The weather is beautiful this week in Iowa! I feel like Spring is actually here and I want to play outside! Homesteading, no matter where you are and how you do it, is a lot of work. Homesteading is a lot of work, especially in the Spring! However, Spring is a time to lighten up and soak in the sunlight we have been missing all Winter (or at least I have!). This week’s challenge? Get outside and have some fun!…
My Grandma Rene is 94 years old. She has lived through The Depression, World War II, six sons (no daughters), lost two husbands and still is going strong. She is starting to show some effects of her age, but she still lives by herself, plays cards, and sometimes dances.We have been probing her for more stories of her growing up and she tells what she remembers. She will tell you that was so long ago that she has forgotten some…
Homemade apple fritters are a family tradition. And no wonder! They are so good! My mom makes these every Christmas morning. She loves to tell the story about who used to make them and where the recipe came from. In fact, when I emailed her to ask her if I could share this recipe, she sent me this:“Your Great-Grandma Marie Jebsen Kopp made that recipe a family tradition using either apples or raisins. Your dad prefers the apple one so…
(The history geek in me has arisen again. And probably will many more times.)During wartime (WWI and WWII), many men were gone. Men ages 18-42 were either drafted or volunteered to fight. Some were pressed into service in other ways. Some were given reprieve if the government thought their talents lie elsewhere like farming. By the end of WWII, 16 million men had or were serving in some capacity. Some of the men returned home early, but usually with injuries.That…
This week’s weather in northern Iowa has been less than ideal. We never really appreciate a day before Thanksgiving snowstorm. Those have a tendency to make travel a bit difficult. School was cancelled on Wednesday due to several inches of snow being on the ground already and more coming down. The kids were to go down to their dad’s house to have Thanksgiving with him on Wednesday. We already had the day planned, had moved Dane’s doctor appointment earlier in…
Hallowe’en is so much fun! I love seeing all the kiddos dressed up in costumes, pumpkin carving, pumpkin-flavored everything, and the creativity that comes with it all. I think I even like Hallowe’en a little more than Christmas, but that may be because I don’t want all the commercialism that goes with Christmas! Hallowe’en can be done frugally, very frugally. For several years, we have not bought many costumes nor spent a lot on decorations. I am not one…