Notes from Rosebriar Cottage

Some stories to tell

2011-11-12T13:22:00.001-05:00

Southerners are known for their storytelling ability and I am pleased to say that I was brought up by two Southerners (if you count Kentucky as the South which is debatable). Although I was raised (and love) Ohio and would chose to be from no place else there is a flavor to the South that is part of me.

The other night I dreamt that I was back in Tennessee at my grandparents house. Things had changed and the current owner (who really is a very nice man) was taking out the old grapevine trellis and switching it over to plastic. It made me sad to see it being changed.

Then I looked up and there were bleachers with people sitting in them. The people were waiting for something. While the stands weren't completely full there were people there waiting. I realized that they were waiting for me to speak. The only problem was I didn't have a microphone.

I woke up then and thought perhaps there really are people who are waiting to hear my stories and especially the stories of the Tennessee family.

A new Christmas tradition thoughts

2011-11-09T16:24:00.000-05:00

My mom sent me this in an email and I thought that for a chain-type email it had worthwhile ideas. While I believe that everyone (even folks in China and other countries) deserve good jobs I also believe in helping those who cross our paths and that means the local folks in your neighborhood.

Christmas 2011 -- Birth of a New Tradition

As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high

gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods --

merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This

year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine

concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, at gift

giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. Yes

there is!

It's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in

a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

Everyone -- yes EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates

from your local American hair salon or barber?

Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some

health improvement.

Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American owned

detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a

book of gift certificates.

Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down

the Benjamines on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift

receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or

driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

There are a bazillion owner-run restaurants -- all offering gift

certificates. And, if your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about

a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this

isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town

Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or

motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?

Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? Mom would LOVE the services of a

local cleaning lady for a day.

My computer could use a tune-up, and I KNOW I can find some young guy who is

struggling to get his repair business up and running.

OK, you were looking for something more personal. Local crafts people spin

their own wool and knit them into scarves. They make jewelry, and pottery

and beautiful wooden boxes.

Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave

your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a play or ballet at

your hometown theatre.

Musicians need love too, so find a venue showcasing local bands.

Honestly, people, do you REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese

lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about

fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to

burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip.

Quilts I have admired

2011-11-07T12:55:00.003-05:00

First off I want to say that some of these are not my photos (which I try not to do but this is a non-profit making blog so it's probably okay I hope?).

These are very lovely quilts I was watching on ebay for awhile along with some I saw at the Ohio State Fair (2009) which always has an excellent showing of quilts.

Really what more can be said - the photos say it all. Painstaking work done with an excellent eye for design and color.

I did want to tell this small story. My Great Granny who lived in Tennessee made hundreds of quilts in her lifetime. Literally hundreds. Along with keeping cattle and chickens and who knows what else. Along with raising 4 children. Even though there was a Depression, that woman made quilts.

She made so many that even the great-great grandchildren sleep under her quilts.

When I was a child I thought everyone slept with quilts (we hade mulitiples on the bed) and I didnt know until I was 12 that most people had blankets and not quilts. I hadnt known all that time I was sleeping with fine art piled on top of me nightly.

These days I deeply appreciate the time and craftsmanship that goes into creating a masterpiece like one of these and to all the quilters in the world I say, you are leaving a legacy.

Food and colon cancer

2011-09-11T17:24:00.001-04:00

So here is a carrot cake we had in Amish country. I am showing it because I want to talk about food for a moment.

Food. I love food. My favorite job in the whole world (besides wife and mommy) is catering. I adore feeding people and parties. We had our own catering company (although it is shut down now). My husband is a great cook (he was our chef) and I myself have been cooking since the age of 9 (another story for another day).

Still, now I am facing that "waiting for the other shoe to drop" thing that probably affects most people who have had a good close look at cancer (colon in my case).

Overweight is a contributing factor. Low fiber diet is another one (I never thought of myself as guilty of that but perhaps I was).

Certainly I had the overweight portion down. I'm not trying to boast at all but as a complete-failure-at-dieting person I have now lost 23 pounds (which at my start weight of 189 is still barely noticable except to a few highly alert folks). I'm almost afraid to eat.

I might be thinner but I look sort of weird and flabby. My skin is starting to hang on me like oversized clothing.

I'm trying to limit my portions. I'm scared to eat much meat and I'm starting to dislike cheese. I'm scared of it. It seems to me that people are supposed to be eating much more humble foods. Yet I live in the land of MORE, the land of everything and anything you might ever want to eat.

Still, something caused a tumor to grow in this here colon.

The question is what?

My first oncology doctor (who I am in the process of dropping) said in no uncertain terms that diet and colon cancer are completely unrelated. He quoted a study of nurses.

Then he asked me to do a clinical trial where I might or might not get a cholesterol reducing drug that might help with the 10% recurrance rate of colon cancer. Hello.

Sometimes I think people get so close to something they cant see it for what it is.

I asked him if vegans ever get colon cancer and he said everyone gets it. I'd like to see the study of vegans with colon cancer (I'm certain that there is not one).

I'm not saying I'm ready to go vegan but I'm ready to re-think my diet in a BIG WAY. That is the gift of cancer.

Before surgery, when we didnt know how much cancer there would be, I could hear that life clock a-ticking. I teased my neighbor who is 92 that I might make it to the other side before her. She didnt care for that (she's told me she's ready to go, she misses her husband and her parents she says).

But one of the ways I sort of held it together was I sort of didnt think it was my time yet (aka denial). Still, does anyone ever think it is their time? I do think some people sort of know and are ready to go-- but I wasnt.

I'm still not. I dont want to be one of the 10% re-occurances. I think this calls for a lifestyle change.

This is my challenge to myself.

Backyard summer fun

2011-08-05T14:54:00.000-04:00

The day my husband brought home the slip-n-slide I had no idea it was worth a good 5-8 hours of playtime.

Four kid fun recipes

2011-07-30T13:46:00.000-04:00

Finger paint (from the Marth Stewart website)

Mix together:
4 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch

add:
2 cups cold water

heat over medium heat until mixture is thick (will get thicker as it cools) divide into containers and add the food coloring of your choice

Milky Paint (cant remember where I got this one)

1/2 cup of powdered milk
1/2 cup of water
food coloring

Mix together using 6-8 drops of food coloring
dries in 1-2 hours
do not store or set out for longer than a few hours
makes a great first paint for kids

Large Bubbles Recipe (cant remember where this one is from either)
1 cup of Dawn detergent
3 Tbls Karo Syrup
2 1/2 quarts of cold water
stir gently and put leftovers in the fridge to save them for another day

Cinnamon Dough (good for holiday ornaments but not for eating)
2 cupes of flour
1 cup of salt
5 tsp of cinnamon
3/4 to 1 cup of warm water

Mix flour, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and make a well in the center
Pour in the warm water and mix with hands until it forms a ball
knead well
wrap in plastic (I dont know why this step is in there so maybe you can skip it)
this can be baked at 350 degrees or until hard for a more finished product

I used this recipe one year when I made gingerbread fridge magnets as party favors for a church dinner. We tied little scarves on the necks and they were cute - sort of too heavy and broke when they dropped off the fridge though so I would stick to this for tree ornaments only.

Happy Easter

2011-04-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

Big Daddy Sushi

2011-03-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

I never take for granted the fact that my husband is most excellent in the kitchen. The scale tells all. Look at these fabulous rolls!!!! I am a lucky woman.

And A Happy New Year

2010-12-31T19:19:00.002-05:00

Post holiday thoughts

2010-12-26T18:22:00.000-05:00

I hope your Christmas was merry, filled with good food and a warm home and laughter. I hope you made good memories and felt pleased with the day.

Onto the photo: I thought this calender plate from 1979 was pretty cute and blends in with my blue and white ideas (the color concept place where I am presently enjoying). I was a child back in '79 and I know we never had any calander plates at our house so I think this is fun.

I'm already planning my next wreath for the front door - to get me through the dreariest part of winter (post-holidays) Maybe it will be blue and white.

Before the snow

2010-12-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

So here we are trying to set out decorations before the snow. We made it, but barely.

Goodbye Autumn season

2010-11-28T16:08:00.000-05:00

Goodbye autumn, hello holiday season.

Although officially it's still autumn this marks the weekend that everyone switches over to the Christmas holiday decorating (if they havent already which is a bit tacky but who am I to judge?)

When I worked for a florist the day after Thanksgiving they couldnt give away an autumn arrangement. I will tell you about working for the florist one day soon. I worked there for 10 years in a part time capacity and it was a lovely experience.

Anyhow I hope your holiday decorating, card sending, shopping, baking etc. is going well. Or starts going well soon, or that you have tossed out the whole idea anyhow and are relaxing in that knowledge.

Happy Thanksgiving Friends

2010-11-22T14:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving friends.

I know more of you are reading this than are letting on - just letting you know I know- ha. Hope your holidays are all wonderful.

Quick turkey tip: If you use a foil tent while roasting your bird you are less likely to dry it out and more likely to enjoy the white meat. (Thanks mom for that great advice).

Medicine

2010-11-20T15:32:00.000-05:00

Looking at these old bottles of medicine sort of creeps me out. I mean people actually used these back in the day to help them feel better. Yikes!!!! Now they are antiques.

Holiday dresses

2010-11-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

I'm not trying to rush Christmas before Thanksgiving but I did want to say that one of the most fun aspects for me about the holidays is finding something suitable to wear.

A major reason to celebrate: my mom's 70th birthday bash

2010-11-14T16:56:00.000-05:00

Preparing for the party.

This is my favorite Thanksgiving sweater.

Yours truly got to do the food for the party and thank goodness because I felt like I was getting rusty since I havent catered in awhile. However, it's like riding a bike- it all comes back to ya.

The reason for the festivities!!!!!

