Food Prices

I dont do very much shoppin, but I read the stores(we have 2 here) "sale" paper for the comin week that we get each Tuesday.. I do most of the meal plannin in this house and use the sale papers to see what they have to offer and what I might need(that I dont already have) to use somethin on sale to make a meal with..

I looked at the new one we got today and they had spare ribs on sale for $1.49 a lb.. I remembered that MamaBear was askin what we paid for em around here.. I also noticed that flour is up to $1.88 a 5/lb now.. I use a lot of flour so I pay attainchen to that kinda stuff.. I had been payin .88 for a 5/lb not long ago tho.. I make a lot of fresh bread and rolls and use flour in my cornbread.. I knew corn prices have gone up a lot due to them usin a lot of it in Ethanol now but didnt thank it was affectin wheat prices too.. The price of bacon and sausage has gone thru the roof here, but a whole shank ham is on sale for $1.09 a lb this next week.. I like to get em to slice most of it in slices about 3/4 " thick to put on the grill, and leave me a good-size "soup bone" to cook a pot of beans with after I smoke it.. Thats still about the same price it was back around Thanksgivin and Christmas so they aint gone up all that much..

I consider that what we pay for food here is rather on the good side of what other folks pay for their food.. One of the stores is only about 3 blocks from the house and I know most of the people that work there besides the school kids that work as sackers and stockers.. They change so often that I caint keep up with em.. But they treat me real good so I dont do much shoppin any where else.. As a matter-of-fact, the girls that work there exchange birthday gags and cards and recipes with the Mrs. ..

You could tell by lookin at us that we eat pretty good in this house but we usually manage to keep our grocery bill well under $200 a month.. We seldom eat or order out too, so that is for the whole deal.. I thank thats doin pretty good for feedin 3 people !! And we aint eattin beans and cabbage every meal either.. I marinated boneless chicken breast to cut up and put in salads yesterday and have a whole fryer in the rotisierre today.. I have beef liver thawin to make liver and onions tomoro.. I have plans for some turnip greens and fried taters (w/onions and peppers) and grilled hamsteak in the near future.. THATS the one that I'm lookin forward too !! Its just canned turnip greens but the thangs are sure good simmered with a few pieces of smoked bacon in em..

Anybody seen anythang about the food prices around the rest of the country lately ??

I've Been Dodgin It

I guess ya'll have noticed that I havent put up anythang bout The Gathering Of Eagles.. I'll just have to go ahead and admit that I'm ashamed that I couldnt go with em and support em.. It just really hurts me that I wadnt able to go..

I've read some of the stories and checked out the pics, and it looks like the Eagles did it with the utmost Honor and Dignity.. The media coverage of the Eagles and the entire event was sickenin !! Ethics in journalism is becomin as nonexistant as ethics in D.C. .. They have all become just as fake as Dan Rather's memos..

Eagles, I'm sorry that I didnt get to make the trip with you.. Just know that my thoughts and prayers were with you every step of the way.. Its probably better that my hot-headed ass wadnt with you anyway.. And I liked that part about ya'll takin the Flag away from the sunzabitches that were desecratin it !! FUCK EM !!

The Pressure Is Mountin

The cowards and the chickenshits in Congress got together this week to show how truely afraid they are.. We already knew they were a bunch of pussies, but now they have shown the rest of the world and now the rest of the world will thank the whole U.S. is also like them.. Gives me the shivers just to thank that somebody would even compare me with that bunch of sorry-ass worthless bastards..

I'd like to have been a fly on the wall of the place where Dick Cheney heard about the vote !!

The chickenshits are just about to doom us to the downfall of this country.. The only thang that has kept this country safe all these years is the fear of us.. Damn sure wadnt because they liked us.. They feared our power and feared the fact that we would use it.. They no longer have to fear us usin our power now, cause the chickenshits are afraid to use it.. No matter how much power you have, if you aint gonna use it, it aint worth a damn.. If we aint gonna use it, then they will just take it from us and they aint got any qualms at all about usin it.. Now the problem is gonna be tryin to figger out who is gonna win the race to take it from us.. There is gonna be a fuggin fight between the terrorists to see which one can take our power first.. Its gonna be a gotdam Gold Rush for em now..

