Gumbo Lily

Time out....

2012-01-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

We're remodeling the kitchen so we're totally emerged in carpentry. Hubs, my dad, and the sons are busy woodworkers. I'll be away awhile, but I hope to share the results soon-ish. Toodle-loo!

Four-Seeded Bread...

2012-01-20T10:09:00.005-07:00

A dear friend gave me a special book, The Waldorf Book of Breads, and this recipe was the first one on the very first page. It sounded so delicious and hearty, that I couldn't wait to make it. In the notes it says, "This is the recipe for my most popular bread sold at the Viroqua (WI) Farmer's Market." I know why! The recipe says it makes 5 loaves, but I made 6. I suppose it depends on how large you make your loaves.

Four-Seeded Bread

5 T. baking yeast

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. non-instant milk powder (I used instant)

1/4 c blackstrap molasses

8 c. warm water (approx 100*F)

3 T. salt

2 c. rolled oats

4 c. whole wheat flour

high-gluten white flour, enough for a kneadable dough (6-8 cups for me)

1 c. sunflower seeds

1/4 c. flax seeds

1/2 c. millet

1/2 c. sesame seeds

In a large mixing bowl, place yeast, oil, milk powder, and molasses in warm water, stir and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in oats and 4 cups whole wheat flour and salt. Let sit 5 minutes. Add seeds and high-gluten flour. Knead well (or use mixer with bread hook). Let rise till it doubles in size. Punch down and let rise a half hour more. Make into 5 or 6 loaves. Let rise until doubled. Bake in 400*F oven for 40-45 minutes until dark brown in color.

*My Notes:

I used instant powdered milk (it's what I had)

~I didn't have high-gluten bread flour so I used regular unbleached white and added about 4 t. gluten powder.

~I didn't have millet so I skipped it.

~When preparing the bread for the pans, I sprinkle some oats and sesame seeds in the bottom of the pan, then brush the formed loaf with an egg wash and place it in the pan. Then sprinkle more oats/seeds on top.

~The results -- DELICIOUS! I ate it without butter last night and then ate it toasted with orange marmalade for breakfast. So good. Really, it is!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We've had a busy week. DIL had her gall bladder removed so the Littles have spent quite a bit of time with Gram and Papa (which we love). It also snowed about 6" here during the cold blast. Sue loves to play fetch in the snow.

Sue

from my front porch

Mary Toodles trekking through the snow.

Two new Loveys....

2012-01-16T16:03:00.006-07:00

These are just so much fun to make and today's lil Loveys have tags. (You know how babies love to chew on tags.) Well, I thought I'd add my own tags for these fellas. I found a tiny set of rubber stamps in my stash along with some twill tape I saved from a set of sheets. I marked the rubber stamps with a Sharpie hoping to make "LOVEY" stay put through washings. And if it doesn't.... oh well! Both boys were made from patterns by Wee Wonderfuls, however, I did a little improvising and put a football helmet in Tim's hands and wrote my favorite football team's name across his shirt.

Betsy Cupcake will get the Tim Tebow lovey (her mommy and daddy are big fans) and The Blankie Boy lovey will go to a young friend who is going to have a baby soon. There's a baby shower coming up so I'm in my workshop getting a few things sewn for her and the wee one. Fun! (thanks for letting me share)

It's snowing here today! (just a light dusting so far) An Arctic front is pushing down from the North and we're in for a Deep Freeze. Single digits and sub-zero wind chills. Living on the prairie has its disadvantages -- wind and wind chill. The wood stove is burning steadily. Time to put another log on the fire. (remember that old song?)

What's old is new again....

2012-01-13T20:25:00.006-07:00

I was watching The Gaither's a couple Saturdays ago. They were honoring Billy Graham by having a Homecoming at the Billy Graham Library. The music, as always, was terrific. I didn't see the entire program, but there was a little clip -- an interview with Billy Graham -- that stuck in my mind. He was sitting by the fireplace in his home and Gloria Gaither was visiting with him about Ruth -- the love of his life and someone I admired greatly. As beautiful picture after beautiful picture of Ruth and their family clicked across the screen, there was something Bill said that caught my attention. He said that Ruth had many Bibles that she marked up, and she read many different versions of the Bible. I thought to myself, "I've only really ever read one particular version of the Bible (NAS), with the exception of The Way, which I first began to read when I was 13 years old."

I had decided right then that I wanted to go back to that version or a similar version and begin to read the Bible with fresh eyes. A few days ago I ordered The Message//Remix (The Bible in Contemporary Language). Today, it came in the mail and I immediately sat down to read a familiar passage, one that my daughter asked me about just the day before -- Proverbs 3.

Good friend, don't forget all I've taught you, take to heart my commands. They'll help you live a long, long time, a long life lived full and well. Don't lose your grip on Love and Loyalty. Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well in God's eyes and the eyes of the people. Trust God from the bottom of your heart, don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go, he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! ~Proverbs 3:1-12

After reading through the chapter, I read further. And further. I was listening to a familiar story, but it was not the same person who always tells it. Someone else was narrating it with his especial voice -- fresh and invigorating, yet gentle and sincere, honest and truthful, full of hope and understanding. I felt like the narrator could be one of my own grown-up kids telling me back the story that is written in his heart. I like thinking of it that way.

I'm excited about my new Bible. I plan to mark it up and make it my own, just like my old tattered Bible. I figure I'll flip back and forth between the new Bible and the old one to compare and to ponder. I'm reading with great expectation. I wonder if Ruth ever read The Message?

BBQ sliders.....

2012-01-12T18:52:00.002-07:00

I found a dandy recipe over at Pioneer Woman Cooks. Hers are Whiskey BBQ Sliders, but mine are just plain ol' BBQ Sliders (without the party!). You MUST make these for every burger-loving man, woman, and child in your life. They will think you are the bee's knees! (You are!) I thew in some oven fries alongside the burgers and I'll just say.....it was better than eating out!

I learned a little trick to crispier oven fries -- you want to pre-cook your spuds. I baked mine in the microwave until they were al dente -- firm, not mushy. Let them cool down, then slice into wedges. Drizzle a little olive oil over them, and season the way you like 'em, and bake at 425* until crispy (around 20-30 min).

Enjoy!

The calm before the wind-chill...

2012-01-10T21:38:00.002-07:00

I took a nice, long walk again today. I think we had 60* on the thermometer today and very little wind. So unusual for us here. I wanted to spend some time outside so I took one walk up to the mail box before the mailman drove by. It's a two mile round trip. Then I took a pasture walk out into the wide open plains. There isn't any livestock out there right now because it is mostly used for spring and summer grazing. Just a short way into my walk, I saw a badger -- a blonde badger who saw me and popped right into a hole as quick as a wink. I was so hoping I'd see him again and could snap a picture for you, but it was not to be. So I'll show you somebody else's picture of the blonde badger. When I say the badger was blonde, I mean that he matched the pasture grass, unlike many badgers who are very dark or silver in color.

Photo courtesy of Wilderness College.

Do you see the cow trail worn into the grass? I often find myself walking in cow trails when I go hiking out into a big pasture. The grass is tromped down and it's usually easier to walk in the trails, but sometimes the ruts are too deep for a two-legged creature to walk in and I must forge my own path.

This is an alkali area of the pasture. It's spongy and the white stuff is very salty. You don't ever want to drive in a low alkali spot or you might sink the outfit up to the frame. Nothing much grows here except some salt grasses and weeds. One pretty weed is called Saltlover (Halogeton) which is poisonous to livestock.

I found a cow carcass scattered about in one spot. She's been out there a long, long time.

And this must be one of Badger's holes. There were at least four holes on this ridge. The thing is to have several holes in which to hop into quickly and to have lots of storehouses for a long winter.

How about that expansive sky and prairie together? Breathtaking, isn't it?

Turning back toward home, you can faintly see the barns, granaries, hay corrals and homes. You can also see that the sky is changing and a cold front is blowing in. We've had high winds since dark and the winds are expected to hang around and increase for a few days as the temperatures drop. Combined, they will give us sub-zero wind chills between -15 and -20. Brrrrrr! We've had such a mild winter so far, that I shouldn't complain when Real Winter hits. (Well, I might complain, but it IS winter after all.)

Back home the low sun invites itself in at about 3 pm and warms the house up a little. Coffee time! Come in and have a cup!

Stitcheries and Full Wolf Moon...

2012-01-09T20:20:00.003-07:00

This lil dollie I made for Mary Toodles' First Birthday, Jan 10th.

I found the pattern (and several of her friends) at

Wee Wonderfuls.

Hillary Lang has the cutest patterns for sale (and a few freebies).

I finished this flowery stitchery last summer, but never did anything with it. I found it again while moving my sewing stuff from one room to another. I put it into an embroidery hoop and hung it in the kitchen to remind me that summer will come again.

I was inspired to do these doodle stitching projects when I saw some of Cassie's at You Go Girl. She has the best ideas and she makes the prettiest things. She's got lots of good, creative talent! This last stitchery is my Winter Circle. I know poinsettias don't grow where it's cold, but oh well, it makes for a good theme anyway. I finished this one during the Denver/Pittsburgh game on Sunday. Hey! How about those Broncos??!! Whoo Hoo! We can hardly wait for next Saturday's game! It'll be a tough one, but.... "We Believe!"

Did you see the Full Moon? This picture was taken this morning as the moon was setting in the west.
Here is what the Farmer's Almanac says about January's Full Moon.....
Full Wolf Moon – January Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.

Just because...

2012-01-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

Country eggs.

Just because they are so pretty (and tasty) and good for you.

A January walk....

2012-01-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

HP is fascinated with ice. She remembers "The River" (as she calls the pond by our house) in its liquid state with leaves and sticks floating on top and frogs and turtles on the bank. And now it's frozen and still. She wants to ice skate, but it's just not thick enough ice yet. Since it's been warm during the day and cold at night, the pond is freezing and thawing and the ice is becoming less and less desirable for skating, but much more interesting to look at. I took these pictures of the ice where we were walking today. Isn't it pretty with the willow leaves embedded in it?

I showed HP the water bubbles just under the surface of the ice. This is why we cannot skate yet.

I took a walk by myself out in the pasture yesterday and traipsed way down to the old shearing pens which was once a place of hard work where the Mexican shearing crews made camp and sheared 1000 sheep or more every spring. Now the shed is falling in and broken down beyond repair. I found a shard of crockery there and thought about the cooker-ladies of the camp. I wondered if there were beans in that crock or cooked, shredded lamb. Did she accidentally break it and lose the contents? Or did it already have a crack in it and she was just using it up until it was worthless and then left it behind?

The rock was found along the trail. It's a type of fossil from our gravel pile. I'm fascinated by the whole that went all the way through it. The piece of wood was likely a fence post once upon a time. I love the deep grooves in it.

Every walk brings me home to the barnyard where Fluffly is always looking for a handout, a scratch behind the ears or a good petting. He's quite photogenic, isn't he? Walks are very therapeutic to me and always have been. I like being able to think my own thoughts, to look closely at the landscape or the sky or a fence line. I am forever dragging something home -- rocks, feathers, an old piece of iron or a missing gas cap from the tractor. It's invigorating to walk against the wind and then to turn around to go home and walk with the wind and into the sun, unzipping my coat to cool down. It makes me feel alive and part of the land that I live on to be "out there" and appreciating its beauty and its ruggedness. God is there. I'm never alone.

January -- daily feeding and a new year...

2012-01-03T14:20:00.003-07:00

January finds us with daily feeding chores. Thankfully there is still plenty of grazing out in the pastures that the cows and sheep can find on their own, but we still must bring them the majority of their daily food. Winter months are generally lean, cold, bitter, lacking sunshine. The livestock need us, day in and day out. It makes me think of how we especially need our Master to feed us in the particularly cold, bitter times of life when we have a hard time gathering for ourselves.

It's a new year. 2012. Wow! When I was a girl, the year 2012 would have made me think of the Jetsons or Star Trek where people would be driving hovercrafts to work and be jettisoned through tubes to later materialize on another planet or to school and back home again just like Elroy and Spock did. But 2012 isn't quite like what I had imagined. I am, however, amazed at our tech-y ability to communicate. It wasn't that many years ago when I used a rotary phone. Touch tone was a fabulous improvement!

Rotary phone in our mud room Touch tone phone

A cell phone was non-existent and only a figment of the imagination. I remember a friend of mine telling me that she was sure one day her husband would have a telephone glued to his ear. And now here we are, with Bluetooth and other in-the-ear devices for telephone communication. I marvel at the ability a cell phone has, not only to communicate but to compute (as in mini-computer) and do things I can't do on a cell phone (like send a picture). It is incredible! I wonder what ten more years might bring?

This January I'm not thinking about new year resolutions. At. All. I was telling Hubs the other day that last January I was going to do yoga diligently -- at least a few times a week -- and never once did I put the DVD in and do a single session. Not one time. At least you could say I was consistent. Actually, today I'm thinking about contentment. Doing whatever God has for me in This Day. It doesn't mean that I won't plan ahead or try hard to accomplish certain things or to be a better person, but I want to be in this day and rejoice in it (as best I can). The things that God might have for li'l ol' me will probably never be printed in the NY Times, and I probably won't get an invitation to The Today Show to tell about my fabulous life and doings, but I know He has put me here for a purpose, and I want to be able to give myself to my friends and family and anyone else who may cross my path. I want to be content in whatever situation I may find myself and honor God with this body He has given me -- today! That makes me think of a hymn that says, "grace for today and bright hope for tomorrow..." That's how I want to live. Contentedly. ...for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. ~Philippians 4:11-13

I have a book that I call "My Book of Favorites" and within it I have lots of quotes, excerpts from books, snippets from friends, scripture, and things that I have found interesting or meaningful. One quote that I love is from Jim Elliot, a missionary to the Auca Indians of Ecuador where he was killed by the very people he went to help. He said, "Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God." I probably won't be a missionary to a far away land, but no matter where I am I want to "be all there" and "living to the hilt." Do you want to join me? Happy 2012!

Baby Apron (aka: Bapron)...

2011-12-31T10:05:00.005-07:00

The two youngest grandgirls are eating Big People food now and so this Grammy figured she ought to get some decent bibs stitched up for them. I found this nifty bib-apron on Pinterest. It has armholes as well as a top tie at the neck so the coverage is excellent. I will say this -- it took a great deal of self-restraint not to say naughty words as I stitched the bias tape all around. I don't care how I do it -- pinned every inch, freestyle, or stitching one side and then the other -- bias tape and I equal frustration! My baprons are far from perfect, but hey, these cuties are meant to be soiled, so what's the big deal, right? The girls won't care a flip if they aren't perfectly stitched.

