Life Lately ~ 10/14

Good evening, friends.  Life has been a little topsy-turvy lately, to say the least.  The Rugged Mountain Man had a long weekend, to honor Columbus Day.  Due to the beautiful weather on Saturday, we did the work of four Saturdays in one and put the garden to bed for the winter, amongst other miscellaneous tasks.  It was a family achievement and it felt mighty good at the end of the day when we sat down to eat the ribs that Daddy smoked.  I love that the Rugged Mountain Man's hobby includes large tasty cuts of delectable meat.  Carnivores we surely are. 

Sunday was a busy mix of Mommy working in the church nursery with a full attendance of smiling, creative little people.  Seriously, my assistant and I had a good time with the children and enjoyed fellowshipping with one another as well.  However, I was sweating when we left the nursery in apple pie order!  More little people make more work!  Then, we watched the Packer game and did a few minor tweaks to the house, since Daddy's cousin was coming for dinner.  The house was tidy, but certainly nothing more than that.  And the food was comfort food-type, but definitely not more impressive than that.  I told myself to chill and enjoy Amy's company.  She always comes to see us, not the perfect house.  That's the heart of hospitality, a balance of household excellence and a heart for people and their comfort.  The Blossoms have been pesting to make caramel apples.  I'd waited til we had the most delicious Honeycrisp apples (because a yummy apple makes a yummy caramel apple AND because that the girlies' favorite variety.)  As soon as Amy walked in, we started unwrapping caramels and getting it all going.  Chaos ensued.  Chatting.  Blossom4 spontaneously dipping her OWN apple.  Quick swipes of caramel.  Dribbles everywhere.  Sticky wax paper.  The whole nine yards.  I grabbed some Butterfinger Baking Bits out of the pantry and rolled some of the caramel apples in those.  #geniusappleidea  Then, we sat down to a cozy spaghetti dinner (with home-canned spaghetti sauce), alongside homemade bread.  The homemade bread stole the show.  It always does, which is why I serve it.  Homemade bread is like the home-cookin' constant.  It doesn't matter what cuisine you prefer or what age you are, everybody appreciates homemade bread.  I was grateful for Amy's sincere cooking compliments.  Later, we all headed out on the deck to eat our uber-messy, but super delicious caramel apples.  Rory licked Blossom4's apple and she was too busy to finish hers, but we all totally "made a memory" out their munching on what we later declared to be "the best caramel apple we've ever eaten."  (Pretty sure the Honeycrisp apples and the Butterfinger Baking Bits were the key!)  Later, as were pushing the girls on the swings and whatnot, we got a call that "Grammie" (The Rugged Mountain Man's mom) was in the ER with heart issues.  Oh man.  That's when it went from a busy weekend, to a topsy-turvy weekend.  Between praying, answering phone calls, running to get their dog, visiting in the hospital and having surprise nighttime company, it all got a little crazy.  Long story short, she's home and she's fine.  Praise the Lord. 

I still believe that God answers prayer. 

Tuesday was when all the craziness took its toll.  Everybody was cranky, everything was behind and no one was cooperating.  Thank God for grace, as a friend of mine reminded me.  Even Mommy had to apologize (several times) and start anew (several times).  Boy, is that ever humbling.  Hopefully, they'll remember my repentance and heart change, more than they'll remember all of my failings.  God is still working on me.  I want them to know how much we are all growing and changing, always. 

ALWAYS. 

Do you remember the Cinderella puzzle?  Somewhere in the last two weeks, we went back to the Snow White puzzle we started about nine months ago, toward winter's end. 

 

Spring came shortly thereafter and our schedules kicked into a different gear, leaving this puzzle languishing on the dining room table, seeing only occasional Blossom attention. 



Additionally, this little guy, Rory, came to live with us. 

He discovered two pieces on the floor and promptly chewed them.  We had no way of knowing if he'd eaten any more of them, but we chose to salvage the pieces as best as we could and eventually continue on with the puzzle.

 

 

The cold weather is here!  And, our puzzle drive is back!  Check it out!  All the pieces were still there and we managed to finish it through two weeks' worth of here-and-there work.   (Hint: You have to look HARD to find the Rory-chewed pieces!)

