Ahh....The Bread Group

When I was growing up, biscuits were the thing. Living in the deep South, pretty much every meal had homemade biscuits. I remember watching my Mom's and Grandmother's hands working like whips across a kitchen counter covered in flour and within a few minutes, a well-worn greased pan would be popped into the oven and soon removed to deliver hot and heavenly biscuits.

Strangely enough, even though I lingered in the kitchen like a lost haint when I was growing up, I never learned the biscuit making skills. I've always been more of an exact measurements kind of gal and well, the women in my family have always tended to speak in terms like "just a smidge" and "until it looks right". Recently when I was back home, my Mom was making cornbread and I made her give me every single one of her "smidges" and "until it looks right" before she added them to the bowl so that I could measure them exactly and bring the specifics home and duplicate the magic. Of course, much like trying to capture lightning in a jar, the magic has yet to come even close.

The Mister, being from the Mid-West gets tickled at me sometimes. No matter what meal we are making, I'll say, "Okay, now what for the bread group?" He often argues, "I don't think that we need bread with this." Of course, I bounce a "what in the hee-haw hell?" look off of him and say, "WHERE are you FROM??"

He'll then remind me that his family hardly ever had bread with meals and that they had crescent rolls occasionally on only the most special occasions. (Crescent rolls! Occasionally!) Every time that he tells me, I feel weepy for him. Such a sad upbringing! Why, how on Earth did they get the kids to stop playing outside and come in for meals if not with promises of hot bread? Don't even get me started on how they steam their vegetables out there. Hardly even cooked, I tell ya. Someone could get sick from practices like that.

So that brings us to this fantastic song by The Coon Creek Girls. I think that more songs should end with "wow..wow..wow! wow! wow!" And seriously, any tune that challenges me to eat as many biscuits as possible is a-okay in my book:



I once worked with a realtor who had on his business card "Too Much Jelly For Just One Biscuit". I never really know how that applied to real estate but it seems to fit well here.

Learn the fascinating story behind The Coon Creek Girls here including how they performed for President Roosevelt and the First Lady as well as a high-falootin' King and Queen.

Until next time (if biscuits are wrong, I don't wanna be right)
x's and o's,
Eartha

Johnnie Wright Will Be Missed

We lost another great one today. Johnnie Wright passed away today in his home. He was a solo performer as well as half of the chart-topping duo Johnnie and Jack. Strangely enough, we've got another Patsy Cline connection here - the Jack in the duo was Jack Anglin who died in a car crash on the way to a memorial service for Patsy, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, and Randy Hughes.

Johnnie is also well-known as the husband of the great Kitty Wells who is still with us.

Here is a really interesting article on his life and career. It also gives a behind the scenes look at how he convinced Kitty to change her name to such and brought her the now famous song "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels":

Johnnie Wright, country star and husband of Kitty Wells, dies at 97

May he rest in peace.

Here he is with Bill Phillips and his daughter Ruby who passed in 2009:

Wilma Lee Will Be Missed

We lost one of our great classic bluegrass and country music stars today, Wilma Lee Cooper. Here she is with her husband Stoney and The Clinch Mountain Clan:



Wilma Lee and Stoney began recording in the late 1940s, then performed regularly on the Opry from 1957 until Stoney passed away in 1977. She was known as "The First Lady of Bluegrass" and continued to perform until she had a stroke while performing on stage at the Opry in 2001. The doctors said she would never walk again but she fought tooth and nail and regained use of her legs a few years later. She died today in her home of natural causes.



Rest in peace, Wilma Lee. I hope that Stoney met you on the other side with a song. You really do make a lovely couple.



Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

Happy Birthday George

I had to take a moment and leave a little birthday tribute to George Jones today. It's his eightieth birthday today! That would make him thirty four years old in this video.

The man singing there with him is also quite awesome. He's George "Georgie" Riddle and because everything seems to be six degrees from Patsy Cline these days, he and George Jones both performed at that last concert that Patsy ever did.

And along with George, this song is also dedicated to my buddy Sara and her Mister who were here for moonshine and a real live possum at our house around this time last year. And heck, I just realized that a lot of things in my life somehow always revolve back around to moonshine, possums and Patsy. I like that.

Here's a toast to "The Possum" George Jones and to evenings with white lightnin' and enormous possums in the driveway:

The Search Goes On

Sorry for missing our scheduled Sunday episode of Pam's home movies. We're still on the frantic hunt for Skippy Lou. Today is her birthday and on Friday, her Mom starts chemotherapy.

If you're praying folks, pray for a miracle. And if anyone has any media contacts (TV, newspapers, blogs - local or national) please let me know. We had the following local coverage from one news station but due to the tennis matches, it came on right before midnight instead of the three earlier time slots when people would have seen it. We really need media coverage right now. And reinforcements. Skippy Lou has been missing for a month tomorrow and though we have possible sightings, she isn't home yet.



x's and o's,
Eartha

Patsy's Things

Hey buckaroos! I've got a special treat for you today. Would you like to peek into Patsy Cline's jewelry box?

