Keep it Simple, Seedling!

I can't help but smirk when I hear the words "simple living" because the phrase and reality are as similar as black and white.  When the woodstove won't draw properly, the milk sours before there's time to make yogurt, the weather doesn't cooperate with drying the laundry, and "fast food" must be made from whole food ingredients that act more like Eeyore than Speedy Gonzalez, it can be really difficult to find the "simple" in the life we've chosen.  In some respects, there's very little that is actually simple about homesteading...which is why Weldon and I are finding it imperative to follow Simplicity as a guiding light.  My husband likes to call it "lazy", I prefer "efficient".  With each passing year in our farming and homesteading experience, it seems we aspire to be even "lazier" in our ventures ("more efficient", really).  All the while, we remain unwavering in our ideals. With so many worthwhile endeavors to engage in, it's not difficult to recognize the predicament and to concede that perhaps the lazy/efficient way of doing things is the most likely to yield fulfillment and balance in the bigger picture.  There's already an element of hard, why make it any harder?

And so, I'm only slightly hesitant to admit that Weldon and I are evolving into lazy (though passionate) gardeners.  Why till?  Why weed?  Why fertilize or spray?  Our gardening priorities have become whatever is low-maintenance, high output, and keeps the soil, microbes, plants, and us happy.  We both love to grow things, we just don't want to work overly hard at something Nature is pretty adept at doing already.  This year, we decided to turn part of our stubby, sandy anti-yard into a few raised beds for cultivating vegetables and herbs.  Along with our existing container gardening, we are trying our hand at year-round growing (a la Eliot Coleman's books) and using a methodology called square-foot-gardening (a la Mel Bartholomew's books).  Our previous seasons of experience with hay mulching and composting are leading us toward a system that will ideally keep weeds at bay, soil nutrients high, pests to a minimum, and good-eating to the max. Though the forecast this week says it's still winter, Weldon and I spent part of last week renewing our friendship with soil and seeds!

The Accidental Valentine

Note to Weldon...with my lobster magnet

I wanted to fill a Valentine post with delectable recipes for two and budget-friendly sweetheart celebrations, but the topic that ended up feeling right was how Weldon and I stumbled through last week and found that our love was laced throughout it.

Formulating our plan for Valentine's Day this year was like trying to choose the captain of a basketball team from a group of computer geeks and art students.  Nothing seemed like a good fit for our tight budget and tighter schedule.  Although we don't make a huge deal of the day in a conventional roses/dinner/teddy bear sense, we try to pick a fun way to conscientiously celebrate our love. But an all-star option wasn't showing up for this season!  Because we rarely ever celebrate on the 14th, last Monday hit like a buzzer on the clock.  Time was ticking and the outlook was grim.  In reality, the alarm woke us before daylight and we set into our usual routine -- make breakfast, pack lunches, stoke the fire, and get Weldon on the road by 6:30.  Somewhere in the middle of all that it struck me that it wasn't just any Monday -- it was February 10th! On that day six years prior, Weldon had taken me on our very first date.  As I voiced my happy realization from the kitchen, Weldon appeared holding his blue Irish cable-knit sweater.  He'd chosen to wear it for the first time this season as his weapon of choice against the freezing temperatures.  Coincidentally, he'd also worn it on our date.  (Queue the collective "Awwww" from the audience!) Thus began our Valentine celebrating...a lovely week with a mind all its own.

Winter Walk

Sometimes winter weather is best enjoyed with a cold nose, red cheeks, clompy boots, a good hat, and a buddy to walk with...

Winter Hibernation

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:30 I rebelliously kept my eyes clamped shut and then rolled over in smug satisfaction.  The wake up call wasn't for me...Weldon was heading to work. Today would be the first weekday since summer that I would have the house to myself and nowhere else to be. Weeks ago I knew a day like this would come: the holiday train would come to a slow and screeching halt and the mounting list marked "After the Holidays" would stare me in the face.  Should I wash my refrigerator, schedule my appointments, cull the overflow from the cabinets, organize the spare room, or finalize the 2013 financials first?  D. None of the above. Late last night I decided that the list could (should) wait.  Instead, I defied the morning alarm's call to action and stayed in bed to watch the darkness outside my bedroom curtain become hinted with light and finally awash in a luminous gray.  As I lay there contemplating what the day, the week, the next twelve months might hold, I realized that this was one of the beautiful things that winter is really all about.

