4 APRIL 1944

This Veteran was piloting a bomber when his plane was hit.  "Took out the number four engine and I took shrapnel to the head and leg....  I was out... my co-pilot had to take over.  Our engineer cut the fuel line to number four, otherwise we wouldn't have had enough fuel to make it, while the plane dove to put out the fire after I had lost consciousness.  They were able to drop the bombs - 12 - and make it to Italy where I woke up in the hospital."      His friend was quick to add, "Yeah, and you didn't get out of that hospital and out of the AIR FORCE until  after the war was over.   Nitwit...."

 

He is 90 now.  He had flown the planes at the air show I was crawling around in .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-Plane turret

 

Outside view

 

 

 

Yup,   I LOVE this plane.

 

 

 

 

 

Main aisle through the middle of the plane.

 

 

 

 

I leaned over the sign....

 

They played Amazing Grace in honor of SEPTEMBER 11th.

 

 

Communications

 

 

Yuh, bet the government wouldn't have told me back then I didn't weigh enough to join up......

 

 

 While he told me his story he let me take photos of his ribbons

 

 

on the original jacket he flew these planes wearing.

 

He went on to say that when he got out of the service he went on to be a pilot for EASTERN AIRLINES for thirty years, his face suddenly lit up as he looked past me, then finished his thought with, "...where I met the best stewardess the airline had, so I married her!"

 

*SIGH*

 

 

I Thanked him for being a huge part of keeping this country FREE.  His wife started to tear up but he just knowingly smiled and said Thank You in return.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

MY SORT OF BABYSITTING...

 

The Human Poop Factory has reached that "FUN" age.   FINALLY.  I'm not the sort to camp out in the house with the kid, pile toys around him and wait for him to wander off to try to stick his finger in a light socket.  Hence...

 

 

After Chocolate Milkshake fortification....

 

 

We went to the farm where I buy fresh vegetables and eggs. The chickens are just plain sweet, coo when they have company, and wait patiently at the fence to have a few blades of fresh grass poked through for them to munch on.

 

 

Melo was scared to death of them.  Weird huh?  He screamed and screamed, even after Mr. Farmer tried to show him just how sweet and friendly the chickens are.

 

Notice the poor things lined up in the back ground against the hen house getting ready for the firing squad.... This happened after the kid had screamed so loud it sounded like his foot was being amputated.

 

Oddly enough, the huge ( to him ) donkeys didn't bother him at all, actually had to keep him from putting his hands through the fence.  His grand-dad lifted him up and over so he could pet them.  And boy are they sweet.  Mrs. Farmer says people ask her all the time why she has them and her reply is "Just to Love them. That's all they want."

 

 

Meet  'Dusty'

 

 

and 'Peanut'   ( because when he was a baby he was the exact same shade as the shell of a peanut...  :}  )

 

 

 

They are never too far away from each other.

 

 

After purchasing fresh veggies - aren't they just gorgeous -

 

 

 

We had quite a lengthy discussion on the tomato blight and the fact that even living at the top of the hill , no matter how dry the weather, none of us on the top of  "BEAN HILL" ever run out of well water due to the positioning of the layers of bedrock.  Mr. Farmer has a geology background :} Then it was off to the dairy farm.

 

Yes that same dairy farm that is occupied by the rooster that attacked my daughter in her red running suit....  While  re-living the adventure again in the truck on the way over, we parked at the farm, and as we were getting out and walking towards the cows the rooster started his angry noises.  Granddad started to get nervous so I, in all my wisdom said, "Oh don't worry, Julie was wearing red.  They don't like red."      To which he replied, "But, er, the truck is red and he can see it...."     ooops.     "Well then I suggest we keep walking..."

 

 

Once again the huge animals didn't scare the kid a bit, and he got quite a kick out of watching them munch away at breakfast.

 

 

 This one was particularly interested in the little human.

 

Although the one with the big black spot was keeping a wary eye on him...

 

Trying to get a better view over the crowd.   The kid was picked up by his Mom after she got out of work and a good time was had by all, until.......

 

 

Word spread there were cows loose in 93 year old Gertrude's yard....  Naturally I had to walk down the road to see, and was shocked to see three young white faces as my mother used to call them.

 

 

 

 

They are new to the dairy farm we had just visited that morning.  The grandson was already there with two helpers, all armed with buckets of oats, and told me the animals were new, and apparently did not like the other cows so had decided to seek greener pastures.  They were not happy when the three guys tried to start herding them back through the woods.

 

Turned out to be a great day, with an absolute downpour just before sunset, which Mr. and Mrs. Farmer desperately need.

 

 

 

:}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS IS A BIT ODD FOR ME, BUT....

 

I made this for a party this afternoon, after searching high and low for the recipe after my daughter called two months ago wanting it.  I don't normally post recipes, but this is just too good not to be thrown out there for anyone wanting to try it.  Its Viola May Gifford's (A.K.A.  'GUNGA,'  my grandmother) and is from approx. 1920.  My mother - the nurse - always called it a 'salad,' served it on a 'bed of iceberg lettuce with a dollop of mayonaise on the side and got away with it being 'good for us.....'

 

VIOLA MAY'S PINEAPPLE-CREAM CHEESE SALAD

(ahem DESSERT...)

 

1 - 8 oz. can crushed pineapple (in juice)

1/4 cup sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 envelope KNOX  unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

 6 oz. whipped cream cheese

small bottle marischino cherries chopped  - with six off to the side and halved for garnish /

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

(lettuce and mayo if you want to be 'healthy'   :} )

 

Bring to a boil crushed pineapple (in juice) sugar and lemon juice.  While waiting for it to boil soak gelatin in the cold water.  Remove boiling mixture from stove, stir in gelatin and let cool completely. ( I usually add a teaspoon of the cherry juice to this mixture for the pink hue.  Cream together cream cheese and chopped cherries, add to cooled pineapple mixture.  ( I have taken to hitting the mixture with an electric mixer on low for a couple of minutes to smooth out the texture.)

Whip heavy cream with a tablespoon of sugar added until stiff.  Fold into pineapple/cream cheese mixture then thouroughly mix.  Place in 3" X 9" pan that has been chilled in freezer.  Smooth out top and stratigically place halved cherries for garnish.  Let chill to set two or three hours in frig. 

 

 

Like my mother said, Throw a square of that suff on some lettuce with a spoonful of mayo and you've got one great tasting healthy salad....    heh.......

 

 

And now that its out here in Einstein's ethernet, maybe the recipe won't be lost for another twenty-five year stretch...  

 

:}