MeMe .. for Me from Kim at Hiraeth ...

I finally was able to set down and write these out.
This was fun!
Thanks Kim for including me...

1. What is your favorite OUTDOOR memory, before Kindergarten

We had a cottage at the Raystown Dam near Huntingdon, PA. I loved the bugs, the water, the outdoors, everything! My brother, who is four years younger than I, HATED (feared) the bugs, the water, the outdoors, everything! That changed after a while … he wouldn’t touch the water, not with one little piggy! One time I pushed him in and he bawled and spit and sputtered around. Yep, I got in trouble but that ended his fear … he lived. (We had life-jackets on – remember those big orange things that made the back of your neck sore and was always up around your cheeks in or out of the water?) UPDATE: I found THE Pictures!!! There is now over 100 ft of water in depth at the place where our cottage once was. Seven Points Marina is directly across from the mountain side of the old Dam. You can tell where our cottage once was by the powerline up the side of the mountain. We were 3 cottages on the right side of the Old Fink's Bridge that once crossed the river. What sweet memories that place holds ... here is a pic of my brother, now a real river rat, going swimming. Notice we graduated to the waist type life jackets! That was a big deal back then! The boat we had was called the Sheila II. It had a huge Chrysler engine in it and we used to go skiing. Dad had made us a 'surfboard' out of plywood with rope handles and he would run us up and down the river. When the waves would come it would slap hard and almost bounced us off. Oh to go back ...

2. Do you find history fascinating and if so, which historical period are you most likely to explore?

I was born in the wrong time … I would have loved to live during the Civil War era and the Colonial Williamsburg time period. Gettysburg, Colonial Williamsburg, touring the battlefields, are a love of mine. The Blue and The Gray is a favorite read/watch of mine. The cooking/home-making fascinates me. The high culture was so different from the lower culture in their ways of life. I’m not talking about the slavery but the living style. I would have been a log cabin gal for sure. Shoot my own food, walk the Appalachian Trail, live by your teeth so to speak. Or I probably would have been a good side-kick to a Trapper in the Klondike … or to have been with Lewis and Clark wondering what was around the next bend.

3. What period of art do you prefer and who is your favorite artist?

The Little Soldier by Eastman Johnson

I do not know much about art periods but I will share with you who I like …

I like Eastman Johnson, he was an artist known as America's Rembrandt. He lived from 1824 – 1906. He was most known for his painting of everyday life. His later paintings has some influence from 17th century Dutch and Flemish artists. When you look at the pictures he created they just draw you into them, you can see, hear and smell what they are about … I just love this above pic …

I also enjoy today’s artist’s like Jack Paluh. He is an Outdoor painter. Again he just draws me into his works. www.jackpaluh.com.

This is titled "Close Encounter" ...

And then Terry Redlin ... amazing artist ... this is titled "God Shed His Grace on Thee"

4. What kind of vacuum cleaner to you own and would you recommend it to someone who is looking for a vacuum cleaner that is strong enough to pick up little red Vizsla hairs without locking itself to the expensive oriental rugs in the process. (not that I know anyone looking for a new vacuum cleaner solution. . .)

I have a Sears vac, nothing great but it does clean up the dog hair well for me. It is the canister type with the beater-bar brush on the end. This is my second one.

5. Tell me about your favorite pan, if you have one. Speaking of pans, have you ever made crepes? If so, what is your favorite filling?

I do not make creps so can’t share with you there. BUT my pan – why cast iron of course! The one’s that I have, have been in my family for four generations. I have one that my great-great-grandmother used. I have all sizes. I even have a round pancake pan, fish shaped pans for cornbread, dutch ovens, square pan for grilling, an old, old griddle that I bought at a public auction sale. I have a set of Thermo-Sentinal Stainless Steel waterless pans that I had bought before we were married that are as nice as the day I bought them. Cast iron is not hard to take care of. If cared for properly it lasts forever and is just like a Teflon pan. You can’t beat cast iron pans.