a gypsy caravan

a longwinded post about canning or "dear kim"

It seems so many of my posts these past few months have been recipes or garden notes. I'm sorry to those of you who aren't into gardening or canning. One thing that is important while keeping a garden is to record one's thoughts so as to better plan for next year. It's easy to forget which things were a great idea to plant and which were a bust.

 I have found canning to be an enjoyable way to spend time and an easy way to put food away for the cooler months.  This summer I canned pickles using cucumbers from our garden. I'd like to plant the same number of cucumber plants next year.  Nine plants gave us plenty of cukes over a long season. We had plenty for pickles and enough to enjoy sliced.

We also canned hot hungarian wax peppers as well as banana peppers.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I (over) bought pepper seedlings this year.  I think I bought twenty plants too many. I have canne many dozens of pints of pepper rings and I still have about a hundred peppers still growing in mid September.  Today, I canned a dozen more pints and I decided that's it.  No more pepper rings! While they are delicious on barbeque pork sandwiches or with a burger, one can only can so many peppers over the course of a year. I even made and froze some split down the middle, filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon.  Those can be broiled like poppers and served as an appetizer. The rest that are growing outside are being put in a basket on a table in the front yard and someone else can deal with them. :) 

Did I show you my new cupboard? I know I showed it to Kim, (who is likely the only person reading this, I think :). I needed some extra cupboard space in the kitchen so I thought this freestanding shabby chic piece would do the trick.  It was originally painted red and then repainted white and distressed.  There is red toile fabric in the open shelving and I just love it. Right now I have some of my recently canned foods inside as well as drawers full of table linens.  It is from my favorite store (quite possibly ever) called Off Center. You can find them on Facebook. (Though I am no longer on Facebook. I found it to be such a downer that sucked the life out of me.) 

Now that I see the picture so large, I remember the tomatoes.  Next year I am only planting cherry tomatoes. They seem to be the only kind that my family will eat raw. I ended up canning a full bushel of roma tomatoes so I can make spaghetti and pizza sauce as well as soups and chili throughout the winter. I think I have about 30 quart jars. 

Do you see those few jars of brightly colored peaches? My friend Nicole cans 50-60 quarts of peaches each year so she has one quart for each week.  I had never canned peaches until this summer and now I wish I had made as many as she did. I bought one crate of peaches for $12 and got 13 quarts of canned peaches from it. Cut in halves, each jar contains about 8 whole peaches. So economical and completely delicious at less than a dollar a jar!  Next summer, I'd like to do several crates. It was fun to do them with my friend and made the process go much more quickly. 

Last week the kids and I made concord grape jam.  That is a very time consuming process but I'm glad we did it.  Not sure if we'll do it every year but it was fun for a change.  We picked the grapes at a local orchard. 

The dusty color of concord grapes is unmistakable.

The kids spent quite some time squeezing the skins from the grapes. 

The kids have eaten two jars already so I doubt the jam will last all winter! 

I am looking for an upright freezer on Craigslist. We have enough produce that a freezer would be a good investment.  I have frozen many quarts of green beans, several bags of chopped peppers and onions and many bags of shredded zucchini. Looking forward to zucchini bread in the cool months ahead. 

Thanks to those of you who've read all the way to the end of this post.  Should be one of the last canning posts unless I can find on some apples for sauce. All of our local orchards lost 90% of their crops this year to late frost. So apple prices are sky high and there are very few orchards nearby that have any apples for "pick your own". Still, hoping I will get my hands on a few.  

In the meantime, have a lovely second half of the week and thanks for visiting! 

on the porch

We spend quite a bit of time on our porches. There is a front side-facing porch and a back side- facing porch.  The back one is used often because it is our main entrance. There is usually someone on the porch at any given time having some tea or reading a book. 

Our town has a week each year where people put things on their lawns that are up for grabs. By the end of the week, almost everything is gone. Chris picked this porch swing off someone's lawn and painted it white for me.  I just love it. I've always wanted a porch swing. And who can beat free? Well, we did replace the chains though they were not expensive. 

Mary made this little fairy home inside an old wooden drawer.  I think it looks sweet on the porch.  The Lily of the Valley flower fairy and the bird live there. :)

I'd like to pick up an outdoor rug for the porch. 

Little girls like to practice their cursive with chalk on the welcome sign. 

I found this iron owl in town and thought he'd look nice out there. He has a candle inside and looks so cute when he's lit. Plus, he'll look swell for Halloween. :) 

I hope all of you are well and enjoying these hot days of summer. 

a bit of a house tour

Our new (and yet, very old) home is beginning to take shape ever-so-slowly. There are many more boxes to unpack, many more trunkloads of purged belongings to donate.  But we are getting there. I was recently telling a friend that my life has been so busy that I haven't made the time to post on the blog.  I want to keep a record for the children of the milestones, both large and small, of their childhoods. So I'm going to try to be a little more faithful to post our comings and goings. 