Now I wish that I could say that I found these items while rambling about in my attic but sadly, I had to photograph them through dimly lit plexiglass for you at Willie Nelson's museum. More on the museum coming up later in the week but here's a quick peek at their Patsy display. What fascinated me most was her jewelry box and the contents donated with:





Love these dice earrings



And the little horseshoes


These cute little wagons didn't appear to be jewelry - maybe just little trinkets? And I'm not sure if the guns and holsters are brooches or maybe diaper pins. I've seen vintage diaper pins just like these before. The exhibit wasn't labeled very well so it's anyone's guess...


Here's Patsy and Charlie on their wedding day:


And here you can see the whole display including her gold jacket and beautiful gown:



And I love these two shots of her:




This photo is said to be one of the last ever taken of her on the night that she died.

These items were donated by Patsy's husband, Charlie. On a related note (and talk about dream finds) did you know that Marty Stuart once found Patsy's makeup case at an antique store in the eighties? He got it for a mere seventy five dollars! You can read about it here. It was in a local exhibition recently and I missed seeing it by one day. I got my dates mixed up and by the time I got there, it was gone. I was so sad!

Hey, maybe Marty will invite me over to see it one day. With how odd this year has been, one just never knows. If he does, I'll be sure and get photos for you!

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

More Wig-Wagging With Wallace - with the History Detectives

This just in: Remember that post that I did on the Wig-Wagging With Wallace exercise record set? We knew back then that the History Detectives were going to do a show about Wallace and boy, I've been anxiously awaiting it's premiere next Tuesday. But wait! They posted it online early! Here you'll learn lots more about our good friend, Wallace:

Watch the full episode. See more History Detectives.

Pretty impressive, huh? Go Wallace!

It looks like they'll even be posting Wallace's exercise routines on their website soon if you're inclined to do some wig-wagging yourself!

Until next time (a one and a two and a three!)
x's and o's,
Eartha

Lassoing, Tap Dancing, Somersaulting, Jump Roping Eleanor

Simply Ah-mazing! Look at her go, y'all!




And to think that I get out of breath just doing dishes.

Bits and Pieces

Today's post is made up of things that I find interesting but in no way can form an entire post around. Let's see where my failure as a writer gets us, shall we?

First off, this chair:



I LOVE this chair! The colors..the pattern. Hello, gorgeous! Unfortunately, I have asthma and can't have any thickly upholstered furniture in the house. Sad! But if anyone in Nashville would like this chair and has the breathing capacity of a healthy person, it was recently spotted at the Habitat for Humanity store on 8th Avenue and it's only thirty five bucks. Let my lung function loss be your gain!

Also spotted at the same store:


Giant puppy photo collage! Kapow! I asked the Mister to stand next to it for scale. He's about 6'4" so let me assure you that this thing is huge. And no, your eyes don't deceive you - in the bottom shot, he's conducting business at a very fancy desk! That little dog is about to sign some checks! This is the kind of thing that I love and if I had a huge home, I'd probably have it on my wall right now. I absolutely adore it when people are so into their pets that they commit to them on a large scale. And by large scale, I mean this large. I kind of can't stop thinking about it actually. So, I'd better move on.

Today, I was checking my website stats. I like to see where you all come from and how you find Ranch Dressing. Of course, there are lots of hits from folks looking to make salad dressing. And though most of those are searching for a zesty dressing with buttermilk and herbs, today I had someone find the site by looking up "bull sperm in salad dressing". Yes, you heard me right.

All together now: Ewwwwwww!



Looks like the tomato, celery and onion have not received the memo yet.


And being the intrepid reporter that I am, I researched just that. For about one minute total. And in a round-about way, it exists. And we can just stop right there. Maybe it's time for a good distraction such as taking a peek at some of the other searches that brought readers here:



Guilty as charged! And yes, for those of you who are long-time readers , you know that it's time to shield your eyes.


Ready?


Set!


Now!




Ha! Sorry...I never get tired of that one.

In a stroke of luck, something that I have might come in handy right now. It's a card that my friend, Amber gave me and I happen to have it right here next to my desk. Here's a little respite for your pretty heads in the form of things that are pleasant - and in no way will remind you of fifteen folks bumping sterns and bows in a small barrel full of tepid water:



Okay, enough dawdling. Back to the list!



Oh, bleh! That one is definitely a big 10-4 as cave crickets are one of my biggest fears. Did you know that they are completely blind so they have a heightened sense of danger? And that when feeling threatened, they don't jump away but AT you? AND get this - if they get trapped and have no food, they'll eat their own legs off !! Holy mother of....Shudder. Dear cave cricket researcher, I hope that you found what you were looking for before they ate your eye sockets clean.

Up next:



Aww! So sweet! But unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that this person went away without any valuable information from me. I never went to prom and was most likely at home practicing the art of kissing the back of my hand or one of my Duran Duran posters. Sorry, lovelorn! If it's not too late and you're still here, I say just lay one on them. Though, don't slobber on your intended's face or in their nose.

That's a pretty good tip for most of life's big nerve-wracking moments actually. Don't over-think it. And don't leave slobber.

With that, I'll leave you with this edition of Bits and Pieces.


Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

Audio Crush: Pokey LaFarge

My ole timey heart has a crush on the stylings of a man named Pokey: