PLEASE PASS THE KETCHUP

I have a childhood memory of my sister Nina explaining to her boyfriend that everyone says “ketchup,” but the word is really “catsup.” I’m not sure she was quite right, but catsup and ketchup are essentially the same product.

Hallie commented that maybe Ina made ketchup with her tomatoes, and in fact, I found a recipe for “Jiffy Ketchup” in her recipe box.

1 cup tomato juice or puree

1 medium onion chopped

Vinegar, salt, sugar and spices to taste

I don’t think I’ll try it. I’ll let the folks at Heinz or Hunt’s make mine.

In my research, I discovered that ketchup can be made from other ingredients. Here’s another variation from Ina’s recipe box:

Cucumber Catsup

Grate about 3 dozen large cucumbers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Allow one small onion for each bottle. Heat enough cider vinegar to pour over and seal jars.

On the other hand, maybe Ina did have a lot of tomatoes. Read on:

Tomato Pickles

Take about 8 quarts (1 peck) tomatoes. Slice and sprinkle with salt. Let stand overnight. Next morning, drain. Add ½ dozen large onions sliced.

Mix:

1 ½ scant cups sugar

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp allspice

1 tsp cloves

A little cayenne

Sprinkle over tomatoes and onions. Add sufficient vinegar to cover. Let simmer on back of stove till tender or pack into two quart jars, bring to a boil, and let boil for about 15 minutes.

Yes, well – I had never heard of tomato pickles, but you can find recipes online. Interesting. KW

CLOTTED CREAM -- INA'S RECIPE

Same house, different era

After Grandpa Jack Dobson died in 1946, their daughter Myrtle came to the farm to serve as Ina’s caregiver. In late middle age herself, Myrtle was still spry, energetic, and strong. Her early years with Ina were productive. They spent many hours together while Ina dictated her life story. Perhaps they also sorted things in the house. Myrtle was a great organizer.

AND – Myrtle reorganized Ina’s recipe box. I know she did because she initialed notations on recipe cards and also added recipes to the box. It’s easy to tell Myrtle’s even, legible cursive, always written in ink, from Ina’s penciled scrawl. Ina’s recipes are disappearing, fading right off the cards. It’s too bad, but I’m not going to use those recipes anyway. Modern methods are so much better.

Myrtle’s recipes reflect an interest in the expanding cuisine of the 1950s, while Ina’s are for cakes, cookies, bread, a few salads, canning, and preserves. I also come upon oddball recipes that are such fun to read. Here’s one for clotted cream:

1 gal milk. Let stand 24 hours. Place in pan of water on stove and heat till a ring forms around edge. Do not boil. Then stand this aside for another 24 hours, when it will make a heavy new firm cream. Delicious.

Ina's recipes, written in pencil, are fading away

I had never heard of clotted cream, so I googled it, and AI gave me this brief overview: Clotted cream is a thick, rich, and luxurious British dairy spread made by slowly heating heavy cream so the cream rises and forms buttery "clots" on the surface. It boasts a silky texture similar to softened cream cheese, a nutty-sweet flavor, and contains 55-64% butterfat. So, it’s a cross between cream and butter and is delicious when spread on scones and topped with jam.

If you want to make clotted cream, I recommend searching a recipe using today’s methods. Remember, Ina’s milk was actually raw milk from the cow. Today’s recipes call for cream. I’m intrigued, but I probably won’t go to the trouble since we seldom use cream. We don’t even stray from skim milk to one-percent unless we absolutely have to, and yes, my custards are watery. That’s just the way it is.

But – when I was a child, we always had a jar of cream in the fridge. My dad loved cream, and in those days, we could buy raw cream from our “egg lady.” Daddy used it frequently on his cereal, in his coffee, and on whatever else he thought would be enhanced by a tablespoon or two. I considered that jar nasty and didn’t touch it.

And Mother would whip cream for strawberry shortcake. We use non-dairy whipped products instead – or nothing at all. Mother also made cream puffs, which she would serve to the ladies of her sewing circle. Don’t look to me to make them for you.

