Housewife, 54

At my age, I guess birthdays should be celebrated even more than when one is younger.... so why in our society do we want to forestall getting older? The alternative to getting older is..... unthinkable!  Therefore, from this point forward, I will CELEBRATE my birthdays! Starting this year. My son offered me an airline ticket...where would I like to go?  The condition was that it couldn't be too terribly far, and he would prefer it be before the end of the year.... My birthday weekend would be great. Waiting for my plane to show up. It did. So the first thing that popped into my head, was a recurring idea that I would like to make some short trips to visit some cousins that I had not seen for a long time. One lives in the Las Vegas area, and flights there are often cheap.... so it was done!  I went ALONE to Vegas. So off I went; on a gloomy, snowy day, I left Chicago.  Just about broke my heart to leave.... NOT! The weather was much nicer there! On cousin's

This was a pretty awful year for my gardens.  As I sit here and think, I will try to list what successes that I had.... Onions.  I had the best Onions ever!  And cabbages, I had more and better cabbages. At Petersen Farm we had great success with the new raised beds, and the same at Mt. Hope Church garden. We built raised beds and had some really good veg that we had not had for years: beets and carrots, specifically.  And pumpkins at Petersen farm.  I had two HUGE Jahrandale blue pumpkins, 20# and 23#!  We also had success with covered rows of brassicas: cabbages, broccoli, red cabbage, brussel sprouts.  We will do those the same again. Failures were fantastic.  Virtually NO : tomatoes, green beans, peas, sweet corn, or dry beans. I had few carrots and no beets in my own garden....  I did have cucumbers, but no time to make pickles, so I gave those away.  I did not get squash planted (or the ones I did plant later did not germinate). Norb's potatoes at Mt. Hope were good, mine w

Yesterday was a very busy day.  I had medical appointments in the morning (Chiropractor, dentist) and since I was out, I continued to the grocery store, picking up the dry cleaning on my way.  When I finally got home (3 hours after I left), I was a bit hungry and worn out, but I stuck to my new industrious me and put all the chopping away before I had lunch (which I cooked). Then I sat a bit! When I was revitalized (sort of) I knew that since it was a such a lovely day, that I needed to get out in the yard and get the leaves picked up!  So I got out the lawn mower (with the bagger attached) and started in.... the front was pretty leafy as the Autumn Flame Maples were dropping leaves pretty well, so that garnered quite a pile - even mulched - for the garden. I deposited them all in bins or wrapped in an old sheet to take out to our garden at the Church.  Then I headed out to the back yard.  Those trees were dropping but not much... they have not even turned color!  So I did the

Where was all this rain earlier in the year?  Here I am with two gardens to prep for winter, and what happens?  RAIN. Plan B for this Saturday..... stuff. I did the usual... my Morning Routine of tidying the kitchen, making beds and getting dressed.  Then I continued by putting all the clean laundry away and doing a good sort of my closet... rearranging my clothes for winter and making a quick check of any unused items to give away.  I seem to be doing that a lot! I did find one pair of black slacks that actually fit!  Two others went out.  It feels good to do a good sort and tidy! Then I knew I needed to "accomplish" something.... so I chose a project that I have been putting off for quite a while.  I wanted to get my kitchen window and glass shelf nice and clean, but what was holding me back was the two houseplants that sit there... they need re-potting.  So I bit the dust (literally) and did it!  Lucky me, the weather let up a bit and I was able to take the plants ou

This is crazy, but I am actually looking forward to Mondays... and it is HOUSE CLEANING DAY!  Am I going nuts? I think it is because I don't usually have anything booked on Mondays, at least not until mid-afternoon, so I know that I have the time free and don't have to "make time".  I have now officially booked my calendar for Monday mornings to get my Weekly Home Blessing done.... Flylady speak for the basic weekly clean of the main areas of your house. Generally they are talking about a quick pick-up, dust and mop/vacuum of your main living areas of the house, but I am getting into a groove of starting upstairs in the bedrooms and bathrooms and giving those a quick cleaning before I even get dressed.  I will also strip and change one bed, and that load of laundry gets my PJ's that I have been cleaning in... easier than washing a whole outfit! It is taking me about 1 hour to clean 2 full bathrooms (scrub toilets, bathtubs, clean mirrors, wipe sinks and floors

Oh... my.... GOODness!  Have I fallen off the wagon when it comes to keeping a tidy house!  Mind you, I was "taught right"!  My mom was an immaculate housekeeper, and while our homes were never magazine-worthy as far as decorating goes, it was always neat and welcoming and you would be hard pressed to find any dirt or dust!  We cleaned EVERY week, and once a month we did extra things like washing throw rugs, cleaning light fixtures, and vacuuming the furniture.  Then there was "spring" or "fall" cleaning, where the carpets were cleaned, curtains taken down, washed, dried, ironed.. windows washed and kitchen cabinets cleaned inside and out!  I HATED it!  Oh, don't get me wrong, I loved having a clean and shining home, and I didn't mind the actual work.... too much... but what drove me UP THE WALL was the way my Mom managed it.  You see, I want a visible check-of list so I can pace myself, check off accomplished tasks, and see the light at the end of

In techie short cuts, DGS= Dear Grand Son.... How I wish we did not live so far apart!  We get to see our little fella only a couple of times a year, and that usually means a LONG car ride for him!  DH (Dear Husband) and I decided to make time this fall and go out to visit them, since we did not have a major trip planned this fall, so off we went! I have never made this trip in much less than 9 hours.... Unless I fly, which DS (Dear Son) had me do last Feb. when I went out to babysit.  It is a TEDIOUS trip, but at least this time we shared the driving.  We left about 9:30am and arrived about 8pm.  BLAH! But the next day was really fun!  DH and I took DGS to the local zoo. At Africa seeing Giraffes and zebras How ya doin' Gramps? Cutie With Grandma Running with Grandma Playing with Grandpa in the kitchen area. Our requisite funny family story came at supper that night: What happens when a bag of peas gets into the ice bin.... On Sat

I don't usually post about my dog show hobby, because frankly, it stresses me out and when I am through with a show, I want to just leave it behind.  However, I have recently attended a very special show that I am pleased to report about. I have occasionally attended an Afghan Hound Club of America National Specialty show.... maybe about once every 10 years or so... The location varies.. East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, and is rarely close enough for me to manage.  This year it was in the St Louis area, so a reasonable distance and I could afford it. This show is the Ultimate for Afghan Hound fanciers, and the show here in the USA attracts people from all over the world who love to see the beautiful hounds. Most people are interested in what we call "the Breed Ring", which is where the dogs are groomed to perfection and evaluated on their appearance. I have never exhibited in this aspect, but prefer the "performance" events. In the past I have had my dogs

You know how people say "come visit", and even though you would LIKE to, it never seems to get organized?  Well that has happened to us with my husband's sister.  She lives on the West Coast and has asked us to come many times, but we say "sometime we would like that" but have never set the date - too far, not enough money...  But this year, I saw that the International Master Gardener Conference was to be held in Portland, so since S-i-L is also a Master Gardner, I figured it was TIME.  We scheduled to go to the Conference together, going a few days early to spend time with them at their home on the Coast.  It was great! Sunset out our bedroom window. Oregon Pacific Coast.    On our first day, they took us to a hiking trail just North of where they live.  You go from a parking area along a highway, along a path through an old growth forest. It was marvelous!  I had never seen an original Northwest forest. Amazing! Hiking in an "old growt