Then I Thought of Home

I couldn't help but be reminded of the Christmas poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" when I woke in the night. You know the line that says, "and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse" ? Makes you think of a nice quiet home doesn't it? That isn't the case at our house. We're a noisy night bunch. I heard Jess ask her dad where I was, he answered, "in there snoring." Now I would have been offended but down  inside I knew the reason I was awake to him him say that was I woke myself up snoring. After I got over his offense I went back to sleep only to wake later to hear, PUH.....PUH.....PUH....PUH..... For those of you who don't know that is the noise some make instead of snoring, they do that each time they exhale.  This would be Mark. It drives me crazy. In my heart I want to hit him, but of course I don't. I put the pillow over my head and go to sleep only to wake up later to hear O...

 This is one of my favorite fall/winter desserts. Cranberry-Apple Crisp You start by making the crust. 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 TBSP. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 cup butter 1 egg yolk 1/4 cup milk Heat oven to 375. In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender cut in the 1/2 cup butter until it looks like crumbs. Beat the milk and egg yolk with a fork and add to flour then mix it up. Roll it out and place in 9x13 dish. Push the crust up the sides an inch or so. Filling: About 9 Granny Smith Apples peeled and sliced thin 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup flour 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup chopped cranberries In a big bowl microwave the apples for about 7 minute until they get soft.  Stir in remaining ing, except the cranberries. Pour apple filling into the crust and sprinkle the cranberries on top.  Topping: 1 cup flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup butter (okay I know this is heavy on the butter but it is a holiday recipe yo...

There is  a lot to be learned from a chicken. Well, really when you think about it, there is a lot to be learned from almost everything around us if we slow down enough to pay attention. While I was walking through the buildings yesterday I was reminded of how the chickens drink. They drink by hitting the water lines with their beaks and the water drops out. They drink one drop at a time. When they are grown they will be drinking thousands of gallons of water a day but they do it one drop at a time. All of them together drinking one drop at a time adds up to thousands of gallons. Something to think about. When we feel something is to small to matter maybe we should think again. Your act of kindness or forgiveness or generosity coupled with my act of kindness or forgiveness or generosity could be world changing, even if it just changes one persons world. Most of the time we aren't called to do huge things, we are called to do  little things and ...

I have always liked to have supper ready for Mark when he comes in. Even when we didn't have children and I worked outside the home I always enjoyed coming home and seeing to it that he had a good supper. I would want to sit the table pretty and serve it just so. I wanted him to look at it and think, "wow!" Well, I now know he didn't really care about the table setting but he liked the meal. If it's cold out I think about what they would  like to eat when they come in. If it's hot I think about what would be cool and refreshing. As you know it was a cold day yesterday, Mark came in and while he was getting cleaned up I felt this surge of excitement about getting his plate ready for him. I was so glad I could do that. But then..........He came out of the bathroom and headed for his chair.  Another surge shot through me.  Only this one was a negative one. This surge said said to me, "hey, he is expecting you to fix his plate, he is expecting yo...

I just heard the Alan Jackson song, "The Little Man." It made me think about our little town. About the square and all the shops. I remember going to Salem to shop when I was a girl. I can still see the big Brachs Candy display in Murphys. It was glass and you bagged the candy. The toys were downstairs.  I remember Gambles and the dime store that was where Brick Street is now. And of course Le Genes and Boggs and Justies.  Bennett's, Armstrongs Hardware and the Fashion Shop. Most of those business's are gone now but there are new ones in their place. I love to shop local.  It is great to support "the Little Man." How about you? Where are the local places you plan to visit for your Christmas shopping? Is it one of the main stores or is a little out of the way place? Share your favorite shops with us. If you don't live in Salem share the shops from where you live, it will be a  good excuse for some of us to take a little trip th...

