Grapple

Well, I think my New Patsy knew that gravel was not the correct word for digging early potatoes around a vine and then pushing the dirt make so the others can mature.  I can assure you that my OLD Patsy would have jumped on me in a second to tell me that the word was really grabble!  My New Patsy is much sweeter than my OLD one!  hehe

But soon...maybe next week...I can grapple some taters!

grab, grabble, gravel verb
To dig up with the hands, esp a potato early in the season, and smooth back the dirt around the plant to leave it intact.
1913 Kephart Our Sthn High 293-94 To "grabble 'taters" is to pick from a hill of new potatoes a few of the best, then smooth back the soil without disturbing the immature ones. 1969 GSMNP-38:106 They'd plant a few rows of early potatoes to grabble out. 1977 Hamilton Mountain Memories 33 Papa's big potato patch was outside the garden and we were not to "grabble" there, for he said it kept the plants from producing big potatoes. 1980 Brewer Hit's Gettin' In east Tennessee, a few people still "grabble" for new potatoes. A few others "grabble" for fish under rocks and stream banks. 1981 Brewer Wonderment 92 What Lucinda calls "grannying" is called "grabbling" in some quarters. 1990 Oliver Cooking Hazel Creek 13 Everyone looked forward to new potatoes which, as soon as they had matured sufficiently were "grabbled" out of the ground and then boiled in their jackets until tender; a gravy of flour & milk was then made in the water & the potatoes cooked & served in this. 1995 Montgomery Coll. Grab, Grabble = to grab a few potatoes without disturbing the plant (Cardwell).

 Astrid played the last soccer game last night at home.  This is before the game.  She is pacing.  Ready to move.

 She plays best when she can stay in the game not have to come out much.  Last night was senior night and Kelly tried to let a lot of girls play.

 I noticed Astrid hanging with the coaches so to speak!

 She has too much nervous energy to sit down like the rest of them.  Number 0 is the goalie.  She played a great game last evening.

 Astrid's Coach and my old friend, Kelly!

 There is soccer ball in front of Astrid here you just can't see but a speck of it.

 Astrid got to do some corner kicking.  The kicker needs to send the ball in front of the opponent's goal and her teammates wait to knock it in...sort of like a dunk in basketball.  Well, both times Astrid put the ball where she should and the girls did not complete it, but her kicks were really pretty.

 Sigrid went to a Rockefeller Camp this week called "Heifer Project" I think...not sure of what they call it but the gifted 5th graders attend this camp.  About 50 kids are divided into groups and put in "poor" living conditions for a day and half.  Sigrid was in the Urban Slum group.  She and her fellow slumers lived in a card board box with a dirt floor.  Each group has some things.  Sig's group had fire.  Very valuable.  Some groups have some rice.  The groups have to work together to survive.  Sigrid's group had to cook breakfast because she said Urban Slum folks are always looking for work.  I said what did you cook..."grits".  She said--"I did not eat any".  Sig enjoyed the experience and when I picked her up yesterday, I made sure to go by Arby's and get her a roast beef sandwich, fries, and Jamocha shake...she was happy to see it!  She is with her friend, Marlie, here.

Sigrid's sisters told her so many tales of the camp that she hid the permission slip under her mattress.  Laura found it though!   She told me she did not really relish sleeping in the wilderness with no food.

These are my garden shoes!  Laura got them for me about 10 years ago.  They have about had it.  I thought the toes were getting tight this week but below is what popped out of the shoe.  Yuck.

 We have new bridges at our local traill.  They are nice.  The huge rain we had that almost washed out our new culvert, washed out most of the ones at the trail.  A beam was left and Astrid and Laura went on after the water went down...they just balanced across the beam.  I finally walked farther this week and got to see the new bridges.  They are nice!

This is way we are trying to grow watermelons again!