• Summer porch days…

    June 16, 2014 / 3 Comments

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    I was awake early this morning.  With the temp in the low 60’s, I enjoyed my coffee and the sound of songbirds on the porch.  On cooler afternoons, the porch is the scene for enjoying bowls of ice cream and playing a game with the grandchildren.  Right now, it is overcast with a temp in the 80’s and the porch is the place for drying my clothes on a folding rack (my dryer is broken but the repairman is due here tomorrow).

    I love the ferns.  They remind me of walks on the mountainside in Oregon where the ferns grew wild and plentiful.  The fuchsia plant sits on a $5 red garage sale table.  It’s a thirsty plant!  What would a porch garden be without herbs and petunias?  The only problem with the herbs (sage, sweet basil, rosemary and spearmint) is they’re challenged to get enough sun on this covered porch.  We’ll see how they do.  Hopefully, I will get enough to be able to cook with them occasionally.

    My next-door-neighbor was discarding the white rocker and asked me if I would like to have it.  I was delighted.  It needs a fresh coat of paint and a cushion in the soft sage green.  I saw one at Lowe’s the other day – just need to go buy it.  The settee, blue chair and green chair all came from Lowe’s.  The outdoor rug was a good buy at Bed, Bath & Beyond.  I think I paid about $37 for it and it’s one of the larger sizes.  My daughter found the cute Dragonfly table for me at Walmart.  It was one of my Mother’s Day presents this year and I love it!

    If it stays overcast and cools down a little this afternoon, I think I will curl up on the wicker settee and continue reading the third in a wonderful series entitled Alaskan Courage by Dani Pettrey, a great new author.

    How are things on your summer porch?

     

    Sorry the pics take so long to load!

    I’m working with a new camera & photo software

    and it’s not too user friendly!

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  • Days gone by…

    June 15, 2014 / 2 Comments

    Yesterday, I traveled with my daughter and three of  her children to see a parcel of land (almost six acres) for sale.  It was the perfect afternoon to be in the country with clear blue skies overhead and a strong breeze blowing through all the trees on the property.  And there were plenty of trees:  an apple orchard, a long stand of black walnut trees, mulberry, oak, maple, large hackberry trees and an assortment of beautiful evergreens.  My daughter has been “homesteading” to some degree at their home in a suburb of Des Moines for quite some time.  She longs for land and a place to have a very large garden, chickens and maybe even dairy goats.  I come from a long line of Scottish farmers.  Maybe she inherited some of that love for the land.

    The farmhouse on the land was built in 1920 and has seen better days.  It has no central heat or air conditioning.  There is a substantial wood stove in the family room which would heat part of the house.  The hope was to be able to move the house to another part of the land and build their new home where the old house stood.  I think each of us had pictured decorating an old farmhouse!

    The beautiful setting reminded me of traveling with my parents as a child to visit aunts and uncles living in the country.  Sadly, my parents sold their farm before I was born.  I would have loved growing up in the country!  I remember visiting my Aunt Lillian and her family on a farm in Mississippi.  I loved it!  My cousins and I would pick blackberries by the train trestle.  We might have returned with a few chiggers but we also returned with big, juicy blackberries!  Aunt Lillian would make a delicious blackberry cobbler on the old wood stove.  She would also make tender huge biscuits just like Mama’s.  Perhaps they inherited their gift for cooking from my grandmother.

    The wood stove always fascinated me.  Even as a child, I wondered how she knew when the temperature was right for baking those delicious cakes, pies and biscuits.  Somehow, it seemed like magic but, even as a child, I knew it couldn’t be that simple.  I knew even then there was work involved.

    I’m a little too “old” to start homesteading now but I do admire those who are investing in their future by learning from days gone by…

    By the way, if you’re interested in enjoying food actually prepared on a wood burning stove, visit here to learn about a visit to the Living History Farms in Des Moines, Iowa, where you can do just that!  Also, here is a good article about how the cooks of yesteryear determined the temperature of their wood stove!  The wood burning stove at top was featured in Country Living.

