Just because I say I have an ace up my sleeve, doesn't necessarily mean I'm playing poker....but it might mean that because I really like to play poker. In my book, it means I have a trick or two held in reserve that I can always call upon. And, that reserve ace up my sleeve might mean I win and the opponent loses in whatever game or situation I'm in. It's always lurking around up my sleeve .... somewhere ..... but I don't always know where!
Usually, just when I think I'm on my last leg with coming up with a win, I always find that extra ace tucked up my sleeve....sometimes it's slid clear to the armpit and is a bit musty smelling, but most of the time the ace comes through. When a fat chick like me loses that ace up the sleeve, it can mean trouble.....it might have fallen from the armpit of the sleeve to the belly folds of the big fat tummy. And once that ace becomes lodged in those tummy fat folds, it's almost a hopeless cause.....it's a mighty big job to lift up those tummy fat folds and do a search like a detective would do.....and besides, when I have to run around, those tummy fat folds might flop up and down and around and then that darn ace might have fallen from the fat folds of the tummy, down to the ankles and out on the floor. Hopefully I would have recognized the flopping sound of the flopping tummy fat folds and realized that the spare "ace up my sleeve" which fell to the fat folds of the tummy was about to become a floor ace ....I guess when I hear those flopping fat folds, I need to recognise it's time to catch the darn falling ace up my sleeve (aka fat-tummy-folds-ankle-floor-ace). It's bad being a fatty....with those fat tummy folds and all. I think I better start wearing panty hose to catch those spare "aces up the sleeve" that I always have lurking around in my sleeve. Just in case one of those "aces up the sleeve" slips up to my armpit and falls over the crevice of the sleeve armpit........and goes down the hatch.....at least the panty hose will catch them in the future and perhaps prevent the great flopping tummy fat folds........
Whewww!!!! It's a good thing I didn't say I had an ace in the hole, because I wouldn't even want to think where that spare ace in the hole that used to be my ace up the sleeve was .... or had been.
Old Tyme Greenview And Area...
From the History of Menard and Mason Counties 1879
D. H. ALKIRE, merchant, Sweetwater ; was born in Madison Co., Ohio, Dec. 2, 1824. Two years later, his father, J. N. Alkire, removed to Sugar Grove, in what is now known as Menard Co., 111. The father was a native of Kentucky, and the mother,
whose maiden name was Jane Henderson, was a native of Virginia. Our subject was brought up on his father's farm, in the vicinity of Sweetwater, where he received such education as the schools of that early day afforded. At 21 years of age, his father gave him eighty acres of wild prairie land, and he commenced business for
himself. He spent five years improving his land, when he engaged in the live-stock trade and hotel business in the village of Williamsville, Sangamon Co. At the expiration of two years, he returned to Sweetwater, and engaged in mercantile business, in
which he has since continued. In all of his business transactions, he has been very successful, and is what is properly termed a self-made man. He was united in marriage with Sarah Hayden in 1847. She is a native of Kentucky, and her parents were among the first settlers of Menard Co. From this union there were six children, four of whom are now living Thomas J., Mary J., Theodore and Lavina. The names of those deceased were Francis M. and Marion.
MILEM ALKIRE, farmer and stock-raiser; P. 0. Sweetwater; was born in Madison Co., Ohio, Sept. 10, 1818 ; oldest son of Leonard and Catharine Alkire, who came to Sugar Grove at a very early day ; our subject at this time was 6 years of age ; he had always a great fondness for books, and spent all his leisure time in study ; the
schools of that day afforded but poor advantages, but young Alkire persevered and succeeded in obtaining a good education ; at 21, he began life on his own account ; he has always been engaged in agriculture and stock-raising and has been very successful in
all his undertakings. He was united in marriage with Eliza J. Barnes Dec. 21, 1843 ; she was born in Bath Co., Ky., Aug. 29, 1823 ; her pa'rents removed to Logan Co., I11., at a verv early day; from this union there were nine children, six of whom are now living Eliza C., born Dec. 7, 1848; Franklin V., April 24, 1853; John B., Oct. 30,
1855; Thomas H., Aug. 11, 1859; Alvin D., July 2, 1862, and Milem C., Feb. 7, 1865 ; the names of those deceased were Louisa A., born Nov. 11, 1844, died Sept. 5, 1845 ; Leonard M., born Aug. 28, 1846, died Jan. 21, 1859 ; Mary A., born Jan. 22, 1851, died March 24, 1855. Mr. Alkire has held the offices of Associate Judge of Menard County and County Commissioner ; owns 750 acres of well-improved land ; he is a Democrat, although quite liberal in his views.
B. COPPER, farmer and stock-raiser ; P. 0. Sweetwater ; was born in Portage Co., Ohio, Dec. 14, 1809 ; third son and fifth child of Michael and Mary (Glasgow) Copper, who were the parents of nine children ; the father was a native of Kent Co., ., and the mother of Westmoreland Co., Penn. ; they were married in 1797 ; in 1838,
the parents came to Illinois and settled on Rock River in which is now known as Carrull Co.; in the summer of 1851, the father died ; this was the same year our subject came to Illinois ; he had passed his youth and early manhood in Licking Co., Ohio, assisting his father on the farm. He was married to Miss Eliza Pence, a native of Licking Co., in 1837 ; from this union there were three children William, David and George; Mrs. Copper died in the fall of 1853; Mr. Copper was married March 27, 1854, to Miss Emily Goff; the Goffs were early settlers of this county and date their history back to its first settlement ; from this union there are twelve children
Harvey E., Charles B., John E., Laura J., Eliza E., Sarah M., Robert F., Thomas H., Louis C., Ida F., Lorena and Lydia N. Mr. Copper owns 316 acres of land, 286 of which are well improved and which he has made by his own exertion. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church ; they have a nice home, pleasant family and are among Menard County's most respected citizens.
