YAY! One Mortgage

In just a few days, we'll be down to ONE mortgage and ONE set of utility bills! Though I hate to leave my fabulous neighbors right smack in the middle of town (I miss that convenient location!) I'm excited to soon be able to work on all the items on our dream list...like furniture so we have a place for guests to sit, and a lawn tractor to help us tame the backyard.

We've started our veggie garden. Tim sowed radish seeds a while back and some are ready. If you like 'em HOT, talk to him. I almost cried when I ate one it was so firey. Now the tomatoes and peppers are in, to be followed by some squash and whatever else we can cram into the space. Over the next few weeks I hope to cook out of the freezer to gain room for my 'maters!

We've met several of our new neighbors and have already asked one for a neighbor-favor. Seems like we'll have a lot of fun with them.

Wash Day

So I posted a question on my Facebook account: What innovations would shock our great-great grandmas if they were to show up tomorrow. I think they'd faint when they saw what a washing machine can do. Think about spending all day boiling water, scrubbing clothes on a washboard - with lye soap nonetheless! - and each member of the family would only have 2 or 3 changes of clothes. It would still take all day. Crazy.

I remember the washing machine my gramma had when I was little. It was hooked up to a sink and had a wringer built onto the top. If you don't know what a wringer is...gracious, you're young! It was two rollers - think paint rollers but heavy - one atop the other and you would crank clothes between the rollers to squeeeeeeeze water out of each piece of clothing. Gramma had some strong arms!Then she'd run the wash outside to dry...unless it was really cold, then she'd hang it on the lines in the basement.

So when I complain that the spin cycle is taking too long, I hope that g-g-grandmas forgive me my impatience.

By the way, one cousin said he thought toilet paper was a grand innovation. I couldn't agree more!

I Might Just Live

Ten days. This cold has lasted 10 days and I think I might survive. There were days I doubted it, then days I was sure I'd be permanently disabled if not scarred for life. My very patient husband has put up with snorting, sneezing and snoring. I'm leaving out one of the more disgusting "s" words.

I shouldn't complain. We've been very healthy this winter. I'm grateful. Still...bring on the sunny days...and allergies! : )

Rhapsody in Golden Brown

So today after church, Tim got in the car, turned to me and said, "Nick's!" Yeah, buddy! So, if you've not been, Nick's is a restaurant inside Jeff City's sprawling Memorial Airport. It's the quintessential mom & pop home food joint. Their fried chicken. Mmmm. Yeah. Fried chicken. Nick's. Mmmmm... yard bird. Oh.....

Sorry, got stuck in a loop there. If you were lucky enough to be born one of Annie Backes' grandkids, you've had better chicken than Nick's. If not, get your tailfeathers out there sometime to see why my grandma's kitchen was a little hint of heaven. Besides, it's fun to watch the two and four-seater planes land, refuel, taxi and take off...especially when little kids are at the next table.

This Sunday chicken dinner reminded me that I've got several months to go before all the Mid-Mo German Catholic church picnics. Mary's Home and Frankenstein are my favorites, though I won't turn down a chance to go to Linn and Taos and Westphalia and Wardsville and...well, you get the idea.

Dreaming of Dirt Under My Nails

February comes next week, so it's time for me to start craving plants. Flowers. Vegetables. Perennials. Annuals. Natives. Tropicals. Herbs. Shrubs. Trees.

Tim and I will have a whole new gardening/landscape experience with the new house. When I lamented leaving my well-established planting beds with their rich soil and nightcrawlers the size of garter snakes (I love them...but don't make me touch them), my beloved reminded me that our homesite was a cow pasture. I can't wait to see if we are blessed with cowpie-enriched soil. If not, well, we'll be able to break out our composter and start making some damn fine dirt outta leftovers and trimmings.

When we get moved in, I'll have to sit at the windows (or, please God, out in the yard in the warm March sun) and dream up some plans. We've already called dibs on a crabapple and a dogwood...maybe an oak or two. I've picked out a spot for a cool, low-height tree like a weeping cherry. So what if it will take a few years to knock a dent in the landscape dreams? It will be fun, and with any luck, never-ending.

Howdy!

Tim and DeAnne are on the innerwebs!

We've been wanting to set up a page like this for a while, so we can keep up with our family and friends. Now that we've found our "this better be our forever home" house, we've gotten requests for photos. If I can figure out the posting process, you'll see some pictures somewhere on this page!

We'll get the house on Feb 22, and plan to move in slowly. That's the plan, anyway. There's a bit of painting we want to do, but other than that, we're good to go! It will be incredible to have a garage again...and to see what's in all the boxes we packed last year in Springfield.