lot of spring tonic

Yup it was about this time ever year when my Grandpa was alive; he would start making that awful stuff. He called it spring tonic. Now I never wrote down his recipe and thank the good lord that no one did. What I can remember is that he gathered up a number of leaves, bark and roots, one of which was dandelions. There was licorice, or black root, wild onions and a number of other plants.  Then there was coal oil and black strap molasses, sulfur and home made corn whiskey, he said it would make you fill your lungs. Grandpa would say if it tasted good it was not good for you. He would start cooking that stuff up and the smell, well the barn yard and out house smelt better.   

He would fill a pint whiskey bottle with the stuff, it was thick and black, kind of like pine tar, and it may have had some of that in it as well.

When you got your spoon full of it, it would make you sweat and run for the outhouse. It made you feel like you were on fire and that your insides would explode. When it finished  running its coercion on you, you felt pretty good. Believe me it would clean you out.The last time I remember him making it was in 1958, and my dad said he was not going to take any of it. It took a week but grandpa got him down on the front lawn and grandpa gave him a double dose. Grandma would make it better for us kids with a tablespoon of honey. You could run and hide, but grandpa would get you when you thought you were safe. It was fun playing the game of hide and seek with grandpa and he always won.

There is a lot to be said about the old time spring tonic most of it is how awful it tasted and how it make you go for three days. But in the end you felt better for it. Today if grandpa was around I would be in line to partake in the game maybe not the first, a little hide and seek makes it fun.

If you would like to try a spring tonic that is not so hard to take but is pretty good; go out and pull up some of the dandelions form your lawn, get some fresh onions, some new potatoes, and some good sage sausage.  Cut the flower and stem out of the dandelions and wash the root and leaves good in cold water. Then cut them up in 1 and ½ inch pieces boil till tender like spinach. Caramelizes the onions in a frying pan, brown the sausage, then put it all together. Mix up two table spoons of wild honey and a ¼ cup of apple or balsamic vinegar pour over the dandelions and onions. Sever with the new potatoes and sausage; this all taste good and who knows it may be good for you.

Fix some of this up and enjoy the old days. If you have memories of spring tonic I would like to here about them. Thank you for coming by and God bless

Lot of Never

         The end of never cannot be as never, never had a beginning. You have to have a beginning to have an end. Now I have heard of Never Never Land, but I have never been there so I don’t know if it has a beginning. There is a canyon of Never it is called Never Canyon but you can never go there. It is some place the other side of the twelfth of Never. Now that is a good song. 

Down deep in the canyon there is a mine its call never mind I guess it was never mind and never will. I think that a bird that never was. Had you ever been there, never was, so how could have been there.   Well I never or did I. have you ever never? This is beginning to sound like a never ending story.

Mouse what the heck have you been drinking?  “Never touched a drop, It’s that darn Leprechaun Canyon it will mess with your mine.” Did you find the leprechaun?  “Nope never saw one, but I thought I roped him, But I never miss.”  Well did you rope him?  “Well I guess I never.”  Mouse we got cattle to take care of. Get your head on straight and get to work.

I"m off to mow the lawn. thank you for stopping by God Bless

lot of wind

They call the wind Mariah. The title to a song back in the fifties from the musical Paint your wagon sung by many but the first to record it was the Kingston trio, another song about the wind is the Wayward Wind sung by Gogi Grant.  I have both here for you to take a listen to.

As you may know the wind paid me a visit on December 1 and I found out firsthand just how destructive the wind can be. My life has been turn upside down and backwards. Most of the recovery of my home is done, the house is in like new condition; but our daily lives are still in turmoil putting thing back where they belong, repairing something’s that were broke that cannot be replaced. There is a lot of thing to do in the backyard mostly clean up. I save the timbers from the old roof to build a deck on the back of the house. The timbers need to be clean up the nails pulled and inspected for damage, 

if that were not enough the grass need to be mowed.  Finding time to write and keep up with all on the net is a task that has had to take the backseat.

Last Wednesday night as my wife was getting ready for bed she got caught up in her pants and lost her balance and fell catching her foot in the toe kick of the drier breaking her ankle.  She will be laid up for six weeks.

Well the flowers are blooming and spring is getting a head start on me all the spring clean up is taking time away from my writing. 

And now it time to go and pick our meds, grocery, pay some more bills, get my taxes done, and smell the flowers.

Thank you for coming by and God Bless.

Friday moment

This Moment

"A single photo – no words – capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted fromSouleMama which was introduced to me by Sarah-Jane. If you find yourself touched by a Moment and would like to participate, post your picture on a Friday and leave your link in the comments section.

The Moment

I had the vocation to do a little trip down memory lane. The two block area of town where I grew up has been raised as part of the city revitalization program. Now it is one big empty lot, the houses are all gone, and it will become a park. This old weeping willow still stands and I and it have some stories to tell. It was in a neighbors yard and next door to my buddy's house. the old tree seem to be remembering and morning the good old days of my youth.

My buddy back there in the spring of 1957 had got a fledgling Peregrine falcon, from where I don't know. and we were going to train it to hunt. Well maybe. Somewhere in the training the falcon flew away and landed in the top of this old weeping willow. we could see it but it would not come back to its perch when we call it. Guess what its still in the the top of the old willow tree.

I really don't Think it the same bird, but here we are some 55 years later and there is a Peregrine in the tree.
Wow what a trip.

Thank you for coming by and God bless