Here are a few peeks into the areas that are unpacked.  Don't be fooled because the remainder of the house, not pictured here, looks fairly chaotic at this moment and may for a few more weeks. 

This home was built in 1870 and was once the farmhouse for a 65 acre farm. The land was sold to our county's historical society many years ago and is now a living museum where visitors can learn more about Ohio history. 

There are several entrances to the house but the one we use most often is through a small mudroom/hallway where the farmer used to walk in and immediately wash his hands in a large porcelain sink. The sink is worn from a century of use and is permanently stained where the porcelain has worn off. But I think that adds to its charm.

There is a large backsplash and side area where I've put some plants and an antique scale I bought at a vintage shop. The window above the sink lets in alot of morning light so the plants are flourishing. 

Pictured below is opposite the sink area where we hang tote bags, nature notebook bags and a few other things. One of my favorite recent finds is that basket.  It has a hole in the bottom for storing plastic bags (of the grocery store variety). They can be pulled through the bottom whenever one is needed.  

Another view of the mudroom area. The color I chose for the walls is called Butter Cookie by Behr. Eventually the tan woodwork will be painted white but we have a few things to do beforehand. 

Next is the bedroom which will easily become my favorite room when all is said and done around here. I love this coverlet. I have had other quilts and comforters over the years but this is by far my favorite. The paint in the bedroom is called Brown Bread by Behr. 

Here is a little area I worked on in our dining room. I wanted to set up an entertaining buffet for those times when friends stop by for a visit or when we just want a place to put appetizers and snacks. There are no big drinkers in our family but we enjoy a bottle of wine on the weekends.

I often peruse the Pottery Barn catalog and other similar places for decorating ideas.  They have many decanters and carafes listed on their site from $30-$100 but they can be found for a fraction of that at resale, antique or Goodwill shops. I bought the two glass decanters as well as the cocktail shakers for a few dollars each at a fabulous local vintage shop. In the far back left is an old sterling silver trophy cup that I am using as an ice bucket. 

Wait, as an aside, do you see the lilacs?!? I am so delighted to live in a home once again where lilacs grow in the yard! I can't tell you how happy the flowers make me. 

Here is a funky, industrial tool shop organizer that is now being used as a wine rack. Not sure about the candles but for now there they stay. I really like industrial retro accents.  Couldn't handle a full house of it but I like a bit here and there.  The typewriter, for example, adds character and conversation to a home. 

There is a second floor full bath and a first floor bath with a shower in this home.  Oddly, the first floor bath is also the laundry room.  This is odd in that when a guest needs to use the bathroom, they must do so with a washer and a dryer in the room. Maybe no one else will think that strange but we do. Anyhow, I've tried to make the two meld together as best as possible.  

The large glass container holds the powdered laundry soap. I've used some vintage blue Ball jars for cotton balls and q-tips. A few baskets for storage and a sign I picked up because I thought it was neat. Hopefully, the kids will do those things regularly.  At least, here's hoping. :)

Ok, off to bed now for me. I will try to post some more photos as areas are unpacked, decorated and finished. Thanks for stopping by!

 

a new home

We are surrounded by boxes but we are very happy. There is room to stretch here and people are beginning to unfurl. This home was built in 1870 and was the farmhouse of a 65 acre farm. The floors are not level, the walls are not new, there are funny quirks about this house but there is a deep charm and hominess about it.  I am in love with this place. I have taken a few photos of some of the interesting architectural details. Going to post them here and then get back to unpacking. : )

Under stair storage closet.  The woodwork in this place is quite fabulous.

Bedroom doorknob

Closet hardware

That wall was patched and painted prior to our moving in. It is now quite a lovely stairwell. 

Garage mandoor hardware.  Can you tell I am a sucker for old hardware? Just something so intriguing about it. I like to imagine the person who made it, probably by hand or at a very small factory in those days following the Civil War. There is a house three doors down the street that has no door knobs but only lift-up latches because the man who had it built was a Civil War soldier who came home and lost both of his arms in an "exhuberant, post war celebration" (which most definitely must have contained fireworks). Can you imagine coming home well and healthy only to blow off both of your arms celebrating your homecoming? 

An Amish buggy that is sometimes parked in our carport. The man who drives it is the maintenance man for the Historical Society whose grounds are in our back yard. Right now his horse is lame so someone drives him in a blue pick up. 

Hope you enjoyed the photos! Time for me to get back to the boxes. 

God bless,

Rebecca

fireplace in summertime

chair recovering

If I knew how easy it'd be, I would have done it years ago.

