STAATS MILL COVERED BRIDGE

 

 The historic Staats Mill covered bridge, SE of Ripley, West Virginia, not far from Butter Rum Cartoon Industries.

 

 

THE WONDERFUL HOUSE CENTIPEDE

 

       Here's one animal you won't see me kill if I see one.  House centipedes don’t hurt you, or your clothes or your food.  They are only after the critters you don’t want in your house, like cockroaches and spiders, including brown recluses.  And they are remarkably fast.  The other night, while sitting on the toilet, I watched one run from under the foot stool across the room and out under the bathroom door.  'Way to go,' I thought, 'Find those pests.'

 

 

RIVER JOURNEY FROM SULTAN TO EVERETT

       In the late 1960s Jim Burnham and I built a raft using four 55-gallon drums and took a 35-mile journey down the Sultan and Skykomish and Snohomish Rivers from Sultan, Washington, to Everett, Washington.  

       Leaving with a wooden box of supplies and two poles for maneuvering, we got caught in a large whirlpool where we spun around several times until finally being let go and pulled into the larger river, where we lost the poles right off and gave our fate over to the river's currents for the whole journey.  

       In Snohomish we had a dock mishap and lost our box of supplies, including my rucksack and favorite jackknife.  The journey lasted all night, through the cold darkness.  

       By the time we got to Lowell, at the edge of Everett, one of our metal drums had leaked so badly, probably from damage in one of the shallow rapids, that the raft was leaning.  In Lowell we happened to pass beneath a tree where both of us jumped up and grabbed onto the branches and climbed down to earth, leaving the raft to continue on its own journey.  

       Nothing to it.

 

 

 

FLUFFY BANANA CAKE

 

My Dad with our banana wedding cake, as I signed our marriage certificate.

Fluffy Banana Cake
 
Put into small bowl of mixer:  2 large or 3 small bananas broken into chunks.  Beat on No 3 speed until mashed.  Measure out one cup.
 
Sift together:  2 cups flour sifted
                      1/2 teas. baking powder
                      3/4 teas. baking soda
                      1/2 teas. salt
 
Put in large bowl of mixer:  1/2 cup soft shortening
                                           1 1/2 cups sugar
                                           2 eggs unbeaten
                                           1 teas. vanilla
 
Beat on No 8 speed for 1 1/2 minutes, scraping the bowl while beating.  Stop mixer.
 
Add 1/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk.
Add sifted flour mixture alternately with mashed bananas while beating on No. 3 speed.  Scrape bowl while beating.  Beat only until blended.  Pour into well oiled pan.
 
Bake 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes
 

Fluffy Boiled Icing
 
Combine in saucepan:
 
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt.
 
Stir until well blended.  Boil slowly without stirring until mixture will spin a long thread when a little is dripped from a spoon  Hold spoon high above pan. (238 - 242 degrees)
 
Meanwhile put into large bowl of mixer 2 egg whites.  Beat on No 10 speed until stiff but still moist.  About 2 1/2 minutes.  Scrape bowl while beating.  
 
Pour hot syrup slowly over egg whites while beating on No. 10 speed.  Continue to beat until mixture is very fluffy and will hold shape.
 
Add 1 teaspoon vanilla.
 
Beat until blended.  If icing does not seem stiff enough, beat in 2 or 3 Tablespoons of powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time.  (I always have to do this).

 

 

Mom made Micki and me a three-tiered version of this cake for our wedding.  It was great!

SHEEP DETECTIVES

 

"Sheep Detectives" is the best movie Micki and I have seen in a long time, and the fullest we've seen a theater in a long time.  It's excellent and entertaining on many levels, through all emotions.  Yet nothing offensive. When the lights came on at the end, I had (nice) tears rolling down my face.  Embarrassing.  We'll be getting the DVD, too.

The Trailer