As we move into summer, I think of Ina's big vegetable garden and tasty fresh produce – so good for us – but the farm diet was also heavy in fat – eggs, bacon, cream, butter, and don’t forget about lard. Today we worry about fast food, but perhaps every generation has its food challenges. KW

PLAIN FOOD AND LEFTOVERS

 

We have about three feet of snow and it is cold. It began piling up week before last and we have had sub-zero weather off and on ever since. Dad keeps a lantern in the cellar “of a nite” and nothing has frozen. – Ina Dobson, February 1936

Hallie wonders: “Now I’m curious about the recipes. Was it mostly, ‘here are your peas, here are your potatoes and here’s your chicken’ or did they make casseroles and soups and such? Did they have an ice box / refrigerator? Could they ever just heat up leftovers for dinner or did they have to cook every night because they couldn’t store the food?”

The short answer is that it was just plain food – meat, potatoes, garden vegetables and berries in season, and homemade bread. If they had leftovers, I’m sure they used them up quickly.

Refrigeration was not available at our farmhouse until Vance (my dad) brought in a propane fridge in the ‘50s and parked it where the water tank sits today. In the old days, the family had a cold house built into the bank off the kitchen porch, which they called the “cellar.” It had sawdust between the walls, and it was cool even in summer but as the above note indicates, things could freeze there in the cold of winter. In 1996, when the pine tree hit the house, it also obliterated the cellar and that was that. It was time for it to go anyway.

So, yes, they had a way to preserve food, though not to today’s standards. Sunday’s pot roast might have been stored in the cellar and served again on Monday. Next, any leftover meat and vegetables could be cut up and warmed in gravy. My mother did this, and I loved it. Or, they might grind up leftover beef roast, potatoes, and onions for a tasty hash, a favorite of mine that I haven’t tasted since childhood and likely won’t again.

Of course, Ina roasted or stewed chicken, and in those days, chickens were smaller than today. Chicken probably wasn’t left over too often, and that was a good thing since it doesn’t keep well. I know that Ina made soup, and this was another means of using leftovers. My dad said homemade soup was better than the canned variety we all know so well. I didn’t agree. If canned soup is an acquired taste, I have acquired it.

I think the main meal was usually at noon, so meal prep took place in the morning, especially in summer. When the farm crew was working, they needed a good midday meal, and then perhaps the family ate leftovers in the evening, but sometimes they were so tired that they just had bread and milk. And it wouldn’t surprise me if during strawberry season they had strawberry shortcake for supper. (I would if I could get away with it.)

Myrtle Dobson

Recipes? I believe that cooking for the homesteading farmwife was less about following a recipe and more about what she learned at her mother’s elbow or through her own experience. I have Ina’s recipe box, and I see that she exchanged recipes for cakes and cookies with her neighbors. It does not contain recipes for casseroles except for those written by Myrtle c. 1950. Frankly, Ina took to the grave the recipes for family favorites, reinforcing my opinion that she wasn’t much into recordkeeping.

Coming soon – Ina’s recipe box

MEMORIAL DAY BOUQUETS

 

Cottonwood Butte from Gilbert Cemetery

It was cold this morning as Mike and I visited the Gilbert Cemetery with two fresh bouquets – one for Milo’s grave and the other for my dad’s. Sometimes I place artificial flowers on all the family graves, but this year I have other things to do.

Yesterday as I toured the yard, I thought I had enough flowers for the two bouquets – lilacs, iris, spirea. This morning, the lilacs are turning brown, the remaining iris are few, and the spirea flowers are dropping like snow. More iris will bloom out in a day or two but too late for us. We must visit the cemetery early this year.

The caretaker was mowing in preparation for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. We had a nice visit and expressed appreciation for his work. This is an old cemetery, and we know from experience that not many will visit, which makes his efforts all the more meaningful. I suppose we have more graves here than any other family – 24.

Milo’s marker is next to Ina and Jack’s, his great-grandparents.

