Thought that are turning to Christmas

Thought that are turning to Christmas.

This week I am putting up my Christmas village on top of the book case in the TV room. It has a Christmas tree and I don't want to put up a real tree, and have to take it down later. I love putting the lights on at night and seeing them shine through the buildings. ( this was a gift from Jack's sister, he brought it to me, and said, my sister wanted you to get this... she had paid $1 at a garage sale for the whole set! Years before I had wanted one but they were far to expensive for me.

I also have a wreath that I will hang on the front door on Dec. 1 ( my daughter made it for me many years ago, and I hang it every year.)

For baking I will make cookies for the cookie exchange, and a couple of batches for company coming. I love the cookie exchange and all the ladies that come to it. It is one of the highlights of my Christmas, also love our 1 Craft Saturday when we meet and make floral arrangements ( about 1/2 the same ladies attend and then a few others. Dumb me, took me years to figure out I was the only one there that wasn't related to one family, and they adopted me! LOL) So it is a Family get together, luncheon spread you just help yourself when ever you like to the goodies ( of course we all take something good to eat ;), but you have to eat anyway and it is so much fun to visit and do an old fashioned work bee,making your own and helping everyone else... and them helping you too.) That will be my silver and white Christmas arrangements.

For Christmas dinner, I already have 1 turkey ( about 12 lbs, a little over) that will give us a good bit of turkey and stock later for soups). I got a couple of tins of Cranberry sauce a couple of weeks ago at the scratch and dent store (no scratches or dents and they are ocean spray brand.) My daughter left an extra box of stuffing for us, so will use that for stuffing this year ( I usually make my own from what I have on hand, but her stuffing at Thanksgiving was very good so I will do the same). Of course I will have to do some onions and celery in the fry pan to sweat and add to whatever the mix is... and a few fine chopped mushrooms ??? We have to also have our mashed potatoes, and mashed turnips. and I think Brussels sprouts. Lots of gravy. I'm not going to make salad. We won't eat nearly all of the above, but I also will only have to heat and eat for at least the next 3 days! And we love that!

Somewhere in here too I will go with Gege and hear the Christmas story at Church, and I hope see a few of the lights in town

What are your plans? Will you have family and friends? Do you have any simple things you do or make? Do you go away for Christmas to visit family and get into the rush of Christmas? Do you go away someplace warm and "get away" from Christmas? I love to hear what people are planning and doing. What is special for you, I mean what makes it Christmas , or gives you the feeling of it's Christmas? Is it snow? Or memories of 1 extra special Christmas? Have you ever been stuck someplace and couldn't be home for Christmas? Is Christmas a time of bad memories and you'd just as soon forget the day?

I have some wonderful memories. Like when I was 3 and living in Vancouver. It snowed Christmas Eve, When I got up Christmas Morning I looked out the living room window and down on the neighbours roof ( we lived on one of the hills) and there were 2 lines that went from the chimney to the edge of the roof and little marks all around them. You couldn't tell me there was no Santa , I saw his sleigh marks and the deer feet marks. .... ( Funny now that I'm older the telephone lines seem to make the same marks.... but of course that is just a coincidence).

When I was 9 to 10 years old.... and thought of Santa different ....We had a friend of Santa's who used to stay with us and work at the store in town. He played Santa, and looked just like him. Anyway he and Santa were very good friends and he gave all the information he got all day to Santa's Elves and they worked hard to make sure everyone got what they deserved. He brought me home licorice all sorts every Friday! Oh, what a treat, I've never forgot.

Also about this time we got our first TV! An old black and white, And come Christmas there was Scrooge! And a black and white 12 days of Christmas! Later more and more Christmas movies

Anyway, what do you remember, what made your special Christmases. My Grandma came and later lived with us. That was extra special. Some of you come from other countries, what is special to you? Do you carry on any special treats, or traditions?

A few other things I was thinking about. We had neighbours at one time, they had the most beautiful Christmas tree. It was probably over decorated ( but I loved it) but what made it so very, very special was the bubbling, Christmas light candles. I just loved looking at that tree, it was very full ( fat) and had lots and lots of tinsel, and glass painted ornaments. It is the tree that I hold all other trees to in a Magical, beautiful tree, and none has come close in over 50 years since I saw that tree. I have since been to several places where you go and look at Christmas trees, some you can bid on to buy, some you just vote on, and many are beautiful, but none has matched that tree.

