And Then The Lights Went Out

 

And Then the Lights Went Out

So, came home from seeing the massage therapist this morning and stuck some tamales in the microwave. Went into the living room and heard sudden silence from the kitchen. Yep, electricity went out again. So, a package of soup made with hot water was lunch. Oh well.

The person from United Home Health will be here about 4:30 when the power is supposed to be back on. At least the gas heater in the kitchen will have the chill off this part of the house. Fifty-four degrees is not bad, but it is not all that comfortable either. Once a year the health care worker comes out to see if yours truly has lost her marbles. [They don’t realize there is a hole in the bottom corner of the marble sack!] They check to see if the old woman can still tell time. Was telling the masseuse that military time is not what makes sense to me. She tried to explain it. But when it is midnight, it is 0000 or 2400. Oh well, will just stick to analog or sunlight through the windows. That’s chicken time in any book.

Have gone from getting 17 to 12 eggs a day now. Jennifer thinks they might be hiding some, but it is highly unlikely. Twenty hens will not produce 20 eggs one day and zero the next. They never have the exact same cycle as the other hens. And it takes 26 hours for them to produce each egg. Bet you didn’t know that, did you? Bet it doesn’t matter to you either! When your food comes inn a carton from the store, thoughts about the critters producing it are seldom on our minds.

While getting my hair cut yesterday, one of the beauticians was talking about her extended family that has a herd of about 1200 head of beef in Megargel, Texas. They sell direct to the customers. They also deliver it. Anyway, will be checking them out soon at www.billbrownbeef.com. Their phone number—for folks in this area—is 940-781-7824. And e-mail is Billbrownranch@srcaccess.net. When a person pays Walmart $30 for ribeye steaks that are tough, it might pay to get your meat from someone who grows it right here in the part of the world where we live.

Spoke briefly with Jennifer this morning. Seems Grayson has some few things he has to do before he can come up here. Be very glad when he gets here. Have these new coaster things to go under the couch legs that should help in moving it around. Then want to put a set under the bed. King size is wonderful in many ways, but the heft of it can be a bit much when it is pitted against older muscles. Jenn laughed and warned me not to plan on doing too much just because the “muscles” would be here. Maybe a list for him to choose from each day would help? Nah, that might just be intimidating. Painting is going to be the biggie. The man from Breegle’s said it would be a two-day job. As long as they do a good job, maybe it will be worth it.

After all the wind we have had the past few days, gathering up the plastic bags, paper stuff, and other assorted litter is going to be a pretty good load for the trash bin. The trash truck always seems to scatter a bit on its rounds as well. My bin had feed sacks in it again this morning. The oats spread out on the east lot kept some of the hens pretty happy for a while. Thinking about how feed used to come in burlap bags. And those bags were reused for all kinds of things. Not sure if they could be taken back to the feed store or not for returns, but it would have made sense to that generation to reuse anything like that.

Sitting here thinking about how Great-grandmother Camp took the tobacco bags that her husband got with his tobacco for pipes or roll-your-own cigarettes—the only kind they knew for years. Mimmie used those bags to piece together quilt tops along with the material she salvaged from flour sacks or whatever she could get. She did all of that by kerosene lamp light. AH! The electricity just came back on! Hooray! Anyway, one did not buy quilts back in those days—well, unless you were wealthy, which my family was not. The batting for a quilt did not come from Hancocks or some other store either. Whatever was left of the last quilt was the insides of the newer one. Make do and reuse were a way of life those folks knew well. Theirs was not a throwaway society. We think that the saying, “Waste not, want not” was from the second world war, but it must have been around a lot longer than even Benjamin Franklin! Americans had to make everything they needed right here on this land. Truer of Texans even!

Pulled up a couple of dead plants from the front flower bed. It has some grass in it that needs to come out, but the weather has to be warmer for me to get out there and dig or pull it out. Looking forward to seeing something bloom! Have seeds that need to be used this year, too. Will be making that sunflower room in the back yard with the help of the chicken wire and the metal rods to hold it up. Makes me smile just to think about it.

Well, one last note about Ronnie Talley: he is improved and they probably won’t tell us much other than once a week now. SO thankful for your prayers. As for Sharon Dickerson’s niece Kimberly, she will probably post here in Common Sense to let you know how things are going. I have not been on FB because of the power outage.

Connie seems to be feeling more settled since her sister has made at least a few sensible plans—buying furniture for her new apartment for one. Just remember her, please. Both of these women need a sound mind to have peace.

May all of you look to our Father for the many blessings He has given us. A grateful heart helps us have a sound mind. You are loved.