February 29, 2008
High Button Shoe
the farm update
 
..ok, so I was wondering that because today is February 29 and there isn't usually one of those days in a year, IF today's weather COULD be considered actually what if you didn't know it was the 29th of February but actually March 1 (yes, I really did rationalize this all out in my mind...) that today came in like a lion, per the old wives tale, as we are yet again being hit with inches of snow mounting up on the already huge piles of snow we have had for weeks....  that I can take it as a guarantee that March will go out like a lamb. But then of course, tomorrow is supposed to be the 'calm' of several days with Sunday coming in with freezing rain along with Monday and then Wednesday another STORM. My being is weary of winter. I have shoveled snow and shoveled snow. And while this is about the only winter time pastime I actually enjoy, aside from sitting on the porch drinking coffee and trying to forget I am looking at snow and of course complaining about winter... it is beginning to wear off. The enjoyment of shoveling I mean. Originally, the thought was if I shoveled snow, I would become tall and thin. The thin, I am. The tall, I am not. My paths to the bird feeders have snow banks now the height of between my waist and my armpits in any given area. Methodical in my shoveling, I like clean lines of paths. Like it was finely chiseled, or a snowblower had done it. I am beginning to no longer care. Along with the knowledge that under my snow paths is ice. Some areas of the yard I leave the snow as the ice packs under them are treacherous. My wool ski hat reeks havoc with my hair. My snow packs stink from constant wear and bare feet in them, and my orange hunting coat, the favoured shoveling coat as it is warm, is beginning to become somewhat 'ripe', due to continuous daily exertion in it. So on top of not looking too swell, I don't smell too swell either. I am ready for spring. And today looks like it is FAR off.
So when the calendar marks March 1, I fear we are still in for another month (if we are so lucky !) of winter. Sometimes winters in northern Michigan go into April too. This indeed seems like a long winter. I KNOW I will regret this..but I am looking forward to mud. You can remind me of that fact when I am buried in some bog, and need to be rescued. Ron, fortunately, always rescues me. Sometimes with patience, more often not. I have learned to be wiser in my pursuit of pussy willow gathering close to the swamps after the spring I buried my truck in mud and it took the farm truck in 4 wheel drive and a chain that stretched 1/2 way across one hay field pulling to get me out. Actually he did smile at that one...but I do get the cautionary reminder each spring to WAIT until the hay field is drier. At this point, I am thinking the snowbanks MIGHT recede about the middle of May.
 
I still can't find anything. A notion brought again to me this week as I was finishing a long sampler, in black floss, only to be lacking enough floss to do the last two sentences. Going to my floss stash, I find every conceivable color imaginable, but black. Spending too long searching, I vaguely recalled in ' the move ', of putting all my black floss, somewhere between 50-100 bundles of it in a bag and putting it somewhere separate of all the colored ones, because it is the color I use most and needed to know where it is. Un-huh. Lost. Not to be found in any logical places OR any illogical places. I suppose I will come across it someday. In the meantime, while searching, I did find some other things I didn't know where they were, so it wasn't a total loss. And a trip 45 miles one way away yielded me FOUR things of black floss. That because Wal-Mart has now decided to no longer carry floss. We won't even go INTO what I think about that! Save to say that after all the little stores that carried floss have gone out of business, Wal-Mart no longer carries it either!!
 
I have been working on new things. And when the snow banks are away from the barn doors, I will attempt some order there again. Fritz the Anaconda, resident snake, should still be in slow mode, and I intend to be in faster gear. I should probably buy one of the hard hats with a flashlight on the top to lead me along. Doesn't that bring a pretty picture to mind?
My goose egg of the last barn trip is still fresh in my memory, even though the bruise and pain has finally subsided. It occurs to me, when do anacondas mate? I saw one Fritz look alike, but MUCH smaller than the HUGE Fritz, last fall in about the same Fritz spot by the big barn doors. Now with my arctic packs taking on this bad foot odor I really hate to have to wear them in the barn all summer too! Besides, having on shorts, t-shirt, arctic packs, a hard hat with a flashlight beam, my leather carpenter apron full of tools to murder off Fritz, AND keeping track of my hoe to chop him up with, is just too hard to get any work done. I suppose, like the shed roof falling on him in the windstorm, it would be too much to hope that he may have froze to death.
 
We have lots of new things going on for the month of March. Besides my complaints of winter and Fritz.
You remember we joined some new host sites since the first of the year. I will put the links at the bottom of this letter. Some of our things are showing only on these links and we don't have them on our website yet. So to get the latest you will have to check them out! I am so proud to be included with these host sites. I will be changing over much of the antiques on the countrycraftshowonline link over the weekend.
Lemon Poppy Seeds is up for special preview NOW rather than wait until tomorrow. Simply Primitives will be NEW tomorrow. The PrimitiveGathering was new on the 15th and has some great primitives on it.  And I probably will give you another notice of it, but  The1800House will have NEW things (early painteds some of my own collections!) and garden things) on March 5th. So mark your calendars for that.  Some of you have questioned me on how to order.  You merely email me with where you saw it and what the item is. Or if the host site has a add to cart button, you can order that way. Our email address is listed in all the host sites.  Our phone number is also on the website and you can call. Remember we are EASTERN time. And IF your call comes in an unknown(no name or phone number)  etc, I do not answer the phone. Leave a message, if I am here I will pick up, if not, I will return your call so leave your name and phone number.
We accept paypal and checks.
Oh, we also have three new rag stuf'd dolls in vintage doll clothes we will be showing next week on our website when Beu can get them uploaded. Stay tuned.
 
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Okay, coffee is brewing and Ronnie will be home soon. Thank you to all who write me and encourage me.
 
in fond regard, Tilda
keeper of the rosemary
waiting for spring, with my usual impatience
too many bad hair days
still can't find anything