Need a winter project while you're hunkered down, waiting for spring? Fairy gardens have been popular for years, and I always thought they look adorable. I had several vacation days to burn this month, so last week I invited my two sisters and their children to come and make potted fairy gardens together. During the summer, Brenda and Joanne both have beautiful flowerbeds and thriving vegetable gardens, and they keep houseplants year round. So I knew they would enjoy this. We started … [Read more...] about February Fairy Gardens
The Big Peach
"It's like spending two days inside a shopping mall," I explained to those who got to stay at home as we undertook the annual 700-mile journey to visit the world's biggest gift market in America's sixth largest city via the world's busiest airport. As Jen and I made our way to Atlanta for AmericasMart last week, I imagined our coworkers and customers from Good's Store silently cheering us on through all the hassles of airports and hotels, two small-town Pennsylvanians in the Big Peach. "I … [Read more...] about The Big Peach
Merry Christmas! Plus a Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
"I can't remember a time when we didn't bake gingerbread men," said my sister Joanne at our annual cookie exchange last Friday. The year Joanne was born, my mother ordered a cookie cookbook from the Farm Journal magazine. Today, the pages of Best-Ever Cookies are stained and yellowed and the mustard hardcover is taped and worn (the jacket lost long ago), and Joanne has seven sons and one daughter, and but the Burkholders still make gingerbread men every year. For the last few years, Mom … [Read more...] about Merry Christmas! Plus a Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Two Lost Soles in Church
This morning in church, I felt something at my feet. I looked down and a sole stared back up. Would I be able to exit gracefully with my shoes literally falling apart? Before someone starts a GoFundMe, I do have new shoes coming that I ordered online on the 15th. They are tan Rothy's flats that will be ideal for church, but have yet to arrive. Today was too cool for sandals, too warm for boots, and I'm too proper to wear sneakers to church, so I pulled out an old pair of flats I've owned … [Read more...] about Two Lost Soles in Church
No-Spend September
Could I do a no-spend challenge for the whole month? The idea came to me in August. Earlier this year, I started a monthly budget, with allotted amounts for expenses, but with most of my income going towards savings. I track everything on a spreadsheet. In August, I had some extra bills but I realized that if I combined August and September, I could reach my savings goals for the two month-period, as long as I didn't buy anything extra during the month of September. Some months this would … [Read more...] about No-Spend September