Opa's place -Where an old rooster visits with friends

[preciouskitty]

What a wonderful sentiment

Yes it is...so glad I now know about this site for my daily Opa inspiration. Always brings a smile to my face, brightens my day..& brings me up when I'm feeling down

 

[Opa]

I suppose that when ones sons are approaching their fifties they are no longer children but I think in my mind they will always be my "Kids". And it seems that my kids are always making me proud of them.

Yesterday was a good example. I had told everyone to come when ever they wanted and to plan on eating at 2pm. I thought that by having our meal then it would allow those driving some distance time to arrive and could be over early enough to allow their return home during daylight.

David and his wife arrived about 11:30am to help if needed and to visit with our old friend and his great nephew and nieces. The friends Marvin had asked arrived about 12:30 and we sat waiting for the relatives to arrive. Finally I decided to wait no longer and started frying fish and when enough was on hand everyone starting eating. Finally at 2:30 the great nephew, his wife, and his in-laws arrived, and then twenty minutes later the two nieces.

They laughingly apologized for being late but I still thought it was a little inconsiderate. The one niece had told me she was coming straight from the airport and should be there by 9am to allow her lots of time to visit. Marvin had awoke at 6am in anticipation. Her only comment was I decided to go her sister's first. A phone call telling us of her change in plans would have been nice and would have kept the old man from looking at his watch every ten minutes.

Equally irritating was they knew that the old man was giving each of them a check for $12,000 so you think that would have been incentive to arrive on time.

Still the event went well. Everyone enjoyed the food. And most importantly, my old friend was happy. Around 5pm we loaded almost everything I had taken into my truck and Hope, Granny, and I headed home. It had been a long day for all of us.

Now to why I was so proud of David. After we left he and Amy decided to stay a while longer to visit with Marvin and his relatives. It gave him an opportunity to gauge how that portion of Marvin's family had altered his will.

Our old friend was once again stating his reasons for disinheriting their father and they too soon were voicing their own grievances. While David and I have our own complaints against the nephew, the greatest was his disregard for his uncle and his greed. But rather than join in the "bash party" he sat and listened until an opportunity came that he could bid all adieu.

He told me later that he wanted the great nieces and great nephew to only remember his voicing concern for our old farmer's welfare, his commitment to taking care of him, and not one word uttered against their father.

I can't help but be proud of a boy that thinks that way.

 

[tntchix]

I suppose that when ones sons are approaching their fifties they are no longer children but I think in my mind they will always be my "Kids". And it seems that my kids are always making me proud of them.

Yesterday was a good example. I had told everyone to come when ever they wanted and to plan on eating at 2pm. I thought that by having our meal then it would allow those driving some distance time to arrive and could be over early enough to allow their return home during daylight.

David and his wife arrived about 11:30am to help if needed and to visit with our old friend and his great nephew and nieces. The friends Marvin had asked arrived about 12:30 and we sat waiting for the relatives to arrive. Finally I decided to wait no longer and started frying fish and when enough was on hand everyone starting eating. Finally at 2:30 the great nephew, his wife, and his in-laws arrived, and then twenty minutes later the two nieces.

They laughingly apologized for being late but I still thought it was a little inconsiderate. The one niece had told me she was coming straight from the airport and should be there by 9am to allow her lots of time to visit. Marvin had awoke at 6am in anticipation. Her only comment was I decided to go her sister's first. A phone call telling us of her change in plans would have been nice and would have kept the old man from looking at his watch every ten minutes.

Equally irritating was they knew that the old man was giving each of them a check for $12,000 so you think that would have been incentive to arrive on time.

Still the event went well. Everyone enjoyed the food. And most importantly, my old friend was happy. Around 5pm we loaded almost everything I had taken into my truck and Hope, Granny, and I headed home. It had been a long day for all of us.

Now to why I was so proud of David. After we left he and Amy decided to stay a while longer to visit with Marvin and his relatives. It gave him an opportunity to gauge how that portion of Marvin's family had altered his will.

Our old friend was once again stating his reasons for disinheriting their father and they too soon were voicing their own grievances. While David and I have our own complaints against the nephew, the greatest was his disregard for his uncle and his greed. But rather than join in the "bash party" he sat and listened until an opportunity came that he could bid all adieu.

He told me later that he wanted the great nieces and great nephew to only remember his voicing concern for our old farmer's welfare, his commitment to taking care of him, and not one word uttered against their father.

I can't help but be proud of a boy that thinks that way.

Wow, you should be proud of David. Not many these days can resist the temptation of bashing another especially when they aren't there to defend themselves. Not that Marvin's son needs defending from the sounds of things.

