This Old House 2 – Page 27 – Middle aged musings from farm & hearth

When the new way isn’t the best way

I’m 52 years old. That means I grew up before cell phones, before personal computers, before the term “helicopter parent” was coined. Raised in a suburb of the Big Apple, our neighborhood was our playground. On weekends we were out in the ‘hood till dinner time, then out again till the streetlights went on. If mom wanted me in, she called over the fence or rang the neighbors house in the vicinity of where we were playing. Playing!.. kickball, tag, bikes, skateboards, House Boat in our neighbors lawnmower trailer (our seating consisted of peat moss bags and we considered it luxurious).

Twelve years was the standard age to begin babysitting, and being located in an apparently fertile neighborhood, there were many charges to “sit”. My friends and I jumped right in to the babysitters pool as soon as we were of age. At fourteen I worked at the Staten Island zoo taking care of the ponies at the pony ride track. I also cleaned house for an elderly neighbor and at sixteen I waitressed at a catering hall near our home. That might sound like a lot but it wasn’t, not in that day. Most everyone I knew was doing the same and if you’re near my age or older, your story is probably similar. It was expected of us, and we liked the feeling of making our own money, playing grown-up in this little way, learning.. what it means to be responsible, to be an adult.

In elementary school I walked to and from the school with friends. I was expected to get myself there and home again, along with everyone else. I was bullied a little by a few local boys briefly, but figured out how to show them I wasn’t taking their crap. (flipped one over my shoulder, as he tried taking my hat for the 15th time. We are friends to this day) As teens we experienced a flare of racial tension at the high school and as I traveled to and from school on the public transit bus and joined a predominantly black track team, a few of those girls tried bullying me. I understood their problem with accepting me, they had experienced the ugliness of racism and it’s hard to know who to trust, so the walls go up. Eventually we found our way to a mutual respect and then a friendship. We had all figured out how to turn it around, on our own.

Here’s why I just typed all that out. There’s a trend I’m hearing and seeing in this community and it’s happening all over the country – young people having a really difficult time in their teen years with anxiety, severe depression, eating disorders, behavioral issues, substance abuse. It’s not like those are new issues, but it seems to me and a few friends I’ve discussed this with, that they are far more prevalent now than they ever were before.

My son, now 21, came to have lunch with me at the house today. I asked him what he thought about this particular issue and what he said kinda shocked me, and then made a heck of a lot of sense.

” Kids today have everything done for them. Anything goes wrong, mom or dad sweep in and take care of it. When we were in High School, how many kids actually had a job besides school? Not very many. Even in college, how many had a job? The schools are set up now in a way that if there’s any problem whatsoever, the school steps in and manages the crisis or doesn’t allow the scuffle or makes a team or award all about equal time or participation instead of earned accomplishment. So when a real life crisis comes along or a goal is hard to reach, and those factors like parent or school aren’t in the vicinity to manage it, the kid has no tools to manage it for himself. He/she doesn’t know what to do because he/she has never had to figure it out for himself. ”

He continued… “Social Media is a bad influence- most people post their very best selves, so all you see is a perfect life on the screen, not all the realities. It’s not an honest picture of real life. You’re feeling insecure about your looks or your life and you see how perfect everyone else’s life appears on the screen and it makes you feel worse about yourself. It’s also easier to bully someone if you’re not face to face. Social Media is not a great thing for young people”.

* don’t we all see older people behaving pretty badly on social media as well

BOOM.

It’s not lost on me that I have at times absolutely been a helicopter mom. Funny thing – I have always been a fierce protector of my children and despite all those efforts I have not been able to keep them from experiencing some hard realities life throws at you. Something I think I got right – they were given responsibilities and expected to pull their weight around the house and in their places of employ and at school. There were consequences if they didn’t. I’m very lucky that despite handing them those phones at a fairly young age, and admittedly because it helped me keep in touch with them and keep my own anxiety in check regarding their whereabouts, we have managed to make it through those years and into adulthood without some of the real damage this new way of being has apparently caused so many young people.

Note: Depression and Anxiety among other mental health issues is a very real thing, I’m not making light of it. I deal with anxiety myself, although thankfully it doesn’t cripple me. Genetics and environment play a role, too, and on this subject I am no expert.

