A Very Nostalgic Christmas!

 Hello dear friends!  Keeping warm?  We keep going from snowy days and spring-like days.  Today it's cold, about sixteen degrees, and windy, so I thought it would be a good day to sit here by the fire and write a post.

And yes, I did put out my vintage bottle brush trees on our first snow day, but I didn't have room for my reindeer herd this year.  And I did listen to Snowfall but not by Doris, instead by Tony Bennett (his rendition was not so good).

Snow always makes me nostalgic for Christmases of the past.  This year I decided to be kind to myself and just keep things simple.  I've been reliving my youth. I even watched a rerun of a Christmas soap opera episode (Ryan's Hope).  Funny that such a thing would bring me so much pleasure, but I don't take myself too seriously. Gosh!  Remember when people got dressed up just to go to a relative's home for a Christmas party?  I've been trying to think when was the last time I needed an evening gown, or any sort of dressy clothes for that matter.  Does anyone wear them anymore, except for being a bridesmaid or a mother of the bride or groom? 

Anyway, my trip down memory lane started when I discovered a skein of red and green Kresge brand yarn at the thrift store.  How many mittens, scarves and slippers have I knitted with that back in the 60s?  I had to sit right down and knit myself a pair of Christmas slippers.

It's not a very good picture.  It's hard to take a picture of one's own feet.  I used a knitting pattern from a vintage booklet, but I would have preferred to use the pattern I wrote about here.  These slip around on my feet too much.  Oh well!  They are fun to wear during the month of December.

Another treasure I uncovered was an apron made from the old Cranston Christmas  fabric that was so popular in the seventies and eighties.  What was even more remarkable was that I had a piece of the companion print in my stash!  Just enough  fabric to be repurposed into making a small charm quilt for the back of the loveseat. I edged it with some red jumbo rickrack (another thrift store find) to give it a sort of vintage postcard look.

I love those old fabrics that came in flat packs and were sold at the Ben Franklins and Woolworths.  How much  fun it was to choose some for an apron to make for mother or grandma. We were busy making a lot of gifts back when.  Christmas consisted of making presents and practice for plays and choir at church and school, with a good bit of ice skating and caroling thrown in for good measure.  It was a busy, happy time.

  BTW, see that little needlepoint pillow?  I picked up the unfinished piece at a garage sale probably a decade ago with the intention of "doing something" with it.   One of my weaknesses is that I'm always adopting other's orphan projects.  Well anyway, I finally got around to making it into a pillow.  Must have taken me about one-half hour.  Should  have done it years ago.

I've kept gift-giving simple this year.  The only cookie I baked was our traditional eggnog logs and a small tin of fudge , those, along with several pounds of coffee (we are all major coffee drinkers) and a jigsaw puzzle were packaged and sent off to the children and grandchildren before we could be tempted by the goodies.

Recipe

One of my fondest Christmas memories was how excited my dad would get when the  dime store got their first shipment of Christmas candy in.  My sister Suzy worked there and would excitedly announce to my father that the candy had arrived.  Oh, the many little white bags of various goodies he'd come home with; maple drops, divinity, chocolate stars and my favorite, seafoam! (Doesn't candy taste better when it is scooped into little white bags at a candy counter rather than coming in a package?) It's one of those things that is going the way of snow chains and skating on the pond, I'm afraid.  I did find some at a Polish market, but they wanted something like $20 a pound for it!  I might be nostalgic for the past, but not that much!  I  remembered that I used to make my own and had the recipe "somewhere".  Well, the old receipt book to the rescue again!  The receipt book is  my own little hard-times cookbook. It is getting so old that many of the recipes are fading into oblivion.  One of the reasons I write this blog is to record all those old recipes before they vanish from the pages forever.  So  anyway, here's the  recipe.  

Seafoam Candy

1 C. sugar

1C. corn syrup

1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

 Using a heavy large pot, boil until mixture reaches the hard crack stage on a candy thermometer (I use the old-fashioned method of dropping a bit into a cup of cold water, it should form a hard ball immediately when dropped into the water.

Immediately remove from heat and stir in:

1 Tbsp. baking soda

Mixture will foam and expand (that's why you need a bigger pot then you may think).

Working quickly, stir in the baking soda until combined and pour immediately into a buttered loaf pan.  Allow to cool and turn out your "loaf" onto a cutting board and break into pieces.

Melt two packages of chocolate chips in a double boiler and dip the pieces.  With the leftover chocolate I stir in nuts or coconut and drop onto waxed paper. Or spread the remaining chocolate on some waxed paper, allow to cool and break it into chunks to be used for chocolate chunk cookies at a later date.

This is so much better than the kind you get in the stores.  It melts in your mouth and almost tastes buttery.

