Rewards

We all love rewards and prizes , right?

B.F. Skinner,a Psychologist,made extensive experimentation with pigeons and later on applied to human beings and society with a powerful concept : Operant Conditioning, which,put in simple terms,consequences ( +ve or -ve ) of behavior shapes behavior and hence, holding on to the effects of actions we can change behavior of people.

Well I am here to tell you it works for me! I finished my skirt! I have worn it several times.  Even strangers have come up to compliment me! The ultimate positive reenforcement!

Sasha and me

The pattern is Sasha and you can purchase it on Ravelry. The yarn came from Conversational Threads in Emmaus. The main yarn is bamboo and cotton..it’s lovely, soft and great to knit with. Had to play around with the guage..challenging..

The rewards from all this Tri stuff are many! My first tri of this season( that I trained very hard for) was that I was 2 (out of 2,,but when you are this age, who cares?!). So I got a big medal and a hat! Sincerely I thought I won the Olympics. The camaraderie is another bonus. I have a new group of lady friends who all like to do this! Love the “you can do it” support they give to each other!

Biggest Medal ever with my dear friend Deb Castellucci

Today I swam 1 1/2 miles, in a lake without a wetsuit,slowly but got it done..my rewards :

Lori George and Myself enjoying an adult beverage in our new mugs and our new pink shirts

1. Most importantly I didn’t drown

2. A pink technical shirt that I will probably wear everyday this week!

3. A beer stein, which I broke in already with my Gluten Free beer

4. Self confidence that I really can do things that I put the effort in to.

5. May have finally put to rest those water demons that have plagued me since I was a child.

So I have one more tri at the end of the summer. My goal is an Olympic distance in Michigan..

Do I see another skirt to knit in my future too?

Another Birthday..Thank Goodness For That!

After a long hiatus I think it is time to document my history some more. On FB I thanked Mom and Dad for giving me a birthday and that gave me the impetus to get going at this Blog again.

My last post I Blogged about Mom’s side of the family.(Next post The Dailey side) The blending of the two families is what happens when there is a marriage. My parents were married July 14,1928 and they stayed that way until July 12, 1998. 70 years!

To share the good times and hard times side by side.
I humbly give you my hand and my heart
as a sanctuary of warmth and peace,
and pledge my faith and love to you.
Just as this circle is without end, my love for you is eternal.
Just as it is made of incorruptible substance,
my commitment to you will never fail. With this ring, I thee wed.

Were those the words my parents spoke to each other? Probably not but they were the words they lived.What a wonderful legacy they left us.

My birthday wish is that my children and grandchildren will someday say the same thing about Bruce and me.

Thanks again Mom and Dad for my birthday!

The King and Queen of Food Preservation

Bread and Butter Pickles

“I hope that we understand that, while having a garden, for instance, is often useful in reducing food costs and making available delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, it does much more than this. Who can gauge the value of that special chat between daughter and Dad as they weed or water the garden? How do we evaluate the good that comes from the obvious lessons of planting, cultivating, and the eternal law of the harvest? And how do we measure the family togetherness and cooperating that must accompany successful canning? Yes, we are laying up resources in store, but perhaps the greater good is contained in the lessons of life we learn as we live providently and extend to our children their pioneer heritage.”
Spencer W. Kimball, ‘Welfare Services: The Gospel in Action,’ Ensign, Nov 1977, 78

Springs, summers and falls were full of gardening at our house in Nimmonsburg. There was a large yard with a large space for our garden. Not sure what large was since our childhood memories seem not to be size accurate.( How many times do you go back..and say it seemed so much larger as a child?) I’m thinking it was about half of a foot ball field but it could have been bigger  smaller.

I am not sure if my parents had gardens before this, but they sure gardened like pros. Dad had a rototiller that converted to a lawn mower. It was too big for me to use..thank goodness, one less chore..plus yikes, the danger! Dad tilled the garden often and there rarely was a weed. The paths were straight(even if the journey wasn’t).

