A BRIEF COLD SNAP

The morning low was +15F. Right now, the thermometer here reads 28 (feels like 22), but it’s a clear, sunny day. The forecast is for 11 overnight and 30 tomorrow – so about the same. By Tuesday, it will warm up a bit.

Bess has been resting outside in the sun for 
hours, evidently preferring the fresh air to the warmth of the house. Mike threw a ball for her this noon in the back yard, and he said that after seven retrieves, she took the ball and went home. Good for her! She’d had enough.

The afghan kit I ordered was delivered yesterday. I'm anxious to start it, but first I have something to finish. KW

TO EXPAND THE VEGETABLE GARDEN – OR NOT

I always think that I’m going to have time to accomplish a lot in January. Well, here we are at the end of the month, and I really didn’t accomplish much.

It’s been dull, drab, dreary, and dry – the four “Ds.” “A dull day,” Ina would observe over and over. We don’t get a lot of sun in the winter here. The lows bounce from the low 20s into the mid-30s. The highs are into the 40s, but it just tops out there in the afternoon for an hour or so. It doesn’t look like the traditional pictures of snow in winter, and I guess folks here are grateful for that. And while we sit here in a relatively calm winter, we’re sorry for those who have suffered those terrible storms, even as we wonder how dry our summer will be. And that brings me to the subject of vegetable gardening. Looking forward to summer’s bounty is one of winter’s themes.

I garden at the farm. I have three small raised beds, and one of them is devoted to strawberries. Productivity of these beds is so low that I would say my gardening efforts contribute basically nothing to our diet, unless you count strawberry shortcake. Perhaps the soil needs to be amended. Perhaps I just don’t have a green thumb (very possible). And maybe – very likely – it’s just too hot. It can be too hot, you know. These days, we don’t get a break from the summer’s heat. We don’t have those gentle summer rains of yesteryear which refreshed the earth, and we just can’t water enough to keep up. Added to the heat are the appetites of the bunnies, the birds, and the deer. My gardening is one big time-consuming experiment, and I have learned not to expect too much. Maybe that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But with rising grocery costs (and perhaps a desire to eat more vegetables?), Mike suggested expanding the gardens. I’m thinking about it. It would mean enlarging one of the raised beds or maybe constructing another one. It’s a lot of work – and some expense. I just don’t know if it’s worth it. KW

[The photos here were taken in August, 2022.]

MID-CENTURY SNOW

During our regular Sunday evening phone conversation, brother Chuck reminisced about shoveling snow at the family home in Orofino. The house sat on a corner lot, and what’s more, it was a double lot, so he had to shovel from the alley to the corner and then across the front of the house and the “side yard,” which was the width of another city lot, not to mention the walkway to the back door and the front steps. 

Chuck remembered one year back in the good old days when he shoveled 18 inches of snow one evening, only to get up the next morning and shovel another 18 inches of heavy snow. He said this is a chore he didn’t miss when he left home. 

I love this photo of our mother taken by my dad in 1959. Daddy suggested it, and I remember Mother putting on her coat, boots, and that wonderful winter hat/scarf and going out to stand under the red hawthorn tree. She loved the snow. KW

RESOLVED: TO USE FROM MY STOREHOUSE

What happens in the imagination stays in the imagination, I often think to myself. Every good project begins in imagination, but it takes effort to bring it to fruition.

I’m compulsive about my imaginings. I consider pictures, patterns, fabrics, and yarns. It’s time consuming. And then I vacillate. Is this what I really want to do, or would it be better to do this? In reality, it just doesn’t matter. I know in my heart that a whole lifetime would not be enough to accomplish everything I’d like to do. My mother tried to train me to be disciplined in my choices. However, it’s my life now, and the choices are also mine. (It’s also my money.)

It’s also a very different era from the one in which I grew up. Back then, we made our project 
choices from magazines and catalogs, most of which were seasonal. Come to think of it, we were still making choices from print catalogs in the ‘90s when Hallie was a teen-ager. But in today’s digital world, I’m not exaggerating when I say that dozens of fresh ideas come in every day, and while not all of them interest me, it’s still bombardment.

