Saturday, May 30, 2009

Rescued Relic of the 60s


Toward the end of my last year of college in 1969, I happened to be in the biggest department store in town, Dayton's (long before it was swallowed by Hudson's, then disappeared forever, a la Marshall Field's, et al). In my impoverished state, my radar only picked up sale signs in the store as I browsed the floors. In the handbag department that day, I found one of my all-time best purchases, a black leather clutch, that, even on sale, cost more than I could really afford. Nevertheless, I became convinced that I had to have it. It is truly the only item in my wardrobe that has not only held up through the years, but that I still enjoy using on occasion.

Not long ago, I pulled it out of the back of my clothes closet and discovered that the curved leather strap that held the industrial-strength snap closure had cracked. The two halves were hanging by a thread. I almost thought I would have to throw it away. A last-ditch search of the Internet led me to Irv's Luggage in a nearby suburb. Their ad said that they specialized in luggage repair of all materials, including leather. I had to wait for a day off from work before I could drive out there to see what they could do. To my surprise, I was told that their "senior repair specialist" would be able to fix the break for $35. Three weeks later, I picked up my purse in fully-repaired condition! I don't know how he did it, but the man must be a genius. I can't see any break and I don't think he made a replacement strap because he would have had to destroy the purse lining to attach it. Whatever, I'm so happy to have it back!


In the second photo, I placed in the clutch the 3-inch high paper doll with extra blue dress that my 6-yr-old granddaughter created for me for my birthday. Two treasures. Now if I could figure out how to replace the stained mirror, the purse would be practically as good as new.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

WWII Heroics and Milky Way Candy Bars

After nearly 40 years of marriage, I thought I'd heard all my husband's stories, but it turns out he's been holding out on me! I heard this one after I came home from the grocery store with some Milky Way candy bars that I scored on a buy-one-get-one-free coupon.

Back during the war years when he was 11 or 12 years old, he faithfully listened to the kids adventure serial radio programs that came on every afternoon after school. One program announced a contest for listeners: dream up an escape method for an American Air Force pilot shot down and captured by Nazis near a famous French shipping port (clues given in the program), and name the port.

He said he knew the port was Marseilles, and came up with this idea, which he can never tell without laughing:
The pilot manages to scrounge up enough gunpowder to fill his mouth. Then he asks the Nazi guard for a light. The sadistic Nazi whips out a blowtorch, igniting the gunpowder, and shooting the pilot into the air and out of the prison camp!
After mailing in this entry, he heard nothing for weeks or months. Then a letter came, telling him that his creativity had won him a prize - a case of Milky Way candy bars. He actually felt a little disappointed, since Milky Ways were not his favorites. However, after eating all 30 candy bars over a period of time ("you mean you didn't give any to your friends?!"), he grew to like them so well that they have remained his favorite candy bar to this very day.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Farm Rescue and our Family Farm

My husband is a part owner of North Dakota farmland that was passed down to him from his grandparents who were homesteaders beginning in 1905. He gets a subscription to the Glen Ullin Times, the local newspaper out there, to keep track of what's happening. We were suprised to read in the latest weekly issue that the farmer who rents the land had been sidelined recently by emergency heart surgery, but that Farm Rescue had stepped in to plant his spring wheat. Here's an excerpt from their online log:
Week of May 4: Our volunteers are now in the fields, dodging rain showers, in one of the wettest springs on record!

But the crop is in the ground at Hebron, where Gene, Warren, Bill K., Lowell and Charles spent four days planting spring wheat. They put the last 100 acres in the ground on Tuesday afternoon. After a good home-cooked meal from the family they assisted (the husband had open heart surgery), the crew headed to Flasher.
This is a marvelous organization that has saved many a family farm. Read the stories of some of the farmers - you'll feel good!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Strawberries and Rhubarb - Oh, My!


A lovely sunny, but cool, spring day here - just perfect for planting my newly-arrived strawberry and rhubarb plants. Our yard has about a 3 inch layer of top soil here over a thick tough layer of old lakebed clay. Not what strawberry and rhubarb plants love. So my dear husband has dug holes into the clay to layer peat, cow manure, and topsoil for the new plants. Here they are lolling around in their new digs - get it?

The plants are part of a wonderful gift from someone who knows I love to garden. We are also both North Dakotans, originally, so we both know and love homegrown rhubarb sauce.

I was going to put some of the Chickity-doo that I bought at the local garden center on the new plants, but I figured it might be too much for them. In case you haven't heard of it before, Chickity-doo is an all organic animal manure fertilizer from - yes, chickens. It does smell terrible, however. Much worse than treated cow manure. I was told that we will NOT keep the bag in the garage - it has to go to the back storage shed. Wait until I try it for lawn care - ha ha! We might get voted off the neighborhood.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Honey Mustard Salmon, Part 2

Although I thought the recipe sounded simple enough, it turned out to be another case of not having all the basic ingredients. After I realized I didn't have any coarse mustard, I just couldn't bring myself to use the yellow hotdog stuff. A frantic call to my husband to see if he was on his way home and near a grocery store (I lucked out) saved the day.

We have a handy dandy George Foreman electric grill. It's the big daddy of the line and I really have come to love it. I pulled it out of the garage to the driveway, plugged it in and let it heat for 10 minutes. The salmon fillets, bathed in honey mustard sauce, cooked in just a few minutes - and were darn good! Wish I had had some fresh dill, but the dried version was ok. Next time, the works!