And it aint gonna be just the terrorists that are gonna be after our power either.. Russia, China, Mexico, and most likely even the EU will want to get in on it..

I have no doubt that G.W. is gonna veto the piece of shit, but it is still gonna delay fundin for the military and increase attacks around the whole world..

One of the ways that the U.S. has been able to slow attacks is to disrupt the dirtbags money supply.. This delay by the The Enemy Within is gonna have the same effect on our ability to wage war on the dirtbags, which I would guess was the main purpose for it..

The Enemy Within Party try to call themselves Progressives.. That would imply that they are for progress, but the only thang I have seen them try to make progress at is the Communist and Socialist Agenda.. Any attempts at progress in the War On Terror and endin fightin in Iraq and The Stan has only been met with resistence from The Enemy Within..

Boostin the morale of the very dirtbags that want us all DEAD or as their SLAVES is zactly what The Enemy Within has done and is somethin I can N.E.V.E.R. forgive em for !! It has emboldened em to the point that Prez Act-Mad in Iran has decided to kidnap the Brit Marines and hold em as hostage now.. That too is a consequence of what The Enemy Within has done this last week.. The Brits should take FULL notice of what appeasement does for you and acknowledge that their appeasement affects us just as much as our appeasement affects them.. In the-long-run, appeasement advances noones cause, not even the dirtbags.. It only prolongs death and sufferrin by ALL PARTIES !! Too bad those sunzabitches in The Enemy Within Party caint figger that out..

What Odd Timin

Somethin has been naggin at me since yesterday mornin.. Glen Beck was sayin on his show yesterday mornin about people not knowin how to grow and "can" their own food anymore.. He comes on at 9 A.M. here and I was still nursin some pretty bad sore spots and sippin my coffee so the garden was still close to my mind..

I've had a garden for most of my life.. When I didnt have one of my own, I usually had one partnered with a friend or just somebody that paid me to make them a garden and also gave me plenty of the pickins..

I was raised on a farm till I was about 11 and then moved to town and was closer to Granma and her garden and chickens.. She lived a coupla blocks from the school I went to so I spent a lot of time at Granma's house.. Me and Granma used to can the best Chow Chow that I have ever tasted.. And me and my Mama used to can the best pear preserves I have ever had the chance to put on a bisquit.. I had a girlfriend once that had 2 big athletic teenage boys and could flat put away some salsa and chips and me and her canned salsa by the gallons..

But I dont imagine as many folks know as many people as I do that can and pickle and freeze and dry.. I figger that Glen is pretty close to right.. There aint as many people that still do stuff like that anymore.. But there are some, and I know a bunch of em myself.. I know quilters and wood carvers too..

I wish more folks would learn it.. I wanted to write more on this, but my meds are kickin my ass !! I'll try to get back to this later.. Sorry..

continued:

I'm pretty sure that it wadnt my Irish or German heritage that brought my family to be canners and preservers, but that it was the counrty lifestyle and the fact that we were poor..

My family started out in this country as large landowners in the South Carolina/North Carolina area until they lost all their land in the War Between The States, and then headed west and ended up in Texas and points west as sharecroppers..

Out of my Granma's 5 kids, only 2 were country-type people that bought land to work and farm.. My Dad and my Uncle came back from WW II and worked long enuff in the west Texas oilfields to get the money together to come back here to their Home County and buy small farms to work.. And thats where I've learned how to do the stuff related to the old style way of farmin and livin.. From balin and haulin hay to hand-milkin cows to killin hogs and smokin meats to cannin and quiltin and knittin..

Even tho it was hard hard work it was interestin to me and still is to this day..I enjoy it and thats what keeps me doin it.. But that is what makes the difference in poeple.. Most shy away from anythang that even resembles hard work.. If it looks like work, well, then it dont interest em one bit.. LAZINESS !! Thats all it is.. Almost, anyway.. Some are just too good to get their nice, soft, manicured hands dirty and caloused..

