pile of my families mismatched socks Today was a beautiful West Virginia early winter day. The temperature was 50 degrees, the sun was shining, and my car was loaded with donations to the local homeless shelter. 60 pairs of new socks overflowed into the seat of my little station wagon. I was able to collect […]
Every summer I plain a home improvement project, some large,some small, this one was the most frustrating to finish. The updated 1/2 bath was very challenging but with worth the effort. Even if we did not get all of the pipe issues resolved this summer. To start with let me share with you some of […]
Today was another eye-opening experience at the farmers market. I am lucky to live in a community where we have at least 4 farmers markets within about a 12 mile area. I live in a small town of a zip code population of about 4,000 people and the neighboring town may have a zip code […]
New Years is the time when everyone one gets a second chance . It is a time to rejoice in the new beginnings of life and to mourn the loss of the lives we have lost. It is my time to look back at some of the wonderful things we have done and places we […]
As I write this my future as an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Elkins, West Virginia is in question. As part of the National Corporation for National and Community Service my funding is in jeopardy under the new proposed national budget. So I just wanted to share what the future of West Virginia will look like with […]
Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love to attend events like the Beverly Heritage Center’s Lantern Tours. Every mid-October the Beverly Heritage Center in Beverly, West Virginia has two evenings of living history storytelling tours. You spend a little over an hour walking the main streets hearing ghost stories of real events […]
A friend sent this to me on Face Book just a few days ago. It makes me wonder how many of us really understand how foraging can help control evasive plants. It also made me want to share this with any one who likes foraging for greens. Wild Garlic Mustard is found growing almost everywhere […]
As a lover of smoke, steel and railroads it is hard to resist spending time at Cass, West Virginia.A state park devoted to our state’s logging history. An artist and photographer’s dream location and my three-day stay was not nearly enough time to explore the logging camp town and her Shay Engines and the beauty […]
Summer has been busy and my work on the rehabilitation of the Golden Rule Building is really fun and taking up lots of my time. One reason is that we are trying to prepare for a public open house of the project. If you want to know more about this 1902 building and what we […]
Fresh peaches in bowl This has been a great fresh fruit year. I headed into to town on Tuesday and found peaches the size of softballs for 99 cents a pound. So what did I do after canning 60 lbs of apples, I bought 25 lbs of peaches of course. I actually got these at the local feed […]
Fresh peaches in bowl This has been a great fresh fruit year. I headed into to town on Tuesday and found peaches the size of softballs for 99 cents a pound. So what did I do after canning 60 lbs of apples, I bought 25 lbs of peaches of course. I actually got these at the local feed […]
I don’t write a lot about my, day to day ,activities with my kids, but I will share this. another sick week.. he is finally sleeping 1:12 AM, Christopher……….MAMA? MAMA? 1:12 AM Me……………..Yes, Christopher? Come here. I am on the couch sleeping.( Tom has the flu and I am having trouble sleeping and up watching […]
Yesterday as I stood at the dock of our local feed store, Southern States, I watched small pellets of snow falling in the cold morning air. Yet when I looked closer at the mysterious dust that slowly covered the roof of my car and the shoulders of my sweater I realize that the white dusting […]
One of my favorite Appalachian dishes is Creamed Tomatoes. Making it from a batch of garden tomatoes in late summer is a real treat. I always look forward to eating tomatoes from the garden but there is something wonderful about fresh biscuits hot from the oven topped with butter and fresh creamed tomatoes for breakfast […]
