Tuesday! I don't know what those are... Do You??

"Life is just one damned thing after another." - Elbert Hubbard

"You only live once, but if you work it right, once is enough." - Joe Lewis

"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle The other is as though everything is a miracle." - Albert Einstein

Today since they are so easy I am asking what these TWO things are..

#1~ Do you know what I am? ~ yes I am edible.. I don't grow on a tree but I do grow under one sometimes... I Can be prepared Grilled, Baked, Broiled, boiled or Fried. I have even been stuffed.. I am mentioned in the Bible... I can be frozen or canned.. By products of me have been used in crafts and in making jewelry.. someone knows exactly what I am.. give it a guess.. Maybe that someone is you!

Update~ I am not a pineapple nor a tuber.. I am not a pepper..It's a handsome quail in the hand of a handsome male.. I personally think a quail has a beautiful feather pattern .. No one guessed this one..

#2~ Are you going to guess what I am? I am not edible.. I am very useful though. I can be made into many things that are used every day by millions of people.. I am also mentioned in the Bible... Someone knows at a glance exactly what I am.. Go ahead .. glance at me and then tell everyone what I am..

Update~ I am not a wind chime or a hanging dangling thing.. I am the center of a lovely lily that makes it's home in the homemade bucket jungle.. My smell is as beautiful as my flower... Phoebe was right about me.. Maybe she recognized me from the jungle?

Today since they are so very easy I have given you two things to guess. I bet that someone will guess them both very quickly.. I think they are both easy.. what do you think they are?... give it a guess.. You might be right.. Please leave me a comment.. Check back tomorrow for the correct answer... Have a wonderful day!

Patsy

Just a Little something....

"He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it."

"I don't believe it. Prove it to me and I still won't believe it."

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
all by ~ Douglas Adams


Wow~ Now how did I let Tuesday sneak up on me? Actually I did know it was Tuesday.. I had even planned a real good trick on my what is it post... Then my computer decided to be an arrogant and aggravating so and so whatever and hasn't been behaving very well today.. It decided that the camera I normally use was incompatible.. Me and my best friend Deb sat here and messed with it all day.. Of course we had to stop trying to eat and talk and laugh and look at the chickens and walk her poodle.. Dave and I are debating taking all the money we would normally spend on the kids at Christmas and buy us a new one.... Dave even has a grand scheme of having one Built to our own specifications just as if we were rich folks.. I can almost hear the children laughing even as I write this.. they know I wouldn't do that to them.. they think I will have their stuff for Christmas just as we always do.... just as we have since they were little kids instead of the grown folks they are now.... I am thinking though that this year we might fool them and go away someplace alone and hide out for the whole week of Christmas on their gift money... holding hands and walking along the shore in the early evening or having warm drinks in some beach front bar... We could.. but I know we won't.. we are good parents and I'll keep fighting this old Computer till it keels over and dies.. We have had terrible luck with computers.. I think we ~ or mostly me~ wear them slap dab out.. the last one before this one, we had so long that the letters were almost gone off the keyboard.. I never took typing in school so I have got to have the letters.. Dave being his wonderful and sweet self put them all back for me with a marker.. We use them all up before we are done with them.. The first one we bought from an auction.. old and well used.. the next one we bought new then the fan died and we had that fixed.. Later the mother board croaked and we used a spare that came from a dumpster for almost a year then bought this one... I still have the spare just in case.... This one came from a pawn shop... they said new but I don't think it was brand new.. Maybe almost new..This is our third Computer in 15 years.. Is that good or bad?

Lately we seem to be having bad luck all around.. the computer is an on going thing...a leak in the roof... the septic tank say it's on strike too.. I couldn't be a good worker and suit the Indians.. and I haven't found a new job... Maybe if my husband beat me enough.. At least that's what my ex boss says is the problem.. I wonder if it would help.. I'd be almost willing for Dave to spank me and see.. and if that doesn't help then we'll move on and know it's a lost cause..
Someone once told me that you could make money blogging... I think I have earned 11 cents for advertisements.. Maybe I'm doing it wrong... Maybe I am trying to hard to do things my way!

But today was a good day even though I didn't get some things done.. Dave, Deb and I had a wonderful lunch of spaghetti and a great ~ almost pizza/ more than bread~ that I found the recipe for this morning while doing my drops.. The dough was made in the bread machine.. a regular pizza dough except I used half wheat flour.. pressed into a pan and brush with olive oil then smothered and covered with very thinly sliced tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms... On top of all that was a generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese and then some mixed grated cheese left over form this week ends Taco's.. I will never find that sight again and Deb took the printed recipe home with her.. But Lord It was delicious... I'm even sure it has a name but I don't know it.. Hopefully they dropped on me and I'll see them again tomorrow....