 

 

In a topsy-turvy weekend/week, it was a major highlight, since every time I look at it, I see the hours of quality time spent with the Blossoms.  And that makes me smile.  I'm hopeful they'll catch something good somewhere in that time.

 

PS - They're already talking about the Bambi puzzle!

 

 

 

The Story of Friends in the Kitchen

I was chatting and recently discovered that my neighbor makes a slam-dunk pot pie.  Like real pot pie.  Not a meat pie - a pie crust with gravy and stuff in the middle.  No, a filling thick soup with ham, homemade noodles and homegrown potatoes.  That's real pot pie, straight from Pennsylvania Dutch land. 

Oh man, I love the old recipes that aren't a flash in the pan.  They stick to your gut to make you full.  They simply cannot be imitated by a thirty minute meal.

When Sue suggested that we spend an afternoon together in the kitchen making pot pie, all I could do was grin.  She had her Aunt Inez's recipe and she was willing to share.  Since the Rugged Mountain Man was drooling, we set up the ham pot pie afternoon as soon as possible. 

 

Cooking in the kitchen with friends isn't something I do often.  I mean, there's my Christmas cookie day with my Mom and sister.  There's helping to put the finishing touches on holiday meals, but that's different.  I don't usually think ahead enough to say, "Come over and let's cook together."  I hope to change that in the future.

What an enjoyable afternoon!  We chatted and chatted and chatted.  We even managed not to burn anything. 

I learned a ton of great shortcuts, that only someone truly knowledgeable of their recipe would know.  She used spiral cut smoked ham, so all you do is boil it and take off a few of the hard rind-type pieces.  Throw in the chunked potatoes and move on to the those noodles (or dumplings, if that's your lingo.)

Sue also used a pizza cutter to rapidly cut the homemade noodles.  Impressive. 

Trust me, these noodles BELONG in this pot pie. 



Sue also brought me the best Christmas present ever, except it wasn't Christmas yet.  She brought me a pastry mat!!  As my sister says, "It improves my quality of life," which is mama code for grunt work just became way easier. 

#getapastrymat

Seriously, I've used my brand spankin' new pastry mat for several batches of biscuits and some Stromboli dough since then and grinned happily at the thought of Sue's present to me ever since.  You can bet my female relations are getting pastry mats this year for Christmas. 

I loved the fellowship of cooking in the kitchen.  I loved the learning.  I loved the give and take.  I loved the girls milling about, wanting to be a part of it and interacting with Sue and me in the kitchen.  It seemed like a wholesome picture of a sort of community based back in the home, as it should be.  I felt like we went back to basics - family, friends and good food. 

 

I adore faded and well-loved recipe cards.  When I take a look at them, I revel in the history and the love of family through the years.  I just had to share them with you.

My house smelled amazing.  The menfolk showed up just before it was time to ring the dinner bell.  For some reason, they acted like they didn't want to be stuck with a "bunch of women yakking in the kitchen."  I don't know what in the world they meant by that! 

We filled our bellies, full, full, full amidst the laughter and buzz at the kitchen table.  The Blossoms whole-heartedly approved of Sue's pot pie recipe, as did the Rugged Mountain Man.  I can't wait to do this again! 

Magic Eraser Tour

Hey friends,

I've got a little tip for you today.  You know I love magic erasers and the wonders they perform. 

Every now and again, I will take a "Magic Eraser" tour through the house.  (or, I'll stick one of the older Blossoms on the task.)  Here's my challenge:

Grab your Magic Eraser and spend ten minutes on a Magic Eraser Tour through your habitation.  You'll be surprised at what you can accomplish.  Everything looks a little brighter and tidier afterward.

#mamalifehacks

- Tackle the scuff marks and finger prints around your doorways and doors.  Unless you have super flat paint, you'll be happy you did.  (And, I have a little bit of flat paint on a few walls.  I magic erase the super bad marks anyway.  I'd rather get rid of the really nasty dirt than preserve the paint.)

- Take charge of the switch plates in bathroom, kitchen and beyond.  Smudgy finger prints don't stand a chance.  (If you don't have yucky finger print marks on your switch plates, I don't know what to say.  Do your kids really live in your house or do they live in a tent out back?)

- Destroy scuff marks on your linoleum floors and bathtubs.  Yes, I have scuff marks on my master bathtub.  Why?  It's a super deep soaking tub that is highly entertaining to younger Blossoms while Mommy and the Rugged Mountain Man are getting ready for church or brushing our teeth or something.  So, yes, scuff marks in the bath tub. 

- Obliterate stubborn marks on your white boards!  There's always that film left behind after erasing a white board... I just go over it quick with a damp magic eraser and then a dry rag.  All set to go again!

- Restore desk surfaces to tidy and pretty again.  Markers, crayons, pencils and pens rarely stay only on the paper.  Periodically, I wipe the Blossoms' desk surface and breathe a happy sigh when it all looks as pretty as it did on the first day of school. 

- Wipe out the grime that accumulates on the top, sides and front of your washer and dryer.  The sparkly clean will make you smile, even when throwing another load in!

- Eradicate greasy smudges on your range hood and oven door and handles. 

So, lasso your Magic Eraser and get to it!

Chaos' Cycle

Name: Dominique, of the Countryside

Job Title: Wife-Mother-Teacher-Supervisor

Job Description: To bring chaos to order.

That's what I feel like.  I fight the chaos battle every day.  The closet that descends into chaos, despite its orderly beginnings.  The dresser drawers that were once neat, now just piled.  Toy bins once housing homogenous articles, now becoming a mish-mosh of assorted items.  Tupperware cupboards once carefully sorted, now jumbled and falling out.  Chore routines, usually an organized morning march, now slip-sliding to a hickly-pickly AM scramble.  Behavior, once carefully thought out, now carelessly reflecting the anything goes attitude.  It's this cycle of cleaning up life's messes, maintaining the order for a while and cleaning up the messes again.  Somehow that cycle struck me as so discouraging tonight. 

The beginnings of the chaotic cycle are back in the Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man.  Nothing stays orderly and perfect anymore.  (Personally this is one of my most favorite proofs of the error in evolution's theories.)  Everything descends into chaos.  Everything.  Somehow I have to live with a level of acceptance that my role in this world will be to help bring that chaos to order - over and over again.  I think though that when I come to that acceptance, there's power in it.  Somewhere in there, in trying to bring chaos to order, whether in behavior, chores or cupboards, there's something valuable in doing it to the best of my ability, for God.  I can allow myself a constant discouragement by more chaos, more disorder, more messes.  Or, I can accept that Man sinned.  We live with the effects of it in this fallen world.  But as I clean up every mess, as I strive to go back to a place of order in all of these areas, I look forward.  I hope.  I long for that Day.  That Day and that Place, where the effects of sin are completely absent for all time.  It's a Place where God's order reigns, where His plans are never interfered with again.  It's a Place with no pain, no discouragement, no chaos, no evil.

Perhaps my job description is to bring chaos to order.  In the midst of that, I'll look up and long for that Day.

The Steam Pulls

Hello friends,

Are you enjoying the advent of Autumn, with scarlet leaves and all things pumpkin?  This time of year always reminds me of Proverbs 31, where the virtuous woman smiles at the days ahead.

 Through the generosity of this man, we recently attended a local antique tractor show. 

It turned out to be one of the highlights of our late Summer/Autumn days this year.  I'm really hoping we can make it an annual thing.  After all, they boasted the biggest flea market around (Mommy AND Daddy loved the flea market), as well as tractor pulls and homemade ice cream... this is country entertainment at its finest. 

And then, we discovered the steam pulls.  Steam powered engines pulling the length of the tractor pull track, at night, after much suspense and fanfare.

 

The smells of popcorn wafting in the air, the dew falling in the evening twilight, laughter and neighborly chatter all around as we perch on the grassy hillside, awaiting Daddy's delivery of our French fry and ice cream orders.  All the while, I answer, "When are the steam pulls, Mommy? again and again.  However, I can truly say that it was totally worth waiting for. 

Wow.  Talk about raw power and sheer might.

 

Stand back and cheer, people.  The steam engines are here.  Caught up in the fire of the moment, we stood, whooped and hollered with all the folks surrounding us. 

Those steam engines (circa 1896-1914 and owned by proud local families) surely didn't disappoint.  We capped off the night with a gallon of freshly pressed apple cider.  There were sighs of contentment all around as we clambered into the truck for the drive home. 

Make some memories with your family, friend.  Slow down and savor these special days.  After all, God has given us all things richly - to enjoy.