December 22

 

I honestly feel as if I accomplished very little today, but my  hubby says that getting all of the Christmas cards written and on their way is a very big accomplishment indeed.  And I know he's right.  It was a lot of cards.

It all reminds me of an older poem which I'd found in a used Christmas book and blogged about on my Christmas blog in 2014.  Here it is:

LORD, BLESS THE CARDS WE'VE WRITTEN
 Myrtle Beeler Day

Lord, bless the cards we've written;
May they bear a joyous greeting.
Bless the gifts we've wrapped and tied;
May they radiate Thy love.
Bless the wreaths that we have hung
In doorway, stair, and hall;
May they speak of life eternal.
Thy dominion over all.
Bless the lovely candle
Shining forth into the night;
May it carry far and wide
The wondrous message of Thy light.
Bless all the sweet traditions of Thy dear, holy birth;
May they lead us in the worship of
The Savior, Lord of earth.

There are some wonderful thoughts there and some timely prayer requests! 

So let's see ... yesterday afternoon I made another double batch of Christmas granola and packaged it in quart jars for gifting.  I also put together a cookie plate for our neighbor who I knew would appear at our door any day bearing a loaf of freshly baked sourdough rye bread.  

And in fact, that exchange of goodies took place today.  Tomorrow I would like to make a few more kitchen gifts and get a package on its way to Nevada, but we will see!

December 8

 

So yesterday afternoon we were able to go to the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra's Christmas concert, titled North Pole Playlist.  Our granddaughter and several of our friends play in this orchestra and the Christmas concert is always a fun one. 

Today my hubby has been baking cookies and stringing up outdoor lights.  I think he also is thinking of bringing in the Christmas tree this afternoon too, but we will see!

He is currently working on Christmas tree spritz

and earlier finished Gingerbread Coffee Cake Cookies.

 
I've been cleaning, doing laundry and just a bit of decorating, working on Etsy listings too.  I just scanned the little 1950s Rust Craft card, below.  Isn't it fun?

 
And soon it will be time to think about supper!  Another busy December day, but I am seeking to do every bit of it in a celebratory spirit, as to the Lord.

Spinning a random post from one Hodgepodge question

 

 This week there is just not time to write a Hodgepodge post.  Sometimes when that happens, I'm able to answer just one question and that works out great.  Not this time, though.  The one question I would have answered would have been about my favorite cookbook(s). 

That would take way more time than I have today, so I'm simply spinning it into a post about cooking magazines, vintage and newer, which I have always enjoyed cooking and baking from.  Most of the text is coming from a draft of a book I'm thinking of publishing about kitchens I have known and loved. 

You may never have heard of Farm Journal, a magazine which was subscribed to by farmers and ranches all over the United States — maybe Canada too.  In the 1960s my family subscribed to it.  Near the back of this magazine was a fairly hefty section just for women.  Loads of wonderful recipes that had been sent in by readers or developed in the Farm Journal test kitchen were featured here.  The recipes for a specific issue of the magazine often had a theme — say, garden produce, gifts from the kitchen, cakes, beef or chicken main dishes, or whatever.  When the Farm Journal arrived in our home and I got my hands on it, the recipes were the first things I turned to.  I imagine a lot of country women and teen girls did the same.  

Farm Journal cover from December 1961

And then, logically enough, Farm Journal began to produce cookbooks.  How I loved these books!  My mother purchased many of them — and later on, so did I.  There was a cookie cookbook, a large, comprehensive Country Cookbook, a freezing & canning cookbook, an Informal Entertaining Country Style Cookbook (one of my top favorites), a chocolate cookbook, a family favorites cookbook, a healthy snacks cookbook and many more.  

The Farm Journal Homemade Cookies cookbook

Thanks to the evocative and folksy writing style of Nell Nichols, the Farm Journal food editor,  I could read those volumes by the hour.  The recipes were so delicious, too.  The chocolate cookbook is completely spattered and freckled with brown from baking so many of the sweet treats.  The Family Favorites cookbook is another from which I made recipe after recipe.

