time pieces

 "As with joyous steps they sped

 To that lowly manger bed,

     There to bend the knee before

                                                      Him whom heaven and earth adore;

                                                     So may we with willing feet

                                                     Evermore seek Thy mercy seat."

                     ~As With Gladness Men of Old, second stanza

William C. Dix

As I have set out to create the atmosphere of this home most of the things I had in my previous home have laid the foundations for each room. It is truly amazing how much of my furniture and things fit into this old "new" house. Making this house a home takes greater devotion and purpose and more time in knowing just what things are still needed to give this house what it might still be missing.

For years I've entertained the thought of having a clock of prestige in our home. Of course, we have always had a few necessary clocks such as a bedroom nightstand clock, a battery operated wall clock in my sewing room, and a few digital clocks in the kitchen...one on the stove and one on the coffee maker. Fairly common clocks that certainly did their job of keeping me in the know of the current time.

But I desired a clock that was serious. One that was fashioned by the hand of a clockmaker and would create a statement in the clock world,  not just in its utilitarian essence but also in its aesthetic essence. Years ago I considered a cuckoo clock because some are beautifully crafted and I see them as whimsical thinking children, or an adult for that matter, would find fascination in it.

Then one day in November we met the Clockmaker.  MC does not make clocks per se, but he has collected clocks for over forty years. He works on all clock types and repairs them, even to the point of making pieces that have broken and need replacing to make the antique clocks run again. MC knows the history of many clocks, the countries of origin, the dates and the clockmakers of yore. He is seventy-nine years old and his art is sadly dying out. He has so many calling him for clock repair from all over that he has limited his work only to those who purchase a clock from him.  I am glad we stopped by his antique shop just down the road from us housed in an old log cabin one Saturday. He has made a true clock lover out of me. I am more focused now with an eye of interest longing to know more about various clocks.

This Christmas my husband and I have gifted ourselves ourselves with two of his clocks and they arrived on Tuesday. MC came to hang them and set them to ticking in their designated places. 

Now to my home has been added two new things that I felt have been missing. A handsome gentle  ticking clock in the back hallway from Vienna and a merry click-ticking blue-plated clock from Germany in the kitchen above the doorway entering into the scullery. Both of these clocks were made by men with the first name of Gustav,

 and both are non-strikers.

I have now added the winding of two clocks every eight days to my  home tending.

12-22-22

 O come, O come, thou Lord of might, who to thy tribes, on Sinai's height,

In ancient times didst give the law in cloud and majesty and awe.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

~O Come, O Come Emmanuel, 2nd stanza

John Mason Neale and Henry S. Coffin

 To go outside early this morning and attend my flock of feathered hens was not the most pleasant thing I had to do today, but chores of this type even go beyond that quote about the postmen's rain or shine deliveries! It was so cold and rainy that the hens did not even come outside  to free-range. I was thinking how thankful I was astute enough late yesterday afternoon to throw another layer of bedding into the coop thinking the hens might choose to remain inside with the predicted weather forecast.  We use the deep layering bedding method in the chicken coop and it has been by far the best choice for our coop and our little flock!

I set a pot of natural things in a pot of water to simmer on my stove.

Now my house smells seasonally wonderful! Pine needles, orange pieces and peels, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and even tiny bits of pines twigs and cones, whatever you forage in wood and home can be used. Just keep adding water throughout the day.

I am fine tuning my menu lists for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner. This year it will be a bit different, Witt and his family, now that there are seven of them, have decided to stay home on Christmas Day and make their own traditions. I think this is a good thing, but I am glad they will be coming for Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning we will go to Rose's house where she will be serving breakfast, then we will attend church. Later that afternoon, around four o'clock, I will be serving Christmas dinner at my house. The beef tenderloin was just purchased and I am making a French Onion soup for an appetizer, using several kinds of onions.

daily bread

All creation, join in praising God the Father, Spirit, Son;

Evermore your voices raising to th' eternal Three in One:

Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ,

the newborn King.

Angels From the Realms of Glory, fifith stanza

James Montgomery 

Bread is made from three basic ingredients:  flour, salt and water. Four if you choose to use flour and water to make an ongoing live culture of sourdough starter.

