Stay at Home Time/Cleansing Time 2026

Cold weather = hot soups

This month is the time each year when we busy ourselves at home, resting and clearing away old remnants that can interfere with the coming season of awakening and growth.

We've had just a couple of snow events this winter. I think that only twice have we received 6-8" of snow.

Mink trails

On each morning following these heavier snows, our yard has been criss crossed with these very unique trails. They are made by the minks that live along our creek. Apparently, they find our yard great fun for exploring and hunting in the deeper snow.

During the colder days we've seen a Sharp Shinned Hawk hunting around our feeders and in our shrubs. Last week we saw it take a Junco in the morning and a Mourning Dove in the afternoon.

Staying warm this winter

While we haven't had a great deal of snow, the cold and windy pattern continues from last month. Many meals of soup have been eaten in front of the stove.

Big Game Day

Neither Bob nor I have any interest in sports. Nor do we have a TV to watch sports on. On that Big Day, we played our own game, cozy in front of the stove, with a big bowl of popcorn at hand. (I whooped him again.)

Stay at Home Time is a good opportunity to go through our clothes. We can eliminate what needs to go or fix up things that need attention before the next season.

Mending in progress

I used to make all of my own clothes, with the exception of under garments and socks. When the cost of fabric, patterns and buttons (when you can find them) began to skyrocket, I stopped. Now our clothes come from resale shops. Since neither of us are "off the rack" sizes, my sewing skills come in handy. I can alter and improve the things we find.

I resized five summer tops which were in my drawer and remade a worn-out sofa pillow. It feels good to save money and get more use out of the things we already have.

Hardanger piece now

I've made good progress on my hardanger piece. Stages 1&2 are done and I'm well into the final stage.

Now it's time to start stirring ourselves toward spring.

Harvesting trees

Log transportation

Bob's been hard at work preparing for mushroom growing. He cut down two trees (maple & oak) of appropriate sizes and is inoculating them with mushroom spawn.

Chicken of the Woods logs

The short lengths have been sterilized and inoculated with Chicken of the Woods spawn. These will sit in the cellar for 2-3 months and then be partially buried in the mushroom garden.

Logs waiting

He cut longer pieces for the Shiitake mushrooms. (Some maple, some oak.)

Inoculating logs

He's now in the process of inoculating these logs. They will go outside sooner than the others.

Plant start area is ready

The plant start area is all set up and ready. Next week I will sow my early seeds. This year will be garden #33 for us!

The freezer is emptying out. There are a few sweet potatoes, garlic and shallots left. The beets and carrots are gone. What we do have is potatoes!

Ever since I was a preschooler, I have loved Early Music. I was hooked when The Friendly Giant (CBC out of Kingston Ontario) would have his minstrel puppets play along as he played the recorder. (FYI Rusty the Rooster played the folk harp.) I'd love to have that series on DVD!

Incredible concert

My birthday is very soon. As a special early treat, we attended a Paul O'Dette concert. For those who don't know, he's BIG in early music circles.

We were in an intimate chapel setting, and we sat 10-12 feet directly in front of him. He played wonderfully and was so calm and gracious, even when both a string and a peg on his lute broke during the performance. It was really a once in a lifetime experience.

We'll be celebrating my birthday this weekend and beginning to stretch toward spring.

Prepare yourselves, too.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Sedum waiting for summer sun

Cold Time/Renewal Time 2026

Peaceful Pause

There's no arguing that it's been Cold Time! We haven't had too much snow, only about 8" on the ground. The constant cold and below zero wind chills have made outside activities less than alluring. I'll be very happy to resume our daily walks.

Oops! Almost empty

We've been using the woodstove daily during our waking hours. If the cold continues Bob will have to take his sled and bring in more wood from the pile outside. Not only will that chill the man, but it cools down the house with all of the opening and closing of the cellar door.

An inviting place to read

It is also Renewal Time, so we've spent much time reading in front of the stove.

We finished the Slabsides Book and are now reading Burroughs' book, A Year in the Fields. 

Between these two books we read Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida.

A very good read

This book I highly recommend. It is a first-hand account of life in Japanese Internment camps during World War II. The author, in her twenties at the time, her sister and parents we uprooted with thousands of other Japanese (both American born citizens and Japanese born) and dropped into unfinished containment camps in the American desert. No Due Process, no nothing. It's very timely reading for today.

