Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Lightening strikes

This weekend was quiet as usual, the machine and I were one humming along quite happily, when this thunderbolt struck the house with such force that the pins fell off their magnetic holder, the spools of thread bounced off their keepers, and the britely red, white, and pink strips of material that were to be placed in my CQ valentine hearts were dancing wildly thru the air. The source of this disturbance was echoing from the cushion on the sofa....."Do you think we can afford 40 dollars for a bee keeping seminar in Menominee in February? It is always polite to ask the keeper of the checkbook far in advance in this economic era for something out of the ordinary. As I struggled to stand up, hitting my head on the table in the process, the cushion took on the vision of my husband..and I thought I was having an hallucination. My husband is a trucker, he works anywhere from 1o to 14 hours a day, depending on delays, and on the weekends he and his two favorite buddies, the Remote, and the sofa, spend hours together listening to the taped episodes of favorite programs of the previous week, or the bloody stories of cops and robbers at the OK corral. This big, wonderful Teddy Bear, actually used my electric wheelbarrow to carry out the garbage...some 25 feet away....and He is thinking of a Hobby. Will miracles never cease to exist. He has been beaten by a chicken..the chicken won....bitten by a docile but exuberant alpaca, and told by the ER doctors to stay away from gentle creatures....and he wants to raise bees. The end result of this eye opening scenario, is I have encouraged him to take the all day seminar, the only thing that can happen is he can get stung and we find out he is allergic to bee stings.........right?

Monday, January 26, 2009


This is what I have been waking up to the last few days, at least until the temps drop to 18 below zero like this last weekend. There is so much beauty in this arena, but frankly, Being snowbound is taking it tole on my resolution to be brave and get other things done. I think that this blog will be more therapy for me then interest to others. Today, I must finish the valentine pillows for the grands, and get on to making CQ valentines to send out to special people...they are so much fun to make, and use up some of the laces I have had stashed now for years. I have decided that Crazy Quilting and applique are my projects for the year. Now that it down in writing, I must comply.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Make your own.....?

I am reading on other blogs, on how to make your own soaps, like for laundry, dishwasher, etc. Now, I have tried making regular bar soap, with the help of another, and didn't like the effect, or affect so haven't tried to again....but this sounds very interesting since I already make more items then I buy. The problem lies in getting all the ingredients, such as Fels Naphta Soap for instance. This was something my mother used many...many years ago, but I havnt seen it on the shelves in a coons age. My husband bought me a bar, a couple of years back, when I ran into the mischievous plant called poison ivy....someone said that it would help to wash the skin with that particular brand....but I haven't looked for it since. So, after I finish making the Valentines Pillows for my grand children...will post pictures....I will go on a scavenger hunt to find this particular soap. We have many Amish families in the area now....and they have a store near by, that may be my first stop. At the least it will make an interesting trip in this below zero weather we are having and break the monotony of the winter..

Saturday, January 24, 2009

A new beginning

So this is it, the beginning of an adventure, away from the comforts of easy city living, noisy streets, blaring sirens, to absolute silence....50 miles away from the largest city, 18 miles away from the nearest town, and a mile off the main road. Deep into the heart of the north woods, high on a hill, surrounded by thick woods, singing birds, and all the trappings of woodland creatures. In the months to come, we would be visited by black bears, cougars, white tailed deer, wolves, coyotes, wild turkeys, pheasants, Fischers, all new to this long time city gal, coerced by my husband to invest the last of our remaining years in the silent recognition of another world.


The next few years, I will have learned animal husbandry, put my gardening skills to use, remember and use lessons learned in the childhood days of canning and freezing, start sewing anew, go back to quilting, and using my imagination, to bring sounds and sights into the very calm, and quiet world of the country. Now on the once empty field stands a house, we built ourselves, an acre garden, sheds to house the animals, and a mile long driveway to walk for excercise to get the mail. Long cry from opening up the door to greet the mail carrier. All the knitting, sewing, weaving, spinning, crocheting lessons learned in the city, where there was easy access to all, will now be put to use. The techincal age of the computer has helped me keep my sanity, make new friends, learn new lessons, and best of all keep in touch with all the people we left behind. Gone are the days of ordering pizza to be delivered, running to the grocery store to pick up ONE item, and chatting across the fence with the neighbor next door. Now I make my own bread, run to the city maybe twice a month for a LIST of groceries, and listen to the wind blowing in the woods, which is never ending here on the hill. This is our NEW AGE.