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.