I have started another class on Allpoetry... this one is an acrostics class... I actually like writing acrostics..and so far..~ Knocking on wood~.. I am doing great in this class... I swore I wasn't taking any more because of the time involved but I couldn't stay away.. Our last class was on writing what is called shadow acrostics.. I wrote one and then decided to write another.. I couldn't decide which to turn in so I turned in both.. I know!! I was being weird and it wasn't even Wednesday... I am sharing both of them with you tonight.. Just a little something since I cheated you out of your chance to guess tonight.. I hope you enjoy them.. I hope your Tuesday was great! Have a great night!
Patsy

My oldest and his Crew!
I love Y'all! But you could SMILE!!



Smile

Simple muscle movements; so everyone sayS
Many hearts are brightened by their happy beaM
I love to see one light the eyes; as the mouth says HI
Listening to a child's laughter always makes mine swelL
Everyone looks beautiful when they wear a smilE!

Written BY: Patricia Sawyer
8-24-2009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Double Trouble!

Terrible two?
or Normal ToT?

Rolling jumper;
bouncing; kickeR?

Over head in the tree;
what will you be? A dynamO?

Under the bed? Behind the door?
Where are yoU?

Behave! be sweet!
Yes I'll give your back a ruB.

Little boys are rough
and tenderly tough as welL.

Everyday; Every second;
a new adventure in LovE!

written By: Patricia Sawyer
8-23-2009

Tuesday is here yet again.. do you know what I have?

"It's a wonderful feeling when your father becomes not a god but a man to you, when he comes down from the mountain and you see he's this man with weaknesses. And you love him as this whole being, not as a figurehead." ~Robin Williams

"Is the glass half full, or half empty? It depends on whether you're pouring, or drinking."
~ Bill Cosby

"Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance." ~ Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr.

Hi and welcome to another Tuesday in my world.. I do have an item for you to try and identify and I am sure someone will know what it is.. I thought I knew what it was.. I was wrong.. I have watched this item in my best friends house for many many years and wanted it.. I'm not sure why I wanted it but I did.. Some times when I visited her I asked her if I could have it yet and she always said " No, I need it for Temple! You No can have!" Then she would shake her head at me and Add.. " One day you have! Not today!" I quit asking about five years ago.. I still wanted it but I figured I would never
have it so I didn't want to be a pest.. She and I have played the can I have game for so many years now..

I first met her when I was newly married and sixteen.. she was well into her first marriage but new to American and twenty four.. she became my best friend.. My almost sister.. my protector!
I became her first American friend.. her "American Sister", her translator.. ( No I don't speak Thai!) Even though we spoke different languages.. we often finished each others sentences.. She would often say " what word I trying to say?" and somehow I would answer with the right word..

If she comes to my house and sees something she likes she usually leaves with it.. Sometimes I leave with what I want too; but with this item she always said 'NO!"... until today!

Early this morning she called because her lawn mower simply wouldn't crank.. she had pulled it enough times to sweat she explained " and still it never crank up!" She said she had cut with it yesterday and could a lawn mower break itself while it rested since yesterday? I will admit I smiled but I never laugh at her.. she is way to dear to me for that.. I knew she was leading up to her husband having died; ~ mine was now her nearest "sister's" Husband.. You see I have heard it so many times before.. Glancing at the clock to see if Dave could squeeze in a lawn mower repair project before his night shift I told her we would be over in about ten minutes... Then I went to break the news to him.. he gathered up a few tools and away we went.. (Yes! I know how lucky I am to have a wonderful; "Nearest sisters" .. husband!!) He never complains.. just gathers tools and away we go..

Dave was outside in the sweltering heat working on her cranky lawn mower and she was peeking out the window at him snickering as she informed me that he was "speaking to the lawn mower!" I watched her and wondered why she was reaching her hand up towards my much wanted basket.. I was simply dumbfounded when she handed it to me and said.. "today you carry with you..You my nearest sister!" She then told me about how she brought it with her from her country.. so many years ago and how she had had it so many years before that and " now she give to me.. You take care!".. She told a few funny tales of when she herself had used it in Thailand.. way back when she was a girl.... I didn't argue with her.. I just put it inside my big pocket book so that maybe if she didn't see it she wouldn't change her mind!!

