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.

Tithing

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Since I can’t get my pictures to upload here for some reason, I will talk about tithing today. I don’t intend for this to be a theological blog or anything, but this is the way I lead my life so I will talk about it if it is important to me.

I have attended church since I was a very little girl. For my first few years, we didn’t go to any church, then one day my mother decided we really should go. She ordered us new clothes and I can still remember the day the box arrived and Mom pulled out a pretty plaid dress with a full skirt and long sashes that was for me. I was so excited. This church thing must be really important to get new clothes.

We went to a little Brethren church and my class was downstairs in the basement. I was always a shy child, but I felt welcome in this place. We all sat on little red chairs and listened to our teacher. She told us Jesus loved us. Who was this Jesus and why did he love me? He must be really nice. We went to this particular church for a few years and then switched to a Methodist church that was closer to home and I grew up in that church and was married in it.

I had some wonderful teachers while there. I remember Mrs. Dimett, Miss Neff, Miss Neff(yes, there were two Miss Neffs, sisters) Mrs. Cranor and Mr. Bane. They all taught me many things about the Bible and about God. I joined the MYF youth group and was very active in it for years and later, David and I would be the leaders of the group after we were married.

Growing up I heard about tithing. We all should give a tenth of what we make to God. It is Biblical and God expects it. That isn’t much when you think about how much our government takes from us. Not giving is really stealing from God. My Dad always said, “You can’t out give God.” I have learned that is so true. I hate to admit it, but when David and I were first married, we didn’t tithe as we should. Sure we gave to our church, but we always had bills to pay and thought we needed the money more than God. As we have grown in our faith, we now tithe regularly and I want to tell you, what my Daddy said was right. You can’t outgive God. Sometimes when I write the check for church I think to myself that we could really use the money for something, but I write it anyway in obedience. And guess what? All our bills get paid and we live very comfortably and I just don’t worry where the money is coming from anymore because I know that God will provide.

When I was growing up, people nowadays would consider us poor. I never felt poor. Maybe it was because we had all the important things in life, a family that loved us, a roof over our heads, clothes to wear and good food to eat. My parents were both hard workers and did all they could to provide for us and keep us safe. I always felt safe and loved. They tithed even though I know it must have been hard sometimes. Our aunt lived with us and she didn’t make a lot of money, but I heard her and my mother talking about tithing and my aunt believed it was so important that I am sure she did without some things to be obedient to God.

I guess what I am trying to express is that tithing is Biblical, it is necessary, it does a person good, and no matter what you think, you can never outgive God. He will provide for you.

Now we go to a Southern Baptist church(yes,we have tried many denominations) and we tithed gladly. It is the first check I write every month and we don’t miss it one bit. Try tithing and see what happens. God will bless you in more ways than you will ever know.

Here’s to tithing and being faithful. Bye.

Busy Weekend Ahead

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Whew, do you ever wonder where the days go? I get up and before I turn around it is time to go to bed. I’ve been trying to stay up later, but by ten o’clock I am tucked in with a good book and nodding off by eleven. I thought it was nine o’clock when I got up this morning although as I came down the stairs I thought it was awfully dark for nine. When I saw the clock on the stove, it was just seven. I decided I was not going to go back to bed because David and I had plans for the morning.

When David got up we went to IHOP for brunch where I got an omelet and spinach and cheese melt, yum, and then went shopping for gardening things. I got a new potato fork. Whoopie!! I won’t be digging any potatoes with it, but will use it to turn the compost pile. I’ve been wanting one for a while. Better than any jewelry. We looked for some new food for the dogs. Suddenly they are both turning up their doggie noses at the food they have been eating for years. Maybe it’s because I have spoiled them with treats and scraps in their food and when they get it plain, they don’t like it.

I got some pink phlox and hamburger at Jay C. How’s that for diversity?

