enduring winter

I haven't posted in 3 months?!?!? atrocity!.. 

If you are still reading this, I guess you got over it. We have been making some decisions lately. Some big- taking the family on a cruise this June. Some bigger- bought a 95 Jeep Wrangler as a "fun" car- but probably the biggest is building a garage.

You wouldn't think that building a garage is a big deal, but when it goes past your imagination and into reality it is such a big deal. Where exactly are you going to put it? How big are you going to make it? What is it going to look like? Now for the four years that we have owned this house, I have fantaszied about this garage. I thought I had it all figured out, then implematation struck.

My brother #4 has done cement and concrete work for several years. I let him recommend who we should use for the foundation. Hubby and I have no idea what we are doing so imagine our surprise when we get the estimate on how much just the foundation will cost. After much freaking out on our part and reworking the size and location on the contractors part, we have come to some sort of agreement on what will work.  

Now onto the actual building. Brother #1 told us to go to our local building supply store and talk to Bernie.  Again, hubby and I have no clue what we are doing so when Bernie tells us its $65 a square for vinyl siding, we went home and did the math assuming he meant a square = 1 yard. We were so glad we were wrong, that a "square" = 100 square feet.  So after all is said and done, we are on budget for the upcoming garage.

One problem I have with it all is my antique lilac bush will need to be moved. This scares me so much. What if it doesn't survive? We are talking a bush that is at least 65 years old with the most beautiful, fragrant flowers you ever witnessed. I would weep if it should perish.  This single plant is what helps get me through winter. It is the flower I pined for most when I lived in the south and scheduled my wedding around its blooms. I know I can always plant a new one or get a shoot from someone else's bush, but it just wouldn't be the same. I would pout and be moody like a spoiled child if I was to lose it. 

My Mother's mother had gorgeous lilacs. The house I live in now was her brother's/my great uncle. Every spring when we went to grandma's on Sundays we would come home with bouquets of lilacs, peonies and roses.  I still think of her when I smell them.

I do have my daffodils and hyacinths blooming with tulips soon to follow. I saw sprouts forming on my Jacob's Ladder and  hydrangeas Spring really is the reason we endure winter. Savor every moment!

Exciting day today, I got to pick up the ham and bacon I had cured at our local processing place beside Dairy Queen! I can't wait to delve into it. Easter ham, spring greens with bacon dressing, plus all the pork chops, ribs, roasts and sausage I already have in my freezer.I would assume that it was organic since the pigs only eat the food/corn my brother grows on his farm. Thank God I won a large freezer from that estate auction! I may be adding beef to the collection next month.
After having a week of questionable weather, we are blessed with a day of full on sunshine! Hope for spring!  If you look at the sky you could almost believe it is warm outside. I plan on sending the kidlets out to play when they are done with their homework.The pond ice is too rough for them to skate. So sled riding is on the agenda.  Nothing like some fresh air to wear them out.  They are finally back at school today after having two snow days. Tomorrow is Grandparents day at their school so they will spend an afternoon at my moms with their other cousins. My sister#4 and SIL both send their kids to the same school as I. It is a catholic school but no plaid anything or any other uniforms. It is a country school with christian values. They could go to public school, it would save us money, but we really feel like its the best choice.

Busy Signal

I've been off for a while.. no real reason, just nothing to say. Maybe its the winter crap. Warmer weather is on its way. The couple of inches of ice is slowly receding off the driveway. The kids have gone to school every day for a week!!  So many strange (for us) stories.  

I had a a friend call me the other day and asked if we had internet access (who doesn't), and if I could be online and the phone at the same time? After I said yes, they asked me to look up something, then recited a email address....  This is 2011 right? This is someone who has kids in the same school as mine, and a completely functioning member of society. They did confess that they do not have a computer at home and with their work, never really needed one. I forget too how some places here don't have a choice of cable or satellite, much less cell phone coverage. We tell people not to text us because our phones don't work in our house.

Its funny how our lives have changed. How many people don't text?  We do crazy things here. We pick up our lan line phones and call people. Sometimes we go over and talk to them. Crazy, huh!?!?!   If you  want to talk to my dad, you better go and see him. Not a chatty phone kind of guy. Our basement has a rotary phone in it, original to the home.  I love it!! 

small towns are sometimes a wonderful utopia lost in time

Yesterday was an interesting day. No school for the kids, but girl6 and I were kicking butt on some much needed cleaning. Boy4 was recovering from a weekend of high fevers and vomiting only to be told he has strep. The boys were getting restless and cabin fever was setting in. A superhero came to my rescue when he offered to take my boy10 to play  hockey over at my brothers. Since he had 4wheel drive I said go for it. Later, my neighbor came by and asked to borrow our snow blower. He cleaned out our driveway first then did his. We never had this kind of "pop in" social interactions. No phone call just swing by and ask. My hubby gave my neighbor grief for taking care of our driveway, but all he said in reply "Just my way of saying thanks". Small towns are sometimes a wonderful utopia lost in time.

