Folklore Meeting Golden Wheat AHSGR

Yesterday was our Folklore Meeting of the Golden Wheat Chapter AHSGR. Typically at this meeting the members bring ethnic German/Russian foods (but some bring other items). My mother is not German/Russian so I didn't grow up with the ethnic foods, so this has been an important learning experience for me over the years. While my son and I were setting up the big screen I asked my 7 year old grandson if he'd like to take some pictures for me. Later he said that he had taken pictures of the food...

That was his view on it. Seems he only found the desert table. (I have been informed that the bowl full of goodies are Christmas cookies.) Below is a popular desert, Plumamoos. It's a fruit "soup" and can be made with fresh or dried fruit. I've also had Cherry Moos.
The "dogs in a blanket" aren't ethnic but the Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage is. Not sure what is to the left. Between the two green bowls is my Gurkensalat (see Cucumber & Onion mix). The crock pot in the center holds Vereniki, it will be completely gone before anyone can get seconds. My bierocks (see KSHIPPYCHICS version) are to the top right. To the left is sausage cooked in a cabbage leaf and below it is sausage that may have been made locally.
A wider shot with more sausage and cabbage some in the form of meatballs and sauerkraut.
After the meal we held our annual Memorial Service to honor members and family that have passed on in the past year. This year we viewed the DVD slide show that was shown at Carol Riffel's Memorial Service and listened to a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace.
We seemed to run short of time, we had planned on having a couple of readings but will do them another time. Our last part of the program was to watch the video "Schmeckfest," a wonderfully informative and warmly humorous view of how ethnic foods enrich our lives.
As much as we were all enjoying the show...

...we had to cut it short, maybe we can schedule "Schmeckfest" for another meeting.

Edit 01/28/2008: Received an email in response for request for more information on the foods that were brought. Here's what it said...

"I brought the verenike, German sausage, zwiebach, and a Poppy Seed roll (cut into slices) - it was on dessert table. Poppy Seed roll is a Swiss Volhynian delicacy. The New Year's cookies are sometimes called "Portzilke" or "Portzeln" - both in our cookbook. There was a kuchen of Streussel Kuchen and/or Streusel Coffee Cake.

Among the meat dishes, were Cabbage Rolls (called Haluptsie in one recipe and Kalushka in another, in our cookbook), or sometimes called Pigs in a Blanket. Of course, there were Sauerkraut dishes, including the red cabbage which is a German cabbage dish. (Russian cabbage is green, German cabbage is red). Our cookbook has a red cabbage dish, called "German-style"."

On the Way to the Store...

When you run to the store after the few much needed items, what's the view down the street? What do you see on the way to the store? This was my thought the other day as I headed down the road on my run for a few groceries. Here's my view about a mile out...

In the picture below, do you see the white dot to the left of center? That's my destination. It's amazing how far you can see those grain elevators out here on the prairie.
In thinking about my journey a memory came back to me of having these same travel thoughts once before. I recalled many years ago as young girl riding in a truck with one of my mother's cousins, going with them on a trip to the store from their farm in western Kansas. It seemed like such a long ride in wide open spaces with few buildings to be seen anywhere. I was unaccustomed to such long distances between short stops. I wondered how people could live so far from other people and places and now here I am, in the drivers seat.

I wish I would have had my real camera with me on this trip, the pictures above were taken with my phone camera. On the way home I saw a buggy pulled by a really nice looking team of horses and some sort of high clearance machinery coming at me that took up 3/4 of the road. I often see hawks, sometimes turkey vultures and one spot I've frequently seen scissor-tail flycatchers. There's the scattered deer and sometimes coyote. One thing I haven't seen much of is rabbits. In western Kansas I remember seeing the tall ears of jack rabbits a lot, but can't say that I've ever seen them here. What was long distances in my youth are now times for discovery and meditation, recalling thinking about such thoughts from my youth.

Post your view on the way to your grocery store and leave me a link in my comments along with thoughts you have on your journey. I'm interested in what kind of differences/similarities we will find.