Christmastime Rhyme

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house,

Every creature was stirring (yes, even a mouse),

The stockings are hung by the stovepipe with care,

In hopes that some candy would soon melt in there.

The gifts were all tucked in their papers and bows,

And Weldon and I both were wishing for snows.

When all of a sudden there arose such a clatter,

We scurried and shuffled to handle the matter.

The food had been planned out, the school days were through,

The carols were playing; No, not just a few.

But the Nativity story had not yet been read,

Though visions of sugar-plums had danced in our heads.

So off to the nightstand, we flew like a flash,

Turned open to Matthew and read every dash.

Of an angel appearing with luminous face,

Of journeys in deserts and of inns with no place.

Of the brightest star that three kings had e’er seen,

And royal gifts given with an audience of sheep.

Of heavenly choirs singing songs in the night,

Of the Christ-child laid sleeping; O Earth, what a sight!

Closing the Book, with a twinkle in our eyes,

And a tissue apiece so our tears could be dried,

We offered a prayer of joy and of thanks

To receive the best gift any person could take.

So on in our merriment, with focus renewed,

We gathered our offerings of gifts and of food,

For visits with family that last all next week,

Where we’ll celebrate rightly and of Jesus we’ll speak.

But before I can do this I thought I should write:

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

See you in 2014!

Snow Day

I went to sleep last night later than I should have considering yesterday was an especially stimulating day (more on this another time).  Watching a severe winter storm continue its national invasion from the west, Weldon and I had begun making some preparations: stocking up on wood in the house, getting any fresh groceries we might need, postponing weekend plans, and taking a tally of candles and flashlights.  After an unusually warm week, there were no signs of snow, but yesterday evening rain fell in buckets and the temperatures were expected to drop.  My question was:  would the thermometer plummet rapidly enough for school to be closed by morning or would it flounder in its descent demanding that I finish my work week?  I can never tell what the weather will do in Kentucky, but I was willing to take a gamble and prolong my bedtime.  

Christmas Makeover

I expect the coming days to be merry and bright, but I also suspect they’ll be somewhat demanding.  The Christmas season has officially begun!  With Thanksgiving in rear view, I spent the rest of last weekend straddling the line between productivity and recreation.  I listened to my Pandora holiday station as I puttered with cooking, cleaning, projects, and gifts.  Christmas is surely the filter through which the next three weeks will transpire. It's finally time for our house to make it's annual transformation -- but before you picture a quintessential scene with icicle lights and a voluminous tree in the picture window,

let me clarify… 

Making a List, Checking it Twice

I’m a little hesitant to post this.  One of my sisters (whose calming presence and laid-back personality make

her a phenomenal massage therapist and an ideal confidant) unleashes her otherwise non-existent fury when “a certain holiday” unfairly takes the stage before Thanksgiving has been given proper festivity.  She mandates that carols, themed movies, and décor remain under wraps until after the pumpkins and cranberries take their bow in the limelight.  I've chosen to acquiesce to her demands for two reasons: she’s my older sister and I can’t afford to pay for massages.  Truly, I agree with the notion that Thanksgiving is an amiable holiday, full of noble sentiment and historical value. I’m very much looking forward to the entire turkey-topped season.  I also agree that the “other major holiday soon to come” has greedily begun chomping on other calendar pages because of outlandish consumerism, nothing more.  However, as a homemade gift giver and a busy woman, I am required to turn my thoughts to December’s celebratory season long before the temperatures plummet.  So…with a bit of trepidation and a wish and a prayer to remain in my sister’s good graces (and within reach of her stone-melting thumbs), I’m posting about my preparations for "you know what".

