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If you sweep a house, and tend its fires and fill its stove, and there is love in you all the years you are doing this, then you and that house are married, that house is yours.

-Truman Capote, The Glass Harp

 

I am.

Yesterday we got the first snow of the season. School closed early and is on a two hour delay this morning. I have a crockpot bubbling away with chilli made with beef and deer sausage. The coffee is hot. The fire is hotter. Come sit a spell. It's almost hipnotic.

 

Since the dog has been gone the house has been strangely quiet. Not a noise out of place. No night time jingles of jewelry on a collar. No midnight run of the staircase. No tapping of nails on the hardwood floor. No snoring, farting or loud sighs.No barking at unfamiliar sounds. Just quiet.

Steve and I went out to lunch alone last weekend. Over burgers and beer we talked about how quiet the house was. I asked if we could get another dog. Steve said he would love to have another dog. We discuss the pros and cons of different breeds and narrowed down what we would like to have in the next dog who came into our family. He wanted a German Shepherd. I wanted a Chocolate Lab.

We talked about how with me being the one at home all day that the lion's share of the daily care would fall on me and the dog should be a dog I really liked and cared for as well as a good family dog for everyone to enjoy.

All week long Steve has mentioned what he would like in a family dog. We have looked at petfinder and scouted the possibilities of dogs at local and neighboring county shelters. We had our eye on a couple but due to the holiday weekend all the shelters in 5 counties were closed until next week.

I understand having holidays off but these people are local government employees and someone has to come in and feed and clean up after the dogs so why not open for a few hours friday or saturday? More people are home doing family activities at this time of the year on the weekends you would think they would see this as a perfect time to push pet adoption. Not so in our county.

On a notion I asked Steve to call the Louisa County Shelter. They were open today. The only shelter we could find that was open mind you.

Before we left Steve had a stern talk with the girls about not getting their heart set on a dog, no begging for a dog, and he and I had final approval on a dog. The kids understood completely. Steve didn't listen to himself. He took Steven to the truck and sat in the passenger side waiting for me - he walked out with his cigarettes and his phone. I had to bank the fire and lock up because he was in such a hurry he didn't even think about it. Ha!

We had/have the opportunity to get a pure bred dog but Steve really wanted to see what was at the pound first. So we went looking.

We went in - 5 kennels with 5 dogs - well, 1 puppy and 4 older dogs. The puppy had been surrendered by the owners. When Steve approached the kennel the puppy dropped to the floor and rolled over on his back paws up begging for attention. Steve immediately fell in love with the puppy.

The attendant told me there were a couple of other dogs in another area and asked me if I wanted to look but only one person at a time could go in. I went in and if I saw something interesting Steve could go in and have a look.

There were about 20 kennels mostly full of dogs being held for a longer time before being offered for adoption. The woman went down the row on one side and pointed out a couple of dogs ready to go. I did not like any of them. They were older and not the breeds I am partial to. The woman answered the phone and was away a few minutes then came back and pointed out two more dogs available then a third that would be released for adoption this evening.

I asked if I could take that dog out. She gave me a leash and I took the dog out and let him run and play and do his business. I took him back into the front of the kennel and asked Steve to step out and have a look. Steve put his puppy back in the kennel and stepped out. Some people were milling around outside and the lady behind the desk remarked 3 people had called coming to see the little puppy.

I turned to Steve and said, "If you want that puppy get him now before someone walks out of here with him before you can." You should have seen how quickly he moved! LOL he scooped up that puppy in a flash.

Here we are in the main office with a puppy and a nine month old dog and there was no debate or haggling or choosing.

We came home with two new family members today.

Both dogs had been surrendered by their owners.

Meet Ajax.

He is a 12 week old german shepherd - laborador mix. Steve has quickly spoiled himed him rotten. As I type he and Ajax are on the floor snuggled by the fire. He is stroking and petting and rubbing his sleeping baby.

Ajax is a very sweet puppy. He is shy and little timid. He friendly and is quickly learning to play. He is not house broken. He is not fixed (yet). In due time all of this will be corrected. We were surprised that this shelter didn't take care of those things themselves from the start.

Meet J.E.B.

He is a 9 month old chocolate lab - german pointer mix. He is an active boy and has yet to make a sound beyond one whine. He has learned quickly to sit and stay. He doesn't know how to play. He is now asleep over by the fireplace, too.

