The Duke Arrives

• 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  

It's finally quiet, but for how long I don't know. I've had approx. 9 minutes of sleep. Since Saturday night.

The Duke rode home like a gentleman. Very quiet, enjoyed the ride. When we got here I opened the door a crack and got the leash, he started to bolt out of the car, then suddenly changed his mind, looked scared, and refused to come out. I took the candle stuff in, then he was ready. He smelled Sunny, and very carefully peed in several places, then we came inside. Sunny set up a commotion, Duke spun his wheels a bit on the tile floor, and they found each other, but what was this barricade thing??? Intense barking, but no growling. Unexpected . . . but good.

I went back out to get the dog bed, and suddenly heard the erie wailing of a lost soul in hell!!  I know he howls when left alone, but 23 seconds?!

Well, they both wanted to be on the same side of the barricade as I was, one or more of them was whining at all times, and there hadn't been any growling or nastiness, so I located my air horn, picked up Sunny's toys, and ooooooopened the door. It was fine - lots of hiney sniffing and exploring the barricaded part of the house.  He started protecting the home right away, by barking at the door, and Sunny - who loves to bark too, but never had anybody to bark WITH her, (Cassie did not bark and Marley only barked if someone came to the door, or he thought someone was coming to the door, or he thought he heard something, anyway, not for the sheer joy of barking) joined in . . . for about three hours. My photos of this time were a blur  - both tails wagging, both noses in the air, both panting like steam engines.

Finally they both laid down, and I started drifting off  to sleep on the sofa, to the sound of rain gently crunching . . . wait, CRUNCHING? Duke had helped himself to a log from beside the fireplace and was tearing great chunks out of it! As soon as I told him "leave it", he clamped down and I was forced to trade for a wheat thin - which was all I had at the time - so today was not a grain-free day. I threw the log out the front door. When I came back he had one of my leather fire-tending gloves. I quickly acted with great unconcern and ignored him, while talking to Sunny (happy talk, happy talk). He decided that if I didn't want it, he didn't either.

Not too bad while I was in the shower, except he took my purse from the table and unpacked it, and then I was just a tad annoyed about the five pound bag of rice spread over the laundry/pantry floor. (I had dog-proofed, but had I Duke-proofed????) Nooooo.

He also discovered that when he puts his feet on the kitchen counter he can reach the bottom of my kitchen sink, where there happened to be a Spaghettios pan. He is trying to train me to share MY dinner, I suspect that someone has been feeding him from the desk - uh - table. I am hardened, however to those pleading eyes - he is my 5th golden, and I fear, the smartest one to date.

They both had big dinners - complete with some grated cheese on top, and have passed out for the moment - Duke's feet are twitching and he is softly woofing in his sleep. And the morning and the evening were the first day.

Linda, Sunny and Duke!

Pumpkin Bread - Done!

A delicious, festive and fairly inexpensive way to give a gift everyone likes!

Easy and quick too.

PUMPKIN BREAD

For 3 gift-sized or 2 regular-sized loaves:

Oven at 325

4 eggs

1 t. baking powder

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1 t. ground cloves

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

3 cups sugar

 (I know, I know, but it's really Good!!)

2/3 cup water

1 cup oil

 (use the good-for-you oil to make up for the sugar)

3-1/2 cups flour

15 oz. can pumpkin

Mix the dry ingredients:

Add the wet ingredients:

Mix it together and pour into greased pans.

Mmmmmmm.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

MMMMMMMM!

Wrap festively. Can't stop without sharing dog photos!

Sunny cuddling with her soft toys.

Queen Sunny is going to be Really Surprised -

she's getting a brother on Monday!

Love, Linda

Apron Memories

Recently our local newspaper "The Morning Call," published an article about aprons. Since I make them for my Etsy shop and was published (!!!!) in apronology magazine last year, I wanted to share some excerpts from the article, entitled "Apron Memories." The aprons pictured are for sale in my shop.

"She wore an apron with a big bow in the back over her dresses every day. (Mammy did not wear pants!) In the summer, she wore her apron to pick the garden vegetables, and she carried the vegetables gathered in her apron. She canned every type of fruit and vegetable that was grown on the farm. She would lift the hot jars out of the canner with the bottom edge of her apron."

"My grandparents raised chickens as part of their farm, and Grammy collected up to 300 eggs per day. I can still see her coming out of the chicken house holding the bottom of her apron full of eggs - sometimes she had as many as three dozen eggs in her apron."

"Most importantly, when she held her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, her aprons wiped many tears, sticky mouths and hands. Sometimes they provided that extra bit of warmth for a newborn."