Mary Toodles modeling her bapron

The bapron recipe calls for one cotton fabric and one flannel. I wanted these baprons to be a little thicker to absorb spills so I used two cotton fabrics to make them reversible and added a thin layer of cotton batting in the middle. Perhaps the batting is what made the bias tape sewing a little harder. Here's the link to the pattern: The Bapron -- a tutorial.

Addendum: Here's Amy from Angry Chicken giving her "No Swearing Bias Tape Method." It did help on the third bib....somewhat.

Cleaning up Christmas....

2011-12-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

After Hubby and I took the Littles out feeding the sheep and the cows, Miss Peach overheard me talking of taking the decorations off the Christmas tree. "I want to help you take the decorations off the tree, Grammy." How could I say no? She enjoyed plucking each ornament off the tree and placing it carefully in its proper ziplock bag. We wrapped every glass icicle in a paper towel and put them in their bags too. All the candy canes were unhooked from the branches and one candy cane slipped itself immediately into her mouth. The rest were put in a blue mason jar for later. I unwound the lights from the branches while Peach watched me. It was fun to sit amongst the lights!

Most of the Christmas decorations are packed away, but we decided to keep the Cowboy Christmas tree up for awhile. She calls it the Cumbleweed. Peach thought it needed a few pink balls added in with the white and silver balls. It looks just right for the New Year!

The candles will stay out all winter long and I'll keep the pine cone garlands up around the windows for awhile. I also like to keep my evergreen and barb wire wreath at the front door through January.

I was looking around on Blissfully Content (Julia's blog) and found the niftiest gift wrapping idea. Most of us are all done wrapping gifts, but I have a couple of January birthdays to think about so this newspaper gift wrap & matching bow looks like fun! The instructions are here. Enjoy!

I'm beginning to think about January organizing and tidying-up. I like reading all the magazine articles on home organization and tips for cleaning. Better Homes & Gardens has a good issue on organizing the home this month. I'm sure there are others out there. Maybe we can share ideas with each other when January rolls around. Until then, enjoy these last days of the Old Year.

Holy Christmas....

2011-12-24T11:02:00.001-07:00

Sweet Little Jesus Boy

we didn't know who you were...

Baker's aprons....

2011-12-23T01:14:00.001-07:00

I've just finished up two baker's aprons. These are nice!

I like an apron that really covers me up and this one has coverage-plus!

They will even cover up a man's body!

(Yes, men need aprons too!)

Martha Stewart has the pattern on her site here. I didn't follow all the instructions as given, but I did follow the apron style. More of these are on my to-do list.
P.S. I just found another Baker's Apron Pattern to try out.

Mukluks for Betsy...

2011-12-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

I just finished a pair of 3-Button Boots for Betsy, but I'd rather call them mukluks because they remind me of the Eskimo shoes we used to wear as kids. We called them mukluks, did you?

The pattern was pretty straight forward. I used one of Hubby's old suit jackets for the wool exterior and lined them with wool-blend felt. They are sure to keep her toes and legs warm this winter. I want to make a pair for Mary too, but the pattern I have looks too small. Maybe they have a larger one or perhaps I can fudge the pattern a wee bit. I'm not so confident in that, but you never know until you try.

I found the best wool plaid in green, black, gray, and red at The Bakery yesterday for just $6.95 a yard. I want to make some throws for the bedrooms since it's extra-wide. It would make some adorable mucklucks too! I'm still chugging along on my sewing machine to finish a couple more Christmas gifts and I still have baking yet to do. Plenty of time....two and a half days!

A childlike Christmas in Art...

2011-12-19T20:17:00.003-07:00

I adore Carl Larsson's art. The faces, the colors, the real-living.

Enjoy Christmas with the Larsson children and those who love them.

These first three pieces are close-ups from his painting called

"Now It's Christmas Again"

Even Grandma looks like a youthful child at Christmas!

(Do you see the young lady in the background praying before the creche?)

This is the original "Now It's Christmas Again" and as you can see, there is so much going on in this one image that the close-ups give us a deeper look. If you wish to see these images in a larger, clearer size, click here .

This one is "Christmas Eve Banquet"

So many details here too.

"Brita as Iduna"

Iduna, the Norse Goddess of the orchard, apple-keeper of the Aesir who grows the golden apples that keep the sky gods eternally youthful.

Kersti's Sleigh Ride

Christmas Morning

Ulf

Esbjorn

Young Girl with a Doll

Brita's Cactus

I hope you've enjoyed A Childlike Christmas. I sure have.

Thanks to Pom Pom for hosting this joyful event.

I wish you joy-filled days leading up to Christmas Day.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born in us today
We hear the Christmas angels
Their great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel.

~From O Little Town of Bethlehem

Frosty week...

2011-12-17T21:01:00.003-07:00

The days they fly by quickly, and I can hardly believe another week has flashed by me. We had heavy frost this past week, so much so that we lost our electricity several times. Thankfully, we have generators to keep us up 'n' running, but the tractors that power them take plenty of fuel to run, and I'm sure they are much more expensive to power than the electricity we buy.

The frost makes everything looks so icy and Narnia-like.

The wool on the sheep had an extra sparkle to it.

It looked as though we had a skiff of snow, but it was all frost. When it started falling off the trees, there was a mound of snow under each tree. Don't you love seeing the moon in the clear, blue, daytime sky?

The cows almost look like ants trailing down the hills.

Even the old John Deere A tractor looked pretty covered in frost!

Sue and I took some nice walks in the frosty grass and through The Woods (shelter belts) near our house.

The old red granary stands beside an Elm tree. The chicken coop is just to the left of it with the girls all cuddled up inside. They are happily laying a dozen eggs a day! We love our fresh eggs for breakfast each morning.

We had our annual bull sale this week too. We had a great turn-out and sold all the bulls to new owners. The delivery process is in full swing now. This is a picture of the local sale ring and that's one of our bulls. Not a great picture, but I thought you might like to see it. There were lots of ranchers in hats!

The two college boys are home now and it's fun having them to cook for again. We had Creamy Sausage Stew (a favorite) for supper tonight along with baking powder biscuits & honey. Tomorrow lots of family will be out to the ranch for an Indian Taco Fiesta and some fun & games. We'll probably have to take time out to watch the Denver Broncos football game. You know who is playing?? Right! Tim Tebow! Isn't he terrific?! We've always been huge Denver fans in this house, and now we're having fun watching TT mesmerize the talking heads of football.

Just one more week until Christmas Eve! I hope you're enjoying the anticipation. The two sons are going to go cut a Christmas tree for me in the Hills, and I still have all the gifts yet to wrap and goodies to bake. It seems I always take my sweet time to usher in the season. One-day-at-a-time works for me.

I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: "Why, this is Christmas Day!" ~David Grayson

Peach has been noticing that we are all receiving "birthday cards" in the mail. Out of the mouths of babes!

Take joy...

2011-12-13T20:43:00.005-07:00

A photo that reminds me of my hometown's Christmas lights from childhood

Cumberland, MD

Way back when I was a young girl, Christmas lights were a fascination. I remember our little town's downtown being beautifully decorated and lit up for Christmas. There were lines that crossed over our main street -- which was really called State Street -- on which garlands were draped along with jumbo red lights and wreaths. There was a giant sized Christmas tree at the end of Main Street near the town hall which was trimmed out with multicolored big-bulb lights, and was decorated by the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts who sprinkled tinsel, strung garland and added a few handmade ornaments on the very bottom branches as far up as they could reach. Every store owner had worked hard to display their most desirable merchandise, decking store front windows with Christmas lights and aluminum Christmas trees to coax the shoppers in the door. There were loud speakers croaking out Christmas music to the street below. As a child, I thought it was simply magical to be out shopping downtown with snow falling, people bustling, and Bing Crosby singing Silver Bells all the while.

During the Christmas season Mom always pressed Dad into taking the family for a drive around town to see the Christmas lights. There was one house, I especially recall -- the Higashi's -- who always had a holiday theme. One year they had a Holiday Train in their front yard and the lights on the wheels spun around like it was moving and there were cartoon people and toys bobbing up and down, waving from the train cars. Santa was always perched at the chimney, all lit up with a spotlight and waving at us as we drove by. Mr. Higashi must have loved planning his yearly Christmas light show anticipating all the townsfolk driving by night after night. Most people lit the traditional Christmas evergreen trees and some trimmed their windows and the peaks of their houses all in lights. No matter what was lit up, as a child, I was in awe and overjoyed by it all.

This year as Hubby and I were cruising a few streets looking at the lights, I promised him that I wouldn't make fun of all the inflated Santas and Rudolphs or the overdone house trimmings. As a grownup now, I've turned into a bit of a minimalist when it comes to Christmas lighting so I sometimes get overwhelmed by seeing a fully-lit, moving carousel in someone's front yard. I did hollered out, "Holy Inflatables!" when I saw a bigger-than-life-sized inflated Santa and Frosty the Snowman on 5th Avenue, but I am trying, really trying to see the lights and the decorating as I did when I was eight. It's more fun appreciating the efforts that some have made to light up the world with Christmas Joy than it is to be a critic.

So today, I wish for you the ability to see things through the eyes of a child, to let the Christmas lights thrill you and remind you that during this special season, all the world adds an extra light, a candle, a string of lights or an inflatable Frosty to bring a smile to a dark world. Take Joy!

Oh, one more thing....do you know the book called Take Joy by Tasha Tudor? It's an old book full of timeless stories, poems and songs, along with Tasha Tudor drawings, all about Christmas. Your library may have it. If you get a chance, read it to your children or to your grandchildren or read it for yourself. Lovely.

This is the third post of A Childlike Christmas hosted by dear Pom Pom. You can read all the other posts about a Childlike Christmas in the sidebar of her blog.

Poinesttias in the kitchen sink and other things....

2011-12-12T12:51:00.004-07:00

I bought two small poinsettias the other day and it was time for them to have a drink. I set them in the kitchen sink to soak up some water from the bottom of the pot. Wouldn't it be lovely to always have poinsettias in the sink? The dishes might stack up, but....

There, now they are back in their proper pot.

I stitched a couple of ornaments for the baby girls' First Christmas. One for Betsy and one for Mary. There are the cutest patterns over at Feeling Stitchy right now. These two were from that collection. I had to enlarge them a little bit with the copier.

I just found the adorable ribbon at The Bakery last week. It's red on the other side with white flowers. I wish I had a whole bobbin of it, but it's much too spendy for that.

I'm soaking the cut juniper greens in the bucket so they'll stay nice and fresh when I bring them inside. I plan to add some stems of evergreen to the barbwire wreath. I just love the smell of freshly cut evergreens, don't you? Santa needs a little bunch of evergreen plopped on his bald head to stay warm. Today's a gray day, frosty and foggy with a bitter wind blowing and 25 degrees. I don't mind. It keeps me bustling inside.

Breath of Heaven (Mary's song)....

2011-12-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground,

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life....~Genesis 2:7

<br><br><br><br>~Gen

I have traveled many moonless night

Cold and weary, with a babe inside

And I wonder what I've done

Holy Father, you have come

And chosen me now

To carry your son

I am waiting in a silent prayer

I am frightened by the load I bear

In a world as cold as stone,

Must I walk this path alone?

Be with me now

Chorus:

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Light up my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

Do you wonder as you watch my face

If a wiser one one should have had my place

But I offer all I am

For the mercy of your plan

Help me be strong

Help me be

Help me

Breath of heaven

Hold me together

Be forever near me

Breath of heaven

Light up my darkness

Pour over me your holiness

For you are holy

Breath of heaven

Orange marmalade...

2011-12-10T14:48:00.002-07:00

I had a few oranges that needed to be used up, so I thought of orange marmalade. We haven't had that in a couple years so yesterday I began to boil the oranges and lemons and let them rest overnight in their juices for 12-18 hours. Then this afternoon I finished it off by adding sugar and boiling it until it jelled. Do you like orange marmalade? Either you like that bitter-sweet taste or you don't.

Orange Marmalade

~from The Joy of Cooking

2-3 large oranges

2-3 small lemons

Scrub well and cut into quarters and remove seeds.

Add and simmer for 5 minutes in...

3 c. water

Let stand and cover for 12-18 hrs in a cool place. Remove fruit and cut into very small shreds. (I removed the peel here and just added a little zest from the peel instead of leaving in all the peels) Return to the water in which it was soaked. Boil 1 hour. Add for each cup of fruit mixture:

1 c. sugar

Boil the marmalade until the juice forms a jelly when tested (temp reaches about 222 or 224* F).

Pour into clean, hot jars and seal.

Makes about 3-4 half pint jars.

A couple jars for us and a couple to give.

Speed E Whipper goodness....

2011-12-07T20:35:00.005-07:00

So....I bought myself a handy little pre-Christmas gift because I knew I would need it desperately for the holiday feeding frenzy. All of the kids and the grandbabies will be here and there simply MUST be enough whipped cream in the house. And really, since it's Christmas and all, it should be FUN to make, right? Yes. Bring in.....

Speed E Whipper!

In the picture above you see cream, honey and the whipper. Well, I learned a terrific little tip about keeping REAL whipped cream from separating. You know how it gets after it's been in the fridge a day or two? Well, the tip for perfectly stuck-together, unseparated whipped cream is HONEY. When you are ready to whip your cream, add 1 tsp. of honey to each cup of cream you are going to whip. Whip as usual and then add in your sweetener to taste. I like to use Torani vanilla syrup for my sweetener. I got that tip from OnlyDaughter who used to work in the local coffee kiosk, Pony Espresso.

This nifty kitchen tool came out in the 1950s and is the perfect retro tool for any kitchen. It is so simple and efficient, and I feel a little bit like June Cleaver on Leave It To Beaver when I'm using it (minus the dress, pearls, and high heels). Basically, Speed E Whipper is a glass jar with measuring lines and a stainless steel plunger with a lid. I found my Speed E Whipper over on Etsy and I see them out there on Ebay too. If you look hard enough, you might find one in the second hand shops or at garage sales. I like the nostalgia and the cuteness of it as much as I like the whipped cream it produces. (I bought mine for $9 plus shipping)

I think I gave the whipper around 75-80 plunges before I had perfect whipped cream. It's fun to make and I'm sure my kids are all going to ~~fight to make~~ enjoy making the whipped cream for our holiday desserts this year.

