DIXIE'S DIARY

"Back in December and January, I was so down in the dumps that I was almost tempted to sell all my chickens. But Ray said, "I don't mind taking care of them for you," and now I am so glad he did. I've tried to tell you all what a fine fellow he is. Even if he does get rid of some of my flowers. Of course, some spring, I might have a different story to tell. Ask my sisters what they think of him."

"Saturday afternoon, Laura and Cary came by for a few minutes. We were getting ready to go to a singing, so Ray went in the bedroom to change clothes. He was gone for a while so I went to the door to see if he was ready. He said he would be ready in a few minutes. Laura and I talked several more minutes and I went to the door again. He said about the same thing. OK, I went back a third time to see about him. He was sitting on the throne. I asked him what was the matter. He said, "I can't get up." Well, Laura and I tried to help him up. We got him to a standing position. He started shaking and jerking. We helped him sit back down. Laura told Cary to go get Nancy. I called Gary's house and told them to come quickly. Ray could not use his feet and legs. He was burning up with fever and his pulse was 150. Lucy called Levon to meet us at the VA. He had 104 degrees of fever when we got him to the hospital. Turns out he had a bad urinary infection. They gave him something to bring down his fever and an antibiotic for his infection, told him to drink lots of water and sent him home. He is much better now, except his legs hurt him a lot."

"Howdy, we got 2 inches of rain Tuesday night. Oh, that is wonderful. Ray had left his window rolled down in the car. Guess who had to get up in the middle of the night (in the rain) and go roll it up. He was tired."

"Ray loves the first of the year. Everywhere we go seems like someone will give him a calendar. He has one by his bed, his easy chair. I have one in front of my typewriter. We almost paper the house with calendars. They have some pretty pictures on them."

"Gaye and Ted Cox got home from work Monday and went to fix some fence to keep their cows out of the meadow. Then, they were putting the cows back in the grazing field and found a heifer having a calf. Gaye came to our house to get a flashlight. Well, of course, Ray said, "I'll get my puller in case she needs help." Gaye and Ray were trying to get back as quick as possible. Gaye was ahead. Ray was lost. She went back. She found Ray about half way up the hill, but she couldn't see his four-wheeler. So, she jumped off her her wheeler and after asking him a dozen questions, found out that his hand had slipped off the handle bar after hitting a rock and he and the four-wheeler went over the bend in the road. Ray and Gaye got the wheeler back on the road and continued on to check the heifer. Ray wasn't hurt, only embarrassed. The heifer had her calf and everyone went on home."

"Ray and I were our running around Sunday and stopped by the road and had a picnic. It was so much fun. Usually, we are in too big of a hurry to do things like that. We had cured ham and roast beef sandwiches, potato chips and soda. The sandwiches had lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and dill pickles as well as cheese slices."

"I brought in some of my house plants Saturday. Ray hauled off the rest to the barn. I told him not to destroy my pots. I might need them some day."

"Ray has been very busy getting the wood stove put up and starting work on the deck. I have started walking again. I love to walk but I don't like to walk by myself. Ray says his knee won't let him walk so I have counted the steps from my house out the road down to the fire station and ten times is a mile. I am supposed to walk up to three miles a day. So if you see me going in circled, just wave and go on by."

"Recently I told Ray that the railing on the back steps needed fixing. He said, okay, as soon as he got around to if he would fix it. So Thursday I went to the garden and on my way back into the house, the railing gave way and I fell from the top step my full length into a pile of concrete blocks and other debris. Ray was outside and saw me fall. He groaned and asked me if I was hurt. He finally got to me and helped me get up. I stomped off leaving him wondering if I was okay. Gracious, it hurt! I had cut my foot, very little, and bruised myself just a dab. The step I fell off of was about four feet high. I have a big bruise on my right arm and leg, and it was my left foot that got cut. Well, I tell you when I did get going I tore the railing off the post it was nailed to. Ray goes out the back door now, and I just stomp around glaring at anything in general. So as soon as Ray gets around to it, he will fix it."

"We had Ray to the doctor last week. His heartbeat is too slow. The doctor said he may have to have a pacemaker. I was getting ready to unplug the microwave oven, but they tell me these new pacemakers aren't affected by the microwave ovens any more."

"I got on the riding lawn mower and mowed the lawn the other day. Sure did look pretty for a couple of days. Now it's ready to be mowed again. Lucille doesn't like a riding lawn mower, so she uses the weedeater. I like to use one also, but when I do the lawn I ride. I trim with the weedeater. No, Ray doesn't do either one if I can help it. I have too many flowers and bushes and other good stuff."

"Monday morning I was fixing the fire in the stove. As I was ready to put the last stick of wood in the firebox, I somehow had my finger on the end of the stick and gave it a hard shove and caught my finger between the stick of wood and the stove. Wow, did that ever smart! My fingernail is black and swollen. Ray asked, 'Did it hurt?'"

"Ray stepped wrong Friday and sorta twisted his knee. When he finally got his self together, he came to town, and I took him to the V.A. They said he had just aggravated the arthritis that was in his knee. He feels much better. They gave him some high powered pills."

"Wednesday of last week Ray had some work he wanted to do with the tractor. The starter has been torn up for years on the tractor, so Ray has to use a screwdriver to start it. Okay, ge got it started and was getting on the tractor when he slipped and caused it to start rolling. He got down and the tractor stopped when it got on his knee. He laid there perhaps at the most 10 minutes before the mail carrier stopped at our mail box and Ray hollered 'Help.' The mail driver, Dan, heard something and turned his radio down as Ray hollered help again. So Dan backed in our driveway and saw Ray down and, of course, jumped out to help. A great big thank you, Dan. Ray has been real sore. His left ribs are awfully sore. If I had been home I would have taken him to the doctor. By the time I got home he had decided he was alright, and anyone that know that man like I do knows there are times you can tell him what to do and there are times you might as well be quiet."

"The other day Ray was doing some brush hogging and got into some wire. He had a terrible time getting it off the blades. He had parked the tractor on an incline and disconnected the brush hog from the tractor. The tractor was out of gear, and thank God, Ray was out of the way when it started rolling across the yard. He knew he couldn't catch it, so it went into my flowers, ran over my elephant ear, my silver dollar plant and several more good stuff."

"Ray kind of plowed our garden the other day."

"Ray canned 18 quarts of pears Monday. He's an alright fellow to have around."

"There were several brown headed cow birds at Ray's bird feeders Saturday. The hummingbirds are here again. Ray ordered a new feeder for them from the Ozarks Electric magazine."

"Ray let the tractor get away from him and it ran through my flowers, ruined my elephant ear."

"Ray had to go to the V.A. Hospital Friday morning to have a thing cut off his face. There were five gray squirrels playing under one tree at the V.A. grounds."

"Ray had to go to the V.A. for a check up on his eye Friday. Of course he sees better than he did, and the doctor told him he would fit him with new glasses in six weeks or so, but they told him to read the eye chart and, of course, he missed some of the letters. There was a man sitting there watching the chart. When Ray missed the second letter, the man laughed. Believe me, I bet if it had bveen his eye, he would not have found it funny. As a child I was taught not to make fun of someone who could not help whatever was different about them. I got so mad for a few minutes I could have hit the old man. Ray says not to worry about it."

"Ray had a wreck on his four wheeler last week. He was out wandering around in the woods her below Lucy's house and turned the thing over. He had to walk a little ways up the hill to get Lucy's attention so he could tell her to call me to bring the Jeep and help get him out. He had to go back the next day and find some of his tools with a big magnet."

