domestic-life
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The Barnyard
I’m on vacation this week, so I thought you might enjoy a visit with Rose’s barnyard companions. Feeding and watering of these critters would be solely her responsibility. And, truth is, she’s a bit more attached to them than a farm wife ought to be.
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Give me rhubarb…
I have a thing about rhubarb pie. It’s deep-seeded, to be sure, since I haven’t had a bite of that particular pastry since I was a child. My paternal grandmother made them. She died when I was ten. [1] So when the LitForum‘s Writer’s Exercise [2] for March was to “write a scene in which…
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How does your garden grow?
I’ve never been a gardener. In fact, I usually tell folks that “I don’t kill plants; I just make ’em wish they were dead.” So, it’s fitting that, as I plan what flowers I’ll be planting this spring, I’m thinking about Rose, who also wasn’t much of a gardener.
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Writers’ Games
Sometimes, when words are hard to find, my writing group plays a little game. We spin for prompts, which are just words or phrases that have been plucked from various sources and added to a numbered list, and then see what we can write that includes one or all of the prompts. Occasionally, the resulting…
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Hot & Sticky
Why is it that the A/C has to wait until mid-July to conk out? Couldn’t it have done this in April??? It’s been a long time since I’ve tried to sleep without air conditioning. But, as I notice the little runnels of sweat forming on the back of my neck, I can commiserate with Rose.…
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The Dirty Work of Illumination
We take lighting for granted. The sun goes down; we flip a switch. Instant illumination. Sure, sometimes the power goes off and we have to “rough it.” Candles or hurricane lamps for a few hours, a couple of days, sometimes longer if you live on the Gulf Coast and it’s hurricane season (there’s a reason…
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A Quiz
You probably didn’t realize it was Pop Quiz day. Or thought that you had outgrown that particular form of hell when you graduated from high school. Mwhahahaha! Turns out, life is a daily Pop Quiz, of one sort or another. (But this particular quiz won’t be painful, I promise.)
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A Shriek of Radio Static
It’s ironic that I just posted about radios because Rose is having a radio moment of her own. There’s a certain amount of chemistry between her and Charlie, and she’s having a devil of a time fighting it…
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The internet of the 30s
As you read this, I am without cell signal and internet, deep in the remotest reaches of the world, otherwise known as East Texas. So, I’ve been thinking a bit about what folk’s in Rose’s time did to unwind after a hard day in the fields or doing laundry.
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Washing Day
This morning I started a load of laundry, then came upstairs to work on this blog post. In a minute, I’ll go downstairs, move the load to the dryer, then enjoy thirty minutes of reading while I wait for the clothes to dry. Another fifteen minutes to fold and Voila! Laundry Complete. Can I…