Wintery Thoughts

There is downy snow falling outside my window. I am sipping on my third, maybe fourth cup of cinnamon tea from a potbellied mug I received for Christmas. We are on the mend here, having been sick for a few days. Yesterday,  I got dressed for the first time in four days. Our visiting family members left on Sunday, drove back to Virginia. A couple of people from both families fell ill during the visit but most of us are doing much better now. They had been here for ten days and Oh what fun we had! It was so nice for the cousins to play without having anywhere to be but together. The grownups spent a lot of time catching up, staying up late, chatting and cracking jokes. We even got out to the movie theatre, something I only do once every few years.

Today, we spent the morning taking down the Christmas decorations, packing away all the greenery, lights and wooden cranberries. Gone are the ornaments, Advent candles and manger. This day is always bittersweet for me because I love the color and festivity that Christmas adds to our home. When the decorations come down, it always looks a little stark. Thankfully, there are Christmas presents to make us smile, warm food for our bellies and a fire on the hearth. There are new books to read and things to make.

This is my favorite time of year for crafting. The pressure to complete something by Christmas has passed and my creative mind works much more freely in the winter months. I am reading and enjoying a few new books.   One is called Sock Doll Workshop by Cindy Crandall-Frazier. I went to a craft fair before Christmas at our old parish and bought a couple of little sock dolls. They were so sweet and I wanted to learn how to make them. Also, since making Annie's sock monkey last year, I've been intrigued to learn how to make some different animals. Miyako Kanamori has two books Sock and Glove and Happy Gloves which are full of simple, sweet plans to make a variety of little creatures. So those dolls and creatures are my craft plans for this winter, along with picking up some neglected knitting.

Do you know that I still have not completed my Tasha Tudor Shawl?  There is something very rhythmic and mesmerizing about the thousands of tiny garter stitches that puts me to sleep every time I try to work on it. :) I actually taught myself to knit the European way while working on the first two skeins of this shawl because it is a simple pattern which allows me to focus on technique instead of following directions. Meredith finished hers months ago and sometimes I pop over there for inspiration. Maybe I will have it done by the end of winter. (Now you know why I like to knit small things like socks, gloves and baby hats, because they are done in a jiffy. :)

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for visiting and many blessings to you on this wintery evening.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

 We've been decorating and having some fun around here.  I really don't seem to have much to blog about these days because other than tending to the house, preparing for Christmas and working on the most basic of lessons, we haven't been doing a whole lot.  Until last weekend we were on our fourth month with one vehicle.  That meant the kids and I stayed home while Mike was at work.  Thankfully, I am a homebody at heart. :)

 Here are some photos of some of the decorations we put up last weekend.

 This is our family room which now contains the tree that we cut last weekend.  That is a stack of undelivered boy scout popcorn in the corner. :) We are hauling it out today to be delivered.

Here is a closeup of our manger scene which is under the berry wreath on the far wall.  I love the simplicity of the Willow Tree figures, clean lines, muted colors.   When I first got the set, I was disappointed that I could not wait until Christmas Day to put the baby Jesus in the scene because He is attached to His mother.   However, now the Blessed Mother and Child figures are my favorite in the manger scene and the love between them is captured in a very sweet manner.    I also have the three wise men and their camels which do not come out for some time, working their way across the room by Epiphany.

The vintage ceramic tree was Mike's grandmother's.  My grandma had one as well, as did my aunt, though hers was white.  Susan posted a photo of hers a while back and I loved reading all of the comments and memories people had of their grandmother's trees.   I think it looks so pretty when the lights are low. 

 

I picked up a tall, thin artificial tree a couple of years ago at Target. We are using it this year as a second tree to hold the children's ornaments.  They have received quite a few since they were born and they enjoyed having a tree of their own to decorate. While I don't save each ornament they make over the years, I do save those that are sturdy or that are special to them.  Some are made of wood or clay or beeswax.  I hope someday they will hang them on their trees and enjoy them. 

The piano

We put the Advent Log on the mantel this year which looks pretty but has proven impractical.  Part way through devotions each night, the furnace clicks on and the vent near the fireplace blows fiercely.  The candles start to flicker wildly, lighting several nearby that aren't supposed to be lit yet and making us fear that the wall will catch on fire.  :) We usually have to snuff them early. So I need to think about just where we will put the log next year.  Either that or turn off the blower on the furnace. :)

 

The little manger is filling with hay.

Lastly, here are some photos of our gingerbread house that we made Tuesday with Mike's mom.  She came for the day and the kids had such fun. 

 

 

The kids have been itching to eat it but I think we will save it for our Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration tomorrow.  