What’s the answer? One thought I have – maybe the way we were raised didn’t need much fixing. Maybe doing everything for our kids is actually harming them instead of making life better than how we had it. Maybe how we had it.. was pretty darn good. As for those smartphones- well, it’s real hard to go backwards when the tool itself is so useful in so many ways. I hope we all figure it out before this next generation is ruined. Sometimes, the new way isn’t the best way..

Till soon, friends –

Ice jam and a close encounter of the very best kind

After hours of editing work at the computer yesterday, I needed to get up from the desk and out for some fresh air. Several friends and news channels were talking about the massive ice floes on the Connecticut River and the images were incredible. I grabbed my camera and drove down to what I thought would be a good reference spot…the Chester Ferry dock. This is what I found before reaching the river…

The road to the ferry dock was flooded. We’ve had extreme cold temps lately and that big, long, rolling river actually froze in places. Then we experienced milder temps and rain, which melted the snow and some of the ice, hence flood. Up and down the river, docks are under water. Some residents have had to evacuate their homes, others have been stranded in place, waiting for the water to recede.

A little info about the CT River – It’s the longest river in the New England region of the United States and is approximately 406 miles long. It runs through four US states, rising at the border with Quebec, Canada and emptying into Long Island Sound here in CT.

I gave the Jeep a job to do- drove her through that mess to see if I could get closer to water’s edge. On the other side of the flooded section of road stood a lovely couple who live on a beautiful panoramic rise above the river. The gentleman waved me through the best angle to proceed and I stopped to thank him. Noting my camera and that monstrous lens, they invited me up to take advantage of their view, and oh what a view they have. Bald eagles are regular visitors, can you imagine…

For me, our interaction amounted to much more than access to a stunning panorama. I’ve been letting world news drag me down, been feeling disheartened by the evidence of lack of empathy and the assault on humanity I see in some of our society’s response to 45’s behaviors. I took a few shots with my camera and was invited inside their home, where we talked about gardens, wildlife, wonderful books of which they have authored, good bread baking and home making. Such good and kind and generous people.. our brief encounter was soul soothing, life affirming, a huge comfort. A friend of mind calls this kind of exchange a God wink.

Indeed, this is their view across the river. For more information on Gillette Castle State Park, click HERE.

Docks and wetlands under water ….

Now, from where we were at this vantage point, the water was flowing freely without much ice. Just up river at the East Haddam Bridge, however, there is what they call an Ice Jam. The photo below was taken yesterday by another photographer ….

Ice jams occur when ice covered rivers warm up after a rain and/or snowmelt. They rise quickly and the ice breaks up in big chunks. A jam occurs where the river narrow or goes under a bridge – in this case, the East Haddam Bridge. The ice chunks accumulate and clog. This is not a frequent occurence, and in my 30-plus years in CT I don’t remember it happening before. The Coast Guard is in the process of trying to break through it to get the flow going…

After our visit I left their oasis with a lighter heart and a delicious loaf of bread. I headed up river to the bridge to see what I could see…

Just under the bridge you can see the clog line. The Goodspeed Opera House is on the right.

The blue hues in the ice make it look like gemstone, or an iguana! Fun fact (googled) – Ice only appears blue when it is sufficiently consolidated that bubbles do not interfere with the passage of light. Without the scattering effect of air bubbles, light can penetrate ice undisturbed. In ice, the absorption of light at the red end of the spectrum is six times greater than at the blue end. Thus the deeper light energy travels, the more photons from the red end of the spectrum it loses along the way. Basically, as the air bubbles are squeezed out, the ice becomes denser and bubbles are replaced by more ice crystals. This, along with other optical tricks mentioned above, makes the ice appear blue or turquoise.

Finally I stopped another mile up river at a favorite riverfront marina and dining spot.. the Blue Oar. This area is above the bridge and as of yesterday the jammed ice floe is up in the parking lot and around the seating area. Crazy.

A report from a friend says she spies large junks of ice heading downstream, hopefully evidence that the jam is clearing.

