Author Archives: Snickelfritz

About Snickelfritz

I am a wife, mother, grandmother, quilter, walker, reader, gardener, painter, knitter and Jill of many trades. I have two of the sweetest Labs and a wonderful husband who aides me in my addiction to fabric.

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We are in between the glorious springing of Spring and the last gasping breath of cold, dark Winter. Old Man Winter just does not want to leave yet. We had a beautiful day of temperatures in the seventies, then today it is cold and windy. Ugh. Don’t toy with me Mother Nature. The flowers raise their little heads timidly from the cold soil looking for a spot of sunshine. Buds on the trees are holding themselves all ready for the first sign that Spring is actually here. Don’t come out too soon, buds, or you will get burned.

Despite the gloomy weather, things brightened up the other day when the phone rang. I answered it and the voice on the other end said that I had won a prize from the shop hop we took part in a few weeks ago. Wait, no, the voice was saying DAVID had won a prize. A gift certificate worth fifty dollars and a bag of goodies. After all, he had purchased a ticket for the shop hop also. I just never expected him to be the one to win. I ran to the back door and yelled at the top of my voice, “David, you won a prize from the shop hop!”

So, a couple of day later we took a drive up to Greenwood to the Back Door to get the prize. And here is what was in the bag….

A layer cake of bright fabrics. Enough to make a quilt.

A stack of fat quarters. More bright, colorful fabrics.

This bag held everything. So cute.

It already looks embroidered, but also in the bag was….

A kit of embroidery floss should I wish to embroider the bag.

Such luscious colors.

The kit even included the needles needed.

There was also a pattern included. With the fifty dollar certificate it all added up to about one hundred dollars worth of prizes. Since David has no use for any of these things, he gifted them to me. Or I just took them. Ha. I cannot say I have never won anything. I have been pretty lucky about winning things. I have won hamburgers from a hamburger stand, a bicycle, a contest our newspaper held one year where they asked the contestants to write about their valentine. I, of course, wrote about David and he got all kinds of prizes to include a massage(which he never used) a jacket and several other things. I won another shop hop contest a year or so ago. No, I am one who can never say I have never won anything. But this prize was really nice even though I wasn’t the one who won.

This time of year the soil gets pretty muddy when it warms up and since I wear Crocs around the yard all the time, I find they are not the best to keep my feet clean and dry so I looked for some new boots. I haven’t bought outside boots for years. I always had boots when I was a little girl. I love wearing boots even though my feet cry, “Uncle!” sometimes when I wear them. I found a pair of boots I thought I would like. They needed to be easy to get on.

These are Bogs. They are ankle length and have tabs to use to pull them on. I put them on and they were so comfortable and warm also. After a while they started to feel hot so I tried to pull them off and I couldn’t. I had to wait all day until David came home to pull them off me. Our contractor had been here in the afternoon measuring for new windows and I thought about asking him to pull them off of me, but I thought he’d think I was a little weird so I didn’t. Now I will have to practice putting them on and off so that I can do it myself. Anyway, these boots should keep my feet dry and comfortable when I walk out in the mud.

I planted some flowers in a couple of hanging baskets the other day. I am so looking forward to growing things again and being outdoors most of the day. I am hoping to take up walking again as I have really let that slide this winter and my legs tell me that every time I do walk. They ache like crazy. I plan to walk an MS walk in May, so I have got to get cracking.

Hope you are seeing some Spring in your neck of the woods. Bye.

Almost Spring

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David and I made a trip to Petco and Rural King today. I must say that Rural King is one of my very favorite stores, especially this time of year. They are putting out all their garden decors, lawn fertilizers, compost, seeds, and other paraphernalia that a gardener needs. I was in seventh heaven. I found some seeds that looked interesting, we bought bedding for the chooks and the dogs and we found some compost manure for the rhubarb. Rhubarb is a heavy feeder and needs to be fertilized heavily to produce good plants. I am looking forward to some fresh rhubarb pie unlike the rhubarb pie I baked the other day from frozen rhubarb we bought at Appleworks.

It was a good, flaky crusted pie, but the rhubarb was cut into bigger pieces and didn’t smoosh down like my rhubarb does. David liked it, though, and has eaten the whole pie himself, plus the little cinnamon rolls I made from the dough.

David does have a sweet tooth(that is if they were his real teeth!)

But back to Rural King. We went to get the chicken coop bedding and they had the bedding stacked so high we couldn’t reach the top. David said we could play Jenga and hope the rest of the bags don’t come tumbling down on our heads. We found a clerk who climbed up and got two bags for us. Why do they do that?

Here are the seeds I found.

Nasturtiums or as I like to call them Nasty Turtians. Nasturtiums are edible although I have never eaten any.

Cucumbers are a must. David loves fresh from the garden cucumbers. I could take them or leave them, but I like to make him happy.

Pumpkins. Last year we grew giant pumpkins, enough to give all the grandchildren one and have a few ourselves. I’m hoping we will have good ones again this year. The chickens have been fertilizing the garden all winter.

We use to call this Indian corn, but the PC police don’t want us to use that any more so it’s called ornamental corn. If I were an Indian, I would be proud to have it called Indian corn because it is so unique and pretty, but that’s just me.

