Chats on the Farmhouse Porch: Anchors Aweigh

My mother worked to instill manners in her children. Was that the way you were brought up? She would make sure we introduced our friends before we got involved with something. So, I'd like to introduce you to two new followers before I get involved with Patrice's chat!


Janice writes Janice's Footsteps. Janice describes herself as a caregiver. First of foster children and now for the older generation. She also participates in Patrice's chats.


Denise writes a blog called Autumn Sky Ranch. She writes about this and that, and has beautiful photographs on her blog.

Patrice is having her back porch remade into a scullery kitchen, so we'll have to visit on the front porch.   Her description of the project brought back fond memories of visiting my grandmother and grandfather when I was a child. They had a butler's pantry. Their house was actually quite small, but the kitchen (and a maid's room) were at one end of the house. The kitchen connected to the butler's pantry which had cabinets galore, a beautiful old gas stove and an extra sink. There were doors from the pantry to the screened porch and the great room. I find it interesting that this house, built in the 50's had such an open design. My grandmother used to raise her bottle-fed lambs in the butler's pantry, since it had a linoleum floor and it wasn't the food preparation area.

Well, let's get chatting! You can join the chat by commenting, or by linking your blog to Patrice's site.

Patrice asks: 

1. Do you ever go on picnics? When was the last one? Do you go somewhere with benches and tables, or do you take your own blanket?

Geesh, I can't remember the last picnic I went on. I will have to say that my hubby's mom used to create the best picnic suppers, ever! We'd take the boys to a playground near her home, which had a small lake with a swimming area. She knew how to 'do' a picnic. She'd bring everything! Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, classy napkins, a three course meal and dessert!

My boys are playing at one of those picnics....

almost 20 years ago!

It's hard to believe that these kids are now young adults!

2. What's your favorite tropical fruit?
I like a lot of tropical fruits and I love a fruit salad with bits of everything. Perhaps the neatest thing for tropical fruit is our pineapple corer. I made a frowny face at hubby when he wanted to buy it... I mean, how hard is it to cut a pineapple? I have to admit I now love the corer. We can have a cut, chunked pineapple in less than 16 seconds (hubby timed the process one day)!

3. Wendell would like me to ask you if you've ever ridden a horse? Any pony rides as a child?

I think Wendell knows the answer to this one! However, what he may not know is that I didn't start riding until I was about 12. I had severe allergies to pollen, and my reaction to grass pollens was worse than others. So, I often spent hours cooped up in my bedroom, which had some sort of air purifier, playing with my plastic horses. I guess my mother finally caved into my whining about taking riding lessons, saying that I was old enough to suffer the consequences. So, I began taking lessons. To this day I believe that my weekly exposure to grass pollens helped me overcome that particular allergy - kinda like allergy shots! 

4. Describe the purse you are currently carrying. If you don't use a purse, what color is your wallet?

I like small purses. I don't particularly care for lugging around a 'suitcase' and not being able to find something. Then again, since all I carry is a small wallet, keys, a few receipts and chap stick... I'd have to invent other things to carry if I had a large bag. Here is my purse of the moment. I found it at a cute boutique near my son's college. I fell in love with the soft, supple leather and its egg plant color!

5. Please tell me the last funny thing that you just recently remembered. This can be something funny that happened to you in the past, or just something funny that you remember.

Dad and I were reminiscing. I recalled the time he tripped over a cleat on the dock, while carrying a box of assorted objects to his boat. He actually dislocated his shoulder trying to grab a line going from the boat to the cleat on his way in the 'drink' - that part wasn't too funny. However, he one-upped me by reminding me of the time he was setting the anchor after a boat race. To optimize weight distribution Dad would store the anchor in the center of the boat, as low as he could put it... so it was in the 'hall' just outside the head (bathroom), which created its own set of problems. So, upon arriving at the destination Dad would lug the anchor up the companionway and make his way forward on deck, clutching the anchor and all of its line against his chest. With Dad's penchant for tripping, is it any wonder that he tripped and fell overboard? Dad didn't come up. My mother was frantic. She was sure he was caught in the anchor rope or had sustained a head injury and had drowned. But moments later, which at the time seemed like hours, there was Dad, trying to get back on board. It seems that he was under water so long because he wanted to find the end of the anchor rope and bring it up with him. There was no way he was going to lose a perfectly good anchor and its line!

Dad at the helm @ 1970

Its been fun chatting, and I'm a bit late in getting this posted. I put up a post about Donkey Roping yesterday and wanted to leave that up for a bit so more folks could become informed. There is a rodeo in Van Horn, TX this weekend and a group of folks were trying to get them to stop the donkey roping competition. It worked! Enough pressure was put on the organizers of the event that they cancelled this particular competition. However, it will come up again. Until anti-cruelty laws are enforced, donkeys will continue to be subjected to this sort of cruelty. If you haven't read my post, go back and take a gander. Thanks!