Assisting a Lost Turtle

Today I am responding to Joyce's Hodgepodge questions:

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2025/05/the-hodgepodge-buzz.html

1. May 20th is World Bee Day...what's something that's kept you 'busy as a bee' lately?

Tracking packages in the mail has been a big deal. Then nine of my family members have birthdays in May-July, so cards have gone out with a personal hand-written note in just about every one. 

2. Do you like honey? What's something you make or enjoy that calls for honey? 

Yes, I like honey, but I dislike when it doesn't roll out easily from the cute plastic teddy bear container. I make him sit in "time out" in hot water and then the honey just rolls out. 

3. "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." Proverbs 16:24

What's a proverb you love, or one that speaks to you or has helped you in some way? 

As I have aged, I have seen the wisdom of this one and am trying to remember it when I speak:

"She opens her mouth with wisdom; And the law of kindness is on her tongue."Proverbs 31:26

The Bible is full of Proverbs, a whole book in fact, if that helps with your answer. The word proverb is defined as 'a short pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice'. 

4. Tell us about a 'sweet' moment in your life recently that filled you with joy, gratitude, or peace. My husband is a kind-hearted man.

We had just left our house on our morning bike ride when we came to an intersection with everybody stopped. There was a very large turtle making his way in the street, and from his slow pace and the direction he was headed, it was going to be some time before traffic would feel free to proceed without hitting him.

carrying the turtle (not visible in this picture)

Gary got off his bike and picked up the turtle, which was heavy (maybe ten pounds), perhaps 18 inches in diameter, and slippery on the underside. He struggled just a little to get a good grip on the heavy creature.

Unfortunately I was not fast enough with my camera to get a picture from the front as he carried the fellow across the street.

the turtle is in the grass to the right of Gary

He carried the turtle out of the intersection and onto a grassy area. One of our many community lakes is two blocks away, so hopefully he found his way to the water.

When I asked Gary if he's handled a turtle before, he said he has. At his previous home up north there would be turtles (much smaller than this one) that he did not want his dogs to encounter. If he needed to pick one up, he had to grab the shell far enough toward the front that the back feet would not scrape his hands with the claws.  

close-up snapshot

After our bike ride, I did a little research on the internet and concluded this fellow may be a Fly River Turtle, also known as a pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta). I learned the following: 

"They are the only 100% fully aquatic freshwater turtle in existence. They have flippers instead of legs like sea turtles and have a nose that resembles that of a pig. They are very aggressive and require an absurd size enclosure because they grow to be around 2 feet long."

I assure you we did not know about the aggressive personality of this turtle. It probably worked in Gary's favor to approach the creature from behind. (Although with flippers and such a tiny nose and small mouth, what real harm could he have done to us?) When we rode past that area again at the end of our bike ride, the turtle was nowhere to be seen. 

To conclude my answer to this question (what's a sweet moment I've felt lately), with this little adventure, I loved seeing this compassionate and brave side of my man.

5. When you were a child, what did you want to 'be' when you grew up? How close did you come to that? 

Oh this is funny. I wanted to own a motel (not a cutesy bed-and-breakfast but a motel, like a Best Western, etc.)  Yes, for several years I said that's what I wanted to do when I grew up. I guess that dream came out of enjoying times when my family stayed in a motel on trips. Those trips included an outdoor swimming pool and meals in restaurants, both of which I'm sure added to the allure of my imagination.

Now when I hear stories of  the damage, crime, and unholy things that go on in motels and hotels, I think owning and/or managing one would be an absolute nightmare!!! 

But I also wanted, most of all, to be married and have children. Thankfully, that desire came true!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Since I referenced our bike rides in an earlier paragraph, here is another snapshot Sister sent recently from our past, this one from my early days on a bike. That's our dog, Susie, on my lap.

Sister and me holding our dog, Susie
September 1955

More recently:

me 'n my bike some 60 years later

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Until next time, grace and peace.

Old Florida

outside The Yearling Restaurant
Hawthorne, Florida 

Often, celebrations are not restricted to just one day on the calendar, and especially if the special things you want to do cannot be scheduled on that particular day. Such was the case for our 3rd anniversary, which was the topic of my previous blog post, "Celebrations." 