Project is moving along

 I've been making very good progress on stage 2 of my hardanger piece. I hope to finish this stage in the next couple of weeks.

Fresh out of the pans

I bake bread biweekly the year round, but it seems extra pleasant to raise the loaves on the hearth and bake during this cold weather. I thought that you might enjoy a peak too. Try to imagine the wonderful fragrance. That can be part of renewal, too.

Bread for another two weeks

Bob's been relaxing but volunteering as well.

Off to the Capital, Albany

He went with a busload of climate activists to Albany in an effort to remind our Governor of the legal commitments that she has already made on New York's behalf.

Oh yes, another step we've taken in this Renewal Time is that we've turned off our morning alarm for the season. We still haven't settled into a regular wake up time. Some days it's 30 minutes past our normal time; others it's 90 minutes! Once warm weather comes, we can't sleep so late. Our outside exercise and work must be finished at least by noon (preferably 10 am). I think the late sleeping is related to stress.

Taking action

  
Perhaps some of you, especially who we've met since returning to New York, are unaware that we lived in Minnesota for 21 years. The last 17 of those, we lived in a northern suburb of Minneapolis. 

Our food coops where we shopped were in Minneapolis. The ethnic markets we patronized were in Minneapolis. Every Saturday night we ate at a variety of ethnic restaurants there. The Mennonite Fellowship and Quaker Meeting we attended were there.

To witness the terrorization of this community is extremely upsetting to us.

These updates are getting more and more difficult to write. 

When I read posts by some of the people that I know, I think, "Are they just oblivious to what's happening out there?". 

I don't know the answer to this question. But I want you to know that, while I write of reading and relaxing by the fire, we are not emotionally hiding. Things are not fine. We deeply feel this moment and are acting as we are able to respond. 

Protests, phone calls and boycotts. Another important part of the response is to have that cup of tea. Read a book. Recharge to Resume.

Holding all of you, in our hearts and in accountability.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Snowing again

Darkest Depths/Long Nights Time 2025

The Wolf Moon 

 
The time of Long Nights is slipping away. Now we enter the time of cold. Remember the old adage, "As the days lengthen, the nights strengthen.".

We'll address the weather first since many of you have heard reports about New York and may be wondering. 

At our house, we've only had about 3" of snow. We have had many days of strong winds (sometimes gusting to 50 mph), and below zero windchills. Those subzero wind chills have interfered with our daily walks. Our route is far too exposed to be safe in this weather.

My hometown at the eastern edge of Lake Ontario has gotten hammered. Some of you are sitting amid the snowbanks right now. Try to stay warm and enjoy the forced confinement.

Holiday trees

We enjoyed a quiet and restful Solstice and Yuletide. Evening fires in the woodstove to counteract the cold winds, reading and a few special treats to eat.

Projects have kept us busy this month.

Footstool project begins

Bob bought an old footstool at a charity garage sale. The top fabric and cushioning needed to be replaced.

New padding goes on

He removed the old materials and cut out new padding from some old wool blankets.

New padding all on

After securing the padding, he cut a new top out of some heavy duck fabric.

New fabric all on

The recovered top was reattached to the base and now we have a footstool large enough for both of us to share. All of these materials were in my stash.

Finished product

Last year's beans have all been threshed out. There are fewer beans than usual, but I'm sure we'll get by with all of the leftovers from last year.

Total 2025 crop

Yesterday I ordered the seeds we need for this year's garden. We didn't need too many.

Choosing seeds

This year I'm going to try another pole habit drying bean. It's a black bean reportedly from the Narragansett tribe of Rhode Island. I'm excited to see how this one turns out.

Last year's trial bean, 5,000-Year-Old Cave Bean, turned out to be quite good. I'll plant that one again this year.

Bob's annual sweater was finished this morning!

Model strikes a pose

 

I often knit this pattern for him, varying the colors and patterns, because it fits his slim build very well.

In our season of rest, we've spent a good deal of time reading, each having finished several books already.

Generally, our evenings are spent reading aloud while sitting in front of the fire. We recently finished The Outermost House by Henry Beston.

