Breaking the spell of cabin fever

It’s amazing how -21 degrees F can put things into perspective. We’ve had a cold snap for the past few days, but today the sun came out and temps reached 11 degrees by the early afternoon. We had to get outside. What amazed me is how warm 11 degrees feels after we’ve been living in [...]

Popping Sam’s popcorn

This spring Sam decided he wanted to grow popcorn. We were at Bundi Gardens, and he saw the popcorn plants in the containers and had to have them. I can easily tell the boys “no” in the grocery store when they’re begging for candy or the ‘Angry Bird’ merchandise, but can’t say “no” to a [...]

The beginning of my herbal wellness arsenal

when I was growing up I worked for a lady who knew a considerable amount about herbs. As we worked together, she often told me of their history and uses. Even after work hours, one of my favorite activities was to check herbal books out of the library and jot down the various uses on [...]

Christmas cakes

Instead of Christmas cookies, we have a cake theme going this year. It was inspired by the book my mother bought the boys called,  You Can Do It, Sam, about a mother bear and her cub Sam who baked cakes for their friends. Sam the little bear took each one of the cakes up to [...]

Enjoying a snowless winter

I’m almost afraid of saying it out loud, but I LOVE having no snow on the ground. If this keeps up I won’t be kvetching nearly as much as I normally do throughout the entire yucky season. My biggest gripe about winter, besides being constantly cold, is the dangerous roads. I’ve driven on a lot [...]

One reason I love what I do

My latest article in Organic Gardening magazine hit the stands a couple of weeks ago. The piecee is on the very Montanan town of Bozeman  is a hot bed of all things fun, funky and earth-conscience.  Although I dearly love Great Falls, Bozeman is the place with great food, neat shops and a whole lot going on in the horticulture department [...]

Weekly bread baking

Earlier this year I decided I was going to start baking our own bread. Being the control freak that I am, I want to know what’s going into it. ( I even planted wheat in anticipation of grinding my own flour, but had issues with germination. Next year I’ll be sure to have a decent sized [...]

Beautiful Bozeman and preparing for winter

Even though I’ve been freelance writing for over a decade, I still become giddy when my articles come out in the newspaper or magazines. Imagine my delight when I received my Dec/Jan issue of Organic Gardening magazine, which included my article on the very Montanan town of Bozeman. We had a great time visiting Bozeman this summer (despite [...]

Playing in the barn

One of my favorite things about going back to Ohio is visiting the farm. It’s been in our family since the early 1900s (we’re still trying to pinpoint the exact date), and although it’s considerably smaller than the original 100 acres because roughly 75 acres were sold to create the Barberton Reservoir in 1925, it’s [...]

Tucking the nuc in for the winter

Marriage is a series of compromises. Grant puts up with potatoes and carrots underneath the house, plants taking up every windowsill by March, and an unending supply of dirt tracked inside during every month that’s not blanketed in snow (even so, there is mud season in between). On the flip side, I now live above [...]

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