Business Directory 1879 - Greenview/Sweetwater:
Alkire, J. D., Banker.
Engle, M. M., Merchant.
Foster, J. T , Merchant.
Hughes, Daniel T., Druggist and
Apothecary. Prescriptions carefully pre-
pared. Also Justice of the Peace.
Hurst, Stith J., Physician.
Marbold, H. H., Banker and Dealer
in Live Stock.
Petrie, John A., Dealer in Hardware,
Grain and Farm Implements.
Petrie & CO., Dealers in Stoves, Tin-
ware, Agricultural Implements, and
Grain.
Petrie, David A., Dealer in Lum-
ber ; also Contractor and Builder.
Paulson, O. P., Livery, Feed and Sale
Stable.
Rule, H. K., Merchant, and Dealer in
Groceries, Dry Goods, etc.
SWEETWATER.
Alkire, D. H., Merchant.
Deal, George T., Dealer in Live
Stock.
Deal, John H., Miller.
Lee, John D., Physician.
Propst, Levi, Carpenter and Joiner.
Sharp, Adam, Maker of and Dealer
in Boots and Slices.
Schofleld, Joseph, Merchant.
Recipe
This recipe is for a simple pound cake, which is wonderful with strawberries on top.....or just to eat a slice. I don't ice pound cakes, but I like all cakes without icing.
Lemon Pound Cake
1 package Betty Crocker Yellow cake mix
1 3oz lemon jello
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon lemon extract
Mix ingredients. Pour into a greased loaf pan (or tube cake pan), floured lightly on the bottom, and bake at 325 degrees F. for one hour.
Thought For The Day
I am beginning to learn that it is the
sweet, simple things of life, which
are the real ones afterall.
--Laura Ingels Wilder
I remember the many days of staying at my grandparent's house. They lived out north and west of Greenview on Montgomery Road. I used to like to tag along behind grampa because he was a smart old man and he told me about things.....and taught me things too.
One time he taught me about kids getting spankings because they broke the china setting eggs while they were pretending to be a great cook. Yes that reference to kids getting spankings was me. How was I supposed to know that those pretty white eggs weren't really eggs at all....they were grandma's china eggs she put under an old hen when she wanted that hen to learn to sit on her eggs to hatch them. I took a couple of eggs over to the bar-b-que grill where I played sometimes. Grandma had given me an old skillet to play with so I could pretend I was cooking. I cracked the first egg and it had nothing in it....so I just cracked the other egg.....not one of those eggs had a yolk. I thought that was weird but I was only a young child. I hopped, skipped and jumped my way back to the real kitchen to ask grandma....she didn't laugh....in fact she was pretty mad. And, when gramps came in to eat, I got a swatting on the old hind end. I later learned that my sister had done the same thing several years earlier, but she destroyed more than I did.
Another thing gramps taught me was how to milk a cow. "Roll that teat" he would say. It didn't much matter how much I rolled, milk didn't come out....then one day it did and I still don't know to this day, what I had done wrong before that time.
He showed me how he could wring a chicken's neck with one swing of his arm; how to let it run around the yard until it dropped; then how to dip it in boiling water so the feathers would come off easy. I could never get that chicken's neck wrung, but I was a good feather plucker.
The weirdest thing he ever taught me was about a twig toothbrush. Gramps reached up into a tree and carefully selected a branch. It was a gum tree.....but I know he said that you could only get the branches from certain trees because of certain germ killing stuff in the trees...he said there were other trees he had used but he liked the gum tree the best. I remember he took his knife and a branch and then cut thin little strips in the top of the branch then he started chewing on the end of the branch. It looked like the top of one of those toothpicks you get sticking out of a club sandwich. He chewed on the branch it for a few minutes and rubbed it around on his teeth....I guess this swishing of the gum tree branch in his mouth was the toothbrush action. I didn't use one of those, but he also told me how I could take a nail and make a cut mark on the bark of a sweet gum tree. He told me I could come back in a couple of days, and there would be gum I could chew....he was right....it was a yellowish green gummy stuff. It didn't taste too badly....kind of sweet. Grampa told me this is what people chewed before chewing gum was made.
He taught me to run the old cream separator and how to sit still when grandma said a prayer. He taught me how to empty the tall old metal pot after I had gone to the bathroom in it....yuk, but I did it, because I hated to use the outhouse.
Grampa tried to teach me to play the fiddle and the harmonica, but it was a hopeless cause for me. I stuck to the piano when he played me a tune. He taught me how to play pinochle too and I even got so I could beat him! He carved wood, but he was afraid I would cut my finger off, so I just watched. I went with him when he hunted for morel mushrooms.
One of the main things he taught me was when I sat down to eat....he would say "girl, take all the food you want, but eat all of the food you take." And I did! He taught me to be as frugal as he was and to appreciate the bounty that was before me.
My list of things he taught me would probably be a mile long. He was a gruff old man, but I could wrap him around my finger. Not all of the grandkids could do that. Many times he got mad at me when I used the "party line" to call my friend Karen who lived down the road from gramps. I miss him a lot....he died in the summer of 1972, right before I gave birth to what would have been his first great-granddaughter....he knew it was a girl because he told me so when I visited him in the nursing home. I think I was the girl he never had....
Rating indicator is at the bottom of the post.
No comments:
Post a Comment