Looking at the garden there was raspberry bushes on the left. The next rows were cucumbers, beans, peas , beets,onions, lettuce and the dreaded Swiss Chard. Wow that is the worst vegetable there is as far as I am concerned. Next were rows of tomatoes, peppers and in the back were potatoes. The last rows on the right were corn, usually the white variety.yummmm. Dad would plant pumpkins or squash among the corn. I never remember zucchini in the garden or ever even eating it until I was older. Other vegetables that were absent were cauliflower and broccoli.

My parents were very specific about how the seeds were placed. Kind of like placing individual icicles on the Christmas tree..one at a time..I have never been a very patient person, so planting was very painful. Only 4 corn kernels in a hill..no more , no less.

The harvest and preservation of the foods took up a lot of time. My parents did these chores like a well oiled machine. They both knew what to expect from each other, the left hand surely knew what the right hand was doing. This is part of what made their 70 year marriage great. My parents canned tomatoes and pickles until the time they moved to the Assisted Living facility where they finished their lives. I believe it was one of those things that they found challenging to leave behind.

One of my jobs was husking the corn. The corn was cooked for 3 minutes, cut off the cob, placed in bags , then placed in freezer boxes(which were recycled year after year) and then frozen. Tomatoes were canned, ready for Mom’s wonderful tomato soup or spaghetti sauce. Cucumbers and green tomatoes were pickled or made into relish.

I have canned for years. I used to make my own apple sauce for my kids..not sweetened, all natural. I canned tomatoes and peaches. Recently I have started making pickles, chutney and mince. Mom made great mince..but a little goes a long way!

Yesterday I made Mom’s bread and butter pickles. I really didn’t really like them as a child, but now, like good comfort foods, a taste and I am back on 1131 Front Street!

This recipe comes from a Broome County cookbook, 1957. The person who submitted it was Mrs. Daniel Hoadley of Vestal. 1957 women usually used their husband’s name.

Bread and Butter Pickles

4 quarts sliced cucumbers

4 white onions, sliced

3 cloves garlic

1/3 cup canning salt

5 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp. tumeric

1 1/2 tsp. celery seed

2 tblsp. mustard seed

3 cups white vinegar

Do not pare cucumbers. Slice thin. Add onions and whole garlic cloves. Add salt and cover with cracked ice. Mix thoroughly. Let stand for 5 hours. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Combine remaining ingredients and heat in separate pan. Bring to a boil and pour over cucumber mix, bring to a boil. Pour into sterilized pint jars and seal. Process in canner..bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, remove from heat for 5 minutes and then remove from canner.

My next canning adventure will be to try and make Tomatillo Relish..watch for updates!

Cousins, Aunts, Uncles..and I have a boatload of them!

This weekend is the Annual Bull Family reunion, sadly I will not be going.( I had started this in early August) This reunion takes place on the homestead of Sarah Bull in Goshen, NY. This is the Wikipedia link to give a brief history.Bull Stone House – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I am 8th generation. My Mom went to the reunion a few times. I wish I had gone with her, it makes me kind of sad that I didn’t. My husband, son Bill and myself went twice with my siblings. It was a really special time. I really hope that one day my own children will go and see this bit of history.

Since I am talking about my Mom’s history , I will talk about memories of her sisters and their families.

Aunt Rena Post, Aunt Gwen Nolan, Aunt Edna Baker and Mom( Donna Dailey) at Shehawken Lake

My Aunt Rena and her husband Joe had a cottage at Shehawken Lake in Wayne County, PA.  There were many family get togethers in the summer there. There was a large bear skin hanging somewhere in the cabin. The cabin was all wood and had a wonderful woody fragrance. They had one daughter , Jorene, who lives in California. One year my Uncle Joe was Santa at a little store in Hillcrest, NY. Mom took me to see Santa there and I got one of these little clicker toys. I may have been 1st or 2nd grade, and still a believer.

The picture above is of Aunt Edna’s sons, wives and my sister Joan at my parents 50th Anniversary celebration. I never knew their Dad. Not sure when he died but near the time of my birth. I loved to go to their house in Nicholson, PA. My aunt was a school teacher there. There was a great toy room on a sun porch. The outside of the house had a lattice porch and every time I watch Stand By Me I am taken back to times when we played under the porch.  My Aunt Edna and my mom were close so we went a lot. We went to antique places with my aunt. My cousin Clark lives in Harleysville so I have seen him a few times. He is also the one who is closest to my age from Mom’s side. Aunt Edna was a single parent who put her sons through college. I am not sure but I think most of them went to Penn State.