We went out pet shopping, taking both dogs with us, to pick up a new dog bed, two new collars and leashes, dog shampoo (both have awful flakey dandruff) and other odds and ends and treats. We spent too much money on these two dogs. We also got them new engraved dog tags.

The woman at the shelter fudged (shhhhhhhh) and let me have J.E.B today instead of making us wait and come back for him monday. He has not been fixed but will be as soon as I can get an appointment with the vet.

They both need their rabies and lyme disease vacs. They both need to be fixed. The shelter gave us an extended period until late February to meet those needs as it gets expensive doing this for two dogs at the same time. I thanked her kindly.

They both got a much needed bath this evening. Then they were given their new dog beds (yes, we chose two extra large dog beds and J.E.B won't lay on his!), chew toys and bones. They have drank gallons of water and eaten like pigs. They can't seem to get enough to drink or eat this evening. J.E.B is a bit skinny and could use some meet on his bones. The puppy is growing fast and will need a little extra as well.

The only problem I have at the moment is that the little one, Steve has nicknamed him 'little bit', is a farter. he has been asleep over there for over and hour and the farts coming out that puppy is disgusting. OMG he stinks. They just make Steve laugh like a fool.

When we brought them home this evening we put them out back in the fenced yard. J.E.B immediately went over to the pool and walked across the pool cover which isn't completely fastened down yet and fell in. He was floundering in the deep end and couldn't get out (the water is pulled way down and the steps are covered. Steve went tearing across the yard and pulled him out. I thought for sure he was going to dive in after him. Not 20 minutes later Ajax did the same thing. Dumb dogs! The water is like ice! We had to dry them both and bring them in to get warm.

So, we have two new dogs. I like them both. We should all live happily ever after now.

Who looks happier, Steve or the puppy?

One more thing. We named the dogs. J.E.B didn't have a name at the shelter and Ajax was being called Peter by a volunteer. He doesn't look like a Peter nor does he even answer to that name.

You can read about their names if you like-  J.E.B and Ajax.

My mood is very light today*. Start the video below if you want a taste of the mood that has filled me inside out this afternoon. It's music to read by.

I was out on the front porch watering my plants. Gracie and Steven were in the driveway, Gracie pulling him along in his red wagon, their voices punctuated with bursts of laughter. The cool breeze in a grey sky stirred the leaves on the trees making the hanging baskets swing gently back and forth as they dripped water from the long soaking drink the shower hose provided just minutes before.

I love my front porch. I love the rockers. I love the plants. I love everything about it (except maybe those aweful lamps at the front door but those can be changed one day when I remember to pick something new up from Lowes. Perhaps this but with a brighter brass finish to match the hardware on the glass door. There are some very high priced things that I love but, get real, I am not spending that kind of money on some outdoor lights when these will work and look just as nice.)

There is something so completely southern and victorian and charming about ferns on a long front porch of a big white house. It is gentile. Even on a very hot day it looks cool and inviting. White rockers, white wicker, green ferns and tall glasses of lemonaide filled with cracked ice, sweating into cool puddles on the side tables as the creak of the rockers make harmony with the birds and crickets - soothing and serene is how my brain interprets it.

My grandmother always had tons of plants on her front porch. It was like a jungle. Passersby would see a big white house with a long white front porch filled with baskets and baskets upon baskets of various plants. She had pots of mother-in-law tongues, wandering jew (varigated and purple), swedish ivy, rubber tree plants, string of pearls, peace plants, bridal veil, spider plants, several types of begonias (angel wing is my favorite begonia), corn plant, hen and chicks, moses in the cradle -just to name a few. Her plants where monster sized. She fed dozens of plants weekly with a drink of water mixed with Peter's plant food (back when it came in little white cups). I can see her now with her gallon milk jug full of blue water and a large tumbler in her hand. Every plant got a full tumbler of water.

I remember that during the winter the room she kept them in had lots of light and was filled to brimming with her collection of plants. She would see something she liked somewhere and would pinch off a piece and bring it home and stick it in a pot of soil. She would plants seeds from her grocery store fruit just to see what she could grow.

My grandmother had a green thumb beyond belief. The vining plants she grew were amazing. Some of the plants would hang from their pots and measure over five foot in length. She would eventually get around to snipping them off and starting yet another plant or give them away to someone who was awed by her plants.