When Taste of Home magazine came out, both my mother and I subscribed.  I had been  cooking in my own kitchen for some time at that point.  I think the reason we instantly fell in love with Taste of Home is that it had that same folksy feeling as Farm Journal.  Indeed, the reason Farm Wife News, of which Taste of Home was an offshoot, had originally been started was that all of the older farm magazines and journals had begun to discontinue their women’s sections.  Understandably, rural women missed that and were thrilled when Reiman Publications stepped into the void with Farm Wife News.  My mother subscribed to that, as did I after it became Country Woman.  Then Reiman branched out even more with Taste of Home, a cooking magazine loaded with recipes, and a staff of field editors from all over the United States and Canada.  I still have every Taste of Home issue I ever received, and I've cooked and baked from them often.  When Quick Cooking, later renamed Simple & Delicious, came along, I subscribed to those too.

When each new issue arrived, I would always find a new recipe — usually many more than one — that I couldn’t wait to try.  My mother was the same, and so was my friend Marilyn — and later, my daughters when they had their own kitchens.  We would so often compare notes about what recipes appealed to our families and which one we would like to try first.  Some of my very best recipes came from Taste of Home or other Reiman publications.  Although I enjoyed submitting recipes to their contests, it came to the point where I was limited into which ones I could send in.  So many of our favorite recipes had come from there in the first place!

I stopped subscribing to any cooking magazines some years ago.  I have all of the recipes I will ever want or need (although that doesn't stop me from pinning more to my Pinterest boards!) and right now I am cooking with very limited ingredients due to a special diet my hubby is following.  And yet a couple of weeks ago in Maine, I picked up a free 2024 issue of Taste of Home in a thrift shop.  Must be I still find them somewhat irresistible!

The Jar of Jelly -- a Christmas poem I have loved for years

 

  
The Jar of Jelly 

 To others' eyes, it may not look like much;
Wrapped up in festive ribbons and some seals
To make it look more Christmasy and gay.
But you for whom it's meant will find, I know,
All that is packed within the little jar,
You will translate the label properly
And see just what the contents really are.
"Wild grape -- " you'll say, and suddenly
You'll not be walking dusty city halls,
But down an autumn-gilded little lane
Between the jewelled vines of old stone walls.
Instead of dingy bricks beyond a court
You'll see a spruce-green hillside, sharp and clear,
Sweet fern and bayberry will scent the breeze,
The whirr of partridge wings delight your ear.
It is not much to send, this one small jar,
But you will see that in it, pure and true,
Shimmers the essence of the place we love,
Preserved especially by me, for you. 

-- Barbara Overton Christie 

 I've posted this before -- in 2006! -- but I am posting it again for the enjoyment of my newer readers.  I have loved this poem for many years.

  My mother had several issues of Farm Journal's Christmas Book, and I loved to peruse them every year. This poem was included on a page with recipes for gift jams and jellies. 

 I was fortunate enough to be given some old issues of the Farm Journal Christmas Book in later years, and the issue containing this poem happened to be one of them. I have enjoyed so much having these books for my very own. 

This poem in particular shows how even a very small gift can come straight from the heart -- and that it can be much more than just a jar of jelly.

Sweet little vintage Christmas card

 

 This little card is a recent find that will be going in my Etsy shop.  The scene reminds me so much of the valley where I grew up.  Mountains all around, a big red barn, friendly folks -- well, I just love it.  The message inside the card is also refreshing and different:

Christmas again!

And may you have the real joys 

that make the season mean so much;

-- warm remembrance, friendly greetings, 

and hearty good cheer.

Isn't that beautiful?  And so much of it is just what I wish for my friends at Christmas.  How about you?

A snippet of a poem

 

 I found this snippet of poetry on a vintage stationery box.  The stationery (by Brownie, apparently a design called "Sweet Clover")  is long gone and the box is in poor shape.  But this bit of verse is too lovely not to share:

I know a place where the sun is like gold,
And the cherry blooms burst with snow,
And way underneath is the loveliest spot
Where the four leaf clovers grow.

Beautiful, don't you agree?