See! Isn't it beautiful stuff? The best part of making whipped cream this way is that you can suck it off the plunger when you're done. I wish it had a nice little snap-on plastic lid to store the whipped cream in the fridge, but it doesn't. I might find something in my Plastic-Bowls-n-Junk Cupboard someday. But really, when you've got a houseful of guests, I'm thinking there won't be much left-over whipped cream. Yum!

It's the Snow on the Mountain, the Frosting on the Cake, the Star on the Tree, the Tip of the Iceburg, the Whipped Cream on the Sundae! Got to love it. Do you have a favorite kitchen tool?

A Charlie Brown Christmas....

2011-12-06T22:30:00.001-07:00

A Charlie Brown Christmas isn't *just* a cutsie cartoon about a funny bald-headed boy and his spirited (sometimes annoying) dog Snoopy. It's not even a very jolly Christmas cartoon, but it does touch my heart about some very real issues that always seem to sneak up around Christmastime. I look for joy in places that always disappoint.

No one thinks to send a Christmas card.

I am sent to find the perfect Christmas tree and fail.

Someone is always interrupting our special moments.

Just like Charlie Brown, I cry out in frustration,

"Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"

Then Linus brings the truth....

I always cry after Linus tells me again that it's about the Baby in The Manger,
Christ the Lord.
Now let's all sing, Hark the Herald Angels Sing!
together with Charlie Brown's friends.

It's so simple.

What child can resist The Christmas Story?

It's a Childlike Christmas and friends of Pom Pom's are sharing.

Before I go, I must share my all-time favorite Christmas CD. Of course, it's A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi. Click here to listen!

A ranchwife's Christmas decor....

2011-12-04T17:15:00.007-07:00

This is what I call a true Cowboy Christmas Tree. You don't need a hatchet or saw to cut it down, and you don't need to tromp through the forest all day to find the perfect tree. All you need to do is take a little walk on the prairie near a fence line and pick your favorite tumbleweed from among the many.

One year when we were flat busted-broke and we were snowed-in-up-to-our-eyeballs, there was no Christmas tree to be had. For some reason, I thought a tumbleweed looked something like a tree and I figured some white lights would make it look just right. And that was our Christmas tree. It worked beautifully. The other day as Hubs and I were out feeding cows, there was a perfect tumbleweed caught in the fence, and I decided that I would take it home and it could be a Christmas tree somewhere. Right now it's in the living room poked in an old white boot and perched on a backless, white chair. It may eventually have to move over to another room when we get the Big Tree, but for now, it's basking in the limelight. The tiny rice lights looks terrific on my Cowboy Christmas tree. I might add a few white ornaments, but honestly, I like it simple with just lights. That boot was not originally white. I spray painted it. Nobody was wearing that pair of boots anyway, so I thought, "Why not?"

This sweet, old Dazey Butter Churn belonged to my mother-in-love. She gave it to me one year when the kids and I were reading through the Little House on the Prairie books. Our Middle Child was determined to churn butter and when his grandma heard about it, she brought out this churn so we could take it for a spin. It is about one gallon in capacity, and I cannot even imagine churning THAT much cream into butter at a whack. Of course, you'd want some head room in the jar for sloshing about, but still! I remember that we all took turns cranking the churn and it took a long time before we had butter. This Christmas season it's holding my favorite white glittered pine cone lights. I tied some red calico onto the cord for a little extra color. It sits on my kitchen counter making me happy.

Eldest Child dragged in this old, rusted hunk of barbed wire from the pasture some years ago and gave it to me. How did he know I would love it? It left it's former job of keeping cows out (or in) and has retired to hanging out as a wreath-on-the door for several years now. Sometimes I weave in dried grasses and pods and sometimes berries or evergreen.

I'm still in the process of holiday decorating so there may be more fun things to share in the days to come. I hope you are happily bringing out all those treasured Christmas things that have special memories of loved ones attached to them. I'm so glad that God gave us memories. What a gift!

They look'ed up and saw a star....

2011-12-03T19:44:00.004-07:00

Tonight was the night we hung the star on the barn. It's a big deal for me -- probably bigger than the Christmas tree, at least for me. We went up and found the old star in disrepair and had to take it down and bring it home for a light make-over. Once repaired, Hubby and I went back up to the Big Shed, hung it up, and plugged it in. Immediately my heart began to sing the verse from The First Noel....

They looked up and saw a star

Shining in the East beyond them far

And to the earth it gave great light

And so it continued both day and night.

Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel

Born is the King of Israel!

It's not a fancy star by any means, and it's not located on a busy street or a super highway, but those who pass by on our lonely gravel road will see its light shining out from the darkness. I hope they think about the Star that pointed to Jesus, and I hope it thrills their hearts as much as it does my own.

NOEL!

A few of my favorite things....

2011-11-30T15:00:00.003-07:00

It's about time we get shopping for those thoughtful, delightful Christmas gifts and so I want to give you some ideas. We ALL have our most favorite things, don't we? If you could give everybody on your list your favorite things, wouldn't gift giving be easy? Unless, of course, your favorite thing was your car or your 5 carat diamond ring! Nester is having a Linky Party with Favorite Things under $30. Let's see how many fun favorites we can come up with. Wanna play?

One of my ultra-favorite things is my electric kettle. I don't have this exact model, but I have recommended it to friends and family. Nothing better than a fast-boiling kettle of hot water for tea, coffee, cocoa, for quick-boiling pasta water, and the list goes on. It's pretty too!

Who doesn't need a good pen? A pen that writes like a dream and doesn't smudge? A pen that feels right in your hand? You want this pen! It's a delight to write!

We must keep our lips nice and soft and chap-free this winter so I'll share my favorite lip balm -- Burts Bees Beeswax Lip Balm in the tin. (comes in a stick too) I love this stuff for my lips, but also for my oftentimes-chapped-nose and for cracked finger tips. The light peppermint smell gives me a lift and a slight zing on the lips.

If you like a little color and shine in your lip balm, grab Burts Bees Lip Shimmer, but don't go putting it on your nose unless you are starring as Rudolph in the School Christmas Play. I like the raisin color.

Now for those of you who sew, quilt, embroider or clip threads of any kind, the EZ Snip from Famore is my favorite tool! I don't stitch without it. A sewist-friend of mine gave me my snipper for Christmas one year and I adore it.

It comes with a nice little rubber cap with a heart charm hanging from it so you can keep your snipper from poking things when it's not in use. (It's VERY sharp) I'm supposing you can find these at fine fabric shops or quilt stores.

Everybody needs some jingle bells about now so getchya some! Pier 1 is selling a Jingle Bell Wreath holder for the front door. I love to hear that jingling when someone enters the front door this time of year. Or how about a jingle bell cuff for the wee Littles in your life?

I made this one last year with heavy wool felt, but you could make one with cotton fabrics or you could knit or crochet a jingle bracelet. Pier 1 sells them too, but I like the homemade version better. Or find a Red jingle bell stick from Pier 1. I love this!

I wish you happy gift-giving! It doesn't have to be expensive. Let it be a favorite thing!

Jingle bells....

2011-11-30T07:00:00.013-07:00

(our front door)

A child's first and favorite Christmas carol...

Jingle Bells.

I remembered the words this way.

...................................................

Dashing through the snow

In a one horse soap 'n' sleigh

Or the fields we go

Laughing all the way...

(Why "soap?" I don't know, but that's what I thought the words were. I did that a lot with songs. Make up words, that is. )

Bells on bobtails ring

(what's a bobtail?)

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh, hey!

Jingle bells, jingle bell, jingle all the way

Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh.

..............................................

My kids loved Jingle Bells and I always have too.

We'd sing it practically every night of December and on into January and even in the summer time. Jingle Bells was always the song of choice for any reason or season.

I remember singing Christmas carols with the kids at the Old Folks' Home one time and a toothless, white-haired lady hollered, "Sing Jingle Bells," and so we did. Everyone was smiling.

It can't be a Childlike Christmas without Jingle Bells.

Hang 'em on your door so when someone enters, there's a jingle.

Sing it loudly, sing it softly, sing it with laughter, sing it with cheer,

sing it with snow, sing it without, sing it, sing it any time of year!

Jingle Bells!

It's time for A Childlike Christmas hosted by Pom Pom.

Will you join us?

Bearing in our hearts, the light...

2011-11-27T19:58:00.002-07:00

"As the darkness deepens and winter comes, each week we light one more candle to speak of our hope for the Coming Light. Much has been made of the symbolism of the Advent wreath, each candle given a particular meaning. Actually, it is the action of lighting one more candle in the darkness that bears its deepest meaning. In the face of growing darkness, the church brings more light. Since our sanctuary gathers us in a circle, we imagine ourselves as the wreath, bearing in our hearts the light of Christ."
~from A Wee Blether

As I look at the moon and Venus together, I am reminded that a sliver of a moon and a planet far light years away can light the darkest night here on earth. Can my little light take away the darkness in my corner of the world? This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

"Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you."

~Isaiah 60:1

Shopping anyone?

2011-11-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

Kenneth Hayes Miller (American artist, 1876–1952) Bargain Hunters 1940

Kenneth Hayes Miller (American artist, 1876–1952) The Fitting Room 1931

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) At the Milliners 1882

Joachim Beuckelaer (Flemish painter c 1534-c 1574)

Market Woman with Fruits, Vegetables, and Poultry

Spiced nuts....

2011-11-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

I tried out a new-to-me recipe from the Susan Branch book, Autumn From the Heart of the Home; they are spiced pecans. The nuts are easy to make and so delicious, you'll never stop eating them. I haven't yet!

Spiced Pecans

pan spray
2 c. pecan halves (or other raw nut of choice)
1/4 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 c. melted butter
4 tsp. Mexican hot pepper sauce (Cholula)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 350*. Lightly spray the cookie sheet with pan spray. Mix all other ingredients together and spread on pan in one layer. Bake 10 minutes until lightly toasted, stirring once. Cool completely.

I made the recipe with pecans AND almonds and I think I like the almonds best. I like the pecans too, but especially the almonds. Any nuts would probably be delicious in this recipe. You get a sweet-spicy-salty crunch with every bite. Makes 2 cups.

One note: When I made these, I tried to cool the nuts fast and so I slipped them into the freezer. Don't do it! They got rather gooey. Still good, but not what you want. I saved them by putting them back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so and then let them cool down at room temperature in the pan.

I think spiced nuts would make an excellent gift for a nut-lover.

Happy Thanksgiving...

2011-11-24T07:00:00.001-07:00

"Evening Meal" Carl Larsson

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was,

"thank you," that would suffice.

~Meister Eckhart

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thawing the Bird....

2011-11-22T19:46:00.003-07:00

My Thanksgiving Preparation wish for you....
May your turkey be slip-free and fully thawed, may your cranberries gel, may your buns be light and golden, may your mashed potatoes be fluffy and your gravy without lumps, and may your pumpkin pies have flaky crusts and firm centers. And above all, I wish you a little time for a cup of tea or mug of coffee and a moment to breathe deeply and give thanks.

Ah! on Thanksgiving day....
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lips and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie?
~John Greenleaf Whittier

Gingerbread....

2011-11-20T19:47:00.001-07:00

This is one of the most unusual gingerbread recipes I have ever made and one of the tastiest too. I don't remember where I found the recipe, but it is copied in my handwriting on a slip of paper, and I suspect I saw it in a magazine or in the newspaper once upon a time. Who knows? I hope you'll give it a try.

Gingerbread

1/2 c. butter

3 T. fresh grated ginger (I use my microplane zester)

1/4 t. salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 t. ground allspice

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/4 t. ground black pepper

1/2 c. dark brown sugar (I've used regular)

1 c. dark molasses

1 t. spicy brown mustard

2 eggs

2 t. baking soda

2 1/4 c. flour

1 c. hot strong-brewed coffee

powdered sugar

Grease a 9x9" pan.

Combine butter and fresh ginger in a saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat until aromatic 3-5 minutes. Stir in salt, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, pepper and simmer another 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Stir in sugar, molasses and mustard until smooth.

In a bowl add eggs and soda and beat, then add the spice/sugar mixture. Beat until it foams. Stir in flour and beat well. Lastly, mix in coffee until smooth. Batter will be thin. Pour into greased pan and bake at 375* for 40-45 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes and remove (if you want to). Dust with powdered sugar and/or with a dollop of whipped cream. I especially like it warm with a mug of hot, black coffee. DELISH!

First snow....

2011-11-19T23:11:00.002-07:00

The morning before the first snow, we moved the sheep in closer.

Of course, they are on the run to the feedwagon truck.

The calvies are happy to belly up to the feed bunks for their morning breakfast.

Fluffy doesn't mind the snow too much.
He's been well-fed since he's come home to us.

It's always time for a leg nuzzle.

There are still a few robins hanging around the trees.

They were all fluffed-up today, trying to keep themselves warm.

About 4 inches of snow fell and gave us a nice blanket of snow.

Thankfully it came straight down and no wind with it.

Just had to throw in another tea towel!

I like this pattern.

I wish you joyful preparations to your Thanksgiving Celebrations!

All that we behold is full of blessings. ~William Wordsworth

A walk to the chicken coop...

2011-11-17T19:58:00.002-07:00

On my way to the chicken coop to shut the door, the sunset changed from moment to moment.

I love where I live.

Around home....

2011-11-16T22:26:00.003-07:00

Lots of little things to share with you like this great big, brown egg that one of my Red Star hens laid. It did not fit into my jumbo egg carton so I just had to put it into a dish and wait to use it. I was quite sure it was a double-yolker, and yes, it was, as you can see by the picture. A two-fer!

I counted it as two full eggs in my recipe. Hubby said, "If we had just 6 of these hens laying double-yolkers, we'd have plenty of chickens." He is right on that, but we don't get to pick and choose our hens. I have found that when a hen starts laying doubles, she continues doing it for the majority of her egg-laying life.

There was a birthday in the family this week. My Second Daughter (she's my son's wife) had her 26th birthday so I had to make her a little somethin' somethin' for the occasion --an embroidered tea towel. I had some of the flower applique pieces from Cuppycake's quilt so I used them and stitched around them with the blanket stitch. Easy-peasy and fun.

