My Unexpected Adventures

Yesterday, January 25, 2025, turned out to be a very nice day. I love it when things just happen and work out. Long range plans are not for me. I think about it too often because I don't want to forget. I have to plan when to leave and should I eat first? What should I wear in case I get too warm or too cold. That's what happens when you are an over thinker like me. Some people love to have a planned schedule, but I like to wing it within reason. That doesn't mean I like chaotic situations or disorganization, I just like plans not too far in advance. I might get a better offer and then I am stuck with something I agreed to six months ago. 

Last Thursday my grandson Jack had a swim meet more than an hour away. His parents were both going, and I hadn't planned on it. A few minutes before they were going to leave, my son-in-law had an emergency to tend to. My daughter decided to drive alone. She called to tell me and I said I could go, all I needed was twenty minutes to get to a meeting spot 12 miles away. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and put on my coat. In twenty minutes we had met and were on our way. I think I forgot to comb my hair, but I didn't care. I did overdress because pools are HOT and I didn't have time to consider that, but I stripped off a few layers and all was great. My daughter didn't have to drive home in the cold and dark alone which made me happy.

Since winters are quite long for me, I was also happy when two days later, my other daughter called. She wondered if I wanted to go to Green Bay. My youngest grandson had one of his paintings being displayed at the Neville Public Museum. It is Youth Art Month which is sponsored by the Council for Art Education. It features creative works from students in grades K through 12. Sixteen school districts in Northeast Wisconsin were represented at this location. It shows the value of art education for all kids and supports programs in Wisconsin schools. 

After having coffee and a sweet treat at a little coffee shop, we headed to the museum. First we went in to see Ewan's picture displayed and some other very good art presented there. It's is amazing the talent all children have. It just needs to be nudged out at times and nurtured. Of course Ewan lives and breaths fishing so a painting of a trout was the logical subject matter. For those of you who followed his Youtube channel called Old Time Skills when he was much younger, you can now see him tie flies for fly fishing. His Youtube channel is now called Old Time Skills Outdoors. You won't recognize him or his voice. He's 14 now and really good at it.

They have a lot of fun displays at the Neville Museum in Green Bay Wisconsin. We saw a replica of Lambeau Field constructed out of Legos, and we saw how chocolates were made. Ewan practiced being a weather man on a green screen and discovered it is much harder than it looks. Upstairs they had some of the old displays from the local Prange stores. Those stores were part of both my daughters' childhood. There were a lot of animal displays and old time vehicles. There was a cross section of a beaver lodge. It reminded me of the times I have watched beaver in my marsh. This is a blog I wrote about it in 2013. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2013/07/the-beaver-are-back.html As we were looking at the displays, we saw a bunch of people gathering at a big window. We laughed thinking these people were at a museum and all they were doing was looking out the window at the river. Then we discovered why. Apparently a man was trying to cross the ice on the river either to get to the other side or to run from something. A moving river isn't the safest right now and he slipped, slided and fell down several times. We joined the gawkers and were sure he was going to go through the ice. He made it and on the other side he was greeted by police and firefighters. They brought a ladder for him to crawl out and took him away. We haven't seen any details of this event, but you never know what you will see.

From the museum we went to a few stores my family needed to go to. I was fine walking around clutching my purse and looking like I was lost. I didn't buy anything, but it was exercise.

Our next stop was the Verizon store. I had needed a new phone but had avoided getting one. It is always such a pain to set it up and learn all the new features. I always put it off as long as I can. Since my grandson and son-in-law also needed new phones, we did it together. I got an iphone 16 and added a new iwatch as long as we were there. Hopefully these two pieces of technology will last me for as long as I need them. The phone is actually awesome and it has a longer zoom than my "good" camera. Many of you have seen so many pictures of the church across the river from my deck. I took this from the window. It looks much much closer than it is and pretty clear too. The iwatch has a crash feature besides getting messages, phone calls and Facetime. If I fall and can't call for help, the watch will call 911 for me and give coordinates. Living by myself, it seemed like a good idea. It takes EKG's which I was afraid to do, but I had a normal rhythm. It tracks sleep as far as awake time, REM, core and deep sleep. You can listen to music and a multitude of other things. I would never have thought growing up a million years ago that any of this is possible. Necessary, maybe not but pretty amazing.

