Kansas Prairie Archives for December 2003

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Saturday, December 20, 2003

I'VE MOVED MY BLOG TO A NEW SITE

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY NEW BLOG SITE. ALL FUTURE ENTRIES WILL BE MADE ON THE NEW SITE.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 06:53 PM CST [Link]

I'M MOVING TO A NEW SITE

I'm going to move my blog to a new site and I want it to be as simple as possible for all of you who, with steadfast loyalty, come to read what I have to say.

We have several options.

One: I can copy and paste entries from the old page onto the new page so readers don't lose a post.

Two: I can allow readers 90 seconds or so to read the old page before the redirect moves you (and later we can reduce the redirect time to 0 so it immediately goes to the new page)

Three: I can allow you to read and click to go to the new page.

The new page is going to look "almost exactly" like the page you are reading now. I don't think I'll use option two. I'm going to ask about a redirect going immediately to the new page with a link there to take you back to the old page, if that is where you want to be.

I'll figure it out sometime this weekend. Once done, it should be pretty straight forward and easy to navigate.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:28 PM CST [Link]

WHEW! THAT WAS A RUSH!

The troops from Texas arrived at 3:00 a.m. and Nickles was soon walking all around the house talking quietly to himself. You can hardly understand what he says, but he sure talks a lot for a little kid. He was looking at this and that and pointing like he was a tour guide in the Louvre.

Everyone found a place to sleep for a little while then we started all over again. The rest of the family converged like a swarm of locusts, ate most of the food, chatted and left by 12:30. It was quick, clean and fun.

They'll all be back in a couple of weeks. That will be nice.

Jack is exhausted after entertaining two very active golden retrievers for a few hours. I'm with Jack.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:18 PM CST [Link]

Friday, December 19, 2003

IT'S LIKE WAITING FOR SANTA CLAUS

Ready and waiting. That's where I am.

Mr. Claus and Jack have gone to bed and I'm busying myself with blogging and waiting for relatives to arrive.

There are two large casseroles of sausage, egg, cheese strata in the refrigerator. I didn't slack on the fresh fruit as everyone likes it too. It's a mixture of frozen sliced strawberries, Fuji apples, Asian pears, pineapple chunks, Ruby Red grapefruit and Clemtine sections. I made juice to cover it from frozen orange juice concentrate, Karo syrup, sugar and lemon juice...and the juice off the fruit. I'll add sliced bananas when I serve it.

Then, I cheated a bit, and made quick and easy breakfast rolls out of frozen roll dough, a mixture of butterscotch instant pudding, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves....with melted butter poured over the top. Half of it is loaded with pecans...the other half is plain. The rolls are resting on the countertop and will be ready to bake in the morning.

All our family members will be here in the morning...except for Rod and Mackenzie....to visit with the Houston relatives. It will be a fast and concentrated kind of gathering. And fun. With three dogs and a two-year old, it should be a noisy, active happening. We take advantage of opportunities for getting together whenever they roll around.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:34 PM CST [Link]

BASKETBALL AT BELOIT...unofficially

The girl's varsity team won. After that, the news is not good.

The varsity boys lost 57 - 63.

The JV boys lost 37 - 60.

The freshmen boys lost 23 - 34.

I don't know about the freshmen girl's game.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:37 PM CST [Link]

ALL YOU K-STATE FANS Click Here

Posted by Peg Britton @ 02:35 PM CST [Link]

FROM A K.C. FRIEND ABOUT WIND GENERATORS

John was the little kid across the street when we were growing up in the 800 block of Highland in Salina. We reconnected awhile back and are having a great time corresponding. His niece, Peggy, is my namesake. So...in a note today, John had this to say about wind generators:

...I used to see the windmills in the foothills between Stockton and San Francisco.... there were hundreds of them and from what the locals tell me, only about 10% of them worked.. a lot of government money spent for little return.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 02:27 PM CST [Link]

SENIOR CITIZEN

Going to KC's to eat used to be a lot more fun than it is now that I'm on THE DIET. About the only thing on the menu that works for me is a chef's salad with extra smoked turkey. It's good, but when you're sitting across the table from someone eating a big, ol' fat bacon cheddar cheeseburger with a side of baked beans, well, one can feel a bit deprived. They also make great breakfasts...blueberry pancakes, bacon and eggs. You know. Their food is good.

But, there is a really good side to it for me. There is a waitress there who always gives me the senior discount (but that's not the really good part....that is coming....) and she ALWAYS comments that I don't look old enough for a senior discount. Increduously, I say..."Really?" "Really", she says. You don't look anywhere near the age of a "senior". She makes a point of telling me. And, of course, I have to believe her. I always feel good when I walk out of there on a couple of counts.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:20 PM CST [Link]

NICKLES, THE GUITAR-PLAYING, SINGING-DANCING TWO YEAR OLD WILL SOON BE HERE!

My niece's two year old son, Nicholas, is bringing his parents and two dogs and will be here about 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning... or whenever their drive from Houston lands them in Ellsworth. We're playing musical beds as we have other house guests here too. It will be a bit like double-bunking in a submarine.

I am so excited to see all of them and have them here, if even just for a few hours. They live too far away to suit me and our visits are infrequent. They were here a year ago last February when Nickles was four months old. A steady stream of pictures has kept me up to date with his by leaps and bounds growth since then. He is such a precious child and is off to such a wonderful start in life.

They are on their way to Denver for Christmas with my sister-in-law and to visit other relatives and friends. They won't be here long, but all the family will converge in the morning for sausage, egg and cheese strata, mixed fresh fruits, caramel pecan rolls and juice. We always gather over food. (Ah...that pesky diet again).

It is going to be another glorious day.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:16 AM CST [Link]

URBAN LEGENDS

I went to urban legends this morning to retrieve info to send to a friend who sent me a forward about Microsoft giving away thousands of dollars to anyone who asks (can you imagine anyone believing this?....yeah, but gullible people do just that!) and it's been hacked wide open. I suppose this is a picture of the hacker's girlfriend! They'll probably fix it soon, but in the meantime, take a look:

CLICK HERE

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:46 AM CST [Link]

Thursday, December 18, 2003

EHS FRESHMEN GIRLS WON 57 TO 40 OVER STERLING. EHS FRESHMAN BOYS LOST TO TMP 33 TO 70.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:23 PM CST [Link]

SADDAM, "OPERATION PENCIL BOX", ETC. FROM KRIS THOMPSON VIA HIS MOM, CINDY MCATEE:

Another call from Kristofer, December 17, at 12:30 a.m! I have been DYING to talk with him after Saddam Hussein's demise, but their internet service has been down, plus they have been very busy with patrols and raids! Kris has driven down the road past the farmhouse where Hussein was found dozens of times. In fact, you can see the farmhouse from the palace complex where the 4th Infantry Division is based! He said the sun even came out after they arrested him! And, Kris bought Cuban cigars to celebrate! In Tikrit, the people are in shock and disappointment, as they thought Hussein would go out in a blaze of glory. They feel foolish now because Saddam is a coward, so in their minds, they are cowards too and a disgrace. That night, Kris and his group arrested three Arabs, who were shooting rifles, however, not at Kris! These Arabs lied rather than face disgrace. They would never tell the truth as they have a huge amount of pride. And, they were quite "angry" when they were captured. When Kris and his men arrested them, they swore they were shooting at "Ally Babba," which is their term for "the bad guys." Kris explained to them that he could have killed them. He cuffed and hooded them and hauled them in. He said he pulled blankets out of their tents to take with them, as it's "cold as hell" at night! He says, "Arabs are a trip!"

He said it's amazing, now, the notoriety of the 4th Infantry Division. They never participated in the first Gulf War. And of course, they entered Iraq after Operation Iraqi Freedom began, as Turkey would not allow them to enter from the north as originally planned. There has been nothing "distinguishing" about the 4th, and now they are famous! What a difference a day makes!

As many of you know, I organized a drive for our grade and middle school children to send school supplies to Iraq. I mailed 22 boxes of school supplies to Kris to be delivered to schools in Tikrit and Al Succor, a small village near Camp Speicher. I didn't realize it, but the entire 4th infantry division, which would be around 4,400 soldiers, participated in the project, too, called "Operation Pencil Box," where they gathered school supplies and cleaned up schools in an effort to develop a relationship with the Iraqi children. The mother of one of Kris's men also sent school supplies to her son. Kris said they were in "hot competition" to see who's mother sent the most! He thinks I won "by a narrow margin!"

A funny "Kris" story--Many of you know I receive a daily email from the 4th ID historian. In it, moms and wives send news from Iraq and oftentimes give advice on what to send your soldier. Last month there were many items recommended to send, long johns as one of them. It gets very cold at night, and now it's rainy there, so I thought I'd order thermal knits for Kris. When I told him I was sending them, he said, politely, that he already had some, so he would mail them back to me, and I could return them to LE. He thought I was referring to "red handles," as he always had a pair each year for Christmas pj's! Now, he thinks they are the best item he's received, as he had to sit out in the rain one night! I nearly died laughing, as I can see him as a little kid at Christmastime in his Christmas "jammies!"

You KSU fans will appreciate this story. He recently met a young guy, a civilian contractor, who works for an Australian company, KB&R, that builds housing and manages the Indians who cook their "chow." As I said earlier, it's rainy there, and this guy got his water truck stuck. Kris and his men pulled him out of the mud with their Bradley and when asked where the guy was from, he said he was from Manhattan and attended KSU! Of course, Kris insisted KU was the better school, but isn't it amazing that you would be halfway around the world and meet someone from Manhattan, Kansas!

There is a slight chance Kris will get to come home before April 15, but he's not getting his hopes up until he sees something in writing! I am definitely ready for him to be home and am planning a HUGE party in his honor! As always, thank you for your support and prayers. Love, Cindy

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:46 AM CST [Link]

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

MIDLAND UPDATE

My friend, Jean, just called with a Midland report. She and her husband just returned from there with full, happy tummies.

She had a club sandwich that she described as huge and delicious...not sure what else she had. Junior had prime rib, new potatoes, veggies, salad, and veggie soup, homemade rolls...and the two of them split a serving of pumpkin bread pudding with chantilly cream sauce. They said every bite of it was excellent and they loved visiting with the chef.

There were several other couples from Ellsworth there.

It was nice of her to call and tell me that.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:44 PM CST [Link]

KU SCHEDULE THIS WEEKEND

In the Wolf Pack Classic in Reno, KU will play UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m., CDT, Saturday. A game between Nevada and Alabama State will tip at 9:30 p.m.

On Sunday, KU will play host Nevada at approximately 9:30 p.m., after a 7:00 p.m. game between Alabama State and UC Santa Barbara. KU is taking 2,000 fans to the tournament.

On Tuesday, J.R. Giddens was named college basketball player Big 12 Rookie of the Week. He's a 6' 5" K.U. freshman guard from Oklahoma City. In high school he was a McDonald's All-American.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:19 PM CST [Link]

THIS TIME LAST YEAR

About this time last year I was in Wichita listening to Placido Domingo in concert...when he asked me to sing along with him. I did. It was as if I were the only one, but of course I wasn't. There were a few hundred who joined him in singing Christmas carols. It was magnificent.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:45 PM CST [Link]

I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE TO FORGET

Don and Pat Bender drove around the school house the other night wondering why all the cars were there. Later they realized their grandson was in a Christmas program they missed and they just felt terrible!

