April, 1953

Here is the April calendar page from the lovely little 1953 Woman's Day calendar I mentioned earlier.  It is so interesting that the days in 1953 fell on exactly the same days of the week as in 2015.

This pretty page depicts apple blossoms, but we will not be seeing (aside from a miracle) any apple blossoms here in our yard during April.  In fact, I hope we don't, because if apple blossoms appeared here in April they would have a very good chance of being frozen.

I will look forward to them, though.  We have a wild apple tree in our yard that sprang from seeds discarded over the bank while making many apple pies.

Our apple tree in a previous year

Closeup of a previous year's apple blossoms

This tree is really getting out of control, but we hate to cut it down.  Not only are its blossoms lovely and fragrant, but the apples really aren't bad either, if we can get them before they drop to the ground.  Ah, apple blossoms -- something to look forward to when spring finally arrives!

April goals

Graphic by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings

A new month!  It's so nice to be able to turn the calendar to April, but of course that sure doesn't make it spring up here.  Monday night, we had a half inch of snow, and this morning it was only 19º when we got up.  So winter is taking its time about leaving!

Nonetheless, a new month means new goals (and some of the old ones repeated).  Here's my plan for the month:
* Follow Bible reading plan each day.
* Finish questions for You Are Loved summer Bible study  (I've already finished the daily Bible study, just need to finish answering the questions -- now just have one week's worth left to go, but I work on this only on Saturdays so it will take another month)
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones.
* Add 4 pages to my "What Do I Know About My God?" Scripture notebook
* Continue study for Sunday School -- Following God With All Your Heart
* Continue to re-read Say Goodbye to Survival Mode; continue to journal and implement what I learn
* Exercise or walk at least 20 times.
* Get to bed by 9:45 pm each night.
* Limit sugar.
* Drink enough water each day.
* Write 8 pages for kids' summer devotional
* Have a getaway with my hubby
* Keep up with Kelly's missions in homemaking zones of the week.
* Post in both of my blogs as often as possible
* Continue writing blog posts for Christmas in July
* Create several handmade gifts for April birthdays
* Celebrate April birthdays
* Continue working on several UFO craft projects
* Continue planning for visit from our Nevada family
* Reduce grocery bill by $5 per week consistently
* Spend several hours updating my A-store.
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able
* Clean church and set up for potluck meal
*  Continue trying to help and encourage my elderly dad
* Sort out and declutter my dad's attic
* Transfer important items to new computer
* Finish typing some family history for my mother-in-law
* Celebrate Easter with our church family

APRIL'S HEALTHY HABITS:  Nurture creativity/drink enough water/exercise

WORD FOR 2015: RENEWAL


And here is how March went:
* Follow Bible reading plan each day -- DONE!
* Finish questions for You Are Loved summer Bible study  -- only 1 week left to go!
* Memorize at least 4 Bible verses and review some older ones -- DONE!
* Add 4 pages to my "What Do I Know About My God?" Scripture notebook -- DONE!
* Start new study for Sunday School -- Following God With All Your Heart -- DONE!
* Continue to re-read Say Goodbye to Survival Mode; continue to journal and implement what I learn -- DONE!
* Exercise or walk at least 20 times -- not done.  Walked a few times.
* Get to bed by 9:45 pm each night -- not done consistently
* Limit sugar -- not done consistently
* Drink enough water each day -- not done consistently
* Start writing kids' summer devotional -- DONE!
* Have a getaway with my hubby -- rescheduled to April
* Keep up with Kelly's missions in homemaking zones of the week -- not done consistenly
* Post in both of my blogs as often as possible -- DONE!
* Start writing blog posts for Christmas in July -- DONE!
* Create several handmade gifts for March and April birthdays -- DONE! (although I am still working on the April ones)
* Send package to Nevada -- DONE!
* Celebrate March birthdays -- DONE!
* Continue working on several UFO craft projects -- DONE!
* Start planning for visit from our Nevada family -- DONE!
* Reduce grocery bill by $5 per week consistently -- not done
* Spend several hours updating my A-store -- spent only a half hour or so, but I have started!
* Write at least 4 encouraging notes to friends and family -- DONE!
* Help and encourage my local daughter as I'm able -- not as much as I'd have liked
* Clean church and set up for potluck meal -- DONE!
*  Continue trying to help and encourage my elderly dad -- DONE!
* Sort out and declutter my dad's attic -- not done, though I did get some of it done
* Transfer important items to new computer -- not done
* Take items to thrift store -- DONE!
* Finish typing some family history for my mother-in-law -- not done

MARCH'S HEALTHY HABIT:  Nurture creativity/drink enough water -- wasn't as consistent as I'd like in either area;  I am focusing on these habits again this month!

WORD FOR 2015: RENEWAL -- I've been so encouraged by my choice of a word.  I feel as if God is answering my prayers for renewal on many fronts this year. 

... and I was published!

Image from Pinterest

 Yes, Mr. T and I were both published in Gooseberry Patch cookbooks this year and each received a free cookbook.  My recipe for potato wedges is found in Mom Knows Best.  You can also find it here at my kitchen table:  Oven Potato Wedges.