We finally ended the adventure with a meal at a new place I had never heard of. I don't eat out much. It was called Freddies. It is a hamburger and ice cream joint with tiny little fries. It was good. 

Next we headed home. The next few hours weren't the best but we got through it. The person at Verizon said it was easy to transfer all our information from the old phones to the new phones. That was not the case. Because the phones were older or some other reason I am not capable to understand, the numbers didn't transfer. My daughter handled all of it so I can't give any details but eventually she spoke to a real person and got it figured out. It was such a relief.

I left my house at 10:00am and got home at 10:00pm. It was a great diversion. I try to be really independent but sometimes you just need your family.

Making Butter (again)

It is going to be a cold weekend. Bitter cold temperatures will start tomorrow, January 19, 2025 and continue until Wednesday. A lot of other things will happen in this time period too, but I will not mention or focus on that. If you read this in 2035, then Google (or whatever means of researching is happening in ten years) about a situation we are having now. You will probably just be able to think it, and the Wikipedia chip in your brain will know the answer but I digress.

Today I thought I would clean out the refrigerator and start fresh. I had soup that was past its prime and other things to sort through. I came across an unopened container of heavy cream. During the holidays I was going to make whipped cream for something and didn't. The container was not past the expiration date, but I sure didn't need a bunch of whipped cream. I could have eaten it from a bowl but knew it wasn't a smart idea. I decided to make it into butter rather than toss it in the trash.

I had blogged about making butter several years ago. Here is the link. https://www.thecabincountess.com/2016/11/make-your-own-butter.html I had purchased a little butter churn at the time. A lot of you know my youngest grandchild Ewan. He likes to experiment with making random things just like me, so I gave the churn to him a few years ago. Today I used my Kitchen Aid mixer. Not the authentic way to make butter, but today was about getting the job done and not acting like a pioneer. 

All it takes is pouring the cream into the mixing bowl, turning it on and letting it mix until you get butter. You drain off the buttermilk to use in something else. I think I will make bread. Next rinse the butter under cool water until it runs clear and add some salt which makes it taste better and preserves it some.

 I have a Butter Bell crock. It is a small crock where the butter is put in the top section and a small amount of water is put in the bottom. The top part with the butter packed inside is the lid. This keeps the butter fresh and makes it easy to spread. I put half of this batch into the bell and refrigerated the other half. I mentioned in the previous blog that 1 pint of cream makes one stick of butter (4 ounces). I got a little more this time. I got almost seven ounces. It still isn't very economical, but in this case I would have thrown it away. Now I have almost one half pound of butter to use up. I am a bit of a cheap skate so it works for me.

Now I have a clean refrigerator and I am ready to hunker down and ride out this weather. I have a lot of firewood so I might even make a fire in the fireplace. Right now it looks beautiful outside. I know it's only temporary, but the way time flies at my age the cold snap will be over before I even notice.

Thirty One Days in January Seems Like a Hundred Days

My last post was a little serious and an attempt at being a positive person with a good attitude. I really am most of the time, but I have failed miserably this past week. Even the smallest decisions seem daunting. I play four New York Times games in the morning as part of my routine. I play Wordle, Connections, Strands and Mini Crossword and Nerdle at night. I normally dislike games but somehow this is just a challenge against myself, and it's so good for my brain. Even that has been a little hard to focus on. January has never been my friend and extra vitamin D or a mood light isn't going to help that. It's cold and even though it's getting better, it's still dark at 5pm. I have tons of television channels but nothing to watch. Who wants to see murders and mayhem all night long? Living alone and making all the decisions gets overwhelming at times. After almost four years, I am still not completely used to it. At first I would wake up in the night and rush out of bed because I was sure I forgot to do something important. That doesn't happen anymore, but I still am afraid I am missing something. I never had to worry about home and car maintenance or snow removal or where the shut off valve is for the water. Tax season is coming up again and all that it entails. Tax preparers can only work with the information they are given. What if I forget an important deduction or don't even know about it in the first place? I can't get out and walk like I want to because of the weather. People say take your phone in the woods with you in case you fall or need help. If I am knocked out, my phone won't help much. So now I have to look into upgrading my smart watch to be even smarter. It has to know when I am knocked out and then tell my phone to send help. I had to replace my dishwasher and microwave the day after Christmas. Thanks to my son in law, that was easy. People in general are stressed about the state of the world, their health and healthcare and relationships making them just plain rude and self absorbed. They pay no attention to an old lady until you are parked at the side of the road looking for a special bird or animal to photograph. Then someone will pull up to make sure everything is alright. Nice, but scary at the same time. I don't park and watch anymore. I keep moving. Not everyone is rude, but a fair number would rather run you over than stop. I'm sorry this sounds terrible and pathetic. Good grief just writing all this down, it's no wonder my attitude stinks. That has to stop.

