Good Afternoon

I guess it is about time I return to my blog! I've been busy with so many projects that are all about half finished. The closet is finally arranged as well as possible, but I have decided not to take the door off. I would love to have it off--it would look better-but, that closet is our only 'tornado' shelter when it storms, so I guess it will have to stay.

Our electricity was off and on, off and on all day yesterday, until last night when it finally went out around 9:30 or so. It came back on about 8 o'clock this morning, and we are very thankful for it! We only caught the bottom edge of the terrible ice storm that is moving across this part of the country, but north of us, it is bad. Some people will not have their electricity for days and days.

I want to say a great big thank you to Dana. She was having a big giveaway on her blog and my box of treasures (above) arrived on Saturday. As you can see, she is a very talented artist! She is also a writer, gardener, and blogger, so be sure and visit her! And by the way, Dana, my thoughts and prayers are with everyone up in northwest Arkansas. There is a big job ahead to get it cleaned up and it will be years before it completely recovers.

Back To The Closet

I am back to organizing my bedroom closet. Today I've made more headway~thrown out a few more papers, found some items for the Goodwill, etc. Anything is progress.

I also emptied and removed the shoe rack that hung on the door, as it continually caught on the frame when you tried to shut the door. That means all the shoes had to find another home, which wasn't so bad after I threw out a lot of papers in a small bookcase under my clothes.

I'm also considering taking the closet door off and putting lace curtains over the opening. You have to close the bedroom door to open the closet door, due to poor planning by an amateur house designer (me!). So, if anyone is in the closet and someone else opens the bedroom door, there is a loud bang as the two doors collide together, leaving a lot of scars on the bedroom door. Removing it will also let more air into the closet, which is not vented~also due to poor planning.

I'm sure you are all having much more exciting lives than this~but this is the current news from the cabin, LOL!

R~Mary

Wednesday Afternoon

Good afternoon! I have not been lost in my closet all this time, LOL~just busy with some projects around the house.

Are any of you planning your garden, yet? We went to the saw mill in town yesterday and bought the cedar boards for our square foot gardening boxes. We've never done square foot gardening before, but I purchased the book last year and we've been reading over it since then.

I'm still working on my lists of what I want to get planted this year. I hope to order some seeds from the Baker Creek Seed Company in MO. I'd love to visit their farm, as well, but don't know if we'll get to or not.

If you are interested in square foot gardening, you might enjoy Mel Bartholomew's website.

Happy Gardening!

R~Mary

Winter Reading

Winter is my favorite time of year to read. There is not much to do outside on most days and the house is usually dark and cosy with a nice fire in the wood stove~a perfect set up for an afternoon of reading!

This book, The Gentle Tamers, by Dee Brown, has been very interesting. I love to read about American women's contribution to settling our country. This book is a little different than the usual ones I read. My favorite are letters or diaries, which I find very insightful to the women's way of life, but this book reads more like a biography of various women. It switches between homesteading, pioneer type women and business women, some respectable, some not.

I have a few others in my 'stack to read', so I may be blogging about a few more.

So, what are you reading this winter?

January Rain

January came in sweet and warm, and now she has turned cold again. We had wonderful seventy degree weather on Saturday! Very unusual for this time of year, but I enjoyed the break from the chilly weather. It is cold and raining outside right now and will be that way all day, so this is definitely an indoor day for me.

This morning, I am organizing my closet, or attempting to, anyway. It's a job that won't be completed today. My hubby is making a new bookcase for our bedroom, so after that is finished, I hope to be able to move a few books out of the closet and make it a little bit neater.

This afternoon, I'm planning on a nice cup of tea while I browse through a few magazines in front of the fire.

Stay warm!

Did you have your black eyed peas today? We ate ham, black eyed peas, cornbread, and sweet potato casserole for dinner (lunch) today.

Originally native to Africa, but widely grown in many countries in Asia, the black-eyed pea was introduced into the West Indies and from there to the Southern United States, where it is still a widely used ingredient in soul food and Southern U.S. Cuisine. The planting of crops of black-eyed peas was promoted by George Washington Carver both because, as a legume, it adds nitrogen to the soil and for its nutritional value. Black-eyed peas are an excellent source of calcium (211mg in a 1 cup serving), folate (209mcg), and vitamin A (1,305 IU) among other nutrients.

This "good luck" traditions date back to the U.S. Civil War. Union troops, especially in areas targeted by General William Tecumseh Sherman, would typically strip the countryside of all stored food, crops, and livestock and destroy whatever they couldn't carry away. At that time, Northerners considered "field peas" and corn suitable only for animal fodder, and as a result didn't steal or destroy these humble foods. Many Southerners survived as a result of this mistake. Wikipedia

It has been a beautiful day today. Our temps warmed up to the upper 50s by early afternoon. We split and stacked one load of firewood after lunch, then enjoyed a walk around the property.

I hope you all had a wonderful first day of 2009