Classic H of H: Boys, Girls, and Toys

This is Part 2 of my post about Custer. Have you found similar boy vs. girl situations? I think it's hilarious!


Remember Custer?

The other night when we found him (again), I asked my husband (again) WHY we still have him, especially since he's "broken." He has moved with us to five houses in two different regions. (The answer was that he's been saving him for J.)

The thing that bothered me most, though, is that Custer has always had a missing hand. For the first time in all these years it occurred to me to question the loss of the general's hand.

So, I questioned. "Why is he missing a hand?"

My husband demonstrated the cause for me. He picked up Custer, slung him up into the air and watched him land a few feet away. Evidently little boys wield their dolls as weapons.

Oh. So that’s what happened.

Well, being a girl and all, I was aghast. Custer’s bodily harm coming from such a violent act never even crossed my mind. That’s because I’m a girl, apparently.

L continued to describe the punishment meted out to poor George. He was pelted with dirt clods, he was crushed with rocks, and abused with countless other attacks.

I decided to perform a sociological experiment by polling two young people (one male, and one female) about a single toy. You'll probably recognize them.

Me: "J, would you like to take Custer outside and throw snowballs at him?"

J: "YES! That sounds like fun."

Me: "Miss Girl, what would you do with a boy doll?"

Miss Girl: "I would dress him in boy doll clothes and feed him."

You see the discrepancy. I wondered if other families encountered the same differences. We checked with Uncle B, Miss Girl's daddy. He has a sister. Here's a pic from just a few years ago:

Uncle B gave this description of his boyhood with an army of GI Joes:

"My GI Joes beat up my sister’s Ken doll, stole her Barbie car and went on many aqua missions in the pool. Once, I took my sister’s Barbie, bound and gagged her, then tied her to a tower. I DID bring in the patrols to rescue her."

We called Uncle B’s sister to get her side of the story:

"I didn’t want to play with the GI Joes. They were ‘nasty boy toys.’ One had a beard that was especially disturbing. I had texture issues. I remember the troops invading my Barbie Dream House. Did they ever take the elevator? No. They always rappelled down the side. Sometimes I would find booby traps. I did get even once by putting makeup on one of them…"

So there you have it. Boys and Girls just do not play with the same toy the same way.

Are you surprised?

Classic H of H: Summer Tomatoes in the Middle of Winter

My tomatoes were pathetic this year. The day before we left on our vacation, I was annoyed that I might have to go another year without fresh tomatoe sauce, etc. from the summer put up in the freezer for the winter. I stopped by a farm stand "just to see." They had flats of tomatoes looking red and delicious and, well, I bought a flat! I knew I did NOT have time to turn them into sauce and salsa and all, so I checked online and learned that I could freeze them as they were! I quickly washed them, cored them and removed any bad spots. Then I cozied them all up on baking sheets, covered them up snugly...and just stuck them in the freezer!

From what I read, I should be able to take them out and process them into whatever saucy thing I want, as I want it. I'll report back on that later when I find out if they were telling the truth!

Trixie at Farm Home Life sent out a lament into cyberspace--the desire for a summer tomato. My voice joins hers. There is NOTHING like a summer tomato, especially warm from the sun as you pick it off the vine.

In the past, I've had a fairly satisfactory solution:

Many summers I have taken those lovely tomatoes and turned them into something I call "Raw Tomato Soup." I didn't want to process the tomatoes because the flavor, though delicious, would not be that from-the-vine flavor.

What I did was actually pretty simple (read lazy). I washed the tomatoes, cutting out any bad spots. Then I dipped them quickly into boiling water and peeled off the skin.

Next (now pay attention), I blended them with my food processor But. Not. Too. Much. I didn't want puree or even sauce. I wanted small chunks with lots of liquid.

Ready for the final step? I poured the tomatoes into glass jars and FROZE them!

In the middle of winter, I thawed a jar (hint: use wide-mouth jars in case you don't get around to thawing them in time for your meal so the partially thawed mixture slides out), dumped it into a pot to heat up, added a little salt and pepper and had the closest thing that I could get to those summer tomatoes.

You do what you have to when it comes to something this important!

