Welcome To My World

I had always been the material girl. More clothes, shoes and jewelry than ten women could wear in a lifetime. I never met an electrical gadget I didn't like.  Then one cold Christmas day, life as I knew it was forever changed.  An ice storm like I had never seen hit Oklahoma locking most of us in it's icy grip.  Some weathered it better than others.  My daughter Becky and I were not one of the fortunate ones.  Our lovely home was total electric.  We had a wood burning stove with an electric blower therefore most of the heat went up the stovepipe.  Our many pets were gathered in a circle around the wood stove and Beck and I took turns staying awake to keep our only source of heat going.  We burned all the seasoned wood we had and then tried to burn the wet snow covered green wood (I have since learned the difference between the two).  A trip to the barn produced an assortment of old wood furniture that we burned to stay not even close to warm.  Layered up in many levels of clothing (who cares if anything is stylish or matching at this point), we bore a strong resemblance to the abominable snowman. 

Next on our agenda was scavenging for food.  Luckily we had a hand can opener because our total electric kitchen was useless.  I managed to heat soup and rice in a cast iron skillet inside the wood stove.  Seven days of hell later, I chased down the electric company crew in the neighborhood (still dressed in my clothes of many colors) to remind them that our house was the one up in the pasture that no one knows is there.  After a couple of false starts, the power came back on and stayed.  Then I had my epiphany:  We would never be cold or hungry again if I could help it.  So I set out to find how my country neighbors and friends managed so well while the material girl froze her fannie off.  This site is dedicated to everyone who taught and still teaches me something new and exciting everyday about Simple Living and the pleasures it brings.

P.S. Before the next winter descended upon us, my brother, David, ran a natural gas line to our house and put in two gas heating stoves donated by our friendly guardian angel, Gene Shipman.