Simple Woman Monday, August 2nd

For Today

Looking out my window... It's been hazy lately due to Canadian forest fires, but the humidity here in western Iowa generally produces mist that rises from the corn early in the morning, anyway, so I'm not sure if it's still due to the distant fires or the corn breathing, but the fields and hills across the way look painted by Monet, with an impressionist's soft brush. Just now the sun has risen enough to pick out stars of dew in the lawn, though -- and weeds in the daylily garden outside my window that I need to attend to.

I am thinking... It's going to be a weird couple weeks, getting back to what used to be Dan's and my status quo. Gabe and William just yesterday packed off to Boys' Camp, but will be gone for two weeks, one week in the wilds of Wisconsin, then they are hitching a ride to Minnesota with our grandson, Gavin, to join up with their oldest brother, Paul, for another few days in the wilds of Minnesota. Boy Heaven. On top of that, though, Dominic and Monica are heading out with the little girls this week to visit family in Colorado for a week or two, as well. It's going to be weirdly quiet again around here! And we are going to save a mint on food and electricity! 😏

I am thankful... for the air conditioning units that cost us so much electricity! Hoping we are able in the near future to install some solar panels to help alleviate that financial burden -- which would also a great emergency resource. We were talking about what we would really miss in case there were a zombie apocalypse -- or in case the cost of energy sky-rocketed -- and I think we were all in agreement that a/c in the summertime, though maybe considered an unnecessary luxury next to heating, for instance, is one of those luxuries we would be very very sad (and sweaty) to do without in this climate.

One of my favorite things... Driving out to Walnut, the "antiques town" of Iowa. Dan and I made the short trip yesterday to sample a day of their sesquicentennial celebrations (150 years!) and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Not only was there a really big antique car show, but almost all the shops were open -- and there is nothing I love better than moseying around antique stores! They are like hands-on museums -- where you can buy stuff! I found a bunch of beanie babies on sale for our grandchildren -- remember when they were thee collectible and cost stupid amounts of money? Not any more! -- and a couple small stocking stuffers to start out my Christmas stash + a really neat little book from the 1930s with little stories explaining the ten commandments. Pretty neat! I'm not raising youngins any more, but I can't stop myself from buying these things! I do have a slew of grandchildren, after all. I expect one of my home-schooling Mommas will appreciate having this.

I am creating... plans for the RV shelter we would like to build, complete with a great room space, office, bathroom, and storage. We really like living in the RV! We've spent a good deal of the summer out here -- and find it eminently doable as a tiny home to retire in -- except it's just a  bit too tiny. I'm all for simplifying, mind you -- EXCEPT as it concerns my books, statues, and pictures -- which don't fit in the RV, of course! And, a bigger better bathroom would be almost necessary. If you've ever spent much time in an RV or motorhome, you know why. For permanent living, you just really do need a proper septic system! And storage. You have to have a place to put your holiday decorations, right? So, I'm having all kinds of fun playing around with ideas on my pad of graph paper and my Pinterest boards, let me tell ya! 😊 The possibilities are endless!

Also just finished up the first draft of the study guide (3rd-5th grade level) of The Cricket in Times Square. Gosh, that's a fun little book! Took me back to when we read it together with the children years ago... Such a sweet reminiscence! I miss those days!

I am wearing... dark brown maxi skirt, cream colored short sleeve blouse with red and brown trim at the V-neck -- with a light sweater -- because I'm actually chilly this morning, oddly enough! Woke up and it was 67 degrees in the RV! 

I am reading... The Devotion to the Sacred Heart by Fr. John Croiset, SJ. This is actually the definitive version, the original and oldest documentation and explanation of the devotion of Our Lord's mission for St. Margaret Mary. Highly recommended! I've also got in my shopping cart (waiting for the next paycheck) The Life of Pope Leo XIII: From an Authentic Memoir by Fr. Bernard O'Reilly D.D.. Fr. O'Reilly was a contemporary, who wrote the book using memoirs furnished by the Holy See during Pope Leo's pontificate, making this book almost autobiographical. Ever since I read the history of the St. Michael prayer, I've had a particular regard for this pope and am curious to learn more about him! 