Coming up – more about farmhouse kitchen practices. KW

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON INA’S GARDEN

 We are about to dine off roast chicken and dressing and baked onions & apples. “Plenty of onions,” says you, and I agree. – Ina Dobson to son Vance, Dec. 31, 1933

Myrtle Dobson (left) and her sister, Pearl Dobson Sanders

On the previous post, Hallie commented that in 1935, the Dobsons had lived here over 40 years and were still taking notes on what worked best. She observed that the experiments never end. Yes, Ina’s little notebook indicates that someone, probably her daughter Myrtle (a.k.a. Lynn), suggested the need for garden recordkeeping and set her up with the little notebook. I see that Ina missed a few years. Perhaps Myrtle wasn’t around and it wasn’t so important to Ina. I can relate because I have a garden journal now, and I not only forget to make notes but forget that I even have it! I understand the desire to keep organized records for review the next year, and maybe Ina did, too. I just don’t think Ina was totally on board with the process.

Pearl Sanders, Bernice Dryden Dobson, & Myrtle Dobson

Gardening is an experiment, and Ina’s notes leave out a lot. When did she plant? When and how did she fertilize? When and how much did she harvest from her garden? Why was her bean crop short in 1935? Did she plant again late in the summer for a fall crop? Did she hoe the weeds or did Grandpa Jack? I think rodents were a problem, but I’ve heard that prior to Dworshak Dam, the deer ran mainly on the other side of the river. I know the garden wasn’t fenced.

At any rate, the vegetable garden was important to subsistence living. Today, 55% of the American diet comes from processed food, contrasted to less than 5% in Ina’s day. During the summer, they had vegetables in abundance – at least in a good year. Imagine – 11 tomato plants for two or three people! I plant three, and if they bear, it’s enough for the two of us. And why on earth did she need four rows of lettuce? She doesn’t mention spinach. Maybe she couldn’t plant early enough for spinach. Maybe they just didn’t care for spinach.

It’s clear from her notes that Ina loved onions, grew plenty of them, and served them as a side dish. The only time we actually eat onions is when included in pot roast, but my research shows that they are quite nutritious.

Ina also grew plenty of potatoes, but there’s no mention of corn in her notes, but I know from the family letters that Grandpa grew popcorn. In December 1932, Aunt Shirley wrote that “we have so little popcorn this year as something got so much of it before we gathered it in.” My dad was proud of the corn on the cob he grew here for years, but he didn’t grow popcorn.

Gardening is weather-dependent, and in Ina’s day, the weather was different. She saw late frosts and wet soil in the spring, and it could turn cold and frost in August. The growing season was definitely shorter then than now.

Growing up here on the farm, my dad’s knowledge of gardening was cultured through his mother. I think knowing what to do and when to do it became second-nature. He was a good gardener, puttering over his garden, watching it day by day, providing a little fertilizer here or a stake there. KW

INA’S GARDEN NOTES

 

My grandmother, Ina Dobson, with her daughter Myrtle at their garden in 1950

Please have plenty of vegetables cooked and a big cake, canned or fresh fruit. If handy, chicken. – Ina Dobson, 1926

Hallie opined that the homesteaders knew exactly how much food they would need to feed a family through the winter, and I commented that they might have known but wondered it they would always have it. Living off the land can be such a gamble.

As I thought about it, I remembered Grandma Ina’s little record book. This little notebook was an advertising giveaway from the “American Wire Rope” manufacturer obtained at the John Oud Hardware Company in Orofino. It’s just a common pocket notebook with lined pages, but someone, probably one of Ina’s daughters, made it special by pasting a bright cover onto it and labeling it “garden book.” She also tied a little pencil onto it.

It’s clear that two people made entries – Grandma Ina in pencil and the daughter (either Aunt Lynn or Aunt Shirley) in ink. I thought I’d transcribe some of these notes here since the subject of food readiness more or less came up. The dates are confusing, but I think it’s because sometimes it’s what she planted for that year and sometimes she’s making notes for the next year. Sometimes it’s an inventory of what’s on hand, not what she put up. These are her notes, and she never meant that they should be read by anyone else. It just proves Hallie’s point that she knew how much produce she needed.  

