September blew by. The fall transition month barely gave me time to do the transitioning.
I keep hearing words of wisdom that my cousin's husband said last summer. He was talking about what to do when you don't really know what to do next when he said, "You know, you've just got to get out." Mama says it another way - "just put one foot in front of the other one".
So, during the last week of September we put one foot in front of the other and got out.
The official opening of the Cleveland County Fair is still exciting for me. The Fairgrounds look great with spruced up new paint, new sign, new landscaping, but the old feel of the fair is definitely still there. It's a real credit to everyone who has worked over 86 years in alot of different ways to keep the Fair going. There is a little rain in the forecast but most of the fair week forecast is for 0% chance of rain which is good news for everybody.
It seems like the past week was about getting out with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. Probably the weather had alot to do with that because when it's not 100 degrees and humid it is more fun to be out and about. Sister and I had lunch one day and then I introduced her to the wonderful world of social networking. She enjoyed seeing pictures of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Libby and I took Mama to lunch and through the wonderful world of text messaging, David IV and Devin joined us at the last minute. Daddy wanted to take ham biscuits to a 7 am event so he and Mama and I met at the Roundup early Friday morning to cook and deliver hot biscuits. The Round Up Store Fiscal year ended on Sept 30th, so there was a little extra paperwork to be done in the office this week also.
Gardner-Webb held a Weekend Festival to honor my favorite writer, Ron Rash, and Southern Appalachian Culture in general. Mrs. Sarazen and Mrs. Archer are Ron Rash fans so on Friday night the three of us went to a Ron Rash Dinner which really was a Ron Rash Roast. It was a great time and hilarious to hear his brother and sister talk about growing up Rash. They are a brilliant and amazing family which his sister compared to the Munsters. Ron graduated from GWU and Clemson and is a professor at Western Carolina. He has published poetry, short stories and novels. His latest novel Serena is an international best seller and will be a movie one day. He continues to recieve literary awards and continues to write. Once he told me there were "always characters walking around in his head". His brother and sister showed him no mercy at the roast. His sister noted that she had taken her studies seriously, worked hard, followed all the rules, earned good grades and a degree in ceramic engineering. Her brother, she noted, had broken alot of the rules, floundered for a time as far as grades and now he had a festival named after him. Ron's brother wanted to know how many ways critics could describe Ron's work as bleak. He also wondered whether Ron actually wrote one piece since during the first two paragraphs no one close to a body of water had drowned.
After all the roasting and ribbing was done, Ron's brother took a moment to thank the communities of Gardner-Webb and Boiling Springs for being a good place to grow up - even for a Munster. And both brother and sister took a moment to let Ron know how proud they are of him. I think the entire community is proud.
Saturday morning we loaded up the grill to take to the Wofford-Furman game. This is a huge rivalry and last year Furman crushed Wofford. I can't remember the final score, but the Furman horse which comes out after each touchdown probably needed extra grooming after that workout.
Our tailgate plan was to take the grill and then anyone could bring hamburgers and hot dogs for their own crowd for after the game. The weather was perfect football weather and the tailgating area at Wofford is so convenient and so pretty with grass and shade trees. Wofford won 38-17 which made the already beautiful day even more beautiful. The grill was loaded with burgers and dogs with various grillmasters after the game. I made a hot artichoke dip that is loaded with fat and calories so of course everyone loves it. We munched on this and other goodies that folks had brought while the burgers and dogs were cooking. This was a great tailgate plan and a fun day.
We invited the low country parents back to our house after the tailgate and decided to wind up the night enjoying the Summer House. Theresa said she thought summer was over and she wanted to call it the Fall House.
Sunday we had bacon, coffee, and some great cinnamon rolls that Linda had brought before everybody headed in different directions. I met David and Jay for a quick lunch, then left for a tennis match. We were hosts to a traveling team and just as the match was to start, the rains came. We searched for dry courts in the area and ended up at Peachtree Racquet club to get the match played. We were playing the number one team in our divison. Our team is hanging on to last place. This tennis season has been - let me say umm - a season of growth and development. We wanted to play up to challenge ourselves and we really got what we wanted! But, I am happy to say, you really do learn alot by losing. We are improving our games and we put it in perspective with our motto - After all we're not pros. We're just a bunch of middle aged women playing mediocre tennis.
The most important thing is that we put one foot in front of the other and got out.
Hot Artichoke Dip
This recipe has been around forever. It is easy and quick and everyone loves it. It stays hot for a long time and is even good when it cools down. The calorie count is awful, but it is a crowd pleaser. You can also add jalapenos, onions or other things to it, but I think it is good the simple way.
1 Can of Artichoke Hearts, with juice
Put these into a baking dish and then cut them up into bite sized pieces
1 Cup of Mayo - I am a Hellman's girl
1 Cup of Parmesan Cheese - I use real grated cheese sometimes and sometimes a mixture of that with the ground type.
Bake this at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Serve with crackers. I think it's best with crackers that aren't too buttery.
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