A good read

Mr. Beston wrote of the year that he spent living on the Outer Beach of Cape Cod. He sought the seclusion of the beach in an effort to recover from the trauma of his World War I service. We found it to be very interesting.

Now we are reading The Slabsides Book . This book is about the woodland cabin of naturalist John Burroughs. We found this, as well as four volumes of Burroughs nature writings at the local library book sale. We plan to read all of them soon.

Who's at the feeder?

Our reading area looks out on our bird feeders, so we get great opportunities for watching the birds from the comfort of our living room.

Phase 1 complete

Work continues (slowly) on my hardanger piece. The project has three distinct phases: surface embroidery, cutting and lacework and counted cross stitch embellishments.

This week I finished phase 1. Now I begin with phase 2, which involves cutting into the piece and stitching in lacework. There's a ton of that to do.

A great find

 
On an unrelated note, we found this queen sized, handmade quilt in the thrift shop for $5.99. Yes, the decimal point is in the correct place! The craftsmanship, or perhaps craftspersons-ship, is very good. I brought it home to recognize and honor the creator's effort and spirit.

We hope that you have enjoyed any holiday which you may celebrate, and that you have eluded the flu and other illnesses. There's still time to relax and renew before the season of rebirth and growth. We hope you will take advantage of the time.

We'll be here; by the fire reading, or crafting, or playing games. Continuing to enjoy this golden period.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Warming the kitty-cicle

"Whose woods these are..."

Frost Time 2025

Last night's Cold Moon

 
Winter has found us here. We're a little colder than normal and there is snow on the ground.

A scene along our daily walk

We were able to harvest some "free lettuce" from the garden in mid-November. Now we'll depend on our frozen greens and the fresh sprouts which I grow.

Our final harvest

I've begun threshing out beans. I hope to be finished close to the end of December. Time will tell.

Threshing Aduki beans

Our Thanksgiving Day was low key. We both had colds and kept things simple. We did enjoy playing one of our favorite games: Anagrams. That evening we watched Miracle on 34th Street.

Thanksgiving game - I whooped him!

We did have a visitor (of sorts) on Thanksgiving; a Piliated Woodpecker dined on bugs in our nectarine tree.

 A hungry guest

We took another real vacation in November. We took a very special trip.

On our way - Syracuse airport

We flew to Oregon to visit family, some of which we met for the first time. It was a very enjoyable visit. Everyone was very welcoming and accommodating of our quirks. 

In addition to great family dinners and visiting, we made a special trip into California to see the coastal Redwoods.

First trail we walked

We walked with family members through a couple of different sections of the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

TALL trees!

The huge trees were almost unbelievable! Coastal Redwoods are even taller than Sequoias.

That's a downed trunk on my left

It was difficult to capture their immensity in a photo. You had to experience it, and I'm glad we did.

Second trail we walked

 

We also saw Bigleaf Maples. These leaves measured 10-12" across!

Bigleaf Maple leaf

It was sad to see entire mountain sides of dead trees, a result of the wildfires of a couple of years ago.

In other places, we saw Ponderosa Pines, Oregon White Oaks, and watched Acorn Woodpeckers going about their business of fitting acorns into holes they had excavated in tree trunks. A real treat for eastern birders!

Now that we're back home, we're in our winter pattern of living. Each of us do small, odd tasks during the day and relax in the evening.

I have raveled one of Bob's sweaters. To make the yarn reusable, you form it into skeins, which you soak and hang to dry.

Hanging to dry

Once dry, you wind it into balls for easier use.

Use a swift for winding

Bob's been doing some digital "housekeeping" tasks, little home repairs and tending to the social needs of our porch cat.

Essential work

Although he no longer works at Cornell, he's still an essential worker, in the cat's opinion.

Quiet evenings

Our evenings have primarily been spent reading. Sometimes I knit and Bob reads, either to himself or aloud so we both can enjoy a book. There's a fire if it's chilly. Usually a cup of tea, and perhaps a little treat. This will be our pattern for the next couple of months.

We hope you will all take some time to rest your bodies and your minds. In architecture, there is a quote, "Less is More". I believe this principle applies to more than architectural design.

Till next time, 

Kathleen and Bob

Royal command - warm me up!