Winter Wonderland

Old Man Winter granted my wish! We woke up this morning to a beautiful winter wonderland. Seven inches or more of sparkling snow covers the ground as far as the eye can see. No use even trying to sleep in on a Saturday morning when we have all that white stuff out there calling our names! So, we layered on the clothes, coats, boots, hats and gloves and ventured out back to check on the donkeys.

One step off the porch and CRUNCH! A thick layer of ice is crusting the snow. Every step it's CRUNCH - sink, CRUNCH - sink, CRUNCH - sink, through the snow. The donkeys were all huddled together in the barn. Their feed trough and buckets were filled with snow, so we threw out some bales of hay and coaxed them out of their stall. It was hilarious to watch them walking in the snow, high-stepping it like Tennessee Walking Horses. Baby Chloe' seemed especially bewildered by the wierd white stuff with the crunch icing.

There are dozens of birds all around our feeders, some new ones I've never seen before, all sharing so politely and stuffing their beaks. I cut up some oranges, apples and pears and sprinkled bird seed on them and laid them on the ground and the birds just love the fresh fruit. Who knew? There's a big, fat Mockingbird that pecks at a pear, then hops over to an orange, back and forth like he can't make up his mind which tastes better. Back by the pond, you can see tracks where the deer have already come through, and other tracks that might be dog or coyote.

As we walked back to the house, Sid gets the bright idea to borrow the next-door neighbor kids' snow saucer. Oh Lord, this can't end well! Up the big hill he climbs, bright green saucer in hand and a big smile on his face. Surely he'll lose his nerve once he gets to the top, but no, here he comes flying down the hill like he's 10 years old, faster and faster until there's no controlling the slippery disc and POOF he's off into a ditch, end over end, legs in the air and snow flying everywhere. He gets up grinning like a kid at Disneyland but he's had enough and doesn't go for a second round. Good thing, cuz I don't think my nerves can take it!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

As I sit here and type today, it's snowing like crazy outside and I'm loving it! I hope it snows all day and all night and we get at least 10 feet of this beautiful white stuff! It's so magical.

It's amazing how a little snow can make everything so pretty and change your outlook on the day. I think snow brings out the kid in all of us. It makes me long for racing down a hill on a slick innertube, rosy cheeked and bundled up, laughing hard and squealing with delight. Then trudging back up the hill to do it all over again!
Or ice skating on a frozen pond, snowmobiling through the woods, skiing down a real honest-to-goodness mountain! All those things from our days in Oregon I miss so much.

Here in the South, we're lucky to even get a dusting of this beautiful white stuff, and even luckier if it lasts more than a couple hours before melting away. Barely enough snow to build a snowman most of the time.

I'm whispering in Old Man Winter's ear for an Oregon snow kind of weekend. I hope he grants my wish!

The Good Old Days

One of my sweet friends from Oregon recently sent me an old recipe book she found when cleaning out her mother-in-law's home. It was printed back in 1932 and it's full of outlandish recipes, like Mock Chicken Legs, which are made from beef and ham; Scrapple, which entails boiling a whole pig's head until tender and then removing the meat and chopping it real fine (gross!), and Sardine Rarebit, which consists of sardines, eggs, milk, spices and cheese and is served over toast. Ick!

The fun thing about the book though, are all the advertisements displayed on every other page. There are ads from insurance agencies for home insurance for a "few cents a day!" Metropolitan Beauty Shop has several ads throughout with 100% genuine steam waves for only $5. No more faulty electric permanent waves for the housewife that values her cherished locks! There are ads for Butter-Krust Bread, Coca-Cola, Piggly Wiggly and appliance sales shops selling new-fangled electric refrigerators for only $164.50, delivered! A few pages further and you can see an ad from Ace Ice Co., where they say their ice refrigerators are a much better way to go than electric. The slowly melting ice "moistens the air and carries away bacteria, food odors and food gases" that in the other types of refrigeration cannot escape.

The Park Lane Hotel has ads for $3 a night, or $65 a month. One patron bragged, "As a final touch of courtesy, even my cigar was lighted for me by the bellhop!" Well la-ti-da! Deer Rock Water Co., advertises they'll deliver a dozen half-gallon bottles of distilled water right to your door for only 75 cents! What a bargain! A home improvement store says they'll wallpaper a 10 x 12 room of your home for only $3.98, materials and labor included.

