Thursday, April 22, 2010

Dogwood Acres, 4/12/10

DOGWOOD ACRES, 04/12/10, ELANE CRUM

Hello friends. Eating off the land…started the morning off with Venison roast in crock-pot and Rick added potatoes and carrots at the appropriate time. When I got home from work, it was all tender and ready to eat. It didn’t take long to “whop” a can of oversized biscuits and slide them into the oven. While the biscuits baked, I sliced five, yes, I did say “five”, small Morel Mushrooms into small circles. Amazingly, they did fill a skillet and we enjoyed this tasty delicacy.
Mushroom hunters are rising to the challenge and most are working really hard to find a good mess of mushrooms. Bessie and Brenda said they walked 45 miles to find 48 mushrooms. Rick made several trips into the woods before finding five little Morels huddled on a soft pond bank. I saw Kathy Tilley in the grocery store this evening and she said they had found seven. Rick thinks the mushrooms need more rain, but this week looks rather dry.
I talked to Uncle Bill and Aunt Roma today. She said they enjoy the beautiful view from their room at Wedgewood Gardens and love all the people there, very much like a big family. They do get out in the big brown Cadillac and can be seen traveling in the Forsyth area from time to time.
They will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary later this week on April 16. I know they would love to be surprised with a card shower from their many friends. The mailing address is Mr. & Mrs. Bill Smith, c/o Wedgewood Gardens, 17996 St Hwy 13, Reeds Spring, MO 65737.
This weekend was a big one for the young turkey hunters in our area. I heard that Abigail Biggs got her first turkey, a nice one with ten ¼” inch beard.
Dakota Bilyeu got an extra nice bird, the big old gobbler weighed 23 ½ lb and had an 11” beard. Sean said Dakota packed that big bird out of the woods all by himself although his insulated bibs was getting pretty warm. Someone asked why he was not going to have it mounted and he said he would wait until he gets a big one. Uncle Sean is real proud of Dakota, said the one thing he learned is not to give up on a hunt until you are back to the 4-wheeler.
When I stopped at Christie’s after work on Saturday, she was making gravy to go with the buttermilk biscuits that she and Madison had made from scratch. Maddy got her fingers in the dough and learned just how it is supposed to feel. She even tasted the baking powder and told me it was “nasty”.
The neighborhood coffee club met at Chuck and Pam Taylor’s Thursday morning, breaking the Saturday tradition, but sounded like they had a good time. Several of the ladies were there and Rick said everyone brought sweets. I had to be at work early and missed all of the fun.
Rick and I went out for our 42nd anniversary Friday evening. Although the anniversary was on April 4, he was too sick to go anywhere then. We had a nice dinner at Olive Garden and then went to the Baldknobber Show. It was their Area Appreciation show and the house was full. You would think with that many locals I would have seen someone I know, but for a change, Rick saw someone he knew. It was Junior Hensley, one of his Kraft truck driving buddies. They had a good visit and caught up with Kraft news.
We enjoyed the show immensely and loved seeing cousin Joy on stage. She enjoys singing so much and does such a good job of it.
Joy and her family are practicing for the 26th annual Bilyeu Family Concert at Ridgecrest Baptist in August. Her sweet husband posted one of the practice videos on Facebook, giving us a sneak peek at what is to come.
I called Rick’s mom in Oregon today to tell her she has new pictures to pick up Walgreen’s there in Cottage Grove. It is pretty neat to place a picture order online here in my living room and have it developed just down the street from her. That is quicker than mailing them and saves postage too. She is anxious to see pictures of the little goats, oh, and the granddaughters too, I am sure! Bye for now.

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