It's a Tennessee Blizzard, Y'all!

Northerners may chortle loudly, but today we had the Tennessee equivalent of a blizzard. I came home from work at 2 PM after setting up some cells for next week, just in time to see the rain starting to bounce off my car. It wasn't liquid falling anymore. 30 minutes later, my Nebraskan husband was strangely invigorated, bouncing from window to window, watching the snow fall in huge, wet flakes. A few inches accumulated in just a few hours. We walked to the local cafe, snapping pictures along the wandering way, for two large hot cocoas. How better could we spend a snowy afternoon? Enjoy the pictures.

Love is Strange

FRIVOLOUS CAT POST ALERT!

This is Jorge. Isn't he gorgeous? He's here for two things, one of which is food. It is springtime, you know. He is bold. He does not want to be petted. A snack is appreciated, but he really wants the small female hiding under my car.

Spot (a fixed female) is not amused. While I was outside, she felt relatively safe. She sat in front of the garage staring away from him, only occasionally directing a stabbing glare at him that screamed "YOU DESPICABLE CAD!" as well as any offended human could. Another black male from the neighborhood, Diego, arrived later. He. too, meowed for a snack. Evidently, when "courting", they're too obsessed to hunt. He is hiding under the other car. Poor Spot is not happy, but she can defend herself, and if she really wants them to leave, she'll hurt them, and hopefully they will go. But the soap opera out back is pretty funny to watch for now.

More From Bulletin 32

This is a flower from my backyard, as of this morning. We usually have at least one more cold snap after the flowers bloom like this.

Here is the section from Bulletin 32 that caught my eye, and would be just as relevant today in a magazine article as it was in 1916:

There is probably no other section of the country where farmers can live more cheaply, healthily, and happily than here in the South, where choice vegetables of some kind can be had every day in the year, fresh from the garden. It is however, noticeable as a rule that the farmer is the most poorly fed of all classes of individuals, when he should be the best, for the reasons given below. 

1. He can have the choicest beef, pork, mutton, milk, butter, eggs, poultry, etc., raised on his farm; and, handling it himself, he is sure it is clean, healthy, and wholesome. 

2. He can supply his table bountifully with every fruit and vegetable that will grow in a temperate or sub-tropical climate (the list is too long to mention here), and all from his own garden, field, and orchard.

3. Fresh fruits and vegetables have a medicinal value, and when wisely prepared and eaten every day will go a long way toward keeping us strong, vigorous, happy, and healthy, which means greater efficiency and the prolonging of our lives.

I take back what I said yesterday about Carver not stressing veggies enough. His advice is timely. As Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun.

G.W. Carver Bulletin 32-Meals For Farmers

The posts for the next few days will be from this bulletin. Wisdom if ever I read any!

This bulletin, entitled"Three Delicious Meals Every Day for the Farmer", was written in 1916. It appears to be public domain, so I'll quote it freely.

As we learn more about ourselves, and the relation of food to our well-being, we cannot but agree with those who have made it a study that "the prosperity of the nation depends on the health and morals of its citizens, and the health and morals of a people depend mainly upon the food they eat, and the houses in which they live. As a rule we are wasteful; we do not know how to save. Ignorance in the kitchen is one of the worst curses that ever afflicted humanity, and is directly or indirectly responsible for more deaths than all the armies combined.

He goes on to talk specifically about bad selection of food (not having nutrients to build a body or keep it healthy), bad combinations of food (creating a body "un-nourished and overstimulated"), and bad food preparation (he says 75% of those entrusted with it were deficient- in 1916!). This bulletin could be sent out today, and it would be timely. I would add more veggies to his rotation of meal plans, but as a plan for a one-horse farmer, he has very good ideas.

A Garden as Health Insurance

This is a small head of broccoli from last year's garden.

Could raising some of your own food qualify as health insurance? If you raise the right stuff, and don't hurt yourself, probably. Most of the really early stuff is cruciferous (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale), and the whole cole family is really good for you. Sulfurophanes (from broccoli) have anti-cancer properties.

 I read today that " health care" takes up 16.7% of our national budget- not government spending, but GDP. It is due to take up more than 20% by 2018. Are we really THAT sick? Is that much medication really necessary? I knew a woman who lived well into her 80s, who said that she never went to a doctor, except to have a baby delivered, for most of her adult life. I daresay most of my ancestors, living on farms many miles from large cities, could say something similar. They raised food for themselves, and worked physically hard all their lives. Maybe we should do more of the same.

The Barren Trees Are Alive With Birds

A few of the trees are starting to wake up due to last week's warm spell, but most are still leafless. The flock of robins on which I commented a few days ago has not vanished to Parts North quite yet- they're just stripping berries in a different part of the neighborhood. I was amazed to go outside and hear the birds this morning- spring is coming, even if the weather is cold. The birds are singing louder and longer, and getting bolder as well, sitting in trees or on wires to watch me put out birdseed. I talked to a mockingbird this afternoon. It was alerting me to the presence of Spot, and I told him/her that Spot was duly noted. I like how mockingbirds seem to curse at cats. When young are fledging, the adults will actively attack (they dive bomb for the eyes, from above and behind) any cat that comes out from under a roof. Most cats just find a sheltered area and wait it out. This is my wild kingdom at work.

An Afternoon Spent Mending

Is a good afternoon indeed. Seams tend to rip loose easily in shirts these days. Upon close examination, I could probably make one as well (or better) as the ones in the stores are made, so I'll try. They don't leave much in the way of a seam allowance, though, which makes repair difficult.

In other news. the robins have NOT taken over the berry-producing world. They haven't shown up today at all, so they must have gotten what they wanted yesterday. The picture above is on the neighbor's roof, yesterday. 

I have so much stuff planted now that some of it has to go on the sun porch, to make room under the light downstairs. The garden is getting ready to go outside and grow. I hope it does.