By Helen Parks

We are still cleaning up around here from the storm that passed through here a few weeks ago. We lost two barns and several trees are down.

Jo Ann Barnhardt called to tell me about the new metal roof on the Community Center building. They had some storm damage and decided to use the insurance money to pay for the new roof. She and her brother, James Chipman, dipped into their pockets to make up the difference, so we are all going to need to make some donations on this project. The roof is very nice and will last a long time.

I think my own roof was also totaled and I am trying to convince  G.B. to replace it with a metal roof.

My son, David, is looking for a wood splitter. If any of you readers have one for sale, you might give me a call at (940) 682-5128. The winds pushed our squeeze shoot out of alignment, and when David tried to push it back, he realized that the cross ties underneath it were rotten.

 So he made a command decision to pour a concrete foundation instead of looking for some new cross ties. I sit back and laugh when he tells G.B. what he has decided to do. G.B. usually agrees with him and I am glad they are on the same wavelength. Now they only argue about who is going to pay for things.

I have told David  that now that he is a cattleman, he needs to keep records as such. We now have eight registered Angus heifers and three cows. When they all calve, we will have 22 animals, and that will be fun to watch. We like to have cattle on our place.

My grandson noticed that I had the “Bing” search engine on my computer.  We decided to test it out, so we asked it to find us some seafood restaurants.  Sure enough, our Brazos Catfish Café popped up, and it showed us an aerial view of how to get there.

We all ate there Thursday evening – there were nine of us. Several wanted to try the gumbo, and Austin, my grandson from Eastland – the one who made two three-pointers at his last basketball game – wanted to try some Memphis catfish. So I ordered one Memphis and exchanged with his regular fish. We like to try them all. I haven’t eaten the frog legs or oysters yet, but I may try them sometime.

Our little café in Millsap got an inspection from the state this week and made a 100. Jim was proud and we are, too. The food continues to be excellent – the squash casserole on Tuesday was delicious. We eat breakfast there every morning, and lunch and supper.

If I start to cook something, G.B. will say, “Oh, let’s go out – no use messing up the kitchen.” For Mexican food, we do like to go to Pulido’s in Mineral Well. I practice my Spanish on the waitresses there.

We have some sick folks in our area. Some of our Methodist friends are ill:  Dr. Sanders, the pastor; Barbara Rothrock, the pianist; and Barry Holmes, the former pastor. I believe Barry has had back surgery again,  and we hope they all get better.

I got a call from Missy Light that her mother, Linda Light, is doing much better, and her grandmother, Eugenia Freeman, is doing better. It helps so much to know that others are praying for our loved ones.

Wendell Patterson put up his “peaches for sale” sign this week. If you want some, you need to come down Patterson Hill till you see his sign. They won’t last long as he says the deer and coons are eating what they want first.

Don’t forget the Poe Prairie Cemetery Annual meeting on Saturday, July l8. They serve homemade ice cream and cake, and sing until dark. The business part begins at 6 p.m. and will be short and sweet, they say. Bring chairs and your friends.

I have a recipe for play dough you might want to make for your grandchildren this summer. Mix l cup of flour, l/4 cup of salt, 2 tbsp. of Cream of Tarter, l cup water, l tbsp. oil, and some food coloring. Cook in an electric skillet or any pan, stir constantly with a wooden spoon. When the dough is fairly dry, turn it out on a wax paper.  Kneed in small amounts until it is smooth and store in a zip lock bag. Your kids can make it themselves.  Get out the cookie cutters and let them have fun.

I  believe I told the story about the commode that wouldn’t work in the new agriculture building that G.B. and his Millsap students built. They had tried everything and G.B. finally told them to take it up and look into it. Sure enough, a pencil was wedged inside it.

Lately I have been having trouble with my keyboard. When I tried to hit the space bar, half the time it wouldn’t space. This week I decided to give my office a cleaning, and picked up my keyboard to wipe it off, and there was a pencil underneath it. That pencil had been keeping the space bar from going down like it should.

One of my renters called to say that their tub would not drain. This time I took some wire, some pliers, several screwdrivers and my rubber gloves with me.

The tub was half full and I will say my renter was doing his best. He pushed the wire down into the drain, and then he touched the little handle that is supposed to let the water out. Suddenly it worked, but not for long.

So I decided  that was the problem. He used the screwdriver and took the mechanism out. That fixed it. I don’t always have to call the plumber, and the renter said he would get by with a rubber stopper.

I hope everyone had a happy July 4th. I have been listening to some of Jim Souder’s war stories, and I don’t believe we know or realize how many of our veterans carry war wounds and the memories of those days in battle when they laid their lives on the line for our country.