Petunia rambles on and on….

it’s important that we remember what it’s all about.

I saw a poster on Facebook today, showing a young woman laying on the ground in a military cemetery, hugging a gravestone. The commentary underneath read:

IT’S MEMORIAL DAY!

Just in case you thought it was National BBQ Day.

Does make you stop and think, as well it should. And I did think about several veterans today, near and far away, and one who has been MIA since Nov 1967 – that family is still waiting for information. The  veterans that I’ve loved have all come home and went on with their lives. So many did not.

My oldest son lives too far away from me – I liked it much better when he was 15 minutes down the road, but….  Damn kids grow up and think they can just go out and do whatever they want. So this morning, I headed out to Jim’s and it did not rain – it usually does when I drive north. It’s only a 90 minute drive, good roads, easy traveling.

And this is what I get at the end of the drive.

Thanks to you and Lorri and “2 out of 4” of the kids for a wonderful day! Great lunch, great company, great hugs. I miss you every day, I’m so proud of you and have forgiven you for that time you locked your little sister in the loft of the hay barn and almost par-boiled her.

and most of ‘em, well, I don’t pay that much attention to junk emails. There are some that I delete without even looking at them, and email from businesses where I don’t intend to buy anything, at least right now, goes right in the trash. Just get them out of the Inbox. Some, I might read if the title interests me. Forwards from SOME people are always read – they know me, know my interests, and if they send it, well, it’s worth my time.

Last week, I got one from Fred that was worth the time it took to read it!!!  Kitchen hints???? From Fred?? That’s a switch! Taught me to roll my first…..   never mind.

Corn???  Ok, what’s the catch? Where’s the joke?  The bullshit?

Turns out that this one is for real!!  Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=YnBF6bv4Oe4&feature=youtu.be

Well, I’m the world’s greatest skeptic, I’ve tried every kitchen trick in the book. But apparently, I’m still willing to fall for try another.

Followed instructions as given for 2 ears. Worked like a charm. Ears were perfectly cooked; no silk; no mess. It worked exactly as predicted. I was amazed.

Here’s the husk.

Corn slid right out!!!

Here’s a fool bartender husband Paul, wanting Jim to watch him drink beer out of the corn husks!

And we had a good dinner, burgers cooked on the grill, corn on the cob, fresh tomatoes, macaroni salad. Strawberry daiquiris for me and beer for him.

And when the giggly shit passes, we pause for Memorial Day. Our flag has been out since Friday. The colors will remain until sundown on Monday night.

I am proudly pro-military. My first husband honorably served 20 years in the Air Force, and I accompanied him on his tours of duty, to include 3 years in Panama. I’ve spent over a dozen years working for the Air Force doing Communications work. Spent many years on or near military bases, and can’t count the number of stripes I’ve sewn on or the number of troops I did it for!

Many today know the horrors of war. Paul learned them when he was very young. An Army Combat Medic qualified to be in a Ranger unit in Viet Nam. They called him “Doc” because he took care of their aches and pains, minor injuries and illnesses, stabilized the wounded until they could be med-evac’d out to an aid station or hospital. Got them into helicopters under fire. Still carrying the shrapnel from a few hits he took while helping others. Deaf in one ear from being too close to something that exploded nearby. Held the ones who wouldn’t make it.

All gave some, some gave all.

It’s Memorial Day weekend. While most people ran off for 3 days of fun last night (and some went even earlier) I had to work today. I would rather have run away.

Took my knitting to work and got some rows done on breaks and lunch. I’m doing the Laurel Anne pattern from Blue Ridge Yarns. I got it free when I bought 4 skeins of their Cotton Candy Yarn in Ocean Wave colorway. Can’t find the pattern on their website, though.

I’ve hunted high and low to find a reference to the pattern – it’s shaped like a vest, open at the front with no buttons, just a bit of a tie hanging down at the end of what would be buttonbands (if it had buttons, but it doesn’t so….) Hell, a picture would be worth a thousand words, but I can’t find a picture of it. Not on Ravelry, either. Takes 4 skeins of Blue Ridge Yarns, Cotton Candy, a 100% Pima Cotton that feels beautiful. I would not have know about this pattern, had I not seen it on display at Maryland Sheep and Wool spending orgy festival a few weeks back. The chevron/feather-and-fan type pattern brings out the longish repeats color – the one on display had deeper, more “jewel” tones and I LOVED it. Apparently, so did many other folks; they were sold out. The colorway I got is more pastel shades, but very pretty. The directions said to cast on for the back first, so I cast on the two fronts instead – being left-handed, I do everything backwards. My idea was that they would sew together better if they were all exactly the same number of rows,, and doing it all at once would accomplish this better than measuring XX number of inches.  Would have been even smarter to cast on all 3 pieces at once, the two fronts and the back, but I couldn’t face all the untangling that would be needed with 3 balls of yarn hanging off my work.

Tomorrow, I should do a lot more housework than knitting.

On Monday, I’ll be driving up to Jim’s and filling myself up with food that he’ll cook on the grill. Paul is annoyed that he has to work and will miss a “good feed” ’cause he knows what a great artist that son is with a grill.

And I’ll come home with a new fan, too. Jim works at a company where they are manufactured, and they sell models that have been used as demos at trade shows to the employees at way discounted prices. He got one for himself as well, and each have maybe 3 hours of use on them!!

More pictures soon.