The house is quiet tonight. A gentle rain brushes soft against the windows; the day was mostly not rainy except for small showers until after dark. Everyone has gone to bed and everyone except me is asleep. I listen to the quiet breathing, the rain, the hiss of the wind and recall the day.

We went out for breakfast, visited my booth at the antique mall and spent time outside, watching Larry and grandson Clayton add logs to Larry’s small cabin, sitting on the porch and lounging around the firepit in the evening. Two went golfing for a while. When not outside, we cooked, making homemade mayonnaise, fruit salad and my canned mustard beans. Dinnertime was late as everyone finished up their day’s activities, then we settled at the table for ham, salad, rolls and baked potatoes. Simple fare for a simple day.

We have visitors for the weekend for the first time since the holidays. I am enjoying catching up with my taller-than-me grandchildren, chatting with my daughter-in-law and my oldest son and just letting the day come and go as it will. We welcomed our third son home from yet another of his Army National Guard training missions; he returned from Indiana in time for a round of golf with his brother and dinner with all of us.

A full day of doing nothing of importance, and yet each moment is important. These times too shall pass and be looked back on with fondness and a tinge of regret–the grandchildren will grow up and move on to their own lives; we’ll get older and be less able to keep up the pace we manage today. All things change. All people change too. Recognizing that fact only enhances the pleasure of what is now.

Tomorrow will, I hope, be more of the same: cooking and talking and laughing and remembering. Always remembering. And adding to the memories that are best savored in the quiet of a rainy night.

It has been a hectic few days as I tried to complete four grant applications, all due at the same time. My mind is boggled, to say the least. But they’re done and I can raise my head from the keyboard a moment and breathe. And notice that this is mighty fine weather for the end of January/beginning of February. It makes me uneasy, to be truthful. I found pink primroses blooming today, and the flowering quince or japonica is also in bloom. Usually I have to bring some branches in to force them into bloom this early.

Will we suffer for this weather later on? I wonder. I just read a book called the Great Blizzard, by Jim Murphy. In it he notes that the winter of 1887-1888 was extremely mild, with little or no frost or snow in New York City. And then on March 10, the blizzard struck with a fury unknown before or since, dumping snow and blowing so hard that there were 50-foot drifts in places. I hope that this history does not repeat itself. What a disaster that would be today. Or perhaps we’re better prepared for it? One point he makes in the book is that country people were better equipped to manage since they always kept a good store of food, whereas those in the cities expected to get their supplies daily. Would our country people be as ready now for such a storm?Some will, but many have left the old ways behind and are as reliant on the grocery store and power companies as those poor people in 1888.

But enough of that. What comes will come and we will get through it one way or another. I have been busy but I did take time to notice a beautiful sunset this week, and to walk down to see Larry’s progress on his poutin’ house. He’s building a rough little cabin in the woods from a small log building given to us by a neighbor. He took the building down earlier this month, and now he’s putting it back up. It’s small, all right, about 14×16, and it will not be fancy, but he’s having a blast and I think he is looking forward to having this little getaway place.

And today was a real treat: great-grand-daughter Cadyn came to stay for a few hours! We had a wonderful time. I was still piecing together the last grant but she jabbered along and talked to the dogs and took pictures with my camera and was just a very good girl. When I finished we went to town to drop off the grant at the library and had dinner with my friend Suzette. I asked Cadyn if she wanted to eat, and she responded immediately, “Yes, Chinese.” She’s not even 3 years old! I am sure I didn’t know about Chinese food at that age. And this photo? I took one and she looked at it and she said, “Granny! I had my binky in my mouth!” We had to do a re-shoot. Geesh.

What else has been going on? Lots of eBay, a little junking, and a new-to-me bed! I’ll post pics later, but I am so happy with it. I’d bought it at a yard sale in the summer–it went with the new dresser we just put in the bedroom. I have had the same bed since I married my first husband when I was 17 and I am so so tired of it. I honestly never really liked it in the first place, not being a lover of maple furniture, but it was free and it was really a good spool bed and it has lasted wonderfully. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have this lovely new bed, though.

A flat tire, writer’s group, a big house-cleaning on Sunday (because a friend was coming over and boy was this place dusty), work on the couch project, sending out contracts for storytelling, another 2000 words on my novel–that and grant-writing about sums up the past week. Tomorrow I get to see my sister Judy, a reward for this past week of nose-to-the-grindstone. Then it’s on to send out publicity for summer and fall programs and working on upcoming performances and workshops, and finishing the new CD. And maybe, somewhere in the next few weeks, we’ll put out the lettuce bed if the weather stays good.

