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