Welcome to my Office

Sorry I have been absent from my blog for a few days, I've found myself rather overloaded. Do you think I've got enough screens to look at. The little one up above is actually an under the counter TV/DVD/radio. The DVD on it doesn't work but my son has everything wired together so that I can use the TV screen as secondary screen for my computer. I usually just use it to watch TV, though. I had to bring the laptop in when I was doing my video editing as that when I render a video whatever computer/laptop is rendering can't be used for anything else. My desk isn't really as cluttered as it looks, I have a piece of Plexiglas on it and I've got pictures, business cards and other notes under the Plexiglas.
But back to what I've been doing; last week, after my last posting reporting on what I was doing, I hustled to finish up our "final" draft of Cardio Mike's Boot Camp video. Friday we met with Cardio Mike to go over the draft and re-tape the green screen scenes. Got home from that around 7pm because we stopped in Kingman to pick up son's bil and get tacos. Saturday I spent trying to get some things organized, got Christmas decorations picked up and up in the attic, tree and all. Monday hubby and I went to the Y and met daughter and 2 grandsons there. The boys (hubby included) played pool while dau. and I walked on the treadmills and exercised on a few of the machines. Dau. and 1 grandson left to get something to eat and visit sil. Kmonster stayed with us and we went to Walmart to get some new windshield wipers. Of course we got a few other items and we walked out to find freezing rain. I about fell down walking around the car. Drove on average around 30mph all the way home. Dau. made it home not long after us. Today I've spent working on the Boot Camp video and a few other projects. I have a few video projects that I need to be working on, so I may miss a few days posting, I'll try to let you know how it's going and possibly post some of what I'm working on. I'll be peeking in on my friends when time allows so y'all be good. TTYL

Going Platinum - meme

I borrowed this meme from The Mackeydoodle.

I thought it was pretty cool so I gave it a shot. I'm really surprised with the results from the ones I've seen. I think they could actually be albums, artists and covers.

Here is what you do to make your very own album cover:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/

The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together.

I fudged a little and used five words for the album title, I thought it sounded a little better. Not picking anyone to do this meme but if you have a graphics program and time for a little fun, give 'er a try and then post back to my comments to let me know so I can have a look!

Busy Day

At my daughter's urging and our doctor's recommendation, yesterday, hubby and I joined the YMCA. This is the newest one in Wichita. At my doctor's appointment last week I mentioned that we were thinking about joining and doc says that she thinks hubby would benefit from an aquatics program. So yesterday I ran around like one of those headless chickens looking for our gym bags and things that either one of us has seen in over 3 years. Eventually I got most things regathered in their bags, I still can't find my combination lock though, and off we went. Of course we had a couple stops to make first, Post Office, service station to get gas and air in low tires, Credit Union and then finally the Y. When we get there the daughter is standing out front, she has just arrived and sees us drive in. We take the tour, get signed up and decide to hit the machines when low and behold the previously nearly empty facility is jam packed with bodies. People of all ages, sizes and shapes, moving. We eventually make it through somewhat of a workout and found our way back out through the flood of incoming charged up children. Hubby's comment? He wants to know when they open, that's when he wants to go next. This from the man that likes to take his time getting ready and would prefer not to schedule mornings. Next we met up with my BFF (we meet in Jr. High) so I could finally get her Christmas present to her. Just a little something she'll have fun with. Then on to CompUSA where the son works to check out some of their discounts and after closing the store went to Jimmy's Diner for dinner. The son's family was in town so we got a couple tables in the back dining room which accommodated hubby's wheelchair. I had a turkey sandwich, I think it was called a Turbachee? Turkey, bacon and ??? It also had Swiss cheese, maybe that's what the chee on the end stood for. Very tasty sandwich. Oh, and I had a choice of sides, not stuck with fries or chips, so I got a small bowl of vegetable soup. Very tasty also. We closed down Jimmy's too, so we decided we better head home. It was after 11pm when we got home and I was pretty well worn, so I decided to wait till today to post. Now we just need to start going to the gym regular.