I am hoping... this gorgeous cool weather hangs around a while! Sure makes weeding more pleasant!

Some picture thoughts for the day...

 

I asked Gabe Saturday afternoon if he 
was ready for Boys' Camp. This was his answer.
These crazy kids. They make a game out of not only
being camouflaged during their air-soft rifle wars
at camp, but also, apparently, being incognito. 😅

Pinochle on the porch. How siblings bond.

Digging a hole for the septic tank. Also how siblings bond.

Fun Finds While Antiquing

I like what the little sign says. 💖

This rocking chair. Needs a new cushion, but I love it!
These are all from my favorite antique store in Walnut,
The Vault. Neat stuff displayed creatively. 

I'd love a little coffee bar something like this in the bonus room
we're hoping to build in our RV shelter! Neat re-do of an old buffet!

Last But Not Least

Our grandbaby, Clara -- also going incognito. 😊💓

When Life Doesn't Hand You Cream of Tartar

You know that old saying: "If life hands you lemons, make lemonade?" Well, this is is the backward approach to the same lesson:

Here you see: Margaret and me making "bickets" yesterday morning from our old tried and true Fanny Farmer cookbook recipe, except we had a problem: we were plum out of shortening, milk, and cream of tartar. But (HA!) we didn't let that stop us; we made them, anyway!

 

How: for milk, we substituted heavy whipping cream; for shortening, we substituted butter; for cream of tartar, we substituted lemon juice (1 tsp lemon juice per every 1/2 tsp cream of tartar*).

Results:  Mmm-baby good, nice flaky bickets!

Moral of story: Maybe life isn't handing you lemons, but if it isn't exactly handing you what you think you need, you certainly can figure out how to make do with what you have. You may find out it's better anyway -- and you have braggin' rights for ingenuity! 😊

* All of this, of course, begs the question: Why on earth is this ingredient called Cream of Tartar? It's not a cream of any kind, and it isn't Turkish in origin -- so, what on earth...?

I looked it up. (Are you shocked?) 😉

What it is: Cream of Tartar is the residue found in casks of wine. (No, really!) The tartar part of the word comes from tartre, a word arguably of Old French origin, meaning "a deposit." (Think tartar on teeth, also a deposit of a kind! 😬) Cream of Tartar's scientific moniker, though, is potassium bitartrate, which is an acid salt formed during grape fermentation. Corked wine bottles, fresh grape juice and fresh jams and jellies form crystals called "wine diamonds" when stored below 50 degrees. The crude form of  these wine diamonds found in filtered wine is called beeswing (there's another crazy etymology to wonder about!). But here's the pancake (as Sr. E would say): the purified form of beeswing is called the "cream" -- it is the cream (or the best of) of the wine barrel deposits -- which, when used in conjunction with baking soda, becomes a leavening agent by producing carbon dioxide gas (i.e., bubblesbubblesbubbles!). 

More About Cream of Tartar

(In case you hadn't had enough already)

• You can substitute 1/4 teaspoon baking soda plus 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar for 1 teaspoon baking powder.
• Add a pinch of cream of tartar to boiling vegetables to help them retain their bright, fresh color.

• A pinch of cream of tartar also helps stabilize whipped cream to prevent it from deflating.
• Make colorful, edible play dough!
• Make metal polish: Add water to make a paste to polish stainless steel and aluminum. This also removes scratches on white bowls and plates caused by knives and forks.
• Copper polish: Add lemon juice in a 1:1 mixture. Rub on, rinse off.
• Porcelain sink, tub, toilet scrub: Add distilled white vinegar in a 1:1 solution.
• All-purpose scrub: Add distilled white vinegar in a 4:1 solution (i.e., 1 cup vinegar to 1/4 cup cream of tartar). This also cleans stainless steel sinks like nobody's business.

