First Post of 2019

I tell you what: that is some inspired title right there! Sometimes, all that I need to snap out of a blogging slump is to come up with a great title. This one...oh well!

The other thing that helps me snap out of a blogging slump is a great photo. I do have a photo that I love. I took very few photos on Christmas Day. I was trying to capture the grandsons...it just isn't working these days. They do not want their photos taken. Goodness knows if I will ever be able to share them again!

I don't think that my son wanted his photo taken either, but he's nicer about saying no, please put the camera down, no thank you...really, just no.

This year is the first year in a long time that I have had candles at the windows. They are still burning as I type because winter is so long in Maine that I think it will help my spirits and perhaps others' spirits as well. I know that some people keep their candles up all year long, but mine may only stay up until the first day of spring.

On foul weather days, I keep some candles on so that there is some warmth and cheer.

Today was a foul weather day...lots of rain after snow and now there is lots of ice. I understand that a bunch of us are in for foul weather in the next few days.

So that's the extent of it from my corner. I certainly hope that there is more to share next time because you are doing great chatting about interesting things. 

Still Water or This, Too, Shall Pass

As I write this on a Tuesday morning for a Wednesday morning post, it is raining a cold, gray, steady rain. Talk about a nasty April thus far. Oh well, at least it is not snow and thank God that John had the foresight (when I did not) to fill that oil tank one more time. Ever notice that the weather can often mirror life's circumstances? It feels like that around here these days. I'm in a cold, gray frame of mind.

Moving right along — this month is poetry month and so I am featuring a poem that speaks to me, though, trust me, I have not reclined on the ground any time lately. 

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the Grace of God, and am free.

~ Wendell Berry
The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
Source

Now if you check the source, you'll see that I changed things a titch because I don't feel that nature heals me, though I do feel that God created nature for me and you to enjoy. (Truth to tell, I should change it a little more to match my beliefs, but Mr. Berry's poem has been fiddled with quite enough.) 

~lacking a wood drake and hoping that a forced forsythia will do~

Even Jesus had to get away from time to time for prayer and direction. Whenever my mind slips into cold and dark, it's time for getting away or changing things up. Soon the weather will turn and the flowers will bloom and I will not concern myself with a polar vortex. I'll be busy in the garden getting that blanket of leaves off the flower beds and looking forward to all the warmth and beautiful colors. 

P.S. It just donned on me that I should have asked John to write me a poem this year as he did  *here* nearly four years ago. Oh I do love that poem! ☺

A Successful Day

She has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much; Who has enjoyed the trust of intelligent women, the respect of pure men, and the love of little children; Who has filled her niche and accomplished her task; Who has never lacked appreciation of Earth's beauty or failed to express it; Who has left the world better than she found it, whether an improved poppy, a perfect poem or a rescued soul; Who has always looked for the best in others and given them the best she had; Whose life was an inspiration; Whose memory a benediction.

~Bessie Anderson Stanley

(This quote has been feminized.)

Well now, that is lofty *thud*— and more a description of a successful life rather than a single, successful day.

So let's take it in small chunks. What do you consider a successful day? Lately, I have been calling a day successful if I get something accomplished. Preferably, lots of somethings.

 ~last Friday morning when it was warm enough to be misty~

Last Friday, I had what I now consider the most successful day of the year thus far. Please don't laugh ☺, but it was so good that I made a list:

1. stripped the bed
2. dressed
3. swept basement floor
4. pushed laundry
5. remade the bed before noon
6. did the dishes
7. cleaned the kitchen

 ~cute napkins...PW's at Wal*Mart for $4.97 a pak~

8. grocery shopped
9. gassed up the car
10. visited dentist and paid the remainder of my bill
11. visited my mother's grave, cleaned it, and binned the Christmas decor (first day the fence had not been locked)
12. delivered the large Easter cactus to my niece...a late birthday gift

13. made a nice supper
14. dishes done by 7
15. in bed by 10

ETA: To clarify, I made the list after the things were accomplished not before.

Now was that so hard? Not on Friday. Let us not discuss Saturday and Sunday, thank you.

