Even though the landscape is stripped of leaves and blossoms, winter is by no means drab. However, the soft glow of strategically-placed lights add a welcoming touch. Although summer's outdoor furniture has been stored away, a spiral lighted tree threesome and a 10-bulb set of Smith & Hawken drop string lights, hung from our front…

Not so much changes. If we choose for it not to. Letters and laundry. Two examples. An email is quickly deleted after reading. A handwritten letter is cherished from the moment it is retrieved from the mailbox and often saved to reread over the years. Laundry can be a dreaded task to complete as quickly…

In the morning, I rearranged my twig furniture to create a banquet table. Dick carved a jack-o-lantern after selecting a face from a printout that our granddaughter had sent us… and cut slabs from the trunk of a fallen tree to use for plate/bowl chargers. In the cool evening, we gathered. Warmed by a wood…

I do love laundry flapping in the breeze. A rope tied around two trees, a retractable line, or permanent wires stretched taut between poles. That part doesn't matter. It's the act of hanging out laundry to dry in the freshness of nature. (One of my go green postage stamps with a drawing of  a clothesline wisely advises us…

Yesterday, I received a sweet email from an Illinois resident who I had the pleasure of meeting when she stopped by my bed and breakfast last August, accompanied by her sister who lives in the area. A snippet of her email… "I just thought I would let you know that I was just looking at your website for a little apron-inspiration,…

We all have dreams. Over the years, I have concluded that, no matter what generation, we are more alike than not. We dream of where we'd like to live, the house we'd like to build, the interior furnishings, and the layout of our gardens and farm buildings. My parents, I recently tangibly discovered, were no different. While sorting through their personal…

These are three of my go-to kitchen cleanup aids. I prefer the Bon Ami Powder Cleanser because of its simple ingredients: limestone, feldspar, biodegradable cleaning agents (from corn, coconut, and palm), soda ash, and baking soda… and the label's cute baby chick.        The sponge brush is perfect for cleaning two-quart canning jars that I use for raw milk storage and one-quart canning jars…

The raw (unpasteurized and non-homogenized) milk that I purchase comes in plastic gallon jugs. As soon as I get home, I transfer it to glass jars. You can imagine my excitement when I came across two half gallon glass milk bottles in a cheery red carrier during Dick's and my farm show outing last weekend. Functional and cute… crucial…

One component of the farm show that Dick and I attended last weekend included antique dealers displaying their wares. Table after table up one aisle and down another… row after row  beckoning visitors to take a closer look… to discover that special little treasure that would find a home… to be lovingly placed as a memory of the…

In my mailbox… it awaited. I reached in and pulled out a little box addressed to me. It was from my friend, Deb. Inside was the most perfect Valentine's Day gift… an over cabinet towel bar that requires no drilled holes. It is up and functional in seconds. I purchased a new dishtowel to drape over my new towel…