December 16, 2021 - Anticpating Christmas Morning

 Waiting for the arrival of Santa Claus was one of the most excruciating times to try my patience, and also my brothers and sisters. We weren't wealthy and we weren't poor. We were what used to be called the middle class. There were various degrees of middle class when I was young. All I knew then is that you had to be selective in what you desired and patiently wait for it to arrive. Christmas was always a time of surprises. So waiting for the morning to arrive was the longest night of the year. This is how I knew Santa could deliver so many gifts around the world. It took him forever to get to our house because he was so busy. This is also why I was always pleased with whatever arrived. How could that jolly old man get everything to everybody perfectly. He had to have some room to adjust as needed.

I would wait with my brothers and sisters. Trying to stay awake to catch him. Inevitably we slumbered off to sleep. But, then we were aroused by something; were those noises, whispers, reindeer hooves? It was 6 am and now we would wake our parents. Being the oldest I knew better than this to be me, parents weren't happy to be stirred awake at 6am. I always sent the youngest to wake them. They never would yell at the littlest. The little tike didn't know better than to let sleeping parents sleep.

SO NOW WE OPENED THE GIFTS. At 6 am on Christmas morning!

As we all got older we waited longer and longer. Even having breakfast first sometimes. But, that was very rare.

Santa has taught me many lessons and this poster seems to some most of them up.

I think that poster says a lot about what we need to remember in these trying times.

Here is today's song the lyrics are in German and english so you can sing along!

                                 

December 15, 2021 - Preparing for a Storm

 The weather report calls for high winds again. We are going to simply stay indoors enjoy the fire, listen to music, and keep ourselves warm and cozy. When I went searching through cards today I found some oldies that seem to fit the day.

This first card was drawn for Christmas of 1984 and it seems we had a mother cat with kittens, This was a common thing as we seemed to have the luck of people dropping off cats and we adopting them. I do think that this was before we started to get all our cats spayed or neutered to prevent the over population. Also it became more and more difficult to find the kittens homes. We always seemed to have cats around. Some of my favorites were Domino. Black Cat, Gato, Samwise, Doones, Nissan, Zauber, Reba Shane Lewis, and Bajah. I know have forgotten some cats along the way. But my girls will remember any I have forgotten. If you have a pet be sure to remembver them with a little holiday treat.

Enjoy the time you have to relax this holiday resting between all the activites and preparation.

Here is today's holiday song.

If you found that song as annoying as it is. here is another more traditional song.

December 14, 2021 - Sweets and Toys

Today is rather hazy but a warm 45 degrees. The birds are enjoying the recently filled feeders. The squirrels are cleaning up under the feeders. The last of the cards are being addressed. Sugar cookies are baked, Chocolate crinkles are ready for tomorrow's baking. Will be mixing up some chocolate wafers for sandwich cookies later today. These will get filled with peppermint and raspberry flavored creams. Will be gathering the essentials for some Lebkuchen, Zimmsterne, and Linzer cookies.

Might just purchased some of these at Aldi's. Also will be checking there for some holiday candies. Here is the card of Santa's candy workshop with it's busy little Elves hard at work. Plenty of sweets to fill candy dishes, stockings, and just to tempt the incurable sweet tooth.

I remember how much fun I had when constructing this card. Lots of research onto candy making machinery. Love the hand turned taffy maker, the intricate chocolate dispenser, and the fudge cauldron. The work orders posted, so no Elf worth his pay would or could make a mistake. Hand rolling candy canes seems to be a real art form. All the jars with labeled candies were the favorites of one or more of the grand children. All the grands were captured as Elves. The Aurora Borealis, ribbon candy, and wild life all favorites of mine.

The Toy Shop

This card with its see through border was another one that I had a lot of fun creating. We are past the toy buying days even though I believe you are never to old to play with toys. As I look around my work space I see quite a collection of them. Which reminds me of this Christmas song and all time favorite at our home.

 

John Denver singing The Marvelous Toy song

 this song was written by Tom Paxton 

and my children will remember it from the "Peter, Paul, and Mommy" album

Here is a live performance of Peter, Paul, and Mary singing Tom Paxton's marvelous song - "The Marvelous Toy"

December 13, 2021 - Cookie Week

 

First card with all six grandchildren.

Well, it has arrived the week of Holiday cookie baking. I prepared my traditional sugar recipe last night and will roll, cut and bake tonight. Tomorrow they will completely cooled for decoration. I wanted to share my recipe with you but could not find it anywhere on the web, so I will be typing it in here.