I know how they feel....

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:41 PM CST [Link]

PAULA SCHNEIDER

Paula Schneider deserves thanks from everyone in Ellsworth County for the great job she has done as County Treasurer. She's had the job for thirty years and passed the scrutiny of taxpayers who have repeatedly showed their confidence in her at the polls. We have confidence in her knowledge of the office and ability to fulfill its many obligations and duties.

We've all had personal experiences with Paula in her office. She explains things well when we're sure our car taxes just shouldn't add up to "that much"...and giggles when she's sure ENNUI isn't something that will cause her trouble if she issues me a personal car tag with that on it. And with a laugh, she'll retake one of those horrible pictures that appears on our driver's license.

She's done a terrific job and we're all indebted to her for that. Thanks, Paula.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:30 PM CST [Link]

I MISSED AN OPEN HOUSE

Dane and A.G. Edwards had an open house today. I was in Salina and could have gone. We intended to go and I just spaced it out. I know there were lots of yummies and it was special... I would have enjoyed it. Drat! I hate it when I forget things my kids or grandkids are involved in.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:59 PM CST [Link]

PAY PAL

I've blogged Pay Pal before but I'll do it again. I much prefer it to a lot of other ways of sending someone money. It's easy, secure and you can keep a handle on it. You open an account at your bank, put X number of bucks in the account and you're set.

Then go to https://www.paypal.com and open an account. It's pretty straight forward after that. If you buy a book on line or want to send someone who has an email address money, it will tell you how. You aren't exposing your credit card and you can't lose any more than you have in the special bank account. I've used it for some time now (not a whole lot) and have not had any problems. I've always had a zero balance with Pay Pal, but I may change that as otherwise it takes 3 to 4 days for the transaction to take place. Today it would have been better had I left a balance in Pay Pal as I wasn't anticipating needing it and did!

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:56 PM CST [Link]

SOMEONE I KNOW NAILED HER COURSES THIS SEMESTER...

Data Strucutres: A-
Digital Logic: A-
Digital Logic Lab: A
Electronic Circuits: A
Electronic Circuits Lab: A
Scientific Computing: A-
Java: A (Graduate course)

Exceptional grades considering she also works at least 10 hours a week as an industry scholar. Now she's officially a senior.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:41 PM CST [Link]

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

NOT IN MY BACKYARD

Letter to the Editor: The El Dorado Times

Winds farms are coming to Kansas. I am not against generating electricity with wind power, but I am
concerned about placing wind generators on the Flint Hills.

People who live in the Flint Hills work long hours for little pay and their major reward is enjoying the
view, the sight and sounds that nature provides and the stillness of the area.

The wind towers are 225 feet tall, lit with strobe lights, supporting three blades with a diameter of 200 feet.

Overall visual height reaches 350 feet. The turbines rotate 15-20 revolutions per minute with tip speeds reaching 160 MPH or higher. The sound created has been compared to automobiles traveling down the highway. Future production models of wind turbines are larger, reaching heights of 500 feet.

The ecology of the hills can be fragile when extensively damaged. Installation of each tower requires steel reinforced concrete slabs 25 to 30 feet deep. A road will be constructed to each turbine and the electrical cables will be buried three feet underground. If these generators do not prove to be successful, clean up and restoring the grass takes years and can never be brought back to its original status. Placing structures on farm ground is less destructive as compared to the rocky Flint Hills.

These wind turbines are expensive, 1.2 to 1.5 million dollars each. Even if these turbines could operate
constantly at maximum power, which they undoubtedly won’t, to generate and equal amount of power as Wolf Creek Nuclear plant would require 790 turbines costing over one billion dollars. Wind farms operate in the area of 30-40% efficiency.

Wind generating companies are given a tax credit of 1.8 cents per kilowatt and the State of Kansas does not require any property tax on these structures.

Land owners are well paid for the placement of the towers. Many absentee landowners of Flint Hills'
grassland are not affected by the sights and sounds of the turbines.

It would be unfortunate if the uniqueness of the Flint Hills is changed by giant, man-made pinwheels.

Questions and or comments can be directed to the Butler County Planning/Development office at (316)322-4325 or e-mail www.tkennemer.com

Arlan Stackley
El Dorado

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:52 PM CST [Link]

-ROBERT HUDSON IS OUT OF INTENSIVE CARE

Limited details of the condition of Robert Hudson: he is out of intensive care, has a badly crushed hip and the family is helping him make decisions on what to do about it. He has already had back surgery. He is in Via Cristi Hospital in Wichita.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:32 PM CST [Link]

BOTTLED WATER

I've never bought the idea that water on the grocery store shelves or out of dispensers was better than what I have at the tap in my own home. Well, I know for a fact it isn't. We've had a reverse osmosis system for a long, long time, but aside from that, the city water tests out pretty well in this crazy world that loves to pollute our water supplies.

And most of the articles I've read about it indicate that someone down the line out of our sight is filling bottles out of their spigot of city water to sell to us, the unsuspecting. The "pure spring water" pitch sounds good, but it isn't always "pure" or "spring water". I'm sure some of it may be better, but I couldn't identify which one and the difference is probably incalculably minute.

It seems sensible to be thrifty with plastic bottles of water. They are convenient and I drag them around a lot, especially in the summer when I am out and about in my car, attending a ball game, or generally putting myself in a position where I might want a drink of water and don't want to pay an arm and a leg for it. I refill my bottles, keep some in the freezer "at the ready", and have a bottle or two handy when I need it. I clean them out good with an added drop of bleach.

The fact we are all drinking more water is a healthy thing, doctors say, but the plastic bottles aren't. Last year alone, more than 93 billion plastic water containers wound up in U.S. landfills. I'm sure we and other small towns weren't in on that count. But think about it...placed end to end, that's enough bottles to reach the moon and back 38 times. ONE YEAR! That doesn't count the ones that were recycled. We're going to be swimming in the effluence of our own affluence ones of these days. If those bottles were recycled they could provide enough material for 3.3 billion ski jackets or 546 million sleeping bags, "they say". L.L. Bean offers Adirondack chairs made from recycled plastic jugs.

And...it leaves me with a good feeling knowing that a lot of my friends and neighbors are just as frugal as I when it comes to bottled water. It makes sense.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:56 PM CST [Link]

SHOT IN THE EAR

A friend got shot in the ear. A bullet went through his windshield, through his ear and out the back window of his pickup truck. I'm horror struck at the thought of it.

What kind of crazy people do we have running around the county with high-powered rifles shooting at anything that moves?

Posted by Peg Britton @ 12:10 PM CST [Link]

HARDY'S IS HELPING US DIETERS

Hardy's Restaurant is going to be offering a big hamburger patty sans bun and wrapped in lettuce leaves thus eliminating most of the carbs. Yea! McDonald's say they won't follow suit, but others might. The Atkins and South Beach diets have caused lots of alterations in the food business. Alas! The struggle of it all.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:02 AM CST [Link]

WHATEVER WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, DIDN'T

False alarm. The weather system that was supposed to add a couple of inches to our present accumulation didn't happen in my yard.

The sun is trying to emerge...looks like it might be another nice day.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:53 AM CST [Link]

HUDSONS INJURED IN CAR ACCIDENT

Two Ellsworth residents were injured Sunday when the Ford Explorer they were in hit a guard rail on Interstate Highway 70 then bounced over it and rolled. According to a report from the Kansas Highway Patrol, Robert J. Hudson, 60, Ellsworth, was driving west in the passing lane of I-70 three miles east of the Kansas Highway 156 exit about 3:15 p.m. Sunday when he topped the crest of a hill. Blowing snow made the road slick, and Hudson lost control. Robert Hudson and his passenger, Tracy Hudson, 53, Ellsworth, were wearing seat belts. Robert Hudson was taken to Salina Regional Health Center, then transferred to Via Christi Regional Medical Center's St. Francis Campus in Wichita, where he was listed in fair condition Monday. Tracy Hudson was taken to Ellsworth County Medical Center. A spokesperson said that because of federal privacy laws, no information could be released about Hudson.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:38 AM CST [Link]

Monday, December 15, 2003

ADULT STORE BATTLE HEATS UP

NWITIMES.COM - December 12, 2003

If Kansas residents who are 2-1/2 months into a battle with the same adult superstore chain that opened an outlet near Lowell last week could offer just two words of advice, they would be -- act quickly. "It's real important that your county moves fast to do something," said Phil Cosby, a retired resident of Abilene, Kan., which contains a Lion's Den adult store.

"They need a conditional use ordinance in place so that nothing can come in without explanation, because it will, it has," the 52-year-old said. "The reason, with the Lion's Den's history, is that once they open a bookstore or an adult superstore, they also move in a gentleman's club, peep show booth and other things soon after."

Lake County (Illinois) officials, who have been scrambling since the store opened one week ago today, said they are planning to act quickly. Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub said Friday he and Lake County Councilman Larry Blanchard will meet again this week to work on an ordinance that would prohibit similar businesses from opening nearby.

An attempt to shut the store Friday failed after it was discovered a court order to close the business contained the wrong address. The order listed the business' address as 181st Street, Lowell, instead of Colorado Street, Hebron. The order cited health code violations related to the building's inadequate septic system, Scheub said. "We're doing everything humanly possible so this won't happen again," he said. "My goal is to close them down so they don't open again."

Scheub said he hopes the county has an ordinance restricting adult businesses in place by the end of January, even though it generally takes a minimum of 90 days for the county to enact new legislation. The similarities between the Lion's Den in Abilene and the one located five miles outside of Lowell are striking.

Both outlets are off interstates and opened virtually overnight in former Stuckey's restaurant buildings in unincorporated areas near small rural towns. Both opened in counties without ordinances regulating adult businesses.

Ironically, the appearance of a Lion's Den prompted officials in the Kansas county where it is located to adopt an ordinance requiring a conditional use permit for new business. That ordinance, approved last week, ensure county officials are aware of what types of new businesses are opening, Cosby said.

The Ohio-based Lion's Den has 31 stores in 12 states, according to Lowell store personnel.

In Abilene, residents also initiated a 100-day round-the-clock picket of the Lion's Den, that in part has concerned residents recording license plate numbers of truckers who visit the store and passing the information on to their employers.

The group also is pursuing a grand jury hearing, although no date has been set. Cosby said obscenity charges have been filed against the store and the situation in Abilene has attracted national and international news coverage.

ABC's Inside Edition was in Abilene Wednesday conducting interviews for an upcoming segment, Cosby said. A representative of Inside Edition said Friday the program was interested in Abilene because "the store opened up overnight. It just appeared.

Because residents in the two communities are facing a common problem, Cosby said he would welcome development of a united front with Lowell area residents. "I can guarantee there are 31 communities that feel the same way we do," Cosby said. "We can unite to kill them. They can die of a thousand cuts. They have the money, but we have the people."

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:16 PM CST [Link]

DEER DON'T HAVE TOP FRONT TEETH!