Sears, Roebuck & Co., has an ad for a Kenmore DeLuxe wringer washer and it has a picture of a little boy standing next to it. The headline for the ad says, "My Mother is Pretty and Young - She Uses a Kenmore DeLuxe!" The bottom of the ad quotes the little boy saying, "Dad bought our Kenmore because he likes to have Mother looking young. Mother lets me look inside it sometimes. The suds keep swishing through the clothes and it even gets my shirts clean! She says she's 'stonished' cause the Kenmore gets clothes cleaner and still doesn't cost hardly anything to run." Oh boy!

There's an ad for a carpet cleaning service that asks, "Do Your Children Romp on the Floor?" Silly question! What child doesn't "romp" on the floor! The Geo. Meyer Hardware co., has several ads for various household items, including an entire set of cookware for only $2.10! What a steal! And a Tearless Mincer for chopping onions for only 69 cents. They have a hand-held mixer/beater with a green glass bowl for only $1. I bet you couldn't find one of those in an antique store nowadays for less than $45!

Golden Gold Pet Food has ads for pet food that comes in a can and is good for cats AND dogs. The Carlson-Frink Milk Company advises a child should drink at least a quart of their fine milk a day, and adults at least a pint! And after you're done drinking all that milk, a drugstore advertises Alk-a-Mint alkaline powder. They say it stops acidity, gas, bad breath, sour stomach and heartburn and it's only 25 cents.

In the back of the book there are tips on proper etiquette, and there's even a 28-day "reducing" plan for the housewife who finds she can't quite button her skirt as easily as she used to. There's a budgeting plan for newly-married couples that is astonishing (and depressing!). Apparently back then, people didn't make much because it has a chart that shows monthly incomes ranging from $125 to $400 and how you should budget accordingly to make it through the month. Good grief! For instance, on $125 per month, they suggest you put $20 into savings, set aside $30 for food, $30 for shelter, $18 for clothing and $27 for operating and advancement. Yikes! Good thing those economic times are a thing of the past, at least for now (knock on wood!). Heaven forbid when the newly-married couple starts having kids!

It was fun reading, and while I might not be trying some of those crazy recipes anytime soon, I did at least get a few good household tips for cooking and cleaning. And thanks to the etiquette tips, I now know when I wear long gloves to dinner, I mustn't turn them back and roll them down at the wrist when eating, but remove them entirely! Good to know, right ladies?

A few of my favorite things. . .

My family, friends and loved ones; snow falling; naps on weekends; the smell of rain; long, hot showers; baby animals; thrift stores and antique malls; the smile in my Mom's voice; holding hands; roasting marshmallows; counting the stars; walking on the beach; king-size beds; electric blankets; pleasant surprises; my sister's silly sense of humor; my husband's cologne; traveling to new places; the music of birds singing; fresh baked bread; security and peacefulness; fuzzy slippers; the sound of the ocean; feeling loved; a decaf soy latte'; the smell of my Mom's perfume; my Daddy singing; reading; and chocolate!

Aging Disgracefully

My Mom forwarded me this funny poem one of her friends had emailed her about forgetfulness. I'm sure it was originally intended for a much more "seasoned" reader, and by that I mean people over the age of 60. I'm only 29 myself (wink wink), so I was slightly unnerved that she forwarded it to me. However, after reading the poem and much to my dismay, I was appalled to realize how much I could relate! Am I already approaching the age of memory loss, denture creams and orthopedic footwear? What a terrifying realization! I've already succumbed to writing myself reminder notes, plucking gray hairs and countless tubes and bottles of an assortment of wrinkle creams. I even dared to try on some reading glasses at the pharmacy the other night, but they weren't very flattering on me, so I convinced myself I didn't really need them after all. Maybe I should stop back by again and look into that vitamin supplement that's supposed to improve brain function. And while I'm at it, it probably wouldn't hurt to buy a book of crossword puzzles or that dratted sudoku to exercise my mind. I might even go ahead and grab that pair of reading glasses too. Necessity over vanity for early prevention, right? Anyway, here's the poem. If you find yourself relating to it as well, all I can say to cheer you up is, "You're only as old as you feel!"

Forgetter Be Forgotten

My forgetter's getting better,
But my rememberer is broke
To you that may seem funny
But, to me, that is no joke

For when I'm "here" I'm wondering
If I really should be "there"
And, when I try to think it through,
I haven't got a prayer!

