Better Homes & Gardens

Better Homes & Gardens is a beautiful magazine that was first published in 1922 by Edwin Meredith, who served as United States Secretary of Agriculture under Woodrow Wilson.  It is the 4th best selling magazine in the U.S. and it is dedicated to helping women create better, more inviting homes.

As the pages are turned in this lovely publication, photos of pretty, remodeled kitchens complete with breezy curtains and expensive tableware, cozy porches with pillow laden furniture and colorful vases of flowers look back at you.  On another page you may find a weedless garden with a cobbled stone path winding through lush vegetables or variegated  flowers.  Everything is perfect!  Literally!   And as I page through magazines like this one, more than likely in a waiting room setting, I experience longing - longing to have what is on those pages, and discontentment and ungratefulness grows towards what God has provided for me.

You see, I am not gifted in this area, nor do I have the funds or time to mimic the photos on those smooth pages.  I have deep admiration (and a little bit of envy) for my friends who are talented in the area of interior and exterior decorating and it would be wonderful to have them visit me for a few days (or weeks) with the intention of putting those talents to work on our farm.  Our place has potential!  A lot of it and I can imagine how beautiful it would look in the end and how anyone who would drive by would oh & ah at my much better home. 

But, that is not my reality and for some sad reason, what is my reality is never published in a magazine.  I have been contemplating publishing one!  It would be titled, "Reality Homes & Gardens" and it would feature homesteads like mine - homesteads of busy, sometimes overwhelmed, mamas.  I have come to terms with my reality and realize that this is exactly where God wants me to be.  I have learned much in this imperfect setting and there is much more that I can still learn.

Consider yourselves privileged to have a sneak peek at the first photos for the new publication of my imaginary magazine.

Our reality kitchen .......
Seriously, why are there always dishes to do?

 

It is complete with the latest style of a potato, and obviously apple, bin.....

 

 the easy to use laundry chute.....

and the state of the art dining room decor.....

A paragraph will be added on how Uriah, Oliver & I learned how to remove a toilet so a leak could be fixed.  What do you think?  Should this article go at the beginning or towards the end of the magazine in a section called, "The Gross Part of Homesteading?"

And then the gardens......

We have scattered gardens and they are void of cobbled stoned paths.  Weeds and hose nozzles are more commonly seen as we stroll around among our plants.  :)

I first planted carrots in this trough and then waited and waited for them to grow.  When the delay went longer than I thought it should, I figured the seeds were bad or my thumb turned brown.  So, I planted sweet potato plants along side the tomato plant.  I had purchased the sweet potato plants thinking they would go in one of the bigger gardens but the master gardener informed me there was no room.  I would either have to throw them out or find a place to stick em.  Well, as you see the carrots did not like the competition and decided to grow.  I still have somewhat of a green thumb, after all.  The external of this trough looks so pretty, but is there really room for carrots and potatoes to grow in there?  We'll see.....

One of the tubs with sweet potatoes...

and the bucket?  Just one of the lawn ornaments.  Pretty, isn't it?  Wonder why we don't see more of them in Better Homes & Gardens?  :)

 

Another trough with lettuce, tomato plant and sweet potatoes...

had pretty flowers at both ends, but they died.  Not sure why......rethinking my green thumb idea.  We had this trough sitting in a different location, but the menfolk moved it to work at another project, which I will share at a later date.

 

As you can see, I did stick potato plants wherever I could.  What the potatoes will look like, who knows, but I have been enjoying the greenery.

 

This was once my beautiful bleeding heart bush that my mom gave to me years ago for my birthday.  For some reason the dog thought it was a nice place to lay down!  What would Better Homes do about this problem?  I guess they don't have dogs for their children.  Maybe they don't have children.

 
 The green bean patch.  Instead of being bordered by pretty flowers, we have Bacon & Sausage at one corner and calves at the other end.  New trend!  Makes for interesting odors while picking beans! 