"Where the sun is like gold" gives a fairly recognizable picture.  "Cherry blooms burst with snow" is a little bit more difficult, but when you realize that cherry trees in bloom often have a snowy look it makes more sense.  Just a pretty, pretty bit of verse that paints a sweet picture for the reader.

Stationery, like so many other things, was so much more meaningful and lovely back in the day. 

A surprising vintage find

 

Back while cleaning out the old homestead in 2020, there were many fun vintage finds that we uncovered.  Among them were boxes that evidently accompanied my mother when she left home to get married.  They held mementos and other things from her childhood, college years, and even her young adult years teaching school.

The oldest of these boxes contained many childhood treasures (even old school papers and report cards!) but one of the most precious things I found was a cardboard suitcase that seemed intended for doll clothes.  It is 1930s vintage and is labeled "Dolly Peggy and Her Hope Chest."

I just did a little research online and found this from Worthpoint: "A Dolly Peggy Hope Chest. 8"x3"x6". Made by Transogram Company Inc, NY.  The chest is made of cardboard with a metal handle and latch.  It is covered on all sides with pictures of Dolly Peggy traveling the world, taking a bath, buying new clothes, pictures of a train, plane and ocean liner.  Even has a picture of her little dog - Rags.  Inside fully lined in pink and cream paper with a moire pattern ... A bit timeworn, but a really neat doll accessory!"

As you can see, the one I found was "a bit timeworn", also.   I opened it up fully expecting to find doll clothes.  But what I found was actually even more precious to me.  Apparently I didn't take any photos of it, but that's okay.  It was a sort of crumpled up piece of fabric, which turned out to be a partially completed stamped cross stitch with this saying: "A Friendly House by the Side of the Road With a Friendly Welcome for You".  The skeins of embroidery floss were there with it.

It doesn't take a detective to know this was a project my mother had started as a child, but had never completed.  What intrigues me more is a snippet of a memory of something my mother had shared with me.  How, when she was a child, her father was very ill and spent time in Boston in the hospital.  Her mother was there with him, and various extended family members took up the slack at home: supervising the maple sugar operation, looking after the children, and so on.  One of those who helped care for the children was a teenage cousin, I believe.  My mother recalled how this girl -- I think her name may have been Rebekah -- taught her and her sisters to sew doll clothes and to embroider.  So I think it's not too much of a stretch to assume that this was the project my mother practiced those skills  on.

 Well, of course you know I had to finish that incomplete project.  The floss was still there, although I think it didn't include yellow, so I used some from my stash.

And I did finish it-- using the colors she had started with on areas that she had begun to stitch, then choosing from among the included floss (along with yellow to brighten it up) to stitch the remaining unstitched design.  And it languished for a bit until I thought of the exact right thing to do with it.

You see, I own a framed cross stitch from the same era -- stitched by my Great-Aunt Mabel and dated 1935.  It's very similar in design, which makes me guess the one by my mother is from the mid-1930s as well. As you can see, the saying is "How Dear to This Heart are the Scenes of My Childhood when Fond Recollection Presents Them to View."  I've had this for awhile.  It always hung in my grandmother's house, near her desk and the chair where she spent many hours talking on the phone.  When I acquired this heirloom -- which had always intrigued me, even before I learned to embroider -- I immediately hung it in our bedroom.

But then.  Along came our camp, and after it was made livable again, I decided to take Mabel's cross-stitch to hang on the freshly painted wall of the bedroom nook.  It looks wonderful there.

And so, upon giving it some thought, I realized that my mother's sampler should also be framed and hung on one of the other walls in that nook.  A good idea, but easier said than done.  At first, I thought maybe I would try to match the frame on Mabel's stitchery (or have my husband make one),  but quickly realized that would be nearly impossible -- and also that this wasn't about perfection.  Our camp is so full of quirky, whimsical old things that a little detail like frame color and style mattered not a whit.  

Then the problem began to be finding an affordable frame that would fit.  Walmart was no help.  I found some frames that I liked, but getting a large enough one was going to be expensive.  And they didn't have the colors I liked on the larger frames.  This cross-stitch piece doesn't look as big as it actually is.  I confidently purchased an 8x10 frame before realizing the design wasn't going to fit.