My entire family has finally given me the five stars on this recipe of sourdough bread. And the key word here is entire family. I consider myself to have climbed a very steep mountain at last and it makes me happy. Because Charlotte is home from school until mid January and it is the holidays where more are gathered around my table at times, I usually  bake a loaf about every other day. We like toast, we like sandwiches, we like bread for soup soppings, and just general buttered bread for dinner. This bread recipe provides it all. Another thing that makes me happy. I persevered in my sourdough journey using several recipes from various sources, tweaking here and there to make it come together for me. 

I begin the process in the morning and it basically takes all day. Nothing fast or hurried, I like that about bread making. Yesterday we celebrated my husband's birthday so today I am baking another loaf. The process was began this morning and it takes basically all day. Since my kitchen is chillier than the other rooms in my house, the present loaf is rising by the fire on a trivet in the living room.

  I received this tea as a gift form my daughter -in -law and made myself a cup while I was beginning my bread,

and I was listening to a  Christmas CD of Twila Paris. 

At the beginning of each blog post until Christmas I will be sharing a stanza of a Christmas hymn. Many of these stanzas are not as familiar and they are rich.  

meet me there...and a cookie recipe

"God of God, Light of Light,

Lo, He abhors not the Virgin's womb;

Very God, begotten, not created,

O come, let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him,

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."

~O Come All Ye Faithful, second stanza

John Francis Wade

Christmas carols were playing in the background...on a CD player which my girls think is obsolete, but works excellently for me, especially since I have a great collections of Christmas CDs😊.

The live mistletoe is hanging between the living room and the dining room. A fire is crackling warm. Louie has "snuck" inside and is contently warming himself by the fire on the ottoman. I am drinking a cup of Holy Basil tea while baking ginger molasses cookies, this time using my sourdough starter (recipe follows). 

 I am waiting for my dear husband to return later and meet me  under the mistletoe.

These cookies are the soft and chewy sort. So deliciously good! You may add the spices and spice amounts to your taste. If you prefer less gingery and more cinnamon cookies, just adjust.

Sourdough Ginger Molasses Cookies 

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/3 cup molasses

1/2 cup sourdough starter

Sift flour, baking soda, salt and spices together in small bowl.

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and then add the molasses and vanilla. Add the sourdough starter. Mix thoroughly. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet mixture,  be sure not to overmix. (I use a spoon, not the mixer, to stir and combine both the starter and then the dry ingredients).

Roll into 1" balls...you may have to slightly flour your fingers... then roll into a bowl of 2 tablespoons of sugar, coating the entire ball.

Place 3" apart on an uncreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes any 350 degrees.

The dough may be frozen up to three months.

 Isn't that wonderful?

You can pull out the dough and have a batch of freshly baked cookies when company stops by or if you are just hankering for a taste of these wonderful treats, seasonal comfort food at its best. And the added bonus of how it makes your home smell just like walking into a bakery! 

 

of cat and woman... and the rock dam

You have probably made the connection already since I have mentioned it before that we love the simple act of walking in the woods. When we were searching for property to buy we were hoping there would be acres of woods, so we feel as we have been doubly blessed. And now that the cold weather season has arrived we walk daily. I am saying we when usually it is just me, unless it is a weekend. But this particular morning Charlotte and her young man friend, her beau Issac, were with me. Myrtle came along too and Charlotte thought it was rather dandy so she snapped this photo. It is not the first time this cat has walked with us through the woods (she blends well with the woodsy colors, she is to the left of the photo,---even with my shoes).

We had set off this morning because I wanted to show them Rock Dam. I discovered this manmade dam in the woods one day as I walked the creek bed. It never ceases to put a jump and a skip in me when I am there watching it run over the rocks, hearing its rush.

Just walking by water is both soothing and exciting at the same time.

the old house

 There is something about an old dilapidated house that deems exploring. When we bought this property we had all sorts of imaginings of what this old house was in years past. It sits in the back side yard of our property, and we do not yet know what it was used for other than the obvious that someone lived there years ago.

