At Home in Wyoming

356 And Counting...

A western Christmas tree, made out of sagebrush.  Kinda pretty, isn't it?  Just the thing to grace one of the cabins at Old Trail Town...

Have you bought your datebook for 2012 yet?  If you are super organized, you probably bought it in November...and because you are so organized this post will be useless to you.

BUT...if you are poorly organized, absent minded or just plain a mess, you were probably standing in line at Walmart buying one today.  Like me!  If that is the case, I am going to give you some advice that will have you loving me next December.

Flip to December 2012, and jot down what worked and didn't work for you over the holidays, before you forget.  For instance, my sister found that going through her spice cabinets and pantry in November saved her time...she was able to stock up on her holiday baking needs before the rush, and didn't waste time running back and forth to the store. 

BUT her boys gobbled up all her cut out cookies before Christmas (as teenage boys are prone to do), and she ran out of cookies Christmas Eve. She ended up missing Christmas Eve service to roll dough, because Christmas wouldn't have been Christmas without the cut out cookies for one of her sons.  

NOW we now why our mother baked her cookies in quanity in November, and bedded them down in the deep freeze.  Next year she is going to try that...and join a Christmas Club at the bank.

OK, now you get the picture.  What worked, what didn't...and what you will change next year.

While you are at it...what were you out of that you need to buy next year?  Did some of your Christmas lights burn out?  Did you deplete your wrapping paper stash, or need more hooks to hang bulbs?  Whatever it is, jot it down. 

As you are out and about this month, you will find that stuff for 75% off...I know it is hard to have the stomach to buy more red wreath ribbons in January, but come December 2012 you will be happy that you did.

So that's it, that's my advice.  Take it or leave it, but remember...

It is just 356 days till Christmas!

 

 

Score At The Junk Store

Major score at the junk shop last week...these cute little holly dessert plates and cups...all for the bargain basement price of 4 bucks. 

This photograph is so dark that you can't see the little holly berries, so I am going to try to lighten it up for you.

There, now you can see the little holly berries on the cup and plate.

Sweet, aren't they?   DLB

Relax

The day after Christmas...nothing more to bake, to buy, to mail, to trim, to deck...enjoy it folks!  Just think, in just 365 days, we are going to have to do it all over again!

Hope your Christmas was Merry!   DLB

Storm Warning

I heard on the news this morning that there is a new trend in America.  It seems that many women are going back to the old ways of what the newscasters referred to as domesticity. 

Women are canning again (the sales of canning jars leaped 37% this year), and knitting things.  Actually cooking.  Growing their own food and stocking up their pantry.

The news reporters were aghast.  What happened to feminism?  Were women losing everything that they gained?

I can argue the gains and the losses of feminism until the cows come home, but that is not what I want to talk about here.  In fact, I think that the news report is missing the point entirely.

I think the trend is more toward self sufficiency then domesticity.

It is getting a little spooky out there.  Gas prices are rising, food prices are skyrocketing...and unemployment is running rampant.  As I heard a preacher say a few weeks ago, the party in America is over, we just don't know it yet.

What part of broke doesn't America understand?

But if the trend toward gardening and canning is any clue, then I think that American women are beginning to figure it out.  Storm clouds are gathering.  The winds of change are whipping those clouds around.  And many women are turning back to what their grandparents and great grandparents did during the depression.

They scrimped, saved and worked.  They PREPARED for uncertain times.  They saved in good times so that they could survive the bad times.  They did what they could, and I believe that God honors that.

Proverbs 31:21 states:  "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

Do you know why she could laugh?  A little later in that chapter it states that she 'fears God'.  She is not out there going it alone, she is seeking His counsel and wisdom.  And the rest of the chapter bears out that she is not sitting on her behind, waiting for the sky to fall.  She is busy at her task, or as verse 27 says, "She watches over the affairs of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness." 

We can't control the future, but we can prepare the best we can as God leads us.  Then we too can 'laugh at the days to come'.

The storm clouds are gathering.  Have you prayed and asked God is there is anything that you should be doing to prepare?

 

Hello Dolly

 
This photograph was taken at Beck Lake, one of the little parks within the city limits of Cody.  Past this clearing the weeds were all mashed down...which means that the deer have been bedding down here at night.  I wouldn't mind bedding down here myself...it looks so cozy!

I wanted to do something nice for my husband today, because he fixed my vacuum cleaner by finding a big ole plug of dog hair that was stuck in a place where I couldn't find it.

I have a dog, it is shedding season...enough said.  I cannot function without that vacuum cleaner.  Dog owners out there will know what I mean.

Anyway, one of his favorite treats (my husband, not my dog) are the Hello Dolly Bars at Peter's Cafe.  So I hunted around and found a recipe and made them today.