 

Thinking I should add a new section to the magazine featuring laundry, for that is a daily reality around here...

Let's see, what could I call it?   Any ideas?

 

 That concludes this addition of "Reality Homes & Gardens."  If you would like to make a submission for future publications, send your name, address, pictures, and story of what "reality" is to you.  :)

Really, though, this was all meant in fun and to encourage everyone else in their less than magazine setting. Don't take me as complaining.  I am not!  God has been good to us and has provided everything we need.   My reality is one of blessings, as I am sure yours is as well.

As far as the magazines featuring beautiful, elaborate, yummy dishes of food?  Yeah, not my reality either.  :)  Would one of you be willing to tackle that edition?

Until next time.......   

In Which Classroom?

Will your children learn....

to see the beauty

in the pile of dirty laundry 

hear the swish swish of the washing machine

 take "hang out the laundry" breaks?

In which classroom

will your children learn.....

to see the beauty 

of the pile of dirty dishes

hear the whirl of the dishwasher

 take "I empty the top shelf" break?

In which classroom

will your children learn.....

to see the beauty 

of hearing the phone ring 

and hearing their daddy say

 "just checking in, how's it going?"

In which classroom

will your children learn.....

to see the beauty

of putting the books aside 

to meet their heart needs first?

In which classroom

will your children learn....

to see beauty

in the flickering fragrant candle

and promising hymns of praise?

In which classroom

will your children learn....

to see the beauty

of taking up the slack

when mother is sick?

In which classroom

will your children learn....

to see the beauty 

in the strengths and weaknesses

of those they love most?

In which classroom

will your children learn....

to see the beauty

in the truth that they are

God's unique creation

and are loved beyond words

no matter their intellect? 

In which classroom

will your children learn....

to see the beauty 

of what it means to be a

real family?

Good, bad

simple, complicated

health, sickness

work, fun

reality

And it is beautiful!

This classroom of Home!

Until next time.....

A Little Piece of Heaven

We were able to go on a short family vacation, the first time in about 5 years!

Needless to say, we didn't want to come home.

This family owned "little piece of Heaven" is a place that I can remember going to 

as far back as I can remember.

Each year my family would travel to the "cabin" quite a few times -

just north of Williamsport - officially named "Dutchman's Paradise."

No cell phones, no computers, no movies, no radios - just the sound of the night peepers, the rippling water of the creek, an occasional car on the dirt road, children laughing, the clink of a quoit hitting the pin (and then lots of whooping!), the reel of a fishing line, the dipping of an oar on the pond, the creaking and slamming of the wooden screen door and the hissing flames in the fire pit. 

 In recent years, a phone has been installed along with modern plumbing. 

 I remember a time when we would

walk across the road to the creek with our buckets and retrieve water for doing dishes

and bathing (after we heated it), or we had the option of bathing in the creek, which we really did 

choose to do, especially in the summer.  To this day, I still have my little own tradition of washing my hair in the freezing water, even if it is too cold to swim - in remembrance of those "bathing" experiences.  I love the refreshing feeling!  Each time I hold my breath though, for what if my hair follicles freeze and expand and then when they thaw all my hair falls out?  jk! 

 There was only an outhouse, which was only intimidating if the need to go was at night time, 

but now there is a real bathroom plus a shower stall - spoiled indeed! :)

Below you will see a pictorial tour of our vacation....

My boys want to live here.......

 

Bike riding....

 

Quoits

 

Puzzle

 

living out of suitcases

Frisbee golf

 

Blokus

 

Bubbles

 

Croquet

 

Swimming

 

Clay bird shooting

 

 see the clay bird and smoke of gun  

 

Pretending

 

Gathering for meals

 

 My mom and youngest great grandchild, Toby

 

Swinging - one of my favorite things to do at cabin - sit on the swing and read or snuggle :-)

Without feeling guilty of not doing dishes or laundry! 

 

Good discussion

 

Beauty of God's Creation

 

Maybe not everyone's vision of Heaven, but it certainly was ours this past weekend!

