Slightly Laughable

There are few times that I actually manage to pull a good trick or scare on Ross, but occasionally I manage one. A couple years back, we were heading across Highway 12, winding our way to a lumber mill to load. It was a snowy situation. We may both have been a bit weary of

The Things Nobody Tells You…(musings from a first-time mom)

Nobody tells you that you really should grow an extra set of arms during pregnancy (along with everything else you’re growing). Cuz you’re really really gonna need more than just the two you have. They’d come in handy for driving swather and baler while essaying to feed and burp a floppy little baby at the

These Are the Days

Of milk and diapers. And more milk. And more diapers. Of sweet baby cuddles and growth spurts too soon. Of bright baby eyes, sweet-smelling hair, and cutesy outfits. These are the days of a newborn. These are the days of overgrown lawns and weedy flowerbeds. Of dirty windows and sewing piled high. Of the rocking

Sheet Pan Meals

With the flurry of busyness the last couple weeks, I’ve jumped on board the one-dish-meal bandwagon. And I must admit I am hooked! It all started while I was redoing my kitchen cupboards. Monday morning found me moving every dish, lid, utensil, pan, and other random forgotten artifacts (found at the very backs of my

Snowy Days

Whiteness. Pure whiteness. Falling from the sky, heaping the fenceposts, drifting over the woodpile. Cold brisk air; fresh nitrogen from above, catching ride on the minuscule crystals plummeting from the atmosphere. Transforming the drab brown world into sparkling frosted beauty. Buster’s view of a snowy day—What excitement, what energy pulses through my veins. I turn

Words and Birds

The weather beams warm one day; another morning, I look outside to see 6 inches of snow drifted across the lawn with an awful wind whipping through the bare tree branches. Winter in Oregon. The next week, we get drizzles of rain for a day or two..the ground turns into a quagmire of soft sticky

12 AM Thoughts

I mailed a package to Indiana on December 28. It arrived to its destination on January 30. I should be a postal worker for a month just to see what in the world goes on after normal unsuspecting people drop normal unsuspected packages with valid address labels and paid shipping off at the post office.

Gratefulness

I am thankful for little things. The other day in a writing group, we were given the assignment of writing a list of 100 things to be grateful for. It took a bit of thought to come up with that many. But once I got to the upper 90’s, even more blessings popped into my

Winter Days

I’ve found one benefit of foggy mornings.. when it finally clears, the whole world is bathed in fuzzy outlines of silvery whiteness. Today the air was crisp and the very trees crackled as I trotted past them on a brisk walk with Buster. Nothing pleases the two of us more than to head out across

Of life and holiday spirits

Cure for bad-tempered cats: Pull on welding gloves. Grab bad-tempered cat and stuff into a large garbage can with lid. Close lid tightly. Place on four wheeler and drive rapidly to farm 2-3 miles away. Dump cat out and drive rapidly away in the opposite direction. Take a completely different route home so bad-tempered cat