random musings
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Slightly Off the Grid
Dueling blog posts, that’s what I’m envisioning. My sister-in-law and I will be in France for two weeks, and I just know that all the amazing décor over there will inspire endless blog posts from her over at Now That You are Home. But someone has to chronicle the other side of the trip. For instance: Continue reading
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Behind Closed Doors
It’s another snowy day and, while Maywood Man braves the elements to keep tractors running, slays a tree for firewood, and plows us out, I need to do something more than read by the fire to justify my existence. Pumpkin soup, venison chili, and fennel tea cookies are not sufficient offering. No, I must do something Continue reading
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Fine…really
Every now and then I wake up and feel…fine. No complaints. Quite satisfactory. (To some Brits that means “deliriously wonderful” but I do mean “quite satisfactory.”) This naturally involves waking up to daylight. (It is never fine to wake up at 5:30 a.m.) And it may coincide with not having to hurry up to be anywhere. (Like Continue reading
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All that glitters
That extra sparkle about me this season? It ain’t Christmas cheer. It’s that daggone glitter on the wrapping paper. Seriously, wrapping paper with glitter on it should come with a warning label. CAUTION: Contents of this shrink-wrapped tube of paper contain microscopic bits of green sparkles that will stick to every surface they contact, including Continue reading
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Where’s Mom?
Originally posted on Slightly Off the Grid: When we were little, my siblings and I used to do hide-and-seek with my mother. It wasn’t a game. She was really hiding. And we were seeking. It was a big house–three floors plus a basement–and as we climbed the stairs calling, “Mom! Mooooooooooooommmmmmm!” we were sure that… Continue reading
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The Reluctant Pioneer
Hear ye, hear ye! I’m changing the name of this blog from Maywood Living to The Reluctant Pioneer. (I’ll make the switch after I post this, so you dear subcribers don’t get all confused.) Why the name change? A cousin once told my mother that he didn’t read the post she sent him because he Continue reading
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What’s in Your Freezer?
Forget the wallet. There’s nothing in there but club cards to stores I frequent. What’s in the freezer is a much more interesting topic. Certain current and former colleagues will recall a Christmas party at our house at which we revealed little freezer bags filled with skinned squirrels, frozen in all their scrawny nakedness. The Continue reading
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Making lipbalm: one way to avoid doing schoolwork
Making lipbalm: one way to avoid doing schoolwork. Continue reading
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Obsolete
Yesterday I planned to shampoo the family room carpet. It had not been cleaned in you don’t want to know how long. A year ago we were putting newborn grandbabies on sterile blankets to protect them from the floor. This year I needed a sterilizer to clean the floor from the spitting, scooting, toddling grandbabies. Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 