EDUCATE them on how to respect animals of all sorts.

Thanks for coming back home, Maya!

A Piece of the County: Canning Jars!

This week a newcomer, Miriam, was introduced to "Down County". She was exposed enough to get a taste that she will surely want to revisit at the earliest opportunity. Surely, she will have been left with an irreversible slightest glimpse into the world from which we came. A world that cannot be replicated, a world that has shifted over the years from what we once knew. While I have yet to meet Miriam in person, I "know" she was touched by all that she experienced, for being on the Farm is an experience in and of itself.

We LOVED to bring friends to the Farm, always. When we were children, when we grew up. I was ecstatic in November of 2006 when Grandma invited my family to stay on the Farm on our visit to St. Mary’s. It was a place where I literally spent half my childhood hours, as did most of my siblings and several of our cousins. Someone else farms the land, the animals are long gone, the barns are skeletons of what once was, but how it has evolved and how it used to be were very influential on the person I am today. Our parents took us down to the Farm on a regular basis, and we practically lived there during the summer months.

Growing and harvesting tobacco. Hay, straw, soy beans, wheat, corn, huge gardens full of white potatoes, sweet potatoes, watermelons, cantaloupe, the BEST tomatoes you can ever imagine, string beans, apple and pear trees. The every popular bing cherry tree, grape arbor and blackberry bushes, and so much more. One year Gramps tried out popcorn. I’ve yet to taste popcorn that was better than that year. Another year he planted peanuts. Mmmmm. HUGE black walnut trees, which in turn meant bushels of walnuts on the roadway to drive over in the Fall.

Of course, someone had to do all this work, so we ALL did it.

And let me tell you, we became experts in how to process foods, how to freeze the meats, how to can the fruits, veggies, and apparently sometimes the meats. Cutting apples until our hands were stained brown from the juices from days on end of processing the applesauce. One year we canned 400 jars of applesauce at Mom’s house alone. Grandma used to can twice that to make sure she had enough for all her kids, grandkids and visitors that were always at the house.

Meals were 3x a day. Breakfast, Dinner and Supper. There is a Distinction between Dinner and Supper, ask anyone from Down County. There was no “lunch” until we all left the nest and ventured out of the county to places that didn’t know any better.

For the canning at Grandma’s we’d have to go upstairs to the “Jar Room” and get as many jars as we could carry down without dropping or breaking any of them: pint, quart, half gallon jars, depending on what was cooking at the time. Concord grape juice went into the half gallon jars, jelly and fig preserves went into the pints, pretty much everything else went into the quarts. One year Grandma made homemade ketchup. That went into the pints, if my memory serves me well.

Once the jars were downstairs, we had to wash them all. No electric dishwashers around at that time! It was important to have the jars VERY clean, especially the tops, the rims. They were cleaned again after the processed foods were added, just before the jar lids were added.

(Picture borrowed from here)

For things like applesauce and tomato sauce, we’d use the Food Mill to separate out all the seeds and skins. The timing for canning is critical, the best time to try to seal the jars is when the food is still hot, the jars are hot, and the water in the cooker is hot. Less broken jars that way. For the sealing, usually we used a pressure cooker to seal the jars. Pressure cookers are awesome.

(Picture borrowed from here)

After the jars were done in the pressure cooker, they would be moved to a towel on the counter or on the kitchen table. Then, over the next hour, anyone within earshot would hear the familiar “pop” of the lids as the seals finished forming the necessary vacuums on each jar. Any jars that didn’t seal properly for some reason could be tried again with a new seal, or we’d use it for the next meal. Then, take a crayon to write the month and year on the top of the jar lid, as it was hot and would just melt the crayon perfectly.

Once the jars were fully sealed and cooled off, we had the job of taking them down to the cellar, which was located directly under the kitchen. Check the sides of the cellar stairs as you go down, careful to notice if there were any snakes or particularly large spiders lingering around. Put the newly canned jars to the back of the shelves, bringing the older jars forward so they could all be used up first.

Canning days at Mom’s and Grandma’s are over. Most of the families don’t can anymore. I get very excited when I hear that someone is canning things, it’s such a pleasant reminder of the “old days” of our youth. I personally have canned many things over the years, but was limited to that which could be done in a hot water bath, as I didn’t have a pressure cooker. Things like apple butter, pumpkin butter, jellies, jams and such. Also, since we moved away from Down County, most of the things I canned by myself or with a friend in NM or CA were done as gifts for Christmas.

When I heard Miriam was canning so much, it brought a smile to my face, a familiar knowing of the kinds of experiences she was having. Then, when Dean offered her the opportunity to help Grandma get her cellar cleared out, which would also help her with acquiring more jars, that was very nice to hear. It meant she would get a glimpse into “our world”, which honestly, no one can understand unless they experience it. That is not meant to be an offense to anyone. It’s good country living, when the communications are open and honest of course, and it’s very near and dear to my heart. I know that all my friends that ever got the opportunity to visit the Farm with me or my family just had a great time.

