It might be an understatement to say I’m not like other people. Just the other day, a relative remarked to me during a Facebook chat that I “really do have a lot of interesting idiosyncrasies.” So it will come as no surprise to anyone when I tell you there are two things that have changed […]
I flipped the page on The Mister’s Northern Woodlands day calendar one-day last month and found myself staring at a diagnosis for my condition. It turns out I’m part chipmunk. “Chipmunks will store as much food as they can, sometimes much more than they could possibly use. They don’t have a stop button.” Right at […]
I was standing at a window in the other living room—the room we use so seldom that we are never even quite sure what to call it—craning my neck and peering out between the blinds. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” asked The Mister, a twinkling of amusement and curiosity in his voice. “My woodpile, of course!” […]
The man selling greenhouse kits at the fair burst into hearty laughter when I asked him if he wrote a blog about his lifestyle. “I’m a homesteader! I don’t have time for that stuff.” I smell what he’s stepping in. Depending upon the level of homesteading in which one engages, there is often very little […]
“Get your duds on!” That was what my mother always said when I was a kid. “Duds” was her word for outdoor trappings—hat, mittens, snow pants, coat, and boots. I don’t know how the word “duds” came to be used in that context. It could have been a then-common phrase that has since gone extinct, […]
The dog erupted in loud barking at 3:30 in the morning, her booming voice catapulting us into consciousness. She ran out of our bedroom and down the stairs to the back door. The Mister eased out of bed and staggered down after her, hooked her to a leash in case the object of her commotion […]
“Kathy.” I strained to loosen sleep’s grip on my brain. I’m not a morning person like I used to be. “Kathy, you need to get up,” I heard The Mister saying. At the same time, my mind began to register something. A smell. Was it—? Oh no! “The dog got hit by a skunk,” he […]
People in my neighborhood woke up to a blanket of new snow this week. My lawn and deck were carpeted with about three inches of the season’s first white stuff. After waving goodbye to The Mister as he pulled out of the driveway in the dim pre-dawn light, I sat down to my regular morning […]
Most people like to wax poetic over July beaches or April crocuses or September splendor or even the stunning whiteness of February. I don’t deny any of that—I love it too. But unlike most people, I love November. That’s right. I love it. I love its heavy lavender gray skies and bare maple trees and […]
Some people have hinted politely about it. With others, I can hear the smug mirth in the back of their voice while we’re having a conversation. A few have come right out and said it. “Kathy, you have no business owning livestock.” It’s true that I march to my own tune when it comes to […]
