SHERLOCK WARNOCK

Montana 680t

Around the first part of November Ken, my hunting partner, and I went bird hunting north of the Alpowa grade in eastern Garfield County, WA. When we met back at the truck Ken showed me this “gadget” he had found. The “gadget” was a Garmin Montana 680t GPS unit which appeared to have been out in the weather for some time. Even though long ago Ken was an Air Force pilot he is not much into technical gadgets now. He said, “You take it because I don’t want it”.

After getting home I checked the specs on this unit which also has a built-in camera and saw that it retails for $600. I knew someone was really upset to have lost it. I contacted Garmin only to find that the owner had not registered it. It would not turn on so I put it on a charger which did the trick. Most of the pictures on it appeared to be from a backpacking trip so that didn’t help. Some of the earliest waypoints were over in the Connell area so I put lost and found ads in the Connell, Othello and Lewiston newspapers as well as on Craigslist. The only call I got was from a lady in Orofino whose husband had lost one up in that area.

I had about given up and decided that I'd either convert in to my own use which would entail buying some more software or sell it and give the proceeds to Ken. So the other day as I was examining the contents it occurred to me that I might look at some of the old tracks which were archived in the unit and trace them back to a source. Most of the tracks were over water or in the back country but a few of the very first ones were in the Connell area. One I traced back to a company near Connell called Johnson Agriprises. This was my first and only call. The lady that answered the phone knew nothing about it but said their shop man was a hunter and he might know something about it. Unbelievably, that was the owner. Of course he couldn't believe that he would ever get it back. He had lost it while deer hunting back in October. He said he had been so upset about it that he still hadn't told his wife he lost it. That fellow must have been living right.

M/W

IT'S HERE!

The question has been asked by several -- Was the laptop delivered?

Yes, I am writing from my new Acer Aspire, and I love it. But -- our tech couldn't work me in until Monday at 3:15, so I've done the introductory work on my own (probably a good thing), and I'm trying to decide if I could transfer data. While it's exciting to have a new laptop, it's also a challenge because there are decisions only I can make, and I don't know what I want to do. Suddenly I'm painfully aware of what I don't know.

Mike has an interesting incident to relate regarding an item found while hunting. I'm encouraging him to post it. KW

LAPTOP UPDATE

When last I wrote, we were heading out to buy my new laptop at Staples. Fortunately, when we got there, they were sold out of the model I thought I wanted. The associate offered to order one for me, but they were also out at the warehouse, and the associate said they might not get another shipment. I was disappointed, yes, because I wanted to get on with it. However, I recognized this as a message. This was not my laptop.

Daughter Hallie agreed. "You deserve a laptop that's better than possibly the cheapest model on the market," she said.

With some frustration, I returned to the drawing board. Knowing that my next laptop could not be found in the local market, the sheer multitude of models available online was daunting. I barely knew how to begin to research, but then it occurred to me -- "laptops for writers." Sure enough, I found several articles on the subject. I had pages of notes before the afternoon was over. 

Sharing my results with Hallie, she came back with, "Yeah -- now you're talking." So, I slept on it, reviewed my notes this morning, and sent my three top choices to Hallie, indicating my first choice as an Asus Zenbook -- I just love the name! -- but independently of one another, Hallie and I both concluded that the Acer Aspire Convertible was really my laptop. 

So -- just keeping you in the loop. It should be here tomorrow. KW

SAY GOOD-BYE . . .

Technology marches on . . .

Say good-bye to messages from my old Satellite L755. This basic laptop has served me well for coming onto seven years, but last week the handwriting was on the wall. 
"I think it's infected," I wailed to daughter Hallie.
"Don't overthink this," she replied matter-of-factly. "It's time."

So, today is the day. We're going out this morning to buy the new one. More on that later.

Last week seemed stressful, so Sunday I took myself to Jo-Ann's where I was greeted in the usual friendly manner. "It's all springlike in here," I commented to the associate.
"It has been since before Christmas," she replied.
Yes, Christmas is gone now except for a few clearance items here and there. And if you were thinking about Valentine's Day -- you know, socks, decorative items for the home, or what have you in red and white -- you'd better hurry because Easter pastels are taking over that aisle. 

Hopefully I'll be back soon with my new laptop. KW

MORE ABOUT THE KITCHEN UPGRADE

A few features of the 1949 kitchen (see previous post) stood out to me:

·       Built-in dividers in drawers. My mother’s kitchen had those, but mine never did. I use those store-bought organizers, and I have never found them to be satisfactory.

·       Nice deep drawers. Someplace along the line, the men who build our kitchens decided that not only do we not need drawers but the few they provide should have no depth. I have one bank of inadequate drawers in my modular home kitchen. My first purchase after moving here was a tacky little rolling plastic three-drawer unit to hold plastic lids and other odds and ends. I stashed it in the pantry, and I wish I didn’t need it.