Things guy deer hunters don't know that female deer hunters do know. My webmaster told me this; my neighbor Mary knew this!! Women know these things.

Deer are ruminants and have hard palates and DO NOT have upper front teeth. Ruminant is the group (ruminatia) of even-toed hoofed mammals, including chevrotains, camels, deer, giraffes, the prong-buck and cattle, that have more than one stomach and chew the cud. They don't nibble the leaves off of trees like rabbits, they rip them off since they can't nibble.

Deer are born with four teeth on their lower jaw. These four front teeth are called incisors. After a few weeks, sixteen more teeth grow in, giving it eight front incisors, six premolars on the bottom jaw, and six premolars on the upper jaw. When the deer is one year old, six more molars erupt on both the upper and lower jaws. This gives the deer a full set of 32 teeth....but no upper front teeth.

This dawned on me the other night when I was reflecting on what John Bailey told me about his deer being so old it wouldn't have lived through the winter because it had no upper front teeth. He was pulling my chain....or he missed zoology 101. That John!!!! (Smile...)

P.S. That also goes for the county attorney and the county agent. They all were part of this subversive plot of chain pulling...or else they didn't know either. (More smiles)

Actually, the most trustworthy one among the lot regarding the chain is probably Gooch, but he's a minor and related to the defendant so I can't call on him. But I'll be able to tell by the way he grins...that Gooch is a grinner and a savvy kid

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:26 PM CST [Link]

THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW

I don't watch daytime TV and the evening shows I like I usually miss because I watch them so seldomly I can't remember when they are on. West Wing, Keeping Up Appearances, Will and Grace, Everybody Loves Raymond, Letterman....news and documentaries. Funny stuff and true stuff. I guess that about covers it.

A couple of weeks ago a friend asked me to tune in The Ellen Degeneres Show....I did, and now I schedule my kitchen or computer work at 1:00 when she is on. She has a very good show, imo...good guests, clever dialogue, and her monologues seem spontaneous and not contrived. She is one very funny, clever, smart, nice lady. I enjoy her show much more than either Leno or Letterman. She brightens my day.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:24 PM CST [Link]

MORE STUFF IS COMING FROM THE SKY

Light snow is expected to develop by late afternoon across central Kansas, which will be accompanied by an increasing north wind. Areas of light snow will persist through the evening, with north winds at 25 to 35 mph with gusts to 45 mph. Snow accumulations of 1 to 2 inches can be expected tonight, with the highest totals likely along and north of Interstate 70.

The combination of the falling snow and strong north winds will result in areas of blowing snow, which will reduce visibilities to less than one-half mile at times.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 12:36 PM CST [Link]

CLARIFICATION

It was brought to my attention after my letter to the editor was published in the newspaper last week that all the county commissioners are concerned and are working toward formulating zoning regulations for the county. It was an oversight on my part not to have stated that more clearly. As a matter of fact, Commissioner Rush attended a five-hour zoning conference recently held in Hutchinson. We do hope the commissioners move forward to enact zoning regulations in order to maintain and protect the quality of life for all residents in the county.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:03 AM CST [Link]

MY BLOG MAY BE DOWN A FEW DAYS...ONE OF THESE DAYS

In visiting with my webmaster friend over the weekend, it is possible she may change my blog program to another one. If that is the case, I will be out of commission for a few days. Maybe. She's not sure and I leave such matters up to her decision. I haven't crashed this one lately and continue on blithely blogging since I never notice the warning signs of impending doom.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:41 AM CST [Link]

CEBRIDGE CONNECTIONS

We subscribe to basic cable service plus their internet high speed service. The latter is more important to me than the former. This combined service costs us $55.85 a month. $5.95 of it is the Basic TV service. There are a whole bunch of taxes included in that that is hard to sort through. We get $10 off the price of the basic service since I have the internet service too.

I called to see what it would cost to go from the basic TV service to the "Expanded Basic" service and it is $24.95 a month, plus a one time hook up fee of $24.95. I find it strange that it costs the same to have Mark come make the connection at the pole as it does for the monthly service.

Now, if you order HBO at their special rate of $7.95 a month for six months (after that time it goes up to their regular monthly rate...probably $10) you don't have to pay the $24.95 hook up fee. I don't need HBO. The one time we did have it on a trial basis many years ago, it was a lot like being in the Adult Arcade. No thanks.

I think I'll pass.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:35 AM CST [Link]

NICHOLAS IS COMING TO VISIT

I haven't seen my niece, her husband and son for a year or so. They will be here Friday on their way from Houston to Denver for Christmas. Yea!!!

They won't be here long...from about 4 a.m. until noon, but I can play with Nicholas and build up lots of good memories.

They are bringing their two dogs too so I hope Jack pays attention to how mannerly the city dogs are and picks up some pointers. It should be a lively few hours.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:57 AM CST [Link]

Sunday, December 14, 2003

QUIZNO'S

Subs, lunch sandwiches, soups, chips, hot peppers, cake and cookies warm out of the oven and fountain drinks. We had it all.

Today was the special open house for a new Quizno's franchise in Great Bend that a friend of mine just opened. It was fun. Sandra, a friend of mine from Russell, and I made a day of it. We had fun visiting with other friends there. Actually, a lot of folk were there...county economic development directors, PEP board members, Great Bend city council members, and lots of her friends, etc. Most I didn't know, but there were familiar faces to make it a lot of fun.

They passed samples of their soups, had a table of assorted generous size sandwiches that are on their menu, cake, chips, and Batch 81 sauce brought especially by the owner to me to try. She knows I like hot stuff...and it's very good. We ate too much...and I fell off my diet big time. Lots of food. We all had a good time eating and chatting.

Following that, Sandra and I went to the farm south of Great Bend where we walked all around looking in all the little buildings, sampling homemade fudge, checking out all the tree ornaments (all their gifts items were 40% off), visiting with other friends we ran into. We did everything but ride the train. With all the clothes I had on to keep warm, I wasn't sure I'd fit in the train.

Then...back to Russell and home. That was the longest trip to Great Bend and back that I've ever made...and probably the most fun. Now we'll have to go back and eat and pay for it next time. It was a nice day.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:03 PM CST [Link]

SADDAM DUG OUT OF A HOLE IN THE GROUND

This is how his world ends.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:03 AM CST [Link]

Saturday, December 13, 2003

RUSSELL TOURNAMENT RESULTS

The Ellsworth boy's varsity game against Claflin was tight throughout...with Claflin winning 53-50. It was a squeeker. The report from the game was that the EHS boys played as a team and played well.

They won 2 out of 3 games in the tournament and that is a vast improvement over their play the last few years. They have great potential and want to improve...and are learning fast what it means to share the ball.

They are exciting to watch and their enthusiasm for the game is contageous. If you haven't seen them play, you might want to catch the next home game which is January 6th against Russell. The girls play the same night with play beginning at 4:30.

Meantime, the freshmen boys play Thomas Moore Prep here Dec. 18th. The girls play the same night with play beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:02 PM CST [Link]

TWO GOOD PIE RECIPIES FROM DENEEN SHIVELY

CRANBERRY-APPLE PIE
Filling:
2 cups apples, peeled & sliced
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. flour
Prepared Single Pie Crust

Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. cold butter

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line 9-inch standard pie plate with pie crust and flute edges. Stir together apples, cranberries, and lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and flour for filling. Pour into prepared single pie crust and bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon for the topping. Cut in butter. After 30 minutes, remove the pie from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees. Spread the topping over the pie and bake it for another 25 to 30 minutes until the top is golden and the fruit bubbles around the edges. Allow the pie to cool before serving. Top with vanilla ice cream. Delicious!

TOPSY TURVEY APPLE PIE
Glaze & Crust:
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1/2 cup pecan halves
Double pie crust

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 cups apples, peeled and sliced

Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a 9-inch glass pie pan, combine brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Mix well. Spread evenly in bottom of pie pan. Arrange pecans over mixture in pan. Place bottom crust over mixture in pan. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Mix well. Arrange half of apple slices in crust-lined pan. Sprinkle with half of sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining apple slices and sugar mixture. Top with second crust; seal edges, and flute. Cut slits in several places. Bake 8 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 35-45 minutes longer or until apples are tender and crust is golden brown. Immediately run knife around edge of pie to loosen. Place serving plate over pie and carefully invert. Serve with vanilla ice cream and devour!

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:20 PM CST [Link]

RAMBLINGS...

Occasionally I have so many links and windows running I lose track of greymatter. Such was the case this morning when I lost everything I wrote, not that the loss was huge. Now things have changed anyway, so I'll start off with new material and try to recall the old that I thought noteworthy at the time.

Don't hold me to this but at noon today in the Russell basketball tournament, the boys beat Russell 59-52. They play Claflin at 7:30.

The girls lost the first game in overtime by 4. In their second game, they beat Lincoln 55-18 in a very one-sided game.

Deneen wrote me this morning about having a crock pot full of chili simmering while she, her husband and kids were heading out for a day on their snowmobile. She even had the hot chocolate ready to go when they came in out of the cold. I bet they are having fun.

Meantime, Brit heard me talking about Deneen's chili and he decided he wanted some too. So he went to the store for meat and I made chili. Sounds good to me too. He stopped to drop some things off at a freind's house and when he stepped out of the car, he slid all the way down the driveway. It's slick out there.

Greg and Cee Heller came by for a visit and a little Christmas cheer. He has a hankering for my Rom Pope so I emailed him to let him know there was a jug with his name on it. He came to get it before someone else claimed it.

I spent over an hour with my web master friend discussing the problems I'm having with my computer...a conflict with the operation of MSIE and Outlook and Word. Individually they run pretty well, but running more than one at a time sets my machine to shivering. She thinks it's a java script problem and is hunkered down over her bazillion computers trying to solve it. I really think I need to scrape off my hard drive...take a Chore Boy to it...and she does too with all the stuff I have on it. We were going to do it last fall when she came for her annual visit, but that didn't happen so now I'll have to manage until spring. It's really weird what happens and I'm sure it has never happened to any one else. Meantime...I've figured out how to work around most of it.

I was going to try to figure out Cebridge Cable. I guess that's what I have now instead of Classic Cable. As long as Mark Gwinner has his hands on the towers, I don't mind who owns it.

It was brought to my attention after my letter to the editor in the newpaper that all the county commissioners are concerned and are working toward formulating zoning regulations for the county. It was an oversight on my part not to have stated that more clearly. As a matter of fact, Commissioner Rush attended a five-hour zoning conference recently held in Hutchinson. We do hope the commissioners move forward to enact zoning regulations in order to maintain and protect the quality of life for all residents in the county.

Brit was watching the KU game when there was a power failure in Kemper Arena and things turned dark. I guess they won.

I think when a friend and I go to Great Bend tomorrow we ought to stop out and see the Christmas lights at the farm in the country. I haven't been there for a long time. That might be fun.

The end.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:04 PM CST [Link]

A MOST WONDERFUL, GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL SNOW

The wind didn't blow!