Blogging About Blogging

 Those with a blog on Blogger have probably seen the following message on their post page:

>FollowByEmail widget (Feedburner) is going away

You are receiving this information because your blog uses the FollowByEmail widget (Feedburner).
Recently, the Feedburner team released a system update announcement , that the email subscription service will be discontinued in August 2021.

After August 2021, your feed will still continue to work, but the automated emails to your subscribers will no longer be supported. If you’d like to continue sending emails, you can download your subscriber contacts. Learn how>

However, if you are a reader of blogs you probably know nothing about this. If you've depended on getting a blog notice in your e-mail to know when the blogs you follow have a new post, this is pertinent to you. You will no longer receive an e-mail link to this or any other blog on Blogger. We'll still be here -- but you'll have to come find us. Not a big deal, I guess. If you have any interest, you may remember -- or not -- to check in. That's fine. I get it. I've been writing chiefly for myself and a couple select people that I know still check in (you know who you are! ((HUGS)))

But this news is still kinda sad to me. I guess I'm seeing it as rather, the death-knell of the old blogging days -- or at least a vote of no-confidence. It's no longer worth  Blogger's trouble to support our automatic e-mail links -- because blogging is not the thing any more, not for personalized lifestyle or entertainment blogs, anyway. The fast food media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) has taken over to the point where folks' tastes no longer appreciate -- and certainly don't go out of the way to find -- gourmet communication like blogs. 😏 ==sigh== It is sad. I miss the old days when there was a lively network of Catholic homeschool blogging Moms -- and like-minded readers of  these blogging Moms. I learned so much from my fellow Blog-Mom-warriors and benefitted
tremendously from the support system of blogging. It was a good thing. But the days of thought-provoking, well-crafted posts of more than a dozen-odd words, from regular people -- not career bloggers, mind you, with entertaining side-bars and lists and memes and interactive links -- all safe places to wax eloquent (or not), to speak our minds and our opinions, to joke around, and to share the news of our families -- have been replaced by Big Tech-owned platforms of swift communication which are fed into marketing and political algorhythms for tracking purposes and subject to censorship and "shaming" if our beliefs don't line up with the party line.

I have to add that the loss of numbers we bloggers may see by losing the e-mail links doesn't bother me much, but the fact that our culture has changed so much that -- not only do the majority of people never read real books anymore, but Facebook and Twitter have taken over the blogging universe and it's barely been noticed. This worries me for humanity (this and many other things). Can our brains no longer process more than the soundbites permitted by Big Tech? 

Again I ==sigh=====

Who knows, though? People are waking up to the undependability (and stupidity) of the status quo; maybe there'll be a rebellion! I'm told that the rumors of the death of blogging have been greatly exaggerated, and that there's hope yet --  so I'm going to give it the "old college try" again (as opposed to the new college try). I've decided to try to get on a better roll of typing out posts three or four times a week as a protest against the zapping of our e-mail notifications -- and a contribution to the world of words not dictated by the Left. No promise, of course, that I'll come up with anything profound to write about... (You should know better than that!) But, I would like to keep my old blog alive, whether anyone comes around to read it or not. It's a great place to "log" thoughts and family pictures at the very least. Someday my grandchildren might like to look through all this! Who knows? (Gosh, I'd LOVE to read a blog that my parents or grandparents had written back in the day!)

Anyway -- since there will no longer be automated links, I will be happy to send out links to you directly if you are interested in getting a reminder. I'll try, anyway! Let's see how I do... 😉 Leave me your e-mail address in the combox -- or e-mail me directly and I'll add you to the list! Contact me at davisfarm (written out like that) + the number eleven in digits + @gmail.

*** Update: As of a couple days ago, Blogger changed their message to read something along the lines of: your readers who have already signed on for e-mail notifications will still get notifications -- but we will no longer support this function. So... Hmmm... Either they changed their minds -- or just needed to clarify what they meant all along? Who knows? Maybe they got negative feedback over the decision and decided to cut their losses? Anyway, I guess this means that the notifications will still hit your inboxes if you have signed up for this -- but if there is a problem, don't go to Blogger looking for a solution. OK. No biggie. I'm glad they haven't removed the service completely, regardless!