My grandmother never had ferns. I don't know why. I never asked her and she never actually said but she never had ferns on her front porch. I have always loved ferns. Especially boston ferns.

The boston ferns I picked up in early spring when it might have been a bit too cool for them to be outside. I had brought home two ferns and I broke them up into four pots. In this area ferns are at a premium in price. You could have knocked me over with a feather when one plant nursery had theirs marked at the low discount price of $19.95 each. Um, no thanks. Not interested. I found my two little baskets at walmart's garden center and repotted them myself. I have spent the summer periodically breaking them up and setting new pots. Now I have eight ferns in various stages of development.

I have no idea where I will put them when the weather changes and they need to be brought in. I love the hanging baskets they are in. The baskets are lined with cocoa fiber so watering them in the house will be a mess. It is a nusance to me to have to take all the plants one at a time to the tub and water them and then have to wait for them to drip dry before rehanging them.

The large ferns on either side of the door are two I picked up at Lowes garden center. The plants had been marked down for clearance for quick removal. I always try to have something large and green on either side of the front door. It just looks inviting to my eye. These two large plants need to be broken up and put into at least 20 inch pots. Where I would put 4 twenty inch pots so that they get good light and are easily accessible for watering? I hate dripping mess after watering plants but I love the plants. LOL I don't mind all the care they need when outside I just dread bringing them in and the leaf dropping and dripping water mess they can create. Any suggestions?

On the wicker tables are peace plants, I started those from 2 little tiny $2 pots (small small plants lol). They should be transfered to larger pot also. I don't know if a larger pot will as nice on those tables. I guess I need to break them apart and make new pots, too.

I don't think I can justify the need of new (more) flower pots to Steve. He won't understand that the square ones on the chains are outdoor pots and just won't do in the house. Also have you looked at the price of large pots? Plastic ones just will not do either. Added to the problem is the need for them to match the decor in the room in which they are to rest over the late fall and winter. See? Always something in need of beautifying. He completely won't understand and will suggest some of those old ugly green or white plastic pots most hanging baskets come from the nursery in. I want something ceramic and lovely to set on a dresser or side table upstairs. I want something fullbodied to set in the downstairs hall which floods with light. I can hang two of the plants in the kitchen in new hanging baskets but the rest will have to be transplanted to regular pots with a drainage saucer. Steve just wouldn't understand the need of it.

You know, you could save me from all of this headache and send me one of your own lovely 10 inch pots and take the chore right out of my hands. Email me at big red couch (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll tell you were to send them. Haha! Just kidding! I am not scarfing for free flower pots! Who am I kidding? Yes, I am! Ummm ...

See this little rocker? I know someone is going to ask me where I got it. This is one sweet deal. This is a rocker for Steven. At nine years old Gracie is still able to sit comfortably in it so it isn't as small as you might think it is. I had seen these rockers at Tractor Supply in early summer. I refused to pay the price they wanted for it. Nearly 100 bucks. The hell? It is a small rocker not an adult sized rocker. Every time I would go in I would look longingly at them but just could not pay the price for them. I watched and waited. One day there were two left and the store had marked them down 25%. The price was still not nearly good enough for me to bring one home with me. I was waiting and watching every time I went into the store until one day there was one left and it was marked down to 25% of the original price. Score! So I brought it home.

I love the look of my front porch. It makes me happy to be out there. I love water the plants and wonderful smell that rises with water, wet soil, plant food, and the fresh air. I even like the chore of sweeping the porch as I wait outside for Gracie to be picked up by the school bus.

Now that you have seen my front porch would you show me yours?

Post a photo of your front porch (or back porch or side porch or patio) and leave a link in the comments section of this post. I'll come visit and post your link here in the main body so others can come visit your porch.