When we moved here in the Kootenays, our neighbour took us for a horse drawn sleigh ride, up the Goat river on the road where cars and trucks usually go, but there was so much snow they hadn't ploughed that forest road and it was just beautiful. Their Son and Daughter-in-Law went in their Dad's larger sleigh with Her Mom and Dad, and the two sleighs went on a very nice ride. It was so quiet, and beautiful. A memory to cherish for sure. down the way we stopped and made a small fire and made a pot of coffee before we headed back.  Memories like that are to be cherrished.

 

Also years ago I was at Niagra Falls over Christmas and New Years.  It was a cold day and the ice from the falls was everywhere, on the trees and fences.  It gave it such a beautiful fairy land look ( slippery for sure!) .  But I check to see photo's of the falls since just to see that beauty created from frozen water with lights shinning and splitting and sparkling all over!

 

I'm sure in the next few weeks I will have more memories and recipies and thoughts to post.  Today I recieved a recipe that I think is one my Mother used to make when I was growing up.  She made it into a roll and cooled it in the fridge and cut rounds out and baked them.  But this sounds like the right ingredients.

 

Memories of Scotch Shortbread

Could it be a recipe like this? This is a recipe I have had for many years. It came with a bunch of recipes from My Gram but no clue where it came from...

Shortbread Cookies:

3 C flour

1 C potato flour

1 lb butter

1 C icing sugar

Method:

Cream butter & icing sugar.

Mix 2 flours together then add the butter mixture.

Mix well, roll out and cut your cookies.

Bake 300 F for 20 minutes, don’t over bake.

 

So now it is here and I hope will survive many more years.  Mom got it in a cookbook when she got married in 1940!  And now  perhaps it will give many more people good Christmas Memories.

 

Frugal things I did this past week.

re-hemmed a pair of grey slacks, older slacks, but still look new and feel good on.
removed a spot on a rust coloured sleeveless top.  Had put it in the dryer and didn't see this huge grease stain between the boobs!  put Dawn on the stain and put in the laundry bin, then the next day when I was washing a load of light clothes I put some home made laundry stain remover on it and washed with the rest of the clothes.  Stain actually is gone!  I didn't think it would go as the top is 65% polyester and only 35% cotton.  Hung it to dry and it is good to go!  No stain, and top saved from the dust bag.
So basically saved 1 outfit!  Better than buying a new outfit for sure.

Helped split the cut up wood ( Ed and Dot came down to help as Ken was in bad shape this week).  Today Ken is using the tractor to bring the cut/split wood ( Johnathan cut for us) into the carport.  We will stack it later.  Johnathan will be coming over to cut more of the wood today.  This is wood we bought last year and should do us this winter and part of the next winter too. I will help split the rest with the old wood splitter.

Not especially frugal thing we did this year, but it will help us live in our home longer and that is frugal I think.  We had a propane furnace put in to replace the old oil furnace.  Since the duct work was all in that saved a fair bit of money.  Propane tank filled at 49.9 cents a liter.  With taxes and all it came to $638. for a winters heat.  Using the wood in the living room stove will cut that heat bill down and should make the house very nice and warm , esp. for Ken this winter. Paid the propane bill this week and it's nice to know the heat is in and all paid for in advance.  ( saved like all major bills by taking a total and dividing in by 12 and putting it into it's own account for taxes, major annual bills.  When you are on a limited budget like a pension, you have to plan ahead as much as you can, and then just know the rest is what you have to live on till the next pension!  So cut down on entertainment, clothing, anywhere you need to.

Another frugal thing I have done this week is to make sure I am using the things I have in the house.  Especially in my cooking.  I get into a rut. So I have used the crock pot , made chili using the leftover spaghetti sauce and ground beef  from supper the night before.  I added chopped onions, celery and chopped mushrooms (4) to the spaghetti sauce that we had ( cheap brand no name original) , then when I put what was left in the crock pot I just added 1 drained and rinsed can of kidney beans, 1 tin of pork and beans, and 1 tin of Mexican diced tomatoes with chilli's chopped in it. ( all 14 oz. tins and on sale for 69 Cents a tin!) also added chili powder, and some home blended Tex-Mex spice.  With toast this made a nice supper.

