Cornbread cooking and Bubba...

Well, I've got the cornbread cooking. I'm trying to decide whether to have sweet (English) peas, or black-eyed peas. Oh-Casserole will be the main dish for supper. I realize that doesn't tell you much. The casserole I am referring to is one that my mother fixed at least once a week when she was fixin' for four children and two adults, and any strays we brought with us. The casserole,  in some cookbook,  once had the name of a football player. We just called it ground-beef casserole. It is very simple. It is mac-n-cheese, tomatoes, green peppers, onion, cream of celery (or any cream of soup you prefer), extra cheese and already cooked ground beef; about a pound or so. The reason for the name change? Well, my husband did not care for casserole's much when we first married. But, he is a good sport and thanked the Lord for whatever we had on our table. He would come in from visiting parishioners' homes, or hospital visits or studying and ask what was for supper. When I said, "Ground-beef casserole," he would reply, "Oh, casserole." Somewhere along the years our daughter picked up on what her daddy was saying and she began calling it Oh-Casserole.
I love to hear family lore. How things or people got there/their name in people's family when another family might call it something else.
Usually, the name change, comes to the new name by a child. Living in Alabama, I know a lot of men who go by the name of Bubba. That is not because of a lack of names; usually a younger child could not say "brother." The same goes for a lot of girls who go by the name of Sissy. My husband was an only child and his parents where "older" when he came along. He didn't marry until he was 30. (He was waiting for me to grow up lol.) Well,  my mother-in-law, bless her heart, wanted our daughter to call her Mamma Sue. When Rebekah started talking everything was, item me. As in, bunny me. Or, daddy me. So, Mamma Sue, became Sue-me, we spelled it Sumie. Rebekah loved her Sumie and still refers to fond memories of Sumie and Pa. On my side of the family, I was the baby of four and Rebekah was the tenth grandchild so she had to make do with MawMaw and Pop already being named.
So many family members are no longer with us, but isn't it great that their memories are?

Gail, The Reading Lady
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Books Read in August and September

Forgot to list my August and September 2011 Reads!

August:
61) Justice - Karen Robards - B
62) Quinn - Iris Johansen - B
63) Hotwire - Alex Kava - B
64) The Poachers Son - Paul Doiron - B
65) Darkness: My Old Friend - Lisa Ungar - A
66) A Fatal Thaw - Dana Stabenow - A
67) The Ideal Man - Julie Garwood - D
68) Coming Up For Air - Patti Callahan Henry - A
69) Faith - Jennifer Haigh - A
70) All She Ever Wanted - Barbara Freethy - B

September:
71) Flash and Bones - Kathy Reichs - A
72) A Trick of The Light - Louise Penny - A
73) New York to Dallas - J.D. Robb - A
74) The homecoming of Samuel Lake - Jenny Wingfield - A
75) The Sixes - Kate White - B
76) Forbidden Falls (Virgin River) - Robyn Carr - A
77) Wicked Autumn - G.M. Malliet - A
78) Dead in the Water - Dana Stabenow - A

I discovered a couple of new authors and a new series or two. Great reading!

Gail - The Reading Lady

New beginnings part two

Those that know me; know how much I love pets. I lost a special little friend on May 11th of this year and she is missed. I can't even think of the word that would tell you how much. So, in the spirit of new beginnings I decided, with much objection from loved ones, to adopt a little brother/sister pair of puppies. They are Pom-a-Poo's, designer dogs, or if you are from my generation - mixed breed, Heinz 57's, there daddy was a fence jumper, whatever. But, they've stolen my heart as well as many other things and ripped many pieces of paper to shreds. We have mastered the puppy pads - most of the time- and they go to bed when I'm ready and sleep until I wake up. My family loves them, as I knew they would and we are having fun watching them play. I'm going to try to put a picture in here. Hopefully, it works.

 Meet the newest members of the Pace household: Mickey and Molly!

New Beginnings

I've always loved new beginnings. My chosen career path that paid the bills has been teaching elementary school for 30 plus years. In that career I was able to have new beginnings all the time; new school year, after Christmas Break, summertime.
I've recently retired and plan to read more than usual and to maybe, just maybe, write that story or piece that is worth publishing. I've been writing in my "head" since I was a little girl. I've kept diaries and journals and then let them go. I figure now is the time to "fish or cut bait" as they say. So, I may subject you to some really interesting posts or some boring ones. I hope to make some friends along the way and to learn from some of you who have been traveling this particular road for a while. My hubby has been rereading the Zane Grey westerns he read much earlier in life and watching the western channel. All. The. Time. I've sort of enjoyed it in a way; boy were we sappy back then. I have discovered that those cowboys "I had a crush on" all those years ago - well they still do it for me! Bwahahaha....
So saddle up with me and I'm going to hit a new trail! Happy trails!