Soda Shoppe Week of July 10

[Joy]

Jane, I wanted to mention that  I was surprised to hear that your peach season is almost over.  I can remember my grandfather talking about October peaches were the best.   I am in Maryland,  not too far from you.  I have just noticed our local peaches just starting.

Have you ever been to Brown's Orchard,  which is down in Loganville, Pa.  just a little south of York off Rt. 83.    They have a big orchard and a beautiful store.  Years ago, my mom and dad used to go up there and all they sold were peaches from a little roadside stand. Now it is a really nice place.   And, I know they used to go in Sept. and Oct.  Would make a nice little day trip sometime when your daughter's would be with you.

Joy

[angelface555]

It is 89 degrees now on my recessed balcony and perhaps we'll reach the 92 predicted!

Joy, it isn't the standing I have issues with. It's the getting there that's an issue!    Of course sometimes I cheat and sit on the kitchen stool after assembling most of what I will be using.

All this talk of places to go and things to eat and I will need to borrow Joan's broom! Since I live just 3000 miles from Seattle, a road trip would be a tad expensive! 

[June Drabek]

Bis, I did enjoy Music Bingo, and won a whole handful of tickets to be used at our little store in the club house. They carry a big variety of small items, and it is handy to be able to shop there. They also accept cash for those that do not win tickets.

Patricia, another old saying that my mother always used on me…her tom boy style daughter was, "Pretty is as pretty does". I hated it. Felt I was who I was, so I would never be pretty.

Joy, I am joining you in being a NON-canner. In fact I am more and more a NON-cooker. I take my main meal downstairs at noon, then usually bring half my serving home for supper. Today I had an egg salad sandwich, and they do not skimp on the filling, plus a nice green salad, v-8 juice, and two puddings that are now residing in my fridge. And I always keep canned soups, tuna, sardines, etc. on the cupboard shelf, along with a small varieties of breads in my freezer. Also there are always, day and night, bananas, oranges, and apples available in the dining rooms.

I feel most fortunate living where I am now. I lack nothing. And what I enjoy most is that my children have the peace of mind and freedom not to worry about Mom.l God is Good.

[JaneS]

Joy, I apologize for that faux pas.  The peach season is NOT almost over.  It's in full swing.  I'm not a peach lover so I really don't pay attention.  No I've never been to the market you mentioned.  The southern border of PA is a good two hours from where I live.  Most of the markets I go to are nearby.  When you live in the country, that's one of the perks. 

Patricia, if you can get 3 or 4 pint jars in your pot, you can use it to can 3 or 4  pints.  It's deep enough to cover them and boiling water bath doesn't usually take that long.  If you wanted to do more than 3 you could do it twice.  All you need in addition to the jars and lids is a thick terry cloth wash cloth (or two thinner ones) to put in the bottom of the pot so the jars aren't sitting directly on metal.

[Gloria]

JACKIE  I know the heat and humidity always wears me out. The older I get the worse it is. Even staying inside the sound of the AC gets to me.

JOAN  we didn't get much rain here but other places in the state did. It was cooler today with no sun so I did go outside. Our 99 years young lady came home last night after a month in San Diego. She showed us a picture of her in a vintage car in the Coronado July 4th parade.

HAL  I have never disagreed with anything in the Bible.

JANE  too late to wish you smiles but I hope the moving is all done now and the rain held off.

PHYLLIS  you have my mouth watering talking about the pastry in the French Bakery. There is a dairy next town to here and they have a bakery. Every thing looks so good but it is all filled with whipped cream. Tastes good but some pastry would taste better with a different filling.

LARRY  good thing the called before the trash pickup, Hope they find your window. Oh go ahead, rub it in about picking 2 tomatoes. I am now drooling at the remembered taste of a tomato fresh picked. Best taste there could be for me. If the Meals on Wheels here were good I would have signed up for them. I see them delivered here, there used to be a lot getting them but now only a few still do.  Something has to look food and smell good for me to eat it.

