Our Summer Vacation comes to an end today

Five days away from home is a long time when the temperature hovers in the high 90's every day. We were hoping for cooler weather in the mountains but that didn't happen.

We left home on Wed., July 14 and travelled to Chattanooga, TN the first day. We stayed at Stonefort B&B downtown near the Tennessee River and all the downtown attractions. The B&B was listed as Boutique European, and indeed it was. It had beautiful old furniture, lovely paintings, etc. and the breakfast was so good. Had to have a stool to get into the bed as it was so high off the floor, but very comfortable. Check out the B&B website to view the rooms - under "Accommodations" - http://www.stonefortinn.com/ortinn.com/

The free electric shuttle buses would take you to all the sights downtown. We checked out the Chattanooga Choo Choo, then off to the Aquarium (too late to spend time there plus it cost $29.95
each so we passed that up since we could only stay for an hour).

We walked along the river late in the evening and watched the sunset behind Lookout Mountain. Then we stopped in at Mellow Mushroom and ate pizza (it was so noisy but fun).

Thursday, July 15 - Jim's birthday. We ate a delicious European

style breakfast at the B&B and then drove a few miles across the

river to ride the Incline up the side of the mountain. That was quite an experience. We had to ride it back down the mountain because we had left our car at the bottom! We drove a few more miles to Rock City (which we had seen several times before when used to take the boys there many years ago). Our purpose for going there this time was for me to buy a "See Rock City" birdhouse! Click on photo to enlarge.

We drove back down the mountain to the Riverfront to board the Southern Belle Riverboat for a luncheon cruise on the Tenn. River. I slipped a note to one of the waiters that it was Jim's birthday and after dining on prime rib, and other good food, the band stopped playing and the narrator said "We have a celebrity aboard today. Would Jim Gilmer please stand up and let's sing Happy Birthday to him"... and everybody clapped and sang. He was a good sport and waved to the crowd. I bet they wondered just who the celebrity really was?

After the boat ride, we got in the car and drove to Cumberland Gap, TN to spend the night in a little town where "time stands still". Stayed at the Cumberland Gap Inn and it was very nice, but had been around awhile. At least the WiFi worked here which wasn't always working in the other places we stayed. We took our laptop along and checked our email to see if there were messages from our sons in London. They got together for dinner in London one evening. Bill, Caroline and Nerissa were there on vacation (went to see relatives and take in the Latitude Music Festival 2010) and Ron was there on a business trip. They never see each other in the USA!

We had dinner in the only cafe in Cumberland Gap and it was very good food. The building must be over 100 years old. One side of the cafe was set up for dinner dining and there was someone there playing the piano - beautiful dinner music. We went back there Fri. morning for a good mountain breakfast before heading for the Cumberland Gap National Park nearby. Click photo to enlarge.

Cumberland Gap National Park is in Ky. You leave TN and go through a tunnel through the mountain to get to the park, in another state! Just down the road from the hotel a couple of miles, and you would be in Virginia.

We learned a lot of history at the Park Headquarters and went on some of the trails. Went to the top of Pinnacle Mountain to observe the "pass" or gap between two mountains where the pioneers crossed into KY from TN and VA. Too bad it was so hot and humid that day. We didn't stay on the trails too long.

We left Cumberland Gap after lunch and headed to northeast KY via Lexington and the Blue Grass country. Our next stop would be at Cumberland Gap Falls west of Elizabethtown, KY.

It's a L-O-N-G Hot summer!

This has been such a hot, humid summer and the year was half over on July 9th. We are on a downhill slide now but the temperature is still near 100 every day. You get up early and get things done outside by 9 a.m. if you can. It's already hot when Pat and I go walking around 6:20 a.m. and we can only walk for 40 minutes. I get back home and drink a cup of hot coffee and eat breakfast while I cool off in the air conditioned breakfast room.


I decided this summer was the time to tackle my recipe collection and put them in a cookbook form. These are recipes I have gotten from friends and are written on backs of envelopes, some on emails that are typed, others are torn from newspapers, etc. If we liked them, I would keep the recipes.

Many of the cookie and dessert recipes are favorites of the granddaughters. So, I decided to put them into a cookbook and give each of the 5 girls a copy. I chose a photo of Katie (now almost 19) when she was visiting us one summer at "Grandma Camp" and making a batch of chocolate chip cookies. The girls always want to bake something when they come to visit. Their dads (our sons) are also good cooks. I think their skills were learned during boy scout camps.