Retirement Celebration

Dad's Retirement Celebration is one of the things that had been keeping me occupied recently. After Big Boys Toy Show, my son and I went to my folks home and interviewed my Dad with him sitting in front of the green screen. Afterward I transferred the video to my computer and applied the chroma key setting to it and then was able to float Dad over whatever picture I wanted. So I spent the next few days and Thursday night working on a video of Dad's "Work Years". I didn't quite get it all put together, but I did have a video to show at his celebration. I will work on finishing it and cleaning it up later. Below is a picture of my Dad, an Evans employee, my Uncle, and my Aunt.

Here's the board they made up for him. They even had the newspaper article laminated.
Here's a plaque that was presented to him.
This is his lunch box and hard hat that he used for many years.
My Mom and some of the many people that attended. You can see the big screen in the background.
These are mostly Evans' people in this shot and the big screen to the right.
It was a wonderful celebration and I thank the people at Evans for recognizing Dad's achievements as they have. Afterward Mom & Dad, my Aunt & Uncle, my brother and his family, my hubby, my son and I all went out to eat. It was good to be with family.

More Awards

Thank you, Anita at Prairie Dreams, for the lovely awards.


I'm with you on this first one. Everyone in my "FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT" list deserves "The Daily Dose" since I try to visit them at least once every day.

Now, for the five that "Make My Day". That's going to be hard since all of those mentioned above have a tendency to make my day (that's why I visit them). But I must choose just five...

KSHIPPYCHIC

Peter

Wendy

Momo Fali

Kathy

Edit: I forgot to add... You should now present this award to five others that you feel are deserving.

Do You Ever Really Get Caught Up?

Where do I begin? I have been so busy lately I didn't even get my journaling done in my private diary for a couple days. If you've read my blog so far you know that I said I had been tagged. I mistakenly said that Peter had tagged me when in truth, Dan Hanosh was the tagger. Sorry 'bout that Dan. So here it is Dan...

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
Momo Fali, her children provide constant entertainment for all of her readers.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Sleeping

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Checking out the latest great creation on Bent Objects. If you haven't been there you should REALLY check it out.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
A trip to California for my Aunt and Uncles 60th Anniversary, a family reunion, usual family fair (ie. birthdays, 4th of July gathering, other holidays, funerals...), annual events with T&S Mobile Projectors (ie. Big Boys Toy Show, Super Bowl, Fun Fair, Air Show, then BoxABuddy) and life in general.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
Good Morning.

6. How many beverages did you have today?
I haven't been awake that long, just some water so far.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
My daughter made me quite using a brush, said it ruins the hair. I have combs that I use.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Lunch with my son at Big Boys Toy Show.

9. Where were you last night?
Home

10. What color is your front door?
White

11. Where do you keep your change?
In a change purse in my handbag.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Sunny and cold.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Old Fashioned Vanilla

14. What excites you?
New technology.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Haven't decided.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes.

17. Do you talk a lot?
Not so much anymore, but used to.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
I don't even know what O.C. is.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Yes, my sil.

20. Do you make up your own words?
Not usually.

21. Are you a jealous person?
No.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Amanda. OH! I must add Anita to my ‘A’ list. : )

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Karen

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
My son.

25. What does the last text message you received say?
I don't have text message.

26. Do you chew on your straw?
Never.

27. Do you have curly hair?
More so when it's humid.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Wichita

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Well, Judy claims she's rude, but I think it's only because it rhymes with Jude.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Popcorn.

31. Will you get married in the future?
Already married.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
I haven't seen any movies in the past 2 weeks.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
To many to name.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
I have a dishwasher that does my dishes, I only load and unload it.

35. Are you currently depressed?
No.

36. Did you cry today?
No.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
Dan is a friend.

38. 5 people you tag next?

Momo Fali

KSHIPPYCHIC

Anita at Prairie Dreams

Kate at Writing in Wax

Kathy at The Junk Drawer

Instructions . . . In your post . . . Link to KS Born.
Copy the questions, answer them.
Choose 5 friend and link to their page and notify them . . .

I'll Fill You in After I've Had Some Sleep.

