Worry or Pray

Image above compliments of: http://littlebirdieblessings.blogspot.com/

When I putter around my home or garden my mind tends to wander in its own way.

A while back that wandering led to a more defined thought. Worry is useless. Prayer has almost incomprehensible value. How often do we hear something along the lines of, "well, all we can do is pray about it"? All we can do? I am inclined to think that while we should do whatever practical things we can to work on a situation, nothing we as mortals can do is worth more than prayer. As the thoughts circled around in my head, the conclusion I came to was that anytime I catch myself saying or thinking, "I worry about" something, I need to substitute the world "pray". I do not worry about things, I pray about them!

How much more empowering is the idea of praying about something than to worry about it?

So, that is my little bit of sharing for today. When you find yourself tempted to worry, pray instead! I find I am a much calmer person when I take the attitude of prayer rather than worry.

Helping the Birds

It is nest building time for the birds in our area.

I remember years ago walking through the woods at my parents' house and spotting little nests made almost entirely of long blonde strands of hair from my horse's mane and tail. When the birds where done with their nests, many of them made it into my collection. I use them around the house and at Christmas time, hide one or two amongst the tree branches. I no longer have horses but do find ways to help the birds with their nests.

This time of year when I clean my hairbrush or the lint screen from my dryer, I toss those little bits and pieces out a window for the birds. Sure enough, I have seen nests around our home built using those little pieces!

It is a small thing but it brings me joy.

You Might Live in the Country if...........

You might live in the country if you hear your dogs barking, look out the window and see your neighbors cow wandering through your yard. Never a dull moment around here!

Living For Today or Preparing For A Rainy Day

Most days I try to do my shopping early in the day. Occasionally that doesn't happen and I find myself at the grocery store between 5pm and 6pm. This seems to be the time of day that folks stop on their way home from work to pick up what they need for the evening meal. I have never, ever, in my adult life, not had a stocked pantry and freezer from which I could select what I needed for a meal. I do not understand folks who seem to routinely stop on their way home to pick up that evening's dinner.

Do they not think ahead? What if they have an interruption in their paycheck? What if there is a disaster of some sort that makes getting to the grocery store impossible?

There was a time when no self respecting woman would allow herself to not have a well stocked pantry. It was just common sense. Part of being prepared for a rainy day so to speak. Now it seems that there are those who look on the idea of having more on hand than one needs for a day or a week to be hoarding!

Where do these ideas come from? Why do folks buy into them? How many emergency or desperate situations have been created merely because someone did not look to the future and plan ahead? Have we become so placid as to think that someone else will take care of us if we hit a bump in the road of life? Do we no longer believe we are responsible for our own well being?

I fully understand that there are times when folks do plan ahead and still run out of resources and find themselves in dire straits. That is not the same as leading a life style of only living for today and then when things go wrong expecting someone else to fix the situation.

Within my own community several situations come to mind.

A family with a good income who never bothered to purchase health insurance. Both of the adults in that family and one of the children all developed serious health problems within a couple of years. I remember clearly hearing the father bemoaning the fact that they now could not get health insurance. Well, you don't wait and buy car insurance until after you have wrecked your vehicle! In the same way, you do not buy every new gadget on the market rather than investing in some health insurance when you are healthy and then expect to be able to buy it once you are ill. The community came together and raised funds to help this family. A year later, when things improved, they went on a cruise! Did they try to find a way to create a fund in the community to help the next person in need? No! Did they set funds aside for their next emergency? No!

Another family suffered a "crisis" when their heating system failed in the dead of winter. They lacked the resources to repair or replace the system. Again, community members rallied and helped them get their system replaced. By the next summer they were sharing information about the extensive kitchen remodel they were doing. Did they seek to repay those who had helped them? No! Did they check with local agencies to see if there was another family in need that they could now help? No!

I understand the concept of living in the moment and enjoying each day. I do not understand the kind of self indulgence mentioned above where folks only live for today and the next new thing to splurge on without first making sure they have assets available to get themselves through difficult times.

At what point do we stop being helpful and instead become enablers? At what point do we say that it is time for folks to take responsibility for their own well being? I have no problem with folks making their own choices. I just happen to believe that maybe it is time to do a bit more investigating into situations and be willing to let folks live out the consequences of their choices.