I have almost finished putting recipes in the computer and getting ready to print a good copy to take to Office Depot and have printed to make my cookbooks. I made the cover and will use clear plastic over the picture of Katie. I have a comb binding machine and will bind the cookbooks myself. Hope to have these finished by Christmas to put in their stockings.


They all have favorites but I think the most requested is Wagon Wheel Cookies, a recipe I found in a magazine a couple of years ago. They're so easy to make and taste a little like a brownie; soft and chewy with powdered sugar on the outside.

WAGON WHEEL COOKIES

A chocolate cookie that tastes like a brownie; soft and chewable.
Includes unsweetened baking chocolate, eggs, oil, flour and sugar.

Recipe: Approximately 3 dozen cookies

½ cup Enova oil (or canola oil)
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate (not chips)
Melted in microwave and cooled
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
1/ 2 tsp. salt
2 ½ cups flour, sifted
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar

With a double boiler, melt the chocolate and cool to room temperature. (I use a glass bowl and melt the chocolate in the microwave; one minute at the time until it softens)
Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.
Mix together the oil, chocolate and sugar; mix well.
Blend in eggs, in fourths, mixing well after each addition.
Add vanilla.
Stir in dry ingredients.
Cover and place in refrigerator and chill for several hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Portion dough into pieces and shape into 1 ½ inch balls.
Roll in powdered sugar and place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Getting ready to go to college - then and now

Going to college in 1952 was quite different from today!


I went to Washington, DC during the summer of 1952 after graduating from high school, and worked for the Navy. I saved my money to go to college that fall. I remember buying some twin sheets, a blanket and green chenille bedspread for my dorm room and some light green organdy ruffled curtains for the window (I thought they were beautiful).


I didn't decide to go to Troy State (now Troy University) until I returned home late August and learned that my friends had decided to go to Troy instead of Auburn. So, I decided to go to Troy but had not applied, etc. That's another story that I wrote about last year.

I lived in Shackelform Dorm (not co-ed then). Boys were only allowed in the lobby at certain times of the day. My room was upstairs right over the front entrance. A big magnolia tree provided some shade from the hot sun in the afternoon. We didn't have air conditioning. I don't remember even having a fan!


I'm sure they provided us with a list of items to bring, but it probably was a short list. Not at all like the list printed below that you bring to school in 2010. Certainly no electronic items, telephones, TV, etc. I think my roommate had a radio. Very basic stuff.

One thing I remember taking to school is a pair of hand-embroidered pillow cases my mother made for me during the summer. She liked to do handwork but with 7 kids (I was the oldest) she didn't have much time to do needlework. So, these pillowcases were a "labor of love" that she made for me and I still have them (58 years later). I take them out sometimes and rub my hand over the pretty pink embroidery and imagine my mother working on these, probably late at night when everybody had gone to bed. She wrapped them and gave them to me when I was packing to go off to school. I was so happy to have embroidered pillowcases. )



I remember when our granddaughter Nerissa was getting ready to go to Clemson and how she spent the summer getting things for her apartment. She and her roommate had color-coordinated all the furnishings: hot pink and black I think. I helped her make a monogrammed pillow for her bed. Towels, shower curtain, etc. all had to match. Having sent our boys off to school with things we already had on hand, I had not gone through furnishing a dorm or apartment and was amazed at how much time and effort goes into "getting ready" to live away from home.


Note: I only went to Troy State for 4 quarters. I graduated with honors from Texas A&M at Commerce (TX) 20 years later with a B.S. in Home Economics. Also graduated from Paris Jr College in Paris, TX with an Associate Degree in Science. Attended Francis Marion College in Florence, SC to obtain a teacher's certificate and taught school one year before moving to GA.


This note from the Troy University site:
Suggestions of Items You Might Want to Get for Your Room (in 2010):
(Items written in red either didn't exist in 1952 or we didn't own them. Shared a common bath and bathroom at end of hall with others and took turns cleaning the toilets, etc. School furnished paper, mop, broom,etc.)
Telephone (public pay phone on each floor of dorm)
Telephone Calling Card
Toilet Tissue/Paper Towels
Cleaning Supplies such as stove/oven cleaner; toilet bowl cleaner, shower cleaner; broom, mop Air freshener (you just opened your windows to air out the rooms)
Deodorant/ Soap
Desk/Closet Organizer
Shampoo/Conditioner
Bath Towels/ Bath Cloths Floor Mat For Shower
Area Rug for Room (rooms had hard wood floors; some had throw rugs but I didn't)
Dishes (pots, pans, spoons, forks, plates,cups) (no microwaves back then; ate in cafeteria; food banned in rooms)
Flip Flops (for bathroom)
Pillows
Blanket/Comforter (Twin Size)
Bed Linen (sheets) Twin Size Bed
Toothpaste
Toothbrush Laundry basket Detergent (like Tide or Gain) Raincoat/Umbrella
Clothes hanger
Alarm Clock/Radio 3M Command Adhesive Strips
TV (cable Ready) – no larger than a 19”
Bottle/Can Opener
Computer
Ruler Calculator
Pens/Pencils Pencil Sharpener
Medicine (Tylenol or Advil) Note: went to infirmary for all medications
Iron/small ironing board

