1. My favorite food is???
Strawberry shortcake, with real strawberries real shortcake (which I make from scratch) and real whipped cream. We just had some last Sunday for my daughter-in-law’s birthday. She’s from Japan so had never tried it before—it was a big hit and she took a picture of the shortcakes. After we put the strawberries and whipped cream on them, she was too busy to take another picture. :)
2. My favorite car I ever owned was???
I didn't own it and it wasn't a car. My very favorite vehicle of all time was my dad’s 1954 Jeep pickup. It was pretty elderly by the time I drove it, but talk about fun. I drove that thing wherever he said not to—across creeks, over boulders, up hills. He traded it in for a newer Jeep pickup but it couldn't hold a candle to the old one. I still miss it.
3. Something you may not know about me is that I...???
Was the Owyhee County Fair Queen in my junior year of high school. That same year I won All-Around Livestock Showman, and was the Aggregate Small-bore Rifle Champion. And I still couldn’t get a date.
4. An interesting fact about my genealogy is...???
In 1066, our ancestor, Gamellus, was given the township of Alsop-en-le-Dale in Derbyshire by one of William's nobles. A descendant of Gamellus, Hugh, was cited for valor in the Third Crusade and knighted by Richard the Lionheart. Sir Hugh was also awarded land in Derbyshire, a Coat of Arms, and a wife. He was 50 and she was 18. They had 24 children. Yes, 24! He died when he was 99, she died at 96. My uncle visited England in the 1970s and the manor house built three(?) centuries later by his descendants was still there, although I assume it's had a whole lot of updating through the years.
It would be fun to go see it. The house was sold in the 1600s but another branch of the family bought it in the 1800s and I think their descendants still own it.
5. My favorite song is...because...???
(Ghost) Riders in the Sky. Love most versions—Sons of the Pioneers, Marty Robbins, Frankie Laine, Johnny Cash—nearly everyone covered this song. One of my favorite versions is from Blues Brothers 2000, but of course the very, very best was sung by Vaughn Monroe. Why is this song my favorite? I don’t know. Maybe because it’s one of the songs my dad sang while we were milking cows. He had a low baritone voice and could really growl the verse. Milking cows isn’t much fun so you have to take amusement wherever you can find it.
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How's the date situation?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite car of yesteryear was a Model A Ford painted yellow with red polka dots and named Yellow Fever. Ran well, too, long before we had to worry about how many miles to the gallon and we still figured CO2 was a "good" gas.
Nice post. Yeah. Small bore champ, eh?
Strawberry shortcake, yes, but use heavy cream instead of whipped.
ReplyDeleteWhen strawberries were in season, that's what we had every night for supper. Yum.
(BTW, the number in the word verification this time is 1030. Gotta do my taxes.)
I finally got a date and the poor chap never could get away. He's my IT guy now, but does double duty as a heatilator. :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't done any competition shooting for years. The last time I plunked a few cans was a couple years back, and I hit 19 bulls out of 20. I missed one because my brother jostled me. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
Jerry, my dad always preferred heavy cream over whipped cream, too. That was one of the triggers for him and my grandpa to start arguing about which was better, Holsteins or Jerseys. It was an ongoing thing. Makes me laugh even now.
ReplyDeleteFascinating Friday Five, Jacquie. Or should that be Lady Jacquie? That is an impressive pedigree, and an impressive string of accomplishments.
ReplyDeleteFascinating family history, Jacquie. A spread in Derbyshire, a Coat of Arms and a wife--what more could a man want? But with 24 kids, the both probably needed some rest. And, did you ever think that you might not have dated much in high school because you were armed?
ReplyDeleteMMMMMMM! REAL shortcakes, you betcha! not those spongey fakes, and real whipped cream. MMMMMMMMMMM!! I can picture you in that Jeep, LOL!! and how cool about Hugh - 50?? and the wife of 18? YOWZA! 2 dozen kids??? poor woman!! there's a story in that. most people in that time didn't live past 50. GHOST RIDERS, hahaha! I can hear you singing that while the milk zings into the pail. Great FIVE!!
ReplyDeleteKeith, I think my pedigree is tarnished around the edges by now. LOL. Second sons had to scramble to make a living and that's why a bunch of them ended up on this side of the pond. Our branch of the family got here in 1750.
ReplyDeleteTom, you might have a point about the rifle. Back in the day, we all carried rifles in the pickup. Varmints, you know.
ReplyDeleteMeg, the milk zinged directly into the bulk tank. No buckets. Milk cows are the reason I live in suburbia today. What a thankless job and hard work.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'll say about farm life, though--we had good food. None of this feeble garbage you find in the grocery stores. On the other hand, I don't have to can, freeze, or butcher it.
By the way, I always get a kick out of it when people say everyone in the olden days was short and died young. All my ancestors were well over 6' tall, and if they weren't killed, they all lived until mid-80s or even past 100. So neither of those things is true.
ReplyDeleteI love fresh strawberry shortcake too...
ReplyDeleteMy fav car was my 1978 Cordoba it had a slide back sunroof, the kind you had to crank back, not the push of a button..
My ancestors date back to the Kings of Ireland... The Fighting Prince of Donegal is a direct descended.
I love that Ghost Riders song.. I love Frankie Laine version.
Great 5 things Jacquie...
It's amazing you can trace your family back to 1066. Nice to have nobles in your family history.
ReplyDeleteI love strawberry shortcake with the real ingredients. Those shortcakes look mighty fine, too.
It seems so sweet to me that you and your dad milked cows together and that he sang.
All the best, Jacquie.
Jacquie,
ReplyDeleteLOVED your Friday Five! Ghost Riders in the Sky is one of my favorites, too. I remember as a kid I had the 45 record of that and I played it over and over and over. It scared the heck out of me to think of the ghost riders (I was about 4) but I'd sing with it and when it was done I'd start it over again. That shortcake sounds wonderful.