Thanks for visiting. Have a lovely day and stay warm! :)

All Snug In Their Beds

One of the things I enjoy about autumn is preparing the beds for the colder months.  I keep two sets of sheets per bed, one for late spring and summer made of cool cotton and another set for fall, winter and early spring made of flannel cotton.  I have cotton blankets for summer and fuzzy fleece blankets for winter. 

This fall, we purchased some new bedding for the girls' room as we bought them their own twin beds.  Previously, they had slept together in a double bed.  Their double bed became our guest room bed and I needed bedding for that.  Also, I upgraded from a double mattress to a queen so there was a lot of shifting around to do and some bedding to purchase. 

The girls' new room is decorated in two shades of tan rather than the pink we had used in their previous bedroom.  Working with the tan was a little difficult because it is more of a cocoa than a beige.  Here is what we chose:

It is such a change for us because the girls have always had pink bedding, pink walls, etc.  I think it works though.    

I couldn't resist these little gingerbread fellows.  They are made from wide wale corduroy and are very snuggly. 

The coverlet was a wedding gift fifteen years ago.  I love the Celtic design in the center.  It looks great with most of the sheets that it has been paired up with. It is fairly lightweight so I put a comforter under it in the colder months for warmth.   I bought cream colored flannel sheets and a throw pillow for fall with a berry design.  They are from Target.  Target carries a line of Woolrich products that are well made and pretty. 

Here is a close up of the coverlet. I am so fond of it.

The boys bedding is quite old but is holding up well.  They each have a red,white and blue plaid bedspread.  I found flannel sheets a couple of years ago that go well enough.  I am not into matching perfectly and kind of like the eclectic look. :)  As long as the color scheme kind of jives, it doesn't matter much to me whether the prints match.

My mom, who lived a short walk around the corner from our previous home, now has to drive forty minutes to visit us.  Because there was an extra bedroom in our new place, we set up a room for her to stay.  She visits on the weekends when she is able.  Here is the guest bedding.  I put one of those fuzzy fleece blankets on that bed as well.  I think they are very snuggly.

Speaking of blankets, my grandmother once gave me a tip that if you put the blanket closest to the skin and the sheet on top of it, the bed stays warmer at night.

Years ago, when my mother taught me to make a bed, she showed me how to make square, hospital corners.  I still do this to the ends of the beds but like to turn down the top covers so you can see the sheets.  I think this looks cozier than pulling the covers up to the top, over the pillow.  That is how I was originally taught to make the bed, covering the pillow with the bedding.  Turning the flat sheet down requires putting it on the bed with the print side down. 

I was recently talking with someone who thought it was funny that our family makes their beds each day.  On Sundays I don't ask them to do it but they are in the habit and often do it anyhow. I have always liked the beds to be made.  It seems everyone keeps their room neater when they are made.   

Well, thanks for walking through the bedrooms with me.  It is almost midnight here so it's high time I crawled into bed myself.  Sweet dreams!

Autumn in the Blink of An Eye

We were packing for most of the summer and moved to our new home in early autumn.  Then, we were unpacking and now autumn is waning.  Here are some photographic glimpses into our fall season, indoors and out.  It was transitional but oh-so-fun.

 

 

 

  

 

Settling In

Hello to all!  We have completed our move and are mostly unpacked with the exception of the schoolroom and the storage areas (basement, garage).  It feels good to be settling into our new home.  We have missed a chunk of my favorite month of the year due to all the packing and moving but we have managed to enjoy ourselves nonetheless. :)  There is still plenty of autumn left and we intend to spend most of it outdoors. 

October in our area of the country is such a gorgeous month with the vibrantly colored leaves and the mild temperatures.  Only in the past two days has the weather gotten crisp enough for a jacket.  The furnace has clicked on a few times and reminded me that the cold weather is on its way.   Today, I pulled the  annual flowers from the yard that had been hit with frost.  They were here before we came and had run their course.  I am transferring some perennials from the old place this afternoon in hopes that they will take, although it is so late in the season.  

Our new home is surrounded by woods and we are enjoying the fresh nature palate to study.  While washing dishes, I regularly see white-tailed deer from the kitchen window.  It is their mating season so it is not uncommon for us to see two or three does with young ones and an antlered buck following close behind.  There are many woodpeckers and chickadees that visit the yard.  Another interesting nature note is that all the squirrels here are black.  They look just like a common squirrel but are jet black rather than tan.  

The children have been spending a good portion of each day playing in the woods and hiking.  There is a ravine with a small stream and a variety of trees to identify.  The remaining weeks of fall will be busy exploring, tromping through leaves and getting to know a new chunk of land.  

I have photos to share as soon as I am able and also have much more to tell you.  For now, I am just dropping in to say "hello" and thank you for the prayers you've offered for our move.    I appreciate your kind emails and friendly words.   

