Queen's Edge Farm: Memorial Service

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Memorial Service

The memorial service is over. I am so tired. This week has been tiring. My grandmother arrived on Wednesday evening. I last saw her last Thanksgiving, she looks more frail. I think she is 76, but not sure.

I spent the morning shopping in a nearby town and getting the kids appropriate things to wear to the memorial service. I also had to stop by the funeral home and drop off the hub cab that we were having cremated with my dad. He used to joke about being buried inside his 1958 Chevy Biscayne, so we figured this was the next best thing.

The cremation took place this afternoon, and I am supposed to pick up my father's ashes on Monday, but will wait until the director contacts me before I go up there...

The service this evening was good.

The order of service looked like this:

Cliff (former music director when I was young) sang Because of God's Amazing Grace
Pastor Kelly talked about the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible
We played the song "I can only imagine"
Then Kelly read the euology (see http://www.hurleyfuneralhome.com/ for the obituary)
The song "I lift my eyes up" was next
My husband read something he had written for the occasion, we were all very surprised.
He's not a public speaker, and normally keeps to himself, but he and my dad did a lot together.
The last song played was "Daddy's Hands" by Holly Dunn.

This last song was sufficient in reducing everyone to tears. All in all, the service was good. I think it was made easier by the fact that we didn't actually have my father there. That would have been hard to do, but we wouldn't have been able to have a viewing or open casket anyway, so the cremation, I guess, was actually a good idea, though I am still struggling with this...I try not to think about it.....

The church was full, between his co-workers, old friends, church members, my friends, and several family members we had lost contact with. It was glad to see more Queens, as there aren't many around. So, now I am in contact with my Cousins again, and am happy about that...

We had a picture of my dad in a race car blown up to poster size, along with the flag we received for his military service, and the scrapbook I had worked on last night, it was a great service. I was worried my grandmother would think it was not traditional enough, but the goal I wanted to strive for was an upbeat type of service that wouldn't make us feel any worse. She was happy, and told me we did a great job, which means a lot. I wanted her to be okay with the memorial, since she struggles with the cremation. Along with all the flowers, and friends, we actually had a good time talking with old friends and church members, and even meeting new family members we had heard about but never met. A few had travelled from WV, which surprised us!

I am off to bed....

1 comment:

Bob Westbrook said...: May God bless you.; August 25, 2007 at 3:46 PM

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Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.