Sunday Dinner, January 11, 2009 & Some Ramblings

Anybody that follows me on FACEBOOK or TWITTER knows that I've been waffling back and forth and trying to make up my feeble mind regarding not only Sunday Dinner but also supper tonight.

I'm sure everyone has been waiting with bated breath for my decisions, so you can safely un-bate now. Or whatever.

For supper tonight it's going to be fried hog jowl bacon and fried eggs. Yes, I know. Fat and cholesterol, but it's gooood fat and cholesterol. Also, there's no sugar grams to go against my diabetes, so that should count for something.

And we don't eat bacon and eggs all that often, so an occasional indulgence isn't all that bad.

For Sunday Dinner this week I'm making some okra and tomatoes, pinto beans cooked with more leftover ham from the freezer and plenty of my HOMEMADE SOUTHERN CORNBREAD. I'm also making some jasmine rice for those who didn't get enough carbs from the beans and cornbread and who like their okra and tomatoes over rice.

The okra and tomatoes are from last Summer's garden bounty that I've had squirreled away in the freezer for these Winter days with little or no fresh veggies. Add a little onion and garlic and some other seasonings and the okra and tomatoes will be a welcome reminder that Summer is not too far off and those fresh garden veggies will soon grace our tables once again.

Now, enough of my Sunday Dinner. What's on the menu at your place, or are you going to Grandma's or out to eat? If you'd like to participate this week, share your menu/plans in the comments.On to the ramblings I mentioned in the title to this post.

There's been almost nothing fit to watch on TV this afternoon. I finally settled on AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS and caught the last 30 minutes of "THE FIGHTING SEABEES" starring John Wayne, among many others. I think I've mentioned before that John Wayne is probably my favorite male actor, but another reason I've always loved his movies is that I love Westerns and war movies.

This movie in particular has always been a favorite because my Daddy was a Navy Seabee during WW2 and served on Oahu and Okinawa during the war.

Daddy helped rebuild Pearl Harbor for the first part of the war then was shipped to Okinawa to build QUONSET HUTS, barracks and air strips.

Sometimes while watching those old war movies Daddy would offer a glimpse into his life during the war and I always listened, wanting to learn more about those dark days in his life and our nation's history.

If questioned, Daddy seldom gave up any extra information beyond the basics and never any of the darker details of his time in the Navy, but occasionally he would confirm or contradict some of the scenes and details shown in those war movies.

Daddy also loved Western movies and television series such as "BONANZA", "GUNSMOKE", "WAGON TRAIN" and many others, so any time I watch any of those war movies and Westerns it brings back memories of my Daddy and brings him close to me for just a little while.

All righty, that was free. I won't charge you for that information.

Not that I ever charge you for any information, so forget that, 'kay? Nevermind.I watched my granddaughter, Emmy (anybody not familiar with her? you haven't been around here very long, have you?) on Friday so her Mama, Daddy and Lamar could help a friend move all their worldly belongings to another nearby town.

I love this stage that Emmy's in right now! She's so much fun as she learns new words every day and explores the world around her.

She can say "Grandma" and "Papaw" now and does. All the time. And you know what? I'm not tired of hearing it yet. Don't know that I ever will be either.

When my Mama died (stay with me here, I will get to the point, eventually) as she lay on her deathbed she asked me to take her two zebra finches and care for them. And so I did. The female of the pair died in January of 2007, just before Emmy was born in May, but the male, Ed, is still plugging along. He's 6 years old now and that's ancient for a zebra finch.

Ed's cage is in my living room and Emmy has just in the last few months really noticed him and paid any attention to him. She's fascinated by Ed's chirping and will stand and watch him for several minutes at a time, which is a long time when you're talking about a toddler's attention span.

The only thing is, any time Ed flutters, flies or hops around in his cage, Emmy goes ballistic! As long as he's just sitting on his perch or in his nest, she's cool with that. But if he ever moves she almost soils her bloomers getting away from his cage!

She's hilarious to watch and I love her so much I can hardly stand it. :o)

I was so busy having fun with Emmy that it never crossed my mind to even pick up my camera to take some pictures. If you've been following me very long you know how uncharacteristic that is for me.

The pic above was taken by Jessica sometime in December during Emmy's bath time.After daily high temperatures in the 60'sF for the last several days, we've plummeted to the upper 30'sF for a high today and it should be well below freezing overnight. For the next week at least we're forecast to have much lower temps than average, both day and night. Several days in the latter part of next week we're not even supposed to get above freezing for the highs, then down in the lower teens for our overnight lows.

However, it IS January and the balmy temps of the last several days are an anomaly while the colder temps are more the norm for us. January into February is when we usually get our coldest weather and snow and ice for the season.

I know I'm in the minority for the most part, but I love cold weather and snow, though we don't get nearly as much of either as we used to get when I was growing up.

Global warming? Who can say for sure? But I do miss our consistently cold, snowy Winters.Okay, I think I'm done rambling now, and I challenge you to prove that I didn't indeed ramble throughout this post.

If you haven't read this post below this one I have book giveaway going on. Check it out and enter if you'd like.

Y'all have a great Sunday. May God meet all your needs and may you have enough to share.