At least a dozen times in my life I’ve tried to reinvent myself as a Morning Person. First, in high school, when I began to drink coffee milk and sugar with a tablespoon of coffee. I thought it would be great to rise hours before the school bell, do some homework, pick out a fun outfit. It didn’t …
Kids love discovering new things. And since most kids don’t live on farms, there’s a lot about the rural life they can learn. Michelle Houts writes children’s fiction that takes young readers to new places. Read about Michelle in Our Ohio magazine: http://ourohio.org/community/building…
I was up late last evening, so it was easy to sleep past 7:30 this morning. I never heard a peep outside the bedroom door. When I did come to life, and I saw what time it was, I felt a little guilty. My teenage daughter had already left for school. I like to pretend …
The house down the road is selling. It’s a mighty house. An old, square, brick Sears-style house that has had several generations of the same family inhabit it for many, many years. It’s a home that’s been cared for, its yard pruned, its door decorated. It has been loved. So, last Saturday when the auction …
Well, folks. Buckeye the doe has spoken. Everyone who commented on the previous blog entry was assigned a random number. And those numbers were placed on sticky notes. At first I thought, “Well, this is going to be easy!” Buckeye was instantly interested! And then just as quickly indifferent. She wandered a bit. She pooped …
It’s mid August. You know what that means. We just finished with this. And this. And that means it’s almost time for this. And, since this blog is desperately in need of something to breathe life into its poor, neglected soul, I think it’s time for this. Who doesn’t love a great giveaway? So, here’s …
Those of you who know me know that I support farmers and I especially support today’s farm youth. 4-H and FFA members and farm kids in general are an admirable lot. They learn early how to work and how to work hard. They can be found in the barn before school. They give up a …
Many folks have been asking about “the little red brick schoolhouse.” Well, that little building has stirred up the neighborhood in recent weeks. That’s because in early September it finally became obvious that something was going on. Since then, the schoolhouse has shed its shed, gained a whole lot of new slate, established its own …
It all started on my birthday last month. Okay, that’s not true. It started a few years ago when my in-laws purchased some neighboring farmland with a sweet, little red brick one-room schoolhouse on it. Actually, not then. It started 22 1/2 years ago when I moved to the country and into a white house just down the …
I hung clothes on the line this week. To some, this may sound like a mundane chore. But, for me, hanging clothes out on the clothesline is much more. And the reasons are as varied as the colors on the line. First, there’s that smell. That fresh, crisp, clean smell of sheets or towels or …