They are easy, easy, easy...so I thought I would pass this along.

 

HELLO DOLLY BAR COOKIES

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chocolate chips (I used the miniature ones)

1 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts just because it was what I had, and I liked it better than pecans)

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

 

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Mix the melted butter and the graham cracker crumbs and press firmly into an 8 inch square pan

Add the flaked coconut and spread over the graham cracker crust, then do a layer of chocolate chips, and then a layer of nuts.

Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the top.

Bake 30 minutes.  Cool in pan.  Cut into squares.

 

My husband liked them even better than Peter's 'Hello Dolly' bars, and almost as much as his eclairs.

I said almost. 

I have never yet found anything better than Peter's chocolate eclairs, and would never be able to top them, no matter how much dog hair he drags out of that old vacuum!

 

Flowers In A Pinch

 
If you are in a pinch for flowers to arrange this summer, don't forget the lowly little petunia.  They are not usually the flowers that you think of for arrangements, but they are colorful and last forever...and make a sweet little country bouquet by a bedside table.

You've probably got them anyway, they are cheap...so what's not to love?

Spring Cleaning, Month by Month

 
I hate boring fireplace mantels, so I decorate the one in my living room according to the month.  This is January's offering, of  some plastic elk hanging out under a snowflake tree.  And don't say I need to get a life...it is 3 degrees outside, and I would rather do this than think about how DADBURN COLD it is outside!

Are you one of those people that do spring cleaning?

I always wanted to be one of those people that cleaned the house from top to bottom each spring, but I never could actually make myself do it.  I used to blame it on my job, but when I quit working outside the home, I realized that was just a feeble excuse.

Then I decided I would do fall cleaning instead.  It made more sense, because the windows would be shut and all the dirt would not blow in when the wind came up. 

But then I found that the problem with fall cleaning is that it happens IN THE FALL.  When the air is like wine, and you want to enjoy every minute outside before it is 4 degrees again.

Finally, I hit on a simple way to spring clean my house, but not in the spring.  This works for me, so I will pass it along to you, in case you are having trouble with this.

Each January I get out the calendar, and pick out a room and assign it a month.  Whatever needs done in that room, (washing the walls, painting the walls, cleaning the carpet, steam cleaning the furniture, cleaning out the closet or the drawers, etc.) gets done in that month.  I match the hardest rooms to the winter months because I have more time. 

The reason this works for me is because it is flexible.  For example, if I have a crisis or something unexpected pops up to claim a lions share of my time, I will switch a harder room with more to do for the easier and less time consuming front or upstairs hall. 

Or if I have a month where I can't get any deep cleaning in at all, I free that month up and then combine the room I was supposed to have done with an easy room the next month. 

I feel kind of silly passing that along, but running a home is sometimes hard to figure out, and if something works for me, it may work for you too.  So I passed it along for you to regard, or disregard...as you please!

Dreary Weather, Tulips and A Green Pea Salad

The weather has been chilly, windy, mostly cloudy and has spit snow off and on for the last few days...but inside my tulips bloomed, providing a note of cheer on such a dreary day. 

I have been looking for recipes for side salads, something different.  I found this one in a Paula Deen magazine, and we had it for lunch today along with marinated tenderloin and chicken and broccoli rice.  My husband and I really liked this salad, so I will pass along the recipe to you. 

Green Pea Salad

2 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed

1 hard boiled egg, chopped (I used three because we like hard boiled eggs)

3 strips cooked and crumbled turkey bacon  ( I used 6 strips of regular bacon that was peppered)

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 tablespoons reduced fat mayonnaise ( I used regular mayo as that is what I had on hand, but since I added extra eggs and bacon I used a little bit more mayo)

1 tablespoon chopped shallot (I used green onion, I never could figure out what a shallot was)

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar (I used just regular old wine vinegar because again, it was what I had on hand)

In a large bowl, combine peas, egg, bacon, bell pepper, mayonnaise, shallot, and vinegar. (I mixed the vinegar and mayo first, then combined it with the other stuff). Toss gently to combine.  Serve immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Time To Clean

We were surprised this morning to see about four inches of snow that fell last night...coating my bare lilac branches with what looks like bunches of white cotton balls...now I am so glad that I haven't packed up the Christmas decorations yet...I love looking at the outside wreaths heavy with snow.

Reindeer adorning the kitchen fireplace (which is actually an old mantel that I scavenged...and put a space heater in to help deal with kitchen drafts) that are about to say 'good-bye' until next Christmas...the storage box awaits them!

 

 I am not an organized person.  Let me amend that, I am the LEAST organized person that I know!  So come the start of a new year, I trot out my new datebook, and try to start sketching out a framework for the new year.

