Elderberries

We will have some elderberries at the market this week. I've been out picking wild elderberries. We planted some this spring, but after I fell, Grampa Tom didn't have enough time to keep up with all the weeding so they got crowded out. They wouldn't have made many this year anyway. 

Elderberries are tiny little tart berries that are packed full of all kinds of super immune system building nutrition. They have been used to relieve stress, stomach ailments, high cholesterol and complexion problems. 

The results of a clinical trial, published in the International Journal of Medical Research in 2004, showed flu patients given one tablespoon of elderberry extract four times per day recovered in an average of 3.1 days, compared to 7.1 days for those given a placebo. A 1995 study published by the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that nearly 90% of flu patients given elderberry extract were completely free of symptoms within two to three days, as compared to at least six days with a placebo.

It took me a couple of hours to de-stem about 2 1/2 lbs. There are machines that can do it faster. I'm going to try to plant a few again this fall. We met a guy last fall who has 35 acres of them. He makes pretty good money on them, but he has one of those machines! 

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue

My Crazy Mom and Aunt

They say that every now and then it is a good thing to deviate from your normal topics. My mom reads this blog all the time, so today, I'd like to tell you a little story about my mom and my aunt.

Some of my favorite childhood memories come from the crazy ways my mom handled stressful situations. This particular day started out with my mom, my aunt, one of my sisters and my aunt's kids getting into a little  Corvair to make a 4 hour trip from the St. Louis area to our home. On the trip home, the transmission went out. We were quite away from my aunt's place, so Mom and Aunt Nan made decided to forge ahead and drive as far as she could, in second gear.

For most people, the challenge of driving 100 or so miles at 20 miles per hour on a hot summer day with 3 kids in an un-airconditioned car would automatically push the panic button followed by a day of growling, arguing, screaming and crying, but not these two!

To entertain us, they encouraged us to sing songs and play all the typical "I Spy" type car games.

Then they noticed that as we were driving by the farm houses, we could look into the windows and see what was on TV. Way back then, most rural areas only had access to one or two channels, so we were able to pretty much watch the same programs for the entire trip. We laughed and tried to imagine the story line of the soap operas as we drove along.

And whenever we came to a hill, My mother would encourage all of us to stick our arms out the windows and "help" the car by rowing our way up the hill while singing "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog" by Three Dog Night at the top of our lungs.



We had such fun watching people's faces as they encountered a little car with 6 swinging arms crawling up the hills that we could never get through the entire song! It would disintegrate into hysterical laughter every time.

That little white Corvair made it 8 hours before it finally gave up. My dad traveled about an hour to pick us up and tow the car home. I'm sure my parents would have preferred not to go through the expense of a bad transmission, but I would have missed one of the best days of my life :) It was worth every penny!

So the next time things don't go your way, ask God how to make it a Jeremiah situation!

My Lunch

Scrambled egg seasoned with sea salt, pepper and crumbled dried sage and oregano, into a ring of green pepper and sprinkled with cheese - bacon - toast and fresh corn on the cob. YUM!

We will be set up at the Nauvoo Sinclair station next to Ducks from noon until 5:30 today and at the Keokuk  Mall from 7am - 11am tomorrow morning. Come see us!