We wanted to tour the home of the late author, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling, Cross Creek, South Moon Under, The Sojourner, The Secret River, and more) which is now a state historic park located about 25 miles north of us.  The tour through her home was not available on our anniversary, but two days later 'her calendar' and ours could agree and so we made a day-date of it.

Before I go further, I need to tell you that there are terms used around here, that may not be commonly known in the rest of the USA: "Old Florida" and "Real Florida." On Google that is defined as "anything from the mid-20th century or before." Or to update the term, "anything before Disney and all the other big-money theme parks invaded this peninsula." (my words)

entrance to the park

Don't get me wrong, the theme parks have their place. Years ago I spent a lot of the green stuff there and even enabled the dream of one of my children to move to Florida to work for The Mouse for nearly twenty years. I do have an appreciation for the incredible ingenuity and awesomeness of Disney, Universal, Sea World, Legoland, Busch Gardens, and so forth. I don't know about today, but back in the day, the expectations made of the Disney Cast Members (what they called their employees) was excellent.

entrance to the home

It's not unusual for seniors like us to enjoy looking back into history. Visiting the home of this author was an opportunity to be in the Real Florida, the Old Florida. 

approaching from the parking lot

Entrance to this state park is free but we did have to pay $3 for all-day parking. We arrived at 9am, giving us time to wander about the grounds freely and as you will see, there was a lot of opportunity for photography. (I'm not sharing all of my pics; there were just too many.)

me with our docent in period dress

Shortly before the tour of the house began at 10am, our docent came outside to greet us. Caroline was very pleasant and knowledgeable. To prepare for her volunteer position, she did a lot of reading research and sewed her costume.

Gary in the barn

The tour began in the barn where we signed the guest book and met up with the rest of the group, about a dozen adults total.

This gorgeous Oldsmobile sits in the car port of the home, although it is not the original vehicle. We didn't catch the year but somewhere in the roaring twenties is my guess. 

The house is more long than wide because the rooms have windows on both front and back to allow the breeze to flow through in an era before air conditioning became the norm for Florida. 

front of the house

There were lots of flowers on the property including Vinca, Oleander, Nasturtiums, Queen Anne's Lace, and more.

just inside the front door

This may be my favorite room of the house because of the huge screened windows providing inspiration for the typewriter on the table. While I could never go back to this old-fashioned method of writing, I know my laptop computer would perform well in this setting.

living room

This room was the kitchen at the first, but Ms. Rawlings converted it to a living room. The closet in the corner originally served as the kitchen pantry, but later the area inside and above the closet was designated as the storage place for liquid spirits during Prohibition. 🤭

one of the bedrooms

I have lost count how many bedrooms (2 or 3?) but was more interested in the beautiful quilts. Although I have my own long history of quilting, I did not want to slow down the material the docent needed to cover before the next tour group, so I did not ask about these quilts. They may not be original to the house, but rather donated from that period and/or popular style from that day.

an example of period dress

We don't see style like this much these days unless in the theater. The details and modesty of design are tasteful and lovely.

formal dining room

The formal dining room was another of my favorites. We were told the original dining table was much bigger than this one with seating for 15 guests! Yes, they surely must have been sitting elbow-to-elbow, but I've heard Ina Garten on the Food Network say that a close dining experience helps conversation to flow better. 

the kitchen stove

This is the only snapshot I took in the kitchen. Not the original stove, but one very similar, it's what Ms. Rawlings used to perfect her enjoyment of cooking. One of her popular books is Cross Creek Cookery, of which I happen to have a copy right here beside me as I type! Good friend and blog-reader, Ona, has loaned me her copy. Maybe I'll try some of the recipes....

the first toilet in the home

One of the charming stories shared in our tour regarded the first toilet on the property. The outhouse in the back is still standing but don't you know this porcelain upgrade was most welcome! 