While I was doing that, I thought I would share with you an idea about Spring cleaning that worked for me.  If you are an organized homemaker, just tune this one out.  I am speaking to those of you that get easily sidetracked...

When I married and moved to Wyoming, we lived in a tiny little town of about 400 people (mostly my husband's relatives).  Almost all were farmer's wives...and all kept house in a very traditional way.  Each spring their houses were turned inside out...carpets were vacuumed, curtains were washed, walls were scrubbed, furniture was shampooed, windows were washed...well, you get the picture.  The men were better off staying in the barn for those few weeks...spring cleaning was done with an almost religious fever!

And I tried that...but it seemed silly to me to have a house not comfortable to live in for weeks at a time...plus cleaning in Spring, right before you open the windows for the summer for all the dirt to blow in was sort of a waste of time.  I tried doing Fall cleaning...but it collided with harvesting the garden, so that didn't work.  I went to the Library and actually got books about setting up housekeeping and your whole life with 3x5 cards...until my husband noticed that I spent all my time making cards and no time left to clean!  Finally, I stumbled on a routine that worked for me

When I get my datebook the first of every year, I write down which room/rooms I will clean each month.  For instance, January is the downstairs bathroom and the mudroom, February is the dining room, and so on.  Some rooms are tiny and I can do two in one month.  The kitchen I always schedule two months for because I have to wipe out the shelves, etc.  Then, during the month as I do my regular housecleaning, I sort of divide up the deep cleaning chores.  One week I may take down the curtains and wash the windows, another week shampoo the carpet or wash the walls...whatever needs done in that one room during that one month.  I try to schedule the rooms that need the most work during the slower months...I will not tackle the living room during the busy holiday season, or the month we plant or harvest the garden, for example. 

I have tried all the complicated ways, but for an unorganized homemaker like me...this simple way works the best!  DLB

 

 

Too Much Stuff!

After a few weeks of cold weather, Cody is warming to the 70's and 80's for the rest of the week.  There is still time to brush those fall leaves off the table and enjoy meals outside again...

I can remember the day that my parents told me that my grandmother (we called her Nanny) and grandfather (Grampy) were going to move from the house that they lived in ever since I could remember, into a house much smaller.  I remember Nanny saying that her house was too much to take care of at this stage in her life. 

Now, I loved that house.  I can still see the swing under the apple tree in the back yard, the deer that would come through checking out the garden.  I remember that the bottom floor of that house always smelled like apples...I can smell it in my mind to this day.  I remember thinking that they were making a terrible mistake, because some things were just worth working for.  I thought maybe the move was because Nanny had such exacting standards of housekeeping...

Now, I am in my 50's and I know better.  Nanny must have been pooped!  Although we did not use the word back then, Nanny and Gramps were downsizing!

Somewhere in your 50's, when your children are on their own and it is just your husband and yourself, you get tired of caring for belongings...and rooms...that you no longer use.  You start to realize that life on this earth is not endless, and do you really want to spend your remaining time and precious energy cleaning and caretaking things that you probably won't use anymore?  In Ecclesiastes 3:1 the Bible says,

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"

and verse 6 states:

"A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;"

Guess what, folks?  I think I have hit my time to cast away.  Each day I have a goal, and that is to fill up a plastic trash bag with belongings that I no longer find to be useful or beautiful, and I am giving away what is still usable, and throwing away what is not.  I am ruthless...if I have not used that vase in 5 years than it is history.  The wooden rocker with the broken arm that I thought maybe I would get fixed is gone, along with kitchen gadgets that I never used and books that I cared to read once, (and once was enough). Stuff that I have been storing for the kids I am in the process of packing off to them.

I can't tell you how good this is making me feel.  I am bringing order to closets and drawers, and I have room now for items that I treasure or still use.  I feel lighter somehow...probably the way Nanny did when she downsized and knew that she was no longer the caretaker of stuff that no longer fit her life.  Now there is more space in my life, more time to spend having coffee with a friend, or watching my grandchild.  I am not ready to downsize to the point where I sell this creaky old house...yet... but the day will probably come when I realize that, like Nanny, it is just too much for me.  And that doesn't scare me the way it used to.  There is a time 'for every purpose under heaven'.

All this to say to you younger woman readers...the seasons in your life will change.  Change is hard for a lot of people, especially me.  But when you embrace the change, it can be freeing.  And a lot less cluttered!

I am excited about my 'time to cast away'.  If you get a chance, read Ecclesiastes 3 and try to figure out what season you are in, going into...or heading out of.  And know that whatever the season, God will be there with you.  Everything else in your life will change, but God never does.  His constancy will anchor you in the shifting sands of the seasons of your life.  DLB