Big Sky

16x20 inches acrylic on canvas.

Corn Meal Soup

When I need relief from an irritated stomach, I rustle up some of Daddy Frank's corn meal soup. It always seems to work.  His recipe was water mixed with bacon grease, lard, salt, black pepper and a quarter cup of Adam's corn meal diluted with a cup of water added when the other ingredients came to a boil.  I have substituted chicken broth for water and bacon grease.  I sometimes add cube potatoes and onions.  Boil until the potatoes are done.

Alabama Tourist

sixteen by twenty inches oil on canvas.

Kuta Kin Tay Vs. Buster

     In December my old 8-N Ford tractor's transmission locked up and I could not repair it.  After twenty eight years of owning the sixty four year old tractor I was ready for a change anyway.  I bought a forty two horsepower Mahindra and it, for me was a luxury.  Power steering, lights, diesel and plenty of power. The best feature in my opinion was the horn; perfect for messing with the dog and horses.  When I sold the 8-N, I also sold the bush hog(rotary cutter).  So a couple of weeks ago I drove over to Ray Dean's Farm Equipment and bought a new one.
     On the drive home I thought about the cool spring morning several years ago.  There was just a hint of fog in the air and with the sun trying to come through, it was a soft golden glow.  The rain had been plentiful that year and the weeds were up pretty high.  I had not used the bush hog for a few months and it was still hooked to the tractor.  I did my maintenance  check on the tractor and as I walked behind the bush hog, I could see signs of rats moving loose hay under the mower.
     As I climbed onto the tractor, my mind was in a faraway place.  I turned the key, pressed the starter and listened as it wound itself up.  When it fired up there was a loud bang when the gas exploded and a thick cloud of blue smoke billowed out from the busted muffler.  Sighing with relief I engaged the pto, shifted into gear and popped the clutch.  The wailing banshee racket that came from behind me made me jump with a start.  As I quickly turned to look back with wide eyes I saw the two cats as they came out of the back of the bush hog.  Both of them were spread eagled, fur standing straight out, eyes wide as silver dollars, mouths open and screaming.  Each had a twelve inch yellow stick turd sticking out, that did not break until they hit the ground some twenty feet away.  They were flat cats stuck on a stick. 
     Kuta Kin Tay hit the ground first and just lay there.  Buster hit the ground and never stopped.  His feet were moving at a breakneck speed before he could get any traction.  As he rounded the corner of the barn he dropped another stick.  Kuta was named after the character from "Roots" and as you can imagine she was black.  She finally came around and sauntered off into the woods.  Kuta   was pretty old at this time.  She did not like the other cats and tried to stay away from them.  Buster on the other hand was a young yellow tabby that bullied the other cats, trying to run them off.  I know that Kuta was under the mower trying to get away from Buster.  She came home in a couple of days, but Buster stayed away for over a week.  For a long time he would not get within ten feet of Kuta.  I guess he thought she whipped his butt pretty good and he would give her a wide berth.  She took advantage of that, laying in a semi circle, her head on her paws and her tail curled up around her head.  When he got close, she would crack her left eye lid and give him the evil eye.  He would get down low to the ground and slink off.

Thank You

Thank You for paying my sin debt.

Walk on by

Just playing around with an ink pen, relaxing after a hard day.

Joshua's Revenge

   In my previous post, I made fun of God telling Joshua that he was old.  Evidently Joshua heard about it and was not that amused.  Last week I climbed onto my backhoe, heard a rifle shot and my leg buckled under me.  Well Jason finally got the nerve to shoot me.  However it was a torn tendon in the back of my knee.  What a relief. 
     The vision in my left eye was messing up and the doctor told me that I had a wrinkle on the inside of my eyeball. How Joshua must have laughed, and I don't blame him.  You know you are getting old when you get wrinkles on the inside of your eyeball.  I also had high pressure in the left eye due to a stopped up drain hole.  Monday I went back to see what to do about that.  Before I left for my appointment, after a visit to the toilet I threw my back out after trying to pull up my pants.  Nothing like back pain to make you forget about a torn tendon in your knee.  Pain makes you feel alive, so until I pass on I guess that I will be full of life.
     After the exam, the doc told me, "We are going to take you back and do surgery on your right eye."   "Doc it was my left eye," and pointed to my left eye.  "Your right eye is 98% blocked and if it stops up completely, you will be blind in a matter of hours.  You will come back Friday to do the left eye."  So Joshua, I still think it is hilarious what God told you, but I have a little more respect for you now.