You know how it is when the worth of something hits you right in the face and you are overcome with gratitude and love.? When you really see what something or more importantly what someone means to you If you have read any of by blogs you know how much my family means to me. They mean everything. What I haven't told you about is my church family. I not only have a great physical family, I have been blessed with the best church family possible. As I sit here and type I can see each face. I can see the faces of the babies and the children. As a matter of fact, I can remember when almost every child was born. Today on my way to church I saw Todd pull out on hwy 56 and I got behind him. Then when we got to the stop light I saw Jon and Lindsay were in front of Todd. I thought to myself, here we go down the road together again as we have so many times before. I thought of not only Todd, Jon and Lindsay,  but of all the church family. I couldn't help but tear up bec...

I woke up a little after four this morning.  I had Bible study and prayer time then I started the Thanksgiving Day preparation. First I put the turkey on. It turned out wonderful. Like I described in our visit yesterday, not pretty but wonderful. With the turkey roasting I went on to rolling pie crust. I made pecan. My sister-in-law, Karen gave me a great recipe for pecan pie years ago and I have never found a better one. The secret is to use real butter and to brown it when you melt it.  Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful. If you want the recipe let me know. You will love it! Then on to the ham.  I have never been satisfied with the hams I bake. Mark and the kids always say they are good but every time we went somewhere to eat and they had ham I would battle ham envy. I wanted to be able to make a great ham. I even tried the "The Best Ham There Ever Was"  recipe. All to no avail. Today I think I finally found the ham that will give my g...

My mom makes the best turkey. Her turkey was never one of those like you see on the tv commericals or in a Norman Rockwell painting. There was never the swinging kitchen door where mom appeared with a beautiful golden turkey on a platter that she sat down in front of dad as he stood with carving knife in hand. No, it was nothing like that. She would put the turkey in the large granite roaster, breast down and put at least two or more sticks of butter, real butter mind you, into the cavity. Then she covered the turkey at least a little more than half way with water, salt and pepper. Put the lid on and baked it low all night long. My favorite part of Thanksgiving as a little girl was getting up with mom to check the turkey. She would pull open the oven, remove the lid and baste it while I stood beside her watching. Mom's turkey is never dry but it is never an overly pretty turkey. It's to moist for that. It falls off the bones.   She opted for taste instead of ...

Mark and Lucas are hunting today. Mark is hunting over at the river and Lucas here at home. I am always nervous when they go hunting. In the past they have always helped each other make sure they were strapped in correct, the guns were okay etc. This year, Mark will have no one to help him and Lucas has me.  So I guess you could say six of one, half a dozen of the other. They both are pretty much on their own. I asked Lucas if he was going to take a flashlight. I thought about it before I asked because I thought it might be a stupid question. He said, "Mom, do you really think I'm going to go stumbling around in the dark woods trying to find my deer stand?' I told him I thought maybe he wouldn't want the deer to see him coming. He sighed, and said, "Mom, the thing is to get in the woods and in your stand before the deer get there. I'm not worried about the light." Then he kept telling me how I need not worry. It is a hard concept for a m...

   Chick delivery day! This is how we get the baby chicks. They come in plastic trays, one hundred to a tray.  They are so cute. We put them right under the brooders so they stay nice and warm. Even in the summer they still need the brooder. I mean after all in nature it is pretty warm under that old hens wings so we do our best to imitate her.   With that said there are still always a few who would rather take their chances in the wild and try and make a break for it. Sort of like a real life "Chicken Run."

Thanksgiving is just that, "Thanksgiving."   It was created to give thanks to God.  Plain and simple. Christmas is Christmas.  A day set aside to celebrate the birth of Christ.  Plain and simple. If people don't want to celebrate those days than by all means they shouldn't. But they shouldn't try to change the meaning of them or hi-jack the Holiday. Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving to God Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ. No need for a lot definitions or law making. Thanksgiving is Thanksgiving. Christmas is Christmas. Plain and Simple.

