Young Man I Was

Sometimes looking into my mirror while shaving, I want to know 'who' is that old man looking back at me..
Where has my youth gone? Just what the hell is a 'senior' citizen and when did I become one of them?
It seems like that only last year I could leap tall buildings in a single bound, but, now I need a step ladder to get over a short fence!
I am finding that I my bones 'creek', joints snap and pop and I have pains from things with names I can't even pronounce!

To make them selfs feel better, old people often say "with age comes wisdom". Don't believe that for a minute. I know people that at 20 they were idiots and now that they are 70 they are still idiots! Grin.

Enough of my whining about my age, so I'll get off my soap box, at least for now.. Your comments keep me blogging. © 2008

Compost Pile, A Living Green Recyclers Dream Come True

Composting can be as simple as a pile in one corner of your yard. This one was made from 3 recycled pallets or you might want a high tech composting system. The secret is get yours started now no matter what approach you decide to take. Anything that has ever been alive can be composted, somethings are just better than others. I seldom recommend or link to other websites, their information is so well stated and complete I don't want to waste my time rehashing what they have stated so well. Composting Myths and a very educational how to website on Composting basics I highly recommend reading information on both sites.

This is a great way to reduce waste being sent to your local land fill, saving fertilizer cost and allowing you to have better and healthier flower and vegetable gardens. Your comments keep me blogging. Copyright © 2008

Wagon Wheel Gates Or Maybe Not

Michelle 'my daughter' wanted wagon wheel gates. I didn't have any old wagon wheels so I had to do the best I could with what I did have. I put together two 10 foot wide gates Ron 'my son-n-law' and Scottie 'my grand son' did an excellent job setting the gate post and getting the gates level where they meet in the center of the driveway. Ron prime painted them with iron oxide primer and will paint them barn red in a few weeks.

Living in the country is good fun. Copyright © 2008

Country Life Is & Never Was An Easy Life

Grandpa Elkins farmed 80 acres about 40 in grass, sudan and milo to feed his mules, milk cows, hogs and chickens and about 3 acres was set aside for the family garden. The other 40 acres was always planted in cotton. 1935 / 1936 were good years he made 30 bales of cotton 2 years in a row, that was really good for a dry land farm. Cotton sold for 8 to 10 cents a pound, after paying the banker, he still had enough money to buy 2 mules, Ned & Jed. Grandpa, Ned & Jed farmed using mostly mule power for the next 40 years. Grandpa and both mules died in January 1977. He was 83. I don't know how old Ned & Jed were!

1938 bank loan manager would not finance grandpa unless he modernized and purchased a tractor. In 1938 he purchased a Farmall model F20 tractor. It came with a 1 bottom breaking plow, 2 row lister/planter and 2 row cultivator. Grandpa said he would rather smell the back side of 2 mules than the fumes from that tractor, it made to much noise and farm gasoline cost 9 to 11 cents a gallon, it cost to much to run. So for the next 40 years his 'new' F20 tractor set in the barn, carefully covered with an old wagon top canvas, and was seldom used. On this death in 1977 it looked much as it did in 1938 when it was purchased.
Now they lived Green, farmed with mules, cooked and heated with wood leaving a small 'carbon' foot print. Your comments keep me blogging. Copyright © 2008

Living A Country Life Style Is Not For The Weak

Country Homes do not have street numbers! When you dial 911 with an emergency, they can't find you unless you can provide 'good' directions on how to find your house!! Then it may take a volunteer EMS crew 45 minutes or more to reach your home to treat and transport you to nearest hospital, that may also be 30 minutes or more from your home. So plan ahead, if you must be sick or you think you may need to see a doctor, it's best if you become sick while your in town near hospital.

Grandma Elkins told all 9 of her kids and her many grand kids, if you loose an arm, leg, hand, foot or you are bitten by a rattle snake there are 3 thing you need to do. {1} Stay calm. {2} Find a shade tree and lie calmly in it's shade. {3} Above all, die quietly, screaming upsets Bessie 'she was Grandma Elkins only milk cow'. I think it was her way of making a joke, but, I have never been sure that she was joking.. Your comments keep me blogging. © 2008

Country Life & Living Green Is Not For Sissies!