It saddens me to see how many folks take arrival times as a joke, as if we may not have anything else planned afterward. It only takes a moment to call and let someone know, but somehow it just doesn't happen much.
A running joke in DH clan is to tell the youngest an hour earlier and the oldest an hour later or we would never get anything done.

 

[lularat]

Hi, I have just stumbled upon this thread and seems like you all are a great bunch. Would like to pop in from time to time. I live in eastern NC and the weather is hot and humid this time of year. Can't wait for Fall. I got into chickens last April when I got 6 red sex link hens. They are now 15 months old and laying really good and spoiled rotten. I never thought that I would grow to love those girls like I do. I have 2 grown children and 3 grand kids, 1 spoiled cat, and now down to 2 pet rats. I am a devout animal lover. I'm also doing a little gardening in raised beds this year.

Opa, I have lost both my parent in the last several years, and I also feel that as long as there is someone to remember them, they are never gone. I hold on and cherish those memories everyday.

 

[Opa]

My marriage to the mother of my sons ended in divorce almost 40 years ago. After 11 years of trying to get her to change I realized that we were both going to be miserable and it would adversely affect our children. While there were many things that contributed to the divorce, punctuality was a very important issue. I was tired of having to tell her we were to be somewhere two hours before the actually time to allow us to arrive somewhere close the real time.

In all of my years on the fire department I was never once late and I lived 45 miles from work. There were several guys who lived in town and were late on a regular basis. Punctuality seems to be a vanishing trait with many people. One complaint I would constantly hear from customers complaining about others was that scheduled appointments were rarely on time if at all.

I would tell folks that if I schedule an appointment and fail to arrive on time or fail to call to say that I am running late, they should buy flowers. I've always felt that death is the only legitimate excuse for failing to call or arrive on time.

 

[tntchix]

My marriage to the mother of my sons ended in divorce almost 40 years ago. After 11 years of trying to get her to change I realized that we were both going to be miserable and it would adversely affect our children. While there were many things that contributed to the divorce, punctuality was a very important issue. I was tired of having to tell her we were to be somewhere two hours before the actually time to allow us to arrive somewhere close the real time.

In all of my years on the fire department I was never once late and I lived 45 miles from work. There were several guys who lived in town and were late on a regular basis. Punctuality seems to be a vanishing trait with many people. One complaint I would constantly hear from customers complaining about others was that scheduled appointments were rarely on time if at all.

I would tell folks that if I schedule an appointment and fail to arrive on time or fail to call to say that I am running late, they should buy flowers. I've always felt that death is the only legitimate excuse for failing to call or arrive on time.

I actually tell people that very thing when they ask why I am always early. Lucky for me, hubs feels the same way even after 25 yrs of being stuck with me.

 

[IttyBiddyRedHen]

Wonderful account Opa....of the family gathering and catfish dinner.

I may not get to participate in something like that...but it sure is nice reading about others family life.

Punctuality ...or lack there of...is my pet peeve also. I am always at least 15 minutes early to anywhere I have an appointment to...be it personal or job related...or otherwise. I would rather be early and wait...then be disrespectful and show up late. My husband is the same way.

 

[7 Biddies]

I'm a school psychologist for a public school system and we constantly set up meetings to discuss students with their parents. Many times the meetings are scheduled back to back all day, and are carefully timed so that teachers can attend during planning time without having to neglect their students. But, for some reason, many parents think that a meeting time with school personnel is just a suggestion and arrive HOURS early or late, or not at all. The lack of courtesy or understanding never ceases to amaze me.

 

[lularat]

I am from the old school and we were taught punctuality. It amazes me at the people who could care less about arriving on time, or much less arriving at all. I work in the medical field and it is nothing for people to not show up for an appointment. They don't even call to cancel. Shows no respect or responsibility.

 

[Opa]

This evening when checking the daily news on line, I saw one article titled Just when when you thought bacon couldn't get any better". Thirty odd years ago a medical study announced that we should avoid eating bacon as it would lead to the development of cancer. Given how incredible a BLT can be I decided to ignore a paper that had to have been published by quacks. Given my love of bacon it was only natural I had to find out how it was possible for it to taste any better.

The article turned out to be a bust but it did mention "candied" bacon. Of course that sounded delightful so I started searching. I found so many recipes and ingredients that now I will be trying many of them to see which variation I prefer.

In some recipes a wet glaze is applied in multiple coats and in other a heavy mixture of sugars and spices is applied dry half way through the cooking process. One of the first I intend to try was glazing with honey, coriander, and chili powder. Several coats are applied as the bacon cooks.

With a second method the bacon is baked for 10 minutes then each strip is coated with brown sugar and cayenne. The bacon is pressed into the mixture, coating both sides then returned to the oven to finish.

I've always enjoyed eating bacon and now that I've become aware that it can be candied I think I will like it even more.