respublica

The age old dilemma

Now here is a story on old time fashion rules we never thought we'd have to see again. "Is it okay to wear white after Labor Day."

I can totally remember this dress code being, lets say, enforced by peer and parent pressure. Good-bye white slacks, shoes, dresses, etc. On Labor Day pools and white clothes closed for the season. There have been times back in the day when if a girl or woman forget and put on white clothes she was bound to be pointed out for her mistake. For some reason, this rule has not been part of our culture for years and seemed to have quietly slipped away. Now out of nowhere comes this Fox2 story to make us (women) have to rethink it.

I have to believe Fox2 was hard up for news to post over the weekend. But it's not really Fox2's fault, they took this story from an Albany New York news outlet.

Another last

One thing I like about an earlier sunset is it means we're moving on toward maybe a much better year.

Corn time drawing to a close

I went down to Keller's sweet corn stand this morning because I knew the time was short before they closed for the season. And, it is. Next Sunday will be their last day. They still have plenty of corn today though.

I picked up two dozen which was actually 26 ears of corn. Thank You! My purpose was to have a couple for dinner tonight and freeze the rest. I love having Keller's corn in the winter. But it is a labor intensive job, worth it, but a bit of work. This was actually my second go round with freezing sweet corn this summer. I did a bunch a few weeks ago.

First the corn has to be freed from the outer leaves and as many silks as possible removed. I did this outside and put all the husks into a yard waste bag. Step two is to par boil the ears of corn and frankly, most of us don't have a huge pot to boil a dozen at a time. So that took time and when they had about 5 minutes in the hot water, into an ice bath they go for some minutes to stop the cooking.

It kind of goes like this. Into boiling water, get them out and into ice water. Put more corn in the boiling water. While those heat up, I started cutting off the kernels of the cool ears. They then went into freezer bags. And repeat.

I bet it took me almost two hours to get this done and the kitchen cleaned up. At one point, Dale who had been watching a White Sox game, looked up and said, "that looks like a lot of work."

I used some gallon freezer bags and some quart sized. I love that we got that chest freezer last Sunday so the corn can go in.

Corn season lasts a decent amount of weeks but the weeks go by fast and before you know it, the corn is done. Tomatoes, on the other hand, are going gangbusters right now.

A new item becomes a must have

During this virus shutdown, we've seen people buying things in droves and in huge amounts. First came toilet paper and sanitizers, then meat followed by who can remember what. There has been something in the air which makes millions of people think of buying something at the same time. 

Now that it's summer and hot over much of the country, we all want to find a way to keep cool in our own back yards. Normal pool companies have been so busy you can hardly get one to even guess at when they can get to your house. That goes for the above ground pools as well. So guess what is now a big seller that I would never have thought of, but many many others have.

Horse trough pools! Or even stock tank pools. All these have formerly been on farms and ranches for their livestock. It seems you can fill up an ordinary horse trough in the morning, lounge in it during the heat of the day and then empty it out at night and put fresh water in the next day. Also known as Hillbilly hot tubs, these things are all the rage. 

You can get one for only 89 dollars, much better than thousands for a normal pool. I'm kind of interested in this even though Rural King may be sold out already. However, after living through a major move, I'm not sure I'd want to deal with getting rid of one some years from now. 

Now that I think about it, I may take a drive over to the Collinsville Rural King and see if they have any in their outdoor area. Just to get out of the house for a while, not go in or buy one.

The history of White House Fourth of July celebrations

The Washingtonian Magazine has an interesting article they titled, "The History of White House July Fourth Celebrations Is Really Weird."

If you like history, you'll like this look back at what was done by the presidents who celebrated our Independence.  John Adams was the first occupant of the White House, but was gone by the time of the 4th of July which made Thomas Jefferson the first president in house on that date in 1801. According to the reports, "he went all out. He hosted a public reception at the White House where he greeted citizens and diplomats and even a group of Cherokee chiefs in the Blue Room.  And then on the north grounds of the White House they had horse racing, they had festivals, food, all that kind of stuff."