"Mom used three aprons a day. The morning apron was for cleaning, the afternoon apron was for cooking and baking, and after dinner, the third apron was for visiting with her neighbor. The Sunday apron was always white with some trim."

"My mother had an apron lady from Quakertown who would come about four times a year with a suitcase full of aprons for sale. My mother always bought two or three and they were always the "cobbler apron" style - a full coverage apron with pockets across the bottom. It is a fond memory."

My own apron memories are of my mom's mother, Gladys, baking sugar cookies while wearing her apron, big round cookies dusted with sugar and a raisin in the middle of each one. My other grandmother, Julia wore, her apron when gardening - it had pockets in the front where she kept all the things she needed, including twine to tie up her tiger lilies. What apron memories do you have??
Love, Linda

First Snow

The first snow of the year

One of the pretty, feathery ones,

Without the howling wind and the prerequisite ice,

Whispering down to sugarcoat branches

Quiet, gentle, welcome.

Especially on my day off.

Love, Linda

Winner

Anita from Castles, Crowns & Cottages has won the December issue of Maryjane's Farm.

If you haven't yet visited her blog, please do so. Beautiful photos and enchanting poetry!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
In my Etsy store:
A Prairie Style apron:

Some Shabby Hearts to hang on the tree:

Some rose china:

And so starts the Christmas rush!
Buy handmade - Buy local
Love, Linda

A Giveaway

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Mary Jane's Farm Magazine.

Mary Jane Butters is an organic, simple-living, creative,

do-it-yourself farmer and author.

While reading this month's issue, I was (once again) reminded of

our over consumptive, unhealthy, selfish society, and how we can help others this Christmas season, with very little effort and expense.

I am giving away a December issue of Mary Jane's Farm.

All you need to do is leave a comment.

I will draw the name on Thanksgiving Day.

A new book called "Half the Sky, Turning Oppression into Opportunity,"

by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, is reviewed in the magazine. I was stunned by the statement that "More girls have been killed in the last 50 years, precisely because they were girls, then all the men who were killed in all the wars of the 20th century."

The book, not only "raises awareness of women's issues, but also provides concrete steps to fight these problems." I want to read it.

An uplifting article about a woman, Jeanne Staples, of Martha's Vineyard, tells how she started "PeaceQuilts," a program for Haitian women to express their creativity and support themselves with independent, cooperative, quilt-making businesses. Their quilts, bags and other wares are beautiful.

An essay, "Fire in the Belly," resonated with me. It was sent in by a reader praising her wood stove. I'm sitting next to mine right now, with the teapot starting to sing.

A scary study about Genetically Modified (GMO) food.
 Not fun to read, but we Need to Know This!
 Lobbying in the US is preventing labeling of these foods.

Two pages of "Simple Country Pleasures," to put on the fridge.
A tutorial on making beautiful wheat ornaments and burlap wreaths.
 And warming winter soups!

A very cozy issue.

Just leave a comment. I will draw a random name on Thanksgiving,

Love, Linda

Vaca in NC

In mid-October, I took a week to go to a Harp Conference in Asheville, NC

with my harp teacher and friend, Sarajane. She pioneered Vibroacoustic Harp Therapy in the US, and more can be learned from her website, Planet Harp.

This post, I want to show the beautiful foliage of mid-October in the Smoky Mountains.

I took SO many pictures.

Downtown Asheville is artsy, crafty and a shopper's paradise!

Used book stores, galleries, ceramics, creative clothes and jewelry,

and fun little places to eat. And a great Shoe Outlet!

We had a suite.

So we went to the market and stocked up on necessities like

 Mounds ice cream bars, cookies and shrimp.

And wine.

Sarajane was attending a second conference the following weekend, but in between we had a few days to sightsee.

 Of course we had to visit the Biltmore Estate.

 

Me on the terrace viewing my (er, the) grounds.

We also visited Looking Glass Mountain, supposed to be the site of a strong magnetic energy vortex.

It was also a sacred place to the native Lenni Lanape tribe.

We drove on a very steep, very narrow road, with amazing drops to the valley. GPS doesn't work at all here.

When we got out of the car, I felt very grounded, almost like I was being pulled into the earth. It was a very calming spot.

We had heard that there were many UFO sightings in the area a few weeks before, so we visited the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, PARI, to see if they had seen anything.

They have four large radio telescopes, as well as several optical ones.

PARI was part of NASA during the early days of space flight, then part of the Department of Defense, but is now a research and educational facility.

Scary tunnel underground between buildings.

These things are Big!

They hadn't seen any UFOs.

We picked up Ted, Sarajane's husband at the airport, who was arriving for the second conference, and I got on a plane and headed home. Lots of fun.

Love, Linda