  • Seeing is believing…

    July 1, 2013 / 5 Comments

    The condo that I live in was built in the 1980’s.  For the most part, it has been updated except for a few things – one of those thing is the bathtub which is original.  I have been able to clean it just fine with the exception of the little “circles” embedded within the bottom of the cast iron tub – circles which were probably designed for traction.   No matter what I have used – and I have tried everything – the little circles would not come totally clean.

    I “squeegee” the tile after every single shower to keep it spotless, so the bottom of the tub was driving me crazy!  I have even tried all the “homemade” cleansers.  Nothing worked.  Absolutely nothing.

    I was at the grocery store today and came across these large Mr. Clean Magic Eraser “bath scrubbers”.  I believe the price was $3.19 for two sponges.  Probably cheaper where you live – groceries and supplies are expensive here.

    When I returned home, I tried it and couldn’t believe it.  It worked!  Granted, I was using some elbow power – just as I had with all the other products – but it worked.

    The little white circles are finally clean!  😉

    Please note:  I am so NOT being paid for this endorsement!  It’s just a “public service announcement” to help anyone else faced with trying to get those little white circles clean.

    mrclean

  • Blue skies & a perfect Summer day…

    June 28, 2013 / 6 Comments

    If you could paint a picture of the perfect Summer day, today would have been it. 82 degrees. Blue skies – the absolutely perfect shade of blue. Snow white cotton clouds scattered here and about across the blue. Bright sunshine. Vivid green trees and grass. A constant breeze. It was going to be a fun day and I was up at 6:30 a.m. looking forward to it.

    I met my daughter and her four children (ages 15 – 4) at the YMCA at 9:00 a.m. They had been there since before 7:00 a.m. for my grandchildren who swim competitively to practice for two hours.  They do this each weekday morning.  They all get up at the crack of dawn!  I got into my daughter’s van and we headed to a small nearby town where she has “rented” a 40′ x 40′ garden space from a nursery there.

    I know I have mentioned my daughter’s drive and energy in previous posts, but sometimes I am amazed.  She takes care of their large (5 bedroom – 5 bathroom) home, does laundry for their family of six, cooks totally from scratch and mostly organic (think even grinding her own flour), homeschools my grandchildren (although they have taken a few classes at the local school),  maintains large flower beds all around their home, puts up homemade jams, takes care of a garden in their backyard which includes vegetables, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries AND now has a large garden space she is renting out from a nursery!  She hopes to “feed their family for a year” with all the produce.  She has purchased organic beef and pork for their freezer as well.  (I remember my Mama commenting on my energy when I was about my daughter’s age.  I confess it isn’t there anymore!)

    My daughter had spent a few days over the last couple of weeks getting the garden in shape and it looks great!  Some of the surrounding plots belonging to others – not so much!  Today, she harvested some tender ripe squash and fresh spinach to go along with their dinner tonight.

    Roses in my daughter’s flower beds…

    Flowers in the front yard…just barely past their prime.

    Raspberries in the backyard…

    Above and below:  at the 40′ x 40′ garden plot.

    All the plants were thriving and looked very healthy. 

    Part of it is that my daughter grew all of these plants from

    HEIRLOOM seeds in the basement under grow lights! 

    Part of it is this rich Midwest soil.  

    Below:  Come Autumn, there will be PUMPKINS!

     

     

    Afterwards, we drove around the small town and dropped by a few garage sales.  My 4 year old grandson scored his first bike – a bright blue and lime green bicycle that looked new for $10!  Then we stopped by the local Fareway grocery where my daughter picked up her order of organic milk. She buys something like 18 half-gallons at the time and they give her a great price!  They drink a lot of milk.  We stopped by the YMCA for me to pick up my car and then I met them at their house for a pizza lunch.

    Last stop before heading home – and by that time I was tired – was the library to pick up the books that I had on hold there.  All in all, it was the perfect Summer morning…complete with blue skies.