Classic H of H: Vacation Budget--50s Style

I didn't follow Mona's advice completely, but I definitely made really good strides in preparing for THIS vacation. Many things were paid ahead of time and we've been packing snacks and lunches from the grocery store each day. For supper I've been cooking easy meals at the hotel. I did a lot of research online and saved on tickets and accomodations. When I return, I'll share about the Williamsburg portion of the savings for those who might be able to use them.

(The picture above comes from a post about vintage picnic baskets. Click on the picture to read the post.)

Tonight my husband and son wanted to look at the stars. It's clear and cold--perfect viewing. I stayed inside. I'm not crazy--it's NEGATIVE SIX degrees Fahrenheit out there!

Inside my nice cozy house (where sane people are), I was reading more of my January 1953 issue of Woman's Day. A reader (lovely Mona from Kansas) wrote in to talk about how her family budgets for their summer vacation. It seemed appropriate to be thinking ahead and planning for those summer months in January. Saving up takes time!

Here's the wisdom that Mona shared (my notes are in italics):

I'm wondering how many of the neighbors are already looking forward to and dreaming of a wonderful vacation next summer. I'm also wondering just how many of them are giving up the idea as "much too expensive" for their tight family budgets. (Sound familiar in 2011?) That was our first sad impression. It wasn't just the money for the gas and oil and lodgings, although those did have their place in our thinking, of course. What really worried us was the eating out on the trip. (Mona, you don't EVEN know about how expensive eating out will become!) We considered the problem and decided on a plan of action.

We buy our groceries by the week; so each week we buy something and put it away in our "July Picnic Basket." One week it is canned luncheon meat, (Mona, honey, Underwood Deviled Ham is for rich people now.), another week canned fruit, or pork and beans, or shoestring potatoes. (Does she mean those crunchy, greasy shoestring potatoes in a can? Anyone know what I'm talking about?) We plan to add pickles and jar cheeses (Mmmm--Cheez Whiz. Now there's some tasty fake food!) toward the last, also paper plates and cups and some plastic spoons. We try to keep our purchases around the fifty-cent bracket. (Wonder what the equivalent would be today?)

We also have a "Fun Bank" started. Each week when we come home from shopping, we put all our change in this bank. We also allow an estimated amount in our budget for utilities. When the utilities run under the amount allowed, we add the difference to the bank. We feel that by July we will have enough in our Fun Bank, along with our regular budget amounts for our milk, groceries, and gas for two weeks, for traveling expenses. We feel sure our Picnic Basket will be just bursting with goodies to be used. And if our trip should have to be cancelled, we will still have something that will help the family larder in the months ahead. Meanwhile, we are planning our best vacation ever! (And I'm sure it was!)

- Mona C., Merriam, Kansas

It's intriguing to think of slowly stockpiling non-perishable foods over the months in preparation for a vacation. We use our camper, so I know just where to store everything. I'll have to tweak those food choices a bit, though . . .

Classic H of H: Tell Me About Your Kitchen

The place where we've been staying since Sunday does not have WiFi. I put up several Classic H of H's a few days ago when we took the computer to a WiFi hot spot. This morning I arranged it so that I had a long breakfast (at Chic-Fil-A!) where my ds could play and I could catch up on things. I've enjoyed reading everyone's great comments and will comment back when I have full-time internet. Meanwhile, I'm going to add the remainder of the posts that I thought would be fun to read again. Like this one!

I love to look at pictures of kitchens. I especially love looking at all the details and seeing something that would work in my kitchen. That got me thinking about my kitchen. Immediately I thought about its faults. Isn't that how it seems to go? (At least I tend to do that.)

I decided to do a "5 - 5 - 5s" of my kitchen. I'd start with what I love, mention the things that bother me, and then dream a little. All in fives.

Here's a picture of my kitchen. A couple of things have changed. For one, I have a new (white) stove. I also moved my toaster oven to a little (unpictured) hutch that is on a tiny wall near the basement door. In its place is my 1982 stand mixer. Take note of the light fixture in the ceiling. It does not amuse me as you'll read in my notes below.

My 5 - 5 - 5s

Five Things I Love About My Kitchen:

Not too big, not too small--As long as there are no more than two of us working in it! When it's just me, I don't have many steps to walk to get things. When there are two of us, there's still room to work as long as you designate areas.