Now that the weather temperatures have changed we have gone inside to check it out. (This is a snake's paradise in our area in warmer seasons and we are not fools). The floor is unsafe in several places, but you recognize the kitchen, the bathroom (yes, there is a bathroom), the living room with a fireplace, a downstairs bedroom and an upstairs bedroom.  I see containers of canning jars, old mattresses tossed atop one another and two large wooden trunks. There is much work to do here and we do not know if any part is even salvageable as of yet, but is certainly does stir the curiosity of many a visitor who comes by to visit us.

I gingerly pressed open the door and stepped inside recently. I am one that can see possibilities in things, but truly all I could see here was perhaps using the sink as an outside vegetable washing station and the canning jars could be washed and sterilized. 

That is all I will say about this old house at the moment.

the back hallway

The southern exposure of the back stairway is welcomed on sunny days, full of dancing shadows and bold glares as one traverses up the red-carpeted stairs.

Many will ask me if our home has all the bedrooms located upstairs. The answer to that is yes, all the bedrooms are upstairs.I guess they are thinking of aging and what stairs might mean for future mobility or maybe unexpected health issues making stair climbing difficult for a time.

But I like going up the stairs to get to my bedroom. But I am never one that does not think ahead for future possibilities, so there is a room downstairs that could be converted into a bedroom if ever needed.  

 

"All right I think we've been down here in the dark long enough. 

There's a whole other world upstairs. 

keeping the fire

 Keeping:  the act of holding, guarding, maintaining and supporting

While living at the farm over twenty years ago, we owned a wood stove. I was never partial to having a wood stove in the house because of the mess created with all the bringing in of wood logs and the resulting ashes. But my husband has always loved the warmth and look of a burning fire. While an open fireplace is my preference, he likes his fires in a wood stove of some kind because of its practicality.

How things do change. One of the things we planned to have when we moved here was a wood stove. We even had the chimneys checked prior to closing so we could be assured a wood stove was not just a dream doomed for failure. Since it was to be in our living room we decided that this Vermont Cast Iron insert in the majolica brown color would be perfect for doing what we desired. It is a beautiful stove to say the least and works beautifully too. I am presently sitting by it now enjoying its warmth and coziness on this drizzly cold afternoon in mid November.

Yet another thing to keep: the fire. It takes a certain amount of time, attention, and maintaining; I like that it is not automatic like the thermostat heat and must be tended to throughout the day. It slows me down and provides focus and a routine that I seem to require during this season of my life.

"There is no place more delightful than one's own fireside.

Nullus est locus domestica sede jucundior."     -Cicero

Yesterday afternoon after the ladies left from our Precepts Bible study and lunch fellowship, my husband and I drove down the road a bit to a neighbor that gave us some bags of aged cows manure, black garden gold. We spread and tilled it into the prepared garden spot and then planted three rows of garlic. I ordered two varieties from Mad River Garlic Growers, Doghouse and Italian Purple. Several dozen of daffodil bulbs were also planted on the edges of the newest garden bed in the backyard. 

Sourdough bread is rising, a whole chicken is roasting in the oven, and leeks are sitting in a "waterbath' for the soup I am about to get up and prepare for cooking.

I'm keeping my home. 

 

autumn around the homestead

 The autumn of 2022 was breathtaking in its beauty.

I looked around and I grabbed hold of it as much as was humanly possible.

One Sunday afternoon Witt arrived with three of these precious ones. While they cut and split wood with Don's wood-splitter, Breanna, Gordon, Violet and I just enjoyed life together.

Another afternoon, after picking green beans from my fall garden I sat down on the back stoop to snap them for dinner that night. Here Myrtle enjoys my loving and her smile is contagious.I find rubbing a cat calming. Do you?  My little flock of chickens have literally acres and acres of land to free range, but no, my brick patio and all around the house is their desired preference. That entails frequent clean up!

What do they do on blissful days like this,

These who have no God?

When autumn sets a torch to every tree,

When ecstasy all but bursts its heart...

What do they do...with no one to say "thank you" to?