AMY  a mocking bird imitates all the birds it hears.  Amazing how they do that. Have not heard a Whippoorwill since I moved from that house more than 40years ago.

JOAN  you and me both with the pastry Phyllis talked about. There was a Italian bakery near the market and I stopped there often and had a hard time making up my mind which one looked more tempting than another. Always went home with too much of it. Even a frozen TV dinner is better than the Meals on Wheels but they are filled with preservatives.

SHIRLEY  the night the Mocking bird woke me I thought all the birds were waking. Only one bird doing all that singing. Don't know how long it kept up before I could go back to sleep. You and me both feel the same about summer heat and humidity. I am more that ready for autumn weather to get here. I have a recipe for cream puffs and the filling but can no longer make them. I am back where I was 70 years ago, could eat everything and not gain an ounce.  No apples at all this year. Was warm in February and that a few night of freeze in April killed the blossoms. As if that wasn't bad enough we were infested this summer with the gypsy moth caterpillars. They are the leaves on all his apple trees. They did a number all over the state. Last tie I went to the doctors I got to see the trees along the roads, looked like winter trees with no leaves. Not the moths are flying all around. Cannot enjoy going out because they fly around your head. State said there weren't many so would not spray for them. They save money in the wrong places. The first woman governor in this state and she wants things her way. The state reps and senators are finally starting to go against her. Maybe next election they will vote for a Republican.  Only had a few of those in this state. My CNA  always wants to cook for me but she can never follow a recipe even with me telling her what and how much and how long to cook. Nothing is edible for me.

HAL  wash the peaches or tomatoes, have a pan of boiling water, put a few in the water and a minute later take them out an out in ice cold water. The skins slide right off. I canned enough of them that I never forgot how to do it. You do peaches and tomatoes the same way. It is scald them not scaled them. Sure wish I could do that again.

PATRICIA  sounds good.

DON  here those meals on wheels are worse than hospital food.

JOY  I have had pickles watermelon rind, home made and was surprised at how tasty it was. Lot of work with that one. One thing I could never find is the apple rings that are red and spicy. Only place I ever had them was in restaurants, so good. When using something with   vinegar an pouring the boiling hot brine or syrup over to cover the food in the jar and putting the lid and ring on tight right away the jars should seal. Sit the jar on a towel out of drafts and you should hear a pop. That means it is sealed. The lids if pushed on in the center should not move but it is does when cool put in fridge and use ASAP. The sealed ones will keep a long time. That is how I made pickles and relish anything with vinegar.

JUNE  last time I was in a hospital was when I had shoulder surgery.  I sure hated being in a room by myself and I was not happy with that hospital. Never looked clean to me. That was my first time in that oe and I would never want to go to that one again. I never once saw anyone wash their hands. At the airport waiting for a flight I people watched.  Saw some weird people.

JOAN  I thought the same about the taste of those meals. What they called pies looked like nothing I ever saw as a pie before. I would starve before eating one of those meals on wheels I saw here.

PATRICIA  I did so much canning it is amazing how much of it I do remember. I really enjoyed doing it and seeing it all nice and ready for winter. Only one thing I am allergic to and that is raw onions.

HAL  when I started canning it was in the hot water bath. I finally bought a big canner and never had any trouble with it. A lot faster to process. I'll take that cake but no buttermilk for me. Love anything coconut.

PHYLLIS  count me in, I would love to go to that bakery.

JANE  I think that for anyone who canned had the Ball Blue Book. I know mine was falling apart. My daughter has one now. She got the urge to try canning about 10 years ago so she started when most think of quitting.

PATRICIA  the lady who taught me about canning and a huge oval copper canner with the rack on the bottom. Took up 2 burners on the stove. Don't remember if she ever called it anything but the canner. It could hold 10 or 12 quart canning jars so had a lot of water in it to cover the jars. When I had a freezer it was much easier to freeze the food than to can it. I know I cannot eat TV dinners because the preservatives in them burn my throat.

