Bluegrass Mom's Perspective

Another tasty recipe...

2012-01-25T18:41:00.001-05:00

Bob was out of town for overnight so tonight I only had to feed myself. I LOVE chicken so I decided to try this healthy recipe from Marilyn S., a friend of mine.

Bruschetta chicken [on the lower part of the photo]. I added a smashed baked potato with broccoli, cheese and sour cream and had a wonderful meal.

The potato was two organic yellow potatoes which together weighed 7 oz, raw. I poked them with a fork and nuked them in my microwave for 3 minutes. Then before serving I smashed them with a cup and peeled away the top bit of skin. I topped them with some left over broccoli, low fat cheese and 1 T of low fat sour cream. For Weight Watchers, that is 5 pp+ for the potato, 0 for the sour cream and I used 1 oz total of the low fat cheese for the potato and the chicken, so that is 2 points for that.

For the chicken, I put my Carhartt sweatshirt on and went out and fired up the grill. It was starting to rain so I am glad we are KY hicks and have our grill on our covered front porch.

For one person:
1 boneless-skinless chicken breast, pounded slightly to even out thickness marinated in 1T Italian dressing. I used fat free Italian [it is what I had on hand] and added 1 tsp olive oil to it and put it all in a zip lock bag. Marinate at least 10 minutes. My chicken weighed 7 oz raw, so that is 6 pp+ total, 5 for the chicken and 1 for the healthy fat.

Bruschetta topping--Mix together in bowl:
1/2 - 1 tomato, finely chopped {I used a whole Roma}
2T oz mozzarella cheese {I used low fat and used 1 oz total for potato and chicken combined}
1T chopped fresh basil
garlic powder--optional

Heat grill to med [around 350 degrees] and cover 1/2 with foil sprayed with PAM. Put chicken on uncovered 1/2 of grill and cook 6 minutes with the lid down. Turn chicken over onto the foil and top with the Bruchetta topping, grill with lid down for 8 minutes more until done. I just used my timer and set it for the appointed minutes and didn't peek. It was done perfectly when the timer went off.

My total meal: 13 WW Points plus, and that included 1 healthy oil, a couple of veggies, lean protein and tasted great. It was also a LOT of food and was incredibly filling.

Enjoy,
Jill

Brownie Batter Pancakes...

2012-01-24T10:24:00.000-05:00

I have been looking for new recipes that are low fat and tasty and came across this recipe on Chocolate Covered Katie . I made some this morning and decided I would make a few changes, but this was a fun and delicious way to enjoy breakfast. This is for one large serving and it is 4 Weight Watcher Points+, but that includes 1/3 serving of milk. So, drink 2/3 cup milk and for 5 points you have breakfast and get in one dairy. I topped mine with a sliced banana and 1 tsp maple syrup. The banana adds some fiber and really fills you up.

Brownie Batter Pancakes

Servings: 1 • Size: 6-8 silver-dollar pancakes 4 WW Points+
Ingredients:

1/4 cup flour [3 pts]
1/4 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda [if using buttermilk or yogurt]
1 Tbsp Hershey’s Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder (or dutch cocoa)
1 tsp sugar pinch of salt (optional)
1 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 C skim milk, non fat yogurt, nondairy milk of your choice [1 pt]

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients very well, then add wet and stir in with a fork till everything is mixed together. Spray a medium hot frying pan with PAM [I like to use cast iron] and fry small bits of batter at a time. I did mine in about 2-3 batches and sprayed lightly between batches. There are only 130 calories in this entire recipe. I add once sliced banana and 1 tsp maple syrup or you could add 1 tsp of Hershey's chocolate syrup [no points] and omitted the sugar in the recipe. 2T of canned [under pressure] whipped cream would be wonderful and adds no points.

Take Care,

Jill

I am Billy...

2012-01-21T11:11:00.000-05:00

I have been walking every day, trying to increase my fitness level while reducing my weight. When I got stuck in my weight loss a couple of weeks back I decided I really needed to get serious about more exercise.

Instead of just doing the same route every day, I decided I would walk a certain amount of time. With Weight Watchers, I need to walk fast [3-5 mph] for 11 minutes to earn one activity point. With trepidation I increased my goal from 12 to 21 points a week.

So far, so good. I walk like mad and then look and see how long I have been walking. I don't have a pedometer because everyone I have ever had has either dropped off my pants, landed in the toilet, been stepped or sat on. They just don't stay on all day and if I am going to use one I like to use the step counter feature and keep it on all day. [Do you know that when I am working in the Sonlight booth at convention I log around 10 miles in one day!]

At any rate this week I found a neat tracking tool on www.sparkpeople.com. I put in my zip code and can plot the route I took that day, put in the number of minutes and my weight and it tells me how far I walked, the rate of speed and how many calories I burned. It is very encouraging to see that I burn around 400 calories a day-and truth be told, probably more because of all the hills around here.

The funny thing is, my route looks exactly like the one that Billy made above. I just about get home, look at the timer in my pocket and realize that I need to go 8 more minutes. So, I backtrack, maybe walk up and over the bridge over the rail road tracks, then come back. Or I walk all the way to the Veteran's Center, backtrack, then walk out by the college and around town, stopping at the IGA to pick up bananas or onions or something.

So, I am Billy. Inquisitive, going where I will, and burning 400 or more calories a day in the process. Life is kind of like a circus, after all.

Low Fat Moist Scones...

2012-01-19T14:29:00.000-05:00

I mentioned before that I love scones and also that I am on Weight Watchers and that I love to bake. Today I really wanted a scone so I modified a recipe I had and made some fantastic, low fat, low point orange-chocolate chip scones that are chewy and delicious.

A lot of people don't like scones because many are dry and not very tasty. These are moist, a bit chewy [at least when warm] and are bursting with flavor.

I made a small recipe, but you could easily double this.

Orange-Chocolate Chip Scones

5 scones, 4 WW+ points; 7 scones, 3 WW+ points [I cut mine into 5 pieces]

Put these ingredients into a small mixing bowl and stir to combine:

1/2 C baking flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
2T white sugar [you may want to save out 1 tsp to sprinkle on top just before baking]
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
zest of one small orange or 1/2 tsp dried orange peel
1/4 C mini chocolate chips

Make a well in the center of the bowl and add the yogurt and stir till it makes a ball. May be sticky.

1/2 C -5/8C fat free vanilla or plain yogurt. {I used organic Trader Joe French Vanilla Yogurt}

Mixture will be sticky. Put some flour on your counter top and turn dough onto floured surface, turning a few times to make it so it isn't so sticky. Form into a ball, then pat down till it is about 7" in diameter, about 1" thick. Cut into 5 or 7 wedges and then place the wedges on a greased baking sheet. If you reserved a1 tsp of sugar, sprinkle it on now. [I put the dough on the baking sheet, then cut and separate the wedges so they are about 1" apart, no edges touching.]

Bake about 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with hot tea or cold milk.

You can vary this recipe, leaving out the chocolate chips. If you leave out the chocolate chips you can reduce points by 1 per scone. You could add fresh berries, well drained, you could leave out chips and orange peel and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. You could add dried fruit like cherries or cranberries. This basic recipe can be used a lot of ways.

My Favorite Breakfast...

2012-01-18T09:49:00.001-05:00

I really like to spend time in the kitchen. I guess I love to bake the most-and I also love to eat what I bake, so that isn't always a good thing!

Lately I have been trying to come up with some breakfasts that are hot, filling, healthy, don't take too long and don't have too many Weight Watcher points, which are based on protein, fat, carbs and fiber. When it comes down to it one point is about 40 calories.

So, this is the ticket. Fried polenta with a touch of maple syrup, cinnamon, a banana and berries. Heavenly and only 3 Weight Watcher points [and that includes 1 healthy fat and a few fruits].

I buy my polenta already made up in tube-like packaging at Trader Joe's but you could make it yourself. It is only corn meal, salt and water, boiled. I have made this recipe which works well. We don't have a TJ close, but Bob goes to Columbus fairly often and picks it up for me then. What I like about the TJ polenta is that it doesn't have to be refrigerated until after you open it, so he can get me a few packages and I just put it in the pantry.
--------------------------------

POLENTA

Mix together in a sauce pan:

4 C of water

1 C ground cornmeal

1 tsp salt

Whisk together, bring to a boil, reduce heat and stir constantly till thick. It should be thick enough for a wooden spoon to stand up in it. Pour into 2 oiled small bread pans, or 1 large bread pan.After it sets you can remove from the pan and wrap it in plastic. It keeps in the fridge for at least a couple of weeks.

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At any rate, once you have polenta, heat 1 tsp of healthy oil, like olive oil in a frying pan till hot. Slice off 4 oz of polenta and fry for a few minutes on each side [Polenta is about 1 point per 2 oz]. I sprinkle with cinnamon on both sides. [With the round Trader Joe polenta I slice off four 1 ounce slices [about 3/8 inch thick]. Fry till crispy.

When hot and crispy, place on plate and I let any extra oil drip on the polenta, and top with 1 whole sliced banana, 1 tsp maple syrup, berries and 2T whipped cream from a can. Usually I don't have berries, but I ran into a fabulous sale last week at Meijer. Using just a banana is also delicious.

This is a fabulous breakfast, only 3 WW+ points and it is filling. Add a cup of hot tea--ahh heavenly.

Take care,
Jill

[As a note, the new Weight Watchers plan doesn't have any limit on fruit, so all fruit is 0 points. Also 1 tsp maple syrup is 0 points and 2 T whipped cream from a can is 0 points. I used to put 1 T maple syrup on it, which is lovely, but that adds 1 point and I decided that it wasn't worth it to me. Total WW+ points, 3]

Tea Time with Grandma...

2012-01-12T18:39:00.000-05:00

If you know me you know that when I talk about my favorite way to relate to folks it always comes down to to tea and scones at the kitchen table. So it was a real treat today to be able to have tea-time with my granddaughter Allison.

She had milk, as you can see from the sippy cup, but we both enjoyed the chocolate chip scones made from a recipe I got from skinnytaste.com.

We had a great time and it meant a lot to me to be able to share my favorite things with one of my favorite people.

In other milestones, Allison learned to play the harmonica today...and by playing I mean she can blow and get a sound out if it. About every 4-5 times she blows she hands it to Bob to wipe on his pants to get the slobber out of it. Gross!

What a fun way to spend a Thursday!
Take care,
Jill

Gingerbread Muffins--super healthy and delicious...

2011-12-22T11:08:00.002-05:00

As many of your know I have been doing Weight Watchers on line for the past 5 months and have lost 46#. It is a great program and pretty easy to follow. My downfall has always been baked goods. And, the biggest problem is that I LOVE to bake. So, I have been trying to balance my love for eating and baking with my love for not being fat and there is always quite a bit of tension between the two things.

I modified a muffin recipe I liked and then modified it some more and then again, and I have finally come up with a fantastic recipe that is super healthy and tasty. I eat one about 4-5 mornings a week along with a cup of tea and some Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt. If you know WW points, the muffins are 3 WW Points+ and so is the yogurt, so for 6 points I have a healthy and satisfying breakfast. But, you don't have to be watching your weight to love these muffins. Here is the recipe, it makes a dozen nice sized muffins. I bake them in a Pampered Chef stone muffin pan without using cupcake papers. I tried other pans but they don't rise as high.

Gingerbread Muffins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine the following dry ingredients:

1 3/4 C flour, I use 1 C whole wheat and 3/4 C regular unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt

Mix the following together, then add to the dry ingredients, stirring till combined, but it is OK if it is a bit lumpy:

1 C canned pumpkin puree
1/4 C applesauce, unsweetened [you could use oil instead, but I wanted a low fat muffin**]
2 eggs
1/3 C water
1/2 C sorghum [or honey]
1 tsp vanilla extract

Scoop into 12 muffin cups. I like to use a 1/2 C ice cream scoop and then just plop a scoop into each muffin cup. [3 WW plus points per muffin, 2 for 5 points if you use sorghum rather than honey]. Bake for about 20-25minutes till the middle of the muffin pops back when you touch with your finger.

You may want to add nuts, raw sunflower seeds, cinnamon chips or dried fruit to batter before baking. I like to top with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar before baking, or what I did to the muffins in the photo above was add 1 tsp of streusel to each muffin.

Streusel topping: I make up a batch of this and keep it in the fridge in a zip-loc bag. It will last a long time and then it is easy to scoop some out to top muffins or coffee cakes. 1 tsp doesn't add any WW points, but when I use it, I count 2 muffins as 6 points.

Streusel:

Mix together till crumbly:
1/4 C butter [1/2 stick]
1/4 C white sugar
2/3 C flour.

Store in a bag or jar in the fridge and spoon it out as needed.

Take care,
Jill

Note: For a more pumpkiny muffin which is not so gingerbready, omit the cloves and the ginger.
**If you use a WW healthy oil in place of the applesauce, count the muffin as 4 WW+ points and each one has one healthy oil to help meet your daily healthy guidelines. If you have problems getting your healthy oils in daily, this may be a great way to do it.

Hot Cocoa

2011-12-21T21:17:00.000-05:00

I made hot cocoa last night and tried something new that worked well.I wanted to make a lot. So, for 2.5 gallons of hot cocoa I did the following:

Heat in a pan to boiling:

2 C water
2C dry cocoa powder
2C sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Once this boils you can put it into 2 clean pint jars. When ready to make the cocoa, put the contents of one of the jars in a pan and heat, then add 1 gallon of milk and heat until it reaches 180 degrees-the perfect drinking temp for cocoa. You can make both jars of syrup into cocoa at the same time, or save a jar for later. Just put it in the fridge and it will keep for a long time. I put a bowl of mini-marshmallows along side of the thermal container the cocoa was in. [We use Cambro beverage Camtainers and they are pricey, but fabulous and well worth the money if you have lots of get togethers. If you do put it in a thermal container like this, I suggest heating the cocoa to 183-185 degrees so it will stay hot for hours.]

We like it less sweet, but if you are serving to company or children you may want to add some extra sugar or a squirt or two of chocolate syrup.

I made 2.5 gallons last night and there wasn't a drop left at the end of the evening.

Take care,
Jill

Cinnamon Rolls

2011-12-21T20:59:00.002-05:00

Once a year we have a cinnamon roll open house and last night was the night. So, here is a photo diary of the process. Sure wish you could smell them too. Here are some of them. You may notice one in the middle is gone--I had a fresh hot one right from the center.

You can see my kneader and the two most important ingredients, flour and brown sugar.

I use my kitchen aid for making the filling.

My kneader is full to the brim of my basic roll dough. [Recipe at the end of this blog.] I use this dough for making dinner rolls, coffee cakes and cinnamon rolls. It is a good all around dough.

The dough after a brief rest. I just uncovered it so I could begin making the rolls.

I divide the dough into fourths so I can work with it.

I grease pyrex baking pans with a mixture of 1 part liquid lecithin and 2 parts veggie oil.

I put some oil on the counter and then roll the dough out long and thin. I try not to make it wide because then the rolls are so big and some gets wasted.

I mix up the filling in my Kitchen Aid and divide into fourths, using 1 part for each piece of rolled out dough. I spread it with a thin spatula.

I spread the filling thin, top with broken pecan pieces and roll up like a jelly roll.

Here it is rolled up. Then I put it on my long cutting board in order to slice.

I slice about 1 inch thick.

I put them loosely in the greased Pyrex baking pan. When the pans are greased with the lecithin/oil solution they slide right out after baking.

Here they are rising. I covered them up with flour sack towels as I went along, but took them off for the photo.

In the oven.

I make up the frosting while the first ones are baking.

The first rolls are out of the oven. I put 15 to a pan, and eventually made 133 rolls out of this triple size batch. I tip the pan up and the rolls slide right out and after a few minutes I spread with a light frosting and they are ready to eat.

My kneader does a great job of kneading the dough, making this job much easier.

I have added the recipe below. I made a triple batch for the party.

