Betty’s Week
By Betty Shearer
Finished painting the walk-in closet—only took my spare time for two weeks and about a gallon and a half of paint. Gave up on shutters—don’t even try to paint these with a brush. I’m going to have to remove the paint I put on and then spray paint them. Finally got smart and conferred with a painter—he gave me directions. He also cautioned that even using the spray method, shutters are not easily painted—maybe I’ll just board up that window.
After completing the big closet, I undertook a little three by three closet—was harder than the big one. I made a plan. First came the ceiling, then the back wall, followed by the west, then the east wall, and finally the front. Well, don’t think I could have done any better, but I still got more paint on me than I did on the closet surface. Now all I need is a couple of weeks to put all that junk back—don’t think its all going.
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Stayed home alone for a whole 36 hours—on Friday the van did not move out of the driveway. This is a first since Ed died, almost five years ago. I cooked three meals—just for me. Wasn’t fun, but I lived through it.
Usually when I’m home on Fridays Jimmie comes over and lately Bob and Chuck have been there. However, the men were putting a roof on Carolyn’s and Bo’s house in Courtland and Jimmie had other things to do, so it was just me—they missed some good food and some great “fun”.
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Went to Mom’s on Saturday, did some more cooking, even though I’d taken my left-over beef stew and chocolate bread pudding. I put onions in my stew and Rance was there—he can’t touch an onion. So out came chicken, and he and I had chicken and dumplings—I’d had enough stew. Also added some cabbage, hot cornbread and biscuits, to the menu.
We ran out of time Saturday, so Sunday lunch was farmed out—Jimmie took cabbage for cole slaw, I took the grilled chicken, and Bo the mashed potatoes, to cooked Sunday morning and fetch back for lunch. I did get lima beans, squash dressing and banana pudding ready at Mom’s.
A word of warning to anyone traveling the Pope/Water Valley or the Pope/Crowder Road—Slow Down! They are topping areas on both these roads and the loose rock is treacherous. I drove about 45 mph until I came to a nice smooth strip of road, picked up the speed to really to fast. Then I suddenly found myself back in the rocks. My van handles really well in most adverse conditions—but it doesn’t like loose rock. I almost lost it, so do be careful if you are traveling these roads.
Coming home Sunday afternoon encountered another road hazard. Saw a deer coming fast so I braked, knowing that I’d never stop before we collided. However, the old deer whistles worked again—he came to a screeching halt just at the edge of 315 and stood like a statue until I was well passed him. Then I breathed again. If you don’t have deer whistles on your vehicles, my advice is put them on. They will stop a deer if it’s not being pursued. The cost is only a few dollars and a few seconds to put them in place.
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Brother Don was at Mom’s for Sunday lunch. He had just returned from a deer hunt in Ford, Kansas. Killed an eight-point, which he dubbed a “Super Eight”. The rack was beautiful and even though it had only eight points, it had a 25-1/2 inch spread and was a big deer. Don’s guide was our own Caleb Beard. Caleb works for Ross Trophy Outfitters. This business is owned by Perry Ross of Calhoun County and they organize hunts in most areas of the U.S., even into Alaska. Don had gone up by himself but Caleb rode home with him and I think they had a great trip.
He left a cooler of meat with Bo, to cut up and get into the freezer. It was beautiful and I’m looking forward to a deer supper. Don says that the meat is much better then what we get here because of all the grain they eat. Guess he answered my question as to why anyone would go that far to hunt white-tail.
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Another traveler checked in last night (Monday). Celeste, Jim and his accompanist, Martha, had been in Austin, Texas over the weekend to present concerts. Jim had the best of both worlds last weekend—he was travelling with both his wives. Jim has always said that Celeste is his wife and Martha is his performance wife. He’s known Martha longer than Celeste and when they first began performing together, neither were married. Martha has since married and of course so has Jim. Jim reported that they had a very successful tour, played well and were well received by their audiences. On this outing he actually had two performing wives—he and Celeste played horn/tuba duets, accompanied by Martha. He and Celeste often play in the brass quintets together, but rarely just the two of them. I’d have like to heard them—he says he’s sending me recordings and I’m looking forward to these.
First time we heard Jim play a duet with a horn was way back in junior high. Horn player was Teresa Ford from Ohio and it was at the Daniel Boone Music Camp in Moorhead, Kentucky. Teresa was also a beautiful blond, looked a lot like our Margie Ford Cook, but we never did find a family connection—I still think there is one.
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Enjoyed a delightful phone visit with former Vallian Vangie Fields yesterday. She was looking forward to a visit later in the day from Mrs. Guy Reedy and Zandra Walker. Vangie says she has had her latest little dog, Maximillon V, obedience trained (or not). The trainer was a friend, who normally trains only larger animals, but took on Max as a favor to her. She says when the trainer returned her dog, he said, “Vangie, don’t think I can train Max until I train you.” Well more power to him—don’t think that’s going to happen. She sends greetings to all her WV friends and says she wishes she could still be here with us—so do I and I sure the rest of her friends do also. She’s been a great friend through the years.
Vangie recalled the first time we ate with her. Says she had cloth napkins on the table and Ed picked his up and asked, “Vangie, what is this for?” We usually used paper towels.
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Another caller was Brenda Kinne Hunter from North Carolina. We caught up on both our families, especially the news of her mother, Margaret. Margaret has just celebrated her 90th Birthday and Brenda says they gave her a cell phone as a present. She says while explaining how the phone worked, Margaret says, “Wish I could call Ludie!” Brenda says she answered, “I’m sure lots of other folks do also”. Margaret often gave Ludie long-distance minutes as gifts, so she could call her and others as often as she wanted. Ludie did so enjoy her phone, especially visiting with Margaret. Brenda says Margaret still misses the Valley and sends greetings to all her friends here. Margaret has moved from Durham, along with the daughter she lived with. They are near Brenda and another one of the children. Margaret now has about half of her chicks nearby. Enjoyed the visit Brenda, thanks for calling.
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Rain is great this morning, but David is afraid the Junior High Football Game may be rained out and he was planning on covering it. We’ve had lots of criticism about not giving enough time and space to this program. I’ve explained that we’ve always neglected Jr. High Football and basketball, because of the scheduling. Weekly newspapers just don’t have enough staff to cover sports on Tuesdays and get a paper to press. We do the best we can, but we only stretch so far. In some past seasons we’ve had volunteers step in and help out with pictures and write-ups and we do appreciate this. If you get a good picture, or you’ll write up the game, we’re happy to print this—we appreciate all the help we can get.