What makes the doing and the checking off the things from my list so satisfactory? Am I more loved? (No) Does my husband pat me on the back? (No, he rarely notices; though he always compliments me on a meal.) Do I feel better about myself? (Decidedly, Yes!) I am not meant to sit too long, even if I am hurting.

And nowhere on that list did I count as important any time spent on the computer. Progress right there, my friend!

Thanks to the Polar Vortex, this week means that I must be inside doing my chores and not outside as I had hoped. Last autumn's leaves still cover the tender plants. I hope that it is enough of a blanket to get them through. Poor things!

~meant to show you the howling wind, yet all one can hear is the coffee percolating~

Hope that you are not in the dreaded PV's blast...

See you next week, The Lord willing and the PV departing. 

It's Still Winter and Old Projects to Show

 ~flag at half-mast~

~burlap and boughs~

It was winter weather then spring weather and it will probably go back and forth for a while. These are photos that I took after our recent snow and ice event. Then the rain came and took much of it away. Now I think that I need to bin the burlap and boughs because there is no snow to cover the beginning decay. It sure does smell heavenly, though.

 ~the light of longer days and higher angle is good~

***

These are two old projects that I have not shared with you before. Bet you think that I want to show you where my PW knife lives. Nah! This is all about my custom-made refrigerator topper made with painter's cloth. (It's an old lady thing.) I am not one who enjoys perpetually cleaning the top of the fridge so have always put down a towel or cloth of some sort. Trouble was that it shifted all over the place and drove me bonkers for 40 plus years of housekeeping. I am nothing if not patient. That  and a little stupid.

Finally, this idea came from somewhere, not my own head, but the actual project for my refrigerator is made up from the measurements I took. Every refrigerator is different.

Basically, one creates a topper with pockets on two sides so that magnets can be slipped in. These in turn hold down the topper about an inch from the edge of the fridge top so that it can't slip, slide away. (No, I do not do tutorials. You can figure out what I mean from pictures, I hope. If you have a question, please ask and I'll try to reply. That way, anyone can read it.)

Above you can see that the left pocket is empty and floppy because I took out the magnet to show you.

Leftover magnets from my former magnet project worked out very nicely for this refrigerator topper project.

There are many applications for this kind of project...a dryer top and a file cabinet come to mind.

This is working very well, even better than I hoped. When it was time to wash the topper, I simply removed the magnets from their pockets. No clunking and tunking through the washer and dryer that way. What do you use, if anything, on your refrigerator top?

***

The following project is the first one I did last summer after learning how to use the buttonhole maker on my sewing machine. It's a Pinterest project and makes good use of scraps or things that didn't quite turn out as in my log cabin design there in the middle. Still, it was too good to toss so I incorporated it into this.

All nice and tidy! I plan to make a few more because they are ever so much more attractive than cords on the loose or rubber bands (elastics for New Englanders).

And so the week comes full circle. I do love nice, tidy endings.
ツ

Odds and Ends 3272015

It feels as if I have done that many "odds and ends" posts. Poor you!

First up, this morning's view...

and that after a night of heavy rain! I practically leapt from my bed this morning hoping to see it all gone. Guess the joke is on me.

The rain did not work nearly as well as this did a couple of weeks ago...

~and away those bankings go~

Last night as I was putting slathering my lotion on, I noticed a cricket on the windowsill. He was on his back, poor fellow, and flailing. Oh my. He seemed to have been half-eaten. 

Know anything about that, Fioré? Hmmm... 

Anyway, I grabbed a bit of tissue, dispatched said cricket, and tossed him into the waste basket. I climbed into bed and very soon the air seemed to be filled with the pungent aroma of cricket juice. Let's just say that I spent my night dreaming strange dreams; the story lines of which would rival any of those created for The Twilight Zone. 

Recently, I found a little book of James Whitcomb Riley rhymes. One perfectly reminded me of a little snowball eater I love.

Jakob has never met a chunk of snow that he didn't like. (Just look at his expression!) And, oh yes, he is often reminded of choosing wisely. ☺ 

The text came with its own perfectly sweet illustration, I just had one of my own.

