Day 2 in Houston

Hello Monday morning! Here I am sitting in the house and the kid WILL NOT look at me. So much for coming to Houston to watch Javenshir! Wherever I go - he leaves. If I talk to him he howls - of course I don't speak Azeri so I have no idea what he's saying but I think he's saying "Go home bitch!" So it's 9:30 in the morning, Ayten is trying to get some rest - the new baby is good so that is a blessing - I'm upstairs and Javenshit is downstairs. If I go downstairs he will come upstairs...on and on back and forth. So - basically I don't have a damn thing to do - I wish I could get him to go outside and ride his tricycle around the block - at least that way I could go outside and enjoy this beautiful day, but no here I sit....is anyone out there? Rescue me......

Farhad is here (you can call him Freddy)

Baby Farhad (or as I call him Foghat) arrived safe and sound on Friday about 1:30 in the afternoon. I arrived in Houston on Thursday night where Yusif, Ayten (pronounced I-10) and Javenshir were waiting. We left the airport and went straight to Galveston, checked in to a hotel so we would be ready for the hospital at 6AM. We got there and found out that 5 C-sections where scheduled for that morning and as luck would have it Ayten was number 5 - that meant we had to wait and wait and wait...Javenshir did his best but it was a long day for him. On Saturday I dropped Yusif and Javenshir off at the hospital and then went down to the gulf and watched the waves on a beautiful sunny day. It got me to thinking "Maybe I should come to Galveston some winter for a month or two" - but it was similar to Shellman Bluff in that there are very few people there this time of the year. Maybe next time I do a winter trip I'll go somewhere that is populated. Anyway we got home today and Ayten is with the baby and trying to get a little rest - Yusif is upstairs playing with Javenshir and I'm kinda just hanging around all by myself. There really isn't anything for me to do. At some point I'll need to go grocery shopping so I can have dinners made every night - I'm sure there will be laundry to do soon - other than that I'm here in a suburb of Houston getting ready to play online scrabble - not to different from home! I'll post more tomorrow with maybe a few pics of the babies...

Collection of Daily Tips

cleaning your blender - fill part way with hot water and add a drop of detergent. Cover and turn it on for a few seconds. Rinse and drain, dry. I think this is a great idea I just hope I can remember it next time I use my blender...

Todays tip: (Joyce I hope you see this) reviving wilted flowers - cut stems and place in hot water. Let them rest in a dark place until water cools. Then, transfer into cold water.

Cleaning Sliding Glass door tracks - Generally, the tracks of sliding glass doors are very heard to clean. Try wrapping a small cloth around an eraser and tub the dirt away.

Your tip for today (remember this book is from the 70's) Wrapping packages: before tying a package for mailing, wet the string or cord with water. This method prevents the string from slipping, and when dry it will hold extra tight.

Tip for Today: for all of you living alone or close to it here's a way to keep your cottage cheese from spoiling - Store the carton upside down - it will keep twice as long! Ladies - this only works with cottage cheese.

Gardening tip: Basil near tomatoes repels worms and flies. Zinnia's repel squirrels...

Tip of the day: to attract birds to an outdoor birdbath, drop in a few colored marbles.....someone needs to try this and let us know. My tip from yesterday was great!

Tip of the day: to remove price tags - apply salad oil, let set for a while and scrape away - hmmm....wonder if this will work with all of those wine bottles that need to get the labels off - I'll try it and let you know......

tip for today: use shaving cream or club soda for an instant spot remover.
tip of the day (and I promise I'm not making this up) Tip On Flowers: If you have any birth control pills left, dissolve them in water and water violets. Now one of you young girls do this and let us old ladies know if it works - all those years we wasted the pills....

Tip for today: if a necklace chain is knotted, put a drop or two of salad oil on a piece of waxed paper, lay the knot in the oil and undo it by using 2 straight pins. Use left over oil with your mate.

todays tip - To prevent flies from swarming around garbage pails, hose them down and allow to dry in the sun. Then, sprinkle a little dry soap into them.

tip for today: Never wash windows on sunny days. They will dry too fast and show streaks. There you are off the hook for washing windows until january when it's cloudy!

In honor of Sarah who is going camping friday today's tip is for the outdoors: Treating bug bites - treat insect bites w/ a poultice of either cornstarch or baking soda mixed w/ vinegar, fresh lemon juice or witch hazel. OR apply a paste make of meat tenderizer & water OR rub bites w/ a wet bar of soap to help relieve ...

Tip for the cooks: marshmallows will not dry out if stored int he freezer. Simply cut with scissors when ready to use.

Todays tip - Keep clear plastic wrap in the refrigerator to prevent it from ever sticking together.

Here's a timely tip for all of my wino friends - When the red wine spills sprinkle the spill immediately with lots of salt. Dunk into cold water and rub the stain out before washing!