There is Too Much: Let Me Summarize...

Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?  I'll have to add a few captions, though -- if for no other reason than that I know my memory -- even of terrifically fun or important things -- is not as good as I'd like to think it is! And it's not likely to get better... (grimace) So, in the interest of recording and remembering when I'm a little old lady in my nineties, I give you:

Summer (So Far) 2021

We drove out to Idaho to pick up the boys at the minor seminary and made a vacation out of it, 
staying for a week and a half at a cute little cabin on the shores of Twin Lakes, only a few minutes
down the road from Mary Immaculate Queen Church. We got to visit with a lot of friends, old and
new -- and had a perfectly wonderful time! Not nearly enough time to just sit in the chaise lounge
you see pictured here, though... We are determined to make this trip again and stay in the same place!

Gabe and William. The good life.

Hanging out with a couple good seminarian friends, Matthew and Lionel. You had to know smores were involved.

Croquet is definitely a man's sport. Especially the way these guys play it!

Long story accompanies this picture! Ill try to make it short, though... 😉 On the way home, our car broke down -- about six hours south of Rathdrum in a town called Idaho Falls, Idaho. We were stranded
for five days, waiting for a part to come in! Providentially, though, we were only a couple hours from
Fr. Philip's weekend mission -- which he usually only serves once or twice a month -- but  this was the blessed weekend!( No accidents in the universe, right?) So, we got a rental car and drove over to Boise, got to meet the wonderful parishioners there and spend a little more time with Father as an added bonus!

The Sunday happened to fall on the feast of our dear St. Anthony!! And we happened to be carrying with us two little kittens the boys adopted from some Idaho friends ("We need fresh barn cat blood" they said.), so we were able to have them blessed -- with the help of a super cool trad named Anthony!

This is how the kittens traveled the whole long
way back to Iowa. We joked that they had more
room than the boys did. (And they did! No joke!)

Once we got the car going again, we headed
back home, via Yellowstone National Park.
Here's Old Faithful -- being faithful.

We Did Finally Make it Home!

And then we got to host one gathering after another -- after another -- after another. First Father Philip came to visit for a week, then Sister Antonia came, overlapping Father's visit by a few days, then Monica's family came for a visit during Girl's Camp week -- and all throughout that time, there were campfires and barbecues and jaunts down to our favorite ice cream haunt -- and sing alongs and work parties -- and Michelle's birthday thrown in...

Granddaughters Daria, Ella and Claudia -- and good
friends' little boys, Joseph and Robert O'Shea. All
the Littles LOVE the RV!

Good old friend, Gerard Brinkoff and girlfriend 
💓 Michelle.

Work Party #231B:Building the deck and stairs for the RV. Much safer now! I'll have to find a photo
of the finished product to share at some point. These guys are amazingly good carpenters. Funny thing
is how much it still always amazes me, as a home school mom, especially -- that these guys learn stuff
that I don't know about...  Like: How'd y'all get so good at this when my back was turned??

With our on-sight grandbabies, Margaret Mary and Clara, on the RV steps (before the re-build)
I'm not sure if I've mentioned anywhere on AWTY (hmm...) that Dominic (son #4, our electrician)
and his wife, Monica, remodeled the upstairs of the old farmhouse, making it just short of an apartment (sans a complete kitchen) -- and are now living with us. The loose plan is to see if living here at the old
place is a good fit for them -- and if it is, we will sell them the house, but continue to live on the property in the RV (plus, hopefully, eventually, an RV shelter with storage and a bonus room). It's 
been a complete WIN for us, having them here. We love it! We're hoping they decide it's a match for them, too -- but if it isn't, we'll extend the offer to the rest of the kids to see if we get a "bite" before we
make any other plans. It's the time of life for us to be downsizing in every way, though. Retirement is coming!

Beautiful Michelle (I call her "Shelly" 💗) Twenty-six years young!

Sister Antonia Marie got the chance to reconnect with all the granddaughters!
She is like a magnet for them! Actually, for all of us! She is and always has
been a ray of sunshine! (fuzzy pic, though. ugh.)