Take Care,
Jill

BASIC ROLL DOUGH (For dinner rolls and coffee cakes)

7C flour 1/2C sugar

2T yeast 1/2C margarine

2 1/2 C milk 2t salt

2 eggs

In mixing bowl, combine 3C flour and the yeast. Heat milk, sugar, shortening and salt just till warm (115°-120°). Stir constantly till shortening almost melts. Add to mixture; add eggs. Beat at low speed of mixer 1/2 minute, scraping bowl. Beat 3 minutes on high. By hand, stir in remaining flour to make a soft dough. Shape into a ball.

Place in lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover; let rise in warm place till double, 1 1/2-2 hours.

** Punch down; turn out on floured surface. Cover with bowl and let rest 10 minutes. Shape.

THIS IS GOOD MADE INTO DINNER ROLLS.

For dinner rolls, make into small balls, and put on greased cookie sheets, cover and let rise till doubled. Then bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes, till brown.

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CINNAMON ROLLS

The best ever!

Make Basic Roll Dough [above]

Grease* 2 large pans, I prefer pyrex glass pans, the 10x14 size, or you could use 3 smaller pans.

While dough is resting, mix together the following:

2 sticks softened butter

3T cinnamon

2C brown sugar

After resting, roll out dough and spread dough with above mixture.You may want to top with broken or chopped pecan pieces.

Dough: Roll up dough and cut into 1" to 1 1/2" slices and put in

prepared pans. Let rise till doubled (30-45 min).

BAKE: 350°. for about 20 minutes. When brown, take out of oven, let

sit about 5 minutes.

After baking, when rolls are warm but not hot, top with a frosting

Frosting: Combine about 1 1/2 C powdered sugar, 1-2 T milk and a dab of butter..

You can make these the night before, and put in fridge to rise, then let warm at room temp 2-3 hours, then bake.

This recipe makes about 24 large, or 40 medium rolls. I usually use two 10 x 14 pans, or three 9 x 13 pans.

* A great way to grease pans is to buy liquid lecithin at a health food store. Mix 1 part lecithin and 2 parts oil and keep in a small mason jar. Apply with a pastry brush to grease bread pans or cookie sheets. Baked goods slide right out. This mix does not need to be refrigerated.

Family Time...

2011-12-04T21:16:00.000-05:00

We have had some great Family Times lately, so I thought I would share some photos.

This is Ellie and I a few weeks ago. She made herself a great pretend sandwich, complete with lettuce and tomato.

Trying to get the perfect Christmas photo--orange juice Popsicle were a hit. The girls are waving to their Mommies.

I think Ellie froze her mouth on the Popsicle.

These cousins are beginning to really like each other and it is cute to see their friendship forming.

Allison looks like she is having a great time.

The whole family was together at Thanksgiving. We all live in the same general area, but it never seems like we all get together and are awake at the same time. Here is a quick photo in our living room.

My sister and her family came to visit for Thanksgiving too. It was fun to have a big family gathering. Their family is scattered from Michigan, to Knoxville, TN to New York City.

Kentucky make the perfect meet up. What a fun time we had.

For me, the best times in my life are when family gets together. I LOVE it when all my kids are all together in the same place at the same time. And, when we added in my sister's family [less on daughter and son-in law], it was fantastic.

May your holidays be a wonderful time with family and friends.

Take care,
Jill

What Adam did, Christ un-does...

2011-11-18T15:05:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine, Ryan, posted a great blog about Hannah Whitall Smith the author of "The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life" and "The God of all Comfort" in which he re-posted some of what was removed by editors because they didn't like Ms. Smith's conclusion.

I think it is awful that a woman who is well known in Christian circles has had her books stripped of her heartfelt beliefs. You can read one of the lost excerpts here:

One day I was riding on a tram-car along Market Street, Philadelphia, when I saw two men come in and seat themselves opposite to me. I saw them dimly through my veil, but congratulated myself that it was only dimly, as I was thus spared the wave of anguish that had so often swept over me at the full sight of a strange face.

The conductor came for his fare, and I was obliged to raise my veil in order to count it out. As I raised it, I got a sight of the faces of those two men, and with an overwhelming flood of anguish, I seemed to catch a fresh and clearer revelation of the misery that had been caused to human beings by sin. It was more than I could bear. I clenched my hands and cried out in my soul, “Oh God! How canst Thou bear it? Thou mightest have prevented it, but Thou didst not. Thou mightest even now change it, but Thou dost not. I do not see how Thou canst go on living and endure it.” I upbraided God. And I felt justified in doing so.

Then suddenly God seemed to answer me. An inward voice said, in tones of infinite love and tenderness, “He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied.” “Satisfied!” I cried in my heart. “Christ is to be satisfied! He will be able to look at the world’s misery and then at the travail through which He has passed because of it, and will be satisfied with the result! If I were Christ, nothing could satisfy me but that every human being should in the end be saved, and therefore I am sure that nothing less will satisfy Him!”

With this, a veil seemed to be withdrawn from before the plans of the universe, and I saw that it was true, as the Bible says, that “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ should all be made alive.” As was the first, even so was the second. The “all” in one case could not in fairness mean less than the “all” in the other. I saw therefore that the remedy must necessarily be equal to the disease, the salvation must be as universal as the fall.
I saw all this that day on the tram-car on Market Street, Philadelphia — not only thought it, or hoped it, or even believed it, but knew it! It was a Divine fact. And from that moment I have never had one questing thought as to the final destiny of the human race. God is the Creator of every human being; therefore He is the Father of each one and they are all His children; and Christ died for every one, and is declared to be “the propitiation not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2). However great the ignorance, therefore, or however grievous the sin, the promise of salvation is positive and without limitations.

It is true that “by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men unto condemnation,” it is equally true that, “by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” To limit the last “all men” is also to limit the first. The salvation is absolutely equal to the fall. There is to be a final “Restitution of all things, when, at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” Every knee, every tongue — words could not be more all-embracing.
The how and the when I could not see; but the one essential fact was all I needed — somewhere, and somehow God was going to make everything right for all the creatures He had created. My heart was at rest about it forever.

I hurried home to get hold of my Bible to see if the magnificent fact I had discovered could possibly have been all this time in the Bible and I had not seen it, and the moment I entered the house, I did not wait to take off my bonnet, but rushed at once to the table where I always kept my Bible and Concordance ready for use, and began my search.
Immediately the whole Book seemed to be illuminated. On every page the truth concerning the “times of restitution of all things,” of which the Apostle Peter says “God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began,” shone forth and no room was left for questioning. I turned greedily from page to page of my Bible, fairly laughing aloud for joy at the blaze of light that illuminated it all. It became a new Book. Another skin seemed to have been peeled off every text, and my Bible fairly shone with new meaning. I do not say with a different meaning, for in no sense did the new meaning contradict the old, but a deeper meaning, the true meaning hidden behind the outward form of words. The words did not need to be changed; they only needed to be understood; and now at last I began to understand them.

If you would like more information about this idea of God eventually saving all because of what Christ has done, you may want to check out our ministry website www.GraceEvangel.org

Thanks for the reminder, Ryan.

Take care,
Jill

Spectacular!--Mathtacular

2011-11-17T08:24:00.001-05:00

If you are looking for a great educational-game gift for your kids (Preschool through about 2nd grade) check out Mathtacular. For $39.99 this is a real deal. This has a DVD, tons of manipulatives and lots of great instructions so that Math will be fun for your kids. Also, you can get free shipping if you pick the Media Mail option.

If you do order. PLEASE put my name -"SL Consultant Jill E"- in the comment section. I am a Sonlight Consultant and that will make it clear that I tipped you off to this good deal. NOT just for homeschoolers. Seriously, this is a great deal and the kids in your life will love Mathtacular.

This is packaged in a game--a great gift for under the tree this Christmas.

Also, if you are looking for great books to read aloud to your children may I recommend a couple to you?

The Great and Terrible Quest--This is my favorite book of all time. If you would like to know why I love it so much you can go here.
Little Britches is another family favorite. You can't go wrong reading this autobiography. Delightful for parents and adults. A couple of "cowboy swear words" which you can read right over if you are reading aloud.

If you would like other recommendations, let me know. I would love to recommend a book or two for you to read aloud to your family.

Take care,

Jill

Applesauce Day at the Farm...

2011-11-08T16:32:00.002-05:00

Last year we thought we would have Applesauce Day at the farm, but we were nowhere close to being ready. But this year, Bob and I were ready to host this annual event. The day started out with a red sky in the morning and a heavy frost. It was beautiful, but also very slippery. My good friend Linda slipped on our stairs at the beginning of the day and had to be taken to a walk in clinic where she was found to have a fractured arm bone, close to the ball joint. So, it was a sad way to start out and Linda was sad she missed all the fun. [As a note, she will not have to have surgery, but it will take a while to heal. After the first week, the pain was much less and I have since re-stained the steps and put sand on them to keep them from being slippery.}

I started getting things around at about 6:30 or so. My basement laundry room was turned into what became lovingly nick-named "The Boiler Room." Bob installed a 220 line so we could plug in my old stove, and with the counter top next to it, we were ready to start.

I set a table up by the basement door. This would be a cutting station.

All in all we had 8 bushels of apples. I had 3 bushels from Michigan inside and had these bags from our local orchard waiting outside.

Boxes of clean jars were piled up in the basement hallway outside the boiler room.

The Boiler Room also has a laundry tub, so it was easy to wash the apples. In former years we had a plastic tub in the bath tub and it required bending over, which I HATE! This worked great.

Nephew David on R and his friend were in charge of carrying in the bags of apples, mixing them with the Michigan Apples, washing them and then taking them out to the cutters. They did a great job.

My son Dusty ended up at a second cutting station. Don't let this picture fool you, he was working hard but he did not cut all those apples in the foreground by himself! Later in the day he cut his thumb pretty bad and that ended his cutting career for the day. Fortunately his wife is a nurse, so she was able to bandage it.

Here is the other cutting table with nieces Evelyn and Kate [behind Evelyn] on the left side and daughter Kari on right with Evelyn and Kate's dad, Keith in the rear of this photo.

Friend Bethel was shift boss of the Boiler Room for about 1/2 the day. This was when she was just getting started so she looks pretty fresh.

Good friend Jenny manned the upstairs kitchen for about 1/2 the day. This is where the filled jars of sauce got canned. We had two canners going and that worked great.

Jenny and I have been doing applesauce day for many years--not sure how many, but probably around 8-10.

This table we set up outside the upstairs kitchen and we kept putting the canned applesauce there till it cooled and then moved it into boxes underneath. You can see the filled boxes below the table. This was not the end of the day, but somewhere in the middle.

All in all, a great day was had by all. We had chili and potato soup in crock pots for lunch, along with Jenny's homemade bread and my little herbed oyster crackers. Jenny also brought homemade cinnamon chip bread for breakfast and snack and the two loaves were inhaled and gone around lunch time.

During the afternoon-after all the apples were cut up-- Keith took all the kids down to the creek for a hike. They enjoyed that quite a bit. For supper Bob made a campfire and he and the older kids roasted all variety of hotdogs that had been left in the freezer after our various picnics and pot lucks this summer. We were all ravenous and I think for next year I should have some chips to go with the hotdogs and perhaps a small crock pot of baked beans. Of course, there was applesauce and it was divine.

We were done around 6:00 with mostly everything cleaned up and washed down. All totaled we canned 82 quarts and 122 pints of all natural- no sugar or anything else-applesauce. We had 2 pints break in the canner [we think the jars got too cool] and ate a couple of gallons of sauce. We had 14 adults, 6 kids and 2 toddlers. We all decided that we liked the more spread out nature of the cottage for the work because though it is small it has three separate stations [boiler room, cutting room and upstairs kitchen]. We had the two accidents which were unfortunate, but other than that everyone had a great time and a huge feeling of accomplishment.

Take care,
Jill

499 DAYS...

2011-08-29T07:10:00.000-04:00


The view from where our cottage now sits.

Staking out the footprint in Jan 2010.

After 499 days our cottage is finally done! We began the journey when we pulled the building permit between Christmas and New Year's 2009.
The project was originally projected to take 2-3 months--and here we are nearly 17 months later and we finally have the final building inspection done.

I was talking to my son Chad earlier tonight and I said it was almost like having a really long and difficult pregnancy and finally giving birth. He said, "Yeah, and changing doctors along the way."

Pouring basement walls,..

At any rate, we have a few things to finish up ourselves, but when you own a house there is always just one more project, but as far as the officials are concerned, we are good to go. And that makes me very happy.

Very.

So, for your viewing enjoyment, some photos of our 17 month journey.

basement floor and some plumbing in.

During this time our lives did not stand still. In no particular order...

Our first two grandchildren, Elinor and Allison were born, Bob and I were vendors at 5 state homeschool conventions, we had several picnics at the farm, one 4th of July picnic, the Packers won the Superbowl, Kari has served all but 2 weeks of her 1 year Americorps service, Dusty graduated from University of KY with an Accounting degree, Bob got a job promotion, we took untold trips, I made thousands of bars of soap and we had a great Applesauce Day in October, making and canning the most applesauce we ever have.

Framing under way.

For those of you who have followed our saga and have given us encouragement, Bob and I thank you. We are blessed to have this cottage that we will eventually retire to, but in the meantime we will spend as much time there as we are able to.

Take care,
Jill

Bob checking out the framing.

Plywood and house wrap going on.

Loft framed in.

Mist rising over the KY river one morning while I was waiting for some workmen to come.

Wall in living room--I love the octagon window.

Adding the Bay Window with window seat, roof on.

Bay window done, windows in.

Wrap around deck going on.

Working on deck--this was July 2010

Work on deck progresses.

Wood stove in place-hearth built. [This was too small, so it had to be re-done later and duct work had to be moved after the new hearth was built. Two steps forward, one step back. ------Upper photo: Kari caulking windows on Thanksgiving break.

Oak and Poplar staircase completed.

Kitchen tile.

Heat Pump.


Slate and oak hearth for wood stove.

Exterior completed.

Upstairs bath completed.

Jason and Noel installing stove pipe on one of the coldest days of the year. They had to build scaffolding first.

Living room about done.----Top photo: Bob putting up Shaker pegs while balancing precariously on the ledge by the steps.

My closet doors.

My adorable kitchen is complete.

Living room with a nice fire, see deck when you look out the windows.

Me painting Shaker pegs and peg rails.

Bedroom doors go out to the deck.

Bob and I custom build the pantry under the steps.

Bob and I build in bookshelves in the basement.

Another pantry shot.

Me trying out the window seat.

Final grading done, Bob putting gutters underground.

The hardest working man I know.After nearly 36 years of marriage, I know more than ever that Bob is my best friend and soul mate. We have the same hopes and dreams. I love this shot--strong and romantic-- all at the same time.

Bluegrass Staycation...

2011-08-28T14:38:00.002-04:00

Bob and I celebrated our 36th anniversary this past week. We decided to go out for dinner, stay overnight at our cottage and then spend the next day doing touristy things that we had never done before. Since we have lived in the Bluegrass for over 19 years, we had to be a bit creative.

With advice from our daughter in law Jen, we decided to sign up for the Hard Hat Buffalo Trace Distillery tour in Frankfort. It was really fun. Bob and I are not bourbon drinkers, although I do add vanilla beans to a bottle every couple of years and use it as vanilla extract, but it was still a great outing.


You can see the barrels aging. They have enough bourbon in storage to fill orders at the current rate of consumption for the next 20 years!

The aged bourbon rests here for 20+ years.

The tour was great. I loved learning all the historical aspects of this Kentucky industry. Buffalo Trace has been making bourbon since 1787--and even continued during Prohibition under a special license to make "medicinal bourbon" which required a prescription.We also learned how they use just about everything, selling their left over mash as a high protein feed for cattle and farmed shrimp. Very interesting!

It in interesting to note that in order to be called "bourbon" it does NOT need to be made in Kentucky, which is what I had always been told. It does have to be aged in new white oak barrels [charred on the inside] for anywhere from 7-over 20 years and has to have, I think, 50% or so corn content.

