Jammin' In July In Camden ::

Does Camden still have a Blues festival? I know my brother, Bill, and his family enjoyed this in years past so I went on the web to see what might be on tap for this year since I am a huge blues fan, but all I was able to find was Jammin' in July. Lo and behold who would be playing in Camden but Webb Wilder and the Beatnecks. Webb's web site says that he will go on at 9:45pm on July 12 and, let me tell you, if I happen to be in Camden on that night I will be there to see Webb and his band. I heartily recommend that anyone who enjoys a good high energy rock and roll show go see Webb. There will not be any shagging music, but you will definitively enjoy the show.

I have been going to Webb Wilder shows since the mid eighties when he was the initial opening act at The Cotton Club (now defunct) on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. I saw Webb and the band earlier in the spring at a small club here in Huntsville which has an outside courtyard where the bands play. It is a great venue and, best of all, its free! Webb was back about a month ago, but I was unable to attend that show.

I'm amazed that Webb will be playing in Camden! Don't miss this show if you can help it!

Dr. Shaw Passes Away ::

An excerpt from this mornings The State:

A graveside service for Dr. Francis Grayson Shaw, 94, will be held Thursday, June 26, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. in Quaker Cemetery. Rev. Bob Fekete will officiate. The family will receive friends Wednesday, June 25, 2008, from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. at Kornegay Funeral Home, Camden Chapel. Memorials may be made to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 612 Boykin Road, Camden, SC 29020.

My sympathies to the family!

I also see that Rev. Lawhon has just passed away also. My sympathies also to his family and friends!

Fresh Basil

I think that I may have mentioned somewhere in this blog that I like to cook. I also like to grow things, usually year round, with the Summer season being my favorite. I just picked my first Roma tomato a couple of days ago and just earlier this evening I harvested some fresh Basil. I really should have done this a couple of weeks ago, but this timing seemed to be ok. I will not use it for a few days, or possibly weeks, but I chop it relatively finely and freeze the chopped Basil in water in an ice cube tray (believe it or not they still sell ice trays). After they're frozen I'll pop them out of the trays and transfer them to a ziploc bag and just use one or two cubes depending on what I'm fixing. Pesto is always a good choice, but I'm thinking of making my own Basil/Tomato based salad dressing this year.

I also grow Habañero peppers from which I make a really nice hot pepper jelly. It sounds much more daunting than it really is, but it does have a bite and I always recommend that it be used in small dabs at first, especially with children! My Habañeros are just now starting to produce little peppers so it will probably be the first of August before I get to make any jelly. I'll post some pictures and the recipe a bit later.

I'm Now Twittering

Are you?

[later update] I guess I really should have put the address!

http://twitter.com/fdeaton

International Space Station/Shuttle Sighting Opportunity In SC

In the Columbia area for Sunday, June 08:

Time: 9:32pm
Sighting Duration: 3 minutes
Maximum Elevation: 41 degrees
Approach: 24 degrees above the NNW horizon
Departing: 18 degress above the ESE horizon

(This information should be very close for all of central South Carolina)

This should be an excellent sighting opportunity given that the orbiter Discovery is attached and the new Kibo module has been added. The sighting opportunity where I live is a bit longer. If you get the chance go outside and watch it fly over. Look for a bright light moving rapidly across the sky. The ISS travels at 17,500 mph and is roughly 225 miles above Earth.

Wherever in the world you happen to be you can get ISS sighting information at the NASA Human Spaceflight web site.

The Old And The New

We drove up to Nashville, well, actually Springfield which is about 40 miles north of Nashville, to see Rylee, the new granddaughter.



I get a kick out of couples who are parents for the first time. They think everyone else in the world is a blithering idiot who has never been around a baby. This seems to last for about a month or so until they have that moment on enlightenment when they discover that others have been through this process with them and actually remember what it was like.

Here is what Rylee's schedule looked like for earlier in the day:



Peeing outnumbers pooping 4 to 1!

Suzanne Brings Home The Bacon!

Literally!





I have a friend who, several years ago, killed 2 wild hogs in one day down in south Alabama and had no idea how to cook the hams. He and Judy could grill hot dogs and hamburgers, but were clueless about creative cooking. He gave me one of the hams and we made a fruit sauce much as one would use to cook a wild duck. I baked the ham in the oven for a couple of hours covered by the fruit sauce and then transferred it to the smoker for another 3 hours or so.

Eugene and Judy had a camper parked by Lake Guntersville and we took the cooked ham, just off the smoker, and a fine meal, complete with some cold adult beverages, was had by about 10 of us.

I'm working on another web site (very slowly) where I will be sharing a lot of my favorite recipes. Many years ago I discovered that I liked to cook and I am pretty good at it.

Referencing Bill's Post Below

If anyone has any news please e-mail me at the address over to the right and I'll post it here right away. I have been wondering also about the condition of our classmates. I monitor fred.deaton(at)gmail.com at home and at work during all waking hours. Just remember to replace (at) with @. My spam filters are probably holding around 120,000 spams right now so you can understand why I don't publish the true e-mail address.

I am also building a list of classmate e-mail addresses and debating how to share it with everyone. I would never subject anyone to junk e-mails and spam. I think I will eventually publish it over to the right as a downloadable Adobe Acrobat PDF.

Any News on Elizabeth, Barry or Joe ?

In late April, a post by Buster mentioned the illness of several classmates in additon to Larry Owen. Does anyone have the current status of Elizabeth Goodale Long (possible stroke), Barry Hendrix (cancer) or Joe Myers ( liver transplant list). Ray Robinson had reported Barry had a very bad prognosis. Any news would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Bill