My mom said in her speech - "I have survived cancer as well as other things."

I am so proud of my mom!

My mom giving her speech to 70 plus guests at her recent birthday bash!

My mom is such a lovely person, people tell me this all the time while they look at me sharply as if to ask, "Do you understand how lucky you are?" And I do. I know. No really, I know.

A family matriarch, my mother has been a Hospice volunteer for decades now. Mostly she works with a group which helps the grieving familes, children and grandchildren of people who have passed on to the next life.

Death does not scare her, she can look hard grief in the face. She is the one we all run to if we have a big question, if tragedy strikes. And it has. She has strenght of 20 superheros and knows just what to say, how to be there for us. Show us love. She just knows somehow. Yes, she knows just what is needed at that moment.

My mom has STRONG faith. I once told her that I realized that when people's names or faces pop into my head for no reason at all then that means I should say a prayer for them. She was like, "hello, I know that already" and she did already know that. She is spiritually evolved and frankly I dont think that can be said for all that many people.

This woman loves everyone, judges no one, you cannot shock her, she is just that lovely. She is the best listener I know. She was a mental health professional for many years and only recently retired. She told me that one of the things that happens is when you really listen to people (and dont judge them) a lot of times that is all they need to work on their problems for themselves.

She has spent her life trying to do the right thing and be a good person. My parents are that catagory of people who dont and perhaps can no longer tell a lie. They dont even stretch the truth. These are honest people, good people.

My mother is all about peace, peacefullness, justice and tolerance. She fought against racism in the first round, you know back during the Civil Rights Movement. As a child she and my dad took me to the church that Martin Luther King Jr. preached at in Atlanta (I still remember how large it was). When she was in college she took friends home who were African American (she was one of those ballsy Southern gals).

She refuses to buy new clothes because she cant stand the idea of the sweatshops overseas and how little they pay their workers (she still looks nice though). There are many stores she wont shop at because they dont offer their overworked employees affordable insurance. She also does not like anything cheaply made, and, are you with me, there is a whole heck of a lot out there now that's cheaply made. My mom doesnt do cheap quality.

My mom also doesnt boast so I hope this has not been too boastful of a post. It's really just trying to give a tribute to someone who really deserves it. Happy Birthday Mom!

The Cemetery Land

2010-10-30T11:25:00.000-04:00

The Cemetery

Mom and Dad

Across the road from the Dowry Field is land that was donated by my ancestor to be a church and cemetery. I'm reluctant to say exactly which ancestor in case I don't have enough great-greats in there.

I have always known that one day my dear grandparents would be buried there also and it has always been a comfort to know these things. We can no longer visit their house and even when I could it was just a shell without them so it is nice to be able to go to this cemetery.

On a side note My Great-Grandmother (Addie,whom I was privileged to know) had a circuit rider for a father. In case you aren't sure what a circuit rider is it's a person who would ride from small town to small town preaching, performing marriages and so on.

I'm certain that when he was on those long rides between towns he was praying not only for his family and those he knew but also for coming generations of which I am one. This is how blessed I think I and my family have been. So when you are saying your prayers don't forget to pray for those who are still coming.

In that cemetery are gravestones so old you cant see the writing anymore. My Great-Grandmother's Grandfather who had his arm shot off at Gettysburg is buried there as are many more of my relatives. Some I knew and still miss and some I only saw very old photos of while growing up. I wish I listened more closely to the stories about them all.

It is on a peaceful hill up a road of the red dirt of the south and I have asked my family to one day spread at least some of my ashes there so I can be with my ancestors.

The Dowry Field

2010-10-29T10:13:00.000-04:00

Here is my mom with the dowry field in the background. This land once was part of the dowry of one of my family members. I was pleased to recently see that it is still being used as a farm field the way it has for many many years. My grandfather plowed and planted that dowry field which had been passed down to him.

I had a recent trip to the South due to the death of my very dear Uncle. We will all miss him very much.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-28T14:44:00.000-04:00

These are all in the public domain so feel free if you'd like to copy them for any reason.

Fall photos 2010

2010-10-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

Aunt Shelba's iced tea recipe

2010-10-15T10:35:00.001-04:00

My Aunt Shelba is a wonderful schoolteacher who lives in a small town in Tennessee. She is warm, loving and kindly with the best southern accent I've ever heard. She is also an excellent hostess and wonderful mother and grandmother. As well as being an expert in the area of child development, she is a skilled cook with a large repertoire of all the southern staples that most southern families have enjoyed for well over a hundred fifty years now.

On a side note, when I first saw Paula Deen on television I instantly liked her because she reminded me so much of my sweet Auntie.

She also makes the best iced tea you could ever have.

Just like when you see the recipe for pie crust and it looks like it would be easy but the truth is it's all about the technique as to whether it turns out right. Well, iced tea is similar (but not quite as difficult to master as pie crust in my opinion).

Here is Aunt Shelba's recipe with plenty of notes along the way to help with technique.

Put 4 cups of water in a 2 qt saucepan and bring to a boil. When the water boils turn it off and put in 8 small tea bags (I use 10 because I make mine with decaf tea bags).

Let this sit for about 4 hours. You can let it go longer but I have found at some point it starts to get cloudy so I like about 4 hours.

Put 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a 1 gallon container (I like to reuse the cleaned out glass jugs from wine or apple cider for this purpose). Add the steeped tea water and shake together until mixed well.

The run cold water over the tea bags (still in the pan) over and over until the gallon contained is almost filled to the top (leave the neck empty). Then put in 1/3 cup lemon juice. The best is either fresh squeezed or the thawed frozen lemon juice (Minute Maid) from the freezer section of the grocery store.

Refrigerate and enjoy.

In these days of money saving tips let me say that one saves quite a bit of money drinking iced tea rather than soda (we call it "pop" here in Ohio).

Fostoria American Pattern

2010-10-11T13:19:00.000-04:00

So I know that photos of dishes with no food on them are not always terribly interesting but I wanted to share this photo of some the Fostoria American pattern I have. Actually some of this might be Indiana Glass in the Whitehall pattern which was meant as a go- along with the Fostoria American. Back in it's day this was very popular and my grandmother had quite a grand collection of it. It was all sold at the auction of her estate.

These days I come across it frequently while thrifting. Whenever I see it I buy it. Usually it is not very expensive because often people simply dont know what it is.

One of my cousins is getting married very soon in Gadsden Alabama (she is a true Southern Belle) so as a gift I sent her a box of this, our grandmother's pattern with a small note. I hope she likes it.

Zinnias bouquet

2010-10-09T14:54:00.000-04:00

Fall is here and although the leaves have only started to change it's nice to gently make the switch from summer living to autumn living.

My sweet husband brought these zinnias from the local farm market. They mix some basil in to make it smell even nicer. Also a local beeswax candle (from the farm market too). Those are the cloth napkins we are trying to use instead of paper.

More weekend in Amish country

2010-08-30T15:14:00.000-04:00

Our table with handpicked wildflower bouquet, as is the tradition.

Fishing with Grandpa

Walking with a princess.

This could be in your laundry room

A true Southern gal, cleaning in the kitchen and wearing a hat!

Taking a walk

Summer of the garden

2010-08-21T19:24:00.000-04:00

This has been the summer of the garden. It helps that a kindly neighbor of mine has shared so many new plants with me this year. Also my baby is getting older so I'm freed up from constant feedings. The weather has been hot and the rain has come at all the right times (how Camelot).

When I think of all that we have planted and done this year then I know I never want to move. I'm too invested in this place, Rosebriar cottage.

My friend who is 90 gave us a Rose trellis a friend made for her. Another neighbor gave me a Wisteria plant (I still need to figure out where to plant it). And, as I said before, my neighbor and gardening expert has given me all sorts of great plants this year (unbelievable generousity). Plus I picked up a few along the side of the road.

So I'm looking forward to next spring when all the mystery Iris will show themselves and I'll know what colors we have.

Soon it will be bulb season. I look forward to this time every year. Summer ends, and that is sad, but there are joys to other seasons too.

pickle making

2010-08-01T21:43:00.000-04:00

So as you might already know I love that book Wild Fermentation (there is also a website by that same name). All the recipes I have tried have been spectacular and I feel excited to be part of the lost art of home canning.

So we are currently making a big crock of cucumber pickles (all from our garden and a farm market garden). They arent ready yet.

I did make okra pickles the same way though and the kids and I ate them up quick!

Extra garden produce this year? Think of pickles made the old fashioned way- fermented.

A dress form

2010-07-18T22:32:00.000-04:00

So I found this free public domain image. It reminded me of a small story about a dress form I once bought at a yard sale. It was from 1909 and I loved it! They usually have a date on them and this one did.

Sadly, I never really got to show it off in my home the way I really wanted to. Finally I sold it on ebay for 3 times what I paid for it in order to pay a doctor's bill.

So this is not a lament, just a way of saying that sometimes it is best to pounce on something that you really want. I'm glad that for awhile I had such a wonderful item in my home, I'm sure it's well loved now and I dont foresee anytime in the near future where I will be able to display one of these although I think they look great in magazine photos.

Gearing up for 4th of July

2010-06-25T10:10:00.002-04:00

Gearing up for the 4th of July.

Classic Catering will be working that day (we might one day revive yet!)

Remember, if you see an image on my blog it's either:

1. A photo I took

2. In the Public Domain

I try real hard to never take someone's else's image for my blog (even as tempting as that can be). The framing for this blog can be found for free at shabbyblogs.com- you may want to check it out.

Ohio Lake Erie vacation with 1950's overtones

2010-06-16T14:53:00.000-04:00

Yours truly.

Lots of pretty sunsets.

A very interesting bike (but a bit heavy).

Everything was connected by bike trails (very nice).

Interesting retro building in town.

