It's a Fig, Newton!

My week in Mississippi is flying by way too fast! My parents were expecting me on Monday; however, Saturday {08.11.2007} was my Mom's birthday. Knitted Zebra's Brother, Sister and I planned a surprise for Mom and Dad. They told Mom they would take them out to eat for Mom's birthday and Mom & Dad's Wedding Anniversary. After most were gathered inside the house on Saturday, I walked in and said "Happy Birthday!" Mom said she thought she was dreaming when she looked up and saw me there. She had been trying to figure out a time when all of us could be together through the week. I live 525 miles away, so it is an all day journey to "pop in."

We are enjoying laughter, great times together and wonderful food. Some of the best food comes from the fruits of my Dad's labor. He loves to work in his garden now that he is retired. I am early for the figs and muscadines, but wanted to show you what I will be missing. Above is one of the figs. Below is a shot of one of Dad's fig plants. I am sure his figs will be so tasty!

One of my all-time favorite Southern foods ~ muscadines ~ is shown below. Muscadine Jelly and Muscadine Juice fall right in line with delicious muscadines right off the vine! I did get to taste a couple of muscadines. One was ripe, but the other was evidence that I was too early for the harvest.


I have really looked forward to some of Dad's delectable green tomatoes fried up and served hot. Yum! Green fried tomatoes are so good!


Another Southern tradition, besides Mom's outstanding cooking, is a bowl of Boiled Green Peanuts. Sometimes it is hard to find them fresh, but believe it or not Peanut Patch Green Boiled Peanuts are the next best thing. {I did not believe Mom until I tried them.}


Yes, I call them Boiled Green Peanuts and they call them Green Boiled Peanuts. To me they are green peanuts that are boiled, to Peanut Patch they are Boiled Peanuts that are green. Somehow though I am not going to let semantics stand in the way of enjoying them. {Rest assured, no peanuts were wasted in the making of this photo!}

While speaking of the South, I have to mention Elvis, especially in relation to tomorrow {anniversary of his death}. While growing up I lived across the street from Elvis' birthplace for five years. {Click on birthplace to go to a link that shows pictures of his home.} At that time the birthplace served as a "rent house" and was owned by a local lady. This type house is known as a "shotgun house" in local terminology. It is a small two room house with wooden steps and a small porch the width of the house. The front door opens into a small room with another small room immediately behind the first. The back door is at the end of the second room.

When I lived in Tupelo, I had a memory of why they called it a shotgun house, so I "Googled" the term to see if I was correct. "The Shotgun house is a narrow one-story dwelling without halls. Each room is placed behind the other in single file. The roof ridge is perpendicular to the street. The traditional description of why these houses are called "shotgun" is that if one fired a shotgun through the front door, the shot would pass through the lined-up doors of each room and out the back door." {Definition from bywater.org}

I did not live in Tupelo at the time, but Elvis held a concert at the Tupelo Fair Grounds in 1956. The following statement was made by Elvis as reported in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, August 16, 2007: "Some people tap their feet, some people snap their fingers, and some people sway back and forth. I just sorta do 'em all together."

Knitted Zebra's Brother worked for South Central Bell in Memphis for over 30 years. During this time he was assigned to handle telephone service to the downtown medical center. It was his assignment {and pleasure} to "hook up" the private telephone for Elvis each time he entered the hospital. Elvis would always be admitted after midnight. On one occasion, Elvis left him a short note as he was being discharged: "Thanks, first name of KZ's Brother, for your help." One thing that made this note unique was Elvis wrote this at 2:00 a.m. on his doctor's prescription pad. This is to the memory of Elvis as we remember him 30 years after his death.

It is amazing what some wizards can do! Tomorrow {08.17.2007} on spinner.com and on itunes, you will be able to see a duet between a now-grown Lisa Marie Presley and her father, Elvis, who died when Lisa Marie was 9 years old. In anticipation, here is a replay of the American Idol duet of Celine and Elvis. Elvis' image was taken from a concert in 1968, the year Celine was born. Double click on the arrow to start the music.

This afternoon I went to a place my sister told me about ~ The Fillin' Station at the corner of Fillmore and Wick Street in Historic Downtown Corinth. When you walk in, it is very evident the owner is a true Elvis Fan!! A number of people were enjoying "Dogs on the Run" with slaw, homemade chili and Sweet Vidalia onions. If you are in the mood for a thick slab of bologna in a cheese sandwich or a Grilled Cheese freshly made, you have come to the right place. If I am not mistaken, those are some of the sandwiches Elvis enjoyed. I stopped in for some ice cold Dr. Pepper and picked up a couple of glass bottles of Soda Pop for memorabilia from Corinth. If you are ever in the area, I know they would love to have you drop by The Fillin' Station.

The picture above was taken at my parents' home. All of our guitars are at the homes of Knitted Zebra, KZ's Brother and KZ's Son, so a piano was substituted for a musical instrument. That is a menu from The Fillin' Station though. My apologies that the pic is blurry, I needed more light.

For those who have waded thru this for the knitting content, I present to you the start of "My So Called Scarf" which I found on Sheep In the City's blog. I first saw this scarf on Stacey's blog when I was just learning to knit. I knew someday I would knit one of these. After a few projects on my knitting needles, I went in search of the beautiful Manos del Uraguay yarn she had used. It was well worth the wait! This is the Wildflowers colorway and I am using Denise Needles, size 15. I found the yarn at my LYS, Stitches.

Carpe Knitting,
KZ