I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions, but this year I have resolved to use the fabric and yarn on hand. (I say that, but I expect my new afghan kit to be delivered any day.) Still, I’m going through my fabric and yarn with an eye to using it up. Let’s see if I can make a dent in the stash in 2023. KW 

[I made the doll dresses from the pattern "Sugar n Spice" by Oh Sew Kat using fabrics and trims from my stash. (The green satin was posted previously.) The post cards are from family collections.] 

STICKER SHOCK!

It finally happened. I experienced sticker shock at Albertsons the other day to the extent that I bought just a few specials and walked away without the other items on my list. The bananas were “Grinch” green. Mashed potato packs were $1.99! And they were out of their store brand of refrigerator biscuits, an advertised special. I suspect they began this sales campaign without them. In my opinion, there’s no excuse for not having adequate stock of an advertised special, especially when it’s your own label.

We were on our way to Walmart anyway, so we finished our shopping there. Walmart has better everyday prices but presents other difficulties. They reconfigured the store last year and pushed the aisles closer together, which means that there’s no hope of social distancing at this crowded venue. Two carts can barely pass in the aisles, and the store is dark. To me, this says they built the store too small to begin with. And then, unless you have a large order, you have to check yourself out. I guess it’s preferable to waiting in line for 15 minutes, but knowing that I must keep my cartload manageable for the self-check, I limit the number of items I buy at one time. You’d think this would be a consideration for the retailer, but maybe I’m in the minority.

You probably know there’s an egg shortage now due to avian flu and other issues affecting supply. The article I read said that some retailers are just not carrying eggs now because of the exorbitant price. I also use egg substitutes, and of course, the price of those is affected as well. I baked a box cake last week and noticed that the directions said I could substitute 1/4^th cup of Greek yogurt for each egg. As it happened, Silas left two partial containers in the fridge amounting to ½ cup, and I used egg sub for the third egg. I was careful not to overbake the cake, and it was moist and delicious. I will try that substitution again. I’m also researching the appropriate use of other egg substitutes, including applesauce, bananas, and flaxseed meal.

Of course, I have eggs at the moment. I bought a box of 18 at Walmart for less than $5.00. KW

[I find the above "Christmas" card thought-provoking. Apparently it's negative statement wasn't seen by those who commissioned it. The message inside is rather impersonal. I suspect it was a business card sent by a broker to his clients.]

THROWS, AFGHANS, QUILTS, AND BLANKETS

June would ask [our guest] if she was warm enough, so she asked me for another cover, and of course, I didn’t have one. – Bertha Dobson, 1936

A winter scene

I always thought that when I got to this point in life, I would have a collection of nice blankets. My mother had enough blankets to make every bed comfortable, or at least I thought she did, so why shouldn’t I? But it didn’t happen for me, and I don’t seem to be able to make it happen for myself. During the cold months, we keep the house on the cool side, and while we cope, guests feel the chill, so I comb through our linen closet in search of anything to make the guest bed warmer.

Why don’t I have blankets? Let me count the reasons:

1)  The price. Good blankets are expensive and I just balk at spending because ...

2)  we seldom need extras – just once or twice a year for a few days, ...

3)  and then they take up storage space that I don’t have.

4)  I prefer the woven blankets that seem to have disappeared from the market.

5)  I want to see what I’m buying rather than ordering from a picture. Macy’s and Penney’s closed here, and I learned the hard way that Walmart blankets aren’t warm.

As I recently re-pondered this dilemma, it occurred to me that I could sew up some simple quilts. Lord knows, I have plenty of fabric, but it’s probably not coordinated well enough to make a pleasing quilt. Not all fabrics belong on the same quilt. I could also crochet some “blankets,” but again, all the yarns in my extensive stash don’t belong on the same afghan. To be warm, an afghan would have to be crocheted tightly without holes – no grannies.

A family member said in effect, “I hate to think of you taking that on. Why don’t you just buy some blankets?” Well, see numbers 1-5 above. On the other hand, nice big afghan kits are $250. In that case, I just as well buy a blanket and do something else with my time.