MARY TX  when I go a freezer is when I stopped canning too.  Things like the peaches taste better frozen, they are not overcooked that way.

My goodness I was gabby tonight. I have been here in the SS for more than 2 hours now. Time to say good night to everyone.

[JaneS]

Good Night Everyfriend!  I'm going to go make up my bed and rest until the kids come home.  I'm sure the doggies will welcome them when they do.  After that, I'll go to sleep. 

I wish you all peaceful rest and a happy tomorrow.  God bless us, every one!

[JoanFL]

Good Friday morning, Everyfriend.   There's waffles and sausage to accompany your coffee or tea. Make it a good day!!

CHUCKLES

Nervous Dental Patient

Employed as a dental receptionist, I was on duty when an extremely nervous patient came for root-canal surgery. He was brought into the examining room and made comfortable in the reclining dental chair. The dentist then injected a numbing agent around the patient's tooth, and left the room for a few minutes while the medication took hold.

When the dentist returned, the patient was standing next to a tray of dental equipment, "What are you doing by the surgical instruments?" asked the surprised dentist.

Focused on his task, the patient replied, "I'm taking out the ones I don't like."

Food For Thought

Growth Spurts


Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:1-11
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in ¬every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Ephesians 4:15
Researchers say parents in America spend an average of sixty dollars per month on baby clothing. That is a lot of money. If your child is going through a growth spurt, it can seem like the money is going down the drain fast. On the other hand, would you rather have your child stop growing?
It can be hard, especially for parents, to watch a child struggling to grow and develop properly. It’s even more difficult, however, for our heavenly Father to watch us faltering spiritually. Paul grieved that the Corinthian believers weren’t maturing spiritually: “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready” (1 Corinthians 3:2). Some of the signs of spiritual immaturity are jealousy and quarreling (1 Corinthians 3:3), being tossed around by false teaching (Ephesians 4:14), and failing to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:14).
Committing your life to Christ may take just a moment, but spiritual growth is a lifelong process that takes place in cycles. As Peter puts it, we need faith, and then we grow in goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. As time goes on, believers grow toward maturity in each of these qualities.
Do you have that desire to grow?
Father, help us to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. To God be the glory, now and forever. In Jesus, Amen.

Thought of the Day

“Some people are talking about you just because their lives are boring.  Don’t respond. Keep living your life.”

~ Thema Davis

[Lloyd Hammond]

Good morning everyone, Have a great day.

Lloyd

[JaneS]

Good Moring Everyfriend!  The doggies and I are up but the girls are still sleeping.  I don't expect them to get up until after I've gone to work.  Cindy is on Texas time and that means that right now it's only nearing 5 o'clock in her system.  I might be wrong about her, though because this is about when she usually gets up to prepare for work.

I hope you all have a great day today.  I'm going to go feed the doggies and get myself ready for work so if they do get up, I'll have a couple minutes to visit.

[Amy]

Good morning everyone.

We had beautiful rain off and on all day yesterday..now the lawn is starting to look green again.

Daughter in love is coming to stay a few days and catch up on her sewing.

I still do pickles, jams,relishes down and put vegetables in the freezer. Don't care for the store bought relish and only have to do that one every other year,depends on what I give away to others. Nice to see all the jars filled and lined up on the shelves.

Gloria, the monarch butterfly is also missing in this area.It used to be you would see lots of the on the milkweed but now your lucky if you see a couple of them in summer.

Lloyd ,good morning.

Jane , have a great day at work.

Joan thank you for breakfast.

Enjoy your day everyone.

