SimplyLife

My uncle Cecil was my favorite childhood storyteller. I sat mesmerized listening to his adventures of growing up on a farm and the funny scrapes he got himself into.  One of his best tales happened at school, a one room schoolhouse just outside the Village of Castile.  It seems that he was in charge of getting the wood fire going in the morning, so he had to arrive extra early to accomplish the task. One cold winter morning, he loaded the old stove with wood and soon had the usual hot fire going. However, a delinquent type student arrived there well ahead of him one morning and  liberally smeared Limburger cheese inside the stove. As the heat increased so did the smell. The teacher was not happy and immediately punished my poor uncle. I believe school was dismissed for the day until the stove could be cleaned. Uncle Cecil also lost his early morning job, but I don't think it bothered him a whole lot. The culprit wasn't apprehended, so it remains a mystery to thi...

The West has captured our hearts, but there are a handful of events, foods, etc. from New York that make us a little homesick. This time of year it's certainly not the cold and snow, but the maple syrup. Although real syrup is available in the grocery store, it's made in Northwest and not the Northeast. No, I'm not talking about the row of corn syrup products on the shelf, but bona fide maple syrup. If you were a kid back in the 60s or earlier  the sight of tin roof covered buckets on sugar maples was a common sight during February in Western New York. I remember a local family who borrowed trees to collect the thin, clear sap that would eventually turn into sweet amber syrup.  A big farm wagon and tractor would pull up to the neighborhood (a rural dairy farming neighborhood) loaded with buckets and taps or spiles.  A mallet quickly drove the metal spile into the tree and bucket would then be hung to collect a steady drip of maple sap. Big maples usuall...

Today we received a package in the mail from our grandsons.  As you might guess, it was filled with special drawings, just for Grandpa and Grandma. There were also photos from their latest adventure at Busch Gardens. Obviously they'll go on the refrigerator to be proudly displayed for quite sometime. We're always happy to receive these special packages of drawings or get them hot off the press when we visit.  They warm a grandparent's heart. The crayon drawings are also reminders of years past, when their mom and aunt provided a steady stream for the refrigerator gallery. Back then, I wondered how I would be able to get them all on the door. Teachers must plot to overload parents with all sorts of assignments that require display at home and not at school. Of course, each one is quite special and better than their sister's, thus it demands the center of the refrigerator door.Whether a drawing or a spelling test with a perfect score, it has to be on the appliance ...

A familar sight around town is a homeless man who pushes an overloaded grocery cart.  He's got problems with mental illness and his family has given up on him. The man has refused to stay on medication that will help him and he prefers to live on the streets.  Over time the contents of the grocery cart he pushes have grown.  I'm not sure what's in it, but he's decorated it with colorful flags and tattered bits tied to wooden poles. The cart is never far away from him. Pushing it requires all his might, but he perseveres. As I watched him struggle with the cart the other day on the sidewalk, he was bent completely over pushing the cart holding all his worldly possessions. It seems the whole focus of his world is the cart with the stuff. We may feel sorry for the man and how sad his life must be, but aren't we the same?  We carry the burdens of seeking wealth and success. Or we may carry tremendous loads of guilt over past sins. There are burdens of self-right...

Last week, I bought one of those mini greenhouses that you start seedlings in. It's always exciting to push  seeds into the tiny peat pots and dream about the harvest to come. I haven't always had the greatest luck and with these setups, usually because I lose interest and become negligent over time. What kind of gardener is that? Answer: a lazy one. So I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, if you'll pardon the pun and really pay attention to those little tomatoes that have peeked their heads out of the soil. I do have such high hopes for fried green tomatoes, BLT's, salads, salsa, and fat slices drizzled with balsamic vinegar, topped with fresh mozzarella.   The planting schedule for them will be early April. That seems a long ways off, but not really. What kind of seeds are you starting now? It might be too early for your area, so you might be dreaming about the ideal garden as you thumb through the gardening catalogues. Count the cost of the kind of...

