Our beloved Mr. Rooster died today.  It was a sad day for all.  He had graced our pressence for nearly 3 years.  When Brian and the boys picked him up at a swap meet and brought him home he was kind of mean to the hens.  We placed him in a separate cage so he wouldn’t hurt any of them.  He would be taken out to walk around the yard when the ladies were busy elsewhere,  he would strut around the yard like nobody’s business.  Eventually we incorporated him into the flock and he became the protector of all in the coop.  Protecting the hens was his top priority, he took his job very seriously.  In the last year he had a harder time getting around and hung out more in the coop than out, younger roosters moved in and he passed the torch like a trooper.  He was still was a sight to watch as he moved about.  We will miss him.

Last week I went out early to beat the heat and shovel (or squeegee as the case may be) the chicken coop.  Despite the impending heat advisory it was surprisingly comfortable outside.  I was busy cleaning and glanced over to notice my tomato plants were half gone! A couple years ago huge green caterpillars took over my tomato plants – I took a closer look and sure enough the caterpillars stuck again! A couple years ago I was honestly too freaked out and we abandoned the garden (silly city folk…)  Back then a friend told me you just pick them off and cut them in half (WHAT? GROSS!!) well, as I said that was a couple years ago….since then I have found myself washing chickens, cutting chicken toenails, and other things I certainly never thought I would be doing …………..so off to the garden I head with garden gloves and scissors in hand.  The chickens were quite happy with their mid morning snack, I unfortunately am left with rather pathetic tomato plants. 

This year we moved the vegetable garden closer to the house.  Brian and the boys built three raised beds and we fenced it in to keep the chickens out.  My hope was that with the garden closer to the house it might not get over run with weeds as in years past.  I have kept up on the weeds this year, and I probably would not have caught those pesky hornworms this soon had the garden been further out! 

It all began with some rather reckless mowing on my part, not intentional mind you, I just have a habit of running things over.  A trip to a welder was needed to repair the mower deck – what better time to have Mr rooster go under the torch?  The days of him standing in shame on the front porch sans comb and tail feathers were going to be a distant memory.  Rooster parts in hand, a toss of the old boy in the truck, oh-and the mower deck, and Brian was off and running to the welder.  By midday rooster was back in the pickup truck bed complete with comb and feathers once again attached.  He was looking quite proud despite being on his side in the truck bed.  The leg that had been lost years ago was unable to be reattached, too much rust, so peg leg remains.  When he was lifted from the truck it was discovered that wasps had started building a nest in his beak ( this poor old guy just couldn’t catch a break) so he was quarantined in the garage for a day while an ample supply of bug spray was used. it was quite pitiful as he stood foaming at the mouth from the bug spray, but it was worth it when a mere 24 hours later he was transported back to the front porch in his place of honor.

It was an especially rough winter here in Northern Indiana.  Lots and lots of snow,wind and cold weather.  While it wasn’t just us that thought the winter was brutal, the metal rooster on our front porch also had a difficult time riding out the winter of 2010-11.  After one of our storms we noticed that the comb that once sat atop his metal head was gone, probably under a snow drift somewhere, so there the poor chap stood for all the world to see  - bald.  During another fateful night it blew so hard that the  hardware attaching him to the porch  snapped right  off and he  took a nose dive.  There he sat for the remainder of the snowy weather, if it was too awful out to take down the Christmas decorations it was surely to snowy to reset the rooster! Now that the snow has melted and grass is in sight, Brian took it upon himself to fix the old bird (I think he was just missing Lowes – but anyway..) after a trip to the store to purchase more mounting materials the rooster was once again put vertical.  I would like to able to say that he is standing proud, but tis not the case. Not only is he bald, but when Brian lifted him up – horror of horrors – his tail feathers fell off!  Here we sit with a rather embarrassed rooster watching over the porch, we will have to wait until it gets warmer to perform reconstructive surgery.