Then on to Rural King. One of my favorite stores. I’d rather go there than any department store. Had to check on the baby chicks even though I won’t be getting any more for a while. The Austrolops are so pretty. There were some chicks with little white bottoms. I don’t know what kind they were, but they were so cute. Wonder if they keep their white bottom into adulthood? They would be easy to see for a predator, I would think with their shiny bottoms gleaming

We got some basil and thyme plants, a magnolia tree and fifty bags of mulch. Let the mulching begin. Will probably put down a hundred or so bags before we are done.

I love Spring and getting ready to garden. I have tomato plants growing and will plant cucumbers and pumpkins and garlic. That’s about it. Seed is so expensive anymore you can almost buy the food for what the seed costs. Last year after all the time, money and work, I only got two quarts of green beans from the garden so I am definitely not planting green beans this year. David says I am a hoarder because every time we go to the grocery I buy several cans of green beans. I like having plenty on hand and eat a lot of them myself. I can buy almost thirty cans of green beans for what a pound of green bean seeds would cost me.

I am reading a really good book right now. One I probably wouldn’t have chosen on my own, but I read about it on a blog I read and they are doing a discussion group on it. I ordered it for my Kindle and I can hardly put it down. It is about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theologian during the second world war who was one of the men who tried to assassinate Adolph Hitler. He led such an interesting life and lived out his faith during the war. He was held in prison and eventually murdered, but he also wrote many letters to his fiancée and there is a book of those I would like to read next. Not a book I would have looked at and said “Hey, I need to read that,” but I am glad it was brought to my attention.

David and I are going to our first auction this weekend. We haven’t been to one for a couple of years and have really missed it so we made a promise to ourselves we would get to one or two this year. We use to go about every weekend, but how many antiques and bric a brac can two people have? We should open an antique store ourselves. But we never get rid of anything. I am not a hoarder, I promise. You can walk through my house and I have room to store things. I just really should not buy anything else. We shall see what happens when the bidding begins!

Hope all will be well with you this weekend. Bye.

Lunch Boxes and Other Things

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I was in elementary school in the latter part of the fifties and early sixties. While we had a cafeteria at school that served wonderful, delicious meals, think cinnamon rolls and homemade mashed potatoes, sometimes I took my lunch to school.

It was always the same thing. Bologna sandwich, potato chips, maybe a banana or apple and a cookie. Mom always had homemade cookies in the cookie jar. I would buy a little carton of chocolate milk in the cafeteria. Our cafeteria always smelled so good. Most of the cooks were mothers of students in the school and they were very good cooks, let me tell you.

I took my lunch in this lunch box.

It was metal with a pull off lid and handles on the side. I saw one just like it somewhere and it was called an antique. I think my brothers and sister may have used the same lunch box.

It still has the tape on it that I wrote my name on so everyone would know whose lunch box it was.

Years later, my mother used it for something else.

For years my mother kept crayons in it and my children used the crayons when they visited. I would be willing to bet there are still a few crayons in here that I used as a child. Our family never gets rid of anything. I will pass this on to my children one day.

This is a lunch box that belonged to my husband’s grandfather. It was probably carried in the late 1800’s or early in the twentieth century.

It has it’s own built in cup.

Hot water could be put in here to keep food warm or ice to keep food cold.

A nice wooden handle to carry it.

Through the years lunch boxes have changed. In the seventies and eighties my children carried popular characters of the times lunch boxes.

Both my boys had super hero lunch boxes. I only have one of them as the other got all rusted and I threw it away. Wish I hadn’t

I do have both thermoses.

They are both the same.

My daughter carried a Strawberry Shortcake lunch box. She had Strawberry Shortcake everything. Strawberry Shortcake sheets, pajamas, pillows and most, if not all the Strawberry Shortcake dolls that came out at that time. I will have to show them to you. I still have their boxes and everything.

Getting away from lunch boxes, my garden is finally coming to life. Daffodils, rhubarb and forsythia is coming out and up and all the perennials are peeking out of the ground.

