Sparky to the Rescue

Hey, if any of you are looking for a last minute gift idea. Clark Griswold has one! (but not this one....for his, I suggest you pop some corn and watch Christmas Vacation). :)

I wanted to buy new blue jeans for one of Jim's Christmas presents, but did not want the hassle of shopping for an item that might end up with another trip to the store in case they didn't fit. Today, not technically the *last minute*, but still feeling under the gun, the light-bulb in my brain went off and the spark ignited an idea for a solution.

As an extra bonus, it also helps in de-cluttering by getting rid of an old pair of cut-offs that is beyond saving. Long past their prime, and even usefulness, they linger unwelcome (like Eddie, Sparky's brother-in-law) in one of Jim's dresser drawers, crowding other pairs of shorts to the point the drawer is hard to open or close, and naturally the whole bunch are wrinkled. 

I think that the cut-off's life had a happy ending because, for one last time, they served a useful purpose by providing a fun way to give Jim a gift card for new jeans. At least, that is what I hope he'll buy with it....*spoiler alert*...when Jim gets gift cards, he usually buys socks. He currently has two drawers that are full of socks from Cabela's because he thinks their clothes are too expensive. Go figure.

Here's how I re-purposed the cut-off jeans into a gift card holder:

After struggling to wrestle them out of the drawer, I freed the front pocket with a pair of shearers. Next I spray starched and ironed the pocket to make it look as good as possible (epic fail, nothing could improve this sad, sad pair of old work jeans).

The gift card was tucked in the small upper pocket (what is that normally used for, anyway?).








(Why does this post have so much text in parenthesis?) 

(Because this is a secret, and when I use parenthesis I feel as if I am whispering...shhh....).

Maybe this little idea will spark your imagination, too, for fun ways to give gift cards. If you have any old jeans that need to move out of your house, give them one last time to shine :)

Marcheta *Clark: "you're pretty set so far as shopping goes?"                             Marcheta: ("You betcha, Sparky!")
               

Flashback Friday - Inexpensive Halloween Decorating Idea

A blast from the past with Flashback Friday!

Hi All, 

This idea is so much fun, I decided to re-run it by you again. I know that it's just about time to pack Halloween decorations away for the season *sob* (hate to see them go), it is a good time to purchase plastic pumpkins if you plan to use this idea next year.

Since decorating this tree with plastic pumpkins two years ago, the population has almost doubled.  Maybe you're wondering why. Ponder no more: it's because at this time of year plastic pumpkins are extremely inexpensive, so naturally I had to buy more. Nowadays, this extreme orangeness brightens up our woods for our annual Halloween party. 

But even if you don't need, say, 100 plastic pumpkins (storage can be a problem, I must admit), it is still well worth it to buy a dozen or so to decorate a tree or make a banner by stringing them together with twine. 

I enjoyed revisiting this post. I hope that you do, too.

Marcheta *color my world orange

The "Trick" to this "Treat"

Pretty good for a crab-apple tree, huh? Sprouting plastic Jack-o-Lanterns just like it's Halloween time, or something like that!

This is not an original idea; I saw one somewhere last fall and thought it was brilliant because the multiple Jacks are so large that they are easily seen from a distance, and when seen up close and personal, they're downright impressive! 

I was inspired to do this at our own home, so I set out for my local Goodwill where I found a good amount of plastic pumpkins (the kind that kids use for trick or treating) for 50 cents each, which makes this decorating idea even more awesome. I found even more at another Goodwill, which made enough to fill the tree as far up as we could reach with our tall orchard ladder.

When the sun shines at just the right angle, it lights up the lanterns with solar energy, which is really cool. Maybe this year I'll buy some small solar lights and place them in the pumpkins to see if they will glow at night or on dark days. 

Installment was easy, I simply used chenille stems wrapped around the handles, and then around the tree limbs. Simple and satisfying!

Marcheta *Shine on, Orange Lantern

Orchard Babies Quiz Answers

How many did you answer correctly?

Here's my grading scale: everyone gets an "E" for Effort!



This is a baby pear. It should be fully grown around August 10th.

This fuzzy little guy is a peach, basking in the sun until it becomes ripe in late July/early August.