Fifteen million dollars will be shelled out this month in a national attempt show our love to each other; stuffed animals, chocolate, perfume, chocolate, flowers…and did I mention chocolate? Oh yes, and cards filled with mushy words…

Please bear with me as I express my words of devotion not to an individual person, but to a place. Even though my love letter is personal and specific to Hacker Valley and Red Gate Farm, I believe it reflects sentiment most West Virginians feel towards their own special place.  (The first line is borrowed from Elizabeth Browning.)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

1.  I love that you don’t get in a hurry. The morning sun takes its time coming down the hill after it tops over the ridge letting the frost linger in the shadows and  fallen leaves that it’s outlined.

2.  I treasure the vivid backdrop you paint for my childhood memories and those of my parents. For example, fifty yards from the front door I can stand in the cool waters of the Holly River and laugh as I imagine my mom and her sister as youngsters involuntarily baptizing all their hens. (As the hens would willingly crouch down for the rooster, mom and auntie would pluck them up, run out the door of the chicken house “of ill repute”, and dunk them under the “cleansing” waters of the Holly.)

3.  I am mesmerized by the wind currents swirling around and through the mountains. Once in the hayfield on Balli Mountain, the clouds, being encouraged along on a blessed breeze, cast shadows that washed over us like waves in the ocean. The only appropriate response was to stop raking and catch my breath only to have it taken away again in awe.

4.  I love the exhilaration of riding dirt bikes in the meadow under a blue sky, or catching spring peepers in the ditch. You enable me, for just a few moments, to step outside my role of housewife and mom and be a kid again.

5.  In addition to the usual flora and fauna like dandelions and black bears, you go the extra mile and give us wine berries, ramps, doodle-bugs, and ferrydiddles. Oh, and there is a marvelous patch of touch-me-knots on Sleepy Pugh Hill that means more to me than a dozen roses.

6.  You are a marvelous teacher who encourages us to think outside the box to fix things, which I’m impressed to say nine times out of ten involve duct tape.

7.  I love to go barefoot and feel the mud between my toes more than a pedicure! And the mudslide behind the house that my ten year old son discovered was marvelous.  He slid down on his belly repeatedly and we had to hose him off with the garden hose.

8.  Thanks for challenging me. There are endless opportunities there to push oneself beyond what you think you can do…cutting briars (filth) with a heavy gas-powered weed eater for five hours till your side bruises…or putting up hay as temperatures soar into the 90’s–physical challenges that when met builds confidence as well as character.

9.  I think it’s cool that a traffic jam is when a tree falls across the road until someone comes along with a chain-saw in their trunk (sooner than you might think).

10.  Night is so truly defined you can’t even see your hand in front of your face. When the moon is full the entire valley is illuminated so barns and trees cast purple shadows. Looking up at the starry sky makes me humble.

After 44 years together, I appreciate you now more than ever. Happy Valentine’s Day to Red Gate Farm and the special people who live there. My heart aches when we are far apart—for it is with you that my heart sings the prettiest love song.

I miss you, Janet

    Janet Fliegel is a WV farmgirl currently surviving in a suburb of Cincinnati. 

FOR TODAY: October 25, 2011

Outside my window…
The sun is shining and the skies are clear blue! Simply a beautiful autumn afternoon!!! The temperature is in the 70s and the trees have some color still on them. There is a Maple tree on the next street that looks like a picture out of a travel guide with bright red and some yellow and a few green leaves left. Just GORGEOUS!
I am thinking…
that it is good to feel like writing again. I went through quite a dry spell this time, I was getting a bit concerned about whether or not I would ever start wanting to write again. So glad that God answered my prayer and gave me the desire to share my thoughts again.

I am thankful…
for this wonderful, beautiful time of the year and for all of the many blessings my Lord has given to me in my life. I am especially thankful for my family, our home, my sweet friends, and the dear brothers and sisters we have at our church.
I went to my weekly women’s Bible study this morning and had the sweetest time in fellowship with those dear sisters in the Lord. I started attending last fall and couldn’t wait to get back to the group after our summer break. I love to learn more about God’s word and to stay after for lunch and just to have time to talk to the ladies about what they have been doing since our last visit. We all take turns at fixing items for the lunch and we have some pretty good cooks, too! Today we had soup and sandwiches. Next week we are having spaghetti and salads. The book that we are using for our study is called, “Becoming a Vessel God Can Use” and is written by Donna Partow. It is a wonderful study about the men and women of the Bible that could be considered “unlikely vessels” and how the Lord used them for His glory and purpose. I am really enjoying this study.