Yum, Yum Eat 'Em Up

Despite the fact that we ate sitting on the living room rug with our chins practically resting on the coffee table, last night's dinner was so delicious it felt like we were celebrating! In hopes that folks the world over will replicate and relish in it as much as we did, I'm writing a special food post (which I intend to do more of in the coming weeks). Besides the delectable taste, the greatest parts about this meal were that it was easy to make, included a healthful smattering of ingredients, and featured an almost pedestrian dish -- pork chops. Chops get a bad rap because they're common fare and often poorly cooked. Nothing says yuck like a shoe-leather, rubbery chop from factory-farmed pork; but a thick-cut pastured pork chop cooked to perfection warrants some major mouth-watering. I marched to our deep freezer yesterday morning to find what vestiges I could from last year's hog. Sure enough a package of 1-1/2 inch chops was beaming with celestial light in front of me. Yum. Below are very simple iron skillet instructions for the tastiest chops ever. The accompanying veggies that graced our plates alongside the meat are also well worth it (*Don't miss the veggie recipe at the bottom.*).

Do You Have An Air Compressor?

I'd never found an air compressor romantic...I dare say most of the population hasn't. But not too long ago in a land very near to here the words "air compressor" found themselves in Cupid's vocabulary. This week folks all over the country are making plans, boycotting, and/or forgetting the annual celebration of lovers and sweethearts. It couldn't be a more perfect time to tell the sappy and hilarious tale of how I met and fell in love with my husband. And for anyone still up in the air on their plans for Thursday, I'll share a few quirky (and budget-friendly) ideas on how we handle V-Day.

Prime Time Gardening

There are cutesy sayings out there stating that everything we need to know in life we learned in kindergarten. I often read those and roll my eyes...but I sure hope I can summon my "Works well independently" ways alongside my "Works well with others" skills because I've just signed up to grow a massive garden with my husband's family.  I'm about to embark on a substantially coordinated, many-month endeavor with none other than...my in-laws.

The Scene: Garden Plot 2013

An Egg-cellent Breakfast

My husband and I make a scrumptious egg scramble at least a few times a week.  It's not a posh breakfast, but it's light, healthful, filling, and infinitely diverse. Country Cousin of the omelette, it consists of eggs, vegetables, and a bit of cheese (sometimes we add crumbles of meat, but it's far from necessary).  There's nothing simpler or quicker...and it's nearly impossible to flub up.

To Everything A Season

Ah, January -- the annual restart button.  This month is one of the slowest and quietest for me. The New Year has been ushered in and with it the urges to re-assess, start afresh, and give it another go. Though it's an informal ritual in the first weeks after the new year, I enjoy the mental exploration of the twelve months to come -- the seasons, the garden, the family occasions, the trips to be dreamed-up, skills to be acquired, information to be gathered, and experience to be gained.  And yet a small part of me senses that before I know it a new calendar will grace my kitchen wall a fleeting twelve months from now and I will start all over again. The day and age we live in is a lightning-paced one.  It's a reality I don't particularly care for but would rather face than ignore. While I won't argue that time flies when you're having fun, I think there are more options to that ending...Time Flies when you don't want it to. Time Flies when you're busy. Time flies when you're not paying attention. Or how about just plain 'ol Time Flies! I've chosen a simple lifestyle with connotations of "slowness" and I still ask myself, "Where does the time go!?!" more frequently than I'd like to admit. So what can I do about it?

Merry, Bright, Silent, and Holy

You and I both know that the Christmas season can be crazy. It's really easy to have a calendar page full of cheer-filled lunches, brunches, dinners, parties, gatherings, and outings.  I enjoy this aspect of the season and gear up for the exhausting coordination that goes hand-in-hand with it.  I bake the coffee cake on Tuesday for Thursday, make the pizza dough on Saturday for Wednesday, freeze the sausage balls this weekend for next, meet the farmer for fresh greens Friday for Christmas Eve's salad...and the to-do list goes on and the parties keep coming. Thankfully, I get along well with my immediate and extended families, so the occasions are a joy, albeit a bit numerous.  Truly, I couldn't ask for better holidays.