The idea of getting a smartphone has been under consideration for a couple of weeks. Everybody has one, why shouldn't I?  I could fit right in with everyone in the restaurant who's texting, checking in on Face Book, and in general ignoring their dining partner.  The phone I haul around is at least five years old. There's nothing wrong with it. I can receive calls, call others, and sometimes even receive or send a text or two.  It fits nicely in my purse or the pocket of my jeans. The cellphone company wants to "give" me a new smartphone. Why they're shiny, have Internet access, and most importantly apps.  I can check my bank account, read a book, listen to music, play games, and so much more.  Since they're sleek and shiny, off I went to the cellphone store to see what an upgrade would entail.  The customer service person tried not to laugh at my old phone without any apps. She was kind and explained how wonderful the smartphone is. Enticed, I wander...

This week I received a four page handwritten letter from a longtime friend (Thanks MKR). She shared the traveling adventures she and her husband enjoyed last summer.  As always, it was full of great descriptions and humorous insights to their road trip. It was a welcome break from the endless stream of junk mail and bills. I've received a few handwritten letters over the past year and each one is a delight to receive. Who takes time to write a letter anymore?  We dash off an email, a text from our phone, and call that good enough.  A letter takes time, effort and a stamped envelope. Our handwriting has to be legible. Then comes a trip to the post office.  No wonder we are reluctant to actually pen a missive. There's nothing like some fine paper and a good pen to write down a cheery, newsy note to a friend or relative. It's probably a lost art, but one we should consider reviving.  When I was in high school, I had a pen pal in Japan and we corresponded regula...

There's nothing like ribs cooked low and slow in the smoker or stew simmering in the crockpot.  Can you smell those rich, BBQ ribs or that beefy stew?  Some things just take time and they're well worth the wait.  Our culture doesn't promote waiting of any sort--enter the very medium I use everyday (Internet). Shopping, finding information on everything from diseases to clothes, and so much more. The spinning circle indicating that something is slow in downloading--not good. Waiting is not popular --I'm usually not a fan. But I've gained some wisdom over the years, and find that waiting or patience is necessary for much of life. So you can either continue to be frustrated that life isn't instanteous or accept that the line you choose at the grocery store will be the absolute slowest. After printing off the Bible reading schedule that will get me through the Bible within 12 months, I decided to go low and slow.  What's the hurry?  Why not g...

The temperatures plunged into the teens this weekend and the highs during the day didn't get out of the upper 30s. That's pretty unusual for our area, even though cold weather is not. Although the Farmer's Almanac and the local weather people said we'd have a mild, wet winter, it just hasn't happened. We'll see how our little winter garden fares after a few days sub-freezing weather. The winter garden is our experiment, which so far has proved itself quite successful. Since our winters are oh so mild as compared to Western New York we decided to put the raised bed garden to use despite the cold weather.  Choosing the more cold hardy of vegetables, we planted lettuces, beets, chard, and carrots back in October.  We've been enjoying greens and lettuce since late November. We're still waiting for the carrots since they require more time.  There's nothing like fresh picked lettuce for salads or sweet beet greens with all those wonderful antioxidants. I...

Who doesn't remember Looney Tunes adversaries, Wiley E. Coyote and the Roadrunner? The poor coyote wasn't nearly as clever as the nonchalant bird, who blithely stuck out his tongue and kept on running. Both of these critters are common sights around Casa Wallace.  The neighborhood roadrunner visited the property today, prompting this text sketch of this bold and sometimes ruthless bird. The roadrunner is a member of the cuckoo family and has a clacking sort of call. They're good sized - around 22 inches from beak to tail. It's streaked in brown, black, and white--perfectly camouflaged to perform acts of violence against smaller critters. They're not particularly picky about their cuisine and will feast on bugs, small mammals, reptiles, and cactus fruits. It's true they're great runners--up to 20 mph, and really prefer not to fly. It's unusual to see them in the air unless they're escaping the grill of a motor vehicle or a predator like the ...