Mrs.Myra Scovel

precepts, a luncheon, and a tornado warning

Bible studies are varied in their approach, in their content, and in their depth of study. And this is only mentioning an airplane view of the many types of Bible studies that are on the market today. Some studies are good, some are okay, and then there are those that are excellent, fully realizing that it depends greatly on what you want in a Bible Study too. What I look for in a Bible study is the use of the scriptures as the sole study, and this would particularly mean a single book of the Bible using cross references for study. I was a participant in Bible Study Fellowship(BSF) for many years and that has remained my ideal when I want to do an in-depth study of a book of the Bible.

Precepts Ministries Inductive In- Depth Bible Studies provide materials that use the observation, interpretation, and application process of Bible study. Even though I am not a novice to the Word of God, still the richness and careful, intentional study of verse by verse keeps me growing in the knowledge of God. I am only going higher up and further in.

 I co-lead a group that meets every Friday morning from 9:30 to noon and we are completing the final lessons of Genesis Part Two. As a way of celebrating we decided to have a meal together and these ladies were willing to make the hour drive to my home.  A planned menu including Shepherds Pie, a fresh fall salad, and muffins were to be served with a fruit pizza for dessert.

I set the table yesterday and prepared what foods I could make ahead of time. As I got up this morning I was thinking of each step and praying for focus to get it done timely. 

But the one thing I had not accounted for was a Tornado Watch in our area for the entire day, stretching over a wide area of counties and cities. After praying  the decision was made to call off our getting together until Monday. In years past this would have caused a bit of an upset, but these days I am content to trust Him (a great benefit of getting older😊).  I am not in charge, but I know Who is.

The tornado thankfully did not materialize, but we certainly experienced  some rather strange weather all day.

an order of things

There have been by far a plethora of things that have made this return to country living a place of deep contentment. Of course, I had carefully planned how to begin implementing some of the things we had done years before when we lived on the farm. But this time more on a scale of what I could personally handle without the children. My husband helps me with many of the things and we have spent many hours enjoying this mini-homestead we are busily creating. Just one step at a time, orderly and sure.

Back in late August we took a purposeful trip to Tractor Supply and purchased a pre-fab henhouse and ten little chicks. Buying them simultaneously immediately jumped the henhouse construction to high level priority. Breanna, my granddaughter, helped us put it together in basically two evenings, fitting and twisting screws even in the dark.

"Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.”

 –Frank Lloyd Wright.

 

 

I began raising my little flock of egg layers on my screened-in back porch in a round baby pool surrounded by wire. This proved to be an excellent place to keep them warm under the red light and perfectly  safe from harm and any prey. 

That was many weeks ago, my chickens are now twelve weeks old and they are happy to free range for most of the day which is possible when I am home all day. On mornings that I fry or scramble eggs I anticipate  the day when I will have fresh eggs from my own flock of chickens.

 

it is well with my soul

I grew up with a very tidy and sincere belief of marriage. Marriage was forever. Even when the marriage might get tough and the couple do not get along, vows are taken and those vows are taken seriously. 

But as I said this is a tidy belief of marriage and easy to uphold theoretically, but I am not in charge of the universe or what other people do. Especially in the matter of marriage and remarriage.

If any of you have followed my blog for awhile, you might remember me posting about my daughter's wedding back over seven years ago. It was an extremely difficult time in my life, and even the year leading up to that time was heartbreaking to this mama's heart. Marriage is one of the most important decisions we undertake as people on this earth. It is important to God and it is important to us, His church.

But we knew that a young eighteen year old was not ready for marriage and the person she chose to marry was even less ready. It was a terrible mistake, but what do you do? You pray and  you hope, and you pray and you hope. 

So seven and 1/2 years later there is another marriage. I would be lying if I said I have not struggled with remarriage in general and this one in particular because it is so close to me, even with the very obvious circumstances that caused the other marriage to end, which were legitimate. I still believe in the sanctity of marriage and its lasting foundation.

The wedding was a very simple affair in the church with our pastor and a few family members attending.

This was by far the highlight and best memory of the day. My sweet husband ironing his daughter's dress.

We do love this young man who has vowed to love and protect our daughter and granddaughter forever.

I do what every mama should always do, I pray and I hope.

And that is what makes this marriage well with my soul.

