Morel Mushrooms

Traveled to southwestern Illinois for my nephew/Godsons high school graduation. They live in the small town of Warsaw, Illinois,  a short car ride across the bridge above the Mississippi River takes you into Keokuk, Iowa where the residences of Warsaw goes shopping for their essentials, like food. The town of Warsaw has a gas station that sells staples like milk, eggs, and bread. Main street, which is the center of town consists of three city blocks of mostly abandoned buildings, a sad situation.

Main Street Warsaw, Illinois

I enjoy fancy door knobs, and this one is beautiful.

Each year the residence of the surrounding areas look forward to hunting Morel mushrooms. These unique flavored mushrooms only appear in the early spring and grow for a short time. Finding these mushrooms is often times difficult, they like to grown under and around certain types of trees and under leaves.

They taste the best when they are freshly prepared. In this area, they like to fry these mushrooms.

The mushrooms are soaked in salt water to remove any dirt and bugs, sliced and put back in salt water until they are ready to be cooked.

Cast iron skillet is a must when frying these mushrooms. Oil and butter are used to fry up the morels after they are dredged in seasoned flour.

Everyone tries to sneak a freshly fried morel mushroom, but often times your hand will get a swift slap. I was glad that I was able to enjoy a few of these yummy seasonal treats.

Do you have morel mushrooms in your area? Have you ever tasted these mushrooms?

Here is a pretty picture of someone's flower display in that area.

He Sang on Television and Now Sings and Serves

American Idol the singing competition that searches for the next super star has announced the three finalists. I watched the second season of this show when Ruben Studdard and Clay Aiken were the finalists. I believe that Clay Aiken the runner up became famous while Ruben Studdards career hit a few road blocks. After that, I lost interest and never tuned in again. I am now getting to the point of not watching The Voice either.

Anyway the commercial for American Idol jogged my memory about my trip to Branson, Missouri last year where I was waited on by Matt Kester, season four finalist from American Idol at Mel's Hard Luck Cafe.

Mel's Hard Luck Cafe features singing waiters who perform during service, and Matt Kester just happened to be our server.

Matt Kester taking our order at Mel's Hard Luck Cafe

I had no idea who he was, but the jewel cases sitting on the table for sale told us exactly who he was.

Two CDs for sale by Matt Kester at Mel's Hard Luck Cafe
I didn't buy one.

Matt Kester getting our drinks

Soon after serving us our order it was his turn to sing a song for all the patrons in the restaurant. All of the wait staff took turns entertains us including the cooks! He has a beautiful voice and I'm glad he is able to continue to share his gift. 

I wonder if the next winners of American Idol will find fame and fortune as Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, and Carrie Underwood did? If not they can always get a job at Mel's Hard Luck Cafe.

Remembering Mama

Remembered daily, loved always, and deeply missed especially on her birthday. Today I celebrate my mother who was born on May 15, 1911 in Sample, Pennsylvania.

 

Here is an excerpt from my Aunt Rosemary's journal about the early years of my mother's life.

"She was a beautiful baby with big brown eyes and honey colored curls. By this time, Dad was more or less confined to his bed. He was dying from liver and lung damage due to the marble dust in his system. In those days safety precautions were not mandatory, so face masks were not used.

You can imagine the difficulty that mother experienced, caring for a baby, a sick husband and three other children.

A girl named Pearl was hired to help mother, she was fifteen. This gave me more time to be with my friends. That is what I was doing on the third day of April 1912. School was out for the year and I was going with Grace, my friend to Wild Wood, where they sold candy.

I was supposed to be watching Jim and Lillian, but Pearl was out in the backyard so I went on. Lillian started to follow me, but I told her to go back. She started to and I went on.

We were no more over the creek, when the Butler Shoreline train came around the bend on its way to Pittsburgh. There was a scream of metal as the car shuddered to a stop. Lillian hadn't gone back and was run over.

A group of men were working on the tracks and had gone to get more gravel to put between the ties. Lillian had fallen between two ties. She had cut her hand which required twelve stitches, her leg and several ribs were broken along with other cuts.

Everyone was in a panic. The frightened conductor insisted on taking her right away to Allegheny Hospital. Lillian was placed on an ironing board, her head bandaged and was wrapped in a blanket.

It was touch and go for awhile. Her nervous system had received a severe shock. She was placed in a waist high cast, her head stitched up and her ribs were wrapped as they used to do. 

After a few days, her sunny smile came back and she began to look for someone to play with. The cribs were lined up close together and someone left her crib side down. Over she went cast and all.  Horrified nurses came scurrying and feeling sure the child had further injured herself. 