Window over the sink--Though not necessary, I do like being able to see into the back yard. I especially like when snow is floating down softly in the winter.

Centralized--The open layout of this side of the house makes it appear bigger than it really is. The kitchen is right in the center of the house, which makes for easy access.

My new stove--I finally got a new stove after 10 years of dealing with the old one's oven being less than it should be. It was actually from a model mobile home, so it had been used to heat food for the realtor on occasion. The oven had NEVER been used. It's also white. The one pictured above is the old one that was almond.

My dishwasher--I hate to wash dishes by hand. "Why" is a whole other post, but suffice it to say that my husband installing it ONE WEEK after we moved in shows how high on the priority list it was for me!

Now for the (sadly) easier list.

Five Things I Dislike About My Kitchen:

The stove is slap up against the refrigerator--Normally there's at least a small counter with a bit of storage between the two, but there's just no room for that. It has bugged me from the moment we moved in.

The tile floor--This I absolutely hate. It desperately needs replacing but that's just not going to happen any time soon.

The lighting--It just isn't quite right. I'm not sure what to do about it, but it doesn't give me a sunny, warm feel. If you feel that your kitchen is a warm, inviting place and it has something to do with your choice of lighting, please share. I am at a loss how to make that happen in my kitchen.

Too few cabinets--It really could use more. I've already pared down on the storage and provided a free-standing unit to help, but just a smidge more cabinet storage would make things more practical.

I don't have a number five--Which is good. The other four, though, are really annoying!

Five Things I Would Like to Have in My Kitchen (aside from the above issues):

A refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom and double doors on the top--I really, really do want this. I can't complain about my frig, though. We've never had to pay for one. When the frig that was here when we moved in died, a customer of my husband GAVE him their old one when they remodeled their kitchen. Free is good!

A vacuum unit in the kickspace area--This is a luxury thing that would be so useful. Imagine sweeping up the kitchen with the little pile near the kickspace, flipping a switch, and having it all sucked away! No bending with the dustpan. How's that for lazy?

A vintage linoleum--One that is all one piece with no grooves or textures to trap dirt. I'd even wax it when it needed it!

A way to separate the kitchen--Though it's nice that mine is centralized, sometimes it really would be nice to just close it away and not look at the mess when we're eating! Since I moved the dining area into the living room (click to see photos), that's less of a problem, but it would still be nice.

Completely new cabinet fronts--Ours our a bit cheezy. They're thin and badly made. My husband can do this, but, you know (no time, money's tight, yada, yada). I'd want highly washable white paint. I'd want it so highly washable that the dirt wouldn't even stick. It would just slide right down to the floor and get sucked away by my kickspace vacuum!

I would love to hear your 5 - 5 - 5's of your kitchen. Do a post about it, let me know, and I'll link to you. Pictures would be nice, too!

ETA:

Melb2005 at The Southern Housewife posted her "5 - 5 - 5's" about her kitchen that is my kitchen's twin! You can see her pictures and comments HERE.

Trixie at Farm Home Life also posted her "5 - 5 - 5's." Click HERE and enjoy her sunny kitchen.

Classic H of H: Graceful Aging?

I would still like to hear more comments regarding this. I'm staring down the hallway at 50 and have more to say about this subject when I return home. Please comment. It would help me to hear your thoughts.


Have you thought about what you'll be like when you're 70? Have the older women in your life been good role models in regards to how to age gracefully?

I'll give you two examples of women in their 70s from my own experience: My mother-in-law and my mother.

My MIL died in May. When she was young and middle-aged, she was a beautiful, accomplished, generous, lady-like ball of energy. She taught school full-time, sang with a local opera company, and was always dressed impeccably. She was a great mom to her two kids. In the last 10 years before she died at 72, she made choices about her quality of life that led to her becoming a severe alcoholic. She did NOT want to be old and did not want to live anymore. She shoved everyone around her out of her life, including her only grandchild.