Aunt Gwen was married to Clarence(Mickey) Nolan. They lived in my grandparents house and had the store in McClure, NY, near Deposit. After we would visit Grandma and Grandpa Dailey in Deposit on a Sunday we would usually stop at The Nolans’. Often we would have supper. Uncle Mickey was the Justice of Peace and more often then not, he would be called to his “chamber” for a traffic violation while we were there( Sunday drivers!). Their sons were David and Bill. They were a good deal older than me so I didn’t have a lot of interaction with them. A couple of years ago we were in Orlando, and need to go to a Verizon store. There waiting for service was David and his wife June(who live in Deposit). Their daughter lives nearby and just happened to be there..CRAZY!

Sometimes you just want to jump in that time machine and go back to those times..

All changes are more or less tinged with melancholy, for what we are leaving behind is part of ourselves. 
Amelia Barr

School Banking

“The art is not in making money, but in keeping it.” – ProverbThese days when America is spending money like there is a Money Tree Forest behind The White House, I am reminded about learning to save.

During elementary school The Binghamton Savings Bank introduced a program to teach children how to save.  We were given a  little red book with tear off pages for deposits. Once a week we had banking day where you filled out the deposit slip, put it with your money and took it to school. One student was the “banker” and collected the savings of all the students and took it to the principals office. There was never an incident of money “disappearing” . We earned interest on our accounts, got statements..we learned about saving! This money eventually became the deposit for my first car..a Red VW Bug..pride of ownership that much sweeter since I had SAVED my money.

BSB had a phone line where you could call in and get the time and weather..let me tell you I called that number plenty!

I really am not going into all this political stuff and spending..but I am thinking we should send our politicians a little red deposit book( no slips for removing funds) and encouraging them to save!

Summer Memories

Today has been a record setting heat day up and down the East Coast. The last thing I would want to do today is eat outside. The A/C  is much too wonderful.

When I was growing up in Binghamton there were very few really hot days and most homes did not have air conditioning. My parents had a portable unit for the living room. Certainly our cars were not air conditioning. On really hot days we would eat out back on our wooden picnic table, with a plastic table cloth. One of my favorite foods that my Mom made in the summer was deviled eggs.

Tonight was a deviled egg night for sure. Mom’s recipe was mayo( although probably Miracle Whip(YUK!) , mustard( Hers was French’s, I use a spicey brown one like Gulden’s), salt and pepper mixed with the yolks. And always decorated with Paprika. My hubby does not like mustard..so I take half the yolks and make an alternative filling with mayo, fresh basil, a little fresh garlic, salt, pepper and about a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar mixed with the yolks in the food processor. Sorry I can’t give you more specific amounts..just one of those things. I made 8 eggs tonight. Bill, Bru and I finished them off in nothing flat.

Summer was great in the Fifties and Sixties, wasn’t it? And honestly it’s great now, just different.

Sounds of My Past

Bill with Grandma and Pop Pop 1993

When I was in 5th grade my Mom was rushed to the hospital after coughing up blood. Later in nursing school I learned this was hemoptysis. Mom came in from somewhere and had a hankee covering her face. My Dad came home from work and took her to Binghamton General Hospital.There was not a lot of conversation, no hysteria. I got sent to a neighbor’s house. I really don’t remember being afraid, maybe bewildered.  After a lot of testing including a bronchoscopy, her diagnosis was a ruptured bleb. She had had tuberculosis at some time, which was never diagnosed or treated. I was not allowed to visit her since there were rules about children not coming to the hospital, and they were enforced.Which BTW as a nurse and a Mom, I feel strongly that children should not be visiting hospitals, unless there are really good reasons.Back in the day people were in the hospital for long admissions, now the bed linens barely get messy before they send you home so is being apart for a couple of days such a bad thing? People are in the hospital because they are sick, and why would anyone want their kids exposed to unknown stuff? Old fashioned I know..but “just sayin”

A couple of years later she was hospitalized again with pneumonia and I was allowed to visit. So the sound that I remembered this past week was the sound of the water bubbling and moisturizing the oxygen. All the years that I worked in Intensive Care or Coronary Care where patients had oxygen never triggered that memory, but my son hooked up to oxygen did.