We were in the tour mood, so we toured the "Kentucky Ale" brewery in Lexington before heading out to our favorite restaurant "Darlin' Jean's" in Midway. They have the best food, but-- no matter how many times we go Bob and I always get the same thing--Hot Browns and then we split a cobbler for dessert. Their food is homemade and wonderful. They have limited hours, so if you would like to go sometime, be sure to call them to find out when they are open.

It was back to work on Thursday, but Friday we stayed at the farm again. I got up early and took a few photos that really don't show how breathtakingly beautiful sunrises are on the farm. The sun rising over the mist rising from the Kentucky River is an amazing sight.

And, down in the shadows, with the sunrise just filtering through the trees, a lone deer enjoys the mineral block we put out. Scrappy and I sat on the deck watching the sun and the deer in the quiet serenity of the moment.

It was a great anniversary!

Take care,
Jill

My Bluegrass Husband...

2011-08-16T20:55:00.001-04:00

I had a friend comment on how she loved the photos of Bob at Sunset, so I decided to put them here in case anyone else would like them. He was digging a trench and then putting in underground gutter extensions to get the gutter water away from the house.

What a guy! And in one week we celebrate 36 years of marriage. I don't like to pat myself on the back in public, but I will make an exception this one time. I was 18 when we got engaged and 19 when we got married. I have to say I was one smart girl to say "Yes" to Bob. God is just so good.

Take care,
Jill

Pizza on the Grill...

2011-08-09T08:01:00.000-04:00

Our good family friend Bethel came to visit yesterday so I decided to get out of the kitchen and do individual pizzas on the grill.I made the crust early in the day, put it in a Tupperware container and let it rise for several hours and that worked well.

Later, I sliced up the toppings and lightly sauteed some green bell pepper and red onion while put some sliced mushrooms in the microwave for about 1 minute.

Everyone loved the pizza and if you are watching your weight, it is perfect too. You can't put too much cheese on them so the toppings and grilled flavor carry taste--it is not smothered in cheese.

This is an amazing way to make and eat pizza. The crust is thin and crispy and the toppings fresh and delicious. The pizzas cook fast, so have your ingredients ready and perhaps have an assistant. [Adapted from AllRecipes.com]

Grilled Pizza This makes about 3 small pizzas. We can do two at a time on our 4-burner grill.

In a bowl: dissolve yeast in warm water, and mix in honey. Let set for ten minutes until frothy. Mix in the salt, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil and flour until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, about 8 minutes.

    1 package active dry yeast or 1 scant Tablespoons
    1 cup warm water
    1 tsp honey
    2 teaspoons kosher salt
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

You can place dough in a well oiled bowl, and cover with a damp cloth. Set aside to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Set aside to rise for 1 more hour, or until doubled again. Another option, is to knead well, put in a covered container, like Tupperware, crack the lid a bit and let rise for a few hours. You don't need to punch down and let rise twice if you don't have time. Just make the crust early in the day, let sit for 3-6 hours, punch down and use.
Heat together in microwave for 30 seconds and set aside.

     1/4 C olive oil
    1 teaspoon minced garlic

Pinch of 1/4 to 1/3 of the dough off. Put flour on the counter and roll the dough out thin--like a pie crust. Make sure the dough is well floured. We found if we put each dough on a square of non-stick foil it was very easy to work with. I rolled out each crust, put it on a sheet of foil and then stacked them to carry out to the grill.

Prepare toppings. You will need:

    1/4 cup tomato sauce with added garlic and fresh basil, or use prepared pizza sauce
    2 cups shredded mozzarella or pizza cheese-We used a 6 cheese Italian mix and it was great. Be sure it is shredded fine.
    pepperoni, fresh veggies sliced thin--may want to saute a bit.
    garlic olive oil [that you made earlier]
    Two spatulas or a spatula and some tongs
    An assistant is helpful :)--Thanks Kari

Turn on grill or get charcoal grill hot. I like it at around 400 degrees to start with. Brush the grate with some of the garlic olive oil.Turn crust on foil upside down so it drops on the grill. Close lid and let bake for 2 -3 minutes. You want to take it off the grill when the top is puffy and set and the bottom is crispy but not burnt. You may want to turn the grill down to medium low at this point.

While not on the grill--flip crust upside down on the foil it was on before--so that the grill marks are on top. Brush lightly with garlic olive oil and some sauce. Go lightly on the sauce. Top with toppings and cheese. Use a light hand with the cheese. If you are making 3 pizzas only use 2/3 cup on each one. If you put on too much it won't melt. Return to the grill to finish baking. You don't need to hurry this step. Once it is off the grill take your time putting on the toppings. We used spinach, green pepper, red onion. chopped tomatoes, mushrooms. pepperoni and green olives--with everyone choosing their favorites.

Close the lid and bake until the cheese melts and the bottom crust is baked and not burnt. If the crust is done but the cheese not melted move it to a cooler part of the grill and/or put it back on the foil for a minute or two. This takes only about 3 minutes for this part of the pizza to be done.

We did two at a time and while the two were cooking we prepared the others, working in a bit of an assembly line. Each pizza takes only about 2-4 minutes on a side.

Here is a video from AllRecipes that shows how they do it. My crust is thinner. and toppings smaller and we remove it from the grill to put the toppings on. Theirs does not look as good as ours and seems more burnt, but at least you get the idea.

Happy Grilling,
Jill

[Next time we do them I will take photos.]

Marriage Advice from the Pros...

2011-08-04T09:40:00.001-04:00

And by pros, I mean, my friends and I.

Last night I had the privilege to attend a "Bride and Old Gals [or Broads!]" outing. In honor of my friend's daughter who is getting married this weekend, the bride, her mother and six of her mother's friends went out for appetizers and to chat, laugh and to give advice to the bride.

After ordering and catching up on news, we added up the years of marriage we had between us. I lost count, but I know it was over 165 years! Then, the bride asked us for marriage advice. I wish I had taken notes because the amount of wisdom among the 7 Old Gals was amazing. I am going to try to summarize, but I am sure I missed some gems.

Don't ever nag.
Don't act like your husband's mother
If you have a tendency to relate to your spouse in a way that you don't like [such as acting like his mother] ask him to give you a little signal when you are doing it, so you can can break the habit.
See your husband as the person he can be [not necessarily what he is now]. Share your dream, instill confidence in him and he will want to aspire to the person you know he can be.
Support your husband as much as possible, but also give advice and talk through situations. Many times you can see pitfalls in a plan before he can.
Overlook a lot and pray that he overlooks a lot in you.
People come first--not the house, or food or whatever. Make every guest feel welcome.
Be yourself and don't be afraid of his mother or father or feel unsure about yourself. You are the woman your fiance chose--you will be joined and be one. If his parents and friends love him, they will have to love you because you are part of him now. Be yourself and be confident.
Don't talk bad about your spouse to others. You and he will make up, but they might hold it against him for a long time. [We did put disclaimers here, if you just need a bit of advice about a situation or are in counseling, then use your good judgement, but we mean that you shouldn't criticize your spouse to others on a regular basis.]
Make time for each other.
You two are a unit now, don't let either family [or friends] drive a wedge.
Accept advice willingly from others, but only use what makes sense to the two of you.
Communicate, communicate, communicate.
Really listen.
If he can't pay attention when he is hungry, always keep a sandwich in the fridge and a granola bar in your purse. :)
If a situation bugs you--for instance if you would like your spouse to help in some way--bring it up to him when you aren't mad about it [and maybe chat over a snack, see above!]
Don't go to bed mad.
Don't assume your spouse is a mind reader.

I am sure there was a lot more. I sure wish I had taken notes or had a digital recorder with me. There was lots of laughter, fun and sharing of food. A good time was had by all and I came home to my husband who was watching an old British Comedy in my absence and realized what a blessed woman I am.

Here's to Laura and John--may your marriage be the start of a life of happiness, friendship and love.

Blessings,
Jill

Bath Bombs...

2011-07-12T14:16:00.003-04:00

I love bath bombs. They not only make you smell great but are very moisturizing. But for the past 19 years I have had a basically unusable bath tub. It is a short tub--about 4 feet long. So, it is great for giving little kids and dogs baths, but not so great for adults. It is just too small. So, if I want to have a nice long bath I have to do it when we are at a hotel. That doesn't happen too often.

But now, with the completion of our get-away cottage, I have a nice, new full size bath tub. It is what I have longed for for 19 years. Today as I was getting ready to make some lovely bath bombs to keep at the cottage I thought maybe some of you might like to make some for yourself. At one time I sold them, but honestly they are too labor intensive to make for the price I could charge for them, but making them for myself seems no trouble at all. For one thing, I don't have to wrap them so prettily, and for another I can make a bunch all in my favorite scent and don't have to try to figure out what scents will sell.

So, if you like bath bombs, here is my tried and true recipe. You can also just make it up and put the whole mixture in a container and scoop out about 1/2 C when you take a bath. You don't have to go through the trouble to mold them if you don't want to.

The only hard ingredient to get cheaply is citric acid. It is found in the canning section of stores but is usually kind of expensive unless you have a bulk food store you can get it from. I get it for about $2.00 a pound, but I have seen it up closer to $10, so you may want to keep your eyes open for it. I get mine at The Kountry Kupboard in Harrodsburg KY or at E&S Sales in Shipshewana, IN

12 Fizzing Bath Bombs

Mix together in a mixer 1 1/3 Cups each of:

Salt [table or Epsom]
baking soda
corn starch

I like to put a damp towel over the mixing bowl and mixer to keep the dust down.

Then add and mix well:

1/3 C sweet almond oil [or any light vegetable oil]
1 tsp essential oil or 2 tsp fragrance oil for scent [You can add ground herbs too, but I find that it makes the tub harder to clean out.]

Then add and mix well:

1 1//2 Cups of citric acid

Press into 1/2 C molds [I use little disposable zip-loc plastic round containers. I re-use them over and over] and un-mold in a day or two. You can wrap in parchment paper or put in a plastic container to be scooped out as needed.

Molding instructions: I take my 1/2 cup containers and scoop the mixture into them. When I use up all the mixture I put each container in a section of a cup-cake pan so they won't scoot around and then I take a hard cup, like a measuring cup or a drinking glass that is smaller in diameter than the bath bomb container. I press the hard cup down on the top, packing the mixture as tight as I can. If some comes up around the sides or I have some left over in the bowl, I put that back on top and press down again. That's all there is to it.

Note: Just about every recipe I have looked at says to spritz with witch hazel to keep the mix together if it seems to dry. But, I messed around with the recipes enough that with the above recipe I have never had to use witch hazel to moisten it. But, if yours won't mold because it is too dry, you may want to try it.

Enjoy!

Jill

Summer Eating...

2011-07-11T20:06:00.001-04:00

It was EXTREMELY HOT today--the heat index over 107 degrees. Ugh! So, the smart thing to do would be to eat out or have ice cream for supper, but we did neither. I figured it was too hot to heat up the house, so I asked Bob to grill out. That was pretty inconsiderate of me, but while he grilled 1/3# burgers from Pure Kentucky Beef and some type of veggie chicken for Kari, I made two great summer recipes.

The first is grilled veggies. I tossed together in a bowl a mixture of cut up raw vegetables:

      Zucchini
      Onion
      Mushrooms
      Tomatoes [Whole grape tomatoes are perfect]

Green pepper

Then I drizzled with olive oil and 1T or so of the following herb mix [below]. We put it in a grilling basket and stirred every few minutes. It takes about 10 minutes. [You can do them on a skewer if you want--if you do that grill for about 3 minutes per side.]

Grilling spice mix, keep in jar and just take out what you need:

2T each: basil, dried crushed rosemary, dried thyme

1 T each: garlic powder, salt and pepper

------------------------------------------

The second quick recipe that is great as a side dish or as a vegetarian summer meal is...
PANZANELLA--which is a type of bread salad. If you like dipping pieces of good chewy bread in herbed olive oil, you will love this. Prep time about 25 minutes.

PANZANELLA

A type of bread salad.

Combine the following and toss gently:

½ pound or more of day old Italian bread or any chewy rustic loaf, torn or cut into bite sized pieces.

8 oz of cubed mozzarella, provolone or sharp cheddar cheese

3 large tomatoes, chopped, or a basket or more of grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 small cucumber, chopped

1 C chopped purple or sweet onion

½ C basil leaves, chopped & fresh

½ C Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

You can top this with about ¾ C of a nice Italian salad dressing or make the following dressing below. After pouring over the salad, toss well and let stand for 10-15 minutes so the bread can absorb the flavor. Serve at room temperature. Serves about 4 or more if used as a side dish. May want to sprinkle with Asiago or Parmesan cheese.

Dressing:

½ C olive oil

¼ C red wine or balsamic vinegar

3 cloves garlic, minced

½-1 tsp freshly ground pepper

¾ tsp salt

We had these two side dishes, grilled burgers and some fresh cherries for dessert. Heavenly! I would love to hear any fast and delicious summertime recipes that your family likes.

Take care and stay cool,

Jill

Not so secret Family Recipe...Oatmeal Cookies

2011-06-25T19:49:00.000-04:00

My mom had two cookies that, in my opinion, she was famous for. [She also had a fabulous Blueberry Muffin recipe that cannot be rivaled--I will post that recipe another day.]

So, for your eating pleasure, here is her oatmeal cookie recipe. I have some in the oven right now and Bob's mouth is watering because he LOVES oatmeal cookies.

OATMEAL COOKIES

2C flour
1 C brown sugar
1t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1t cinnamon

3C rolled oats
1C raisins

1C oil

2 eggs
1/2C milk

Sift together first 5 ingredients, then add oats and raisins. Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir with a wooden spoon to wet all ingredients. Scoop out in Tablespoon fulls. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, till golden brown. [Used greased cookie sheets or parchment paper]

(My mom used to put a walnut half in each before baking and so do I.)

Enjoy,
Jill

ICED TEA...

2011-06-09T14:46:00.000-04:00

I am an iced tea lover. When the temperatures soar, I break out my iced tea pot and get busy making fantastic un-sweetened tea. I have to mention that it is unsweetened because southerners might get the wrong impression. I like my tea strong and black--no sugar, no lemon.

I have had a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea maker for years and I still really like it, but for my birthday, my friend Linda gave me a gift certificate to Amazon. I didn't even know they existed, but I am here to tell you it is a fantastic gift. Thanks Linda. :)

At any rate, I had just been telling Bob that I needed another iced tea maker to keep at the the farm when the gift certificate came via email. So, I went to Amazon and found a Hamilton Beach maker. It is awesome. I highly recommend it.

It doesn't take a filter--- there is a built in screen type, which I love. It is also very slim, so it fits better in the fridge than my old one. The pitcher also fits up the tower better than the Mr. Coffee one so it won't leak if it gets bumped. It is quick and works well with tea bags or loose tea. My favorite is about 3-4 T of loose decaf English Breakfast and 1-2 T of peppermint leaves. If you are from the south, you could add your sugar into the filter basket. :)

I keep mini blocks of ice in my freezer for making soap, but they come in handy for making iced tea. Just fill a small plastic container with water, put on the lid and freeze. Then when you want ice, you have a nice block. I use containers that 1 lb.to 24 oz of sliced frozen strawberries came in. It works great and saves using so many ice cubes if you are getting low. {I don't have an automatic ice maker. I used old fashioned ice cube trays.}

So, if you are looking for the perfect summer beverage, get yourself a Hamilton Beach Iced Tea maker and let the fun begin. I am keeping this one home and I took the Mr. Coffee one to keep at the farm. [And no, I am not paid by Hamilton Beach!]

Take care,
Jill

Bird Free Zone...

2011-05-15T16:58:00.001-04:00

Our wood stove has a shiny new insulated stovepipe that goes up and through the roof and extends above the ridge of the roof. The pipe has a shiny cap on it to keep out rain and birds but it has small exhaust holes [more like slots] to let out the smoke.

But, even though the exhaust holes are small, nasty black Grackles [icky black Starling-like birds] decided to try to get in there to make a nest. Who would have thought?