It seems like everyone has a top ten list for just about anything this time of year.  The best, the worst, the most popular, unpopular, obscure, and whatever you can think of.  So...in keeping with popular culture for this week only, SimplyLife offers its own top ten list for 2012.  Here are the most read and commented on posts at SimplyLife for 2012: 10.  A tie between A Taste of Bisbee and The Arts and Crafts Show -Western Style . 9.    Tuesdays at Care Net . 8.    Unleashed Living 7.    Oh Look!There's Another Nest! 6.    Book Giveaway 5.    The Family Fruitcake 4.    Smores Anyone? 3.    The Dress 2.    Wild Blue Yonder And now for Number One....drum roll....clearing of throat, and opening of envelope. 1.  Under the Circumstances or Above Them Got some time for reading?  Check out some posts from the top ten...

"Who gets the doorstop this year?" my husband grumbled. "It's Sheila's turn," I replied. "I'll get it in the mail to her tomorrow." I sighed looking at the red tin with embossed holly leaves that held the seven-year-old fruitcake. The fruitcake was a family joke. It was ceremoniously passed from my father to my brother Doug, to me, and then to my sister Sheila.  She'd get to send it back to the homestead next year.  The giver of the sticky mess of  unidentified chopped fruit welded into the circular tin was my father's Aunt Edith.  Edith Birnbaum had been a woman who delighted in giving her family gifts with varying degrees of uselessness. One year we'd all received subscriptions to Psychology Today, which may have been her way of telling us we were all in need of therapy. Then there was the year she splurged on donating $1,000 in our honor to Mensa. The card read "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." The best year ...

There's nothing like a Christmas concert to get you in the Christmas spirit. Last night was no exception when we attended the Sierra Vista Community Chorus concert.  Carols, Christmas songs, ballerinas, hammered dulcimer, handchimes, and the bones made it a special evening. This particular chorus has a wide demographic, ranging in age from 15 to 91. The chorus mostly leans toward the upper end of the age spectrum. Sharon Keene, a retired high school choral teacher from Illinois led the 80 plus voices. They gave us a wonderful evening of music all well seasoned with humor. Ensembles gave us plenty of laughs with songs about that awful gift of fruitcake, wishing for a hippopotamus for Christmas, and seeing Mommy kiss Santa Claus.   Jonny Bones - photo SV Herald  A special appearance by Jonny Bones, who is a well known street performer in Tombstone joined in on the Brazilian Christmas Carol and Boogie Woogie Santa, playing...well you...

Prickly Disposition Excerpt from Gardens of the Heart Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 NLT   And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? James 3:10,11 NLT     T here are many varieties of cactus, and the blooms are gorgeous.   There’s even a cactus that blooms for one night and then it’s over. Called the Night Blooming Cereus or Queen of the Night, it produces a spectacular white star-like flower.    The Claret Cup is another showy variety with deep red cup-like blooms.   Despite their beauty, as everyone knows, there’s a very specific problem with cacti.   It’s their nasty thorns.   And not all thorns are the same.   Some have wicked long ones that are easy to se...

There were a couple of Mad Hatters at Casa Wallace recently.  Stovepipe hats, black suits, and red scarves completed their ensembles.  Clancy even got a red scarf before they left. He looks pretty good in red. The Hatters were here to clean the fireplace chimney. That annual event is to make sure we don't have a chimney fire.  They have all the right equipment and the job doesn't take too long. Brushes, long hoses, and a powerful vacuum make quick work of it from top to bottom. Within a half hour, the chimney was spic and span, ready for another winter. What makes the chimney dirty? It's the creosote-a byproduct from burning wood. If the wood doesn't burn hot enough, tarry residue can be left in the chimney. Softer woods don't burn as hot as hardwoods, so that can leave more creosote buildup too.  A well-drafted, hot fire will not only give us cozy warmth in the family room, but leave less crud in the chimney. But, it's important to cl...