Sometimes it seems that the plants will never come up again and then the miracle happens and life is renewed. I can’t wait to make a rhubarb pie from this plant.

The chickens are thriving and have adjusted to the big house. I put them outside in their pen where they can scratch around and they love it. In a few months I should be getting some eggs. I can’t wait. This is Dorcas, or is it Beatrice? I never can tell those two apart. She is quite a little ham isn’t she?

Hope the sun is shining wherever you are. Bye.

Two Ladies

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Not much today. I just wanted to say good-bye to two ladies who affected my life in different ways.

Annette Funicello. I remember coming home from school and watching the Mickey Mouse Club before supper. It was in black and white, of course, but it was still magical. I wanted to be a mouseketeer, especially one like Annette. She was so pretty and so charming and always acted so sweet even after she became an adult. My brothers liked Annette, but for different reasons. Anyway, I watched her in all the beach blanket movies where she was the only one to wear a bathing suit while all the other girls wore bikinis. Frankie Avalon(sigh) was always her love interest. They remained friends throughout their lives.

In later years Annette got MS and wrote about it in her book “When You Wish Upon A Star.” She lived a life of dignity and style even then as she fought this terrible disease. I saw her in a made for television movie when she appeared in a wheelchair, but, you know, she was still beautiful and captivating as always. While many of the mouseketeers had problems in their lives, Annette always took the high road. She was definitely part of my childhood and she will be missed. God bless you Annette. I know you are dancing in Heaven now.

Lady Margaret Thatcher. She was a big influence on me on how I looked at the world. She was a strong leader and she really saved England. She was a good friend of Ronald Reagan, who was and will always be my all time favorite president. The world just seemed right with those two in control. I became a conservative during this time and have remained so since then. We need another Margaret Thatcher as we need another Ronald Reagan. They broke the mold when those two were born, I’m afraid.

In later years Margaret Thatcher was vilified by many for standing up for what she believed was right. A movie was made about her starring Meryl Streep which did not put her in a good light which was intended, I’m afraid. Even then, she is still looked up to by millions and today she is being lauded and praised for the way she led England in the eighties. God bless you, Mrs. Thatcher. I’d love to hear what God says to you.

Today we lost two great ladies. Bye.

Bunnies, Chicks and Little Boys

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A week of April gone already. I wish these Spring months would last longer. Why is April a short month when it is one of the prettiest of the year?

Easter came early this year. We had three of our grandsons all weekend. This is the quietest they were the whole time. Notice the smiles?!!?? Put a boy in front of a camera and you never know what will happen.

Took them to our church’s Easter egg hunt where they made crafts, ate lunch and hunted hundreds of eggs.

Four handsome men ready to go to church.

Been working on a couple of quilts. Cutting hundreds of squares for ninety blocks. I really enjoy the process. Now that it is getting warm out I am spending more time outside and not in my shop. I miss my shop when I am outside and when I am in my shop I think what I should be doing outside in the yard and garden.

David took the cover off the pool. Right now it looks like a dirty, muddy river. Hard to believe in a few weeks it will be pristine, sparkling water again.

Hard to believe this vast wasteland will be full of flowers and green grass again. Looks pretty barren right now, doesn’t it? I always think this is the ugliest time in the garden just before all the perrenials come up and brighten the landscape again. Season follows season and it never changes. Warm weather will come with scudding white clouds and bright blue skies and warm, balmy breezes. I know I am probably one of very few who thinks winter went too fast this year. I was actually glad we had one more real snow before winter bid adieu. I kind of like it when you can’t go out and can stay inside and drink hot chocolate and watch movies on television. When it is warm, I want to be outside as much as possible. My tomatoes will be ready to plant in a few weeks and then the rest of the garden and there will be no rest keeping the garden watered and free of weeds. Well, I try anyway. About July I loose all interest in weeding when it’s ninety degrees outside and the weeds are growing faster than the vegetables. I tell the vegetables to fend for themselves and go into the air conditioning.

