New Blogger to the Fiddler Kin

Hi
I well with Honors help I finally got signed up.
W0w I am so technically challenged.
I think this could be fun. I really don't have much to say but I will come back and read and blog later.

S.G.

A side order of heart failure.

Today I find myself sitting here in front of the computer quietly chomping away at a Hardee's 2/3lb thick burger with large fries and a large drink. All for the sake of convenience or have we become a society that is so lazy and over worked that we no longer have the time to come home and fix something to eat, or take a home made meal to work for lunch. Must we engorge ourselves on grease laden, artery clogging, fast cooked delectables that take 2 minutes to cook and 2 months to work off. "I'd like an extra-large heart attack please" Rise up against the fast food industry, revolt. REVOLT I SAY! Don't give in to their delicious taunts, their sultry invitations, take that week old lasagna to work, the left overs that taste bad even when its fresh, microwave last nights "Experiment with pasta #87" show those burger joints just who their dealing with! Alas as I finish off the last of my fries I realize that I can't really hate fast food, after all it does taste good.

Interrelationships

Scott McClellan, President Bush's former press secretary,has written a book criticizing his former boss. In the book, McClellan claims that Bush lied to the American people before this country went to war. In fact, Bush could not articulate when McClellan asked, if the war was necessary or not. Bush simply went along with his advisors. Most Americans think Bush misled the country. This is the first time a friend of Bush has written a book publicly saying so. The name of the book is What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception.

President Bush will be remembered for the Iraq War. Thich Nhat Hanh is known as a man of peace. He is a Buddhist monk who saw his country, Vietnam, ravaged by military combat. He was Chair of the Buddhist Peace Delegation to the Paris Peace Accords during the Vietnam War. Thich Nhat Hanh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr. He has authored many books including Peace Is Every Step and Being Peace. This man has dedicated his life to teaching people how to resolve conflict peacefully. He has also worked to heal the suffering that armed conflict brings. Nhat Hahn published a collection of his poems. His book of poetry is Call Me By My True Names. I Met You in the Orphanage Yard and Interrelationship are two poems from that book.

I Met You in the Orphanage Yard

Your sad eyes
overflowed
with loneliness and pain.
You saw me,
You turned your face away,
Your hands drew circles
in the dusty ground.

I dared not ask you
where your father or mother was.
I dared not open your wounds.
I only wished to sit with you a moment
and say a word or two.

O you small ones
of four or five-
your life buds already cut off,
already engulfed
by cruelty, hatred and violence.

Why? Why?
My generation
my cowardly age,
must shoulder the blame.

I'll go in a moment,
and you will remain
in the shabby yard.
Your eyes will return
to your familiar yard
and your fingers will draw again
those small circles
of pain
in the dusty ground.

Interrelationship

You are me, and I am you.
Isn't it obvious that we "Inter-are"?
You cultivate the flower in yourself,
so that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself,
so that you will not have to suffer.

I support you;
you support me.
I am in the world to offer you peace;
you are in the world to bring me joy.

The joys of high tech gadgetry.

Well I recently acquired a slightly used and mostly broken Xbox 360 from a friend of mine and have been attempting to resurrect the system by fixing the problem that has caused it to become unusable. Hopefully it will work again as I don't feel like spending a full $500 for a brand new off the shelf one, as opposed to the $50 i spent for this one ( i could have had it for free but my friend is moving and needs the money). I'm looking forward to having a new Xbox as I miss playing video games and have been wanting one for some time.

where life leads us

For a small reward, a man will hurry away on a long journey; while for eternal life, a man will hardly take a single step. Thomas a Kempis

River Otter

The KC Star is sponsoring a haiku contest to celebrate the opening of the new river otter exhibit at the KC Zoo....it reminded me of my favorite otter....Andy!

At around age 5 he was just learning water skills at the Emporia Recreation Center. Our friend, Joann Campbell, offered private swim lessons in her pool one afternoon. She was planning to review and add some new skills. Katie dutifully followed Joann's instructions polishing her technique. Andy, however, repeatedly glided underwater the length of the pool oblivious to his smiling teacher. His brown hair was matted to his head and his face held a look of determination as he slid back and forth just out of arm's reach.