Big Boys Toy Show 2008

Saturday my son and I set up our T&S Mobile Projectors equipment at the 2008 Big Boys Toy Show, a trade show that we've been at for several years now. We set up with Entercom Wichita and projected the events of the main stage onto our big screen. This year we set up and had fun with the green screen when the second camera wasn't busy recording. The children got a real kick from being on "TV" (their usual concept when seeing their image on the smaller screen) with the various backgrounds, under the sea, desert rock bridge, etc...

Big Boys Toy show was presented by Entercom and Dopps Chiropractic.
The bike below was built by the welding shop at Hutchinson Community College.

Of course Harley Davidson was there, represented by Alefs Harley Davidson.
The Toy Train Club always has a nice display that welcomes all ages of boys as well as girls.
Here's a closeup, do you see the two men on the hand car?
I recognized the General Lee right away and had to get a picture.

Our own Patriot Guard was well represented and I saw their members throughout the show all day.

One item I really like, chainmaille, was being sold in jewelry form at one of the booths.
There were a couple of artists present...
...each had their own distinctive style.

Then there was the favorite of a lot of the guys, the beer garden.
Several of the booths were dedicated to trying out the newest version of video games. I took this picture for you KSHIPPYCHIC!

Here's a picture of the schedule, I made sure and got this picture before anything started, I didn't last year was hunting names for events the next day. Aces & Six guns didn't make it out this year so the the schedule was bumped up and ended earlier than what was listed.

I failed to get a still picture of the Cowtown Cowboys on stage, I got video of them that I can take a clip from, and I did get some shots of them hanging out around their booth. They roamed the show all day and you could easily hear them coming up on you with the jingle-jangle of their spurs. Their stage show was quite loud with a lot of gun shots, and even though I knew they were coming, I still flinched with each shot.

The belly dancers with Amira Dance Productions were back this year handing out discount coupons for the Renaissance Festival in April.

Knights, Pirates and Belly Dancers with Great Plains Renaissance Festival entertain the crowd with their bawdy pirate ways.

SSI Equipment had several taser demos throughout the day, not something I'd like hit with.

Quite a diverse crowd comes to see the Big Boys Toy Show.
Ryan Windham was back this year, he has added a few things to his show, like playing the spoons in his one man band presentation.
John Gamache is new to the show and plays the bass in the same style as Ryan.

A big draw this year was Hacksaw Jim Dugan & Diva Layla. The line was half the length of the room to get signatures.
I wasn't able to get a real good overview of the Expo Hall because this year they had a banner up the obstructed the left side of my usual shot. T&S Mobile Projectors' big screen can be seen at the back wall to the left of the stage, right of the big double doors.
It was a good day, we had a lot of inquiries about our service and had a lot of fun with the green screen. After I finish up a couple other projects I'll look at the video I've taken and see about putting together another montage.

Looking Back

Sorry I have been so negligent in posting to my blog, I kind of ran out of steam at the end of the year. I was tagged with a couple of memes at the end of December, one of them a Christmas meme which I think I will hold off on till the 2008 holiday season (if that's OK with you Anita?). The other was from my good friend Peter, and I will get to it, eventually.

For my first post of the year I'm going to take a look back in time. Anita, this is for you! I was looking through my grandmother's scrap album and found this old flyer from the Greensburg Well. My grandparents, my mother's parents, lived in Goodland and my mother grew up in western Kansas. I've got a couple of pictures of mother and the soddies she lived in. She had an Uncle that ran a soddie museum, I'm not sure what's become of it. I'll do some research and do a post about Kansas soddies this year.

The next newspaper clipping has no date on it, but we figure it was winter 1956-57 because of the ad on the back of it.
The Golden Rocket 88 Fiesta 4dr Station Wagon came out in 1957. There was a popular song called "Rocket 88" made popular by Ike Turner. It is claimed by some, including Sam Phillips — later to become owner of Sun Records, and pioneer rock and roll record producer — to be the "first rock and roll song". (from Wikipedia) A funny coincident, I was just watching Sunday Morning that I had recorded last Sunday and it featured a tribute to Ike Turner with him singing "Rocket 88". And that's my blast from the past this morning.