But it is a mixture of science and art.. Most of it lost to the cell phone nowadays.. Caint you just see some booger-eattin-mohron, hoe in hand, choppin weeds down one row and then back another, only to stop every 10 feet to reach in their pocket and pull out there Razor and lean on the hoe handle while talkin bout goin to the Mall or the latest on Britney or Paris ??

We have a County Fair every year here and they have a buildin dedicated to the home grown foods that folks have worked thru the year.. Some fresh.. Some canned..

You see the little old ladies walkin about talkin bout what they have entered into the competition.. You can spot em a mile away, with stooped backs from long hours on a too-short hoe handle in the garden.. But you wont find anyone any prouder than those that get that Blue Ribbon for their pears or whatever they brought.. To be one of the Judges is a coveted honor around here.. Me, I just like to have the good thangs that come out of a garden or field on the table so my family can enjoy the best there is.. Nothin beats it !!

Our Family Renunions were somethin to behold.. Table after table of the best that we had to be eattin and shared with all.. I thank that the City kinfolks looked forward all year till they got to come back and load up on the good food that was served.. From the looks of their piled-high plates you would thank that they hadnt eattin since the last reunion.. It wadnt no big deal to us locals tho cause we ate food like that all the time so we passed on the green beans and carrots to make room for the peecan pie..

But what remains the best of it all are the memories of helpin Mama in the kitchen or Daddy killin a hog or quiltin with Granma.. Precious Memories..

And Glen Beck was talkin bout his lifestyle again yesterday.. He is tired of the fast pace and no time for his kids or makin precious memories like I have.. I dont thank I could stand to live like he does either !! No Thanks.. I'll just make-do with what little possessions I have and try to dwell on all those old memories and try my best to make new ones.. Maybe one day my daughter will put down her cell phone and come back home to make some memories of her own..

Honey, I'm Home

Tired, sore, and grungy, but Miss Minnie Pearl aint the only one that had a good time.. I had a damn good time too..

I found some pork chop from a wild pig and some deer meat a friend gave me a while back, so I didnt have to kill nothin to eat while I was out there this weekend.. I just put it all in a big dutch oven and cooked it slow with it covered in gravy.. All you had to do was take a piece of bread and use a fork to try to get enough to hold together to be picked out of the pot to make a sandwich with..

I got some work done on the garden too.. I managed to find time to get 2 long rows tilled up and ready to make beds for my taters.. The rows for them have to be wider and deeper so it takes a lot more work to get them ready.. Now all I have to do is get the mulch mixed in and them I'll be ready to plant a shit-load of taters..

The trailer(The Stabbin Cabin) is under 4 big oak trees and so there was plenty of leaf rakin and pickin up limbs to be done and I got some of it done too..

Between the rakin leaves and puttin shells thru my big bore, my shoulders and arms need some major rest and re-coup now.. Needless to say that I'm exhausted now, but wanted to get a post up before I hit the shower, cause as soon as I get out of there I'll be in the bed and it wont be long till lites-out I'm sure..

I've got plenty of stories bout the deer and hogs and even some Canada Geese dropped in, but those will have to wait till I rest up a bit..

Hope ya'll had a good weekend too..

The "Black Hats"

from here: http://powerlineblog.com/archives/017039.php

Why Do the Democrats Advocate Policies They Know To Be Dangerous?

Senate Democrats are trying to adopt a resolution that would set a deadline for withdrawal of troops from Iraq. On the Senate floor yesterday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell quoted leading Senate Democrats who have acknolwedged, in the recent past, that setting such a deadline would be destructive and would help the terrorists. He has reproduced his speech on his web site:

Speaking at the National Press Club in 2005, my good friend the Majority Leader himself said this: "As for setting a timeline, as we learned in the Balkans, that’s not a wise decision, because it only empowers those who don’t want us there, and it doesn’t work well to do that."
Six months after that, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Biden, said this: "A deadline for pulling out … will only encourage our enemies to wait us out" … it would be "a Lebanon in 1985. And God knows where it goes from there." That was our friend, Joe Biden, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

And three months later, Senator Clinton made the same point when she said, "I don’t believe it’s smart to set a date for withdrawal," said Senator Clinton. "I don’t think you should ever telegraph your intentions to the enemy so they can await you." That’s the Majority Leader, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and a prominent Democrat presidential candidate.