Old fashioned soda fountain (you know I love those).

This is how I remember putt-putt courses looking.

First putt putt played at one of the first putt putt courses.

Here is where we ate. But mostly we cooked at the cabin.

The jukebox at the table

Retro trashcan on the sidewalk. I liked these hints of the past.

Southern style BBQ (secret family recipe) cooked on coals (of course).

We dont eat out too much on vacation because we eat better at home (boastful but true).

The beach at our cabin.

Our cabin.

This year's garden

2010-06-05T07:56:00.000-04:00

For some reason this year I am able to get it a little more together with plants and flowers. Usually I'm a herb and vegetable type person (I'm rather practical).

How does your garden grow?

1949 June, a budget story

2010-05-31T13:56:00.000-04:00

So I was thinking about this a little more and realized that I just sort of dropped this whole budget book of my Grandfather's onto you, my dear blog reader, without any real background to support it.

So here it is, another section from the budget journal (a list of all the money my Grandfather Jesse Lee spent in June of 1949). And some of the story to go with it.

He worked as a foreman in a shoe factory (Genesco, later bought out by Reebok). They lived in Nashville, Tennessee and the family went to Southern Baptist Church right along with the Hank Williams Jr. family. At that time he and his wife Mary Frances had 3 children, Nancy (my mom) age 9, Lucy 8 years old and Charles 5 years old (I believe, not sure). Mary Frances was also expecting their fourth child by this time.

WWII had been over for 4 years at that point. The baby boomers (of which my mother is) were in full swing and the people that Tom Brokaw has called "the greatest generation" were busy raising children and quite possibly still trying to recover from WWII.

My grandfather had not been sent to war because his job working in the factory making Army boots for soliders was simply too important. For this I am grateful. His younger brother, Clarence, did serve in WWII but that is another story for another time.

When I read this I see a dedicated family man. I also see a gardener and fisherman (two activities he kept up his whole life). I have left out the dollar signs because it seemed too cluttered to put them in. The italics are my notes. Otherwise, it's all pretty clear. There is no cable bill, no co-pays (nobody had ever heard of such a thing at that time) there isnt more than one kind of phone bill and the milk was delivered to the door in glass bottles.

June 1949

46.93 House Payment

3.11 Phone Bill

9.85 Electric

2.06 Gas & Oil

0.31 Oil

.51 Ice Cream

.20 cigarettes

5.48 milk remember that back then folks had milk delivered like a newspaper

3.50 eggs

5.54 Gas & oil

1.50 Shoe Repair J. L. (Jesse Lee)

3.25 Medicine M.F.

1.15 milk

.20 cigarettes

.10 coffee & donuts

.40 bread

18.30 paint, turp & oil

.77 hoe handles

.60 cigarettes

1.89 lunch Wed, Thursday, Fri -J.L.

18.06 Groceries

2.70 Dry Cleaner

.30 pay to N, L & C I think this meant each child got a .10 allowance

1.00 trailer to haul manure I would assume that this was for his city garden

.27 bread

2.15 Sunday school money for kids and M.F.

.65 books and paper

4.27 milk

.50 Garbage

.80 his

4.99 Charles- pants, jersey, socks

6.73 Mary Frances dress

9.11 Lucy and Nancy- material for dress

1.22 Lucy and Nancy pocket book

.31 Face powder – M.F.

1.79 Lunch for the whole family

.37 candy and toy

1.18 Groceries

1.50 Charles shoe repair

22.51 Commissary (clothes)

2.00 Gas

3.00 Jesse Lee lunch Mon, Tues, Wed, Thrus

11.84 Groceries Sat.

.65 lunch friday

.25 bus and phone call

.31 bobby pins

.36 lunch M.F.

3.23 2 pairs of pants and a slip M.F.

8.01 2 dresses M.F.

.80 socks for Charles

2.30 dry cleaning

.13 bread

2.17 church

.25 Garbage man

2.00 drivers license

.63 J.L lunch Monday

1.50 repair tin Liz

1.00 Groceries and Stationery

.68 lunch Tues

.68 Lunch Wed

1.20 eggs (Mrs. Slayton)

.20 cigarettes

1.53 groceries

.81 mineral oil

.65 lunch Thursday

12.46 groceries

1.20 haircut

.60 mop

1.20 dry cleaning

.68 lunch Fri

.15 paper

2.00 General to Ollie May

.63 lunch Monday

.68 lunch Tuesday

3.05 Gas & oil

5.92 Groceries

4.80 water bill

.99 shaving soap and tooth powder

1.85 carton of cigarettes

13.21 milk bill

.68 lunch Wed

.68 lunch Thrusday

2.00 Bible school

.75 picture

.40 bus

7.66 Groceries (Tullahoma)

.16 chewing gum

.96 oil & ice cream

2.66 gas

.26 oil

2.00 fishing line

1.25 eggs

1.00 fishing trip

.50 tomatoes

.70 lunch Friday

1.40 lunch and supper Mon

1.02 Groceries

January 1949 My grandfather's budget notes

2010-05-30T22:12:00.000-04:00

For a time during 1949 my grandfather kept a record of his spending. By some twist of fate the notebook of these expenses is now in my posession.

Here is a partial list from January 1949 of his spending.

January 1949

House payment 46.93
Lights 18.21
Teleph. 3.11
Food 115.77
Car Rep. Gas Oil 65.80
Washing Mach. 7.42
Clothes 94.06
Dry Cl 8.80
Garbage man 1.00
Dr. & Drugs 13.00
Church & Gifts 15.65
Furnit & Clock 66.43
School 5.05
Newsp & Mag .71
Candy, coke, pnuts, icr. 1.44
Cigarettes 2.20
Cold cr. Haircuts, B. pins pattern, garters, powder 2.75
Parking & bus 1.25
Ball game .80
Mother’s Birthday 3.00

Note from me: This is one of those things budget and money saving people are always telling us all to do. I cant tell you if it works or not but I can tell you it makes interesting reading to me over 60 years later.(Oh yes and please accept my apology if you dont find this as interesting as I do.)

Growing wiser

2010-05-30T09:27:00.001-04:00

My daughter (sweet patoo) has no concept of ageism. She doesnt in any way think that people are more beautiful based on their age.

Last night while we were out to eat we saw some well dressed ladies of indeterminate age(in casual but nice outfits) with plenty of interesting costume jewelry on. To my daughter they were as beautiful as any of the Princesses she is so fond of.

This is a picture of my mother. She is the most beautiful person I know. She is not afraid of aging, dying or any of those sorts of things. I will tell you more about her soon but I wanted to show you her photo. She is a true beauty in all that it means to be beautiful inside and out.

Garden thoughts

2010-05-28T19:31:00.001-04:00

Last year was a bad year for tomatoes here in Ohio. Too cold and we didnt get our usual bumper crop.

But one thing I learned last year was that it's hard to fail with potatoes. They want to grow, they accept neglect and they still come up for you. Potatoes I love you in more ways than one. French fries, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes with sour cream, hash brown potatoes.........

It's okay to be tired on Thrusdays

2010-05-27T12:10:00.000-04:00

I have this little saying, "It's okay to be tired on Thrusdays."

Of course it's okay to be tired anytime but certainly by Thrusday most people are tired. This is the day I've noticed that there are usually a lot of traffic accidents (just a theory of mine not necessarily a proven fact that I know of).

Cut yourself a break today if you are tired. It's Thrusday and that means people are usually tired.

Strawberry Season

2010-05-25T14:58:00.000-04:00

It's strawberry season again and they are at the farm market. This has been a warm spring and they taste like candy!

As you know I am a steady farm market shopper even though I live in the city limits. I feel strongly about getting to know and supporting our farmers (hey folks someone has to actually grow the food we all eat).

For me local means it's from my state: Ohio. So I pick the foods from here as often as I can (no the bananas arent local).

I want to say 2 more things about this:

First, no guilt. This is not about superiority or guilt tripping people to eat locally or take steps to save energy.

We are all in this together and we are all trying to make changes one baby step at a time and we need to feel good about any success we have in the area of saving the planet.

Second, the other day someone told me that because only God knows when the world will end that lets them off the hook for taking care of our environment.

Although I agree that only God knows when the world will end. I also believe that God gives us all gifts (talents) that need to be taken care of (and used properly).

Are we going to bury the knowledge we have of how to be good stewards of the earth? I'm not.

Miss Christine's China

2010-05-19T13:54:00.000-04:00

It is difficult to tablescape with a youngster around but here is an attempt. This is my china from Tennessee. It belonged to Miss Christine, a very dear lady who passed away in the 1980's. It has been in my family since then and now belongs to me. I think it works well here at Rosebriar Cottage to have old china with roses on it.

It is actually a mix of Lipper & Mann's Pompadour Rose and a few other pieces. The coffee pot I actually picked up at a thrift store for $2.00. The green pressed glasses are newer and they are also from a thrift store as is the rose embroidered tablecloth. The point here is that if you are looking you can find affordable ways to set your table.

Dress mode

2010-05-18T19:47:00.000-04:00

This is me when we went to the zoo on Sunday afternoon. I wanted to show you what I was wearing because I'm in a skirt/dress mode right now.

I think sometimes a dress or skirt can really look better on a person my size.

Saturday morning trip to the Farm Market

2010-05-15T10:30:00.001-04:00

To me going to the farm market means that we are trying. We are making an effort to buy local. It all counts. Taking cloth bags to the grocery (when I remember). Turning off lights we arent using, replacing lightbulbs with low-energy bulbs. Planting a garden. It all counts.

I need to feel good about smalls efforts because I believe if we are all trying, even just a little bit, it is going to make a difference.

