those warm summer nights on in the sticks!

May 20, 2012

On Saturday night at my kinfolks house who all lived in the sticks, we would

get out the ice cream freezers, every one would bring lots of water melons and

cantaloupe and always was a jug of moon shine that they made them self. no one

in my family could carry a toon in a bucket, so no picking and grinning went on.

maybe picking the nose or teeth, but no singing. they always had so many water

melons that we just ate the heart only and the rest went to the hogs. that home

made ice cream in those old crank freezers was the best and so cold. plenty of

pies to boot as well and always plenty of fresh milk with all that thick cream

on top that had to be stirred back in before you poured a glass. some times some

one would frie up a couple of chickens that were running around the farm yard

just that day. now when you get a pile of country folks together like that on a

Saturday night, well you can and will hear all kind of wild stories. I do recall

hearing way back then that some folks they knew had that sugar disease. we know

it now as diabetes. some times one of these folks would come hang out with us

and they never could eat none of the goodies. I always felt sorry for them and

sure was Praying I never got that old sugar disease. these country kinfolks of

mine always raised there own meat like pork and beef and chickens of course. I

never realized so much then as I do now how lucky I was to have had the chance

to really eat meat as God mint for us to eat. now it is so pumped full of who

know's what? those truly were the good old day's. I sure do miss those country

nights with the tree frogs singing and the bug slapping music that we all made.

sleeping out side on a cot and never being concerned at all about some one

walking up in the night with a big rock to cave your head in. I may have lived

at home in the city growing up through the work week, but we always spent the

weekends in the country with the hill 's. Ever had a shot of home brew that

would knock your socks off? just as smooth as it could be going down the throat,

but once it hit the gut? well it certainly would seperate the men from the

boy's! don't even wish to know what they put in that stuff!

May 20, 2012

It sounds like you grew up in my neck of the woods. Did you ever notice the dogs

never bothered the chickens? If they did it would wind up being a dead dog. We

couldn't have these muts running around and messing with the chickens. We

depended on them for food and eggs.If the dog did not become a guard; then he

did not become a...

May 20, 2012

some dogs you couldn't keep out of the hen house because of the eggs. they

wouldn't bother the chickens, but they loved those eggs. they did come up

missing when this was the case. makes me wonder if I ever ate dog and simply

wasn't told what it was?

Re: those warm summer nights on in the sticks!

It sounds like you grew up in my neck of the woods. Did you ever notice the

dogs never bothered the chickens? If they did it would wind up being a dead dog.

We couldn't have these muts running around and messing with the chickens. We

depended on them for food and eggs.If the dog did not become a guard; then he

did not become a...

May 20, 2012

Mark, You make me home sick! I grew up on a farm in eastern NC, and I

farmed until I was 26 or 27 years old. We grew and slaughtered our own

pork, beef, and chickens. I've salted down who knows how many hams,

shoulders, and side meat. There is nothing like one of my Mother's home

made buttermilk biscuits with a thick slice of cured ham. It will set you

free! My Mother's brother married my Father's sister, and we often gathered

at their house on Sunday for dinner after church. A hen in the yard didn't

stand a chance. We also grew most of our vegetables. I can't count the

number of times my Mother sent me to the garden for a mess of snap beans or

potatoes or silver Queen corn or butter gbeans. For those who are not

familiar with the term mes, a mess is enough for one meal for the number of

people expected for that meal. According to the medical community if I ate

like that now I would have been dead years ago, and they are probably right.

But what a way to go! When we had a hog killing, we cut up the fat into

cubes 1 or so inches and cook it in a cast iron kettle. Then we would dip

the grease and cooked fat into a sausage press with a liner adapted to

accommodate the fat and press it. The pieces of fat left were call

cracklins, and they were fit to eat, (gboys howdy). We used most everything

from the hog. The only things we discarded were the hair, toe nails, and

squeal. A real treat was molasses with butter. We'd take a biscuit and sop

the molasses with it. The trick was to get the molasses and biscuit to be

used up at the same time which took a long time. On the first round your

biscuit would be gone while some molasses and butter were still in your

plate. So you would take another biscuit, but the molasses would be gone

before the biscuit was gone, so you would mix up more molasses and butter

and try again. This could go on for a while. It was a conundrum that was

not at all frustrating.