What is this beautiful basket for? I am sure someone out there knows.. maybe you have one too.. It is not used for what I thought it was for.. But is is a very useful item.. Do you know what it's for? Please leave me a comment and share with me if you have one or if you have ever used one.. Maybe you just want to say hi and a comment can do that too....

I will treasure it forever.. I will most likely never use it for it's intended purpose.. Then again.. who knows maybe one day I might! You never can tell about us "nearest sisters"... we might do anything! Have a great day!
Patsy

Update!~ The basket is not a rice steamer.. In fact I myself thought it was a steamer for all these years as I have seen it and a larger one like it hanging in my friend's kitchen.. I finally asked yesterday what I was getting.. when she gave it to me.. This basket is a sticky rice serving basket... sticky rice being a certain kind of rice that is most often eaten by Thai people..Sticky rice is a staple in Northern Thailand and Northeastern Thailand where people eat it instead of long grain rice. Sticky rice is eaten with your hands. Many people roll it into little balls and dip into sauces.. The hand woven bottom basket holds the rice and the lid is another hand woven basket that fits over the bottom basket and is held together with red cord. The top basket is tucked under the bottom section to elegantly serve rice. Steamed rice will not stick to the rattan basket and the rattan actually adds a nice flavor to the rice. The rice steamer she uses looks like a spittoon with a straw hat on top of it.. As for the questions about why she would need it to take to Temple~ She has for years told me wonderful stories of going to temple every morning when she was a little girl.. How the people would bring food so the Monks could bless it and then also to feed the Monks who would pray all day.. Thoi was a bit of a rebel and would often get weary of waiting for the huge bells to ring for the people to eat.. After the Monks were fed the other food would be eaten by everyone else.. She talks about how poor people would gather there and that she knew that was sometimes their only meal of the day.. Apparently she had a soft spot for the children and would often times sneak into the Temple and with a nod from who I am assuming to be "the Head Monk in charge".. She would run and jump onto the rope and swing back and forth ringing the huge bells some times as much as an hour or more early.. she would then climb up in the bell tower to watch as the people hurried from great distances to the Temple.. wondering how they had been so off with the time.. She says the basket she gave to me was her own.. when she was a child.. she told me to~ "think of it as a box like today bad children take to school..." From her wonderful stories I believe that Thai Temple was and is not just a Church but a place where families and communities gather for many reasons.. She still carries food when she goes to Temple.. I do know they have many strict rules as to how you dress and behave while there.. Children can learn how to play musical instruments, dance and learn the Thai language; and history.. Families and friends can gather and eat and be with others who speak their own language..
I am glad everyone enjoyed My new what is it Item.. thanks to everyone who played along.. Have a wonderful day!
Patsy

Today is Tuesday! Do you know what this is?

“Rice Krispies happens to be one of my favorite junk foods, just as I regard Michener as superior among junk writers.” ~ Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

“A society that thinks the choice between ways of living is just a choice between equally eligible "lifestyles" turns universities into academic cafeterias offering junk food for the mind.”
~ George F. Will

“My body is a temple where junk food goes to worship”~ Unknown

What in the world is that thing? It sorta goes along with today being the crazy holiday known as National Junk Food Day! According to tradition, today is set aside to fill your belly with foods that are bad for you without a bit of guilt. I Personally will pass on that. My Tummy doesn't seem to like the oily fat that usually goes along with junk food.. I am also fat enough without adding any empty calories to my diet... even for one day! The photo is not food. Or at least not food to me though there may be something that would eat it.So my question to you today is what is this thing? And where would you find it? Then thirdly... yes I have a thirdly...
can you tell me at least three junk foods that can be found in the same place as the pictured item? You should have no trouble thinking of three since the last time I was there I ate four things that would be considered junk food and gained at least five pounds just from all the delightful smells. I'm pretty sure most people will guess what the picture is and where to find one..
From there they should have no trouble listing all the junk foods found there.

I would also like to add that today is actually a wild and wacky made up holiday.. Even so I have had three e-mails about it all with games to play today and new and exciting ways to cook foods that are considered bad for you.. Junk Food!

Junk food is generally high in fat, calories and cholesterol and is very often full of sugar and preservatives.. The list of junk foods includes Candies and chocolate; cookies and snack cakes; potato chips; Ice creams; carbonated and other bottled beverages; and almost all fast foods... In other words, junk food is all that sweet; salty or otherwise tasty stuff that the dietitians,
Doctors, and Mom, consider to be bad for us.