Here in our little slice of heaven we don’t have cable TV.  We were all cable junkies when the boys were little, then we decided to put an end to the madness.  The day the cable company was scheduled to come out and disconnect it we had a horrible ice storm and were without power for 3 days.  For several years after that the kids still thought we had no cable due to that ice storm.  We never really missed it except for the weather channel.  This was 8-10 years ago and we are still holding- no cable – although I think my husband may be wavering.  We have never really been at a loss of something to watch, especially one summer when a new station appeared that aired re-runs of old TV shows.  Endless hours were spent in Milwaukee with Laverne &  Shirley, fighting the Riddler with Batman, and of course my all time favorite as a child,  The Brady Bunch.  Since then that channel switched programming, but not to fear, this fall a new channel showed up showing more oldies but goodies.  I now can cook dinner while watching Gidget and the Flying Nun.  It was my husband that discovered Mister Ed.  He began getting up early to exercise and found Patty Duke and Mister Ed.   He commented several times on what a good show it is.   I finally tuned in one morning and watched – it is a good show, somehow very comforting, a shapshot of life in simpler times.  This morning Mr Ed somehow got himself dressed in union suit (complete with back drop conveniently placed for his tail)  last week he was sculpting Wilber out of clay.  In all of this nonsense, it is still somehow entertaining, when it should be just darn ridiculous.  Now this in itself is sort of disturbing – but it really really took a new turn when Brian, my husband, informed me that once the kids are gone he intends to get a horse.  We have been married 24 years, I have never, never, heard any talk of owning a horse – not even a whisper.  I honestly thinks he envisions himself having his own Mister Ed complete with daily shenanigans,  I am not sure how to break it to him that all horses don’t talk.

Paint is one of the cheapest, easiest and quickest way to change a room.  I love to rearrange furniture and to paint.  It gives a room a whole new look, every time I walk into the room after it is done I just have a happy feeling.  Light to dark, bright to pastel it can completely change the feel of the room.  The hardest part of the whole project is  prepping the room.  I usually take down everything on the walls, take off electrical plates, wash the walls, fill in any holes and then paint.  Years ago a neighbor taught me how to “cut in” while painting so you don’t need to tape – I think it has saved me hours in the last 15 years.  My latest project was our laundry room.  This room is the first thing you see walking into our home from the garage – and I think it would be safe to say it is the room that gets the most wear and tear (dog dish, daily loads of laundry, an ever growing collection of shoes…).  I painted it a pale yellown with red and navy cabinets several  years ago, and now it is marked up and not really looking so cheerful anymore.   Here is the old laundry room. Three trips to Lowes later for paint chips I settled on a new color, pale taupe with blue cabinets.  It took me an entire Saturday 9-6 to complete the painting, but it was worth it! I also painted the trim which I think had more of an impact than changing the wall color, a fresh coat of white just made everything pop.  When putting the room back together we decided to replace a table we had in there to stack clothes with a shelf that hangs off the wall with a clothing rod.  This also enabled us to move the shoe rack freeing up space behind the door.  We couldn’t be more pleased – now if only we could get the kids to bring up their clean clothes on a regular basis!

One morning a couple of weeks ago a note was discovered on our door that read “ we have your rooster “ followed by a phone number.  Frantic screams were yelled out as the kids searched the yard for our rooster, called Mr. Rooster.  I, on the other hand, thought someone was playing a prank and had nabbed the big metal rooster that mans our front porch (read rooster and pigs blog entry).  Two minutes later we discovered we were in possession of both the real Mr Rooster and the metal one.  I called the phone number.  It was a neighbor who said our rooster was in their yard.  I inquired if it might be a chicken.  Until a year or two ago I wouldn’t have necessarily known the difference – and I knew our rooster was strutting his stuff in our backyard as we spoke.  She was pretty sure it was a rooster so I told her we would come over and check it out.  Sure enough it was a rooster – not ours mind you, but a rooster.  He was cruising around their yard like he owned the place.  My son tried to catch him with no avail.  I made a few phone calls to see if he had flown the coop but no one was missing a rooster.  This was several weeks ago and we still see him sprinting around their yard, dogs chasing him or him chasing the dogs, not sure which.  In the morning our Mr. Rooster and this rooster crow back and forth at each other as if to outdo one another.  Perhaps they are chatting back and forth about the fact that it is indeed morning time and maybe discussing what types of bugs they are going to feast on, my husband thinks one is a Cubs fan and one a Sox fan and they are talking smack to one another.  Either way it is a delightful way to begin each morning. 

