Georgie waiting for the lean to being built in 2000
Today is the last day of January. Usually, January is so cold and snowy that my husband tears the page off the calendar before the month is over. Then February is never much better. Some years back, we used to have what was called a "January thaw", where the weather would warm a bit, and the snow would thaw. Then February would come in with a vengence. But we hadn't had one of those in years in the area of which I live. Now, I am completely perplexed at what the future of our weather will be.
If I knew the weather would hold out, I would try to get some seeds started for my garden. But I can't put them in the ground anyway till May at least. Usually. My ground is usually still frozen rock hard in March. Carla Emery used to put her peas in early, I'm thinking maybe in April. But usually, I don't get anything in that early. But this year, I will be planting in my new raised beds (that I told you about when my husband was building them), and I am trying to implement Ruth Stout's method of gardening. That should make the whole process so much easier for me.
There is so many things you have to do to prepare for the months ahead. You are either trying to get through the winter or it is spring, summer and fall when you are trying to prepare for the upcoming winter. Whew! So much work and so little time. Tires you up but you cannot give in to it. Keep prodding along and you will be finished.
that I had in my ebay store. I felt good about it since, the buyer seemed like she really cared about her purchase. You see, I did not make these myself, I wish I could say that I did. But my mother made these. She could 
for hours. Her stitches were always perfect. I can look at other people's
items and they just never compare to her's.
with me, she wanted a girl so badly, that she started crocheting fancy dresses. She figured that if she had another boy, she would give the dresses to one of the family members that were pregnant at the same time. It turned out that three of my aunts and one cousin, were also pregnant at the same time. She told me that she thought someone would possibly have a girl. Well, that year, 1952 must have been a good year for girls! As they all had a girl! But I got all the dresses.
dolls, as they were my favorites. I still have the dolls and the clothes. I haven't sold any of them. The doll clothes that I am selling are ones she had made for me to sell. She also crocheted over fifty baby sweaters that I will be selling also. The best part of that is that she was bedridden the last few years of her life, suffering from Cushing's Syndrome. But this gave her something to do, and she did beautiful work, even with her hands shaking and living on pain medication.
was my idol. So she made me those bell bottom outfits just like 
. My clothes were different from everyone else's and back then, that was a good thing. It meant you were an individual and you stood out from the crowd.
too. They are well known all over the country, and probably world wide too, as The Christian Homesteading Movement, but have changed the name to The Catholic
is not even frozen. That's always a good sign. But it is only January and we have a few months of this white stuff and the cold to get through. Snow is pretty. Can't say it's not. But living in the country, snow is different for us. People who live in the cities aren't really that much concerned with the weather. If it snows, the city plows their streets. Some of them have snowblowers and use them to clean out their driveways and sidewalks. Usually, their driveways and paths are pretty short. Out here in the country, paths are long and usually you have a few to clean out. Driveways can be long, our's isn't very. We have to shovel out to the barn, to the pitcher pump, to the generator, to the compost pile, to the wood pile and to the manure pile. Quite a lot of 
, but 
is more like a "yuppie" tool. We do it by hand. The way the original homesteaders did it, I guess.
is 16 years old. She has been with me longer than my husband. She went with us when my husband was a driving a over the road truck. We went all over the country, and she went too. Her favorite spot was on the bottom bunk, where the heat vent blew out. She loves to be as hot as possible. Her favorite spot now is on the pedestal of our big wood heating stove in the living room. Sometimes, she gets so hot, she just flops down on the floor like she was drugged. Every year, I try to get myself ready to lose her, but she makes it another year. I hope she does that again this year. This is her picture that I have posted for you to see. She was younger in this picture though.
, but one of their friends, who hangs out with them. So I grabbed Hobo and put her in the truck till I got done with the horses. Then took her in the house for the night. She can't understand why I get mad at her for killing birds. And praise her for killing mice! How do I get through to her? Kill the 
, Save the birds!!!
. I have those raised beds that I told you about in the Spring. They were great. I love them and plan on having my husband build me more of them. I need at least one, maybe two for 
. And I need about three for potatoes alone, and who knows how many for tomatoes. I will also have 
growing in pots and bare spots all over our property. And bit of ground is good for a edible plant. I have many wild fruits that grow here. But I still plan on adding some domestic ones too. I love the wild blueberries, but they are so tiny. So I plan on getting a pretty good supply of bushes. And grapes. We have wild grapes all over the state 
where we live. But I want a variety. I try to grow as much as I can, and can or dry it for the winter. 
, P.D.'s was not open. How disappointing! I always find tons of stuff there to bring back and sell in my eBay store. They sell people's old junk mail by the bags! Who would ever think that someday somebody might want to buy your old outdated junk mail? People do! Some people collect everything they can get on a certain company or a certain type of item, like stocks, banks or something like that. 
for the summer, and everything under those tents is dirt cheap. I love them. I found this little black metal oven with glass in the door out there. It was only $12.00, and it had been stuck in a area of things that nobody seemed to want. I knew what it was though. My grandmother used one on her kerosene stove, that she used during the hot summer months, instead of heating her kitchen up with a wood stove. So I got that oven home and cleaned it up. And what do you think I found? Why the 
logo, of course! But this is one of those things that I bought to use. And use it, I do. I bake all kinds of things right in my living room on my wood heating stove, like cookies, pies, baked puddings, bread, and more. 
store. It has new owners and they were there today. I buy in bulk there quite often. Today, it wasn't too busy. But on the weekends that place is packed. I needed whipped cream mix. I stopped using the Cool Whip, that most people use, for the convenience. And started using the whipped cream mix for the taste. Much better and cheaper too.