So that's what I've been up to since I last wrote.  Many days you will find me sitting before the fire listening to old Christmas instrumentals and knitting or stitching.  I only leave the house  one day out of the week and that is just to the neighboring town to buy milk for Blackie our cat (he's very spoiled) and tangerines.  Everything I could want is contained in my own little dear home. Choose everyday to take joy dear friends!

Hugs

Jane

Elemental Things

 

I have found such joy in simple things; A plain clean room, a nut-brown loaf of bread, a cup of milk, a kettle as it sings, the shelter of a room above my head, and a leaf-laced square along the floor, where yellow sunlight glimmers through the door.

I have found such  joy in things that fill my quiet days; a  curtain's blowing grace, a potted plant upon my windowsill,  a rose, fresh-cut and placed within a vase, a table cleared, a lamp beside a chair, and books I  long have loved beside me there.

Oh, I have found such a joys I wish I might tell every human that goes seeking far for some elusive, feverish delight, that very close to home those great joys are the elemental things ~ Old as the race, yet never through the ages, commonplace~

Grace Noll Crowell

Hello dear friends!  So sorry it has been a while since my last post.  Just not much going  on in my neck of the woods.  The weather has finally begun to feel quite autumnal, indeed we have even witnessed a bit of snow.  Thursday we went to an estate sale and it was snowing while we hunted for treasures in the outbuildings.  Put us in a jolly mood!  And I found three things on my antiques wish list; a rush lamp, an ovoid stoneware jug and a true antique wooden trencher, all pictured above. My wish list is whittling down. Such a fun sale and the prices were amazing.  I'd much rather spend my money on antiques than dining out or going on vacations.  Or even buying "fancy" groceries. Since Ran and I are true homebodies, it is important to us to have our home decorated the way we enjoy.Anyway, the snow put Ran in the holiday spirit, so  today he fashioned us a wreath from our grapevines. (They had to be pruned anyway)

Once we begin to have snow, I do not care to look at Fall decor, so I know it may seem early to some, (the bah-humbug type, Ha!) but we had fun making it.  I also baked my Christmas cake, as it must "ripen" in the freezer for a month to bring out the best flavor.  For over half a century Ran and I have been sharing a piece of this cake in the evening during the month of December.  When we were young we shared our dreams, now that we are old we share our memories.  So I was  disappointed when we discovered that Ran was allergic to wheat a month ago. No more pumpkin pies and stuffing at Thanksgiving, no more Christmas cookies or our cake at Christmas.  I know it may sound like a small and insignificant thing to most, but our little fruitcake  ritual was the last vestige of our Christmas traditions, we have given up everything else to accommodate and appease others, so I was deeply saddened when this final tradition would have to go too.  Fortunately I discovered a wheat substitute so Ran can still have his cake and eat it too.  BTW, those flour substitutes are good for some things, but they make the worst yeast breads and pie crusts.  

Anyway, the Christmas cactus thinks it's time to start thinking about the holidays also.

This is my pretty white one.  About a decade ago, Ran asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him I wanted a white Christmas cactus, thinking that should be a simple request. Well, little did I know at the time they were as scarce as hen's teeth.  He and our son Scott, scoured every department store and florist in the state of Wisconsin looking for one.  It was quite a hunt. Ha!  Now I can find them at Aldi's every December, right by the check-out.  So this one is a special one to me.  It almost died this year, but a small frond managed to hang on, I am so glad for that.  It is very treasured.

THRIFT

For me, November signifies "the great turkey price hunt".  We do not celebrate Thanksgiving in November like "normal" people.  Our day of thanks giving is the day we gather in the last crop from our garden, then we have a nice meal and thank the Lord for providing for us for another year.  But I cannot resist a good bargain on turkey!  So every November I start scouring all the store ads for the cheapest turkey.  This year Meijers won hands down; thirty-three cents with an M-card.  I don't have any store cards but a lovely young woman offered to lend me hers.  I felt that this was dishonest, so I declined, but it was still thoughtful of her to offer it.  Anyway, it was forty-four cents without the card.  So for a little over four dollars I had a nice turkey, which I canned into nine pints.   I could have made the carcass into broth and canned that, but I was feeling lazy.  I was telling Ran the other day between the purchase of the carrots I wrote about in the last post and the turkey, I have stocked the pantry quite well for ten dollars.  Over forty pints of food and if I had made the broth and canned it, it would have been fifty.  People that complain about the high price of groceries do not know how to shop. Or where.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any bargains on cranberries this year.  Makes me glad I stocked up last year when they were eighty-nine cents a package.  I canned cranberry relish and catsup and froze several packages. One of my favorite things to do with cranberries is to make cranberry tea, which isn't really a tea but more of a hot punch. (I come from a family of tea drinkers, but I cannot abide tea) Anyways, drinking this "tea" makes me feel more sociable when I'm around tea-drinkers.