So we began to visit the thrift store on a regular basis to see if we could find a suitable frame, or even a piece of framed art.  Our favorite local thrift store has quite a fast turnover, so we felt we would eventually find just what we needed.

It took a few months, but one day Mr. T found a framed art piece that he thought was the right size.  He "measured" it by laying it down on the floor tiles, which he guessed to be about a foot square.  He was sure it would be right -- and it was!  We wasted no time purchasing it, removing the artwork, and using it to frame the needlework.  It fit perfectly and looks so good with the stitchery.

Although this one is blurry, you can see its place in the corner of the sleeping nook, and you can also see how the border is somewhat similar to the one on Mabel's stitchery above.

 This one is less blurry.  Even though our camp is in the woods on a dirt road, it truly is "by the side of the road" and we do offer a friendly welcome to those who can visit us there.

 After almost 90 years, this sweet sampler is just where it belongs.

A few goals for March

Once again, it's a new month and so I need to set some goals.

* Keep up with Flylady's homemaking zones of the week
* Get back to working through the "Make Room Challenge" from Make Room for What You Love
* Spend time with our friends who are younger believers
* Enjoy our church ladies' gathering
* Post in this blog as often as possible
* Post in my Christmas blog as often as possible
* Continue planning for family birthday gifts and crafting any handmade ones
* Celebrate March birthdays
* Use Charles Swindoll's devotional Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life for my quiet time daily
* Continue studying and preparing for my Sunday School lessons
* Continue with Stand Firm, a Bible study on the armor of God
* Continue stocking my Etsy shop and continue selling vintage items
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family
* Spend extended time at our volunteer jobs
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able
* Plan meals with a greater emphasis on healthy eating
* Continue to work on memorizing the book of James
* Continue to help a widowed friend with the challenges of life in general
* Get to bed by 8:30 each night we are at home
* Drink enough water each day
* Walk and/or exercise at least 4 times each week

HEALTHY HABITS FOR MARCH:  Drink more water/get more sleep/get more exercise/intermittent fasting/limit carbs

WORD FOR 2024: Continue

Icing on the Hodgepodge

 

It's Wednesday again, and that means it's time for the Hodgepodge -- the linkup where Joyce, at  From This Side of the Pond, asks the questions and bloggers provide the answers on their own blogs.     Here goes!

 1. What's a change you'd like or need to make this year? 

To begin a simple exercise program that will strengthen more of my muscles.  I walk a lot and my legs and thighs show that, but I need to seriously work at strengthening other areas.  Like my arms and core, for instance.  Another important change I want to make this year is to, finally, declutter and downsize the entire house.  High property taxes may mean a move at some point down the road, and if that happens it will be to a smaller place, so I need to be much more ready than I am right now.

A flooded brook turned to ice near my childhood home, some years back.

2. Break the ice, on thin ice, ice skating, tip of the iceberg, ice cold...which icy idiom applies to your life right now? Explain. 

I think I'll say tip of the iceberg.   See the declutter and downsize goal above.  I've done some decluttering and downsizing, but it is the tip of the iceberg.  Another way this applies is to the mountain of items still to sell in my Etsy shop.  I've made nearly 700 sales and this is exciting, but oh -- the amount of vintage paper is almost overwhelming.

3. What's a project you've been putting off? Will you get to it this month? This year?

Starting pillow quilts for my two youngest granddaughters.  I would like to think I will get to it this month.

A past pillow quilt unfolded.

Same pillow quilt folded.

A space-themed pillow quilt unfolded.  Guess I don't have a picture of it folded.  This was a glow in the dark fabric panel if I remember right.

A Curious George pillow quilt, folded.  I've made pillow quilts for all the other grands, so it's obvious I need to complete these last two.

4. Of the fruits that grow well in winter which ones have you tried? Which is your favorite? 

pomegranates, clementines, persimmons, passion fruit, pears, grapefruit, lemons, pomelos, kumquats

 I have tried pomegranates, clementines, passion fruit, pears, grapefruit, lemons and pomelos.  I think of all of them probably grapefruit is my favorite.