    This is my Dad and Mom. David and Hanna Marshall. I'm sure you have heard the story of the "Turtle and the Fence Post." The story teaches the basic principal that if you ever see a turtle on a fence post you know he didn't get there by himself.  Someone helped him get there. The story applies to Mark and I. Thirty years ago when we started out we didn't have the money to buy a place. We had money for a monthly payment, but not enough for a  down payment. Mom and Dad loaned us the down payment money to buy the place we now call home. They told how years ago when they were young my Grandpa, Theodore Marshall, had loaned them money for the down payment on the farm where I was raised. They paid Grandpa back, we paid them back. My Grandpa helped them up which enabled them to help us up. I honor my parents today. God used them to give me a home when I was a little girl and again later when I was a ...

The moon was beautiful last night.  When I look at the moon I wonder if it will be the last time I see it. That may sound morbid but I don't mean it like that at all. I mean it with a sense of awe, and thankfulness that I can see it at all. I wonder if the last time I ever see it will because I die the next day or if it will be because I failed to take the time to notice it the night before. When I was a little girl I remember my Grandma Marshall would get up every morning and one of the first things she did was look out the window.  I asked her one time why she did that and she said, "I want to see the day." In later years  Grandma went blind, so I'm glad she took the time to notice the morning while she could.  That's a lesson for me. Mark's Grandma Rubv once told me that every since she had been a girl she would stand at the window before she crawled into bed and look at the moon.  She thought about the day she had just lived. ...

See the mist hanging in the air. When I came back home from town this morning the frost was beautiful. We had to go to town first thing because we had a truck with a dead battery and a car with a flat tire. We had to jump the truck, air the tire and head to town before the battery lost charge and the tire lost air. Well okay, Mark had to jump the truck and air the tire and then come in and tell me it was time to go. With the frosty morning comes the opening of deer season. I guess we will make the yearly trek to Paoli Wal-Mart tonight so Mark and Lucas can get tags. The girls and I like to go just to see all the people. I think the day before deer season is the equivalent of Black Friday for men. Hope you take in the beauty of the morning and Happy hunting to all the hunters out there!

Fred will have to remain faceless, Faceless Fred.  The Amish don't hold to picture taking so I will draw a mind picture for you. He is 30 years old. He has brown hair, he wears glasses, he is single,  thin but not to thin just your regular, "I don't have a wife cooking for me kind of thin."  He is happy and friendly.  You feel at ease with him quickly. He told us a couple of nights ago he is family, not company.  Of course my heart smiled when I heard that. I think that last comment may have been meant to insure a plate at the table. Ha Ha Fred is from a very old order Amish, meaning they are very strict.  Our Amish neighbors here at home are from a different order. They have phones in the house, they even have cell phones. They own and drive loaders and tractors and have indoor plumbing.  When they go to town they can hire a driver. We're told  the old order that Fred is from can only hire a driver if they are going forty miles a...

This is a picture of the kitchen. This is taken facing north. There is a window by the stove. An eastern window so there will be morning sun in the kitchen. I love the morning sun. The room with the green door and curtains is the utility room and the other door is a huge pantry.  We have a lot of cleaning and painting to do. Wallpaper and boarder to remove.  If you have any ideas on how to do that please let me know. There is a wood stove in the kitchen. I can't wait to put a rocking chair by it.  Who knows I may even have to take up knitting. The chicken's all seem to be doing well. We got nice big chicks at Lost River and a few pullets here at home. Mark has always labeled everything here by direction.  When you talk about anything you say, North, South, East or West. The chicken houses at Lost River run North and South just like the ones here at home. Olivia was going to turn on the feed lines at Lost River and it took her a little while to co...

Soooo....before it's to late to think about it and decide, what are some of the ways you and your family will be showing your thanksgiving and appreciation for the blessings of God this year? You could always help out at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. Or you could donate to the food bank. Hey, what about sending a grocery gift card to a family you know to be struggling, make it even better by sending it anonymously.  They will have fun thinking of all the people who care and could have sent it to them. Visit the shut-in or elderly. Invite your child's college friends who can't make it home for the holiday to be a part of your family this Thanksgiving. They will remember you always. This is a tough but needed one. Decide now to be nice and just accept the fact, you know some family member is going to grate on your nerves. Just decide now to deal with it and make it easy on everyone. Spend the day giving thanks for all the family members that don'...