Till soon –

Frozen Cove

We had two days of 50’s temps and pouring rain for one of them, much of the previous storm’s snow gone. It was practically Tee shirt weather, I’m tellin ya! Today.. however.. we woke up to temps in the 40’s… now dipping down and shall reach the teens again.

The Mr. and I drove down to Stella, our cottage-by-the-sea, with the intention of getting a walk in around the island. When we got there, however, the wind and cold changed our minds. I did walk around with my camera to capture the beauty of this frozen world at water’s edge.

Where the water was exposed, the sun’s reflections danced like diamonds… this is not edited.. see the shapes of the sunlight on the water…. it was amazing to behold.

To give you a sense of the scope of the place… that’s me with camera out there on the little jetty off the swimming beach. Those large chunks of ice rise and fall with the tide and current and incoming waves, staying together in their jigsaw puzzle formation as they shift and bobble in the surf. Occasionally there’s a large cracking sound, so deep and loud even my half-deaf self can hear it. Truly peaceful out there today, silent but for those sounds – I breathed deep, let the cold salty air fill my lungs and let the tide of anger and fear for our Country leave me with every exhale.

Till soon, friends….

One of those ramblers

Did you watch the Golden Globes? I’m not big on award shows but this one caught my attention, because indeed, this is a year of change. Bigly and Yuge. If you read here often, you know I’m thoroughly horrified at the idea that enough of the people of this country elected such a bullying egotistical mentally unfit sociopathic self absorbed and self obsessed idiot that he actually got elected. I say this and I’m not a Republican hater – I just really believe in the importance of decency and respect in general from a world leader. I paid attention to what all the candidates had to say in 2016. I felt Dems were missing the mark on a few important issues so I was open to a Rep candidate that might speak to all the issues we have before us. As for Republicans – The old guard is showing their true colors lately. I hope “new” republicans will change the ugly face of the old in the near future.

( Note: I’ve already lost 45 supporting readers for the most part, and that’s OK, I get it…In all fairness, a lot of the reasons he was elected were legitimate.. people were tired of the same old that wasn’t working….. and it’s kind of offensive to hear someone talk about your guy or your brand as I do here. I’m kind of offended that they’re not offended, but the beauty of this country is we can all have an opinion and no one is forced to read mine.)

Some good things might come of this turmoil, though. Take that award ceremony. For one thing – women have decided after a self admitting p*ssy grabber was elected President that Enough is Enough. Look how many sleezes have been flushed out of the woodwork in recent months. The sea of black attire at the Globes was a show of support for women everywhere. The message was clear – we will not tolerate abuse, we demand equality on all fronts, once and for all. I commend the men, and there are many many truly good and decent men in this world… I commend them for standing with women on this.

Oprah’s speech- Wow. While there is some noise about her run for the Presidency in 2020 – and the Orange Scream had no more experience than she does so that’s a moot (thank you, anonymous, for the grammar correction) point, I hope she doesn’t take that idea to the mat. Why? Truly she doesn’t have the experience in the political world – I do still think that matters, even though she is far more capable of critical thinking than 45. And we all know now, what a life it is. Would you choose to live under such scrutiny? I sure wouldn’t, no matter what the perks. The meanness in our society plays a full court press in politics. It’s ugly and disheartening and after all she’s accomplished, why do that to yourself?

I wouldn’t be surprised if 45 isn’t thinking that very thing at this point in time – and his whole family, even more so… What the hell did we do? Because their lives are forever changed, and I don’t believe for one minute it’s for the better. Think of the freedoms and the ways they ran their lives under the radar in important ways before, ways in which they can’t now and never will again. After watching his outrageous behavior unbecoming of a world leader on a daily basis, I take comfort in that small piece of knowledge. He’s suffering too. For every cringeworthy tweet and speech he vomits on all of us, for every environmentally unfriendly policy change, for every white supr*macy encouraging move he makes, he deserves what he’s asked for.

Truly, he’s his own worst enemy.

By the way, I bought that book. Not that I’m going to read it – simply because it’s a vote. A vote against all the crap he’s unleashed on us all. I hope it reaches the best seller list and my little purchase is a drop in that sea – because he does pay attention to his numbers. Then again, he lies about them too.