So what do I do when I get in a funk. I write ridiculous blogs, I knit or crochet unwanted items and cook food. Today I made a kettle of chicken soup. I bought a big pack of chicken legs because five pounds cost only $2 more than a little two pound package. With the extra chicken legs, I made this recipe. I am not sure I ever made chicken legs like this before. I always buy chicken breasts for meals and thighs or legs for soup but I guess you can teach an old dog a new trick or two. They were really good. I made rice to eat with them, and I will freeze most of them to eat later.

Sticky Chicken Drumsticks

Mix the marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup honey

2 T. ketchup

1 T. apple cider or rice vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t. fresh ginger or 1/8 t. of dried ginger

1 T. sesame or vegetable oil

Pour this mixture over two pounds of chicken legs (about 8-10). I put the chicken in a ziplock bag and poured in the marinade. Then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.

When ready remove the drumsticks and put on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. 

After 25 minutes, turn the drumsticks over and put a little marinade on each one.

Bake another 20 minutes until they are golden brown.

The third thing I made was a Mug cake. It was really large and I tried to save half of it for later. It didn't work. I kept at it until the whole thing was gone. If I keep that up, I will really need to double up my walks into the woods. I did flip it out of the mug so it is easier to cut in half. No guarantees that will make a difference on how it is consumed.

 Chocolate Mug Cake

1/4 cup self rising flour*

*I make my own with 1 cup of all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 t. baking powder and 1/2 t. I keep it in a jar for when I need some.

1/4 cup sugar (or Splenda will work)

1/4 baking powder

1/8 t. salt 

4 1/2 T. milk (I used Oat milk)

1 T. oil

3 T. water

1/4 t. vanilla 

2 t. mini chocolate chips

Mix all the dry ingredients in a microwave safe mug.

Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Put a teaspoon of chocolate chips on top and microwave on High for 2 minutes. Take out and let it rest for a minute. Top with the rest of the chocolate chips. It is a little like Lava Cake with the melted chocolate chips.

Seriously writing down the reasons for my bad mood did help. That and a good night sleep usually does the trick. Mama said there would be days like this. It's kind of like living in Wisconsin. We can't appreciate all the good days if we didn't have a few bad ones. Many would say I don't know what trouble is, and I really don't. Imagine losing everything in a fire or tornado or being abused on a daily basis. Everyone has their trials and tribulations. It doesn't matter where we have been. What matters is where we are going. I just have to get out of my head and house once in a while and eating chocolate cake doesn't hurt.

My next blog will be more fun, I promise.

Happy New Year 2025

Every now and then I get on a serious kick. It is usually in the winter when I have too much time to think. I was thinking today about how to cope with getting older. First of all, there is no turning back and those of us who have made it this far (for me 77 years) should be grateful. I really don't want to be young again because even though I thought I was smart, I was dumb. I still like knowing and learning a lot of things. I tell my grandchildren "I know a lot more things than you think". Where is that line? How can a person act young and age appropriate at the same time. We can't dwell on what we can't do or how we look. I am constantly thinking I acted or said something ridiculous. Then I think, who cares. If I embarrass myself, we can all laugh about it. It's a challenge for sure. 

Today I took my usual walk in the woods. I only walk a half a mile over bumpy terrain. A few years ago I would have kept increasing my time and distance until I hurt myself and had to stop for a few days to recover. Now I know better. It was really cold out today and as I put on my "new" warm  red coat, I realized it was at least six years old and maybe ten. My "new" kitchen is thirteen years old. My little grandchildren are adults or getting pretty darn close. Time waits for no one.

There is no conclusion to this blog or these thoughts except I shouldn't be jealous when others are out and about doing things I would like. If I really wanted to, I could make it happen. Just don't wait too long. Time isn't really on our side, but we are all on our own journey. Some things are out of our control but mostly we control our own destiny. I can still walk, I can still talk (although almost everyone texts), I can eat, I can drink and I can think my own thoughts right or wrong. I can't sing but I try, and I dance with myself in the kitchen. For me life is pretty darn good after all.