Caroline modeling her new outfits

Here is Caroline modeling the dress she made this week. The top is lined and she put a zipper down the back. This is the 3rd summer that I have given her sewing lessons. We have been sewing for 2 days and finished the projects she was working on when she put a zipper in her dress.

She wanted to make a dress and some skirts. She will be in the 9th grade in high school this year and wants to wear dresses and skirts. For the last 8 years she has had to wear a school uniform.

Since there's not a place to buy patterns (WalMart closed their fabric section), we went to the local Christian mission thrift store and bought a skirt her size to use as a pattern. She likes the Aeropostale skirt she got for $2 which features 2 ruffles on a waistband. She also found a jumper there and is shown here modeling her two "finds" at the thrift store.

She found some hot pink fabric and black lace at an outlet store near Andalusia and designed the pink and black skirt shown here. I made this outfit for her, after she designed it.

The pretty floral print skirt was made using the skirt pattern of the dress pattern above.

The multicolored skirt with the tiny pleats was purchased from Kohl's recently. Again, we used it for a pattern to make another skirt.

Not all the time was spent sewing. We made two trips to Opp to purchase materials, thread, etc. We took a side trip to the cemetery to check on the condition of the flowers on James' grave. We went to the grocery to get things we needed to bake some zucchini bread for her to take home to her dad and sisters. She's a good cook and loves to make cookies.

Today she and her grandpa went shopping to buy a birthday present for her dad, our son Bill. She looked for a special Columbia shirt that he likes to wear when they go sailing or taking the boat out on the lake. They had the shirt wrapped at the store so I didn't get to see it.

We have enjoyed her visit so much and wish she 

could stay longer. Her summer is packed with camp, soccer practice and conditioning, and other activities.

She will be going to London for two weeks in July and when she returns, she will be having mandatory soccer practice. I guess we are lucky that she could work in 5 days with us.  I think she will enjoy wearing her new outfits this summer and to school.

I wonder how many 14 year old girls visit their grandmother, with their Singer sewing machine in tow!

Grandma Camp - Sewing and Cooking Lessons

Only one granddaughter at Grandma Camp this year. The other 4 are too old and have summer jobs. One graduated from college in Dec. and has a full-time job. The other 3 are working this summer and will be going back to college in August.

Caroline, almost 15, arrived yesterday from Florence, SC, to spend a few days. She had a hard time "working us in" this year as she is starting to high school in August and working out with her soccer team, getting ready for soccer. She has spent a week at 4-H camp at lake Marion this summer, another week at Florence Elite Soccer Camp, and this week was free so she came to visit us. We met her in Atlanta on Tuesday (half-way) and will take her back to Atlanta on Sat. to meet her dad to go back home.

Caroline wants to sew and bake a cake while she's here. Today we shopped for fabric for a dress and found just what she wanted.

Guess where we found the fabric? At the drug store in Opp!! This drug store is so unique. You go there for so many things. Computer supplies, beautiful cards and stationery, jewelry, purses, gifts, books, and beautiful cotton fabric and sewing supplies. Oh, and they also fill prescriptions and sell medical supplies too. I suppose that's why it's called a drug store or pharmacy.

In a small town, you can find almost everything you need. You just have to know where to go to find it! Like fresh ground gourmet coffee from Coffee Co. Roasters (Emerald Coast Coffee) can be found at a local florist. The clerk at a local service station orders my husband's pipe tobacco for him. I guess nobody else in Elba smokes a pipe.

If we can't find what we need, we order it on the internet. The UPS and Fed Ex trucks are often stopping at our house. People probably think we have a home business!!

I gave Caroline a teddy bear I made for her out of an old baby quilt that was her dad's when he was little. I made each granddaughter a bear from an old quilt and gave to them when they were around 16. Caroline is the last one to get a bear. I made hers a couple of years early while I can still see to sew! I will admit that I am starting to age a bit and find things harder to do than in the past.