Great time with family making memories, good fun, delicious food, and safety.

  The women each provided one meal, which meant that I only had to worry about preparing one meal the whole time there, plus no laundry to think about (until we got home that is), and no school books demanding our attention.  Yup!  Vacation it was!

Until next time......

Our Backyard Camp Ground

I think I post pictures of our Backyard Camp Ground each year, but it is our little get-away-stay-home place, and we always look forward to spending time there on our stay-cations.  With milking cows, this sometimes is the only vacation we are able to have.  A few years ago, we got a free pop-up from a listing in the merchandiser and the boys love sleeping in there sometimes.  We do not have the stress of packing to go away and we still have the luxury of showers and our own soft beds if we choose to stay in the house.  We have been lagging behind in preparing this area for the season and so on Saturday, the boys & I scrubbed the lawn chairs, benches, tables, etc. and left them in the sun to dry.

All set up for the Dry Laundry Concert!  It was the most airy concert we ever witnessed! ☺

Our camp site.....

The pool is up........

This is the 3rd year we had this pool and it was given to us from some friends.  We are still extremely grateful for the gift!  Every one enjoys it tremendously!

We have been finished with school for a few weeks and it has been wonderful!  We will have off til July and then it gets hot, the boys end up inside out of the heat and then I bring out the books.  Hey!  If they are going to be inside anyway, they may as well do something productive, right?   Right!  ☺ And so we get an early start and can then take off for days we want to do food preservation, or fun days in the Fall.  And actually, by July, we are needing some structure to our days and school has a way of forcing that to happen.

May the summer be kind to each of you!

Until next time...............

The Extent of Our Garden

First, I wanted to let all you folks that did not finish reading the post on us possibly milking water buffalo, that it will not work out.  To find out why, you have to read all the way to the bottom of the post.... ☺ http://beingtriedasgold.blogspot.com/2012/04/change-in-making.html

Our garden seems to shrink more and more each year.  We do not have rich, deep soil around the house, but a lot of shale, so a few years ago we started building up a small area in the yard with compost.  Last year, we planted 50 strawberry plants in that area and still had room for some tomato plants.  This year, however, Dave transplanted the strawberry runners into the remaining space and eliminated any room for anything else besides a small patch of lettuce and a yellow baseball plant.  Baseballs?  Never heard of growing baseballs?  It's the new thing...... heeeeheee

Usually, we planted potatoes back in a field somewhere, but each winter we had the issue of poor storage.  So this year, we decided to down size and try to grow just enough potatoes to eat through the fall.  I had come across a neat idea on the internet to grow them in barrels and decided to experiment with it.  Our milk house detergents come in plastic "barrels" so, Ben drilled holes in the bottom for drainage (or you can completely remove the bottom and set barrel on old carpet) and dug up some rich soil from elsewhere on the farm.  We mixed it with some sawdust, put approx.6 inches of this soil in bottom of barrel and "planted" the seed potatoes in that....

In a barrel this size, we only planted 2 seed potatoes.  If you plant them too close together, they will be crowded and produce tiny potatoes..

As the sprouts grow into plants and start peeking through the soil, you add another layer of soil.  This is continued until the barrel is full of soil and the plants are growing out the top.  The end result is to be a barrel full of potatoes.  We will see......

I purchased a huge number of 4 tomato plants!  I think I can handle that many ☺ and those ended up down at the house in tubs. 

And that is the extent of our garden!  We are hoping to someday put in a few raised beds, but until that time I will be looking for any extra produce that friends, family and neighbors may have to sell.  Keep me in mind and give me a buzz if you fall into that category.

Ben purchased 2 more composters this year and we already can taste that sausage.....

And did you know there is 40 calories in 1 tablespoon of raw milk cream?  so how many calories does that make in a batch of homemade ice cream made with pure cream?  Waaayyy too many!  Why are calories so yummy?

Until next time..................