She celebrated her second birthday while there, and the nurses gave a party for her. When Lil came home she was required to wear a heavy brace on her right leg for two years."

My mother is front row left.

My mother and her siblings.
Mom is second from the left.

My mother's father died when she was five years old. Her father was a member of the Moose Club, which sponsored/cared for the children of  deceased Moose members. It was an orphanage. So off they went on a train leaving Pittsburgh taking them to Chicago, Illinois and ultimately to Mooseheart in Elgin Illinois.

How fortunate they were that their mother was offered a position at Mooseheart. The girls lived in one of the girls dorm, their brother in the boys dorm while their mother was a house mother in a different dormitory. They never lived altogether under the same roof again, but they saw each other daily, an unorthodox family life style, but they still remained a family.

This is a Mooseheart photo, my mother is in the third row from the bottom on the left, you can see a faint circle around her little head.

Another Mooseheart photo, bottom, left my Uncle Jim, middle my mother/Lillian, top row middle my Aunt Rosemary, top right my Aunt Gertrude.

We have very few photos of my mother as a child during her Mooseheart years, but the ones we do have we cherish.

All of the children graduated from Mooseheart with a high school diploma, and trained for a job of their choice before they left the school at the age of eighteen.

My father at the bottom of the steps.
My mother at the top of the steps.

Shortly after leaving Mooseheart, my mother met and fell in love with my dad, got married had three children, me being the youngest.

My mother is in the middle of this photo, with her two sister-in-laws, Aunt Vi, and my favorite Aunt Victoria.

Here is a photo of my mother and father celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

My mother faced many challenges in life, but she had the most positive and cheerful outlook on  life. At her funeral mass, two priests from other parishes, who knew her, came to help celebrate her requiem mass. They pointed out her acceptance of life and as a model of Christian faith.

There is much more to my mother's story that I will share with you in another blog post. 

Happy Birthday Mom, I hope I can become half the women that you were.

Celebration Mass and May Crowning

Over three hundred children's voices sang ;

Hail, holy Queen, enthroned above, oh Maria.
Hail, mother of mercy and of love, oh Maria.
Triumph all ye cherubim, Sing with us ye seraphim.
Heaven and earth resound the hymn.
Salve, Salve, Salve Regina.

The procession of students who had just made their First Holy Communion carried flowers to place before the statue of Mary.  Today was May Crowning.

May Crowning, the feast that recognizes Mary as the queen of heaven and earth.

During this mass, the student body recognized the students who were to take Holy Communion with the student body for the first time.

The communicates as a group sang a song of praise. Please notice my sweet grandson who peeked around so I could see him and snap a photo. 

All students were herded up to the altar for a photo, and after the photo all religious articles that they received from family and friends were blessed.

A reception with fruit and pastries was provided by last years students who made their First Communion for this years Communicants. All the students and guests thought it was very nice.

Pope Francis gave my grandson a high five for a job well done.

Just a cardboard cutout.

Oh Mary, we crown you with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.

Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing.
You reign now in heaven with Jesus our King.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria! Ave, Ave, Maria!

Blueprint Fabric

I was amazed to learn this interesting piece of family history from my sister on Sunday evening.

We were talking about the May crowning that will take place on Wednesday at my grandchildren's school mass, and about my grandson's his First Holy Communion a week ago, when my sister shared with all of us what kind of fabric our mother used when she made her First Holy Communion dress.

 During the war my father was a draftsman for the United States Navy, while my father was not an enlisted man, my father, mother, sister and brother lived in housing at the Great Lakes naval base. I was not born yet, I am fourteen years younger than my sister, but that is a story for another time.

This is a photo of my father and his co-workers in the draft room.

This is my sweet sister on the day of her First Holy Communion wearing the dress my mother made for her. What type of fabric was used to make this dress? This dress is made from blue print fabric.

My father asked if he could take home the unwanted and unusable blueprints from the draft room, permission was granted. After he brought home the blueprints my mother would submerge/soak the blueprints in water until all of blue color was gone and a thin piece of white fabric remained. 

So my sister's communion dress was made from the blueprint fabric sewn by our beloved mother.

What a fascinating story, I'm so happy she shared the story with us.

Thrift Find and Pen Pals

Have you watched the Pier One commercial where items in the shop talk to shoppers? They ask shoppers to come to the store and 'find what speaks to you.'

That is exactly what happens to me at thrift stores, items talk to me, calling me over for a closer look seeking a home where they will be loved and cherished.