I hope everyone has a great 2025 and all our hopes and dreams come true and our fears never happen.

A Christmas Cookie Tradition

This blog post is going to be very short, but I want to document it for my book. As I wrote in 2018 https://www.thecabincountess.com/2018/12/traditions.html my daughter loves traditions. She is a very busy person with a demanding job, but she always makes time for certain traditions. Making Christmas cookies with me is one of them. This year it was three days before Christmas but we managed. It is actually a good thing because if we make them too early, the favorites get eaten and the others get stale. 

The exciting part is that Dylan, who is a man now, actually asked if we were going to do it this year. In 2018 it was only my daughter, Ewan and myself. Gradually over the next few years, a few would show up but not with the enthusiasm they had this year. They all came in Christmas sweaters and put on Christmas music. Dylan brought his girlfriend, there was Melissa. Jack and Ewan plus Heather of course. The only grandchild missing was Sam. He arrived home from college late last night and was exhausted. My other daughter was busy or they would have also come. 

The first thing we did was eat lunch. I made a big pot of vegetable beef and barley soup and Heather brought subs.

After lunch it was time to buckle down. I had made all the cookie dough in advance but it still took a long time. I made gingerbread people just because it's "tradition" and they like decorating them. They get pretty silly and I love to hear them laugh even if the final product looks like an elementary school project. They filled piping bags and went to town. No one likes or eats these cookies, but they are fun and very messy.

Next it was time to unwrap the Rolo and Peanut Butter cups to use in a couple recipes. It is a pain so I love having all the extra hands.

Then the baking began. It's amazing how helpful older children can be. Dylan's girlfriend did the dishes as we dirtied them, The others helped with certain tasks. 

The kids love to play games so a gathering isn't complete without a game of some sort. Sometimes I wonder how they can be related to me. I don't like games, I never have. At every family gathering they play something. Today it was a game called Ticket to Ride.

 Melissa on the other hand, decided to take a nap. 

It was a perfect day. Everyone was happy and excited. A double blessing, I will see them again on Christmas Day. The snowplows had blocked my driveway and mailbox. I was tired from shoveling and kind of overwhelmed with random stuff plus the thoughts of a long winter. I appreciate everyone who got me back on track. 

Merry Christmas To All

Tallow is Not For The Birds Anymore

I am such a "with it" old gal that I like to follow all the latest trends on social media. That's a lie. I am not "with it".  I know this every time I listen to my grandchildrens conversations. I don't understand much of what they talk about. I have to make my own fun by inventing, creating and generally make messes I have to clean up. My latest is a work in progress. 

I watched videos and posts recently about making lotions, face cream, soap and candles from tallow. Tallow is made by rendering the impurities out of beef suet. I have done it many times. It is how I make my outdoor birds food for the winter. I usually melt the suet and stir in a variety of seeds. Then I pour it into a form and wait for it to harden. This is what beef suet looks like before rendering.

That was my intent this time until I stumbled upon other uses for tallow. Making suet into other products is new to me, but I wanted to try. I bought an extra large package of beef suet. There was enough for the birds and for my experiments. I cut it into small pieces because it melts much faster that way. The first time I tried it years ago, I put the whole chunk into the slow cooker. Two days later it was still melting and the house was quite smelly. Imagine having a rendering factory in your kitchen. However, learning the hard way is a good way to learn. I didn't make that mistake again.

A few days ago I did cook some of the suet in a slow cooker for twelve hours. I stirred it now and then but it was an easy process. At the end of that time the suet was melted and the "cracklings" were floating on top. Cracklings are the browned bits left over in the rendering process. All suet has a little meat and debris inside. Rendering cooks out all of that leaving pure fat. For bird food I don't remove them. The birds love pecking at the bits. For lotion or soap the tallow has to be purified. It requires a few extra steps. 

For that I melted the rest of the suet. Apparently grass fed organic suet is the best, but sometimes it's hard to find. I think if it's a choice of not having the exact ingredient or having nothing, I will take the substitute. The slow cooker works great for this but I have found an even easier method. I cooked it in the instant pot. Instead of 12 hours, it only takes 3-4 hours. When finished the cracklings and little bits are strained out. The oil is then cooled in the refrigerator. When it has hardened, it can be broken up and melted again. Then it is strained again either through a coffee filter or a fine mesh sieve. Again it is cooled, melted and strained. This has to be done 4 or 5 times until there is no moisture left in the pan or on the piece of tallow. The piece is white and hardened. It sounds like a lot of work but each process is mostly waiting for the next step.