When I saw that I could grow pumpkins on a stick, well, I just had to have these seeds. I am looking forward to seeing how these turn out.

Another thing I love about Spring coming is all the seed catalogs and Spring magazines that arrive in the mail.

One of my favorite magazines. We actually took a trip and stayed at a bed and breakfast that was featured in this magazine. It was a really nice bed and breakfast, but David and I decided it wasn’t for us as the owners kept visiting with us and asking us to eat at tables with strangers who we had nothing in common with and besides we wanted to have some time to ourselves and the worst part is we were told what time to eat breakfast. We don’t like to arrange our time around someone else’s schedule when we are on vacation. Sometimes we don’t feel like eating at 8:45 or whenever we were told to eat. We did love the geese that came to the pond right outside our bedroom window and the paths through meadows we walked while we were there. I would recommend it to those who love bed and breakfasts. We are not a schedule following couple while on vacation.

One of my favorite catalogs. We have purchased several things from this company to include wind spinners. They have really nice wind spinners made of heavy duty metal. I bought a clunker of a wind spinner from Rural King last year. It doesn’t spin very well unless you have hurricane force winds.

I have my eye on these curtains for the dining room. We are replacing more windows this year in the dining room. After we get them in, I plan to repaint the room, put up new curtains as we have had the same curtains in there for over twenty years and I have my eye on this rug.

We shall see how it all comes together or if it will. Plans are made to be broken or life gets in the way. I love making plans though.

I celebrated a birthday this last week. David bought me an ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen. I was so happy. He said, “I didn’t know if you would like it or not.” Me, not like ice cream and cake? What was he thinking? I have wanted one of these for years. I told him this is exactly what I want every year from now on. I still have a piece waiting for me in the freezer. I almost hate to eat it because I will have to wait a whole year before I get another one!

One of the catalogs I get is from Yankee Candle. It’s really like a little present in the mail because several of the candles they show are scratch and sniff. Look at this chocolate bunny candle. How cute.

Marshmallow chicks candle. It’s a scratch and sniff.

Bunny cake. I am in love.

Jelly bean candle. Okay, this one is getting ordered. It smells just like jelly beans. How do they do that? Get those scents in the candles? If you come into my house, don’t be surprised to smell jelly beans soon.

Yankee candle has so many cute things. Good thing I have will power. I don’t know where I would put anything else anyway. I am not being paid to advertise Yankee Candle, I just love the company and its products.

Wildseed Farms. A company based out of Fredericksburg, Texas. They sell seed by the pound. As you can see, I have already ordered some seed from them. Laura Bush self-seeding petunias. I am going to give them a try this Summer.

A pound of zinnia seeds. Thousands of seeds that will go all over our property. You really get your money’s worth buying seed this way. This many seeds would probably cost a hundred dollars if you bought them in little packets.

I also bought an ounce of foxglove seeds. Foxgloves are biennials so I may not see flowers this year, I don’t know. Thousands of seeds in one ounce so I should have a few flowers from it.

I planted a little mini garden in a broken coffee cup. Grass seed and little birds and a bird feeder. I am loving it as it makes me know that Spring and green growing things are coming soon. Winter never lasts forever although sometimes it seems to.

I have put out my Easter bunnies early this year so that I could enjoy them longer. Easter is early this year.

I love Easter. It means so much more than bunnies and chickens at our house. We celebrate the risen Savior, Jesus Christ on that day. He died for everyone, you know. Not just Christians.

I have been studying First and Second Thessalonians in the Bible. Paul wrote to this church about many things to include the rapture. I love these two books and how they deal with sexual purity and how important it is for everyone. After all, our bodies are our temples and if God indwells within us, we should keep our bodies pure from sexual sin. I don’t think the world looks at it the same way, but it makes sense to me. There is no mincing words about it from Paul, however. Paul, who persecuted the early Christians became a different man once confronted with Jesus Christ. From that day forward he was a follower and told many thousands about the hope that is in Jesus Christ. I believe as Paul did, that Jesus is the son of God, came to earth to preach, teach and heal, died on the cross for everyone’s sins, took them upon himself. He rose the third day. Thousands saw him and after forty days he went to heaven where he is waiting for his father’s cue to come gather His church together in the clouds where we will live eternally with Him in heaven. I truly believe this with all my heart, soul and body. It makes much more sense to me than just living a few years on this planet and dying and that’s all. Life means much more than that and we all have spirits that have to go someplace.

I didn’t mean for this to be a theology lesson. It’s just who I am and what makes me who I am.

This is the next quilt I will be hand quilting. I love the old fashioned look of it.

I hope you are anticipating Spring as much as I am. When you live in a climate that changes every season, you look forward to the warmth of Spring after a cold, snowy Winter. If you live in a constantly warm climate, how wonderful for you. You didn’t have to scrape ice off your wind shield or slip and slide on icy walkways. Here’s to warm, wonderful Spring. Bye.