As the story goes, Ms. Rawlings loved to entertain and hosted a party after the bathroom was completed. Her uncle was not able to attend the party but sent a bouquet of roses. Visitors would be walking through the bathroom to see both the toilet and the bathtub, so our hostess placed the roses in the toilet, where they got all the water they needed and beautifully displayed the new convenience! 

These flowers for our tour were cut from the gardens outside. Speaking of flowers and gardens .....

the vegetable and flower garden

My snapshot of the garden, just steps from the house, does not do it justice. In person, this was beautiful and so well plotted out. On an interesting note, you see the wire fencing surrounding the garden. Every few feet a half bar of Irish Spring soap was in a plastic bag and tied to the fence, surely meant as a deterrent to animals wanting to dine on the fresh edibles.

street view of the restaurant

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the house and grounds, which lasted just under one hour. Lunch time was approaching, so we drove less than a mile to another well-known (around here) landmark, The Yearling Restaurant. 

Well-known for serving local exotic carnivore edibles, as well as the usual fare, we wanted to give it a try. The place has quite a reputation.

rustic in appearance

Nestled among huge Spanish moss-laden oak trees with a lot of shade and dense undergrowth, we nearly missed our destination. I'll frankly say the outside appearance is not impressive.... but maybe that's because that's what "old Florida" looks like! 

 

grilled pork sandwich with a side of collards

Although the outside decor made us wonder, inside did not disappoint. Taxidermy animals watch the diners enjoy gator bites and other entrees that are outside of the norm for city folk. We both are not quite that adventurous, so Gary ordered the fried pork sandwich while mine was grilled. He enjoyed fries but one of my goals for the day was to enjoy old south collards (which I have come to love since moving to Florida). 

In addition to the restaurant, inside the building is a gift shop and other merchandise throughout, including used books on many topics, some of them by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (of course, since the restaurant is named after her most famous novel). 

Before leaving for home, we found this 13-foot long gator in one of the many dining rooms. It was hard to get a clear snapshot of him with so many other eye-catching aspects of this room, but I could not leave him out of this report.

Sister's Basset Hounds

To close out this blog post about celebration, I want to tip my hat to Sister, who is having a birthday this weekend. We live some thousand miles from each other, so the only cake I can send to her is a photo she sent to me of her two Basset Hounds on their birthday a couple of months ago. These were doggy-edible treats, but I'm sure Sister will enjoy something suitable for humans. 

Mama and [my] Sister

Sister looked after Mama for many years as our mother's health dictated needed changes, moving from living in Chicago by herself to her new home closer to Sister and more family in a rural setting. Then there was the transition to assisted living and eventually to a nursing home. The adaptations Sister made with our mother's changing needs were many and sometimes baffling. This past October Mama's earthly story came to a peaceful end.

With some chagrin I share with you the terribly self-centered, childish request I made to my mother well over 60 years ago when I said I didn't want to have a little sister any more. I wanted to be an only child. While Mama listened to my reasons (none of which come to mind now), she let me know I would have to be content with things as they were, and the conversation was concluded.

All these years later, I'm really glad to have had Sister in my life, and still do! Our family moved A LOT of times during our school years and so by default at least, we were the only friends we each had with every new location. 

Happy Birthday, Sister! Have many more! I am thankful for you and I love you!

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

for [sisters] to dwell together in unity!

Psalm 133:1

Easter 1957
Left to right: me, Mama, Sister

Until next time, grace and peace.

Celebrations

from TJr and the Lil' Red-Haired Girl

It's Thursday but the week here has been so wonderful and full of good things that I'm visiting you on my blog earlier than my usual habit. 

To start at the beginning, Mother's Day greetings came via snail mail, email, Facebook, text messages, and in-person conversations. I felt loved and hope those I greeted felt the same.

Immediately after morning church, we showed up for our lunch reservations at a place I'd never been to but is now on my list of fav places!! Piesanos may be just a Florida thing, but there are many locations. 

After placing our orders, the bread brought to keep us busy until the entrees arrived was ..... well, I'll just never be the same again! Soft rolls dripping with a buttery garlic sauce. The strong scent all by itself was mouthwatering. I had to force myself to not eat too many lest I not be hungry for the pizza I had ordered.