In going down memory lane, it occurred to me that now Miriam has a tie to Down County, whether she likes it or not. Whether she chooses to keep it or not. The jars represent about 60 or so years of canning by my family. The generations before that also canned, but these jars are likely at least 30 physical years old, if not 40 or 50, and still working fine. They were handled by “all of us kids”, which means any kids that were on the farm at a time when jars were needed. We all washed those very jars, helped process the foods that went into them, time in and time out, and then opened them for the meals we all shared. Washed them, returned them to the jar room, started the cycle over again and again, and again. Same thing at Mom’s house. Her jars went to the Amish ladies last year, which means they also went to good homes, and will be well used.

Digressing: tandem bicycle, playing cowboys and Indians when we didn’t know the definition of “politically correct”, tag, moo cow, go-carts, feeding the animals, stacking the hay trailers….

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The problem is, we don't do "enough"! We don't pay attention, we don't appreciate, we don't automatically and unconditionally wish others the best, and probably worst of all, we don't LAUGH enough! In this case, passing on a Dean Family Tradition to someone new to the County will likely bring up some emotions in just about all of us. For me, it's a trip down memory lane, and a pleasant one at that. To some degree, sad also, but only in the sense that those days are over as they were (and as we already knew them to be), sad in that Mom is the one who I did the most canning with and for, and now all that is left are the memories. The future is in others making more memories. I hope that those of the family who learn about the jars and find themselves also in memory lane will do that which makes them happiest, which implicitly means: paying attention, appreciating, wishing others the best, and LAUGHING and smiling at the memories.

I’m sure Miriam had a fantastic and interesting time on her first trip to St. Mary’s, you can check out her blog here. She will surely enjoy the many hours of canning opportunities that will be presented in her quest for living more off the land. Good luck to you, I wish you many fun hours and memories of your own!

Grand Prize Winner!

I am very proud to present the grand prize winner: Cindy Palmer!

She has wanted to learn how to make glass beaded Christmas ornaments for awhile now. Loving glass beads myself, I was more than happy to indulge her. On our journey across I-40 this summer, I brought the glass beads and instructions she requested, and was delighted in how quickly both she and Juanita picked up on the "how to" and made their ornaments. We were running out of time, so I didn't get to see the finished product in person.

They finished making their beautiful ornaments, and have since moved on ahead to make several more, and are trying new patterns now! Great work!! It was a lot of fun to sit and bead together, can't wait to do it again.

They entered many things in the Randolph County Fair in Pocahontas, AR, in August. Between Juanita, Cindy and Betty, they won several ribbons. First and second place ribbons for canned peaches, tomatoes, peach pits, and more. Betty won first place for her tie dyed shirt and grand prize for a beaded doll dress. Juanita won First place for her ornament, see below! And Cindy...won first and grand champion prize for her beaded ornament in the youth division!

Next, the winning items qualified to go ahead to the District Fair in Jonesboro, AR, last weekend. Cindy placed grand champion, again!!! Now she gets to go to the State Fair in Little Rock, AR, in October! Good luck, Cindy.

There were other winners, but Juanita still had to go pick up everything to let us know who won what the last time we talked. Don't you just love county fairs? Brings back fond memories. Mom really loved to make unique and interesting crocheted projects and enter them in the St. Mary's County Fair, and she really got "tickled pink" when she won! Makes me smile to think of her telling everyone, and how excited she was to do so. She never gloated or bragged, she was just happy to share what she loved to do.

As for the ornaments, here are the winners:

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Cindy's beaded Christmas ornament

The dark pink are actually buttons that you sew the beads through. These are extra special, because they came from Mom's button jar last summer.

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Juanita's beaded Christmas ornament

ditto on the purple buttons, from Mom's button jar. thanks, Mom!

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Cindy learning how to make the ornaments

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The girls and Chris, all trying out making tie dyed shirts for the first time. We can't wait to try it again now that we know what to do and what to avoid.

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All the tie-dyed shirts, prepped to set and soak overnight. Betty's winning shirt is the one in the middle with the peach and green colors. .

Juanita resting after a very busy weekend. She is feeding Lisa (the red piggie), who is also very shy and, up until that moment, had never eaten from a hand! I warned Juanita that Lisa wouldn't eat anything, and there she sat making a liar of us all. I tell you, my sister has a healing touch.

Happy Fall to everyone!

The Goods Have Been Delivered

They said "delivery between 8 and 10 AM"

This is after being told last week that delivery would be between 10 AM and 2 PM

Delivery started at 10:15 AM, good thing I was there before 8! Got Chris off to the bus, then the bank to pick up tip money, since I forgot to get it the day before, and then settle in to wait.

Got some work done on the family reunion, a couple phone calls, and then a few hours of homework in both while waiting and while the 4 guys were unloading.

After the movers were done, and Mike had picked up Chris and brought him to the house for me, we met one of the neighbors with kids. The little boy is Michael, and he's 4, and he was on his way to go pick up his big sister. Mom introduced herself as, "Hi, I'm Candy". So, what does Chris do? He goes up to the little boy to ask about his age, tell him his own age. Then, he tells the Mom, "I'm going to eat you." Guess he's never met anyone named Candy before today, we just laughed and she explained to him that, "well, my name is Candy, isn't that something?"