This baby will change color from green to purple when it is a ripe plum, again around the end of July or early August.






Last but not least are these Yellow Delicious apples. They'll be ready in mid to late September :)

So there you have it; four orchard babies just hangin' out until harvest :)

Why are the "due dates" kinda iffy? That's because each season our fruit is ready to harvest a bit earlier. Global warming? I don't know...but it has been interesting to witness the fruit coming to fruition earlier and earlier over the years, leading up to now when some trees are almost a month ahead of schedule.

Marcheta *just hangin' around until harvest, too 

Orchard Babies and a Pop Quiz

 

People usually know how an orchard looks in the Spring when it is in full, fragrant bloom.

And like-wise in Autumn, equally fragrant with fruit, ripe for the picking.

But what about the dash between  the Spring-Autumn connection?

Well, mostly the orchard looks green. It is full of leaves. It takes a closer inspection to find out what is going on.

Protected in the full leaves are the beginnings of apple crisps, plum kuchens, pear pies, and peach cobblers. Or, if you please, apple cobblers, pear kuchens, plum pies, and peach crisps. :)


Here's the quiz...can you guess the names of these babies?


Stay tuned for answers....

Marcheta *Fruit Mama

PS. What is your favorite fruit dessert?

If Barns Could Talk

This barn makes me smile every time that I see it, which is almost daily because it is near the reservoir where I love to take nature walks with my camera.   I love its Mona Lisa type of grin, which makes me wonder what memories it could share if it were able to talk. How many haying seasons has it housed in it's big loft. What kinds of animals found shelter in those orange walls. And..really, why was it painted orange in the first place?

My own memory about this barn is from a beautiful autumn day many years ago. The owners had a country shop in it, named, of course, The Orange Barn. My mother-in-law took me to a special event hosted by the business. It was the first time I had warmed apple cider, complete with a cinnamon stick for stirring. Such a lovely, simple drink to warm the hands and heart on a cool day. And spending the afternoon there was a nice way of getting to know Marge better.

As I drive around the countryside, I notice that many barns and outbuildings seem to have "faces" as this one does. I usually cannot photograph them because of traffic, or because I need to keep driving in order to get to my destination in time. But, because I think that faces in barns would be a nice collection, I am going to put more effort into recording them before they all disappear, only to be replaced by nondescript metal buildings.

Where do you find "faces"?  Do you record them with your camera? If not..what's holding you back?

Marcheta *about face!

Logging On, Country Style

This year Winter is hesitant to say "goodbye".  This means extra effort is needed to stay warm. Here's Jim "logging on", dragging logs from the woods to cut into fire wood for our wood furnace. 

I am pretty sure that Jim will be glad when chores like this one become a distant memory.  But for today...Old Man Winter has painted a beautiful landscape with his crystals, maybe for the last time before the Old Sol decides to stop loafing and do a proper job of warming the Earth. I am enjoying the beauty today...soon enough everything will be sloppy and muddy. 

Make no mistake, I am tired of the cold, too. That's why I am grateful that I am able to "log on" via this computer from the comfort of my warm home, thanks to Jim's outdoor work. :)

Marcheta *logging off

Happy New Year!

Here we are at the 2018 edition of New Year.

I've declared this one as the Year of Adventure!

To kick-start my intention, we braved the (extremely!) cold weather and took back country roads to Mohican State Forest.

Hoar Frost on trees, New Year's Day 2018

Many times, when most water is frozen, a plenitude of eagles will be fishing the running waters of the Mohican River. The covered  bridge is an excellent viewing area. I was hoping that eagles would be there and in a mood for having their portraits taken.

We saw an eagle cruising down the river a few miles before we entered the forest, raising my hopes and filling me with anticipation of taking great Nat Geo worthy photos.

It was not meant to be.

The waters near the bridge must have been fished out, sending eagles elsewhere for dinner.

BUT

All was not lost. We saw many hawks, deer, and other wildlife, including these turkeys. 

Jim especially likes to see turkeys in the wild and asked me to take a picture. These dudes were pretty far away, and I was inside the running car (vibrations make it difficult to get clear pictures), but I gave it my best effort. More of a documentation than an interesting photo, I printed this picture and taped it to Jim's desk as a reminder that Adventures are Important. Why? For me, finding the unexpected gives the day "just enough" adrenaline to offset mundane chores.