Only Daughter (G) and her baby, Cuppycake, came for the week to visit. Daddy is gone away on business for several days so the girls came out to stay with Papa and me. We're very glad about that. Tomorrow we are going to make baby-feet Christmas card prints and have them photo copied. Aren't these super-cute?

The temperature is really dipping now. I woke up this morning to 16 degrees and now tonight as I type, we are at the same temperature. Tomorrow is supposed to be our last *nice* day before the deep chill hits us with lows down to 0 degrees. I took a quick walk-about today -- no 2 mile walk to the mailbox for me. It was so cold I felt like I was walking in the arctic with the wind blowing like it was. I even had my hat tied snug around my chin so my ears didn't freeze. I am going to have to exchange my fall gloves for winter mittens right away. The water on the pond near the house is frozen over now and we must take care to check the water tanks in the feed lots lest they freeze up and the calves can't drink.

We've been seeing six to seven turkeys around the shelter belts lately so Miss Lonely Turkey now has some friends to pal around with. I haven't seen her around the barnyard lately so I'm guessing she flew up to join the others. I'm happy for her.

Thank you for your kind prayers and wishes for my injured rib. It's getting much, much better, but I still feel the ol' wooden spoon-in-the-side feeling and sneezing is difficult. I suspect it'll take a little more time to get over it. Ah well.

I found this really cute sign on Pinterest that I loved and just had to share it with you. You can print it for free here. I found another printable sign that you may like to frame for the Thanksgiving Holiday here. Give Thanks! I think that's a good note to end on.

Owl by day...

2011-11-13T16:48:00.000-07:00

Great Horned Owl

Weaning days....

2011-11-11T19:27:00.004-07:00

A couple of days ago, we went after another bunch of cows and calves in the South Pasture. I drove the truck in front, coaxing the cows to follow me with alfalfa cake. I was able to snap a few pictures as we slowly chugged home. It was chilly, but I enjoyed having the window rolled down and breathing in the pungent aroma from the sage brush.

Today we weaned the calves from the cows. We vaccinated about 200 head and treated them with insecticide. It was difficult pushing them up the alley. It seemed as though we dragged each one to the chute, one at a time. I lost my footing while pushing up a calf and banged my ribs into a post. I wanted to bawl, but I held off and toughed it out. Tonight, I'm feeling much better, but it still feels like I have a wooden spoon poking me in the side through to my back. Sneezing is painful, but for the most part, I'm just a bit sore and nothing else.

There is a lot of bawling in the corrals tonight. It is kind of sad, but one of those things that must happen year after year. I'm sure we get the term "bawl baby" from weaning calves. At least I think so. In a day or so, they'll stop their bawling and settle into their new spot and learn to take their feed in a bunk.

The sheep were just across the fence as I drove by. I wish I could have given them some cake, but I had to keep rolling along.

It's very dry out in the pasture now. It's dry everywhere. I really wanted to burn the trash, but I don't dare until we get some moisture. The weather man says we should expect some rain and snow in the next few days. It will freshen up the grass for the livestock and give me a chance to burn. We may even get to light a fire in the wood stove.

I went for a little stroll late in the afternoon as the sun was setting. Peach and I went to shut the chicken coop and then after I delivered her at her house, I went walking through The Woods, as I call it, because I heard the hoot, hoot of a couple of owls calling to one another. I really hoped to snap a picture, but it was a little dark for that. I thought I saw one of the owls in the picture below, but it was not. It was just a straggly, old, broken tree that only looked like an owl perching there. I did find one of the owls, but he flew away before I could get a picture. I do better at taking pictures of owls in the daytime. They don't see me very well, and I see them perfectly well.

November...

2011-11-07T20:02:00.001-07:00

I've been out on my daily walks and my goodness, but they are chilly! If I don't take a stocking cap with me, I must pull up my hood at some point during the jaunt. Today it was sunny and we had very little wind, but the brisk temperature of 45 degrees made me realize it is definitely November. I always think about how *nice* this type of day would seem in the dead of winter. I'd be out washing the car in my sweatshirt on a 45 degree day in January. But it's November.

I've noticed how very silent it is when I'm out walking now -- no meadowlark songs, no lark bunting twitters, no buzzing grasshoppers. The summer songbirds are gone, but I'm still seeing a few migrating robins. The blackbirds are still with us, but they are flocked up into large, black clouds that swoop down and float back up, drifting with the winds. I know their time here is very short now. I did spy a Sharp-tailed Grouse along the road today. We both surprised each other. She flew up out of the tall grass and startled me as much as I must have startled her quiet grazing. When the Sharptails move in to the home place, it signals winter. I told Hubs about my Sharptail sighting and he shook his head. I wish we didn't feel this way about the Sharptails' arrival because really, I so do enjoy them during the winter. I love seeing their footprints and tail tracks in the snow where I walk; I adore their chicken-like chuckling, their stout bodies perched in the treetops, and their feathery feet remind me that they are well-equipped for cold, winter weather. They are fine companions to a snow walker like me.

The leaves are all gone from the trees now. Even the fallen leaves have been blown away by the wind. The exceptions, however, are the Russian Olive trees. They always keep their leaves well into the winter months. They have set on lots and lots of greeny-gray olives this year. Some folks say it means we are in for a long, cold winter. I think it means we've had a good, wet spring and summer, but what do I know? What I do know is that the Sharp-tailed Grouse will have a bountiful supply of fat-rich olives to eat. I've tried them. They are bitter but have a nice tang to them at the end like a glass of dry wine. The olives are mostly seed, and very little flesh, but I suppose the birds like the seed-part too.

All of these things remind me of the Thomas Hood poem quoted in the Tasha Tudor book which I own and love called A Time to Keep. Within the pages, every month has its words, its preparations, its celebrations, its poetry and its worth in Tasha Tudor's home. I think Thomas Hood gives November a bad rap, but it is really quite truthful when you think about it. Poor November must usher us into Winter after all. Tasha prefers to look on the brighter side of the month -- sketching in the corgis, a warm fire, the bounty of the year and turkey roasting on the spit.

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! - November!
~Thomas Hood, 1844

What do you think? Does Thomas Hood give us a dose of reality with his November poem? Does Tasha choose to see the bright side and ignore the rest? I happen to like them both. I think we need both reality and imagination, and I for one, need to see the good that comes from darkness, cold, and short days.

Toast!

2011-11-05T22:18:00.004-06:00

Give us this day our daily bread.....

Do you eat bread every day? I think I do most days. This is a sample of our daily bread, fresh baked. Saturday was bread-baking day and Peach and I played Betty Crocker and Suzie Homemaker together while Toodles took her morning nap. It was so much fun (for me) to have another baking helper at the counter as I did years ago when my children rolled and patted and formed their own little bread loaves and put them into child-sized pans while I made the big loaves.

I've been making our daily bread for three decades now and I have a hard time bringing myself to buy bread from the store. For me, it's more about being able to make different kinds of bread, it's about freshness and the smell of homemade bread in the oven. Since I can make bread and I know how cost efficient and healthy it is to make homemade, I just do it. I like to do it, and that makes a big difference too.

Quite some time ago, I did the math on the cost of making bread at home, and I came up with 30 cents a loaf. It could be a little more these days, but not much more. Ah ha! I found one baker here that says she makes her bread for 75 cents per loaf, but if you buy your supplies in bulk like I do, I think you can further reduce that price. My kids used to beg for "town bread" back when they were littles and now they prefer homemade breads. Third-Born son even started baking his own bread after he left home when his sister-in-law gave him her bread machine. I was so proud of him! Only Daughter bakes bread now and then for her family and so does my daughter-in-law. I think it's a good skill to have and to practice because we all know.... practice makes perfect loaves.

I love to eat just plain old bread & butter, especially when it's warm from the oven, but I go in spurts with my choice of spreads. Most mornings I have a ~~stack~~ piece of toast with my eggs or yogurt or oatmeal, and I love to make what I call a "dessert toast" at the end of breakfast. Right now Honey and I are in a grape jelly trend. A hunter gave us several jars of his own homemade this fall and I'm telling you, it's the best grape jelly I've ever had! Before the grape jelly came to us, we were on a raw honey kick, and I'm figuring we will be going back to that soon since the jelly is nearly all ate up. I love raw honey on bread or toast or straight off the spoon. When I was growing up at home, we had toast with peanut butter nearly every single morning with breakfast. I still love it -- the toast almost burnt (but not entirely) with a thick spread of creamy Jif Peanut Butter melting on top. I craved peanut butter toast when I was pregnant. Sometimes I get hooked on cinnamon and sugar toast. I have a glass cheese shaker with cinnamon & sugar all mixed up so it's handy for sprinkling on toast. All I know is that I love it all. Love toast! Do you?

Your First Loaf at the Fresh Loaf
Pauline's Wheat Bread (very similar to my everyday loaf)

Blue jeans quilt .....finished!

2011-11-04T09:17:00.000-06:00

It is finished! I have been shoving this project to the sidelines for several months and at last I was able to get back to it and devote a good day to it. It is far from perfect. My excuse -- jeans are hard to work with. The stretch, the weight, the variation of denim all contribute to its imperfection and to its individuality and character. The denim that was contributed to this project came from my stash of family jeans that have been collected down through the years so there is a little bit of each of us sewn into this quilt. I used my quilt-as-you-go method here.

I hope our Fifth-Born enjoys his quilt. He has been waiting long enough for it. Oops-- do you see the other imperfections here on the back? I honestly didn't until I took the photo. Ah well, my boy will see far beyond the imperfect and believe it is perfectly good for him!

My fall & winter gift....

2011-11-03T09:31:00.004-06:00

I can practically set my seasonal clock by this Lovely. Every year since I've had her, she has bloomed for me continuously from Halloween through Easter. I think of her as a gift from God to sustain me through the cold, bleak months when there is nothing blooming outside my window.

This *Christmas Cactus* started out in a very tiny pot. I picked it out at my local Pamida store when the seasonal plants were on clearance. Since then many years have passed, and Lovely has grown to an enormous size and never fails to shower me with the most vibrant, complex blossoms I have ever seen, and all she requires from me is a little water now and then and a shot of fertilizer a couple times a year (if I remember). I keep thinking I ought to transplant her into a larger pot or perhaps prune her a little. She's totally taking over a large spot in my laundry room. Yes, this Lovely lives away from the eyes of those who might behold her beauty and lavish praise upon her. That is why I think of her as an especial gift, for I am the only one who really sees her. I do, on occasion, when the washing is all done-up, bring a visitor in to see and admire her, but for the most part, I am her only beholder.

I feel blessed. I am blessed. She isn't on display in a fancy greenhouse window. She isn't in a dentist's office for every paying customer to behold. (Our dentist has a lovely Christmas Cactus too, but not nearly so pretty as mine.) She is in a homely laundry room amidst the dirty rags, filthy jeans, and dusty lint awaiting the praise and admiration of the humble homemaker. Isn't she such a gift? I'm glad you came by to see her.

By the way, My Big Fat Geranium that lived by the front door this summer is now in hiding. She has been trimmed back and has the dirt removed from her roots. I put her in a paper sack tucked in with newspapers for a winter sleep. In the spring I will re-pot her and see what she does. Thanks to those of you who had good tips on overwintering geraniums!

Have a cookie and get your candle lit....

2011-10-30T16:04:00.010-06:00

I made sugar cookies yesterday and invited the neighbors to come and help frost and decorate them. We had such fun. See these woolly (coconut) sheep? Well, the cookie cutter was a cow, but I didn't have enough flour in the dough so they puffed up into sheep when I baked them. I'm glad.

I did add in some more flour to the cookie dough and tried the cow cutter again. Hooray! We had a few cows along with our sheep, pumpkins, and leaves.

Peach decided this cow was going to be a bull. After all, our bulls sport orange ear tags. Isn't she an observant child? Yes, she is! And smart too!

Now for one of my favorite poems for Halloween by John Ciardi. He's one of my favorite poets and you must not miss The Man Who Sang The Sillies, a collection of his poems with illustrations by Edward Gorey who is such fun! The Stranger in the Pumpkin reminds me that we all need to "get our candles are LIT!" I was just reading from my Bible that we all need to be filled with Light, if not, the darkness is very dark indeed! (Matt 6:21-23) When the kids were at home, we always recited and read aloud Halloween poems. In fact, just this morning one of my sons told me that he could still recite his favorite, scary Halloween poem and he planned to share it with some of his friends. I wonder what they'll think of that? Well now, on with my poem.

The Stranger in the Pumpkin

The stranger in the pumpkin said:

"It's all dark inside your head.

What a dullard you must be!

Without light how can you see?

Don't you know that heads should shine

From deep inside themselves--like mine?

Well, don't stand there in a pout

With that dark dome sticking out--

It makes me sick to look at it!

Go and get your candle lit!"

~John Ciardi

And now for the scary poem that S. likes.

Read it in your scariest voice, slowly. Very slowly.

The Broomstick Train (or) Return of the Witches

LOOK out! Look out, boys! Clear the track!
The witches are here! They've all come back!
They hanged them high,--No use! No use!
What cares a witch for a hangman's noose?
They buried them deep, but they wouldn't lie still,
For cats and witches are hard to kill;
They swore they shouldn't and wouldn't die,--
Books said they did, but they lie! they lie!

(to read more of this long, long, long poem, click here.)

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

One more poem, this one is another favorite of mine.

(I can't help it, I like a very little scare)

LITTLE ORPHANT ANNIE
by: James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)

INSCRIBED WITH ALL FAITH AND AFFECTION

To all the little children: -- The happy ones; and sad ones; The sober and the silent ones; the boisterous and glad ones; The good ones -- Yes, the good ones, too; and all the lovely bad ones.

ITTLE Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay,
An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away,
An' shoo the chickens off the porch, an' dust the hearth, an' sweep,
An' make the fire, an' bake the bread, an' earn her board-an'-keep;
An' all us other childern, when the supper-things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an' has the mostest fun
A-list'nin' to the witch-tales 'at Annie tells about,
An' the Gobble-uns 'at gits you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all!
An' they seeked him in the rafter-room, an' cubby-hole, an' press,
An' seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an' ever'-wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' one time a little girl 'ud allus laugh an' grin,
An' make fun of ever' one, an' all her blood-an'-kin;
An' wunst, when they was "company," an' ole folks wuz there,
She mocked 'em an' shocked 'em, an' said she didn't care!
An' thist as she kicked her heels, an' turn't to run an' hide,
They wuz two great big Black Things a-standin' by her side,
An' they snatched her through the ceilin' 'fore she knowed what she's about!
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

An' little Orphant Annie says, when the blaze is blue,
An' the lamp-wick sputters, an' the wind goes woo-oo!
An' you hear the crickets quit, an' the moon is gray,
An' the lightnin'-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parunts, an' yer teachurs fond an' dear,
An' churish them 'at loves you, an' dry the orphant's tear,
An' he'p the pore an' needy ones 'at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!