Snow Day

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Remember those days when you were in school and they called off school because of the snow? One year on my birthday we had a big snow and we listened to the radio eagerly waiting to see if we would be in class that day. What joy I felt when the announcer said, “No school today.” My birthday and a whole day of freedom! How wonderful. ,

When you become an adult you don’t get many snow days. You get to work one way or the other. No snow days for you.

Today I got up, made my coffee, turned on Charles Stanley on television and looked out at the snow falling down. We had gotten several inches overnight. I had prepared the Sunday school lesson for my pre–school class and we were even going to have a little party because the lesson was about a celebration in the BIble. I had bought donuts and cheddar penquins and bought special plates and balloons. I was all set. Then I got a call from one our deacons telling us no church today. I love going to church, but I must admit I felt like a kid getting out of school for the day. David came down the stairs dressed for church and I told him “no church today.”

I never have a whole Sunday off. Never. We spend most of the morning at church, go out to eat, spend a few hours at home and then back to church that night. It seemed so strange not to be going to church, but I had plans. I was going to finish a quilt I have been working on.

I had hand quilted all the blocks.

I machine quilted the border in roses and twirls and even a few little hearts.

I even loved how the back looked. I got it all quilted except for a couple of the blocks that I had missed, but I am going to quilt them tonight and then it will be done, finished, complete! I must say this has been one of my favorite quilts that I have made.

Tonight is the finale of Downton Abbey for the season. I love this show and am sorry it is ending for the season. We all have to wait until next January to see new episodes. Waaaa.

In homage to Downton Abbey I was going to dress like someone in the show. Well, kind of.

My Downton Abbey outfit. The skirt is made from Downton Abbey fabric sold at quilt shops.

I was even going to wear this hat. I love wearing hats although I don’t do it often. People always comment when I wear a hat. Hats should come back as a fashion statement, don’t you think? The women on Downton Abbey wear the most amazing hats. Even the downstairs ladies wear cute hats. I wonder what happens to all those hats and all the beautiful clothes after the show is done? What if they auctioned them off on Ebay?

I was going to carry my new purse that I finished recently.

This is the back of the purse.

Now I think wearing this outfit another time would just be an after thought. What do you think?

I have enjoyed watching the birds chowing down on their birdseed today. At one time there were at least twelve cardinals and a whole host of other birds, titmice, chickadees, juncos, doves, squirrels, sparrows, and nuthatches eating at the bird feeder. Okay, I know squirrels aren’t birds. Just checking to see if you were paying attention.

Each calmly waited its turn at the feeder.

I love mourning doves. When I hear them call it makes me think of my grandpa’s house where I first heard them. There is a mournful sound to their call, thus, their name.

The male cardinals usually don’t share their space well, but when you are hungry, all animosity goes away.

Yeah, we had a few birds at the feeder today. We filled it twice today. It’s so hard for the birds to find food with so much snow on the ground.

I love the view from all our windows. See that house? David and I tried to buy it years ago to put a quilt shop in, but it was a home that had been in the family for a long time and it wasn’t for sale. Now it sits empty until the courts decide what is to be done with it. So sad. I am afraid it will be torn down. It does need a lot of work.

It snowed all morning and then again this afternoon. By Wednesday we are suppose to be up in the high 40’s in temperatures so this won’t last long. Spring is just around the corner after all.

All the dog toys are hidden under the snow, but Belle and Molly Marshmallow found this old rope and played tug of war for quite a long time. Molly is getting so big and Belle can’t get the rope away from her like she use to.

Who has more fun than dogs?

My three girls.

Bonnie. She will be twelve this year. She spends most of her day laying like a queen on her comfy bed in my shop. She has arthritis and doesn’t play like she use to, but she is still a sweet companion.

Belle rules the roost. Molly does not get away with much. Sometimes she gets her down and lets her know who is boss. I wonder how long that will last?

Then there is Molly. Very much a pup still who likes to chew on everything. I try to direct all her energy in chasing a ball I shoot out of a plastic gun. She loves doing that.

As I say often, feed the birds during this weather. They will reward you by staying around and singing to you in the Spring.

Hope you are warm and safe where you are. Sit in a comfy chair, drink a cup of hot chocolate and get ready to watch the last glorious episode of Downton Abbey. Bye.

Okay, I watched Downton Abbey and I bawled at the end. It’s unbelievable we have to wait almost a year before we see what happens next. The best season yet. Next season promises a wedding, maybe two or three. Who knows?

Winter Then and Now

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I get up in the morning from my toasty warm bed, warmed by the heated mattress pad. I come down the stairs and turn up the thermostat to a warmer temperature. I then proceed to make a pot of coffee, listen to the news on television and start my day.

I think sometimes of how others long ago woke up on frosty mornings like today and how their day began. First they would struggle from under their multiple layers of covers ,if they were fortunate to have several blankets, and put their feet on icy floors. As they scrambled to put on their clothes, they looked out windows with frost upon them. Then they would have to put wood in the stove or the fireplace. Wood that they had spent time cutting and stacking the days and weeks before. The night before they had banked the fire so that it would still have embers in the morning to catch fire.