I don’t like my blog to be about the negatives, though. We all have enough of that in our lives, why visit someone else’s site for more of it, right? Most of my posts this year will not encourage this sort of environment. Sometimes it just feels irresponsible to ignore it completely.

So let’s get up out of the swamp, shall we? Until recently I was intimidated by the thought of baking bread from scratch. Something about the active yeast, the kneading, the rising, the possibility of flopping.. it all seemed too risky. I’m a decent cook for cripes sake, so that’s a little ridiculous, no? I decided to try a recipe shared by a fellow blogger, and it came out pretty darn good. But I knew I still wasn’t getting it quite right. Then I asked another blogger friend what her tips were, as she is a master bread baker.

Her tips? Hot water used with the kind of Yeast that is kept in the fridge, even sold that way at health food stores. She also buys her flour at a local mill where there is no crap added to it… and she shared this very very simple recipe with me. Within two hours I had a delicious loaf on the counter yesterday. My guys devoured it and the house smelled delicious. I think what makes this really simple french bread extra special is the touch of honey added to the mix. Yum!

Easy Peasy French Bread

Ingredients

1½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon honey
1½ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoons Active Dry Yeast
3½ – 4½ cups flour

Instruction

Combine water, honey, salt and yeast. Let sit for 5-10 mins until there is a foam on top.
Knead in flour until no longer sticky.
Cover with a towel and let it sit for 20 mins. while preheating the oven at 400*
Cut slits in the top and bake for 15-20 mins.

I bought these little bulb vases at the grocery store yesterday – There’s a little patch in my garden just outside my kitchen sliders that contains a variety of hyacinth planted from winters past – the smell of a hyacinth is delicious, isn’t it? I do this every year when winter is it’s most ferocious to remind me that spring is coming. These bulbs will join that little gathering outside the door come spring, but for now, I have a little bloom on my kitchen window sill.

I’ve been decluttering and de Christmasing this old house while the temps have been in the single digits, feels a bit like spring cleaning, lifts the spirits.

Now that I’ve purged on this post, and I thank you for getting this far (!) it’s time to head out for barn and coop chores on this almost balmy! morning at 28 degrees.

Till soon, friends –

Frozen

Here in New England, we’re experiencing crazy cold weather. I believe the snow fall in my neighborhood was approximately 8-10 inches, but the biting cold and wind are what make it a dangerous issue. We’ve spent the last few days layering clothes, shoveling, ice bucket clearing and water refilling, and the guys have been out plowing and sanding.

The horses have their winter coats on, even the minis! Lacey and Coady have the typical very heavy winter coat, so under normal conditions they don’t need a blanket….but at -4 degrees with wind I’m not confident that they can be comfortable without them. The chickens have a cozy coop heater in their coop and the rabbit’s hutch has been fortified with lots of hay for tunneling and two horse blankets over the coop to keep out the wind.

Meanwhile, down by the sea – before the big snow storm we did a quick check of the cottage, I’m happy to report so far no “meece” encroachment. How can I properly describe the bone chilling cold inside an unheated summer cottage? Stunningly frigid, to say the least. The Cove is frozen over, although not the safe walking kind of frozen. Quite a feat with ocean water if you think about it, and a testament to just how cold it is ’round here.

That’s Horse island out in the middle of the cove – there is a house on it, no winter residents, of course. This photo was taken at sunset a few nights ago by a local photographer who captures some stunning views of local landscapes.

I understand even my Florida friends are wearing winter coats – stay warm, friends, I hope you’re safe and snug, where ever you reside. Till soon –

Snapshots from the future

With each new decade of my life, my perspective on various issues changes. Have you found this to be true as well? The things we focus on and fret over when we’re younger seem so frivolous, and the things we didn’t realize were so important, really are. Kinda makes me wish I could have sent my younger self a note or two or 100. I sit here now and wonder – if I am lucky enough to live to be 85, what notes would I send myself now?