(so glad I didn't have to type this one out! Thank goodness for the internet and copy/paste!)

Do you have a favorite Halloween poem or tradition?

How about a favorite poetry collection?

Do share!

Jack-0-lantern tip....

2011-10-29T15:00:00.001-06:00

I've been setting out a few of my Halloween things and had this good idea for stabilizing candles in your jack-o-lantern jars. Use Epsom salts (or any other salt). I thought of this idea after remembering this cute tip for holiday jar candles. I have used mason jars with Epsom "snow" for Christmas, but never thought of using it for Halloween.

When the kids were all at home, we made these cute jar-o-lanterns. Martha Stewart had this idea on her site and we liked it so much we gave them a try. They were quite simple to make. We used orange spray paint on the inside of the jars and printed out Martha's stencils for the faces. Some of the more creative kids designed their own faces. In her how-to instructions, she says to print off the jack-o-lantern faces on adhesive paper, but we didn't have that. Instead, we printed off the faces on regular paper, then put masking tape on the jars where we wanted our faces to be. We cut out the paper faces and taped them onto the masking tape part or drew the faces onto the tape with a Sharpie. When we were happy with the face placement, we took an Exacto knife and cut away the eyes, nose, and mouth and then painted the open parts with glossy black paint. Let the paint dry and peel away the tape. You can use the jars to hold treats or add a tea light inside like we did. I put Epsom salts in the bottoms of our jars to raise up the candle a bit and to keep the spills and melting wax from melting onto the jars.

Tonight Skelly is peeking out from the picture window and Scarecrow is welcoming visitors and trick-or-treaters by the front door. Our only trick-or-treaters will be the next door neighbors -- the grands. Now I'm off to bake up some Halloween Sugar Cookies.

Happy Halloween!

Old-timey homemaking....

2011-10-28T19:01:00.004-06:00

William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) Wash Day Back Yard Reminiscence of Brooklyn 1886

I was about to season my cast iron skillet again and went to my trusty Homemaker's Heritage Extension Club cookbook to refresh my mind about temperatures and times. This book has been on my shelf for 30 years and was given to me as a wedding gift. After I found the recipe for seasoning cast iron, I took a little time to read some old-timey homemaking tips. Some are so interesting that I wanted to share a few with you while I wait to recoat my skillet with more bacon fat.

Ladies Hair Treatment
A barber recommends ladies to have their hair shampooed once a month. This will bring out the natural luster, soften it, clear it of dust, and rob it of that musty smell which comes of having long hair wound up closely for any length of time. It will remove that itching of the head which some ladies find so troublesome.

The Feet
The largest pores of the body are located in the bottom of the feet. For this reason the feet should be frequently and thoroughly washed and the stockings changed often. If great cleanliness is not observed, these great pores become absorbent and the poisons given off are taken back into the system.

For Head Cold
As soon as you feel that you have a cold in the head, put a teaspoon of sugar in a goblet, and on it put six drops of camphor; stir it, and fill the glass half full of water. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, then take a dessert spoonful every twenty minutes. This is a sure cure if taken as directed.

1900 Carlo Cressini (Italian 1864-1938) Laundry

Pre-Automatic Instructions
1. Build a fire in the backyard to heat kettle of rain water.
2. Set tubs so smoke won't blow in eyes if wind is pert.
3. Shave one whole cake lye soap in boiling water.
4. Sort things. Make 3 piles. 1 pile white, 1 pile colored, 1 pile britches and rags.
5. Rub dirty spots on washboard, then boil. rub colored, but don't boil. Just rinse and starch.
6. Take white things out of kettle with broom handle. Then rinse and starch.
7. Spread tea towels on grass, hang old rags on fence.
8. Pour rinse water on flower beds.
9. Scrub porch with soapy water, scrub privee seat and floor with soapy water caught from porch scrub.
10. Turn tubs upside down.
11. Go put on a clean dress, smooth hair with side combs.
12. Brew up some tea. Sit and rest a spell and count your blessings.
Note: This last one is a copy of a letter from a pioneer woman to her daughter.

I hope this last one is helpful to you this weekend as you get those britches and rags washed up for next week!

On the street where I live....

2011-10-26T15:28:00.003-06:00

Miss Turkey came down the street where I live early this morning. The waddle under her chin is bright red with the sun shining behind her. I wonder what she's thinking about when she walks around the place alone?

Cows were trailing out to pasture on the ~~street~~ trail where I live.

I was driving the feeder truck and the cows were following behind.

It's time for a big drink before we finish the long walk to the Nine Mile Pasture where the other cows are grazing.

It's called Nine Mile because it's nine miles from our little, bitty town.

Here's where I leave them off. The guys will take the cows a good two miles or so down this trail before they reach the pasture gate where that dot-of-a-tree is. You'll have to click the pic to enlarge it and see what I mean.

Gray clouds mixed with blue sky and sunshine where above the ~~street~~ gravel road where I live. I enjoyed a windy, brisk daily walk to the mail box.

Big Sky Country is what it's called.

It is the Heavenly Ocean above the street where I liv e.

Eyeing sheep and cleaning the coop...

2011-10-24T17:35:00.005-06:00

(see -- the yellow wool grease or wool wax which is where lanolin comes from)

It's been a great day!

We arose early and went to gather the 2-year-old heifers from the North Pasture. I took the pick-up with the cake feeder attached and Honey took the Ranger to help drive them. The cows were delighted to see their "feed wagon" come along and gladly followed me to the Buck Pasture where we left them for now. I wish I had taken my camera, but I forgot. Trust me, it was a beautiful scene watching the cows trail home.

With that job completed, we coaxed the sheep into the corrals the same way, and they, too, were happy to follow their feed truck to the corral. We brought the ewes in to *eye* them. That means we clip the wool from around the sheep's faces so they won't be wool blind in the winter. When it's frosty and cold, the snow, frost, and ice builds up around their eyes and causes them to go wool blind and they can drift off.

Honey took the lead in this process since he's the old pro. He taught OldestSon how to clip around the faces. My job, though small, was to hold the electric cord and to pour oil on the clipper as needed. I also shoved sheep up into the ally and counted each pen out. Besides clipping the wool from around their eyes, the sheep were also de-wormed.

See how open the ewes' faces are now? They really did have quite a lot of wool over their eyes. Altogether we eyed 206 ewes and ewe lambs. This is *one of those jobs* that we were glad get done and tick off the Before Winter To-do List.

The other job Honey and I did together was to clean the chicken coop. Yick! (T. says Yick is not a word, but Yick means "worse than Yuck") It's one of the most despised jobs anyone does around here. It literally stinks, and it's SO dusty. I raked feathers and poop while Honey scooped it up with a scoop shovel and tossed it into the tractor bucket. We also cleaned out all the nest boxes. I finished the job by sprinkling Garden Dust around on the dirt floor to keep the bugs and mites away, and then I sprinkled a box of baking soda under the perch to deodorize it somewhat. I added some pine shavings for bedding on the floor and then put some clean, fresh hay into the nesting boxes. I decided to board up some of the nesting boxes because I don't have as many hens as my foremothers did. Just 15 head in my coop compared to 50 head (or more) back then. I can't imagine washing 50 eggs a night and storing them, let alone cleaning the coop out more often. My mother-in-love used to sell her eggs to a small grocer in town and then bought her groceries with the egg money.

I'm adding a pretty little picture of the last of the roses. I picked these tiny shrub roses since I know they will freeze over night. We are supposed to get a cold snap starting tonight -- expecting freezing temperatures and possible rain and s--- in elevations above 4000 ft. Our elevation is approximately 3500 ft. so we'll see if the precip remains in liquid form here.

Now it's time to eat supper and snuggle in for the night with that sense of satisfaction in jobs well-done and a good-tired that comes from hard, physical work and a day spent outdoors. Our pillows will feel extra-soft and dreamy tonight.

of cookies and donuts...

2011-10-22T21:12:00.008-06:00

It really IS fall! It seems all I think about these days are those heavy-carb comfort foods like potatoes and gravy, pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookies and homemade donuts. Perhaps I'm instinctively preparing for a long, hard winter. I sure wouldn't want to get caught in a cold snap with my ~~weight~~ energy down and sapped. I could ~~blame~~ attribute my baking frenzy on weekend guests, I suppose. ThirdChild came home on Friday to help us pour concrete and then stayed the night to help with today's project which was to revamp an old cake/grain bin into a storage shed for the OldestChild and his family. The Grandfolks came out for this project since Grandpa Schu is good with electricity and has awesome carpentry skills.

Friday I baked the chocolate chips cookies in anticipation of visitors and squirreled away several dozen in the freezer for pop-in company or for the days when I really need a good cookie to eat alongside my afternoon coffee.

Today, while Grandma was here, she thought it would be a good idea to fry up some cake donuts -- a family recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation. Notice the names on the card: Linda, Velma, and Hilda. Can you guess their nationality? If you said Norwegian, you be right! Uffda! I asked Linda if she noticed that all these women had "a" at the end of their names? Apparently not until today.

I mostly watched the process and kept the Don Williams music playing while Grandma did all the work -- mixing, cutting and frying. I did set out all the ingredients like a good assistant should. While Grandma worked, I whacked up a pumpkin pie for dessert after supper. We make a pretty good cooker team.

After all the donuts were fried and sugared, we made a thermos of coffee to take to the guys next door. We brought a big plate of fresh, warm donuts and were they ever happy. Uffda mega! (translation: big uffda)

Guess what we'll be having for First Breakfast tomorrow with our coffee? Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm.

I just couldn't resist one more picture of Fluff and his biggest fan, Peach! She can carry him any ol' way she wants and he doesn't care a flip. Gotta love that kind of cat. I hope you're loading up on plenty of carbs this fall. If not, just follow me home and I'll ~~fatten~~ feed you properly!

Think different....

2011-10-21T08:50:00.000-06:00

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

— Steve Jobs, 2005

When the tomcat comes home....

2011-10-18T22:30:00.001-06:00

We've seen you out in the pastures hunting, stalking your prey, frolicking amongst the alfalfa fields in search of the Thirteen-stripe Ground Squirrel and the mole and the vole. By the Springs you have been seen pouncing on unsuspecting frogs and basking in the penetrating sun. What a summer! What a life! Fluffy, you wouldn't let us touch you out there. You wouldn't come to our loving calls of "Here kitty, kitty, kitty." You ignored us, you ran away from us, and only thought about your exciting life living in the wild -- no cares, no worries, only fun and frolic.

After all of this, today, you showed up on our doorstep. You came nuzzling and caressing us. You slinked between our legs and purred. You didn't think for a moment of ignoring our call, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty," but you came running and jumped into our arms again, rubbing and loving on us. What has happened? What's come over you, Fluff?

Is it time now? Is it time for the cold winds to start blowing and the temperatures to begin to plummet? Will the days get dark and chill and bitter? You know it. You want us to feed you and comfort you through these next months. And of course, we will. Fluff, it's good that you're home, but your coming has deeper meaning. You won't make it out there in the wild without us. You need us. You don't want us to forget about you and leave you out there starving in the cold of winter. Alone. You HAD to come home, didn't you? Well, we can't blame you for that. Who would want to go through winter alone, cold, and without a friend? Welcome back. The barn is full of hay and straw. There are mice aplenty in the granaries. I've got a big sack of dog food in the garage, and I know you'll join the chickens when I bring the pail of scraps from the house to feed them. Welcome home, old friend. You're looking good. The Peach and Toodles will be so glad to have you back home. Cupcake will get to know you this winter too.

Now, as for me, you remind me that it's time to clear off the garden. The pumpkins are gathered up, the acorn squash too. The vines are cleared off and the last of the green tomatoes are on their vines in the garage in hopes that some of them will yet ripen. I even pulled up the gladiola corms that I thought I'd discard this fall, but they were too big and beautiful to ignore and throw in the trash heap. Nope. I'm saving them up for next spring. I pulled the last of the fall lettuce and snipped the herbs to bring in and dry for winter suppers. The parsley really took off and there's plenty of rosemary and thyme for roasts and stews.

The garden hoses are all rolled up and the pumps are covered. It's supposed to freeze tonight, and hard. Twenty-nine degrees sounds harsh. It is. But it is mid-October after all. It can't stay summer forever, although some days I wish it could. We both know it can't. So come here, Old Fluff Boy. Jump into my arms and I'll scratch you behind the ears and tell you what a good cat you are. Close your eyes and enjoy it. Thanks for the reminder that when the warm days of the good life come to an end, you can always go home.

Jennifer Rizzo Give-away....

2011-10-17T09:09:00.000-06:00

I've just found out about this wonderful designer and really wanted to share her beautiful things with you.

She's just opening a new Vintage Tea Collection on Etsy, and I hope you'll come window shopping and see what she has.

To enter this $500 give away, click the picture above and leave a comment. There are lots of pretty things for holiday gift-giving. Come see!

Happy Shopping!

The Leatherman...

2011-10-16T18:33:00.001-06:00

How many women do you know that you can call Super Woman? How many tools do you know called a Super Tool? I only know a woman or two that I might call Super Woman, but there's only one tool called The Super Tool, and that is the Leatherman. Some folks call this special tool a Swiss Army Knife, and it is very similar, but I think the Leatherman is a lot tougher and sturdier than most. I've had this ol' workhorse in my junk drawer for years and years. It's actually Hubby's, but it's in the drawer for all of us to use.

Today I used the Leatherman for a small project for a sweet Peach. She and I had been digging in her mommy's garden and the gosh darn handle broke right off her Little Girl Shovel. I thought Peach might just burst into tears then and there, but I told her I would fix it for her while she and her family were away visiting her Nana and her cousins for the day. ~smile~

The first thing to do was to saw off the jagged end of the wooden handle. The Leatherman has a really sharp saw blade that whizzed right through.

Next I needed to whittle off some of the sides so the handle could slide all the way down into the metal shaft. That was easy to do with the knife blade.

