The Simple Things!

The Farmhouse at Rocky Ridge.
--Photo from the collection of the Hoover Library (RWL #197)
I'm completely immersed in the Laura Ingalls Wilder "On the Way Home" book. For those of you not familiar with it, it's the diary from the trip they made from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri in 1894.

Her words have me captivated, the way she describes the towns they drive through, the streams and creeks they cross and the fields and farmland around them. The journey they endured was a long and treacherous one, imagine a 650 mile trek in a wagon with all your belongings, having to stop along the way to trade for food and sometimes struggling to find clean water to drink.

They went through places like:

Beatrice, Nebraska

Topeka, Kansas

Fort Scott, Kansas

And came across people like these:

I have enjoyed reading the book, it's like I'm being transported back in time and going through this with them.

I think nowadays we all take things for granted, I for one am guilty of that. I know that if I get thirsty I just have to turn on the tap and get clean cold water, if I'm hungry the refrigerator or the kitchen cupboards with take care of that for me. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy these commodities but in a way we have become unaffected by how easy it is for us.

If you're interested in more Laura goodness, check out Discover Laura.

And here's a recipe for you too:

Johnny Cakes

From On the Banks of Plum Creek

Supplies:

* 1 cup corn meal
* 1 teaspoon raw sugar
* 1 tbsp. salt
* ½ cup water
* 1 lb. of bacon

Instructions:

1. In a bowl, mix the corn meal with the salt and sugar.
2. Add water and mix until you get a nice paste. Form the paste into patties and set aside.
3. Fry bacon. Remove bacon and fry the cakes in the bacon grease until golden brown.
4. Wrap the patties in brown paper and then again in brown wax paper.

It's been a quiet day for me, Curt is off at work and the kids are in school, the bedrooms are clean, the beds are made, the laundry is done and I've just taken a Banana Bread out of the oven.

Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment ON BASE. I'm so thrilled I can't tell you. After all this running around they've had me doing with referrals to off base doctors, they finally got openings for me at the Women's Clinic and being seen by one of the doctors. Turns out that I went for that annual pap two weeks ago and then they called me last week and said I have to redo it because there weren't enough cells. Are you kidding me????????

Anyway, I'm going in the morning to get that redone and take care of the IUD thing. I'm tired of running around, it feels like I've been going full speed lately and haven't had time for anything so I'm glad to get this out of the way.

The rest of the day is going to be devoted to mopping and sweeping, cleaning the bathrooms, putting the last of the laundry away and then tonight we have Jasmine's Open House Meet the Teacher night.

Dinner is in the crockpot, Slow Cooker Snappy Meatball Heroes and let me tell you, they smell DIVINE. I don't know if I can wait until dinner, I'm having a hard time functioning with that yummy scent wafting all over the house.

Finally I need to thank you all for the awards you give me, I've been placing them on my sidebar to display what great friends I have. Just this morning the beautiful Lavinia at The Birdbath Chronicles gave me another one and get this, she thinks I look like Monica Belluci.....Oh I love you Lavinia. That is such a wonderful compliment, I only wish I thought it myself but hey I'll take whatever I can LOL

And so I must be on my way, I have some phone calls to make in order to get ready for the appointment tomorrow and I also need to deal with a naughty pug who thinks that I can't tell she's been up to no good....you go ahead and look at this photo and then tell me what you think LOL