Meanwhile the chicks are growing bigger every day. I can hand feed them now and they come running when I call them. Soon we will take them outside in their pen where they can scratch for bugs and worms in the warm earth. They are going to love it. The pen is getting rather cramped for them as they grow bigger and bigger. Sorry for the poop in the picture, but I just look at it as good fertilizer. Do you know chicken poop is high in nitrogen and is good for the garden? You have to let it “ripen” for a while before you put it on any plants as it will burn them otherwise. I have a compost pile I will put it on until it is ready to use. Chickens really are the perfect pet and animal. They demand very little attention, eat bugs, lay eggs, aerate the ground, provide fertilizer and, if you would do so, provide fried chicken for the table. My chickens are not getting eaten, but will be egg layers. Fresh eggs have yellower yolks, taste better than store bought eggs and you know they are fresh when you gather them every day. Anyone could keep a couple in a pen in their garage with very little trouble and you could have fresh eggs every day. It’s a win-win situation.

Hope you are enjoying Spring and all it has to offer. Bye

A Day Antiquing

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David had to go up to the VA hospital in Indianapolis last week to have his ears checked. They said he was good to go, so we went. Antiquing, that is. We took back roads to Noblesville where there are some really nice antique malls. We didn’t have a lot of time, but what time we had was fruitful.

I wasn’t looking for a pitcher, but this one practically jumped in my hands and said, “Please take me home.” So I did. It was a good price and I can see flowers displayed in it on Easter.

Another vintage tablecloth was found. I am pretty particular the tablecloths I bring home now because I have been collecting them for years, but this one was so vibrant and in very good condition. It doesn’t, however, fit our big, square dining table so I will have to put another tablecloth under it that fits and put it on top. I like it though. I use my tablecloths. I don’t just store them away never to see the light of day. There’s something homey about a tablecloth on a table as if something special is going to happen. Mother always had an oilcloth tablecloth on the kitchen table at home and when we had company, she got out her good tablecloths. It always made the meals more special.

Love the colors.

David is good at scoping out things I like. He came up to me and asked if I had seen the fabric and I hadn’t. Found these pretty pieces that will be going into a quilt. In fact, I have already cut into them. With good fabric going for eight to ten dollars a yard anymore, it’s nice to find a yard or two for two or three dollars.

Found this book on a half price table and since I love vintage children’s books, I decided to get it. After I got it home I was reading it and found that it had some quirky renditions of old fairytales and nursery rhymes.

Such as When The Old Woman Moved From the Shoe.

Or The Search For Bo-Peep’s Sheep.

Here’s Little Bo Peep. Hey, wouldn’t that be a good name for a chicken? Just thought of that.

Love the graphics in old children’s books. This book was published in 1937.

I feel like with the cold weather and being so busy, I have neglected the furry pets in our family. This is what meets me every time I go out the door. Belle with her rope, wanting to play. She can just about pull my arm out of the socket when she tugs it. Strong little critter. Most labs don’t have such a strong mouth.

Then there’s Bonnie who is ignoring me because I spend way too much time with the chickens and not enough with her.

This use to be Delilah, but David and I both think she looks like an eagle, so her name from now on will be Freedom. I cannot get a really good picture of her because she is always moving, but she really does look like an eagle.

White head and all.

This chick is learning to perch and I found her here yesterday. ‘I’m king of the hill!”

These are a couple of things I baked this week. Apple crunch and blackberry crunch. Sorry, but they have both been eaten. David and I are pigs, I’m afraid, when it comes to sweet stuff.

Well, hope you have better things to do than to sit around staring at chickens. Have a great day. Bye.