Cheryl
Well, your family history totally trumps mine, Lady Jacquie. :-D
ReplyDeleteRemind me not to piss you off, just in case you're packin' heat. ;-)
Loved the bit about your genealogy, Jacquie. I'm jealous that you know all about it. Mine hasn't been traced further back than the Civil War (Georgia). One of these days I'll get going on it again though. Also, would you care to share your recipe for the shortcake? Pretty please? And I love the same song(s) you do about the Old West. I hadn't heard this version by Vaughn though...I'm gonna look it up. Keep up your wonderful writing! Jan jdh2690@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteKathleen O, I always wanted a care with a sunroof. Unfortunately, my IT guy isn't enamored with them.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a cool family history you have!
Sarah, they're all dirt farmers on the other side. LOL. Milking is not my favorite thing to do, singing or otherwise. Dad had a rich voice but could've used a little help with carrying a tune.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, thanks for stopping by. Any song that's been recorded by so many artists just has to be a great one. And yes, it scared me when I was little, too.
ReplyDeleteKathleen, no packin' heat these days. I'm civilized now.
ReplyDeleteJanice, I'll figure out a recipe (our family doesn't use recipes, we just make stuff), and post it on my own blog.
ReplyDeletehttp://jacquierogers.blogspot.com
Great post, Jacquie. Nice to get to know more about the folks in WF. With your background you'd make a character in a Western, your own self.
ReplyDeleteMy grandpa had Jersey milk cows when I was a boy, then later a couple of holsteins... I don't know which side of the argument your dad was on, but I vote Jersey... When I was stationed in Coeur d'Alene we found a small Jersey dairy that would sell us milk. I still contend that whole milk helped my kids develop such smart braniums--that and the fact that they take after their mama...
Great, great post, Jacquie! The Marty Robbins version is my favorite. I love to picture the devil's herd breathing fire across the sky!
ReplyDeleteMarc, dad had Holsteins and grandpa had Jerseys. Dad said you could milk a Jersey, throw a nickel in the bucket, and the milk wouldn't cover it. Grandpa said you could milk a Holstein, throw a nickel in the bucket, and the milk as so clear you could still see the nickel. :) Generally, we drank Holstein milk and used Jersey cream.
ReplyDeleteI like that description of the two types. Wise on both accounts. Man, I miss Jersey cream. My mom used to make brownies, but them in half and fill with whipped jersey cream and put in the freezer for ice cream sandwiches. It's easy to see why I was "rolie polie, Daddy's little fatty..." Good times. Thanks again for this post. Brought back a lot of good memories.
ReplyDeleteGerri, the ghost cattle graphics are what what won me over in the Blues Brothers 2000 version.
ReplyDeleteMarc, those brownie/ice cream sandwiches sound great! And illegal, for sure. LOL. Did your family make ice cream? We had homemade ice cream almost every night in the summer. I spent a lot of time cranking. Haven't made it for years but I still remember how.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, we made ice-cream. Parker County peach ice cream a good deal of the time.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, she used frozen whipped cream in the brownie sandwiches though.
My grandma liked butter milk--the kind of clear, whey stuff that was left over after making butter and seemed to me to be slightly carbonated from our electric churn. I never developed a taste for it.
We did have a hand crank ice cream freezer though and I have many a great memory turning the crank and listening to the relatives tell stories while they shelled purple hull peas and whittled, depending on gender. For some reason, by the time I got old enough, boys had to shell peas too.
Funny how talk of Jersey cows can trigger a flood of nostalgia.
Marc, I never could tolerate buttermilk, either, but it sure does make good biscuits. Churning butter wasn't my favorite thing to do, but "spanking" the butter to get all the whey out was great fun.
ReplyDeleteYep, our ice cream cranking time was filled with stories, too. And when the cranking got hard, the littlest one (my brother) had to sit on top. Good times.
I love hearing your family stories, Jacquie. The story of your ancestors is amazing and would make a great romance, .
ReplyDeleteVictoria, I'd sure love to learn more. Actually, I'm very interested in the other side of the family--the dirt farmers. We know a lot more about the privileged than we do about those who barely eked out a living, were the first to be used for cannon fodder, and first to die in epidemic. Daily life for the common people really interests me--and that applies during all time periods.
ReplyDeleteJacquie--you entire post was so interesting. But the part about your ancestor was captivating! I loved that. How in the world do you find that you have ancestors that far back?
ReplyDeleteMy sisters and I are in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and it took two years to work back to an ancestor who lived in Texas during the time it was a Republic. Wow--I am very impressed.
I loved all your answers--I knew you were an interesting person, and now? You're in a class all your own.
Celia, I have a second cousin who did most of the America genealogy work, and the rest was just a matter of hooking up the right names between here and England, via Scotland. (Our branch lived in Scotland from 1600 to 1750.) I'm not sure who did the research in England, but my uncle did a lot of the work in Scotland.
ReplyDeleteJacquie, fascinating post. My brother has our family back to 900 the same way. Like you, I'm interested in the commoners, but their information is harder to come by. Loved learning more about you. Always have been thankful my family had nothing to do with dairy cows. Watching my grandmother milk her one cow fascinated me, but a herd of them would be a huge responsibility and time consuming.
ReplyDeleteI love your strawberry shortcake... Mine is almost as good, not as flaky as yours YET>>>
ReplyDeleteI was also thinking that being the small-bore champion might have had something to do with the lack of dates. And I love the Vaughan Monroe version of Ghost Riders. He's got a unique quality to his voice. Could never be mistaken for anyone else. And that image of the ghostly herd and riders in the sky? So intriguing!
ReplyDelete