 

Loaded with lots of pepperoni and cheese, leftovers to take home with me was the goal. (mission accomplished!)

Gary's calzone, stuffed with all things Italian was larger than it appears in the snapshot. Not only did this item earn a take-home box, but that was our lunch on Monday. Both the food and the service were excellent. We have plans to go back in the future.

Yes, you guessed it. We celebrated our anniversary this past week. It's been 3 years, which just blows my mind. Both of us are thankful and amazed with the developments in our lives in recent years. Such mercy and generosity of God's goodness have been shown to us after losing our long-time mates at about the same time. A year later mutual friends who had watched our individual grief journeys managed (after a couple of unsuccessful efforts) to introduce us to each other. 

May 14, 2022

Sporting our rings and smiles back then, it's just got sweeter with every passing day. Among so many things I ponder is that not a single day should be taken for granted. "Live in the moment," a popular admonition these days, means to enjoy what you have, be good to others, and don't waste yourself on non-essentials and worry.

The day began with coffee, cards, and chocolate followed by a waffle breakfast and our usual after-breakfast bicycle ride through the neighborhood.

Gary had some yard tasks he wanted to do, so I busied myself in the kitchen to bake what I had dubbed, "Third Anniversary Bacon Parmesan Quiche with Crust." (Kinda wordy, I know) The recipe started out from an old copy of a Betty Crocker cookbook and I made my own changes. Here it is:

one of the two pies made

Third Anniversary Bacon Parmesan Quiche with Crust

2 - 9 inch ready-made pie crusts, unbaked

or you can try using only 1 deep dish pie crust

1 - 3.5 ounce pkg pre-cooked bacon bits

4 oz shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped dried onion

4 large eggs

1 pint (2 cups) half-and-half

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground Chipotle (or red pepper)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a mixing bowl combine the bacon, cheese, and onion thoroughly and then divide evenly among the two unbaked pie shells, spreading evenly. Place the pie shells on a rectangular baking sheet (in case there is an overflow during baking).

Beat eggs slightly; beat in remaining ingredients. Pour egg mixture evenly into the 2 pie shells. Bake uncovered in the oven for 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and continue baking for 30 minutes longer, until a knife inserted in the center of each pie comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 4 servings per quiche (or slice smaller if desired).

The outcome was a success, served with slices of fresh tomato. I made the two  pies, so the next day we had quiche again, and that was fine with me!

our song:
Have I Told You Lately (link)

After lunch we slow-danced to "our song." Yeah, my guy's very romantic..... 

Late in the afternoon Gary suggested we have ice cream for supper. I readily agreed as it seemed a perfect way to culminate a wonderful day. He likes for me to do the ordering so he can scope out a quiet booth (if there is such a thing in a busy fast-food restaurant). He wanted me to get for him a large Concrete Mixer with caramel and chopped up candy bar. I ordered two.

He told me I could quote him, "The big spender took us to Culver's on our wedding anniversary evening." 

He insisted on taking this snapshot. Had I known a photo session would be a part of our anniversary supper, I would have fluffed up my hair before leaving home .... 🙄 

Anyway, it was a wonderful day celebrating blessings neither of us thought would come our way. Sister sent this blessing to us:

May the Lord richly bless you today as you celebrate your love. "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony." Colossians 3:14 (ESV)❤️❤️❤️

That's a good blessing for everyone and so I close this post. 

Until next time, grace and peace.

Memories of My Mother

Knock Out Rose 
from our front yard

Today is my mother's 100th birthday. I am sharing some of my memories of her and will conclude with the tribute my sister posted on Facebook.

Sister (left), Mama, me
probably around 2014

Mama's birthday on May 10th often coincided with Mother's Day. I don't remember what I did while still living in my parent's home, but as an adult I would send her a gift and a card for each of those days because it wasn't her fault that her birthday landed on a holiday. 

Since I've known her all of my life and I'm no spring chicken myself, there are a lot of memories I could share. But I'll narrow it down to just a few.