*This post was written early saturday afternoon

Porches

Badger's front porch

Anne from Cooking with Anne did a post on her pantry staples. Those things she wouldn't be without. Some of you might even remember the post I did on keeping my pantry stocked. I think I may have Bettina's syndrome and her idea of an emergency shelf. Any way - Anne's list is a great list. I keep most of those things on hand also. You never know when you might have last minute guests or need to make the budget stretch for another few days or a week. Here you can find my standard pantry and cupboard items that I pretty much have on hand all of the time. Open my cabinets and plunder around and you'll find all sorts of things. My make-do and make-it-last list is different. Part of me is the ingrained be preparedness of growing up with a grandmother who canned and prepared a lot of summer produce. The other part of me thinks about FEMA's emergency preparedness recommendations and takes heed. I probably wouldn't go to as great a lengths if I still lived in Georgia but with us living so close to D.C. and seeing how grocery stores empty out in bad weather I can imagine if we went into a state of emergency there would be NOTHING to be had in the stores around here. We live in the rural country side. We figure if something major happened the cities would most likely evacuate to us. We base this on the fact there is an underground shelter a few miles away that is intended to house important members of Congress and supposedly the Vice President. There may seem like a lot on my list but there are six of us here much of the time. FEMA recommends that we be ready with an emergency food and water supply just in case a disaster should occur. (Do you know you need to store 1 gallon of drinking water per person per day? For us we would need to store at least 18 gallons of potable water. That is alot of water. Nursing mothers, babies, elderly and sick people need to consume more. Plus water for other needs.) Here are things I try to keep on my shelves -just in case. I do rotate out flour, meals and the like so that it is not more than a month old. When I empty a bag I use the reserve bag then replish that with a new bag. Baking Goods -Flour -baking soda -baking powder -powdered milk/buttermilk -Crisco and/or Lard -Vanilla Extract (real vanilla, my mother brings it back when she goes on her fall cruise to the Bahamas or I buy it at Costco for a fair price in a large bottle) -Yeast (one of the small 3 pack strips) With these items I can make, biscuits, pancakes, waffles, muffins or any number of quick breads that do not require yeast. Pancakes and waffles are excellent for both breakfast and supper. My kids find it a real treat especially during the cold weather months to have pancakes for supper. They also are huge fans of cornbread. Can Goods (at least 2 - 4 cans each) -Green Beans -Whole Kernel Corn -Tomatoes -Light and Dark Kidney Beans -black beans -Pintos -Turnips -Carrots -Peas (Sauers only!) -Tuna -Chicken -Peaches -Pineapple -Cranberry -Fruit Cocktail Jarred Goods -Spaghetti Sauce -Jarred Salsa - (there is a lime and garlic and a black bean and white corn salsa that is Walmart brand that is great to pour over chicken and bake or to add to rice and serve as a mexican style rice, or layer with hamburger, tortillas and cheese for a casserole. Condiments -Mayonnaise -Ketchup -Yellow Mustard -Specialty Mustards -Soy Sauce -Worcestershire Sauce (with ketchup, mustard, worcestershire and spices I can make BBQ sauce, tomato gravy, etc.) You never know when a can of vegetables will come in handy. Either to stretch a meal or to add to a soup or stew to make it go just a little bit farther. I have a selection of other things we like on hand at most times as well. Soups and crackers and other things the kids like both canned and dried. Gracie is a big fan of romein soup. She has been known to survive a week or more on that stuff for supper every night. Not that I don't cook. There are days when I know she won't touch anything I have cooked because she doesn't like it. I also keep the canned beans because they do not need hours to cook like the dried ones do. Dry Goods Beans and Peas (dried limas, yellow and green split pea, black beans, kidney beans, black eyed peas, white beans, navybeans, pintos, etc.) Rice (risotto, basmati, jasmine, japanese rice for sushi, etc.) Cornmeal (yellow and white) Pasta (several varieties) CousCous Barley Grits (in the winter my kids want grits every morning, especially Gracie) This includes things that are prepackaged like a quick mac and cheese, dirty rice, spanish rice, red beans and rice, yellow rice, etc. Things that will not go bad even if they sit on the shelf six months or more. They also require no special storage just a closed dry place. Many things I buy when I have a good coupon or the store has a buy one get one sale like pickles, olives, sauces, carnation milk, eagle brand condensed milk etc. I can't even list everything out there on those shelves. I do keep check of things and rotate them out before dates expire. A supply of seasonings -Mrs. Dash -Pepper -Salt -Garlic Powder -Chilli Powder -Onion Powder -Cinnamon I have a stockpile of tiny little jars and bottles of spices. I am sure alot of us do. Buying even the tiniest of spices available for just one recipe we are left with a nearly full jar of something we don't use often. You name it I probably have it. This list above was just the basics. With onion and garlic powder it makes up for not having fresh onion and garlic to season things with. Chilli powder is a quick kick-em-up. I also keep a jar of local honey, air tight pouches of tea bags, and an extra small can of coffee. I buy peanut oil for the fryer in the 2 gallon container. Peanut oil keeps well, it has a very high burn temp and things will cook without being greasey. A 5lb bag of sugar will last us almost a year. I use it for baking for the holidays and for birthday cakes. Sometimes I may need to buy two bags depending on how heavy my baking will be especially at Christmas. If we were to lose power for a couple days or longer I have the wood stove we can cook on. During the cold months when I burn the stove daily I practice and challenge myself to see what I can cook, what I can learn to cook and how to regulate the heat to cook all sorts of things. The kids laugh at me and make fun but they always gobble up whatever it is I have prepared. Especially pancakes and sausage. (see previous post). I also have a couple gallons of fresh water. I probably should think about setting in a few more -just in case. 6 people for 3 days is 18 gallons of water. That is so much water! I also keep my tank filled on my truck. I encourage Colby not to let her tank get below half full. I keep the tractor and cans filled with diesel as well. I keep first aid boxes upstairs and down also in our car and trucks. We also have a medicine cabinet and drawer in the bathroom filled with all sorts of things. When I buy over the counter medicines for the kids I usually buy the Walmart brand where you get two bottles for less than one of the name brand. We have plenty of bandaids and the like. I also keep a bottle of alcohol and peroxide. I have witch hazel as well. Back in Georgia I kept it in the fridge. Here I don't. I don't know why. Perhaps too many hands going in and out of my fridge all of the time. If we had to I know we could do fine for a good while without feeling like we are doing without because I also have a deep freezer I keep stocked with premade meals, extra meats bought on sale, etc. If I needed to preserve things in my freezer I do have a supply of jars and a large pressure canner. I have a small supply of pickling lime, pickling salt, vinegar and whatnot on hand most of the time as well. For his big Christmas gift Steve's parents gave him a large generator. If we had to use it we could power our refrigerator and/or freezer for a while until we could eat what was stored in there. A few years ago Steve picked up one of those radios that you wind up and it generates its own electricity to run on for two or three hours at a time. We also tend to have extra batteries due to the kids having several items that require batteries. We have not set out to be prepared for a disaster. A disaster is the last thing on my mind. But I do think about it sometimes. You know, just in case. We seem to be pretty well set on the home front if we had to be. We also have a few spirits on hand. You know, the kind used for snake bites. (Hahaha!) How about you? Do you keep a standard stock of staples for your family? Do you keep a emergency supply in your pantry?