As their fire was beginning to burn, they would go outside to the shed where meat might be hanging and cut off some to fry in a pan. Then they would trudge through banks of snow to the chicken house to gather the eggs before they froze in their nests and bring them in for their breakfast and baking. They would fill a pot with water and put it on the stove or over the fireplace to heat. The milk would come later after they milked the cows.

Meanwhile, I have already drank a cup or two of coffee, put my toast in the toaster and taken jam out of the refrigerator. The house is becoming nice and warm and I can go about my day in comfort.

Our ancestors, meanwhile were still working on making the fire and adding wood to it to make it hotter. The warmest place in the house was directly in front of the fireplace or stove. I remember gathering around the stove on frigid winter mornings in our kitchen which was the warmest room in the house. I was blessed to have a father who had already gotten up early to make the fire so that the house would be warm for his family.

As I go through my day, I don’t worry about keeping warm as the furnace keeps pumping warm air up through the registers and my house is comfortable.

Our ancestors, however, had to bring in wood from the woodpile several times a day to keep the fire going. Part of the day was spent splitting wood and stacking it by the door. Cold foods were kept outside because there was no refrigerator. I just open a door and there is plenty of food for the day or week.

Animals had to be fed and watered as they were the family’s livelihood. Cows had to be milked, chickens fed and eggs gathered, pigs fed and bales of straw spread for beds for the animals.

I get my milk from the refrigerator and remember the times when my daddy had to go out in the cold winter mornings to milk the cows. Cows needed to be milked every day. We drank the good cow’s milk after Mother pasteurized it in the pasteurizer.

Not a day goes by in winter that I don’t think about how easy I have it compared to those who lived long before me. Roads are quickly cleared now so that people can get into their warm cars and go where they want to go. Years ago people had to harness their horses or mules and get in their wagons or sleighs to go anywhere. Roads were not cleared for them, nor did they expect them to be. We complain if the roads aren’t cleared within hours of a snow storm.

Every winter about this time, I read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book, The Long Winter. It reminds me how hard it use to be in the winter for people. Laura’s family had to heat their house with twisted straw as the long winter commenced because all the wood was gone. They had no way to get food because the train could not get through to bring supplies to their little town on the prairie. People were starving and they could not even find anything to hunt. Finally, Almanzo Wilder, Laura’s one day to be husband, and another man took out across the prairie to find a man that was rumored to have a large supply of wheat. They were to go there and bring some back for the townspeople. It was a very exciting trip they had. They made it before the next blizzard came through and saved the townspeople from starving to death.

As night draws nigh, I take a bath in a warm tub and heat my pajamas in the dryer before I put them on. Then at bed time I get back into my nicely heated bed and go to sleep.

My ancestors had to bank the fire, be sure that all the animals were in for the night. They had to haul water for their baths, heat it beforehand, and afterward they got into their icy cold beds and probably slept as soundly as I do. I am so thankful I don’t have to worry about where my heat is coming from in the morning or work so hard to get my food. I thank my ancestors for being the hardy people they were.

Think about your ancestors when you get up in these cold, winter mornings and thank God you don’t have to do all they had to do just to survive. Here’s to hardy ancestors. Bye.

Wonderful, Weathered, Wambled, Wandering,Wacky Week in Weview

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This week has been a doozy. We have been hit with snow storms and flu bugs. Blessed with grandchildren and friends. Shop hopped ”til we dropped. Suffered aches and pains. Had really weird dreams. So, let’s begin.

We started out the beginning of the last week by going on a shop hop. A shop hop is when several quilt shops get together and offer prizes and have quilt blocks you can buy at each shop to make a particular quilt that they have chosen. Two friends, David and I left on what was supposed to be a snowy day and we were not disappointed. The roads weren’t too bad until we were a few miles from home. Then we hit a very slick stretch which made me sit on the edge of the car seat until we got home.

We had fun, though, and I got a new supply of fabric I needed like a hole in my head, but, then, I do have several holes in my head, so what’s one more? Here are some of the fabrics I purchased.

I am going to make a sun dress from this. Sun? What’s sun?

Don’t know if you can see, but there are chickens on this fabric. Curtains for the chicken house maybe?

This will be the binding on a quilt I am hand quilting right now. I hope to have it completed by Summer.

A few weeks ago I bought this top for Easter and I wanted to make a skirt to go with it.

Here is the fabric I found to make the skirt. I am so happy!

The roses in the fabric match the roses on the top. A very inexpensive outfit for Easter and that makes me glad too.

I bought a few pieces of wool felt for my stash.

I found this cute pattern for a wall hanging to be made from wool and wool felt.

That little spotted hen is so adorable. Gosh, I wish I could raise baby chicks from eggs. My hens sit and sit on their eggs, but they will never hatch because there is not a rooster in sight. Do you know how warm it is under a hen? Warmer than you would think.

We love our chickens’ eggs. Had a double yolker for breakfast this morning.

We ate at a restaurant I had never eaten at before, Bagger Dave’s. They make their own sodas and everything is made fresh. I got a grilled chicken salad with mozzarella cheese and it was delicious.

We had two of our favorite people over for the night while their parents went on a much needed time out. These guys keep me on my toes. Despite the fact I have been battling a bad cold or flu bug all week, they made me forget it for a while.