Mama took a home nursing course when I was probably about 4 or 5 years old. She attended the classes with our next door neighbor. I don't know specifically what she learned, but clearly she wanted to know how to handle the illnesses, mishaps, and emergencies that can come up when raising a family. 

The summer after I completed kindergarten, my father's new career in aviation moved us from Oklahoma to the New York City area where he was a co-pilot flying out of LaGuardia. Culturally, it was a hard transition for Mama and me (my sister, well, she is younger than me, so I don't think it affected her as much). Tulsa to Long Island in the mid-1950s -- that was a lot of change!

One morning in my first grade class, I vomited all over myself (most likely from nerves) and ended up in the nurse's office. Mama was called. She came as quickly as she could, bringing clean clothes. I have never forgotten that she brought a red skirt, a white T-shirt and a red scarf to tie around my neck. Mama said the scarf was so I would feel pretty in spite of feeling sick. 

a popular style in the 1950s

After just a couple months of coping with East Coast culture, Daddy took the opportunity over Thanksgiving weekend to relocate us to upstate New York to a small town along the Erie Canal (but within an hour's drive of the airport in Buffalo, where he would now fly). This proved to be a little less of a change from the life we had in Oklahoma. But there was no avoiding having to cope with shockingly deep snow and freeze-your-bootie cold temperatures as well as the lack of family living even remotely close by.

A lot of change was going on in my young life. Still in the first grade, by my 7th birthday I was in my third elementary school. On my birthday that year, I wore a green plaid wool skirt to school and was looking forward to the tradition of sharing cupcakes with my class that afternoon. 

However, that morning I again upchucked all over myself! Mama made the trip to school to rescue me for the same reason for the second time that year. This time she took me home to change and after lunch I returned to class. My miraculous recovery was surely due in large part in my desire to share those cupcakes with my class.

In addition to my mother's compassion for physical ailments, she also became, by default, the one to teach me how to read. Changing school districts from one end of the state to the other, the lesson plans for reading instruction were not the same. At the second school we quickly realized I was sorely behind. Mama worked with me at home during Christmas break and got me on track with my class.

I know she was terribly homesick for Oklahoma, where she had lived all of her life with lots of family in town. With Daddy's job flying for the airlines taking him away from home, adjusting to so much change was very hard. Surely having to cope with my frailties in all of that was no help but perhaps served as a distraction. She stepped up to the plate and handled it well.

Eventually Daddy's job would transfer us to Southern California, British Columbia, New Jersey, back to Oklahoma, and then to Denver. Mama learned to be resilient. After Denver they moved on to Chicago (I did not go with them). She knew Illinois as "home" for the last 54 years of her life.

Lennon Sisters sing I Remember Mama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nifym3G7OKw

My love for sewing and singing comes from my mother. She was very good with both. She sewed most of the clothes for Sister and me and we girls learned to sing alto from our mother. While Sister did not enjoy sewing, we both followed the example of Mama by singing in church youth choirs, music classes at school, and watching the Lennon Sisters on the Lawrence Welk show. We both also got a formal secretarial education after high school, again following the influence of our mother. (Sister went on after that to get a 4-year university degree and to become a radio announcer with a focus on rock'n roll oldies, but that's another story for another blog post. 🎶😊)

Of the greatest importance is the fact that my mother led me to know Jesus when I was very young, 6 years old. She was teaching a children's Sunday School class with the use of flannel graph. (if you are interested and don't know what that is, click on the highlighted link.) She wanted to practice telling her Bible story and asked me if I wanted to watch, which I did. 

By the time the story had come to an end, I knew I needed to have a relationship with the Lord. My mother helped me to pray about it and both of our parents helped Sister and me to grow in our faith for the rest of their lives. 

In closing I share the tribute Sister has posted on Facebook this weekend for our mother. I could not have said it any better:

Mama

Today (May 10) would have been my mother's 100th birthday. She passed last October, 7 months short of that milestone. Though I miss her, I don't regret that she didn't hang on that additional 7 months. God's Word says "Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) She IS at home with the Lord, which is a far better place to be.

Until next time, may you experience grace and peace. Happy Mother's Day.