"For Ray's birthday, I got him a set of bells that clip onto his shirt collar or britches leg so I can tell where he is if he is moving. Course some times he goes to sleep. Then unless he is having bad dreams, he don't move very much."

"It doesn't bother Ray a bit to sleep late and let me feed and water the chickens, ducks and guineas. I even fed the birds some sunflower seed too."

"We had some excitement on our mountain Friday night. Ray and I had been to town to get my medicine and went by Leo and Kate's house. We visited with them awhile. Tim and Mindy were there so we looked at their trailer house. It was nearly dark when we got home. Our rat terrier had something treed, so Ray grabbed the gun and went to see. I went to take care of my chickens and guineas. When I got done, Ray told me to get a flashlight and my .22 rifle and see what she had treed. Ray had got tangled up in some green briars so I did what he asked me to do. I found out she had an armadillo so I shot him two or three times to make sure he was dead. While I was shooting, 3 or 4 cars passed by our house going north. One stopped when I was shooting but went on. Then when I got done and in the house, I found out a meth lab had been found on Pinnacle Mountain. I haven't done any more shooting since."

"I had a terrible shock Sunday morning. I went to feed my baby chicks, guineas and other fowl. I noticed several three-week old chicks scattered over the floor, dead. I started to check them out when suddenly I came unglued. There lay a copperhead coiled not over 6 inches from my foot. I was close to the door or I probably would have made a new one. The sounds I made got Ray outside barefooted in no time flat. He saw right away I hadn't fallen, so he asked what was wrong. The copperhead really got his attention. He went back in the house and thought he got the 12 guage shotgun but he actually got the 410 which was just as good but he came back out of the house barefoot. Since he can hardly walk across the floor barefoot much less outside, I went back to the house to get his shoes. Gee whiz, the snake could have been to New York City by the time I finally got him to the chicken coop. Now, the 12 guage and the 410 have different safeties on them. He kept trying to get the safety off the 410 that he thought was the 12 guage. He finally killed the snake and it was 34 1/2 inches long. There were 5 dead chicks and 1 that was almost dead. Their little bodies were black and hard. Needless to say, when I am near the coop, I am looking at my feet."

"I found a guinea nest the other day that had 58 eggs in it. I don't know how many will hatch, but they are in the incubator. There was only one hen setting on the eggs. Usually there will be 2 or 3 setting on that many. Something has been getting the eggs about as fast as I would find a nest. Ted Harp loaned Ray a live trap. We caught a big o'possum and 2 coons in it. We keep it set all the time now."

"The other night, Lucy called to ask me if I wanted to come get my big bird that was walking past her house going toward Pinnacle. I told her it wasn't my big bird but it might be Gary's. So, I called Gary. He gathered up his grandkids and went to see. No, it wasn't his. It was an emu and he has rheas. Thursday, Ray, Sally, Billy and I got on the 4-wheeler to go see Claude and Ellen. We got out just past the Trey Ledbetter place. Ray said, "look there." It was the big bird. Sally and Billy had a fit. They thought it was really a big bird. We got up pretty close to the emu and it started running up the road ahead of us. Ray had the 4-wheeler going 30 miles an hour before he was able to pass. If someone had been along that could use a lariat rope, I feel like they could have roped that bird. I don't know what I could have done with it but I could have touched it as close as it was to the 4-wheeler. We visited with Claude and Ellen for about an hour. Sally got covered with seed ticks. Ellen got a bottle of peroxide, yep, that is right, peroxide, and wet a wash rag with peroxide and just wiped Sally's legs and the seed ticks fell right off. Sally was afraid of Claude. She liked Ellen. Anyway, on the way back home when we passed the "old boxed house" place, we saw a car stopped in the middle of the road and the people inside looking up on the hillside. We got even with them and it was Louis. He asked if I was looking for an ostrich. I said no and told him it was an emu. It had gone out of the road and up in the brush. I don't know where the thing is now but it was nearly to the Pinnacle Community Building Thursday about noon. Someone told me lots of people were dumping them just like dogs. They can't sell them nor give them away and they can't afford to feed them anymore, so someone will be surprised when they kill one thinking it is a big turkey. Yeah!"

"Ray is doing so good taking care of me and all my chickens and other fowl that hangs around here. terry gave me some 25 duck eggs and 9 of them hatched. They are so cute and nasty."

"Looks like we are going to have another hot dry week. Well, I found another guinea nest that had 34 eggs in it. I got 30 of them and put in the incubator. I just can't stand to think a varmit of some sort will get them. Me and our little dog, Babe, got another armadillo the other night. Sure was a big one."

"On the way to work the other morning, Ted ran over a rattlesnake. It had 11 rattles. Ted cut the head and rattles off and called May to tell her to have Bill come get the body if he wanted it. Bill went to get the body, put it in the freezer 'til someone, namely, Richard, got there to help skin the thing. Then Bill fried some of the meat for his supper. He said it was OK, except it was real boney."

"Sam and Lucy sold their goats. Boy, am I glad old "Stinkie" is gone. He liked to get close to you and spit on you. My, did he ever stink!"

"We have an opossum living here and I can't get a shot at him. He eats with the cat and has found one of the guinea nests. I will get that fellow, just wait and see."

"Sunday, April 26, boy, do we need a rain! We caught that opossum in a live trap Saturday night. Sammy and Audrey came early Sunday morning to see the opossum. He would open his mouth real wide and hiss and growl at the kids. He was on our deck eating the cat food when he got caught."

"Somehow or other the breaker on our freezer got turned off and all the stuff ruined. At least the coyotes ate good for a night or two."

"We saw Tim Davis at the flea market at Huntsville. He had a battle with one of his cows and as usual, the cow won."

"We could use some rain in our neck of the county. I had an old hen setting on a dozen eggs. She hatched them off Monday. I had a box full of little chicks that had hatched in the incubator. So when I put the hen and her chicks in a small pen, I put other chicks in the pen with her. She tried to hover all the chicks. To say the least, it was funny to watch her."

"I want to thank my neighbors for slowing down and even stopping when my guineas are in the road."

"Several people have been trying to give me some roosters. I don't need any roosters. But if anyone out there needs some roosters to butcher let me know and I will tell you who to call."

"Monday afternoon, Ray called me to come outside. There was a half grown bunny rabbit laying out by the chicken house. The guineas had him treed. Those guineas seem to notice everything. The chickens didn't act like even knew the rabbit was there. Out Mountain Cur puppy didn't even notice that a rabbit was there."

"I have several roosters that need to be butchered. Ray says maybe tonight. Seems like tonight never gets here."

"Saturday morning I woke up to the sound of chickens squawking. I grabbed the 12-gauge shotgun but didn't find anything. A little while later when I went to burn some trash, I found raccoon tracks around."

"I found a nest of guinea eggs Friday afternoon with 21 eggs in it. I took 18 of them. Then I walked on about 20 steps and found a goose nest with 5 shells in it. One of these days I hope to catch whatever it is that is getting my eggs."

"I took the eggs away from our duck Saturday and put them in the incubator. That way a coon or some other varmint won't get the eggs. Something got another nest of guinea eggs Saturday."

"I had 10 little turkeys hatch over the weekend, and lots of guineas and chickens. Something either killed our little kitten or it wandered off and died because we haven't seen it for several days."

"Steve called me Monday wanting to know if I needed any roosters. No, I do not need any roosters."

"I wonder if anyone ever incubated a buzzard or crow eggs? I guess I have plenty of other stuff to try to find out this year."

