a boy’s best friend

Posted on December 1, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Meet Pan.

He was a gift to my son when his was one (thank you, Aunt Marge) and was very much loved.  After resurrecting Pan from a box of treasured baby toys, I’ve been cleaning and repairing him since 8 PM last night.  First I stitched a tear in his back.  Then I washed him in the bathroom sink.  And I washed him again.  And again.  And again.  And again.  I scrubbed various parts of him with an old toothbrush.

The water in the sink looked like root beer.

Today I soaked him in the washing machine and washed and washed and washed and rinsed and rinsed and rinsed, and was very glad the washing machine did all of the work.

He looks much better now, though I will be picking bits of his foam innards out of my clothes dryer until 2013.

I am stitching him again.  And again.  And again.  But he tolerates it well.

His eyeballs have been scratched from my son’s baby teeth.
The fur on his nose has been kissed off.
One of his ears is departing from his head.

I love him.  My 39-year old son will think I’m crazy when he gets this for Christmas, but now that he has a toddler he might understand why his mom kept Pan all these years.

Especially since I’m also sending a new Pan for his own little boy.

Posted in grandmother stuff | Tagged , | 1 Comment

re-homing the cobra, part 2

Posted on November 29, 2011 by is there any more pie?

In honor of Black Monday and internet Christmas shopping, I have listed my cobra on Craigslist. 

“For the person who has everything, a science major, a biology teacher or for someone who likes to make his own belts and hat bands (if such a thing is possible). My brother-in-law sent this to my sons many years ago and it is time for this lovely creature to have a new home.  For some strange reason my grown children don’t want me to ship it to their respective homes.  Imagine that.

The cobra is spitting (which I suppose makes sense). It is/was about 6′ long.  There is a crack in the neck which could be glued, I imagine, but gluing a snake neck is a bit low on my priority list right now.  And if you wanted the skin, the glue would probably be in the way.  It stands approximately 23″ high.

Please call XXX-XXX-XXXX if you can’t live without a cobra or you’re one of those people who plays practical jokes with dead animals and must have this.  Better yet, email.  Please, for the love of God, don’t text me.”

Wish me luck. 

Posted in secondhand stuff | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

in texas: re-homing the cobra, part 1

Posted on November 28, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Meet Alex.  He is a second-generation taxidermist and a really nice guy.  He gave us a tour of his family’s taxidermy studio, Martinez Brothers, on South Lamar in Austin.

You’re wondering why I told Banjo Man and Son #2 to stop at a taxidermist shop, aren’t you?  Aside from that one time when Retired Mountain Lady and I skinned a deer together, I’ve dealt with no animal hides (and no, neither one of us has any pictures of that night, so don’t get your hopes up).

But, thanks to my brother-in-law (aka GL/Steel Guitar Man), I do have a stuffed cobra.  A stuffed spitting cobra.

I’d hoped that there was a big need for cobra skin in Austin.  You know, for boots and belts and hatbands.  Because I don’t want this cobra anymore.

Alex very politely offered to look at it, with a possibility of consigning it–he said you never know when someone will drop in and want a stuffed snake–but shipping it to Texas would cost a small fortune.  I thought I’d try to sell it on ebay or Craigslist first.

We loved our visit to the Martinez Brothers shop, thanks to Alex, who is deservedly proud of what his family has built.

I am still yearning for these boots.  I guess I should have asked Alex if he’d trade them for a cobra.  I have a feeling he would have said no, though.

Darn.

Posted in austin, secondhand stuff, texas | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

post-thankgiving day of reckoning

Posted on November 26, 2011 by is there any more pie?

I liked this apple tart a lot.  I ate a big piece.

And I loved this very special cake, too.  I ate a big piece.

And this???

I don’t like this at all. 

And I’ll never tell what the number was this morning.  Never, ever, ever.

Posted in personal female whining | 1 Comment

a fallen soldier’s dog

Posted on November 25, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Here’s the photo:

Here’s the story:  a fallen soldier’s dog

I came across this while reading the news this morning.  Just had to share.