Thanks to the Lord Jesus, I have not eaten like that for years. In fact, I

have been on a weight loosing diet since January 17, 2012, and since then I

have lost 32 pounds. I am down to 164.4 pounds, and I want to loose a few

mor. When I was 21 years old or so and was still farming I stood 5 feet 8

inches tall and weighed 120 pounds. I don't expect to weigh 120 pounds

again, but I want to get my weight down to around 150 or so. I was

extremely active on the farm, and I cannot duplicate that as a blind country

boy who finds it difficult to adapt to city living. Nonetheless, I pray as

you recommend, walk at least 40 minutes aday, use my no go where bike using

just my arms, do sit ups, and do leg lifts in hopes that my gibbous moon of

a belly will keep weaning.

Danny

Come and follow Jesus, and He will make you fishers of men. What a deal!

You catch'em, and He'll clean'em!

From: blind-diabetics

[mailto:blind-diabetics ] On Behalf Of Mark Ruth

Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 10:19 AM

To: blind diabetics

Subject: those warm summer nights on in the sticks!

On Saturday night at my kinfolks house who all lived in the sticks, we would

get out the ice cream freezers, every one would bring lots of water melons

and cantaloupe and always was a jug of moon shine that they made them self.

no one in my family could carry a toon in a bucket, so no picking and

grinning went on. maybe picking the nose or teeth, but no singing. they

always had so many water melons that we just ate the heart only and the rest

went to the hogs. that home made ice cream in those old crank freezers was

the best and so cold. plenty of pies to boot as well and always plenty of

fresh milk with all that thick cream on top that had to be stirred back in

before you poured a glass. some times some one would frie up a couple of

chickens that were running around the farm yard just that day. now when you

get a pile of country folks together like that on a Saturday night, well you

can and will hear all kind of wild stories. I do recall hearing way back

then that some folks they knew had that sugar disease. we know it now as

diabetes. some times one of these folks would come hang out with us and they

never could eat none of the goodies. I always felt sorry for them and sure

was Praying I never got that old sugar disease. these country kinfolks of

mine always raised there own meat like pork and beef and chickens of course.

I never realized so much then as I do now how lucky I was to have had the

chance to really eat meat as God mint for us to eat. now it is so pumped

full of who know's what? those truly were the good old day's. I sure do miss

those country nights with the tree frogs singing and the bug slapping music

that we all made. sleeping out side on a cot and never being concerned at

all about some one walking up in the night with a big rock to cave your head

in. I may have lived at home in the city growing up through the work week,

but we always spent the weekends in the country with the hill 's. Ever

had a shot of home brew that would knock your socks off? just as smooth as

it could be going down the throat, but once it hit the gut? well it

certainly would seperate the men from the boy's! don't even wish to know

what they put in that stuff!

May 21, 2012

butter milk biscuits with home made preserves! I was real bad! I like to drag

my biscuit through the bacon grease in the skillet after the potatoes were done.

that was heaven I say! huge slices of tomatoes that were as wide as a hamburger

bun and we had them even with breakfast. helped a few times with killing the

hogs. my sister never would eat any bacon or ham if she thought it was a hog she

admired. it certainly never stopped me. I figure they know when they are born,

that God put them here for humans to eat and this is what they live fore. we may

have ate a lot of fat and the such back then on the farm, but I'm here to tell

you the work on a spread like a farm never ends. you work from sun up, to sun

down. as the old timers said, from can see, to can't see! this is why no one

then was fat like we are now. never know time to sit around and BS unless you

were at the meal. home made butter and butter milk? I still only buy real

butter. don't like that fake junk what ever it is. those certainly were the days

and then to find the time to go fishing on the river. cook them fish right up

there over a open fire. cut you up a onion and slice up a couple of potatoes and

you were in heaven once again. my cousins thought the only way to go to town or

to the lake or river was on horse back. I never got so sick of riding a horse in

my life as I did back then. been pitched off every way a horse knows how to

throw a person. been bit and been kicked as well. I have not a clue how they

rode horses all the time for days and days! my big pig butt even then as a young

pid was so sore at the end of a ride that sitting was out of the question! kind

of reminded me of riding on the old tractor that had a seat of steal and as hard

as a rock. felt every rock the tractor ran over and what a nightmare of a ride!

I do miss those days and again I do appreciate all the nice things we have now.

living in the City just isn't like sitting out on the porch after dinner and

smoking a fine pipe and listening to the tree frogs and the other sounds you

only hear in the country at night. a nice cool breeze from the south and all you

then needed was a soft pillow so you could gently rock your self to sleep all

the way until the old rooster told you it was time to get up and start a new

day! would actually love to live out in the country again, but being blind with

no way of getting about with out help? well that just sucks and stepping on a

snake or simply laying you hand on one sucks worse. believe I will remain in the

City until Jesus comes to fetch me. maybe heaven is like the old place in the

country we are talking about recalling? God must dig it him self, or he never

would have made it so enjoyable to be in.