Endangered pink dogwood tree

2010-05-13T22:29:00.003-04:00

The pink dogwood has a legendary status in my family. This was the reason my mother took her three children from a cramped apartment every spring to the backwoods of Tennessee where my grandparents lived. Spring always came too late for her in Ohio. She needed to see those pink dogwood trees.

There is a disease wiping them out now.

Some people around these parts still remember when the Dutch Elm were wiped out. My prayer is a request to God to please assist science to find the answer to the disease.

A fish story

2010-05-13T22:15:00.000-04:00

1. Fishing

2. Pulling it in - Daddy comes to help.

3. Look at that!

4. A first fish.

Small vases

2010-05-13T14:17:00.003-04:00

It's important this time of year to have at least a few small vases around. They can be of any sort, the point is to have something to bring home a fresh bouquet you picked yourself in. This is a little hobnail milkglass vase I picked up at a yard sale for $3.00.

You could also use an old tin can or a small jar, the container doesnt matter as much as the small size does. This is the time of year to take advantage of nature's gifts to us.

Raisin Bread

2010-05-06T22:29:00.003-04:00

I'm not so good with yeast yet but one day I will be. Hopefully.

In the meanwhile this was a recipe for no-knead bread and I tried to make it into cinnamon raisin bread(since my good husband likes that).

It was a miserable failure. Sour-dough and cinnamon raisin somehow just doesnt work. Still, it made a decent photo and well frankly the dog liked it (I know they arent supposed to have raisins but.....) Dont worry I only gave him a little bit.

I used local flour which I'm very pleased with. This is what I love about Ohio. We are still connected, even in the city, to our farms. We still have a vein of rural about us. This is Cowlumbus, Ohio after all. Yippee Ki Yea.

Chalk art

2010-05-06T22:26:00.002-04:00

This is ART in all it's glory. Sidewalk chalk, a talented young mind and some time. I want to say that we have been doing a really good job of keeping the TV off lately. I'm proud of us. We are almost out of the habit of watching it at all. Of course having a lot of nice spring weather helps out a lot.

Local foods

2010-05-02T15:14:00.004-04:00

A locally grown wheat flour pastry crust.

The breadboard is part of my sweet little kitchen (lots of built-ins in my 1939 Rosebriar Cottage). The pie crust cloth was my great-granny's (she made a lot of pies).

Just a quick posting saying, "Isnt it fun to be part of the local foods movement!"

Authentic Soda Fountain Road trip

2010-04-15T17:03:00.007-04:00

A few days before Easter we took a little trip to Circleville, Ohio to visit the authentic soda fountain that used to be in a drugstore in our neighborhood. I have to say we had a wonderful time. The ice cream and soda was delicious.

Although it was quite a drive to get there I think the new home of the soda fountain couldn't possibly be better.

By the way the candy was super too. It's the oldest candy shop in the country still run by the same family that started it in 1839. That's an Ohio gem.

Visit them online at:
wittichscandyshop.com

Summer purse

2010-04-03T08:07:00.002-04:00

Instead of a $600.00 purse that was still sewn by someone working in a sweatshop in Asia I much prefer this $1.50 thrift store straw bag. It sometimes doubles as a picnic basket in my case (for instance yesterday when we went to the park).

$0.99 thrift store pink scarf tied on in the manner of C.Z. Guest.

Remember it is you who lends your magic to the item you are wearing - not vice versa.

Trains

2010-03-28T08:24:00.005-04:00

Photos:
1. Sign at a local train museum here in town. 2. The interior of the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus train car (very posh-circa 1880?). 3. The outside of the same car. 4. An old train right by the train museum.

We took a visit to this train museum one cold day this past winter. They were closed to the public but had a group of train enthusiasts who had been having a meeting in their meeting hall.

I asked one of the men who came out if there was any chance that we might start seeing passengers trains come back into regular use and he shared the good news that the governor had just told them that they are going to try to connect Columbus, Cincinnati and Cleveland with a train system. I couldn't have been happier to hear that.

A few weeks later we saw the story on the news. (Let me add here that the news tried to turn it into a controversy with differing opinions being offered. Their attempts at creating a stir seemed to fall flat though and I'm certain the project will be going ahead.)

This is all good news for people who want our country to not be so dependent on oil and for folks concerned about global warming from auto emissions. As I've said before I lived in Europe and saw how wonderfully their trains and public transportation system worked. We need the same here in the USA.

Little Houses

2010-03-12T21:06:00.003-05:00

Rosebriar Cottage (our home) is roughly 1/3 of the size of most of the McMansions in the outermost suburbs these days. It is also one of the smallest houses on our street. So by these standards it would be considered by some to be small.

And yet, compared to the way probably 80% of the world lives it would be considered to be more than adequate to large. It's all in the perspective.

Built in 1939 it embodies many of the thoughts about homes of that time. Separate rooms for every aspect of life (there is no "great room"), 1 bathroom (at a time when many still didnt have indoor plumbing), builts-in drawers make efficient use of the bedroom space and the closets are smaller than today's idea of a closet.

Rosebriar Cottage has been called a "starter home" although I do not personally view it this way. Much of our neighborhood was built as the veterans of WWII came home and wanted a house of their own. I doubt they used the term "starter home" much back in those days. My bet is that as the Great Depression ended people were simply glad to have a home of their own.

Here are the great things about a little house like Rosebriar Cottage:

1. One's carbon footprint (if you care about such things, which I do) is smaller in a smaller home.

2. I rarely feel the need to shop for furniture and nothing large comes in this house without being well thought out (scale is also important when your space is smaller).

3. Defintion of a jewel box: a pretty, but small, house filled with good decorating and quality furnishing. (I'm working toward this)

4. It doesnt take too long to paint the interior.

5. Out of necessity we enjoy our backyard and use it for entertaining (which is actually quite trendy these days).

6. Indoor parties are always more intimate, we never have more than 2 dinner guests at a time which is a nice way to concentrate on your guests and make them feel important.

7. I'm never far from my children (or pets). Although I sometimes cant see them since we dont have a great room I can hear them and I know when I'm not hearing enough noise I need to go see what they are up to. Frankly, the idea of a separate wing for children gives me the creeps, I like being in close quarters to my family.

8. It gets messy quickly and therefore it gets cleaned up more often. I have had apartments with more space and I know that, at least in my case, the more space I have the more I stuff I have to take care of.

9. We can afford it and that, my friends, gives me peace of mind. We could afford it if my husband lost his job and I had to go back to work and be the breadwinner. We can afford to repair what breaks. We can afford to live here without being "house poor".

10. It forces us to consider how much we need and what we buy. It is easy in a smaller home to have too many pets, too many children, too many objects. We have to be careful about our choices.

Certainly we could move someday but I know what is great about Rosebriar Cottage, I know what we have done to make this home ours and I dont want to walk away from all that love (yes I said love) that we have put into caring for this home. It has flaws but so do all of us and at some point we will get around to taking care of what needs doing. I try to look at what I love about Rosebriar Cottage rather than concentrate too much on what it isnt.

As I've mentioned before, I grew up in a large apartment complex where every building looked like the next. Nearly my whole childhood was spent there and I was always longing to live in a house. Believe me I know what a treasure it is to have a house and space (yard) of our own.
We are privledged and for this I am truly grateful.

Photo of me by Sweet Patoo

2010-03-08T09:50:00.005-05:00

Sweet Patoo loves to play with the digital camera and I encourage it. Here is a photo of me she took awhile back. Although I certainly dont look like any model I think it sort of accuratly sums up the real me.

Ps. Notice the clothesline in the background. I'm so proud of my clothesline!

Catered foods

2010-03-07T13:28:00.003-05:00

Although our catering company is on hiatus (until when I dont know). I've been thinking again about catering food. Here is a photo of some food we catered.

My husband and I enjoy feeding people. There really is no bigger thrill than being a part of a celebration and making sure everyone is having a great time. Even in the most humble position I like being a part of an event where people are celebrating.

Best Oatmeal cookies

2010-03-06T08:53:00.003-05:00

There are worst things to be known for than Oatmeal Raisin cookies. My mother-in-laws signature cookie is the snickerdoodle and I've decided that mine is this one:

Oatmeal raisin cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (I use about 1/2 c. wheat flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup of raisins (at least)
1 cup of walnuts or pecans (if I have them)
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and ground cinnamon. Add the rolled oats and continue stirring until combined. If you are adding nuts or raisins add them now. (I add nuts if I have them and 1 cup of raisins (at least).

Place round tablespoons of dough on prepared cookie sheets. The mounds of dough should be no larger than a walnut. Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until light brown and bottoms are golden (cookies should not get brown). Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.

I made these for a friend named Grandma Gerri who at the age of 80 refused to eat too much sugar but these never bothered her sugar much - she said it was the protien in them that helped.

Someday I plan to work out a vegan version of this because I think that would be a nice alternative to all that butter.

Basically this recipe is derived from: whatscookingamerica.net/Cookie/OatmealCookie.htm

Looking forward to bouquets again

2010-03-06T08:42:00.001-05:00

Everytime I use a photo from awhile ago I feel like I'm cheating - sorry. This is from our Ohio Amish country trip last August but the real reason for posting it is because Sweet Patoo knows that there will soon be flowers and she can make bouquets again.

I'm boasting (forgive me) but in our family the girls know how to make pretty bouquets out of weeds and grasses and whatever we can find. The bouquet days are coming again soon and we cant help but be excited about it.

German Shepherd Dog Weather

2010-02-27T16:15:00.001-05:00

This is the sort of weather that my dog seems to enjoy for the most part. It's very snowy this year and it doesnt seem to want to go anywhere else very quickly. That's okay we are up for the challenge of staying positive no matter the snow!!!

Canned Tomatoes and recipe thoughts

2010-02-24T21:06:00.004-05:00

Here are the tomatoes I canned this past summer. Heirlooms of different colors and kinds, along with some basil thrown into some.