·       The circular (or lazy susan) cupboard (mentioned in the previous post). I admit those aren’t perfect, but they do make for better, more accessible use of a deep corner. 

·       Kitchen desk. The concept comes up from time to time. My mother had a kitchen desk, and it was pretty much a catch-all for clutter. I’ve also had a kitchen desk, and I don’t recall sitting there except to talk on the phone. I can write a grocery list anywhere, and the family financial center was elsewhere in the house.

·       Bins. I'm okay with not having bins. My mother’s kitchen had a flour drawer and the sugar was in a big canister in the drawer below. That system was handy when it came to measuring. But -- is it advisable to keep loose flour in a drawer? Flour does get old, and at what point do you renew it? I do remember that Mother cleaned the flour drawer from time to time, but I'd rather wash a canister. Bins for potatoes and onions would be wasted in my kitchen, and while I’d love a better system for spice storage, I’m not sure bins would work for me. KW

MODERNIZING THE FARM KITCHEN, 1949

As I mentioned in a previous post, daughter Hallie sent a link to this YouTube video (here) developed in 1949 on the modernization the farm kitchen. “Did anyone ever have such a kitchen?” she wondered. Here are her observations and my responses:

·       Note the food waste bin that can be emptied from the outside. REALLY?? Is that actually more convenient?

I don’t think it is more convenient, and I was reminded of the Dragnet radio episode where the perpetrator gained entrance to the apartment through the garbage chute.

Who would take out the garbage and how often was a mid-century household discussion. In the first kitchen I remember, garbage was an issue. We had neither disposer nor dog, so plate and pot scrapings went into a can under the sink which was lined with a paper bag. I considered it nasty and hated dealing with it! And boy! – if “we” forgot to take it out – whew!! Today, our house is on a septic tank, so I use the disposer judiciously. Any scraps the dogs can’t devour are immediately removed to the outside garbage receptacle or compost bin.

·       The film shows lots of things that are so useful but clearly did not become mainstream. Why not? Storage behind the sink, bins under the cupboard for flour, sugar, etc.

I suspect these inventions were too expensive to produce, given that kitchens don’t come in standard sizes. This was a customized kitchen, and while the presenter seemed to say we could all have these features, I think it was in the dream phase.

And perhaps even more importantly is the fact that in this post-war period, we were sitting on the cusp of great change. Women were losing interest in the role of homemaker, including chief cook and bottle washer. She was ready to put the focus on other aspects of life.

Good place for a lazy susan

Of all the ideas presented, the rotating cupboard (lazy susan) is one I’ve actually experienced, and I like them. It’s “a round peg in a square hole,” as it were, so clearly there will be some waste space, but space in a deep cupboard is mostly wasted through inaccessibility anyway.

·       Was that lady feeding an army with that quantity of potatoes and onions?

I thought that was funny, too. Remember, mid-century we were still a meat and potatoes society. And while my parents were feeding teen-agers in the ‘50s, we also had large quantities of potatoes and onions on hand. We ate a lot of potatoes (mostly boiled) and gravy. I also thought it was funny that she ringed the platter with the potatoes and then squeeeeeezed the meat into the middle.

·       What was she doing at the seated-height cutting board (filling boxes)? Does she have a side business? Is that marijuana?

I had a good laugh over this question. She appears to be putting blanched spinach into freezer boxes. (Ah! I remember this process well.) And was she using her iron to seal the bags? I finally determined she was using the iron to compress the bag. It’s just an example of how the system could be used, but couldn’t she just sit at the table? The only time I ever want to sit in my kitchen is when I’m at the sink to clean, pit, and/or peel a large quantity of fruit. That process can go on a long time, and I do get tired of standing.

And what about that dessert? It appeared to be fruited Jello and a large piece of frosted chocolate cake. Talk about super-sizing in an era when we usually didn’t! – or at least we think we didn’t. KW

GTI UPDATE

The 2015 VW GTI we bought a month ago is now at home in our garage. The old Dakota is living out in the elements so that the GTI can sleep under cover. It’s licensed and ready to go. Except . . .

Before Christmas, Mike and I drove into town, and he insisted I “get checked out” on the GTI. “Go ahead and start it,” he said, and he went on to his shop to get something. Well, it wouldn’t start for me. It kept saying, “No key in vicinity,” or something like that. My key fob was in my purse, so I knew it was lying – just being deliberately obstinate since it knows it’s Mike’s car. Mike came along, reminded me of the correct technique, and the car started. He got in, and I continued to drive as we ran our errands. We had no further issues.

Sunday evening I decided to drive the GTI to the neighborhood grocery store. With my foot firmly planted on the brake, I pressed the starter, and the GTI said there was no key. What!!? And that’s when it dawned on me that my key fob was dead! So, I marched into the house, grabbed Mike’s fob, and of course, the car started. It had actually started on Mike’s fob with the previous incident. We just didn’t realize it.

