Ye Ole Claw-foot Tub

The earliest plumbing systems ever discovered date back nearly 6000 years to the Indus River Valley in India where copper water pipes were excavated from the ruins of a palace. Fast forward 3000 years to the island of Crete where the ancestor of a pedestal tub was unearthed--five feet long, made of hard pottery, its shape resembling the 19Th century claw foot tub.

Up until the 1800's in the U.S., most water pipes were made of hollowed trees. Cast iron pipe imported from England had one of its first installations in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. By the early 1800's, cast iron production began domestically in New Jersey. In 1848, the National Public Health Act was passed creating a plumbing code for the U.S.

Almost simultaneously in 1883, both the Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company (now American Standard) and Kohler began the process of enameling cast iron bathtubs to form a smooth interior surface. Kholer's first claw foot tub was advertised as a "horse trough/hog scalder, when furnished with four legs will serve as a bathtub." These tubs soon became mass-produced as they were recognized as having an extremely sanitary surface that was easy to clean, thus preventing the spread of bacteria and diseases.

As most of you know, "the man" and myself have been renovating this ol' homestead for three years now. When we will finish this project, is any one's guess. However, we did recently install a gorgeous claw foot tub in the partially/new/old bathroom. I say partially, because we only have a smidgen of tile layed, a tub on top of that, new paint above that, new bead board on the wall...........and that's it! The remainder of the bathroom is still in the works..........hmmmm. Anyway, I bought this tub two and a half years ago for "the man." Because we were trying to keep the dignity of the 1925 homestead intact, he wanted a claw foot, so I bought him one.

Now this tub has housed baby chicks, baby ducks, wool, dirt and who knows what else. However, a good scrubbin', new paint, new hardware, and we're ready to bathe. After finally installing the tub, checking for any plumbing leaks, etc. I was ready to fill er' up and hop in. Now this is were the story gets real interesting......................I pour a glass of chardonnay, ease into the nice, hot water, lie back and commend "the man" on his superb installation job. That's when it happened...............the tub went backwards, water sloshed all over the floor, and I'm hollerin' at "the man" to HELP ME!!!! He pulls me out of the tub, and tries to upright, the now downhill tub................full of water mind you. Somehow, ten minutes or so later we get it upright again, seems one of the ol' claws decided to hop right off that tub. My pride is bruised (literally), I'm wet, humiliated, naked..............holding my glass of Chardonnay.................when "the man" turns to me and says......................"nice save on the wine babe."

"Blue" the Late, Great, Chicken Chaser

Last evening, while enjoying the late afternoon, sipping on a nice glass of Chardonnay, our Dog "Blue" decided he wanted to play with a mean ole' Dark Cornish rooster! This rooster absolutely despises "Blue," as do his other two cohorts. Because of "Blue," these three roosters chase everything and anyone.

So "the Man" and myself, watch this pup tear across the yard with keen alacrity, nip the tail feathers of this rooster, turn on a dime and land back at point of beginning.........all with a smile on his face! You could just see him say to himself, "self, nice job, caught that darn rooster right off guard." This went on for about two seconds when rooster decided he wasn't going to play. "Rooster" runs, wings pinned to his side, head down (I gather to lower the wind resistance), and chases the pup........around and around the yard.

I am chiding the pup for disrupting our tranquility, as I'm laughing and snorting over the hilarity of this game. "Blue" was not to be cajoled to stop! Back the pup goes to resume the game with a hint of circumspect (kinda.....remember, he thinks he's Bolt), the rooster is lying in wait along with two of his buddies. The same thing happens, "Blue" tears across the yard once again with keen alacrity, ALMOST gets the tail feathers, turns on a dime and lands back at point of beginning. He's not smiling this time, in candor he realizes he has missed his mark.

While this goes on for a few rounds, the rooster is starting to get some licks in. He has managed to spur the dog not once, BUT twice. Tongue hanging, thirsty, wearing down, the pup gives it a few more shots...........to no avail, rooster is done playin'. So...... with a supercilious stance, said pup meanders into the orchard, where "the man" is watering fruit trees, leaving the game for now, and pounces into the tree well (full of water) and attacks the water coming out of the hose.

It's just another evening on the ole' ranch......................!!!!

Peaches and More Peaches

I have to tell ya, canning in the hot summer months is something else! This ol' house certainly DOESN'T have A.C., nor did it ever! One really notices how HOT it can be while canning over a stove, with an oven on low temperature, and NO windows open.