Lately I've been grasping for the silent and holy aspects of the season. I realize that it's not politically correct but I'm not ashamed to put in print that I'm a Christian.  Christmas may be a season of giving, a time of childlike awe and wonder, an occasion for charity and selflessness, but as far as I'm concerned it's not because Santa deems it so.  Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth -- the greatest gift to mankind.  It was commemorated by the luxurious offerings of the Magi and the breathless anticipation and rapturous jubilee of angels, shepherds, and all creation. It was a foreshadowing of the fulfillment of true love, ultimate sacrifice, and redemption made available for all.

THIS is Christmas.  A reason to be both speechless and to exuberantly rejoice, to be silent and to reverence the reality of this momentous event.  As difficult as it may be to wrap my mind around and as tear-filled as my eyes become, I intentionally contemplate the stillness of that divine night, the hushed expectancy of heaven and nature, and the bursting wonderment of all who witnessed that miracle.  And a miracle it was. Not only the immaculate conception or the paternal dreams, the humble birth in a stable, the angels' celestial song, or the guiding light of a new star, but first and foremost because Emmanuel had come -- God was now with us in human form.  The Creator had provided a way, the Way, for men to be called, drawn, and saved into relationship with Him as He intended.  This night was the moment that the Living Promise finally come to earth.  Joy to the World.

Modern Christmas is holly jolly and I'm okay with that to a degree, but the true reason for this season need not be displaced nor diminished under the jingle of sleighbells and Frosty's button nose.  In the coming weeks before beckoning in the New Year, I wish that your days be Merry and Bright, and that your Christmas be overshadowed by the splendor of that Silent and Holy Night. 

See you in 2013!

December 1st: Christmas Countdown

I've never been much of a Black Friday enthusiast.  Something about the traffic, lines, pressure, and aisle rage just doesn't appeal to me.  Until this year I didn't even know Small-Business Saturday or Cyber Monday existed.  When did they arrive on the scene?!?  It makes we wonder if names will be given to all the days after Thanksgiving -- Get It Before It's Gone 5th, Cuttin' It Close 20th, Last Ditch Effort 23rd.  Or worse...Forget-Giving-Thanks-Just-Shop Fourth Thursday of November.  Ugh, I sure hope not.  Call me a traditionalist, but I happen to think Thanksgiving should be digested before Christmas makes it on the scene.  I have a sister who's adamant (in her gentle way) that no Christmas music, decorations, or movies make an appearance until after Thanksgiving is properly acknowledged and celebrated with feasting, family, and actual Thanks-Giving.  Novel concept.  She doesn't have to convince me, I'm already game.  If I ruled the world, the only exception I'd make would be for craft-type stores who supply us homemade gift-givers with fuel for the fire.  I get hyped thinking about gifts for people throughout the entire year.  Ultimately, my husband and I decide together who gets what, but we always settle on some homemade, some experiences, some serendipitous finds at random places, and a few that were actually asked for. This year we came up with a dozen or so homemade ideas. One might think that these would be completed early on to get a jump on things...but nah, it's December 1st and I've got five yet to start!  If you're anything like me, you're counting down the days til Christmas, managing the calendar like a game of Tetris, clanging the pots and pans with a bit of Yuletide prep, and whirring at the craft table (amid all the other normal responsibilities of life). Before we arrive at Cuttin' It Close 20th, I thought I'd share one of my homemade gifts for little girls this season as a help to anyone else out there who's searching for the perfect thing.  It's A Cutesy Fleece Poncho.  So adorable -- I wish I had little models to wear them in the photos, but alas...that'd ruin the surprise!  

What's left of my Living Room...

Seeds and Such

My first vegetable garden was perfect.  It was the image of every sketch I'd seen from Peter Rabbit to Rapunzel.  Granted, at the time I was only eight.

Bearing Gifts

Christmas is my favorite holiday.

Come On, Baby, Light My Fire

The other week I was with my mother standing in line at the store when she turned to me with a smile and said,