off to early family Christmas

The family got to Harrisburg in plenty of time for the Delta flight to Detroit to catch the plane to Moline, Iowa, where Ryan's family will gather.  Leah's second Christmas, but the first one she can walk around for.

another food shot

We got the turkey that was not pardonned, physically.  But I know that spiritually, being an organic bird, it left in a redeemed state.  And we ate it, after this hours-long roasting, in a joy of gratitude state.  Maybe a little stuffed, but backed off the calories the next day.

Speaking of stuffed, this year we did the stuffing all outside the--ooh, the word--cavity.  Yes.  Inside roasted lemon and some herbs.  To the delight of all non-veggies.  And this year the thermometer ruled.  One-sixty-five and it was done and sat for a half hour.  I carved it in the kitchen and platters were sent around the table of eleven.

an amish moment

Tuesday, our neighbor's daughter got married in the farmhouse.  The week before, her mother offered to send out a serving of supper if we liked.  Yes, we like!

It came in colorful styrofoam cups and pint containers.  From the point of the napkin:  lemon chiffon pie, fruit salad, salad and dressing behind, small filled doughnut, apricot-toned fluffy tapioca.  On the plate:  ham with a great sauce, baked corn, boiled potatoes smothered in browned butter, and the salad.

They will get a big thank-you, and the couple a congratulations!

a Monterey moment

Saturday, November 10, 2012, was the day the most defining building in Monterey was put on the auction block. That building is what has recently been known as Diane's Deli and, when I was young, Hartman's Store. "Store" because besides groceries, one could get hardware, thread, and most items in between. I believe I started working there in 1957--a few evenings and Saturday. Pay was 35 cents an hour (my parents got two-thirds) plus a bonus of one candy bar or bottle of soft drink. Hen Hartman was the proprietor along with his mother, Ma Hartman, and two children, Ken and Gwen, not twins, despite their names. Ken, middle in photo, was two years younger than me. The man on left told me that he is the oldest man living in Monterey. With all my memories of childhood, I figured the sale would start at 200 thousand and go up. Actually, the auctioneer started at 200 and had to go down to 50 until he got a bid. Bidding stopped at 140, but the sellers would not accept that. Porch extends the whole length of the building.  At other end is the store.  Photo by Dennis Yates.

when "out" is not "out"

Today, when I pulled up to a roadside stand to buy beans, no one was there. A handwritten sign over a money slot said: "We're sorry we are not out right now. We'll be out soon."

It looked to me like they were out I was hoping they'd soon be back. On the farm, among themselves, being out probably means out at the stand. I'm sure it nothing to do with "outing" (noun) or "outing" (verb).

a birthday

Dorcas had a birthday and we all had cake.  Leah helped to blow out the candles.

the spider hangs on

She moved six feet to our screen door.  I thought she had laid her eggs and died.  But she's back on her web, fearsome as ever.

thistles, beauty and beast

Thistles get a bad rap in morals stories.  It's a bad intruder into the garden.  It hurts to pull them, but it's a joy to look when they blossom.  And their seeds, each outfitted in down, look like they dance away from the pod.  If you like honey you have to let your bees forage somewhere.  So, to spray to not to spray was the question for me today.  The photogenic ones here I left stand--for a while anyways.

a week away

Where are you when you're at the corner of Harvard and Princeton?  Well, the stone sign at the bottom tells you--zero miles from meetinghouse (mtg), at Mt. Gretna, a little intentional community in Lebanon County, Pa.  We rented a cottage for a week to relax and relax we did.  Any place with a "Hall of Philosophy" is okay by me, even if more secular successors of the 1910 builders mar it with gaudy patriotic flimflam tapestry.  We ate, too. (bottle photo by Stephanie Miller Lehman)

guarding the grid

After a week at Mt. Gretna enjoying surround-sound tree environment, I woke the next day to a chain saw trimming the white pine so it does not break the wires of the power grid.  I'm okay with that, as long as the tree remains.  Far right are tips of branches of the pin oak we planted 15 years ago or so.  The orange truck blocks the farmer's lane.