Love,

Rebecca

Giddy as a Schoolgirl

Many thanks to those of you who have written asking how the move is going.  It is coming along very nicely.  We have been  moving boxes to the new house all this past week, two or three vanloads each day.  I've been able to unpack just about everything we have moved over thus far.  We'll be getting a truck this weekend to move the furniture and the last of the household items.  A friend is so kindly watching the girls on Saturday and my friend Maura has provided a chicken stir fry for dinner tonight.  Mom is making a huge pot of chili and some cornbread muffins for Saturday's dinner.  Mike's brother and two of his sisters are arriving in town this weekend to help with the move.  We are very blessed to be surrounded by so many kind friends and family members.

I have been purging the old house as well as packing.  Some of the things I have gone through have been emotional for me as I had about ten boxes of things that belonged to my father who died in 2001.  They have sat on an upper shelf in my basement since then, unopened.  Today, I knew it was time to deal with them both literally and emotionally.  My dad was a master model shipwright and I inherited his extensive library of shipbuilding and Great Lakes books.  I intend to sell or donate most of them in the upcoming weeks and did not plan to open those taped boxes labelled "Dad's books" but, rather, planned to move them to the new house until I could sort them out.

I am SO grateful I opened them today as this is what I found in one:

 
Yup, a beat up old Winkelman's clothing box.  Anyone remember Winkelman's? You might be wondering what was wrapped inside that box.

An entire box of hand embroidered table and bed linens made by my father's maternal grandmother! 

Can I tell you how I shrieked aloud with GLEE?!?  They must have been passed down to my father (who never used them or displayed them).  My great grandmother died in the mid 1960's so that gives you a time frame as to the last time they were used.  Her initials are on some of the items.  Perhaps my dad wrapped them in tissue and stuck them in this box.  When he died and his apartment was packed up, someone put them in a box of books.  It certainly wasn't me as I have never seen them before.  They were all crisply pressed and folded neatly.  Even the folds were pressed as was common back then.   

Here are some closeups for your enjoyment.

Rectangular tablecloth

Days of the week dishtowel

A darling set of dishtowels

A set of embroidered pillowcases with crocheted edges

Another set with different color palette

A cross shaped basket liner embroidered with "Hot Rolls"

I just can't tell you how excited I am about this.  It was such a nice surprise amidst the boxes, dust, hustle and bustle. Funny thing is that my house is fairly modern.  Not in a black and mirrors kind of way but sort of a Pottery Barn meets Tuscany sort of way.  Not sure how these linens will meld with that but I am determined to find a way to work a few of them in.  The pillowcases will go beautifully in the girls room, which is rather girly and cheerful.  Still mulling over the rest of them. 

Anyhow, I thought you all would enjoy seeing my find.  Now I have to get back to packing. :)

Our Gypsy Caravan is Moving On

Our family will be moving to a new home in a few short weeks. We are packing furiously and purging with equal fervor. We've been eating a lot of pizza. And carry out Chinese. We've been buying a lot of packing tape (for the boxes) and newspapers (to wrap the fragile stuff).

To paint an honest picture of what my home is like right now, just imagine a lot of small people eating convenience, (read: not-so-healthy) food off of paper plates three times a day. Picture rooms strewn with cardboard and packing peanuts. Listen and you will hear folks yelling from room to room, "Who has the tape? Where'd you put the stickers? Where is my Sharpie?" and "Why is the baby wearing a Santa suit?"

Yup, that's my house these days.

Other than this, there is just not much to tell you. Not sure that will change anytime soon. Lessons are on the backburner until, well, whenever we are in and unpacked. We will be in the new place mid October. Unpacked...I am thinking early November. Did I just hear you snort?!? Don't you burst my bubble and tell me it will easily be February! Pretend along with me that I will have the entire house unpacked within two weeks.

Speaking of packing, anyone who would like to help me pack today can have the first piece of pizza (on a paper plate) and a big hug. You know you want both of them. So get on over here and lend a hand, darn it. We have a tape gun with your name on it...somewhere around here. :)

Sunday Evening Gratitude

I have mentioned in the past that our basement is prone to flooding.  It happens two or three times a year, sometimes more often depending on the amount of rainfall we receive.  Our floods are caused by the city storm sewer becoming overwhelmed and backing up into our basement. 

Friday, we had quite a storm.  The basement drain started to back up at dinner time but receded that evening.  Saturday morning we woke to 4 inches across the entire basement.  We are veterans at basement floods.  We have probably had twenty of them in the eight years that we have owned this home but they always incite a bit of panic when the water first starts to come in the house. 

I bought stock in Rubbermaid years ago and have approximately 30 bins in my basement that hold all of our storage items.  Our home does not have an attic or I would forgo the basement altogether.  The Rubbermaid bins work wonderfully until the water rises high enough that they begin to capsize, dumping their contents into the water.   

