Monday, April 20, 2009

Monday Morning Staff Meeting

Good morning everyone!

You will notice a lack of goodies on the table this morning. Instead I have an intern who will be preparing one egg, plain omelets. This is a result of yesterday's trip in the Way Back Machine in which we were reminded of times (and thin thighs) gone by. There's black coffee, tea and water in the back of the room. Sorry, it's a dietary austerity program I'm instituting.

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Thanks for joining me in the laundry room last week as we made our own laundry soap.


Wash Day - Taken at Durant-Peterson House

The exercise also gained me another "Peep". Life in Red Shoes has been named my official Laundry Nazi. If you have any tough laundry problems we're going to be tapping into her expertise. It's good to know that someone's on your side, especially in the case of dingy whites.

I hope you had some fun on our Little House on the Prairie adventure. I'm going to ask for your advice on our weekly trips. Should I call them road trips or field trips? Field trip has an interesting farm connotation, don't you think? Anyway, let me know what you think.

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I worked very hard in my high school typing class and landed a job out of high school as a typesetter. As a result I can type pretty fast but not always with the greatest accuracy. When I leave a comment on someone's blog I usually sign it with my handle; Suzanne - the Farmer's Wife. Recently my fingers got away from me and just before I hit the post comment button I noticed I'd typed

Suzanne - the Farter's Wife

Well, that's not true. NO! Never, not him.

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Eariler this week I found a magazine at the store called, "Cowboys and Indians". Have you seen it? It was a very slick publication with beautiful pictures, gorgeous ads and an article about the largest personal landowner in the U.S., Ted Turner. One of the ads was for some unbelievable cowboy boots made by a company called ROCKETBUSTER. I'm just not understanding the type of expendable income that needs to be at your disposal to spend $3,500 on a pair of boots.

There we go....the Rocketbuster link is now repaired. Go check out the boots covered with cherries!

I am very sure that no honest-to-goodness cowboys would be caught dead in these. They're probably just for the cowboy wannabes or the country's largest landholder.

I wouldn't refuse those mules with the skull design though. Rocketbuster can feel free to call me and arrange a boot trial.

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I did receive the book about Laura Ingall Wilder's time in Westville, Florida and it was a big disappointment. It simply contained information that the author had gleaned from the county court house and some interviews with residents back in 1979. She simply ascertained that Laura, Almonzo and Rose had lived with Peter Ingalls but there were no personal recollections of their time in the area.

My family land is located only 10 miles as the crow flies from where Laura lived and that pretty much guarantees that my relatives knew her.

I did learn, to my great surprise, that Westville was once a thriving community with a hotel, logging and turpentining operations and more. However, the economy moved to newer technologies, the Naval supply contracts ran out and it became a very small community once more. My memories from the 1950's and early '60's were of this very, very small town with only a post office and a country store.

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We ran out of time last week before we could discuss how you can carve a little bit of country for yourself, no matter where you live. We'll try to do that this week but the Farmer now tells me that the weatherman is uttering the "S" word again. My little bit of country involves the outdoors, so we'll see.

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OOOPS...forgot to mention that I discovered the local community college waives tuition for residents over 60 years of age. That would include me. I'm pretty sure there are restrictions, perhaps only if space is available in the class. I've taken several of their anthropology classes but I'm waiting for another archaeology dig class to be added. There's a jewelry making class (metal casting) or photography.

Hey - the college just passed a $168 MILLION DOLLAR referendum so I best get the most out of my tax dollars. RIght?


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That's it for me. What's on your mind? I'd love to hear what you're up to this week.

Don't forget to let me know - Road Trip or Field Trip?

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to spend some time here, "At Home....."

16 comments:

Heidi said...

field trip is good for me! I am planning on some maddness for your trip up here!!

chocolatechic said...

I vote for field trip too.

I want a chocolate covered, cream filled donut.

The end.

Sadie said...

Feild trip! I love that little girl's outfit! We are HUGE Laura fans here, and my girls both want a dress & bonnet from that time period. I've told them, yes, I can sew basic things, but um... I don't think I can do all that. :)
That laundry soap works GREAT! and, did you know, if you want to scent it, all you have to do is add a few drops of a essential oil you like, and it smells just wonderful!

Vee said...

Road trip/field trip it's all good!

S is for sno?

Sorry about the book, but at least you discovered something new.

Oh dear. I hope that the Farmer doesn't get wind of this post. (Sorry, I'm deep in puns these days.)

Listen, after a certain age, we get to enjoy our pleasures...food is one of them. I'll bring those cinnamon rolls for next Monday. If you want coffee and plain toast, that's your choice.

Kitty said...

