Writing Letters

Growing up, I loved writing and receiving letters. During my teenage years hardly a day went by that the mail didn't bring a letter from one of my cousins or friends or one of my circle letters.

I have several big boxes full of letters that I kept, and I still enjoy going back and rereading everything. Mail time isn't nearly as interesting since letters have been exchanged for bills and an occasional catalog.

This morning as I was rooting through our desk I found two of my favorite sets of stationary. I have plenty of others as well but these two were always reserved for special occasions.

Since I can no longer write and receive letters from the people I used to, I'm going to do something a little different today and write a letter to all of you.

Dear (insert your name here)

Sitting here in the living room as I look out the window I can see the delicate grey skies of a winter that is still holding fast to our little corner of the world. It's snowing again which makes everything look so much prettier than the drab browns and greys we had been seeing since most of our snow had melted last week.  The pine trees surrounding the house add a welcome splash of color as well.

We're still hanging onto our crazy schedule, I usually get up around three thirty every morning to have a few minutes of quiet time while LV and Sailor take care of our calves. I try to have breakfast ready by the time they come in from the barn. LV leaves for work a little after six and the rest of my days are filled with the regular daily dozens.  Those dozens seem to take extra time during the winter with all the extra clothes that need to be cared for not to mention the constant dusting and cleaning because of our dirty furnace in the basement.

On Sunday afternoon I decided to make the last of our chicken that I had been saving in the freezer for a special occasion. With my brother here visiting I thought that would qualify and started preparing everything. I always hate cleaning up the mess from frying chicken so this time I covered the empty burners on the stove with foil to keep them from getting spattered with oil. Everything was going great until I added an extra big drumstick to the frying pan causing a big splash of oil to exit the pan and run down into that little bowl under the electric coil thingy. The next minute I was dismayed to see flames licking around the pan. I quickly grabbed a few pot holders and removed the pan and after locating a box of baking soda I dumped it on the flames. The fire was safely extinguished but my kitchen was filled with smoke and a lot of little black floaties. What a mess! That was the first time I ever had a cooking related fire and hopefully the last time. At least most of my stove remained clean thanks to the foil I had placed earlier.

I have a pile of seed catalogs laying here next to me. I have looked at all of them numerous times already and am looking forward to placing an order soon. I'm wanting to try my hand at raised bed gardening this summer, since the place we live at doesn't have a spot big enough to have a regular garden. Our favorite vegetable is sweetcorn but I won't be planting any this year. With all the raccoons that come visiting I'm thinking it would be a lost cause. There are Amish produce auctions nearby so I'm sure I will still be able to get plenty of sweetcorn even if I won't get to grow our own.

The children have been enjoying playing on the hill behind the house after school. They make building little teepee's and running along the cow paths look like a lot of fun I may have to go join them one of these days. But right now it's time to think about making lunch.

♥
Mary Ann