I have a list of things I am grateful for today as I am trying to keep my spirit from feeling weary from the clean up. 

Here goes! :)

I am thankful:

• for my mother who never tires in loving and helping our family
• for frozen pierogies, frozen corn and frozen Tyson Chicken Nuggets
• for paper plates and paper napkins
• for 55 gallon heavy duty garbage bags
• for rubber gloves
• for the folks who make Clorox bleach and disposable mop heads
• that my lilac bush is in bloom
• that my downstairs appliances still work
• for this very twaddly movie that kept my children occupied while I scrubbed the basement with bleach water
• for Crocs that can be hosed off and are always up to the task
• for Burt's Bees Super Shiny Lip Gloss in  Sweet Pink that makes me feel just a little less grungy :)
• for a glass of Selbach Piesporter Riesling
• for Mass this morning where baby Annie folded her chubby hands and prayed for me

That's all for now.  I hope you have a wonderful evening with your family. Thanks for stopping by!

Happiness Is...

...a $7.50 piece of Polish pottery on clearance from TJ Maxx!

Ok, well maybe that isn't the true meaning of happiness but it sure comes darn close. :)

And what could be better than one piece of $7.50 Polish pottery on clearance from TJ Maxx?

Why, of course, TWO pieces of $7.50 Polish pottery on clearance from TJ Maxx!!

Pay no attention to the wrinkles in my tablecloth, please.

I have wanted one of these pretty pieces since Suzanne posted about her obsession with Polish pottery last year.  Then, the other day,  my friend Molly told me that they carry Polish pottery at both TJ Maxx and Marshall's stores!  (The nice lady behind the register at TJ Maxx named Julia told me that AJ Wright stores also carry it.)

When I went to visit the lovely Mrs. Foss a couple of months ago, she had a beautiful piece that I couldn't help but drool over.  You can see the many patterns available here and here.   TJ Maxx had only the two patterns that I brought home.  I am not picky and, frankly, I think all the patterns go together in a pretty, eclectic, Bohemian sort of way.

Anyhoo...as I was heading to the cash register carrying my two fabulous finds and sporting a big goofy grin on my face, a woman walked in the store and asked another cashier whether they had any Polish pottery.  Oh no!!  I hid my platters under my arm so she wouldn't see them.  I couldn't bear to tell her that I was carrying the only two pieces in the store.  The poor woman.  I also couldn't find it in my very small heart to give her one of mine because...

I am mean. 

Don't argue with me.  I am!  I should have shared one, I know.  But, like I said, I am mean. 

Anyhow, she probably has an entire houseful.  At least, that's what I keep telling myself to make myself feel better. :)

Now, don't any of you leave any comments about how you are jealous of my Polish Pottery Prosperity.  I don't want to hear it.  Go out and buy some for yourself.  No fair saying you can't afford it. You can scrape up $7.50 in change from under the sofa cushions or from the cup holder in your van.  That's what I did! 

Come on, put all the kiddos in the van and head over to TJ Maxx or AJ Wright or Marshall's.  You can come home with some pretty Polish pottery to set on the table tonight. You deserve it, I'm sure.  You are a mom and moms, even  mean ones like yours truly,  need a treat every now and then.   :)

Bloom Where You're Planted

When I was a newly married woman, we had a small, two bedroom apartment that was modestly furnished.  I enjoyed decorating that first home but was not very satisfied with performing homemaking tasks.  Honestly,  I did not spend enough time on them to know whether I really liked them but I convinced myself early on that I did not. 

I look back on that little place and realize just how small a space it was, yet I remember feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of keeping it clean not because the job was daunting but because I preferred to spend my time doing other things.  I still placed a lot of value in my "me time" and did not want to be burdened with what I thought was the dull, repetitive job of keeping house.   Homemaking was for my grandmother and my mother, I thought, not for me.  I desired to have a big family someday but I did not really consider the amount of work that would come from that blessing. 

Many nights, I went to bed  with dishes in the sink though I had plenty of time to wash them.  I just preferred not to.  I was not very fond of dusting so I went long stretches between dusting and polishing the furniture.  I often waited for the laundry to pile up before washing it rather than keeping up with it.  I did not consider myself slovenly but simply "undomestic".    I wanted to spend my time doing other things and would get to the housework when I could no longer bear the mess.  In time, I grew increasingly resentful and frustrated with homemaking, wishing someone would come and do it for me so I could "get on with my life".   Little did I realize that my home reflected me as a person.  To neglect my vocation was to rob my family and myself of peace and happiness.   

(I believe that the above situations are far different from a mother with many little ones who simply cannot get it all done.  I could have gotten it done but had no interest in doing so.)