Spring in Indiana

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Well, did you wake up to a wintery fairy land this morning? Here we are in our first week of Spring with a beautiful snowfall in March that puts January to shame. When I was a girl, my mother listened to the radio all the time while she was working around the house. They played a different song for every month and here is March’s:

March comes in like a lion,

Old Man Winter’s gonna scram.

Spring is on the way and that’s why we say,

March goes out like a lamb.

Great things are happening all month long

on WKBV radio!

March came in like a lion this year and now it is going out like a lion so I guess that old adage isn’t working this year.

Some scenes from different windows from my house. It truly is beautiful and I kind of like it knowing we really don’t have any control over the weather and the seasons. Spring will come when it comes and Summer after and there isn’t a thing we can do about it. Last year at this time it was in the eighties, my Spring flowers had already bloomed and were almost gone and we really didn’t have a normal Spring. The days got hot fast and stayed hot for the Summer. I like this weather much better and hope Spring will come with mild weather and soft sunlit days. The flowers will bloom later and that’s all right.

This makes me so glad we left these Christmas lights up in the crabapple tree. People driving by last night got a little light in the dark snowy weather. It was so pretty. When the crabapple blooms, I will turn the lights on again at night and I know it will be beautiful with lights shining through the blossoms. .

I am going to enjoy this day. Feed the birds. Play with the pets. Do some sewing. Bake some bread. Order some plants and fabric online. Yes, it’s a good day. Hope you have a wonderful day. Bye.

Simple Pleasures

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I am a woman of simple tastes and pleasures. I am just as content with a good book and a quiet afternoon to read as I am going on a vacation to a far away exotic place. I can go anywhere in the world with a good book. I enjoy the simple home arts that are coming back now as more and more young women are staying home to raise their children and are blogging about their lives and learning from each other.

I read several blogs by young mothers and I want to tell you, there are a lot of creative and energetic young women out there raising their children, home schooling and making do with what they have. It is a joy to read many of them and I learn so much in the process. People crave a simpler time when family and home were the most important things. Simple pleasures.

Sewing is my very favorite simple pleasure. I love to sew quilts and the last week I finished sewing the tops of two of them.

I started this quilt before Valentine’s Day and I hope I will have it quilted by next Valentine’s Day. It is made from Pamkitty Love fabric which I LOVE and have bought quite a few yards of this year.

I love the vintage graphics on this fabric.

Makes me think of Valentines I got when I was a girl.

I got the border sewn on my coffee cup quilt. This was also made with Pamkitty fabric. I hope she designs some more fabric because I really love this.

You know I am never content with working on just one quilt. Here are fabric strips made from two and a half inch squares. I will need fifty-two fifty-two square strips to make a king size quilt for our bed. I am using up a lot of my old fabric. It’s fun to see all the fabric I have bought in the past years going into one quilt. This is one I will work on when I am not trying to get another one done. Get that? I do have one I am working on now and will just HAVE to buy more fabric for, but I cannot show you as it will be a gift in the future. When it is done and given away, I will show it to you. Simple pleasures. I love to make things for others.

Chickens! I promised myself I would not mention my chickens in this post, but I am breaking my promise to myself.

I bring my black lab, Bonnie, into my shop with me occasionally, and when she discovered the chickens, she couldn’t keep her eyes off them. Considering what she did to a young robin last spring, I don’t have a lot of hope she will not try to eat one of my chicks, so this is as close as I will ever let her get to them. She is mesmerized by them.

Every once in a while she will let out a whine as if to say she wants a little closer. Not in this life, Bonnie. You will not be having chicken for dinner any time soon if I have my way with it. Simple pleasures. My chicks and my dogs. They are so much fun.

A few years ago I discovered a wonderful British series on PBS.

Rosemary and Thyme. It is about two women, Nora Thyme and Rosemary Boxer, who find each other in a serendipitous way and become fast friends. I love finding friends like that. When you least expect them, they pop into your life.

Rosemary Boxer is a landscaper who works on the gardens of the wealthy. She is tiny, but spunky and has gotten herself into some dangerous situations.