If you asked me what one of my favorite things to do is, I would say, study the Bible. I find God and His Word absolutely fascinating. I love the plan, the story, the foreshadowing. I love how the theme is constant and runs from Genesis to Revelation. I love how God is ever true to Himself. Every time I read He is going to do something I can't wait until I read how, where and when He did it. The story is told of a man who had a daughter and she started going to summer camp when she was five years old. She met a girl and they became instant friends. The girls wrote letters to each other from that time on. All the way up to high school graduation. When the man and his daughter were cleaning her room and packing her things for college, he found the box of letters. His daughter read them to him. He thought he had known the other girl, he thought he had understood their relationship. But after reading the letters he realized there had been things about her he didn't ...

Today's the day. We're getting chickens in both places.  First at Lost River and then here. We're excited! Mark and a couple of the Amish neighbors will dump chickens over there, then Mark will come home, we'll get some here and finish up tomorrow. Things are different this time then  when we first started out here.  The kids were all home last time. It was a family adventure. The lively hood of all of us. Today, Heidi is married, Lucas is away at school, Jessica is working and Liv will be gone to work when the chickens come this afternoon. The circle everyone  told us we would make has been made.  It's back  to Mark and I. How did it happen so fast? I'll miss the kids today. I'll be sad.  Funny how something as simple as getting chickens can represent so much.  For Mark and I it represents our past meeting our future. We're still here doing what we've done in the past, doing the same thing we did to see our family raise...

No matter how hard I try, there are things I will never get right. Here's a small list. I will never turn the ignition right when Mark is working on the car and wants me to try and start it. I will never pump the brakes right when he is trying to bleed them. I will never apply the gas correctly or turn correctly when Mark is trying to get me out of the ditch. (yes, I do get in the ditch. One time I ran off the road in the snow and had to walk home. When I got home and told Mark he asked me if the car was hurt?  I told him I didn't think so, but I couldn't tell for sure because there was to many trees on top of it.  He just turned and walked down the road toward the car in silence. I followed.) I will never bring the right tool when he calls for one. ( just a hint to all you ladies, channel locks don't have anything to do with the TV, so don't look there.)  Your husband will mutter many things under his breath if he finds out that's where you are looki...

It's amazing.  Can you believe in this big fancy, high tech world we still take a pen and mark our ballot?  I know you can use a computer in some places but still I love the idea that all over the country ordinary people stand in a line, mark their vote and it counts. When you go to the polls today take a minute to really look at what is around you. Think about the process, think about your vote being counted and added to all the others. Think about how you, in your little town, casting your vote are an important part of the process.  Like I said, it's nothing short of amazing. I'm all for having to show ID when you vote but I love the fact that I live in a place that everyone knows who you are. It's neat to hear, "Kelly, I need to see your ID"  it makes me smile. Here are a couple of my election day thoughts. The whole process is a wonder to behold. I thank God for it and am humbled to be a part of it. I honor all those who fought for my right a...

Welcome to my day. It started off with coffee and Bible study.                          Then I moved on to IDEM paper work. Nickie, from Tyson, came to help me or I would still be sitting at the table, staring blankly at all those forms.            With the paper work completed, Jess and I set off for Bedford.   First we went to K-Mart.  Shopping with Jess is a PAIN.  She won't buy anything unless she digs it from the bottom of a discount bin, or finds it on a clearance rack. This is a picture of her putting back the paper towels I had and getting the cheaper, but not to cheap brand.       We finally get to Wal-Mart were I found a comforter set I liked. But it was not in the discount bin or on a clearance rack  and this would never do. Jessica...