Lastly, when the handle fitted perfectly into the shaft, I needed to put a couple screws into it to hold the handle securely onto the shovel. The Leatherman had a Philips screw driver that handled the job. Now the shovel is fixed up and Miss Peach thinks I'm SuperGram!

You, too, can be Super Gram, Super Mom, Super Wife, Super Girl or Super Man!
All you need is the super tool.... The Leatherman. Getchya one!

My Big Fat Geranium...

2011-10-15T07:57:00.001-06:00

She has more buds and blooms than she has had all summer. She has been my splash of Beauty as I walk in and out the door every day (several times a day), and now that we are nearing the end of warm days, I know I will have to say good bye soon. I would love to bring her in for the winter, but I simply have no space for her. All good things must come to an end.

Flowers whisper "Beauty!" to the world, even as they fade, wilt, fall.

~Dr. SunWolf

Fall ramblings...

2011-10-11T19:49:00.003-06:00

Pressed leaf garland.

An idea gleaned from Susan Branch.

I'm enjoying the fall days as they come. They always seem to pass by so quickly into winter days, but I'm trying not to think of fall like that. Instead, I am taking each day as it comes -- appreciating the gifts that each day brings instead of always pining for days gone by or days to come. I've done my share of that too.

The leaf garland on my big window makes me smile. In mid-afternoon the sun shines through them and reflects the colors of each leaf as if they are mini stained glass windows. I have always ~~dragged stuff in~~ gathered up little bits of the outdoors to bring in for my seasonal decorating -- au naturel. I like sticks (check this out) and leaves, squash and pumpkins picked from the veggie patch, branches and cones gathered while cutting firewood. In spring and summer there are fresh flowers snipped from the garden or plucked from the pasture. I like rocks and fossils, feathers and turtle shells. I do like to set candles out especially when the fall and winter months are upon us. There's just something special about candlelight on dark days that makes me feel warm and cozy. When the kids were home, we used to always light candles during school time.

These past days while taking my walks, I've been noticing big flocks of blackbirds and meadowlarks. Migration is about to happen. I know that the birds' days here are short now, but I'm savoring birdsong and flapping wings today. It still thrills my heart to hear the chirrups of the robin who is still hanging around the yard and the lonely call of a meadowlark in the pasture. In the evenings, which come on early now, I am hearing the hooting of the owls. I've noticed crows passing through. The other day Peach and I were outside when the loud "caw caw caw" came from out in the pasture. I pointed to the big black crows and had her listen again for their distinct call. The crows don't usually stay here with us year round, but they always make an appearance around September or October. They remind me of a poem I like.

The Gnome

I saw a Gnome

As plain as plain

Sitting on top

Of a weathervane.

He was dressed like a crow

In silky black feathers,

And there he sat watching

All kinds of weathers.

He talked like a crow too,

Caw caw caw,

When he told me exactly

What he saw,

Snow to the north of him

Sun to the south,

And he spoke with a beaky
Kind of a mouth.

But he wasn't a crow,

That was plain as plain

'Cause crows never sit

On a weathervane.

What I saw was simply

A usual gnome

Looking things over

On his way home.

~Harry Behn

Crows also remind me of a movie that's rather creepy but fun to watch: The Birds, directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1963. One of my sons is fascinated with this film and always asks me to watch it with him. The fashion and the cars are terrific--very retro now!

There are a few birds that will stay around through the winter. The wood peckers, flickers, nuthatches and a few sparrows will overwinter. Sometimes we have a few chickadees and juncos move in. Last year there wasn't a single bird around the feeders in the backyard. It was harsh. The juncos are here now, but they may be just passing through. I don't see any chickadees yet, but they may stop by on their way somewhere.

After a perfect, sunny day here today, we are expecting the clouds to roll in tonight and the winds to blow. There's a chance for drizzly rain tomorrow and so I suppose my window finishing will be on hold for a couple days. Instead, I'll spend some time on that jeans quilt I'm working on for J. It seems like the perfect project for a chilly fall day. Who knows, maybe we'll start a fire in the wood stove.

One more thing -- I made some roasted cauliflower last night to go with supper. Roasted foods sound perfect for fall suppers, don't they? Here is what I did. Break apart a whole cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, toss it with olive oil, and then sprinkle it with salt & pepper. Put it on a cookie sheet and slide it into a 425* oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the edges of the cauliflower are beginning to brown. You might turn it a little in the middle of roasting. Sprinkle the cauliflower again with a little course salt and eat! It really is so good!

I wish you many special moments as you walk through these fall days. Don't forget to look at the moon tonight. It's full!

To remind them....

2011-10-08T17:08:00.002-06:00

I've been scouting Etsy for just the right cross for my sons.

I want to give them a gift to remind them Who they belong to.

He is...

King of Kings & Lord of Lords

Son of God

Son of Man

The Light

The Way, The Truth, The Life

My Refuge & My Strength

My Shield & My Salvation

My Stronghold

My Rock & My Fortress

My Helper & The Sustainer of My Soul

My Hope & Song

Comforter

The Great I Am

The Good Shepherd

Lamb of God

The Word

Savior

Servant

The Alpha & Omega

.............................

Is there a name that is especially meaningful to you?

The cross is handmade by Brad from Sol Creations.

Bully!

2011-10-07T20:56:00.002-06:00

Hereford Bull pattern here.

I stitched this bully especially for a just-married friend and bull customer.

I couldn't resist.

His wife gets the dancing apple tea towel that I love to stitch.

I wish for them many happy days

doing dishes (and other things)

together.

Reporting in....

2011-10-05T21:56:00.001-06:00

This once was a road house in between small towns. We see it along the road to town.

Man, this week has been crazy! First off we pregnancy tested our mature cows Sunday evening and the rest of them on Monday. 323 cows. Full days. Cooking days. Working-at-the-barn days. I enjoy it. I really do, but I get so worn out. The good thing is -- sleep comes easy.

The next day Hubs and I went to town and left the ranching behind. We did take the pick-up and horse trailer to town, unhitched it, and had the fellas at the lumberyard load it up with new windows for our house and new windows and siding for our son & DIL's house. We aren't replacing ALL of the windows, but just the ones that were damaged in the August hailstorm. We had a few other windows that were in need of replacement so we tacked those onto the bill too. Thank heavens for our insurance this summer!

Since we were unhooked from the trailer, Hubs decided we ought to take a nice drive through the Canyon. It's a autumnal tradition we have. I picked up a few colorful leaves while we were there and took some nice pictures, but our internet (another story) has been either extremely s l o w or non-existent so the picture uploading has not been working well for me. Really, hardly anything interwebby has been working for me. It's frustrating, dealing with this ~~crappy~~ unreliable Willie Nelson DSL. Don't mark my words, but I wonder if dial up might be better at this point? Back to the drive through the Canyon.....it was lovely. Beautiful colors, beautiful scenes and peaceful.

Today the carpenters showed up at 8:00 a.m. to install windows and siding. Wow, were they a hard working bunch of guys! I was so impressed. It was loud in the house, but I was so excited about the progress that was happening, that it didn't bother me too much. I paid some bills and then when they needed to install the office window, I moved downstairs and spent some much-loved time embroidering a Hereford bull on a tea towel. I know. It's an odd thing to put on a tea towel, but not if the newly-married couple receiving it love Herefords. The young man has been a long-time bull customer of ours and his wife....well, I don't know her, but if she married T., she must be open to Hereford bull tea towels. I did stitch a towel for each of them. The bull for T. and a dancing apple towel for his wife. I'm hoping they have many happy years of drying the dishes together.

Tomorrow we pick up our Yougest Child at the airport. He's flying in from AZ for a weekend visit. He just HAD to come home, and I'm glad. It'll be a long stretch from now until Christmas break when we can see him again. We will have plenty of family here this weekend to visit J. It'll practically be like Thanksgiving! (What will I cook?)

That reminds me.....I tried out a new recipe that you really ought to cook. It's pretty basic. All you need is a skillet, a flipper, some butter, beef, onions, buns and worchesteshire sauce to make it -- that's my style of cooking! It's called The Marlboro Man Sandwich and it's delish! The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) designed it. She also made a jazzed up version too. Try it, you'll like it.

Well, my friends, I just thought I'd stop in and say, "Hello!" Have you noticed how much shorter the daylight is now? I have to be out to shut the chicken coop door by 6:30 p.m. or else I'm afraid the raccoons will beat me there, and we can't have any of that! Enjoy the fall days. They're slipping by, aren't they?

In the Land of the Northern Lights...

2011-09-30T22:15:00.001-06:00

In The Land Of The Northern Lights from Ole C. Salomonsen on Vimeo.
You might like to click on the link above for a larger view of The Lights.

This video is a real-time experience of thousands of still pictures and 6 months of work capturing the Northern Lights in Norway on camera. This is what it's like to actually experience the Northern Lights in motion. If you've never seen the Northern Lights *in real life*, this is your chance. Thank you Ole!

If you want to be updated on the next big display of the Northern Lights, keep watch over at Sky & Telescope. You can also find updates on what you are seeing in the night sky by clicking their side link called This Week's Sky at a Glance.

Thin as the curve of a raccoon's whisker...

2011-09-29T20:30:00.001-06:00

Tonight on the horizon

"How dark is the dark tonight?" asked the little raccoon?
"Not so dark," said his mother. "There is a new moon tonight, thin as the curve of a raccoon's whisker in the sky above the tree tops."
"Can I see it?" asked the little raccoon.
"No," said his mother. "You must wait. Wait till the moon is full."
"How big is the night?" asked the little raccoon.
"Very big," said his mother.
"How big is Big?" asked the little raccoon.
"Wait," said his mother. "Wait till the moon is full."

~Excerpt from Wait Till The Moon is Full
By Margaret Wise Brown
.........................................
I gave myself a crash course in night photography yesterday after reading the short version booklet that goes with our big camera. I don't know if I learned anything, but I tried. I waited and waited last night for the midnight hour when the next wave of Northern Lights would come upon us, but......there were clouds. Strangely, I could see the lighter night sky glowing behind the clouds, which was very cool because there was no moon last night. Hubs and I drove out to our spot to watch, but we couldn't see The Lights. I woke up a time or two in the middle of the night to see what I could see, but all that I could see was Dark. It was cloudy. Rats! Maybe tonight. I don't know how many more nights in a row of this I can do, but I'm livin' large. I'm trying to live large.

Northern lights seen from Kennebec, S.D. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2011. (Photo courtesy Randy Halverson)

Click to enlarge

No, this is not an ad for Toyota....

2011-09-28T22:13:00.005-06:00

This is a Gumbo Lily post about empty-nesting.
Yes, it is! We don't even own a Toyota.
We drive a Malibu! (and dirty old ranch pick-ups)

Did you see them? Northern Lights...

2011-09-28T07:44:00.001-06:00

Northern Lights, similar to what we saw last night.

Last night after the Ten O'Clock News, Hubs told me that we would be able to see the Northern Lights for the next couple of nights round about midnight. These sorts of things excite and thrill me. I'm a watcher of the sky. So after we snuggled into bed and talked about the day for an hour, I asked if he would like to join me outdoors to see The Lights. We pulled on our jeans and sweatshirts and walked out through the crunchy cottonwood leaves in the yard to see what we could see. There they were! The greeny-blue curtains of light on the northern horizon. We decided we might have a better view up on the hill towards the mailbox, so we drove up there and watched some more. The lights would spike and send green runners up into the sky and then fade away. It was lovely, but not as impressive as some other Northern Light Shows we have seen in the past. Maybe tonight it will be even prettier. I wish I could have taken a picture of them for you, but I am not that savvy with night time photography so I'll share a few pics from Google with you. Here's a little blip on the Geomagnetic Storm that causes us to see the Northern Lights.

This sky is similar to one we saw back in the early 80's when we were just married a year or so driving home from Canada. We stopped and got out of the car to take it in. We really did think that Jesus was coming back, riding on the clouds of light. Imagine streaming red, blue and orange through the ribbons of light and you would get an idea of what we saw back then. I hope you're up with us tonight watching the sky!

September....

2011-09-25T14:46:00.003-06:00

There are lots of things about September to write down in the journal...

*The turkey. She is still with us. She once had five other friends, but now she is one. I caught her enjoying the flower garden through the window one early morning. She likes to hang out with the chickens sometimes during the day. I've seen her roosting in the old Cottonwood tree by the pond near our house.

*The hollyhocks are appreciating the last of the hot days left in September and the bees are thankful that they remain. The moss roses are still happily blooming in their buckets and only a few Black-eyed Susans and purple coneflowers are left blooming.

*The grass has turned from green to mostly brown.

*Only Daughter turned 25 this month.

*The bucks were turned into the ewes on September 20th. The gestation for sheep is five days less than 5 months which would make it February 15th when we see our first lambs. Do you see the big buck peeking over the ewe's back? The sheep herd is grazing the alfalfa re-growth in the hay field and they are FAT.

The buck is bringing up the rear.

*The big Poplar tree in the yard has turned from green to gold this past week. H. Peach loves to walk in the crispy, crunchy leaves, and M. Toodles likes to eat fallen leaves.

*We must shake out the clothes after hanging them on the line now that the wasps are out.

*The spiders and crickets are everywhere. My dad told me that when you see lots and lots of crickets on the ground, it's a sign of a cold winter. O dear, there are lots and lots.

*I hear the Great Horned Owls at night. "Hoo - Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoo - Hoot"

Looking way up high.

*The Folks have been here this week. We've had a good time. Dad's been disking up the old hay field, Hubs and Son have been fencing while L. and I have been painting the family room.

*I have more paint for the guest room.

*I'd like to paint the granary before winter comes. The paint is peeling.

*The hay has been hauled in.

*The pullet hens are laying!

*Something got into the coop the other night. One hen is missing and there are white feathers all around the door. Another hen has been grabbed around the neck as her comb is torn and some of her neck feathers are missing.

*Must shut the chickens in way before dark. The critter will be back.

*The sun is shining into the dining room and kitchen windows since the Fall Equinox. I like that.

*The Indian Corn and the dried sunflowers are at the front door. Welcome!

Prairie goes to the mountain,

Mountain goes to the sky.

The sky sweeps across to the distant hills

And here, in the middle,

Am I.

~Kathryn and Byron Jackson

from Open Range

Tacking up fences and standing firm...

