I have been called some names in my time!

I was dashing off a quick email to a friend and signed my name, "Lucy Gooch."  I am sure that is not the name he expected to see and it is not one I expected to sign, but there you go.  My first husband always called me "Lucy."  I am sure it was a term of endearment and I think that he usually referred to me as Lucy except when he was mad.  When he was upset with me, it was "Nickel Bred Gutter Rat", but that is water under the bridge.
When we were kids growing up at home, I was Louella Beth.  Not Louella, but Louella Beth.  Josephine!  (Her middle name was Anne and we sometimes called her JoAnne.)  Delbert Leroy!  (And for some reason we called him "Jake".)  Donna Faye!  Mary Belle!  and Dorothy May!  Guess it was a southern thing, although I do not consider Kansas southern.  Course it is more southern than Nebraska.  And that is how we went through life with mother nipping at our heels.
The "Gooch" part came from the feed sacks and flour sacks that mother tediously unraveled the stitching on so she could have pretty fabric to sew something.  Ah, those were the good old days!  I fell heir to a pile of those recently and listed them on ebay.  Bear in mind that they were less then a yard of material and I sold one to a lady in Korea for $48.00 + shipping!  Most of them went to a lady in Georgia at $10.00 each.  I would love to come across some of those again.  Back on topic.
When I was newly divorced and working in Hutchinson, I wandered into the Red Carpet Restaurant and was hired as a cook.  The owner was named Bob and he decided I should be called "Lou" as opposed to Louella Beth.  So Lou Seeger was born.  I worked for that man 6 years before I finally opened my own restaurant which I named "Lou's Kitchen".  By that time the last name had changed from Seeger  to a couple different names.  Then came Colorado and a couple more name changes before I met my dear Kenny  Mercer.  Lou Mercer was born in 1983 and carries on to this day.   However, Kenny did not call me Lou unless he was testy with me and the only place Louella appears is on the marriage license.  As soon as we started dating I became "Luther", and Luther I remained until he passed in 2003.
And there you have it, my ramblings for today.  I miss Kenny.  I probably always will.  And Duane remains a fond memory.  If I ever meet a man and he calls me "Lucy" or "Luther", I may stick that third finger left hand in a gold band again, but I just ain't thinking that is going to happen.  Did have one that called me "Bella" for a while, but lost track of that little fellow.  And speaking of lost things, has anyone seen my glasses?
 

October 5 Ribbon Cutting at Plaza Verde Park...a bit late!

Thank you, Janet, for reminding me that I forgot to do this.  Must have been one of those days I met myself coming or going. 
For the rest of you, this is what is happening on the east side of town.  I remember not to long back when this park was nothing but an eyesore and a very good place to get in trouble.  Not so anymore!  Thanks to a few souls who really care this park has been cleaned up, scrubbed down and painted murals by a great artists.  Why did this happen?  Because the people on the east side decided that this did not belong to the gangs and druggies and decided to clean it up and take pride of ownership in the place. 
I found out about this grand opening from my friend, Janet Wallis Altmann who is most active in Chicano (and anything else that needs a hand) affairs.  She worked with Parks and Rec and Black Hills to get security lighting installed, painted the playground equipment, had the kiddies put their hand prints on it and it is now a place where families picnic.  Imagine that!
What the world needs now is more groups working together for a better world and more groups like Idle No More leading the way.  I only regret that I was in such a toot that day and did not get names so these people could be held up as role models to the world.  But I got Janet!  and I got a slide show!  and maybe the Nobel prize in literature!  Or maybe not!
But enjoy the slide show  anyway!

Want to know what I did yesterday?

First I got up and roasted 1/4 bushel of chile.  Then I peeled and canned 7 pints of tomatoes.  Then I went to church.  Then I came home and peeled the chile and canned them.  Then it was off to the Nature Center for the Peace Flotilla.  Then it was home and into bed.
This morning I tried to sleep in cause I thought it was Sunday!  There is just no winning with me!

OK, Debbie, here is the salmon from start to plate.

My daughter, Debbie, called me to tell me how disappointed she was that I did not post pictures of my experiment with the Salmon and Coconut oil, so I recreated it for her eyes only!

 

Here is my frozen piece of Salmon. 

Here is my organic coconut oil from Viva Labs Inc.

Here is the skillet with coconut oil, dill leaves and lemon pepper.

And here is the finished product.  The tomatoes are from my garden.  They received a splash of extra virgin olive oil and some fresh basil, also from my garden.  There are also 3 Tostito Black Bean and Garlic corn chips.

Ah, the elixir of the Gods!  Wish you were here!

 

 

 

Now I am an official taste tester and review writer.

