Petunia is still rather plump, even after having babies last autumn. She is very fluffy and so cute I wish she would come in the house to live, but of course squirrels don’t typically enjoy living in the house. She sits next to me on the porch as I eat my lunch on warm days. … More On the Verge of Spring at Pumpkin Hollow Farm (an enchanted life)
The air has a slightly different feel to it. A different scent. The cold is still there. I bundle up as I go out to do chores. But there is a tinge of something else upon the morning breath. Life. Spring. By all indications, it is still the dead of winter, but I sense it. … More Decorating With Notes of Spring
There is a very large photograph in Aunt Donna’s basement of her as a young woman, dark hair, slim figure, standing primly in a beauty pageant. Her forties hair swirled perfectly and her lovely face and smile… my Shyanne looks very much like her. Aunt Donna is my grandma’s sister. I say ‘is’ even though she … More The Beloved Family
Gardening need not be expensive nor incredibly difficult. By necessity I have come up with ways to make widespread, prolific gardens quickly and easy on the homestead pocket. The first thing that is imperative to a great garden is compost. Compost is one of those things that still baffles folks a little. You do not … More Putting the Garden to Bed (compost, adding new beds, bulbs, and there’s no place like home)
My mother was a housewife. It was easier and more affordable for her to stay home with all of us kids. We started caring for foster babies when I was young so there were no less than five of us at any given time. The home was her domain and everything was tidy and clean and healthy supper … More The Humble Housewife
Now I said it with my mom voice. You know the mom voice? Even if the kids grow up and move out the voice still finds its way around. “No shoes in the house!” I says. Best mom voice. No…(pause)…shoes in the…(pause)…house pleease! Now I am married to an independent man but one that likes … More Footprints ‘Cross the Floor (the fallacy of the clean farmhouse)
The memory of walking up the steps to my great-grandmother’s bungalow as a young girl is still vivid to me now. Every summer the wide, cement porch railing would be filled with geraniums. The lush greenery topped with clusters of brightly colored flowers waved in the warm air. Geraniums mean welcome to me. I have … More Geraniums Mean Home. Geraniums Mean Love.
As you head south from Colorado Springs and enter into the valley of Southern Colorado the weather changes sharply. Pueblo gets far less snow than our northern brethren and the temperatures don’t hover at below zero like places we have lived. This morning we woke to snow. It is still too cold for us though … More The Wide Hearth
Our city has a bad reputation. It has for as long as I remember growing up in Denver. It was ranked one of the most dangerous cities to live in. Some of the locals scratch their heads and wonder where they get their numbers from. Some want to move to greener pastures…like California. Because of … More Beautiful Pueblo
The first seed catalogue arrived in the mail the other day. My four year old granddaughter, Maryjane, took a sharpie and circled everything we need to order. Instead of toys, she circles plants in seed catalogues. She is one of us. It is impossible, I believe, for a homesteader to not think of the garden … More Homestead Gardens and Winter Rest
