To summarize:

Beam, Jameson, Whatever.

Color

Lunch

Jackie O-ish

Done Deal

Beautiful

Walk this way.

Isn't she lovely?

Be it ever so humble

there's no place like The Farm.

Daughter C summed it up nicely somewhere on I40 in Tennessee late this afternoon, "Seems like Nashville was a week ago." 

In fact, Nashville was Thursday late afternoon through 7:15am Eastern Saturday; Cincinnati was <24 2pm="2pm" about="about" early="early" hours--="hours--" saturday="saturday" sunday="sunday" to="to" with="with">30 minutes with Max.

And now here we are:

• Antique Archeology. ✓
• Mr. & Mrs. Kant & Klan meet Daughter C. ✓
• Indian food (unavailable in our little county). ✓
• Aristotle in the magnet. ✓
• Kyle married. ✓
• Quality time with Miss M. ✓
• Excellent picnic lunches. ✓
• Three bottles of Elmer T. Lee #21 back on the Farm. ✓

• Lunch & a Bloody Mary (Dirty Martini for Miss M) on the Patio at Re-claimed Boz in Northside. ✓

 The only thing left to do is enjoy some sausage duck gumbo and some Elmer. 

BIG TRIP! 

[Blogger's giving me some funky WARNINGS which I am ignoring. Long day. Apologies.]

I'm with you!

Seen while wandering the halls yesterday.

Fuel makes things go

On the Road Again

More to come.

At what are you looking?

What are you looking at?

It's a tough call sometimes, isn't it? On the one hand, one wants to be proper. On the other, ya just wanna post something-- anything-- before the show gets on the road.

Yummy UPDATED

The lunch menu for my county's two high schools. Click to make bigger.

With all of the hubub about school lunches, I thought I'd take a look and see what the kids around here are eating.

Frankly, I don't think there is enough starch on the menu, but that's just me. And I wonder about some of the combinations-- who eats green beans with spaghetti? But I do like that many of the main items and a lot of the sides are classic Southern: hamburger steak and gravy, BBQ pork sandwich, blackeyed peas, and so on. All in all it doesn't look too bad for $2.25. Breakfast is only a buck and I could eat.

I conclude that the Food Police have not found my little county yet. 

UPDATE: I must be missing something. 

Dog Questions

We have a routine. By 9 we're settled in.

Should the house/dog/cat sitters follow our routine? Or establish one of their own?

"The Lunch Box"

The American Woman's Cook Book, edited and revised by Ruth Berolzheimer, published by Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago, in 1946.

As much care is needed in selecting and preparing the food for the lunch box as for the other meals served to the family. If the lunch is inadequate or lacking in food essentials throughout the year, the individual's whole nutrition will be seriously affected, and his work will suffer. The lunch box is one of three meals, not just a "snack," and should possess the following characteristics:

1. It should be abundant in amount for a hungry, healthy individual. A little too much is better than too little.
2. It should be chosen with regard to the nutritive needs of the individual, and in relation to the whole day's food.
3. It should be clean, appetizing, wholesome and attractive.

My oh my oh my! What a crappy quaint old notion! Apparently, back in the crappy olden days, The Government allowed housewives-- mothers, even!-- to decide what food their families should be eating for lunch. 

And would you look at those Menu Suggestions! 

Peanut Butter, Bacon and Lettuce Sandwiches. 
Cauliflowerets.      Carrot Sticks. 
Hard Cooked Egg. 
Gingerbread.      Grapes. 
Milk.

Good grief! That's over 700 calories!!!! 

No captions

 

Good Dog

I was hoping to find the online version of the "Good Dog" story in the current issue of Garden & Gun. Alas, it is not online yet. But I did stumble across reader photos from the Good Dog Photo Contest. Fun stuff.

"Dogs being dogs" category

"Dogs being dogs" winner!

How is this our problem?

Via Y'all Politics I learn that, thanks in part to one of Mississippi's representatives to the United States Senate, something called the "Senate Malaria Working Group" will become a Congressional caucus. 