Cranberry Tea

7 C. water

1/2 pkg. fresh cranberries

1 C. sugar

juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon

pinch of cloves and a pinch of cinnamon

Boil all until cranberries burst and your tea becomes a pleasing red color.  Strain and enjoy.

This is so good when accompanied with a slice of warm gingerbread.  My one true weakness!

Well, that is it for this month!  Not the most exciting of posts, but then there's enough "excitement" in the world, I don't need to bring any more to anyone's doorstep.  To all my fellow Americans, I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving.  Let us rejoice in all that is good on that day and every day.  To all I wish you peace.

Hugs

Jane

Late October

 Hello dear friends!  Well!  We are finally having one of those cozy days I have been longing for.  Fall certainly is slow at arriving this year, but it is glorious!

This is the lane to our dear Amish friend's store.  There is no place like home!  I didn't expect Fall to be so beautiful this year with the drought and all, but it's turning out to be glorious.  Although I do believe the plants are confused; we have roses and honeysuckles blooming and the pussy willows have little gray "kittens", but we have also had a hard frost.  Truth be told, I wish the warmer weather would go away until next Spring, I am ready for the cozy season.

Which reminds me! We had a new wood stove installed this week.  Our old one had some cracked soapstone tiles and was getting pretty old, so we took the plunge and bought a new one.  By the time we factor in the costs for repairs to the old one and there's a tax rebate on the new one, we weren't saving much, so we thought it was wisest to just replace the old one while we were able. It's not as cute as the old one, but it is more efficient.  And the nicest thing about it is that it has a built-in hotplate.  Made sauerbraten on it today.  Yum!

Penny Wise

Every year we see those bags of "deer carrots" at our local gas stations.  Do they have "deer carrots" around you?  They are twenty-five pound bags of carrots that they sell to feed the deer.  The local commercial carrot farms bag up the carrots that are too big or have undesirable shapes that they can't sell commercially and sell the cheaply to folks that want to feed them to animals.  Well, I was always curious about their quality, so I took the plunge and spent six dollars on a bag.  Was I ever happy I did! They were beautiful carrots.  I canned up thirty-six pints of carrots (that's six pints for a dollar!) and had plenty for eating fresh.  Nothing at all wrong with them.  As a matter of fact, they were so good that Ran and I decided we won't grow our own carrots next year, as the seeds for our own cost about as much as a bag and we always have a frustrating time getting a good crop to grow. So next time you are filling your gas tank, check out the "deer carrots", you can save yourself a lot of money.  If you don't pressure can, you can always cut up and blanch the carrots and freeze them. 

There's always so many ways to save money on groceries.  It is the custom around here for the neighbors to put out excess produce from the gardens in a box by the curb with a "free'" sign.  I could have had all the grapes, plums and pears I could desire this year for no cost.  Not to mention zucchini. Ha!  There's always zucchini!

When I was younger, there was a dear old lady that allowed me to glean her tomatoes fields, she grew them commercially.  I could gather as many tomatoes that were left behind after picking for $1.  I usually picked more than a bushel.  Bless that sweet little lady!  Little did she know those tomatoes kept the wolves from the door many a time. Many old farms have abandoned apple orchards and some kind people will allow others to pick them.  They might not be beautiful, but you can always cut off the bad spots and make applesauce with them.  A friend of a friend was all too happy to allow us to rake up the walnuts from her lawn last year.  It was a winter project for us to crack the nuts, but it yielded  several pounds of nuts, which we froze.  You know, nuts are a protein too.  Walnut croquettes are a clever way to use nuts as a main dish.  I need to look that recipe up again.

Sharon left a comment a few posts back that reminded me of another way we used to save on groceries back in the day and that was to form a sort of informal co-op with our friends and families.  You may not need or want twenty-five pounds of carrots (although I can't see why you wouldn't), but perhaps if you go in with a few family members and share the cost, you might enjoy having five pounds around.  I shop at the Mennonite bulk food store and buying in bulk saves so much money.  You can buy a big wheel of cheese for less than two dollars a pound.  Split among several family members it isn't so daunting.  They have twenty pound pails of peanut butter, split five ways, most families can handle four pounds.  The trick to forming an informal co-op is to work only with people you trust, that is why I suggest family members.  And have everyone chip in the money before shopping, no IOUs. We liked to have a little get-together and agree upon what is to be purchased, then designate a few people to go shopping.  After the shopping, everyone gets together and divvies up the haul.  It can be fun!

Baking

I kind of regret not taking up the neighbor on the offer of free pears.  With the drought our tree dropped most of its fruit before they ripened and the ones that clung on were on the smallish side.  I had such high hopes for my pears this year.  Well, what is that saying about counting your chickens before they hatch?  I had just enough to give a few to my grandson, Felix (he loves pears) and make this one small tart:

Pear Tart

1 pie crust

Pears, peeled and sliced, enough to fit into your tart pan

2 Tbls. flour

2 Tbls. butter

3/4 C. sugar

Fit pie crust into a tart pan. Place peeled and cored pears over top. Combine remaining ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle over the pears.  Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 35 minute.