Next up was John Quincy Adams in 1826. His story is out of the ordinary because both his father and Thomas Jefferson died on that day. He, however did not learn of this until some days later since there was no tv news, telephone, or internet. Just someone on horseback carrying the news. Anyway, John Quincy Adams 4th of July was momentous because it was the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence as well as his son's birthday. He wrote in is diary about how he spent his day: "Reviewing military companies on the lawn of the White House, then joining a procession to the Capitol where the Declaration of Independence was read aloud."

One more before I let you go to the link and read the rest. James Polk had his 4th of July in 1945 and is believed to have introduced DC to its first fireworks display. This display was held at the White House in front of thousands of people. But the worst happened as "rogue fireworks"  ended up discharging and it injured dozens and ended up killing a man. This is what we are always warned about on our 4th of July celebrations. However, I have no idea what a "rogue firework" is. It sounds like the firework made its own decision to go rogue.  Polk also had temperance groups having a dinner on the White House lawn (not protests :). No beer was served that year.

Honestly, you just have to settle in and read the others.

 

At home fireworks

There has been a trend on Facebook recently in which people are posting about how much they hate neighborhood fireworks. I'm happy to learn we aren't the only ones who find these constant fire cracker booms coming from down the street maddening. There were summers when we'd had very hot weather and no rain which made everything very dry. Then comes the local fire crackers with the bang and whizzzzz as the come down. We often worried about them hitting our roof or garage and having a fire.

Unfortunately there will be more of the constant bangs and explosions all day and especially late late at night because most cities have cancelled fireworks displays this year due to the conronavirus.

And they're back

Late May and early June are when we start seeing and feeling the darn biting gnats. Every year around this time they come. They''re small but their bite is as itchy as it's possible to be. I made the mistake of forgetting about them this evening and sat out on the front porch. I was bitten almost immediately and am now paying the price. I have to remember to spray on Vanilla Body Spray before I go outside. It's the only thing that these darn bugs don't like and we have bottles of them in both houses and in the golf cart and car.

But it won't work if I don't put it on.

It's getting on to bug biting season

Beginning sometime in May and continuing into June, the small biting bugs come out of their winter hatcheries and begin their fierce biting. The itch from these tiny monsters are vicious. So, it's time for us to be on the lookout for Vanilla Body Spray. We learned from a visitor to our campus three years ago about the effectiveness of this spray to keep those bites away.

We were skeptical at first, but oh, boy, does it work. So, I'm advising anyone who plans to be outside in the coming months, to get some before it's sold out. And it will sell out. But one bottle will last all summer. You can get it at many places- Dollar stores, Walmart, Walgreens, Target etc. I haven't seen it in grocery stores though. And, be advised, it's only the Vanilla body spray that works for some reason. Don't be talked into any of the others.

Our seminary grounds and other outdoor workers swear by this now and keep a bottle in their gators.

 

What's blooming?

The only good thing about this stay home order we've been living with is that we are allowed to get out of the house and walk around in the fresh air and sunshine. Yesterday I took a complete walk around the seminary campus and was amazed at the flowering bushes, trees, and annuals. The grass was a gorgeous green, the green we only get during its first flush of the year. The grass made a beautiful backdrop to all the pinks on the trees and the other colors from the annual bulbs.

Tulips are just about at their peak.

These were new to me as I walked past the dining halls. Their Latin name is Camassia and are a genus of the asparagus family. They are also named Indian Hyacinth and Wild Hyacinth.

And the Carnation Cherry so named because the blooms are big and filled like a carnation. If you click the picture to enlarge you'll see the blooms.

Our Sequestered Easter

It was a different kind of Easter what with being unable to share it with family. All of us were in our own homes, but we pretty much kept to the long held traditional dinner. We all had ham, cheesy baked potato casserole, some sort of vegetable (but not heavy on vegetables), dyed eggs and maybe followed by Easter candy (kids). We Facetimed  with both daughters' families at some point. Each had a hand made Easter greeting somewhere on their house or driveway.

Lizzie's kids did fancy glazed marble eggs

Katie's were dyed, then turned into green eggs and ham

Dale and I ate as always in the living room as did Lizzie's group. Katie seems have used the dining room.

Of course we all had wine

The funny part was how having family home all the time has affected happy go lucky, energetic Sidney, Katie and Charlie's young dog.

She practically climbs into the fireplace for a quiet, safe, place to sleep.

Facetime