winter home economics

This is "me" still attempting to maintain some sort of walking schedule on the slippery snowy ice! One gingerly placed foot at a time and plenty of warm clothes.

Arising... with shining being a bonus.

This morning I got out of bed earlier than my usual 6:15 or so. I read once if you are rested and awake why not just get up. Though it was still dark outside, in the early morning sky I observe twinkly stars and the planet Venus, a tiny spot residing beside the waning moon. The snow on the ground gives off that faint magical glow. 

I am perking my coffee these mornings in a *Presto percolator. The main reason I purchased this percolator is because I like hot coffee; percolators seem to do a much better job of not only brewing it hotter, but keeping the coffee hot until it is unplugged. But then I am by no means a coffee connoisseur. I simply enjoy my morning coffee hot and strong.

I stir the hot coals in the wood stove and carefully lay on a small log to get the fire aroused. I light a few candles until it is time to switch on the table side light in order to read the Word. Then I begin to stretch, those "old-fashioned" stretches that can't be beat for waking up the joints and muscles.

Home tending...I make a home and I tend it too.

Laundry is always on the Monday list, more than likely because I  happen to do less laundering over the weekends.

I decided it was time to go through both freezers that are in the house and get a perfect inventory of what foods are in the freezers and what foods need to be eaten sooner than later, or even thrown out if they have reached that point of no return. This did not take as long as I anticipated,  probably due to the cold frozen food on my hands and the annoying alarm on the freezer. But my frozen foods are now organized and my menu planning for this week and even into the weeks ahead are tentatively planned.

Cooking and Preparing...getting a start on some food prep for the week and managing my ferments.

*1/2 chicken boiled,  for chicken and dumplings along with the chicken bone broth that was in the freezer

*Sausage browned, for pizza and I also found frozen homemade  pizza dough that was pulled out to thaw in refrigerator.

*Dried lima beans to soak. I like to keep beans or a dish containing beans in the refrigerator every week. 

*Cabbage made into sauerkraut.

*A batch of water kefir was made.

And now a poem from Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, 

                                     Songs of A Housewife.

                       

                                                  Winter Sun.

There's not much of it- that may be

Why it is welcome, since it's rare;

And why it seems a bar of gold, 

Lying across the table there.

Over my kitchen pots and pans

It trails its shiny finger-tips.

Spills over in the living-room,

And in my hands, like honey, drips.

A Winter sun, like memory,

Brings back the thought of Summer haze.

Remembrance of the birds and flowers,

The ecstasy of August days.

A handful of such sun would seem

All that the Heavens can afford,

In Winter-time. Consider me

Most grateful for small favors, Lord!

                                                                        January 5, 1925

If the name Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings rings a bell, she is the authoress of 

 The Yearling and Cross Creek, both well-known novels.

A footnote: At least two blogs I enjoy reading are no longer available, as in removed. Some of the wording suggests it might not come from the blogger? This makes me sad. If you are one of those bloggers, please know I will miss you greatly.

once again ...and even more frozen whiteness

 There is a wilder solitude in winter 

When every sense is pricked alive and keen.

        --May Sarton ("The House in Winter" A Private Mythology)

It came again this past weekend. We sat by the blazing fire, socked feet resting on the coffee table sighing at its hushed beauty.

These photos were taken the next morning on our 

before-breakfast walk.

it's snowing!

 Therefore, my husband and I went outside and walked down to the creek, we simply wanted to be out in the magical world of large snowflakes and wintry beauty. I restocked the bird feeders while I was already bundled up and came back inside to sit by the fire with a mug of hot tea. It is not expected to amount to much and the weather report informs us it will turn to rain and more icy conditions by tomorrow morning. But right now we are loving it to the uttermost!

I made two soups yesterday, a vegetable beef and a sausage and kale. I actually need some more kale to add and we were planning on stopping by the garden to pick some before we walked through the woods but the joy of the moment made us somewhat distracted. I told my husband I have some kale I froze last year that is in the freezer in the shed. But we are thinking about going out again before it is dark to pick a mess.

He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes.

                                                                             Psalm 147:16

For all my northern blogger friends who experience snow often in the winter, I would love to hear your thoughts on a first snowfall.

mid January

The woods were calling me with exceptional clarity today. The day was beautiful, cool yet not cold. But besides this I had something very important on my mind  too that I wanted to do, the writing of a letter to my  dear friend.

I packed a little bag with my stationery, a pen, a hard quote book for a mini "wood desk", binoculars, hot thermos of tea and a cookie. Off I strode on the paths that people and deer share.

Since the rocks at the creek in front of the rock dam were exposed enough, I forded the creek to the other side. A favorite place I do not walk often, but it was lovely to go uphill a bit and find a fallen log to sit atop and pen my letter. The tall stately pine trees were singing as the gentle breeze swayed them back and forth. Back before Charlotte left  for college we took a walk together and the conversation centered on the sounds of nature and how we can understand that everything heaven and nature sings of our great God.

Even though I had carried along some binoculars, no birds were spotted mainly because I was so busy with my letter writing. For a wee bit of time I was transferred into a wide space of forest, blue sky and a leafy carpet  which are perfect backdrops for the mindfulness of writing a letter.

This stationery was found during the move. Now I am talking junior high school days here...Look at the words printed on it.😊

"Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find them."

                                                                                                                       ~Wordsworth

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.

winter contradictions

             "I like winter. I like its contradictions: cold but cozy, sparse but beautiful, lifeless but not souless".     -Poppy Adams                                  

     I heard the chimes outside in the cool grayness of the early morning's fog blurring all the fine lines of the landscape. I was in the kitchen standing at the counter with a new ceramic coffee dripper brewing my first cup of morning coffee. The verdict is not out yet deciding if it indeed brews a better cup of coffee.  

Saturday at home with fluctuating weather.  Restless wind, the appearance of the sun for a bit then suddenly disappearing with heavier clouds tight on its heels and even stronger gusts of wind tossing the bare branches. A few snowflakes falling lightly made us "ahh" but knowing they would not last either. As the colder temperatures continued we would glance outside the window and shiver. 

                      I love the sparse beauty of this day.