A couple of weeks ago I came into the cottage and saw that the glass of the stove was all messy. That was weird because I had cleaned it the last time I was out. So, I open the door to clean it again, and there was a very large, dead, Grackle in the stove. Apparently it squeezed in through one of the holes and then got caught in the pipe and couldn't get out. It eventually fell into the stove and died there. The messy glass was from the bird flapping around and doing birdy-doo at the same time. GROSS!

Oh, and I could hear another one flapping around in the pipe, which sounded creepy and was very unsettling--those claws scratching the inside of the pipe was like something from an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

I felt bad, but I picked up the dead one and tossed it into the weeds. The next week there were two dead birds in the stove. I wasn't freaked out or sad, I just put on a glove and tossed them both over the balcony into the weeds. The next week there was another.

This past Monday, while Bob and I were in the living room, one squeezed through the slot/holes, tumbled down the pipe, fell into the stove and was hopping around looking at us through the glass.

That was creepy. I figured I would just go outside so I didn't have to look at it and then toss it out next week after it expired [Can you see I am becoming hard-hearted?]. Bob, however, had other plans. He waited until the bird wasn't paying attention, and then put on the fire glove, threw the door open and in a flash reached in and pulled it out. I opened the door to the outside and he tossed the bird off the balcony and into freedom.

So, as you can imagine, we decided something had to be done. Cliff, our contractor, came to the rescue [again!] and made our stovepipe bird-proof.

See the nice wire inserted at the top of the stove pipe? That should do the trick.

I thought about making some allegory connection to this story about sin sneaking in through tiny cracks and then stinking up your life [or wood stove, as the case may be], or the value of not always getting what you want, or of fools rushing in...you get the idea. But, they all seemed kind of corny.

So, none of that. Just a thank you to Bob for saving one birdy life [even if I hate those Grackles with their beady-reptilian eyes] and a thank you to Cliff for constructing scaffolding and making our stove bird free.

Take care,
Jill

Inverse Parenting

2011-05-10T20:48:00.000-04:00

This is something I have posted before, but because I have had several people tell me it was helpful to them, I thought I would post it again here.

Something has been bothering me for a long time and it is what I call "Inverse Parenting." You see it all the time, but I don't know that it really has a name. I thought about this when my kids were little but felt like I needed to try it for a long time to see if my theory was correct. I am not sure this is scientific at all, but my kids are 21-33 [four sons, one daughter] and it has proved true with us.

Good parenting should look like this...Hold your babies close and as they become aware of more, make sure to impose limits and teach right from wrong. Make sure they will mind you...you know when you say they need to do something they do it, they don't say "no" and get away with it. You will have to be diligent as "folly is bound up in the heart of a child." But you must be in control, and they must learn to be under your authority. They will likely be under some authority all their lives, so they may as well learn when they are young. I don't mean for you to be rigid and mean, but to be consistent and firm when it comes to discipline. Your motivation should always be for the greater good of the child, and to lead out of love, but many times this requires you to tirelessly work with them to stay within the rules, treat others with respect and so on.

As the children grow you can begin to let go; so by the time they are in their early teens they have more privileges, they can make more decisions and have more freedom. This should increase with age until the child is an adult. At that time, they become accountable to God. This is important--with age comes more responsibilities and more freedom.

But, what I see is INVERSE PARENTING. This looks like the whole world revolving around the child. The parent asks the child's opinion on many things, lets the child say things that a child ought not say, like "I hate you," or "You can't make me," or "I won't eat this," and so forth. Many children do this, but they should not get away with it. But, in inverse parenting the parent looks the other way, or tries to talk the child through it, or thinks it is cute.

As time passes, the child usually becomes more demanding, less respectful of all authority and the parent finds that when the child becomes a young teen they are harder and harder to manage. At this time the parent tries to pull in the reigns, be more strict, set firmer limitations at the very time when they should be letting go. I have seen this over and over again with so many families that I know. And rarely does it work.

These children usually go through a very rebellious teen time, and many times do come out OK in the end, but they sure upset the family in the process. It is so much more enjoyable for the whole family and society in general when the child is obedient in young years. Good parenting is much more likely to produce likable teens and responsible adults than inverse parenting.

I know it is not easy to be consistent with young children. I know it can drain you to correct them and train them-but the rewards are great and I think you owe it to your children.

Take care,
Jill

Cottage finally graded...

2011-05-10T08:58:00.001-04:00

This has been a long time coming. We, like most of the country, have broken all records for most rain in a month. Violent storms have beaten down not only this month, but for a few months.

It has been raining, and raining and raining. This means it has been impossible to get the final grading done, so it was impossible to plant grass, put in the underground gutter drainage and basically to finish the cottage up.

So, yesterday was the big day. We wanted to be out there so the little problems we wanted addressed, were done right. We headed out around 9:00 am and you can see we finished at sunset. Bob was finishing up the underground gutter drainage as the sun set.

We wanted to get it done, so we could seed the whole yard surrounding the cottage at the same time.

We were surprised to see that we had a marvelous store of great top soil--Dale, the grader, knew where to look. Look at that nice black dirt. When he finished he dug up an nice pile of it and set it aside, so I can make some awesome flower/vegetable beds.

Here he is spreading the dirt over the clay soil. You can see Bob's tractor-cut path going over to the nut grove behind the little dozer.

We were excited as he worked taking down the big pile of dirt that was next to the basement deck.

What took Bob [and I helped a bit] 2-3 days to shovel out in order to make the deck [not all day, but over a course of a few days] he spread out in a matter of minutes.

While Dale's assistant continued to use the Bobcat, Dale worked on the driveway. I should have taken a before shot, but I didn't.

It was in REALLY bad shape after all the gulley-washing storms we have had this past month or so.

But, not only did he put down cement-like gravel, he widened the whole driveway so Bob can mow down the edges of it with the tractor. He also made a nice little juncture at the bottom so we can go down the hill and turn right to go to the road, or left to go to the barn.

Before this, we could not go to the barn from the house on the driveway because at the bottom of the hill, there was nothing but a small wall of rock on the left and it prevented us from making that turn.

When we came up from the barn, we could not go to the house unless we drove on a grassy path. I have a genetic defect which prevents me from backing up without hitting something--I think I must have gotten it from my mom, because my dad was an amazing backer-upper. Because of the flaw, if I come from the barn and want to go to the house, I have to go out to the road and drive down to the neighbor's house and turn around there.

So you can see how much this grading job meant to me.

After a rather long day, the back of the house was done and spread with our home-grown black topsoil.

Here is the view from the right front.

And the left front, with Bob working on putting the gutter drainage underground. I plan to make a rain garden or something where the gutters drain out. Gail suggested a bog garden, so I will have to do some research to see what would be most practical.

I bought this awesome new whirly-type seeder. I remember my Dad having one and thought it would be much easier to use than one you hold and have to crank a million times.

I was right.

This went fast and was so easy and no tired hand. I put in rye, silver vetch and fescue. Between them all we should have some grass and some great roots to prevent erosion.

Here Bob is getting the pipe ready to lay in the trench he dug.

The next photo shows him digging a bit more to get the slope right.

After this, we cleaned up the tools and then we headed for home. It felt good to get the seed in. Hopefully it will take root and not be caught in another violent storm and end up at the bottom of the hill.

It was a great day!

Take care,
Jill

Two stories of Hope...

2011-05-03T15:18:00.000-04:00

My daughter is an Americorps Volunteer this year--spending 10 months of her life working to help to better America. She has worked in New Orleans, Hattiesburg Mississippi, off Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, Memphis and a few other places that I can't remember off the top of my head. She has done new construction, worked with non-profit organizations that help people get back in their homes, others that are committed to planting trees or fixing up hiking trails. She has done remodeling, office work and a lot of just plain hard work like loading hundreds and thousands of pounds of dry wall and planting thousands of trees.

But, yesterday she was pulled off her current assignment and was assigned to Chattanooga, Tennessee where she will work with the Red Cross in the aftermath of the devastating tornadoes which swept through there last week. As I was thinking about this, and about how little one person's influence seems to be, I couldn't help thinking that each and every one of the volunteers has hope. They have hope for the future, hope for America and hope that they can make a difference. Kari said they will be working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for the couple of weeks they are stationed in Chattanooga.

Why does she do it? Why do any of them do it?
I think they believe they can make a difference.
And they are right.

That led me to think of my small town. It is a 21st Century Mayberry. We have a soda fountain in the drugstore, a barber--kind of like Floyd--a few banks and hair dressers, one fillin' station minus Goober, and a little grocery store that looks like it did 50 years ago.

The owner, Leonard Fitch is probably the nicest man you will ever meet [Leonard is on the left]. But, with Walmart, Kroger and Sam's to compete with, the way of the family owned IGA is fast becoming extinct.

Well, an Asbury Seminary decided that he would spearhead a plan to save the local IGA from extinction. You can read the article here, but basically, using Facebook and enlisting locals and college and seminary students, Jay Leeson [the student] has started a one man campaign to save our grocery.

Why does he do it?
I think he believes he can make a difference.
And I think he is right.

He has hope that if he can bring like-minded folks together, we can keep our local grocery. He has an expectation for what he can't see. He has hope and it is changing how we view our local grocery. Rather than looking at it like a convenience store, Jay is challenging us to see it as part of the community's heritage.

I am in awe of people like Kari and Jay--people working unselfishly for the good of others. People with Hope.

Take care,
Jill

If you would like to keep up on Kari's life in Americorps you can go here: http://karigoestomississippi.blogspot.com/
If you would like to keep up on the Revitalization of IG you can friend the group on Facebook by goingt to Fitch's Neighbors

Hot Cross Buns...

2011-04-23T10:05:00.005-04:00

I have had a few minutes of culinary/literary fame through the years.

Yesterday I made 90 Hot Cross Buns for family and friends and this morning there are 6 left!

A few years ago my Hot Cross Bun recipe was featured in the Taste of Home Magazine so I thought I would post it here for your baking pleasure.

Happy Easter,
Jill

I will print it below in full size so you can make these sometime if you want to.

HOT CROSS BUNS
Amounts in parenthesis are for making BIG batch. I use my Magic Mill kneader, one regular batch makes 18 rolls

3 1/2 - 4C flour (16C)
2T yeast (5T)
1t cinnamon (4t)
1/2t cardamom (2t)

3/4C milk (3C)
1/2C oil (2C)
1/3C sugar (1 1/3 C)
3/4t salt (1T)
3 eggs [put 2+ 1yolk into dough, save one white] (12 eggs, 4 whites)
2/3C currents or raisins (2 1/2 C raisins) --I prefer currents

1 1/2C 10 powdered sugar (6C)

In a large mixing bowl, combine 2C flour, the yeast and spices. Heat milk, oil, sugar and salt just till warm (115°-120°). Add to dry mixture; add eggs. Beat on low for 1/2 minute. Beat 3 minutes on high. By hand stir in raisins and enough of the flour to make a soft dough. Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once.

Cover; let rise in warm place till double, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down; turn out on a floured surface. Cover let rise 10 minutes. Divide into 18 pieces (72); form into smooth balls.

Place on a greased baking sheet [or use parchment paper] about 1 1/2 inches apart. Cover, let rise till double, 30-45 minutes. Brush tops with slightly beaten egg white (discard remaining). Bake 375°, 12-15 minutes, till nice and brown. Cool slightly; frost with crosses on top.

Frosting: Combine about 1 1/2 C powdered sugar, 1-2 T milk and a dab

Aqua-Heroes...

2011-04-14T14:46:00.003-04:00

We have had a LOT of rain lately. Today, when Bob and I were coming back from buying a new sump pump for our basement [yes, it kind of flooded this week and our sump pump decided to retire] I noticed all the underwater fields; some with 4 plank horse fences still totally submerged. The ground is so saturated and there is just no place for it to go.

The Canadian geese are happy though. They are swimming through fields, bathing in front yards and generally setting up housekeeping any and everywhere. And, though they look majestic flying in perfect V formation, they are very, very messy. A pair of geese can produce just under a a pound of waste a day, while a pair of adult humans produce only an ounce or two more! You can see why you don't want a dozen geese living in your front yard! UGH!

Well, a few years ago, many geese decided that our little town reservoir would be a great place to raise their goosy-kids and they settled down for the year.

The longer they stayed, the nastier our reservoir was getting. The fecal count was getting higher to the point where water treatment was costing more. Something had to be done.

The city held meetings and decided they needed to hire some consultant to figure out a humane way to get rid of the geese. In my opinion a nice town goose-roast would have been ideal, but of course, such a barbaric idea would not do.

And then we had an anti-goose miracle. It snowed.

Now it doesn't snow much in the Bluegrass, so when it does much of the town digs out sleds, saucers and snow boards and they head over to the best snow-hill in town. It has a great slope, no trees at the bottom and is easy to access. And, you probably guessed--it is right near the reservoir.

Well, between the hollering kids, the dogs, the adults bundled in fur coats drinking coffee and the college kids sledding well after midnight--the geese left, never to return.

That's right. You heard me.

Without gun or consultant. Without money or any type of in-humane traps, we, the people became Aqua-Heroes! We did it, all by ourselves! It was a great day for community team work, and we did it all without having a clue we were doing it.

Amazing!

I felt like we should be written up in some journal for solving community problems or in some environmental journal for being very politically correct and not using artificial methods to control pesky critters.

But, lacking that, I am publishing it here so you can see that through good old fashioned play, our community won the battle for clean water and we didn't even have to throw a rock or lift a shotgun to do it.

Take care,

Jill

Who owns the children?...

2011-04-12T18:13:00.000-04:00

Raisins, peanuts and chocolate, oh my!

I came across this article: No Homemade Lunches allowed in Chicago Public School,.

At Little Village Academy on Chicago's West Side [a public school], students are not allowed to pack lunches from home. Unless they have a medical excuse, they must eat the food served in the cafeteria.
Principal Elsa Carmona said her intention is to protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.
"Nutrition wise, it is better for the children to eat at the school," Carmona said. "It's about the nutrition and the excellent quality food that they are able to serve (in the lunchroom). It's milk versus a Coke. But with allergies and any medical issue, of course, we would make an exception."

This took me back to 1989, the year Scotty was born.

My three oldest boys were in an elementary school in Rochester Hills, Michigan. [We] began homeschooling the next year]. At any rate, it was mandated that they bring in a "healthy snack" to eat about 10:00 each morning. At that time I was expecting our 5th child and, like so many large families, money was tight--only one paycheck, lots of kids, yada, yada, yada.

So, I made up a big batch of gorp. I bought bulk peanuts [peanuts weren't villains back then-we never heard of peanut allergies] and raisins and threw in a few chocolate chips. I packed them in environmentally friendly re-usable Tupperware snack cups and congratulated myself on what a great mom I was.

My kids came home and told me that was not an acceptable snack. All three of their teachers said that it was not allowed. I said, "So what do the other kids bring?"

"Fruit roll-ups*** and purchased granola bars!"

BANNED!!

You tell me what is healthy about corn syrup laden fruit roll-ups and sugary granola bars? Plus, they were way, way more expensive than my homemade, high energy gorp. So, we picked all the chocolate chips out of the gorp and they took it every day after. [In case you wonder, I did mention it to one of the teachers to verify, and what they said was true.]

They only attended that school from March-June but if it would have been longer, and if I was not so tired with the 5th pregnancy, I would have really raised a stink. Don't granola bars have chocolate chips and tons of sugar/corn syrup???

I think the Gorp Incident is a lot like the Chicago schools policy. It is a case of the "professionals" thinking they own our children and it just makes me mad. If I was a parent of one of those kids in that school I would be making a LOT of noise. Who owns the kids? I think that is the real question.

Take care,
Jill

***Note: In a Cherry Orange Fruit Roll Up you'll find pears from concentrate, corn syrup (Corn syrup is not considered a good food by the nutritionists I know.), dried corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil (Anything hydrogenated is also not considered something you want to put in your child's body.), a few other ingredients and then we have a variety of artificial colors. The nutritional analysis and ingredient have been provided by www.generalmills.com.

Jill

Tools not Toys... Here we go again...

2011-04-11T14:08:00.002-04:00

Play food is lots of fun, even for babies.

