The City Mouse in the Country

  So we stood there, my wife and I, looking at a train display in the window of a small bank, my eyes as wide as saucers as I watched the toy train chug around the track.   One of the cars had a moveable searchlight on it, and that brought back warm memories.                 My wife said something to me but I had already traveled back in time to when I was 8 years old and my brother and I were playing with a train set that took up the entirety of my grandmother’s dining room.    One of the rail cars on her train set had a search light on it too, another car had a missile that you could shoot up and into the tree; which was exactly what my brother and I were doing; trying to knock ornaments down.    Sort of looks like me.  Even has a beer.                 Even today I swear that every Christmas packages were as high as the roof as chorales sang of old kings and new and it always snowed on Christmas day.   Memories of my father dressed up as Santa year in and year out as generation a

    This entire past weekend had been dreary.  We are in the midst of a cold front that has brought a steady soaking, cold and misting rain that soaks into you very bones.  It is a good weekend for making a good and hearty soup and other foods to warm your soul.     While it is not cold, our high was barely above 60 F (16 C), it was cold enough at night for us to start the pellet stove to warm the house and to start thinking about soup.   It particular there was one soup that I came across that got me interested in making it.         Even the name of it, Brie and Cheddar Apple Beer Soup , got my mouth watering.        I had also came across an interesting recipe for Eggnog Cheese , and while not quite ready to tackle that (I don't have a proper press), I certainly thought that I could make my own Eggnog !       Eggnog is one of those things that I would drink all year round, either "leaded" or "unleaded."  Although there are a lot of different ways to make eggno

    We are having my family over for Easter.       Generally speaking I'm happy about this.   I don't get to see my brother and his family very often.  I'm sure that my niece will have a bit of fun feeding our next door neighbor, Billy the horse. as well as enjoying a good dinner of glazed Ham, carrots with some pesto and my homemade ricotta, scalloped potato's and maybe some grilled asparagus.       Easter is also a time of rebirth, a call back to simpler times when the natural cycles of the world held sway.   Both Susan and I are non religious, believing in Science more than some Higher Power but we are both smart enough to know that traditions matter; and that deep down we are still hardwired to be thankful for warmer days ahead. Blessing of the Easter Baskets     This is also the first major holiday since Thanksgiving that we will have family over.  Sadly my brother and I have little in common and completely different memories of growing up in the same home.  Si

 **edit - I received some feedback that the links I share are not always visible.  So I am going to try highlighting them for now to see if that helps.** Maybe an actual photo of me?        Spring is coming, there is even a countdown clock for it available on the internet.  So far the winter hasn't been as bad as I had feared.   We have only had a few days where the temperature has dropped below freezing and for the most part the snow has been manageable.   I've managed to only have to shovel my driveway a handful of times this year.  We are currently experiencing the coldest snap of the year but the day is sunny and bright and that helps.     I have to admit that I'm not happy at this moment, being wrapped up in sweaters and wearing thermal pajamas to bed each night.  However, I remind myself that this to shall pass.     I moved South to escape the cold and moved back up north to escape the every increasing heat in the South.  I do believe in Global Warming and remember m

      I decided that I could not let this holiday and year pass without comment.  I've started and stopped writing this entry three or four or five times now.  I've always done some sort of "year in review" for every blog I've ever wrote and this is no exception.        However I've only kept this blog since late September and really haven't done much in the way of "homesteading."      The question for me become how do I summarize a year that has been anything but simple?  How do you close out a year that has...to put it mildly...been anything but normal?   A year that frankly, I can't remember some parts of because they seem to exist in a dreamlike state?      It started simply enough, Sue and I were living in Florida and talking about moving home to PA, discussing about starting a bed and breakfast , etc.   Nothing that was to wild or out of the ordinary.        Our home in Florida had been off and on the market for the previous two years w

   Hey everyone!  Did you know that this page now has a companion Facebook page?    It will have articles, memes and such that interest me that relate to this page but don't really apply.  Be sure to check it o ut!        To be honest I expected errors, I expected mistakes, missteps and even the occasional "oops."   This is new to me, and I'm doing things like I've never done before .       This time however I let myself get carried a way a bit and made an error that could have been costly indeed.             Our wood pellet stove needs cleaned out at least once a week.  You can push it a few more days but the ash does build up.   This time we didn't have the air intake for the fire set right and the pellets built up, all the way to the hopper gate.  This concerns me because we have a friend that had the fire in their auger which ended up destroying their stove.   A rarity to be sure, but if their is one thing I've learned in my life...is that the millio

    As I wait for one or two more estimates about putting together a transfer switch, so I can use the generator to power parts of the house in case of a blackout,    I thought that I should as least do something in the kitchen this weekend.     Part of my journey into "country mousehood" is learning how to cook.  If your growing your own food, you should at least know how to prepare it is some form right?     Having a deep love and respect for history and a desire to explore, I've learned that flavors and styles change.  Big business determines what we eat (and that is several blog entries waiting to happen) and as such the American palate grows smaller and our desire for something that isn't familiar to us, grows less.     Hence you don't see venison (deer), duck, rabbit or turtle soup anymore in the restaurants and inns of America.  When I lived in Florida, I looked forward to eating other types of fish only to see the big three - Salmon, Tilapia and Haddock (w

           Hey everyone!  Did you know that this page now has a companion Facebook page?    It will have articles, memes and such that interes t me that relate to this page but don't really apply.  Be sure to check it out     Let's be honest, 2020 has been one very odd and stressful year.     Covid hung over Thanksgiving this year like some weird creepy Uncle that the kids shouldn't be left alone with.   In our family, we ended up having two Thanksgiving dinners.  One with my brother and family on the 21st, the other with Sue's family on the 26th.        This has been our first Thanksgiving together with our families in over 15 years.  When we lived in Florida we would come home for Christmas normally, but as children grow and things change, even that holiday seemed to fall by the wayside.       We often invited friends that didn't have family in the area or some of the elderly folk over for Thanksgiving dinner when we lived in Florida.  That became a tradition.