Soil and Soul

The Arkansas Delta might be one of the poorest regions of the United States, but it's an area that is rich in musical culture and heritage, particularly the Blues. A friend told me about a website that offers a free CD of Delta music just for the asking. So, I asked and this is what they sent me.


In addition to the CD (which includes music from artists like Albert King, Al Green, Johnny Cash and Charlie Rich) there is a DVD of interviews with several musicians discussing the history of the Blues and the music it relates to such as Southern Gospel, Country, Jazz, Rockabilly and Rock & Roll. The brochure pictured with the CD/DVD is a promotional travel guide for the Arkansas Delta.

To get your own CD/DVD (it appears to be limited to those in the US), click on this link: Arkansas Delta Byways.

Thanks for letting me know about this wonderful freebie, Jamie!

Human Bones!!

Did I get your attention with the scary title for my Halloween entry? Well, sorry....it's not really a scary entry, but it does contain human bones!


We're part owners of some farmland in the Arkansas Delta. Earlier this month some bones were uncovered in one of the fields following some leveling work. An article from a newspaper in that area stated the operator of a land plane made the discovery. In truth, it was someone trespassing on our property (looking for arrowheads) that found them. Click on the link below if you'd like to read the full article.

Ashley County Ledger

It's a whopper!

Last weekend we attended a 90th birthday reception for my husband's aunt. It was a grand affair at her church with lots of friends and family. A real celebration! One of those in attendance was a woman who had worked for his aunt for many, many years. When she saw my husband she teased him saying he never brought her any fish like he promised. He just laughed and said he would bring them to her this week. Friday was the first chance we had to make good on his promise. Thank goodness the fish were biting!!

Here's the stringer with my catch. Notice two of them are rather large. We each use our own stringer so one of us doesn't have to miss out on fishing while stringing the other's fish! How competitive is that?!

This might be the largest fish I've ever caught. We didn't have a "de-liar" with us but I think it was five pounds or better!

I really looked rough in these photos so I cropped my head out, but you can still see my fancy rubber boots!

iPod Roulette for October

This month's spin of the wheel turned up some very mellow stuff and certainly not a good cross-section of what's on my iPod. That's okay. It all fit the mood at the time.


1. Embraceable You (Billie Holiday) - What a great voice this woman has!

2. Listen to the Rhythm of the Falling Rain (The Cascades) - This must be something of a "one hit wonder" since I don't know of anything else they did.

3. Bushwick Blues (Delta Spirit) - A freebie from Starbucks.

4. Sweet Little Sixteen (Chuck Berry) - This makes me think of that scene from Back to the Future when Berry's "cousin" calls him after hearing Marty McFly play Johnny B. Goode

5. Shoo-Shoo Baby (John Kirby) - Big Band music.

6. Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac) - I always think of Marion when I hear Fleetwood Mac or Stevie Nicks!

7. Lilac Wine (Jeff Beck) - This song featuring Imelda May is on the album I wrote about here.

8. Best of My Love (The Emotions) - This is on the soundtrack for the movie Boogie Nights. It's a great soundtrack!!

9. No More Lonely Nights (Paul McCartney) - Everyone is entitled to their opinion and that includes Sir Paul. However, I wish people wouldn't quote "facts" when, in fact, their facts aren't factual! Especially when they're celebrities (which for some unknown reason seems to make their opinions count for more in some people's eyes). I'll just leave it at that for now.

10. Veni Sancte Spiritus (Colin Towns) - Colin Towns did the score for the PBS Cadfael series.

11. The Wondrous Word (The Melody Boys Quartet) - Southern Gospel music.

12. The Girl is Mine (Michael Jackson) - This song features Paul McCartney. Michael Jackson might have been very weird, but he was a great musician and dancer.

13. Duke's End (Genesis) - Another track from their Duke album (which seems to pop up a lot in my roulette).

14. Head Over Heels (Tears for Fears) - Love this group and this song!

15. Fortunate Son (Credence Clearwater Revival) - My brother is probably looking at this wondering why I have any CCR in my iTunes since he knows I don't much care for them (especially Proud Mary). This just happens to be on the Forrest Gump soundtrack and I uploaded the entire thing.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I love cheese! Every so often I like to try a variety that's out of the ordinary for me. Most recently I brought home some Fontina cheese, the Danish version. Although I had an idea of what I wanted to do with it I didn't have a recipe, so I just experimented. It turned out to be delicious! I wish I'd taken a photo.


Stuffed Chicken Breasts

3 or 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 or 4 shaved slices of smoked ham
sliced Fontina cheese
1 egg
seasoned bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400F.
Make a slit in the thickest part of each chicken breast. Stuff first with cheese then a slice of ham. Secure with a wooden toothpick. Lightly beat the egg into a small bowl and pour some breadcrumbs into another bowl. Dip each stuffed chicken breast into the egg before rolling in the bread crumbs. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat and lightly brown chicken breasts on both sides. Place into a glass baking dish sprayed with cooking spray and bake, uncovered, approximately 30 minutes or until done.
Be careful not to eat the toothpick!