I have written about this before and it is becoming increasingly more important to me to follow my own advice because of my two granddaughters. I took these photos last week.

Looking at our kitty on the front porch.

Elinor will be one if a few days, with Allison following three months later.

I went on the porch to get this shot. I am not as interesting as a kitty!

Elinor in the swing Bob put on our porch.

More fun with food.

It is very hard not to want to buy them all sorts of stuff, because they are so cute and we love babies so much and after all, being a grandparent is awesome.

As you can tell by these photos, these babies are probably the cutest babies ever--so we have to hold ourselves back from buying a bunch of junk for them that will just be clutter in their homes.

As you will probably notice, we have lots of board books. Each girl has her preference. Elinor loves flap books and already knows what is behind each flap. The funny thing is if it has a monkey behind the flap she pounds on her chest like an ape and make monkey noises. Cris has taught her well. :)She loves Dear Zoo.

Allison loves the touch and feel books. She takes just one finger and touches each texture very carefully. Under the Sea is a favorite, but you can bet this was not this expensive when we bought it! I found this book Life in the Jungle from the same series which is much cheaper. It has pull out tabs too, for when they get a bit older.

And Tails is a favorite and I think it is my favorite board book.

So, in honor of our grandchildren, I am re-printing my Tools not Toys post . I would love to tell you what tool-not-toy we are giving Elinor for her birthday this week, but I hate to spoil the surprise.

I will try to remember to post a photo next week. Oh and if you want some of my great advice about what books to buy for different age kids, just ask. I LOVE to help folks pick out great books for any age child.

Tools or Toys...

~Dad in his workshop making himself a new workbench~

My dad had a lot of great advice. I mentioned before his idea about "Grant Writing," in relation to kids and allowances, but another thing I learned from him was the art of giving gifts to kids. I remember it clearly--at that time I had 3 little boys and Dad and I were standing in his workshop. He was making something and I was holding some tools for him and I commented that he and Mom always gave such great gifts to the kids. At that time I was in a ladies Bible Study and that same week some of the moms were discussing how their kids got so much "toy junk" as gifts and they were lamenting it and wondering how they could curb the toys, limit the junk.

Dad said, "You have to give kids tools, not toys."

That was the advice. He didn't really elaborate--which if you knew my dad, you would be smiling because he generally elaborated on everything. Tools not Toys--actually, he didn't have time to elaborate because someone [with three boys six and under--it happened a lot] started crying in the house with Mom and I left Dad in his workshop to see what the trouble was. Then I was off to other things and the conversation never really got finished. But, when I was driving home that afternoon those words came back, "Tools not Toys."

[Happy days in the sandbox]

It goes back to the thought that we are raising kids to be well adjusted, functioning adults that will one day hold jobs, have families and be responsible citizens. We just have our kids for a little while and during that time we are to prepare them to take their place in society. So they need to learn a lot along the way. They need to be molded and shaped and directed along the way--they need the tools, we need the tools, to get them there.

My Dad, way back when, was a history and shop teacher. And one thing he instilled in us from a young age is, "You have to have the right tool for the job." He would sometimes shake his head when he looked at my husband's tools in our early married life. Many times he would give us the correct tool for the job, or let us use his. I mean, you can not fix plumbing without a pipe wrench, or work with electricity without a volt tester.

The same is true with kids. What kids need are tools not toys. If folks could just get a handle on that, much of the junk found in the typical kid's section of most stores could be reduced by half or maybe even 90%. But, what is a tool?

[Scotty, age three, he loved his Dr. Drew blocks]

Tools, in no particular order: Balls, blocks, dolls, flashlights, sand box, wagon, bike, swings, picnic table, paper and markers/crayons, legos, scissors, games, backpack, fishing pole, compass, knife [older child], mess kit, camping supplies, books, actual tools like a screwdriver and hammer, wood-burning set, knitting or crochet or any kind of handwork, magnifying glass, leather craft, jump-rope, kid sized baking or cooking set, puzzles, kitchen set [play food and so on], a cash register and play money, paddle ball, a big empty box, capes and costumes, gardening items like a pail, shovel and so on...really most traditional toys. I consider Match Box type cars and most action figures tools too.

Toys, in no particular order: Anything that has batteries or makes noise that drives a mom crazy [anyone remember the Tooneyville Choo-Choo?], if it is meant for the child to watch it rather than interact with it, video games, computer games--even educational games can be toys if you are not careful, anything that is cheap plastic and will break easily, stuffed things that talk and entertain--really anything that is meant as an entertainment. I am sure if you and I went together to a big box store, we could find tons of toys that would fall in this category.

Now, I am not saying "NO TOYS EVER!" What I am saying is: Tools should be a child's main diet and toys should be like a dessert. Dessert is nice, but you only have occassionally, not at every meal.

Tools will encourage imagination, develop large and small muscles, and should get the child outside daily. Tools will stand the test of time, can usually be passed down from child to child in a family, and have a lot of play value.

So, the next time you need to give a gift to a child,remember my dad's words, "Tools not Toys." Thanks for advice Dad.

Take Care,
Jill

For some suggestions on how to do this, you might want to read my next post--how do I limit the toys I have?

For more of my Pre-School thoughts and suggestions:

Results of a Scientific study-Why you should keep your pre-schooler home
Play is work-Is Preschool Necessary?
Tools or Toys? A lesson from my Dad
How to tame your toys--Some practical advice
Ideas to Keep Preschoolers happily occupied
The Top Three Things You Need to Know if You Have a Pre-schooler

Eating on Vacation with kids...

2011-04-10T09:56:00.000-04:00

I have memories of traveling to Alaska, south Mexico, California and many more places [by car] with my family when I was a child. Now, granted, there were not the fast food choices that there are today, but in all our travels I think I can count on one hand the lunches we ate at a restaurant.

Mom always made sandwiches.

She kept the sandwich ingredients in an old blue steel case. I suppose it was an old draftsman case, but I am not sure. She kept bread, peanut butter, mustard, ketchup and lunch meat in there. What? Lunch meat?

Yes, that was back in the days where you weren't allowed to get food poisoning. Everyone at tuna sandwiches that had been in steel lunchboxes for hours and no one thought anything of it. We did not have frozen packs or insulated lunch kits--I guess we were made a stronger stuff back then.

I think she took the meat out of the fridge in the Airstream trailer we pulled in the morning and put it in the blue lunch case for later. I think she did this so that they wouldn't have to open the fridge when we were on the road because that would let out all the cold and since it wasn't plugged in while we drove, we didn't want that to happen.

At any rate, I hate bologna to this day because of being forced to eat a bologna sandwich with ketchup [I am not too crazy about ketchup either] for lunch on one of our trips. Maybe I was whiny, I don't know, but I wanted a PB&J instead, but I had to eat the bologna because Mom already made it for me and I shouldn't be so fussy. As a parent I understand that, but I never liked bologna and could eat PB&J every day for my whole life, so why did she make it for me?

When Bob and I traveled with young kids I vowed NEVER to have salmonella-in-a-box and to eat either peanut butter and crackers, cheese sticks [from a cooler], granola bars and that type of thing--or just stop at fast food. But, that can get expensive. So we found a solution that might help any of you who travel with children.

I would get a LOT of dollar bills and then when we stopped at a fast food place I would give each child $2.00 or if I had 5 dollar bills, I would give one to every two children. Then, they had to order for themselves and spend wisely. Since they always had some vacation money saved up they could spend over that amount if they wanted to supplement with their money, or if they ate cheap they could pocket the excess. The rule being, you must get full and eat something healthy--and no complaining about being hungry later.

It worked great. Basically everyone got water to drink, ordered off the cheap menu, shared fries and so on. Some splurged and got a shake occasionally, some pocketed spare change after every meal. It kept our costs down to a manageable amount and taught smart shopping and thriftiness as well. Plus, I didn't have to remember 7 different orders and then have to pray that the teen workers got it all right.

So, if you travel, you may want to use the suitcase method, or the $2.00 method [maybe up it to $3.00 now], or maybe stop at a rest stop and do some cooking [we have done that too]--but at least you have some options.

And, if I ever come to your house, please don't make me a bologna sandwich. UGH!

Take care,
Jill

I am a Homeschool Carny...

2011-04-07T21:16:00.002-04:00

Did you ever go to fair or a carnival when you were a kid? Do you remember the guys who would holler out to you as you went by, “Three shots for a dollar!” “Try your luck!” “See the bearded lady”…Carnies.

And I am one.

Back, and back again I remember when the carnival came to town. Mud encrusted vans and trucks pulled up into a deserted farm field that the day before had been home to bunny and bird. There was slamming and banging, men and woman jumping out of the vehicles and scurrying to replicate some grand theme park.

Catalogs ready to go.

With pneumatic tools and lots of muscle, Ferris Wheels, Tilt-A-Whirls and my personal favorite-- The Scrambler-- would rise from the trucks and dust, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. The bright plumage of the rides made the brown field look old and tired.

My Carnival, ready and waiting.

Then, when the last rivet was in place, families and young lovers would stream into the area with bright happy faces and change in their pockets. The Carnies would beckon from their booths to come spend your money with them.

They always seemed a bit over-anxious and scary to me. I kept to the middle of the aisle, lest one should force me to spend my quarter trying to shoot too-big balls into small hoops. The glitter from the outside seemed a bit scary when I was on the inside.

Books and Banners--kind of like a ring toss!

When the lights went out on that final night, and all that could be found were the cast off cheap stuffed toys and the sticky cotton candy cones, and when all good children were home in their beds—then the Carnies began the rather depressing job of taking down the magic. And, before dawn, the carnival was gone and all that remained was a dust-bowl field with large gaping cracks in the earth, devoid of grass, fun or anything shiny.

In our sparkly convention clothes-notice no sequins!

Several years ago a circus came to a field about a mile from here. It was much the same, but less glitzy. An actual elephant helped to raise the “Big Top” and it was glorious to see. It was during the week, on a school day, so the only people out watching were the myriad of homeschoolers in our area. Even as an adult, the glory and wonder of it are etched in my memory.

Tigers and lions lounged in giant, open sided semis that were fitted with strong iron bars as one triumphant elephant used her enormous gray head to straighten a tent pole. The men, sweaty and strong, pounded in huge tent stakes. It was the stuff of story books and Disney movies, and we were there. I didn’t see the circus that year because I gave my ticket to one of my older sons, but the memory of that old field becoming a circus lingered in my thoughts long after the elephant was lead to her semi and traveled to the next town, and the one after that.

Ready to go to the next town.

I sell homeschool curriculum at state conventions; this is my 13^th season. This year while I was packing up to go home after The Midwest Convention in Cincinnati, which hosted 5000 families, something occurred to me that I had never thought of before,

"I am a Carny.”

Our Circus Wagon.

I roll into town in my large pick-up truck and we back into the loading dock of the convention hall. We haul hundreds of pounds of catalogs, books, racks, flooring and more to a forlorn looking 10x30 foot space and begin the hard, sweaty work of making it into a curriculum showcase.

The Big Top after the show is over.

Foam floors are fitted together, shiny tablecloths cover tired tables, book racks unfold and open their arms to hot-off-the-press books. We raise banners with nothing but our strength and crawl under tables to hook up the electricity so that the computer and DVD player will spring to life.

We put on our sparkly carnival clothes, comb our hair, pinch our cheeks so we look healthy, put on our smiles and wait for the doors of the convention hall to open. Our adrenalin is pumping as the doors open and we can’t wait to be an encouragement to homeschool parents.

I think moms can understand best what it feels like when those convention doors open. It is a lot like labor--when the contractions come over you, and you can feel them coming, and all you can do is meet them head on, stay focused and wait for them to do their work.

Conventions are like that.

The doors open and the people rush in in waves, all wanting to see what we have in our booth—all wanting to talk to us. We meet them head on, stay focused and we go to work, helping them as well as we can. We stand at the front of the booth and beckon them to come in…”See our curriculum. It is the best. We can help you teach your children. Throw a ball—make a basket—read our books!"

Yep, I am a Carny, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

When the lights go down, and the crowds go home, all the education and fun and glitz go back in the tubs. The shiny tablecloths go back in the box, the tables fold up, and we unplug our gadgets, put on our jeans and tee-shirts and are off.

It is kind of sad to look at the littered floors and ugly black extension cords lying around like orphaned puppies—but that is the life of a Carny. Move to the next town, jump out of the truck and do it all over again.

I am a Homeschool Carny—who would have thought?

Take care,

Jill

For Haiti with Love

2011-03-27T21:01:00.000-04:00

We have supported a ministry in Haiti for over 20 years and I wanted to encourage you to keep them in mind if you are looking for a way to help the people of Haiti. For Haiti With Love is an excellent ministry where your money will be well spent.

Eva and Don DeHart are the founders of this wonderful ministry in northern Haiti. Don has passed on, but Eva and her daughter continue to run this ministry. Eva runs the stateside ministry and her Haitian daughter Roseline and her husband Presume run the Haitian side.

The have a food program and run a medical clinic, plus have a Sunday Church service and help build homes for families as well. We have known Eva for over 20 years and you will not find a more dedicated woman who loves the Lord anywhere.

What I really like about For Haiti with Love is that the food program consists mostly of distributing a weeks worth of rice and beans or sometimes ready to eat meals if they are donated to a family. Then each family cooks their own food in their own home so they can preserve their dignity and their own traditions.

They all specialize in treating the myriad of burn victims [lots of burns because people cook with charcoal and use oil for light and son on] that even the local hospitals won't treat because they are not equipped to do it. Silvadene cream is very expensive and so the local hospital does not have it.

They are located in Cap Haitian, in the northern part of Haiti. They were not directly affected by the earthquake but many, many people have fled to the north to stay with relatives, etc. since the earthquake. There are many more needs than ever, but giving is down because of the need in the south.

PLEASE--if you feel led to help meet the needs of the people of Haiti, consider this ministry. It is worthwhile and your money will really be squeezed to get the most out of it.

I once read a biography to Kari and Scotty about William Carey who is called, "The Father of Modern Missions." He lived in the late 18th into the 19th century. He was asking for monetary support from some gentlemen so he could go minister to India and translate the Bible so the people there would have it in their own language. He said that he was willing to go into a big dark hole to bring light, but he was asking them to hold the ropes while he was going down. To give him support.

I have thought about this different times. Even though I am not in Haiti and am not taking care of orphans, bandaging the injured or feeding the hungry, I can help hold the ropes.

Here is a picture of the For Haiti with Love team that works in Cap Haitian. The woman in the front right is Eva's daughter, Roseline, with her husband behind her. She is only 25 years old and it is amazing what she does to keep things going. You can read the latest newsletter by going here.

Take care,
Jill

Deck Building...

2011-03-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

Bob had been working on retaining walls around our cottage at the farm. Because it is built into a hill, there is a real need for retaining walls or else all the mud and dirt run down the hill into the basement, onto the concrete pad outside the basement, etc.

So, yesterday he and I finished making the retaining walls [you can see the side of one on the far left of this photo] and today we started on the lower deck.

Because of the way our house was built into the hill it was tricky figuring out what to do to keep the dirt from piling up against the siding. It is hard for me to describe our problem, but suffice it to say, we could not leave it like it was and Bob had the great idea [and I do mean GREAT IDEA] to make a deck over the dirt.

There was a lot of figuring out how to make sure everything was level. You can see Scrappy in the background, jumping around and having a good time.

I was ever helpful manning the tape measure, pencil and Larabars. We tried two new flavors, Fudge Brownie and Coconut Cream Pie. The Coconut one was fantastic! Brownie, not so much. :(

If you haven't had a Larabar, they are great, and very nutritious. Since we didn't eat lunch, the Larabar was a great energy boost. The Coconut one had dates, coconut, almonds, cashews and extra virgin coconut oil. Delicious! I digress.

I helped shovel at first, but then I whimped out. Shoveling mostly clay is not really very fun!

You can see how much dirt we had to dig out. We had to do this because dirt was piled up under the deck so that it sloped toward the basement--and that is not good. You want the dirt to slope away from the house. So, there was a lot of digging.