"I still have several guineas and chicks. Tuesday I had another Rhea hatching. It belongs to Gary and Edna. Did you know that guineas will keep blister bugs off your garden stuff? They sure do. I went to the garden one afternoon and saw two blister bugs in my tomatoes. So I planned the next morning to dust them with Sevin Dust. When I got out there the next morning, the guineas were in the garden and the bugs were gone. I watched several days and once in a while there would be a bug, and then there would be none. I've been told nothing eats blister bugs, so tell me what happened to them? I never heard of them leaving on their own."

"You know I write a lot about my baby chicks. Of course, I have electric light bulbs to hang over my chicks. Back when I was a kid, my mom's hens did the warming of the chicks, and a lot of people still let their hens do the work. I remember one time, and I am sure there were other times too that it had rained and the old hen didn't get the chickens rounded up and several of the chicks almost drowned when mom found them. She took them in the house and left the door of the oven open and let them dry off. She only lost one of them. I don't remember how many she saved. The little roosters were what we had for Sunday dinner when they got big enough. One saved as many as possible in those days. Now if I have plenty in the freezer, I just wring their necks and feed them to the coyotes."

"We were at the flea market in Huntsville back a time. Some people were giving away puppies that were half Collie and half Arkansas Traveler. I got one. He is less than 6 months old and is already treeing armadillos. He digs up moles and hates cats. So Ray says he will probably make a good coon dog too."

"I have several banty roosters and two or three dominique roosters that I will give someone if they will come and get them. Otherwise, I will butcher them and can them for dumplings or dressing."

"I got a call from a lady the other day telling me how to catch black snakes that get into one's guinea or hen nests. Carefully so as not to crack the egg, put a large fish hook in the egg with a strong line attached to the hook. The line is to hold him until you go gather the eggs, then you can kill him. Or don't put a line on it, and he will crawl off somewhere and die. She said it might work the same for coons and armadillos. I also heard if the crows are getting into your corn and pull it up as fast as it comes out of the ground, thread a horse hair through the corn before you plant it. Then when the crow pulls up the corn and swallows the seed, the horse hair will tickle him to death. (???) It's amazing waht you can hear if you listen real close."

"Lucy and Sam's goats still get out of the pen every once in a while. Gay and Ed's cow still jumps the cattle guard, and Leon and Kathy have a steer that can just about jump any kind of fence if they take him away from the ones he likes to run with. My geese and guineas still eat the dog food at Lucy's house."

"Well, I have a big story to tell about me. The other day Ray and I decided to burn some trash. We got buckets of water and some burlap bags, so we could keep ahead of any sparks that might try to get away from us. We had decided to go to the house to get a bite to eat and some Kool-Aid. We had poured water around the fire, and I started to leave. Something made me turn around. Up in a tree about 25 feet off the ground some smoke was coming from a limb of the tree. I called Ray to come back and look at what I was seeing. Well, I went and got Lucy to come help me get the ladder off the fire truck so I could climb up the tree and put out the fire. I had water in a five gallon bucket. I had plans of carrying the bucket up the ladder with me, but Ray said 'we will tie the bucket on the rope and Dixie can pull the water up when she climbs up to the fire.' Wrong! Lucy found a 16 ounce bottle and they filled it with water four times. Then she found two 20 oiunce Coke cups with handles and lids and filled both with water. I kept pouring water into the hole in the tree. We finally got the fire out. Can you imagine how the poor little squirrel felt when he came back to his home in the tree? How the fire got to the limb in the tree we don't know. That was the only mishap we had. Sam said he could just see me climbing that tree with a little bottle of water to put out a squirrel nest that had caught fire."

"Richard gave Ray and me a collie puppy around Christmastime. We named him 'Fluffy'. He was gone all day Sunday. We were sitting in the yard Monday evening and in walked the pup. Someone had shot him point blank in the face. If he was doing anything wrong, I don't blame anyone for shooting him, but they could have at least made sure he was dead. I hate to see anything suffer."

"We have a big speckled rooster. The other morning at a quarter to 5:00 we heard him squawking. I looked out the window and a little old hoot owl was trying to lift the rooster off the ground. The rooster was much bigger than the owl. The owl finally gave up. Ray was up and trying to get outside to help the rooster. The owl tried to catch my Muscovey hen. She darted under the car. Poor owl, he lost out completely. We usually fasten the chickens and guineas up at night, but the rooster hadn't gone in the pen, so he almost got carried away by the owl. The old rooster goes in the pen first now. Never a dull moment around this place."

"We have a rooster that loves to flog us when we enter the hen house to feed, water or gather the eggs. One day he flogged me, and I hit him with a stick and knocked him out. I thought I had killed him. Knowing he was too tough to eat, I just threw him out of the pen 'til I got done feeding. Well, of course, I forgot to move him, and sometime later I went outside for something and, wham, he got me on the bend of my legs. Would you believe that Ray thought that was funny?"

"Lucy and Sam are in the goat business. Miniature goats that is. They are really cute. If they get loose and get in the gardens, we are liable to have goat burgers."

"Well, folks we have a great white hunter in our community. It's Ellen! She heard the dogs acting up, so she went to the door. She at first thought it was the black panther that comes around the area. But when the animal stood on its hind legs, she screeched real loud; and Claude saw it, in fact, was a black bear. She said it was at least 6'2" or 3" tall. It had attacked one of their dogs and torn its chest open. Ellen was sure it was a 'big foot' until Claude convinced her it was a bear. They visited our neighbors Monday. They started to visit Ray, but they saw his pickup at Karl and Velma's house, so they turned around and went home."

"We turned the cows in, and the first thing the old bull had to stick his tongue to the wire. He whirled around with his tail over his back; he really took off. So later Timmy said, 'With the upper wire undone, it won't shock you, will it grandpa?' Ray made some remark that no one knows for sure what he meant, and Timmy touched his finger to the wire. Then he took hold of the wire with his hand to show how brave he is. Needless to say, he threw the wire back down and got back. Ray laughed until he cried. Timmy said, 'I don't think it was quite that funny,' and Ray started laughing again. The old black tom cat, one of the dogs, and several of the cows got into the wire."

"Clyde told me that the 'Mooses' had just about eaten up his garden. He said his fence charger had worn out, so he couldn't keep them out."

"I have tomatoes and pepper plants up. I sowed some tobacco seed also. I have transplanted lots of different flowers. I have the road banks nearly full. Ray says I could plant some in the pasture. Sure! You know how long they would last with Gay and Ed's cows everywhere. And speaking of cows, that white cow they have still jimps the cattle guard and eats the grass on the other side. They even put a gate across the cattle guard and she jumped it. One of these days the are going to find her butchered. If one tried to eat her, she would probably give one the heart burn so bad you couldn't even sleep at night."

"For those of you who keep up with the daily happenings at my house, the pig has learned quickly that when we step outside with a cup of milk, she runs real fast to her cage to eat, so the cats won't get any of her milk. She loves to eat cat and pig food with the cats, but the milk is for her only. Carol bought one of the pigs also. She named her pig Trevor. She says they are quite fond of their pig."

"Leo took Timmy to the emergency room Saturday afternoon. He had been throwing up all day. He is better too."

"Seems to be so much sickness around this area. Lili was sick over the weekend. Audrey and Heather were sick with a temperature Monday. Audrey was telling us about her cat catching a mouse and she was sure her dog, Cracker Jack, had been bitten by a mountain lion. She can tell some wild stories with her daddy and Papa Ray helping her."