I did! What I had planned to do before my mother came at Christmas has been done in this past month. I painted the baseboards and the window frames in my kitchen. Finally! Sometimes I cook on the woodstove. Why waste electricity?
Look at those pretty white baseboards! Not only did I do the painting but I have managed to also complete one set of curtains for my windows. See the unpainted things that never got painted at Christmas?
Looky there! Curtains! These curtains are a project I have worried over for almost two years. Yes, two entire years. I flipped flopped on the curtain/no curtain issue many times not wanting to put up a curtain that would close in the room and block out the wonderful sunlight this room gets all day long. I purchased this fabric online a month or two after we moved into this house. It was always earmarked for curtains. Either in my kitchen or my bedroom. The kitchen won. It is a great toile print of a barnyard scene with an old red bard and rooster. Although I had ordered 10 yards of the fabric there was not enough for two windows of this size and the smaller window at the end of the kitchen. Nice. Because this print is out of stock. It is a two year old print that has long been gone. I have wanted in some way to have gingham in the kitchen but I didn't want to go overboard and look like a barn dance in here. So I thought about it alot. I looked through thousands of patterns for curtains and draperies. It wasn't until recently that I was inspired by a designer kitchen advertisement to make the curtains you now see. Not too much gingham. The perfect matching crimson. Nice fabric for draperies. The first set I made I lined them. The lining blocked out too much of the sunlight. I do not want this kitchen to be dim. I like it flooded in natural sunlight. So I ripped out the lining and remade the curtains without it. I like the look of the yellow walls, red accents and white trim in this room. The appliances are stainless steel with black trim. I have begun to add black and cast iron things to the room to flesh it out. The heavy black cast iron is a great contrast to the more feminine white ceramic pieces and china in the room. I never planned to paint those cabinets white. It was sort of a last chance to have a nice looking kitchen without the expense of new cabinets. These are just too good of shape to toss for the sake of cosmetic wants. I never planned to paint the walls yellow. I never had a color in mind but yellow just wasn't one of my choices. One day I saw a yellow cloth given as a gift in something when Steven was born. My brain said paint the kitchen that color. And so we did. Last July. The black granite of the countertops was simply what was available without a special order. The price was right. The white cabinets and black countertops deemed the black hardware the wiser choice. I chose them online based solely on price. I think they work. With the brick red floors I already had a lot of red accents. The rugs and towels, the wall plates, the roosters and painted sign. As things began to come together I realized the little sofa was red with yellow(ish) and black plaid stripes. It just works without any conscious effort on my part. Eveything is really beginning to come together after alot of hard work. I am really beginning to see and feel the room as a part of the house and not as an addition without much thought to the rest of the house. This has been a long time in coming. I started painting the cabinets (3 coats of primer 2 coats of paint) and continued on when Steven was just a newborn. I have progressed over the past year slowly. Very slow. My infant grew into a giggly baby and then into a busy toddler and now a non-stop very active little boy. Meaning it took me this long because instead of painting from the bottom up I painted from the top down. Little people under three feet tall do not listen to you when you tell them not to touch the wet paint on the baseboards. I suppose you already knew that. I should have. Speaking of which ... Steven, 14 months old His smile pretty much says it all.