Bob said if he would have known there was this much digging to start with, he would not have been so enthusiastic to start this job today. Sometimes, we both decided, it is better not to know.

Here you can see the boards that we will eventually nail the deck boards on to. Of course, we will need to put in some more posts and cement. We bought 600 pounds of dry cement yesterday. We plan to put it into the holes dry and then add some water and poke with a stick. It works well for setting posts.

Our day's work. You can see the sections that we have ready to cement and then nail the deck boards on. The part in the back, next to the house, still needs to be done. I think there will be more shoveling to be done, then we will screw in the boards, making sure everything is level.

After that, we will cement the short posts [the posts you can see are already cemented in as they are holding up the upper deck.

We hope next Saturday will be nice weather so we can finish the job, or at least get it further along. Not bad for a long afternoon's work.

Jill

A Biscuit Recipe so good your sister won't even share...

2011-03-18T19:53:00.001-04:00

2-ingredient biscuits and homemade jam with real butter.

Well, maybe that is a bit extreme. I probably should have titled it, "Two Ingredient Biscuits" but the other title sounds more dramatic, don't you think?

At any rate, these are two ingredient biscuits. I am known for my baking and I don't mean to sound braggy, but I do make some great biscuits. But these SIMPLE 2-ingredient biscuits are as good as any I have ever made. When I was telling my sister how wonderful they are [she was a foods teacher for years and went to the Culinary Institute in NY] she said, "Oh, yeah. I know that recipe."

Batter bowl, cream and self-rising flour.

I asked why she never told me and she said she forgot about it. I believe her because she is very generous and will share anything. But, I couldn't believe she never told me about this. No cutting in butter or shortening. No sifting or getting buttermilk.

Ahh, Heaven on a plate,

I don't use self-rising flour very often, so I keep some in my freezer for when I do need it. I pulled it out, got a little carton of heavy whipping cream at our local IGA and my little batter bowl. In a few minutes I had wonderful, homemade biscuits.

All you need is cream and self-rising flour. That's right. just two ingredients to get these wonderful fluffy biscuits.

2-Ingredient Biscuits

1 1/2 C self-rising flour [If you live in the south you better use While Lily. I read a food science book a year or so ago and the very learned author said White Lily is THE best white flour and I tend to believe it]

1 Cup heavy whipping cream--8 oz

Combine ingredients and knead 1 to 2 minutes [you may need to put a little flour on the counter to knead it on, or you could do like I do and just knead the dough right in the batter bowl so there isn't much to clean up].

Roll or pat dough out to 1/2 to 3/4 inch thickness [I just pat with my hands]. Cut with biscuit cutter. Place on un-greased cookie sheet or in a cake or pie pan It's OK if they touch. Bake at 450 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

As you can see I made about 7-8 biscuits. It occurred to me, that if a person wanted just a few biscuits it would be very easy to cut this recipe down. You could use 3/4 C self-rising flour and 1/2 C cream for about 4 biscuits, or 1/2 it again for 2 biscuits.

The cream makes these biscuits rich and delicious. I am telling you, I am not sure I have ever made better.

Try these out and even if you never made homemade biscuits before, I am sure they will be fabulous. If the dough is a bit sticky, add a bit more flour when you knead them, if it is dry you can add more cream, a bit of milk or water.

Take care and enjoy,

Jill

Drainage...as in gutters

2011-03-09T19:55:00.001-05:00

Bob tackled the problem of our gutters last weekend. The gutter that is next to the stairs is a problem. It empties out so that any water coming out of it erodes the dirt in front of the stairs that lead into the cottage. You can't put a long extension on it because it would trip you everytime you use the stairs.

So, last Friday, while I waited for the Lowes to finally finish up my cabinets, Bob decided to take care of the gutter problem. He had purchased all the necessary fittings to run the gutter down into the ground and then run the pipe underground so the water can dump out the side of the hill. I plan to eventually make a rain garden there, or at least plant a nice tree or two in that area.

You can see it was quite a job. Our ground is mostly clay, but on this day it was easy digging. The ground was not baked to cement nor was it wet and sticky. Perfect for this job.

He finished up and you can see how the gutter goes underground. He put a limestone rock on top as a type of stepping stone. You can see his short retaining walls on the right. I plan to put some of my nice compost on there and plant some marigolds and tomatoes.

You might wonder what I was doing this whole time. I did wait for the Lowes people and supervised their work by working on a crocheted rag rug, then I did what come naturally to me...

Yep, I tried out the window seat. Very nice and so relaxing. I was going to make a cushion for that seat, but decided instead to pile up three quilts and leave it at that. You are probably thinking, "What a slug...but I don't care. It was very relaxing."

[As a note I did help later on when we put lag bolts in the posts holding up the wrap around deck. The deck was not properly built to start with and it took a lot of work to get it up to code. The lag bolts were the final step to make the deck safe.]

As it turned out it was good Bob finished up the gutter on Friday, because during the night it poured and poured. We have had so much rain this year, we were glad to get that gutter water routed underground and down the hill.

We think we are ready for the final inspection, nearly 15 months after we pulled the building permit. I will let you know how it goes.

Bob has two more gutters to fix this same way. Hopefully if it stops raining this weekend he can finish up. I look forward to getting the final grading done so we can get some rye or grass seed planted this spring. It is such a muddy mess right now.

I do have some awesome boots, though, that I love to wear around in the mud. Necessary equipment when there is wet clay.

Take care,
Jill

Pots and Pod's...

2011-02-27T20:04:00.002-05:00

If you know me you know I LOVE to bake and have a reputation as a good cook, if you like casseroles and homey type food.

The older I get them more I like quality tools. I am not too keen on cheap pans or crummy spatulas... you get the idea.

My kitchen in the new cottage is very small and wonderful. [Isn't it cute?] However it presents some unique challenges because it is just under 7 x 10 feet.

Looking out my kitchen window.

That is less than 70 square feet for the whole kitchen and it had to have a dishwasher, stove, microwave, fridge, sink and a place to store some food, dishes and of course it has to house a set of good cooking pans.

We put the pans on top of the cupboards which would work great if I was 7 feet tall, but since I'm not, dragging a chair into the kitchen when I wanted to make hot cocoa or fry an egg was a bit silly.

David marking where screw should go

We have a friend named David that is a blacksmith and he does awesome custom work. So, for Christmas Bob told me he talked to David about making a small pot hanger for my new kitchen.

He came out to the farm two weeks ago and he helped Bob and I figure out where to put a hanging pot rack in this less than 70 square foot kitchen.

He brought some thick wire and bent it to my specifications to as a pattern for the pot rack.

"Do you think he will hit a stud?"

We wanted it to be practical and beautiful --as a side note Bob says I am the most practical woman he knows--so useful and practical are extremely important to me.

Also, we had to be careful to put it where I wouldn't knock myself unconscious by hitting my head on heavy duty pans while I am scurrying around the kitchen getting a meal around. [I am not only practical, but a bit of a klutz.]

One week later he had it made and this past Saturday he again came out the farm and he and Bob made my kitchen absolutely perfect.

I want to add that David is a skilled craftsman and has a website that you can order from if you would like. Even if you only want some hardware, he can make it. His work is the best we have ever seen. His business is called Pod's Forge and you can go to his site to see the wonderful items he makes. If you order a custom piece you will not be disappointed.

You can see this was serious business. Actually David said that people come by his booth when he goes to craft shows and tell him they love his pot racks, but their kitchen is too small.

This is the smallest rack he has ever made and it will hold at least seven pans. That frees up a lot of cabinet space.

I truly believe if you have a small kitchen you NEED a pot rack.

Here he is hanging it on hand-forged hooks with hand-forged S hooks.

When we were talking about what kind of rack I wanted, I told David that I wanted something simple. Our whole cottage is decorated with a kind of Shaker/Amish style and we didn't want anything fancy.

I was very pleased with the rope style. I have no idea how he can take three pieces of iron and make them look like a rope, but it really does.

Once we got the pots hung I coaxed him to pose with my rack. I cannot believe how great it looks. You will notice that it is hung from only one stud. That is because it was so small and had such a small space it could fit in without me knocking my head into when I use the oven or the cupboard, we couldn't mount it between two studs. He designed it to hang on just one.

Usually the rope would go the long way and it would be hung with the hooks in two different studs. But, that is why everyone NEEDS their own blacksmith.So it can be perfect for your kitchen.

So, because of Pod's Forge my pots have a new home. Don't they look great? I have to pick up a cast iron skillet for making corn bread and some pan-frying, but it will fit on the rack with no problem at all.

Here is the finished kitchen with the pot rack over my baking cupboard on the left. My broom which is made from an antique tobacco stick hangs on the outside wall.

See how nice the pots hang against the wall? Perfect. You might notice we have our coffee cups hanging on pegs over the stove. I also have my tea steeping in the teapot covered by a tea cozy I made.

Another view.

This is another small kitchen helper. I have a 3" spice rack in the tiny section next to my sink. I LOVE this.

Closer up. The spices are on the top and second shelf and then all those little cans are various types of loose tea. Do you think I have a tea problem?

I have a vintage tea pot just like the one my mom used to use to make my Dad's tea. Ebay is amazing sometimes! I put a little mesh basket in it so I can use my tea leaves.

I cover with a tea cozy and wait till it is done.

You may wonder what I did after that? Well, because I am a bit of a pyromaniac, I put more wood in the wood stove, opened the damper and relaxed. You can see the windows are open because it was too warm for a fire. That usually doesn't stop me though.

It was a great weekend. And, when I got home and opened the mail, there was a package from my sister Gail. She had been working on a quilt for Bob and I for a housewarming present. It has a castle on the inside corner with our name and the date.

The perfect end to a perfect weekend.
Jill

Oops! I forgot to mention that you don't have to live in Kentucky to have David as your personal blacksmith. You can email him and he will work with you to make just the piece that you need. He can ship it to you, so your personal blacksmith is as close as your computer.

The Top Seven Reasons to Homeschool...

2011-02-24T20:06:00.002-05:00

The Top Seven Reasons to Homeschool...

Through the years I have been asked and nearly interrogated with the question...

"Why do you homeschool?" or "Why would a person want to homeschool?"

So, this year I decided to have a shiny laminated post card made telling the top reasons to homeschool. I came up with seven great reasons, worked with a veteran graphic artist and we put together this card that you can proudly display on your fridge or carry in your purse.

It conveys seven great reasons to homeschool and is a high quality card that is laminated on both sides so it will stay nice for a long time.

If you would like one, just let me know. Send me your name and address and I will be glad to put one in the mail for you.

Take care,
Jill

Bookshelves and a Pantry..

2011-02-13T21:06:00.004-05:00

In the past few weeks I have talked about caulking, closets, pegs and Packers, but today I want to share with you a wonderful pantry that Bob made for me under the stairs. The space under the stairs is usually wasted or stuff is chucked under them, but I wanted a nicely organized pantry. One reason is because I have a very small kitchen at the cottage, and the other reason is because I like to keep food staples on hand.

First off, we finished this lovely set of bookshelves which were built into a recess in the basement wall. We planned and measured and painted and this is the end result. We are pretty happy with it since it was wasted space. I am sure we will fill them up fairly quickly.

So, over the course of a couple of weekends, we cut painted and mounted enough shelves to keep me happy. Besides the bookshelves, we made this lovely pantry.

This is the door under the stairs. As you can see it is not very wide and you can also see the bookshelves on the right.

Once the door opens, it looks like this: It has a tall thin shelf on the right with a wire rack, a plastic bag holder and wide wooden shelves below. I also put a little hook back there--no telling what I might like to hang.

The left side has a rack to hang towels, aprons or maybe even a bag of onions or potatoes. We put up another wire rack and were thankful to hit studs.

I am thinking I might get a narrow wooden bin for onions and potatoes and put it under the wire rack on this side.

The back is wonderful. There are three deep shelves that fit in the angled ceiling line where the stairs come down behind. The wire racks were some old nasty looking racks Scotty picked up somewhere years ago. They were from an old freezer and the thought I might like them. He was right.

I scrubbed them down and they fit perfect on the shelves. I am thinking things like bags of rice, beans, chocolate chips and so on would fit in them nicely. I can see what is in them and pull them out easily to see what is in there.

On the right side of those shelves, in the area that doesn't pull out, I think I will put my canned goods, like applesauce, spaghetti sauce and so on.

The thing that was important to me was to have something that had a lot of shelves and storage potential and still have enough room to move around. I had a closet once that had racks on both sides and I cannot tell you how many times I got poked in the head or shoulder because they middle area was just too narrow.

I figure we can also add another four shelf wire rack on the left if we want to. I want to live with it a while and see if I think we need it, or maybe another type of shelf will seem more important.

I liked this plastic bag holder. I stuffed it with old grocery bags after I took this picture and they stuff in easily and pull out easily too.

Bob took the photo below after the work was done. I needed a little rest. I can hardly wait to fill my pantry will all sorts of great groceries.

On a totally different note, I have two adorable granddaughters. Here are a couple of photos you might enjoy.

Allison and Uncle Scott, a couple of weeks ago

Bob and Elinor

Allison ready to go home in hat and scarf knit by Aunt Kari.

Eli chewing on wood toy. She is really trying to get some teeth.

Take care,
Jill

My Cheeseheads...

2011-02-08T16:27:00.002-05:00

If you know me at all, you know that we are Packer fans. I mean, it is so well known that I was walking last week with my hoody on with only my face peeking out and the Fed-Ex man stopped, rolled down his window, and wished me luck for the Superbowl!

I was thinking I hadn't really been a fan that long, after all I really knew nothing about professional football till I got married, but since I said "I do," I have been a Packer Fan. And, since that was in 1975, I guess I have been a fan a good long time.

We actually made a couple of trips to Lambeau Field during the off season. Went to the Packer Hall of Fame, toured the stadium, raided the pro shop, stood outside the locker room waiting for Packers at a mini-camp to sign stuff for Scotty and attended Draft Day the year Aaron Rodgers became a cheese head.

There was some booing then because the Green Bay fans wanted to believe that Brett Favre would reign forever.

Scotty with Lombardi Trophy.

Then, a few years ago, Chad bought us all tickets to go to an actual Green Bay Packer game in Lambeau Field in December. Ahh, Packer weather. We could tell it was Packer Weather because Kari sort of got hypothermia and scared us all.

Back when Scotty was seven [and the other boys 19, 16, and 14--Kari was 10] the Packers won the Superbowl. Since he was about five he never wanted toys for Christmas, just Packer clothing. That was back in the pre-internet days when getting Packer clothing was not easy. I remember giving a seminary family who was going back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving $30 and asking them to get some clothes for Scotty, whatever they could find.

Years ago when our American flag that hangs on our front porch was getting ratty I asked for a new flag for my birthday. Imagine my surprise when I opened the package from Scotty to find a Packer Flag. He had NO IDEA I meant an American flag.

Eating Klondike bars after Sunday's win.

So, this Kentucky family, transplanted from Michigan and Florida, had one of our most memorable nights this past Sunday when the Packers became the World Champs. I usually don't get that into a game, but I can tell you I had an upset stomach most of the second half.

There was great rejoicing as the final seconds ticked down and the ball was intercepted. There was jumping, yelling, laughing and a few tears were shed as the Packers won!
As Coach Vince once said,
Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing."

Jill

Pegs...

2011-02-07T20:19:00.002-05:00

Pegs in main room, we added valances later

My name is Jill and I am addicted to pegs.

OK, I said it. I LOVE Shaker Pegs and Bob and I have gone rather wild installing them in our cottage.

For those of you who don't know about the Shakers, they were a progressive religious group that prospered in the 1800's and had a large settlement about 15 minutes from our home. It is now a restored living history village, well worth visiting if you are in the Lexington/Frankfort area.

Two rows of pegs in small bathroom.

They were known for their rather wild dancing during worship, their commitment to celibacy, the equality of sexes and races, being the first to sell garden seeds in packets, the first to sell flat [rather than round] brooms, their oval boxes, simple-yet beautiful architecture and pegs to keep workshops and living spaces neat.