"Last week was certainly a dreary week. Miss Aaron would beg to get outside. I finally got her all dressed up in her coat, boots and mittens. She went outside for just a minute and she came running back in and said, 'It is really cold.' She got a set of pots and dishes for her birthday and some new play dough, so she was content most of the time if Papa Ray would play with her."

"Miss Nealy laughed out loud at me Friday afternoon. You will have to admit, I am pretty funny. She was four months old the 3rd of November."

"Luetta told me where I could get come really good molasses. So we went to Mack and Mary Smith's house Saturday while they were making molasses. When I was a youngster, my dad used to make molasses. I hadn't seen anyone making molasses since Dad quit, so it was a thrill to see someone boiling off a pan of juice. The operation was basically the same as Dad's. My Dad'd mill was horizontal and powered by a mule. Mack's mill was flat and powered by a tractor. They still had to feed the mill by hand as I did so long ago. They collected the cane juice in five gallon buckets. Dad collected the cane juice in wooden barrels. Mack's cooking pan is stainless steel. They both had dividers in the pan so as to be able to let the juice cook more even. Dave and Jerry were helping Mack cook the juice. It is a fascinating operation to watch. I moved from the cooking place to where the ladies were ready to fill the jars with the finished product. They had this this big stainless steel pot that held 12 quarts or so of molasses. It had a faucet that could be turned off quite easily. The gentle cooking and skimming of the molasses is a mighty fine art. I didn't get to meet all the rest of the crew. It was every bit as good as I remember my Dad's molasses being. I fixed homemade biscuits for breakfast Sunday morning. Whew, I ate too much!."

"Oh, that baby is sure growing! She even grinned at me, and it wasn't gas pains."

"Lucy helped Grandpa Ray clean house Monday while I was at work. I guess I'll be lucky to find the bed now. They hung so many clothes in the closet that the rod broke. Strange, when I look for something to wear, I don't seem to have anything. Must have all been Ray's stuff."

"Someone told me that Kevin and Rick went wild hog hunting. Said the dogs had one at bay, and Rick just walked up to the hog without shooting it and cut its throat. That scares me, and I wasn't even there."

"Recently, Timmy was at our house and he had a new flashlight, so he wanted to show Grandpa Ray what a strong beam it had. He said, 'Grandpa, I see some eyes up in that tree.' Ray ran and got the old 12 guage shotgun, and they tried to decide what was in the tree. Ray said and I quote, 'It's either a coon or possum, so shoot it out.' Well, Timmy took bead on the varmint and in a few minutes Timmy came in the house and said, 'Grandma, I didn't mean to shoot your cat, but Grandpa told me to shoot.'"

"We visited the kids Saturday afternoon. Lori asked grandpa Ray to get her some jigsaw puzzles at the flea market in Huntsville. Well, that got me started, so I have already put one together and almost got another one done in less than two weeks and they both have 1000 pieces each. Ray has been helping me."

"As I write this morning, Ray and Miss Annie are taking their beauty nap. It really seems to make Miss Annie more beautiful, but I can't tell it helps Ray look any better. Makes his temperament better though."

"I have three grandchildren married off now. Lucy's daughter, Laurie, married Carl Perkins."

"Well it sure is windy here on Pinnacle Mountain today, January 20, at 4:45 a.m.; 32 degrees feels a lot colder when the wind is blowing. Claude said it was so windy at his house, one time, that a gallon milk jug was blowing across and an old rooster was in the yard and the first thing he knew, the wind had blown that old rooster into that jug. Now folks that is what he told."

"Good morning, we have been having all sorts of weather. My chickens have been making mud holes, scratching everywhere. Aaron hasn't been able to play outside, because it's been so wet. She doesn't like to get her feet wet or muddy. When there was snow on the porch she would go get her some snow in a cup, and then put it on papa Ray."

"Well, Sunday afternoon we had just about any kind of weather one could ask for. Ray hollered, 'It's raining.' A few minutes later Lucy called and said 'It's sleeting' and before she got off the phone Ned called and said 'It's snowing.' Lou didn't call so I guess he figured if I saw the weather I would know what it was doing. We also had sunshine off and on all day."

"El Niño or whatever is making for bad weather. Have you noticed how thick the hair is on the cattle? Also Ed told me that he had cracked open several persimmon seeds and all of them had spoons in them. I have heard lots of my elders predict that a terrible bad winter was on it's way when that happened. I guess we will wait and see."

"Wasn't the weather wonderful over the weekend? I heard several people say they were putting up their stove. Several were cutting wood. Me, I just added another blanket before I went to bed. Ray closed the window. Just to be ornery, I thought about turning on the fan, but I thought he might put me outside with the guineas."

"We got another big pop of lightning the other day. It burned out our answering machine and cordless phone. It sounded like a big rifle going off. I guess we won't get another one. That is two answering machines that we have lost this year."

"Tuesday of last week in the evening we got six-tenths of an inch of rain. Oh, it was so wonderful. If it hadn't been for the lightning, I would have gotten outside and played in the rain."

"Brrrrr, we kinda had some cold weather."

"Hasn't the sunshine been beautiful this last week? And speaking of sunshine, we were at Sunshine's place in Huntsville Tuesday."

"My garden needs sunshine. Lots of sunshine. And speaking of sunshine, we saw Sunshine at the flea market at Huntsville's Wal-Mart parking lot last Tuesday."

"Me dad was always using sounds and signs to predict things like the weather. I don't remember if his predictions came to pass or not, but I do remember lots of them. He, among others, always said if you cracked open a persimmon seed and it had a spoon inside that we would have a bad winter. A fork and a knife both had their variation of meanings. In my time of life, I have found all three different configurations inside of persimmon seeds."

"The almost 1 1/2 inches of rain we got was fantastic. The cooler weather was a blessing. Now I need to get my garden ready for planting mustard and turnips. My okra and tomatoes are doing really well. Our potatoes were almost a disaster from the word go until we started digging them. I noticed something odd about them. I'm sure some of you get seed from catalogs. Then maybe you've seen the tomato and potato growing from the same vine. Well, we have about a dozen plants that have tomatoes on top of the potato vines. I asked Ray what is that on the potato vine? Of course, he didn't know. I bit into one and it was a green tomato. The tomatoes are maybe the size of a marble and I've yet to find a potato any bigger. The vines are almost dead. So, I really doubt if they do much more growing or getting ripe. Where did I get the seed potatoes? At a local grocery store. They were 79 cents for 10 pounds. I guess you really do get what you pay for ."

"Ray told me to plant the potatoes in this special place and he would keep it plowed. Well, I guess the next thing I have to do is mow the potato patch so he can see where to plow. He can find more excuses to not plow them. 'Til next time, let's hope for rain. Then the potatoes will need plowing worse than ever."

"The below freezing weather made Mole beans look like they had boiling salt water poured on them."

"Saturday morning while it was still cool, I hoed my okra and cucumbers. I picked the peas off the vines and threw the vines over the fence to the cows. I put three bags of peas in the freezer. I have tomatoes as big as a baseball. My beans are blooming and the corn has silks on it. My cabbage is almost ready to cut a head for cole slaw. I got three cayenne peppers off my peppers for an omelot. How I love fresh veggies!"

"My garden sure is needing rain. My corn curls in the middle of the day. My squash is gone. The bugs got to them Monday. By the time it cooled off Monday, I found them just gone. My tomatoes are sure pretty."