I love these guys. I made the shirts they are wearing and I must say, they are almost too small already. We hadn’t seen them since Christmas and I believe they have grown a couple of inches in that time. I wish they would stop it.

We put together a puzzle, went out to eat, went to Rural King to see the baby chicks and ducks and to buy our pup some new chew toys. I am still our pup’s favorite chew toy. I wish she’d stop.

They helped me bake and ice cupcakes. They did most of the work. I just stood by and offered help. Never can learn too early how to feed yourself.

I learned more about Pokémon than I ever knew or wanted to know. I kept calling it Poky Man and they would say, “Grandma, it’s poky MON!” Some of these cards were accidently(?) dropped into the toilet. Bye, bye Pokémon cards. Reminded me of one time when our younger son had two friends over for an overnight and the next morning I found one of the boy’s clothes in the toilet. No one ever fessed up to how they got there. You never know with boys. I tell ya’.

We watched a really good movie on Netflix called Earth to Echo. We all got so engrossed in it that bedtime came and went. The ending was really good. I took the boys upstairs to bed and I think they were asleep before I got to my room. They slept all night without a peep. We all went to Sunday school the next morning. I help teach a pre-K class and the regular teacher is gone so I taught and I had the biggest class we have had for a while and on a morning after a big snow in our city. I was very pleased. I was also very under the weather. We ate lunch with our daughter’s family and then we went home and I went to bed where I had a dream that actually made me feel sick. I dreamed I had made five pies and I ate a piece from every one of them with a whole container of Cool Whip on top. I was actually nauseous when I woke up, but was so glad I hadn’t eaten all that. I told David it’s turned me off pie for a long time!

We have had snow and cold now for quite a while. I try to keep all the pets and the wild birds fed and watered. It’s a tough time for them, but we will get through.

Be sure to feed the birds. It’s hard for them to find food when the ground is covered. Bye.

My Valentine

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Valentine (val’an tin’) n. A sweetheart chosen or greeted on this day. David is my valentine. Has been ever since that day in my junior year of high school I saw him sitting at the Dairy Queen smoking a cigarette, sitting there in his leather jacket looking oh, so handsome. I started dating him soon after, was going steady in a week with his class ring and two years later we were engaged. A year after that, after he had done his military training, we were married. Here we are, forty-seven years later, and he still is the only one for me. On Valentine’s Day we are bombarded with advertisements of jewelry, flowers, strawberries, teddy bears and other things that husbands or boyfriends are suppose to buy for the woman in their lives to make them happy. Long ago I told David I did not want to be one of those women who get angry when their man doesn’t come through on Valentine’s Day with presents. I knew pretty soon in our relationship that I wasn’t with the most romantic guy in the world when he brought me a box of candy the day after Valentine’s Day. I thought it was so funny at the time and every year I have low expectations. That said, David has proven to me daily that he loves me. He shows me in so many ways.

I love Valentine’s Day because of its meaning and I love decorating for it. David indulges me in my love.

He went out and bought these pretty flowers for our dining room table.

I bought Valentine candy and cards that I like.

I made fabric hearts and filled them with candy. Then I started looking at all the things that are red in our house that make me happy.

The little iron I played with when I was a little girl. I could plug it into an outlet and it would get warm, not hot. I would stand alongside of my mother as she ironed and iron on my little ironing board.

Tootsie Roll pops. My favorite.

These will go on cupcakes I am going to bake this weekend.

My table set up for the Bible study group.

Yes, Valentine’s Day is a special day. When you can’t wait to see your husband walk through the door each day, it’s Valentine’s Day. When your husband or boyfriend completely surprises you with something so out of character for them, it’s Valentine’s Day. When you are sick and your husband brings you Sprite to drink and goes to get your medicine, it’s Valentine’s Day. When you just don’t feel like cooking one day and your husband says, “let’s go out to eat,” it’s Valentine’s Day. When it’s cold out and the chickens need to be checked on and your husband gets out in the cold to do it, it’s Valentine’s Day. When something breaks and your husband repairs it saving you both hundreds of dollars, it’s Valentine’s Day. When you are married to your true Valentine, every day it’s Valentine’s Day. Love you David. With all my heart. Here’s hoping you have a Valentine in your life. If not, be one to someone else. Bye.

Antiquing, Wood and Eggs(or AWE)

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I couldn’t think of a clever heading to this post so this is what I came up with. We have done some antiquing, mainly because I wanted to get out of the house and go somewhere besides the grocery store or church. I have to get out every few days or I will turn into a pumpkin or something.

Wood first. Many years ago when our children were young, we use to burn firewood in a wood stove in our living room to help keep our old house warm. We had an old antique furnace that I think was put in during the fifties and it wasn’t all that efficient. Earth stoves were sold back then. They were very efficient little stoves. People who had them would brag about how long they would burn with one stick of wood. Someone told us that he put a leaf in his Earth stove and it burned all night. I think he was pulling our leg. If you burn wood, you have to get it from somewhere. You either buy it by the rick or cord or you go out in the woods and cut your own. Back then we cut our own. David worked at Camp Atterbury at the time and got permission for us to cut downed trees in the camp. We had an old beat up red truck that I loved and we all piled into the front seat(we couldn’t do that today) and drove to the camp on cool Autumn days and searched for trees that had fallen down. The children would play while David cut the wood and I helped him throw it into the back of the truck. When we got the truck loaded, we brought the wood home and had to restack it again. I read somewhere once that cutting your own wood warms you three times, when you cut the wood, when you stack the wood and when you burn the wood. It’s true.