This has to be one of the simplest recipes ever.  But it is very good, especially when served with a dollop of cream atop.

Knitting

It's been my goal to use up all those single skeins of yarn that I purchased at the thrift stores for less than a dollar. I just cannot resist when I find a brand that I recognize or has some luxurious fiber  and its only fifty-cents.  Finding projects can be challenging though.  But I guess that's the fun of it.  I made these mittens:

from a skein of some Irish tweed wool.  They are ridiculously long! As you can see, the cuffs come up almost all the way to my elbows. No wind will be blowing up my sleeves!  I was intrigued by the color, "Irish Coffee".  I've never seen plum and turquoise Irish coffee have you?  And I think if I did, I wouldn't drink it!

Other things I have knitted from my one skein stash are a tea cozy and a cowl.

I also sewed an apron from a linen tablecloth that I purchased for fifty cents and remade a skirt that was unflattering into another apron. I wear a lot of aprons.  I have a sort of uniform: a long swirly skirt, blouse, tights, hand-knit socks, a classic styled wool cardigan or a hand-knit shawl, a petticoat with lots of lace, a headcovering, boots, and of course and apron to top it all off.  Whew!  No wonder I feel like I'm dragging around an extra ten pounds in the winter. Ha! No wonder people are always asking me if I'm Amish ( which I do not find offensive in the very least)  Do you have a "uniform"?

Well, Ran just came in with a cup of coffee and a piece of warm gingerbread for me.  Such a wonderful life I live in my little dollhouse of a home!  Many may say that there is nothing extraordinary about my life, but I beg to differ. I am blessed beyond measure.  I hope you are too!

Hugs

Jane

 

A Little Baking, A Little Crafting, And A Little Prepping

 Hello dear friends!  First I want to thank you all for all the kind comments.  I truly wasn't fishing for a compliment, just wanted to know if people were still interested in reading this blog any longer.  As I have written before, I do not monetize this blog or have any goals for it really, I just enjoy getting to know you.  I guess if I really wanted to set a goal for this blog it would be to make it a forum for like-minded people to congregate.  I think in a small way, it has become that.  So if you have any questions about any subject, feel free to ask in the comment section, if I don't have an answer, I'm sure one of you will.  Also, don''t hesitate to leave helpful suggestions.  Now then, look at this:

My camera is fixed!  Matty wanted to know what sort of curtains I was sewing for my bedroom.  Just these simple little tiers. And here's another picture for those that like a peek into my home sweet home. 

Do you see that strand of spinner gourds? For some strange reason, I am fascinated with gourds.  Each year I try to grow a different variety.  I love gourds so much that I made this "gourd" table runner:

I must admit, that I hate quilting and it is reflected in my craftsmanship so don't look too closely!  But no one is going to make me  one, so I have to make do the best I can.  I always start out these projects with the best of intentions, but somewhere along the way, things go awry and I get  bored with them.  Oh well, it's not like it is going to be an heirloom.  Sometimes "good enough" is good enough.

BAKING

Well, it's starting to feel like Fall at last!  We picked the last of the apples.  The first apple dessert made from my beloved Rhode Island Greenings, is always a celebration day here.  A few years back we decided to make up our own celebration days and not tell anyone when they were because crabby attitudes from others were ruining our joy during the traditional ones.  The Biblical feast days and Christian holidays are observed, just in passing; we pause and give thought to their significance on the day, but other than that, they are just another  day on the calendar for us.  Sort of Puritanical isn't it?  Anyway back to apple pie day, here's the recipe for apple pastry squares:

Apple Pastry Squares

Crust:

1 c. shortening

2 1/4 C. flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 C. water

Combine flour and salt.  Cut in shortening until small clumps form.  Stir in water a little at a time until the flour is moistened and it holds together.  How much water you use is dependent upon humidity, if your flour is dry you may need extra, or if your flour is moist you may need less.  To become a good cook you must learn how things should feel and look and the only way you are going to learn that is to get out there and try it. Also pie crusts benefit from not too much fiddling with, it's those layers of fat and flour that make it flaky, so don't get carried away with mixing the water into the flour mixture or you'll end up with a tough crust.

Now fit 2/3 rds of the crust and fit it into a 10 X 13 pan.  I don't bother rolling this out, just press the crust into the pan in a thin layer along the bottom and half way up the sides of the pan. Sprinkle 1 TBSP of sugar over the crust.

