Better Hide That Bait!

I was sitting here at lunch today, eating some wonderful, fresh cooked, fried chicken livers. Oh, how I do love a mess of good, fried chicken livers! As I was eating them, I had to smile as I remembered a camping and fishing trip with some friends when I was in my 30s.

My first husband, our kids and I had all gone camping with another couple that we were good friends with. The morning stuff had all been taken care of, all the kids were wandering around the campground, cutting loose and having fun, Judy and I were sitting in their trailer visiting, and our guys had planned to go fishing but remembered something they needed first, so had decided to run into the nearest Walmart first.

Somehow during our conversation, Judy and I got to talking about the baits the guys used to fish with. I was surprised that they had planned to use chicken livers that day because my (then) husband NEVER fished for catfish, but, apparently, hers did. So I guess that day, it was Lloyd's turn to pick the fishing style.

As Judy and I sat there talking, I mentioned how much I loved a good pan of fried chicken livers, but rarely ever cooked any because I was the only one in the house that ate them. Judy eagerly agreed that she loved them, too, but never ate them either because she, too, was the only one in her house that ate them and she didn't like to cook them just for herself.

So as we began to discuss how much we loved chicken livers, our tasters for them began to grow, especially since we each had someone sitting there to enjoy them with. We began to rummage around her trailer and my camping box and before you know it, we had put together all the makings for a great pan of fried chicken livers, including the onions and toast. But there was just one thing we needed . . . . . the chicken livers  .

Yep, you guessed it, we opened up the trailer refrigerator, eagerly and excitedly took out the chicken livers the guys had gotten to go fishing that day with, cooked them ALL up into a beautiful plate full of delicious fried liver 'n onions that we spread out over toast and gobbled up like starving pigs before the guys got back from getting the remainder of the tackle they had needed to go out fishing that day.

Let me tell you, SHOCK didn't even begin to cover it when they came back, opened up the fridge to retrieve their chicken livers to go fishing with, couldn't find them, then turned around to find the empty container sitting next to the greasy skillet and us huddled together with the 'cat that swallowed the canary' look on our faces. They were in such disbelief that they couldn't even yell. They just walked back out of the trailer together, absolutely stunned, and tried to figure out what in the heck they were going to use for fish bait without spending all of their fishing time driving back into town. (they did eventually yell a little)

Yes, they let us live, but they never let us forget it, either. Mad didn't even begin to cover it, but they couldn't help but laugh a bit in there somewhere. But it was all so worth it, because that was one of the BEST messes of fried liver 'n onions that Judy and I ever ate! So fellas, let this be a lesson. If you are planning on fishing with chicken livers, and it is fresh, unspoiled liver, you better keep it in your site or hide it well, because when you go to take it out to fish with it, it just might not be there!  

Solar Hot Water

It has been hotter than blazes here this summer! . . . . . high heat and heavy drought. It is, by far, the worst drought I have seen in my lifetime. I have been so busy with trying to keep up watering my veggie garden and keeping my farm critters comfortable, that I haven't even gotten to go camping once this summer. That is rare for me. I have gotten to go on a couple of picnics, though, and that was really nice and wonderfully enjoyable.

The intense heat of this summer seemed like it would last forever. Then we had a BIG break and we thought it was over, but, to our dismay, the heat came back, once again, with a vengeance. Nearly every day last week was well over 100°.F. One day, as I went to fill my goats' tubs of water and had to wait for the hot water to clear out of the hose, it reminded me of another interesting camping story of days past. . . . .

When I was little, that favorite campground I loved so much didn't have all the many strict rules that campgrounds have today. One rule it did not, at that time, have, was a set number of people camping in the park. There was no limit as to how many people could camp there, nor to how many people could hook up to an electric outlet or a water faucet. Even though most of us didn't have a problem camping without electricity, running water at our camp was very nice to have. So, yep, the closest, local discount store sold LOTS of y-connectors. The campground was packed with people (not bad because we all grew to know each other and became friends) and a network of hoses, branching out all over the lower end of the park with y-connectors, was a common sight. Unless you were there, you could not possibly comprehend the extent of the networking of hoses.

The area was heavy with flint rock, so the water in the hoses heated up quickly throughout the day. Most people camped in tents then (yes, the good kind of camping), and even with quite a few in trailers, the trailers weren't nearly so modern as today. Most hot water tanks were small and ran only on propane, which were also small tanks. Tent campers had to heat their water over a wood fire or camp stove..... either that or send their kids up to the bath house to the outside utility sink to fill up containers with hot water. So hot water was highly valued.

As the day began to wind down, the race amongst the campers was on! Pots and pans began to ding and rattle as all the women rushed to be the first ones finished with dinner. Why? Because there was hot water in all those hoses! Most people used the white drinking hoses, so the water was good for cooking with. Starting with already hot water saved on propane when cooking. And the first few to finish dinner got solar heated water to do their dishes with and didn't have to wait for water to heat or waste precious propane as the little hot water tanks refilled. Many never even turned on their hot water tanks in anticipation of always being the first ones done with dinner. If you were an outsider looking in, I am sure it was an hilarious sight, but it worked out very well, and inexpensively for those that were fast, leaving time to go back out on the lake for a bit after dinner settled, or play a game of horse shoes, croquet, etc. No one ever really got mad if someone beat them to the hot water for dishes. You only had yourself to blame for being too slow. But heaven help the ones that, on occasion, decided to use it to take a shower in their trailer instead of walking all the way up to the bath house!!!

Tentfire Is MY Name

Hello, all!

It has just been brought to my attention that someone else has started using MY Tentfire name and has even set up a website under that name. Sheesh! But I assure you. I AM THE ONE AND ONLY TENTFIRE, I have copyrighted the name, and have been using it for many, MANY, MANY years. Anyone else using it is doing so illegally and that will be dealt with. Yep, it seems like anytime anyone comes up with something good, someone else wants to come along and take it. Ugh!

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone that has been reading my blog and patiently waiting for my new stories. I have a temporary computer going now (until I can get my main one fixed) and have lots of new, great stories outlined and ready to post. I am looking forward to sharing them with you!

Happy Camping to you all and I WILL be back shortly. I can't wait to get back to posting my old camping stories.

HAVE A TERRIFIC DAY!!!

TENTFIRE