Being Green

I've never really thought of myself as a "green" person. Definitely not a "tree hugger" (and I'm not using the term in a derogatory fashion). I started taking stock of my life, though, and realized I'm a lot more environmentally conscious than I gave myself credit for.

We have a very energy efficient home* - double/triple glazed windows, ridge vents, ample insulation in the ceiling, water heater wraps, and reduced flow shower heads. We use CF bulbs in our fixtures, close the blinds on the sunny side of the house, and try to keep chargers unplugged when not in use. We've always recycled aluminum, paper and plastic** and have just recently started composting. I use cloth bags whenever possible when shopping and when purchasing my last car, dropped back to a better gas mileage 4 cylinder engine. These are just a few of the little things.... but they all add up.

Here are a couple of websites I ran across awhile back that you might find interesting.

Earth911

The Freecycle Network



* We originally built it this way over 20 years ago. When I was drawing house plans in college 30 years ago we were designing them using solar panels, berming, etc.!

** We live outside the city limits so this involves carting all our recycle stuff to the center ourselves rather than just putting it curbside.

Throwdown!

Bobby Flay's Throwdown! is one of my favorite Food Network programs. (Chopped is my favorite) Here's the premise in a nutshell: A regional chef/cook who is the best of the best at a particular dish is approached by FN with the offer of appearing on a show which will feature their particular dish. While filming the episode Bobby Flay shows up and challenges them to a "throwdown" between their dish and his own version that's he's created specifically for the event. Usually the opponent wins, but even when they don't they're still a winner in that they've received national recognition.

Flay put out a Throwdown! cookbook this month which includes an episode guide for the seven seasons of the show along with recipes from 51 of those episodes. Obviously they couldn't include all the episodes because many of the participants had closely guarded recipes whose secrets they wouldn't reveal.

I like the layout of the book. Each featured episode begins with Flay describing the dish in question and his approach to it in the test kitchen. His recipe and the contestant's are both included, with a notation as to which was the "winner". There are quotes from the contestants, photos from the show, and contact information for the participants (name, establishment, hometown, website, phone).

I'm looking forward to slowly making my way through the cookbook and trying some of the recipes.

(Least) Favorite Five - Pet Peeves

Admit it. We all have them. You know..... those little annoyances and irritations that get under your skin.


1. Tailgaters - I tend to drive the speed limit or a few mph over. I can't imagine why anyone thinks it's going to make me go faster if they get right on my behind. If anything, I'll drive more slowly!

2. People talking loudly on their cellphones in public - This is even worse if they're using Bluetooth. I can't count the number of times I've mistakenly thought someone was speaking to me! I really don't want to hear all about their life.

3. Unsupervised/unruly children in public - I think some of the worst offenders are at buffets. I hate seeing kids clearly younger than the specified "go it alone" age picking through the desserts after picking their nose.

4. Invasion of my personal space - There have been so many times in a checkout line I've wanted to turn to the person behind me and say "Please. I'm not through here yet. Can you wait your turn?". Of course I'm too polite to do that, but I will turn and give "the look".

5. People that enter through the "out" door - This mainly bothers me if I'm pushing a heavy cart of purchases and have to come to a complete stop to wait for them to get out of the way. It would be different if there wasn't a specific door for entering.


All pretty silly in the grand scheme of things. So, what bugs you?

An unexpected outing

We usually do most of our fishing in the Spring and early Summer. After that it just gets too darned hot. Once things cool down in the Fall it gets dark too early and we're usually busy with other stuff.

This afternoon my husband came in from doing some chores in the pasture and suggested we try our luck since he'd seen some activity in the pond. I had about an hour to spare, so I agreed. Besides, I was curious to see how the pond looked. He had mentioned earlier in the week that it was lower than he had ever seen it before.

We quickly gathered our gear and headed to the pond. He wasn't kidding!! The water level has probably dropped at least three feet! We had a couple of small storms pass through last night, but the little bit of rain they provided mostly just settled the dust. Since there were fire ants in the boat and we were pressed for time we just cast from the bank. He caught a fairly decent bass along with something that got away before he could reel it in. I managed to snag three small bass. All of them went back in the water for another time.

Not much of an adventure, but it was a pleasant change of pace. Actually, the best part of the outing was getting to wear my new rubber boots! Aren't they snazzy? They sure beat my old black ones!

Mooooo!

I came home from Bible study today to find a note on the counter:

"Gone to get cow food. Be home ASAP"


Something about that just made me smile. I never dreamed 30 years ago I would live in the country, enjoy hunting and fishing, and have livestock.

Life is good!