When I was growing up on the farm, we burnt wood and coal oil. There was a big black wood stove in the kitchen and it was the warmest room in the house. Getting up on a frigid winter morning and coming down from your frigid bedroom into a toasty warm kitchen smelling of coffee and food was heaven. It was a warm oasis in the wintry weather. I always felt cozy in the kitchen in the winter and Mother always had something good to eat prepared.

We cut down a big maple tree in our side yard this Autumn and David planned to split all the wood. I really thought it would take him all winter, but he finished the job this past week.

There is a lot of wood there. Our son-in-law and one of our sons plan on getting some of this and the rest we will burn in our fire pit. There are three giant pieces left that David said he will have to work on. One of them I plan to make into a garden table.

My man cut up more wood we had laying around the yard this week.

Our older son gave him this saw at Christmas and it has really come in handy. We cleaned up a lot of wood in the yard and have it neatly stacked now.

We love burning wood in our fire pit. I love the smell of burning wood and it was nice having the warmth while we worked outside. Our dogs like to lay around the fire too.

Antiquing. We took a day out and went out to eat and found a really nice antique mall in Bloomington. There was so much there and I found a few things.

Feed sacks. I don’t often buy feed sacks because I think they are a little too expensive for what you get, but I fell in love with these. I got two of the grandmother’s flower garden ones. I am thinking of making pillowcases from them.

A pretty Spring tablecloth. I already have plans for a ladies’ tea with pretty tablecloths on the tables. On our big front porch.

It’s funny, but almost a year ago to the day I bought a book by this author at another antique store.

Jessamyn West is an author who was born in Indiana and the two books of hers I have are about a Quaker family during the Civil War and afterward. Friendly Persuasion was made into a movie starring Gary Cooper. I love that movie and watch it every time it’s on tv.

Eggs. Okay, my hens are laying sporadically right now because of the cold weather, but we still are getting enough for us and some to give away. One of our hens is laying gigantic eggs and I know it’s not the biggest hen because I found an egg under her that is rather small. I wish I could find out who. She deserves some extra chicken crack( I call the chicken scratch chicken crack because they go crazy over it.) Here is the giant one compared to the regular sized egg,

They are big eggs and heavy, too. I say my chicken eggs taste like butter and they do.

Here’s to AWE. Bye.

Puppy Pugnaciousness

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We got a puppy last Summer. A tiny, sweet, cuddly, puppy. Did I say sweet? Yes, she was a darling. Did I say was? She was docile. Ahem. She was for a time. Then she began to grow. She grew and grew and suddenly she became a combative, belligerent dog, kind of like a teen-ager. She is going through the toddler, say “no” period in her life and we are having a time teaching her how to be a good puppy. She does nothing in anger or viciousness. She just turns into a Tasmanian devil at the most inappropriate time and I have the scars to prove it.

She wants to be with me constantly. I find her looking at me all the time and when she is playing with Belle, she looks at me to see if I am watching, just like a child would do. She is incredibly intelligent and I can see her trying to figure things out, like how to open the back door which she could if we didn’t keep it locked.

We got Molly a new toy yesterday. You know those guns that shoot tennis balls? Molly is loving this and it is really exercising her now. I have a sore arm from pulling the lever back to shoot the balls. Molly would run after them all day if I had the strength to continue pulling the lever. She is learning to bring a ball back so that I can shoot another one. It keeps her busy and she doesn’t jump on me while she is chasing the balls.

Molly is also getting to be a good watchdog. She sits on her lawn chair on the porch and surveys her kingdom and when she sees a stranger or our neighbor out in his yard with his dog, she lets me know it. She doesn’t sound like a puppy anymore. She has a deep, big dog bark even though she is only six months old. I can’t wait to see how big she will be or high loud her bark will be. I know no one will come in our back yard with three dogs sitting there watching them. One time years ago, a doctor who had an office next door to our house had his office broken into for drugs. The night it happened, our dogs were throwing a barking fit and I knew something was going on somewhere. I just wish I had known it was going on at the doctor’s because I would have called the police. Our house was safe since the dogs were barking. When David was in the guard and was gone or when he has to work nights, I feel safer knowing I have two dogs sitting at my door ready to greet anyone who comes near.

I love Molly to pieces. I love all three of my dogs. They are good companions, good protectors and it’s just nice having dogs. I have always had dogs and can’t imagine life without them. I know when Molly grows up, she is going to be one of the best dogs we have ever had. I have said that about every dog I have gotten, and I have never been disappointed. Bonnie will be twelve years old this year. Old for a Labrador. She still has a shiny coat, a wet nose and a wonderful disposition. She spends most of her time laying on her bed in my shop since she has arthritis, but she still can show love and is a sweetheart of a dog. Belle is my sweetheart. She has been the best dog and has walked with me for years. Neither of us have had many walks lately since I hurt my leg, but I am hoping that I will feel like taking walks again soon.

