Home Improvement

For the past three years I've been devouring books, magazines, websites, and conversations to aid me in designing my dream home – a cabin-y cottage equipped to be our family’s homestead hub.  Until we’re ready to build, Weldon and I are living in a glorified garage.  It sounds a bit off kilter, but I assure you, our 1,200 square-foot shop building is an absolutely wonderful home…even with plywood walls, a concrete floor, metal ceilings, and a trailer-sized roll-up door.  Recently, it began to dawn on me that I've spent so much effort defining my future ideal that I haven’t given full attention to my current dwelling.  So, having made peace with staying where we are for at least another two years, I set out last week to look at our space with fresh eyes and renewed vigor.  Saturday’s grand finale was a John Deere tractor rolling toward my door with a piano dangling from its pallet forks.  Yes, you read that right.  All I can say is, “It was a good week.” 

Calm Before the Storm

For obvious reasons, I was never a Boy Scout.  And despite my thorough enjoyment of Tagalong cookies, I wasn't a Girl Scout, either.  Somewhere along the line I still got the message: Be Prepared.  This weekend our community was abuzz with talk of the coming weather (even more than usual).  A cold front was expected to change warm rain to a wintery mix to snow to below zero temperatures within just a couple hours' span on Sunday night.  Unlike northern climes that brave subzero readings and copious amounts of snow for months at a time, our area isn't used to this drastic an arctic dip.  Of greatest concern is our region's propensity for ice.  The Ice Storm of 2009 left thousands without power for weeks (in addition to the millions of dollars of damage).  Though that event was certainly the extreme, it was an excellent lesson in being prepared. The current winter flare up is intensely cold, but nowhere near as catastrophic or long-lasting as in 2009 (thankfully!). However, one of the crazy things about weather is that it's hard to know beforehand how bad it's really going to be. Without getting all doomsday about it, Weldon and I like to take advantage of the calm before the storm with a bit of old-fashioned preparation.

A leafy welcome mat, thanks to swirling winds

 

...and so it begins.

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!

Medicinal Mysteries

One area of my homestead education has been lacking to such a degree that it’s been nagging at me: natural home health care.  Has anyone else had a hard time keeping eye of newt, root of dried fern, and pulverized sycamore bark in their cupboard?  I’m exaggerating a bit on the ingredients, but any time I've approached herbal health or medicinal plants the elements sounded uncomfortably similar.  The truth is that I've been paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of the subject and the not insignificant reality that an incorrect implementation could be detrimental.  For the longest time I didn't know where to start, so I set my interest aside like a gift waiting to be opened on Christmas morning.  I tip-toed around it, eyed its shape and size, sniffed it, shook it, and peaked in the folds of the wrapping; but it wasn't until recently that I finally began tearing into it.  I know I’m only scratching the surface of what there is to learn, but I’m scratching like a kid with chicken pox…and boy, does it feel good!  Taking one simple step at a time, I find the subject fascinating and not nearly as overwhelming as I expected. 

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…