Dairy Daze...and Now Beyond

Another Ellenism: Maggits: not to be confused with anything that squirms, a maggit is something that is commonly found hanging onto a refrigerator; as in "refrigerator maggits."

It's such fun when kids are just learning to talk. Here are a few words Ellen has changed or come up with. Beeber- an animal with a big flat tail that lives in ponds clippernails- a device to clip your nails with, of course kellihopters- 1)machines that fly in the sky 2)maple tree seeds Whinney-ah-Pooh; that silly old bear lion-the sandy white stuff you put on your garden soil to amend the ph (lime) nap-a paper you look at to find out where you need to go

So much to write, so little time. It's hard to write with a 2 and a half year old on your lap. Thank goodness that VBS is over. It was fun last week and Ellen loved it, but following a group of pre-schoolers around for 3 hours is much more tiring than you would expect.

Vacation Bible School is in full swing this week. I have been making the rounds with Ellen and her pre-school class. There are 13-14 of them in there so every adult is appreciated. (And actually there are about 7-8 adults tagging along; parents and grandparents.) One of them is her cousin. He's 6 months younger and quite the go-getter. I had expected that Ellen would be quite uninterested in the whole affair, but she has proven me wrong. She just loves it. She is a bit reserved; she doesn't say much, or get TOO involved, but she was game for one set of "Ring around the Roses" and she actually sat next to Cooper the Dog (the mascot) for her picture. She loves Cooper and flirts with him, grinning and playing peek-a-boo, though she doesn't want him to get too close. She sat in her little chair and colored her papers today and put the stickers in her work book. She even got rather bold and started smiling at people. But then, when it has come time to go...LA...

A few months ago hubby and I wanted to use up some of our many eggs by pickling them. I read a few recipes and people just raved about them. So I tried pickling 2 dozen of them. Ugh! I guess maybe the possums loved them, we sure didn't. Hubby said you might as well drink a glass of vinegar with your boiled egg. Last week I had some leftover pickled beet syrup. I put it in a quart jar and threw in 8 peeled, hardboiled eggs. After about 3 days this is what they turned out like. We, hubby, my mom and I, tried them last week and the consensus was that they taste pretty much like a boiled egg soaked in pickled beet syrup. The taste was rather blah and the texture is nasty to my mind. It seems to make the whites rubbery. If you have a pickled beet recipe that YOU like, share it with me would you! Thanks!

(Edited to add correction: Electricity came to this area in the '50s. They got running water in '68. OK dear, I think I got it right this time!) The Fourth of July came and went. We had a nice barbecue down at MIL's place. The weather was quite cooperative, so that was good too. July 4th was also Grandpa's birthday. This year marked his 94th. Ninety four years old. What changes he has seen in his years! Back in his day a car in this area was a rare and wonderful thing. Electricity didn't arrive until the 50s and running water came in '68 when hubby's family got a well (my hubby was 10 years old already!)and babies were delivered at home. Children were plagued with rickets because malnutrition was common. Grandpa was the youngest of about 8 kids (I think); 7 boys and one girl. His mom died when he was 5, so he was pretty much allowed to do as he wanted. He tells tales of riding wagons and and trading horses. He worked at many jobs, often traveling far to rea...