But what I want to talk about today is the pegs. Bob and I love Shaker pegs and have them in our bedroom at home and have painted our home the same blue and white that is used in the Meeting House at Pleasant Hill Shaker Village.

We extended them all the way left from the window. Great for hanging coffee cups on.

In our cottage, which is about 580 square feet, we used 180 pegs! We were pretty amazed ourselves that we could use so many.

Making the most out of the space inspired us to put them in every room and I even have them in my closet!

I have some right under my clothes rod on the both sides so that I can hang up my nightgown in the morning and any clothes I take off and want to re-wear the next day, like my jeans.

Shoe pegs. My shoes can hardly wait till the glue has dried in the freshly made peg rails.

Pegs for coats when you come in the door.

I can also hang my purse on a peg so I will be able to find it. We also put pegs around the inside of my closet 12 inches from the floor so that I could hang my shoes on them. Bob thought I was a bit over the top with all these pegs in my closet, but he decided to put 6 in his too.

Now, if you are thinking this looks like something that might make your house, or maybe a room in your house, more functional, I am here to give you the benefit of our experience in the best way to make peg rails.

First off, we buy the pegs. We have used different types over the years, but I have been most impressed with the ones we bought from Shaker Workshops this year. We bought the hard maple pegs and they are the finest quality we have ever used. I highly recommend them.

OK, first off I paint all the pegs. I put one coat of primer and one coat of the finish paint on top. I got my primer tinted to be the same color as my finish coat, but my friend Linda reminded me that if you buy Benjamin Moore Aura paint, you don't have to prime and one coat does the trick. I will remember this next time I do pegs.

I used to use a regular 1" paintbrush but this year I used a small foam roller and it worked fantastic. I use egg cartons to hold them while they dry. It is a bit tedious, but it went faster than I thought it would. I do all 100 pegs at one time.

Next I paint 1x4 boards, priming first, then putting on the top coat. You don't need to paint the backs because these will be screwed or nailed to the wall. Then we measure the size we need for the different walls, saw to the right length, and label the backs with the location. We don't do the whole house, but try to measure and cut several boards at one time.

After this, we decide how far apart to put the pegs. On a long wall we usually do 11", but for shoe pegs only 5" and about 5" for towel pegs too. It depends on what you will use them for, but those are our basic measurements. If our board is 38" and we want them 11" apart, we figure 3x11=33 so we will have 5" left over.

Then we measure 1/2 that distance [2.5"] from the end and drill our first hole. This way, the pegs will be centered. Bob has a drill press, which makes it easy, but you could use a regular drill. Make the hole big enough to be able to pound in your peg. For the pegs we used, we made 1/2" holes.

Bob makes a template that has a beginning hole and then another hole at 11" so that he can match up the beginning hole with the last hole he drilled and easily drill the next hole exactly 11" away without measuring. This makes for accurate spacing, quickly.

Then he glues each peg and puts each one in a pre-drilled hole. We use a carpenter's wood glue. He pounds them in. Usually we use a rubber mallet, but I think the boys had our with the sport's equipment so they could pound in Cricket wickets, so we used a hammer with a sport sock over it. It worked great.

After he is done gluing and pounding them in, I use a warm wet rag and wipe the excess glue off from around each peg.

Now this looks rather precarious [below], and it was, but this is the only photo I have of Bob screwing them up. He uses drywall screws and tries to hit a stud and we always check to be sure the rail is level before we screw it up. You could nail it too, but we use the drywall screws. Bob pre-drills every hole before he drives the screw in, so it is time consuming. Here he is balanced on a narrow ledge that runs along the top of the stairwell to the basement. It was a bit tense for a few minutes.

The secret to success is to have a great stud-finder and this one is amazing--the best we have ever had... We have no idea where we found it, but you can find this type on Amazon for about $10. It has a really strong magnet and actually sticks to the wall when it finds a nail or screw under the drywall. No batteries, just a great hard-working piece of equipment.

After we finish putting up the rails for the day, Bob goes around and patches over all the screw heads [he sinks them into the wood] with some wood-fill. The next day he will lightly sand and I go around with a small paintbrush and paint over all the wood-fill and over any glue that you can see or any place that needs touch up. It goes pretty quickly and really finishes the job up nice.

And that finishes the job.WE eventually put two rails on this wall because it was so high and boring looking. I intend to hang some family photos here and will probably hang them from the pegs.

In our bedroom Bob made a little Shaker shelf [something like this] and we have the alarm clock on it. He has made bookshelves that hang from the pegs too. They are quite versitile.

Well, I guess that is all there is to know about pegs. If you have questions, feel free to email me.

Take care,
Jill

I am not 25 anymore--or why Grandma's are not new mothers...

2011-01-21T16:15:00.001-05:00

Ergo babycarrier--whoever invented this is a genius.

Jen went on a business trip for a few days so Bob and I were thrilled to be asked to keep Elinor for three days while she was gone. It wasn't too hard because Cris would pick her up each evening and bring her back each morning.

Jen is mostly a full time mom, but also works from home during Elinor's naps and in the evenings. But, she does have to travel once in a while.

As you can imagine, we had a lot of fun, but I had forgotten how much energy it takes to care for a nine month old.

Bob was out in his office and both babies were crying.

When he came in he whispered "Where is your camera?"

Later, after short naps.

Elinor is a baby that loves life--, is enthusiastic, inquisitive and really wants to walk [not crawl]. She will not crawl--but she thinks she can walk. But she can't. So, there is a lot of catching her when she falls, trying to get her to sit a play - then she tries to climb up on whatever she can grab and tries to walk, then she falls and the whole things starts over again..

And did I mention, that on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon 6 month Allison joined us!

Uncle Scotty lent a hand on Thursday. Allison snuggled right down.

Jen was supposed to come home yesterday afternoon but we had a rather nasty snow storm and though her plane got to the airspace over Lexington, they could not land because of visibility. So, they took them to Knoxville and chartered a bus to bring them to Lexington that way. I think it took about 5 hours to the airport and our roads were horrible. Eventually, Cris picked Jen up at the airport and they got back safe and sound to our house and a sleeping daughter. They stayed the night and left this afternoon.

Allison in the toy basket.

We really enjoyed our time with Elinor, but I know why women don't give birth at 50--it is exhausting--but being grandparents is a joy like no other. ---Jill

Elinor helping me check my email.


Girls playing with Grandpa.


Elinor and Grandma--she loves her Pooh Bear.

Hot Breakfast for a Cold Day...

2011-01-13T11:55:00.001-05:00

Well, like 70% of the US, we are covered in snow today. Frankly I love it, but it may be because I work from home and don't have to drive in it. The roads look OK though. The grandgirls will be coming for the afternoon, so I made supper already and am ready to spend some one on two time with the cutest babies ever.

But, breakfast is what I want to talk about today. I like oatmeal, kind of, but really like steel cut oats. They take a long time to cook, but you can shorten the time quite a bit if you start the night before.

Put 1/2 C steel cut oats in a pot and add 2 C water and bring to a boil, then put a lid on it, take it off the burner and let set overnight. In the morning scoop out what you want, add some milk and warm it up in the microwave. Delicious. This is two servings.

But, today I made Michigan Baked Oatmeal which is an old recipe I hadn't made for years. My sister, Gail, emailed me yesterday saying she had made it and it was great. I found this recipe in a book of breakfast recipes used at Bed and Breakfasts, so it is pretty universally liked.

So, for these cold snowy mornings, straight from the Bluegrass from a born and bred Michigan girl:

Michigan Baked Oatmeal

About 5-6 large servings

2 C old fashioned rolled oats
4 C milk
1/2 t almond flavoring
1/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C sliced almonds
1/2 C dried cherries
1 large apple, unpeeled and grated [or chopped fine]

Preheat the oven to 400°. Coat a 3 qt casserole dish with PAM. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and stir well. Put in baking dish and top with more almonds. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Serve hot. What is left over can be refrigerated and then re-heated in the microwave or pan fried in a bit of butter.

I love this served with a cup of hot Darjeeling tea, but a cup of my Famous Hot Cocoa would go great with it too.

Take care,

Jill

Here's the hot cocoa recipe in case you missed it:

Jill's Famous Hot Cocoa

Mix together in a 2 quart pan:
1/4 Cup dry baking cocoa
1/4 Cup white sugar [for sweeter cocoa make this a heaping 1/4 cup full or about 1/3 cup]
1/4 Cup water
1/4 tsp salt [optional]

Boil for 1 minute, then add:
1 quart milk
Heat till drinking temperature.
You can add some cream to this, or some whipped cream to the top. Kari and I usually add about 1-2 Tablespoons of real butter with the milk to give it a creamier taste. You may want to add 1 tsp of vanilla before serving.

This makes about 4 large cups of cocoa. Kari got too impatient waiting for the cocoa to heat, so she heated the milk in the microwave while she was bringing the cocoa, sugar and water to a boil on the stove. That way, when it boiled, she could put in hot milk and the cocoa was done in no time at all.

Hi Friends,

2011-01-12T17:35:00.000-05:00

I have had a few people ask about why I haven't posted on my blog in a while and I have to admit. I have been really busy, with grandchildren and with Kari coming home for Christmas and just with the business that comes with day to day living.

As many of you probably know, I make soap and some other products. This year I made and sold more than ever and had a great season. In addition to making soap I developed a formula for a solid cake that is sort of like chapstick for your body. I call it a Butter Cake and I thought it would be something I could sell in addition to my soap since I have all the ingredients for soapmaking already.

Well, they turned out to be very popular and I make and sold about 150 during the Christmas season. That helped to keep me busy.

Allison and Elinor are growing fast I have the privilege of caring for them from time to time. Elinor is on the verge of crawling and Allison is sitting up. They are both just so cute and adorable. I can't believe I have turned into the typical bragging grandma. Who would have thought?

At any rate, if you would like to keep up on the progress of our cottage, drop me an email. I will probably post some more cottage photos and progress reports in the future, but for now, I am forgoing posting progress here.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday. All the kids were here for Christmas so it was wonderful. We watched all three Lord of the Rings extended version movies--which we hadn't done for a few years. It was a big commitment-- but Kari, Bob and I enjoyed them immensely. We made hot cocoa every night and I thought you might like the recipe. This is an old fashioned hot cocoa, not too sweet.

Jill's Famous Hot Cocoa

Mix together in a 2 quart pan:
1/4 Cup dry baking cocoa
1/4 Cup white sugar [for sweeter cocoa make this a heaping 1/4 cup full or about 1/3 cup]
1/4 Cup water
1/4 tsp salt [optional]

Boil for 1 minute, then add:
1 quart milk
Heat till drinking temperature.
You can add some cream to this, or some whipped cream to the top. Kari and I usually add about 1-2 Tablespoons of real butter with the milk to give it a creamier taste. You may want to add 1 tsp of vanilla before serving.

This makes about 4 large cups of cocoa. Kari got too impatient waiting for the cocoa to heat, so she heated the milk in the microwave while she was bringing the cocoa, sugar and water to a boil on the stove. That way, when it boiled, she could put in hot milk and the cocoa was done in no time at all.

Take care,
Jill

Good, warm Fire! [Not the scary bad kind.]

2010-12-10T17:19:00.002-05:00

For the past few days Bob and I have worked painting the drywall that was replaced when the box for the stove went into the ceiling.Nicholasville Paint did an awesome job of matching the paint. I brought in a piece of the cut out drywall and they matched it without knowing brand or formula.

We are messy painters, so I taped and covered things well and Bob got on the ladder and did the painting. It was a bit precarious because the ladder had two legs on the hearth and two legs on a sort of nailed together platform that sat next to the hearth.

We painted on two different days and then removed the draping and tape, washed the stove pipe and box which had drywall mud and hand prints and bits of paint, etc.

Finally installed. After all this time and going through a few different installers, it is finally ready to use. But, alas, we had to go home.

So, today, we fired it up. It takes such a tiny bit of wood to make a good fire. We used just a bit and before we knew it the internal temperature was at the magic number of 500 degrees, so we engaged the catalytic converter. It is supposed to burn most of the smoke so you don't see much at all outside the house and just a bit of wood gives the maximum amount of heat.

The soapstone adsorbed the heat and was radiating nicely. It felt great. We still have to install the trim around the ceiling box [you can see it laying on the hearth] but that is for another day. Today we cleaned the whole upstairs. Carpet comes on Monday.

It was a great day!

Take care,
Jill

Woodstove finally installed on coldest day of the year!

2010-12-06T19:29:00.002-05:00

Finally, after nearly 10 months since I placed the order and over 7 months since we took delivery, our wood stove is finally installed.

Whew! It took 4 tries before we finally got someone to install it. A big thanks to Jason and Noel via our new Contractor Cliff Swaim, for finally getting the job done.

Although they had gotten started last week, because of some questions they had about installation and because they had to build a scaffold to get to the roof, they were not able to finish installation.

I arrived before 8:00 to meet the guys who were delivering our new mattress. We thought the carpet would be in by now and our new bed would be set up and waiting for the mattress, but it was not to be. The sun was just rising when I arrived. Red sky in morning--sailors [and wood-stove installers] take warning.

Hole looking up from living room.

The problem is, it was 16 degrees with high winds. The wind chill in Lexington was 3 degrees, and you can be sure at the top of that hill it was MUCH colder. I sure would not have wanted to be up on a steel roof cutting a hole all the way through and installing stainless steel stove pipe.

It was crazy cold and so windy and big flakes of snow were flying by sideways. I am not exaggerating, they were going completely parallel to the ground.

At any rate, the wood stove guys had built a scaffold [last Thursday] up to the roof so they could attach the stovepipe.

Doesn't this look like lots of fun? The wind was just awful, howling around the corners of the house.

A bit precarious, don't you think?

When I left it looked like this. They went for an early lunch to get something hot to eat and to get some tar to seal around the boot. Later in the day, Cliff called to tell us they had finished installation and that we could now make a fire! Of course, we really need to prime and paint the area around the chimney pipe inside where the drywall was re-done.

House from the road.

The whole time they were working I was inside doing touch up paint, caulk and organizing the supplies down there. The mattress was supposed to be delivered between 8 and noon. At noon, Bob got a call on our home phone that said they would be there in 30 minutes. At 12:50 two guys in a beat up old pick-up truck, with the tail gate down, drove up the long, cold, icy driveway.

My beautiful European Pillow-top King Serta Mattress was strapped down like a restrained patient. I guess I was expecting a regular box-type, enclosed delivery truck all tucked in-warm and cozy.

The two men, jumped out, unloaded my mattress into the basement and away they went without so much as a "Sorry we are late." It was covered in plastic and no worse for wear, so all is good.

As I was complaining to myself on my way home how I had to wait 5 hours for them and if they were going to call 45 minutes ahead of time, I could have waited at home and just met them out there. Just then, I came around a bend and off in a paddock of Shawnee Horse Farm I saw ten thoroughbred horses running like fire across the field. It was beautiful--the hooves and manes flying across the snowy field. It was breathtaking and I prayed they would not break through the fence. They didn't. They just ran along it, all together, like something out of a western. If I hadn't waited 5 hours, I would not have been at Shawnee at that time, and think what I would have missed.

All in all, a magnificent day!

Take care,
Jill

We are almost ready to be done!

2010-11-29T08:27:00.002-05:00

We are almost ready to be done!

Kari came home from her Americorps Assignment in New Orleans to spend a week with us for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. Not only did we get some time with our girl, but she was an incredible help with finishing up the cottage. Kari caulked, painted, shimmed and glued-- so many of the finishing up, time-consuming jobs are done.

The steps are poly-urethaned. I love the blue side boards. I wasn't certain before hand, but when it was done I loved it.

Bathroom with cabinet hung and cute little knobs on it.

The kitchen came out cute. I love the Corian counter.

I love the little soap dispenser on the left.

Loft almost painted. Eventually the access door were painted blue but they are VERY hard to access. I would not have done them the way they are done.

We will fix them so they are on hinges later, but for now they will be OK. I took off the knobs and put on handles so we can wrestle them out better.