I haven't had too much of an opportunity to cook from this cookbook yet, though I have looked through it some.   I did make a couple of recipes, both from the "Ready When You Are!" section, and both slow cooker recipes.  One was Hawaiian Chicken, which includes sweet red or green peppers (I used both), pineapple chunks, and more, and is very flavorful.  The other was Mother's Sausage Supper, which includes potatoes, smoked sausage, and canned green beans and is simple but very good.  I find myself using slow cooker recipes more and more often because it's just so convenient to have supper cooking while I occupy myself with other things.  This chapter has a bunch more I want to try.

I pinned the following images to my I Love Gooseberry Patch! on Pinterest.

Here's the table of contents:

Image from Pinterest

And some sample pages:

Image from Pinterest

You might like to check out this book for your own cookbook collection.  I'm sure it will be a practical addition to mine!

He was published!

Public domain photo from Pixabay

Yes, my dear hubby, Mr. T, recently had a recipe published by Gooseberry Patch.  It is called Grandpa's Sunday Waffles and is the waffle recipe he uses nearly every Sunday morning.   The cookbook he was published in is Christmas at Grandma’s, but unfortunately it is not going to be available for purchase until July or so.  We did receive an advance copy of the book, so we are already enjoying and using it.

If it is just us here for Sunday breakfast, we don't bother with waffles and have something simpler.  But most weekends our two older granddaughters are here, so we make waffles, bacon or sausage, and some special toppings.  I'm going to share our recipes for syrup and for berry sauce, which I usually make with strawberries because the girls prefer it and we have a freezer full of strawberries.

I’ve forgotten where I found the following recipe, but it is a good, easy pancake syrup. Here in New England, we produce real maple syrup and most of us prefer it to the fake stuff. But when frugality is the rule of the day, and we’re out of the real thing, I actually prefer this to the supermarket pancake syrup.

BROWN-SUGAR SYRUP

2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 c. water

Bring sugar and water to boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring once or twice. Boil 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Serve warm. Store leftover syrup in refrigerator. Makes about 2 cups.

This easy homemade syrup is good on pancakes or waffles. It is much tastier than the artificially-flavored syrup, and of course much less expensive than real maple syrup. It makes a great substitute.

BERRY SAUCE FOR PANCAKES OR WAFFLES

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tblsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup water
2 cups blueberries, raspberries, OR cut-up strawberries

Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in the water. Add the fruit and bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve warm. Makes about 2 cups.

This is a wonderful, versatile recipe that tastes so good on waffles in particular. It’s also good on pancakes or French toast and would probably be good on vanilla ice cream as well. You can make blueberry sauce, raspberry sauce, or strawberry sauce -- all are wonderful. Or you might like to use a mixture of these berries to make a mixed berry sauce. When I do this, I usually also add a few cranberries to the mixture.

Here's what the book looks like:

Photo from Pinterest

 I love the artwork -- but then, I love almost all of the artwork from Gooseberry Patch!

It's been so much fun for me over the years to acquire free books from Gooseberry Patch when they publish one of my recipes or crafts.  Now my hubby is getting in on the fun, too!

January and February 1953

Rather than wait until next January and February to show the pretty vintage calendar pages from the 1953 January Woman's Day magazine, I decided to go ahead and post them now.  It's interesting to see the Scripture verses that were chosen, and the illustrations are beautiful.  I need to learn more about the artist.

Above is January, of course, and here is the page for February:

You can see that the homeowner here has been spending his February days in a still snowy yard readying his firewood supply for the coming year.  Just what my hubby is currently doing!

Hope you have enjoyed this look at a vintage pocket calendar!  As one of my readers noted, it's really neat that the dates for the days are exactly the same for 2015 as they were in 1953!

Happy Spring!

This picture of daffodils at my dad's house is from a previous year.  No sign of them yet in 2015!

No, there is not much of a spring look hereabouts in northern New England!  The daffodils above are still only a dream as yet.

It really looks much more like this, as the maple sugar producers begin to tap their trees and make syrup:

At my Grampa's sugarhouse, 1956

In the sugar orchard, 1956

So it may be spring by the calendar -- and yes, maple sugaring is a sign of spring up here -- but there are few other signs of it.  It will be all the sweeter when it finally gets here!

A vintage find

I can't even remember now where I came across this treasure, but I found it among things I had saved:  the Woman's Day 1953 Calendar.  You may remember, these calendars used to come as pages within the January issues of Woman's Day magazine.  They featured Scripture verses and lovely illustrations.  The pages were then cut up and assembled as pocket-sized calendars.

Isn't this beautiful?  The verse lettered around the edge of the calendar's cover is from Matthew 12:35 and reads, "A good man out of the treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things." 

The next page of the calendar has another verse, Genesis 1:14.  What a perfectly lovely verse to consider a new year in light of!

And then the months of the year begin.  I plan to show one for every month.  Here is the one for March.

Hope this beautifully illustrated vintage calendar and its Scripture verses has brightened your day today!  It certainly brightened mine!