About eleven years ago when my daughter had been lying in a hospital bed in a coma for about two weeks. I took a half hour break from searching for any signs of her coming back, the whirring of the machines, the reading of the respiration and heart rate numbers, the squeeze of a hand. I left her room in the ICU and sat on a low wall outside, watching people come and go as they bought food from the trucks parked in front of Yale in New Haven. I couldn’t ever imagine life to be “good” again for any of us. I was horrified, I was angry, I was absolutely in some form of shock. I remember my whole body feeling as if it were in fight or flight mode every second of every day. Besides the hundreds of silent prayers I recited over and over again for a restoration of my daughters health, the one recurring thought was – if only I could have a snapshot of our life five years from now… with my daughter in it, whatever that would mean.. I would be OK, we would be ok.

Thankfully, thankfully… everything would be ok in the long run. We are not exactly what we were before, but in some ways perhaps we’re better for the hard work and triumphs we’ve achieved as a result of that horrific accident.

With the Orange Scream in office, on a different level I am once again absolutely horrified at this place we have come to in our political environment. I find myself sitting on the proverbial wall looking out over the sea of people, wondering how we could have possibly elected a man with his history and temperament and wild ego to such a position of power. His latest tweets in the new year (just three days in!) are so alarming, he could be destroying a 70 year era of relative peace. That he doesn’t see how destructive his words are, that his supporters don’t see how erosive on so many levels his mentality is, well…. Once again I long to see that snapshot five years from now.

I mentioned the HBO series, Game of Thrones, in my previous post. Throughout the series, there has been a distant threat to the known world of the seven kingdoms. The threat has become more prominent as the series progressed. They are called white walkers – dead people reanimated by their ruler – the Night King. They were initially created as a means of protection by well meaning creatures, but with their numbers now in the millions, they are a significant threat. They show no emotion, they have no goals or apparent motives other than destroying what lives. They are simply a force of nature, the equivalent of a natural disaster. How many countless threats do we face in the real world, how many could we overcome through mutual cooperation? Think about it – Two big threats to all of our well being – we could collaborate to stop climate change or nuclear proliferation, which has the potential to destroy us all. This is absolutely obtainable. The problem lies in our own petty squabbles. We lose sight of the big picture as we’re consumed with our various greeds.

Right now, as season 8 is filmed for Game of Thrones, the setting is a version of this conflict where the characters will have to work past their deep-seated grudges and work together to defeat their common enemies or they’ll die. I believe we are coming to this place in our history. If you don’t think what’s going on out there is that serious, then you haven’t truly been paying attention or you’re blinded by a party affiliation, whatever that may be.

Oh, for that snapshot five years from now… or even 20.. to know that we will be OK. Not exactly what we were before, but in some ways perhaps better. I pray the good people will keep doing the hard work it will take to get us to that better place across all party lines. I’ll do my little tiny part to contribute to the betterment of our society – each salty drop of water contributes to the vast sea, after all. I hope you’ll join me in doing the same.

It’s a new year, folks. Let’s make it a good one.

Winterizing

The Mr. took this week off – gave the crew some much needed R & R – although with yesterday’s little snow fall they were back out in force shoveling and plowing – with frigid temps making layers necessary. Oh, do I know that woe – barn chores are not fun by any standards at 6 degrees F. I’ve been chiseling out ice buckets for days and the manure is frozen to the ground in the paddocks. Bleh.

When the Mr. actually takes a week off, I see a glimpse of what “retirement” will look like for him. And me. This man of mine has to be doing something almost all the time, and if he’s not doing something he’s wondering what I’m doing and what I could be doing in a more organized fashion *sigh. I’m sure I’m not alone in this dilemna… ah, but that for another day.

In between snow chores we’ve been doing some much needed clean up – moved some furniture around, cleaned out some drawers and I packed away Christmas (yes I did that already – I decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving and for me, once the holiday is done, it’s done). Our bedroom decor needed a lift, so I switched out some pictures and bought a new throw blanket and a few new pillows to put on the bed – the effect with just a few simple changes was warm and uplifting without breaking the bank. If you’re feeling a little stuck-in-a-rut during these cold winter months, take a look around your home space – declutter (!) where you can, add a little color, rearrange the furniture if that’s practical, give it a fresh perspective and you will feel refreshed yourself.