Lastly, in the odds and ends department, is a simple envelope pillow I made for my niece's birthday from one of her old t-shirts. She had been on a tour of western Europe in high school. I thought she might find it meaningful and a map makes a great graphic!

She does like it.

Thus ends #3272015...have a happy one!

Presidents' Day

Days like today feel as if all of life has slowed down to one topic—the weather! How dull. Why? Because you are probably experiencing the same thing as I—the bitter cold, the howling winds, the blowing drifts. You have only to look out your own windows for that story. Just in case I have anyone from a tropical isle reading, I'll pop in a few of my wintry photos. 

 ~neighbor's barn beyond my living room windows~

 ~the end of our drive and my neighbor's home to the northeast~

~the streets have narrowed just like blog post topics~

Ha! That photo makes me grin because the streets are not quite that narrow. If I wanted to get dressed for the occasion and had no concern for my camera in these below zero temps, I'd go out and take a photo of my own house. I don't want to get dressed and I do have concern for the camera.
***
Okay, enough of that. It is Presidents' Day after all. And I want to discuss Parson Weems. Parson who? Weems that's who. Trouble is that I can not tell the tale nearly so well as Anthony already has so I'm sending you *over there* to read the story. Just one question before you go: Did little George Washington chop down that cherry tree? Go ahead, tell me, what do you really think?

A cozy day to you!

Hi Again

~Cape Cod Soft Molasses Cookies~


Is it about time for a little kaffeeklatsch around here? I think so. (Yes, I am still taking those Duolingo German classes. Slow and steady is my motto as with most things.)
The cookies are delicious. I did make them with boys who do not enjoy a lot of spices in mind. I did use the fresh ginger, but not the dry; I did not use coffee; I did not add allspice nor black pepper and I even backed off on the cinnamon. Everything else remained the same. No matter what spice combinations you might try with these, they really are yummy. Both grands groaned seeing them in the can yesterday, though they wound up eating three each.

~*~*~

Last week, my sister sent me a surprise via email titled "A Blast from Our Past." I'll say! It was a photo of our parents that I had never seen before. I recognized the room, the wreath, even the table with the products like Maxwell House instant coffee, Bordens Dutch Chocolate, and the distinctive Good Seasons Italian dressing bottle. Also, that plate of white bread that attended meals in those days. Thankfully, we do not do that anymore. 

~the original photo~
My sister's comment was that Mom always used to hang things very high on walls. You'll be happy to know that she grew out of that. Ha! I have actually shown this very corner before, but you'd not recognize it as such. I'll pop in that photo.

~Mother's tea cup collection~

Gosh that took me about half an hour to find and it's a mess (the photo not the display), but still it shows my mother's evolution in decor. I see so many of these tea cups, which I use more than she did, but do not display en masse.

What struck me most about the photo was the very different demeanor I see in my young parents. They would have been about 24 and 29 at the time and they look happy and playful. I think this is the direct result of the photographer capturing the moment. (I am not quite sure who that photographer was, but she may well have been my mother's friend who lived in my current neighborhood then. I see her former home every single day. What a tight web we are weaving.)

I just found it interesting...

Have you ever seen a new-to-you photo of your parents that surprised you in some way?

~*~*~

I was so happy to hear from our dear  Miss Sandy at Quill Cottage. Perhaps she'll pop in and tell us her community's tornado story, but I did want you to know that she and her family are well and their properties are okay. She tells me that she has been finding debris from other properties around her home. 

There's just so much weather activity out there now. Prayer is so important.

The Deep Freeze

Coming to you live from the deep freeze. But then, who isn't in the deep freeze this week?! Anyone? Report in, won't you? The wind is either a howling freight train or a plane flying very low. This has been going on for two days and shows no sign of letting up. The gusts shake the house and rattle the windows. The sound itself is as fierce as the cold. My neighbor has lost another substantial branch of his tree and it landed like this.

