All the News From Starr

Tales from home and all the homey happenings.

This is not a photo I have taken, but I chose it because it’s as pretty as the place I live and the scene is common.

Yesterday, I sang for a wedding in Walhalla. I’m pretty sure the founders of this little town in South Carolina originally meant Valhalla, the Norse concept of paradise.. But sometime in the 1800s, the “V” got mistaken for a “W.” And, well…that’s South Carolina for you. Walhalla is part of a small corner in South Carolina which Jonathon often refers to as the “unreconstructed” South. Reconstruction didn’t take. At all. It’s a place full of hills and whimsy and stubborn folk.

At any rate, the wedding went well with a few little bumps along the way, which almost all weddings suffer, and which make a body chuckle. I was sitting to the left of the pulpit facing the witnesses as the little old man in the sound booth failed to stop the soundtrack when the bride arrived at the end of the aisle. We rolled right into Canon in D from a Scottish bagpipe number, which was intended for the lighting of the unity candle, while everyone waited for him to get the memo. The groom finally got his attention from the front with a kill sign and we were off.

I sang The Lord’s Prayer while the grandmas and mamas handed tissues around, and I sang two more hymns sandwiched between vows and the exchange of rings. After they were pronounced man and wife, we went to the reception for a bit and I sat with a fine southern lady who confided that she was nearly 80 and discussed many things—how much she loved bread, how she likes egg in her mac and cheese but not by itself, where she used to work and whose health was poorly. She also tut-tutted when the bride and groom swayed to some music for a few moments. She was pretty sure there was a sign up in the fellowship hall somewhere that stated no dancing was allowed! (This was, as you may have guessed, a Baptist wedding.)

I like weddings. For all of the reasons mentioned above, and because weddings are dear to God because marriage is something He thought of first, contrary to popular opinion. I always feel honored when I’m asked to take part in a wedding. It was a nice evening.

I’m also just really thankful I felt physically well enough to not just get through my obligation, but enjoy the experience. Thank you, Jesus.

Cows

Do you recall me mentioning last newsletter that a cow must have died? Well, over the course of last week, the smell started wafting to our house. We came to the realization that the deceased cow had died inside the maze of gates and stalls that must have constituted the old milking parlor of the now inactive dairy. Not only that, but we also realized that every time we looked that way, there was one live cow in there as well. Was it stuck in there?

You also might recall that I felt really bad last week and my brain wasn’t functioning at top capacity. Well, once I finally had my head wrapped around the situation, I threw on my rubber boots and tramped over there to see whether there was, in fact, a cow stuck in the gates. I’m so glad I went, though the stench and the sight was gruesome. I won’t elaborate too much, but I found a live cow stuck in a small enclosure with a rotting corpse. I immediately felt horrible it had taken me so long to investigate. Who knows how long that poor cow was in there without food and water. I plugged my nose, herded the cow out, opened the appropriate gate, and herded it out into the pasture.

But as I looked around, I noticed that this part of the pasture had only five or six cows in it, and they had also been in there for a long time. The water tank was empty, and I began to wonder if they had also gotten themselves locked in. It turns out, they had. I have no idea how this happened, but somehow, a gate had shut and they were separated from the rest of the herd, and unable to get to the creek for water. The land these cows graze on is a very large tract, and most of it’s out of sight of our neighbor’s house. He clearly didn’t know that this had happened.

All this was quite bad, but something nice happened because of it. After nearly a year living at this house, we finally got to meet our neighbor. It took a while to track down his phone number and let him know what was going on, but Jonathon was finally able get a hold of him. First, he sent a couple of his guys over and they opened the gate between pastures. It was fun watching a reunion of cows take place. All the cows in the big pasture trooped in, single file mooing and lowing and bawling, as if to make sure everyone was present and accounted for, and then they all trooped back out with the five isolated cows in tow. It was all rather cute, actually.

Then our neighbor came by, himself, and we finally met the man in person. He’s a nice fellow.

But here’s the cool part. I grew up out in the country in Michigan. I love rolling grassy hills with cows grazing on them. It’s just the most beautiful sight. And when I see rolling hills, I get such an itch to go walking all over them in the peaceful quiet. I haven’t actually done much walking with the dogs since we moved here, because the main road is kind of hazardous. People fly up and down it like it’s a freeway, and after two or three times of having to jump off the side of the road because people just didn’t see me there, I kind of gave up on it. And I thought to myself, “It would sure be nice, if I could just take the dogs for walks in the pasture…”

Well, the third or fourth thing out of our neighbor’s mouth was something along the lines of, “Feel free to enjoy the property. We’ve got two ponds you can fish out of, too, if you want.” I couldn’t believe my ears and so I clarified.

“Can I take my dogs out with me if they’re leashed?”

The answer was a big, enthusiastic yes! I am stunned and delighted by my good fortune. The grass in the pasture is too tall at the moment, but he’s going to bush hog it pretty soon, and my morning rambles with the dogs will resume once more. I can’t wait!

What else has been going on around here…?

Sewing

I have two paid sewing projects I’m working on right now that quite literally fell out of nowhere and into my lap. I’m pretty good at sewing, but I have not, as yet, tried to get paid work. But word gets around. People see your work and ask you to do stuff for them and that’s what happened.

