Pre-industrial Revival

I obviously did not think this through. When my vendors retired, leaving my customers without the product they are devoted to, it seemed sensible for me to take over the manufacturing. It became a quest. The retirees had trashed the machinery that was used to make the product as well as ALL their paperwork, including their customer list. Still I was determined. They finally divulged the source of the raw materials and gave me a release of the UPC code and trademark. I moved confidently forward.

A firm in Ohio was contracted to extrude and cut the 4" long sticks of adhesive, while I searched for packaging material and arranged for new labels. Shortly before they arrived, the company that was to have packaged them changed their minds. "Okay," I thought, "I will pack them myself."

This is when the pre-industrial revival took place at my house. In the age of machines I find myself* folding boxes, by hand; cutting parchment paper, by hand; wrapping 5400 sticks, by hand; filling boxes, ten to a box, by hand; placing inserts in boxes, by hand; and finally - labeling, by hand. The guy in Ohio asked if slave labor was still available in Georgia. I replied, "Only at my house."

(*credit to my husband for folding boxes and cutting paper and having good ideas.)

Sope Creek and the Rain

I wasn't happy to be crossing over Sope Creek, which had become a raging river. The bridge seemed a less reliable construct with the dead tree trunks pressed against it's uprights from the recent flood.

Safely home, in my house on the hill, I look down on what we euphemistically call a creek when it is actually a drainage ditch I suppose. It is always wet, fed by the springs that are so strong they almost popped the neighbor's pool out of the ground once when it was empty. Water drains from 40 acres around into our creek, which then rushes through the yard toward Katy Creek. Katy is usually low and quiet and occasionally home to beavers. This seasonal rush of water discourages them from staying. The water in Katy runs downstream to flood the yards of several neighbors, sometimes crossing our road and making it impassable, before it goes to join Sope Creek and then the Chattahoochee River.

I can only imagine that those who suffered from the awful flooding a little over a week ago have to be terrified by this new and overly generous downpour. By the time I woke, we had already received 1 1/2" and it continues raining this afternoon. It is nothing like the 20" that some people received during what they called a 100-year flood. Still you would like to see it stop. We have enough for awhile.

After two years of drought and the accompanying sacrifices, Mother Nature has nearly refilled the lake that gives us drinking water. "Near full pool," is the way the newspaper describes it. Perhaps today will top it off.

Video of Sope Creek in it's angered state, as well as just after, showed up on YouTube. What the video does not show is how it calmly meanders among the rocks in normal times, when mothers and their children can sit on the big, flat rocks and dangle their feet in the shallow water.
Just not today.

Feeding Frenzy!

We finally made time to make an early morning trip to the(not so)local PATAK Bohemia Meat Market in Austell, GA, about a 38 mile round trip. The smell alone was worth the trip and others thought so too since there was a line outside the door waiting for the door to open.

Once inside a server greets you from behind the refrigerated cases and asks for your order. She follows you all the way to the cash register, filling a basket for you along the way. We came home with ground beef, New York strip steaks, butterflied pork chops, Polish ham, Bohemia Smokie sausages, beef stew meat, beef sliced thin for Rouladen (Rolie Polies), and of course we couldn't resist the Bratwurst and a long, thin smoked sausage. I added corned beef for Cream of Rueben soup, and then we got to the cheese case. We decided on brie (Larry's favorite), smoked gouda and Greek Manouri. Larry had grabbed up a nut roll that looked similar to the family holiday specialty - Kolachke. I couldn't resist finishing with marzipan. The whole order was only $72!!

You would think that would have been enough, but here at home, just down the street, Friday morning is time for the really local Farmers Market. My previous visits had been disappointing, in the rain, hiding beneath an umbrella. Today is breezy and beautiful and all the venders were out.

After a tasting tour to get an overview, I picked up fresh-picked corn, South Carolina peaches, buttery brioche, a quart of unpasteurized buttermilk, and a Tuscan dipping blend of dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, parsley and spices. I was intrigued by a Fruit Blend Pasta (tangerine, lime, lemon, raspberry) from Pappardelle's. Natural hot pepper jelly from Pearl River Vineyards and a hot Mexican three-pepper sauce for Larry filled my bag to the brim.

So we are prepared for the weekend. No eating out required.

What's Up With Coffee?

It has to be said. Starbucks coffee doesn't taste good. I am all for the ambiance and lemon pound cake, but the coffee... And now even McD's is trying to copy the over-roasted burnt flavor. On my flight Thursday, Delta served the same awful coffee. By the time I got to my sister's I would have given a lot for a decent cup.

I had a friend some time ago whose husband was in the wholesale coffee business and they laughed at how Starbucks burnt the coffee beans to get their distinctive flavor.

To my palate, coffee should be smooth, hot and mellow. Finding a cup matching that description is becoming more and more difficult.

For the "hot" part, my nephew Dean has invented a cup that instantly reduces the heat of your brew to drinking level and keeps it there practically forever. He let me try out the most recent proto-type this weekend. What a pleasure to drink a whole cup of well-brewed java at the perfect temperature - for the WHOLE CUP! In my office I pour a cup, too hot to touch, set it aside, and finish it luke warm, but at least the flavor is consistently good.