west side upgrades

We live on West Eby Road, the west side of Monterey.  I like to think of it as the cultural hub of our town, boasting a school and a chapel, both currently being upgraded--the school with a new stucco siding and the chapel with new pews.  The old pews, ones I sat on a few times over the years, are loaded on a U-haul for a new church home in the Poconos.  Monterey gets new ones made in New Holland, in sections easy to rearrange, but more permanent than chairs.

dry days

The newly planted sweet potato plants in our rented lot are getting the soaker hose this season of dry and 90-degree days.

then put in windows and siding

schoolhouse facelift

Across the road where I've attended many Christmas programs, the schoolhouse is getting stuccoed.  The aluminum siding was removed.  It ought to dry well in our 90-degree days.  Inside, while I didn't ask, I doubt if the curriculum is undergoing any overhaul.

brother waters potatoes

Today my brother took me along to his garden plot in the county park.  He took along several gallons of water and fed it to his sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.  There are about 300 plots available.  The office said not all were rented this year.

Off to the UK

Dorcas left our house at 2:30, bound for Newark where her study tour group gets a British Air flight to London.  Here she totes her shoulder bag.  We've put the one--and only one--suitcase in car.  The tour is a three-credit seminary course towards her M. Div. degree.  After this course she only needs three more to complete the degree.  She leaves June 18 and returns the 28th.

flowers, cut and uncut

I took the Easter bouquet outdoors for a sunny photo, and I laid down to get the tulips, which look like they are trying to be an ensemble.

then you wrap it in plastic

Anymore, a house is not just bricks and mortar. You wrap it up in plastic.

book review on Amazon liked by 17

I often buy a used book on Amazon and sell it there when I'm finished. Amazon asked customers to review a book they read. I had the option set to notify me if someone commented on one of my reviews. After who knows how many years, here's the first. I see that 17 of 17 readers said my review was helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/review/RN9OI4HCJTU9F/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0700617566&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=

Thanks Dr. Bibel, I guess. Don't ask me who put that baby photo of myself there. Five reviews makes me three hundred and nine and something thousandth! Not everybody's got that for bragging rights!

then, you top it with a roof

You hope the roof is on before the rain comes.

food on the run

Went to a seminar related to my church work, held at Laurelville. On the way stopped for lunch at the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Sidling Hill. I had a chicken meal at http://www.popeyes.com/ with a side of red beans and rice. Never had that before; liked it. Then finished it off with a Starbucks coffee and oatmeal cookie which came in this bag. Not everything happens in Monterey.

steam technology

There's nothing like a steam whistle to bring romance to country living! This 19th century relic chugged by, on the way to steam seed beds to kill the weed seeds before the crop seeds are planted. The white plume is steam from the whistle.

then, the second story goes up

These are not just sheets of plywood. These are highly engineered weight-bearing panels with an insulation rating of 30.

boiling the sap

I tapped five sugar maple trees and collected about 35 gallons of sap. Then I retreated to my man cave behind the barn to boil it down. This year I added a hydrometer. The thicker the liquid the higher the hydrometer floats in the stainless steel tube. Notice the grass getting a spring green color. At times I had to set up wind breakers. After dark a rabbit hid about 15 feet away in the plowed ground and watched. For a fleeting moment nature and I enjoyed the magic.

then, the walls go up

After the Sabbath, come Monday, the walls go up. Some assembly required.

next, the first floor

Say good-bye to the cellar as the floor covers it. Notice the large opening in the cellar wall? The non-electric house will use that to bring sunlight in, down through a huge window well--common practice I'm told. Even church services are held in such basements. While the house is going up, though, we'll use a Japanese electric generator for power. It's lunch time, and the carpenters drop their tool belts.

cellar comes first

First, you make the cellar. And, if it's a clear day, hang out the wash.

to build a house

Days two and three you grade the plot of ground and dig a hole...and hope you don't kick up dust on the wash line.

neighbor breaks ground

Today, President's Day, my neighbor broke ground for a new house.

chain saw at work

This morning a neighbor is bringing down two maples.

wood--split and sawed

Here's a pile of wood Ryan and I split. The front porch got a new roof yesterday of sawed cedar shingles. The shingles we removed had been on the roof for over 60 years. These news ones should last just as long. By then, the tree cut to make them will have been replaced. That's green in my book.