Through all the chaos of snow days., my hubby still has to work from a home office. It is extremely hard to do on snow days because most of the time the kids are stuck in the house and left to their own entertainment. How to annoy your siblings seems to be a favorite choice. 3 seems to be a toxic mix when it comes to children. Sure, they may get along for a little bit, but it is not long before one of them comes crying because things are not working out for them. How did those large families of our ancestors do it? this is a question I asked my mom earlier this week. Recently two of my have been to the doctor for strep. With nine kids, how did she handle when we were all sick? Simply put, they weren't all about taking us to the doctor or even checking our temperature. I never took amoxocillin or went to the doctor if I didn't feel good. If we were sick she would make us lay around  the TV she wouldn't have to clean beds over and over again. If we weren't feverish, throwing up, or some other obvious illness, we went to school. Can't say as I blame her.

Whether we like it or not.

Crazy days and crazy nights. The weather has not been the most cooperative lately. It is February and this is what it does. Today being Groundhog's Day, the weather gave us a sampling of everything! It rained, thundered, the sun shone for a minute and now it is snowy and windy.  

"Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot, we'll weather the weather whatever the weather, whether we like it or not!" 

Old Phil did say spring is on its way as did the farmers almanac. Forgive me if I don't rush out and start planting just yet.I get my advice from mom and dad.  My folks do pay attention to the farmers almanac as well as certain times to do things and old wives tales. They are funny. I love that when they make saurkraut (yes they cut their own), that it depends on the phases of the moon. or "Rain before 7 done by 11" 

Gardening is their life. I love what they have done. My mom brags about a meal she made for "free" just by using the things they put up. There is nothing like these gloomy days to open a mason jar full of tomatoes that you canned in august. Its like opening a jar of sunshine! My kids prefer the green beans we blanched and froze  in the summer to anything the store has to offer. Don't even get me started on jam! Canning and "putting up" is new to me. I never did it much it all the places we use to live. I remember my mom slaving for hours working on fruits, vegetables, and sometimes meat,(canned venison and salmon). This year she even added bread to her canning shelf.

It is funny how food can carry so many memories. A tomato fresh from the garden will always bring me back to my childhood. the food I make is the same as what was made by my mother. Meat and potatoes, I don't know if its my German heritage or Irish, Its just pretty damn good!

My own Brigadoon

Had a great time skating at my brother's pond yesterday. It was just my kids and some neighborhood boys. We played until dark. Are there other places like that, where random people from the community can skate on a pond? No regulations, planned events, insurance...
My parents talk about their generation always doing this. How they would all walk to a local pond to skate. It was a "hangout", they would build a fire and just make a day of it. Our day at my brothers isn't much different. Am I in a generation behind or is this like that old movie Brigadoon, a place that is stuck in time.
In a lot of ways our small town is like that. People may come and go, but so much stays the same. Events remain the same from generation to generation. Some may ask why, but the answer is always the same... Its what we always do.
The homes people live in our still called by the original owners name, no matter who lives there now. My house included. A lot of people are called the same nicknames that  their parents have/had.  I would guess at least half the population have one, some obvious, others, not so much. Of course we have a "tiny" who isn't, or  a Bud, or Butch, etc. but so many others are "just because that's what they call him" , My grandfather had a nickname for everyone. Some, he was the only one who called them that. I didn't realize that Pickle was his brother, he was always just Pickle. 
I guess we fall into standard small town familiarity. We are blessed that we know everyone. we are cursed because they all know us too.