Road Home is only 2 miles from a all weather black top road so most of the time getting home is not a problem, unless it rains or snows more than a few inches. Michelle and Ron ' my daughter and son-n-law' have finely had it with city life. What with high property taxes, stupid city ordinance's, noise, crime, gang activity, drug dealers, corruption in city government, corrupt cop's they have purchased 16 acres in the country.

Better Neighbors In The Country it's better to share their home with spiders, skunks, coyotes and snakes than live in town! At least in the country they know what their neighbors are up to and what their motives are. All wild critters really want is an easy to catch meal. Besides their dogs will soon have all the critters held at bay and away from the house! Better to live with a snake than a politician..

Water & Electrical service was their first project. It cost about $3,500.00 to get connected to a rural water coop. and install water lines from the meter to their house site and another $600.00 to set a utility pole and get electrical service established. They had to buy a tin horn for their driveway entrance but the county installed it at no charge!

Construction begins by pouring footings and floor for the construction of two {2} 30 ft by 40 ft do it yourself building packages, that will be attached to each other via a breeze way. Both buildings are up, windows and doors installed and Ron will soon start finishing the breeze way and start on the interiors.

Where Is That Driveway? Your comments keep me blogging. © 2008

Garden Full Of Green Tomatoes! Quick, Fry Them!!

If you live anywhere exempt the South or Southwest United States, you are most likely missing out on one of life's delights. Fresh from the garden, Fried Green Tomatoes. We fry almost every vegetable, green tomatoes, straight and goose neck yellow squash, egg plant, okra, well except cucumbers, they are simply to good fresh form the garden to fry.
Ingredients:
* 4 to 6 green tomatoes
* salt and pepper
* cornmeal *cheap corn bread mix works well.
* bacon grease is best or vegetable oil
Preparation: Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 - 1/2-inch slices. Salt and pepper them to taste. Dip in meal and fry in hot grease or oil about 3 minutes or until golden on bottom. Gently turn and fry the other side. We use the same basic method for frying many vegetables Fresh from the garden. © 2008

Vegetable Garden For Health and A Green Living Life Style

Grandma Elkins said plant your warm weather, summer vegetable garden when farmers plant cotton. Well it's that time. If you haven't done so, now is the time plant warm weather vegetables. You can save a lot of money on your grocery bill and eat healthy fresh food all summer and well into fall. Fresh vegetables can reduce time spent slaving over a hot cook stove, they have 'short' cooking times and many are best, served raw fresh picked from the garden.
A vegetable garden is real living green.

Home Canning seems to be a dieing art. Few people still know how to can excess produce from their garden allowing them to eat cheap health food fresh from the garden all winter. With continuing rising food cost now may be a good time to learn how to home can or renew your interest in home canning. Many food products are packaged in 'glass' jars suitable for reuse as canning jars. This is a cheap source for jars and a good way to recycle empty containers. Grandma Elkins seemed to prefer mustard and mayonnaise jars for some reason. Your comments keep me blogging. © 2008

Country Girls Are Sexy - City Girls Hide Your Boy Friend

When city girls envision what country girls look like. The picture they form in their mind is likely to be that of a girl wearing bib overalls, straw hat or dirty ball cap, boots covered in cow dung. Hair filled with hay straw. Dry ruff skin smelling of dung, from working livestock and cleaning animal pens and feeding livestock.


The truth is they are most likely to be in better physical condition. Country girls are less likely to be over weight, smoke cirarettes or drink, they are in better physical condition from being outdoors and not setting in front of a television, Xbox or computer for hours on end. They are not afraid of work or getting dirty, dirt and cow dong will both wash off with a little soap and water. They are less likely to become pregnant, they know what causes that, they have been seeing that sort of thing happening all of their life.


Generally they are better, safer drivers, they have been driving on the farm and ranch up and down country roads every sense they were old and big enough to reach the break peddle and see over the steering wheel. If they have a flat, they don't call daddy, they change the flat tire unlike most city girls and sad to say most city boy's as well. However since everyone seems to be carrying a cell phone now days, they do seem to sometimes spend to much time talking endlessly about trivial gossip.