Filling:

4-5 C. peeled and sliced apples

1 TBSP. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

a scant 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

( I also use a dash of cloves and mace because I love them, but that is optional)

Combine all and place over the crust.  Dot the apples with 1 TBSP of butter cut into small pieces

On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll out the remaining 1/3 of the crust very thinly and place over the apples. (I like to press the crust into the apples.)  And don't worry about rolling the crust out too perfectly as an older neighbor told me decades ago, " A patched crust is a perfect crust."  Again, too much fiddling with rolling and rerolling the crust will make for a tough crust. Take another 1 TBSP of butter and smear it atop the crust and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of sugar.

Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 45 minutes or until you see the apples bubbling.  Take from the oven and immediately frost with an icing of powdered sugar, vanilla and a bit of water or milk to make an icing that is thin enough to spread easily.  Refrigerate before cutting into squares.

PREPPING

Every time we hear or read of a calamity, we should try to think of what we would have done in that situation. Obviously, if a flood comes and washes away your home, there isn't much you can do about it, but now being without water and electricity, that's something different.  I beg all of you to learn how to make a simple water filter from sand and charcoal (not the kind used for barbecuing) and gather the supplies for it. There's plenty of videos on YouTube to teach you  how.  Even if you choose not to make one, you will have the knowledge.  The other thing you should learn how to do, is how to make a rocket stove (or purchase one).  Develop an alternative way to get your water other from your city water of country well.  Wells usually need  electricity to pump so they are pretty useless when the electricity goes out.  Generators are fine but they run on gas, propane, or natural gas.  What will you do when those things run out and you can't get any more.  Think long term!  When the electricity goes out, gas stations can't pump gas or run their credit card machines.  The longest I've been without electricity has been one week, but my neighbors that lived out in the country have gone as long as three weeks without it.  That's a long time to run a gas powered generator!  How many preppers have I watched on YouTube brag about how the are prepared because they have a freezer full of meat they raised themselves?  How many had to throw it all out after a week without electricity?    That is why I always advocate canning your meat.  I never have any more in my freezer than I am prepared to either can or to lose.  I keep a propane cooker and a canister of propane for this purpose and I don't use it that propane for any other purpose, just emergency canning.  A good cast iron Dutch oven is all that is needed to prepare meals over  the above mentioned rocket stove or an open fire.  The reason I advocate rocket stoves is because they use less fuel (wood).  You can heat water to boiling with just a few sticks.

 The key to survival is knowledge and being resourceful.  And being independent.  I would not expect any government agency to come and help me, and as beautiful as it is to see all the wonderful people coming to the aid of the flood victims,  if everyone is struggling, you can be sure everyone will be looking out for their own and goodwill will be hard to find.  Depending upon others goodwill is a pretty poor survival strategy.  Start today building your knowledge.

I believe learning to be resourceful is a skill you can develop, but  you have to exercise it.  Every time you make a meal from bits and bobs in the fridge, rather than run to the store or fast food you are developing it.  Every time you you jerry-rig a piece of machinery and get it to work, rather than replace parts or call in a repairman, you are developing it.  People have become too complacent.  There's food pantries everywhere,so why learn to budget and learn to eat cheaply?  (Before someone gets their dander up, I do realize some people are in desperate situations an need the services of a food pantry) Why try to figure out how to make something that is broken work when you can just go down to the store and put a new one on your credit card?  The reason is because some day those safety nets may not be there.  So you better learn how to make-do at your leisure rather than when you are stressed out because you must.  I saw a picture in the news of a man that lost his house in the flood, built a shelter from all the debris from the flood.  Now that's resourceful!  He wasn't waiting for anyone to come and take care of him.  That man is a survivor! I'd like to meet him and shake his hand.

Anyway, I will step off my soapbox now to wish you all a wonderful, safe week ahead! And try to develop a skill or learn something  new every day.  It's never too late!

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence  cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved, he that keepeth thee will not slumber.

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber  nor sleep.

The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy shade upon thine right hand.

The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil, he shall preserve thy soul.

The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this day forth and even forevermore.

Palms 121

Hugs

Jane

Just A Note

 Hello dear friends!  By now, I am sure you all have seen the devastation that hurricane Helene has wrought on the North Carolina and Tennessee area.  One of my dearest friends lives in that area.  So I wanted to write to you make everyone aware of this; I have lived through floods, tornadoes , a fire, financial difficulties, and even getting the dreaded call from the police that someone in the family has been killed, so I can empathize with what those people are going through, but every tragedy is personal, and everyone reacts differently to it.  I am sure everyone wants to help those poor people.  And I am sure there will be lots of donations, which is wonderful.  But what most people don't consider is what happens after the news cycle stops making it the number one story and moves on to the next big issue.  Maybe it is just me, but I felt so isolated and alone, after all the excitement (not the correct word for it,I know) is over  and people get on with their lives while you are still left with the clean-up and the fears and the trauma of what has happened to you.  You feel so alone in the world. So I want to remind everyone that if you have friends that have been affected by the hurricane, check in on them often to see how they are psychologically and spiritually  doing and keep doing it for a while afterwards.  Be sensitive when talking to them.  So what I am saying is be the compassionate, loving people I know that you are, and care for the victims long after the world has moved on.