[Vanilla-Jackie]

Good Friday almost noon here in UK.....our today weather is dry, part sunny with pleasant warm temps...
As usual I am pottering around part keeping myself busy inside the home....have the second of three washing and drying on the go....Was up around three'ish, lo let Benji out to do some business, then when I got up later around 6.am, let the dogs out again, cleared up a couple of messes before dogs went again, think I got through five bags, plus the other two with Toby, seeings Benjis were mainly quite sloppy......anyway dont think you really want to be hearing this, besides you might be eating your breakfasts, but again, several trips up and down the back garden has also been keeping me busy...

[JoanFL]

Good morning, Lloyd.  I hope your day goes well.

Janie--Good morning.  How long will your company be staying?  I hope everyone at WM has a BIG smile on their face.

Good morning, Amy.  It seems so many places have rain, and I sure wish we'd get some, too.  Enjoy your daughter-in-love's visit.

Vanilla-Jackie--Good morning/afternoon.  You sure have already been a busy lady.

[JaneS]

Good Morning Joanie.  My kids are staying until "the crack of dawn" on Sunday.  I'm off tomorrow and can spend some time with them.  I'm looking forward to that.  We are having breakfast tomorrow with my cousin who Cindy has not seen since she was little.  They made a contact through facebook and the breakfast is a result of that.

[phyllis]

I was up a little before 6 and was sitting here enjoying my coffee and browsing the net when I suddenly heard this knock on the front door.  Made me jump.  It was the lawn care man.  I knew he was scheduled to come today but I didn't know he would be here so early. 

Another hot day but "they" hold out the promise that tomorrow will be cooler.  Well, at least, by comparison.  The "cooler" means it will finally be below 90°.

Joy, I am with you.  I don't do canning....never did.  When my boys were babies I had a sterilizer that I used everyday to make up formula for them.  It could also be used as a canner but never was.  I remember Mother had one of the old granite canners that she used for canning and for a lot of other things.  I can still see it steaming away on the old kitchen stove filled with my Dad's shirts that she used to boil to get them sparkling white.  Ah, the good old days.....they were never as good as we remember them.   

[Gloria]

Good morning everyone, sun is shining for now. Once abain we have possible thunderstorms in the forecast for this afternoon, this time in this part of the state. ill see how the weather guesser is right. II like putting te news on in the morning but o many shooting and then that truck driver in France going into that crowd is another horrible bit of news I think we are all upset about. So many who just like killing innocent people.

JOAN  breakfast looks great this morning. I do like waffles. Wonder if that dental patient would like the dentist to use the instruments that are no longer sterile. Growth Spurts, wonder if those terrorists ever believe in anything.  Good quote, that describes the gossips. Thank you for today's goodies.

LLOYD  good morning.

JANE  have a good day at WM.

AMY  since my  daughter started making relish my SIL will not eat any other kind. I don't see many butterflies at all here. One son has a couple of butterfly bushes and they really draw them in but like you I don't know the last time I saw a monarch.

PHYLLIS  the good old days we remember were filled with things we had to do the hard way. None of the modern conveniences then.

[Vanilla-Jackie]

Gloria, I too woke up to that news of killings in France....I then heard of 54 deaths, that total has now risen to 84....Why so much unrest in this world?.....
.......................................
Took in my earlier than anticipated delivery from " David Nieper, " ( pricey but British made clothing company, ) I am starting to buy lots of jersey-wear, and now have almost gotten rid of my linen skirts and trousers, just hanging onto 2 or 3 linen summer dresses for when I lose this extra weight, I may or may not, start wearing.....I now rarely ever see the Iron in use, think I have only Ironed 2 or 3 times since I moved here...I just now wash and wear, whether it be cotton blouses or cotton cardi's, the creases soon come out once you put the Items on anyway....
I feel more comfortable now wearing jersey skirts, ( they must have elasticated waist bands, ) white cotton blouses or cotton cardi's....Then come winter its back to my cashmere cardi's and jumpers....Yes cashmere, I know I have expensive tastes...  