Tonight we are having sticky Chicken, I am doing it in the oven. It is a very frugal dish and the Chicken was only $5.05 ( one I got in the States).  The giblets and things are on the stove simmering for soup base for lunch.  Depending how hungry we are at supper this should do us 3 to 4 meals.  With sandwiches, soup and perhaps pot pie.
( dog will enjoy all the trimmings from the soup with the exception of the neck - not bones for her from chicken!) But heart, liver, mm mm she loves them.

Off to go have a coffee and check the soup for lunch.

http://poortorichadayatatime.blogspot.com. I am having problems figuring everything out. So have put Carrie's blogspot in this little add on for todays blog. Carrie has been so helpful trying to talk me through this ( just dense, and not very teck savey) , indeed it is like me trying to speek Greek when my own language is a problem! Anyway love your Blog Carrie, and if I can just find my own I'll be able to find yours now too!

Carrie at "Poor to Rich one day at a time" was writing about shopping and said that contrary to what most posts tell you that you should "Yes Bring the Kids and Spouse Grocery Shopping!" That got me thinking about growing up and going shopping with my Family. I remember my Family going shopping for groceries every second Friday when I was growing up. There were just 3 of us for years, then my Grandma came to live with us and there were 4 of us. Friday that was shopping day was anticipated all the last week long! It was tradition! We made the list, and we all had input as to what we needed. Then we went to the store in the Car! We went to our little Mall, and it had 4 stores, The Bank , where Mom got the cash from Dad’s check. Next we went to the Chinese restaurant, and had our supper (Moms one night she didn’t cook!!!!) 99% of the time I ordered chow mien! The others usually ordered the special. Usually it was soup of the day, bread and butter put on the table when you ordered, and it was enough for everyone at the table to have a slice, and if you ate all that they would refill the plate ( everyone’s bread was on the same plate!) The odd time the cook would have made buns, but that was a real extra treat and didn’t happen often. Their meal would be hot roast pork ( or beef) sandwich with mashed potatoes, and veggie (peas, corn, carrots, or a mix of the three, once in a while it was beets), and a slice of tomato on the side of the plate. Dessert came with the meal either a home made pudding or a Jell-O, these were served in a small dish. and tea or coffee was always included in the meal price. The food was always good and the waiter always was smiling and saying “ you like, you like”. I miss that still, it was just a local dive, but what wonderful food, and they were always glad to see you. Once in a long while Dad would break tradition and order Liver and Onions, it came with all the same things, just liver and onions instead of the pork/beef on the bread with gravy. Next we went to the main grocery store, and we all went up one isle and down the next and would stop to discuss which brand of an item to buy and why and price. After we finished this event , Dad would march us to the Cheese counter and decide which new Cheese we would try ( this was our treat night ,don’t you know, and later we would try a sliver of new cheese, with pickles and soda crackers for an evening snack, really late at night, maybe 10 o’clock! And we would all go in the kitchen and sit at the table and Dad would open the cheese and cut it, ( Mom would have set the table with bread and butter plates, and put out a plate of crackers on the table and a small dish of bread and butter pickles for the ladies and a jar of Banana pickles for Dad.) and we would have our treat. Once Dad opened a beer cheese. It stunk so bad we were all gagging , he turned opened the back door and threw it as far as he could throw it! LOL, we never forgot that! Mom, just got up and brought out the cheddar cheese and the feast went on. Anyway, back to shopping, after we had the groceries we went to the last store in our little mall. The Butchers. Mom would pay her 25 cents into the Christmas fund and get the little rubber stamp put in her book, then she’d order what she wanted 1 item at a time, and she actually would point out which chops she wanted or how much ground meat she wanted in each package ( according to what she planned to make). Getting the meat at the Butcher was the last stop before we headed home ( about 6 blocks away). and it would have taken us from about 4 in the afternoon, till about 7 in the evening. Then we would go home and everything would be put away. Then and only then , we could start getting ready for our cheese party! From then till the next shopping night we would get milk, butter, eggs, cheese, cottage cheese, cream and such from the milk man. He came twice a week. The Bread man came twice a week too, but Mom didn’t buy much because she usually baked treats and buns ( not bread as such so much). Then Mr. Yen Soo, would come and she would get some fresh vegetables, and fruits from him, whatever was in season. Mr. Soo would have lovely veggies and would be able to tell you the best way to cook them and he also watched our gardenia and told Mom what to do if it wasn’t looking so good, he was a lovely Man. We had our own garden too, but not the variety of veggies that came in his truck! Oh, and in the early fall the fishermen came and sold salmon at the door. Mom would buy a couple and then the canner would come out and she would can salmon for Dad’s lunches. That night we always had a fish for supper, and later in the week fish soup. So Yes Bring the Kids and Spouse Grocery Shopping, and make traditions that the whole family will remember years later! Things are so different today, and 50 to 60 years from now what we do as everyday things your Kids will remember as wonderful and miss them too. Perhaps by then we will have a metal dispenser in our homes and it will dispense a perfect serving sized item for you to eat, with limited choice of what that is. .... I sure hope not.