Thorns and Thistles

 Be thankful for the

          thorns and thistles which keep

       you from being in love

    with this world.

     - Charles Spurgeon -

Hello dear friends!  I had never intended to write a post again, but  a rather odd thing happened the other day, I guess you could say it was an answer to a prayer.  You see, the other day I was thinking of something I wanted to tell you all (I've forgotten what it was) and during my conversation with my Heavenly Father, I said "Lord, if you want me to continue on with this blog, you will have to give me a sign, like someone leaving a comment."  Well, within twenty-four hours I received a comment from Old Fashioned Rose, so Old Fashioned Rose, if you are reading this, you are an answer to a prayer!  

These past several months have been a time of thorn and thistles here at Sweet Briar Cottage, as I am sure this year has been for you all also.  It began with the gardening season, it was such a cold Spring everything was so slow to germinate and many seeds needed to be planted and replanted.  I know a lot of you had very hot weather, but we can't complain here, on the contrary, there were quite a few times that found us reaching for a sweater in July and August.  What we did have, was a drought.  Most of our days were taken up with watering the garden and keeping the intense sunlight from blighting the vegetables.  BTW, we discovered that hanging mosquito nets over the plants, helped with that.  We bought  our netting at a garage sale, it was intended for hanging over a king-sized bed, it netted (no pun intended) quite a bit of yardage perfect for protecting the plants. So that was that.  Never have we worked so hard in the garden.  It took Ran, Jamie and me many hours everyday to keep it going.  But we were blessed.  While we didn't enjoy the huge yields we have in the past, but they were sufficient for our needs.  Our philosophy is to eat what the Lord provides, so if a crop fails or doesn't perform well, we just say it wasn't what He intended for us to eat.  Evidently, He didn't think we needed much in the way of cauliflowers or Brussels sprouts,  but now broccoli, was coming out of our ears. Ha!  Seriously though, we do take this conviction with the utmost solemnity, and it has stood us in good health for many years.  You know you are on the right track when you visit the doctor and he queries you on what you are doing to stay so healthy and takes notes.  But alas, we are getting downright elderly and there is no cure for growing old.  We have noticed that the days of being a weekend warriors are over for us.  Things still get done, but at a slower pace.

On a personal note, I have just been shutting myself off from the world.  Just don't seem to have the patience any longer for people that want to bring drama into my life. So I've been letting one-sided friendships slip away and even this blog, which always has its "contrarians"  (comments you don't see), has been put aside. The few friends that remain, tell me they are doing the same.  Do you feel the same?  I once heard a sermon by Tolver that spoke of a believer's path being a solitary and lonely one, and I am finding that to be true.  It is difficult to live in this world and not be of it.  But oh the peace, dear friends, that comes from such a life. 

SELF SUFFICIENCY

I a big proponent of being a self-sufficient as one can possibly be.  We grow all our vegetables and fruits, and Ran catches (he holds a "master angler" award from the Michigan DNR) most of our meat in the form of walleye, salmon, pike and bass.  Other than that, our protein comes from beans and nuts.  Once in a very rare blue moon, we will find lamb  or some grass-fed organic beef on sale and stock our larder.  And at Thanksgiving I do buy an extra turkey to can, but on the whole, we eat between  one to two pounds of meat a week for our family of three adults.  A lot less than the national average, the average American consumes over 224 pounds of meat a year.  Yikes! No wonder everyone is complaining about the price of groceries.  Meat is becoming a luxury item, that's for sure.  I just spied a grocery store ad for a sale on hamburger at $4.88 a pound.  Even lowly ground turkey is over three dollars.  I can remember for years it was a cheap option for meat at  ninety-nice cents a pound.  Even dried beans are selling for over two dollars a pound.  So I can understand how all this inflation is very scary for a lot of people.  

So anyway, I encourage everyone to get out there and grow some of your food, don't be discouraged by bad weather and nay-sayers.  At the very least, it's good exercise.  And get the whole family involved.  In our family we say, "if you don't work, you don't eat".  To grow a productive garden takes a lot of time. and work.  Too many people become discouraged if their first attempts don't produce.  The other day, once again, someone told me how "lucky" I was to have such a nice garden, and was bemoaning the fact that they weren't blessed with a green thumb.  I was too polite to say it, but what I wanted to say was that luck had very little to do with it.  I didn't see them out there hoeing at six in the morning before it got too hot.  I didn't take a week-long vacation and leave my garden to its own devices.  I didn't see them out there hauling buckets of water, or picking potato bugs off the plants.  I don't see them studying up on how to get rid of garden pests organically.  I don't see them composting, then carrying heavy shovels of compost into the garden to amend the soil.  Yes, I am blessed, but lucky I am not.  It definitely doesn't feel lucky when I'm standing in a ninety degree kitchen peeling and canning beets while they are sitting in the air conditioned living room watching TV.  So to get off my soapbox and get back to self-sufficiency, the other day I made a list of everything I would need to purchase for a year in addition to what Ran catches and we grow.  Here's the list:

