Betty’s Week
Apparently warm beds are winning. The breakfast crowds at Dunn’s have been small for the past several weeks, haven’t seen any early morning fishermen, and even the obvious vehicles of deer hunters have been few and far between lately. Only one deer hunter’s pickup that is almost always out on 315 in its spot when I pass is still there most anytime I travel that road.
The family deer hunters, who for many years took vacations during deer season and stayed in camps for the duration, have not even been in the woods this year. Youngest brother, Don, may have hunted some. Recently when Jim and I were talking, he asked about the deer kill and I had to tell him he’s have to eat beef when he came home. If he and Celeste come in the summer we’ll find them some peas, corn and okra and we’ll take them out to eat catfish.
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Had to wait for the fog to clear Friday morning before going to the nursing home in Batesville. Arrived and Mom was awake and hungry—a very good start to the day. She ate most of her breakfast and then about ten she was hungry again. For the first time in many weeks she wanted her usual morning snack of peanut butter and crackers with a Coke. Really seemed to enjoy it and thanked me for providing it.
Then lunch came and she ate almost all of it, along with a bowl of butterscotch pudding. Usually I buy chocolate pudding cups, but by accident I picked up the butterscotch. After she ate it I remembered that our whole family had at one time loved this pudding.
Mother in our early years had been rep for the Blair Company to supplement our farming income. Not many folks remember this product because Watkins was so much better known. All their products were great, but the butterscotch was the best. All of Mom’s bonus points went to provide this pudding for us.
After she enjoyed it so much, I decided to try it and it was very tasty—going to have to buy more for her and some for me. I make caramel pies and puddings, but don’t have a recipe for butterscotch and it would probably be too much trouble to make just enough for the two of us, and also you can pick up four little cups for only a dollar.
Friday morning was warm and the sun was already up when I crossed Pope/WV and Eureka Roads so I was surprised that I saw no deer. Only had one near critter miss and it was a big dog—almost as big as a deer. Saw lots of wild animals dead on the roadside. Came home later than usual Friday night, but traffic was light, so I drove slowly. Coming home I was in my short sleeve shirt and was comfortable—must have been high 50s or even low 60s. I was not ready for the drastic change when I opened the door Saturday morning and it was even worse Sunday and Monday. Watching the weather over the weekend, though, I was glad that Celeste and Jim were in the sunny, warm southwest and not in upper state New York, where he spent a couple of years in the early 1990s. Snow in upper state NY was deep and still falling. I was apprehensive the two winters he spent there and it’s already worse this year than either of his years there. A reporter was talking to a snowplow operator and he stated that he had to work fast because he needed to clear the roads before it crusted over, or worse yet melted a bit and turned to ice.
I remember an early spring trip we made to Rochester, when our return trip began early Sunday morning with it beginning to snow. Before we got through southern Kentucky we were in a blizzard—really complete white-out conditions. Ed of course was driving and he just kept driving, I was the navigator, but without seeing signs or even roads, there was no place to get off the highway. He finally found the exit off the turnpike, which went south into Tennessee—don’t know how he did it. About 25 miles south we were in comfortable driving conditions. After this, if there is even a hint of snowfall I’ll just stay home, at work, church or wherever I am, until the thaw.
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From the cars on Main Street, folks who were off for Martin Luther King Day seemed to be out enjoying it. Unfortunately, the Herald staff rarely gets to enjoy holidays, since they’ve all been moved to Mondays. If we took all the Monday holidays, your paper would be late many weeks out of the year. Only holidays we get are Thanksgiving (for sure), Christmas, New Years and Fourth of July. Just as well, if I got a day off I’d have to dust, wash dishes, mop floors or clean bathrooms, or leave home so I didn’t have to look at my dirty house.
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I did clean a walk-in closet over the weekend. Was a bitter-sweet experience. Woolen clothing had not been worn in several years and I had not even looked at it, much less had it cleaned or even aired and dusted. Well, you guessed it the moths had had a banquet. I had to throw away about a thousand dollars worth of beautiful clothing. Some were custom made by my Mom, others were expensive labels, such as Cole Water Creek, Liz Sport, BlassSport, and several others, many of these had been gifts. Closet has lots more space, though. I’m glad we are having warmer weather, though, since I certainly could not afford to replace my wool—some of which was probably 40 years old and may have come from Ray’s. It is fun to go through the closet and remember where clothing came from and who gave it to you. Might just clean out another closet in a few weeks—need time to recover a bit before doing so.