"Ray and I went to the blackberry patch Friday morning and got two more gallons. When I pick berries on the pond bank, I tie a rope to the four-wheeler. That way I am not afraid to walk down the side of the pond bank to get those big juicy berries. When I need to move, he just pulls me up to the top and we start all over again. We have fun and get lots of berries too. He has the old 20 gauge along too."

"We got over an inch of rain Friday. We sure did need it. My garden needs plowing again. But I have always heard that if weeds won't grow, nothing else will either."

"I'll be so glad when I can get these house plants outside. Ray says go ahead and put them outside. He is so smart."

"The only thing that the cold weather got was the squash and grapes. Oh, it burned the poke greens a little, but it will come right back. We have peas, onions, radishes, lettuce and some corn up."

"Ray bought some pumpkins last fall and, as usual, we let one ruin, so he tossed it in the flower garden. So a bunch of them came up volunteer. Well, he set some of them in the garden. We will probably glut the market."

"We drove 186 miles to get one azalea plant. Pretty good, wouldn't you say? We saw a hawk, squirrel, several crows, a beautiful bluebird, two rabbits, and a buzzard eating an armadillo. All in all, we had a good time."

"Ray is out mowing the lawn on the riding lawn mower; probably won't be any flowers left. My moon vines have been blooming. They smell so sweet. The chickens have been pecking the tomatoes. I may have a pot of chicken and dumplings one of these days."

"My daffodils and crocus are coming up now. If they aren't careful they are apt to get their little heads nipped off."

"Ray got our garden plowed one day last week. Now we have white and red radished, black simpson lettuce, spinach and onions in the ground. Of course, before he plowed, I showed where all the flowers were. Yes, he did. He plowed up every one of them. When I got home he asked me if I brought my ear plugs with me, but I was so glad to have the garden plowed, I just grabbed the seed and went to work. Honestly, I didn't yell at him. Well, at least not very much. I found part of the bulbs though. He said, 'I had it plowed, and then I thought of the flowers.'"

"Ray is ready to send me and my house plants to the moon. He says he like flowers, but he likes them outside where they belong."

"I heard another way to get rid of moles. Set outside with your 30-06 rifle and watch for them to start working, and when you see the ground start moving, shoot them. Or have a shovel in hand and dig that sucker up. Either of those ways is a sure fire way to stop moles. I know the shovel way works because I got one that way. Only most of us don't have time to sit and watch for the rascals."

"I got a call from Letta Sunday. She said her daddy had a sure fire way to get rid of moles. So I called Nadine and Jack. This is how they said to get rid of moles. Get a flexible hose, attach it to the tail pipe of your car or pickup and stick the other end in the mole run. Start your rig and let the motor run for about 15 minutes or so. He said that will get rid of the mole. The gone part sure sounds good to me."

"Roy Williamson called me Sunday night and blamed me for the snow and ice. His wife was at her mother's house and he was home alone. He was hungry. I told him to fix something on the wood stove. Of course, some people can't boil water without burning it."

"Ted rented a backhoe over the weekend. He worked on his spring and put in a road tile and fixed his driveway. May is very proud of her driveway."

"Ray and I went to church at Crosses Sunday. We ate dinner on our way back at The Pig Trail Cafe. Ole Coz and her husband were there too. When we got home we were told that Earl and Papa had caught a big catfish at a pond. I grabbed my camera and went to get a picture. As it turned out, Earl had caught the fish and Papa had watched. All I saw was the fish head because Papa had already cleaned the fish, but I got a picture of the head. Earl was really proud."

"Stephen was driving down the road and the dual tires on the left front side twisted off and the first thing he knew, his wrecker was going crazy and everything in the cab was flying through the air. He was OK but he did get quite a thrill."

"Rick got his leg broke Monday. He was breaking a 5-year old mule to ride. He said he got on her for the third time and she just went crazy. She started trying to climb the fence, still bucking. He was falling as she was still climbing and bucking. He said his leg broke before he hit the ground. The mule stomped him and kicked him in the head 2 or 3 times. When she quit abusing him and he kinda came to, his foot was lying on his belly. He told May his leg was broken and she would have to call 911 and make all the arrangements. Rick told me that your Dr. Bob Coker will be his surgeon."

"Seems to be so much sickness around this area. Lacy was sick over the weekend. Aaron and Polly were sick with a temperature Monday. Aaron was telling us about her cat catching a mouse and she was sure her dog, Cracker Jack, had been bitten by a mountain lion. She can tell some wild stories with her daddy and Papa Ray helping her."

"Our deepest sympathy to the Baker family. Ralph was one of the finest men I have ever had the privelege to know. He will be missed by all who knew him. God bless his family."

"Lilly was coming home from her night job Friday night. She said she saw three deer in the road. She slammed on her brakes. One deer ran in front of her pickup, one slid under her pickup and the third one jumped into the bed of the truck and rode all the way to her house. She said it was an eight point."

"Fay and Ned had some more gravel put on their road Monday. They are going to have a super duper highway over there one of these days."

"I'd like to say how nice part of the road is from Wesley toward Thorney since Mrs. Bell gave the right of way, and they are widening the road. Some people say they liked it the way it was, and others say, 'What was good enough for my ancestors is good enough for us.' Our ancestors wanted the best."

"Just about the time we think all the places where Gay and Ed's cows get out are fixed, one more will show up in Lucy's yard."

"Betty also told me she is still buying flowers when Wal-Mart runs a big sale. She and John built a pool in their back yard for the birds and she told that Frank found a snake in it. That's when I would have filled up the pool and planted flowers there."

"A great big Pinnacle Mountain hello to Mr. Powell of the Butterball Turkey Plant from Ray, the flower cutter, and Dixie."

"Steve has been gathering up some junk cars. One day he got under one rig to fasten the chain onto the bumper, and there was a copperhead coiled about 16 inches from his face. Needless to say, he moved away very carefully and got an iron rod and made hash out of that snake. That scares me just to think about that."

"Gay and Ed have three rhea eggs in my incubator now. They are at least twice as big as a turkey egg."

"Betty has a cordless phone, and she called me Saturday morning to let me know. She walked to her garden and the mail box to let me know how far she could go. I heard her redbird and the martins chirping as she went by their places. The phone sounded fuzzy when she went by the satellite dish."

"Gay and Ed are on vacation this week. Be careful as you pass by because no telling what he will be doing with the bulldozer. Gay and Ed have some pretty baby calves running around their field. They are expecting Dusty and Kay to come and go mushroom hunting one day. They are from Decatur."

"Lucy has this wonder telephone that I can call my baby sister without paying long distance. So I talked to her a long time."

"Lucy got herself a new pickup Friday. It's almost fire engine red. I think I'll put some mud on it. Someone said Sam was outside wiping the mud off of it at sundown."

"Bob was hauling a load of hay. As he passed by our house, part of the load fell off. This is so maddening. I know, for I have had it happen to me."

"Betty told me she has a pretty new red roof on her house. Someone asked her if she was going to make a bed and breakfast out of her house now that it has such a pretty roof."

"Someone told me that Chris and his new bride were staying on the mountain, and he got out of bed and a mouse ran up his leg. They are trying to mouseproof the house. They are having well pump problems. Sounds like newlyweds to me. They spent New Year's weekend with his parents at Lake Millwood. Welcome to the mountain, you all."

"I think Marty is up to something, but he is real sly and won't give himself away. I keep a close eye on him."

"Sam told me about getting a piece of tree bark in his eye and would up having to have the doctor get it out. He said it was so big, he cut a rick of wood off it before giving it to someone to make axe handles. Sam may exaggerate a little bit, but he keeps his stories interesting. Ruby just smiles."