Love,
MorePie

 

Posted in lake | Leave a comment

giving thanks for an old recipe

Posted on November 24, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

Wherever you are and whatever kind of pie you’re eating after your turkey dinner, I hope you have people you love around you.

And lots of volunteers to help with the dishes.

My grandmother’s traditional Thanksgiving dessert was something she called “Pineapple Marlow”.  We loved it, especially in her delicate sherbert cups that huddled in her china cabinet 363 days of the year.  I hauled a box containing those dishes from the attic last Saturday and decided to search the internet for the recipe.

Believe it or not, this is what I found at www.recipecurio.com.

I know this recipe isn’t my grandmother’s, but the handwriting is very similar to hers, which is weird.  This had been found in a big collection of old recipes.

It’s exactly the way my grandmother made it, though in later years she used the mini-marshmallows (4 cups) so she wouldn’t have to cut the big ones into pieces (which she did with a scissors).  She also folded tiny bits of marshmallows into the final mixture before freezing in metal ice cube trays (dividers removed).

You have to let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes or so before spooning it into your pretty glassware.

Here’s my grandmother’s handwritten recipe for Fudge Cuts, which are really quick to make.  And very, uh, fudgy.

She was in her 80’s when she wrote out this recipe for me and had stopped making Pineapple Marlow decades before.  I may have to resurrect the tradition at Christmas.

Have a lovely holiday weekend.

Posted in family, food, rhode island | Tagged , | 3 Comments

steel me away

Posted on November 23, 2011 by is there any more pie?

November 20 was the quarterly meeting of the Rhode Island Steel Guitar Association.

 (click HERE for their website–I’ll be working up a blog for them soon)

I figured now that I own a lap steel guitar, I should learn how to play it, right?  So Banjo Man and I nestled a crock pot full of homemade meatballs in the trunk and set off to another far corner of our little state.   This section of Portsmouth (on Aquidneck Island) is close to the Massachusetts line, on the water.

The particular meeting place is called Common Fence Point, which hosts monthly live music.  Attendees bring their own dinners, place settings and beverages and sit family-style at long tables.  It’s great fun and a chance to see local and regional musicians.

We didn’t know what to expect–the meeting was to start off with a jam session, followed by a business meeting, potluck lunch and then more music.  I hoped I could convince someone to take me on as a student (can you bribe a musician with meatballs?), but I wasn’t sure if this would be an exclusive group, or if they would welcome ignorant strangers.  I told Glen to leave the crock pot in the car for a while until I decided if I felt comfortable enough to stay.

I shouldn’t have worried.  We pulled up next to a man (Roger) busy unloading several tons of speakers and equipment, but he grinned at us and introduced himself.   So did the other two men chatting at the door. We hadn’t even entered the building before I told Glen to get the meatballs. <g>  Marcia, the president (and wife of Chuck, a pedal steel player), couldn’t have been nicer.  She’d brought an instruction book for me to look through and seemed genuinely pleased to welcome a new member.

No one could believe I hadn’t brought my lap steel with me–despite my explaining I didn’t know how to play it–and said they could have helped me get started.  No one could believe I hadn’t brought my fiddle either, and I regretted leaving it at home when the first song the guys launched into was “Tennessee Waltz”.

Roger Trahan on pedal steel

It would have been such a thrill to play along with Roger, Chuck, Peter, Gary, Paul and Eddie.

Let me tell you about Eddie.  It was love at first sight when I walked in the room and saw his double-necked Rickenbacher.  He was attaching the legs and plugging in cords when I introduced myself and tried not to drool on this beauty.

Eddie said he had no patience for teaching, but I pulled a chair next to his and he gave me an explanation of tuning and chords.  Marcia convinced him to lead a workshop for beginners soon, so I hope that works out.  Eddie was the only one playing the lap steel (as opposed to the pedal steel).

Joe Ferri, retired musician, took my hand and gave me some good advice:  Learn your scales, he said, and you can play any song with anyone.  Joe has played steel guitar with Kitty Wells, Hank Thompson and many other famous country folks.  He had to give it up three years ago, but everyone was really pleased he’d come to the meeting to visit a while.

