A gorgeous view of the Vermillion Cliffs in northern Arizona, taken in September, 2008 on a trip from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to Page, Arizona.
For more Scenic Sunday shots, click here.
Goodbye To A Dear Friend
There has been so much in the news these last few days about the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. While the loss of those two celebrities may be big news, the demise of my long time friend, The Big White Bowl, will have a huge impact on my daily life.
Mine is a loss only a cook will understand. The Big White Bowl has been a part of my life for a very long time. I can’t remember exactly when it came into my life, but I think it was Christmas, 1972. My first husband had a charming way of giving me small electric appliances as gifts. And while I really liked that Kenmore Stand Mixer, it was The Big White Bowl that came with it that stole my heart.
The Big White Bowl was made of glass. It was the perfect size and shape for mixing just about anything. The Big White Bowl and I made a good team, and prepared countless meals for my family together over the years. There have been hundreds of meatloaves, pancakes, corn breads, biscuits, cakes, salads, and others too numerous to mention mixed in that bowl. Sadly, I could only find one picture of it in my vast photo collection.
The Big White Bowl moved many times, and has traveled all over the country with me . During the period of my life when I was divorced and moved 15 times in 5 years, The Big White Bowl helped comfort me and my children with many batches of Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was always lovingly wrapped and cushioned during each move, to protect it from harm. The Big White Bowl lived most of its life in Georgia, but has also lived in Florida, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and spent its last days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
When I came home from work last night, FabGrandpa announced the death of The Big White Bowl. He stood there hanging his head in shame, while he told me that he broke The Big White Bowl while he was washing the dishes. While I cried over the tragic loss, FabGrandpa went on to say it was an accident, and that we would try to find another one to replace The Big White Bowl.
I’m sorry, FabGrandpa, we may find another bowl, but none could ever take the place of The Big White Bowl.
Gluten Free In Kanab, Utah
I have written about Kanab, Utah before. It is only seven miles north of the Arizona-Utah border, out in the middle of nowhere. The town was settled in the 1860’s, first as a fort for defense against the Paiute Indians, then as a Mormon settlement. It is now a tiny town of about 5,400 population.
It serves as a hub for agriculture, recreation, and tourism in this area, being located in the center of the triangle formed when you draw lines between Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park.
You can see why the town thrived, even though it was in a remote area. The Kanab Creek provides water, and makes the town look like an oasis in the middle of desert country.
We like doing business in Kanab, because the people here are so friendly. We can get just about anything we need here, from a good lunch at the Mexican restaurant, to new shoes, to tires and repairs to our diesel truck.
I love it that I can get lots of my favorite gluten free products at Honey’s Jubilee, a local independently owned grocery store. Last year, when I shopped there and found Bob’s Red Mill, Mi-Del, and Glutino products on the shelves, I was so happy I cried. When I checked out that first time in the store, I thanked the cashier for having such a good selection of gluten free products. She told me that the owner was celiac.
(Terrell, the owner of Honey’s Jubilee)
Not that I’m glad that Terrell is a celiac, but if he has to be, then I am glad he owns a grocery store. Because he has to eat a gluten free diet, he stocks things in his store that he can eat. It makes life easier on all of us in town (and out of town as well) who must eat the same gluten free way.
(look at the gluten free section in Honey’s!)
When we went to Page, a much bigger town, that even has a super Wal-Mart, AND two chain grocery stores, there was NOT ONE gluten free item to be found. No pasta, no bread mix, no buckwheat cereal, NOT even the gluten free Rice Chex. I was so disappointed with that. At one of the grocery stores, I even asked at the service desk and the girl said, “No we don’t have anything gluten free here. One of my co-workers found out last week that she is gluten intolerant and she can’t find anything here.” Isn’t that sad that a whole town has nothing to offer a person who is gluten free?
I was delighted to see that they had the new Betty Crocker Gluten Free mixes on the shelf at Honey’s. I didn’t need any of them this time, or believe me, I would have gotten one of each! I did get Bob’s Red Mill Bread Mix and some Creamy Buckwheat Cereal; Mi-Del Ginger Snaps; Glutino Frozen Bagels; Van’s Apple Cinnamon Waffles; and some Shar Table Crackers. I was in gluten free heaven!
So there you go! If you are a gluten free girl or guy, and you are planning to go on a trip to see Zion, Bryce, and North Rim Grand Canyon National Parks, go knowing you will find a gluten friendly place in Kanab. Honey’s Jubliee Grocery Store at 260 East 300 South – Kanab, Utah. And if you do go there, go to the service desk and ask for Terrell, and tell him FabGrandma sent you!
Remember Whensday
In 1986 I went to Atlantic City, New Jersey with two of my girlfriends. For $199, we got round trip airfare from Atlanta to Philadelphia, roundtrip bus fare from Philadelphia to Atlantic City, one night hotel room, $10 in coins to play in the casino, three meals, and a heck of a good time.