"Nancy put on her boots to go to the garden to pick her peas. The pea hulls and part of the leaves were sort of brown. She was picking away when suddenly the body of a brown snake flopped up over the pea vines. She said she left there in a hurry. Then she got her shotgun and a pipe and went back looking for him. She didn't find him, but she said she got rid of some grass so she could see where she was putting her feet. She guessed she was standing on his head and tail both, the way it's body raised up like it did."

"Art got a tree limb on his head and had to have 11 staples on his forehead. Sure was a neat staple job."

"Sam got a new riding lawn mower and the first thing their dog chewed or scratched a big hole in the seat. Ray offered to buy the dog, but Sam says it wasn't the dog's fault. It must have been mine."

"Bobby said when the bear stood up on its hind legs, it was taller than Bobby. Jim said the bear turned his truck over."

"I apologize to Jim. I was told the bear turned your trash barrel over, not your truck. See Jim doesn't have a truck."

"Bobby told me the reason he always hired such bad looking fellows to work for him was so he (Bobby) would always be the best looking guy there. Mark said that was hard to do, because as a child Bobby's mom and dad had to tie a pork chop around Bobby's neck to get the dogs to play with him 'cause he was so ugly."

"I called Marie for her news, and she asked me how I was doing. As usual I said, 'Gooder than snuff.' She started laughing and told me a story about her sister Pearl, herself and a friend, Alice. Marie's grandma lived with Marie's folks and, of course, everyone helped take care of Grandma. So one day the girls were real quiet 'til Grandma went to sleep. They they grabbed her old clay pipe that had a lid on it. They lit it, and after a few puffs the floor started reeling. It even came up and smacked them in the face, they they all got very, very sick. Upchucked all over the place. Anyway, when Grandma woke up, she threatened to use her walking cane on them."

"During the snow, Cindy Crawford and Nancy got stuck just barely past our driveway. They borrowed a shovel from us and, with the help of a handful of salt, they got unstuck."

"Ray and I ate at the Valley Inn Cafe in Hindsville recently. They served a great salad. Ray had their special of the day. He said he got full. Our waitress was one nice lady."

"Sam and his goats are doing well."

"Steve was driving down the road near his house the other night and his motorcycle broke in two pieces with him on it. He had a little bit of road burn."

"Lucy and Sam went to Little Rock Sunday to visit with Sam's dad and mom. Lucile has a problem with some kinds of perfume. She got in the elevator with a gal who had bathed in some. She was sick when she got home. Her old bill goat smells pretty bad to me."

"Rick, Florence and Mary visited with Ray and me Sunday. I grilled burgers and hot dogs, fixed corn on the cob and new potatoes. Lucy and Cary came by a few minutes. Rick fixed the windshield washer on our car."

"Billie Lew visited at our house a few minutes Saturday morning. Ray even shaved whe he heard she was coming."

"We were getting ready to leave the breakfast when a man walked up an shook hands with Ray and me. He asked if we remembered a fellow that came to our door one cold snowy night. The snow was about knee deep and it was close to zero weather. Yes, we did remember. It was Frank Self. It was March, 1948. When Frank left home the morning before, it was 32 and raining. He had gone to get some groceries. He and Reba live on Lollars Creek, I think. On his way home, he got stuck in the snow on Thorney Hill. Back in those days, there were not many cars around. So, he took off walking. The closest way anywhere is a straight line. He got to our house and we had gone to bed. He hollered, "Is anyone home?" Ray told him to come in. We had no idea who we were inviting in, but we knew who ever it was, they had to be nearly frozen. Ray got up and lit the lamp, (we didn't get electricity 'til 1950), and chunked up the fire. Frank hadn't had anything to eat so Ray brought in the leftover cornbread and a jug of milk. Ray added extra quilts to the bed and Frank stayed the night with us.
Ray got up about 5 a.m. and rebuilt the fire. Frank got up before we got coffee ready. He said he couldn't stay for breakfast because he had to get home and get some wood cut. He left our place and went by Al and Maude Ledbetter's house. (That was my grandpa and granny Ledbetter.) They saw him coming so Grandpa went out to meet him and offer breakfast. He ate and was on his way again. Remember the snow was about knee deep and zero degrees. When he got home, his wife was breaking small limbs to keep warm til he got home. She had dinner fixed so he ate and went to get wood. It was great to see him. I don't know how long it has been since we had seen him. We had a nice visit."

"Effie called me the other day and told me about the copperhead snake that was in her living room."

"We stopped in at the Radio Shack and Bible Book Store in Huntsville last week."

"I talked to Mike in Maryland. He is much better. He said he was healing fine. Gayle was asleep."

"I met Roger and John Monday. John told me he used to play in my yard with all the rest of the kids that would come to play with our kids when we lived in one of Ray's rent houses in Fayetteville. John's dad ran the cleaners on South 71. Boy, that was a day or two ago. He doesn't look like the same little guy. Roger told me his mother works for the Revenue Office in Huntsville. Roger said the first time he came to Pinnacle his dad brought him. It really is a small world. Seems like everywhere you go, you meet someone that you sorta know."

"Back to visiting with Dan. I got a big hug, several pats on the back, and by that time he was over his surprise at seeing us at his place on Burney Mountain. That was Granny's maiden name and where she was from. He has more fox hounds and beagles than you can count. He has two cats and two milk goats and lots of ducks. The most unusual thing he had to show us was four beagle puppies that one of his milk goats would let suck. I took some pictures so I'll have proof of that. Don has had several strokes, and his left arm is not in as good shape as he would like, but I don't know when ever I have enjoyed a visit more. He can talk the leg off a wooden chair. He lives in a hunting cabin and someone brought him an air conditioner. He is real proud of it."

"The Pitts and the Bells sang several songs for us. Oh yes, the Smiths were there too."

"Among the many there were Harry and Ida, Dave and his lovely wife. You know, Dave has aged some since the last time I saw him, but it was probably 25 to 30 years ago. I asked him if he still sang bass. He said, no because when he got his store bought teeth, he tried to whistle and his dog even laughed at him."

"Elaine was in a baking mood Monday. She baked lots of cinammon rolls, and she and Claude brought Ray and me a pan full. Oh, they were so good! For her efforts I showed her my pictures I took while on vacation in Maryland and other parts of the eastern United States."

"Thursday night Gay and Ruby, Sam and Lucy came to our house, and we sang for an hour or so. We practiced a song for church Sunday. The name of the song was 'Heaven's Choo-Choo.' We enjoy getting together to sing. And the people at church smile tolerantly when I tell them we have been practicing a new song."

"Everett and Mary and Lloyd visited Carl and Wilma Thursday of last week. On their way home they had a flat tire. Everett said it was only flat on one side."

"Thursday night, Lori, Mary, J.D., Sam and Lucy came to our house for a songfest. J.D. and Mary got there in time to see our pig. Saturday, Alice and LeRoy from Missouri visited Ray and me. We certainly enjoyed having them here. They enjoyed watching the pig."

"Sunday Ray and I rode the four wheeler to Wesley to get a hamburger. We enjoy eating there. Ray and I visited Earl and Maggie Friday evening. Then we ate at the Dairy Queen as we started home. We eat a lot."

"The week I had a sore in my mouth and didn't go to work, I went to Huntsville to the flea market with Ray. We saw Old Mac and he yelled at me to get my teeth in my mouth. Old Mac is quite a guy."

"Remember, you are not dressed for work 'til you wear a smile."