a simple life

Today is the first day I have all 3 kids at school since last Thursday! Hubby is out of town, boy10 is over his illness, girl6 has been on antibiotics for strep and is ready to go back, and my boy 4.... well, he's back at school too.
Hubby has been in STL for work this week, So today is the first day I am home alone in months. So how do a celebrate such a momentous occasion? A quick shower and shopping with Mom.
I love my Mom. She is imperfectly perfect. She is my go to source for any information I may need. She has raised 9 kids that she never had to bail out of jail,. She loves to cook ( I don't ), and she usually has something she just made that she will force upon you to eat. She and Dad are retired now and spend their day much as I would imagine they would have expected. Dad will make sure the farm is taken care of even though my brother #4 is the one who runs it, My mom will make sure the house is taken care of. And together they will plan their garden, work in their garden, dream about their garden.
Their home is my fall out shelter for when the big one hits (whatever that may be)!  These people live off the land. There basement shelves are packed full of canned jam &jellys, vegetables, fruit, all kinds of pickles, relishes even mustard and horseradish. There freezer is full of meat from the farm or deer from their woods. My mom loves to bake, my dad seems to enjoy making obscure meat products.. liverwurst, souse, paun haus?, pickled pigs feet, lard, etc.. etc..
The have this lovely farm house on 30 acres that has 5 bedrooms, 2 bath, kitchen, living and tv rooms. The room that everyone seems to gather in is the BASEMENT. It is well furnished with a porch swing, picnic table, card tables and a butchering table. Snacks, pop and beer are free flowing. It has a stove, sink, and two refrigerators. My dad makes the best popcorn that they grew from their garden. He also orders peanuts to roast. He has XM radio and has now upgraded to a small tv for if "the guys want to watch the game" while they are butchering. He has no interest in it, but is the most accommodating host. You never know who is going to show up or why... My mom keeps a journal of the comings and goings. I guess someday we will read, remember and laugh.

My son's class trip to a firework shop and factory!

Amish Parking only..

I about hit a horse yesterday....

Not exactly what I planned on doing, but as I was pulling out of my driveway in my grocery getter, I look in my rear view mirror to see an amish buggy parked across the street. I wonder how good they handle in the snow? I wonder if I'm gonna spook the horse as I carefully back out? I did make it out of my driveway with no injuries and was able to take girl to the doctors appointment to find out she, along with every other person in this town has strep. As we skip out to the parking lot with our new found illness, we were deciding which drive thru to have our celebratory lunch at. 
As we buckled ourselves in, and get ready to leave, I turn the key and nothing... not even a click...dead battery. My  mind starts racing on who is going to come to my rescue. Hubby is out of town on business, Mom is quilting at the church, sister is watching kids at her house, Dad won't answer the phone, SIL!! I know she is home and maybe my brother is too. She asks if I have cables, yup, but scared to use them. She will be there shortly-i.e. 30 minutes. My Ipod keeps little miss entertained, for awhile, but she starts to get restless. True to her word, SIL does show up but not with her husband, but my brother #3.  I have 4 and they are all interchangeable for each other. Little girl is excited to see her "uncle Boney" He, as usual, is not excited to be there. Asked why the battery died and I realized that one of the sliding doors was frozen when someone tried to open it. It was opened ever so slightly, but was enough to drain it. He does manage to get the battery jumped and we are on our way.


Its times like this I am thankful for living here. What would I have done if I lived elsewhere?  I would have had to go back into the office to see if they had a phone book so I could call a garage so they could charge me to jump my car. Here I never left my car, just picked up the cell and my SIL made it happen. We have such a sense of community here. People doing for others not asking for payment but because they can. Life is good!

How we ended up here..

My poor husband! He grew up around suburbs and strip malls. The over commercialization of America surrounded him. And then he met me.... Not that city life was foreign to me. I lived on my own in the armpit of America myself for almost a whole year. But the stupid things you do for love. After following him around from city to city as his career advanced, I stoically held onto my dream of living back in my home. A place that he would be surrounded by family (mine) and experience all four seasons,whether he wanted to or not. Somehow I made him convince the company he worked for that he could easily work from a home office and we could live wherever we wanted to. He suggested Jamaica, I made him move here. 


Not that "here" is all that bad. Kids don't have play dates, they just go outside and play. Mom's call them in for dinner. Things haven't changed much here from generation to generation. Family loyalty has been described as 'clan like" Family names that would be unfamiliar anywhere else have been here since they came over from Europe. Agriculture has always been here and living off the land continues. We were organic before it was cool. Not only did we know what kind of food our beef was fed, most times we could tell you its name too. Its a double edge sword. Your neighbors know all about you, good or bad, and in most cases are there  to help.
 
But here we are with our 3 kids and wiener dog. We ended up buying a house in the "business district." Across the street from the general store and 2 doors down from our local grocery store. This blog is meant to describe our transitions from urban to rural and how my big city, technology junkie husband deals with it.