It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas!

Now I know the stores have had Christmas items on their shelves since October, and that I have participated in Christmas bazaars since November, and that I have seen Christmas ads in the paper and on T.V. for as long too. But now, just this week I have noticed that in my home and in my heart it is just now beginning to look and feel like Christmas! (sugar & creamer made by me the first year of my marriage)

I can't help but get in the Christmas spirit and mood when I hear Bing Crosby sing...my happy childhood Christmas memories come flooding back and I am ready for all the joys the holiday brings!

Lacamas Christmas Bazaar ~

I told you Santa and I are good friends. Santa came to our local Christmas Bazaar at my request. I know he is so very busy this time of year and it was a very BIG favor to ask, but he and I are very, VERY good friends..so he paid a little visit today.

Some of the children were happy to see Santa, even though they were a little shy.

A few of the grown-ups were happy to sit a spell with Santa too.

Here is just one of many wonderful booths at the Christmas Bazaar held here every year at Lacamas Community Center in Roy, Washington. Joyce has so many interesting things for sale and her booth takes awhile to peruse. She usually has something for everyone. ( she did NOT pay me to say this either)

Santa let me sit on his lap! You know though, Santa had a few other ladies sit on his lap too ~ I'm not so sure I will ask Santa to help out next year! ( just kidding, I am sitting in my booth very close to Santa you know)

The fearless volunteers of Lacamas Community Center manning the kitchen where they sell and serve breakfast , lunch, and yummy snacks to the Christmas shoppers and vendors. Ken Wilson ( far right) fries the eggs and burgers to suit the requests of customers, his wife Pam ( far left) is also here as all around person in charge of the kitchen and many, many other volunteer activities that make Lacamas Community Center a hub-bub of activity year round. If you're in the area come on out to Lacamas today and see the many wonderful items for sale from people in our community. Have breakfast or lunch, have your picture taken with Santa and buy a $1.00 raffle ticket for a chance to win a handmade quilt crafted and sewn by women in our community.Visit with me too, I'd love to meet you.

"Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart." Washington Irving "There has only been one Christmas- the rest are anniversaries." W.J. Cameron "When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?" G.K. Chesterton

FREE Frugal Farm-Girl Gift Wrap~

This gift is wrapped in free, yes , FREE gift wrap. Well, not entirely free because I did have to buy feed for my livestock and poultry to obtain it. The teasel embellishment grew near our pond and was cut and preserved by me. The tag is a very old tag I found in the antique secretary my husband inherited from his Great-Aunt Marion Lowery. I added a dried leaf I found on our front lawn , dabbed it in black pigment ink, drenched it in silver embossing powder and heat-embossed. The ribbon is from a gift I received ....so this gift wrap cost me nothing but my time because I would have bought the feed anyway...the chickens do have to eat to produce eggs ya know! ( see, keeping chickens gives me joy, eggs, and gift wrap!) "Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons." Ruth Ann Schabacker

To get a LOT of paper for gift wrap, or for you home-schooling Moms, it makes wonderful art paper ...I take my feed bags...

..cut off the ends and and then cut from top to bottom to open out the sacks. There are usually at least 4 layers of paper in feed bags and all can be used. Sometimes the inner layer can be a bit messy or smelly , depending on the type of feed the bag contained. Most livestock feeds smell at worst, like molasses. A lot of feed sacks are so well done and colorful that the top layer, or feed bag cover, is very colorful and "farmy" making it a good gift wrap for children's and mens' presents. If the paper is too wrinkly for you it can always be ironed. I have used feed bag paper for wrapping presents for years and it gives me a bit more money to spend on the GIFT..and knowing that as the gift wrap is ripped open and tossed aside....well, I don't see dollar signs going into the re-cycling bin along with it. Besides, recycling is very popular now , even patriotic! I call it thrifty and frugal..and FREE! "Love is, above all, the gift of yourself." Jean Anouilh

~Gifts wrapped in my Frugal Farm-Girl Gift Wrap~

"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

William A. Ward

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadows." James 1:17

Santa's Special Visit & Substitute Reindeer

Our oldest son was tucking his 4 daughters into bed in the guest room. They were exhausted after a very happy and busy day with family. Two of the little girls fell asleep watching Thumbelina while cuddling with Daddy and Grandma and they had to be carried upstairs to bed. Little did they know I had asked Santa to make a special visit to our home just to see them!( Santa and I are dear friends)

Santa came into their room with a "Ho ho ho!"

