Merry Christmas

 

Let It Snow

 I have often told my children of the heavy snowfall we had when I was a child. I think they believed I was just an old lady exaggerating my memories.

I remember going out on Halloween to trick or treat with a light snow falling. It was no big deal.

By the end of November we usually were in a white world. Over the River and Through the Woods is written about a family on their way to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. A sleigh was the method of transportation because of all the snow.

When we lived in town we walked to school. Weather did not make a difference. Of course I walked to school in the snow. Sometimes school was up a slight hill. I always had shoes. 

Right at this very moment we have about 10 inches of snow on the ground. My son said it looks like the snow I used to tell them about. 

I miss building a snowman, snowball fights, and making snow angels. Kids around here do not seem to do that. Pity.

At my age I worry about falling. So I stay inside a lot. But I have a window from top of the door to the floor that I watch all sorts of creatures playing in the snow.

Christmas Treats

 

We all know enough to leave a snack for Santa on Christmas Eve. He works hard all night to deliver gifts to good girls and boys. Cookies and milk are what we always leave out for Santa.

Did you ever consider that the reindeer are working hard too? They are able to eat snow so they need nothing to drink but I have a recipe for Magic Reindeer Food that the children can spread outside before going to bed. It makes the reindeer so happy.

MAGIC REINDEER FOOD

In a small zipper food storage bag or empty shaker container, mix:
1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup red or green sugar crystals (as used for cake decorating)

Package Magic Reindeer food in small food storage bags or holiday gift bags.

Now that you have made the magic reindeer food, the rest is easy. Before the children go to bed and have visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, let them run outside and sprinkle the magic reindeer food around the yard. Away from the house might be good. Santa's reindeer like a little space.

After gifts have been opened in the morning, everyone can take a look to see if the food was eaten.

Are we done? Nope. We still have to thank the elves who help Santa all year. Let's make some Elf Donuts.

You will need a box of Cheerios, some small tubes of frosting (the more colors the better), sprinkles, and perhaps cinnamon sugar mixture. Perhaps you like chocolate, powdered sugar, peanut butter, or Nutella. Anything you might use to decorate normal sized donuts.

Squeeze a bit of frosting onto a Cheerio. If you wish then you can dip it into a bit of the sprinkles or maybe colored sugar. Or you can leave it plain.

Place the Elf Donuts on a saucer or in plastic sandwich bags. The sandwich bags might make them easier for Santa to take to the North Pole.

Now we have a happy Santa, reindeer, and elves. And these are projects that require little supervision for the children to stay busy on that last day before Christmas.

Music, Music, Music

I got an early unplanned Christmas present. I am so happy I can hardly contain myself.

Remember when we could copy music from the internet and make our own private CDs? Well being the 

music lover that I am I made a lot of CDs. My son was going through some old boxes and there they were!

I so enjoyed looking and listening to what I had time for. I heard the Brontosaurus Stomp, The Frog

 Stomp, The Andrews Sisters, Rudy Vallee, Vivaldi, Elvis. Frankie Avalon, Kiss, and the Kingston Trio.

 And so much more. I will be cataloging my music for a long time.

Oh how I wish an unexpected Christmas gift for you.

How Many Do You Know?

Do you remember trains with cowcatchers? They were on the front of the train engine to scoop cows standing on the tracks. It supposedly stopped a lot of crashes.

If you walked rather than rode your horse you went shank's mare. It is sometimes called shanks pony.

Widderdhins is s Low German term for against the way. It usually means to go counter-clockwise.

Belly bands were wrapped around a new baby's middle. It was believed to prevent a hernia.

Rubbering in was what snoopy people did on a party line. There used to be more than one telephone on one line all connected to each other. Etiquette was to not listen to conversations on another phone or rubber in.

An early jukebox was called a nickelodeon because it took a nickel to operate.

Beginning in the 1920's 'Hepcats' (meaning someone who listened to jazz) wore zoot suits. 

Quicksilver is another name for liquid mercury.

Homes used to have a chamber pot. It was kept under the bed and used if the person needed to relieve themselves at night so they did not have to walk all the way to the outhouse.

Peanuts are a good snack. Did you know they are Goober Peas?

When I was in high school the sack dress was popular. It was dress that had no waistline. It was just straight up and down. It is sometimes called a chemise.

A western saddle has a saddle horn. It is an extension of the pommel of the saddle that a cowboy uses to anchor his rope when roping cattle.

Sinister means on the left. No wonder people who were left-handed were considered to be sinister. Sinister has also become to be associated with evil. In the past left-handed people were considered to be evil. Often a left-handed person was persecuted as a witch.

Shmoos loved humans. They were more than happy to provide us with eggs, leather, and butter from their own bodies. They would even be thrilled to become a nice steak dinner.

Are there any obscure terms you have a fondness for? I would love to learn them.

My Daddy

I have often written about my father in glowing terms. I adored him. So did all of my siblings.

We all loved Mom too. It was different somehow. Mom knew it and was happy about it.

We were born before commercial mixes of foods were available. No cake mixes, no boxes of macaroni and cheese, no jars of pre-made gravy. You get the idea. All our meals were made from scratch.

There were also no disposable diapers. Since there was always a baby in the family there were always diapers to wash. Add all that to normal housework and taking care of the rest of us and Mom stayed busy.

Enter Daddy.

Daddy made sure to do all the extras with us. On the first day of school he took us to see we were enrolled and he met our teachers. It sounds easy but I can tell you from experience it can be quite a task.

School often has extra activities for the children. There should be an adult to help oversee a certain number of children. Teachers appreciate the help.

I can remember him chaperoning dances, skating, and swimming. He was the umpire for all the baseball games in the summer.

During the school year we went to all the sporting events and plays. Daddy had a good time at all of them. Mom enjoyed them too. 

Daddy could do anything. Carpentry, plumbing, electrical work. He could make anything.

He taught all my brothers to work with their hands. Even the girls could make small repairs. He kept a small workshop on the back porch. On one side of the porch were simple tools, nails, screws, and pieces of wood. His grandchildren could go out there and tinker to their hearts content any time they felt like it.

We actually built a house. A truck came and poured cement for the floor of the basement. That was the only thing we did not do ourselves. We built the foundation, floors, walls, ceilings, and roof. Daddy did the electrical wiring and plumbing. A licensed plumber and electrician had to examine the work and approve it. We lived happily there until we moved. The house is still there and being lived in.

Daddy loved us. We loved him. What more is there to say?