From the learning rooms…
Caleb and I are working on drawings of DNA, plant cells and animal cells. We are still working on our study of the 1950s and for math he is working on problems involving percentages.

In the kitchen…
There is a BIG beef roast with vegetables slowly roasting in the crock pot~MMmmmm! Just the right dinner for a cool fall evening. It is supposed to cool into the upper 40s by tonight.
I am wearing…
a pretty blue floral pullover shirt and my favorite pair of slacks. I am still dressed from Bible study this morning.

I am creating…
this blog post and happy memories for my family at home. I am thinking about going out on the front porch to rock a bit with Caleb in a bit. He is busy drawing some of his action characters right now. I love our life here at the cottage! I am thinking about making some embroidered felt ornaments for our Christmas tree and to give as gifts to friends.

I am going…
to my momma’s tomorrow to take her for her weekly shopping trip. She was in the most wonderful mood today; laughing and talking about sweet memories of when she was a child. She was also happy that her next door neighbor had come over yesterday to help her with some fall chores around her house. She has wonderful neighbors and friends!
I am wondering…
what I might get into this coming week-end. I have several things that I need to be working on, but not sure where to start. Time will tell…
I am reading…
Becoming a Vessel God Can Use by Donna Partow and My Heart’s in the Lowlands by Liz Curtis Higgs
I am hoping…
that my family will stay healthy this coming winter and no one will have to deal with any major illnesses. I would also love to see my children start thinking about returning to attending church services. Praying deeply over each of them~they are all so dear to me.
I am looking forward to…
a peaceful evening with my hubby and my son. Evenings are always the sweetest time of the day to me.
I am hearing…
my son’s video game music, the sound of water running and my old computer humming along.
One of my favorite things…
The smell of smoke from a neighbor’s fireplace on cool fall evenings~ahhh!

 Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

I hope that you will have a blessed week ahead. I would also like to thank Peggy for hosting this Daybook. It is always a blessing to me and a fun way to catch up with friends about what is going on in your day. If you would like to add a Daybook post to your blog, go to The Simple Woman’s Daybook.

Hope to get back to my writing as I am feeling so much more relieved that a major surgery is not in my near future. God bless you all and hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

Stay Cozy,
Charlotte

but not storytelling today. Yesterday grandson Jared moved into a new apartment for the coming college year, and Poppa Larry helped. Our youngest son Tommy, who is Jared’s uncle but only 5 years older, helped too. In the process of the move the guys and Jared’s roomie managed to misplace a cell phone, 2 wallets and a set of keys. All ended well with the furniture and boxes moved in despite pouring rain and negotiating a narrow staircase to the second floor with a huge sectional sofa.

Except that one of those missing wallets ended up in Larry’s truck, about 150 miles away from its owner. Solution? Drive back to return the wallet to its owner, which we did today. I went along with Larry so I got a chance to see my baby boy (who is not quite such a baby anymore) and to see Jared’s new place. It was a good trip and a nice visit.

Then we stopped at an estate sale near Jared’s and came out with some real goodies, like 2 of the old wood bushel baskets (one with one of those plastic liners that women used when they used the baskets for laundry), a wood magazine rack that happened to have a lucky head’s-up penny in the bottom (you know if you’ve been a reader for a while that I am obsessed with picking up pennies), a big old teakettle that will be great for boiling water for canning, some wineglasses for 10 cents each, a big wood furniture clamp that will go to son Derek who does some woodworking from time to time, and a few other odds and ends. I liked the ladies who were having the sale. The things were their mother’s and it was hard for them to part with some of them, but they were happy to know that the things I bought would be put to use in my house. I really, really wanted to buy the Hoosier-style cabinet with the sifter that was in very good condition (at $150 a real deal), and a couple other old-style kitchen cabinets but I have absolutely no place to put them. I hope they find good homes.

And then as we drove back through Ripley we discovered a new auction that apparently is held every Tuesday night! Who knew? Of course I had to stop and check it out, and came out in less than 20 minutes with a wrought iron patio set that has those springy chairs–four chairs and a round table for $50! I was a happy woman. I hate the plastic patio furniture and the Walmart kind because it doesn’t last. These will hold up for a long time, and being metal they can be welded if they break. I’ve been looking for a set for a while so I was happy to find one I could afford.

So that was my day today–not at all what I anticipated doing, but a very good day all the same.