[larryhanna]

Hi everyone.  It will be another very hot day today.  Yesterday it registered 106 on our patio and the sensor for the Weather Station is in the shade but late in the afternoon we had a 5 minute shower and it cooled things down.  Today is the day for the housekeeper to come.  I think Pat and I will go out for a hearty lunch and then we can keep our kitchen nice and clean today, not that we keep it dirty.  That will give Pat a break from preparing a meal.  She is feeling better, although not completely recovered from the pain in her leg.  Yesterday she went by herself to Aldi's and to the GNC store yesterday morning.  It has been quite a few days since she felt up to driving.  We will spend the rest of the day taking things easy as it has been a busy week, at least for me.

Joan, it is sad that the Meals on Wheels have come down to such poor quality and are unappetizing.  Meals are often the highlight of an older person day.  I have been told a lot of people getting the Meals on Wheel just look forward to someone stopping in and talking with them a few minutes. 

Shirley, it sounds like that dentist didn't graduate at the top of his class if he couldn't tell the difference between and adult and a child's mouth or that the child wasn't old enough to have wisdom teeth. 

Don, I expect the Meals on Wheels have to meet certain nutritional requirements to get the Federal aid for the food.  However, we also eat with our eyes in terms of how the food looks and something without color on your plate isn't very appetizing, particularly if you have little appetite. 

Joy, your husband was wise to setting his pension so that a raise would be included each year.  As a Federal retiree any increase annually we see is based on a cost of living index and it now has been two or three years since there has been any increase.  Of course, that is the same for Social Security as the same increase also applies to those payments. 

Hal, I remember my Grandmother and Mother cutting the kernels off of the fresh sweet corn after it was cooked and it tasted just as good as when it was on the cob. 

Gloria, the tomatoes are good but not very big.  If we grow a couple of plants next year I will get a different variety. 

[halkel]

Good Morning Everyone!

Boy you folks are busy beavers.  Me, doing a whole lot of nothing.  Drinking some coffee and watching the British Open and their rainy day.  Old Phil is doing really well.

Larry, yep can remember the ladies doing that, cutting the corn off the cob, and then scraping it with the back of the knife to get the milk.  And it was good.  Summer time was always good eating.  Lots of veggies fresh out of the  garden.
Sometimes they would sit the table under the China Berry tree and we would eat out there.

Haven't seen many Monarchs here this year.  Amy milkweed is one of their favorites.

Everyone have a great day.

[Vanilla-Jackie]

My early memories of something smelling nice was when I was young, our then single elderly next door neighbour grew fresh mint....Some used to grow and come through the underneath of our wooden fence...I remember Mrs Nobbs or Knobbs, not sure of the spelling, ( that was her name ) I always considered her as " posh, " told me when she once caught me on the stone ground sniffing it, that we could help ourselves to what grew our side...Even to this day when I smell fresh mint, it takes me right back to those childhood days...I remember my mom or gran making mint sauce and jarring it...

[JoanFL]

Janie--Nice the family gets to meet and stay until Sunday.

Good morning, Phyllis.  I give up on "cooler".  Truthfully, since I've lived here I don't remember it being this hot and no rain for so many consecutive days.

Gloria--Good morning.  Enjoy those waffles.

Good morning, Larry.  As you can see from above it's a HOT day here, too. Glad Pat is feeling well enough to get out.  I had a friend in Arkansas who delivered Meals on Wheels.  She said what you did about that being the highlight of some people's day.  At that time people got two meals--one a hot meal and one a "bag lunch'.

halkel--Good morning.  On these hot days it's wise to stay inside and watch TV or read.

Vanilla-Jackie--I like your memories of "mint".

[Joy]

Larry,  one of the ladies here where I live was so excited the other day.  A bunch of us were sitting outside and this lady came out announcing that she had just heard some great news.

Seniors were going to get a raise in their SS for next year.  Since we haven't had any increases for a couple years,  she thought it important to let us know we would be getting a 2 % raise for every thousand we receive.   BIG DEAL.  About $2.00.  She gave us all a big laugh. We all decided we would go on a cruise with our increase.  LOL 

Joy

[Vanilla-Jackie]

Joy, same could be said for UK......I think our pension raises are meant to make us laugh, they know how much we seniors rely on our humour, so they do the utmost best, as to keeping us going....