All that snow falling from the sky yesterday produced the most beautiful sight, one that is so rare in Kansas. Everything down to the smallest twigs on the trees is stacked high with snow. Usually the wind has whipped it into one huge pile of snow smack dab in the middle of our driveway...but not today. The view is picture post card perfect.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:28 AM CST [Link]

KASSI AND THE COWBOY

Howdy Saddle Tramps!
Yeah, I know its a little late, But Kassi & The Cowboy want ya ta know that we braved the snow to set up at the Wild West Trade Show in Salina!!! Sounds like this snow will be outta here by mid-day Saturday, so saddle up an' head fer Salina! It's always a GREAT time with lots o' Yahoos showin' up ta palaver an peruse! Its at the 4-H building just south of the Bi-Centennial Center in Kenwood Park. Check out the front page of the Nov/Dec issue of the Kansas Cowboy for more info. See Ya in Salina, Kansas. Hours are 9-5 Saturday and 9-4 Sunday, but be sure and come early Sunday as some traders always seem to skip out early and ya don't want ta miss anything. Kassi & The Cowboy got a preview of the plunder and there's some purty good stuff!!!
So Long,
Kassi and The Cowboy

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:01 AM CST [Link]

Friday, December 12, 2003

CLEAR, ACCURATE AND TO THE POINT

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm really tired of hearing that.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:20 PM CST [Link]

IN BRECKENRIDGE, THIS WOULD BE A POWDER DAY

Ally just drove in from Wilson and said she just followed the tracks to Ellsworth. It wasn't bad, she said. The snow is Sorel high.

In Breck where her home was near the top of Hoosier Pass, she got 400 inches or more of snow a year. It even snowed on the 4th of July. By comparison, this is a light powder.

The snow is still coming down...and it might be pretty nasty tomorrow on the roads. Big rig truckers are having trouble on the freeways. Take it easy out there...or stay home if you can.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:08 PM CST [Link]

FOUR INCHES AND ACCUMULATING

The northeast part of the county is officially reporting four inches of snow...and it's still coming down. We may have a significant accumulation.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:04 PM CST [Link]

ONE TO TWO INCHES OF SNOW IS TURNING INTO TWO TO FOUR INCHES....

We've already had the amount of snow they forecast for tonight so they've upped the limit. It's a beautiful snow...no wind....flakes gently floating downward.

The boys varsity game in Russell that was scheduled for 9 tonight has been cancelled.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:08 PM CST [Link]

MUSIC...

Sunday, the 14th, the EHS band and chorus will present the annual holiday concert at 2:00 at the PAC. I'm going to miss it...but I need and want to attend a friend's open house for her new Quizno's Restaurant in Great Bend. She's just made a huge career change...going from a very solid, safe, substantial, managerial position (a couple hundred or so employees to manage) for over 30 years to fulfilling a dream of owning her own business. She'll do well at it too.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:32 PM CST [Link]

INFLUENZA IS STARTING TO SWEEP THE TOWN

There were murmurings at the grocery store about "two kids home with the flu today"...last night it was just one of her three girls who was sick. She mentioned what you need to do the first 24 hours, but added she got the last bottle of it in town. No need to remember....takes a script. The supply of the miracle product is exhausted.

And a quick count tells me that more than half my family have not bothered to get flu shots. I know for sure of six who haven't. Oh well. I tried. Now it's too late as the county is out of vaccine. Maybe it won't make any difference anyway. I hope everyone stays well.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:16 PM CST [Link]

GEUDA SPRINGS...A TOWN OUT OF THE PAST

In November the Geuda Springs, Kansas city council voted 3-2 to require the head of every household in town to own a gun and ammunition. Anyone who did not comply would be fined $10.00. Supporters of the measure said it was important because the town had no local police force.

Shades of the wild, wild west.

The mayor may have shot down the attempt when recently he vetoed a council resolution that ordered a redrafting of the ordinance requiring gun ownership.

He also vetoed a resolution calling for a poll of the town's 210 residents to gauge public opinion on the matter.

The mayor thinks the issue has divided the town and believes vetoing the resolution is the right thing to do.

Without the mayor's support, the two council member who favor a gun ordinance would be outnumbered on the 5 member council.

The measure would have exempted people with physical or mental disabilities, the poor and people who conscientiously oppose firearms.

The county sheriff whose department is responsible for policing Geuda Springs is pretty nervous over sending his deputies to respond to calls in Geuda Springs. That's understandable.

Stay tuned.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 12:53 PM CST [Link]

BULKFOODS.COM

One of my long time blog reader friends told me at the basketball game last night that he'd been eating Uncle Sam Cereal for a couple of years and loved it. Me too.

He also said I could order flax seed by the ton Right Here. You can order all the good stuff I like at that website...black sesame seeds, steel cut oats, thick cut rolled oats ...only I'd need to order 50# of it and that won't settle well with the South Beach diet, mixed peppercorns, spices...etc. They also offer a combination of roasted and salted carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, taro and green beans...also not on the diet but it sure sounds good....maybe I could have a little bit?

It's an interesting site and I'm sure I'll be ordering from them. You might want to take a look.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:50 AM CST [Link]

Thursday, December 11, 2003

DRIBBLING DOWN THE COURT...RESULTS

In tournament play in Russell:

The varsity girls lost their game to Lucas-Luray by 3 points. Sorry, I didn't hear the score.
The varsity boys won over Lucas-Luray by a score of 55 to 26, coached by Ron Davis. I believe everyone got to play.

In Ellsworth play at a pretty chilly City Hall:

The freshman girls beat Hoisington 48 to 25.
The freshman boys beat Hoisington in a well played game, 59-49, coached by Travis Powell. The Ellsworth Bearcats lead all the way but not always by a very wide margin. Scoring: Tyler Britton 27, Ben Kruse 10, Cody Barta 8, Austin Seitz 4, Tyler Jensen 4, T.J. Renard 2, Matt Froese 2, Nick Bailey 2. They learn with each game and are SO much better than last year.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:49 PM CST [Link]

FRESHMAN BASKETBALL HERE TONIGHT

The girls basketball team plays Hoisington here tonight with the freshmen boy's game following that. I'll be going to watch the action. The youngest grandson will be playing here with one parent watching.

The varsity team is playing in a tournament in Russell tonight. They also play, win or lose, both tomorrow and Saturday. Middle grandson will be there with one parent.

It's hard to cover all bases of play. I hope the teams play well....and it would be nice to win.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:48 PM CST [Link]

HEATHER BISHOP...A TRIBUTE TO PEGGY LEE

Heather Bishop, the singer-songwriter-guitar player, from Manitoba has just released a new CD called "Heather Bishop...a Tribute to Peggy Lee." She's touring Canada now performing it. It's a great CD. She's such a neat lady. She sent me a copy as a gift. That was very nice, I think. I love to hear her sing.

The recording includes: Is That All There Is?, It's a Good Day, I Don't Know Enough About You, Pass Me By, I'm a Woman, Fever, Good Day from Morning til Night... that were first recorded by Peggy Lee. Heather has a voice!!!

She has many CD's out there and on the airways. One is Chickee's On the Run. I bought it for my niece's two year old son. He loves music, has a playtime red guitar and sings and dances as only a two-year old can. I got one just for me too...for my "lighter" days. I love music, especially when the musician is a friend.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:36 PM CST [Link]

ELLSWORTH COUNTY IS THE KSF CHICKEN-FRIED STEAK CAPITAL OF KANSAS (at least for the time being)

The Kansas Sampler Foundation stresses the importance of seeking out "slow food" in Kansas....the kind that comes from the kitchens of your mom and pop restaurants that are locally owned. Only by doing this, can we maintain the customs and flavor (no pun intended) of our small towns.

Chicken-fried steak is a standby on most restaurant menus in Kansas, but they aren't always prepared the way that is best. Frequently, the cook will grab a frozen, pre-breaded steak out of a box from a supplier and throw it in the deep fat fryer. Yuck! Who wants to eat that?

So, the Explorers Club members, an arm of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, are trying to pinpoint the restaurants all across Kansas where they prepare chicken-fried steak the proper way: from scratch, with fresh beef purchased from a meat locker or local grocer, sprinkled with the chef's secret seasonings, hand-dipped in batter then grilled or pan-fried to perfection. Yummy.

So far, 24 restaurants have been identified and four of them are in Ellsworth County....Paden's and KC's in Ellsworth, the Midland Hotel and Al's Bar and Grill in Wilson. All are recipients of a special award from the Kansas Explorers Club for preparing chicken-fries in this special way. Look for the awards hanging in restaurants across Kansas. You can find the list of the restaurants receiving awards RIGHT HERE.

I don't suppose it will be long before we have an individual or a group of members of the Club roaming Kansas and finding comfort in all those from scratch mashed potatoes and gravy and a big ol' chicken-fried steak. We'll have the Bill Bunyan of steak eaters making their marks in history. Wouldn't it be great if that person were someone from Ellsworth County? They would certainly get a lot of publicity from eating a CFS in each KSF designated restaurant. Someone will do it.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:58 PM CST [Link]

I WAS IN HIGH GEAR YESTERDAY

I've been involved in lots of conference calls in my day but none quite like yesterday morning with eleven of us in separate locations on one line. Surprisingly enough, with the talkative inclinations of each of us, we managed quite well. We elected a new PEP chair and settled on several other important issues.

Last night was fun and productive. Friends/board members gathered at six for a meeting then the rest of the group arrived at seven and we all joined together for dinner and another meeting. It all went quite smoothly.

Brit didn't want to miss the KU game so he and Jack retreated to the basement. All that broke up about ten. I finished the rest of the dishes just in time to greet late arriving house guests at eleven. I pulled out the food again, they ate...we chatted and called it a day.

Yes. It was a fine day. I like days like that...I can see where I have been. It felt good.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:29 AM CST [Link]

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

JACK IS FRISKY AND THE TORMENTING SQUIRRELS AGAIN

After a very rough 24 hours of turning himself inside out, Jack seems to have recovered. He's not begging for food or eating very much, but all his plumbing seems to be working today. That's a relief as he was a very sick little puppy. We just hated to see him so sick. We don't know what was wrong...nothing we gave him, so far as we know. He pretty much lives on his dry dog food with a cookie morning and night that consists of "Beggin Strips" and other doggie cookies. Whatever it was, I hope it doesn't happen again. Maybe he had doggie flu. He was one huge mess...and thank goodness for Tyler's willingness to come help us out. I think he doesn't want to go through that again either. I hope he isn't scarred for life! He's not entertaining thoughts of becoming a vet.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 05:02 PM CST [Link]

Tuesday, December 9, 2003

NO ROOM AT THE INN

I just heard from a friend in Wilson....the Sportsmans Lodge and Das Borell Haus are full and 15 people just checked into the Midland. That was at 9:30 this evening. They are probably all full by now. I imagine the Garden Prairie Inn is full as well.

A friend from Manhattan wrote earlier this evening to say I-70 was closed from Junction City west. There was a fatality near Wilson...on I-70 I believe. It's treacherous on the roads.

I don't think we'll have our meeting in Great Bend in the morrning...maybe they can figure out a conference call for 11 people. That would be tricky. I hope everyone who is due here tomorrow night for a couple of meetings and dinner can make it. Visions of left overs are filling my head.

We need a big truck to blast through the snow. Brit will probably do it with his little bitty truck.

Jack is feeling much better after being very sick for 24 hours. We don't know what was wrong with him but he was one very sick guy. If it weren't for Tyler, I don't know how we could have managed.