Finally the piece is ready to be melted for the final time and put into a large bowl mixed with jojoba oil, olive oil or another oil plus essential oils. This product is supposed to smell neutral but I think it still smells a little "beefy".  The essential oil helps but I still have to figure that out. The smell is less with every melting so I just have to determine how many times to do it. After the fat has cooled for about an hour, it is time to whip with a mixer until it looks like frosting. The added oil makes it soft enough to apply at room temperature. If you put it in a clean jar, the shelf life is a year or more.

Now for the experiment. I am not a person to use many cosmetics or make up but old age does dry out the skin. I am going to try this. If you see me and I look many years younger, it's working. If not, oh well.  Apparently tallow skin care products have a lot of good properties. It is a healthy fat. Think about it, we are animals and most of us have fat so this just provides moisturizing with a product natural to us. It isn't like putting foreign chemicals on our skin. It's simple biology. It has a lot of nutrients like vitamin A, B12, D, E and K. It has omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, it is anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial. How can I go wrong? I will only use it at night in case I smell a little like a burger. I don't have a husband to offend and I don't have a dog, so I don't worry about having my face chewed off.  It's all good.

Life is a Double Edged Sword

My life at this older age is a double edged sword. I experienced both yesterday. When you get to my age and situation, you can do whatever you want when you want as long as you are physically and mentally able. I don't run marathons or climb mountains even though I would like to. I do have some brain cells left. I ask my daughters regularly if I have many "dings" in my incompetence file. So far, so good. That is the positive edge. On the other hand things happen where you may need to find the help, advice and expertise of others even if it feels embarrassing and makes you feel not very smart. That's the negative edge.

When I got up yesterday morning, it was exactly the same as the day before. I padded out to the kitchen and made coffee, I made the bed and gathered up some laundry to wash, then I got ready for the day. I put a load in the washer and went to brush my teeth. Thank goodness I hadn't gotten into the shower yet because I had no water. After a moment of panic, I got a grip. I went down to the breaker box to make sure I hadn't somehow tripped a breaker. Then I turned off my washer which was beeping and flashing with red lights. There was no water on the floor which had happened a couple months ago. My next step was to call a plumber. Fortunately I have a really good one who actually answers his phone. He told me he would come over in a couple hours. Maybe it pays to be a gray haired damsel in distress. Since I overthink everything in my life, I had already thought my yard would have to be dug up and the septic replaced or my well pump would need replacing. I usually don't start with the worse case scenario, but I did this time. As it turned out the problem was solved quickly. It was a problem with the pressure tank. I handled it fine but it would have been nice to troubleshoot the problem before going into panic mode.

That was the negative edge of the sword. The other edge is doing whatever I feel like. I have been known to go to Kwik Trip at closing time for ice cream. Last night I was thinking about the Cranberry-Apple pie I made for Thanksgiving. I didn't like how stiff it was so at 9:00 pm I decided to make a pie. I had made chunky applesauce earlier in the day and had that cooling in the refrigerator. I had some leftover cranberry sauce (both jellied and whole berry) and two pre-made pie crusts. The Thanksgiving pie I made used the apple pie filling recipe I posted in a previous blog https://www.thecabincountess.com/2024/11/apple-pie-bread.html mixed with homemade cranberry sauce. It tasted good, but I didn't like the texture. The year before I just used un-thickened chunky applesauce mixed with cranberry sauce. It was much better. By 9:30 pm the pie was in the oven and by 11:00 pm I was eating a slice because I wanted to. It was pretty darn good so I ate a slice for breakfast too. Carbs at bedtime help with my sleep or so I try to convince myself. It's either contentment or a blood sugar thing. Whatever it is, it works.

While the pie was baking I mixed up some dough to make crusty bread. I left the dough to rise overnight, and I baked it in the morning. 

I won't be going out for a Wisconsin fish fry on this cold Friday night. I have chili, crusty bread and pie. 

After writing this I realize everyone's life is a double edged sword. We all have good and we all have bad. How we balance it all is the key.  We can rely on others and still take care of ourselves.