Wicker announces expansion of the Senate Malaria Working Group

PRESS RELEASE

Senate Caucus on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases will highlight prevalent global diseases

U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) announced on Thursday the expansion of the Senate Malaria Working Group, which they co-chair, to become a Congressional caucus that will focus on efforts to stem the global tide of 17 neglected tropical diseases including malaria.

Senator Coons formally announced the Senate Caucus on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases at a reception hosted by the United States Agency for International Development on Wednesday evening.

"Malaria and other neglected tropical diseases continue to wreak havoc on the lives and economies of numerous countries around the world," Senator Coons said. "Malaria and the seven most common neglected tropical diseases cause nearly two million deaths globally each year. Malaria alone causes more than $12 billion in lost productivity, and costs many African nations more than 40 percent of their health care budget. There have been a number of inroads made to combat these diseases in recent years, thanks largely to global efforts led by the United States. I am proud to join Senator Wicker in underscoring our commitment for this issue and continuing to support U.S. efforts to prevent the spread of all tropical diseases."

"These diseases strike the most vulnerable around the world at a staggering rate," Senator Wicker said. "Many Americans who travel to affected regions, including our troops serving overseas, have been afflicted. Great strides have been made to increase prevention and improve treatment options for malaria and other tropical diseases, but much work remains. Raising awareness for efforts to address these diseases is critical to eliminating their terrible threat."

Malaria, an infectious blood disease spread by mosquitoes, is most prevalent in the developing world, with 90 percent of deaths occurring in Africa. The majority of those killed are pregnant women and children under five years old. The 17 neglected tropical diseases impact more than one billion people, including 500 million children in the world's poorest countries.

Senator Wicker, an original co-chair of the Working Group on Malaria, serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Coons is the chair of Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs and joined Senator Wicker as co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Working Group on Malaria in March 2011.

9/21/12

[my emphases]

Where to begin? Naturally with the obvious caveat that I am not a heartless person. And skipping ahead, with the conclusion that this is not a proper function of the Federal Government. I just checked and I didn't see any mention of "[r]aising awareness for efforts to address ... diseases" in Article I, Section 8 of The Constitution of the United States.

And now for the middle.  

Neglect: to pay no attention or too little attention to; disregard or slight (dictionary dot com)

How can something that has the attention of the Senate of The United States of America be said to be neglected?

Reception: We had a pork chop casserole for supper Wednesday evening.

Armed and Dangerous | UPDATED: CAUGHT

UPDATE: Apprehended in Gainsville, Fl. 

Good grief.

Michael Blan Dowda
Written by
Associated Press

FILED UNDER
News
Mississippi State

PARCHMAN — A man serving life in prison for killing his girlfriend in 1996 has escaped from the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, and visitation there was closed.

Michael Blan Dowda, 48, is considered armed and dangerous, corrections spokeswoman Jasmine Cole said in a news release.

Visitation was closed Sunday. Calls to ask whether Dowda remained at large Sunday or whether visitation would resume today were not returned.

Cole said officials realized Saturday afternoon that Dowda was missing from a maintenance detail. He allegedly stole a white 2005 Silverado truck with Yalobusha County disability tag number S0922 and drove out.

Photo at the link. 

Oh s&^*. The prison is only two hours from here.

366 Days Ago

I launched Big Food, Big Garden, Big Life in Rural Mississippi with a post titled "260 Pieces of Chicken."

Mr. Big Food did last year's and this year's Auburn game tailgate.

Three hundred sixty six days (leap year), 20,000+ page views-- some of which are not from Romania-- and 135 recipes later and... . Here we are, thinking about doing a Czech-Tex inspired tailgate for next year's tailgate, hoping Missy continues to calm down in the coming 365 days, and looking forward to another year of Big Life here at Farther Along Farm.

Thank all y'all so much for stopping by and poking around and caring about Rocky & Missy, and Suzy, may she Rest in Peace.

See you tomorrow!

Fast Forward

and you'll find us all in the Den, resting comfortably. Well, most of us. Missy missed most of the excitement of the day and still has some residual energy. Poor Missy.

