This Old House 2 – Page 94 – Middle aged musings from farm & hearth

Blue Moon

One of my favorite shoreline stores is Blue Moon Gallery in Guilford, CT. I doubt there is a soul on this planet with an artistic or spiritual or humorous bent that couldn’t find 100 things to love in that shop. The Mr. gave me a gift certificate for Christmas and today I spent it. Here are some of my new treasures…

SERIOUSLY!!!…..

This is a Raku guardian angel, no bigger than your thumb.

You tell her your worries and fears and she works them for you,

while you leave them with her and go live your life joyously and pursue your goals..

I have no one to give this card to at this very moment…

however I couldn’t pass it up.

Weather Weary

Do any of you live in a part of the world where you have the distinct impression that the weather is perfect just about all the time? I’ve heard that San Deigo, CA has perfect weather. I have no idea if that’s true, but right now I’d like to give it a try.

It’s currently bitingly cold and windy here in CT, and all that snow we got a week ago has melted a little, and hardened into crusty slippery stuff. I’ve been browsing the seeds catalogues and decided to place an order yesterday… this year I’m trying a few new varieties. The Mr. has placed an order for his vegetables with an organic seed company out of Italy.. .click here http://www.growitalian.com/categories/Organic-Seeds/

Burpee is my resource for these beauties below…

Purple Dragon Carrots

Italian Ice tomatoes

and for my flower beds…three varieties of Zinnia.

I have found that Zinnia is such an easy flower to grow,

great for cutting, prolific, and blooms all summer long

with very little effort from me.

Queen Red Lime

(My favorite)

Senora

State Fair mix

I’m going to make a Sunflower wall against the back of the garden this year too

These are Coconut Ice…

Hard to believe, but just four months from now,

it’ll be looking more like this around here…

Amen.

Barn Charm

We took a drive to Pomfret, CT today…

a beautiful town lined with big old homes,

oh so many fields..

and barns of faded glory.

How I wish I had brought my “real” camera.

I shall return.

This and That

We’re still snow covered, but it’s all just part of the scenery now.

Had a few more inches the other night, just enough to pretty up the dirty snow.

That’s do-able.

The middle hay field…

Right here is where I stand on a warm summers day

to catch the occasional ocean breezes, which come from the right of this picture…

or the smell of fresh cut hay when it’s harvest time.

Two of my favorite scents – if only they could be bottled.

The girls are not fond of the snow,

puts a damper on their free roaming ways…

but they’re still laying eggs, thanks to the red flood lamp I have in their coop.

Hens like a certain amount of daylight for laying.

Keeping them warm helps too.

My chickens eat very well too – they get their normal balanced feed,

and also table scraps – like pasta (they LOVE spaghetti) and oatmeal

and yogurt, cottage cheese, grapes, strawberries,

and whatever else is starting to wilt in the refrigerator.

A few simple changes have made our bedroom

alittle less wintry.. I needed some LIGHTNESS..

I don’t ordinarily decorate with blue accents..

but this hue, almost a robins egg, was calling to me.

Scratches and chips add to the charm, don’t you think?

Just a glance in her direction, and the tail begins to wag…always.

On my nightstand – The Thirteenth Tale – a great read – thanks Kate.

I did try those two recipes in the previous post…

they are awesome! Give them a try if you’re looking for something healthy and delicious.

It’s a new day, people. Make it a good one.

Sharing the Love

Normally on Valentines Day I make a big chocolate cake or big fluffy cupcakes for the family. Heart shaped cookies and chocolate hearts too…. This year, slowly but surely, I’m making changes. We’ve all been more conscious of healthy eating recently, even my almost 17 year old son. SO.. there will be no chocolate cake after dinner tomorrow night. I do have heart shaped cookies on the counter and there’s also a smattering of dark chocolate hearts (good for you in moderation, don’t ya know.)

Dinner this week will also be more health conscious recipes… these two links below are on the menu, as long as I can find the ingredients at the grocery store. (Still no school today due to snow removal efforts!)

Buffalo Chicken Salad
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/buffalo_chicken_salad.html

Italian Wedding Soup
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/italian_wedding_soup.html

Two of my dear blog friends are in need of prayer and encouraging words. If you’re so enclined, visit their blogs and leave a comment – share some love, some light, some encouragement …

Vicky

Ms. A

Do you plan anything special for Valentines Day?

I’m not big on the grand displays of romance,

not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But I do take the opportunity to do just a little decorating

and show my husband and kids in little ways that I love them.

On display at the breakfast table on V-day morning, I have always gotten the kids

each a new bathing suit and a big box of chocolates.

The bathing suit was a reminder that these grey New England winter days

would soon morph into Spring and then Summer.

Now that they are older, they want to pick out their own bathing suits,

and so I find fun T-shirts instead.

