What Emma And I saw on our walks this weekend

Saturday walk

Paintings on the side of the Mosaic building 

Headed East down 4th Avenue

                                                Our Sunday walk.....

looking  west on 4th avenue
Dale Hotel

Looking East Down 4th avenue

 It is chilly On the Avenue this morning....the leaves are turning color! Fall is coming!

45 Degrees
 according to my elderly
thermometer 

I do not have a cornfield

but I do have

 a field of concrete leaves 

First wash of paint

Gloria Christiansen

MississippiOnThePlains@aol.com

September, 17, 2015

 I must say we southerners are awfully fond of our homes …..Regarding them not unlike a dearly beloved pet.  In fact in the South our houses are often named.

     Our house in Edwards was “Suttle House” named for the family that built it in 1920. We were only the second owners of "Suttle House" we purchased it in 1986 from a daughter of the builder, Ben Suttle.
    The house was not actually named until we moved into it, the Suttles no doubt considered it entirely too new for it to have a name.  Oh, I feel sure it was called the Suttle house by folks in town, but did not have signage declaring it so, until Doug Turner constructed and painted a sign making it official.

Porch at "Suttle House"
note sign on the right in picture

I said all of that to say this: I named my Holdrege house long before the dogs and I arrived here a year ago, I contemplated on the name.. a good while, looking at pictures the realtor had on line, because I bought this house without ever looking at it in person, Then one day it suddenly came to me “Mississippi on the Plains”!  Now there is a sign in the front yard declaring it so.

New Sign!

The front porch of "Mississippi on the plains" is taking on a decidedly southern appearance....That is my intention anyway.

front porch at
 "Mississippi On the Plains"

   Some folks may think naming a little, tiny, 654 square foot house, a bit pretentious....but you have to know, I have lived somewhere in the south since 1976, where being pretentious... if considered a flaw at all in ones character, a very minor one.    And in some circles pretension is encouraged...as long as it is carried out with humility.

Love to all
Gloria
MississippiOnThePlains@aol.com

   

I Love This Town!!!!

From the Holdrege Daily Citizen September, 14, 2015

10:58

9:22

The street (and Alley) where I live....

September 8 2015

Rather Foggy this morning,

Looking South toward downtown

North up west Avenue

Alley looking North

Alley South

Alleys are so useful, the trash is picked up from the alley and all utilities are serviced  from the ally...Keeping the street neat. I enter my garage from the alley...very handy.

Fixing to out and make a concrete leaf, later today I will be going to town for a manicure...maybe something exciting will happen...if it does I will take a picture, you can be sure of that!

 we will just have to wait and see.

That is it for now!  From the avenue!

Gloria Christiansen

Christiansen201@aol.com

http://gloria-ruralhindscountymississippi.blogspot.com/

September, 5, 2015

Cooking Collard Greens

In my 35 years of living in Mississippi, I never cooked a collard green, did not even eat many, if I was a guest and I was served greens, I ate them....but did not developed a hankering for them....not like some southern dishes.

This spring I planted a patch of collards. Those collards were much pampered, in hopes they would reach a size that would be suitable for making a concrete leaf. As the one in the picture below.  I found it in Bob Kemp's Compost pile years ago.

                           I am quite disappointed they never grew to my expectations.

                                So I whacked them off and fix'n to boil them in a pot!

I text two of my Mississippi buddies Lindsey and Jacqueline asked how to cook collards...Lindsey had never cooked them either! I could not believe it! until I remembered she spent much of her youth in the North...even attended college in Chicago for a time. 

  But Jac knew how to cook them!

Onion sauteed in bacon grease, then add chicken broth and ham hock.... cook a while then add the collards.   Must take Stems out. "Stems are tough." Jac said

 And apparently you can not have collards with out Cornbread....Because she added "don't forget the cornbread!!" 

The collards were delicious!     Super Yummy!

That is it from here on The Avenue....

Here I am in Holdrege Nebraska! 

On the Avenue!   West Avenue!

    The other day I received notification that it was time to renew the subscription to the local paper Holdrege Daily Citizen.  “Oh My Word! I cannot let my subscription lapse!” I said out loud.    I was nearly in a panic, I look forward to closing the day, on the front porch, reading the Citizen.

 The Citizen has a column called The Public record….  log of police incidents.

Note:  9 am

Love this one too!

But I must say Sunday March 15 1:24 am is my very favorite.

You can clearly see why I cannot be without the evening paper.

  “But I paid for the whole year!” I continued with my rant.    I told myself, in a very authoritative voice, “Very first thing in the morning, you walk over to the citizen office, and get this subscription thing straight!”
 Way on after while it dawned on me, I did buy a year’s subscription and that year was fast coming to an end.  Hard to believe it has been nearly a year since I moved north, to where I was born and raised, Nebraska.

  I am settling in to my little house, and my little yard…..After nearly forty years, in my big old Edwards house, the house and big yard had begun to wear me down.
   The main floor of this house is only 624 square feet, that is official, got that info from the Phelps County tax records web site. 

     There is one bedroom, the living and dining room are combined, a very little bathroom, and a small kitchen, an open front porch.

south

north

 and a very small enclosed back porch…That is it!!!!.  It is gray with white trim, and I had a white picket fence installed.  It is cute for sure but petite.

   When I first arrived I was thrilled with my tiny house and tiny yard…. Then slowly it began to feel small…really really small. It is after all, 2,000 square feet smaller than the Edwards house!

       It has taken a bit of time, but  I have become quite thankful for the size of this house…..I believe it was when I came to realization that my computer did not have to have its very own room, that my brain begin to embrace and appreciate the advantages  of living in tiny spaces.  When I take a notion to clean house, it does not take long!  In fact I can mow, weed eat, and clean house in a single morning!

     The kitchen  took the longest to get used to, it has very little cupboard space, but found a cute cabinet in the attic, my brother came and helped me bring it down,we placed it on the south wall of back porch. That is where I store things like the blender, Crock pot, and food processor…big bulky things.   The kitchen items, which I maybe use once a year ( or never) are stored in the basement, on shelves that were already here.  My washing machine is in the basement too….it is harvest gold so you know how old it is.

    There is another small room in the basement with shelves, where I store my extra groceries and wine…do not have a nice big pantry like I had in Edwards.  Well I do… sort of…. the door to the attic stairs is in the kitchen, I store my coffee, cereal, flour, cookbooks, etc. on those steps. 

  There is a room in the basement that is almost finished…nice big room, I have a bed and desk in it, and most of my clothes are hung on racks in that room.   Emma Dog and I slept down there for a while…but Shelby dog would not come down…she just laid at the top of the stairs looking pitiful, so we moved back up…left the clothes though….the closet in the bedroom is not quite 3 feet square.

    That is it from here,.... “Mississippi on the Plains”!  That is what I named my home.
The sign is ordered!  It is black with white lettering, made from cased aluminum.  Can’t wait!
 Love to all

First Published

Hinds County News
September 2015
Pictures added