Brown hair, sleek body
Glides below waters surface
My son Andrew M.

EllenE

Yummy Recipe

Triple Layer Applesauce Cake
From J. Blue Eubanks, chef and co-owner of Cantaberry Restaurant in Ellijay, GA

Hands on: 35 minutes
Total time: 90 minutes

For the cake:
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup cooking oil
1 cup chunky gourmet applesauce

For the cream cheese frosting:
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 ½ pounds (6 cups) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

To prepare the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour three 8- 9-inch round cake pans.
In a bowl, mix the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, stirring well to break up any clumps of brown sugar.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Then, stir in the milk, oil, and applesauce. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix until just moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy.
Divide batter between prepared cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cakes spring back when lightly touched.
I just threw the cake batter into two 9x9 cake pans and baked them for a little longer than indicated.
Cool in pans for about 10 minutes; then invert the cakes onto wire racks and cool completely.
I just left the cakes in the pans and frosted them there because I’m lazy.

To prepare the frosting:
With an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until very light.
Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until smooth.
Add the vanilla extract; then beat in enough mil to get a good spreading consistency.
When cake has cooled, assemble and frost.
Or, as I already mentioned, slop the frosting on the two cakes, and call it good.

Per serving: 638 calories (percent of calories from fat, 31), 7 grams protein, 104 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 22 grams fat (9 grams saturated), 86 milligrams cholesterol, 317 milligrams sodium.

The Hilltop Tavern Years

My memories of the Hilltop tavern years with Grandma and Grandpa Consier include sitting at the bar on Sunday afternoons....the Fiddler girls would line up on the bar stools eating roast beef and mashed potatoes while watching a movie classic like Heidi....life was good! Mom, Dad, Grandma and Grandpa would sit at a table in the bar area playing canasta....all very friendly in those days.

On Saturday night the family tavern would "rock" with polkas...did anyone dance? Maybe us! Neville Scott, the local drunk, once tried to teach us to sing like the Lennon Sisters on the Lawrence Welk show. He lined us up and coached us to bring forth our best vocals....our collective range was somewhere between a chain saw and the lazy drone of a single engine plane on a Sunday afternoon! That was one of the flaws of Catholicism...we were all about Latin and the Rosary....no singing/musical training!! Needless to say, Neville quickly abandoned his talent scout efforts.

Saturday night was also bath night. We would take turns bathing in a galvanized tub ...one bath a week to conserve water. This resource was trucked in and dumped into a cistern. The water level was measured almost daily with a long stick and when it got low enough "the water man" would be summoned.

Although I did not know the word "discrimination" the Catholic church made me feel it up close and personal.....St.Joseph's would not allow their school bus to travel up the winding highway curve to the tavern....too dangerous! I always thought they felt the "real danger" was having "bar trash" taint their cloisterd education system.Somehow Mr. Lynn, the public school bus driver, managed to navigate this challenge!!

Beyond the back yard of the tavern was an area of timber and we created trails to run around on..Dad would hunt bunnies in the winter with only a stick. Rabbit stew on a cold winter day was pretty good. To the west of the bar was an open field extending up hill to the hedge along Mr. Renner's property. When Honor or I felt put out by our parents we would run up there and hide along the hedge row feeling sorry for ourselves. Eventually, we would get hungry.....and we would trek down the hill for a sandwich. Someone supplied a swing set and we enjoyed that. We played cowboys and Indians with sticks, improvising bows and arrows and guns. We spent a lot of time outside.

Monticello School was a great place to attend...everyone was poor in that township. But the teachers treated everyone fairly, striving to educate. The bookmobile would come every so often and my joy was the Laura Ingalls Wilder series describing life on the prairie. I had no concept of how harsh the settler's lives were...it all sounded so cozy to me. My love of reading was nurtured by these books and the kind attention of Mrs. DeMaranville.

I don't remember getting any beer or wine from Grandma and Grandpa....I do remember there was a jug of Mogen David under the kitchen sink. Our sister, Carol, told later she used to sneak a little nip. I once stole a pack of gum from grandpa and then had to tearfully confess when someone noticed my vigorous chomping.