2011-09-20T21:59:00.007-06:00

I wrote this some years ago, but after fencing with Hubs just a couple days ago, I remembered it again and thought I would look it up and share it with you. Here's a little rambling with the prairie winds.

................................

T. asked me to walk the fence line today and take my hammer along with several fence staples to do a little "tacking up." It was such a gorgeous day, that I was eager to do the chore for him. I think of these walks as "spiritual walks" when I can spend a good deal of time to doing some thinking of my own.

As I walked along the fence line, I thought about what I was doing and why. Besides doing something useful like fixing fence, I figured there might be a lesson in it too. There's just something about doing ordinary things that makes me think about what God might be teaching me through it.

I was focusing so hard on each post as I walked by--checking to see that all the staples were firmly tapped in, checking to see if there were any loose wires where staples had got free and were left them dangling. I also noticed places where the wires had broken so that I could tell Tom where to go fixing them since I didn’t carry any fixing tools besides a hammer.

Post hole cleaner

I thought of the posts as people. Each one had a job to do. Some posts were very old and had been set in the fence line some 40 or 50 years ago. Even though they were very old and weathered, they were set firmly in the soil and did their job nobly. They stood. They were firm in their foundation even though aged.

The root of the righteous will not be moved. ~Proverbs 12:3

Other posts were old and slightly broken in their places. The wires were still partially attached, but the poor post was left swaying in the wind. Even though this post was broken, because it was standing in between two firm posts, it still served a purpose. We ranchers call this post a "stay" because even though it was loose, it still provided something for the wires to hold on to and still gave a little support between the firm posts. It wobbled, but it could still give a little support. Isn’t that like us? Sometimes we think we don’t have much to offer. We’re wobbly, but we can still give what we have.

There were new posts in the fence line that were planted deeply and whose wires were stapled firmly on. They didn't waver nor did they totter. Some of the new posts however, did have a loose staple and some had a few staples missing. They were doing their job of standing, but needed a little tacking here and there. They needed my gentle tapping to firm up their hold on the wires. Sometimes I need a little tapping, a little assistance in doing my job. It might even hurt a little when God needs to send a sharp staple into me, but it’s for the good of the whole.

I thought how important it is for all the posts to be "in line." If they were not in line with one another, it caused undue stress upon the wires which were to keep cattle and sheep either in or out of the pasture. And what was the main job of all the posts? To stand. To stand firm and hold fast, keeping in line with the others where the Fence Builder had set them.

“Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with the truth..."

Ephesians 6:14

I could see that in areas where the posts were set in low places, the snow would tear the wires off or would cause the posts to be loosened from the soil. The cows would sometimes rub on the wires and loosen them too. How often are we loosened from our firm standing? Sometimes it's a cold snow bank we are standing in. Sometimes it's a big Hereford bull that rubs us down relentlessly. Sometimes it's a spring creek that rises and floods through the fence and loosens the staples and causes our standing to be fairly useless until someone (a friend, a stranger, God) comes along and tacks us up, presses us back into the soil where we were set, and anchors us down with a little wire and another stub posts here or there. Those of us set in hard places like that need a little more support around us to keep on standing and holding up the fence.

"To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will,

for the Lord is able to make him stand." Romans 14:4

Some fence posts are put in less stressful places where there is less pressure from the cattle or the weather. There’s a lot less fence fixing in these areas. Not all of us will be required to do the same job or to stand under the same pressures. It’s all in the hands of the Fence Builder.

Some posts were made of steel rather than wood. Some ranchers make entire fences of steel and add a wooden brace every so often, but at our ranch, we consider them less than "the best." Steel posts certainly are easier to set, but they tend to pull out more easily than the wooden ones that require more labor to set. Some of these posts lose their place in the fence much faster than the long, hefty wooden posts that can be set more deeply. Steel posts do the job, but their life expectancy is shorter.

"Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith,

act like men, be strong." ~1 Corinthians 16:13

A pic I took in western Montana

Then there are what I call the dead posts. I don’t know if everyone calls them that, but I do. They have come totally free from the fence line. They are sometimes found lying flat on the ground. Some are falling close to the ground, hanging by a single staple. One little push from a sheep would topple them over. Some are old posts that have been tacked and re-tacked and then end up breaking and leaving holes in the fence. Others are simply poor quality posts that can’t stand up under the pressure and some posts aren't set deeply enough to support the fence. There are perfectly good posts that get into accidents where one cow pushes another into the fence and the post snaps and breaks. I'm fond of the very old, gnarled and twisted cedar posts that have so much character. I often bring them back home with me and put them around my gardens. Others end up as firewood for winter. When their time has come and they have fulfilled their purpose, we gather up the old and dead and put in new posts to stand in their places. Does that sound like a life cycle? I think so. See how much thinking a girl can do when she's left to herself to walk a fence line?

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to tear down and a time to build up…." ~Ecclesiastes 3:1,3

Art harvest....

2011-09-17T16:26:00.005-06:00

Farmer on the Tractor

Robert Riggs (1896-1970)

Filling the Biggest Lumber Order Ever

Robert Riggs

Slopping the Pigs

Robert Riggs
.................................

In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
~William Blake

Out and about and a Monarch Paramount....

2011-09-16T20:26:00.002-06:00

I drove to town today to do some grandmothering (I don't like the word babysitting) with my little Cuppycake. These are a few pictures of the homesteads, old and new, along the drive there and back. There used to be a very small town just 6 miles down the road from our ranch where the gravel meets the pavement. I know that part of it perished by fire years and years ago, and the rest of it disintegrated from the dwindling rural population. Albion had a post office, a store, a livery, a grade school, a community hall and a few homes. This was one of the old sheds from that small town. The school and hall still stand.

Our neighbor passed away a week ago. He has lived in our community all his life and attended the grade school just a mile down the road. This is his ranch alongside the highway. We don't know what will become of it since he had no family of his own to pass it to. It's a beautiful ranch along the river.

Isn't this picturesque? This old set of corrals and barn have been here a long, long time. I asked Hubby if he knew who had it or if there was a story behind it. He said he didn't know, but his dad was sure to know. The small river nearby sometimes floods right up to that bank that is cut out next to the corrals. There are beautiful finger buttes in the background.

I'm considering hauling this old Monarch Paramount range home. It would need some cleaning-up, some repairs and some renovating, but I think it would be lovely in my country-ranch kitchen someday. I have been poring over magazines, books, and web pages trying to get just the right ideas for remodeling our kitchen. Hubby decided for our 30th anniversary that we should give ourselves a newly renovated kitchen since it has always been the hub of our family life. Every holiday and every gathering when all the kids come home with friends and husbands, wives, and girlfriends, and grandchildren, we find that the kitchen is literally stuffed with people standing around talking. We want a bit more room for family to participate or just yak over the counter and into the kitchen where all the bustle is.

Hubs and I have lots of ideas, and that is sometimes the difficulty of this project, for we must narrow down the good ideas to just a few that will fit into our space. Before the actual work is to be done, there is a pile of work just in the planning. It's fun, but it's a job too. So many choices. So many decisions. So many little details. Maybe one of these days I'll share some picture-ideas here with you. If any of you have ever remodeled your kitchen, I am open for suggestions that start with... "The Best Thing we ever did was..." or "The One Thing I'd do in my new kitchen is...."

I hope you'll share.

Foods I'm eating....

2011-09-13T18:13:00.003-06:00

Open-faced tomato sandwich

Recipe:

Toasted bread, spread on mayo, add a thick sliced tomato, sprinkle salt & pepper.

Soft Molasses Cookies

The FF (family favorite)

Sent a couple dozen to J. in Tucson.

Ultra-Thin Crust Pizzas

This is the "before" shot.

The recipe calls for sauteing the onions and veggies. I did not.

It's a great recipe for kids to make since you use flour tortillas for the crust, and it's a quick supper for two.

Next is the "after" baking.

I don't have a baking stone (as called for in the original recipe) but instead, I use a regular cookie sheet. Set the timer for 10 minutes and check pizzas. Mine are usually done by this time.

I'm alone tonight so I made me a Garden Pizza -- all veggies & cheese -- tomato, onion, green pepper, olives, fresh basil and flat leaf parsley from the garden. Make it Your Way! Eat with your hands.

"Chow!"

(that's good-bye and good eating in foodie language)

Late summer blooms and hummers...

2011-09-13T12:14:00.005-06:00

This sunny volunteer came up in my veggie patch.

What a happy late bloomer!

She makes me happy too.

We usually don't have hummingbirds stay during the summer, but we must be in a migration flyway because each year I see them early in the season and in late summer. I believe this is a Ruby-throated Hummer with no ruby throat, so I'm presuming she's a she-hummer. (If you click the link, be sure to listen to the hummer's voice/sound) I saw two of them together and both had white chins. I sat on the straw of the veggie patch garden for quite some long time before she trusted me enough to come down off the fence and begin humming about the flowers in search of nectar. I was close enough to hear her tiny peep after she withdrew from each flower. She loved the glads but spent a good amount of time in the squash and pumpkin blossoms too.

I'm trying to keep the flower beds watered down well so that the blooms have lots of nectar inside. I want to ensure there's something to nourish the little ones for their migration. They give me such joy, I must reward them some way. Jesus said to offer a drink of water to the least of these. Here's a toast to the flowers and the hummers.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures, great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

......

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

Hymn by ~Cecil Alexander, 1848

Loyalty to a Brother...

2011-09-11T13:20:00.001-06:00

Our flag

As our kids were growing up at home, we read excerpts from The Book of Virtues and The Moral Compass complied by William J. Bennett. This was one piece that is still bookmarked and was read more than once. As I reflect on 9/11/01, I think about those who died, those who rescued, those who waited for help to come, those who waited for phone calls, and those who have fought and continue to fight for something noble -- our liberty.

..........................................................

One of two brothers fighting in the same company in France fell by a German bullet. The one who escaped asked permission of his officer to go and bring his brother in.

"He is probably dead," said the officer, "and there is no use in your risking your life to bring in his body."

But after further pleading the officer consented. Just as the soldier reached the lines with his brother on his shoulders, the wounded man died.

"There, you see," said the officer, "you risked your life for nothing."

"No, replied Tom. "I did what he expected of me, and I have my reward. When I crept up to him and took him in my arms, he said, 'Tom, I knew you would come--I just felt you would come.'"

There you have the gist of it all; somebody expects something fine and noble and unselfish of us; someone expects us to be faithful.

~Walter MacPeek

Albert Handerson Thayer "Angel" 1903

"But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
~Psalm 18:24

Two things that money can't buy...

2011-09-06T18:26:00.007-06:00

The majority of the heirloom Rainbow tomatoes are jarred up! I saved a few for my daily tomato sandwiches (toast, mayo, thick sliced tomato, salt & pepper). I hope that my own tomato plants will be ripening up soon so I can continue my sandwich routine. Aren't tomatoes in jars the prettiest?

Tomato Memory...

One summer night a couple of friends of our kids were here. It was one of those late summer sleepover things. A. (our eldest child) and R. (his friend) were out in the garden. I'm not sure if I had sent them there to pick or if they were just out looking around at the varieties of tomatoes. (Ha!) G. had her girlfriend over who happened to be R's sister and the girls were upstairs in G's bedroom playing and taunting the boys below. Don't ask me where I was.

You know how sisters can sometimes be. Yelling out the window, making faces at their brothers, giggling, taunting. The boys couldn't take one more minute of those girls from the high bedroom window that overlooked the garden. It became irresistible to them -- wanting to give those heavy tomatoes in their hands a heave. At their sisters. The tomatoes were flung and the girls were their targets. I honestly don't know how many tomatoes were thrown at that window, but there was a lot of cleaning up to do. The boys had to hose off the house and clean every bit of juice and seeds away. I can't remember if the girls had to help them or not. It WAS a mess. That's all I remember. I had plenty of tomatoes that year. The incident didn't seem to affect my canning production. I'm sure the girls had to help can tomatoes the next day -- a chore my daughter despised. Sweet, motherly revenge.

Now I leave you with my favorite summer song.

Homegrown Tomatoes

by Guy Clark

Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin' out in the garden

Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one
Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer
All winter with out `em's a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin' & diggin'
Everytime I go out & pick me a big one

Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love & homegrown tomatoes

You can go out to eat & that's for sure
But it's nothin' a homegrown tomato won't cure
Put `em in a salad, put `em in a stew
You can make your very own tomato juice
Eat `em with eggs, eat `em with gravy
Eat `em with beans, pinto or navy
Put `em on the site put `em in the middle
Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle

If I's to change this life I lead
I'd be Johnny Tomato Seed
`Cause I know what this country needs
Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see
When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cemetery
Out in the garden would be much better
I could be pushin' up homegrown tomatoes

Happy Labor Day...

2011-09-05T08:29:00.000-06:00

Frank C. Kirk (American artist, 1889-1963)

Homeward, 1933

I don't know about you, but growing up and living out here on the ranch, Labor Day was not a day to go camping or take a vacation, but instead, a day to labor. Usually we painted something like a house, did yard work, planted trees, or cut firewood.

Today, nothing's changed for us. Because one of our friends has a gravel truck and another friend has a road grader and they both are taking the day off, we were lucky enough to be able to borrow both implements over the weekend. My guys are in 7th Heaven. They've been hauling gravel over old trails that have deep ruts. They're graveling much-traveled trails to pastures and hay fields, and they're dumping gravel by barn doors and shed doors that have been sadly neglected. It's work, but it's work that brings them great pleasure because it's something they don't *get* to do every day.

Ernest Ralph Norling (American artist, 1892-1974)

The Timber Bucker, 1934

Today I'll be out mowing my yards and then I'll rev up the pressure canner and get some peaches and tomatoes into jars for the winter. It's what we do. Sometimes we lay down one kind of work for another that seems a little more pleasing or different, and it just feels restful somehow, even if it's not rest.

Happy Labor Day--whatever you're doing!

Images from a terrific art blog called It's About Time.

Wreath party....

2011-09-04T13:00:00.001-06:00

The Nesting Place is having a Wreath Party! What's a wreath party? It's a bloggy thing where everyone links to their own homemade, handmade wreaths. So I'm in. Yesterday I did some baking and came up with these bread wreaths. I'm going to fiddle around with making some more in the days to come leading up to Christmas so I can get it perfected. Wouldn't these make nice gifts or pretty breads for the holidays?