Here's The Story. It was Game Day. But there was no Official Tail Gate. So Mr. Big Food & I both planned ahead. Mr. Big Food made some homemade salami (a four-day process) and baked some bread and made a nice little bean salad, and we bought some Camembert cheese and some decent beer at K-Roger on Friday.  I took the dogs on a Big Run in the pasture this morning to really wear them out so they wouldn't mind being cooped up (haha) while we were at the game.

The plan was for us to park at Daughter C's new place in Starkvegas-- hang out and then head to the game. And then she called and asked us to bring Rocky.

Rocky naps while Matt & Mr. Big Food enjoy a cigar.

Rocky is awakened by Pushkin.

All went according to the revised plan. Matt drove us onto campus-- Thank You!-- and we took what was left of our decent beer, and our salami & little salad, et cetera and left Rocky with Daughter C & friends to be reunited after the game.

And then I looked up and saw

I'm Unique!

An Independent Thinker. I Take the Road Less Traveled. I Challenge Authority. 

But on Game Day, baby, I do as I am told. Just like everybody else!

WHITE OUT!

Respect the Bell. Go Dawgs!!

"It is sad but true that most people have no sense of simple niceties and common courtesy.

They must not have had you for a mother," said Miss M. in a comment on my throw-away post on common courtesy which was a post comparing and contrasting the post-visit behaviors of some recent guests to the Farm.

Miss M. and I share a love of proper grammar and of etiquette.  We get it from Mama. I'll be the first to admit that neither Mama nor I live up to our own standards. (But we at least have standards!) Miss. M. is doin' us proud.

Miss. M's comment got me thinking about guest behavior.

Caesar

So. I am at dictionary dot com looking up how to spell "etiquette" (no d's) and I see this. Are you kidding me? No. You are probably not. What a sorry state of affairs. Julius. Augustus. 'Nuff said. Or maybe not.

Stromboli!

Back from Starkvegas!

Fun & easy. One of those improv recipes-- you know, the ones where the recipe calls for pepperoni and you use Homemade Sweet Italian Sausage instead. The ones that, having decided to substitute homemade sausage, compel you to fight your way through K-Roger at 5pm on the Friday before Game Day to get real Mozzarella rather than cheap shredded. One of those recipes. 

One of those recipes for Stromboli tomorrow.

Recipe: Creative Cooking Tomato Fondue Sauce

Tonight we are having homemade stromboli! Well, that's a lie. It's not entirely homemade. We'll use a loaf of frozen bread dough rather than make bread from scratch. The stromboli dipping sauce is entirely homemade. And I bet we'll get also have pickled pepperoncini peppers. 

This sauce is very simple. I was finished with it before The Dog Whisperer was over.

Recipe below. 

Fall: Day One

So far, so good!

We blew off some steam together in the pond pasture this morning. For the past few days I'd been taking Missy and Rocky out separately-- we're working on some out of doors pack behavior issues. This morning, however, we went together. Man! Those dogs can run!

What they have yet to do, though, is notice the blue heron. I've lost count of how many times it flies up and away as we approach the pond. And those silly dogs are never paying attention.

Common Courtesy

A couple of weeks ago, we had company-- a couple we knew from our former lives.

Last weekend, we had company-- a couple we'd never met but wanted to get to know.

The couple from a couple of weeks ago makes more than an order of magnitude more than last weekend's couple. 

Today, a package of homemade cookies from last weekend's guests arrived.

Still no email of thanks from the couple from a couple of weeks ago.

We don't entertain to be thanked. But still... .

Mr. Big Food & I have come to an agreement. UPDATED

This will be the last Picklin' Day of the Season. (I hope.)

Updates & photos to follow shortly. I'm on a break while the brine is brining.

Being called.

UPDATE:

We did five pints of Pickled Pepperoncini Peppers II, three pints of Pickled Jalapenos, and two pints of Pickled Jalapenos + Okra.

Okra. 

Originalism

The Original Betsy Ross Flag

Image from Wikipedia

Throw me a bone!

I think it's a femur.