But – the post-Christmas sales are on, and I ordered an afghan kit from Annie's. I can hardly wait until it gets here, but it's on backorder. KW

THEN AND NOW – THE WEATHER

 

At Christmastime in 1933, the weather was terrible. My dad, Vance, decided not to travel home for Christmas and stayed with friends in Seattle, but Aunt Lynn was braver. Of that trip from Portland to the family farm at Gilbert, she wrote: The train was five hours late into Lewiston and we used all the tracks north and south bank, but still I got in in plenty of time to catch the stage to Orofino. Ed Ingram came for me and we had a hard time making it in from the highway. Six inches of snow on top of soft roads. – Myrtle Dobson, Dec. 29, 1933

Writing two days later (Dec. 31, 1933), Grandma Ina reported: The snow is all gone off in a rain and dreadful reports from California over the radio last night – 12 inches of rain in 30 hours, lives lost, damage to houses, bridges, roads, etc. We never had such work before at this time of year. – Ina Dobson

Two weeks later, Grandma Ina wrote: No one here can recall such rain and floods at this time of year ever and we had such high winds for a week or more. June’s old bean house blew down onto grass separator damaging it a good deal. One big branch of my “Corot tree” was broken out. It was the big olivet cherry, if you remember. Dad cut the tall pine just back of the house. It had become dangerous, but there are still others back of it to shelter the house. He also cut the group of small pines just northwest of the hog house. Some were dead and now it gives us a beautiful view of trees and mountains to the north and east. We hated to cut them but are glad to be so we can see out and we have such lovely changing pictures. – Ina Dobson, Jan. 14, 1934

On the same date (Jan. 14), Aunt Shirley wrote, also from the Gilbert farmhouse: This is such a strange winter. We had a skiff of snow Friday night, but today it is all gone and the ground quite soft though I believe not all the frost has gone out of it. It rained a bit yesterday up here and quite a little in town. People are surely sick of it, but it does help those who are too poor to have much heat, when it stays so warm. Seems colder tonight and is somewhat cloudy so it may snow.

Then, on Feb. 8, 1934, Ina wrote: Weather like spring – fields and hills are greening.

Here we are nearly 90 years later and again, we have reports from California of devastating storms. Not here in the Pacific Inland Northwest, though. “The snow is all gone off” but because of warmer temperatures rather than a torrent of rain. We don’t even get rain when it’s predicted. I’m sure there’s still snow in the upper country, though. We don’t have to go many miles to find winter as long as we travel upward. KW

PEERING INTO THE FUTURE

Well, here we are peering anxiously into the future, and hoping “something will turn up, Mr. Macawber.” – Ethel Dobson Robinson to her brother Vance on Jan. 3, 1937.

It’s only the 6^th of January but already the holidays of 2022 seem long ago. Mike and I removed our outdoor Christmas lights on January 2. We used our old projection light on the front of the house and added some solar string lights to the trees on the bank and in the side yard. I like solar lights and also the battery-operated timer lights.

I’ve put away the most Christmassy of my holiday sweatshirts and will now wear the snowy, wintry themes for the next several months. I stacked the Christmas cards and tossed the holiday catalogs. I used to feel sad as I went about these things, but today I’m anxious to move on to a new phase – various projects in the sewing room with Christmas 2023 in mind. It’s a well-known fact in my family that I love getting ready for Christmas better than the actual event, so why not get started? I’ve neatly listed ideas in my new engagement calendar. This enthusiasm will fade away naturally as spring appears. As if on cue, our Burpee’s catalog arrived earlier this week, but until the days are longer and the temps warmer, I will keep busy in my workshop.

Sewing doll clothes has been in a lull since Hazel grew up and became a cheerleader. It shouldn’t matter that I don’t have a little girl in mind as I sew because I have plenty of ideas anyway, but I do miss the girls. I can’t complain. I had a good run with Elizabeth and Hazel.

Anyway, I still like to make doll clothes, and this holiday season I discovered the work of doll clothes designer “Oh Sew Kat” and became inspired to use up some of my stash in experimenting with her patterns. “Kat” keeps it simple, and I vowed to myself that I would, too, but wouldn’t you know it! I became distracted with a green costume satin which I paired with a sheer overlay. Could I have made it harder!? Costume satin frays! I threw the little dress in the trash one day only to dig it out the next and finish it, even though I think it was a waste of time and products. Still, you can see that Shirley Anne, American Farm Girl, loves being dressed up.  