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As for the moving experience, enjoy:

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I don't think we have ever plastic wrapped any piece of furniture on those many self-moves. Hmmm, so this is how it's done.

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Living room

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Surprisingly, by the afternoon, the garage only ended up with boxes on the shelves to the right, and a few odd pieces on the left. They used this space as a staging area, since it kept trying to rain all morning. and the shed, now designated only for yard tools and bikes, etc. ended up with only those things, go figure.

So, my question: where the H. E. double hockey sticks is the 17K lbs they told us we have! I don't see it. No basement, not using the attic, garage not that full, shed mostly empty. It boggles my mind, could make it explode if it brews too long. Instead, we are going to continue on our downsizing project and journey.

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Kitchen, looking towards dining room

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dining room, with almost complete new guinea pig cage. we decided to put it on the coffee table for now, since the table is too big for the living room, and put in the corner of the living room, away from the floor registers and the fireplace. dining room is just temporary for the little piggies

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Christopher's bedroom, waiting patiently for a paint job and then immediate assembly. looks like his room is stuffed, but really all his things are piled up in the center of the room, to make the painting easier.

We're going to IKEA to get some really neat shelving for him to use now that he's older

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spare bedroom, where we will be spending a lot of time in the next month...

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and, yes. we do use our elliptical bike, and will be using it even more now. any smarty pants commentors are welcome to come and give it a spin around the block, we have a music player you can use

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walk-in closet, with things just stuffed in for now. we are very grateful the guys took the empty wardrobe boxes out with them, they take up so much room

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best of all: our COMFY bed! it's been 2 months since we have had our own furniture. oh how we missed you! no more hotel beds, borrowed beds, air mattresses, foam mattresses

So, we realized that this is our 7th move since 2001, and we do not like being displaced. Chris was only 14 months old when we moved in 2004 from CA back to NM, so while he had to go through changes, it wasn't so bad. He has been a great traveller and trouper through these past couple of months, but he has been feeling the changes. Trouble sleeping, nervous about being left behind, concerned about whether he will get to stay living with us "forever" since he can't conceive of actually wanting to move out yet. We try to explain to him the changes as they are coming up, in a way that he won't get too concerned. So, we will set up his room first, get him all comfy and make it fun, then move on to the rest of the house, in the order of what we will be using the most.

Moving right along....

Moving Time!

After checking out all the corners of the Hampton Roads peninsula, we finally found a house that would work for us: (1) takes big dogs, do you know how HARD it is to find folks that take pets at all, (2) good school district, considering how "hit and miss" the neighborhoods are around here, that was a rather huge consideration, (3) big enough (although this picture makes the house look huge, it's just under 1600 sq ft), has a garage for the excess junk for us to sort and PURGE, shed in back for naughty children who spend the night (or for a lawnmower), and a fun yard where Chris and Maya can play, we can install a swing, hang our swinging chairs, and a make a GARDEN!! flowers and vegetables, yay!

and BARBEQUE!! gas, charcoal, smoker

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The actual "moving day" will be Tuesday, when our 7 tons of boxes and "stuff" arrive. We probably won't move in until the weekend, but we got the keys today so we can start.

The workers there are still doing some repairs to the kitchen floor and replacing the dishwasher, painting, etc.

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front view of the house

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comes with a tiny porch

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living room with fireplace

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living room

I love glass beads, but the chandelier covers in the dining room have got to GO

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wood burning fireplace with mantle, perfect for stockings

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and a Christopher

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dining room, as seen thru the living room

we checked the measurements, and we have the perfect room there to make a guinea pig cage that can go along the wall on one side

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kitchen, but we moved the old fridge from this spot to other corner of kitchen

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hallway

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14 steps between floors

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(there are 2 other bedrooms, and 2 full baths upstairs, 1/2 bath downstairs)

master bedroom, plenty big enough so we won't be crowded in

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walk-in closet, YAY

esp. since we haven't owned a dresser in over 10 years!

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side of the house, as seen from the front

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deck in the back yard

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more back yard pics:

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side of back yard

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shed for naughty children

(or garden tools)

corner of yard...for flowers and part of vegetable garden!
this side also for swing!

frame for hanging swing, but we will use for our hanging chairs
they are the coolest chairs!

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short wooden fence separates the yard in two, keeps doggy presence and "presents" away from garden and swing area ;)

Come and visit, but be sure to call first! We like to travel, so we'd hate for you to make the trip only to find we weren't around. But, we love to entertain, and we have plenty of room!

We are only going down the positive road here.... so it HELPS to be going into a house we will stay in for a year, or maybe slightly longer, and cease to be displaced. We keep hearing how resiliant children are, which is helpful to remember as we * once again * move Chris from all he knows into a new home, new school, new neighborhood. I do believe it is us adults who have the hardest times sometimes. As much as I love to try new things, it has been an eye opening discovery/reminder of how much I do NOT like to be displaced. So, hooray for us finding a comfortable home where we can start to nest, unpack and purge everything we have that we no longer need.

Peace & love to you ALL!