They are all great in chili. I am new to canning so I probably do a few things "wrong" like not pack them in tight enough and so on. Still, they taste great and I am not deterred by my lack of experience- I know I will get better as the years pass.

We just ordered our seeds for the summer from the Seed Savers Exchange. I love those people- they have a real mission and do a fine job of it. They are at: www.seedsaversexchange.org

I have a new thought about recipes. I'm trying to purge mine. I realized the other day that I will never ever be able to make all the ones I've pulled from various sources and I've decided to get strict with myself about what I'm keeping.

There are only so many days in the year and there are limits to time and energy.

Better that I be known for making a few great things well. Do I really need 40 different cake recipes? No, that is ridiculous. I'd rather be known for making say, a few different kinds of cake. 7 to 10 different kinds would probably do it.

When people who are young children now think about me after I'm gone (dead) I want them to think of me as kindly and generous. I want them to lament that no one makes a good _____ (insert cooking speciality of choice) as well as I did (of course I will give them the recipe though).

Other food goals include: keep supporting my local farm markets and I want to cut out some of the less healthy ingredients (for the most part anyhow) and I want to be able to make my few but great recipes with no big trouble. I believe this is all possible.

Color in the winter

2010-02-22T12:10:00.001-05:00

This is the Fiestaware we eat off of every night for dinner. I'm convinced that color helps make our lives better. Especially during the winter.

Valentine Greetings

2010-02-13T21:34:00.000-05:00

Antique toy train display

2010-01-16T07:20:00.004-05:00

These are a few photos of an antique toy train display my family went to see before Christmas. A lot of the trains were really old and while the display wasnt big-- it was interesting.

I love trains. I love toy trains, new and old. I love when I see outdoor train setups in gardens (I've heard there are special clubs just for people who like that sort of thing). I love real trains and train museums. I love old train stations and always look for them when I'm traveling - especially in smaller towns they are often well preserved, looking as if they are just waiting for the day that people need them to work again.

You know it is perhaps slightly dangerous to talk to older folks. There were many older folks at that exhibit and they remembered riding trains and how the trolley car could take people anywhere they needed to go back in "the day". They were sad to see those trains and trolleys go away. Those were so good for the people they remembered.

When I was in Europe I road the train everywhere I went and never even needed a car. Trains, subways and buses took care of getting me everywhere.

It was nice to see the "real" people this way. My most favorite train stations were the small town ones that I knew hadnt changed much since probably the 1940's or so. I loved sitting in those train stations waiting to go on to the next train and enjoying the outdoors (as most of those would simply face a field of flowers or such).

Outside of a small town north of here is an old passenger train that still looks new. I'm not sure why it's just sitting on the track but I think of it as Art - meant to jog memories about trains as we pass it with our gasoline powered cars which are heating up our planet at a suprizing rate (dont let any latest scientific study fool you- this is really happening).

Not so long ago I went to a wedding in Cleveland, Ohio. We drove, of course. On the highway we were on passed over so many empty warehouse buildings. Ghost towns of giant red brick buildings that used to employee so many. It was very sad.

It makes me wonder, why is our country bailing out banks and their overpaid CEO's while industry stands still? Why are we sending more money and more troops into Afganistan now that Iraq is under our control. Presumably our presence in the Middle East (while we fight "terrorism") is really all for oil. Yet our buildings and their skilled workers have no reason to work?

Where are the trains?

Books I want to read this year - no special order

2010-01-06T14:31:00.006-05:00

In no special order here are the books I am interested in reading this year:

The South of Broad by Pat Conroy
Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Help
The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back- Pelle
American Pie by Pascale Le Draoulec
The Catcher in The Rye (Yes my education is a bit lacking)
Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis
Middle Passage by Charles Johnson
The Royals by Kitty Kelley
An Education
A Patch of Eden by H. Patrica Hynes
Ciao, America by Beppe Severgnim
A Country Year by Sue Hubbell (January)
One Man's Garden Henry Mitchell (January)
Horse Heave by Jane Smiley
Gold Digger by Peggy Hopkins Joyce
Quentins by Maeve Binchy (she is one of my most favorite authors)(March)
Gesundheit by Patch Adams
The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
Angelas Ashes
City of Joy
Treasure Island
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Moorchild Eloise McGraw
Valley of the Dolls
The Mammy Brendan O'Carroll (March)
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married by Marian Keyes
The Story of a Shipwreaked Sailor
Autobiography of a Fat Bride
The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt
The Hounds of Baskerville (October - look at this for possible puppet show?)

New Year Greeting

2009-12-28T07:24:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas Friends

2009-12-25T18:07:00.001-05:00

A Prayer for Christmas

Dear God I heard sirens in the distance as I walked the dog. I ask that you please be with that situation and bless all those involved. Please bless all the ambulance and firefighters today as they keep people safe on what is supposed to be a happy day. Please bless all the hospital personnel as they work to keep people healthy while the rest of the population enjoys a holiday.

Dear God please bless all those in the hospital and nursing homes today. Especially those who feel sad, lonely or confused.

Please be with all those who feel alone. Please be with those who feel the burden of impoverishment, give all of these hope, encouragement and a better future.

Please especially be with those who are grieving today. As they shed their tears please remember your words that you hear the cries of the righteous.

Dear Lord I ask a special blessing on those who are grieving the loss of their child. I know 3 such families and I ask that your spirit of Love go to those homes and comfort them in their sadness on this Christmas Day.

Dear Lord I know that all over there are people who are too poor to really have Christmas gifts or a nice meal. Please be with those families and bless them. Bless the children who have no presents today and please especially be with those who find themselves in danger, hiding under beds or attempting to protect themselves from adults. Please be with those social workers on call today who will join law enforcement officers in taking children to a safer environment. Please bless the foster care system and those who work in it.

Dear Lord I ask your blessing on the people who pray for those who have no one to pray for them. Please hear their prayers.

Dear God please bless our President and keep him and his family safe from the hatred that exists toward them. Please continue to help him and those who work for him make good decisions that will benefit all in our country and around the world.

Please bless the soldiers far away from their families today. Dear God please comfort them and keep them safe. Let them do their jobs quickly and with as little violence as possible so that they can return home. Let their jobs be the jobs of peacemakers rather than warriors.

Lastly I ask your protection and care for the animals of the world. Let us not forget that your Son Jesus was born among them and that all of them, wild and domestic deserve to have good lives. As the brilliant Temple Grandin points out in one of her books, a stable is one of the few buildings that serve as a reminder that as people we are dependent on animals, Dear Lord you must have known that to choose to be born there in the stable. Let us not forget our animals or our dependence on them and let our treatment of them all improve in the near future.

I ask all this in Jesus name.

Amen.

Christmas food ideas- breaking away

2009-12-21T12:56:00.005-05:00

This photo is actually from Thanksgiving when I deeply appreciated that my husband's cousin made healthy yummy brussel sprouts to go along with all the usual Thanksgiving foods. Thank you cousin Martha.

What's really on my mind today is Alternative Christmas food. Listen, I was raised by Southerners so I completely understand the whole "I'm-a-traditionalist-who-still-wants-to-eat-the-foods-Granny-made" thing.

But.......frankly, I'm still sick of what I call "Christmas food" from last year. Enough of the re-runs already. My family and I simply dont eat this way anymore. You know heavy casseroles made with mushroom soup and all.

I want to freshen up things a little bit and today I've been thinking about what tastes fresh to me.

Here is the list:

Real pickles - I'm talking about Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz (he also has a website with recipes). I made his dill pickles over the summer and had a pickle revelation!!!! I'm totally sold on this idea and have "real" saurkraut going as I write.

Coconut lime stars- I LOVE this recipe. This is my favorite cookie now. It still has a lot of butter and all but for now this does it for me for freshness. Email me for the recipe if you want it.

World's Best Cookie - not too sweet - what a relief!
1 cup butter ( do not substitute)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup salad oil
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 cup regular oatmeal
½ cup coconut
½ c chopped pecans
1 cup of crushed cornflakes

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter, sugars and vanilla with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and salad oil mixing well.

Add baking soda, alt and flour and mix well. Add oatmeal, coconut, pecans and cornflakes and stir well.

Form into balls the size of walnuts. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork. Bake for around 12 minutes.

Makes 4 dozen or so. This recipe came to me courtesy of Janet Rider of Ore Bank Acres Farms

Orange zest cookies (with white chocolate). I have this 1953 cookbook which is so old that they still use spelling cooky instead of cookie. Anyway the other day I made this recipe and added white chocolate chips and 2 TBLS orange zest. It got raves at the Preschool party (and folks these ladies know how to cook).

Orange Zest cookies
6 Tbls butter
6 Tbls powdered sugar
1 beaten egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sifted flour
2 Tbls orange zest
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
bake at 350F oven for 10-12 minutes or until done.

Hot cabbage recipe (you can use sauerkraut instead of cabbage) recipe off the web but I had this last January when I ate at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio. A place worth the drive.

Hot Slaw like Golden Lamb (01-09 visit)
3-6 slices bacon, crispy and diced
6 c. shredded cabbage
1/3 c. cider vinegar
3 tbsp. brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
In 12-inch skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons bacon fat. Stir in cabbage. Cook 5 minutes or less depending on how cooked you want the slaw, stirring frequently. Stir in rest of ingredients. Cover. Cook 2-5 minutes, or until cabbage is tender-crisp. Crumble bacon on top of each serving. Serves approx 6.

A salad with citrus orange dressing on it. Anything citrus is doing it for me right now.

Fresh Citrus salad dressing
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 c sherry vinegar
2 Tbls orange juice concentrate
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp salt
1/4 c. chopped fresh chives
pinch of sugar (optional)
Mix together, can be made 2 days in advance and refridgerated. (Good on shrimp salad)

Steamed vegetables blanched with a really great dip (I'm currently looking for a really great dip- preferably a bean dip).