We played the slots, ate at the buffet, saw Nipsey Russell in “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum”, and listened to a band that was so bad I can’t remember the name of it.
I won a $250 jackpot, and quarters poured out of the slot machine. It was very exciting! Do you know how heavy $1000 quarters are?? I was the only one of the three of us to come home with money.
We left the Atlanta airport early on Saturday morning, and returned late on Sunday night. My dumb butt ex-husband (we were still married at the time) forgot to pick us up at the airport. When I called home to find out where he was, he wasn’t there, so I had to call my sister in the middle of the night and have my brother-in-law come pick us up. They weren’t happy with that. We had to ride the MARTA train from the airport out to Hightower Station at 2:00 a.m. Not fun.
Even with the bad ending, I still had some of the most fun I ever had with those two girls.
For more Remember Whensday, click here.
My New Project
Ok, it is not really new–I cut the original 3″ inch strips and sewed them together in March of 2008. The next step was to cut them on a 45 degree angle, then sew them together again. I had a fear of the 45 degree angle, so I put the entire project under the bed and slept on it, literally, for over a year.
(This is the pattern I am using)Today was the day I decided to tackle those cuts. My folding table is stored behind the back seat of the truck. My iron is in the linen closet. Scissors, rotary cutter, thread, magnetic pin bowl are in the wicker trunk in the living area. The sewing machine, folding chair, cutting mat and rulers are all kept under the bed. It took a while to gather everything together, but I finally got started. Then I couldn’t figure out how to place the ruler on the fabric to accomplish the 45 degree cuts. Dang.
The guy who lives next door is a carpenter. I went over there and asked him about it, so he came over and helped me figure it out. Thanks, Dennis. Between the two of us we got it. He went home and I worked on it all afternoon. The picute above are all the strips I cut today. They are numbered because you have to sew them together in a certain order to get the pattern to come out right.
There are eight sections in all. I finished three of them today. This is going to be a really large quilt, queen sized at least. This one is for Becca and Ken. I have another set of strips all sewn together, with all the same fabrics except one (I didn’t have enough of all the fabrics to make two quilts). The second one is for Seth and Sarah. I am going to send both of them to be quilted by the lady who quilted Becky’s quilt for me. I think these are going to be gorgeous.
We’re Looking For A Home…
No, we are not going to stop living in our trailer and working at wonderful places like the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. But with the prices of real estate what they are right now, we would be crazy not to buy a house if we find the perfect one.
So, what is the perfect home for the FabGrandma? I am looking for a little white frame house, with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, and 1.5 to 5 acres, out in the country. A sweet little grandma house. One with a yard big enough to park our 34′ trailer in while we’re there. Something like this. Or this. Or this.
We want something ready to move into, no fixer uppers for us, please! We are looking in the west Georgia, east Alabama area, from roughly Franklin, Georgia, to Lineville, Alabama to Anniston, Alabama to Rome, Georgia. Roughly the area outlined in blue on this map:
That is a pretty big area, I know, but we don’t want to limit ourselves to one place and miss out on a good opportunity. We do like the Franklin area, though it is not the only area we want. If anyone out there reading this knows of a nice little place that fits the descripition, and is under $40,000, let me know! We could wind up being neighbors for the winter.
Scenic Sunday
We drove from Georgia to south Texas in our pick-up truck, pulling a pop-up camper in 1997. We camped at Bentsen Rio Grand Valley State Park in Mission. This was on an oxbow lake near the Rio Grand River. You can no longer camp at this state park. We were very lucky to go there when we did.
To see more photos from Scenic Sunday, click here.
Just A Random Thought
On Facebook, there is a little application you can participate in called The Interview. You are asked to answer some random questions. I was on there today reading the answers some of my friends and family wrote. There was one question in particular that interested me, and I was somewhat surprised by the answers that different people gave to it.
The question is “Walking past a beggar, spare change or ignore?”
Years ago when I was a Girl Scout leader, one of the girls in my troop, Carla, talked about something similar to this. Her thoughts on the matter where that you never know who your guardian angel may be. It could be the little old lady who needs a hand getting her groceries to the car. It may be the guy who needs thirty cents for to make bus fare. It might be that beggar you pass on the street. In Carla’s vision of life, doing good deeds for the people you know and love was only part of the picture. Helping out in small ways to those you meet in passing was the other, bigger part. Even if they don’t look or smell just right, helping those people was far more important, because you are given a chance to make a very small decision that may change that stranger’s life, even for just a moment. Not every beggar is looking for the next bottle of wine. Some are truly hungry. They may be hungry for compassionate human contact.
I always felt like the girls in my troop taught me far more than I taught them. The way Carla felt about doing good deeds in life was one of those things. So, what do you do when you pass a beggar on the street?