We have kept cozy sitting by the fake fire. The power of suggestion! When John had turned up the furnace as far as he was willing and still felt chilled, he turned up the sound on the tv for the psychological boost of hearing crackling flames.  It seems to work! Today we can not loaf about by the fire for there are things to do and places to go. Just like Pioneer Woman who goes shopping in Tulsa (keep your eyes peeled, Okies) on the Monday before Thanksgiving, we, too, are shopping the Monday before Thanksgiving. And, though I have shopped in Tulsa before at Thanksgiving time, that has not been my reality for nearly 40 years.  Say, do you think I've been hanging out with the ancestors too long? Those Puritan stories are growing more interesting by the day...

I know that those of us in the USA are very busy this week; those everywhere else are gearing up for Christmas; those in the southern hemisphere are probably planting tomatoes or something.  Stay Warm!

Late Summer

For the man sound of body and serene of mind there is no such thing as bad weather; every day has its beauty, and storms which whip the blood do but make it pulse more vigorously. ~George Gissing

~Late Summer Mosaic~

Hmmmm... Apparently, I am not serene of mind nor sound of body. It was a foul autumn in 2012; winter was vile; it was a truly rotten spring; summer was not so great either. What does it mean when the entire year was a weather bust?

It's why I am so looking forward to autumn 2013 and hoping for better weather ahead, both figuratively and literally.

~-~

Moving on to more cheery thoughts—have you tried these? Brownie Brittle they're called and so good, if you enjoy the crunchy bits of brownies, which I do. Six of these squares equal a serving for a total of 120 calories. One might, if she were very good, get away with eating just one and it would be enough chocolate to last for a few minutes. ☺ (No, I am not being compensated in any way to say this. We just tried them and we like them. Pssttt... Brownie Brittle people, you can send a case to Vee in Maine. Thank you.)

Those wondering how the rules will shake down for the note card party should check the new rules soon to be posted on the Note Card Party page, which can be reached by clicking on either the date in my sidebar for the Note Card Party or on the button also in my sidebar. I think everyone will be happy or nearly everyone will be happy. I know that I'm happy! No, really. I am happy.

~not my house~

Leaving you with a photo of some beautiful window boxes. They're not as fine as they were in August as they are becoming a bit leggy, but still so pretty on yesterday afternoon's drive home from the apple orchard. Soon the lady of the house will be decorating for autumn with pumpkins and bittersweet...then Christmas with evergreens and pine cones, but don't let me get ahead of myself.

A marvelous new week to you...

Hot in the Country

Just in case today is as hot where you are as it is where I am...

~96F~

I thought I'd share a cool meadow with you. In fact, it is my favorite meadow and I'd love to take you walking through it, if only we didn't have to be on the lookout for things found in meadows left by cows.

~Cool and Inviting~

Doesn't it look cool and inviting? So very cool. So very inviting. Wonder where the cows are. I only found one.

~Behind the rock and to the left~

Stay cool now and have a pleasant weekend...

Another Day; Another Weather Report

The plow rumbling by on all the neighborhood streets woke me this morning and I had just enough time to catch this before he came right through the house. It always sounds that way and looks a little that way, too.

The neighborhood looks more like Christmas now in February than it did 

in December.

This time it was a pretty snow that leaves tracings on the trees and the old roofs covered.

The next photos were taken yesterday in my nieces's neighborhood. She has some lovely views.

This view always looks like Narnia and the lamp post to me.

An 1800s farmhouse with attached shed and barn. This would be my favorite view if I lived at my niece's house.

I was visiting in my niece's neighborhood to feed her cat Topie who was all over me like white on snow until I fed her. Then she lost all interest in me.

Topie's story is an interesting family one. She started out as a kitten belonging to a friend of my son's. Then my son took her and gave her to my daughter. Topie had a litter of kittens while with my daughter. (Cute story: My daughter took Topie to the Vet to be spayed and was told that Topie was expecting, but that it would be no problem. My daughter promptly packed Topie back up explaining that she didn't believe in abortion.) When the kittens were born, my daughter kept one and gave Topie to my niece. Convoluted or what?! I do love all the kitties in the family. Family cats number seven in all. My son and his family have Max and Phyllis; my daughter has Samantha, daughter of my niece's cat Topie; my sister has Talitha and Lily; and I have Fioré (who oddly enough started off with my son...obviously, he has a soft spot for cats).

Have any pet stories you wish to share?