I don’t know if you have a dog or not, but for me, dogs are the perfect pet. They give love, protection and companionship you can’t get with any other animals. Hug a dog today. Bye.

Pups, Patterns, Planting and Pain

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What do all these have in common? Not much, except for the pup and pain bit. Let’s just say Molly Marshmallow and I have had a few altercations in the past few days. We are trying to teach her not to jump up on us and bite our heels as we walk and it has been a very slow process. Add to that that Molly simply loves to dash at the fence where the chickens are encaged and we are ripe for some excitement. Add to that that she slipped right by me when I opened the gate to where the chickens were and began chasing the chickens and all heck broke loose. I’m just saying. David was splitting wood up in the front yard and he said I yelled so loudly he thought I was right next to him! I mean the neighbors a quarter of a mile down the road probably heard me. Molly was dashing from chicken to chicken and she got either Penninah or Jemima down. I could just see chicken feathers, chicken heads and blood everywhere and that’s when I went into action. I happened to have a plastic bucket in my hand I was using to carry water to the chickens and I winged it at Molly with all my might. It knocked her for a loop and she went behind the compost pile to hide and that’s where David found us. Me holding Molly at bay and as I looked back, I saw the chickens nonchalantly sauntering into their other pen. I ran and shut the gate and that’s when Molly ran out. That’s also when I realize I had hurt myself somehow. I had pulled muscles in my right leg I didn’t know I had. I suddenly could barely walk or stand on my leg. I don’t remember falling ,stumbling or otherwise during the excitement, but I did something. David had to help me into the house. I was just getting over a pinched nerve I had at the back of my knee since Thanksgiving and now I am crippled again. The thing is, it feels better to walk than to sit down or lay down so maybe that is good. I will have to keep active.

Anyway, Molly seems to be a little more subdued these last couple of days. She actually sat beside me and allowed me to love on her and pet her all over without trying to bite. She really is a sweet dog and doesn’t mean any harm, but she needs to learn that her teeth are not for biting or eating chickens. And the chickens? Those dorks don’t have a care in the world and have forgotten all about it. Me, however. Pain city. This too shall pass.

” I didn’t mean to hurt you, Mom.”

Look at that sweet puppy. Wouldn’t hurt a flea. Ahem. All the dogs have learned to sit and wait for their dinner. No, they are not looking at David with adulation. They are looking at their food dishes and wishing he would hurry up and put them down. See how big Molly is getting? She is the one in the middle. I can hardly tell her from Belle from the back anymore.

The hens have been laying a little lazily lately. Alliteration. But, still, we have plenty of eggs. I made egg salad the other day. I don’t know why, but I use to think making egg salad would be hard. Here’s how easy it is.

First I boiled the eggs. Boiling eggs is easy. Let them come to a boil and then let them sit in the hot water for about twenty minutes or so. If you ever boil eggs and the yolks are green, it’s because you have boiled them too long. Put the eggs in cold water and peel them. Fresh eggs do not peel easily. If you want pretty deviled eggs, use older eggs. My eggs are always fresh. Since it didn’t matter how pretty the eggs were in this dish, I didn’t mind that they looked this way.

I take a potato masher and begin mashing.

Until the eggs are mashed finely. I add salt and pepper. Not much.

Then mix in mayonnaise(I use Miracle Whip). Stir thoroughly. I don’t like a lot of mayo in my egg salad. I want to taste the eggs. There’s a fine line between too dry egg salad and too wet egg salad, but that is up to you and what you like.

And there you have egg salad. It doesn’t last very long around here and I can go out and get fresh eggs any time and make it any time I want to. That’s the blessing of having your own chickens. I always tell people if you have chickens, you will never starve because you will always have eggs and if you raise chicks, you will always have chickens. I fixed chicken and noodles yesterday from chickens I did not know personally. My chooks will die of old age.(Or murder from a pup.)

Seed catalogs are coming in almost daily now. I’m pretty sure what I am going to plant this year. Pumpkins, tomatoes and flowers. I really don’t feel like having a big vegetable garden this year.

I get a lot of my seeds from Wildflower Farm. It’s based in Texas and sells seed by the pound. A pound of zinnia seeds goes a long way. I had zinnias planted everywhere last Summer. I also had lots of sunflowers which the goldfinches loved. I will probably plant some of those again.

I have been working on a new quilt top. I love the pattern in this one. I need to make forty-two squares. Here are just a few of them I have already made.

I call it Garden Quilt. This will do until I can plant my real garden this Spring. Bye.

