Firkin of Gherkin

"Useful Hints To Grocers" is a chapter within a book called "Everybody's Guide: Of Things Worth Knowing" by R. Moore, originally printed in 1884 in New York. 

In that chapter is a recipe for Gherkins:

"Take small cucumbers (not young) steep for a week in very strong brine; it is then poured off, heated to the boiling point and again pour on the fruit. The next day the gherkins are strained on a sieve, wiped dry, put into bottles or jars, with some spice, ginger, pepper, or cayenne, and at once covered with strong pickling vinegar."

In that book... "We are also told how to make butter and place it in a tub or firkin. It occurred to me that if one stores his pickles in a butter tub, he would have a firkin of gherkins!"

Quote from "The Two-Story Outhouse" by Norm Weis

War Veterans

I was the crew member of a helicopter team during the Vietnam War, and on one risky mission we flew in to get another ground force team who were in a dangerous situation and in need of quick assistance. When the helicopter landed I muscled speedily to assist in getting eleven out of twelve team members into our helicopter and we flew all of them to safety at the nearest Army base. To this day these eleven Veteran's help each other whenever one friend is in need.

I had recently crashed my six-cylinder small Ford pickup truck into an oak tree (yep the oak  tree is still solidly standing tall unscathed, while my pickup truck was totaled). Within a week the other 11 persons of that rescue situation in the Vietnam War had pooled enough funds to acquire another pickup truck for me, and had it delivered 7 days later all the way across the USA to my apartment parking spot.

That's what a team of life long friends is for....commitment. Families and friends are life long commitments well worth the journey.

My Neighbor's Cat

 I do luv cats.

Some years ago the last of my extensive cat family had departed for cat heaven (I had seven cats), all having lived long adventurous cat-happy lives here on our homestead acreage. Lately I had considered acquiring another new cat for personal company, as well as to help keep the residence rodent population at bay.

As luck would have it my neighbor's cat showed up at my back door on very wet rainy Fall season day searching for something. It's health was a bit dire, for its eyes were weeping from an eye infection and in need of some luv and care, so I let the cat into my house, gave it some medicine (that I still had saved in a side cupboard from my previous cat family), then placed it in my smaller bathroom, hoping to provide it a comfortable place to sleep in a warm environment. It seemed to accept the small bathroom idea quite well, so I carefully closed the door to keep it in there so that I could easily locate the cat again later that day. 

Shortly later I called my neighbor and mentioned to him that his cat had roamed over to my residence and was now in my bathroom resting.

Later that day he drove his pickup over to my residence, whereupon I escorted him to the bathroom and opened the door slowly. We both peered inside, but did not see the cat. It had seemingly disappeared. We both looked around inside the small bathroom but could not find the cat. Earlier I had left the window ajar slightly to let fresh air in, and we thought that perhaps the cat had gone back outside for the evening by exiting out the open window. So my neighbor departed homeward bound...cat-less.

Shortly later I returned to the bathroom for another closer inspection, and with a bit of diligent effort I discovered the missing cat. Mrs. Cat had slipped into the deep wooden clothes hamper basket (that was partially filled with dirty clothes) and it was comfortably sleeping there still, quite peaceably, amongst a pile of dirty clothing.

Next day I again called my next door neighbor, but by this time he had given up on the cat, and decided it was best to just leave the cat at its new found residence...at my homestead, and I've had this pretty cat ever since.

Doggone It Chevy

At one of our favorite local county parks there is a long lakeside paved walkway where the everyone enjoys taking a long shoreside stroll along the lake. Many families come to that lakeshore park and gather around a picnic table, while the kids go play in the refreshing lake waters. 

Of course the county park does have its usual set of rules: don't swim around the boat dock; no sunbathing on the boat dock; all dogs must be on a leash, no fireworks, etc., all of which a fair portion of the tourists who visit the county park tend to ignore the "strange rules".

While relaxing there by the lakeshore with my family on repeated occasion, we have quickly learned the name of at least one dog in particular. There is one particular owner who walks his two dogs (one is the adventurer and the other dog is the obedient one) from one end of the shoreline walkway to the far other end of the shoreline walkway.

The docile obedient dog's name is Cammy (aka CamCam), while the adventurous dog's name is Chevy. Yep, you guessed right...this guy obviously likes certain kinds of automotive vehicles.

During the long daily walk he calls commands primarily to one dog -- the adventurous one -- Chevy the adventurer.

The commands spoken to his adventurous one dog asking it to heel are quite repetitious as he tells that dog for the 'ump-teenth thousandth time to heel, or to stay close to master, or to not wander very far. BUT...like a large portion of the dog walkers at the county park, the man never puts a leash on either dog during the entire time he takes both dogs out there for a long walk along the shoreline park trail.

So, for the thousandth time it's....

"Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy. Chevy."

Believe me...everyone who has visited that county park knows that adventurous dog's name by now! 

Ya know come to think of it...that might be a viable fitting name for our next pup....