My mother grew up in poverty. She quit school in the 10th grade. She had her first child when she was 17 (married a guy to get herself out of that poverty), and then walked away from that marriage because he was abusive. What she did was NOT common back in the 60s, but she determined to make her and her daughter's lives better. She met my dad and married him and it took a few years before she stopped being in "survival mode." My dad provided the stable life that she had never had before. She did OK as a mother, but it definitely could have been a more enjoyable experience for both her and her children. She's 74 now. Do you know what her latest comment to me was? "It's all in the attitude. I see women around me that are my age who are barely living. I'm not going to do that!"

What about you? What about me? The decisions we make NOW will affect who we will be in our later years. Our early life experience doesn't have to dictate the future, nor do the changes of life have to cause us to stop living a full life.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this as well as any examples of positive aging you've encountered, please. Then I think I will print them out and put them in a safe place to read as I age!

Classic H of H: Sunday Dinner

Rereading this post has rekindled my desire to make the family portion of Sunday more memorable. It's also useful because we are working very hard to cut out restaurant meals for health and financial reasons!

I have been thinking about Sunday Dinners for quite a while. Back in the day, folks would go to church and then head home with extended family and friends to eat lunch together. The meal would be "Sunday fare" (like fried chicken, not sandwiches!) and somehow it all worked.

Many years ago my husband was a full-time pastor in a tiny town in the Florida panhandle. The church was small and made up of about three major family groups. There were two matriarchs: "Miss Ruby" and "Miss Edith." I'm not sure what Miss Edith did after the service, but Miss Ruby, et al had a routine that had been honed by decades of practice.

Any and all were invited to come. It never mattered how many--there was always plenty of food. Miss Ruby was a widow and lived by herself on a bay five miles up from the Gulf of Mexico. The view was splendid. On her enclosed porch was a giant table with many mismatched chairs. By the time my husband and I arrived after church, the process of getting lunch was already in high gear. Everyone had a job and everyone knew what to do, from the oldest to the youngest. I tried to pitch in, but they shooed me off to the living room where the men were sitting in their easy chairs talking about hunting. Good times.

Within 30 minutes there was fried something as the main course. Each week was different: chicken, chicken-fried steak, mullet and mullet roe--choice of red or white. (I'll talk about the roe in a minute.) Then there were several sides, one always being hush puppies. Another constant was FRESH scraped corn, sweet and creamy. With that was the tall glass of sweet tea in the heavy green glass (similar to the picture at right). The finale? Banana pudding or some other fantastic southern dessert.

HOW DID THEY DO THAT? It never crossed my mind to ask and now I want to know! (I do know a little about hunting, though, thanks to the living room conversations.)

I am restricted by time and location in a way those ladies weren't. They lived five minutes from church. We live 30 minutes away. They knew that church would be done at 12:00 on the dot and they hustled home. We never know when church will end--sometimes quite late. By then we're starving!

Because of our circumstances of distance and time, we eat out every Sunday. Despite that, I am still intrigued with the idea of making a "Sunday Dinner" once in a while, inviting folks to join us.

To that end I've been pondering menus and came across this book:


It just arrived today. If I manage to gear up and actually accomplish this Sunday Dinner thing, you know I'll blog about it!

Does anyone have actual experience with being in on that level of Sunday food prep? How was it accomplished? Were things done ahead of time? Keep in mind that Miss Ruby never used a crockpot or microwave. Miss Ruby was around 80 at the time. That was over 20 years ago. I don't think I'll be able to call Miss Ruby for help. However, I will always remember her as an example, a standard, if you will.

To Miss Ruby, Sunday Dinner hostess extraordinaire!

(PS--About that Roe. The red roe is fish eggs. The white roe was the other item needed to make baby fish. Each type came encased in a sac which was breaded with cornmeal and deep fried. Though there were no 10-foot poles about, I managed to never touch the stuff. I'm talented like that.)

Classic H of H: Custer's ACTUAL Last Stand

(This is one of my favorites. My husband and son helped me on this post and we had a blast together. I'm glad to offer this "Paul Harvey" moment for those who want to know.)

My husband had a Custer doll when he was a boy. He saved it and it has made many moves with us. We were cleaning his workshop last winter and Custer, once again, surfaced.
When J (our son) was two, we tried to give him the Custer doll. His response? "NO, THANK YOU!" with an edge of fear in his toddler voice. When we found the doll this last time, J was six. It seemed like it was time to thrust Custer into the heat of battle again.
Flamboyant in his prime, Custer has now come to an acceptance of his purpose. He is stoic. (BTW, he's single...)