 

of delights and joys

A brick-paved patio is currently in progress and my visions for another addition to our new home and back yard is truly happening.

Look at this sky. Rainstorms almost every day roll in and we welcome it since these days continue to be hot and humid. For several days we would just stare at the sky and delight in the cloud formations. 

Yes, summertime.

Several weeks ago on a trip back home we were delighted to drive by the Plow and Hearth store outlet. We quickly turned around and in the very hot afternoon's heat we found new cushions for our screened porch furniture. 

 Considering I have made super changes in my life this summer,  still I have managed several small trips out of town including one week of working at a small Bible camp for 17-23 year olds. 

But this particular week my mama's heart strings vibrate strong. One day my daughters and I went to town together and I wanted to remember the moment with this snapshot after eating our lunch. 

  

Even as I am writing this blog post I am driving back with my husband having dropped the daughter on the left back at college where she is a rising sophomore. She declared emphatically last night she is absolutely glad she is not a freshman ever again! 

The daughter on the right is getting married this Friday; it will be a small family ceremony. Tomorrow I will meet up with my daughter-in-law's mother who is helping  make a lovely fresh bouquet of sunflowers and eucalyptus tied with a black silk ribbon. A dress is awaiting me at home for a few small alterations and a good ironing on the hem that a very dear friend cut and rolled hemmed for us. I get nervous even thinking about cutting off dress hems!

brewing summer teas

“Drinking tea with a pinch of imagination!” 

I  am enjoying a simple task of taking a gallon Fida jar, filling it with fresh water, stirring in a tad of sugar then adding dried hibiscus flowers to brew outside in the sun. I do not simply sip this tea, I gustily drink a glassful over ice.

 

easing in

This move  to another house just an hour away from our last town has not been a happy one for everyone concerned. And since she leaves in August to go back to school, her adjustment will flow along on a more extended time frame.

But she understands.

Her room is now fixed more to her liking even though she does not stay here but a few days a week. She works at her old job from last summer at a garden center and she has managed by housesitting this summer as well as staying with friends.

But  I love it when she is able to come for a few days. She has helped shovel the pile of dirt outside the front porch awaiting the planting of the various flowers and shrubs I brought from our old home. She has made suggestions for decorating and hanging pictures, and she has rummaged around in the attic to help me find things that were delegated to the third floor until we discovered we needed them.

And one day she helped me drape several stands of white lights around the screened- in back porch. That evening we sat outside and talked...amidst the echoing orchestra of the cicadas and the high pitched mooing of a cow every now and then.  

But by far the most fun we experienced was the evening we removed the handful of skeleton keys from the large ring  we found in the laundry room cabinet and went from door to door upstairs and downstairs finding its proper fit."So satisfying", she simply said when she found the one key that fit that door.

She must ease in to this place and we are letting time walk its course.

One day this week she arrived with her most longest and dearest friend. As they left the next afternoon, I was too late to grab my camera in time, therefore, the precious picture will  just have to stay in my mind. They were walking down the front paved path to the car, Charlotte with a violin thrown on her shoulder and Laura carrying her bow, arrows and target.  I love every minute I have these girls around me...

 

a new place to call home

 I read within a poet's book 

A word that starred the page: 

'Stone walls do not a prison make, 

Nor iron bars a cage! ' 

Yes, that is true; and something more 
You'll find, where'er you roam, 
That marble floors and gilded walls 
Can never make a home. 
But every house where Love abides, 
And Friendship is a guest, 
Is surely home, and home-sweet-home: 
For there the heart can rest.

                                          Henry Van Dyke, "A Home Song"

It was that time of day just before dusk settles, as the lightening bugs were putting on their most spectacular show. And the thought revisiting swept over every part of my consciousness. It was another time frame, another place, a different family dynamics, but nevertheless, cherith revisiting.  I was in a new home with those fond thoughts once again doing something significant. 

We moved. Not to a farm this time, but to a lovely stately 1930 built home in a rural setting. I call it "my city house in the country" with its large rooms adorned with dental molding around the ceilings, beautiful mantles, original doors- some double wide- with brass doorknobs and hardwood floors.