Oft times I walk into a room,
Say "what am I here for?"
I wrack my brain, but all in vain!
A zero is my score.

At times I put something away
Where it is safe, but, Gee!
The person it is safest from
Is generally me!

When shopping I may see someone,
Say "Hi!" and have a chat,
Then, when the person walks away
I ask myself, "Who the heck was that?"

Yes, my forgetter's getting better
While my rememberer is broke,
And it's driving me plumb crazy
And that isn't any joke!

Muddy Sunday

Yesterday, I did a really stupid thing. I don't know what in the world I was thinking. For those of you who don't already know it, we have three donkeys on our little farm. Their names are Cooter (the Daddy), Clementine (the Mama,) and Chloe' (the Baby) who is six months old. I went outside to fill their water trough and usually I put some food in their buckets first to distract them and keep them occupied on the other side of the barn. For some reason though, I got the bright idea to hand-feed them some treats in hopes of coaxing Baby Chloe' into letting me brush all the mud out of her fur. So, I entered their inner sanctum loaded down with a bag of apples in one hand and a brush and bag of carrots in the other.

No sooner had I stepped out into the barnyard and Baby Chloe' peeked her furry little head around the side of the barn and spotted me. She came running and grunting, followed by her Mama. Then here came old Cooter running at a full charge right at me and I went into complete panic mode! Only problem was, my boots were stuck in about six inches of mud and I couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Apples and carrots went flying and I got knocked down right into the mud. My life flashed before my eyes and I just knew I was going to get trampled to death by three rambunctious jackasses!

Miracle of all miracles, somehow when I opened my eyes, I was still intact. Apparently as soon as Cooter saw I had fallen down, he knew he was in BIG trouble because he took off to hide around the other side of the barn. Clementine and Chloe' however, were standing close by just staring at me and munching on the carrots that were scattered all over the ground. I'm sure Baby Chloe' was thinking, "Hmmmm, this is a new game. What's our funny human doing laying in the mud?"

By this time, my husband figured out something bad was going on and he wanted to know if I was okay and what the heck had happened. I told him Cooter had knocked me down and then he started scolding me about how I had no business being inside that barnyard with three unpredictable animals! Okay, okay! I know it was stupid of me. Give me a break! I was covered in mud, my leg, shoulder, hip (and pride) hurt, and I felt like an idiot!

In the meantime, the trough was filled, the treats were devoured and I even managed to brush all the tangles out of Baby Chloe's hair. I think she felt sorry for me, so she stood real still and let me get all her tangles out. Either that or she was waiting for me to continue our funny game of rolling around in the mud.

This morning when I woke up, I felt like I'd been run over by a truck. My leg is swollen, I can't lift my left arm above my shoulder, my hip hurts so bad I could hardly lift my leg to put my jeans on, and I have a big bruise on my shin where I hit the trough on the way down. Why in the world did I ever think living on a farm and keeping animals would be fun? My husband is right, I have no business trying to be a farm girl. I'm a hopeless klutz and every animal we've ever owned figures out a way to outsmart me. We need to move to the city and get me a goldfish or two. Surely I can't get into any trouble with a harmless goldfish, can I?

The Journey, by Anonymous 1909

You's gotter hab some trouble in dis rough ol' world ob ours,
You's gotter fight de bumble bee, sometimes to pick de flowers;
You's gwinter fin' a heap o' roughness in de rocky road,
Befo' you gits wha' you kin rest an' lay aside de load.
But be humble, an' don' grumble,
'Case you sometimes slip an' stumble,
An' seems to drap behin' de res' ob all de hustlin' throng,
Don't stop an' staht a-whinin'
An' a-whimperin' an' a-pinin',
But pick yoh feet up, honey, an' go travellin' along.

You may hab fears o' troubles dat'll hit yo' hard some day,
But dar's wusser boun' to ketch yo' if yo' halts along de way.
You's gotter keep a-movin'. Some is fast and some is slow,
But all dat's looked foh from you is to do de best you know.
So don't you wait an' worry,
Ef you falls down in yoh hurry,
An' never mind the chaffin'
An' de hollerin' an' de laughin',
Jes' pull yohse'f together as you hums a little song,
But pick yoh feet up, honey, and go travellin' along.