Several years ago (with that OTHER little boy) he sustained an injury that cost him his hand. No matter. He's prepared to do what he needs to do.

Our brave hero makes a declaration, hand raised in defiance: "I Will Prevail!"

A blast of snow takes him down.

Custer struggles to his feet, the weight of heavy snow on his shoulders. His arm still raised in a gesture of bravado. What's this? OH NO! It's the Leaf of Doom!

Our brave soldier is bombarded yet again.

The general is rescued and taken to the field hospital. After recovering, he raised his right hand...uh...right arm and vowed he would fight any enemy, with no regard to age or super-giantism.

(And, he's still single.)

Classic H of H: Pictures of Me

(I don't like to be in front of the camera, especially since I've gained so much weight.  Yesterday as we boarded the USS Wisconsin a photographer hoping to make a buck asked me if I wanted a picture of the family in front of the ship.  I refrained from scoffing, but I think a small snort escaped from me before I politely said no. 

For those who may be new to Haven of Home, I thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of me that I AM willing to share.  They really are of me, just younger and thinner!)

As a "treat" (?) I decided to introduce you to the young me. I mean YOUNG. Then you'll see the older me. Are you excited? Are you ready? Are you sitting down?
I thought it would be fun as I'm sort of going through a bit of a time machine as we're preparing to move my MIL in with us. She has been in my life since I was 16yo. And, that was a long time ago!

I'll start at the beginning:

Way back when I was born there was only black and white film. In the "dark" ages. Get it? Never mind. (Notice the chair fabric. This picture is from 1963. The chair is pre-dates me.)

Somehow they developed color by the time I got to second grade. I think that "clenched lip" smile was due to hiding some missing teeth. (My mom made that dress. I loved that dress. I also had several with rick rack. I loved rick rack.)

With a HUGE jump we get to high school. My sister is on the left, my mom in the middle, and I'm on the right. I have no idea what size those skin-tight, straight-legged jeans were, but I weighed all of 108. (All the pictures of me in between second grade and tenth grade are at my sister's house. Consider yourself spared. You're welcome.)

I played the flute in the marching band. For some reason they thought it was a good idea for the band members to wear wool uniforms. In Florida. In the Fall. My hair shows the results of such interesting decision making. (BTW, that "bucket' that I'm carrying is my HAT. It's called a shako and was a tall plastic thingy with fake fur on the outside. Plastic with fur on it. In Florida.)

Next is college. Back then we still "did" corsages. That's my husband. He and I were not quite 20, but the moustache made him look MUCH older, don't you think?

Now it's 1985 and we're about to get married. I decided to grow out my nails for the wedding. I also tried out some Press-On Nails. Can you tell which is which? It's really tricky... (Lady Di was my inspiration.)

The Wedding Day. I'm finally Mrs. L after dating for five years. We were almost 22 years old.

This next picture was taken about two years before J came along. I was unaware of the photographer and I think I was in the buffet line at a wedding. My expression is either one of reflection about my own wedding--or I'm just eyeing up the entree. That's my sister in front of me. I think she spotted the dessert table gauging by the smile on her face...

This is one of my favorite pictures of J and me. He was six months old and would always reach up to pat my face when I held him like this. Let's pause for a moment of baby bliss.

Which brings us to today. Nope, no current pictures! I think you've had enough, anyway. Perhaps in another decade. . .

Classic Haven of Home posts

We are currently on a vacation in Virginia.  I am typing this with a view of the Atlantic Ocean out my window--on the tenth floor. Seagulls and Apache helicopters have crossed that view repeatedly.  I just shooed one and waved to the other.

We've been here a week already, enjoying the beach, the pool, the battleships and NOT posting. I didn't want to go postless for too long as it makes my blog look like I've abandoned it. It occurred to me that other people repost some "golden oldies" and I figured now would be a good time to do that.  If you want brand new material, I HAVE been posting up a storm on my homeschooling blog which you can view HERE. Posts about our vacation will be going there as we'll be doing the whole Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown thing.

So, for the next week I'm going to DAILY repost a favorite oldie from Have of Home.  Look for the first one tomorrow!