2 gallons cider vinegar (canning strength)

1 gallon white vinegar (canning strength) 

12 pounds of cheese ( 1 pound per month)

12 pounds of shortening (for use in baking and frying)

1 gallon cooking oil (we use olive oil)

50 pounds of sugar (mainly to be used in making jams, jellies, and wine)

100 pounds of flour ( this may seem like a lot, but we bake everything from scratch and I only bake sweets once a week)

24 pounds of coffee (what can I say, we love coffee)

50 pounds oatmeal (oatmeal is our staple breakfast)

100 pounds dried beans (2# a week)

10-20 pounds cornmeal ( beans + a whole grain make a whole protein, thus beans and cornbread is a common meal among the poor)

2 quarts of molasses (no need for brown sugar add 1 tablespoon to sugar, plus black strap molasses has a lot of minerals in it and is very healthy for you)

Baking powder and baking soda, a couple containers

12 jars of organic peanut butter (a jar a month)

2 pounds canning salt (not just for canning but also for cleaning cutting boards and possibly for curing meat)

1 pound of cinnamon ( cinnamon is good for keeping your blood sugar level, hence we put a big spoonful into our oatmeal every morning)

Even at today's prices I think I could purchase these things for around a thousand dollars or maybe even a little less, if I shop carefully at the bulk food stores and our Amish discount stores.  And yes, if I really needed to, I could go without the coffee. Ha!  I could resort to my own herb tea, while tea isn't my jam, I have given some to several of my tea-drinking friends and the say it is very good tea.  Basically, I just put everything in my garden I know to be good for you into it; raspberry leaves, chamomile, peppermint, rose petals and hips, anise hyssop,  lemon balm, and dried blackberries and raspberries.  It's a pretty tea, if nothing else.  So any way, I hope the list helps you, if you live as we do.

 There you have it.  My camera bit the dust, so I cannot share with you any of my creative endeavors, but the period I have been away from blogging has been one of my most creative periods I have experienced in a long time.  Will I write another post some day?  I'll have to see how this one goes, I'm aware blogging is sort of a dying medium, and those that do read them prefer style over substance.  So will anyone even look at a blog without some sort of pretty photography?  Well, all that will depend  upon you dear  readers and the prompting of the Good Lord.  So whether we meet again or not, I  pray that you all have a peaceful and fruitful life!

Hugs

Jane

Spring Fever

 Hello dear friends!  Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.!  As usual, I will start with the weather report. Ha!  Cold and windy.  But we finally got a few pretty snows.

Isn't it pretty?  Outside and in.

I do love a pretty snowfall!  In spite of the cold, we are thinking of Spring and have started collecting our maple sap.  We've boiled down over a quart of syrup already. Kind of odd weather  this year; a few days above freezing, than a couple days of bitter cold and wind.  Most of our snowfall has been that ugly slushy stuff, but I'm happy to have had a few lovely ones. 

We also started our onion seeds.  Starting seeds is sort of a bone of contention in our home.  In the Fall we purchase our seeds during the Black Friday sale and give great consideration to them, but by the time seed starting starts, Ran has the seed packets squirreled away throughout the  house and garage and mixed with older packets.  By that time all the varieties that I have given so much consideration into are all mixed up and we cannot remember what we bought or why.  So we never really have the garden we envisioned when we were planning.  We just kind of gather up as many packages as we can locate, and decide on the spot what to plant.  It usually isn't until July that I discover those special herb  and rare flower seeds I intended on planting. tucked away in a tin or cubby.  We are usually pretty organized and analytical people when it comes to most things, but when it comes to planning a garden, we tend to fly by the seats of our pants.

One thing I plant every year is gourds.

For some reason, gourds just capture my fancy.  I have them in bowls and crocks and hanging on knobs everywhere.  This year I will probably plant some spinner gourds. So cute.  And I'm going to try my hand at growing broom corn and making a handcrafted broom this year. BTW, Ran made that lovely pie safe for me.  If you can't afford an antique learn to make your own.  He sprayed the tin panels with vinegar and stuck them outside to  be rained and snowed on for several months to give them that authentic rusty, crusty look of the primitives that I love.