We will do some more sewing tomorrow and maybe finish her dress in the morning. Then she wants to make a skirt. She brought her sewing machine with her because she is used to using it and knows how to thread it, etc. I draw the seam lines on the fabric and she sews the seams together. She even puts in zippers. I think she is learning something that she will use for a lifetime. I learned to sew when I was about her age. My grandmother taught me to sew on an old treadle machine in the 1940's.

Caroline made a dress last summer and wore it to a school dance this spring. She was so proud of her creation! She even made her older sister a dress last summer also.

I love my granddaughters and have so many happy memories of the times we spend together on holidays and summer visits. I just wish I could see them more often. You don't just hop up to Florence, SC or to Austin, TX and spend the day. That's why we spend a lot of time sending email and on Skype talking to each other.

When life gives you lemons, just toss 'em in your pitcher!

I just happen to love lemonade, especially in the hot summertime. I have good memories of stopping by Cook's Grocery Store in Elba on the way to visit Mama and Papa Smith when I was a little girl, and buying a dozen lemons to make lemonade for lunch at their house. We didn't grow lemons on our farm so they were very special for us. We grew almost everything we ate except sugar and flour. (At today's prices, I buy lemons one at a time and make my lemonade from Crystal Light powder, slicing one lemon in it to make it look like the real stuff!).   


I also like lemon curd or as my mother called it "lemon cheese".  She made this to frost white sponge cake and it was so good.


But that's not what it means "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade".

Now to tie this into my cooking! I have been working on putting recipes into cateories and putting them into a folder in my computer. These recipes I've had in boxes, etc. for years and are written on backs of envelopes, cards, torn from newspapers and magazines, and many are covered with flour, etc.

When the recipes are "failures" or I didn't have the necessary ingredients, I would write notes in the margin about what happened and what I would do next time to"fix" it. And these are the "recipe keepers" I am putting in my recipe file.


When a recipe is a failure for me, I turn it into something better - or "make lemonade from the lemon" . Sometimes the revised recipe is so much better than the original - or to us at least it is.


I have been putting my recipes in categories such as dips, appetizers, beverages, sauces, pies, vegetables, etc. Now all I have to do is go to "My recipes" file, click on the category and find the recipe I'm looking for and print it out. So simple...... no more pulling down the boxes of individual recipes and searching for that elusive recipe for Baby Ruth bars or chicken chilli.


I even made a Miscellaneous file for things such as how to crack and peel a coconut. blanching and toasting raw almonds, substitutions, and many more.


This has been a tedious task, but very rewarding. Next, I will print out all the recipes and put them in a spiral bound binder to give to my granddaughters in college. They might enjoy using some of them. I'll enclose some pockets at the back of the binder for them to put their own recipes. Now isn't that being a good grandmother?

"Oh, Say Can You See (better)?"

Yes, I can indeed see better now that I have had my eyelids tacked up. I was having trouble reading the newspaper and the computer monitor screen. I went to see my optometrist and he said, "No, you don't have cataracts. But your problem is your droopy eyelids, and that can be taken care of."

So he made me an appointment with a plastic surgeon in Dothan, 50 miles away. On the initial visit, they measured my eyes, and did a lot of tests, etc. and made pictures. I didn't include the before and after photos taken at the Dr's office. They were terrible!!

The photos here are just some of my photos I have on hand. On the left you can see the droopy eyelids and on the right, after surgery. I've also lost some weight in the photo on the right. My cheeks aren't as fat!

Eyelid surgery (I don't know the medical term) is more uncomfortable than painful. You have to put ice packs on your eyes off and on for 20 minute intervals during the first 24 hours. (I didn't get up at night to do this.) This was to prevent bruising and black eyes, etc. It worked. I never had any black/blue spots on my face from the surgery. I used ziplock bags of frozen peas. I would put one bag back in the freezer and take out another to always have frozen peas, one bag for each eye.

Unfortunately I was allergic to the antibiotic ointment they gave me to put inside my eyes and after doing this for a couple of days and having red eyes and burning, I called the Dr's office, and they said to stop using the ointment immediately. And the problem cleared up.

After about a week, my eyes were feeling much better and when I returned to have the stitches removed, I was dismissed and the Dr. said my operation was a success.

The first thing I noticed after having the surgery was that I could read the entire page of the newspaper without having to turn my head from side to side, or look up or down. What a difference it made in repairing my droopy eye lids.

I can't believe I don't have cataracts, at my age. I guess that will come a little later when I am in my 80's? Jim had his cataracts removed this spring, and no longer has to wear glasses. He bought a pair of reading glasses to see the computer screen since he has to sit so far back at his new computer desk. He has worn glasses all his life, almost. They implanted a new lens in each eye and it's a miracle how much better he can see.