It's time to go get under the covers and watch Dave Letterman. How lucky we are to have a warm place tonight. I know what it's like to be stranded on the highway in this kind of weather and it's no fun.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:38 PM CST [Link]

WE'RE SOCKED IN!

We had horizontal snow all day...not as much as they forecast, but it was certainly blizzardy weather. If the wind stops blowing, it shouldn't take long to clear the roads.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 06:07 PM CST [Link]

DEAD MAN'S CURVE

We refer to the north end of our driveway as Dead Man's Curve. The DUHHHH GUY who built this road knew nothing about road building and we tried to make the point at the time that you can't build a road in a hole. You put a road on the high ground in Kansas.

So, everytime it snows it drifts over and you can't negotiate the curve, although we always make a point of trying. I can't tell you how many people have become stuck there, including us and ours. George has even stuck his monster wrecker there and had to bring up other wreckers to free the wrecker wreckers. I think the record is three stuck wreckers on that curve!

We try to keep it open by bursting through it, if we need to get out, but after a time, we just rev the engine and blast through the snow going cross country. We've always made it going both ways, but coming back uphill takes a little more skill. You can't be hesitant or shy or you won't make that either.

And for the few times a year we might need it, that's why we drive 4 wheelers.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:59 PM CST [Link]

DR. PEPPER THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY

We received a lovely basket of gifts for Christmas from Luke, a friend of ours who also happens to go to SMU and is majoring in Computer Engineering....too. He knows our granddaughter (Smile!)

He included, among other interesting things, several bottles of old-fashioned Dr. Pepper, like you can buy in Dublin, Texas where they use turn of the century equipment. If you are a Dr. Pepper fan, you'll enjoy the following story.

"Students at SMU may or may not have heard that Dr Pepper is considered by some to be the drink of Texas. It was originally created and bottled right here in Texas. One bottling division is particularly unique. At a bottling plant in Dublin, Texas, Dr Pepper is still created using Imperial Pure Cane Sugar in it’s bottled drinks and uses turn of the century equipment for their processes..... Click here for the rest of the story.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:37 PM CST [Link]

THE INDEPENDENT...

I can just imagine what it is like at the newspaper office this morning. I wonder if they worked all night to get the paper to Howard in Hays to print so the Kottman's can get back to Ellsworth with the printed version before the snow gets too deep for highway traffic? I don't dare call....I know they have to be struggling....

They work so hard to get that paper on the stands and in the mail. I think everyone ought to spend Tuesday observing what goes on just to get an idea of how difficult it really is to bring a quality paper to Ellsworth County.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:55 AM CST [Link]

SAMOAN POTATO SALAD RECIPE

I've been blogged for "Samoan Potato Salad Recipe" a couple of times. I love it! I don't have such a recipe but I sure could devise one that would pass for whatever that is.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:29 AM CST [Link]

THE SKY ISN'T FALLING...YET

At precisely 5:38 a.m. I heard it hit the roof...the sound of sleet. Then it stopped. I wonder if that's "it" or it's the forerunner of what is to come?

Mark Bogner, the owner of our old leaky boat "Dat's Dandy" that saw lots of fun and unmentionable action on Wilson Lake, just announced we're still going to get 7 to 10 inches of snow. It's described as a "major snow storm" for those of you enjoying the warmer climes.

Brit and I are ready. We have no place we have to be today...but home. And the fireplace is warming the living room, all cozy and warm. It's great for warming the backside. When I finish doing some kitchen work, I think I'll get back to "Dude..Where's my Country". I like Michael Moore.

How'd I segue from sleet to Moore?

It's 8:30 a.m. and ..........HELP! THE SKY IS FALLING...NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:12 AM CST [Link]

Monday, December 8, 2003

THE FIREPLACES ARE READY TO FIRE

Brit has been picking up bits of information about the bad weather that is heading OUR way and passing it on to me with each new update.

"They're forecasting 2 inches tonight", he says.

He starts hauling wood inside.

"Oh, Oh! Maybe 6 inches more tomorrow"

More wood comes inside.

"Now they say we're going to have winds of 50 miles per hour....that means there will be lots of drifting snow....Ally may not be able to make it to work....did you hear that? ...maybe you should call her...when is your bylaws meeting? ... Wednesday night?...how many are coming here?....we'll have a lot of soup to eat if they all can't can't get here....who are you going to Great Bend with...Scott?...is that Wednesday too?....what time is your meeting?...how are you going to fix dinner for all those people and be in Great Bend too?....."

Yeah...I wonder about that too.

"DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID???"

"Yes dear. I heard. Thank you for the updates. I think I'll crawl in the fireplace and sleep like a log!"

No comment...only a grin...he didn't hear the last part of it.

More updates.

Now I hear paper-crumpling sounds...crunch, crunch.... and wood hitting the back of the liners with a thunk, thunk...

More wood comes through the back door.

"Okay...let her come. I'm ready for the storm." Then he settled in to watch the news again.

He's so great about keeping the fireplaces burning in the winter. We both love the warmth of a wood fire and glow it brings to a room. And we have a fine cook top that will hold a great pot of beef stew if we lose our power. (I hope that doesn't happen...I don't mind freezing. I have withdrawals if I can't get on my computer!)

With the first sign of snow, the snowblower comes inside the house to warm up. Makes it easier to start.

We're about as ready as old folks can get. And the grandsons will be here to help if we need them.

I'd love to have a great big winter storm...with lots of snow...and get snowed in for a day or two. We used to have people off the highway who were stranded here in those big storms come stay with us. Friends of friends of friends. Locals had to put a lot of people up for the night during storms. There wasn't a motel back then. We don't seem to have storms like that anymore. Our kids used to go sledding a lot...for days and days at a time. And there was ice skating on the river and toboggan rides for us crazy adults behind someone's truck...with lots of hot grog to take our minds off the fact we were freezing!

Posted by Peg Britton @ 11:56 PM CST [Link]

ONLY FEMALES COULD DO IT

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, while both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year, male reindeer drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, usually late November to
mid-December.

Female reindeer retain their antlers till after they give birth in the spring.

Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa's reindeer, every single one of them,
from Rudolph to Blitzen, had to be a girl.

We should've known. Only women, while pregnant, would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 11:40 PM CST [Link]

KANSAS STATE VS OHIO STATE

AHOY TRAVEL in conjunction with World Travel and Travel Time of Salina can take you to see the Kansas State Wildcats play Ohio State in Arizona! January 1-3- 2004

Package includes:

Nonstop charter flights on a Boeing 737 between Salina and Phoenix --estimated departure time from Salina on 1/1 is 11 AM --estimated return from Phoenix will be 2pm on 1/3

2 night hotel accommodations with continental breakfast daily
Round trip transfers between the airport and hotel and between the hotel and the game.

$900 per person based on double occupancy
$1000 per single person
$835 per person based on triple occupancy
$800 per person based on quad occupancy
$700 per person air only

Game tickets are not included.

Full payment/nonrefundable is due with reservation and by Friday
December 13, 2003 Guaranteed departure with 90 people

Contact us for reservations immediately: 785-472-5757 local office

1-800-788-2469 nationwide tollfree

785-472-3961 Eva at home
Specializing in Cruise and Travel Packages
AHOY TRAVEL
Eva Wallert, MCC
307 Webb
Ellsworth Kansas 67439
785-472-5757 phone/fax
1-800-788-AHOY (2469) nationwide tollfree

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:25 PM CST [Link]

STOPPING WEAPONS OF MASS INSTRUCTION

At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher, was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a setsquare, a slide rule, and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney general John Ashcroft said he believes the man is a member of the notorious "al-gebra" movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

"Al-gebra is a fearsome cult," Ashcroft said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like "x" and "y" and refer to themselves as "unknowns", but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.

"As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, there are 3 sides to every triangle," Ashcroft declared.

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes."

"I am gratified that our government has given us a sine that it is intent on protracting us from these math-dogs who are willing to disintegrate us with calculus disregard. Murky statisticians love to inflict plane on every sphere of influence," the President said, adding: "Under the circumferences, we must differentiate their root, make our point, and draw the line."

President Bush warned, "These weapons of math instruction have the potential to decimal everything in their math on a scalene never before seen unless we become exponents of a Higher Power and begin to factor-in random facts of vertex."

Attorney General Ashcroft said, "As our Great Leader would say, read my ellipse. Here is one principle he is uncertainty of: though they continue to multiply, their days are numbered as the hypotenuse tightens around their necks."

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:30 PM CST [Link]

Sunday, December 7, 2003

REFRESH!

Please remember to hit that refresh button frequently. I am forever editing, amending, adding to and taking away, deleting, changing, rewording, rephrasing, omitting..........and what have you. That is the nice thing about blogs.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 12:37 PM CST [Link]

THOUGHTS I'M PASSING ON TO THE COMMISSIONERS

You have to go a long way to find a more avid group of rugged individualists than you find on the prairies in Kansas, particularly when it comes to protecting their rights to do whatever they want to do about almost anything. Specifically, I'm thinking of the perpetuation of these thoughts that have prevailed since the first traveler fell off a covered wagon on the land that later became Kansas.

I think we've reached a point now, made obvious with the plight of the people in Wilson, to set aside some of those thoughts and move forward. We're in a very vulnerable position to be overrun by outsider non-residents who have other ideas about how the landscape of Ellsworth County should appear. Those ideas, generally speaking, are not the ones we have held dear for generations.

All efforts on the part of a few to develop some kind of reasonable zoning laws for the county have fallen on deaf ears. For some reason, people reel in fear of zoning laws or feel they are so threatening as to ebb away all their individual rights.

For the last three years, County Commissioner Terry Kueser has brought up the fact the county needs zoning laws. No one is listening. Terry is right. It should be pretty obvious now that we need to pay attention to him and support him fully in his efforts. From his chair on the commission, he has an overall view of county matters that all of us are not privy to.

We've ambled around this part of Kansas with the innocence of babes while some of the savvy city folks have been conniving how to increase their riches from us while we are looking the other way. Look at all the land that has been acquired by lawyers and doctors and other businessmen from our towns and cities to provide a place for them to hunt. They've had the money to pay a hefty price for the land and that affects the farmers who have to try to make a living off their land.

Read about the talk of wind generated farms that some say would provide jobs for a few, while they dig 30x30x30 foot holes in the ground to fill with concrete, and a meager pittance of rent to some farmers, while the money-yielding generating system is owned by someone else and the energy produced doesn't benefit us, but ends up in some power grid in Florida. And we're left looking at monster windmills forever.

Without any zoning laws, or watching our backside, we fell prey to the Adult Arcade near Wilson. Wilson citizens could have averted that, but they didn't. We in Ellsworth are no more prepared than they. Now they are scrambling to do something about it. In the process they have given the Arcade exactly what they wanted....an enormous amount of free publicity that has increased their business.

Ellsworth county is not prepared for the possibility of a huge packing plant (which almost happened a couple years ago and tends to drive people from our small towns), hog farms or feed lots to arrive in our backyard. They are far more threatening to property values and lifestyles than the Arcade. Alcohol, meth labs and drugs that prevail in our county are taking lives and are far more dangerous to our citizens than the Arcade. I won't even mention the arsenal of weapons in our homes that would probably fill the Craft World building.

