Down on the Farm

     I'm not a farm girl. In fact, just thinking about me and farm work in the same thought, would make you laugh if you knew me! I don't like to be hot or dirty. I don't like bugs, snakes or chickens (unless they happen to be very tiny and soft). However, today my tablescape is in honor of all the farmers who are willing to work so hard to put food on our tables.

     I haven't been doing many tablescapes this summer. I finally decided that if I went to my dish room and tried to put it back into some kind of order, maybe I would be more inspired. We brought in quite a bit of "stuff" from the in-law's house. Some we wanted, some were things that are old family items that we need to keep. They all ended up in my dish room and I couldn't see the table or the floor. This morning I cleaned the room and pulled out several sets of dishes that will be going into my garage sale next month. The set I used today is one I am going to sell, so I thought I'd use it one last time.

     I decided a farm table needed to have a vintage look to it. The centerpiece is an old wooden bowl lined with a vintage dish towel. I added a few fresh veggies and look how pretty it is! Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do with that fresh okra? Our local Amish stand had it for sale and they talked me into it!

The plates are marked Fresh Vegetables by Tabletops Unlimited.

A vintage tablecloth of my mother's has that 50's kitchen look to it.

 I love the stitching around the hem.

I picked a few gladioli (I looked it up) from the yard.

They are in an antique milk bottle from what was once a local dairy.

I love the fact that we even have the lid for the bottle.

A little tin windup bird seems to work with this table.

Of course we need a pitcher full of milk...

...and a vintage dish to hold our corn.

     I am very late today in joining Susan @ Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday. I am still dragging my heels around here trying to find inspiration and ideas to write about and time to visit each of you. I thank each of you for continuing to visit and read the crazy things I come up with!

Corn Chowder "Light"

     I live in the heart of sweetcorn country. There are festivals, roadside stands and corn in various forms on the menus of area restaurants this time of year. One night last week I had a cup of the best corn chowder at our local "fancy place". I knew that it was loaded with butter and cream, but it was so good. I decided to try to duplicate the creamy, rich flavor without all the calories and I got good results. If calories aren't an issue for you, you can use cream instead of milk, add more bacon or stir in some shredded cheese at the end.

     I started with 6 ears of fresh sweetcorn, raw. I sliced it off the cob. In a small stockpot, I added the corn to 4 T. of real butter, 2 stalks of chopped celery and 1 cup of chopped carrots. Bring the mixture to a high heat while stirring to melt the butter, reduce the heat to low, cover and let the mixture soften.

     In a separate saucepan, place some diced potatoes. I used 5 smaller new potatoes from the local farner's market. Fresh potatoes have a creamier texture than those that have been in the store for weeks. To the potatoes add 1 bay leaf, 1/4 tsp. of black pepper, a pinch of thyme and 1 can of chicken broth. Simmer the potatoes until tender and remove the bay leaf.

     While the potatoes are cooking, sprinkle the tender corn mixture with 1/2 cup flour, stir and set off the heat.

     When the potatoes are tender, put the corn mixture back on medium high heat until you can hear it cooking. Stir in the potato and broth mixture and the soup will thicken very quickly. Add 3 cups of milk stirring constantly and reduce heat. I used 2 percent milk. We only buy skim milk, so 2 percent to us is like cream and was certainly "creamy" enough to make the soup delicious. Sprinkly with a bit of crumbled cooked bacon before serving. I would have liked more bacon mixed into the soup...but, I was trying to keep it "light"! Add salt and pepper to taste.

I will be joining Kim @ Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays

Michael @ Designs by Gollum for Foodie Friday

Hines-Sight for Easy Meal Planning

Please take time to visit our hostesses.

 

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old...

Make new friends,

but keep the old.

One is silver,

the other is gold.

A circle is round,

it has no end.

That's how long,

I will be your friend.

     I had an interesting day yesterday. I went to my hometown to spend the afternoon at a non-traditional visitation/funeral/reception for a friend's father who died last Friday. This wasn't just any friend, she is my oldest friend. Our grandparents were friends and neighbors, our parents grew up together and our mothers were pregnant with us at the same time. Our birthdays are 2 weeks apart. She was my maid of honor and I gave the baby shower for her oldest son. I have always known her and with the exception of a few years when we lost track of each other, we have always stayed in touch. Her father was a quiet, wise man who loved to golf and have a cocktail or two with dinner at the Country Club. So, she decided to have a reception following the funeral at her dad's favorite place. We grew up there, going to junior golf classes, swimming all afternoon and charging lunch to our dads whenever we could get by with it. My wedding reception was held at "The Club". Her father's tribute had an open bar, food and a piano player...people were dancing. Her dad would have loved every minute. 

     Also attending was my best friend from high school, who was also my first college roommate. We have kept in touch over the years with Christmas cards and phone calls, Facebook chats and when my mom died...she was there. We happen to share the same first name and in high school, my mom called us #1 and #2 because we were together so much. Oddly enough, we married men with the same last name...so now, we have the same name exactly-very confusing. 

     I also got to see three other "girls" from my high school class. I hadn't seen them since graduation, 39 years ago. Because of Facebook, my class is reconnecting and I have had some FB conversations with them in the last year. These women were not friends who hung out at my house in high school, but I knew them. One was a friend I knew from my classes, one was part of a group I was in and we shared several friends and one I didn't really know well at all. However, yesterday...within 60 seconds of seeing each one of them, somewhere between the hug and the "I expected you to be blonde" we reconnected in a most unexpected way. 