So city girls, you better hide your cute city boy friend before some pretty, sexy country girl takes him away from you. Your comments keep me blogging. © 2008

Summer Swiming Sex and Near Naked Bodies

Middle of May, school will soon be out and last summers swimming hole and pools will soon be over crowed with young scantly clad girls and boys. Each pushing the limits of how much skin can I show with out being arrested for public nudity! Don't jump to a conclusion yet, some of the boys are wearing less than some of the girls!


Some seem to believe having a well oiled and tanned body will attract a cute sexually attractive person. {They may be right} Some are looking for a life long mate others only for a cute sexy person with whom to share a summer long party with sexual side benefits. Surprise, a few are actually there to go swimming, but, I think they are in the minority..

I always look forward to summer filled with girl watching, water sports and well tanned near naked bodies on display for all to see. © 2008

Living Green Or, Sex Sells Everything From Apples To Zucchini

Headline Should Read: Sexy bikini clad girl's, fund raising car wash is a success. I am not against fund raising events. I had my car washed then came back and had my dirty old pick-up truck washed and wanted to have them wash the wifes car, but, I was vetoed and told two cars were enough washing for one day. She said the only reason I had the car washed is because it was done by sexy bikini clad girls. She does not understand, I'm simply supporting a worthy cause. :-)) I did however, notice that all the cars lined up to be washed were driven by men. I guess men wash their cars more than women, and I'll bet they donate more than women as well!

If it rains 'I hope' grin, I'll need to have my car washed again in the morning.

It really makes me feel good to see so many of our younger people in our community taking such an interest in public service and participating in a local fund raising event.

I don't think they took into consideration, how this event would effect our new national obsession with Green Living. They did use a lot of water washing car's!
© 2008

Global Warming, Living Green, Is Only A Sales Pitch

Why all the hype all of the sudden on Global Warming and Living Green?
Follow the money trail and it all go's back to a few individuals and companies that will make a wind fall profit from all those that buy into the fear mongering news media's campaign's hyping 'global warming' and how you can be a part of preventing this global terror.
Only 40 years ago the same experts that are now forecasting rising seas destruction of towns and beaches were developing plans to stop or reduce the effects of global cooling and the coming mini-ice age. Man once again has over rated himself on his ability to effect or control nature and natural events.

When ask, plastic or paper bags, which is the best answer? Both are produced from and by carbon based processes! Both are recyclable! The choice you make is more of a feel good answer than an event of any 'real' importance having any 'real' effect on our planet. © 2008

Living Green Or Granny Arrested For Dog Abuse

Wednesday was Granny Elkins washday. She would rise early 4:30 AM, by the light of a coal oil lamp she build a fire in her old wood cook stove. It would take 15 or 20 minutes for the stove to heat up and grandpa would be getting up soon. She would cook eggs, bacon and sausage, or maybe ham steaks, biscuits, potato's and coffee. This was no small event, there were 9 kids to feed. With grandpa and the boy's off to the barn to harness grandpa's mules and go to the field, she would be ready to start washday chores.

If she had not forgotten to tie Ned to the porch the night before 'Ned was grandpa's old red bone hound', she would drag Ned to her 'dog' powered washing machine and secure him to the tread mill harness. That dumb old dog knew Wednesday was washday and would be nowhere to be found if granny forgot to tie him up the night before. Without Ned, the girls had to take turns walking on the tread mill to wash a weeks worth of dirty clothes. Dog power was a slow way to wash, but, it was a lot better than using a washboard and a number 2 washtub!

All in all, washday was a 8 or 10 hour day and she would finish just in time to build a fire in the kitchen cook stove and start cooking supper for her, the kids and grandpa. Somewhere in there she also found time to gather eggs, feed and water chickens and the dog.

Now thats living 'Green' she used no electricity, no petroleum products, no plastic waste was sent to a landfill!!
Maybe next time I will remember to tell you what a close line and close pins are..
© 2008

To Little To Late or Wishful Thinking??