5. What do you think it means to be courageous? 

My word for the year in 2019 was courage.   So logically enough I looked at definitions as I approached that word.   Here's what the dictionary said:

I thought it meant quite a bit more, so I looked it up in a Bible dictionary too.

Here is the definition from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary: "the strength of purpose that enables one to withstand fear or difficulty.  Physical courage is based on moral courage -- a reliance on the presence and power of God and a commitment to His commandments."

I like that quite a bit better.  So I would define courageous thusly:   Having the strength of purpose, based on a reliance on God's presence, power, and promises, and commitment to Him and His Word that enables one to withstand fear or difficulty or even face death bravely.

Graphic from Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Whew, after that definition almost anything else would feel random.  I think I'll share a couple of skating cards from my collection.  (The Valentine at question 2 is listed in my Etsy shop.)  I bought the one below in a stationery store in the late 1990s specifically to display  it.

"My warmest memories of winters past: A snowman, hot chocolate and skating fast."

I've always loved the scene above.  From my personal collection of vintage cards.

 

Another skating scene from my personal collection, this one with a city theme, which the two below also have.

The two skating scenes above were in my Etsy shop, but sold during November and December.

And that's the icing on the Hodgepodge for this week!

Hodgepodge December 13

 

It's Wednesday again, and time for the Hodgepodge -- the linkup where Joyce, at  From This Side of the Pond, asks the questions and bloggers provide the answers on their own blogs.   This week I'll add in some more vintage Christmas goodies from my collection and/or shop.   Here goes!

1. Oxford's Word of the Year for 2023 is 'rizz'. Hmmm...before today had you ever heard the word? Do you know what it means? (Apparently it's short for charisma) Have you ever used the word? If you were in charge of the world, what word would you declare word of the year for 2023?

Nope, I had never heard the word before.  I wonder how many actually have.  If I had heard it, I might  have heard it as "riz" which is short for risen, as in "riz biscuits" (biscuits leavened with yeast).

No idea what I might pick as word of the year.  Maybe woman.

2. What's one word you tend to abbreviate in your writing or speech? (as in rizz for charisma)

Hmmm... I may need to think about this for a bit.  Maybe "grandkids" or "grands" rather than grandchildren. 

3. Are you a Hallmark movie watcher this time of year? What's your favorite character from a holiday- themed movie, book, or TV special? 

Pretty sure I have never watched even one Hallmark movie.   My experience with holiday-themed movies and TV specials is pretty limited too.  For a favorite character, though, I might pick Clarence (I think that's the angel's name, right?) from It's a Wonderful Life.  He gets funnier every time I watch it.

4. Something you look forward to eating this month? 

Christmas cookies. 

 

5. What's the most stressful part of the holiday season for you? 

It's a busy time of year in my Etsy shop, on my blogs, at church, and in real life.  Keeping an appropriate balance may be the most stressful part. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Every year I try to do daily December posts on both blogs. I don't always manage it here, but I try to be very consistent about it with my Christmas blog, Mrs. T's Christmas Kitchen.  Check it out if you haven't visited!

And that's the Hodgepodge for this week!

 

A bit of winter decorating

 

 Just popping in with a quick post to share the small bit of winter decorating that I've done.  Most of it's on my hutch.  I found this gorgeous snowflake plate at our favorite local thrift store.  The blue mug is a Fire King mug in the "Kimberly" pattern; I found it at my childhood home and fell in love with it.  The little "Snow Day" cross-stitch is from the Prairie Schooler January sampler leaflet.  I'm working on the sampler, but I simply could not resist stitching this little piece also.

The log cabin plate was also a thrift store find; the vintage Gurley snowman candle was a gift from my friend Cyndy.

This shows more of that shelf.  The snowman plate was another thrift store find; think it's from Walmart originally.  The little cardinals were gifted me by my friend Lynne.

A closer look at the snowman plate.

The shelf below looks pretty much the same every winter: lots of glittery houses and little trees.  This year I added in a Christmas card from our friend Steven.  I thought it fit so well with the trees and houses.