I made my wreaths out of a French Bread recipe and then did the fancy cutting using this tutorial at Kitchen Mage. You could use any bread dough you like -- even frozen bread dough would work for this. The main thing is to roll the dough into a nice rope and then stick it together. Let it rise for about 30-40 minutes and then do the snipping with a scissors, just before baking. Hang it up with a ribbon if you want to or just tear off a little "leaf" and eat it up!

Bread & Butter Pickles....

2011-09-03T17:00:00.002-06:00

We stopped by our friends' house yesterday. They said they had lots of cucumbers. They weren't kidding. I didn't even take half of what they offered me, but I did get some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, green peppers, a watermelon, a cantaloupe and some okra. What I will do with okra, I'm not quite sure. Anyway, I commenced to begin with the cucumbers this morning making bread & butter pickles -- the family's favorite from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving. My book has a copyright of 1987 (almost an antique like me). Do you think 11 pints is enough pickles for the winter? Yeah. And there's more. More cukes, that is. We'll eat as much fresh as possible, but then what? Relish? How much pickle relish do two people and their guests need? I'm so happy with my fresh goodies, but a bit overwhelmed.

Check out this bounty will ya?

My wish for homegrown tomatoes has come true! How do they do it? They have a greenhouse to start these fine tomatoes. See the colorful ones that are yellow, orange, red & orange? Those are called Rainbow Heirloom tomatoes. Oh, so mild, sweet and ever so pretty. These babies are bigger than the palm of my hand. I think they are of the Beefsteak variety.

Don't we have some good, kind friends?

Yes, we do!

I also bought a box of Colorado Peaches to eat fresh, make pie with (one in the oven right now) and to preserve. I'm going to be busy in the kitchen this Labor Day Weekend. What about you?

P.S.

I only just picked one tiny Sweet One-Hundred tomato the other day from my own veggie patch. It's a beginning, even if it is a meager beginning.

Tasha Tudor, the quiet life....

2011-08-28T13:18:00.001-06:00

Today is Tasha Tudor's birthday. Born August 28, 1915 was a beloved American illustrator who lived a simple, full life to the ripe old age of 93. Her first story was Pumpkin Moonshine, published in 1938, but my favorite Tasha books are 1 is One, a child's counting book, and A Time To Keep which tells about the changing seasons. Her books are the kind that I plan to read aloud to the grandchildren and give for special birthdays and holidays. (It's almost time to order some Pumpkin Moonshine)

Tasha was not only a writer/illustrator, but she was a homemaker in every sense of the word. She loved handcrafts like weaving, knitting, candle dipping and doll making. She also enjoyed keeping goats and chickens and made cheese from her own goats' milk and cooked delicious, wholesome foods from her eggs and from fruits and vegetables that grew on her land. Every season had its pleasures and its work to be done, and home was the core of Tasha's life's work.

Working in the garden in autumn is delightful, with the clean smell of frost-bitten ferns and witch hazel in the air and no insects to bother about. There are always great numbers of bulbs to be put in the ground -- over two thousand this fall, counting the lilies. The other day I heard the first Canada geese go over as I was planting. Their calls give me such a primordial feeling. And to see a flock of snow geese flying over the white birch trees by the mailbox on a fair day is a sight to take the breath away. ~Tasha Tudor from The Private World of Tasha Tudor

It is precisely a comment like this that makes me appreciate her. Perhaps it's because I live on the land, live in the country, and because I see so much beauty in my own surroundings. I won't be planting two thousand bulbs this fall, but I will put a few in the ground. I won't be spinning wool this winter, but I'll be feeding my sheep. I probably won't be illustrating a children's book, but I'll be drawing little crayon sketches with my grandchildren. I appreciate what I call Tasha's "quiet life." Not glamorous, not overdone, but instead -- quiet, simple, beautiful.

Tasha Tudor, you've always inspired me. Happy Birthday!

For more interesting posts about Tasha Tudor Day, click Storybook Woods.
Tasha Tudor & Family

The new old chair and a cake....

2011-08-26T21:14:00.004-06:00

She got a coat of primer and a coat of semi-gloss white, and

then a punch of color on her seat with laminated fabric, Summer Totem,
by Anna Maria Horner.

Here's the back. I love the curvyness of this chair.

It cradles your back when you sit in it.

Love, love, love.

And now for another summer love...

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 c. sugar

3 eggs

Beat these two ingredients until fluffy.

Add dry ingredients:

2 1/2 c. flour

1/2 c. cocoa

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

Next add wet ingredients:

3 t. vanilla

2 c. peeled, grated zucchini

1/2 c. buttermilk (or sour milk)

Mix batter until smooth-ish.

Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Mom's Topping:

After baking, sprinkle on chopped walnuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips,
and a little bit of sugar.

Put back into the oven for a minute or two.

Eat with a big scoop of ice cream.

Heaven will have this cake.

The Bakery....

2011-08-24T13:59:00.002-06:00

My fondest memories of The Tri-State Bakery were when I was a little girl. Every Valentine's Day I remember getting to walk to the bakery to buy an iced, heart-shaped sugar cookie with a red hot in the middle. I remember nibbling around the sweet edges of the cookie until I got to the center and then cane tge cinnamon hotness of the red hot candy. To this day, I make my own version of the iced sugar cookie, complete with red hot candies at home. There were many, many other goodies that could be bought for a nickle or a dime from The Bakery. Their cinnamon rolls were out of this world!

With the arrival of grocery store bakeries, the need for a store that only served up baked goods became obsolete, and so The Tri-State Bakery closed its doors. The charming building was all that remained until the townsfolk and countryfolk started to spy life there once again. Annie and her husband bought it and turned it into their home and then turned it into a turn-key business in our small town. Toady there's a new twist on The Bakery -- delicious fabrics!

A visit to The Bakery is always a yummy treat! And as always, today's visit was no exception. Pom Pom asked me a few days ago if I might take some pictures of The Bakery and I thought, yes, it would be a fun bloggy post to do. Only Daughter, and her daughter, Cupcake and I stopped in after we scored a sweet, old-timey chair at a garage sale. It just begged for a new seat cover. I had it in my mind that it should be a bright, cheery, laminated fabric, and I knew Annie at The Bakery would have just what I wanted. And she did. So come on in and see what's cookin'.

As you walk through the door, you'll see the display case where lots and lots of baked goodies once were shelved. Now you'll find delicious goodies-by-the-yard!

After you walk through the front part of the store, you'll come to the back where all the cutting and rolling-out and measuring of the ingredients takes place. Here's Paula (Annie's co-partner who runs the Bluestem Studios which joins The Bakery) They help each other, and these two creative ladies make a great team. Paula is cutting a laminated print for my new-old kitchen chair seat cover. Bright and cheery, just like I wanted!

One of the old ovens is baking up some goodies for Halloween!

Here's where the children like to play. There are some nice toys for them to play with or they can be mesmerized by the fishes swimming in the aquarium.

Way in the back by the ironing board, I spied an old, vintage quilt that I just love!

Here are all Bakery Trimmings where you can add some "sprinkles" to your sewing.

Now we move over to The Blue Stem Studio where Paula collects wonderful vintage pieces and antiques. She also has some fabrics that have spilled over to her side. Paula loves to sew handbags and aprons which she sells in her shop, and she also sells many locally-made goodies.

Uh oh, it's time for me to go. Only Daughter and Cuppycake have come looking for me! I hope you enjoyed a *taste* of The Bakery today! If you want to know the latest, check out The Bakery Fabrics on Facebook.

30 years together....

2011-08-21T19:56:00.002-06:00

Here we are 30 years ago just beginning.

Isn't the groom a cutie-pie? I think the hat dates the picture perfectly, don't you?

Gosh, we were just kids. Literally. Nineteen, both of us.

We went to our favorite place in the Black Hills for breakfast and enjoyed a nice drive through the canyon. Then we decided to just head home and take naps and relax. Hubs had been baling until 12:30 a.m. the night before and I stayed up waiting for him until 12:00 midnight and then turned in. We're 49 and don't need much entertainment, really.

I wanted to share with you the supper we made together this evening....

Chicken-fried Steaks with gravy and Tomato Salad with Croutons.

We've only just started eating this tomato salad, and I announced that I would like to eat it every day until there are no fresh tomatoes growing in the country. Granted, I must beg garden tomatoes off my friends and family or else by grape tomatoes from the store due to my garden's lack, but still, it's so worth it. I'm not very proud, you see.

Empty-nesting....

2011-08-18T21:03:00.003-06:00

The last of the Five Lil Chicks has flown the coop. And fly he did! He didn't stay close to home like the girl chickie did. He didn't just drive to the local university like the fourth chick did. He didn't fly 2 hours away like the 3rd chick did. He didn't even fly 500 miles away like the first chick did (oh, was that one hard on Mother Hen). No. The 5th chick to fly the nest chose to fly 1355 miles away from home to Tucson. It was a little bit hard sending him off from the airport today, knowing that he would be totally on his own in the big cities of Phoenix and Tucson, but we had every confidence in him. And he did just great. A friend of a friend got his *new* 1997 Acura to him after he landed at the airport and Mr. J. just drove himself down to Tucson like a city slicker. No problem-o.

A friend of mine thinks he's a very wise young man -- choosing to shovel sunshine rather than snow this winter. We plan to visit him sometime this winter to help him with shoveling sunshine and take in a golf tourney, but until then, he will be busy figuring out college life and roommate life in an apartment and city life all on his own. We hope to see him for Christmas where he might be able to shovel some snow. That seems like a long time away at the moment, but we all know how quickly the months go flying by.

When people ask what J's going to school to study, I say, "Golf. And he's taking some classes too." Which is the whole truth. He is truly looking forward to his classes, but he's especially looking forward to improving his golf game and seeing where it might take him.

At the grocery store today the empty-nesting began. I was stumped by how many bananas to buy. I bought just a few slices of deli meat instead of buying by the pound. I bought a small wedge of cheese instead of the industrial size. I bought a gallon of milk, like I always do, and when I got home I realized that I already had a full gallon in the fridge. Will we ever drink up that much milk by the due date? We'll have chocolate milk tonight for snacks! The grocery shopping will take some getting used to.

So, now that Hubs and I are home by ourselves, we started our empty-nesting by eating whatever we wanted to eat for supper. No proper meal, no veggies. Just cheese and crackers and apple slices for me and a sandwich and apples for him. No dishes. But I know it will be difficult setting only two plates and two cups and two forks and knives at the table in the coming days. J did leave behind a few remembrances for us.....dirty shorts and T-shirts and some dirty socks on his bedroom floor. Soon I will take to cleaning his room from top to bottom. The funny thing is, when I walked into his room, I could still smell him. It was like he never left home. (teardrop)

I feel really blessed. All our chicks are out "doing their things" and they are happy chicks, smart chicks, and chicks who have much yet to experience and to learn. I'm proud of them and I know that this is what we raised them for. To fly!

Speaking of chicks and nests and all that......Did you notice the egg picture at the top? I have had one dark brown pullet egg laid for the past three days in a row. It's always exciting when the young girls begin to lay. Yay!

Diaper bag-tote...

2011-08-17T13:34:00.005-06:00

A dear friend just had her 4th baby girl, and I wanted to do something nice for her so as I walked into The Bakery (my hometown fabric store) I asked Annie what my friend would like or need the most. Immediately she knew and said, "A diaper bag! And here's the fabric she likes." This is what I love about hometown shopping. Everybody knows everybody and the shop owners are so on-the-ball and willing to help.

My friend had chosen the red outer fabric for a diaper bag and so Annie and I chose this denim blue print for the lining. I found a freebie pattern for a roomy, hip-mama diaper bag HERE at Sew Much Ado. The tutorial was quite simple to follow and I think it made a terrific bag. The finished dimensions came out to 18"wide by 12" high by 8" deep. There are lots of pockets inside and I added a denim pocket on the outside and a key ring on the inside so she could snap her keys on it. I hate fumbling for keys in a big bag.

I made a pin-on flower for the bag and found another simple tutorial for it HERE at Sew Ritzy Titzy.

I plan to fill the pockets with little diaper bag necessities like wipes, butt paste, diapers, mommy snacks, and a paci. I'm going to the workshop to make a changing pad similar to this dish mat to slip into the bag too. Fun!

Sacred days...

2011-08-15T21:05:00.004-06:00

"I wish that life should not be cheap, but sacred,
I wish the days to be as centuries, loaded, fragrant."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

How does life become sacred, loaded and fragrant? Does it happen when we think of it all as a gift from God? Why the senses? Ears to hear, eyes to see, noses to smell, lips to taste and hands to feel. What are the sacred things that life has brought your way today? Can you name them?

Hubby's smooth-shaven face on my cheek
Monarchs fluttering through the hot summer afternoon
Earthy stench of steers moving through the working corrals
Sweat running down my back
Dust blowing.
Purple morning glories climbing the wagon wheel
Baby smiles and soft cheeks to kiss
Heady, sweet alfalfa fields in full bloom
Youngest son's voice on the phone
A bear hug
Sun-kissed, wind dried sheets
Sour cherry pie
A fresh cup of black coffee
The sound of the sprinkler spraying over parched flowers
The Milky Way and all the stars shining clear and bright
A lightning fire, and then rain poured down
Thunder rumbling, lightning flashes, cool wind and the smell of damp earth
..............................................
Now it's your turn!
...............................................
The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.
~Robert Louis Stevenson

Nursery chandelier....

2011-08-13T16:53:00.001-06:00

Only Daughter and I decided Miss Cupcake needed a little mobile above her crib and so we commenced to make something cute, funky, and fun. This is it. All we did was to staple some cardboard strips together to make the two rings. Then we wrapped them with brightly colored scrap fabric strips. After that, we made tissue paper pom poms according to Martha Steward here.

After the tissue pom poms were made, we tied them onto the rings with colored yarn and that was it! You could hang many other things from the rings, but we liked our chandelier just like this. When the fan is blowing in Cupcake's nursery, it gently moves the pom poms this way and that way, and she is happily entertained by it.

This was a very fun project to do together. I especially liked making the pom poms. I could have made a gob of them -- especially the pointy poms. I made a few smaller pom pom flowers for Cuppycake's 3 month picture. We used a bit of toothpaste to *glue* the flower to her pretty little head so it would stay. I told Only Daughter that this was how I stuck bows to her head when she was an infant with just a little hair. Our laundry basket pictures turned out fun, dontcha think?

Cuppycake 3 mos.