Blessings in the Snow

Dear Readers,

Thank you for stopping by our home to visit today. We went to the funeral of a dear lady from church on Saturday,who died suddenly last Sunday while visiting her parents. She was one of those women who are everyone's "mother", in addition to having eight children of her own. I found out she died because another lady from church called to see if the quilt that was found in her car was mine. It was, and she was going to finish it for me, as she had another quilt of ours.

Although we are all grieved by her going so quickly, I think it a beautiful tribute to her life, that it was spent in service of her fellow man. She lived all my "farmgirl fantasies", milking goats, raising a beautiful garden (Which she shared with us this summer), and hand-crafting her children's clothing and quilts. I want my life to be like that; just doing the work that is close by, filling the days with loving deeds and kind words. So like the Savior. And as we never know when our time here will be over, may we live each day in readiness for whatever may come.

Goodbye, dear Marylou!

On a lighter note, we woke up to a soft, beautiful snowfall this morning, and felt enveloped, if for a short while, in the peace of its silence. After morning chores, everyone went out to play in the snow, reveling in one of life's most simple pleasures, snow man-building!

One of the snow festival's less enthusiastic participants

Now that it feels more like Christmas, we shall perhaps be more industrious about working on those Christmas projects today (Too bad we put off getting greenery from the woods for decorating!)~and maybe we'll get going on our "extreme hat makeovers" we are in the middle of, too!

"Find an old hat, cut it up,

You'll soon have a bonnet, with any luck!"

Dear St. Nicholas left gifts for the children on Saturday
The Little Drummer Boy

We'll leave you with this little story from 1895's "Pansy Magazine":

"A Happy Christmas"

Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming! That is what little Lucy sang as she went through the hall with ahope, skip and jump, clapping her hands for joy.
"And what is little daughter going to do to make somebody happy on Christmas day?"
Papa asked this as he came out into the hall. Then he kissed Lucy goodbye, took down his hat from the rack, and went out of the front door before she had time to tell him.
Lucy stopped running, and looked out of the window and thought about it.
Then she went upstairs to momma and said:
"Mamma, what am I going to do to make somebody happy tomorrow? What can little girls do?"
"You can be just as sweet as a rose all day, and obey mamma as soon as she speaks. That will make me very happy," said mamma.
"But I want to give something to somebody to to s'prise 'em and make 'em glad," Lucy said.
"Who is there that you would like to surprise?" her mamma asked.
Lucy thought a minute, then she said:
"Mrs. Bly."
Mrs. Bly lived in the "Home for Aged Women." She was a nice old lady, and Lucy often wen t with her mother to call upon her.
"Very well, dear," said mamma; "there is your gold dollar; if you want to give it you may."
"May I buy 'zactly what I please, Mamma?"
"Yes, dear."
"O, how nice!" said Lucy.
"Can't we go right now, right off, to buy it?"
Mamma said, "Yes" again, and Lucy ran off to get her hood and cloak and mittens. In a few minutes she was out on the street with mamma, gazing into all the shop windows. "What shall I buy? What shall I buy?" she kept asking.
Mamma said a little shawl for Mrs. Bly's shoulders would be nice, or a pair of warm stockings or a handkerchief. But Lucy shook her head.
"Wouldn't she like a bu'ful dollie or a sweet little kitty better?" she asked.
Mamma had to laugh at that.
Just then Lucy cried out,"There it is! I see it! That is what I want!" Guess what it was?
It was a beautiful, large rose bush in a pretty pot. There were two roses on it, and plenty of buds. So they went in and bought it.
The man said he would send it up right away. Old Mrs. Bly was sitting in her rocking chair knitting. There came a knock at the door. She opened it, and who should there be but Lucy and her mamma, and a boy with a rose bush! How surprised Mrs. Bly was, and how pleased, when she knew that little Lucy bought the plant with her own money.
"You dear little lamb," she said; "it will make me happy. It is like the roses in my old home."
When Christmas morning came, Mrs. Bly cut off one of those lovely roses and put it in a vase. She carried it to a poor old lady across the hall who was ill in bed, and it made her glad.
So you see little Lucy made three people happy that Christmas day--the sick old lady, Mrs. Bly, and herself.

````Mrs. C. M. Livingston

Happy St. Nicholas Day

Dear Readers,

We hope you've enjoyed a beautiful St. Nicholas Day today; spent in the companionship of those dearest to you!

My most favorite Christmas decoration-my grandma's Christmas cactus.

We love to have a little bit of Christmas cheer each December 6th; thanks to Sarah ban Breathnach's Mrs. Sharp's Traditions book for pointing out its sweet benefits! Of course we later discovered Tasha Tudor's wonderful books, and her family's love of this all but forgotten holiday, as well.

My husband surprised us by bringing home a beautiful fir for this year's tree-He is going to be playing Bob Cratchit and Jacob Marley in our local production of "A Christmas Carol". We hope he learns to change costumes quite quickly!

Tasha is excited for the upcoming celebration of St. Lucia Day (I haven't had the heart to tell her that it's the OLDEST girl who gets to be St. Lucia yet.), as you can see! I'm not sure if Ezekiel 4:9 bread passes as the traditional goody, though. At least we'll be real healthy!


We'd better get on those Christmas newsletters, now,

And get stitchin' on some more little Christmas gifts for our loved ones~

Till next time,

Love,

Marqueta

"If any little word of ours
Can make one life the brighter'
If any little song of ours
Can make one heart the lighter;
God help us speak the little word,
And take our bit of singing
And drop it in some lonely vale
To set the echoes ringing.

If any little love of ours
Can make one life the sweeter;
If any little care of ours
Can make one step the fleeter;
If any little help may ease
The burden of another;
God, give us love and care and strength
To help along each other.

If any little thought of ours
Can make one life the stronger;
If any cheery smile of ours
Can make its brightness longer;
Then let us speak that thought today,
With tender eyes aglowing,
So God may grant some weary one
Shall reap from our glad sowing.

~Anonymous

A Cowboy Christmas

Dear Readers,

We interrupt this Christmas-post marathon to bring you this message from "Future Cowboys of America":


"I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande
But my legs ain't bowed and my cheeks ain't tanned

I'm the cowboy who never saw a cow
Never roped a steer 'cause I don't know how
I sure ain't fixin' to start in now
Yippee i oh ti-ay! Yippee i oh ti-ay!


I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande
And I learned to ride before I learned to stand

I'm a ridin' fool who is up to date
I know every trail in the Lone Star State
'Cause I ride the range in a Ford V-8
Yippee i oh ti-ay! Yippee i oh ti-ay!




I'm an old cowhand from the Rio Grande
Where the West is wild all around the borderland
Where the buffalo roam around the zoo
And the Indians run up a rug or two