I am a digger, I like to see what is at the bottom of the bin, or hidden way back on the bottom shelf at the thrift shops.

I am drawn to less than perfect items, tattered, stained, and chipped treasures are a delight to me. Don't get me wrong, I get very excited when I find a well preserved, perfect conditioned treasure to bring home, but I often times see the beauty in less than perfect items.

I like to dig in the isle where they throw have the school supplies, I like the old three ring binders with the pebble finish. I have many different sizes and colors, and when I find them with a rounded corner paper still inside, I'm thrilled.

Anyway while I was digging around that area I came across this correspondence secretary.

The spine is tattered, but I was drawn to the blood red of the embossed faux leather with gold lettering.

The inside has three different sections, and to my surprise and delight it still contained some stationary!

Center section has a green blotter with 8x10 linen paper, on the right some business size and standard envelopes. 

On the left, the paper was folded with note sized envelopes. When watching old black and white movies and someone gets a letter often times the stationary used is folded as the piece above. 

Also on the left side of this trifold is a small area where stamps can be stored, and an area where the previous owner had slipped in a few items.

It appears that whom ever this belonged to had visited the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, had cut out television listings, and brought along prayer card.

This prayer card was a parent's prayer for a family vocation, whom ever this secretary belonged to wanted their son/sons to become a priest. I wonder if those prayers were answered.

Remember pen pals, getting lovely cards for your birthday as a child, letters from aunts, or grandmas in the mail?  I sure do and I treasure each one that has been saved, I like reading the  messages and seeing how my aunts signed their names, and the sweet little x o x o that were scattered about a card.

Linda who writes the blog Wetcreek had a fabulous post titled 'Are We Making History Anymore?'  pop over and read her thoughts on correspondence.

Any other snail mail fans out in blog land that would like to exchanges notes via snail mail?

Sir-Thrift-A Lot:  Thriftasaurus

A Living Space: The Nifty Thrifty

Costal Charm:  Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Me and My Shadow: Magpie Monday

We Call It Junkin: We Call It Olde Link Up

ColoradoLady: Vintage Thing Thursday

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson: Share Your Cup Thursday

Foxes How To Relocate?

In a subdivisions, in my town lives a family of nine, a mama, daddy, and 7 babies, the mama is referred to as a vixen, the daddy is sometimes called a dog, and the seven babies are called kits. This family of nine is referred to as a troop or leash. 

Why such strange names for this family? Because is it a family of foxes and this family has taken up residence in my daughter's neighborhood more specifically under her front porch.

Over two years ago one fox decided to make its home under the cemented front porch, a short time later the fox found a special friend, now two foxes lived under the porch. About four weeks ago seven baby foxes were born.

People stop in front of my daughter's house to take photos and videos of the nine of them scampering around the front yard, even playing with a ball left in the front yard by my grandchildren.

What a cute sight? Aren't they sweet? 

Not when they live under your front porch!

Warning 3 Graphic Photos

This is what my two grandchildren see on a daily basis as they walk out the front door when leaving for school and daycare.

For over two years, at their own cost my daughter and her husband have hired a private trapper so that the original fox, then the second fox could be trapped and relocated. I guess you have heard the expression, 'sly as a fox,' or 'smart as a fox.' 

This is where they enter and exit, the main entry point is right next to the steps by the front door. Notice the fur and feather in the first photo? 

A few weeks ago the alderman in the area got involved and contacted the police, permission for the city community service officer to get involved was granted by the chief of police. The private trapper that was hired by my daughter and son-in-law removed his traps and two large traps were placed by the city in her front yard and porch.

Our local newspaper wrote an article about the foxes, getting people all over the city upset and angry at my daughter and son-in-law! 

After the April 11th attack of two children at a park in New Hampshire, where a child was pushed down and bitten by a fox, and the Kenosha News article.  A local news station reporter showed up at my daughter's front door requesting an interview. Request denied she just came home with her new baby. That didn't stop the news from interviewing the neighbors and showing the front of her house. While they were filming, two foxes, who come out from their home day or night, and are NOT afraid of people emerged from under the porch. You can see that segment by clicking here.

My daughter and son-in-law want the foxes relocated so that their three children, six, three and newborn can play in their yard since the weather here in Wisconsin if finally getting warmer.

My daughter has hired a company to come in and secure her front stoop with wire mesh and new cement as soon as this family is relocated.

If anyone of you have a suggestion on how to capture these foxes for relocation, please share your knowledge.

Today the temperatures are predicted to reach 80 degrees. After school, I'm sure the boys will want to play outside, but the question is, will they be safe?