Nora Thyme, played by Pam Ferris, who was Miss Trunchbull, that evil head of the school in the movie “Matilda.” She was so mean in that and very unattractive. Pam Ferris is really a pretty lady. Anyway, she plays Nora, a former policewoman who marries and becomes a homemaker. In this house.

Couldn’t you just walk through this door and set up housekeeping and be happy for life? Well, poor Nora’s philandering husband left her for a twenty-three year old “skinny tart,” as Nora called her. She was broken hearted and moved into an inn where she met Rosemary.

These two began working together in the landscaping business and what do you know? They always fall into some kind of crime they have to solve and with Nora’s background doing police work they always get their man(or woman.)

I love this series because you have mystery, crime, murder, beautiful British gardens and two intelligent women who work well together to solve the crimes. Since we got Netflix, I can now watch this any time I want. There are only twenty-three episodes. I wish there were hundreds, they are so good. Simple pleasures. A series one can watch and not have to hide your eyes for fear what you might see. It’s got all the ingredients for a show that I like.

Nora and Rosemary have just found out something surprising here. If you can get this show, you should watch it.

I will leave you with one of my chickens doing the Chicken Dance. Bye.

Juvenile Delinquents

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Before I continue writing this, I just want to say, “PEOPLE FROM CHINA and ISRAEL ARE READING MY BLOG!!!!!” I know, I know, some of you out there who have been blogging for years and get people reading from all over the world are pretty blasé about this now, but for me, I am so excited. Hi, all you people in China and Israel and the UK and Ireland and Australia who have read my post. I am so glad you found me and hope you will come back again. In fact, I love anyone who reads my post and I really love you if you leave a comment!

Okay, took care of that, and now for more chicken news. I know I am becoming quite obsessed with my chickens, but they amuse me in so many ways. I didn’t know raising chickens would be so much fun. These little girls are so cute,nosy and have true personalities.

The chicks are becoming like adolescents now with their big feet, long legs and wings that they don’t know what to do with. They preen and pick and flutter and cheep and chase each other around the cage and I just watch them laughing. Now when I open the cage, they come running. One of them has her eye out to see if she can buzz by me and get out into the real world. Juvenile delinquent. She never fails to stretch her neck and look beyond me to the great big world she sees behind my back(my shop.) I have to watch that girl. I don’t know what I would do if she got out because there are so many places to hide in my shop.

This is Phoebe. A Rhode Island Red. She is my favorite. Just don’t tell the others. She is always looking at me when I come in the shop. Scrutinizing me is more like it. I think she is trying to figure me out. I am in big trouble if she ever does. She will sit in my hand and eat and her little feet are so cold. Need to knit her some socks.

Soon, when it warms up, the girls will be moved to their coop in the back yard and will be free to wander in the garden. That will really be a shock to them after being cooped up in a dog cage for the last few weeks. Freedom!! Then I will have to worry about that big hawk that is always flying above our yard looking for food. He’s not getting one of my chickens. He had an altercation with some crows a while back. A real air battle took place above our yard as the crows attacked the hawk and sent it packing. The hawk did not give up easily. I will have to hire some crows to protect my chickens.

Been doing some yard work today. It’s so wonderful to see all the flowers poking up and some daffodils that will be open in another week or two. Maybe by Easter it will be getting pretty around here.

Hope you have a great weekend. Bye.

What do ya get?

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What do you get when you cross a can of spray paint,

an old wooden bracelet,

and a box of yellow chicks?

You get a chick bracelet or a bracelet for chicks, whichever you prefer.

When I saw the box of chicks at the store, immediately my mind said, “Mind, those would be so cute on a bracelet.” Yep, that’s how my mind works.

First I sanded the bracelet.

Then I spray painted it. That took the longest. About three days to get it covered well and dried. Then with my trusty glue gun I began to glue on chicks.