1 load bleached whites 2 loads light colors 2 loads dark colors 1 load Steve's dress clothes(for work) 1 load Colby's scrub unifoms (for work) 1 load colored towels 1 load light pink towels 3 loads bedding 1 load kitchen towels and cloths 1 load Steven's clothes he has messed up through the day (not quite over the virus, wearing 1 reg diaper and 1 x-large diaper over that for overflow, working but not always) That is the laundry I have done. Washed. Dried. Folded. Hung. Ironed. Put away. Beds remade. I cannot image being a washer woman in the early 1900's. Thank heaven for Bosch appliances, a steam iron, clothes hangers and an assortment of laundry products*. Finally, the laundry is finished. The sad part is by the end of the week there will be more laundry to do. Thanks for all your good natured words. I think because I have been ill that my temperment is rather short this week and my irritability level is already pegged pretty high and the least little thing pushes me over the edge. *I am normally not a scented laundry person. In the summertime I much prefer the clean smell of sun dried laundry fresh off the line. My children prefer a scented laundry expecially in their sheets, towels and pj's. I have been using two flavors of the Tide Simple Pleasures. I like them depending on what I am washing. The Rose and Violet is the preference of the girls. I prefer the Vanilla and Lavendar. If you like girly scents try them. I do not find that they clean any better than any other laundry products. They simply scent the laundry. I use the detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets.

Guess What the weather is doing here? We even had snow flurries last night. Maybe Jack Frost will stay awhile. Finally! Guess Who got an academic award at school for her very good grades? She forgot to show it to us friday - :-/ Guess Who is walking now? Here we go! Young Frankenstein's Monster All of these have helped to lighten my mood just a bit. The fireplace is flickering. Steven is playing at my feet. Life is good.