Pinning a Quilt

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Back in the seventies when my babies were babies and I didn’t have much money but a lot of determination, I decided to make a quilt. There were no quilt shops all over the country. Not many books teaching quilting or magazines about quilting. There certainly were no blogs about quilting and the International Quilt Market was just a dream. The only place to get material was at the JC Penney’s or JoAnn’s fabric. I searched the library for books about quilting. My sister had been making quilts for years, but I never really paid attention to how she did it. So I began the odyssey of learning how to piece a quilt and how to put it together. Back then Better Homes and Gardens put out a craft magazine that had all kinds of crafts in it. My mother used to get it and when I got married I would get it. In one issue there were several quilt patterns. Not like in magazines today where the quilt patterns are the actual size of the pattern, no. I had to draft the quilt pattern myself from a drawing the magazine had of the quilt pieces on squares that you had to draw, each square equaling one inch and then draw the pattern. It wasn’t easy, but, like I said, I was determined. There was one pattern I especially liked called the pyramid quilt made up of triangles. I told my sister what I was going to do and like some bossy sisters are, she told me it was impossible for me to make a quilt out of all triangles. I’m the type of person that if someone tells me I can’t do something, that’s when I will do it and I proceeded to begin the quilt. I didn’t have the fabric stash I have now, so I had to find material wherever I could get it. I sponged some off my mother who had been sewing for years and had her own stash. I had material left over from sewing clothes for the children. Soon I had enough fabric to piece the quilt. I worked on the quilt every chance I got. With two small children at the time it was not easy. I finally got it pieced and it sat for years waiting to be quilted. I didn’t finish that quilt until about fifteen or twenty years later. Then I washed it and some of the fabric ran, because at that time I didn’t know you should prewash your fabrics if you don’t want them to run. I still have that quilt and love it. Fast forward to 2015 and I am still quilting with the same passion I had at the beginning. Maybe more so. I still have several quilts waiting to be completed, but I still keep starting others. I decided to get one ready to quilt this week. The one in my header.

It is a king size quilt and I had to clear out our dining room to have room to lay it out. First I had to piece the backing for it because the quilt was so large. I laid the backing wrong side up on the floor and laid the quilt batting over that. Then I spread the quilt over it all. Now came the real work. Years ago when I wanted to get a quilt ready for quilting I would put all the layers down, pin them together with straight pins and then begin to laboriously thread needles and baste the layers together. It took forever. Then, I saw a lady from Alaska on television and she safety pinned all her quilt layers together. I suddenly had an epiphany. How hard could that be??????

I got out my little tin of safety pins that I have had forever and began to pin.

Hundreds of pins later, I am finished and the quilt is ready to be quilted.

I loved the way the light and shadow played on the quilt.

Crawling around on my hands and knees putting in one pin at a time. I had entertainment while doing so. I turned on the television just for the noise until I saw the movie that was on. One of my all time favorite movies, The Big Country, starring two of my all time favorite stars.

Gregory Peck. Swoon. He was at his most handsome in this movie. I have always loved his movies. One of my favorites of his is called Duel in the Sun. Omigosh, he was handsome in that one. He was handsome until the day he died. He was in my town one time and I missed him! He and his wife were just passing through and stopped at our local old fashion ice cream parlor that is known world wide, Zaharakos. People come from all over to see it. Anyway, Gregory Peck was there one time and oh, how I wish I could have seen him. Loretta Lynn, the country western singer,had quite the crush on Mr. Peck and one time she got to meet him and she acted like a bashful teen-ager with her idol. I would probably have acted that way too. There was just something about him.

Charlton Heston. Swoon again. I loved every movie I ever saw him in. Remember Soylent Green and the very first Planet of the Apes? He made good movies all his life from being Moses in The Ten Commandments to Ben Hur. I remember I went to see Ben Hur at our local movie theater with my sixth grade class. We sat up in the balcony. All us girls got all dressed up and felt so grownup going to a movie without our parents. My friend and I got in trouble for talking too much and the usher told us to be quiet. I still remember the movie and the chariot race, but I think we giggled and talked through the entire movie. You know, I was one of those kids you don’t want to sit near in a movie? Funny story. One time I went to a movie and there were girls just talking constantly behind me so I sat up very tall so that they could not see around me. One of the girls tapped me on the shoulder and told me she couldn’t see. I told her I couldn’t hear and that if they would stop talking, I would sit down in my seat. They were quiet the rest of the movie. Maybe you might try that next time you have a talker behind you.

Chuck Conners played kind of a bad boy in this movie. I use to watch him in Rifleman on television years ago. I had a crush on the boy who played his son. Can’t remember his name though.

Burl Ives. Known for playing his guitar and singing. He had a unique voice. He played a poor rancher fighting for the water rights to the Big Muddy River against a rich rancher. Suffice it to say, their families did not get along.

Jean Simmons at her prettiest as the love interest for Gregory Peck’s character. The last time I saw her in a movie she played a quilter in How to Make an American Quilt. She was still a pretty lady.

The movie ends with Gregory Peck and Jean Simmons looking out at their big country. The ranch they both loved. I love the west. It does seem like a big country in many places. It’s called the Big Sky country for a reason too. The sky just looks bigger out there. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie once again. Even the music makes one think of the west.

I said I was not going to bake for a while after Christmas and it has been almost three weeks since. I saw this recipe for Morning Buns in my Midwest Living magazine. It has twelve pats of butter in the dough, butter in the muffin cups and you spread butter over the dough once you roll it out. Each bun has over 500 calories so you have eaten one fourth of your calories for the day when you eat one, but oh, they are worth it.