     As we sat at our table catching up with children, grandchildren and talking about other classmates...I found myself thinking that this is like something out of a summer novel. Women getting together after many, many years and automatically feeling like sisters. We were there for our friend and as she walked through the room, sipping wine and visiting with family and friends, she would stop and sit with us for a moment when the tears would form and "recharge" before heading off again. She knew that we were holding her up and I knew almost instantly, that these women, some of whom I hadn't seen in decades would also hold me up when necessary. 

     Time is an interesting thing. It is the great equalizer. It doesn't matter if you were in a clique in high school (who can remember anyway?) and it doesn't matter where you lived or what your father did for a living, you are bonded in ways I didn't really understand until we started forming our group of classmates on Facebook. I was reluctant to join and yet as I have watched our class group grow to well over 100 members in the past year and now after actually meeting with some old friends face to face, I realize that those shared memories of our families, our town and our classmates really are something unique to a small group of people. As we all face the challenges that come with being this age, we are in the same boat and it is really wonderful to know that someone else will grab the oars and row for a while if you can't. 

     If you have lost touch with old friends or classmates, I really suggest that you start a group on Facebook and start looking. Take the risk. Don't assume that because you weren't best friends in school that you can't be friends now. The people that remember your parents, that remind you of the time you skipped class or sipped that first beer...they have your back and we all need a dose of that sometimes. 

     Can you pick me out of the senior pictures above?

Steam Heat!

     It is Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer. I thought I would brave the heat and take a photo tour of my yard. Well, it didn't happen quite as planned. I took the camera outside before 7:30 in order the "beat the heat" but it is pointless. You can't beat the heat this summer. My glasses steamed up, the camera lense steamed up and the humidity was impossible. So, after a few quick attempts at pictures...I ran for the air-conditioning! The humidity has been wonderful for our hibiscus, of course they like tropical weather.

The basil crop has gone wild. Note the "filtered" lense

look of these photos...just a fogged up lense.

The roses are still blooming, but the heat hasn't been their friend.

  

I have really been surprised that we haven't found

boiled fish in our fountain. They seem to be

 thriving and so are the water plants.

     The climbing flowers are taking off. They are usually prettiest in the fall when they completely take over the iron form they are climbing around. You can see the humidity haze out on the field behind our home. This year, there are soybeans growing in the field.

     It is a beautiful morning, best observed from inside the air-conditioned house. I hope that some of you are enjoying normal summer weather...you know, the kind where you can actually go swimming, eat on your patio and enjoy walks around the neighborhood. We haven't seen that here in weeks! At least I'm not in Texas!

Please go visit our hostess

Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer and say hello!

Who Is This Man?

     Some of my earliest memories are of sand castles. Summer vacations on the beach in Miami or Daytona with my dad spending hours building the most beautiful sand castles with me. This is a man who loves to build things. I remember on those same summer vacations, he would build things in the back seat of the car to make it more fun for my sister and me. One year it was a desk on each window. Somehow it dropped down and we could write and color. One year it a wooden “floor” over the real floor with trap doors that opened to stash our things. This was before seatbelts and air-conditioning. 

     This is the man who held my hand through countless dentist appointments (I always wanted daddy), became president of the school board when he wanted things done the right way and asked me “have I ever told you about sex?” as we were walking down the aisle at my wedding to try to keep a very terrified bride from fainting. That same night I found a very long letter about life, love and marriage tucked secretly into my honeymoon luggage. 

     This man loves to learn. He got his engineering degree, his MBA and various other accolades. He started his career digging ditches and ended it as a top executive for a major company, but he didn’t change. People still tell me stories about how much they liked working for him and how he always treated everyone with respect. He learned to water ski when I did. I was in high school, he was in his 40’s which seemed very old at the time. 

     He is the father of 2 girls, who always said he loved having just girls…until he had grandsons. He bought trucks and tractors, built wooden trains and played and played some more. Now we watch him do it all over again with his 2 little great-grandsons. Of course he also found ways to bond with each of his 4 granddaughters. Each of them would have stories to tell.

     The past year has been the worst of his life. He was 16 when he started dating my mom and 20 when they married. They were a solid unit, a partnership and one of those couples that you didn’t think of as individuals…they were “Bob and Lou”. He could have given up when she died, he could have shut himself into his home and refused to participate in life. He didn’t, even though I am sure there were days he wanted to. He has gotten very involved in a new, smaller church. He has built and painted a deck for the church and helped at a migrant center. He has made several visits to see my Disney daughter, riding roller coasters and pounding the pavement from park opening to park closing. He is doing all the things my mom didn’t want him to do because she was afraid it might kill him. I get messages from my daughter saying that she can’t keep up with grandpa. He has learned to cook. He always did a little cooking, making Sunday brunch or grilling. Now, he really cooks, bakes bread and shares the food with his friends. He swims laps most days, plays golf and enjoys an active social life. He did his own Christmas shopping and hasn’t missed one of our birthdays or special occasions yet. He kept moving even when he didn’t feel like it because he knew we needed him and that my mom would want him to enjoy life while he could. I couldn’t be prouder to call this man my dad.

     So, today as my father turns 85, he looks 70 and acts 12. He makes us laugh, he has been our rock and he provided us with a childhood so wonderful that we knew we were lucky even as children. Happy Birthday Dad!