Mr. Rooster and part of his crew

Nothing says time for canning like the typical sweltering weather of mid to late August.  You know when it hits the high 80′s or 90′s that it is time to spend a couple of hours couped up in the kitchen with a monster size kettle of boiling water.  This being said, I love to can.  There is just something so comforting and domestic about “putting up” the fresh fruits and veggies you have been tending in the garden all summer long (or that you have carefully picked out at a local farm stand!).   Years ago I started slow, first too nervous to actually “can” I chose to freeze strawberry jam and applesauce.  Then our garage fridge stopped working and I had strawberry jam streaked down the back of the freezer, all of that hard work chucked in the trash – not to mention the gooey sticky  mess left to clean up!  I still do not can anything that needs to be done in a pressure cooker, but I do can strawberry jam, grape jelly, grape juice, salsa, apple butter, apple pie filling and this year I tried dill pickles.  I still prefer to freeze green beans,  applesauce, shredded zucchini and corn.    It is so nice to pull out something you have made – it may seem time consuming in August, but  when I want to make an apple pie and the store just has nasty old apples, all I need to do is open a jar of filling and  it is so worth it.  In this time of disposable/instant/unhealthy food it is refreshing to empty and refill those canning jars knowing that the food inside only has in it what YOU put in it!  Canning is the ultimate (almost) free food.  You can buy a couple packets of seeds and be set for green beans all year long.   I welcome any easy recipes for other things to can!

Shelves are a great way to store things: collections, books, blankets and more.  Built-ins can typically hold more just because they can fill the entire area.   Not too long ago we wanted to build shelves in a bedroom.  In this particular bedroom there are an abundance of Legos.  In an effort to contain the overflow of ships, boats, planes, space crafts, trains and more my husband designed and built shelves to house some of these goodies.  As much as I love stepping on them every time I enter the room, we had to somehow control the overflow!  For this project we chose a wall that was sandwiched by a window on side and the closet door on the opposite.  To best utilize the space he cut 4 rails  to attach to the walls – floor to ceiling, two on the back wall and one on each side wall.  Then he cut the actual shelves and attached them to the  rails with pocket screws.  The end result was fabulous and can house – not all – but some of the massive collection!

Aprons have made a comeback, it is about time!  No clue why they ever went out.  Maybe it is just me, but when I am cooking or cleaning up after a meal I inevitably spill/splatter/splash something on myself – more importantly my clothes.  For anyone who is in the kitchen as much as I am (hey – not all eating, some cooking too!) that means a lot of stains to get out.  This is where the apron comes in.  All I have to do is throw on an apron and I am good to go – no more dirty clothes.  At first I only felt apron worthy when canning or baking batch after batch of Christmas cookies, but I have gotten over that and now can be found every evening sporting one as I get dinner ready.  Now, don’t envision me in an apron protecting a beautiful dress, pantyhose and jewelry – it is not likely!  It is typically only a t-shirt and jeans that I am protecting, but a tomato stain on a 1950′s dress looks just as bad as a tomato stain on a  t-shirt. 

I have a collection of aprons mostly from estate sales – I do have my favorites that are used most often. I have some of the 1/2 aprons, very cute but I do not see the benefit - I need full coverage.   This year a good friend gave me the most beautiful apron for my birthday – it is so pretty I don’t know if I can bear to wear it while cooking for fear of getting something on it!  It is most likely the closest thing to a dress I will ever wear (I swore off pantyhose and dresses when I quit working in an office 16 years ago and I must say I have not missed them at all)  Perhaps aprons went by the wayside because any semblance of domestic work was frowned upon – but now that they are “in” again dig out that old apron and get cooking!

awhile ago someone e-mailed this article on the apron, and if this doesn’t make you want to wear one I don’t know what will  

The History of APRONS

The principal use of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that ‘old-time apron’ that served so many purposes.