One of the beautiful evergreens in our area is called the manzanita. In Spanish, it literally means "little apples." Another name used is madrone and there are 106 varieties worldwide.  It's a shrub found at the higher elevations, probably 5,000 feet and above.  A native of the west, you can find this large shrub/small tree from Mexico to Western Canada. It's also found in the Mediterranean regions. Extremely hardy and drought tolerant, it's perfectly suited for our challenging high desert climate. The signature red bark and the small green leaves, make it easy to identify. In May you'll find it loaded with beautiful pink blossoms, similar to mountain laurel.  In the summer there are small berries which were made into a medicinal tea as a poison oak remedy years ago. When I first discovered the bush while hiking in the mountains, I longed to dig up a specimen and put in my gardens.  That particular inclination was nixed,...

An excerpt from Gardens of the Heart     God's Meadow   He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, brings honor to his name. Psalm 23:2-3 NLT The Shepherd King learned about the restorative properties of God’s creation early in life. As a boy, David spent many long hours watching over his father’s sheep in the rugged areas outside of Bethlehem. Those long days allowed him to spend time with God, learn to be still, and also creative in his music.   He honed his slingshot skills, which would prepare him to face Goliath. With cellphones attached to our ears, social media taking our every moment, we lose valuable time connecting with our Creator. We don’t know how to be still and enjoy His presence. We insist that we just don’t have the time to read the Bible, think about God, memorize Scripture, or pray. Isn’t it strange that we devote our schedules to lo...

Cochise County is home to quite a few ghost towns who saw their boom time back in the late 1800s when Tombstone silver was plentiful. The transportation hub in the area was a small town called Fairbank, which is northeast of Casa Wallace. The railroads criss-crossed from Benson to Fairbank, to Bisbee and Nogales.  The New Mexico & Arizona Railroad was the first to lay tracks in 1881. Two other railroads quickly followed suit.  The trains were critical to serving the smelters and mines, as well as hauling people and consumer goods. Fairbank was considered a family town as compared to rough towns of Millville, Contention City, and Charleston. The Grand Central Mill was constructed about 2 miles outside of town and was a silver processing stamp mill.  It was a 24/7 operation with huge pistons crushing ore. It was then processed with mercury in amalgamating pans to bind the silver. Employees, as you might guess did not enjoy a long lifespan working in such toxic condition...

From that first Thanksgiving feast the Wampanoag tribe shared with the Pilgrims back in the fall of 1621 to the present day, America has a history of taking time to express thanks to God for His generous blessings on this country and on us as individuals.  Random days of thanksgiving were celebrated until late in the 1700s when George Washington declared a national day of thanksgiving for November 26, 1789. The celebration was focused on the formation of a new nation and the establishment of the constitution.  It wasn't until Lincoln designated the last Thursday of November in 1863 as the official national day of Thanksgiving that it was celebrated annually.  But as you might suspect, the date wasn't always advantageous to retailers and the Christmas shopping season. They lobbied President Franklin D. Roosevelt to change the date in 1939 because Thanksgiving fell on November 30 that year. This left only 24 days before Christmas and the U.S....

With the Thanksgiving feast only days away, our attention turns to those traditional dishes that we make once or maybe twice a year. They're usually reserved for the holiday table.  The top of the list is green bean casserole, that vegetable concoction with its crunchy oniony topping. No Thanksgiving dinner would ever be complete without it. It was created by the Campbell Soup Company in 1955 and is an iconic part of the American holidays. Then there's pumpkin pie and the marshmallow sweet potato casserole. Are you hungry yet? My favorite part of the turkey is what's inside the big bird--the stuffing or is it dressing? This has been a topic of discussion with friends who hail from all parts of the U.S. Here's a little background from my research. Apparently the term "stuffing" was first mentioned in 1538 in English print.  By the 1880's, the word wasn't upper crust enough for the Victorian age. Somehow calling it dressing made what was shoved into th...