The first job is taking an old family quilt and turning it into a cushion cover. This cushion is going to sit on a wooden chest in a little cabin in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. I am a bit nervous to cut into this quilt, I don’t mind saying, for obvious reasons. So…I haven’t yet. I’ve been busy cutting a foam pad insert down to the right size based on measurements given to me and then making a mock up of the cover with ugly fabric I had on hand. So far, it’s going well. This week’s the week. I really can’t delay any longer and must cut the quilt. Pray for me. I desperately do not want to ruin someone’s family heirloom!!!

The second job comes from my sister-in-law who recently moved out west and found that custom blinds and whatnot for unusual window dimensions are expensive. So, I’m making some simple tie up blinds out of linen. This will also require careful measuring and mathing (yuck) and cutting. I’ve ordered the linen from Fabrics Wholesale Direct which is a fantastic resource for seamstresses with nice quality fabric for the best prices pretty much anywhere. Once the linen arrives, I’ll get to work with that.

What else…?

Writing

Over the last month, I’ve been writing a letter from one character in my novel, 27, to another. It’s integral to the plot and is mentioned many times. I finished it last week and it’s a whole chapter by itself, full of very necessary back story. It is, however, out of order. So, I don’t know what chapter number this letter will be, but I suspect there will be one to two chapters between Chapter 20 and this one. As I have begun each chapter with a quote from another author, personality, thinker, song writer, etc… I have begun this chapter with another quote from G.K. Chesterton:

Tradition means giving a vote to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man’s opinion, even if he is our father.

So, there’s something for you to chew on. ;)

What else…?

Ice Cream

Six years ago, I was diagnosed with Lyme, several other tick-transmitted infections, and a huge list of food sensitivities. On that list was dairy. So…no ice cream for me! Well, except for the alternative dairy options. To be fair, there are some pretty good ones out there. I like So Delicious and Cool Haus. Cool Haus makes the most divine non dairy and gluten free ice cream sandwich. Sadly, nobody carries this brand around me, and it looks like I’ll have to visit an obscure food co-op in New Mexico to get one again.

Sigh.

Anyway, last year, I decided to be very brave and risk dire physical consequences and try A2 dairy. (Just google it. It takes too long to explain the difference between A2 dairy and conventional dairy.) So, I did and I had zero symptoms. What’s even better is that a dairy, Milky Way Dairy, the next town over produces A2 milk and sells it in various locations all over the county. Just milk…no half and half or heavy cream. So, I’ve been having a marvelous time drinking milk again. You can even buy the A2 brand at many grocery stores around here. I was even getting A2 half and half at Ingles and Publix…until they decided to discontinue it. (Seriously, why?) I begged them to keep carrying it, but I guess the decision is final. Dum dums. So, I’ve been reduced to having my husband pick it up from Whole Foods in Greenville if traveling ever takes him through there.

Other A2 products have just not taken off yet. In my dream world, I could walk into the grocery store and buy A2 cheese, fresh mozzarella (oh, how I miss you!), cream cheese, cottage cheese, half and half, whipping cream, yogurt, kefir, butter and…ice cream! Some of these things I can get if I drive all the way to Greenville or Atlanta, but it’s almost not worth the trip to drive that far, unless we’re traveling for other reasons and get it while we’re there.

Anyway, last summer, I found an ice cream maker at a thrift store and thought, “Why not make my own ice cream?” It was a grand idea, but all the recipes I looked at called for heavy whipping cream and milk. Nobody around me sells A2 whipping cream. Bother.

And then, just a month ago, my sister alerted me to the fact that Azure Standard carries a ton of A2 products and will ship them to a local drop which you can then pick up. So, I got on their website, and low and behold, many of the items I’ve been buying at a premium like goat butter and goat yogurt, A2 half and half, etc… were not only available, but some of them were available for a dollar less than what I’ve been paying! Long story short, they carried A2 whipping cream. I got some. On Friday, I whipped up a batch of ice cream, put it in my thrifted ice cream maker, and made ice cream.

Folks, it was the first time in six years I’ve had real ice cream…and it was sooooo good. I mean, the dairy free alternatives are good. But this was good on a whole different level.

The Moral of This Story

1. Sometimes, sad things like dead cows can lead to opportunities.

2. Singing is a handy ability to have.

3. Learning a new skill like sewing or anything else, really, is never a waste of time. You never know. It might help pay the bills some day.

4. Chesterton was thinking far ahead of his time.

5. And don’t give up hope. I never thought I’d get to eat real ice cream again. Well, clearly I was wrong. Don’t forget that things can change for the better.

Housekeeping

Keep sharing my newsletter with people you think might like it! Share it with friends via email! Share it on your favorite social media platform! I’ve had a huge uptick in new subscribers this last month, and I think it’s all down to my readers sharing my Substack with their friends. Thank you, so much, to all of you who do.

The next chapter of The Pursuit of Elizabeth Millhouse, my first novel which fell out of print some years ago, will be going out to paid subscribers on Wednesday morning at 7:00 AM as usual. Besides the odd used copy on Amazon, this is the only place to get my novel right now. Please help me get my book back in print by doing one of the following things:

• Upgrade your subscription from free to paid. All the proceeds from paid subscriptions are going into a bank account to fund the publication and promotion of the book.

• Share! Share! Share! The more people reading here, the better my chances of getting the book republished and publishing 27 when it’s completed.

That’s all for now. Until next time, folks…