Shirly Temple to End All STs

One time, I got to spend the night at Gramma Smitmajer's house. We always got to have Jolly Good Soda Pop at Gramma's, and those little cheese and cracker snack packs with the little red spreading knife.

My Aunt Cindy has always been 10 years older than me. That night, she thought it would be a good idea to make me a Shirly Temple packed with extra Maraschino cherries. I was up for it. I must have been about 10 years old at the time.

She found an old jar of Maraschino cherries in Gramma's fridge. She put every last one in my ST. Picture cherries from the bottom of the glass up to the very top. I had my little drink and felt like a Queen.

That night, I was sicker than a dog. We later found out that those cherries had been in Gramma's fridge for something like 23 years. Apparently, these particular cherries had some ties to Aunt Sylvia (Remember those women with the bee-hive hair-dos and the rhinestone cat-eye glasses in The Far Side cartoons? That was Aunt Sylvia ... The only thing missing in the cartoon was her little dog with the metal ribs. (Don't ask ...))



To this day, I cannot eat those bright red cherries -- or a Shirly Temple.

(Another) Fishing Story

"Out Fishin' " by Norman Rockwell

When I was a kid (about 8 yo), I got to go to Gramma Matucheski's for a few days--by myself. That was cool. She had a lot of grand kids, and we were the youngest, so it was kind of neat to be there by myself. They lived on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin, way out in the country.

One day, I decided to go fishing. So I found a stick, and asked Gramma for some string. She gave me a ball of cotton string pieces "too short to keep." I tied them together until I had enough line to fish with.

Then I asked for a safety pin to use as a hook. Grappa Matucheski heard that -- I don't remember him saying much to me ever -- but this day, he convinced me that a real fishing hook with a barb would work better than just a safety pin. He tied the hook onto my fishing line.

Gramma helped me dig some worms for bait, and away I went (no Coca-Cola as in the Norman Rockwell picture above) ... I started off across the road and fields to the Eau Claire River. I found an old tree stump next to the river, I sat down, and baited my hook and dropped my line in the water. I felt just like Tom Sawyer.

Lots of fish were checking out my hook, but none were biting. I waited patiently. Then along came a big ol' bumblebee. I didn't want to get stung, so I pulled up my fishing line and ran away from that bumbling bee.

When I was safe from the bee, I looked at my fishing pole. I had caught a fish! I'd left in such a hurry, I snagged the poor fish by his eye. (Ouch!)

Just the same, I was proud of my catch. And I showed it to Gramma when I got back to the house. She said, "Ah, yes. Very nice." I thought we'd eat it for supper. Gramma knew it was too small, and she buried it in the garden.

Lamb Stew

CL made this delicious Lamb Stew last weekend. Was it ever tasty!

Mmmmh! Comfort Food.

Spring Tonic

Ingredients :
Sprig of Lemon Balm
2 slices of Fresh Ginger
Lemon Wedge
Honey
Hot Water

This drink is best in spring, just as the lemon balm is emerging in the garden.
It is the taste of FRESH!

A Short Film to Brighten Your Day ...

We don't always know how we make a difference in this world. Will it be for the better? You get to decide.