"Laughter is a great tranquilizer with no side effects."

"Back a time, I read a column in the 'Washington County Observer' that said some people had said as they drove through the tunnel on 540 just south of Fayetteville there was a voice from the back seat of their car that said, "Gabriel is ready to blow his horn, are you ready?", but they didn't see anyone sitting there. Well, recently, Ray and I had been to Little Rock and on the way home, I suggested we go up 540 and see if the voice would be in the back seat with Fay and me. No, it wasn't. I guess the voice is selective who it rides with. Ted was driving."

"Winter has been on Pinnacle like it was mad at someone. I love this kind of weather. Ray just gives me a mean look as he goes to feed my chickens. The birds need feeding. So do the dogs. And, for goodness sake, he has to get in wood for the night. But I am getting stronger in my ankle all the time. It won't be long 'til he can sit by the fire while I do the work."

"This morning (Tuesday) I fell on our back steps. The ones that are made of concrete blocks stacked one on top of another. My foot went between two of the blocks. Didn't break anything, but it sure did smart and I felt even smarter."

"After May fell through her porch, Ted also fell through. Now they are rebuilding the whole thing. Ray went over Saturday and Sunday to supervise."

"I remember one time I was spending a few days at Aunt Alice's house when Gary and I were somewhat younger than we are now. They lived at Tuttle. Gary had a new BB gun. We were out playing and found a great big black snake. He killed it with his BB gun. I sure thought he was a good shot. I also found a cacti. I had never been fortunate enough to see such a pretty flower, so I picked one and put it in my pocket. Well, Aunt Alice worked for quite a while picking cacti needles out of my body. I wondered why Gary said not to put that thing in my pocket."

"The other day, I was feeling extra fiesty when a telemarketer called doing a survey. She asked about most of my furniture. I answered kinda honest. She asked if I had a dishwasher and what brand. I told her yes, I had a Cate brand dishwasher. She asked how old it is. I told her it was 80 years. That's nice, she said. Then everything was quiet for a few seconds. Then she said, "Good day, Mrs. Cate." I love it when I feel like doing that to some of them. Sometimes I start telling them about my children or telling them how much money I have and I don't need their free gift if only I will buy something from them."

"My kids are really pretty good to me. If they go to an auction they buy me fruit jars (even if they are jars I can't use). I mean dozens of them and they buy me quilt scraps. Lucy has brought me 2 or 3 big trash sacks full. So as not to be outdone, May bought me a pickup full of boxes full of material. Ladies, this was a 3/4 ton full-size Ford pickup, full of boxes stacked as high as the top of the cab of the pickup. Then Ted called and asked me to come to the auction and haul some boxes that they couldn't get on the truck. Some of the pieces of material were 4 and 5 yards apiece. I never will in my wildest dreams get all that worked up. We went through all the boxes and May got what she wanted. I called Becky Lee and she came and got a box full. I worked like crazy and got nearly 1/2 of the boxes sorted and stacked away. Still got lots and lots of going through to do. My mama always told me to take anything anyone offered me and be careful what I threw away. Lordy, I wonder what she would have done with this much material. Besides the material, there were quilt tops, pillows, blankets, sheets and a few clothes and lots of small quilt scraps."

"'Til next time, try to be nice and smile a lot."

"Everyone that really knows me knows that I used to be the world's biggest coward staying by myself at night. Well, while Ray was in Little Rock, I had my pistol on my pillow, my 22 by the bedroom door and the 12 guage by the front room door. Hey I wasn't too scared. The guineas weren't too far away, so I was in good shape."

"The first cup of coffee sure does taste good."

"One time when I was just a little kid, it had come a big snow and my brothers had built themselves a sled. They could guide the thing through the trees and down across the pasture (our lower field) as we called it. I was pretty small and they certainly didn't want me along. But I begged and finally Mom asked them to take me one time. They sat me on the sled, of course I was not big enough to do much steering, so over a huge 'bluff' I went. Actually in later years I found out that it really wasn't a very big bluff after all. But I never wanted to go sledding with the boys the rest of that winter. I didn't get hurt, it just scared me half to death."

"I have been meaning to tell anyone that has trouble with phone calls they don't want. Just hang up."

"I have recently got my place mats put together. I folded the newspaper and very carefully put clear contact paper on both sides and trimmed it as good as I could. I cut out things from the paper and glued them so I do not only have my column as a placemat but lots of other news as well. I have also used my column to wrap shower and wedding gifts."

"I have been noticing along the roads where someone has been cutting wood and leaving the brush in the road ditches. That of course causes rainwater to cut across the roads and make a ditch across the road. These same people are the first to complain about how rough the road is."

"Steve has been cutting wood for us. Ray and I cut some for ourselves recently. Boy can that give you muscles that you might have forgotten about."

"Betty called me Tuesday and took me for a stroll around her yard. Oh the joys of a cordless phone!"

"As we drive through the countryside, I see lots of hollyhocks. My hollyhocks are maybe three feet tall and have two or three straggly blooms on them. What am I doing wrong? Could it be because I destroyed al my Mom's beautiful hollyhocks when I was about 14 or so? My Aunt Ollie told me, 'Where hollyhocks grow, no boyfriends go.' Well, I cut all Mom's pretty hollyhocks down."

"The electricity went off for a few minutes on the mountain the other night. In a little while Ozarks Electric Co. called me and asked if we had power. Yes, we did. She said someone had reported that Ray and Dixie, and elderly couple, didn't have power and they were worried about our safety. Thanks to whoever was worried about us."

"I get lots of blackberry stickers in my hand. Every so often Lucy has to take time from her busy schedule to pick briers out of my hands. She is about the only one I will let hold of my hands with a needle. She is getting where she can't see the splinters and briers, so I guess I will have to get someone else trained to take of my hands. Ray is too big of a chicken. He is afraid he will hurt me."

"Have you ever eaten an elderberry pie? It tastes a lot like huckleberry pie, only it's easier to pick. Now, I'm talking about wild huckleberries - the kind that grow where there could be snakes lurking about. My Granny told me she usually killed one or two rattlesnakes every year while picking huckleberries. She said the snakes would be under the berry plants waiting for a bird. Or maybe, Granny's fingers."

"When we kids were all at home the washing was done, of course, by the old rub board and lots of elbow power. My mom always went through the boys' overall pockets. The way I remember this story is that Mom pulled out a little green snake from a pocket. She took one look and fainted. Well, since she was prone to fainting, I knew what to do. I grabbed a wet wash cloth and started bathing her face. She came to and still had the little green snake clutched in her hand. She took another look and fainted again. I finally pried her fingers loose and when she came to that time she was better. It wasn't funny then, and as far as I am concerned she never did find any humor in that story. But it was a long time before whe searched the pockets."

"I seldom ever tell stories on myself, but Ray has had so much fun out of one thing I did the other day, I guess I had better tell it. The other day we were taking Annie to meet her mama, and I told Ray I needed some baby chicken feed. We gave Annie to her mama and headed for the feed store in Elkins. We needed gas too. I was driving down Highway 16 going toward Fayetteville. Suddenly I had no idea where I was headed. I said, 'Ray, where are we going?' Hehe Hoho! Boy did he ever have fun with that. Anyway at Forum Friday night I was driving, and we left the singing headed for Huntsville. Ray asked me where I was going. I told him 'home.' He said I had better go the other way. Well, he had laughed at me so much for the other episode I wasn't completely sure, so I turned around and started back the way to the church. There were several people standing around visiting. I pulled into the church and asked, 'How do you get to Huntsville?' They sure got a kick out of that. Lorene asked if I needed to follow her home. Anyway I had started the right way, and that time Ray was wrong. He still thought I was wrong until pulled into the 'Y' cafe in Huntsville. Needless to say, Jack and Betty and Lucy and Sam saw me turn around and wondered what was wrong with me. Gee whiz, I can't do nothing without someone seeing me."