I was going to tell you about my trip to Walton's Mountain. Instead I have to tell you about my chimney. I scheduled an appointment with a local chimney sweep for our annual cleaning of the chimneys so that we can safely heat and enjoy our winter evenings by the fireside. Wednesday the sweep was scheduled to be here at 4pm. He showed up at nearly 6:30pm. I plainly asked him if he could properly clean our chimney at night. He answered that it was no problem whatsoever. His assistant got out the ladders and brushes and climbed his way up 27 feet to the top of my chimney. The sweep, a retired fireman, came inside and set up his vacuum and dropclothes and other things he needed. The pair spent the better part of an hour brushing and vacumming. They cleaned up the mess, loaded the van and wrote out an invoice. I paid them $109 for about 45 minutes work. Not a bad hourly wage, huh? Saturday evening we laid a fire. Two things happened. One, the chimney would not draw. Two, the fire would smother out when we closed the stove door. What could be the problem?! The chimney sweep just cleaned the chimney so there couldn't be an obstruction. With smoke backing up into the house and with burning eyes we smothered the fire and gave up on it. Sunday morning, early before the sun came up, I set about to see if I could get a fire built. I opened a window just in case there was a negative draw in the chimney. Once the fire started it would burn clean and bright as long as the door was open. Close the door and it smothered out and set about smoking. We checked outside and smoke was rising from the chimney. Exasperated I closed up the fireplace and let it smother out. I planned to call the chimney sweep, you know the ex-fireman, and have him come out here and show me how to start a damn fire because for the first time in my life I can't start a damn fire! Grrrr! We heard a sudden wooomfff from the fireplace and thought well, that had to be the change in draw. Sure enough the smoke was now rising at it should up the chimney and not back into my livingroom. Defeated and pissed off I closed it back up and gave up on it until this week when I could clean it out and call the manufacturer to find out what they had to say about their noncatalytic combustion and lifetime warranty. Steve went outside to check his work on the roof. I went to the kitchen and began making the kids a late lunch. About 20 minutes later Steve came in and says, "What did you do? Smoke is pouring out of the chimney. Is the fireplace overburning?" I looked him and told him to open it up but first open the windows in case smoke started backing up. Holy Smokes!! He opens the stove door and up in the very top where the chimney pipe is was a blazing fire. We had a chimney fire in a chimney that was supposed to be clean as a whistle. A chimney fire has a roar to it that sounds like a train traveling down the tracks at a fast speed. I have heard many things describe as a sound of a train, including a chimeny fire, but this is the first time I have expereinced it and I can say that indeed it does sound like a train. Steve began raking out the burning coals. I got on the phone and called the chimney sweep and had to leave a message that I had an emergency. The sweep called me back immediately. I told him Steven was raking buckets of burning material out of the stove that was falling from the chimney. He seemed to not believe me. He promised he would have someone come out here and check the chimney about this week. Tuesday was as early as he could fit me in. I was angry but held my tongue and explained I paid him for a clean chimney and did not get a clean chimney and I want what I paid for. He agreed and was apologetic to the max. Steven kept sweeping out burning bits and pieces and eventually the fire up the stove pipe was out. We closed the fireplace and let everything die out. The chimney will be cleaned again tomorrow but I imagine after the burn it is clean as a whistle now. Again today I will clean out the firebox, vaccuum the brick liners and clean the smoked door and windows. Maybe tomorrow we will manage a warming fire in our fireplace to put all of this behind us. We are fortunate that we did not sustain any damage. We had our chimney lined last year with a stainless steel liner and the stove vent pipe. The fire did not cause any harm. I urge you that if you have a fireplace and use it at any time have it cleaned and inspected every year by a licensed chimney sweep IN THE DAYTIME when they can look down it and see the inside more clearly. A chimney fire in a normally constructed chimney can burn your house down. Don't wait. Call a sweep today and take care of your chimney. Give your family a safe warm winter. I am still a bit nervous about it all. And my house still smells of lingering wood smoke.

Yesterday was a busy day. Gracie saw the doctor and did some pulmonary testing. At this point in time she does not have asthma. The tests show her lungs and lung capacity to be well above normal. She is extremely healthy. Should she have another episode like she had last month in Georgia when we ended up in the hospital the doctor will begin testing her for allergies. Steven had his well baby check-up, too. He is 28 3/4 inches tall. He weighs 21 lbs 9 oz. The doctor was very impressed with his growth and developement. She says, "I what can I tell you? He is a perfect baby. He can't get much better than he already is." This we already knew. :-) I took Gracie to school, filled out all of the forms and left an emergency inhaler with school nurse. Just in case. Since it was a cool rainy morning it felt like a perfect day for chicken and dumplings. I add a few peas and carrots for color. After making the dumplings I baked it in a pie just like my kids love. The flakey crust on top is the best part. Brush with a little beaten egg for a beautiful crust. Colby had to leave for school and I served her up a helping with extra crust before I remembered to take a photo of the dumpling pie when it came out of the oven. Mmmmm ... delicious buttery crust. Then I baked pumpkin pie. Steve had requested it. Served with whipped cream and a touch of grated nutmeg. Because I like to please everyone I also baked a carrot cake. Yummy cream cheese frosting! They were all good! Tonight - leftovers. **Update The recipe for the chicken and dumplings can be found on my recipe journal.