In 1935 when Ina began this notebook, her children were grown and long gone with the exception of Aunt Shirley, who was in and out. So, the household had dwindled to two or three adults with occasional visitors, and it’s fascinating to see the size of her garden. It surely puts me to shame.

1935

·      Peas – about 2 ½ rows, early and late. Decided to plant all marrowfat in 1936.

·      Beans – 1 row white stringless; 2/3 row brown (John Boehm)

[Their neighbor John Boehm probably shared those beans with her.]

·      Got peas and beans from Bee [her sister Bertha] for part of canning of short crop. [I think this means that Ina’s crop was short, so she filled in with peas and beans from Bertha.]

·      Pickling onions – 9 short rows. Plenty into fall.

·      Tomato seed saved from best plant. Note date on package of seed in box.

·      Plant 4 rows of lettuce. Thin for early use.

·      2 dozen tomato plants well-spaced enuf.

Canning Record for 1935

·      Peas – 23 qts. canned the 3-hour way. Note from 1934 tried and proved. Can like this in 1936. Cook open pot until tender, then 1 hour process. Taste fresher.

·      Beans – 24 qts.

·      Beets – 6 qts.

·      Tomato puree

On August 2, 1938, she notes what she should plant in 1939:

·      About 1 row peas or less. This all kinds.

·      1/3 row beets, parsnips, and carrots

·      8 or 9 rows of onions ample

·      4 rows of lettuce ample.

·      2 rows radishes

·      1 row cress

·      3 rows Swiss chard

·      3 rows golden wax beans

·      6 cucumber hills ample

·      2 Garden Queen squash [A classic acorn squash, also called Table Queen]

·      1 dozen watermelon

·      About 6 or 8 zucchini squash

1940:

Cut four 2-gallon pails of potatoes. It made 6 rows across garden. There was one row of volunteers.

1941:

Jack cut three 10-qt. pails heaped up of potatoes. One pail Irish made some 2 rows south of orchard. 2 pails Early Rose and 1 pail small Irish planted on flat May 2.

1942:

To can raspberries, make a thin syrup and pour boiling hot over berries. Put jars into hot water about same as jars are after syrup is in. [That’s what it says.] Bring to a boil, then pull to back of stove for a little longer – 10 to 15 minutes. This is fine. Try to put up strawberries the same way. Also Logans. Myrtle and I canned raspberries as above this year of 1942.

[The following are inventories. I found it interesting to see the variety on hand.]

Oct. 6, 1936

This was probably written by Myrtle

Fruit on hand:

·      Cherries, Bing – 11 qts.

·      Royal Ann – 1 qt.

·      Olivet – 1 qt.

·      Italian prune – 1 qt.

·      Logans – 2 qts.

·      Raspberries – 1 pt.

·      Strawberries – 3 pts.

Oct. 6, 1935

·      Olivet cherries – 5 qts.

·      Apricots – 5 pts.

·      Peaches – 6 pts.

·      Gooseberries – 6 pts.

·      Pears – 1 qt.

·      Petites – 5 qts.

·      Pickled beets – 5 ½ qts.

·      Elderberries – 2 pts.

Fruit

·      Cherries (Olivet) – 16 qts.

·      Apricots (Clarkston, WA) – 24 pts.

·      Peaches (Elberta) – 1 box, 15 pts.

·      Pears (local) – 13 pts.

·      Elderberries – 3 pts.

 

WASHING MACHINE WOES

Two years ago (2024), we bought a brand new Whirlpool washing machine for the farmhouse. It worked well for me, but last summer (2025), the dealer called to say this particular model was manufactured with a faulty motherboard. They wanted to replace it while the machine was still under warranty. Well, we weren’t experiencing problems, so they said that they would order the part for the eventuality that we would need it.

