For your reading enjoyment, we continue to publish Rambling Vines by the late Marylea Vines as she recalls events and names of Corning folks from many years ago. We are currently in the year 1990

Putter had company the other evening… not me… they were there strictly to see him. They are nieces of Mrs. Christene Miller and said they had been visiting here from Rockford and were determined not to leave town before meeting Putter. They are both dog lovers and it didn’t take him long to take advantage of all the extra attention. He got an Easter basket filled with doggie treats from his Aunt Mary in Michigan, Easter cards from Gretchen, a doggie friend in Poplar Bluff and from Fern Johnson in Corning. His visitors on Saturday were Dorma Jean and Jim Appling of Memphis and on Sunday his visitors were his aunt, Effie Vines, and her nephew, Tommy Wright, of St. Charles, Missouri.

I got the ideal gift for Easter… about a gallon of all black jellybeans! They are about half gone and not nearly as good as they were the first day. Sort of like when I worked at the candy counter at the dime store. When a new batch of candy would come in, I would eat my fill the first couple of hours, then could hardly stand the sight of it. Surprisingly enough, there are only about three people in our whole operation who like black jellybeans. I am going to put back a few for fish bait… believe it or not, they make good bait for catfish.

Elmer, my uncle, and I picked a nice mess of turnip greens, Friday evening. They even had small turnips on them, to make them all that much better. Dickie Walls invited me to “go pick a mess of greens” and if he didn’t mean it… it’s too late! What we are in the market for now is a mess of poke salad. We’ll go pick but want to get the job over with before the snakes get to crawling and coiling around., So if you see us running the rural roads, looking in the ditches, we’re hunting poke.

I finally got the door to my utility room open, but I still don’t know what has happened to the key. All the time, I was locked out I couldn’t get to the broom, mop, dust mop, or any of those things that I don’t like anyway. After a week, it began to get serious in my kitchen, with a dog running in and out, and I had to settle down and find the spare key to get the door open. There’s nothing in there to warrant locking the door, except I have a gas water heater and I am afraid that a strong wind will come along, blow the door open and blow out the water heater… or still worse, cause a fire.

I’m famous for getting locked out of the house and car. Friends have advised me to hide a set of keys outside somewhere, but with my kind of luck I would forget my hiding place! Besides that, there’s not proof that someone else won’t find the keys… we have a hollow concrete back doorstep and once my mom got the bright idea of hiding a key underneath the step… (real proud of herself for finding a hiding place that no one would ever think of) … My niece and two little boys, six and seven years old, came to visit and within one hour of their arrival, the boys came in the house with great news, “Look Gramma, we found these keys under your step!” So much for hunting secret outside hiding places around our house.

A co-worker and I were in the car the other day, waiting at an intersection when I saw James Snodgrass leisurely sauntering along headed our way eating peanuts. When he got even with use, I held out my hand and said “Say, give me some peanuts” which he gladly did. As we drove off my co-worker quickly asked, “Did you know that man?” and I replied, “Never saw him before in my life!” I lied. No, James is not a cousin… he is a cousin’s cousin and I have known the Snodgrass family for years and years.

My neighbor, Dot, and I spent two evenings last week carting dogs to the vet for some routine work… one each evening. We can’t haul both of them in the same car at the same time without the chance of having to re-upholster. They don’t even like being neighbors, we go for a walk and she and P.J. (her Lhasha) go one direction and Putter (Dachshund) and I go another… they even fight over the fireplugs!

In case you didn’t know, the 4th of July tee shirts are here. They are a bright red with blue and white wording the Liberty Bell. This is a Bill Cobb-Marylea Vines-Chamber of Commerce project with all the profits going into the 4th of July Homecoming money. Since the Chamber office is a little off the beaten path and is open only half days, we are keeping a few of each size here at the Courier for folks who want to stop by and get their shirt while the supplies last. If any are left over, they will be offered at Wynn Park on the 4th. Wouldn’t it be nice if several of us could come up with enough money for all the Bobcat Band members to wear these shirts when they march in the parade?

For the first time in years, I had a nice visit with the former Mary Ann Sandor on the Saturday before Easter. She lives in Alabama and doesn’t come home that often due to staying busy with her chicken-raising operation. Our conversation soon got around to mosquitoes, and she said that she had read an article that advised planting lots of geraniums around the house, especially near doors because mosquitoes don’t like to smell them and won’t stay around where they are. I don’t know if it works or not, but it is certainly worth a try.