Dear Log Cabin friends:

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ! We’ve said goodbye to 2007 & the new year has begun. I think about the old saying “time waits for no one” and how true it is – days march by quickly. But I’ve always looked forward to the beginning of a new year – a year of starting anew, looking “into” oneself & setting new goals. I find the two deep winter months of January & February to be contradictive. For many, Cabin Fever sets in mildly but with some it comes with a vengeance. Our winter has seemed long already & since Thanksgiving we have had snow on the ground,& ice & sleet too. Seeing the brown earth brings relief to the brightness when we look out the window. But on the other hand, new fallen snow is soothing – especially when no one has walked in it, another layer of white frosting on a chocolate cake.

These days find me completing projects, thinking more, pulling back & pulling in. I believe the two months of January & February, out of the twelve, are a gift, if we can just wrap ourselves around them.

As many of you know, I am a very early riser. And this morning is no exception. I’m sitting here in this extra cold stillness of an early, dark January morning, sipping my cut of hot tea, curled up in my chair with Sam, my cat, at my feet. The Log Cabin candle is lit casting a soft glow in the dark room. We sit listening to the wind, and soon our owl in the big old mulberry tree lets me know, as he does most mornings, that he knows I’m here. It’s a comforting sound & I never tire of it – I know he is keeping watch over the mulberry grove. I think of many things this morning, but mostly nothing, as that is what the first hours of January mornings should be about – to rest in the darkness. As Judith Duerk writes in her book Circle of Stones (which I am now reading) , “winter is a time when the year comes full circle again – a time to feel one’s fatigue, the aches of life, one’s own age, to reconnect once again, with a deep, dark earth-energy, hidden far below in our roots.” She talks about there being times of light and darkness in nature – and the winter months are about darkness.

If we look hard we can find things that ease the Cabin Fever or we can create & make things, to understand it more & actually look forward to it each & every year. Around Dec. 20th, I always put out paperwhite bulbs in a crockery bowl, add a few pebbles to hold them steady, some water & look forward to them blooming, with the air being perfumed by their little blossoms. Mine are now blooming & always a joy – a simple country pleasure in my log cabin home in January. The bulbs are always a Christmas gift I give myself every year. I buy them early as they sell out quickly.

The one magazine I truly enjoy is paperwhites put in old granite ware coffee pots & what a neat idea that is. If you have Cabin Fever & like gardening or even just looking at flowers you will enjoy this magazine.( It also features a store in Iowa that I have shopped at). It’s a simple country pleasure to leaf through a magazine like this, especially in January

.IF WE HAD NO WINTER, THE SPRING WOULD NOT BE SO PLEASANT – C. Bronte
January 22 is the full moon -The Moon of Cold, Long Nights or the Snow Moon.
Take a minute to stand outside, soaking in the moonlight on the 22nd (we’ll ask Mother Nature to cooperate). The moonlight is energizing – remember it can pull the
tides of the ocean.
Find time to appreciate winter & nurture yourself. I’ll leave you with this Apache blessing for the coming year:
MAY the sun bring you new energy by day,
MAY the moon softly restore you by night,
MAY the rain wash away your worries,
MAY the wind blow new strength into your being, and
MAY you walk gently through the world and know the beauty of all the days of your life.
Happy New Year! Twila, Cabin Keeper at The Log Cabin, Roca, Ne.
P.S. A note on my refrigerator says “NATURE NURTURES”. Put more Nature in your life in 2008.
winter from my front door.

winter from my front door

CALENDAR FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY
Jan. 4 - Friday, Open 2-5 p.m.
Jan. 5- Sat. , Open 9-4
Jan. 11—Friday, Open 12-6
Jan. 12-- Sat. – Open 11-4 (note later opening than usual)
Closed Jan. l8-19
Jan. 25 - -Friday, Open 9-5
Jan. 26 – Sat., - Open 9-4
Febr. 2 – Sat., Open 9-4
CLOSED FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY AFTER THE 2nd .
March 1 – Sat., Open 9-4
March 7 - Friday, Open 12-5
March 8 - Sat. Open 9-4
ALL OPEN DATES DEPEND GREATLY ON WEATHER CONDITIONS in the Winter!

