And So We Meet Again

Monday, like I do every summer, I went out to Blocks, an emormous farm/fruit/produce stand near Metro Airport. Eureaka and Middlebelt Roads, to be exact. Blocks sells what they grow, not what they truck in from who knows where who knows when. Their produce is just picked fresh. In fact, their cabbage, collard greens (in season) and corn are on flat beds attached to the tractor. When the bed is empty, they pull that one out and another takes its place. The corn is so sweet you can eat it raw right off the cob.

Through the course of a summer I tend to purchase roughly 20 dozen ears of corn. The way they sell it is you pack as many ears as you can in each plastic bag. I've seen some folks cram as many as two dozen ears to a bag! And it's one price whether you have 1 ear in the bag or 24 or ?. Me, I can get about 15 ears to a bag depending on the size of the ears. The other day it was running $3.99 a bag. Usually, as the summer progresses, it's $2.99 per bag.

So what do I do with all this corn? I shuck it, clean it, scrape the kernels off the cobs, then gently cook the corn in butter. Then it goes into Ziploc freezer bags and into the big freezer so I can have tasty, sweet corn all winter long. I bought approximately six dozen ears on Monday. A couple more trips and I'll have enough corn put up in the freezer.

I'm looking forward to the fall when the collards are ready. They sell them by the case--all cut up, and they sell them by the plant itself. You know, they just machete it off at the base and you buy the whole thing. That's best because it's freshest. I fill up the back of my pick-up truck and then go home and process them for the freezer. Yes, it's a whole lot of work but fresh collards put up in your freezer taste amazing all winter long. Loads better than the stuff you buy at the grocery store, even the so-called 'fresh' ones.

Be good and be careful, take care stay strong.

much love and peace to you and yours,

Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
(248) 615-1300

.

Now I Understand What Everyone's Talking About

A few weeks ago someone called me (you know who you are!) and asked if I'd had a nice vacation. What? I haven't been on a vacation since 2010. No, he said, your answering machine said you were laying on the beach soaking up the sun. What? I figured he was just messing with me. Lots of people do that. Then someone else, and someone else, and then a whole slew of someone elses asked me the same thing. And all I could do is say what are you talking about, I haven't been anyplace.

And then it dawned on me.

The power had gone out  at my house a few weeks ago. A big storm had rolled through and, while most areas were spared, the subdivision I live in took a direct hit from a wild burst of wind. Thankfully none of the trees were down in my yard, or even on my street, but a couple of blocks over it looked like a war zone. And come to find out, the transformer that served our part of town was hit too.

My answering machines are powered by electricity so they were inoperable for a few days. But when the power was restored, unbeknownst to me, the main answering machine didn't come back on. What happened instead was the anwering machine connected/part of my phone system assumed command even though I never gave it permission to. And, as it turned out, that answering machine was still programmed with the outgoing message that I was on vacation, laying on the beach, etc. Only thing is, that message was from July 2010.

In 2010 when I actually did go on vacation to Ludington, Michigan, I programmed the two stand alone answering machines I use to reflect my vacation status, and I also programmed the one that is an integral part of my phone system to say the same thing. That way I figured if something happened to the first two, well, the other one would still operate. And it did. Three years later.

So to anyone and everyone who thinks I went on vacation, nope, not so. And in fact, near as I can tell there won't be any vacations on my horizon for awhile to come. Why? Because Kathleen, my beloved cat who will be 17 years old this October, is too old to be left boarded at the vets. Sure, the vet would take her, but I'm afraid it would kill Kathleen to be out of her home and away from me and stuck in a cage at the vets office. While Kathleen is in pretty good health for her age, she does have a few problems. A year or so ago she developed a blockage of some sorts and I nursed her for monthes until it passed. And lately she's had bathroom problems. And a week ago she began refusing to eat any of her food and so in order to get nourishment in her I've been feeding her tuna fish. Alabacore. The pricey stuff because she refuses to eat the other stuff. Yes, I'm catering to her. But she's
 a senior citizen and that's what we do not only for oldsters, but also for those we love.

Be good and be careful. Take care, stay strong.

much peace and love to you and yours--

Tawny
248-615-1300
www.tawnyford.com  

Update Time

Okay, first and foremost until further notice, there is no way to contact me via email. Why? Because WebTv, my internet access appliance of choice, is ceasing operation at the end of September 2013. I have been an avid user of WebTv for seventeen years, right from its inception, and loved it all to pieces. I never wanted a computer ever because all I ever wanted to do was surf the internet, shop online and send and receive emails. And that's exactly what WebTv was designed to do. It was easy as can be to use, impervious to viruses and, in my entire seventeen years of using it, I spent a whopping sum of $200 for equipment.

In 2010, after the heart attacks, HSM wanted to buy me a laptop. Why? I don't know, maybe because she was glad her friend didn't die. But I declined. First and foremost, I was adjusting to a new life after the heart attacks and didn't feel I could successfully take anything else on right then. Also, a laptop would have neccessitated me giving up WebTv. Why? Because who wants to spend twice for online access. And I didn't want to give up WebTv because I loved it.

So now, HSM and her family are living the simple life in rural Alabama, and I have no one to teach me how to use a computer. Yes, that's right. My little secret is out----I am computer illiterate. Sure I can log on to the library computer because I have a cheat sheet developed by a friend of mine just for that purpose, but that's as far as I can go. When I run into a problem, and I often do, I simply log out, turn off the library computer, then log back in again. Is that a good idea with your own computer?

While WebTv is in its final death throes, one subject is enormously popular and frenetic in its users newsgroups---What are we going to do when WebTv is gone???? It seems like a number of folks are going the Chromebook way. Acer, Samsung and HP make them. They're relatively inexpensive laptops that weigh little more than a loaf of bread, are impervious to viruses and are supposed to be easy to use. An equal number are buying tablets.

Me, I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet. I can't find a Chromebook at the store to physically touch it--there seems to be a run on them nationally--and I haven't had an opportunity to visit the Apple store at the big mall to test drive a tablet.

In the meantime, well, it's looking more and more like the library computer is going to be my new internet access appliance. It's free, the library is a nice place to hang out (it's my favorite place in town!) and, well, did I say it was free (smile)?

So remember when you want to share something with me you need to either pick up your telephone and dial (248) 615-1300 or write me a note and mail it to TMC Services, POBox 191, Farmington, MI 48332.


much peace and love to you and yours--
Tawny
www.tawnyford.








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