Memorial Day 2009

When I was growing up Memorial Day meant a picnic at Crystal Creek with the Thackeray clan with lots of great food (lots is the key word here). We would have grilled hamburgers, Aunt Elsie's homemade hamburger buns, Aunt Barbara's taco salad, and lots of other yummy salads and side dishes. The afternoon was a softball game that included kids of all ages. That was our tradition.

I remember reading letters from my Aunt in Utah talking about going to the graves on "Decoration Day." What is "Decoration Day??" I thought. After we moved to Utah, Memorial Day was a lot different. We actually went to the grave sites and "decorated" them with mums. This included a trip to the Croydon, Richville, Porterville and Ogden Cemeteries. Every time I go to Porterville I wonder how the pioneers ever dug a grave on that hard rock pile.

Speaking of rock piles, that is what I live on. I spent my Memorial Day weekend working on the house and yard. My brother came on Saturday to replace the lovely sliding glass doors located at the backside of my garage. They had plastic butterfly and flower appliques. Definitely the 70's look. The new steel security door looks better already. I should have done this years ago, but with new siding just a couple of weeks away, now seemed like a good time. My niece Ms. L came and helped too. She watered my plants (that miraculously survived piles of snow shoveled off the driveway this winter), helped move a pile of rocks I dug out of my garden spot last year, cut up cardboard boxes for the recycle bin, and was the errand girl at Home Depot. She definitely earned her trip to Boston!

Today I spent the morning working in the yard. With two nights and a day of rain I knew it would be perfect weed-pulling weather. I am very sore tonight :) I also got the garden planted. As I used the shoved to turn the dirt in the garden I thought of my great grandmother Sarah Jane. She ran a whole farm by herself. She must have been so strong- physically, mentally and spiritually. I've written about her before. I thought again of what an amazing woman she was. She gives me motivation to continue forward doing hard things in life.

One tomato plant...next year I am going to use "grow boxes."


A few weeks ago I invested in a new wheat grinder. This afternoon I made cornbread from ground popcorn kernels. YUM! I highly recommend this recipe. It was light, tasty, and the texture was very fine. I also ground some fresh flour made whole wheat bread.

Fresh whole wheat flour


Yummy Corn Bread

Whole wheat bread. I may have to practice a few times to make this as good as my white bread. Though whole wheat is always more dense than white.

It's felt more like "Labor Day" than Memorial Day! Think I'll go to bed early.
Life is Good!