Seven Quick Takes

1.

We've been watching “endless” Leave It to Beaver episodes. Evidently this channel started a Leave It to Beaver marathon last night and Boo watched most of it. I tried to turn the TV off at 5:00am and learned that even with his eyes closed and snoring, Boo is still watching his show. Confession time: Last night I just couldn't continue to actively listen to Boo and respond appropriately. So, I used TV as a babysitter. I closed the bedroom door, found this marathon, settled Boo into his easy chair near the bed with a quart of ice water in a sipper bottle and tucked myself into bed. Admittedly, I didn't sleep soundly. I woke frequently, checked on Boo and went right back to sleep. Nevertheless I feel rested and refreshed this morning. Boo is tired. Guess so, watching TV all night!

2.

I washed Boudreaux again last night. This time I added 2 drops of tea tree oil and 10 drops of rosemary oil to 16 ounces of baby shampoo to help kill fleas. (He's only got a few, but I definitely don't want this to get out of hand!) I'm not sure how effective this will be. Maybe his special shampoo every two weeks combined with daily flea combing and brewer's yeast tablets will do the trick. Of course, I'll be treating the house as well. Any semi-natural flea remedies anyone would care to share?

3.

Boo had homemade chicken soup for breakfast. He refused it last night and begged for it for breakfast. So, even though it's unusual, he got chicken soup. He ate a large bowlful and a half a grilled cheese on wheat sandwich. The other half he fed to Boudreaux---who loved it. Strange cat!

4,

Recently I listened to an editorial online (which I can't find now) about racial attitudes in the fifties and sixties in the rural south. While there was most definitely gross inequality, I remember watching and learning from my grandparents who had third grade and sixth grade educations. Both of them worked in a mill and farmed along side many other poor neighbors, blacks and whites. I remember my grandmother crocheting on the front porch with two neighbors---one black, one white, both poor---talking about everything from recipes, their favorite “stories”/ soap operas and religion. My grandfather and several of his neighbors, again black and white, had gardens and shared gardening tools, seeds and produce. One summer while I was visiting, Grandmother and a black neighbor canned all day. Half of what was canned went to each woman. I know, I helped Papa carry the jars to the neighbor's house and put them in her pantry. I learned more about living as part of a community and loving my neighbor in practical ways from watching my grandparents than I ever did in Sunday School.

5.

You know, thinking back, I never realized my grandparents were poor when I was growing up. I remember being fascinated by all the things they made. Both of my grandmothers taught me to crochet. One couldn't read the written instructions. She taught me how to look at something and figure out how to crochet it. The other grandmother taught me to follow a written pattern. I wish I'd tried harder to learn to tat, to weave pine needle baskets and I definitely wish Grandma Mamie had taught me to sew. She could look at a dress in a magazine or newspaper, draw the pattern on sheets of newspaper taped together, cut it out and sew a dress that looked just like the picture. And she did it on a treadle sewing machine! They made what they needed. I need to do more of that.

6.

This must be my day for reminiscing. I remember sitting around the dinner table at my mother's parents and listening to the adult conversations going on around me. For some reason my father announced that he had been valedictorian of his graduating class in high school. (Why would that come up at the dinner table?) Granny evidently decided to take him down a peg or two. So, she announced that she'd been the valedictorian of her graduating class in high school too. All heads swiveled to stare at Granny. Indeed she had been. There were two students in her class. The valedictorian had to make a speech and the other student, her cousin, didn't want to make a speech. So Granny was the valedictorian and her cousin was the salutatorian. You just could not out do Granny!

7.

Well, it's back to reality for me. I need to start a loaf of crock pot yeast bread to go with lentil stew and a salad for supper, wash a load of clothes, mail a few letters to my friends without internet and check on Boo. He's been quiet far too long. I think he's still napping, but really I never can be sure... Have a blessed week end.

7 Quick Takes Friday