Bill and my Mom share the same genes, of course but they also share chronic health issues.Not sure chronic is the right word but health battles..wars? My Mom never seemed to let it get her down and neither  does Bill. In fact I think Mom was more upset that Bill had to endure cancer then she was for her own cancer. Maybe she just didn’t let me see it. I am not saying she wasn’t upset, but she seemed to move on, even with many set backs. Mom was never an “it’s about me” woman..totally unselfish.

So many things can trigger a memory, this is one that I don’t mind remembering BUT, I would have preferred to not have a reason to recall it.

27 Years Ago

Bill on His Pilgramage

Wow I don’t even know how to start when I write about Bill. What can you say about someone so special? Because of Bill, my family has become more grounded. Our family is better because of Bill. We have all been to  and done things we wouldn’t have done if not for Bill. Sincerely, I never would have gone to Graceland, I would not have gone to see the movie Mama Mia twice and listened to Les Mis countless times. How many times have I eaten at Hard Rock Cafe because Bill likes it there? Would we have learned every word of Stand By Me if not for Bill? Would I have gone to see Donny Osmond in Las Vegas? Well I might have..but Bruce certainly would not. Would Bruce have ridden on The Hulk at Universal countless times?

Would I be sitting here listening to the PBS special about Les Mis with warm fuzzies in my head and heart?

And what about all the amazing people in our lives because of Bill?

There are so many Billyisms..the one we repeat the most is ” I don’t give a care!”

What would I change about Bill? The struggles he has had..so not fair. How does he have this amazing ability to get through so much? His strength gives our family the fortitude to persevere the challenges of our lives.

Billy..thank you for your beautiful gifts to us..Happy 27th Birthday!

Iced Tea( no not the guy on Law and Order, although Hubby wonders why he doesn’t have a cool name like that)

This was a pitcher my Mother used for her Iced Tea.

During the summer there was always a pitcher of iced tea around. We had a yellow Hall’s pitcher that I believe came from Jewel Tea. Back in the day there was no decaf and honestly who cared? Mom never measured the amount of tea she used..she just knew. She used Lipton’s loose leaf tea, put it in a pan and then poured unmeasured boiling water over it and then it sat around for the long steep. It always tasted the same. Perfection.

My Mom found a use for everything including the tea leaves. She would throw the tea leaves after making the tea onto the garden and grass..my parents had an amazing garden and pretty decent grass. It’s a little harder to do with tea bags but if i use tea leaves ever again, they will end up in our garden too.

My parents used concentrated frozen lemonade for sweetener. Yikes..the calorie load. When Mom developed diabetes, I tried to tell her she needed to find a substitute..no can do. Well she did live to 90.

My choice for Iced Tea

Now my own family will remember iced tea at our house as Red Zinger tea and Crystal Light lemonade. I steep 6 tea bags in a quart of hot water. I put the tea in a 2 quart pitcher and add a package of Crystal Light. I add enough water to fill the pitcher. Serve over ice of course! Salut!

Sink or Swim

 

December 63 in Florida. I am almost certain I did not go off the step. Not only was I scared the water was wicked cold

And now I am a swimmer !

As I have mentioned before, I had a real fear of water. I did not learn how to swim until I was a Senior at CV( Chenango Valley). So as I do most things in my life I now do most things all or nothing. So now I am participating in Triathlons. This week the swim portion is 400 meters or about a quarter of a mile and it’s in a lake.Yikes! Flashback to this past Sunday morning..nerves of a jellyfish..quivering all over. In the water, wanting to quit ,vowing to never do this again. These are the same thoughts I used to have during the first half of a marathon, only difference is I am now in a lake.
The turn around is really the turn around in my thought process. OK I can finish this. I was the second oldest woman to compete and I got a gold medal for being the first of the two of us in my age group. I will do this again in 3 weeks, not sure why I didn’t convince myself not to. Call it selective memory, like giving birth, you only remember the glory.