Why I dislike days like today...

Today is one of those days that is mentally exhausting. Sadie had a great day at the county stock show Saturday. T.S., on the other hand, seems to have developed asthma and stock show dust seems to be the trigger. After a miserable day of coughing Saturday, he seemed a little better Sunday morning. By Sunday evening it was apparent he needed to go to the doctor. His breathing was pretty good and his color was good, but he was still coughing some.

Monday we headed to the doctor with the thought that he might have an infection or just needed cough medicine. The doctor thought differently. His lungs were not sounding good and his oxygen level was not good. You know it's bad when you start off seeing a nurse practitioner and end up seeing the doctor as well as both nurses. We were sent home with instructions for breathing treatments and to come back Tuesday to learn what things we could do as preventative measures.

So here we are today. The short trip to the doctor to get educated turned into another breathing treatment and coming back to the office a few hours later to assess where we were. His oxygen levels are still not where they should be, but his lungs sound better and his color is good. The doctor sent us home with instructions for breathing treatments every 2 hours and to check the oxygen levels and report in.

So, now we are to the exhausting part: keeping up with the treatment schedule, wondering if his oxygen is good or bad, wondering if we'd be better off in the hospital....
T.S. is hyped up on albuterol and steroids--a bad combination for a four-year old boy. He's bouncing everywhere and can't hold still.

Sometimes I think it'd be easier to go get a 9 to 5 job and hire a nanny.

It's Friday...

It's Friday, so where are my Friday Fill-Ins? Well, I read them and they didn't just jump out at me. My brain is terribly tired today, so I'm skipping them--maybe next week.

We are BUSY with stock shows. We love this time together as a family. It's fun to spend time with the other families in our 4-H club, too. Sadie has worked very hard--you might not could tell it is her first year if you didn't know her. We're looking forward to a fun weekend.

More on the stock shows when we have time to stop and see if we are coming or going....

Recipe of the Week: Apple-Pear Salad with Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

I found this recipe in Southern Living Magazine. It has been a huge hit at our family gatherings. I like the dressing and the flavors from combining ingredients you might not normally pair together.
Apple-Pear Salad
1 (16oz.) pkg. romaine lettuce, washed
1 (6 oz.) block Swiss cheese, shaved
1 c. roasted, salted cashews
1/2 c. sweetened dried cranberries
1 large apple, thinly sliced
1 large pear, thinly sliced

Toss ingredients together and serve with lemon-poppy seed dressing,

Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing
2/3 c. light olive oil
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
2 tsp. finely chopped onions
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
Process ingredients in blender until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to one week; serve at room temperature.

Notes:
I toss the apple and pear slices in lemon juice to keep them from turning.
I don't use the bagged lettuce--I'm never pleased with the quality of it at our store. So, I do quite a bit of guessing with the lettuce and the cheese amounts.

A Snapshot of our Day

You know it's windy when shirts blow off of the line and over the fence into the yard.

Recipe of the Week--Buttermilk Cake

I'm going to attempt to post a new recipe each week. Yesterday, T.S. and I made a buttermilk cake. You can see pictures of the process here. This recipe is in my Rainbow Cookbook and is my great-grandmother's. It is very simple and appears in the cookbook just like this:

1 c. shortening
2 c. sugar
3 c. flour
4 eggs
1 c. buttermilk with 1/4 tsp. baking soda added

Flavor to taste. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

I add about 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. vanilla.
For you novice cake bakers, don't just dump everything in, cream the shortening and sugar then add the eggs and vanilla. Finally alternate the flour and buttermilk. I bake this in a bundt pan (it belonged to my other great-grandmother).


Enjoy!

Friday Fill-Ins

I can't believe it's Friday already. Here are the fill-ins:
1. It's January which means I'm a stockshow widow.
2. A Coke is what I crave most right now.
3. Cork and wine go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong.
4. Friends and family are so nourishing.
5. Let us dare to take a chance.
6. I love my home.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to helping with the pigs and lambs, tomorrow my plans include the Happy International Livestock Show and Sunday, I want to rest and recharge for another stockshow week.

Hall's Kitchenware

Here are my pitchers again, both are Hall's. I did a little research. This was a useful site. On it I found out that my little yellow pitcher is a 5-Band small jug. This line was introduced in 1937. The red one is a ball jug, probably a #3 with an 8-9 cup capacity. These were introduced in 1938 and have been copied by many manufacturers. A Hall Ball Jug will always have a stamp.

This site was even more helpful with narrowing down when the pitchers were made. Both my stamps are pre 1970. The yellow canary color and the type of stamp on the bottom show that it was made between 1930 and 1970. The stamp on the bottom of the red pitcher shows it was made after 1932. The color narrows it down to 1937 or 1942. So, since this type of pitcher wasn't introduced until 1938 we can guess that the pitcher may have been made in 1942.

Are they worth anything? Who knows. On eBay, I found the red pitcher, although I don't know if it is the same size, bidding was starting at $9.99 and no one had bid yet (I should probably go bid, but am afraid that'd turn into an addiction.) Another pitcher was for sale for $59.99. I just like my pitchers because of the shape and color. Also, I believe they both came from one of Robby's great-aunts when they cleaned out the house. Surprisingly, I'm the only one in the family interested in pitchers. I'm probably sitting on a gold mine.

So, that's your Hall's Kitchenware history lesson for the day. The company is still in business, you can check it out here.