The husband loves chocolate dipped oreos and that chocolate cake! ,

but this year he’s getting a T-shirt too 🙂

I’m showing myself the love by eating better and exercising more.

The best gifts a girl can receive? … good health …and self acceptance.

Self appreciation, self love.

and I don’t mean that in a narcissistic way.

That’s been a work in progress for me.

I have decided to stick with love.

Hate is too great a burden to bear.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let us always meet each other with smile,

for the smile is the beginning of love.

Mother Teresa

Can miles truly separate you from friends…

If you want to be with someone you love, aren’t you already there?

Richard Bach

Are we having fun yet?

Day before yesterday – sun shining on three feet of snow.. beautiful!

But a heck of a lot of work to do.

Shoreline town where I go grocery shopping..

the Boston Post Road (Route 1)

This is day two after the storm… still much snow removal to be done.

The back of the house is at the bottom of the hill…

the yard is hip deep.

This is hip deep snow in the fields.

Then .. yesterday.. the rain.

and Fog.

and Slush.

This is the same Boston Post Road yesterday.. still a slush puddle.

Today, the sun is shining, it’s 40 degrees out there and

we’ve got a serious mess of melting snow.

I’ve been back to the grocery store every day

because I’ve had a lot of men to feed through their various shifts of

snow removal and thawing out . The stores are running out of “stuff”.

I love my JEEP.

No trouble getting around at all.

The schools are still closed, as are the libraries and any other parking lots

that haven’t been plowed out yet. No place to put the snow!

Ben has thrown up three times after going out to romp in the snow..

he eats too much of it and then comes in and pukes up breakfast.

His bed has been washed three times now…an old queen mattress

Three times in three days.

Do you know how big a pile of puke is when it comes out of a Dane?

three times.

three.

My father’s carport collapsed on his car due to heavy weight of wet snow last night.

Guess who had to stop snow removal operations to go try to pull it out.

I just got word as I am typing this post that his car is OK, just the carport is a goner.

That’s actually pretty great news.

My husband is in an -AWESOME – mood.

I snapped this picture of a truly joy filled smile.

There are angels singing in the background…
take my word for it.

Just moments before, I may have been

cursing under my breath and kicking tires

while trying to get the gator unstuck from the muck

after attempting to clean the barnyard up.

I really really didn’t want to

have to call my spouse to ask for assistance….again.

I did get it unstuck …

and I might have even genuflected to the powers that be

upon freeing the beast.

The forecast? Cold again… and …

*.*.* SNOW *.*.*

awesome.

Ritzy Rolos & Horrible dresses

Simply place ritz crackers on a cookie sheet, and top each one with a Rolo candy. Place in an oven at 350º. Remove when Rolos are melted and top with a second Ritz. Let cool to harden, and eat them by the handfuls.

– Sinful, but so easy good.
——————————————————————————————————-

I don’t watch alot of TV, and not often awards shows.

Last night I did catch some of the Grammys…

and I found some of the dresses pretty awful.

Surprising.. because these people have the money and the “staff”

to get this right. Maybe I’m too stuffy.

I love Adele!

This is just awful…as if Mary Poppins threw it up like a hairball.

That topknot would give anyone a headache, I give Jennifer credit.

The dress?…Just weird.

Reminds me of those flashdance sweatshirts with one shoulder cut out

that we used to wear in HS..

The 20 something year age difference? … well, she looks stellar for her age,

but girlfriend, that’s gonna be real tough pretty soon, just ask Demi Moore.

Miranda…

Who told her she looks fabulous in this dress, I want to know….

She’s beautiful, she had a gorgeous figure flattering black gown on

just an hour before… but she’s not a small girl…

THIS.. just threw her under the bus.

Shame on her people.

Kimbras dress… I loved it and I hated it.

THe little mermaid meets tinkerbell?

And she had a hard time walking in it…

But it was also beautiful in an ethereal way.

Her genuine joy in winning the award was evident,

always nice to see.

So what do you think?

Love em or hate em?

It’s all good –

I am woman, hear me roar!

The boys left early this morning to get more snow removal accomplished… our parents are still not plowed out. Neither are some of the many roads in this area, and I-95 was still unplowed as of last night, hard to believe. That left me staring wistfully at the snowbound gator up at the barn this morning.. my much-needed manure removal system. I said .. self? Suck it up. Get the snow shovel and git er dun. I want you to say that just as I typed it, with emphasis 🙂

So, I shoveled out the gator, only to shovel sh-t.

The great news here is… the girlchild showed up right about this time

and shoveled the sh-t for me.

White, but with SUN!

You can see the difference between this morning (earlier post) and this afternoon – the storm has let up and blown away. I suspect we’ll be cleaning it up for days to come though. No one allowed on the roads but emergency vehicles and plows… Looks like we ended up with 36 inches in flat areas and four foot snowdrifts where the wind kicked in.

Has a chicken coop ever looked more beautiful, I ask you?