This tip might help some, but most of us are way past this stage in life - The Fastest way to dry up a blemish: dab it with lemon juice a few times a day....who da thunk it?

Todays tip: (I'm sticking with the summer theme) There's a bee in the house: If a wasp or bee gets into the house, reach for the hairspray. Most insect sprays only infuriate them, but the hairspray stiffens their wings, immobilizing them immediately. This works on all winged insects.

Todays tip: in this heat instead of watering hanging baskets put ice cubes in them - that way it will soak the soil instead of running right through it.

Next tip - someone better try this one - How To Preserve a Favorite Newspaper CLipping: Dissolve a milk of magnesia tablet in a quart of club soda overnight. Pour into a pan large enough to accommodate the flattened newspaper. Soak clipping for one hour, remove and pat dry. Do not move until completely dry. Estimated life: 200 years.

Dry Cleaning Your Dog (who'd a thought?) Instead of always giving your dog a bath, rub baking soda into his coat thoroughly and then brush off. It deodorizes as well as cleans....somebody needs to report back and let us know if any of these tips work!!!!!

Hint for the day: Getting white socks white again: boil in water to which a slice of lemon has been added....

Mary Lou's helpful hint: Gardening tip of the day - Toss crushed up egg shells on your garden for plant growth.


Going through my cookbooks I ran across a helpful hints book from 1979 - I will share a hint every few days - this will either make your life easier or save you money - here is a timely summer tip - Removing the Corn Silk: Dampen a paper towel and brush downward on the cob of corn. Every strand should come off.


Today's Tip: Storing left over paint: tightly fit the lids of paint containers and store upside down. Scum will not form on paint.

The Sojourn has ended

My sojourn came to an abrupt end when I walked in the door of 9853! The kitchen sink won't drain and the dishwasher is broken - thus a messy kitchen. I forgot to put "water the plants" on my list of things to do while I was gone - thus - dead plants. A few light bulbs through out the house need to be replaced but other than that I guess all is well here. It was just a little, tiny bit depressing. This morning there is no coffee but I am making some tea - this is a real downer - I have an entire house to clean, grocery shopping to do and then mail to organize and here I sit blogging.....but I have to finish the blog - just in case anyone is reading this.....

We left Aunt Mary's bright and late Sunday morning - our destination - Central City Cafe in Huntington, West Virginia. It's another place off of the TV show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. We were both excited to try out another one of the featured cafes - unfortunately it was Sunday and the cafe was closed - so we found a fantastic Mexican place and ate a nice dinner there. We decided to forge on and try to get to Lexington Kentucky before calling it a day. I drove - Mike slept. Before I knew it Lexington was but a memory. I was in the groove, cruising through the night listening to music. Mike woke up and said "If we are going to stop at Bardstown tomorrow we don't need to go all the way to Louisville" I said "Oh" He looked at the map and we got off the highway at 9:00 at night and entered into horse country! Too bad it was dark because the places we passed looked way cool. Hilly roads with what appeared to be rock fences surrounding the properties. Big houses, really big and lots of them had these elaborate lights on the roof. Really fancy lights - I commented on them and Mike said they were the horse barns! He said these horse people have lots of money and make lots of money off their horses so they take good care of them. If you have to be an animal pick being a horse in Kentucky! I will be going back there in the day light. Long story short we got all turned around in the back country but the GPS lady saved the day once again and we arrived in Bardstown at about 11:00pm. Got a hotel room

Mike outside the hotel room.

just in time to see the end of the Emmy's and then crashed. Upon awakening we headed out to the Abbey of Gethsemani. Years ago Mike used to go on retreats there and he wanted to show me the place. It is 2000 acres of beauty! We walked around a little bit and decided that we would both come back someday for some reflective thought. Next we went in to one of the cutest little towns I've ever been in - Bardstown! Which, by the way is the Bourbon capital of the world! We didn't have time to visit any of the distilleries so on my way back to the cafe in Huntington I'll be stopping Bardstown for a few distillery tours. Anyway we had lunch in Bardstown at a cute, old fashioned lunch counter - remember those???

Mike at the lunch counter -

notice my Black Cow on the counter

yummy.....

We ended our stay in Bardstown doing a little shop hopping on Main Street - then it was on the road again. Mike said he thought there was one more cute town to see in Indiana if we had time. I said "You don't have to be in court until 9am tomorrow - we have plenty of time!" So off we went and ended up in another one of the cutest towns I've ever been to! I'm telling you - forget Europe - I'm discovering America! Anyway this town is called New Harmony, Indiana - it's only 2 hours from St Louis......do I hear the words Road Trip????? Anyone? Anyone? I purchased a calendar from New Harmony that lists all of their events this year. I plan on going to at least one of them. While we were at Aunt Mary's we rented the movie Julie & Julia. In one of the scenes Julia Child and her husband are at dinner. They are talking and she says "I really need to find something do to - a way to spend my time." He smiled at her and replied "What do you like to do?" She looked down at her plate and looked up at him and said "Eat!!!" A light went on in my head and I thought "Hey - that's what I like to do." So my new adventure is going to be going to as many places from the TV show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives that I can. I'll do a write up and let people know if it's as good as Guy tells us it is on his show! Then I'll purchase a T-Shirt, take my picture in it and post it to my blog. What do you think? Is is a go? Will anyone want to read it? Will anyone join me at one of the diners, drive-ins or dives?