I guess if you simply can't resist the chance to splurge for just one day and you positively have to celebrate Junk food day.. then maybe just have a small amount of junk food.. you can always off-set it with a brisk walk around the neighborhood or a game of Jump rope with the children.

My concern is not really for those who will eat Junk food today.. My greater concern is for the children who live on a steady diet of Fast food.. Parents don't cook like they used to. My own children would rather eat out than cook at home.. Forty percent of meals are now eaten outside of the home... Every single day one out of every four Americans will eat from a fast food restaurant.. Americans spend $110 billion dollars a year on fast food... French fries are the most eaten vegetable in America.. and the only vegetable eaten by many children..sixty percent of all Americans are either overweight or obese.. One in three children born in the United States will develop Diabetes in their lifetime.. Do you see a pattern?

I try to eat lots of vegetables and fruits. I love tomatoes and cucumbers and eat them every day when I have them fresh in my back yard. I also love squash and string beans and peas and corn.. I try to grow as many of those every year as I can.... I love peaches and watermelon.. I also love candy and anything chocolate but don't keep it here.. because I'll be honest.. I would eat it every day if it was here and readily available for me to grab.. I don't buy chips and other treats unless I am planning a party.. Even then I try to offer both fresh fruits and vegetables and the more common chips and dip style treats..

Dave and I did celebrate Junk Food Day together just before he went to work.. I cooked us each a small hamburger and loaded it down with low fat pepper jack cheese and grilled onions and peppers.. he even had mayonnaise and mustard on his. We also had a pasta and vegetable salad made with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes with onions, bacon bits, hot peppers and pasta.. all stirred up with a small amount of ranch dressing.. I know it's not real junk food but if I pretend it is then I won't think about having a giant Chocolate Ice cream banana split pecan pie.. with whipped cream and a cherry on top!

Please leave me a comment if you know the answers to my three questions.. They were. 1:) what is the picture of?.. 2:) where can one of these be found?... and 3:) (yes.. Thirdly!) Name at least three junk foods found in the same place as this picture.. I'm thinking this weeks what is it will be a piece of cake for most of you!! Have a great day!!
Patsy

7-22-2009
Update!~ 1:)~ I guess this wasn't as easy as I thought.. Only one person guessed and she got it right.. Thanks ~Lashan~ The Picture was of a carousel Tiger.. Here he is being ridden by My niece Beth.. and her beautiful daughter Dorie Jean..

2:)~ Carousels can be found at amusement parks and carnivals; sometimes in large malls and of course at the Fair..

3:) I could name a great long list of junk food that can also be found in all of these places but I'll stick to my favorite three.. Cotton candy!..
French fries.. and Caramel apples!

Wow.. I would love to have a big caramel apple and ride a carousel right now! Have a great night!
Patsy

It's Tuesday!.... Do you know what it is?

"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book." - Ronald Reagan


"No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."- Ronald Reagan


"If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
- Ronald Reagan

Welcome to a quick what is it Tuesday post.. Look at the picture below and tell me what you think this plant is. It is a pretty plant that prefers rich moist soil and partial shade . It can tolerate direct sunlight but plants grown in shade tend to be larger and more succulent. It is related to mint in appearance, but it is not as invasive and easier to control. A clump-forming herbaceous perennial with heart shaped, deeply veined leaves that are covered with stiff hairs, it grows up to 1-2 feet high. Bluish-white or yellow flowers grow from the axils of the leaves and bloom from May to October. After pollination, long oval brown seeds appear. The leaves should be harvested before the flowering for optimum flavour and fragrance. The plant should be cut back in the fall. Any Ideas yet? The Amish people use this in a lot of their medicines. I have personally used their Ear ache drops made with this and found it to be very soothing and helpful..

This plant is a native to southern Europe and northern Africa and has been cultivated for over 2000 years. It has a long history as a healing herb and was also part of a drink that ensured longevity. The branches were strewn on floors to freshen a room, as mentioned by Shakespeare in "The Merry Wives of Windsor".
The Arabs introduced it as medicinal herb, a tea that was taken for anxiety and depression. It is still known in France today as a remedy for fatigue and headaches. The leaves were rubbed onto beehives to prevent swarming and to encourage the bees to return to the hives. I know the bees love it.. The honey bees here are fat with the nectar they suck from this plant every day.. a big garden spider builds his web from the edge of the planter to the nearest tree every night only to have me knock it down the next day to get to the water sprinkler. The Greek physician Dioscorides wrote about it being used for scorpions stings and insect and dog bites.