 I already showed you this bookcase top from the living room, below.  It looks exactly the same now except I removed the "January" garland.  I decided I loved everything else just as it is!

 Oh, and this is an older photo but I have also hung these banners over the dining room windows:

And there is some of my super-simple winter decorating that I'm enjoying so very much.   Probably in March I will transition to a maple sugaring theme.

December weekend 2

 

 It was another festive weekend as we move toward Christmas!

I've already told you about the Christmas book (pictured above)  that I found at our local thrift store last week, but I will share again for any who may have missed it.  We've been enjoying it very much as it is so Christ-centered.  I paid 50¢, but Thriftbooks has it for $4.19 if you are so inclined.  You can see it here: The Heart & Home of Christmas.  I brought it along to our camp as we stayed over that night.  Mr. T enjoyed reading through it while I worked on other projects.

I guess this book came to mind because we went to the thrift store again this Friday.  It isn't usually a regular stop for us, unless we are dropping off donations.  But last week, we had bought a few Christmas plates (plastic) and we've already used several of them. It seemed a good idea to look for a few more.  These plates were 50¢, so it beats the dollar store.  We bought a half dozen in various sizes and designs.

My local daughter also suggested that I check out some special vintage Christmas books she had seen in the Christmas room at this shop.  They are subtitled An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art.  I did buy one just for fun.  The image below is the one that I bought.  It's from 1959.  I paid $5 but have seen them online for $18 and up!  Some of the older ones at the thrift store were as high as $12.

 I hope to blog about this book later this week when I have time to look through it more.

We browsed the Christmas room a little more and I picked up a package of 3 lovely glass ornaments for only $1 (if I remember right).  The bottom part is painted gold on the inside and the rest is clear.  So pretty!

Also on Friday we did our grocery shopping and picked up a few ingredients for cookie baking. Our supermarket has rolls of really fun kraft wrapping paper for $1.99, so we got a couple rolls.  Probably some of the unused rolls we have in the attic will end up going to the thrift store.  I like these much better!

 Saturday was a festive day from beginning to end.  In the morning I was able to attend a monthly ladies' Bible study which I enjoy so much.  I've mentioned our friend Amanda Reed, who leads this study, before.  This summer, she and her family moved to a beautiful log cabin with amazing views.  It was so fun to see how Amanda had added Christmasy touches like bows and ornaments to snowshoes both on her porch and on inside walls (and I wish I'd had a means of taking photos).  She also had jars of simple greenery all around the house.  

This was the last Bible study for awhile as we finished up this study on idolatry: More Than Anything.  We will resume in the spring with a new study.

Amanda had prepared a lovely brunch for us as it was our last time together for awhile: a delicious egg bake, fruit salad, pecan coffeecake, and smoothies.  Beyond kind.  It was such a gift to all of us.  You can read Amanda's latest blog post here: Making a Big Deal of Christmas.  I'm sure you would find it a blessing!

In the afternoon, my hubby and I were embroiled in all kinds of festive pursuits as I finished some cookies and he brought in the Christmas tree.  My hubby had previously made some chocolate pressed cookies in the shape of Christmas trees and I was turning them into little cookie sandwiches with minty white chocolate.

You can find the recipe here: Chocolate Peppermint Trees.  I didn't tint the white chocolate pale green as the recipe says, but instead left it white and then sprinkled on some green sugar.  Below you see them in their freezer box.

After that, I also baked some Chocolate Orange Cookies.  I just love the festive flavors of chocolate and orange together!

 
All the while, as I baked and he set up the Christmas tree, we had Christmas music playing and it was just a nice time together even though in separate areas much of the time.  We finished decorating the tree together after supper.

And then Sunday was a very festive day as we enjoyed our Christmas program at church.  Lots of music, Scripture, kids playing bells, and much more.  It was a very nice program that showcased the true meaning of Christmas!

Sunday afternoon Mr. T was out of town for a few hours so I wrote some blog posts, packaged up some Etsy orders, and wrote a few Christmas cards.  Below you see what one of the Etsy orders was for -- this gorgeous unused vintage Christmas card.

And that was the second weekend in December!