Sadly my trip has come to an end - I'm back in my kitchen where this whole adventure began. Now I have a house to clean, clothes to wash and a plumber to find. But - one last picture - of me in front of a cute, darling little store in Bardstown.....

Happy Traveling....

Even if it's only down the street

Do it was Gusto!!

(or just take Gus for a go!)

Sitting at My Old Starbuck's in Fairfax, VA

And it all comes full circle - here I am back in Virginia in my good, old reliable Starbucks with the free Wi-Fi. My trip here has been interesting to say the least. Of course, this being a Clark trip it has been a cluster! Mike called me at the Bluff saying that his flight from Charlotte, NC to Savannah was cancelled and he would try and catch the next available flight to Savannah. This was on Tuesday and we were going to leave for Virginia on Weds anyway so I said "Just stay in Charlotte and I'll pick you up at the airport." I checked the map and it looked like about a three and half hour drive. Well...SIX hours later I finally arrived at the airport! I ran into a freak snow storm that started right near Charleston, SC and didn't let up. It was dark, snowing, cars off the road in ditches, snow plows out, snowing, snowing, snowing and here I am in the thick of it. I have to admit I seriously wondered what in the hotel I was doing, but I forged on to the end. I picked up Mike and we headed straight to a Pet Friendly Hotel (an extra $20 for a dog....bummer). Anyway all was well. On Weds as we were heading for Fairfax and I told Mike about a diner that I had seen on the tv show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in Richmond, VA. I asked him if he would like to stop there - being the game sport that he is he said "Yes". Thank God for the talking GPS lady because she led us right to Dot's Back Inn.

We loved it! At that point we decided to spend the night in Fredricksberg because I told Mary we would arrive on Thursday and I didn't want to call her at 7:00 at night and blah, blah, blah. So another night on the road was fine with both us. We arrived at Mary's on Thursday and have been "visitin'" ever since. We are leaving tomorrow to head home. The journey will be coming to an end. But I have a feeling that since I'm traveling with Mike there will be one last post! Who knows where we will stop on the way home! What Diner, Drive-In or Dive can we find between here at St. Louis???

Miss Scarlet assuming her favorite position

Dear, Sweet Aunt Mary's farm house.

Mike and Mary in her kitchen

Mike drinking coffee in a cute little coffee shop

in Fredricksberg, VA

And a good time was had by all....

Caipirinha's compliments of Maggie

Prior to leaving St Louis Maggie gave me a bottle of Cachaca Ypioca (Brazilian Rum) with strict instructions to make Caipirinha's (or as us South-siders call them - Brazilian Margarita's) for my new friends that I would make in Georgia. So one night I invited Jimmy, Lin and Paula to my cute, little cottage and served them this wonderful potent treat. They loved them! Thank you sweet Maggie for a night of wicked fun. (Joyce, Caroline, Peggy?)

Paula enjoying her Caipirina

(pronounced kay-peer-reen-ya)

Lin & Jimmy enjoying there's

Notice Jimmy in my Pink Snuggie

Poor Fella - he said he was freezing

in my house! (sound familiar anyone?)

Time to Leave the Bluff

It is with great sadness that I announce I'm leaving the Bluff tomorrow. Tonight at 9:30 my oldest brother, Mike will be joining me. Tomorrow we will leave here and go to Virginia to visit sweet Aunt Mary. It will be a short visit - only until Monday and then it's home again, home again, jiggdy jig. This has been quite an experience, and my life is fuller and richer and fatter and drunker because of it. It was fun meeting new people, seeing and living in a totally different part of the country. Here are a few additional photos I hope you will enjoy -

The pretty little baby all curled up...

Lin had a huge jump up last Friday night

probably around 25 people. This is a

pic of TC, Paula & Bob.

Then my camera ran out of juice and I didn't

get anymore pics of this great party....bummer

Bob & TC in front of an 800 year old live oak

at the Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation.

I love hanging out with the brothers -

they make my outfits look cute!

This is a picture of Greg and his wife Becky,

the owner of the Boat Shed

Two really good, nice people

Downtown Darien - this is the park

down by the river

The Shrimpin' boats dock at the Darien

dock after a hard days work.

This Church is right up the road from me

Peg and I stopped in to get some pictures

Cute little thing - isn't it?

Sister preaching her first sermon

And that is all I have to say about Shellman Bluff....

Forest Gump