Two little granddaughters were wide awake now, and happy to see Santa!

Santa handed them fancy candy boxes with candy inside!

The other two granddaughters were so tired and sound asleep they could not wake up, Santa tried! He left their candy near them as they slept on.

Unfortunately, the Flying Reindeer Union ( FRU) rules and regulations do not allow the reindeer to fly except on Christmas Eve and also, to avoid any conflicts with the Thanksgiving Turkey Union ( TTU) Santa was unable to use his reindeer for a special visit in November, even though I am his personal friend and DO put out a lot of carrots and apples for them.....so Santa had to make do with Hawk...but Hawk could not seem to keep his antlers straight.

What's a dog to do?

Being the great and friendly dog he is though, he tried his best and the granddaughters have another Thanksgiving with an appearance from Santa to add to their memories of celebrating with us. Thanks Santa! I'll put out extra cookies and cranberry juice for you this year.

Death Of Local Law Enforcement Officers~ Senseless Murder

I had a different post in mind for today but when my husband and I turned on the news tonight we were horrified to see that 4 of our local law enforcement officers were gunned down, murdered, in a coffee shop not so very far away from us. Four people who have been in Law Enforcement for quite a few years. They were having coffee as they were about to start their work day, protecting the community. I was struck by the fact that all have families, and children they love, and who love them. They probably had a great and filling Thanksgiving meal just a few days ago...never dreaming it would be their last Thanksgiving here on earth with those they love. They were probably thinking about Christmas celebrations, what presents to buy, maybe even how they were going to come up with the money to purchase just that right gift for their loved ones. They probably kissed a loved one good bye and said they would see them later...then off to have coffee with fellow officers and discuss the coming work day. We all are most likely the same. The soldier at home, or even in the field ..the father or mother who drives off for work or every day errands, never doubting they will come back home to do the dishes and laundry, or mow the lawn...have the wife nag ( just a little ) for that one chore to be done, yeah, yeah. And we forget we are mortal. A few moments of violence or an accident can so suddenly remove us from the world of the living into eternity. Are we ready? My sincere and heart felt sympathies to the families of Officers Mark Renninger, Tina Griswold,Ronald Owen,and Greg Richards. To see in the news, the vehicles bearing away the bodies of these Law Enforcement Officers, and the long lines of fellow officers and the community standing silently by, saluting and shedding tears as the vehicles drove by , was somehow even more heart-breaking. This video is longer than I like to post, but seemed so appropriate. "The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18 & " He will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces." Isaiah 25:8

Thanksgiving~Already A Memory?

The table is set with my favorite Blue Danube China and the children's place cards this year are snowmen with leaf beads and ribbon around their necks, sitting on a leaf. Why? Well, we will probably not see the grandchildren who live on the other side of the mountains until after Christmas , and it has already snowed there, so I decided to give them their traditional Christmas ornament from us as a place card to take home and put on their Christmas tree. Each snowman has the name of the child receiving it and the year it was received written on the bottom. I scattered the fabric leaves around the table and hung blue glass ornaments from the dining room light to tie in the color and theme...plus, it was pretty. ( to me , anyway)

Our oldest granddaughter and her sister, our 3rd granddaughter do a "Vanna White" to point out the table setting!

We roasted AND fried turkey. 2 turkeys for the crowd around our table .Here in the garage our oldest son and my husband discuss the world situation and other matters as they tend to the serious business of the turkey being fried .

My dear husband sits at the head of the table, so very thankful to have all our grown children and their families here with us this Thanksgiving. I think he looks very, very, VERY happy.

One side of the table....

Another side of the table....

A better shot of some happy eaters....and not shown are the two oldest grandchildren who had their own little eating nook very close-by, with their own china plates and little snowmen place-cards.

Later we walked next door to my husband's youngest sister's home to see even MORE of the family and snap a picture of my husband's parents with a few of their great-grandchildren! ( 8 of the little ones are our grandchildren) Alice of Wobegone Cottage, we got to see some of your grandchildren!