The former owners of the Farm kept sheep in the pond pasture. There's a falling down sheep shed filled with sheep bones. Coyotes, don't ya know? Missy had a grand time this morning with her sheep bone.

Run & play!

 

47

degrees Fahrenheit this morning. (Haha. Fooled you!) That's a 28° swing from overnight low of 75°on September 4th. Time to get the leggings out!

You Missed It

No idea who these guys are. Found the photo here.

Mississippi gator season ended yesterday. Various sites are reporting over 400 were snagged-- many many over 10' long!

Some snippets from the 2012 Mississippi Alligator Hunting Guide:

Shotgun
After the alligator has been properly restrained, remove the shotgun from the case, place all persons in a safe location, and safely load the shotgun. While gentle pressure is kept on the restraining line to hold the head and neck above the surface of the water, place the end of the barrel of the shotgun a maximum of 3 to 4 inches from the alligator, directly above the neck . Aim for the very center of the neck (directly between the two center rows of scutes) at an angle slightly towards the base of the head. After properly firing the shotgun, the alligator will immediately relax and begin to sink. Follow directions located in the section “Transporting from the Field.” 

"Did you ever...?"

Humble wife at Double Nickle Farm has a nice post up this morning.

"Did you ever see something that takes your breath away?

 

and then you realize you are blessed to see it every day!"

Self-reliance

Apparently, many citizens people don't agree and would be happy for me to spoon feed their children-- and themselves-- until death. Well, guess what?

And yes. I am in a foul mood today. I didn't get my morning walk.

I got nothing

on why that last post was screwy and I can't even get it to revert to draft.

UPDATE: Deleted. Musings on the dogs' behaviors later.

Things You May Not Hear at Your House

Mr. Big Food, "Don't we need to put this lard in the fridge?"

Me, "Yeah, but it's o.k., it hasn't been opened yet."

Today in History

It appears that today is a BIG day!

National Citizenship Day: Also known as...

Constitution Day: 225 years. More thoughts here.

Battle of Antietam: "On that day, nearly 6,000 Americans were killed and another 19,000 wounded or went missing on a compact field of carnage near Sharpsburg, Md."

September 16, 1999: Floyd

Today we remember Hurricane Floyd. Floyd precipitated the "Flood of the Century" in Eastern North Carolina. Wikipedia has a skinny but accurate entry on Floyd, its record-breaking rainfall, and subsequent flooding. Every river basin in Eastern North Carolina exceeded its 500 year flood level! 

East Carolina University has a nice site about Floyd, much Greenville specific information and images. 

From ECU's web site on Floyd

We were there.  Schools in Pitt County were closed for over two weeks-- many were used as shelters, including Ayden Middle School which Miss M attended. When school finally resumed, Miss M's Language Arts teacher had her students write short essays about their experiences.  She compiled and printed the essays in a booklet titled, "Memories of the Flood September 1999." They are really quite something.

Miss M's was titled "The Devastation of Hurricane Floyd." Some snippets from her 2 1/2 page essay below.

Life's Most Important Lessons

 

Rusty sounds a lot like Missy!

A great dogs story.

Among the cruelest truths of biology is this: A dog's life is considerably shorter than a human's life. The math is unforgiving; if you love a dog, you will lose a dog, and you will suffer the pain and biting lessons that death brings — probably several times over.

A million things are wrong when your dog dies. Here's just one: You become invisible. 

With a happy ending.

Rusty is almost full-grown, but he's still very much a puppy. That means he has puppy fits, when he wants to jump on everything and everyone, he wants to steal food, socks, remote controls, and anything else that I don't want him to steal.  If he's not getting what he wants, he literally bats people — in the face, even! — with his paw. 

As I type, Missy to standing in front of the door barking. A good thing? Well, yes. And no. She doesn't need to go out, she just wants to. 

h/t Instapundit for the story.

Just a Dash

Tabasco

There are soooo many. And they are soooo hot!

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The world is going to hell in a hand basket. No matter! We are here in Mississippi heading east in the morning

and west later in the afternoon.

Red sky at night, sailors' delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.