Quiet on the home front

Not much happening here at Poverty Flats USA. Took Granny to her doctor for a follow up today and went by the clinic to pick up my med refills. Doc said Granny could go back to work anytime she feels like it. She says she don't feel like it and that's all we are going to say about that !!@ After we got back from town, things really got exciting. I sat out in the garden and watched my beans sprout. Then I watched the dust settle on my pickup. Believe it or not, there are times when things aren't near this exciting around here. Occasionally, it gets downright boring. Oh well, onward and upward.

Looks like we are going to have a full house for Labor Day weekend. Linda is coming up from Arkansas, and Don W. and family is coming up from South Texas. Looks to be a great holiday.

We will be taking Texas BBQ & Beans to MOKAN Dragway Labor Day weekend also. We are scheduled there Saturday and Sunday , the 30th and 31st. This promises to be a really big event and we will have plenty of world class BBQ on hand including Pulled Pork, BBQ Beef, Smoked Sausage and of course our now famous Ranch style BBQ Beans. WOW, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Next year, we are planning to add a large commercial cooler to our BBQ van so we can carry and serve cole slaw and potato salad. Granny's recipes for these two dishes are second to none !!!!!!! But, we don't currently have the cooler space to carry them. Slowly but surely, we are growing.

Well, it's time for supper, Granny's ringing the cow bell. From us to you, Via Con Dios DM

Granny says I better update

Guess I better get to hunting and pecking, Granny says we need an update. I was just sitting here wasting all this intellect anyway so why not ? Some days I just amaze myself with my wit and wisdom and other days I'm about as witty as a bug on the windshield of an 80 mph Peterbilt. I think maybe the humidity has something to do with it. I'm sure most of us have days like that .
We have been getting ready for a garage sale tomorrow. It should be a good day for it since the rain has been taken out of the forecast. Granny and I are garage sale addicts. We go to these sales, buy a bunch of junk that we will probably never use, then have to have a garage sale to make room for more junk. But, we have fun and meet a lot of people so it's not a total waste.
Labor Day is coming up fast, and we at Texas BBQ & Beans are about to get as busy as a long tailed tomcat in a room full of rocking chairs. After this weekend , we have only one weekend free until sometime in November.
Until next time........ Via Con Dios DM Pitmaster at Texas BBQ & Beans

Not much going on

Pretty quiet around Poverty Flats today. The weather is sure a lot more pleasant than it has been. I think it is only about 80 outside right now. It will get hot again no doubt, but it won't last long. We're starting to see a few leaves turning red in the Dogwood trees and the Blueberry bushes. They are usually some of the first to start changing. Fall will be here next month. WOW !!!!! where has the Summer gone ? It's amazing how fast the seasons come and go as we get older. Remember when you were a kid, and Summer lasted for a whole year ?? At least it seemed the long. But of course, when I was a kid, I lived in Key Largo Florida and Summer really did last all year.



Granny is starting to get around much better now although she is still sore. She's talking about going back to work in a week or two. Don't know if she will go back to the same type of work or not. Whatever she decides will be ok.



We have been canning tomatoes today. Sure is a lot of work to get all those things in the jars but it is certainly worth it when you are through. We have canned green beans, pickled beets, jalapeno peppers, salsa, blackberry jam, yellow pear tomato preserves, and strawberry preserves as well. Sometime later in the season we will make and can some green tomato pickles. Those sure go good with fried catfish, pinto beans, and hot cornbread. I'm making myself awfully hungry. Think I'll go help Granny fix supper.



Via Con Dios, DM

Relief at last

Finally, a little relief from the heat !! We had a cool front move thru today and broke the heat wave we have been suffering under for the last couple of weeks. It sure feels better outside tonight.
Granny is feeling much better too. She is still really sore, but she is on the phone so that is a good sign. Anytime she feels too bad to talk on the phone, she REALLY feels bad. She's already talking about going back to work. HA. She won't be ready for that for at least 2 weeks.

Well, Texas BBQ & Beans is going back to Noel MO this weekend and probably next weekend as well. After that it is 2 weekends at MOKAN Dragway, the last of which will be Labor Day weekend. Then, in Sept. we are booked for 3 or 4 weekend festivals. Most of October and the first part of November is booked also. After that, most of the festivals will be over until next Spring. We are working on a local spot to sell BBQ thru the winter so we will be very busy for a while.

I think, when the festival season ends in November, I will travel to my old home town down in the Smokey Mountains of East Tennessee. Erwin Tennessee is a little town that is located in Unicoi County. Unicoi is an Indian word that means "The Beautiful Valley". The town itself sets in a valley that is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It borders North Carolina, divided by the Appalachia Trail.
I have a lot of relatives in that part of the country, some I would like to see once more, and some I wouldn't. I have an uncle, Alvin Miller , who I have stayed really close to over the years. Also have an aunt, Thelma Querry, who I will visit while I am there. My uncle Alvin turned 85 on his last birthday, July 4th. He called me to tell me he had gotten a brand new wife for his birthday!!!! Boy, was he happy .... I think that was his 9th one !! I don't know if the's the women he likes , or if he just enjoys the ceremonies.

Well, think I'll quit for the night, my fingers are tired. As always, from me to you......
Via Con Dios DM

Granny's all patched up !!!

Well, we took Granny down to the big city hospital today, where she had surgery to remove her gall bladder. Beat's me why GOD ever put something in us that we can live without and often are better off without ! ! Don't know , but that's going on my list of things to ask about when I graduate to Glory. Anyway, she is doing very well , all things considered. She is still pretty groggy tonight and no doubt will be really sore tomorrow but she did get to come home this evening and is in bed asleep. Doctor said she will be fine in a few days but for now she needs lots of rest. Life around Poverty Flats is not always very restful but for now it will have to be.

We just wrapped up the big Emancipation Day festival in Joplin MO yesturday. Can't say a whole lot about it except it was NOT what we were led to believe it was going to be. It turned out to be more of a Democrat Party rally and fund raiser for the black community. I can assure you that many of the black people are a lot more prejudice toward white people than we are toward them. Don't believe that ???? Think about this... A black man, in a crowd of whites will usually be accepted with little or no problem... Most white folks don't want to be thought of as racist. BUT....... a white man in a crowd of blacks, especially at a place that is considered to be a black event, is very often made to feel like an intruder. I believe that GOD loves us all regardless of our skin color, and if a person's heart is right with GOD there is no place for racial prejudice.
Not sure how I got off on that, but there it is.

Must go, my beauty rest calls........ Via Con Dios DM