The loft access was fixed so we can actually get up there. Kari and I painted a couple of coats of paint on the spindles.

The ladder going up to the loft. This ladder is the most sturdy ladder I have ever used. I have carried a shop vac, paint, vacuum and other items up and down this ladder and it never even moves or shakes a bit. It is made of oak and poplar.

Our plan is to just push it up into the loft when not in use and pull it down when we want access.

Kari put the quarter-round behind the woodstove, filled the holes, touched up the paint and caulked. It looks great!

Speaking of the woodstove--it looks like we finally have someone who can and will install it. He cut the hole in the ceiling Saturday and says he will have it installed by Tuesday.

Then there will be some ceiling repair when he is done, but at least it will be installed.

I primed and painted 100 Shaker Pegs and many 1x4's so that Bob and I can put up Shaker pegs throughout the cottage. We figured six 8' boards and four 10' boards will do it.

The carpeting will go in later in the week so once the stove is in and the carpet installed, the interior will be done!

Bob is building some retaining walls outside before the final grade is done and we still need a bit of vinyl siding put on, but other than that, we are good to go!

Bob has some time off at Christmas so we hope to spend some nights out there then.

Take Care,
Jill

Misty morning from another perspective...

2010-11-18T09:35:00.001-05:00

I had to meet the HVAC guys today so they could finish up the job. I also had to let the painters in, so I was out at the farm early this morning.

I decided to drive past the driveway [dead end lane] and see what our cottage looked like from the next hill over. I will have to take some photos from this perspective when it is a sunny day, but when I saw it perched up on the hill I thought, "If this wasn't ours I would really be wishing it was!"

It sure looks like a vacation get away.

I guess it won't look so forlorn when we plant some grass and do a bit of landscaping.

On another note, the painters continue to work. It has turned into a bigger job than they thought, so I am really glad Kari and I didn't try to tackle the job by ourselves.

The carpet comes in about 2 weeks, counter top will be installed tomorrow!

The paint crew arrives!

The basement trim is primed.

Loft doors and trim primed. The little doors to lead to storage areas-there is one on each side.

The loft railing is finally done. The carpenter made the oak and poplar ladder to lead to the loft yesterday.

I should have taken a shot of the polyurethaned oak and poplar stairs, but I forgot. They look awesome!

Jill

Siding done! About 3 weeks away from completion...

2010-11-14T14:09:00.002-05:00

Front of house with siding and outdoor lights.

This week there was quite a lot of activity. The siding guys finished their job. We are pleased with how it finally came out.

Faucet in lower level bath. We need to install the backsplash.

Siders at work.

Roofing guys fixing some roof problems. They finished that job.

HVAC almost all installed. They need a few more coolant lines and will finish up this week.

View with nearest neighbor house in it.

Misty view from deck.

Mist over the farm.

Almost done now!

Daughters, Dinners, Peas and Painting...

2010-11-13T08:17:00.001-05:00

The paint guy who came to give us an estimate for the cottage was super nice and professional. Since it is a small house [about 580 square feet with a 100 sq ft loft] and the ceilings are already painted [even the cathedral ceiling has 2 final coats], the walls primed and much of the trim work only needs one finish coat,we figured it wouldn't cost that much.

Let me tell you--forget wanting your sons and daughters to grow up to be brain surgeons so they can support you in your old age--have them be painters. The quote was WAY out there-- I mean WAY out there. So, needless to say, we will do the painting ourselves.

In all fairness there are a some nail holes that need to be filled [I did a ton of them already], some caulking and sanding and stuff, but really, the quote was over $2000! Can you believe it!!!

Something you should know about me--I hate to paint. I am not good at caulk. Have you ever seen a baby after eating peas? Well, that is me when I paint and caulk--everything, everywhere! And I don't really like caulk in my hair and on my nose!

Granddaughter Elinor with first taste of peas.

This is where the story gets good. Kari [our only daughter] is serving in Americorps for a year and so far her service has been centered around building and remodeling homes. Just when I was going to cry about all the painting that needed to be done, Kari sent me this email:

"I did get to do some finish work the past couple of days, including cutting and laying all of the quarter round for a few rooms, then nailing (finish nail guns are super fun), caulking and painting. Everyone complimented me on how professional it looks, and one guy told me I should go into the finishing business. Maybe someday I can pick up some side jobs, because I really do enjoy it, and I am getting pretty good at it."

So, it looks like she will fly home for Thanksgiving to have a good family catch up time [which will be awesome] and be able to help me do the painting/caulking too boot! I am so encouraged and we are all excited she will be able to come home for Thanksgiving. She is not going to believe how much Allison and Elinor have changed.

God is good, all the time...even when it comes to daughters, dinners, peas and painting.

Take care,

Jill

After 7 Years--No More Trips to the Outhouse!!

2010-11-10T19:51:00.001-05:00

2004 the beginnings of our outhouse!

Yep, that's right. You heard it here first. After 7 years of ducking behind trees [guys], running to the state-of-the-art outhouse Bob built [girls] and one incident that involved two daughters with lowered britches and a mouse...we now have indoor plumbing! We are the proud owners of two toilets, a shower, a tub with shower, two sinks and laundry tub, water heater and outdoor taps!

Here are the water heater and laundry tub waiting to be hooked up. I have wanted a laundry tub for over 25 years. I am pretty excited I can actually wash Scrappy Dog without bending over into the bathtub.

Basement Bath, waiting for faucets.

Basement Bath--the toilet is waiting in expectation.

The dishwasher needed a certain kind of adapter. The plumber didn't have it--then I remembered that Lowe's sold me one back in February when I got such a great deal on a Kitchen Aid, stainless steel interior dishwasher. I ran down to the barn, quickly found it and then huffed and puffed back up the hill. I was amazed I could find it so fast after all that time and with all the furniture in the barn waiting for completion of the cottage.

Here is the laundry tub with faucets. However, I would not recommend that you buy this type of all-in- one-tub from Lowes. The faucet will not let one drop of water through it. UGH! The plumber said he saw another of this same type do this.

So, I need to take the faucet off and get a replacement. He will install it when he comes to finish the sink in the kitchen. [Still waiting on the counter top to be installed so he can put the faucet and drains in.]

While the plumber was working the wood stove guys came out to look at the situation. These two guys placed the stove, which weighs about 500#, on the hearth [grunting and groaning like crazy]. It was heavy and hard because they had to put in the right place and not scratch the tile. It had to be at least 12" from the back corners of the stove to the wall, so a lot of measuring and tiny movements had to be done to get it lined up right.

Ahh, doesn't the stove looks happy sitting in its new home?

They will come tomorrow and install it. I pray all the bits and pieces that they need are in all those boxes in the basement.

After they got it in place they got out their binoculars and tried to spot some deer. As they were moaning that they couldn't see any, the plumber told them he saw five on the hill this morning while he was sitting in his truck waiting for me. They were jealous.

The upstairs bath is ready to flush! We still have to have a nice cabinet hung over the toilet and have the shower curtain rod hung, but it is functional and looking good. It is a small bath, but looks pretty cute. Cris and Jen and Elinor bought me the cute little pump faucet for a gift. It looks adorable.

Tomorrow is another big day. Besides the wood stove guys, the HVAC guys come early morning to finish hooking up the heat pump and installing the heat/air vents.

The finish carpenter comes in the morning. He has a few things to do to finish up the trim and loft area.

The painters come for a consultation in the morning too. We need them to polyurethane the oak steps, hearth and a few other things and, we just realized, the paint is just primer--not the finish coat. So, they will have to give us an estimate on that. I spackled a ton of holes and don't mind painting trim, but now way are Bob and I up to painting cathedral ceilings. Ugh!

Take care,
Jill

And then there was light...

2010-11-08T19:45:00.001-05:00

Or lights, fans and plugs--as the case may be. In our case, the electricians came and worked fast and hard on Friday and got all their work done [except for the water heater, but the plumber has to hook that up first]. At any rate, these two guys were probably the fastest hardest workers I have ever seen.

They were determined to get our cottage finished in one day, but they ran into some problems that took more time than they had allowed.

So they worked faster. Most of the problems we because the original contractor had not told them things that were needed when they did the roughing in--things like I wanted a microwave with vent fan over my oven. There was some cussing over this plug which doesn't look like much, but was a bear to get the wire over there, behind the wall, and fished up from the basement.

Fan in bedroom

At any rate, here are some illuminating pictures for your viewing pleasure. While they were working I was putting little bits of wood fill in every single nail hole in the trim and window sills.

Can lights in kitchen

I am still not done, but I did make great progress. The finish carpenter is almost done too and he installed some more trim, hung medicine cabinets and more.

And two outdoor workers finished shoring up the deck and started to dig a trench around the basement part of the house so they could attach 2" foam to the outside to up our R factor.

Theoretically the wood stove should be installed this week, the finish carpenter should finish up the trim and hopefully the siding will go on.

Fan in living room. It hangs down 4 feet.

I called the carpet guy today and said we would be ready for the carpet the week after Thanksgiving. There is quite a bit of painting to do and we hope to be able to do that after the finish carpenter and all his sawdust are cleaned up.

I hope you enjoy the photos,
Jill

Lights in upstairs bathroom.

I ate lunch on the window seat. Bob and I shared a sandwich. See my wood-fill tools.

Lights on outside. Still waiting for the siding to come in to finish the outside walls.

Range plug!


Basement bath-still waiting for toilets.

Looking down the stairs, the finish carpenter put trim at the bottom so it looks better.


Upstairs bath. I love the cute little sink.

Knobs and Handles and Rails...Oh My!

2010-10-30T23:38:00.000-04:00

Things are really coming along. Every time we go out to the cottage we get more excited and happier. We are so glad that there is someone working out there nearly every day. Bob and I were out on Friday and two guys were working all day--one on the deck and one on the trim.

Here you can see the hand rail on the stairs and the nice spindle rail at the end. No more worries about someone plummeting to their death. Whew!

Looking at the railing from the other side.

Knobs in the kitchen.

The knobs close up. They are oil rubbed bronze even though this photo makes them look kind of like pewter.

Oil rubbed bronze door handles.

Polish potter knobs on my closet doors. This is so it looks girlie. Bob's closet is smaller and has a regular handle on it. That way we won't get confused when we hang our clothes up!

There is still quite a bit of trim work to be done. We decided to have someone put the polyurethane on all the oak--but Bob and I will do all the touch up paint and all the trim paint.

Thanks for reading,
Jill

Good Neighbors...

2010-10-28T10:00:00.003-04:00

As I was waking up this morning I thought about how I didn't mention our good neighbors when I was talking about our bad ones. Back, and back and back some more--we used to live in a neighborhood. There was a small trailer park kitty-corner across the street where some of our best friends lived. There were many fine people who lived there through the years.

Surrounded by an institution, our two homes stand side by side. The H's home is the one in the center, ours is behind the red pin oak tree.

H house on left, ours peeking out on the right

Our house with my jeep parked next to it.

Directly across the street were two buildings with a total of 6 apartments in them. They had hardwood floors, crown molding and wonderful wood trim everywhere. Then there were a few old houses, like ours, only bigger. Probably they were all built about 100 years ago and they reflected the craftsmanship that was evident in that day.

As I mentioned in another post, these homes and trailers were surrounded with lovely trees that blossomed in the spring and had vibrant colored leaves in the fall. Even if I didn't have a calendar, I could tell the change of seasons easily by looking out my front windows at my neighborhood.

I remember a block party we had before---before the seminary bought and destroyed all the homes, apartments and the trailer park and everyone moved away. There were great people with hopes and dreams, living simple lives in a friendly neighborhood. It was small town living at its finest.

H's house with ours in background on right.

Now, there are two of us left. Us and Dr. and Mrs. H. Dr. H was a college philosophy professor up until he retired a few years ago. Mrs. H. is a bundle of energy. She is wife, mother, grandma to 17 and a confidant to many. Originally from Uruguay, she is a friend to all nd an adopted mother and grandma to many, many Hispanics in our area. The two--Dr. and Mrs.--are THE BEST neighbors anyone could ask for.

For 18 years we have lived side by side--they with a parking lot on their left, us with one on our right, and both with lots across the street. We have been there for each other through marriages, births, deaths and the very serious accident Dr. H was in ten years ago which left him barely alive. Mrs. H. would not let them pull the plug and amazingly, with the hand of God prevalent upon him and a dedicated wife fiercely supporting him, he mostly recovered. Slowly and steadily, he recovered all but his short term memory.

We have shared tears, jokes and brownies over our white picket fence. Bob played the piano at their youngest son's wedding and they have been there when our children married. There were several Sundays when Dr. H. helped us out by filling in as the preacher at the little Methodist churches Bob was pastoring at that time. It was a two hour drive each way, but they did it willingly.

Coming out my back door. The H's and Bob and I have had many conversations over our fence.

When I walk in their back door and yell, "Hello" I am always greeting with a smile, a hug and sometimes a familial kiss on the cheek.

Yes, we have awesome neighbors. It is one of the many blessings in my life to have neighbors such as these. I guess the good neighbors on my left almost balance out the bad neighbors on the right. And, I have to say, the squirrels scamper happily in their lovely treed back yard even in the midst of gravel, dust and stumps.

Take Care,
Jill

Bluegrass Mom's Perspective

Another tasty recipe...

Brownie Batter Pancakes...

I am Billy...

Low Fat Moist Scones...

My Favorite Breakfast...

Tea Time with Grandma...

Gingerbread Muffins--super healthy and delicious...

Hot Cocoa

Cinnamon Rolls

Family Time...

What Adam did, Christ un-does...

Spectacular!--Mathtacular

If you do order. PLEASE put my name -"SL Consultant Jill E"- in the comment section. I am a Sonlight Consultant and that will make it clear that I tipped you off to this good deal. NOT just for homeschoolers. Seriously, this is a great deal and the kids in your life will love Mathtacular.

This is packaged in a game--a great gift for under the tree this Christmas.

Also, if you are looking for great books to read aloud to your children may I recommend a couple to you?

The Great and Terrible Quest--This is my favorite book of all time. If you would like to know why I love it so much you can go here.

Little Britches is another family favorite. You can't go wrong reading this autobiography. Delightful for parents and adults. A couple of "cowboy swear words" which you can read right over if you are reading aloud.

If you would like other recommendations, let me know. I would love to recommend a book or two for you to read aloud to your family.

Take care,

Jill

Applesauce Day at the Farm...

499 DAYS...

Bluegrass Staycation...

My Bluegrass Husband...

Pizza on the Grill...

Marriage Advice from the Pros...

Bath Bombs...

Summer Eating...

Not so secret Family Recipe...Oatmeal Cookies

ICED TEA...

Bird Free Zone...

Inverse Parenting

Cottage finally graded...

Two stories of Hope...

Hot Cross Buns...

Aqua-Heroes...

Who owns the children?...

Tools not Toys... Here we go again...

And Tails is a favorite and I think it is my favorite board book.

I will try to remember to post a photo next week. Oh and if you want some of my great advice about what books to buy for different age kids, just ask. I LOVE to help folks pick out great books for any age child.

Tools or Toys...

~Dad in his workshop making himself a new workbench~

Eating on Vacation with kids...

I am a Homeschool Carny...

For Haiti with Love

Deck Building...

A Biscuit Recipe so good your sister won't even share...

Drainage...as in gutters

Pots and Pod's...

The Top Seven Reasons to Homeschool...

The Top Seven Reasons to Homeschool...

Bookshelves and a Pantry..

My Cheeseheads...

Pegs...

I am not 25 anymore--or why Grandma's are not new mothers...

Hot Breakfast for a Cold Day...

Hi Friends,

Good, warm Fire! [Not the scary bad kind.]

Woodstove finally installed on coldest day of the year!

We are almost ready to be done!

Misty morning from another perspective...

Siding done! About 3 weeks away from completion...

Daughters, Dinners, Peas and Painting...

After 7 Years--No More Trips to the Outhouse!!

And then there was light...

Knobs and Handles and Rails...Oh My!

Good Neighbors...