A couple of weeks ago – before I had even begun to do laundry at the farmhouse this season – I found the washer’s motor purring along on its own. The only way to stop it was to unplug it. The dealer said that they would install the aforementioned part when they had other orders in our area, which happened on Thursday (May 7). The repairmen arrived mid-morning, installed the new motherboard, ran diagnostics, and pronounced the machine good to go. That’s when I should have said, “Just sit tight while I run a small load of laundry.” But of course, I didn’t say that, and they left.

Mike was nervous about the repair and suggested I try the machine immediately, but I would not be pushed. “I’ll wash tomorrow,” I said. So, when Friday came, I loaded the machine, selected my options, and pressed “start,” but it just wasn’t right. It would only fill and then drain. I turned dials and pressed buttons, but no way would it run through the cycles. I was left with soggy, soapy, unwashed clothes. I called the dealer then, and he told me to unplug the machine for at least ten minutes and try again. I did that three or four times to no avail. I spent hours working with the machine because I didn’t want them to drive here only to have it be my fault.

Mike and I have experienced frustrating appliance problems for the last ten years. And you know, I marveled that in their latter years, my parents struggled with their appliances. Honestly – I thought their age was a factor. Well, 40 years ago, we didn’t realize that we were sitting on the cusp of the “it-can’t-be-fixed” era. The dealer admitted that 75% of these washing machines have defective motherboards. I say if 75% are defective, the other 25% are likely defective, too. He said he would work with us, but we will have to wait until they are coming our way.

The big question is – Will this washing machine ever be fixed and dependable? KW

GARDEN DILEMMAS

 

Just a country scene

The little tick I found on my leg the other night announced that tick season is indeed upon us. It only gets worse. I raked the path around the pond prior to Mike’s mowing, and in the next hour I took a tick off my shirt and two off my neck. Now it’s a given that my skin will crawl for the next two months. I won’t be able to tell if it’s a tick or just the creeps. Now I remember why gardening in the spring is odious to me.  

Empire Apple Blossoms

Over the warm weekend that we were in town, the farm dried out a bit. The puddle where the clothesline stands is now completely dry so that I can hang clothes without wearing boots. The puddles in the fields are smaller, and Mike was finally able to reinstall our mailbox. The water in the hole at “Mailbox Corner” finally dried out enough to complete the job.

All three tomato plants are small but have blossoms, but true to form, the peas and spinach are making a sparse showing. Why? After considerable online research with no real answers, I concluded that even though I planted mid-April, it was still too late. I further conclude that I will probably never be able to plant early here.

Empire Apple Tree

Well, to continue reasoning along the gardening dilemma – I sent Mike to the store for a head of lettuce the other night, and he came back ranting that he had paid nearly $5.00 for it. “Everything is going to be more expensive,” he exclaimed. “EVERYTHING! Plant lettuce.” But as long-time followers know, my gardens don’t produce much of anything. It’s not like I have a big garden plot where I can grow a “victory” garden of vegetables to sustain us throughout the year. Produce is always sparse – or even non-existent, like the peas and spinach.

I just think it’s too darn hot out there. We can’t water enough to make up for those spring/summer rains that used to bring relief to our corner of the world.

Meanwhile – the strawberry plants are blooming and the rhubarb came back. The blossoms have fallen from the cherry tree, and I hope for another good harvest. The Empire apple tree is just beautiful this year. I can’t say the same for the Honey Crisp, but it IS still alive. (I was a little worried.) The pear tree in bloom was lackluster. And the lilacs are gorgeous. KW

HATE IN IDAHO

 My letter to the Lewiston Tribune in response to the editorial, “This is who we are: Idaho is not too great for hate” (here) was published on Sunday, May 3, under the title, “Feeling Betrayed.” I’m sharing my letter below:

My issue with Idaho hate involves the corrections system. On December 10, 2023, my son Milo Warnock was murdered while incarcerated at the Idaho State Corrections Center, virtually kicked to death by his demented cellmate. I don’t hide the fact that Milo was a DUI offender who struggled with bi-polar depression and addiction. I do say that he received a harsh sentence and was subsequently harshly disciplined at the prison over an issue with his medication.