  • Pinterest and farmhouse sinks…

    June 27, 2013 / 5 Comments

    A while back, I was trying to explain to my daughter about Pinterest.  It’s a bit like a cyber wish list where one can categorize all the things that make your heart sing a bit.  Actually, taking a close look at someone’s Pinterest just might tell you a little bit about that person.  Pinterest is also a place to store photos of ideas and things you’d like to have in the future.  There is always a link back to the original source of the item so, no doubt, that would help sales for them.  It’s a place to keep the photos of the homes or designer items that I may never have again, but there is nothing wrong with dreaming.  It’s fun to “follow” someone else’s dream pages and have them follow yours.  Pinterest is also a terrific source for finding all sorts of tutorials, knitting and sewing ideas.  It’s like a million Sears wish books!  I think that is what Pinterest is about to me…

    Right now, this condo/apartment needs a new sink.  The homeowner is aware of the rust that has been on the backside of this expensive rental all along and, hopefully, that will be next on her agenda.  Granted, she is not going to put in my favorite type of sink but if I ever have a little cottage of my own, I would love one of these farmhouse sinks!  It puts me in mind of the classic 40’s and 50’s movies and the homes often depicted in them.  I think the copper sinks are neat, but I would still prefer the farmhouse white.  Obviously, others feel the same way about farmhouse sinks because these photos were found on Pinterest!

     

     

     

     

    By the way, there is a link to My Pinterest on the right sidebar…just scroll down a bit and feel free to follow my wish list!  I’d love that…

     

  • Just wishing…

    June 25, 2013 / 14 Comments

    Everywhere I go these days, I see puppies and dogs that I would like to have.  I am a bonafide dog lover!  I especially like larger dogs, although I do love Bernie.

    I’m not really and truly a “cat person”, but I’ve even begun to long for a Ragdoll kitten – from everything I’ve read, they’re practically a puppy!  Evidently, they are easily trained to stay off of countertops.  I want one just like the kitten on the left above with white socks!

    And while I’m dreaming about all the pets that I cannot have in my current condo situation, I would also love to have a cockatiel.  I figure we could grow old together.

    Ahhh, but this little girl below is who I really and truly would like to find in my Christmas stocking this year! 

    Just look at that sweet face.

    I would name her Emma…

    I’ve written several posts over the past few years about my longing for a dog. 

    The post below is just one of them…

    A good thing I’m honest…

    Published April 17, 2010 in My Southern Heart

     

    It has been an absolutely beautiful day today…complete with sunshine, an incredible blue sky and puffy cotton clouds.  I put my Susan Boyle CD into the player and drove the twenty-five scenic minutes into town to return some videos.  I realize the word “crowd” is relative, but as small towns go, the town was crowded.  It appeared everyone else in town had come up with some excuse or other to be out and about in the sunshine.  Since we all live with five months of rain each year, the sun should signal “go” for each of us here in this small town an hour or so from the Pacific Ocean.

    On my way back home, I stopped at the Melrose Country Store to pick up some ice cream to go with the 2 oatmeal raisin cookies and 2 chocolate chip cookies I had rationed us when I picked up Subway subs for us a few minutes earlier.  Hmmm…what is wrong with that picture?  No, don’t tell me.  As I was leaving the Melrose Country Store, two young men held the door open for me.  I smiled and said thanks and started walking to my car.

    There he was.  Big, beautiful and yellow.  He was sitting all by himself in the front seat of a red Dodge Ram dual-cab truck in the parking lot of the country store.  He had the perfect block head and I was guessing because of his size and his head that this amazing creature was male.   He looked big and powerful…and, yet, I knew he was probably a gentle bear.  A gentle, labrador retriever bear.  I stopped walking and smiled at him.  He smiled back.  I’m serious.  He was standing in the seat and wagging his tail by then.  We talked for a few minutes.  I told him that I wished he could go home with me.  He thought that was a wonderful idea.  He looked at the door handle as if to say, “well, what are you waiting for?”


    All I can say is it’s a good thing I’m honest…

     

    p.s.  Obviously, these aren’t my precious pets (yet) so all pics are courtesy of the internet.