We bought our own home eight years ago and no longer live in that tiny apartment.  We now live in an itty bitty bungalow with four children.  There is more work to do these days, not less.   I am no longer working in the corporate world as I was when I was first married but, instead, spend my days reading stories to little people, caring for the day to day needs of my family, driving to ball games and cooking up a storm.  One would think that my "me time" would be even more coveted  because, as many a mother knows, there is little time each day to spend on things that we choose for ourselves.   Yet, oddly, I find myself enjoying my life more now than I ever have, despite my lack of "me time".    

"It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do, that is the secret of happiness."
James Matthew Barrie, novelist and author of Peter Pan

Certainly there are household tasks that I do not enjoy as much as others.  I used to abhor washing dishes.  They would pile up until there were no clean dishes to be found before I would touch them.  I loved to vacuum and clean floors but dishes made my head spin.  Then one day I decided to dim the lights (not too dim or the dishes will not be clean. :), fill the sink with hot soapy water, light a candle on the counter and roll up my sleeves.  I really don't mind washing dishes anymore.  The warm water is very therapeutic to me.  That does not mean if you stop by unexpectedly that you won't find any in the sink at any given time (right Anne? :).  It just means that we can find happiness by doing the chores we used to hate if we try to do them with creativity and a servant's heart of love. 

Homemaking, done well, has blessed my family more than any other activity on which I could spend my time.  While I like to knit and scrapbook, neither of those things affect my family as profoundly as my efforts to make our home a welcome, tidy, and clean place to live. I have seen firsthand how our decluttering efforts have changed the very countenances of those who live here. While we are far from done, not a minute of that time was wasted.  I plan to keep it up and not to lose heart.

"Success is getting what you want.  Happiness is liking what you get." H. Jackson Brown 

Now that decluttering has become a habit around here and we have begun to see the fruits of a tidier home, I have become interested in reading more about how to perform different household tasks.   I have been reading two books, Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson  and Keeping House by Margaret Peterson .   Keeping House shares the "why" of  homemaking.   Mendelson's book explains  how to go about it.  I will be using these two books to encourage myself in my vocation as my decluttering is completed. 

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." --Mother Teresa

Is my home always neat?  No, though I'm finding it is much more manageable now that there is less stuff.  The time it takes to tidy up has shortened drastically and will continue to do so as we finish decluttering.   I am inspired to continue to bless my family by being diligent and faithful in my homemaking efforts.  By abandoning ourselves to the tasks at hand with love, we will find joy in our vocations as wives and mothers.  There is great satisfaction to be found in serving others and denying ourselves.  That is the message of Christ and it can be done within the walls of our home each and every day. 

Just call me Rosie...

...Rosie the Riveter, that is!

Today, in a frantic effort to get ready for company (six people who are arriving this weekend), I installed two of these:

and  two of these:

Removed the old caulk and proceeded to recaulk one of these (no that's not mine in the photo):

BUT, by far the most exciting job completed today was to repair my upstairs bathtub which has not been working since last MAY. (Ahem.)  To make a long story short, the tub would not drain because the little lever thingy was broken as well as the wire thingy that you can't see that controls the little lever thingy. Once I removed the little lever thingy, the wire thingy and its surrounding plate, I dug down the overflow with a wire hanger and pulled this thing out. 

This thing apparently controls the tub's ability to drain.

Not any more!  (insert evil, sinister laugh)

At least now we can use the tub, though for the time being I will have to purchase a temporary rubber stopper for bathtime.  I didn't want our company to have to share one bathtub between the ten of us. 

Do you know that I only spent $18 and now have two working toilets and two presentable bathtubs?  I am pretty proud of myself. 

Now I am going to prop up my feet and have a glass of wine.  Then I am going to bed. :)

A Visit with Kathryn: Slowing the Pace

The girls and I recently returned from a five day trip to Florida where we visited my 91 year old grandmother, Kathryn.  Kathryn has a ranch home of her own about ten minutes from the sea where she has lived for the past 60 years.  She and my grandfather lived there together until his passing 12 years ago.  Her home has no microwave, no dishwasher, no internet service.  It has one rotary telephone and a television that catches three channels which is only turned on for Jeopardy and the evening news.  She makes her coffee in a stove top percolator.  She reads the newspaper and does the crossword puzzle each day.

There are many things that I learned from this visit with my grandmother which I plan to blog about but the one thing that most interested me was the way time passed slowly while we were there.  There was something so soothing and beautiful about her peaceful life.  She was interested in only the task at hand.  Whether it was cooking bacon, crocheting a cotton rug or rolling Mary's hair in rag curls for the night, she was fully there.  There's no multi-tasking in my grandmother's world, just a slow, steady persistence and an enjoyment of it all.