Thanksgiving:"A public celebration with religious services in recognition of divine mercies; a day set apart for such celebration." Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary

"Act of giving thanks,the expression of gratitude." Funk & Wagnalls Dictionary "Surely the righteous will give thanks to THY NAME." PSALM 140:13

Thanksgiving Memories~ by Esther Lowery Meyer

~The W.H. Lowery Family in1913~ Thanksgiving Memories

This is a written account of Thanksgiving Memories by my husband's great-Aunt Esther Lowery Meyer. The Lowery family was one of the founding families of Quincy, Washington and my husband's great-Aunts were remarkable women. My husband's maternal Grandmother is the young woman, third from the right, her name is Anna. Esther , the author of this short piece is the first on the right.

~ The W.H. Lowery Family in 1918~ (Esther is the 2nd from the right, my husbands' great-grandparents' Lowery are on the far left and far right of the back row.)

It was now November and Thanksgiving would soon be here. My mother made celebration of any day that could possibly be considered a holiday. Each month had it's special day in addition to the family birthdays. Even on Arbor Day she read us stories and poems about the day and once or twice we even planted a tree. Christmas was probably the most important day but Thanksgiving was a close second. My grandparents had come from New England so mother tried to observe the traditions of the day as her parents had done. We had recently moved from North Dakota and lived for a year with Uncle Jim at Davenport , Washington while Dad looked for a place to settle and get a house built. We had come the previous March to Quincy, in the Columbia Basin, where that land had just been opened up to homesteaders. The house was not yet finished though it had flooring and siding except the east end which was of temporary board and batten construction. Inside we looked up to the rafters overhead. The walls had grey building paper tacked between studs as insulation. Mother decided to invite our nearest neighbors whose name was 'Black' to Thanksgiving dinner. Besides the parents there was a girl my age and a boy, older. Finally the day came and Mother was up early, cooking, cleaning, and arranging the table. She got out her damask tablecloth, the drawnwork tray cloth which would hold the platter of meat in front of the host. Scattered over the table were crocheted and embroidered doilies to set dishes and goodies on. Yes, quite a change from our everyday table covered with white oilcloth. I doubt that any turkeys were available in the newly settled and sparsely populated area, and anyway, the price would have been prohibitive. The "piece de Resistance" this day was a big, fat, rooster, roasted nice and brown, stuffed with Mother's sage dressing and accompanied by plenty of good brown gravy. There would be a mound of mashed potatoes, home-baked bread, home-churned butter and an assortment of jams and jellies. The relishes might be green tomato sweet pickles, chow chow and pickled beets if the summer garden had been productive. Creamed onions and glazed parsnips were holiday dinner favorites. Salads had not yet come into popular use. No greens would have been available at that time of year. I do not remember what we had for dessert, but there surely would have been pie-apple perhaps, or custard, or maybe pumpkin, which could have been made from squash or carrots. Mother made ceremony of a company dinner, assigning each guest to a seat even though the supply of chairs had to be eked out with apple boxes or wooden packing crates. Dad always carved the meat, never mind that he had to do it with the kitchen butcher knife. The company arrived and soon Mother announced that dinner was ready. Mrs. Black immediately sat in the nearest chair, saying "oh, some nice light bread, I don't know when I last had some", reached across the table, speared a slice with her fork and put it on her plate. These people were from the south where they could not use yeast and only made quick breads. Their behavior at table was their custom, we learned. Dishes of food were not passed, but everyone was on their own. Mother was slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered and seated the rest of the company. After Dad asked the blessing he began to carve the rooster, asking each guest if he preferred dark or light meat and putting it on each plate as it was passed to him.

~The W.H. Lowery Family in 1919 ~

The dinner proceeded smoothly, everyone ate his fill. Then the children went out to play games. Being 7 years old at the time I do not remember what the games were, but I was happy to have a playmate my age. I do remember how very cold my feet got. When evening came all agreed it had been a good holiday. The Blacks turned out to be kind and helpful neighbors. Over the years we had many meals and visits at their house or ours. Each family doing things their own way. Mrs. Black's baking powder biscuits were always delicious. They remained good friends until they moved away. I copied this Thanksgiving account as it written. I met Great Aunt Esther and her husband, Uncle Luther Meyer and my husband and I were guests in their home at least twice in the early years of our marriage. They were hard-working farmers until an old age, and as I stated earlier, remarkable people...the kind of people that founded this great nation. May your Thanksgiving be one of giving thanks where it is due, to God, to our families, and to those who have sacrificed that we may be so abundantly blessed!