So, back to the resolution. It's appropriate to help the folks in Wilson and come up with some kind of reasonable resolution whose sole purpose isn't to regulate so heavy-handedly as to run someone out of business. We've already debated the merits of the business having a right to be there, so that's a non-issue. They have every right to be there and any effort to run them off through unreasonable hoop-jumping regulations and requirements will back fire, in my opinion. It's also not a religious issue as some in the group seem to think. We can all make our own moral decisions without a committee preaching to us what our values should include.

There is a need for a resolution, but not this resolution. When one is passed it needs to be carefully considered and well-drafted to meet our specific needs so that we make sure we do the right and fair thing.

Why the rush? Why dash to pass this particular resolution that came from the American Family Association in Mississippi? It doesn't take long to figure out what their purposes are when you visit their extensive websites and they are cross-purposes with many in the county who are very sensitive to First Amendment rights and censorship. Only a handful of people have had an opportunity to read the pending resolution.

We have to keep in mind that our county attorney will have to defend whatever resolution is passed. He is very capable of researching this matter as it applies to other towns in Kansas. He is also very capable of drawing up a resolution that is more specific to us and one he can defend and more than just a few can support.

I have only my own taxpayer's say in this matter, but the logical approach seems to include the following:.

...that we ask the county commissioners to move ahead with planning stages directed toward developing zoning regulations for the county...

...that we ask them not adopt the pending resolution NO. 03-R-15 until there are other independently generated resolutions to examine and other information to learn from....

...that we request they send the county attorney on a fact finding trip to Wichita to learn how they have dealt extensively with the arcade control/ licensure issue...

...that they request the county attorney to develop a resolution that addresses the bases that need covering, a resolution that is more moderate and middle-of-the-stream than the one pending and would be more acceptable to all citizens...

.... that we request the resolution then be published in the paper twice giving everyone ample opportunity to read it before it is adopted by the commissioners.

Well, those are just my humble opinions about how best to deal with this problem in a fair and equitable manner. Thank you for your consideration of these matters.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:59 AM CST [Link]

THE DISTAFF SIDE AWAITS

I don't know everything that went on in Dallas last night, but I do know that one group of men and boys from Kansas had a high-flying time. Uncle Dane knows how to show kids a good time.

Among other things, they went to see the Mavericks and Magic play...well, specifically they went to see Tracy McGrady of the Orlando Magic play. They've been looking forward to attending their first pro basketball game...and harboring dreams of being able to play ball like that.

Tyler called on the way to the game from some special transportation Dane arranged to say he was really enjoying his "quality food", which is always high on his list. He gave me a rundown on the "excellent" veal Parmesan and a special chicken-artichoke dish that he got to watch the chef prepare, etc. That kid may end up being a chef. He avidly watches the food channels, if you can imagine.

It was good bonding time for Tyler, Drew, Rod, Mackenzie, Todd and Dane. They agreed that it was better anytime than opening presents under the tree. I agree. I'm sure we won't hear all the details of their trip, but most will come to light over the next few weeks.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:43 AM CST [Link]

Saturday, December 6, 2003

ELLSWORTH COUNTY RESOLUTION NO.03-R-15

There is a 35 page resolution pending before the board of Ellsworth County Commissioners which after one official publication will be enacted. It will come before the commissioner’s day after tomorrow morning at 9:00 in their meeting room.

Although it is not "exactly" the same, the boiler plate for this resolution was taken from the files of the American Family Association's website and can be found on the net CLICK RIGHT HERE. Slight modifications have been made so it is applicable to Ellsworth County.

It is "A Resolution Providing For The Licensing And Regulation of Sexually Oriented Business in Ellsworth, County, Kansas, Prescribing Certain Acts, Providing Penalties For Violation Thereof Repealing Resolution No. 02-R-11"

I am not going to comment on it other than to ask, "Why the rush?", but it is my suggestion you read it....long though it may be. Read other things about the AFA on the web. You can also read an actual copy of the resolution in the County Clerk's office or get a copy from Jan.

Pass the word. I think people are too busy with Christmas to be paying attention to everything. Maybe that's the point.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:45 AM CST [Link]

ANOTHER NOTE FROM A READER...A FRIEND INDEED

Do not feel bad about your shoes, and I know you don't. One morning in the dark I put on a brown wing tip and a black of oxford of some sort. As I began to approach the state capitol building later that morning, I noticed them. Now I wear only one kind of shoe, one style, one color. Some would observe that I have taken plain dressing to a whole new level. At any rate I rarely have to worry about mismatches. In addition to my shoes my pants are all black and my shirts all white. I grab one of each and go. The only thing that ever mars my ensemble is an occasional splash of food on my white shirt.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:15 AM CST [Link]

A SHOT IN THE THROAT

Next month when I won't have to talk so much, I'm going to get a shot in my uvula. You know, that small, conical, fleshy mass of tissue suspended from the center of the soft palate...that wiggly thing in the back of your throat. It's a trouble-maker for me as it is too long and gets in the way of my breathing. The C-PAP machine is supposed to take care of that problem, and does, but it is still a problem when I go to the dentist or am forced to lie on my back for whatever reason. I can't breathe!

So, something else I learned recently is that you can have the size of it reduced with an injection. A simple in-office procedure...takes about 20 minutes. I don't think it is anything he can screw up so that whenever I drink Grapette it will come out my nose. This sounds like the reverse of something we all get spammed about, doesn't it? Anyway, I'm afraid Medicare won't pay for it, but the doctor is going to give it a try anyway as I have a legitimate need to have it done. Maybe someone who has plenty of work to do will pass on it. I'm leary lately of those who seem not to have enough to do.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:36 AM CST [Link]

JOHN BAILEY GOT HIMSELF A DANG BIG BUCK

I just happened to be roaming the court house late this afternoon when I discovered all the action was outside the back door. John Bailey got a BIG buck today that will keep him and those boys of his in jerky for a long time. He had no upper teeth, the buck that is, and wasn't going to make it through the winter anyway, so John said. I'm sure that's so. I don't object to anyone who hunts food to eat. John will skin and clean that guy, hang it in his garage I suppose, and make a lot of jerky and sausage. He said it was the largest buck he'd ever shot and it filled the back of his pickup. When he gets the head mounted, you need to see the rack on that guy.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:17 AM CST [Link]

I MUST LIVE IN A CAVE

There are some things I know a lot about, or think I know a lot about, most things I've forgotten, but there is no end to the stuff I don't know...or will probably ever know.

One thing I discovered today is that I don't know beans about cereal.

Cold cereal has its limits with me as there are only a few I find worthy of my attention...shredded wheat, grape nuts, kashi and raisin bran, all-bran and maybe a couple others. The nutritious ones, or so I've thought. I've tried others, but they just aren't wholesome enough...I like cereal to be more like eating stuff off vines and trees...hardy grains... not all puffed up in weird shapes and every color of the rainbow.

In my South Beach book, I noticed a reference to Uncle Sam Cereal. I've seen it on the shelves, but never even bothered to look at the box to see what it was. WELL....let me tell you I love the stuff. It's been around since 1908, just slightly longer than I have. Youda thunk I wooda knowd about it by now. Someone should have told me, right?

It says it is recommended by physicians, dietitians, nutritionists, fitness experts and other health care professionals, as well as from friend to friend. Well, I didn't know, but I know now and am sharing the information. I like it better than any of the above I mentioned, but then...as I said...I like strong, sturdy stuff, whole grains breads so heavy you can hardly lift them...that kind of sturdy.

You might want to give it a try. It comes in a small box of 5 servings and costs about $1.65.

This cereal is recommended for all the right reasons....including low glycemic (I just learned about that last week) and high in Omega-3 fatty acids from flaxseed (I learned about that last year). The flaxseed that's in it is a really plus.

It's also a "beauty food". Kat James says so on the box. I just started too late to look like her.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 01:07 AM CST [Link]

Friday, December 5, 2003

GAS

I bought gas before I left town this morning and I thought it was $1.46 (but I checked when I came home and it said $1.44...either it changed or I was mistaken...take you pick).

I was all over Salina today and noticed the gas prices. On west Crawford, the gas was $1.29. For the most part, it was $1.30 at all the the other stations I passed. The gas at a couple stations with the discount was $1.28. I didn't see any stations where it was more than $1.30. Add the .9 to all the above.

Now...I don't mind paying more here as that is part of living in a small town. Everything costs more. But that much more is too much, in my opinion. It never works the "other" way for our benefit. It's just another in a long list of things I don't understand.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 11:34 PM CST [Link]

CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND IN KANOPOLIS TOMORROW AND SUNDAY

DON'T FORGET the Christmas Wonderland at the Commanding Officers Quarters in Kanopolis on Sat. Dec, 6th from 4 - 8 pm and on Sun. Dec. 7th from 1 - 4. Five decorated rooms to enjoy the Christmas Spirit, trees, collections and cookies baking in the kitchen also hot cider and coffee. Come with family or friends or by yourself. A dollar donation except for those under 12 if with an adult.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 11:22 PM CST [Link]

DRESSING IN THE DARK

I started the day early and was in a bit of a rush as I had so much to do. I slid in and out of the shower, into some slacks and my Arran sweater and stuck my feet into a pair of shoes. This will work, I thought.

I blogged a bit, as you noticed from all the mistakes, checked my mail, wrote a couple notes and generally was multi-tasking before heading out to Salina. I wanted to make a quick call before I left so, as I talked, I did a 180 in my chair so I could see where the sun was and what to expect from the day. Glancing down, I noticed something seemed to be askew with the sun as my shoes didn't look right. One had a dark shadow on it while the other didn't. Odd, I thought. I turned my shoes outward and realized the soles didn't match. Not even close. Alas! One black shoe, one brown shoe. Geezzzzzzzzzz.

On my way to the closet to change, I paraded in front of Brit. When I get out of my jeans-sweat-shirt uniform sometime I ask..."Do I look okay?" (That's a long story, but back in my skinny days he always liked to take me to buy my clothes...his taste is better than mine and he was always freer with his money.) Anyway, he glanced at my hair (that's where he always starts his glancing and reminds me if it is getting too long. I think he was always afraid I'd adopt a hair style at 30 and stick with it no matter what and look like Margaret Mead or Mamie Eisenhower with a Danish on my head at 70)) and gradually worked his way down, past the sweater (commented he had one just like it) and slacks (I like 'em, he says) then his eyes fell on the mismatched shoes. He doubled up with laughter and slid off his chair onto the floor in a heap. Collecting himself, he said..."Well, as you are waiting in the doctor's office, everyone will notice that you own two pair of shoes!".

Usually I sit and wait for this particular doctor for HOURS and the room is packed with screaming kids and antsy adults. Today I barely sat down and they called me. I would have be horrified had I not noticed my shoes until then. Geez...I gotta remember to turn the closet light on after this.