"Field Trip" sounds more like a getting-on-the-school-bus kind of outing whereas "Road Trip" conjures up visions of piling into the car and heading out for fun things to do and see, letting your whims lead the way. I vote for "Road Trip"!!
By all means, take a class! I've always thought archaeology would be fun, digging around in the dirt. Might need more of that laundry soap, though!

Lisa said...

Field trip sounds good to me. It brings back memories of being in elementary school. When the teacher said field trip we were all sooo excited!

Bella Della said...

Happy Monday morning! How wonderful to be able to take some college classes for free. I knew of a 80 year old lady that took all the Shakespeare courses at our local college here in town. So cool!

Have a great day! Rainy here in VA, but everything is so wonderfully green!

bv said...

real cowboys wear real boots-the kind that are wore down at the heel, dirty and got STUFF stuck to the soles. love that mag...drool big time over the decores.
road trip! i can feel the wind in my hair, sun on my shoulders and a carefree feeling of adventure.
i am on the count down for the big event. this week it is costco and bevmo and gotta clean those bath rooms!
bv

Ali said...

Field trip! It reminds me of our annual Ft. Worth (texas) Zoo field trips. I certainly loved those trips. I will make sure to make a sandwich and wrap a coke in tin foil.

Steph said...

I vote field trip, but if you really want to sound farmy you could always call it an around the town hay ride! lol

martina said...

A friend of mine was thrilled when she found back issues of Cowboys and Indians at a consignment shop for $5.00 each. Fresh off the shelves it is a very expensive magazine.
Field trip, definitely field trip. Road trip makes me think of an overnight/two day trip.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure my Grandma would say there are no calories in lefse with butter. So, can we have that for next staff meeting?

Suzanne said...

Heidi - Madness is good.

Chocolatecic - I'll bring a chocolate covered, cream filled donut next week....just for you! The end.

Domestic Diva - Durant Peterson is a museum house and during the year they have several events that include volunteers dressed in period clothing. This young girl was demonstrating how they did laundry back in the day. They also cook a meal in an open hearth and on the wood burning cookstove. Once a year they host a period wedding with pretend bride and groom. There's also a one room schoolhouse on the grounds and that is also open occasionally. I haven't added any scent to my laundry soap but I might do that in the future.

Vee - I agree. I've been thinking about this and I suppose I can do both. A field trip to me say a short trip where you go specificaly to learn something. A road trip is all about the entire experience. I think I'll do BOTH.

S is for snow. Heather from Mindless Junque experienced it a few days ago and the weatherman felt it was heading our way.

PHEW....what a great pun.

I guess you're right. I'll never get back to that skinny place again. But I do need to lose some for health reasons.

Kitty - You're right and you've pointed out the difference perfectly. We're actually going to be doing both the get-outta-the-bus and the are-we-there-yet road trip.

Lisa - Woo hoo. I want my readers to get excited about these little excursions. it means we can get outta the house which is very important after 6 months or more stuck inside. Can you spell cabin fever?

Bella Della - Yeah, I'm scanning the class schedule now. Lots of classes are heavily weighted towards getting a job, not a general humanities education. We'll see.

bv - I knew it!!!! I want to meet some real cowboys. I lived in Texas for four years and I don't think I met one!!! I'm nuts for that slick paper the magazine is printed on and you're right the decor articles are fantastic. I wish I was there to help you prepare.....and also to enjoy.

Ali - You must be a Girl Scout because girl - - you're prepared. I was going to pack up my vintage picnic basket.

Steph - Now you've got me wanting to actually go on a hayride. I haven't been in many years.

Martina - I am actually going to do some overnight trips and one is to Wisconsin to visit with Heidi, the Milk Man's Wife. We're going to get into some trouble I think. Maybe the police will be involved, I don't know. HA. But I know for sure that Heidi knows how to make lefse, so she's in charge of bringing it to next week's meeting.

THANKS EVERYBODY!!!

LDF said...

Road trip, field trip, whatever ... always fun to come along! However, I would like to go on record complaining about your current austerity program. Monday morning staff meetings without goodies to look forward to JUST ISN'T RIGHT!!! (Especially today ... I REALLY needed a virtual shot of sugar and chocolate!)

Liz in PA said...

I like the idea of ROAD TRIP!

It just sounds so adventurous to me, and besides I will be your map reader as you drive!

That makes for FUN ON THE ROAD-TRIP!

Liz in PA

Michelle said...

Suzanne,
You can keep those skull mules and send those cherry cowboy boots straight to me.

I think a road trip sounds like just the ticket right now.

Louise said...

I love it that you can go to college for free. One of my stamping customers was here tonight for Stamp Club, and she can go to a health club in town for free because she's over 65. I have a bit to wait, but at least there are some perks.

I'm disappointed about the book. You could probably write more and better!