I like to think that no matter how a project turns out, it doesn’t leave me where it found me. I must have learned something –right? – but I don’t promise not to take on a challenge again. (Maybe I can make it better.)

[The doll dress is from the pattern “Sugar n Spice” by “Oh Sew Kat.”]

SETTLING DOWN TO JUST LIVING

                                               

I’ve dismantled the tree . . . and feel like I can settle down to just living again and enjoying my gifts and memories of a very happy Christmas to which you added a great deal. – Ina Dobson to son Vance, New Year’s Day, 1938

Yes, it’s time to settle down to just living again, but we can enjoy our gifts and memories of what was hopefully a very happy Christmas.

Grandpa Portfors, Christmas 1956

Sometimes Christmas isn’t so happy for whatever reason – or no reason at all. And if that’s the case, we still have to move on with hope and grace. On Christmas Eve 1971, my grandfather Charlie Portfors passed on. He was 96 and had been bedridden for years. We knew the end was near, but the end had been near for so many years that we just accepted his passing as a fact of the future, I guess. My mother, already worn out from her Christmas doings, took it hard.

Anyway, a neighbor came across the alley to the back door with a molded Jello salad and expressed condolences. Such a nice gesture. As if it wasn’t hard enough that Grandpa had died, a few days later, my dad’s sister Myrtle also died. The same neighbor appeared at the back door. “You folks are really going through it. Could you use another salad,” she asked, as she handed it to me. I still remember it – lime Jello with pineapple, shredded carrots and cabbage.

That Christmas was difficult in other ways, too. I had finished my university studies but had absolutely no prospects for the future. My best childhood friend was getting married and as far I was concerned, living the dream.

And then there was the Christmas of 1977. My first baby was due Christmas Day, but he didn’t come until the 30^th. It wasn’t a sad Christmas, but it was hard nevertheless.

But as Christmas comes each year, I don’t lament those of the past. I try to celebrate each one on its own merits and for what Christmas should mean to the world. KW

HAPPY NEW YEAR! – 2023

We still have our decorations and Christmas tree and I think I won’t take them down for a few more days. – Shirley Dobson (Shockley), Jan. 2, 1933

Mike and I awoke today to discover that much of our New Year’s Day celebrating (a.k.a. football) won’t occur until tomorrow. Since New Year’s Day falls on Sunday, we’ll celebrate on Monday as well. And 1933 followed the same calendar layout. My dad’s sister Shirley was writing on Monday, Jan. 2, though I expect it was just another day for her at that time and place. Apparently January 1 will not occur on Sunday again until 2034 – eleven years. 

Unlike Aunt Shirley, I didn’t leave our tree up into the New Year. I took it down and put it all away on New Year’s Eve. When I begin thinking about putting it away, I just as well do it. But – it’s still Christmas in the sewing room and will be for the next month. “No use to let it all go,” you know. The winter months are a wonderful time to enjoy gifts, candles, books, crafts, etc. – whatever that means for you. I have doll clothes to make and Christmas stories to read.

As is our tradition here, Mike and I didn’t stay up to greet the New Year. (Not officially anyway. Sleepless Mike was still reading as 2023 came in.) Folks in our neighborhood celebrated with fireworks, and the constant popping upset Bess. We reminded ourselves that we will want to be on the farm on the Fourth of July this year.

New Year’s resolutions aren’t for me, but every year I buy an engagement calendar as an organizational tool, take stock of where I stand with my projects, and make a list of what I hope to do during the year. It keeps me focused and reminds me of things I tend to forget, but it doesn't set me up to fail. This year, I chose an engagement calendar published by The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Engagement calendars are essentially the same, but this one offers inspiration, gardening tips, phases of the moon, etc., and came in at a good price. And while I was at it, I bought their wall calendar for the sewing room. KW

[The postcards featured on this post were addressed to my dad, Vance Dobson.]