Clothes just don't matter much...in fact, the less I pay for something the more it means to me. Then I think...maybe I'll spill something on this and won't be able to replace it for that amount of money. And I hate thinking about the amount of money I once spent on clothes...well, I sort of needed them at the time. I've always preferred having a sharp stick in my eye rather than go shopping. Like the college professor son of one of my good friends said to me...your epitaph will read, "Peg was never overdressed!". He claims he's never seen me in anything but shorts, jeans, tees or sweatshirts. Yea for me!

Posted by Peg Britton @ 11:17 PM CST [Link]

NIGHT OF BASKETBALL

Here are the outcomes....and not much more.

Ellsworth won the boy's freshman game over the Lyon's Lions 44 to 25.
Scoring: Tyler Britton 16, Austin Seitz 8, Cody Barta 8, Matt Froese 6, T.J. Renard 3, Nick Bailey 2, Chase Vopat 1. I think. Don't bet the farm on it.

The boys JV team lost a bunch to Lyons.

I don't know who won the the girls jv game.

Our varsity girls lost 41- 64.

Our boys varsity team won 76 -52. I think all the boys who were suited up got to play, even if just a little bit. The boys were inspired and it showed with the style of ball they played. The same boys played this year as last with the exception of one graduating senior. They were improved in every way. The kids played like a team by feeding other players and not being greedy about ball handling. They made very few mistakes. They have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about the game in a short period of time. They hustled like they did during MAYB ball. No one loafed and they were all business with their play. They and their parents really like Travis Powell and it shows. They have started the season in upbeat fashion. That is good.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:47 PM CST [Link]

"SLEEPER MACHINE"

Periodically I must check in with the ear, nose and throat doctor about my wonderful sleeper machine. I'm not sure why, but it must be a part of the "old age Medicare rental program for C-PAP sleeper machine people".

I've had it a year now and never failed to use it at night during that time. It has truly been a life-saver. The only downside seems to be the battering and brusing in the area of the bridge of my nose and when I get the humidity too high and I gurgle in my diving mask. Ms. Nose isn't fond of that. I tried the "pillows" to avoid it, but it doesn't work for me. Drove me nuts and kept me awake. You can see the the nose mask here. My machine is not quite like this, but similar.

It also means I must remember to take a book...right now I'm reading Michael Moore's latest, "Dude, Where's My Country". Yeah I know...you can get shot for reading it. Nevertheless, there is certainly a lot to think about between its covers. And it appears to be well-documented. Maybe I should put a brown cover on it as I will be in a public place with lots of people with head problems :).

It will be a nice day to drive to Salina. Even in this drought, the pastures and prairies are pretty. I'll see some wildlife, no doubt, and just hope I don't hit any. I'll grumble over the propane tank that's marring the landscape and grumble even more that Eisenglass Hill is no longer there. Then I'll search to see the wagon trail ruts by the intersection to the Kanopolis Lake turnoff...gaze at my rock John Cleverdon tried to bring me and broke in the process...and look at the peep hole in the rocks. After that I'll check out how the tritacle is doing and the progress of the sewer line in Brookville. I'll glance down the main street to see if there is any action at the old Brookville Hotel. Judith Dobson told me she'd have an announcement to make in November...hummm. Then on to Salina. It's a beautiful drive and I'll enjoy it. I wonder in all my 75 1/2 years how many times I've been over that path?

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:00 AM CST [Link]

"SEX SHOPS INFILTRATE SMALL TOWNS"..."WE THOUGHT IT WAS A BOOT OUTLET"

Kansas is drawing national headlines over its adult stores.

Debbie Howlett had this to say yesterday in a top story on USAToday.com. CLICK HERE FOR FULL STORY

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:29 AM CST [Link]

Thursday, December 4, 2003

CHEF REPORTS and so on

The chef from the Midland and I talk occasionally while she is driving back to Abilene late at night. The conversations are constantly interrupted because of "dead spots" along the way. She's getting to know where they all are now and she'll say..."dead spot coming up", and sure enough, in a few minutes there is silence. Annoying silence when you're mid-sentence in a thought.

She had another good night last night with several groups of parties. Many are people she knows and is so glad to see them all again after a long dry spell. She's meeting new regulars too and glad to see the locals start to come in and eat. She's really enjoying being there.

I had a meeting last night and the afternoon report was that about everyone would be able to attend. A few hours later, there were several down with the flu. The real kind...coughs, chest congestion, fevers, aches, etc. There are going to be a lot of really sick people this winter with the flu...and a substanial number of deaths, they say. I have family members who smoke and the flu really hits them hard. Only they can do something about that.

Todd and I are exchanging some of our diet food items...I can't eat another Vienna sausage if my life depended on it and he feels the same way about Egg Beaters. We're swapping.

My friend who has lost so much weight since August is also on South Beach, she adds, "very loosely". It seems to work for her. Todd has lost some pounds, but our scales don't work so I don't know. I'm encouraged and have no choice in the matter but to continue. At least I feel good and am not hungry all the time. I just want a big hunk of good bread toasted and slathered with butter. Just a small request.

Today I need to gather some evergreen branches for my chair-tree that is on the hearth. And I seem to be missing a little wood bird that was perched on the limb above the bird house. Brit can't remember there being a bird. He may be right. It's a strange little Christmas-like tree...a bird house in the woods on a stick chair. Works for me.

Time to move on...it will be another busy day.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:11 AM CST [Link]

IT'S BASKETBALL SEASON AGAIN

We're starting the season of hard benches, back rests and anything we can think of to last out three basketball games a night. Maybe more. I really need my easy chair for games.

Friday night all our various teams play Lyons here. Since I have two boys playing, that is what I talk about, the teams my grandsons are on. They are the ones I've followed since they were little squirts and played at the City Hall on Saturdays. I'm not a sports editor of the newspaper and aren't you glad of that? So I don't even try to give equal time to everyone. I guess for those who want more said about their teams, I'll just encourage them to start up their own blog. They are cheap and fun.

Except for watching men's KU basketball, I generally prefer to watch women play. I love watching our high school girls play and for several years they have provided a better spectator sport than the guys. It's just that I don't have staying power for everything.

Today I'll find out where I'm supposed to be tomorrow at 4:30 when the action starts. According to the schedule the freshmen, junior varsity and varsity all play...probably beginning at the city hall. The boys have really been looking forward to their first game and the rest of us are excited to watch.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:26 AM CST [Link]

Wednesday, December 3, 2003

STIR FRY

Brit just requested stir fry for dinner. Good idea. I can eat it all except for the rice. That will work. I'm getting pretty tired of seeing a loaf of perfectly good bread just sitting there on the counter. That's the hardest part of this diet for me...bypassing the bagels and good, tough sour dough bread. I keep thinking about the alternatives and that keeps me going.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:33 PM CST [Link]

MY BLOG MAY BE DOWN SOON

My webmaster is still trying to find time to fix the innards of my blog mechanism. She hopes to do it in the next few days. If you notice it's down, or you can't access it for some reason, either she's working on it or it has blown up, crashed or the like. It is a very sensitive program and I push it to the limit.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:13 PM CST [Link]

STATS FOR NOVEMBER

I can't complain about my site stats. There were 37,850 hits recorded on my site in November.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:08 PM CST [Link]

WE PLAY CARDS IN ART CLASS

I have a friend who is doing some substitute teaching...not in Kansas. Last night she told me she subbed in a high school art class, a high school of 125 students. There were no lesson plans, only playing cards on her desk. They have no art equipment or supplies, only tablets and pencils. They routinely play cards in class or do homework for another class.

She asked where their art folders were and found the pencil sketches on tablet paper...a few showed some talent.

She wasn't going to let them get by with playing cards today...they were going to be fully immersed in art history and she'll make it interesting, that's for sure. As long as she is there, they will learn something.

And we think we have problems.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 02:56 PM CST [Link]

PARTLY CLOUDY

Partly cloudy to me means it should be partly sunny. If the sun appeared today, I missed it. It is cold, cloudy and currently 32 degrees with the wind chill. It looks and feels like it could snow. I still won't drag out a jacket and instead just make a sweatshirt do. At least for now.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 02:48 PM CST [Link]

THERE'S A MEETING IN WILSON TONIGHT

There's a meeting tonight in Wilson with the American Family Association representative from Mississippi. The AFA exists to motivate and equip citizens to "change the culture to reflect Biblical truth and traditional family values". Which Biblical truth? Whose family values? Most of us are very capable of figuring that our for ourselves, thank you.

I haven't heard anyone say they actually like the "Arcade" and signage that goes with it being there. Well, I heard that some from Abilene did, so I suppose there are those here who do too. It's nothing I'd personally select as a neighbor but I'm fine with the prison as a neighbor and always have been. Not everyone liked that. But the Arcade is a horse out of the barn. This is the USA and if you try to rob that business of its constitutional rights, which of your neighbors, sometime in the future, might try to rob you of yours? Until we learn to accept diversity and truly live together in community..and stop trying to tell everyone how they should lead their lives...our small towns are doomed.

Most of the Arcade's customers come "from the area", so says the manager. He should know. That means friends and neighbors, if you were to know. Along with almost everyone else, I won't be attending the meeting because it's a gathering of the "decency brigade". I believe in decency, but I don't need a brigade to interpret that for me. Certainly not someone from Mississippi.

The latest complaint I heard last night from the west is that "someone is going to walk in there by accident". HELLO? Someone who can't read all the signs on the door? Would they like to have a lot of flashing, blinking lights and images of nude women on the building to ward off people from the dangers that lie within? I thought one of the things they objected to was signage.

Well, the dust will settle and business will be back to normal at some point. Red herrings, if there are any, will be revealed. Those who complain the loudest usually have the most to hide. Eventually, life will go on as usual. There are better things to spend our time and money on than this....and this is going to cost someone a stack of money. I wonder who will foot the bill? If somehow it all hits the taxpayers pockets, there will be a squabble.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:44 AM CST [Link]

TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ZONE 7 MARKETSCORE.COM READER

I just wanted to say "hello" to you personally and thank you for reading my blog from your post far away. I'm not sure just where you are on the China coast...but somewhere there or in the Russian Federation Zone 14 hours away from where I sit. Maybe you are our friends who live in Shanghai, or one of my friends in Hong Kong. It would be nice to know, but not really important. Thanks for being a loyal reader.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:16 AM CST [Link]

EVER FAITHFUL JACK AND OTHER DOGS

When I was growing up, I always wanted a dog. Maybe it was because we never had one...well, we did for about 24 hours. My dad came home with a Chow early one morning that he won in a poker game. They were drinking poker games back in those days. I never heard the details of that one.

Brit bought a Brittany spaniel home one day on the pretext the kids needed a dog. That was back in his hunting days and he really wanted a dog for that. Puppies are cute, but at this point with three small kids, I sure didn't need or want a dog. The newness and excitement of puppies soon turns to work...and clean ups. He was a loveable dog but was not worth a hoot when it came to the shoot. With the first gun that was fired, Rembrandt would be back under Brit's truck hiding. He lived a fairly long happy life with our kids and all the neighborhood kids and dogs. Everyone loved Rembrandt.

Then Brit's sister gave us the pick of the litter of miniature poodles...the kids picked a black ball of fuzz we named Cognac. It got lots of love and attention from the kids but it was a psychiatric nightmare. That dog was just plain looney, and only because of that, loveable. He was so little that when he'd lift his leg to pee, the slighest breeze would blow him over. I think it finally just did him in psychologically! Someone poisoned him with arsenic when it got away from us one day. He was a harmless little guy and we missed him.