Surely Senators Reid, Biden, and Clinton have not changed their minds about who would benefit the most if we set a date certain for withdrawal. They know just as well as I do that this is what the terrorists have been waiting for — and just what our allies in Iraq, and the entire region of the world have feared.

The Washington press corps is always looking for a scandal. Most of the scandals they come up with are minor, and some, like the current flap over the firing of some U.S. Attorneys, aren't scandals at all. But how about this one? Leading Senate Democrats are advocating a policy which they have previously admitted to be dangerous to the national security of the United States. There are only two possibilities. Either the Democrats can articulate some objective conditions that have changed so drastically in the last few months that what was formerly unwise and dangerous has now become necessary, or else they are deliberately trying to undermine our security in exchange for political gain. If I were a reporter, I would be asking the Senate Democrats some hard questions.

comment: GET THE POWER, at any price, is the name of the game for the (D)s.. We are all just along for the ride now.. How we solve this is anybody's guess, and it alludes me.. Any thought I have of stoppin the destruction of our Political System and eventually our Country as a whole, is beyond the comprehension of most everybody else and can only be discussed in seclusion by only trusted souls..

I have come to the conclusion that the only thang I'm gonna be able to do, is to get my "ducks" lined up and do what I can to insure my own safety and survival.. Looks like my only option is gonna be to make the farm a sanctuary for safety and security and subsistence.. Kinda like the Mountain Folks did back-in-the-day..

I guess I'm just gonna eventually turn into one of those unsocial sunzabitches that greets everybody with a gun that comes to visit and makes their visit as unpleasant as possible so they will hurry up and leave.. I've already got a pretty good start on it !!

The Weatherman Lied

I've been stayin here at the house since Saturday, waitin for it to come the storms and floods that the weatherman has been sayin we are gonna have.. Even this mornin it has supposed to be comin our way.. Well, its almost noon now and I have been watchin a line of heavy rain and storms move north towards me from Central Texas.. The line is almost here and it has fizzled more and more the closer it gets.. I dont know if we will even get a shower before it just goes completely away..

But I have everythang ready to load up and go water my garden anyway.. Gonna let the Kid swing a while too.. She can swing while I go to the pool and shoot some turtles..

Well, looks like the program has changed.. We are gonna go look at a used kitchen stove for sale.. Maybe by the time we get back the rain will have figgered out what its gonna do..

A Beautiful Sunset

I got my first batch of carrots and turnip greens planted and another 600 onions put in the ground and got it all fertilized before the rain comes tonite and tomoro and Monday and Tuesday too..

But the real capper was when I got it all done and set back to catch my breath, and thats when I saw the deer.. 6 of em were down in the shadows in the back corner just nibblin and walkin around.. It was kind of a toss-up over which to watch, the deer or the beautiful sunset that we had this evenin..

One thang that I didnt get done, was that I took a ceegar with me and intended to sit and rest and smoke it in the peace and quiet out there before comin back home.. It wont be the same, but I guess I can kick back in my recliner and sip a frosty mug of coldbeer and have my ceegar here at home tonite..

Supposed to rain and storm till next Wednesday.. That'll give my tired old sore body time to get healed back up and get ready for the next round of plantin.. It'll also give me time to get on here and chew some liberal ass, but to tell you the truth, I just caint seem to get interested in the silly-ass shit right now.. It all seems so petty and childish that it just turns me off to even thank about it.. Of coarse, ya'll could give me a hint at what ya'll might want me to look in to and post on ..

Most of everythang I've been seein goin around is just the same-old-shit, different day.. If I had known that I was gonna still be bloggin and it was gonna go on for this long, I wish I had made up a list of Rants by number.. That way I could post an article about somethin and just add the number of the rant that was applicable to it.. Seems that we are always goin back over and over the same old shit again and again.. Gun Control?? (see rant #1).. Illegal Immigration?? (see rant #2).. and so on.. Just gets to be so fuggin monotonous to have to keep repeatin all the facts about stuff to the damn liberals with short-term-memory-loss.. If iI didnt know better, I would thank the whole damn Left Side is eat up with Altzheimers or somethin.. They are like a bunch of damn robots that are programed with the Left's Talkin Points bullshit, and you caint get thru to em for shit !! If they happen to get programed that the sun rises in the west, then that is what we hear forever from em..