Grandma ran the sprinkler for the girls to play in each day.   She also filled a small tub of water for them to soak in which she put on her back patio.  I thought it would only be a matter of minutes before the girls lost interest in the little tub of water.  Grandma supplied them with some plastic cups and they played for hours.  Hours!  We sat in lawn chairs and watched them, laughing at their crazy antics and letting them pour water on our tired feet.

Each night at around eight o'clock the girls grew sleepy and we put them to bed together, plum tuckered out from a full but simple day.  Then, all the dishes being done right after dinner, Grandma and I sat and played rummy or Skip-Bo and talked for the rest of the night.  There was no mad rush to get on the computer, no turning on the television, just the sound of the crickets and the gentle hum of our conversation.

I have made it my goal to bring some of that peace home from Kathryn's house.  I hope to slow things down here a bit, to take it one thing at a time and savor the rhythm of each day.  I want my children to remember the crawling of time and the enjoyment of a simple life.  I do not want them to remember a mother who spent her days staring at a computer screen, unavailable and unfriendly.  I want them to look back and remember their mother sitting in the lawn chair, sipping a lemonade, with nowhere to be but right there.

Cleaning with Children

Those of you with little ones might enjoy Kelli Wilt's post entitled Cleaning with Children.  Her blog, The Sparrow's Nest,  is lovely to peruse and has many helpful hints on the art of homemaking.

Art, Music and Nature in Winter

Today is a picture postcard day.  There are huge downy flakes slowly falling from the sky, as though we were living in a snow globe  or in Narnia.  The ground is blanketed with almost a foot of pure white snow.

Annie and Mary have been watching the squirrels from our back window.  Annie squeals with delight when one of those little brown fellows comes close to our window. She claps our hands and laughs out loud.  We all think it is especially funny when one of them emerges from the snow with a little cap or beard of white. "Just like Santa!", yells Mary. 

We have had many feathered visitors at our feeders lately now that their normal food is difficult to find.  Juncos, sparrows, nuthatches and cardinals have been regular friends.  It is so pretty to see the cardinals with their beautiful red feathers against the snowy branches.  Winter is a wonderful time to study birds because the landscape is stark and bare.  They spend much time at the feeders, giving the us all a longer chance to sketch them. 

Each of the children recieved a copy of the Beginning Birdwatcher's Book for Christmas this year.  It has forty eight realistic bird stickers to place in the book when the bird is seen by the child in the wild.  Each bird page contains the following information: bird name in English and Latin, size, nest, eggs, food, range.  There is also a section on each page for the child's observations including: date seen, time of day, locality and remarks.   

I remember back to when I was a young woman in the corporate advertising world, just how much I dreaded northern Ohio winters. Maybe it was because I was out, dressed in a suit and heels, battling the elements.  Maybe I was just immature or plain old unappreciative of the glorious changing seasons.

I now enjoy the beauty and slower pace of winter days.  There is something so comforting to me about a season of  "hibernation" so to speak.  I love the change of pace, the change of menu, the more peaceful activities surrounding our family.  We spend much more time reading in the winter months, more time listening to good music, working on art projects, etc.

On some of these quiet winter days, we have been listening to the  Masters of Classical Music CDs.  Included in this set are full length discs of the music of ten different composers: Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Strauss, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Chopin, Schubert and Verdi.  We have spent the past week revisiting Mozart and Bach, who are among my children's favorites.  We studied Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi recently as well.

Benjamin plays the Irish tin whistle and has been filling our home with many lively tunes while the snow falls.  He is planning to attend a session of young Irish musicians next weekend. Christopher plays the recorder and picks it up several times a day to practice the songs he has been learning.

We have also been spending more time on art this winter season than we have in the past.  Last autumn, I purchased the fine arts program Artistic Pursuits based on a recommendation from the Mater Amabilis website.  I cannot rave enough about what a wonderful art program this is for young people.  My children absolutely love it.  I am loving it right along with them.  The lessons are simple yet leave much room for artistic interpretation.

One of my favorite picture books is Tomie de Paola's  The Art Lesson in which Tomie explains his frustration at having to do an art assignment "a certain way".  This program gives guidelines for each assignment but does not dictate precisely what the children are to draw, paint or sculpt.  It uses quality art materials; watercolors, pastels, clay, graphite drawing pencils, etc. to teach children to express themselves artistically.  Each book comes with a set of art masterpiece prints to be inserted, for conversation and example, into the book.  There are several levels of instruction, and a couple of books for each level.  Our whole family started out using the first book together. It is not too advanced for my six year old nor too slow paced for my ten year old or myself.  My three year old has done most of the projects as well.  I hope to post some photos of the work the children have been doing soon.

So as far as I am concerned, it can snow up to the rooftop because we have plenty of beautiful things to do, to look at and to listen to. I hope you all are enjoying the winter months and spending special time with your family doing what you love.