COMING IN MARCH: Beginning Rug Hooking and Over-dyeing wool day, also project of the month

HERB STUDY GROUP
NO group meeting in January or February . We’ll meet again in March with the topic being Calendula, the 2008 International Herb of the Year.

“NEWBIE’S WOOLKEEPERS"
The “newbie’s” Woolkeepers will meet at the Log Cabin on Monday, Jan. 21, 6:30-9 p.m. “Walk through the Woolens” topic, & some do’s and don’ts. Door prizes, sale on wools etc. Plan to come – this will be your only announcement. No Newbie’s in February! If weather is OK, you won’t want to miss this one!

‘OLDIE’S WOOLKEEPERS
Watch for your own letter out soon. Meet Jan. 28, 6:30 – 9 p.m

THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD ABOUT US IS ONLY ACCORDING TO WHAT WE OURSELVES BRING TO IT.
THERE IS A PRIVACY ABOUT WINTER WHICH NO OTHER SEASON GIVES YOU – In the spring, summer and fall, people sort of have an open season on each other; only in the winter, in the country, can you have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself – Ruth Stout

WINTER IS ON MY HEAD, BUT ETERNAL SPRING IS IN MY HEART – Victor Hugo

NOW IS THE TIME TO –
- MAKE YOUR OWN VALENTINES
- INVITE FRIENDS OVER FOR TEA
- FORCE BULBS TO GROW
- GATHER SOME TWIGS FROM FLOWERING BUSHES & TREES & PUT IN WATER TO BLOOM ( I remember doing this with pussy willows from my sister’s huge bush which grew from a twig taken from an old bush in my yard, 2 houses ago, & now my small bush, here at the Log Cabin, is growing from a twig sprouted from her yard- full circle- a simple country pleasure)
- HOOK A HEART PIN
- APPLIQUE A HEART MAT
- DYE RED WOOL
- SIT & ENJOY THE ‘STILLNESS’ OF THE WINTER

Put the following 2 recipes in your file for next Christmas & New Year’s. These are yummy. Thank you Sue W. & Sue H. for sharing.

SUE W. ” CHIPPED BEEF DIP”
I made this dip ahead of time , & put it in oven when we were ready, for our family Christmas gift opening time. It was a “hit”.
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. sour cream
¼ c. finely chopped green pepper (optional)
¼ c. finely chopped onion
¼ tsp. garlic powder
3 oz. (or approx) dried chipped beef cut up. (I use from jar I buy)
Mix all together, top with ¼ c. melted butter & some chopped walnuts. Bake 30 min. @ 350 degrees. Serve with Triscuts(trademark) type crackers.
place setting on my table -- redware by Diana (made in Nebr.!) & carried in shop.

place setting on my table -- redware by Diana (made in Nebr.!) & carried in shop

SUE H. ONION DIP
WE love tis one too, and find it is better made ahead & refrigerate for a day or two for flavors to pull through. The jar of onion/garlic jam can be found at found at kitchen stores (like Habitat in Lincoln) and brand name is Stone wall Kitchen.
1/3 jar of Roasted onion-garlic jam
2- 8 oz. cream cheese and ¼ tsp. ground sage
1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
I refrigerator for 3 hours, then form into ball, & roll in crushed pecans or walnuts to coat. Cover & refrigerate until ready to serve with various crackers. Delicious .

JUST IN: Fireside Chai tea. My daughter introduced me to this, and friend Sharon & I love to drink it while visiting in front of my fireplace. I ordered it in as I couldn’t locate it in Lincoln. It is organic, caffeine, gluten, GMO & allergen free! We drink it not diluted with milk & love it. You’ll like it too.

this was picture missing from your Merry Christmas note, my 4 grandsons at Christmas

Log Cabin, P.O. Box 88, Roca,Ne. 68430 (15901 So. 54th St.)
402-792-3178
Email: logcabin-cabinkeeper@windstream.net
www.prairiewoolworks.com
(Open by designated hours or appointment) (402)792-3178

--- - - END OF JAN.FEB.LOG CABIN NEWSLETTER----Watch for March letter

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