From the Editor — January/Feburary 2020

If you live in an area, like me, where winters can be cold, dark, and long, it’s now time to find things to keep ourselves occupied, making the long days not so unbearable. Maybe that includes crafting, reading, cooking, or getting outside and making the best of it.

I admit I do get excited for the first few snowfalls with the glistening of the fresh, powdery snow in the sunlight. It’s almost magical. It makes me think back to when I was a kid and would spend the whole day outside building snow forts, ice skating, sledding and skiing down the big hill in the backyard, and whatever else would come up, as long as I could be outside. Ah, the good ol’ days!

As an adult, winter means driving on slippery roads, back-breaking shoveling, heating bills, a drifted-shut driveway, etc., and it just doesn’t seem to be quite as much fun as it was when I was a kid.

Don’t get me wrong I still enjoy some fun winter activities. My favorite one is ice fishing. There’s just something about spending the day sitting on a frozen lake, waiting for a hungry sh to nibble on my bait that’s dangling down a hole I drilled through the ice. Some folks don’t see how this could be any fun at all and tell me not to waste my time because they sell fish at the grocery store every day. Those are the same folks who complain that they are sick of being cooped up and winter is too long. Not to mention, who knows where that overpriced grocery store fish came from?

There is so much truth to the saying, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” January and February does fly by for me. March and April are another story as the ice begins to thaw on the lakes and the heavy snow won’t stop falling while spring is on my mind. But we can talk about that at that time!

For now I would like you to relax and enjoy the pages in this issue of Countryside. There are some hearty, belly-warming chicken recipes to try along with a great homemade bun recipe. These are so yummy fresh out of the oven!

If you’re thinking spring and looking for new things to plant, you can learn all about black raspberries as well as sea buckthorn, aka seaberries. These beautiful little berries have so many medicinal uses not only for humans but also for wild and domestic animals.

There is so much more included in this issue and I hope you enjoy it.