Winter Wonderland

My kids would make excellent meteorologists; the 'winter storm' they've been predicting (for about a month or so) has finally come! All three of the bigger kids were bundled up and outside before breakfast this morning, shoveling, digging, swinging, marching... and tromping through the still-running creek! I don't understand the magnetic-like attraction between children and water.

Though I have enjoyed the extended autumn that we've had, I must admit that the clean white beauty of the freshly fallen snow brings a peace and stillness to me - especially when there is a steaming cup of hot tea in my hand. I love watching the wee birds as they flock to the feeder outside my kitchen window, their little bodies all puffed up against the cold. The winter birds are one of my favorite things about the cold season! Unfortunately, I've not seen even a glimpse of a single cardinal. Maybe this new snow will bring them out of hiding.

Well, the kids have come in, eaten pancakes, and have scattered - some back to the cold outdoors, some to cozy corners with favorite books... and one to his world of imagination. Off I go to dishes, laundry, and another cup of tea!

How To Clean Your Stove:

1 – Since you are running behind, in an attempt to cook supper faster than usual, turn up the [electric] burner under your milk-based soup.

2 – With the oven timer beeping, forget about the soup as you try to clear a spot on the counter for the bread that done in the oven.

3 – Smile at the beauty of the bread you just pulled out of the oven… and then immediately forget it as you grab a spoon to stir the soup.

4 – Groan with dismay as you feel the telltale layer of cooked milk along the bottom of your pan.

5 – Calmly, without panicking, remove the soup from the burner and retrieve another pot (which, thankfully, is clean!). Pour the soup into the new pot.

6 – Turn the burner DOWN as you continue to cook the soup.

7 – Glance at the bottom of the now empty pot and again groan with dismay, since you cannot see even a tiny bit of metal. No, it is completely covered with black burned milk.

8 – Taste the soup, in hope that you salvaged it. Sigh with thanksgiving and relief that the soup is still yummy.

9 – Back to the blackened pot: Fill ¾ full of water and begin to heat it. Realize that you have too much water, and distractedly pour off one third of the water (the pot is now ½ full)

10 – Bring water in blackened pot to a boil.

11 – Observe with fleeting reservation the rapidly boiling water then, ingoring the tiny voice of caution in your head, pour in about ½ - ¾ c of baking soda.

12 – Stand like a fool as a volcano erupts all over your stove. Turn the burner down, only to recall that you still have a horrid electric burner that retains its heat.

13 – With no thought for your safety, grab the pot and lift it off the burner, being EVER so careful not to let any spillage contaminate the gently cooking salvaged soup.

14 – Look with horror at your VERY messy stove (it is usually just generally messy)

15 – Ignore it til after supper when…

16 – You wipe it down and, to your utter amazement, discover that all the burned on grime that you were ignoring miraculously wipes clean!

I’ve not had a cleaner stove in months! And it required not a bit of elbow grease!!!

Happy New Year!

Today we woke up to a very disappointed boy announcing that "it didn't snow a lot last night!" Poor Phin. He has been hopefully predicting a massive snow storm for weeks, now. Instead of his yearned for storm, we have a light sugar dusting covering the ground. Well, he wasn't too deterred! After chores and breakfast he and his brother bundled up and have been attempting to sled for the past 2 hours. One thing I don't understand is why both of them refuse to wear their mittens. They started with them on... and quickly dropped them in the red barn where the Carpenter has turned into the Mechanic and is working on his snowblower; Andrew also is hoping for a snow storm, if only to use his magnificently jerry-rigged machine. Abigail was outside for an hour or so coaxing the chickens to eat from her hand. We have our 'old hens,' some of which are almost two years old. Then, back in September, we hatched out a bunch of old heritage mixed breeds in an incubator. The babies are now about as big as the old ones! To top it all off, one of the old girls, Zoe, went broody about 2 weeks ago. She is sitting on 6 eggs; if she's been a good sitter (and if the eggs are fertilized) the chicks should hatch out next weekend!

And so begins the second day of our new year! The kids all have colds - enough to be coughing and sneezing, but not enough to damper their play. We've been enjoying chicken soup, teas, lots of cuddling, and lots of extra rest. Abigail is reading "Understood Betsy," a fabulous book that I recommend for kids and mama's alike! I have a stack about a mile high of books I would like to read for myself, and other ones I'd like to preview for Abigail. (So many books; so little time!!) I just finished a fantastic book by Eric Mataxas called "Bonhoeffer - Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy." Not surprisingly, it is a biography about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I can't even begin to describe all of what and who Bonhoeffer was. I highly recommend this book, as well.

Well, the fellows are finally coming in, probably in search of lunch!

Happy New Year!