Banana Dip - There used to be a Bombay Bicycle Company restaurant here in town, I only ate there one time but the banana dip stays in my memory. I'm looking to re-create this. I think I ate it with a Chicken Satay (grilled chicken on a skewer).

Sushi (fresh ginger and wasabi on the side). My husband (a wonderful cook) is making this for our party. I'm VERY excited about it.

Dutch process cocoa- Okay I'm off cocoa (long story) but I realize that other people like it. For something different I think Dutch process is the way to go. I fell in love with it when I was planning my wedding (and thinking of making my own wedding cake).

Kaffir lime leaves- something I need to investigate more. I think this is a current very fresh flavor that needs to be part of my reprrtiore.

Lemongrass- I want to grow my own but have yet to start. After growing my own then I plan on making some good signature dishes with it.

Fresh-grown-at-home-herbs- I have some of these and some I've dried and I do make my own tea from my own mint but I want to really get great at homemade with homegrown herbs. I think there is a whole world needing me to explore it with this subject. One thing that comes to mind is how Herbs N Ewe (a restaurant now closed) was very innovative with their use of herbs, they were especially great in salads.

Thanks for bothering to read my rambling thoughts. Email me if you want a recipe I didnt include here.

Buying resistance

2009-12-11T07:12:00.002-05:00

Continuing with the financial hardship series I’ve been writing…..

The goal with this series is to talk about, not mere survival but being able to thrive and live life fully and with confidence no matter how much money you may have or not have.

Today I want to talk about buying resistance. This is a skill that many people of limited means already have and I’m not assuming that the reader does not have buying resistance. I just want to talk about it so we can be extra certain that we are aware this holiday season since, because, at least in my case, I’ll be in the stores more than usual.

I have a friend who works for a very large clothing company that you would have heard of. Her whole job is to run reports on how people purchase items. What colors they pick, where the display was located in the store (people often shop to their right as they walk in) and so on and so forth. This is her job 40 plus hours per week for at least the past decade.

Actually she’s been promoted so she has a whole team of people who run these reports on you, the shopper. Isn’t that a bit scary? Their whole job is to figure out how to part you with your money and it’s practically a science.

Grocery stores do this which is why I spend $40.00 nearly everytime I go into one even if I only meant to buy one thing.

Large Department stores have perfected the art of wearing down your buying resistance.

One could just stay out of the stores as much as possible, I try but I’m not certain that is practical to ask. The point is to just be aware that this is going on. It’s sort of like a game and we all need to think of the term buying resistance and realize that this is one of our powers.

We need to be able to walk away and think about it first in order to win this game.

One of my weaknesses is antique shopping and we all know that when you walk away at an antique store it may not be there when you come back. Buying resistance is still crucial here.

There are also on-line companies that try to get you to buy instantly on this premise. What about television shopping channels trying to tell you that this ring or piece of jewelry is about to be snapped up and you wont get it? Still practice buying resistance by switching the channel and thinking of something else for awhile.

I don’t have all the answers but I do know that sometimes we just have to take a deep breath and walk away. The more you can do this then the less auction fever you will have. Practice it, get good at it and keep that money in your pocket for something you really want or if you gave it all a good thinking through and you still want it then go back and if it’s still there then it was meant to be and your buying resistance still worked for you because you didn’t buy impulsively.

Concept of Home and Christmas

2009-12-03T13:17:00.002-05:00

What I am interested in right now is the concept of home. What does it mean. What is a home?

At a Jewish wedding there is often a chuppah (canopy), a symbol of the home that the new couple will build together. It is open on all sides, just as Abraham and Sarah had their tent open all sides to welcome people in unconditional hospitality. I have seen this great tradition in some dear Jewish friend's home when I had to be far away during Thanksgiving (1992) and they had me over to their house although they had just met me at the time.

I'll never forget their generousity that Thanksgiving. Interestingly, the woman of the house had a great trick for making people feel like a part of the action- she would always save some little chore or task to be done by the guests- it was a lovely gesture to make people feel included.

I simply must rave about this great woman some more by saying that she had entertained Presidents in her home so she certainly was a wonderful hostess!

My friend who married a nice Jewish fellow also told me the chuppah shows that no matter where you are if you are together then you are home. I like this idea.

Home is where people you love are.

The photo is our Christmas Eve spread when we invite a few people we really like over. But I digress.

So in my mind home is:

a hospitable place,

the place where the people you love are gathered (or at least wish they could all be there in some cases it's not possible but they are there in their hearts)

a place where people can gather that is warm and comfortable for them.

To me things like attempts to impress detract from a home. It seems that there is a little bit of humility needed to make a place really homelike. I'm not talking about fake humility or claiming that something isnt really of value, just that everything doesnt have to be perfect.

Also if people do not ask a guest about themself that doesnt seem very hospitable to me. I wouldnt feel welcome in that place.

In my idea of home a child would be welcome. So a museum-like collection would not signify home to me. I like antiques and collections also - but within reason.

Overindulgence of alcohol doesnt feel safe to me so I wouldnt feel at home if people were too drunk. Perhaps this seems judgemental and I certainly like a glass of wine also occasionally but if someone is losing control with alcohol I wouldnt feel at home there.

Home to me is also a place of healing. There are bandaids in the medicine cabinet and perhaps some herbal teas. In some places and times in history women were expected to know something about the healing arts, this idea that a hug and a bandaid are available is crucial to my idea of home.

Home is a place of ritual and tradition. Even if it isnt the home you were in last year I bet there is something that could be done to lend some continuity from season to season. My children are just young enough that we are just now establishing these rituals and I realize the importance of them now.

I realize that this still comes very short from defining what the concept of home is but I feel we must start with the basics.

A chicken in every pot and all that

2009-12-01T17:44:00.003-05:00

A chicken in every pot was what President Roosevelt wanted for the people of the United States during the Great Depression.

So today I have been overwhelmed with news coming from different directions in my life about how many people are suffering financially. I am saddened that so many are struggling and that so many others are frightened. Folks this is no way to live.

I have been poor, very poor on occasion. Never homeless but I have been scared and had no money and lived in the way that only the near-desparately poor live. So I can say a few things about that experience.

My aim is to give some folks hope.

First off it doesnt matter how expensive your objects around you are if you are a mean person. It doesnt take money to be a good person and

You always can work on your posture.

You always can work on your voice, tone and what you say and the way you say it.

It doesnt take too much money to excersize. You can always go take a walk or do some jumping jacks in your room if you are too scared to walk outside your house. Think of some free excersizes you can do and do them.

You always have your walk. Poor people often have the most well thought out struts you ever saw. Walks dont take money. This is along the same lines as your posture.

What about dancing in your room. Do you have a radio? Ipods arent necessary.

What can you be thankful for? Is there anything? It doesnt cost money to make a list of all you are thankful for, even if it's just some good memories from long ago.

There is always someone worst off than you. I know sometimes it's hard to believe this but there is which means you always have an opportunity to help another person. Just find someone worst off than you and do something to help them.

Discovering Milkweed

2009-11-21T14:05:00.003-05:00

Yes it is November and most kids are probably inside but I have a phobia about too much television (we probably do watch about 3 hours of kid TV per day - few commercials though). We are in the city also which seems to make it harder to connect to nature but......
in the very back of our yard it's rather wild and far from the house and there is milkweed. Once discovered this was hours of fun. The very back of the yard is magical. Every kid should have a place like it.

2009-11-16T21:30:00.002-05:00

Like a true mommyblogger I'm thrilled to show off our Gingerbread Ladies complete with sprinkles.

A large selection of sprinkles is a must for any household with little people learning to cook.

These were delioius and I put half the uncooked batter in the freezer to be pulled out and rolled into cookies at a later date.

Creating, Acting, Costumes and Halloween

2009-11-01T12:40:00.005-05:00

This is sort of a fun thing to share but for many many years I acted. The small photo is from a horror movie I did (the scars are makeup).

I acted in films, on stage, commercials, voiceovers, anything I could do. I no longer think of myself as an actress since I haven't really done anything since my first child was born. I miss it sometimes. But acting never really goes away. That urge to create stays and persists and I'm certain that one day I'll be back on a stage again and perhaps better for having stayed away for awhile.

In the meantime that bigger photo is my sweet patoo as Rapunzel. I thought it was funny when one of my neighbors asked where I got the hair! Ha!

It's just some yarn we braided together and tied to her ponytail with a ribbon.

Okay maybe I'm being mean to laugh but it reminded me of when I worked for a costume shop and people were always calling in with obscure but sometimes good ideas for a Halloween costume and thinking that they could buy their idea at our store.

You have to make it yourself- I know this idea is foreign but we are all better off when we make it ourselves.

Weddings are like this also - the more you can do for yourself the more of a personal imprint it will have on the occasion. Of course I do not reccommend doing all your flowers by yourself like I did (I worked many years for a florist).

Here is my idea-the way to think about these things is:

Use what I already have in a new and creative way.
Make it myself.
Borrow it if I can.

Stop thinking you dont have the talent - you do and if you really dont then you need the practice.

Vintage Halloween

2009-10-20T10:27:00.002-04:00

Cloth napkins make a difference

2009-10-04T08:20:00.003-04:00

So I'm not going to claim to have all the eco-chic in the world but I will say that I'm proud that my family has switched to cloth napkins.

I pick them up at the thrift store. We mix and match and I change them by the season. It doesnt really add much in the way of laundry even though we eat three meals a day here at Rosebriar Cottage.

They are kept in a small basket on the table.

It wasnt such a hard habit to change and now we dont even like paper napkins anymore.