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new company hopes drivers will kick the oil habit by brewing ethanol at home. E-Fuel Corp unveiled "MicroFueler". Despite the steep upfront costs of $10,000 dollars the machines should pay for themselves quickly. For a two-car family that drives about 34,500 miles a year, the MicroFueler will pay for itself in less than two years, assuming average gasoline prices of $3.60 per gallon, the company said. The unit makes up to 35 gallons of ethanol per week, 'thats less than 1/2 of 1 weeks fuel usage at my house'.
No One has addressed the facts that modern cars will not burn pure ethanol, that you must obtain a federal license to produce ethanol,how will you pay federal / state road tax on this fuel and how will you comply with federal EPA emission standards.
It's not easy to compete with Exon, Texaco and Shell! © 2008

Lighten Up This Really Is Humorous

If you don't have a sense of Humor then GET ONE. I think Walmart has a sale on this week os be sure to take advantage of the sale.. Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you read or see.
If you can't change it, don't get overly concerned about it.
If you think this poster is about anything but wine tasting, Get Your Mind Out Of The Gutter!
Remember, No One has ever got out of this world alive, so hang on and enjoy the ride.

This picture is only here for the viewing pleasure of my female readers..


Is it true? Boy's are from Mars and girls are from Venus?
Is it true that girls would rather spend an hour with a pound of fine chocolate than a cute boy?
I really don't think I want to know the answers to these questions! © 2008

Rip Van Winkle Effect Or A Sign Of Our Times!

Sometimes I feel like Rip Van Winkle. I wake up and the world has changed 'again'.
It's 3AM & raining hard. As I drive down the street I can see many sprinkler systems happily spraying the rain soaked landscape.

When did doctors and lawyers office landscaping become more important than growing food and fiber?
When did people stop growing fresh healthy food in home gardens? I guess it was about the time they stopped canning food from the garden and stopped making jelly and jam.
Why do we waste thousands of gallons of water a day washing our cars but won't use 1 gallon to water a plant that will feed our children?
Why do we happily pay 4 or 5 dollars a gallon for bottled water? Yet complain about bitterly about $3.50 a gallon gas?
Why do people stand in line to pay 6 dollars for a 50 cent cup of coffee?
Why do we drive 20 miles one way to the mall, burning $7.00 worth of gas to meet our next door neighbor for a cup of coffee and cookie?

It seems that I woke up and don't like what I see all around me. I think I will go back to sleep now. © 2008

Living Green

Granny Smith lived green and didn't need or use carbon credits. Living green was not easy but it was the way of life for many of that time period. Granny had one (1) 25 watt or 50 watt light in the middle of each room, no air conditioner, microwave, television, computer, no internet, digital clock, VCR or DVD player, no ipod, telephone or cell phone! Now that's living green!!
Granny was one of the lucky ladies she did have a zenith radio but to conserve power she only turned it on an hour or so every night.

Grandpa and granny Smith had one (1) old pickup, they had not invented SUV's, they drove it to town once a week to sell fruits, vegetables, home made jelly, milk, eggs and home made butter to local merchants. While there they bought chicken and live stock feed, flour, sugar and anything else they 'needed' that they could not grow on the farm. Chicken feed, sugar and flour came in 25 or 50 pound cloth sacks.
Granny carefully selected a sack that was the correct color and design, it would be used in making a shirt or dress. Dish soap was home made or if store bought selected by what dish was included 'free', it might be a tea / coffee cup, drinking glass or even a dinner plate.

They were not "fat"! Mac Donald's, burger king, pizza hut had not been invented.. No one eat frozen fast foods, because no one had a freezer and most did not have a refrigerator. If you were lucky and could afford it and lived near an ice house you could use an ice box to cool milk, butter and the like. Having fast food meant that you had caught a rabbit to eat for supper!

Grandpa went to work in the field when it was light enough to harness James, his mule and came home when it was to dark to work in the field. No 8 to 5 jobs on a farm and most city folks worked 12 hour days 6 days a week. All summer in their spare time Granny and Grandpa, cut fire wood. They cooked and heated the house using an old wood burning cook stove on the north wall of her kitchen. If they ran out of wood in winter then they could easily freeze to death that winter.

Wow, I'm so excited about living Green I think I will start today... © 2008