Plus, adventures make me feel happy.

And happy is good!

My very best wishes for a Happy New Year to all my family, friends, and blog readers. Let's make 2018 the Best Year of our lives!

You in?

Marcheta *you betcha!

Country Girl Convert: Part 3

***Disclaimer***

This post was set to auto publish on July 22, but for some reason it didn't :(


I can't say that this last installment of Rachel's story is the conclusion because her journey did not end with these words. Like all of us, Rachel is living a life that is in constant  progress.

Marcheta *ever onward

 

Country Girl Convert: From the city to the country one day at a time Part 3

And the air – the air was crisp and sweet every morning, not like the smog-filled dusty air we tried to breath in the city.

My husband built a desk for me by a window so I could write each evening after supper. I was able to finish my first novel in nine months.

We sat outside listening to the evening noises, swatting the few mosquitoes that made it past the yard spray and rejoiced at the absence of arguing neighbors, bright lights and sirens.

We thanked God for good neighbors who helped us, accepted us for who we were, gave us lots of free advice from years of country experience and knew our names instead of neighbors who ignored us, avoided us and told us in no uncertain terms that we had too many children.

No one complained about the dead car in our driveway. No one called the cops because of a fight in the upstairs apartment. No rental manager gave us a letter saying baby number three was not an option at this establishment – only two kids per apartment. No gang kids knifed our tires or broke into our cars. No rebellious teens walked past our house smoking dope, yelling obscenities.

I wanted out of the city to escape the noise, the crime, the danger. But I realize now, looking back on 20 years of country living I traded even-up for incessant tree frogs, raccoons and poison ivy. But that's fine by me. Tree frogs sing for a season. Sirens are year-round.

Now, on lonely nights when I can't sleep, I open a window in the living room and sleep on the couch, glancing at the picture window watching for a moth, listening to the semi trucks going by on the highway and remembering the good times at my grandmother's house.

Dreams are hard work. But they are worth it.

Bio

Rachel H.T. Mendell lives in Morrow County, Ohio. The family raises rabbits, chickens and cats, puts in a large garden each year and plants lots of trees. Rachel can be reached by emailing mendell.rachel7@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this article you can see others like it on her blog Domestic Mobility (http://www.domesticmobility.blogspot.com) and her website Rachel H.T. Mendell (http://www.rachelhtmendell.com).

 

Country Girl Convert: Part 2

Today guest blogger Rachel Mendell continues her story of how she and her family adjusted to country life after years of urban existence.

Marcheta *learning a thing or two :)



Country Girl Convert: From the city to the country one day at a time. Part 2

“Let's get chickens!” suggested my husband one day. I was less than excited. I was exhausted. Chickens would be one more thing on a long list of duties I couldn't keep up with. He talked of his dreams as well, “running a few head” of cows, pigs, “maybe even goats.” All I could think of was the stench of the dead raccoon deposited by a high-velocity truck right next to our mail box and imagined living with similar smells for the rest of my life.

And the garden... Gardens to me were nicely tilled forever patches to plant seeds in every year. Our reality was six to ten inches of solid sod to cut through before a vegetable bed could even be ready to prepare.

Yes, I was immature. Yes, I had been starry eyed.

Then one day I sat and had a long heart to heart with myself. This was my dream. Yes, the dream had been unrealistic, but I sure didn't want to move back to town or give up on making something of the property we had worked so hard to buy.

So I wrote. I scribbled the 10 levels of wind velocity I charted in my head – from lovely warm breeze suitable for laundry hanging (1) to icy-cold-rip-the-neighbor's-tree-down-and-throw-it-in-our-driveway wind (10).  I found inspiration in the orb spiders that created little parachutes to travel to places unknown. I pondered the pros and cons of our naturally really hard water versus mechanically produced soft water.

And I worked. I dug holes for trees – one hole for every four that Dave dug. I planted pines, oaks and apple trees. I cut weeds. I went for long walks around the property gathering specimens and using library books to identify strange and wonderful grasses and flowers. We put in a garden that did okay.