Maybe if we were a bit more careful of where we give help, those who are truly in need would have more help available and those who make poor decisions would learn to make more responsible choices.

Home Made Corned Beef

Image compliments of: http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick's Day meal around here.
For years, I bought my corned beef at the grocery store like pretty much every one else. Then, one year, the budget was a bit tighter than usual and the corned beef seemed a bit pricier than usual. The thought occurred to me that surely there was a way to corn beef at home.
After some researching of old cookbooks and internet sites, I pieced together the basics and devised my own recipe. Turns out we like it better than the store bought ones and so has everyone who has had it at our house!

One roast of beef. I usually buy a 3 lb. chuck roast for our family. You could of course buy a brisket or another cut.
3 quarts of water
1 cup salt.....I have used regular iodized salt and sea salt. Doesn't seem to make a difference so just go with your preference.
1 cup sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup pickling spices
several cloves of garlic chopped in small pieces

Place all the above ingredients except the roast in a large saucepan on the stove and bring to a boil.
Place the roast in a non-reactive pan. I use my smallest enameled roaster.
Pour the boiling spice and water mixture over the roast. Add enough water to cover the roast if the 3 quarts is not sufficient to do so. You want the roast submerged in the brine, not floating in it.
Allow to cool a bit and place in refrigerator.
It is best to let this marinate at least overnight. A couple of days is better if you want a stronger "corned" flavor to your roast.

When you are ready to cook your roast, move it to the proper sized roasting pan and add what ever vegetables you wish. We usually use cabbage, carrots and potatoes.
Strain the spices and garlic from the brine and place them in the roasting pan with the roast and vegetables along with enough brine to cook the roast and vegetables. Usually about 2 inches deep in the roasting pan.
I generally cook this at 350º for 30 minutes per lb. of roast.

The one difference you will notice using this recipe is that the roast will not be the pink color of a store bought corned beef. That is because the chemical responsible for maintaining the pink color of the beef is sodium nitrate (saltpeter). It tastes just fine without that pink color and is healthier without the additional chemicals!

The Important Things

I used to be "that woman". The one with the spotless house.

When we were first married, both my husband and I worked. As a new nurse, I had no choice of hours and was on a 3pm-11pm shift for several years. I worked every other week end. My husband was a manager in corporate America and worked well more than 40 hours a week, and often on Saturdays. We were fortunate in that he worked within a short drive of our home so was able to come home for lunch several days a week. For the first couple years the only full days we had off together were two Sundays a month and the occasional Saturday. I had plenty of time to myself to do what little cooking and cleaning were needed. Our first house was a little over 1,000SF. It was easy to keep clean. We tended to eat out except for the the days he was able to come home for lunch. I recall visiting my father's office several months after I was married. My father's secretary asked me, "How's married life?" I had to laugh and tell her I thought it was okay but wasn't really sure. I kept finding dirty laundry and dishes on occasion so figured there was a husband around somewhere but didn't often see him!

Please note, I keep using the term house and not home. It was a charming house built in 1955 and we both had lived on our own before marrying so had enough accumulated belongings to furnish it comfortably if not fashionably. His career had taken him away from the community that had been our families' home. I had worked initially in the city where I went to nursing school but changed to another hospital in the same community where he was working so initially we knew very few people. The house was easy to keep spotless because for the most part, there was seldom anyone there!

Flash forward 30 some odd years and it is a very different story. I have been a stay at home wife/mother in a 2,400SF home that was built in 1900, since 1989. Now everyone knows that SAHMs have all the time in the world on their hands. (myth #1) My husband no longer works for corporate America. We own a small service related business that he is able to operate from an office in our home. And everyone knows when you are self employed, you have all the time in the world! (myth #2).

I no longer live in a spotless house. I do live in a reasonably clean, comfortable home where meals are cooked at least once a day and often two or three times a day and the laundry pile never gets too high. There is likely to be a bit of dust in the corners and a dust bunny or three under the furniture.