We got hooked on Game of Thrones this week too, crazy thing. It’s a little alarming, the binge watching that we’ve been doing… but we truly had NO IDEA how addictive the series can be! Have you been watching? I believe they are on season 8 this coming year. I hadn’t paid any attention to it, as we aren’t big on TV unless it’s a great series, and this particular series at first glance looked like it was all about raw nudity, vulgarity and hideous violence. Nudity doesn’t offend me but there’s an awful lot of it paired with violence, which I really hate. So I didn’t invest in watching… until this vacation week when the temps kept us in more than out. So many nuggets of wisdom, so many great actors, truly! I’m glad we figured that out.

Cold weather makes me crave comfort foods – like this Turkey chili I threw together yesterday in the big pot, my favorite pot of all, a le Crueset with many sauces, stews and soups under it’s proverbial belt. The cookware is expensive, but it’s worth saving up for a piece or two because it does such a good job with the cooking.

I don’t have a recipe to share with you – but I can tell you what I threw in the pot.

I browned ground turkey in a bit of olive oil in the pot first, then added diced onions until translucent. Then I threw in a large can of crushed tomatoes and a large can of diced tomatoes. I rinsed and drained a can of dark red kidney beans and a can of light red kidney beans and threw those in. I diced celery, added it to the mixture along with shredded carrots, and then added the spices – Chili powder, Cayene powder, two gloves garlic minced, Cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper – all to taste. The whole mixture simmered for hours on the stove – Then I served it with shredded cheddar melted in, and then sprinkled on top with a blob of sour cream for garnish. Delicious! and a big comfort on a very cold evening.

Below is a simple desert, easy to make and delicious – It was a big hit on Christmas Day – I first saw it on another blog and thought – hmm, let’s give it a go – Thank you, Raven, for the idea.

My Christmas gift from the Mr. was a super zoom lens for my Canon – These pictures were taken from the warmth and comfort of my house because it’s too darn cold to take the good camera out in the tundra. Thankfully I have a bird feeder not far from the kitchen window and was able to get these shots from that very spot, even through dirty windows 🙂

This little Junco below doesn’t look too happy with the weather ..

Either that or he’s not fond of the paparazzi…

– Karen

Time Out to Enjoy The Ride

Do you find yourself rushing through your days, sometimes out of necessity but sometimes just out of habit? Yep, me too.. stop doing that.

There was a time when I punched a clock and work hours were this time to that time with a lunch break in-between. Then I was a stay at home mom, which I adored. Now I work part time as editor of a local publication, but out of my own home, so I make my own hours. The care and keeping of this house and farm and Stella*by *the *Sea fill the other spaces. In all those phases I have kept a certain pace – and if I stopped the forward march I felt like I was slacking or falling behind, so I didn’t. Now, when you’re juggling a 9 to 5 somewhere outside the home and then have to fit the family and home care in, there’s little choice. But when there is some flexibility – for the love of all things worthy, slow the heck down. My new mantra.

Surely you’ve heard it, take time to smell the roses. The other night while I was feeding and watering and blanketing horses up on the hill, thinking of all the food prep ahead of me for the family Christmas gathering…. I almost missed the gorgeous sunset happening right behind the barn. I closed the last stall door, shut off the lights and began my hurried rush down to the house to get more “stuff” done… and noticed the golden hue reflected on the house. So I glanced backward… and stood in awe of what was before me. I took a full ten minutes to breath in the crisp winter air and behold the incredible sky and light. Our neighbor ‘s son across the street sent me a text in those moments (always with the phone in the pocket or taking pics, as you can see)… he said “Margaret and I are enjoying that sunset over your hill too”. Margaret is our 95 year old neighbor… I love that she still gets to witness those sunsets on the hill. She’s been enjoying that view you see below for many many years.

We get so busy making a life that sometimes we forget to truly live it. What are we rushing around for if we don’t get to enjoy the fruits of our labor? For me, part of living it is appreciating this gorgeous natural world we live in.

* this pic was taken just before the fresh Christmas snow we got in the nick of time.

Another blogger, Debbie, wrote about something that struck a cord with me – why she moved away from NYC and cherishes her life in the mountains of Upstate, NY. We share the same reasons we moved away from that area, both young at the time. The noise, the crowds, the traffic, the pollution. Now and then instead of getting all caught up in the “stuff I need to get done”, I try to take stock of what we’ve accomplished here and just plain enjoy the ride. I want to do more of that.