People were so poor in that area....we did not spend time at each other's homes...although how do you invite your friends to a bar?? I did go to play at Linda DeMotte's house one afternoon and we had boiled cabbage for supper...I loved it.

Better close.....love to all readers!
EllenE

Here is a picture of Grandpa Consier holding Ellen Fiddler Ellis. Grandma Consier is sitting next to Honor Fiddler Kepka. This picture was taken in Overland Park, Kansas.

The weekend is here

Well it's the weekend. Road trips anyone? Gas or food that is the big question. I got a notice in the mail today. My health insurance is now going to be $375.00 a month and that is for a healthy non-smoking adult. I am going to have to start making up ailments so I can go to the doctor and get my monies worth, shoot it goes up whether I use it or not. Saturday we have to go to a graduation party. John's nephew Shaun is graduating from high school. We weren't planning on going, but I guess John got an e-mail from Phyllis and she is expecting us. I thought we could get away with just sending a check. It's not like John is close to her kids or she is close to Johns, but John feels the need to keep Phyllis happy. I just remember what that Thanksgiving dinner was like. This will be outside I guess so dirt and food on the ground is to be expected. Thursday another therapist and I went to Lake Donovan Retreat Center outside of Escelsior Springs to do massages on participants at some spirituality gathering. We each did 5 massages. We schleped our tables, linens, oils and music out there. We even gave a discount. My first client from Canada gave me a $1.00 tip. I know I have never given a massage so bad that it warranted a $1.00 tip. I was pissed. I had calmed down by the third person and the day got better. I will have to re-think another spirituality retreat gig. I guess I need to mow the lawn this weekend. The green keeps growing. I think we are going to dismantle the lavender bed. It is too high maintenance for this gal with little return. I am becoming all about the return and bang for the buck. Well I hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday.

Remembering Grandpa.....

William L. Consier is my favorite veteran. He was a very sweet man. He was also our maternal grandfather. He was born in Quebec, Canada and is of French/Scotch descent. I have fond memories of Grandpa. He was orphaned and lived with relatives after his parents died. Grandpa did not get along with his relatives. He was very stubborn and an independent thinker. At a young age Grandpa moved to the United States. He shined shoes in New York City and attended the opera whenever he could. Grandpa worked his way across the United States. Eventually he fought in WWI. He was injured and was sent to a Canadian hospital to recover. He met his wife, Honor, at that hospital. They married and had one child,a daughter named Norma. The family moved to Detroit michigan. Grandpa ran a lunch canteen outside the Ford Motor Plant.

Grandpa was a family man. His wife called him Billy. He adored her. On Sunday mornings, when they were older, he would bring toast and tea to her bed. His one flaw; he was very very careful with his money. One could say he was true to his scotch heritage.

When Ellen and I were young and our family was living in Overland Park, Grandpa loved to hold us on his lap and sing to us. He sang war songs like In the Navy, A Long Way to Tipperary, Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition etc. He also liked to sing the traditional songs of Scotland. We listened to I Love A Lassie,Bonnie Banks o Loch Lomond and other ballads. One favorite was a drinking song called A Wee Deoch-an' Doris. Grandpa would sing the chorus.:

Just a wee deoch an' doris
Just a wee drap, that's a'
Just a wee deoch an' doris
Afore ye gang awa'
There's a wee wifey waitin'
In a wee but an ben
If ye can say "It's a braw, bricht.
Moonlicht nicht,"
Then yer a'right, ye ken.

Grandpa would also sing Come Josephine in my Flying Machine. I can still hear him singing it in my head. A few years ago I was going through a rough patch. I dreamt that Grandpa flew a WWI plane close to where I was standing. He actually dipped the plane so that I could see him. Then he winked at me. That dream made me feel happy. I felt that we are not alone or forgotten.

There were times when Grandpa got older that I lost patience with him. I hope he forgives me. He did not deserve my rude behavior. I wish all his great- grandchildren and great great grandchildren could have known him. They would have known a fine man.

Summer Haiku

Summer haiku from Haiku: The Poetry of Zen:

A red sun
Falls into the sea
What summer heat! by Natsume Soseki

Are there
Short-cuts in the sky,
Summer moon? by Lady Sute- Jo

Sunset
red flesh of the melon
exposed. by HK