Good Morning Sunshine!

Good Morning! I think this has been the third day of fall rains. And lots of wind! I peeked out the front door to find missing trash cans, no where in sight. The mail box is still standing at least so I do not have to up right that. I am secure at my writing desk with my black coffee. The cat has found his spot on the read oriental rug, grandson is still in bed! Does not want food yet! And so I have my quiet morning. Though I did bounce out later than I like. What words come today? What thoughts? These so far. Being the third day I am curious now as to when sunshine will arrive. I look forward to the mail as a new tunic is coming. What simplicity is in this morning? There is a molasses cookie. I could have one before something much better! I rarely make or buy something like this for myself. I did for Alex and he did not wish to try them, not yet anyway. It is a safe package of cookies, only a few, unlike if I had made a whole batch. I would love just a dollar for all the cookies I have made over the years. I ran a restaurant for my first husband as the form wife. The aim was to try to win his heart through food. Such a lucky man and he did not even know it! LOL Back then I had the electric stove, and I had my wood eating cook stove. Tan and this odd green, as Standard I think it was. Many times I had both stoves going. I really can’t imagine doing it now! Being on the farm we had meat (a whole cow in the freezer), milk, eggs, chicken, and a very huge garden. I bought other supplies via a co-opp. I canned. Going to the store was for cleaning supplies etc. Self-sufficiency in the making.

Back to the stoves. I made bread a lot, And for cakes, I tried all the fancy ones making boiled frostings in my double boiler. Things like Chiffon s, and Angel Food Cake, Maple and Honey Cakes with boiled frostings from the Pillsbury Bake-Off booklets. Soups were put on the back of the woodstove. Making soups bought me time for me.

My time was usually after everyone went to bed. It was silly to stay up just to have time for myself, to be alone in silence. But I did. It was even sillier when you know that first breakfast was coffee with homemade doughnuts to go for Bill. Why the hell he could not male his own coffee always pissed me off! It would be like 4 in the morning! I could go back to bed, and rise about 7:00 for the normal breakfast. This was always “everything!” Coffee, bacon, or sausage, toast or muffin, eggs, orange juice. Doughnuts. Then he would go, I would clean up, and before I knew it he was back for a handful of cookies to go! I could hear him come on the tractor. He would pull into the half-circle driveway, sputtering to its stop. He would swing his leg over dismount and head for the house. Make a pit stop for the bathroom, grab cookies and go. Only to be back for dinner. Then around two for another snack, He might linger longer to read the newspaper then. It could be as late as three. The supper was supposed to be at seven. Often it meant keeping it warm because something had his attention, a cowl giving birth, haying season. He would make it in at 9 mostly. Then it would be time for bed. He worked in 2 week stretches before having a couple days off. He could be off for longer times if it rain and some cow did not break through a fence, or some other farmer did not have some plight.

And of course, I was the unpaid hired hand until we had children. The housework did not get done by fairies when I helped. It might be haying season or time to tap over 2000 maple trees. Even with the pipelines going to large containers there were plenty of trees.

I will have to say Bill did help me during canning season. The garden was huge! For its content and because it was planted via tractor, this meant the rows for potential weeds were wide. So, two gardens like this____ one 300 X 300 feet. A smaller potato patch. The things planted felt like everything. I did love seeing the results of my labor on shelves down cellar. It included the canning of boxes of peaches, pears, and plums. I would can the prior years beef as stew beef to use in soups.

My Thomas saw none of this kind of canning or cooking. I think I felt burned out on that need. My focus was doing my art at that stage of things. Not that I did not do it. Recently Alex asked if I would make homemade bread. I am wondering about buying the dough lol.