The next one was a monster; this time an "outdoor" German shorthair we named Heinekens. It was a gorgeous dog that Todd wanted and took good care of. He tried to train him and show him, but it was hopeless. It grew meaner and bigger day by day. We finally had to find a happy farm home for him.

We weren't going to have a dog when we moved to this house, but soon we had the most handsome Shar-Pei you ever saw. He was named after Bruce Bowie so we kept the name. His daddy was the famous one with all the wrinkles on the Hallmark cards. Janet Carswell was the breeder. He was a great dog. He was good with the little grandkids and also let us know when anyone drove up the driveway. We let him out early one day when the temps were subzero and he didn't come back. We started looking for him about an hour later and searched all day... but it was difficult because of all the deep, drifted snow. The next day our neighbor found him dead in his yard. I later learned from a dog trainer in Denver that Shar-Peis were prone to die of heart attacks in extremely cold weather and that he had lost two that way himself that winter. Those were sad times.

Enter Jack into our lives. Had we discovered Australian Shepherds at the onset, we probably would have had a string of them. It took Jack in our lives before I really comprehended the obvious difference in breeds. I was frequently stumbling over Flint and Connie Warta's Aussie when I was at their house. After so many times seeing that ugly dog just lying there, surviving all the highway traffic in front of their house, I asked what kind it was. An Aussie, Flint said.

It so happened Drew and Tyler were in need of dog at the time, and Karen Stefek was breeding Aussies. As luck would have it, she had a litter ready to go. They picked a merl like Warta’s. I still think they are ugly! So, the runt of the litter was left behind on the farm with larger dogs and not fending for himself very well at the food trough. They wanted to find a home for him.

Brit didn't want another dog as he's always heartbroken when he loses one. Popeye, the dog he had for many years when he was young, died a week before we were married. His mother saved the news and told him about 10 minutes before we went down the aisle…her last valiant effort at sabotage.

Brit had just retired and a dog seemed the right thing for him, so I thought. I brought the runt home and the silly thing stood at the food bowl for three days eating puppy food by the bagful. Brit didn’t pay much attention to him at the time, but he soon became very attached. He was supposed to be a little dog, a field dog like his siblings, but he is larger now than most show Aussies that I've seen. He's a honey and huge (he's never stopped being hungry) and fits right in around here.

The thing about Jack is that he is the ever faithful dog and always underfoot. He follows me to the garage, outside, upstairs and every where we go....he is following one of us. It’s the herding instinct. He never has run away. Brit takes him in the car to get the mail and he rides on the golf cart with him when they go to see the guys playing golf. He's always right beside one of us. And he’s happiest when we are both in the same room. If Brit leaves, he waits by the window until he comes home. And he literally smiles at everyone who comes up the driveway. It's a hoot.

And every morning and evening he comes to me for his Beggin' Strip and hugs. He’s the “huggingest” happiest dog I ever knew. Some how he knows when 10 o'clock rolls around and he crawls up on Brit's lap and that's the signal his day is over and he's off duty. He lies there on Brit’s lap, paralyzing his legs, until he goes upstairs to his kennel. He's quite a dog. The only thing he does wrong is bark...he barks at everything that enters the yard and we can't break him of it. It’s a pain…but he’s worth it. He’s very sociable and quite a Jack!

The end.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 09:00 AM CST [Link]

Tuesday, December 2, 2003

COWBOY JIM

It's not often that you can stop in to see the Cowboy without running into a bunch of friends. Today I was delivering a bottle of Christmas cheer...the ever secret Rom Pope. It was for Linda too.

Well, Moon McCall had been in his truck talking on the phone to Cindy and saw me walk in so he followed me a few minutes later. Right off the bat he spied the bottle and said..."Hey, what is that?" Jim poured him a little and Moon made it clear he wasn't going to leave while the cork was still out of it.

Next thing we know, Capn_Allen arrives and he wants to know why we're all having so much fun. He finds a cup and claims he isn't leaving either.

Well, after the bottle was drained and wrung out, the conversation turned to cowboy business so I came home to fill the bottle again. Maybe Linda will get some next time. I got a very good "do" on that batch. It was good. Those cowboys were all pickled tink about Jim's sharing.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 03:54 PM CST [Link]

GERTRUDE EDERLE, ONE OF MY EARLY HEROES, DIED

One of the first women I remember who left a huge impression on me was Gertrude Ederle.

I was young, very young, and her amazing feat occurred a couple of years before I was born yet I still recall all the news flicks and stories that persisted regarding that and her other swimming feats.

Ederle swam the English Channel which was no small feat then and would be no small feat now. Leaving from Cape Griz-Nez, France she battled rip tides, cross currents, driving rain and mountainous seas beofre conquering the treacherous channel. She was under constant threat of floating debris, poisonous jellyfish and sharks, so it was reported.

She emerged at Kingsdown, England 14 hours 39 minutes later. She broke the record for the 35-mile (56-kilometer) distance and her record and stood as the women's record for 35 years. She stuck a mighty blow for women's rights.

She was 19 at the time on August 6th, 1926. Only five men had succeeded in swimming the channel before her and she beat the record by more than two hours.

From 1921 to 1925, Ederle set 29 United States and world records for swimming races ranging from the 50-yard to the half-mile race. In the 1924 Summer Olympic Games, she won a gold medal as a member of the championship U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team. She also won bronze medals for finishing third in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle races. Ederle was born in New York City. She died Sunday at the Christian Health Care Center in Wyckoff NJ, just 25 miles northwest of New York City.

MORE ABOUT GERTRUDE

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:39 AM CST [Link]

BE ATTENTIVE

There are good reasons why everyone should be attentive about what is humming around the courthouse. Always read the legals that pertain to each and everyone of us. It's important. And read the INDY where you'll get a balanced story about almost anything.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:31 AM CST [Link]

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BAND?

The words "parade" and "band" are synonymous to me. We had a parade last night where I expected to hear the EHS band...and there was no band, no horn tootin' or nuttin'. If there was canned Christmas music on the street, I didn't hear that either. There should have been.

When I asked a few people who I thought might know the answer to the band question (the kids at one point last week were intending to march), I got the same responses, the main thrust being: "Hakoda has to work in Salina and couldn't get back...and that's the administration's fault because they won't pay him". "It's the powers that be at the high school that fouled up our music department." That's what they said so I stopped asking.

Oh well. We all know that. I should have guessed.

But, if that were the case, why can't the band march without Ken Hakoda? Randoulph Castor and Jake Olson seem more than capable of leading the band down the street. It would have been nice. If they needed an adult sponsor, plenty were around who would have volunteered. There are lots of things I don't know.

The caroling that was planned at the Hodgden House died on the spot for lack of interest. I said I could hum but that's about all. Kathy and Art Kohls and I were about the only ones there for that. The tree was lit without ceremony.

The hamburgers were great. I had a burger with two patties and the fixings in between...no buns. It was just fine...sort of interesting. The ladies did a good business and sold a lot of hamburgers...350 I heard mentioned.

The turnout was good last night, but didn't seem quite what it should have been. I think it was better when they had it the Saturday after Thanksgiving as students were home for the holidays and relatives were still in the neighborhood who had come to visit family. Everyone then seemed rather excited about gathering in one place where they could visit with friends they hadn't seen in awhile. But, I don't know much about that either or why the decision was made to change it to Monday night.

I thoroughly enjoyed the outing. It was very festive. The parade was fun and the little pre-school kids were so cute. I visited with friends I hadn't seen in awhile. There was a lot of effort on the part of many people that made the evening successful and they deserve a big thanks. It all went together very nicely.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:02 AM CST [Link]

Monday, December 1, 2003

CHAMBER NOTES FROM NICK SLECHTA

Associate members take center stage this week as we welcome the Kiwanis Club of Ellsworth as an Associate member. Tom Sauer is the president of Kiwanis and will receive Chamber communications to share with his club.

At the November Chamber Gatherin’ Irene Skidmore was my special guest. She always enjoys the fellowship and camaraderie during our coffees. As of today, Irene is now an Associate member and we welcome her to our Chamber family.

Don Hanson has also joined our growing Associate community. Don and his wife Garnell have been active in the government and business community respectively, for many years.

We also welcome Rick Connally, Career Agent, Farm Bureau Financial Services, 3rd & Douglas as a full-member.

A hearty holiday chamber welcome goes to Fern Dolezal and Custom Care, 1404 Prospect, another recent membership signee.

We have new neighbors. Jeff and Jolene Hoffman are now operating a second auto sales and service unit at 104 N. Douglas. Gary Warner is the Ellsworth lot manager and has been provided an Associate membership by the Hoffman’s.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 10:43 PM CST [Link]

PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY DEAD OF YEAST INFECTION

It is with the saddest heart that I must pass on the following news. Please join me in remembering a
great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs.Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, Little Debbie, and Captain Crunch.

The gravesite was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very "smart" cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man who was considered a roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife, Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:52 PM CST [Link]

WANDER DOWNTOWN ABOUT 4:00 AND HAVE SOME FUN

It looks like a perfect day to be out and about, especially around 4:00 when things start humming down on main street.

I don't know if the Cowbelles are cooking hamburgers...they usually do...but save room for a couple just in case.

The junior and senior high school student will be selling peanut brittle and it's very good so buy an armload and save yourself the trouble of making it. The peanut brittle was made this year (all 675 pounds of it) by the JR-SR class (and parent volunteers) for the After-Prom Activities Fund to help with the expenses of the the After Prom party. They will be selling the peanut brittle today at the parade and at various other times before Christmas. People can contact Kristi West if they want to buy in bulk.

(P.S. from Becky Bailey about the peanut brittle: ...........Your #2 grandson and his parents helped with the peanut brittle. We were thankful to have such good help! Todd's a heckuva cook and Karen had that sacking down to a science. As for Drew, (and Tyler Bailey, Garrett Larson, Mark Kennedy, Kyle West), they provided more entertainment than you can imagine! What a super group of kids!!!!)

The EHS band will gather to toot their horns and pound their drums. They make very good music together. They'll be in the parade with Santa.

The stores will be open to show off all their new merchandise for Christmas giving. It's a good thing to shop at home, so please do as much of that as you can. You might keep in mind the towns that have wasted away because people didn't do that.

It's time to get the spirit of Christmas rolling and there is no better place to start than downtown tonight.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 08:22 AM CST [Link]

PERSONAL TESTIMONY ROLLED IN

One of my friends on the PEP board wrote me yesterday to tell me she had lost 58 pounds since August. I haven't seen her since our August meeting. I missed the September meeting as I was in Vail, and the October meeting as it was the time Rod and Tyler were celebrating their respective same day 27th and 15th birthdays. We celebrated them a few days late in October. My friend missed the November meeting.

I probably won't even recognize her in January when we have our next meeting. Maybe by then there will be less of my former self for her to recognize.

I'm encouraged, hanging in there and looking forward to a breakfast of Egg Beaters and Canadian bacon this morning.

Posted by Peg Britton @ 07:50 AM CST [Link]