Carrot cake with marzipan pumpkins

2009-09-27T16:05:00.002-04:00

So I dont think this photo does my cake justice but I forgot to take anymore pictures of it one I finished it and set it on the cake table at the wedding. Anyway I am always more about taste and I was pleased that this one stayed moist (I wrapped it up tight for the drive).

Anyway the wedding was wonderful - I think the photos are pretty self explanatory.

It rained which wasnt ideal but the ceremony turned out wonderfully anyway and since when does anything really go the way we expect that it will?

We had a lovely time and I'm so glad we went.

Hocking Hills Ohio Wedding: a photo montage

2009-09-27T15:36:00.006-04:00

Marzipan pumpkins for my wedding cake

2009-09-24T15:55:00.007-04:00

As I've said I'm making a cake for the dessert table for the upcoming wedding weekend. It's all too exciting.

Yesterday I made the cinnamon cream cheese icing and the marzipan pumpkins and today I made the carrot cake.

I made carrot because the bride likes it and I did have a great recipe for it although I never was able to locate that great recipe (which by the way was in the Charleston Cake Lady's first cookbook which the library no longer owns) so I found another recipe that sounded pretty good.

I'm still super excited to go out of town (away from the sounds of my neighbor drilling out their driveway). Back to the country - or in this case the woods really of lovely Ohio.

I finally have a way of posting my photos in a sort of real-time (not two weeks anyway) way so expect to see photos soon!

Ps. I'm just in LOVE with marzipan now.

Horses are coming my way

2009-09-19T12:54:00.003-04:00

There is a part of me that believes that horses are coming my way. Some time in the future there will be horses. I dont know much about them and they arent here now but I can feel them moving toward me. I know we will love each other.

Cheese sandwich recipe

2009-09-19T07:52:00.002-04:00

While in Amish country we stopped at the Gussisberg Cheese Shop (a great place for great cheese) anyhow my husband bought something like 40 pounds of their best Swiss cheese (he never does anything halfway). It is terrific cheese and we've been able to share some with others but still have a lot.

That reminded me of a great recipe from Whole World (a local Columbus, OH vegetarian restaurant that has been around since the 70's. This is a variation of their recipe for an Aged Swiss Sandwich (delicious).

2 pieces of brown bread (or the bread of your choice)
3 Tbls sour cream
1 Tbls prepared horseradish
1 tsp prepared garlic (the minced kind that comes in a small jar)
3 pieces of thinly sliced red onion
Swiss cheese

Toast the bread slices. Put the slices of swiss on the bread and put them into a 350F oven until the cheese is melted. In the meantime stir together the horseradish, garlic and sour cream. Lay on the onion and top with the sour cream mixture. Put the other bread on top and cut. Wonderful!

Ps. Personally I think it tastes the best with a very dark bread like pumpernickel.

Pumpkin Pie

2009-09-15T21:57:00.001-04:00

It's getting to be time for pumpkin pie. My favorite!

Check out the Fiesta Plate! We LOVE Fiesta here at Rosebriar cottage.

More weekend in Amish Country

2009-08-31T21:28:00.007-04:00

There was fishing, horses to give treats to, walks to pick wildflower bouquets and stars to see during the night. It was magical.

A long weekend in Amish Country

2009-08-31T21:21:00.008-04:00

My birthday celebration with my whole dear family was a long weekend in Ohio's Amish Country. It was lovely, one of the best times ever. I'll stop here and just let you look at the photos.

Have you named your home yet?

2009-08-22T11:27:00.000-04:00

Have you named your home yet?

Name your home in 3 easy steps

2009-08-21T07:30:00.004-04:00

Today there are no photos, just a lesson in how to name your home in 3 easy steps.

Notice I didnt say house, you can name your room, apartment, condo, retirement home suite and so on. It's your 4 walls, the place that is lucky enough to have you living there. Doesnt it deserve a name?

1. Decide if you want a the in front of your name (this is optional and you can skip to the next step if you arent sure yet).

2. Insert your descriptive word (this is the creative part). There are really no rules here. Floral, animal, family name, any adjective, noun or fanciful word will do.

3. Insert your kind of residence (also optional). Cottage, Manor, Corner, House, Farm, Hill and so on.

Note: if you are using the in the front you may not need #3 and vice versa.

Examples using #1 and #2
The Lodge
The Dungeon (this was a college pad)
The Hovel (another funny name)

Examples using #2 and #3 only

Rosebriar Cottage (my own dear home)
Windy Corners (remember this one from A Room With A View?)
Rose House (I almost named my home this until I read it is the most common name)
Serenity Lodge

Examples using all 3

The Sherrod House
The Brown Manor
The Ivy Hill

Good luck and happy naming!

One last look at the Fair

2009-08-20T11:47:00.004-04:00

This food booth is by the Maynard Avenue United Methodist church which has had a booth at the fair every year since 1917. Needless to say I ate there. That is a really great church with one of the best choir directors in these parts. It is'nt my church but I do think it's a nice one with a lot of history and good folks.

This year each county submitted a retro look postcard that they decorated - they were all very good.

I love dollhouses and I think this Christmas themed house was wonderful. I love the arts and crafts building most of all.

The Ohio State Fair- a bit more

2009-08-12T06:35:00.006-04:00

Are all fairs are festivals similar? I suppose so. The point being to look at things you wouldnt normally see, enjoy the outdoors and eat foods that really probably shouldnt have ever been invented (ha).

Still, the colors and smells make me happy and I'm enjoying being a mommy giving this gift of summer enjoyment to my children.

A Great State Fair- The Ohio State Fair

2009-08-05T19:03:00.010-04:00

Okay so I'm biased, maybe there are plenty of great State Fairs out there but in my mind they couldn't be better than the Ohio State Fair.

Ohio still has a lot of ties to it's agricultural heritage and plenty of people still trying for the blue ribbons.

Inspiring women I know: Miss Christine

2009-08-02T23:06:00.012-04:00

I never met Miss Christine Vaughn but in the oral tradition of our family of storytellers I feel as though I did. These days I collect stories about her she sounded like such an interesting inspiring person.

My uncle bought the house of Miss Christine when she passed away back in the 1980's. He turned it into a lovely restaurant called Miss Christine's. It was all very elegant, more like a tea house with floral wallpaper and hats hanging on the walls in rooms with names like: The Rose Room or The Blue Room. It was quite the popular place with long lines on Sundays after church. They finally had to close it because they had too many businesses (4) going on at the same time.

The house is still there, in the town of Manchester and it still has the stable house next door and all the lovely architecture that has always made it a treasure.

That whole town knew and admired Miss Christine. She was an English teacher at the High School and taught my mom in the 1950's. She was known for having traveled the world. I know that it was her book collection that introduced me to Pearl S. Buck.

Her father had been a very popular doctor back in the days when doctors made house calls and still had an office in their home.

She was a big crafter back when people still looked at everything that came through their house and wondered what they could make it into. Her gifts to others were all wonderful crafts she had made. My aunt has an eggshell baby carriage that had been a gift at a baby shower.

She made a felt banner of the Twelve days of Christmas that I just love and plan on copying someday. It was hanging in my aunt's house the last time I was there and I'm going to try to include a photo of it in this blog.

Miss Christine was also known far and wide for being a gracious and creative party thrower. At a recent auction I drove the price WAY up on a set of football players that she had made to go on top of a cake. They were the Tullahoma team (big rival) verses her own Manchester High team. She lined them up on the top of the green cake with white icing yardlines and also made goal posts and cheerleaders.

Let me digress here for a moment and say that I love what could be called by some "old lady crafts". I do not see any handicrafts this way, I believe them to be Art. Creative people simply have to have outlets. While I dont claim to be an art expert I am never dismissive about the time another person spends making something with their hands or expressing themselves. This includes performance art as well and I will tell a story another time about how I realized that there are top notch performers even in the local community theatre.

Back to Miss Christine...
When my aunt said recently that she was selling Miss Christine's china which she had for the past 20some years I was very excited and I talked her into letting me buy it. So I now have her china it's mix and match with mostly Pomerion Rose by Lipper and Mann and a few other pieces all with roses on them. How great that she was doing the whole mix and match china thing way back when.

The set is circa 1945. I had to have this china not only for the rose pattern (Rosebriar cottage) but also because I adore the egg cups and it was Miss Christine's and because it reminds me of my dear Auntie who had kept it safe for me all this time.

This short post cant say enough about Miss Christine but her life and what I know about her continue to inspire me.

My Clothing Line: Camp Style in the Summer (09)

2009-08-01T22:22:00.013-04:00

So I realize I'm late in talking about my clothing line (virtual really, it's just my ideas on dressing for this season).

Also my camera getting repaired (at least I hope so) but here is at least the list of what I am wearing and thinking about wearing for the summer in the hopes to return to those carefree days of my childhood and youth.

Camp clothing

When I was a kid I went to Camp Agape and I was thinking to make a tee shirt with that name on it for memories sake. I think now there are McMansions on it but I'm not sure. I also went to Camp Kirkwood where I still might be able to order a tee shirt or sweatshirt, these will go into my clothing line with no problem.

I did make sure to get some jeans from the thrift store and cut them off just like I used to do as a kid growing up in the late 1970's. They are army green and wonderful. I also cut the sleeves off a shirt I was going to donate and got a bit more life out of it while walking the dog and taking care of the kids.

Although I dont want to wear an actual 1970’s tee shirt, I am still attracted to that style this year.

Remember way back when we all used iron on letters to write on our tee shirts (think Joann’s)? As tacky as that was it sort of seems appealing now. I just saw a tee shirt that said: No Planet, No Party. That sort of ecochic slogan sounds pretty fun to do in that old fashioned way.

Things that make me think of the late 1970's and being a kid are:
Rainbows
Unicorns
Care bears (these were actually after my time but my kids loves them)
Big shoelaces
Those friendship pins we wore on our shoes (how about pink and green?)

