Today I need to see this picture. I call this view “How Great Thou Art.”
Today when I got up the biggest annoyance was that my hair appointment was not until next week–my fault for not making it.
The day has unfolded with it being the worst pain for Mike since his knee replacement surgery and I feel helpless; a young mother with a relationship to many in the Mendota community died, my beloved Golden Retriever, Gracie, is failing so fast, a young man I have known since he was 8 was deployed; and I twisted my ankle.
In Mendota, Virginia, we usually plant potatoes on Good Friday. I don’t think anyone thinks much about why we do this, but I Googled it once, and it’s an Irish tradition. However, it was so cold that I missed this date.
This evening I decided to plant them in the raised beds. I have no idea if the “signs” were right, but I knew that if I tripped over that bag of potatoes sitting in the garage one more time, I was gonna….you get the picture. I have purchased organic potatoes from Southern Exposure in the past, but I didn’t have great luck with them. This year we purchased the potatoes from Southern States. Mike loves Southern States.
Yukon Gold potatoes are my favorite.
Most everyone around here halves their potatoes if there are enough “eyes” on them. I only halved a few of them. Mostly I just put them in the dirt.
I planted 18 per bed; four beds total. I have 72 potatoes planted. One year our granddaughters just stuck them in the dirt (similar to what I did tonight), and they did great. I’m hoping!
No hills, no planning, no help from Mike who is laid up with his new knee. I can tell you one thing…it’s not as much fun planting potatoes by yourself. Hate to admit that.
I went for a walk on Sunday, and I know for sure that spring is here.
Do I know it just by the flowering trees in this picture? Nope.
Or this picture? Nope.
Could it be by the green grass in my sister’s yard? Nope.
Well, all of these are sure signs of spring, but I knew it was really spring when I saw this guy (feeling a little flat in this photo). He/she had been crossing the road headed toward the river when the trip was interrupted.
When I went for this walk, I felt like I was leading a parade. A bunch of kids followed me. No…not “kids” as in human kids! Goats!!
Here’s some more signs of spring and the business of rural life here in Mendota. New fencing…
Clothes on the line…can you smell the sheets in your imagination? (Little disclosure…this picture was made Saturday and those sheets are STILL on the clothesline.) These sheets make me feel heady…three sheets to the wind!
I received the new Pottery Barn catalogue a little over a week ago. I love looking at their catalog. Once in a while something on the pages either inspires me to try and replicate the look or reminds me of something that is already in my house.
Pottery Barn has been selling Mason jars (with handles on them) for drink glasses for the past few years. At my house, we either drink from a real Mason jar or ones just like the ones from Pottery Barn. I got them at the Dollar Store about ten years ago and paid $1.00 for two jars. Home canning is a part of our Southwest Virginia rural life, and I like for my table to reflect that. I’m happy that Pottery Barn is on board with this idea!
Here’s Pottery Barn’s very pretty glass..
And here is my very pretty glass…I stuck a pansy in it just to fancy it up. It’s got that “Poor Valley” water in it, and “once you drink the water from Poor Valley, water will never taste good anywhere else.”
Right now when I open a home decor magazine for country homes, I see white. Hmmm…obviously not from Southwest Virginia where we name our children “Clay”. Pottery Barn still has rooms with a lot of color, and I’m so glad! It validates my love of color in the home. I’m loving their red bar stool, and I’m gonna be spray painting mine red next week!
And lookeee here…oh yeah…Pottery Barn’s entertainment center rocks!
And here’s the one in my den made from reclaimed barn wood…created from the American Chestnut, and it’s signed and dated by someone I know pretty well! Thanks Michael! Sorry Pottery Barn…I like mine better. I hope you understand.
Really like the organic look of the wooden bowls…
But I love my bowl handcrafted by gnarled hands from Appalachia and purchased at the Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon. It’s signed on the bottom.
Here’s something I don’t have, but I want it! Maybe if it gets marked down a little bit…
Hi there! Mike is recuperating so nicely from his knee replacement surgery. The very worst thing–thus far–has been a four-day case of hiccups which, thank goodness, have passed. After knee replacement surgery, especially if it’s your right knee–you’re prohibited from driving for about three weeks. Because of this, I’m at home during this time driving him to/fro PT and just making sure he’s okay.
Since I’m more or less stranded here on RiverCliff hill, I’m doing deeper cleaning on the house. Today, I cleaned the copper pots on my potrack. Here’s the lineup…a parade of dirty copper pots!
In the past, I’ve used copper cleaner on these pots, and I started to do so tonight, but I’m getting a yucky blue building…
I remembered that vinegar and salt cleaned copper. I went to the internet and confirmed this and mixed a 1/2 and 1/2 concoction of white vinegar and table salt. Some of the internet recipes which you can find by Googling suggested a mix which can be put in a spray bottle and sprayed on the copper. However, I had no spray bottle, so here’s my mix which I just dabbed on with a sponge.
It worked! Here’s a “before” picture of a copper lid. I got this at Dixie Pottery when I was in my 20’s! If you are too young to remember the fun of going to Dixie Pottery, you missed something.
And here’s the after…
Here’s the potrack with all of the copper cleaned…and using what I have on hand aligns with my reminder to myself to “Simpify.”
And here’s a bit of ivy to liven things up. This is a live plant, so I’ll have to rotate it with one that is about the same size to keep it looking good.
This motiviated me to mop the floor and that is what I’m going to do right now!
Mike’s in the hospital having the knee he had replaced back in 2007 replaced again. Apparently, his cement was cracked. I’m stranded here with him.
I went on a cruise ship once and wanted to read Harlequin romances all week, but I didn’t want any of my husband’s co-workers to know that I read romance books where the girl hates the guy who is usually dark and lean with piercing eyes. She’s generally a girl-next-door type, and they’ve possibly had a baby that he does not know about. At any rate, each morning I slid a new Harlequin inside a book cover of “Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger. It was just the right size for my one-day romance novel. Everyone thought I was really smart and cool reading Salinger. I don’t even remember if I’ve ever even read Catcher in the Rye. If I have, I’ve forgot it.
It’s like that with blogs. I see where my Facebook friends read and share really interesting, noteworthy posts that inspire and help us be better people…that cause us to think!
I’m not sure why, but I just cannot stay involved in a self-help anything. In the blog world, I’m currently wallowing in pop-culture trash.