Oh, the things I luck into on this Internet amazes me.  I had an email from a fellow a couple weeks ago who said he had been watching my activities on Amazon and liked my reviews.  He then went on to explain his product and ask if I would be interested in writing a review of the product if he sent me a sample.  I thought that sounded like fun, so I told him "sure".  Free is always good!
So that is how I embarked on the current learning experience.  He is with Viva Labs and the product I am trying is organic extra virgin coconut oil.  I have used coconut oil in my soap and experimented with it in lotion and lip balm, but this time I am branching out to new areas.  I received my jar a couple days ago and when I opened it, I was met with the most heavenly smell of coconut.  I tasted a little tiny bit and my taste buds went wild.  I envisioned salmon with coconut flavor.  Never had that in my life and never would have dreamed of cooking with the stuff, but off I went in search of coconut oil as a cooking fat.
It seems it is good for a myriad of things including, but not limited to lowering my cholesterol, maintaining my weight, getting rid of my "belly", antioxidant, caring for my skin and hair, and cooking!  Ah!  That was what I wanted to hear!
So I got out my little skillet and my piece of Salmon.  Into the skillet went a tablespoon of coconut oil, little bit of dried dill, and a shot of lemon pepper, just to be on the safe side.  I turned that on a low heat and slapped a lid on it and in just a few minutes, I had my lunch.  The concoction made a kind of sauce which I poured over the fish.  Yummers! 
This afternoon I am going to attempt a gluten free pie crust with coconut oil and rice flour.  I am thinking that the coconut oil is a substitute for butter and I should have a very flaky crust with just a hint of the coconut flavor.  The flavor is very subtle so that is good.  It is clear to me, that the coconut oil is going to be a keeper in my kitchen and organic is the only way to go.  Click on this link and check it out for yourself!
www.amazon.com/viva-labs-organic-virgin-coconut/dp/B00DS842HS

A book sale is easier said then done!

PFLAG funds several  scholarships at PCC.  For many years we did it by hosting a spring yard sale.  Recently we have decided that book sales are the way to go and much less work.  See, all year Ross would gather stuff for the sale and until last year it was all stored in the basement at his condo.  Then my garage opened up and that sucker was filled to overflowing.  When the idea of book sale came up it seemed perfect.  The books would be gathered and stored on site at PCC where the sale would be held.  That was right up until somebody donated 80,000 books from the library of an estate.


 
And then my garage came into play again.  A big van backed up to the door and when it left it was empty.  Not so my garage.

The first thing I did was start repacking because a lot of these were in plastic containers that they wanted back.  I tried sorting, but I really got confused!  I did manage to get a box for Louis Lamore (?) and other authors that I remembered people asking for at the last book sale.  Oh, and the Harlequins, and some where I have a box for kids books and another one for cook books.  See all the boxes on the shelves?  These picture were taken after I had been working for over 3 weeks on this.  I plan on finishing up in the next couple weeks and I hope nobody asks me where anything is located!  See how neat?

And way back there in the corner I can see empty shelves!  It is my goal today to make a path back to those shelves so they can not be empty any more.  Wish me luck!  Oh, first I have to gather up some more boxes.

Should have taken a picture of my chair, fan, and box of Kleenex where I spend a lot of time crying!  Oh, yeah, and the plate with egg roll remains on it, my bowl of melted ice cream, a few chicken bones, and my bottle of water and Jack Daniels!  As soon as all the plastics are empty, I can take a break.  I have rented part of the garage to my son-in-law for storage so this will curb my ability to say "Oh, yeah!  I have a great big garage.  Bring all your stuff out here and poke it in there."  I am bad about that!  But, then again, if no one used it then it would just set empty and empty is not good either. 

 

 

So, for now it is off to church.  Next week I may give you a tour of my lower levels here in the house!  If you cringed at my garage, you will run screaming down the road at my basement, but Hey!  If I can live in it, you can look at it!

Have a good day and remember, 

 People who live in glass houses, should not throw stones!

 

 

 

 

 



Going to save this planet if it is the last thing I ever do!

This is my front porch every Tuesday morning.  Take a close look at this, because this is how much is NOT going into the landfill.  I see in Japan, they take this plastic and turn it into oil.  Here in the United States of America, where we are on the cutting edge, we throw it away.  So I am trying to do my little part to saving this planet.  My son tells me I am wasting my time and I had a male companion who told me  any idiot can do this.  I explained that I was looking at one idiot who couldn't, or wouldn't.  He has plenty of time on his hands now and could take up a hobby if he would like!  The son opted to save his recycles and deliver them to me a couple times a week.  I will keep him!

This is where I dump everything out and sort it.  Glass goes in the green bag.  The black bag poking out of the white bag, came from my step daughters shop .  Bag from the church is in there some where.  Friend on the southside helps fill the green bag with beer bottles.  The guy who picks this stuff up on Tuesday morning probably thinks I am a lush!  Oh, well, he may be paid to think!

Here my tiny little foot is mashing things so it will get more in the bag!

And this is my front porch Tuesday afternoon.  I sure feel better. 

At any given time I can pop my trunk lid and you will see almost anything recyclable.  Been hauling a big bag of clothes around for several weeks awaiting a trip to the Los Pobres.  That should happen soonly.  The other day I got a phone call that Big R had grain for the geese priced at 50% off with a limit of 5.  As luck would have it, I had not unloaded the one bag I had picked up 3 days earlier.  So off I went to Big R, completely forgetting that I had to pick the son and girlfriend up for lunch.  Also I had not unloaded the recyle stuff I had picked up Sunday and Monday.  So I had to call him and tell him they would need to meet me because I had 300 pounds of grain, a black trash bag of clothes, a black trash bag of newspapers and the spare tire in the trunk.  In the back seat, I now had 4 white trash bags of recycle, 9 cloth bags for a trip to the grocery store, a carrying case of CD's, 4 packages to be mailed and a partridge in a pear tree!

So, to make a long story short, think about me next time you throw that plastic bottle in the trash, or that aluminum can, or that glass bottle, or the newspaper.  If we all put our minds to it and get in the habit of poking it in a bag and calling Lou, we may last a few more minutes on this little spinning green ball I like to call home!