"It's been good talking to you. Come see us sometime. Bring a thimble."

"Anna has been wanting a banty rooster from me. Well, I took one to Huntsville one Tuesday and she wasn't there. So she called me Tuesday and said, 'Don't bring the little rooster to Huntsville 'cause I won't be there.' Can you imagine letting a little rain keep you from going to Huntsville?"

"'America' is a tune; it must be sung together."

"We always told our grandkids, 'Don't cross the fence anywhere, and you won't get lost.' That way they could play, within reason, and not get in trouble 'til they got hungry and came to the house starved."

"I have a new cure-all for you --- 'old tea.' You know the kind that has been made too long and needs to be thrown out. Get a big pan, pour the tea in it, and soak your feet. If your feet sweat real bad, the tea will help stop the sweating. Ray's feet usually sweat and blister and peel off in the summer time. He doesn't have that trouble since using the tea on his feet. I use the tea I buy at Aldi's, buy any brand will work. It works on hands that sweat a lot too."

"My name is Mrs. Ray Cate, Mrs. Dixie Cate or Dixie Cate, but it is not, nor has it ever been, Ms. Cate. I said all that to say this. If you want to write me a letter, at least be big enough to sign it. I don't like a concerned citizen writing me about something they know nothing about. I hope I have made myself clear. Anyone in this area who know who my grandchildren are, alson know who their parents are."

"Well, I reckon I have finally got over the crud I suffered with for a few days. Ray i crupping around."

"The other day I stopped at Bo-Marts, and I was wandering out across the parking lot. Gary and Susan wanted to get close to me and, of course, Gary stopped but I almost walked into their car. I was headed to the pay phone. They say I have a one track mind."

"You know living here on Pinnacle Mountain doesn't come in contact with 'street people.' Well, while we were in Maryland, visiting my sister and brother-in-law, they took us sight seeing and my goodness at the street people we saw and some of them were right in front of the White House. On the sidewalk all sprawled out, it was very disgusting. Looks like something could be done. As many jobs as there is, they could do better if they were so inclined. They, I imagine, are just too lazy to work."

"As of July 1 you will be able to kill coons, at least one per person per day. I hope everybody in the county gets one a day until the end of the season. I know I'll sure be trying."

"Maxine called me last Tuesday to give me a remedy to keep deer and coon out of my gerden. She said her son told her to hang Irish Spring soap bars in and around where you do not want the 'varmints.' He said bone meal also works sometimes. Now since Irish Spring soap is sorta inexpensive, I'm going to hang some around my pens where I keep my chickens and guineas at night to see if it will repel the coons and other night crawlers away from the pens."

"I seldom ever shop anywhere except Wal-Mart and Bo-Mart, so after saying that I'll tell you one reason why. Saturday while at the Northwest Arkansas Mall, we went into a shop and we didn't buy anything. I don't think we even touched anything, but as we started out of the shop, bells and lights went off. We just kept walking since we aren't up on that new fangled stuff. An employee of the shop stopped us and said, 'The alarm went off when you left the store.' Well, whoopee, we were 'innocent' honest. So she asked us to step back through the scanner. I waltzed around the scanner a couple of times. She wasn't impressed. Ray walked through and sure enough, it started going off again. Of course, I scolded Ray for picking up stuff and putting it in his pocket. Again the employee wasn't impressed with me. Ray had to take his things our of his pocket. I said loudly, 'We seldom steal anything.' By this time she was trying to push us out of the shop. I walked through the scanner several times. Ray is grinning at me, you know, kind of egging me on. Well, anyway they never found anything, so they let us bad guys go. Someone said, 'I would sue them.' Why? I had fun, because I knew we hadn't done anything wrong. So I guess I will stay with the shops that I know and lots of the employees know that when I can't pay for something I just leave it alone 'til next payday."

"I haven't heard of anyone getting a deer during bow season. I hope they get a bunch during black powder season when it gets here."

"A four-wheeler is an object that can set in your yard and is very nice to look at. Ray has one such object. It gives him much pleasure and helps him when he needs to check the water line, carry water to the chickens and a host of other wonderful things that he does. I could go on for a whole page on the good part of a four-wheeler. But someone that abuses the way one is driven will sometimes get in trouble on a four-wheeler. Laura had a four-wheeler accident Tuesday evening. I don't know what all happened and probably never will, but she came out of the wreck with two broken bones in her back, very badly bruised vertebrae, a dislocated shoulder and lots of scrapes and bruises. Lots of people have said it was the four-wheeler's fault. How could it be? It has to be the driver, otherwise the thing would still be setting in the yard, and nobody hurt. We called EMS from Huntsville. The First Responders of Wesley Fire Department got there first. Believe me, if you have never needed help, you don't have any idea how wonderful they look. A Madison County deputy came next."

"Eldora called and told me to tell everyone there will be a craft fair and Elvis impersonators at the benefit at Elkins for the landfill. It should be lots of fun."

"I was fortunate enough to see Hale-Bopp three nights and four mornings. I also saw the total eclipse of the moon Sunday night. It was really something to see the Hale-Bopp comet."

"I hate deer in my garden and would love to see them all killed. But I hate to see people driving up and down the road waiting to see one so they can sit in their pickup truck and shoot it down. That is just pure stupidity. Some say, 'We have to get to our camp.' Yeah, they pass here three or four times a day, driving maybe five miles per hour. Sure they are."

"I was off work all last week. I had a sore in my mouth and the doctor told me I needed to keep my dentures out of my mouth. Well, let me tell you, at my age I am much too vain to let people see me without my dentures in my mouth. So the doctor gave me a medical leave. Since this is Sunday afternoon, I'm sure dreading Monday. If I was only rich instead of being so pretty, I would just retire and stay home."

"Saturday morning Lucy wanted to drive as we went to Missouri. So we 71 North and she set the cruise control on 55. Sure enough, everyone was passing her like whe was sitting still. She said, 'I'm doing the speed limit, and they are passing.' I said, 'Well, go a little faster.' She finally got up to 58 mph. Oh well, we got there in one piece. Can you imagine 58 mph for three hours. Tsk! Tsk!"

"Sunday morning I had nightmares. I dreamed it was time for me to go back back to work. Well, in my dream I got up late. They Ray wouldn't let me leave 'til I cooked breakfast. They my Jeep had a flat. I had to find Ray to tell him I was taking the other rig. 'Oh, now,' he said, it was his and the Jeep was mine. So I started changing tires. By the time I got one fixed, another would go flat, so I took Ray's rig and started to leave. Then my pot belly pig started to squeal, so I had to feed her. I finally (in my dream) got to town and the Campbell Soup building was six stories high, and I had no idea where to go. They told me to follow the red arrows. People were standing around everywhere. Nobody knew where to go. I was so tired when I woke up, I was glad it was morining and Sunday at that. Now I had one more day to dread going back to work."

"My left leg has been bothering me for awhile, so the other day I lifted something wrong and the leg really went to having fits. I finally gave up and went to the doctor. He sent me immediately to another doctor. Yep, I had another hernia. So Friday morning I had the thing fixed. I wouldn't advise having surgery every day, but if you have something that needs fixing, I say get it fixed."