And when things got tough I thought about my high school days dodging drug dealers and prostitutes on my way home from school in inner city Phoenix. If I could do that, I sure could run off the dogs from who-knows-where that came to see what we were up to. If I could stand up to a drug pusher and say “no,” I sure could brandish my broom and scare away curious critters.

And I realized one day that we were winning back the land. A little bit at a time I could see civilization forming. We carved a front and back lawn out of a five-plus acre weed patch. We built a fire ring for roasting hamburgers and marshmallows. The boys were building tree forts in the old trees by themselves. The girls were dressing barbies in leaves and flowers. My children learned respect for the hunters who asked permission to track deer through our back lot in the fall. We shared the wonder of new bird song, new flowers every spring, new bugs, snakes, frogs … and even a weasel. I found wild black raspberries, dew berries, blackberries and elderberries – free food if I could brave the creatures who were willing to share with me.

 

Bio

Rachel H.T. Mendell lives in Morrow County, Ohio. The family raises rabbits, chickens and cats, puts in a large garden each year and plants lots of trees. Rachel can be reached by emailing mendell.rachel7@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this article you can see others like it on her blog Domestic Mobility (http://www.domesticmobility.blogspot.com) and her website Rachel H.T. Mendell (http://www.rachelhtmendell.com).

 

Country Girl Convert

For the next few days I will be sharing the story of the power of determination. This is guest blogger Rachel's account of the journey her family took from city life to country life. And, as most journey's start, it all began with a dream.

 

A BIG dream!

 

I know that you'll enjoy reading Rachel's story as much as I did :)

 

Marcheta *lover of Big Dreams

 

 

 

CountryCountry Girl Convert: From the city to the country one day at a time

By Rachel H.T. Mendell

When I was a little girl growing up in the small town of Kimberly, Wisconsin, I used to love visiting my grandmother in the country a few miles from Waupaca. She lived right on the highway so it was easy to find. She enjoyed on 40 acres of meadow and woods so there was plenty to do. She kept a garden path mowed for us to walk to the scattered apple trees and the line of plum bushes without having to battle high weeds. There was a little slope next to her screened in porch that we would sled down in the summer using flattened cardboard boxes. I wanted to live there forever and cried when we had to go home.

Inside my grandmother's house was a mysterious collection of books, art supplies, old furniture, moth-balled closets and musty basement. It was a glorious place to visit and I looked forward to my one week alone with her each summer. I got to sleep on the cozy living room couch. On warm nights she kept the porch door open so I could listen to the tree frogs, night birds and the occasional passing semi. Somehow hearing those trucks going by comforted me. Sometimes, when I was afraid of the dark, she would leave the lamp by the large front window lit. And that produced even more wonders, including a large mint Luna Moth resting on the glass trying to get to the light.

When my family moved to Phoenix I mourned the end of my Gramma's House Days. I loved the desert and still do, but I missed the green everywhere and the snow and the seasons.

When Dave and I got married, we both dreamed of living in the country. I wanted to live in a house like my grandmother's. He wanted to live on a farm like his uncle's.

Then, in 1997, we realized our dream. There we were, atop a hill, drinking well water and having bonfires every night.

The honeymoon lasted a week – tops. The reality of country living hit me hard, so hard that I began to regret my dream, so hard that I complained about my new house. Poison ivy plagued me and the children. Dave was gone 10-12 hours every day because he still worked in Columbus. The dead groundhog began to stink – we figured it was killed when the construction men back-filled over the foundation. The push mower was too heavy for me to mow more than 20 minutes at a time so the yard was composed of tall weeds. Then there was the cleaning, cooking, tick inspection, thorns from the hawthorn bushes embedded in balls, evil bugs like yellow jackets, long shopping trips, library trips for overdue fines … a million trips “to town” to get what I needed. And mud. So. Much. Mud.

This was hard. Really hard.

Bio

Rachel H.T. Mendell lives in Morrow County, Ohio. The family raises rabbits, chickens and cats, puts in a large garden each year and plants lots of trees. Rachel can be reached by emailing mendell.rachel7@gmail.com. If you enjoyed this article you can see others like it on her blog Domestic Mobility (http://www.domesticmobility.blogspot.com) and her website Rachel H.T. Mendell (http://www.rachelhtmendell.com).