Wow.. I sure am glad I grow this plant in my bucket garden.. You can't tell from the picture but these plants are spilling out of a raised box made from four old shelves that were headed for a land fill... I love recycling things into containers for my gardens.. I even have stuff growing in a pair of Dave's old boots...

Let me know you were here by leaving me a comment.. please try and figure out what this plant is that grows so well in my gardens.. Maybe you have an idea for a unique planter for me to make? Maybe I can make it and fill it with this mystery plant.. take a guess if you don't know.. I bet someone out there knows.. is it YOU?! Have a great night!
Patsy

Happy Tuesday!! .. Who knows what we have here???

"If you can't stand the heat you better get out of the kitchen." ~ Harry S Truman

"I hope we can get back to what I call the kitchen table. Everyday issues that people are really worried about and focused on." ~ Dick Gephardt

"Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven."
~Yiddish Proverb

"What's a soup kitchen?" ~ Paris Hilton


Hello and Happy Tuesday to everyone! Are you ready to play along in the "What is it?" game? This week I am taking it easy on you all I will tell you that everything here is considered a kitchen item... I think most people will know what everything here is and even if you might not know what it's called you can probably make a pretty good guess as to what it was used for. How many of today's items can you identify?


1:) This first one doesn't actually belong to me.. It belongs to My oldest sister Trudy.. She also collects all the vintage kitchenware and has had this wonder for a very long time.. We have often taken guesses as to what it is and how we would use it....this item consists of a small metal basket on the bottom. It looks like a tin can filled with holes.. The top piece is a disk and when you hold it by the handles and squeeze the two together the disk goes down inside the basket.. first of all do you know what it is called and secondly.. what did the old timers use it for?



2:) I personally have always thought this was a cheese slicer and a pie crust edge maker.. I was wrong.... This vintage kitchen tool actually had two uses. Do you know what they were? Dave and I had the whole bucket out looking them over this morning.. Yes I have a bucket of old kitchen ware.... and we finally decided that we better look them all up.. I would hate to steer anyone in the wrong direction in the important matter of vintage kitchen ware. I mean what if I had you slicing something with an edger..




3:) This one is pretty easy I think.. I knew what this one was.. It has two metal parts that fit together and slide into the handle.. one can be removed but the other can not. If I had to guess I'd say that was for cleaning purposes.. After all one does have to clean their kitchen ware at times. What would you use this for? I can think of a few things it could be used for even in today's times.. But what is it really?

4:) let me tell you that this one isn't quiet as old as the others. In fact I drew this shape and My Dear Husband cut it out for me.. Mine is made of wood.. I had seen one in an old magazine and I wanted one of my own. I painted it to look like the old one I had seen. I use it quiet a lot while cooking.. It has a small eye so that it can hang close to where it will be used... What in the world is it? what is it used for?



5:) This one everyone should get.. it is so very easy.. this one was used back in the day when we couldn't buy fancy packaged food. Frozen foods were unheard of back then.. Ladies worked very hard to make their food stand out.. all well equipped kitchens had one of these.. What is it for? What is it called?




6:)This is my newest of all of my Kitchen items collection. Dave found this wonder at the Flea Market Saturday when I had to work.. He knew I would like it and he paid a few cents for it and proudly brought it home to me.. Of course I looked at him and said.. "What is it?" and of course he didn't know. It has a tip that has to be on a solid surface for it to work. When it is stood on the tip and you press down on the handle the little wire hoops spin around and around as the handle slides down the braided handle.. I love it.. Now that I know what it is for I love it even more... I have already used it.. It is perfect for what it was made for.. Do you know what it is?

I hope you will all make some guesses about today's vintage kitchenware items.. I have quiet a collection of them. Many of them we just look at and wonder what they could be for.. A few years ago I looked the whole town over for a corer so I could use it in canning pears.. My mama assured me that it would make my job easier.. I wasn't even sure what they looked like so after looking them up I just got down my bucket and got one from the old junk collection.. She was right.. with my old corer I was able to quickly get the cores out of my pears and was proud when they looked as good as the pears we eat from a can.

I will warn you though that the Internet says we should not use vintage kitchen ware because we cannot know what was used in the paint or what alloys were used in the metal parts. I always wash mine in a bleach solution prior too and after I use them since wood can harbor bacteria... I use mine very rarely because I~ like most women~ own all the new fangled fancy kitchen items.. But I will always love and collect the vintage kitchenware too. Have a great Tuesday!!
Patsy