WHERE THE HECK IS EVERYONE?  Have ya'll flown the nest?

hi azbonnie! just came across your post...i do read the different forums (?) but never know anyone... unless there is a request for a recipe i don't usually participate. hope others check in here and say 'hi' to you too. have a pleasant night and a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Hi Karen!  Nice to see you on Night Owls!  We have been running this thread for about a year and a half or so now.  It was started by Kimsonmerk, and we just come in and chat every night.  No pressure, no infighting, just friendly chat!  Please continue to join us! 

I am (obviously) from Arizona, so it really isn't that late here yet, but Kim is in New Jersey, and some of the other gals are in Eastern time zones as well. 

Where are you from?  Any plans for the 4th?  We are just staying home and quiet.  We just returned from a month-long vacation.

My print is really big, because one of the gals here has vision problem so I do "ctrl" and the number "1" and it makes this nice big print so it is easier for her to see!

Good evening, ladies of the night   (ooops, watch your tongue, woman).

Bet Lori is at tge lake and has been busy cleaning in preperation for everybody to show and dirty it up again.

I was baby-sitting my friend today. Her son and DIL can't leave her home alone on the farm 35 mi from town and while they appointments and things to do we had a nice visit.

IT kept me from canning my bananas (YES, bananas) but they will keep until tomorrow. One of our stores had them on sale for 39 cents lbs and I bought 9 big bunches. Made banana jam ionce and it is real good. That is why I thought why not can the plain banana mush to use for smoothies or banana shakes during the winter. I still have about 30 dz jars left but should save my new ones and get busy washing the older ones stored in the garage.

 Also ordered 50 lbs of Emu meat for the end of Oct, when my friends butcher a few birds, that will yield at least 2 dz quart jars of meat. Cheaper than beef and no fat, it is 99% lean and tastes like beef, jus a bit darker in color while fresh. Have to keep my larder stocked.

What have all of you been up to? Binnie should be getting ready to head for home.

 Our metropolis is getting ready for the big todo on Saturday. Too crowded for me to attend. They tell me the population quadruples over the 4th because so many of these former huge familes hold their reuinions on that day and I believe those numbers. I can watch the fireworls right from my front steps, more comfy that in a crowd.

Welcome Karen!  Bonnie did a wonderful job of explaining "Night Owls" to you.  As she said....it is a friendly place to visit...lots of fun and humor along with friendship and advice (when needed).  We are always happy to have new people join us!  So please come by whenever you're in the neighborhood!  LOL

Bonnie!!!!  Welcome home!!!  I hope you and mom had a pleasant flight back.  I know the two of you must be thrilled to be back in your comfortable home.

Lori is at the lake for the holiday weekend.  I'm looking forward to July 4th..always a fun family gathering for us.  

gr_elo:

Good evening, ladies of the night   (ooops, watch your tongue, woman).

That's too funny, Gretel!  Banana jam, huh?  Now that's different....I'll bet it's delicious.  I'm sorry for asking this....I should know the answer...but where do you live, Gretel?  I'm sure you've told us in the past....sorry that I've forgotten.

Well, some of our Owlettes have flown home after all!  Yes, I'm home.  We have just plain rested--I haven't even unpacked yet!  Maybe later tonight--or else tomorrow.  No plans for the 4th except laundry!

I have lots to do tomorrow to get ready for the holiday on Saturday.  My son has been wanting cheesecake and there's this great place on the way down the shore....DD and I are going to run there in the morning and pick one up before the crowds start heading to the beach for the weekend.  I'm also going to pick up some bbq supplies for Sunday....we're celebrating the 4th at my aunt's house but we'll have a little something at home on Sunday to continue the celebration through the weekend.  

DD and I went to see The Proposal tonight with Sandra Bullock.  It was cute...we both enjoyed it.  

Yo, I see I goofed. bonnie is home again and most likely floating in her pool. NIce to be back in dry heat instead of heat and high hunidity, right.

Hi, KIm and Karen, all we need now is another Owl with a name starting with K and we'll have the Nightowl KKK. (I am a naughty female toonight)

Also have a new "Boarder" since about 10 days ago. At first I thought it was a leaf caught on the shade clothe outside of my bedroom window but during the next few days it was ina different place evey morning. And the  I saw it MOVE.

A little bat is making shade cloth home. It sleeps there during the day, leaves at dusk and returns at dawn. Enjoys the early norning sun for about an hr and then crawls up to where it is ahsdy and goes to sleep. When I close the window to keep cool air in it blinks it's little beady eyes at me like it is saying: Now why did you have to wake me up?

Called our "Birdman" (he counts birds for the governemnt, a hooby, not a paying job), he is a nature lover and said he would build a little bat house for me, it will bemade out of thick wood for good insulation and will hold 12 bats, max. The little thing can't hang on the shade cloth all winter so we will put the bat house right above where it hangs out and hope it will find some friends to share it with and to help keep each other warm.

 Now if I could get it to ride with me I would have a REAL Batmobile.

Thanks for the warm welcome! I live in SW Ohio. I too appreciate the larger print. I keep my pages on 125%, not so much eye strain.

We've not made any plans for the 4th as of yet. My DH had to have a procedure done Tues. so we are just taking it one-day-at-a-time. He celebrated his 82nd birthday today by picking (wild) black raspberries! He grew up in Ky. and always picked blackberries on his bd but they'r not ripe here as of yet... He has always been an outdoors man and I love learning from him...I'm a 'youngster' to him...I'm 61 and we make a great team!

Oh, Kim, I haven't been to a movie in so long it isn't even funny!  Gretel, I can't imagine being so "friendly" towards bats!  Of course, I'm terrified of any kind of bird.

 Karen....Happy Birthday to your husband!  It sounds as though he enjoyed the day doing something that he likes....good for him!  We have relatives in Ohio and Kentucky.....actually my dad was born in Kentucky and they moved to NJ when he was a young teen.  Our relatives are in Hamilton, Ohio and Buckhorn, Kentucky.  Are you familiar with either of these places?

Kim, I found the recipe for banana jam right here.. All it is: mashe bananas, some lemon juice and sugar. I added a couple os small cinnamon sticksand  a star anise with it and removed tem before putting it in jars.

 For plain cannig I will only add a bit of lemon juice to keep them from getting dark. I make shakes by just mashing a banana and mix it with milk, use my immersion blemder for that. Only with a bit of lemon juice I may have to add a little sugar but we will see, maybe it will not be necessary.

The banana jam I made also make an exceelent dessert, a small serving topped with vanilla yogurt is YUMMY.

I can tell you are all one happy-to-be-together group!!! :)

 To refresh the memory, I live in the sparely populted "HInterland" of sw North Dakota.

Karen, Happy Birthday to your husband, he has me beat by about 6 weeks, I'll be 82 in August. The only berries around here are chokecherries and they are not only sour as all get-out but the birds always beat you to them. Buffalo berries are almost inedible, they are so sour, a lot worse than raw rhubarb. To use them I think is a waste of expensive sugar. Then again, I am not a jelly eater and can live happily without it.