Bill's Sugar Cookie Recipe - good for any holiday

Ingredients:

1/2 pound unsalted butter

3/4 C sugar 

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp of a flavored liqueur - Amaretto, Chambord, Triple Sec

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Combine butter and sugar and cream until smooth and fluffy sugar should not be apparent in mix

Add the egg yolks, vanilla, and liqueur - beat until fluffy and smooth

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in separate bowl

Add flour mixture in small amounts until all is combined

Scrape down sides as needed and when all is combined divide into two somewhat equal portion, flatten 1" thick discs and wrap 

Store in the refrigerator over night or for a few hours so dough becomes firm

When ready to roll, cut, and bake ---- preheat oven to 350*  If dough has been refrigerator over night it may need to warm a bit for easier rollong

Dust work surface roll dough to1/4 inch or slightly less thickness, cut cookies and place on  parchment line cookie sheets

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes check to avoid burning bottoms.

Cool completely and then decorate I use royal icing and sugar sparkles

Store in sealed container or freeze  in container if you choose

                                Better yet share and eat with milk, Hot Cocoa, tea, or coffee.

Cookie Baking Week

      I think I warned you that I have fallen in love with this catchy little ditty.

December 12, 2021 - Now There are Five and Almost Six - Cards Completed

This years card has been completed and will soon be arriving in mailboxes and on my social media outlets. This card created a few challenges for me. One was finding away to represent the grandchildren. As they are all growing older it is hard to find something that represents them. In thinking about creating the card the idea came to me of the post office and all the work those people do during the Holiday Season. Now, during the pandemic health issue we have become more dependent upon their delivery. Packages arriving and packages then being sent on to others. Delivery to the door. Never being able to actual let them know how much we appreciate them.

Other services are also providing us with holiday orders and deliveries. Again we cannot thank them enough for the work they do and the service they provide. 

If your home is like ours you are collecting cardboard boxes. I try to recycle as many of these boxes as possible, When I was teaching we would use this material for the under structures and armatures of Papier Mache sculptures. I save them now for storage, painting spray booths, work bench coverings and for some interesting creative projects. Trying to extend their use as much as possible.

Today's flash back card shows the five grandchildren. The fifth arrived to join the others earlier in the year and a few months later the sixth arrived. This card doesn't include number six yet but recognizes how her cousins felt about her arrival. It was fun year to draw a card with a lot of family meaning.

Christmas Welcome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well while the card above shows a family welcome the card below is to thank all those who are trudging through all kinds of weather and challenging conditions to get our holiday gifts and thoughts to the right places at the right times.

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrate Winter with a Thank You to others.

 

Thank you Florin Street Band

December 11, 2021 - A Very Windy Day

 Here in the woods today we are experiencing some rather high winds. This isn't a new phenomena for us but rather the usual in the past year. We refer to our home as "The Land of the Dancing Trees". We sat this morning enjoying our coffee as the trees were swaying back and forth. This dancing sometimes causes a branch of two to fall. As we read the weather warnings for today we saw they were advising us not to walk in the woods due to the potential of falling branches. Of course we had no desire to go walking today as the windchill was causing temperatures we really didn't want to venture into.

The birds were glad that we had turned on the bird spa. This little heated dish gives them the opportunity to have a source for water. I did venture to the mail box with someletters to post so on the way back I checked the pond. The fish were in their suspended state floating at a stand still near the aerator. This is our first year wintering fish and the directions were that they could survive the cold with the depth of our pond as long as there was oxygen being supplied to the water. Our aerators keep the pond open most of the winter. We are hoping this was accurate information gleaned from the internet.

Today's flash back cards shows the addition of another grandchild. Now there are four. Christmas just kept getting more and more fun. This fourth one is now in High School and has the most infectious happiest way of making everything seem a lot more fun.

Checking the List - is your mane there.

 

Flying with the wind today would be exhilarating, against it painfully slow.

                             Here is a song I hope it warms your heart today,

December 10, 2021 - Mrs. Claus celebrates her Birthday

 Today is Mrs. Claus's birthday. She is celebrating the event alone with Mr. Claus tonight. Tomorrow will be a small gathering of elves to join a belated celebration. 

There are a few cards in the years past that show Mrs. Claus. Though, I believe that she is the driving force behind that jolly old man, she really prefers to be behind the scene. I have already posted the card with her and Mr.Claus under the mistletoe. I know she is the reviewer of all the cards before they hit the print shop and yet doesn't really get the credit she deserves. So thank you Mrs. Claus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see she looks like the lady who is determine to get things done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here Mrs.Claus is taking advantage of being able to sleep the whole night through. As she has been so busy throughout the previous year she deserves the extra sleep.

Here are the two Claus' enjoying Mrs. Claus' birthday with a little quiet time together.