I hope to get some input on this subject from Larry's cousin JavaMom who used to own a small group of coffee drive-thru's. Am I the only one on a quest for a decent cup of coffee?

Celtic Thunder

WOW. We watched the new Celtic Thunder concert on PBS last night, complete with pledge breaks, and again it was wonderful. Young Damian's voice has plummeted from the 14-year olds high pitched but mellow sound to a baritone. That was a surprise. Many of the favorites from the first concert we heard were brought back and the repetition was welcome. If you have never heard them go to their website and listen to the generous video that is posted there. http://celticthunder.ie/index.php

Music has always been so important to me. I only regret that I gave up playing music as an adult - although a 61 year old drummer probably isn't in high demand! The piano though is another story. When I practice, which is rare, I scare the cats to death. The sound fills up our cathedral ceilinged living room and even if you aren't playing well, it sounds pretty good in that resonating chamber.

Last weekend I installed powered speakers for my computer which allows me to blast my favorite music at the decibels I prefer. Much of my digital music library was lost in transitioning to the new computer, so some rebuilding will be in order as time permits.

We will be going to the Celtic Thunder concert in Atlanta, and although it is hard to believe that it could be better in person, at least it will not be interrupted by pledge breaks.

Flowers on a Budget

We have returned to the real world after supervising the 500+ person national convention of my husband's lineage society. He and his compatriots of the Georgia Society of the National Sons of the American Revolution had been preparing to host this convention for nearly 6 years.

The weekend before it started, we had 30 or so volunteers at the house, stuffing over 500 registration bags and eating brownies. The wives lucked out - being able to stay in the kitchen, preparing name tags and talking - while the men sweated it out in the garage.

That Monday, more volunteers arrived to move everything to the hotel - stuffed bags, bulletin boards, vases, books, etc. Then a trip to COSTCO was in order to pick up 99 cases of food for a charity project planned.

Thursday night, real activities started, with a volunteer party at Maggiano's. The 70 or so people who were involved gathered for food and conversation, plus a little wine. Yellow polo shirts were handed out to identify Georgia folks who would be available at the Congress.

Friday, guests started to arrive from all over the country. And again Friday evening, eating, drinking, and talking were the chosen activities.

My husband spent his time managing the millions of details for each meeting room and guest, coordinating the hotel's response to our needs. Most days, I spent hours with my computer creating assigned seating lists for the Monday luncheon and Tuesday/Wednesday banquets. But I was released for the flowers...

Many months before the Congress, I had released requests for quotes to a number of florists, detailing our needs. The first estimate was $13,000. The second was $10,000. The budget was $3,800. Clearly, I was going to have to figure out how to do them myself, with the help of other wives.

The solution came from the inspiration of a glass vase, called a Serenity vase. Not a bubble vase, but one with an elegant shape. I chose yellow roses and we cut each of three stems between 2 and 3 inches long, placing them inside the vase. Then we added three pieces of looped lily grass, each almost reaching the rim. Of course, a little water to keep them hydrated. Because they were placed on 10-person tables, we magnified their presence with mirror squares. The hotel added three votives to each table. The result was simple and elegant.

For 43 tables per banquet, this solution was very doable and very cost effective.

A florist was chosen to provide the podium spray and six long, low arrangements for the head table, color coordinated with our roses. A few extra vases were also placed on the 3-tiered head tables, thus tying the florals together.

For the ladies luncheon, a 13 table event, we replicated a Colonial centerpiece found on Julie Mulligan's Floral Lifestyle BLOG. The Colonial Centerpiece was appropriate to the speaker who spoke about a historic structure near the Old North Bridge of Paul Revere fame.

Our final expenditure for flowers was close to $2,800, a full thousand dollars below the budget.

After the covention, anyone visiting our home would have had to ask "who died?" since I am unable to discard any flower until it is absolutely dead. All are compost now, save a lovely Hydrangea blossom that was in a bouquet we received in our suite at the hotel. A lovely reminder of the week we spent with friends.

KIVA - the easy way to help the world

I just received another notice from KIVA. I received partial payments on my micro-loans and so I had accumulated over $25 in my account and could turn around and lend it again.

Most people have heard of micro-loans and so had I but it took me awhile to find time to investigate. When I found out how really easy it is to loan money to entrepeneurs around the world, I was truly amazed. I currently have 8 loans outstanding in such diverse places as Mozambique and Cambodia, but each loan is only $25. This same $200 keeps recycling from one small business person to another. As the loans are repaid, the money can be loaned out again.

This is one-to-one. No politics. No corrupt governments taking the aid. The repayment rate is extraordinary since each loan is administered for free and local to the business person.


$200 is not a lot of money to us. To any of us, even now. But to Thanh Thi Vu in Vietnam, a loan of $450 allowed her to buy pigs and sedge for her mat weaving. In addition to harvesting wheat twice a year, this income supports her and her three children. Her loan is already 67% repaid.

For my lender photo, I used a picture of my mother as a young woman. In her journal, read after her death, she wrote, "I hope our kids are very generous, when it comes to worthy causes. All the good you do comes back into your own in some form."

Find an entrepeneur you can identify with and loan them some money to make their ambitions reality.