Now the reason you can't have any ceiling fans whirlin' around or windows open while canning you wonder? You'll blow the bottom out of a hot jar in an instant. Cleaning syrup from the cupboards, floor, and legs (instant waxing), isn't a whole lot of fun.

However, the task is behind me now for this summer. I've made peach halves in light syrup, peach freezer jam, and peach fruit leather, I'm "peached out." They will look nice tomorrow when I can wash the jars, label them, and store them in my cellar house. They will sit in the dark, cool cellar until I'm ready for a peach cobbler, peach halves with cottage cheese and a smidgen of grated longhorn, or just a bowl of cold peaches.

Used to be, when my kids were "wee ones," I would tell them we couldn't touch the canned goods until the "first snow fell." They would saunter off, head down, and sigh.........they knew it was summer, winter was a long ways off. It meant more to them then, they used to go with me to glean the orchards (with permission of course), my son Jared, would scale up a large peach, cherry, or apple tree like flint. His sister Jessica, was the "grounded one," she would catch his gleaned goods. Oh yes, those were the days............................I'm happy though, the smell of a good ripe peach is hard to beat and the memory of two little kids helpin' their mamma is priceless.

Peach Cobbler

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 cups peaches

Melt butter in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Mix 1 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and milk. Pour over melted butter. Cover top of batter with fruit.

Sprinkle remaining sugar over fruit. Bake at 350-degrees until batter is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve hot with whipped cream or home-made vanilla ice cream.

* You can use any berry, any variety, for this dish.

A Little About Rockin' A Ranch

August 5Th, 2009

It's been an exceptionally hot, humid, summer here on the ranch. We didn't get our monsoons as anticipated, so everything is lazy, sleepy, and just trying to stay cool. The sheep are inactive during this type of weather, they lie around in their barn, in their particular corners, and chew cud. I feel badly for them, so I've set up fans to blow on the girls and their lambs. Evening is a different story altogether. When it cools down on this high prairie the sheep get a bit more frisky. I open the back pasture up for them, the lambs run out, kicking their heels up in jubilation.....it's "play-time."

We live at an elevation of 5,640 ft. We also have strong winds in the Spring(so strong, they've lifted the metal roof off a barn or two, periodically). They call them micro-bursts and they are intense! We have snow in the winter, summer rarely sees a temperature above 95 degrees.

Today, we finally have a rain storm moving in. It's noon, the thunder has frightened two of our three dogs. I have to let them in, give them both a naturopathic calming pill, they will wile the day away sleeping, oblivious to the power of this storm.

The "old ladies" that surround this ranch house are Chinese Elm trees, or Lace bark Elms. These large, gorgeous trees, grow as high as 40-60 ft. , they can also grow as wide, or wider. The Chinese elms homeland is in North and Central China, Korea, and Japan. It was introduced into the U.S. in 1794.

On this ranch we have a 1925 Adobe home, it sits under these "old ladies." In the summer the home stays very cool from the shade of these big trees. The building material used for this home, clay brick or adobe. In the winter, the trees become deciduous, the sunlight shines down on the ole' house, and warmth prevails. The old timers knew very well what they were building and planting back in those days.

We have a large, organic garden area, a nine-tree orchard, three pastures, a cellar house with an 8 ft. cellar lined in huge slabs of sandstone. It too, stays a steady controlled temperature throughout the seasons. I preserve all the fruits (and veggies) of our labor annually.

A railroad used to run through our ranch at one time. It brought lumber and workers to the McNary mill. During the "dust bowl" days, families, single men, and hobo's used to walk those tracks,the track now long gone. They hitched rides on the train looking for work, a meal, a place to rest a weary body. In those days, the hobo's came up with an ingenious sign language, not the same as for the deaf, but a different type. This was a language made with markings, or drawings left along roadways.

This language allowed fellow hobo's to know what type of area they were approaching, where they could find a meal, good water, a barn to sleep in, a safe camp, or a nice lady lives here. Our ranch house had one of those signs out front in those days, "a nice lady lived here." It's an important part of the history of this house and a treasure to own that piece of American history. When we moved into this house my sister looked up the hobo sign for "A Nice Lady Lives Here," it was a cat.

She took an old piece of barn wood, burned a cat in it for me, it sits outside our front door.........all these years later. Thank you sister!