Life goes on. I’m used to the fact that Milo is gone, but every day I struggle to rationalize how prison staff (Idaho State employees) could look the other way while this middle-aged, non-violent individual was threatened, harassed, and finally murdered. Not that my family’s longevity in Idaho matters – I have the same rights (or lack thereof) as any other citizen – but as a native Idahoan whose grandparents chose Idaho as their home 130 years ago, I feel betrayed. No one apologizes. The lack of support for change is disheartening.

 What can we do to bring about a more enlightened society for the benefit of all? Basically, the only thing that matters in life is the way we treat others, but there’s little any individual or organization can do if our legislative, executive, and judicial branches don’t care. KW 

FEELS LIKE SUMMER

 

The pond is full to overflowing

Suddenly the temps have warmed into the 80s, and the sun is hot. We had to break out our summer pajamas. I retired my sweats. It’s always a challenge to stay cool in the summer when safety and comfort at the farm demand that I keep my legs covered. I like my winter wardrobe better than my summer duds.

Pear tree blooms are sparse

Mike and I spent three days at the farm last week (April 28-May1). It felt good to organize for the summer – housecleaning, making shopping lists for needed provisions, etc.

Our fields have yet to be planted, and as we hiked, we saw standing water and muddy patches. It seems strange because it was basically a dry winter and we haven’t had much rain. The roads are dry and dusty as are the gardens.

Mike tried to burn the slash pile on the west side of the north field, but it refused to light. He had better luck with the fourth and final pile located near the top of the lane behind his shed. It burned down to ash fairly quickly, and after lunch I found a stick and roasted a couple of marshmallows for myself. I wished that I could share with 4-year-old grandson Silas.

I don't remember narcissus here in prior years

The early daffodils have passed. The “poet daffodils” (my mother called them “narcissus”), are still in bloom. We had them in small patches for years – I mean, since my childhood – and suddenly they have spread. Fascinating! What are the conditions that encouraged this to happen?

True to form, the peas and spinach I planted are making a poor showing. Maybe it’s already too hot. Maybe they want more water. Maybe the soil needs to be enriched. Maybe I just don’t know how to plant those seeds. No matter. If I don’t have peas and spinach, maybe I can have summer squash. Maybe. Despite some overnight temps into the 30s, the tomato plants are holding up. I pruned up the strawberry bed, and it looks good.

Perhaps another bumper crop of cherries

Meanwhile, I’ve searched the orchard meadow, hopeful of finding returning plants. The grass takes over. I dream of clearing a patch or two so that plantings might have a better chance. However, it’s almost more than I can do, and as the soil dries even more and gets hard, it becomes impossible. KW

2026 STILLWATER AWARDS

 

Idaho State Correctional Center, Kuna

From our separate physical locations, Hallie and I met last night on Zoom to watch the 2026 Stillwater Awards, a national program that honors prison journalism. Patrick Irving, an inmate at the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC) whose prison blog (Book of Irving) we follow, won third place in the “Best Op-Ed” category for his essay, “Who Should Care for the Elderly in Prison.” (You can read it here.)

The following is from the website of the Society for Professional Journalists [SPJ]:

“The Stillwater Awards recognize excellence in prison journalism — one of the toughest places to practice the craft. The Stillwater Awards are named after the Minnesota town where Stillwater State Prison was built. In 1887, the warden founded The Prison Mirror, the first newspaper written and managed exclusively by inmates. Today, there are dozens of prison publications across the country. The Stillwater Awards are co-sponsored by SPJ and the Prison Journalism Project. Since 2020, PJP has trained incarcerated writers and published their stories. Because of that, PJP doesn’t participate in the judging of the Stillwater Awards. Winners receive certificates and recognition at a virtual awards ceremony.”

Since our son Milo’s wrongful death while incarcerated at ISCC, my goal has been to do what I can to increase public awareness of the inhumanity suffered within prison walls. Unfortunately, there’s not much one individual can do. Frankly, it’s a sad fact that individuals and agencies can’t do much until the executive and legislative branches of our government begin to care. I believe in consequences for wrong-doing, but in our country, our practice is to incarcerate all offenders, which ruins lives. Just to point out one fact, it’s been shown that if non-violent offenders served sentences which allowed them to continue as contributing members of society, it would be less costly to the state.