Throughout the years there have been numerous situations that have taken my time away from home. Family and friends with health needs. Schools that need volunteer moms. Scout camps that need a summer receptionist. Elderly friends who needed assistance sorting through years of accumulation to move to smaller quarters. Every time I think I am almost on top of it all and have every nook and cranny in ship shape, something comes along to detour me. I have had to decide what are the important things.

People matter more than things to me. Being a volunteer weekly in our son's school was more important than being home to clean. Spending a summer (or three) as the receptionist as the Scout camp where our son wanted to work was more important than a spotless house. In both instances, it enabled me to know who our son's friends were and what they were doing. It paid off in spades. Today, those now young adults still take time to stop by our house just to visit with me over lunch. Not only was I able at the time to make sure our son was associating with others who shared values similar to ours, I now have the joy of sharing in the future hopes and dreams of a number of those young people.

Sitting with a friend as they watch over a sick loved one in the hospital or helping elderly friends sort and pack through a lifetime of memories to move to smaller quarters takes time away from our home. The laundry stays caught up and meals are cooked but sometimes that is about all that gets done! I have decided that these things matter more than a spotless house.

If I ever have doubts that I am making the right choices those doubts vanish when someone says, "I love coming to your house! It always feels like home."

Clutter or stuff?

Lately, it seems every where I turn, I find an article about getting rid of clutter. If you haven't used it or worn it in "x" amount of time, get rid of it! If you don't find it useful or beautiful, get rid of it! Less is more. Empty space is beautiful.

I just don't get it!

There is a difference between useless junk, unsanitary or unsafe living conditions and just plain having "stuff". We have "stuff". Some would call it clutter. I like looking at the walls and knowing that I created that sampler. The copper rubbing of a horse was made by my father more than 70 years ago. The print of kittens in a basket was a gift from my son's 3rd grade teacher in appreciation for the time I spent volunteering in their classroom. The acrylic painting on one wall was purchased years ago on vacation and brings back lovely memories of that time. The oil painting over the fireplace was the first thing my husband and I bought together for our home after we were married. I could go on and on. The point is, our walls have little bare space but every item on them holds a memory or tells a story. Ours is not a small house. It was built in 1900 and has 2,400 SF. That's a lot of wall space and most of it is covered. Current trends would suggest that I take photos of those items and pare down what is on my walls. Somehow I just don't think that looking at a photo of a picture would be the same.
Our home is filled with pieces of mostly old furniture. Some would call them antiques or vintage. Many of the pieces were on their way to the landfill because of broken parts or damaged finishes. My husband repairs the broken parts and I clean, polish, refinish or recover as needed. They served a previous generation and will most likely serve a future generation.
The bookshelf in my kitchen was literally rescued from a dump more than 40 years ago by my father. It apparently was a display rack for Nabisco products many years ago and is made of solid oak. For a number of years it lived in the barn at my childhood home and held my grooming supplies for my horse. I spotted it one day a few years ago, disassembled, in the back of my father's workshop. It came home with me that day, was cleaned up and proved to be the perfect spot for holding my cookbooks. It is now truly an antique. How many items that would now be antiques never made it to that stage because someone thought they were clutter?
And the cookbooks on that shelf? Many of them are older than I am. They hold recipes that are not found in more modern editions. Without them, I would only know to make pudding by buying a mix! How many skills are we literally throwing away because we are not holding onto old books?
Quilts. I look at many quilts made today and they consist of pretty designs created from brand new fabrics bought just for the purpose of making that quilt. There is nothing wrong with that. They are still objects of craftsmanship and beauty, but to my way of thinking, those quilts do not hold the same fascination as the old crazy quilts created from scraps of worn out clothes. I have a couple of old quilts made by long gone women in my family. I love to look at them and imagine what dress that piece of velvet came from, or what suit that scrap of wool. How many clothes that are now just thrown away would in earlier times have become part of a memory in a quilt?
New and shiny and spare is just fine for some. For me, I will take my clutter with its charm and history and hopefully someday pass it on to a future generation so they too can remember and enjoy.
"Clutter is the poetry of our homes. It is an intimate view that is not always perfect; a few dishes in the sink, books piled next to the bed. Everything in its place may give a certain satisfaction, but a lived-in room exudes comfort and warmth." (Mary Randolph Carter)