Crafting

Whilst we are still in the hibernation period, I've finished two more projects. This blue Scandinavian  sampler:

And this pair of red petticoat socks:

All the materials came from the thrift store including the cross stitch chart.  My word!  Crafting can be expensive!  I love to watch flosstubers  on YouTube and the  money they spend on their hobbies is unbelievable with their special linens, flosses and even cross stitch charts run around ten dollars.  Add in the cost of framing, for very few of them actually frame their work themselves, I bet they have almost a hundred dollars into each work by the time it is finished.  My little sampler cost $1.29 for the linen (it had the original price tag on it for over $14) 59 cents for the chart and 50 cents for the floss.  And I have lots of linen and floss left over.  So what does that add up to? $2.38?  And the frame was 50 cents picked up at a garage sale this Summer. So for less than three dollars and a month's worth of work I got the perfect sampler to fit over a little rosemaled shelf.  Couldn't be happier with it if I had paid a hundred dollars.  

BTW, see that pretty Meissen candleholder?  Paid a quarter for it a thrift store.  Ditto for the soft paste, two-hundred-years-old  blue and white cup next to it.  I have always loved antiques and it took me years to save up for my first "genuine" one, a Victorian mirror (ugh!). Although I couldn't afford any, it didn't keep me from going to antique stores and looking at them and going to the library and reading about them to educate myself, so I would be able to spot them if I ever came across the real McCoy at an unbelievable price.  And it's amazing how often it happened.  The other day I was telling Ran that we have become one of those people that we used to read about when we were younger that had so many antiques their homes were like a living museum.  How we used to read about those people and sigh.  It will never happen to us, we just weren't born to such good fortune. This happened the other day when I was cleaning out my linen cupboard and a pretty stoneware piece that I had forgotten all about fell out between the folds of a runner. How I love antiques!  It's such a thrill for me to see the potter's thumbprint in the glaze and think that two-hundred years ago he was putting it in a kiln. How many generations is that?  Just think of all the people that have loved and valued that simple crock!

Anyways, enough of me waxing on about antiques!  The socks were knit from Rowan felted tweed yarn.  I paid $1.50 for two skeins from my local thrift store.  I checked the other day and the yarn is still available.  It runs around $15 a skein.  $30 for a pair of socks?  Not I, said this cat.  I know many knitters that will only use the yarns called for in a pattern, but I love, love, love, finding some old vintage yarn and making a pattern my own.  And some of those old vintage woolen yarns are so much nicer than the new stuff.  Don't be afraid to try!

The Pantry

Well, we are still eating out of the pantry.  For those that are interested today's meal consisted of chicken and gravy on homemade biscuits, with a side of broccoli and strawberries for dessert. The chicken was  home- canned as was the broth to make the gravy.  The broccoli and strawberries were homegrown and frozen.

Basically, we are just trying to eat through the jars of 2021 and 2022 food to use them up and to make room for the coming canning season.  This isn't about saving money or anything like that.  Just rotating my stock. As space comes available, I'm starting to restock the shelves.  I canned 8 quarts of winter squash the other day.  We still had more, so I gave some to a neighbor and some to our friend Tyler for his chickens. Note to gardeners:  Mooregold squashes are very prolific! And wonderful keepers.  And I prefer them to pumpkin for baking.

Stocking Up

The other day Ran and I were reminiscing, as old people, we do that a lot. Ha!  We were chatting about back in the late 60s and early 70s everyone had spaghetti for dinner on Friday nights in our little village.  Back then Catholics were pretty strict with not eating meat on Fridays and the fixings for spaghetti could be grown quite easily even in a postage sized lot, which was the typical size of a village lot back then.  Just room enough for a fruit tree and a small garden, the kids played at the park or in a vacant lot.  It wasn't uncommon for Catholic families to have eight or more kids, so they ate a lot of spaghetti.  It wasn't long before the Lutherans on the other side of town caught on to spaghetti on Friday nights as a good and thrifty idea. So back when we were kids, if you were invited to dinner at anyone's house on a Friday it was a pretty safe bet you were going to be eating spaghetti. When we were first married we followed with that tradition.  Only I added a side salad and garlic bread made from the week's stale bread.  Often I would buy the sauce, because it made for a speedy meal  that way.  We always bought the cheap sauce that came in the can and was located on the bottom shelf in the grocery store. So the other day I was wondering if you can still buy spaghetti sauce in a can and if it is still so cheap.  Checked our local Meijers store and Hunt's sauce in a can was $1.37, then I went to Save-A-Lot and their store brand was even cheaper.  That with a pound of store brand spaghetti, which is what? about $1.50 a pound?  You have a pretty cheap meal.  So one of the things  if you don't can and want to stock an emergency pantry, is get yourselves some of that cheap spaghetti sauce that comes in a can.  You can always add meat or peppers or mushrooms or whatever you want to it, if you want something fancier and can afford it.

Well I suppose this post has rambled on long enough.  We are still in our quiet season and there isn't much excitement going on, not there ever is. I hope you all have wonderful week ahead!

Hugs

Jane