And my beloved old home- soundtrack!

Gatherings, gatherings...

At Christy Cream here... Before the children had
ice cream all over their little faces...

William, Fr. P, and Dan

At the Fourth of July Party at Michelle's. Being goofy.

At the Girls' Day Tea and Painting Party. 💕

The tea set up.

Savories.

Scones -- and Sr. A's home-made lemon curd and
faux Devon cream.

The sweets!

More "sweets." Daria and Ella painting away.

The painting set up. We endeavored to
replace the old worn-out signs on 
the garden "guide post."

Here are the finished products:

What it looked like with the original signs -- painted in '16.
( Look how little everyone is...! 😢 )
We haven't attached the new signs to the post yet -- but I'll maybe
 remember to share a photo when we do!)

You had to know that there's a good deal of this
that goes on around here in the summer time --
especially by this son.... (and his Mom!)
Tucked up in a cozy corner of the RV, reading
the Don Camillo Omnibus this day. 😊

A Few Shots of the Grounds Mid-July

From the top of the "Hobbit Hill" next to the swing.

From the RV patio, over the "window boxes."

"Margaret's Garden." All flowers with a couple kale and beans -- and a rogue pumpkin up in the weeds.

Over the tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos to the right of the berry garden. See the cool antique hand
plow I found at Goodwill -- of all places?

The new St. Joseph statue in the corner? 💓 Gabe is designing a shrine to build for him . We're hoping there'll be time to finish it this summer! Dan and I love this spot we call "the Sunken Garden." If there is a breeze to be found, it finds its way in here, oddly enough.

The RV -- porch and steps almost finished.

A different trip to the ice cream parlor. And William's patented
"stupid face." 😜 I'm not sure if he knows how close he got 
right there to having this ice cream cone stuffed right up his nose.

Up the hill from our house. We were driving home from Christy Cream after ice cream, when,
right before the turn onto our road, Gabe says, "No, no. Turn up on Cougar and follow it up to the
crest of the road and we'll catch the sunset." And darned if he didn't have it timed exactly. This kid.
Lovely memory now, of standing on the dirt road, the sound of crickets and birds, a little breath of a breeze, and a perfect sunset show, compliments of God, Himself -- and Gabe's sixth sense.

Work Party # 323A: Power Washing the house
before painting it. (Boy, was this needed!)

Mowing on the new "Zero Turn." The old mower
finally kicked the bucket and the boys all decided
 it was time to invest in a better machine. They are
all enjoying it thoroughly. (Mom calls this a WIN!)

Found this lovely St. Anthony on sale at 
Cosgrove (Omaha). Now trying to decide
where he needs to go...

Work Party #324A: Finishing out the "Pub" facade. Photos
will definitely be shared when this project is finished!

Ongoing work on the gardens -- mostly by Dominic and Monica who are enjoying their first gardening
experience -- and rocking it! Here you see one of my favorite glimpses from the RV window: an early
morning father/daughter garden check. Looking at a tomatillo here? Maybe a pepper or a cherry tomato... Monica has already put up several quarts of pesto! The taste of summer!

A meme I made to thank the boys for all their hard work, repairing and painting the house. There is
still work to be done, but, goodness, they have put their hearts into it -- and Dominic is a stellar
"foreman," such a good leader and mentor to his little brothers. It has been such a blessing for him
to be here with them this summer. It's a crazy thing about big families that smaller families don't experience, the big gap between the top and the bottom of the family. The oldest children sometimes just don't get the chance to really bond with the youngest within the home atmosphere -- so opportunities like this are golden! Later this month, our oldest son, Paul, is making an opportunity to get to know his youngest brothers by setting up a camping adventure, along with his son, Gavin, to the wilderness of northern Minnesota -- and plans are in the works for the boys to fly over to Germany next summer to spend time with Kevin in Bavaria. I love that they are making this happen, all the brothers! These relationships amongst them are living treasures that have to be tended -- and it pleases me no end to see them tending them. 

 So there you have it, June and July, 2021:

Summer-ized!