“Bringing the outdoors in”, is often a decorator term that means using natural materials for home decorating and design. It is not uncommon for people in West Virginia to collect all kinds of natural wonders, often it is the delicate paper wasp nest. Over the years I have been fascinated with the beauty of the […]
half pints of apple jelly This summer I was so fortunate to receive a gift of about 60 pounds of apples from a neighbors tree. I made several things from the free organic apples, pies, apple sauce, jelly and apple butter. The nice thing was that with the raw apples I could make both apple jelly […]
With the holidays almost here I wanted to share an idea with all of you. Five hands thinking I love to surround myself with people who also understand this idea and make things. It is with pleasure that I share my life with artist of every kind. Most are people I have known for years and […]
This week the class of I am taking has covered a lot of ground and I am so thankful that I have already thought about and started some of Word Presses suggestions before I signed up for the class. The pace is fast and with all of my family health issues I have been working […]
I hope all of your gardens have produced well this year. As I finally close up ours today ( the 4th of Nov.) It seems that I again have learned so much and have had so little time to write about it. We even won some unexpected prizes from the garden this year and that […]
I know most people do not get excited to go grocery shopping, but every once in a while I just enjoy driving the back roads to shop at a little tiny grocery store in the country. I stop at this store for a lot reasons, one is they have a ten pound meat sale every month […]
With the holidays almost here I wanted to share an idea with all of you. Five hands thinking I love to surround myself with people who also understand this idea and make things. It is with pleasure that I share my life with artist of every kind. Most are people I have known for years and […]
Being that West Virginia is south of the Mason Dixon Line our people are traditionally thought of a southern. If you hear my older son, his wife and Grand Mother speak you know you have left the north and headed into Pork Country. Pulled Pork is a favorite of all Southern Families and our’s too. […]
As part of every episode of Barnwood builders Mark Bowe always likes to show off other skilled craftsman or tradesman who do things the old-fashioned way. So when producers from the show discovered that Tom was a farrier,they were thrilled to add his skills to their show. To film his farrier skills we needed a […]
Mother Giraffe at Hovatter’s Wildlife Zoo Kingwood WV summer 2020 So West Virginia is not known for its large selection of Zoos or animal parks. But with our family spending so much time at home with the Coronavirus it was nice to spend a morning at the West Virginia family-owned and operated Hovatters Wild Animal […]
Me with my books again Ok, I am really deep inside, a reader… not a writer. I write because I have so much that I want to share with my family and friends.Writing is my way of keeping those memories and stories alive. I set a goal of reading at least one book every month […]
A slow, tree-lined mountain road is the only way in or out of Helvetia,West Virginia. Where in the 1860’s a strong and talented group of Swiss and German settlers founded a new community within the isolated mountains of Randolph, County. To visit Helvetia today is to step back in time, to a place where culture […]
My friend at Under The Oaks and I had a nice web conversion about my Traditional Sauerkraut post. At the end of that post I made a serving suggestion about pork, sauerkraut and German potato pancakes. She responded that she had found memories of German potato pancakes but had not had them in years and would […]
One of our family Christmas traditions since my husband was a small boy was making home-made hard candy to share with the friends and family. So this year I wanted to share the tradition with my Daughter-in-Law so that she could make the candy with my granddaughter when she gets just a little older. I […]
