Fathers' Day, 2017

I posted the first picture on Twitter last week, thinking it was Fathers' Day then. It is, as far as I know, the only picture of my dad with me:

I think we were getting ready for my baptism.

I want to introduce you to the man who was 'Dad' for me - Grampa George. At some point after the accident that took Dad, he and my Grandma moved to California to stay with us. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that Grandma's diagnosis of breast cancer may well have played a part in that choice too. I honestly do not know  what their motive truly were. All I know is that I am so grateful they were there.

Family photo, ca. 1954.  Grandma, me, mom, Gramps.

Rahe and Evah George, sometime in the 1930s.

Evah and Rafe, ca. 1954.

I have some flashes of recollection of train trips taken when I was three , four and five. One to see my Aunt Frances, so mom could get he to sign off on my adoption.

Two to Illinois, the second, in 1955, for Grandma's funeral. I can only speculate, but I have a suspicion that the trip in 1954 was to select and move some of Rafe and Evah's things (the china hutch I still have) to California.

Along with mom, Grandpa and Grandma George gave me a warm, strong and loving foundation on which to grow.

I miss them still.

Happy Father's Day!

I needed something silly after this week.

As you can see, via @20committee

Happy Father's Day, Guys...

For Father's Day, Grif and I are going to the Petco/Vetco clinic to finish up his shots and get his heartworm test (4DX).

 
Found this, thought I'd share:

Keep loving those kids, and keep giving them all the advice they can ignore. (I have *yet* to pick out any clothes that my daughter would wear. "Oh, Dad..." was the usual.)

Love you, kiddo!

Father's Day, 2013 (Updated)

Had a nice, long chat with the Kiddo.  She was sitting in her car, on top of The Rim at the Billings airport, knitting while we chatted.  She had sent me a present, which arrived Friday.  I told her that I would wait until today to open it.  I resolved to open it when she called.  She called once, but it rolled to voice mail without ringing.  I left a message on her's, and, since she had called, decided to go ahead and open it!

To my joy and surprise, it was a cook book holder.  It's collapsible, to the size of a smallish cigar box laptop.  And, it has some storage!  And a conversion chart, from teaspoons to cups, to ounces to milliliters.

The book support has a clip for holding recipe cards and such.

And of course it holds books!

Eat What You Want And Die Like A Man by Steve H. Graham

As part of dinner this evening, Crock Pot Beans!

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If you're wondering...

1 lb white beans                       1 c brown sugar

1 large onion                             1/3 c yellow mustard
1 lb ham, in chunks                   1/4 c cider vinegar
1 12oz can diced tomatoes      1 tbsp liquid smoke 
1 can tomato paste                   1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
About 20 oz stew run-off (chicken or beef - I'm not sure which.  Smelled good, tho.)

I started soaking the beans Friday night to de-gasifiy them.  (Safety tip!!)

Saturday afternoon, I put everything into the crock pot, and cooked on high for about 6 hours.  I turn to low when I went upstairs, and let it go over night.  Turned down to warm this morning when I got up.

All of the above are "to taste", measurement approximate, since I squeeze and splash instead of measuring.  YMMV!  I neglected to account for heat - a couple of Thai Hot Peppers should probably have gone in, but I can always add some Tapatio if I need heat!

Dinner: planning on grilling a couple of burgers (if it doesn't rain), and having some mashed potatoes. Brownies for dessert!

Update:
I should have added more sugar.  The amount I used was what normally works well when I use catsup instead of canned tomatoes.  Also, some more liquid smoke.  I didn't get around to brownies, but I did grill the burgers outside.  And got beer.

All in all, a great Father's Day.