When we initially bought this car, some of you suggested the customer service was lacking. We have come around to this way of thinking. It’s inexcusable that the dealer didn’t replace the batteries in the fobs and also check them out. The manual suggests the dealer should change the battery (of course), but we aren’t running to Post Falls for this little task. Mike did it, and it works. 

By the way, the prefix on the license plate is BFU. Hmmmm. Seems like with a whole alphabet at the state's disposal, they could have found something else. My favorite was WUP, but that number went by the wayside some years back. KW

THE MODERN WAY

The old Dobson Homeplace -- never a modern place

I have been trying and posting recipes from “Brer Rabbit’s Modern Recipes for the Modern Hostess.” Several posts ago, I reported that you could find this booklet on Amazon (here), but today as I looked at it again, I noticed that Amazon’s copy is titled, “Brer Rabbit’s Modern Recipes for Modern Living.” Otherwise the cover is the same. My booklet doesn’t carry a copyright date, so I wonder if “Modern Living” is an update of “Modern Hostess” or vice versa.

Not even up-to-date when new

The mid-century use of the word “modern” has intrigued me since I was old enough to understand the concept. When I was an elementary student (the ‘50s), that word “modern” appeared on textbooks that were decidedly outdated. “Modern” implies new, up-to-date, the latest thing, state of the art – well, you know what modern means – but if you call it modern yesterday, is it modern today? And what about tomorrow? “Modern” appears in the title of many recipe pamphlets published in the ‘30s and ‘40s. “Mid-century modern” even became a movement.

My mother used to say “modish,” as in “What a cute hat! It’s modish." (Fashionable or stylish in a modern way.) I thought the word was rather old-fashioned, but apparently we still use it. In the ‘60s, we liked “mod.” Then it seems like we quit using "modern" so much, but online research tells me I could be wrong about that. Still, I think we use the word with more care. 

Updated today but not "state of the art"

Today most of us probably think of ourselves as modern, but this wasn’t always true. For instance, during the mid-century decades, the folks on the farm were decidedly behind the times, and they felt it. The difference between town and country was obvious, even if the rural town was only a step ahead of the country. My grandparents living on the farm without “modern” amenities would never be modern themselves. They lived to see their way of life and their values become obsolete. Their children desired to live in the modern world, but they were conflicted about that, too. They carried the stigma of rural upbringing while loving their farm home.

But the goal of society was to modernize – and to modernize the farm as well. And in this regard, daughter Hallie sent me a link to a YouTube video about modernizing the farm kitchen which was produced in 1949 (here). It's less than 15 minutes long. I'll share my thoughts on it in a future post. KW

MOLASSES ICE BOX COOKIES

When Brer Rabbit’s Modern Recipes for the Modern Hostess was published, the kitchen as we know it today was still in the process of being born. Some women, like my Grandma Ina, were still cooking on a wood stove. And many young housewives with electric stoves, like my mother, remembered what it was like to cook on a wood stove. Not everyone had an electric mixer, and even if you did, it probably wasn’t powerful. And some kitchens still had an ice box instead of a refrigerator. The wording of this recipe for “Molasses Ice Box Cookies” reminded me of all this.

½ cup Brer Rabbit Molasses

½ cup shortening

½ cup sugar

1 egg

2 ½ cups flour

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp soda

¼ tsp cloves

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp cinnamon

Put molasses and shortening in large saucepan. Stir over low heat until shortening has melted. Remove from fire; stir in sugar. Cool. Add unbeaten egg; stir. Sift remaining ingredients together and add to first mixture. Form dough into rolls about 2 inches in diameter. Wrap in waxed paper and chill 3 to 4 hours. Slice thin and bake on well-greased baking sheet in moderate oven (375 F) 10 to 15 minutes.

I was very careful as I melted the shortening in the molasses, keeping the temperature at the simmer setting. Once I removed the mixture from the heat, I immediately added the sugar. Then I was distracted over the noon hour, and the mixture cooled too much. I probably should have re-heated it, but despite its stiffness, I managed to stir in the egg. Then, like a good girl, I sifted the dry ingredients before adding them to the molasses mixture in the big pan. I was tempted to use the mixer at this point, but I stirred by hand until it was well-blended. I then made two logs of the dough, wrapped them in waxed paper, and put them in the fridge for about three hours. We had plans for the evening, but I had time to bake the cookies before supper.

Now, I can’t slice straight or with uniformity to save my soul, but I tried my best. The recipe said “slice thinly” – not very specific. And I was skeptical of that 375 oven. So, I sliced my first tray at about 1/8 inch and baked at 375 for 8 minutes (instead of 10-12), and the cookies came out just short of scorched. Feeling bolder, I sliced the next tray thicker (1/4 inch), cut the heat to 350, and baked again for 8 minutes. Perfect! These cookies don’t spread much, so I crowded them onto the tray to save baking time.

I think we like them. I would try the recipe again and use the mixer. KW

[That evening we went to see Darkest Hour and enjoyed it. There were 14 of us in the theater, and I would guess most of us were 70+.]