What about a Mork and Mindy tee shirt or a Necco wafers tee shirt (It would be great to support the oldest candy in the country)

For belts and handbags there is a guy in Coshocton Ohio that makes real leather purses and belts. His name is Dennis Knight and I have a purse of his that I LOVE - I'll post a photo soon. I need a belt from him - my dad had one that lasted for 30 years. His leather is not made with chemicals that are environmentally unsound so he is super ecochic in my mind.

You always needed lots of sweatshirts at camp and during the 1980's we cut them up (like in Flashdance) and that was a nice way to add some variety. Am I so bold as to try to pull off wearing that look again? It's tempting.

We also wore bandanas in ways that really shouldnt be legal since they are now laughable eyesores but I like the idea of a bandana revival since they are ecochic to use instead of tissues. Why not have one on hand for whatever the reason?

Daisy dukes will not be appearing on this body anytime soon but perhaps a cutoff-at- the-bottom miniskirt might liven up my wardobe a bit.

I used to work for the Lost Colony which had a definite camp feel to it, perhaps I need to order a tee shirt since I'm going down memory lane with this wardrobe plan.

A movie I love is Indian Summer and while the fashions are way mid-1990's in it, I think I might still be inspired if I saw it again.

A camp color pallete would look something like this:
Green
Blue jeans blue
Brown
Navy blue
Turquoise (my favorite color)
Old red
White
Pink
Navy blue and green
Red and green

Here are some more things to add to this camp collection. Anything with a:
Canoe on it or a vintage Camper (think Airstream)

1950’s style Hawaiian shirts for the men ( I dont have to work here, my husband is all about these all summer and they suit him just great).

This reminds me I wonder if there are any old Brady Bunch going camping episodes I need to watch?

How about a Woody car – a station wagon with wood on the sides, I love those things and they make a great motif idea.

Plaid lunchboxes would certainly work, as would a plaid thermos

In GA there is the Koinioa Farm which I stayed at in 1974 with my parents– maybe they have a tee shirt I can order although no one here will know. Still, questions about it might lead to some great historic discussion about racism how far we still need to go to overcome it in this country.

But there it is: my Summer Camp Look clothing line (all original, only one set made for my one customer, me) Summer of 09.

Our catering company

2009-08-01T07:26:00.004-04:00

Catering is a wonderful way to work. I like most aspects of it, I even like cater-waitering for other folks. We are in a holding pattern until the little ones get older except for the occasional call to do some serving or a wedding cake.

It all started when we volunteered to cook the annual church Christmas dinner (100 plus people). Three years in a row. After that I was used to do a wedding by someone and it just took off from there.

It's a lot of organization and planning but certainly not impossible.

My husband is the main chef and I do most of the other pieces.

Manteo Garden Lady

2009-07-30T22:13:00.008-04:00

For two summers in the early 1990's I was in my twenties and living in Manteo, North Carolina. My home was the Cannady Guest house which was a lovely lovely (it was doubly lovely) place right in the heart of Manteo (a wonderful little town named after the great Indian chief).

My room at the guest house was right by the porch and it afforded me many pleasures to look out and at night to hear the owl making it's evening calls.

I could certainly gush on and on about Manteo but what I want to write about is a woman who really inspired me although I never formally met her or indeed even knew her name. She would nod at me as I passed riding my 1970's style bike or taking one of my many daily walks.

In those days I would walk to the docks on my morning walks and think about what my day would hold. I was in a perfectly horrdendous (and soon to end) relationship and those gentle walks and bike rides through the town of Manteo were a balm to my troubled thoughts.

This lady, who I refer to in my mind as the Manteo Garden Lady was constantly in her garden. Her house was on the corner of the street I lived on and so I would pass her frequently. She seemed to me to be always working in her garden, wearing a sunhat or bonnet and something long and sheer with sleeves, pruners in her gloved hands.

She obviously knew the secrets of garden plants and her focus was always on the flowers. Roses, iris, peonies, sweet peas, flowers I didnt even know the names of. The white picket fence had no places that were bare beside it.

Her house itself was magnificent in the way that large houses by the ocean often are but her garden was like a stunning gown on a beautiful woman.

Living in such beautiful surroundings always has it's effect on a person and although I had no money except enough to insure that I could stay on at the Cannady Guest House and survive I started to change and become part of that beautiful town, if only for the summer.

I rode my vintage 1972 bike to the Colony theatre where I was able to afford not only the movie but also a popcorn where I saw the movie Dave (one of my favorites). I dressed in a cream colored cotton skirt over my swimsuit and although that skirt was not in style at the time due to it's 1980's ruffle around the bottom, I loved the way it felt to ride my bike with it's matching brown basket around those docks. I would see the tourist women looking at me and I knew that I was blending into the beauty that was all over that little town.

A friend, a French Canadian woman with two children who was also staying the summer at the guest house, convinced me to get the skirt from the local thrift store. She had an inate sense of style and beauty that seems to me to be fairly common with French Canadian women. I miss her now and wish her well wherever she is. She was a lovely beauty. As proof of her appeal I can tell you that Andy Griffith, a local, used to honk a flirty honk at her as she walked along with her two children.

But back to my Manteo Garden Lady.

We live in an era that does not seem to appreciate older people and therefore gives us little example in popular culture of how to be a successful older person. I'm thinking now of that silly T.V. show Survivor, when it first came on the first person to be kicked off was a more mature woman. How unrealistic! A mature woman brings many more survival skills to life than a youth.

My Manteo Garden Lady showed me that even in her last days (she died before my second summer in Manteo) she was caring for and enjoying her garden. It was a masterpiece. Thank you Manteo Garden Lady for that lesson.

Ps. The home is now a beautiful bed and breakfast which suits it well. The garden is still lovely. You can visit it on the web at: www.whitedoeinn.com

Inspiring Women I know: Connie

2009-07-30T22:08:00.003-04:00

Connie is my brother’s mother in law. She is a talented artist and real inspiration to me in my pursuit of crafting and beautiful living.

Back in 1977 she made a cloth Nativity scene for her little daughter to play with from scraps using a Family Circle article as her guide.

I so admired that lovely Nativity scene that I went to the library and found the article in the Microfiche area. I copied it and gave her a copy of it. (I keep my copy in a file of things I’d like to get to one of these days).

She immediately recognized it and made another set for her daughter in Texas.

She is so creative and inspiring and I love to visit her. She and her daughter (my sister in law) love to decoupage, scrapbook and of course, decorate. One thing I like that they do is use a lot of family photos and paintings done by Connie in their home décor.

Chickens in the city of Columbus

2009-07-30T06:52:00.004-04:00

We are thinking of getting chickens in the backyard. We have the space, think we can keep them out of the garden and think the dog and cats will get used to the idea. We do have racoons around here so I'm a little worried about that. I hate paying $4.00 for eggs when we could pay for pounds of chicken feed for that same amount.

I've talked to the health inspectors about it and it does seem as though we can go ahead even though we are in a metropolitian area.

Once, when I was in NYC (Spanish Harlem to be exact) I was woken up at 5:00 a.m. by a rooster crowing. It was nice. I loved hearing that connection back to the farm.

I doubt my neighbors will feel the same though so we will stick to chickens.

I figured out my "look"

2009-07-21T16:54:00.002-04:00

So I have had a hard time deciding what my look is and where to focus. Today I had a breakthrough though. I like the following:

1. Romantic and feminine look (think Shabby Chic)
2. Vintage (think Retro Movement)
3. Primitive (think Colonial Williamsburg look)

I also like a sort of country living (magazine) type look. So as one can imagine it is hard to have all three of these looks in my home.

Until today that is when I discovered that I could have all three in one look if I have a Farmhouse Style I'm not sure what the name of this look will be but that is where I'm headed and now that I know that this is what I like I'm starting to define it and that is WONDERFUL!

food thoughts

2009-05-14T21:38:00.004-04:00

So my husband and I had/have a catering company. It's actually on hold since my second child has been born and there is a long story with that for another time too.

A lot of people think that because they can cook that means they can cater. Not true. I worked as a cater waiter from 1994 until recently and my husband worked in numerous restaurants as a chef although he says he was a cook.

For over a decade I worked for a florist and so in some cases we provide flowers also. They are easy. I've taught brides to do their own flowers and I've done my own. I used freshroses.com and got about $4K worth of wedding flowers for around $450.00. It was a lot of hard work though and my nails were shot on my wedding day. Doing ones own wedding flowers isn't something I would recommend although I don't regret it.

Before we catered as a business I fed 100 plus people at a number of church functions. I consider that to have been some great training. I must be a pretty good organizer because somehow we always made it through and the food was good. Good tasting food is such a priority to me. Why waste your time otherwise. I'm sort of hung up on what I think of as quality. That is why I'm so into the local food movement. What a meaningful pursuit (if one can of course).

Right now I'm thinking about healthy foods for my family and I'm thinking back on my hippie upbringing. Here is a list:

Popcorn with brewers yeast
Black bean salsa- my recipe is a great one
Blackeyed pea dip
Apples with peanut butter
Peanut butter candies like mom used to make
Brown bread with millet
Quinoa
Tabouli salad – Asheville
Parsley salad – greg's wife
Carrots and raisin salad
A healthy oatmeal cookie- mine is too full of butter although it is wonderful!

I love the idea of vegan and incorporating more vegan into my regular life.

I wonder if anyone has done any studies of women who are vegan and breast cancer? I am thinking that vegan women probably have less breast cancer but I would not say this about vegetarians and breast cancer. I believe there may be a dairy link in there somewhere.

I also wonder if we shouldn't all be hanging loose and free on top, wondering if there is something related to too much binding up on top and breast cancer? All that damn underwire nonsense.

Of course this is speculation.