This thought-provoking chart is a comparison of worldwide incarceration rates developed by the Prison Policy Initiative. Perhaps it's slightly out of date, but I can guarantee you, things haven't changed much.

Well, I’ll get off my soapbox for now. Congratulations to Patrick Irving for this well-deserved recognition. And to all inmates who write from prison, I say, “Keep up the good work.” Keep on keeping on. It’s all we can do. KW 

CASH POOR

 

Son Murray is moving from the tiny duplex where he’s lived for the last four years to a lovely little 1920’s house on the brow of the hill overlooking the Snake River. Two trips with his brother Clint’s utility trailer and one or two with his car was all it took, and Clint also helped with the lift and carry. Murray didn’t allow us to help him much, but Mike put together his new bed frame, and I served sandwiches for Friday’s lunch. Otherwise, Murray asked us to pick up some used outdoor chairs he bought from an individual who lives near us, and since he had yet to pay for them, he asked us to give the seller $35.00 in cash. This proved to be a challenge.

“I have a twenty, two fives, and two ones. What do you have?” asked Mike.

“I have a one and a fifty,” I replied. “And some quarters.”

“Don’t you have a twenty? How about tens or fives?”

“No! I have a fifty and a one,” I reiterated.

So, we stopped by to pay the seller, hoping she would have change for the fifty. No, she had given all her cash to her granddaughter, she said. “We’ll get cash at the grocery store and come back,” I offered.

So, I asked for “cash back” with our grocery purchase. Yes, he could give me a twenty, said the cashier. “We need two tens,” Mike stated.

“We don’t keep tens in the morning,” said the cashier. (Does that seem strange to you? Whyever not?) I accepted a twenty-dollar bill, but that didn’t help us. We still didn’t have the needed ten or fives.

Seller was a glass artist

Our cash situation had not improved in the afternoon as we prepared to go get the chairs. Mike counted out $32, and I tossed my one into the pile to make it $33.

“I wasn’t kidding about the quarters,” I said.

“Well, how many quarters do you have?” asked Mike.

I opened my wallet and counted out the needful two dollars in quarters, and we went to get the chairs. 

What?!! There are banks, you say, and ATM machines? Apparently we don't use them. KW

2026 FARM SEASON BEGINS

 

Yes, I have been away from the blog while recovering from extrication of a molar. The writing muse has been absent.

Here we are at the farm again, our first overnighter of the 2026 season. We’ve been busy. Opening the farm in the spring, both house and grounds, is a mixed bag of positives and negatives. On the one hand it’s lovely to see the world in bloom, but this year we have extra work due to the Horrific Windstorm of December 2025. Outdoor work continues, and we’re putting the bathroom back together. I don’t know what happened to our toothbrushes.

The early daffodils have passed, but other varieties are blooming. All three rhubarb plants look as good as they ever do. Mike and I planted three tomato plants in the raised bed, and he’s already counting the days to maturation. I hope it’s not wishful thinking. The spinach and peas haven’t sprouted. It’s anyone’s guess how the growing season will go.

These hot April days have brought the Lapin’s sweet cherry tree into bloom.

I came into the house yesterday afternoon to find the washing machine motor just purring along on its own as if it had a perfect right. (So glad we were here when this happened!) There was no turning it off either. I had to unplug it. One day last summer, the dealer called to say that this model has a defect. We said we hadn’t noticed anything, and he said he would order the part while the machine was still on warranty and we could let him know if/when we needed it. Well, I hope the part in question is the one we need.

Mike saw a pair of geese and a pair of Mallards on the pond, but we don’t know if they’re nesting or just passing through. Otherwise, I don’t hear many bird sounds, and I don’t see many. Maybe it’s just too soon. I’m watching for the hummingbirds.

Speaking of birds, the starlings that invaded the bathroom while the ceiling was open had a field day upstairs. They were clearly looking for a way out. It could have been worse. KW