On this little farm I have what I’ve always wanted – a home for family to gather and a beloved family to fill it, fields to walk with my dogs, a small horse barn and pastures for grazing those horses I love, and heck I wouldn’t have guessed it back in the dreaming stage but I do love my chicken coop too! Who knew. The grounds outside the windows of This Old House 2 are my idea of a heavenly place to live, and I’m just so grateful for the opportunity. I’m so glad all those many years ago I stuck my adopted ancient horse in a rented horse trailer, (keeping a horse in an Urban/Suburban area like Staten Island was an experience)…. gathered all the courage I could muster and took a big leap of faith by moving to the country. I did have family supporting my decision and efforts and boy does that help.

Those leaps of faith- they may seem treacherous, daunting, foolish even!… but oh so worth it if you muster your way through. And whatever you do – where ever you find yourself – I hope you take a time out now and then, I hope you slow the pace to live your life full.

Till soon, friends –

I believe

I’d like to thank each of you who drops by this little blog space, some of you have been visiting with me here for more than seven years!.. and we’ve become good friends. While this blog’s traffic isn’t as big as it used to be, I still find the writing and sharing a rewarding experience. I also love to read about your families and traditions, your pets, your recipes, your tips and tricks and your way of life in another part of the world we live in.

Who knows.. someday when I’m gone, my children and grandchildren and maybe even greats might look over this blog to find some of my recipes or my thoughts on a subject or to reminisce about the homes we’ve lived in, the animals we’ve loved, stories of their own adventures too.

I love this time of year. Even though the chores on a small farm are greater due to the weather issues, life does slow down a little in a good way, especially at night. At This Old House we tend to hunker down in the man cave or the family room with a seasoned wood fire crackling in the fireplace. We settle in for meals together at the table and are sometimes joined by the kids and their significant others. There’s just more of that togetherness and less -out and about-.

Now that the kids have places of their own, more often than not it’s just the guy and I, and the dogs. I miss the noise of a family all living under one roof, but the quiet has it’s blessings too, and so I focus on those and look forward to the ruckus when the kids do visit. We are so very lucky that both of our children live near home.

Speaking of ruckus, our newest canine member of the family, Miss Sally – has been with us now for about six months. We absolutely adore her and she absolutely adores her bones. Sally is a crazy mix, a real Heinz 57. The best guess is Corgi, Basset, Dachshund, Tennesee Treeing Hound. All that rolled into one makes for a pretty odd looking dog – notice the shape of her little front legs – very stocky legs, but also very deformed. The vet assures us she’s not in pain and she gets around just fine – runs right along side the big dogs without a care in the world. I hope that will always be true.

Our Family room – Christmas is coming, how I love this holiday – baking and cooking and wrapping and giving, some of my favorite things to do for others. I love traditions that bring families together, things that remind us it’s not all about “those crazy men in Washington “- Do you know that is an actual Santa line from the original Miracle on 34th Street movie? Some things never change!

My wish for all – Whatever your struggles, I hope you find resolutions, peace in your heart and mind. May we all experience better health and prosperity in all it’s forms, may there be more good will and less anger among us all.

Decency Matters ….and a few more holiday recipes

Lately I’ve tried not to dive daily headfirst into the current political mess we’re all in. There’s no question the stress flares the fibromyalgia, and it’s so not worth it over something I have little control over (like zero). What I can say today is that I was so happy when I woke up a few mornings ago to the news that a pedophiliac racist bigot who so hypocritically hides behind a religion like R*y More-or-Less was sent a very clear message – Decency Matters. I want to shout out to the world so that Alabama can hear – THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALABAMA.

Onward! I’ve got all my shopping done and wrapped, been trying some new recipes too. It’s hell trying to avoid gluten at this time of year, and although I’ve given it a sincere effort, baking those favorite recipes with gluten free substitutes just.. sucks. SO… I’m making and baking as I always do, and I’m not eating it myself. Have you ANY idea how difficult that is? But I have to acknowledge my truth – while I am not a celiac, gluten makes me feel yuck and flares the fibro. *sigh.