You know there are people on the Conservative side that study all the Left's bullshit.. They study it day-in, and day-out.. I wonder how they manage to NOT go stark ravin mad after seein the same old tired bullshit repeatedly, over and over, and after bein debunked by everybody and their damn dog..

But I aint gonna worry bout it tonite.. Its time for my frosty mug of coldbeer and my ceegar, but I thank I'm gonna have em out by the picnic table.. Its such a nice night out tonite.. Hey.. I'm gettin me one helluva Farmers Tan goin !!

What's Happenin ??

So ya'll missed me, huh ?? Thanks for the message, Cheryl..

Well, I've been makin dreams come true.. I've said before that I took the farm back and was plannin on havin a nice garden out there and spendin some time there too.. The guy finally got the last of his horses moved off and I have been a busy little beaver since then..

I rigged-up my tiller to the ridin mower like a "side-car" and have got 4 rows rowed up and ready to plant, and have planted 24 tomato plants and 300 onions.. I still have 6 more tamaters and 700 onions to get out and the fertilizer applied.. After that I'm gonna start breakin 2 more rows and get ready to plant..

I've got turnip seed and some fancy onion seed to go in the ground as soon as the beds are ready.. But supposed to rain tonite so I better get to organizin..

I've been doin a little shootin while I've been out there too.. I've got the rifle sighted in good and am ready to harvest me one of those little piglets that are comin up back in the corner each evenin at 6 .. There are 2 sows that weigh about 350 for one, and 400 pounds for the other, and each one had a group of little ones around em.. I thank there are 12 little ones that are about 50 to 75 pounds.. Some lighter, some heavier.. I thank its bout time to have a pig roast !!

I've got some cleanin done around the trailer too.. First thang I cleaned was the area around the Kid's tree swing.. She loves that thang !! She had gotten so bad and bein so mean that we had to check her out of Public School last week and gonna do Home Schoolin now.. Its what I have been wantin for the last year but the Mrs. didnt want to give up her free baby sitter.. But with a change in her meds this week and plenty of time in her swing, we may be able to save The Little Darlin.. Just dont mention the word "school" around her !!

I've got a 14X65 2-bedroom house trailer at the farm that is in need of repairs and an old school bus converted in to a bunkhouse for my Deer Camp that needs cleanin too.. Its official name is "The Stabbin Cabin" .. I got jumped and my throat cut in the dark by a freaked-out Nam Vet bout 15 years ago and the place has been known by that name since..

But I'm gonna be spendin a lot of time at the farm for a while, so most of what you see here from me is gonna be about farm work and burnin gun powder.. Yeah, and coldbeer too.. I almost forgot about that..

I could sure use a hand out there if any of you are in the mood for fresh air, wild animals, Wild Bill Unleashed, and most likely, some good eatin !! MamaBear, dont E need a vacation down here in Texas for a while ?? I bet that fella has a STRONG BACK.. And Cheryl, how long has it been since you took that "hog leg" of yours out and turned it loose on a washine machine ?? And Papa Ray, your bunch and my bunch could have some fun out there too.. I'd have to add another swing so Sweet Sarah and the Kid could swing together.. Has Sweet Sarah ever got to swing on a BIG tree swing ?? I know there aint a tree tall enuff out there where you are !!

Ya'll come on down..

One Less Friend Tonite

My Buddy Gopher answered the Call this mornin and is no longer in pain and misery..

I wanna thank everybody that came by and left Well Wishes and those that have said a few Prayers for him.. But dont stop the prayers till we have prayed his way into the Pearly Gates and beyond to the Kingdom..

I've been keepin myself busy so I wouldnt dwell on it and stress myself more than absolutely necessary, and have gotten my garden started at the farm and the cleanin up from havin renters in the process..

My bloggin should return to normal soon and ya'll will once again get to see me givin the idiots a piece of my mind.. Thanks for hangin in there with me too..