Marcia (who reminded me of Retired Mountain Lady) was pretty darn funny.  We had to list our instruments on the membership forms and she told Banjo Man that steel guitars and banjo’s don’t go together–and he thought she was serious.  I teased him about not being told he “should have brought your banjo”.

The next meeting is in February, which gives me time to get up to speed on a couple of songs (I took notes on what they played and in what key) on the guitar and the fiddle.  I’m already worrying about the weather cancelling the meeting.

Yes, it was that much fun.

Almost as good as being back on the lake, up on the mountain, with the Cougar Creek band.

The winter now seems a little less bleak.

Eddie Cunningham on lap steel

Posted in music, rhode island | Tagged | 1 Comment

how it feels

Posted on November 22, 2011 by is there any more pie?

I started work on the new book today.

Posted in writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

my oldest turns 39

Posted on November 21, 2011 by is there any more pie?

He was 11 weeks premature and now he’s 6’3″. 

He was a serious, sweet, stubborn toddler with a big sense of humor.  He now has a son who frowns just like him, and laughs just like him.

Ben and Banjo Man at the farm in Nebraska

 When he was 13, he grew 4″ in one summer.

He is a wonderful, talented, creative, kind, loving son, the kind of man who always does the right thing and can be counted on to do what needs to be done, no matter what.  He hears music in his head.  He writes songs.  He teaches young people.  He is the kind of big brother his brothers and sisters look up to.  He loves BBQ and pot roast and mashed potatoes and banana cream pie and Campbells Hearty Beef soup and shrimp gumbo, but don’t tell him to eat a green bean.

He is such a patient father.

And a loving husband.

And I’m so proud to wish him a happy birthday.

Posted in family, texas | 5 Comments

rhode island saturdays

Posted on November 20, 2011 by is there any more pie?

In September, October, November and December, our Saturdays revolve around this:

It’s a family tradition, after all.  Even on our wedding day, when we’d made it all the way to a motel in Massachusetts (we had no idea where we were going, Vermont or New Hampshire or Montreal), Banjo Man watched part of the game.

Part of the game.  Ahem.

Every Saturday includes a trip to the dump (Banjo Man), grocery shopping for all the weekly sales at 4 different stores (Banjo Man) and watching college football games while eating salty, greasy, yummy snacks (me and Banjo Man).  I sometimes sew or cook or bake or help Banjo Man find stuff to take to the dump.  Mostly I sit around in my sweat pants (that my friend Bachelor Steve used to wear duck hunting until he lost weight and gave them to me) with Wheat Thins and the remote control, and I putter in the kitchen.  I love Saturdays.

Today I set my alarm clock and was all gussied up (mascara! cowboy boots! clean jeans!)and out the door by 7:30 to head all the way to Foster, RI (1 hour, 10 minutes according to mapquest) to buy a wedding gift for Jeff and Angela which I can’t tell you about because sometimes they read this blog and I don’t want to spoil the fun of opening the box.  But I brought my camera and took pictures of a craftsman who loves his work, which I’ll share with you another time because I think you’d appreciate his talent.

Here’s a hint.

Then I drove north (I may have approached dangerously close to the Connecticut border) to deliver a box of dog bandana fabric to my friend Judy, who runs an animal rescue group called Little Paws 4 You.

Which is how I ended up fostering and then adopting this sweet old gal, my one-eyed Pekingese.  We miss her.  It’s very odd not having dogs in the house.

I had to be in Exeter by 10, because my friend Ruth was picking up her new sewing machine this morning and I wanted to jump up and down in the parking lot with her.  She’s been shopping for just the right machine for a couple of years now and we’d looked at a lot of machines at quite a few quilt shows and stores, but last week we found a used Janome 11000–it sews and embroiders– at a great price and it was love at first sight as far as Ruth was concerned.

Can  you tell?

Next week we’re doing a marathon sewing day to make Christmas tree skirts.  We have the pattern, the template, the fabric, 2 ironing boards, 2 irons, the kitchen island and two machines.  It’s gonna be wild (Dancing Mandolin Player, do you remember those days???!!!)

Banjo Man will go to the dump, then will plant himself in the middle of the sewing chaos to watch Nebraska play football.  And you know what?  He won’t even notice there’s anyone else in the room.

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