And the old Bar X is just a barbeque
Yippee i oh ti-ay!

(This is an old Bing Crosby song-hopefully non-offensive in this politically-correct age!)


Since Frankie's pony is falling apart, looks like a new one might be on Santa's list!

Love,

Marqueta

A New Sort of Christmas Tree

Dear Readers,

Here is an idea for you from the Ladies' World Magazine, December 1895:

"Have a frame-work made of common hemlock, the center-piece upright to imitate the trunk of the tree,
and the branches made of trimmings from trees, fallen branches; old bean poles will answer nicely, nailed on irregularly. Tack on patches of moss and lichens and then trim with sprigs of evergreen. An ingenious lad can make a very pretty substitute for a tree, one that would actually pass muster for a real tree.
An attractive way to decorate the tree for children would be to tuck snow balls in every available jog and angle. Inside of each snow ball could be placed a present. Wrap each present in muslin, and with a few stitches give it the form of a ball; then wrap it in white cotton batting, the fluffy kind, and it will look like a tree full of snow balls. If candles are used great care must be taken to place them so there will be no danger of contact with the snow balls. If liked all the balls can be powdered with diamond dust, and they will glitter brilliantly. Any lad who gets up an artificial Christmas tree may be proud in the knowledge that he saved one tree for his country."

Isn't that an interesting suggestion? It would mean so much more to a family, if they were going to use an artificial tree, to have a son (or daughter) make a tree from natural items, instead of resorting to plastic or other artificial things? Think of the lovely memories (As well as scents) to keep! Another idea I like is the use of a small, live fir or pine, wrapped in burlap. In the spring, you could plant your tree, and each have a new tree to add to your family "Christmas grove"! If we weren't planning on moving soon, we would do so here.

And here is a funny poem from the same "Ladies' World":

Song of the Shoppers

We are shoppers, and you'll find us
Everywhere about the town.
And we always leave behind us
Clerks with smiles and clerks with frown;
Bundles in our arms we carry,
Though we sometimes have them sent,
While about the stores we tarry
Till our money is all spent.

Longest way to us is quickest,
If it leads by bargain stores;
And you'll find us in the thickest
Of the crowd before the doors
Where they sell at slaughter prices,
Advertise big mark-down sales
At tremendous sacrifices,
Of some big concern that fails.

We make business for all mortals,
And, if we should cease to shop,
Factories would close their portals,
And the wheels of trade would stop.
But we keep the money flowing,
Buying goods from every clime,
Thus we keep the world a-going,
buying, buying, all the time.

We go shopping, we go shopping;
We shop on from morn till night,
Never stopping, never stopping,
Till the shops are closed up tight;
Sometimes trying, sometimes trying
To buy at a sacrifice,
Oftimes buying, oftimes buying
Everything, at every price.

~Sharles Hurd

Till next time,

Marqueta

Quick and Easy Christmas Gifts

Dear Readers,

We hope you are enjoying your day, and basking in the peace of the Christmas season. Here are some little Christmas gifts we have been working on, that we thought we'd share with you, to give you ideas for some simple gifts to make.

The first are little acorn needle keepers (needles keepers should have something hard to keep them from going into the cushion), made from the caps of large acorns. We painted some pink, but they look pretty au naturale, too.

"Somebody" played with this one and cracked it, but it still looks good.

The cushion is made of a circle of velvet with gathering stitches around the outside to make a ball-shape, stuffed with polyfil (We were going to use sand, but it was rained on!). We sewed a small circle of gathering stitches on the end to imitate the cute little tip acorns have on them. We then glued the ball into the acorn cap, and that was it! Simple, practical and quick.

We put a pin in these, since needles are hard to see in photos!

If you don't know any seamstresses, they also make great decorations, as you can see!

Next, we made eye pillows out of scraps of flannel and denim (Make sure that denim is clean-looking now; the grunge look is all right for pants, but few people want it on their face!), about four inches by ten inches.


We haven't stuffed them yet (We're out of flax seeds), but we will fill them with flax (white rice would be good, too), and whatever yummy herbs we want to mix (i.e. lavender, rose petals, hops, etc.). We actually LOVE using the sagebrush that is so plentiful in this part of the country, but you might have a harder time getting it than we (If you want some, just let us know. We'd be glad to send you a "sniff"!).

These are super-easy, being two rectangles sewn together (Remember to leave an end open for turning and stuffing.). Children especially love the stuffing part, and older children can help with the stitching, too.


Meanwhile, we'll be perusing our old books and magazines to find more Christmas ideas to share!

A Hint to Santa Claus

If I were Santa Claus, I'd give
Ben Brown a whooping lot of things--
A train of cars, sure as you live,
A Noah's ark, a ball that sings,
A pair of skates, a book, a bat,
A bag of candy, pretty fat--
And all of this because, you see,
Ben Brown is me!

~Susie M. Best

Blessings to you,

Marqueta