[June Drabek]

Another cloudy morning, which I enjoy. Warming up around noon. My housekeeper came in early to change my bed, and will be back later to do the deep cleaning. I will go down at 10 a.m. to listen to the Choralleers from out of town. Have never heard them before.

I hope you all have a very happy day.

[JoanFL]

Joy--That's a big laugh for sure.

Vanilla-Jackie--So you in the UK get the same laughable raises.

June--Enjoy the Choralleers.

[Vanilla-Jackie]

Joan, yes, something else UK and US have in common...

[phyllis]

Even to this day when I smell fresh mint, it takes me right back to those childhood days...

Jackie, come to my house.  You can sit on my front steps and pick and smell all the mint you want.  I planted one plant many years ago and now it fills a big space to overflowing.  Grows like a weed but I love to smell it, chew on it, and use fresh leaves with strawberries and other fruits.  Settles an uneasy stomach, too.

Joy, I think your friend has some misinformation.  The Soc. Security adjustments for next year (2017) won't even be announced until in October.  And, so far, they are not expecting very much of a raise, if any, (again!) since inflation has remained fairly flat for this year. We'll just have to wait until Oct. to see what happens.  2% would be lovely....that is $20.00 per thousand, not $2.00.  We should be so lucky! 

[Joy]

Thanks, Phyllis,, for this new information.   She had heard that news on the radio, but I don't know what show it would have been.

Hopefully, you might be right about the $20 increase.  But, when we get a raise,  Medicare usually  will go up and that takes care of the raise.

Joy

[Mary Ann]

Because there are so many of them, three days worth, I skipped the posts.  I had the packing removed and there was one ouch, but everything was OK.  I'm being very careful of blowing my nose and I haven't had to do that often.  The reason for my nose bleeds is that I take a blood thinner - Eliquis.  Everyone tells me it is the safest of the blood thinners, so I am not complaining.  I have a couple of huge spots on one arm where they were unsuccessful in getting blood and the second one is where they put in IV.  I lost a lot of blood.  Poor Tom has lost a lot of work because of me, but fortunately he works here so it isn't as bad as it sounds.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and messages.  I'm only posting here and in Norm's B&T so some of you will get my messages twice.

Mary Ann

[JaneS]

Because I'm still working a paying into SS, I did get an increase this year.  However, they sent me a letter telling me about the increase and then the next paragraph stated that since my own was increased, they were decreasing my survivor benefits from my husband.  The end result was that I got 57 cents less than I had been receiving.  As my kids used to say..."Big Whoopee Ding Dong Do". 

[Lindancer]

Good afternoon, very hot cloudy day. I just have to tell you my grandson just called, and he was able to take 4 steps to day.  Thanks for all your prays.

Joan, they keep saying we may have rain, but nothing.  Yesterday we were even getting storm warnings over the TV, there was wind and rain in NYC, but not even a drop made it out here.

Gloria, it was 80, at 7AM to day. WE had a wonderful cook at the senior center, she just retired a few months ago after 25 years there.  In fact, when that plane went down off of here 20 years ago, she volenteered to cook for the all the workers, as they brought the parts of the plane here, to Riverhead as Grummans had big hangers, so they could rebuild it.  Later they took it down and again, and I think it is still in Washington. It had only been it the air 12 min. After it left kennedy Airport, on its way to FRAnce.  People here still believe it was blown up.

Phyllis, I wish we had a French Bakery here.  We do have a Polish Bakery.  When I was a kid growing up in Patchouge, my mother always went to the French Bakery on Main St.

I have not heard a Whippoorwill in years, or seen Quail, which use to walk across the yard, when we moved here.  Last year I saw one Monarch butterfly on my bush.