December 16, 2011, this evenings fun

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, oh, sorry it was just today!
This evening to be exact. After supper was over, and we were enjoying a nice light snow in our country home ( sounds really posh! for our country shack!).
Our little dog wanted out, and in and out and in. To the point I was ready to ring her little neck, but can’t do that just look into her sweet brown eyes, and open the door yet again. Now our little girl hears things we do not, and when she does she wants us to know all about it. While she has a human vocabulary of understanding of about 200 words, I have not gotten that proficient in dog, only knowing certain signals that she has trained me to, with a reward ( no pee or poo to clean up if I get it right!). So I quickly learned in and out signals. Here again for the 4th time in less than an hour was the out signal. So I opened the door ..... MISTAKE !!!!
Here I must interrupt my self to mention we also have a cat. A lovely cat, kills lots of mice, rats, and things like that and drops them off at the back door for me ( well, I’d rather that than him bring them in like he used to before we kept the window shut!).
So back to the story,
The dog had me butler the door again and then she sat just inside the door as the cat flew past me at a great speed. The dog still sat, and didn’t want out, just letting me know the cat wanted in. so I turned around to go back in the kitchen and a furry blob scooted up the wall beside me! I jumped back and had a better look and it was a squirrel. Now I must tell you I am not a critter remover, he was laying down in bed watching the TV. So I called him in for critter duty. However , no one communicated our wishes to Squirrel. Now Squirrel was some upset with cat, me and now DH. Squirrel didn’t wait for dh to get it out, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, squirrel headed for the living room and under the big chair with cat in hot pursuit. Dh, by this time is up and on Critter catching mode. I am busy shutting doors to bedrooms, and bathroom and computer room! Then back to help Dh move the Chair, which we accomplished with quick movement, but not quick enough, Squirrel was up the chair and over the top and jumped on Dh back holding on to this weird tree for all it was worth. Dh stayed bent over and yelling “grab the ***!!@#*!! Squirrel " so I did.
Well, I tell you that Squirrel was not impressed with my helping at all! It sank teeth and nails into the back of my hand while I held it by the back of the neck with the other hand, and I ran to the back door and put my hand down on the outside freezer, and the Squirrel finally realized it had reached freedom and I swear it bit my hand harder to say “**!!**#@ You lady”! Then it flew off the back porch. I headed for the bathroom and washed my hand and ran the cold water over it to help slow the bleeding, then grabbed a clean wash cloth to apply pressure as it started to swell with blood flowing under the skin. Got the bleeding stopped and the punctures (7) covered with Polysporin (sp?) .
Now the pain is just about gone, and I realized I am a hero! I’ve never been a hero, I saved the Squirrel ( ungrateful thing) , and Dh ( and if he thinks I’m going to let him forget how I took that beast off his back and fought my way from the living room to the back porch enduring excruciating pain all the way,...... well, it did hurt a little... He can think again!)
Oh, yes, Ken’s back is fine, the dog has stopped asking me to man the door, and the cat is eating dried cat food and giving me the evil eye!
And how was your evening a week before Christmas?

first tomatoe showing in the greenhouse!

First tomato showing in the greenhouse today! What a lovely surprise. Friends all have tomatoes, but they bought theirs from the store already in flower. These are grown from seed in the greenhouse! I also have lettuce ready to eat in the greenhouse.
The garden is the slowest it has ever been. However the past 2 days has seen beets, carrots, romaine lettuce, all sprout. The peas have been up almost 2 weeks, and this morning there were no cucumbers up, but this evening 2 have broken the ground. The other end of the garden has most of the potatoes up and doing well, then there is the corn. Or should I say what corn. I didn't plant as much this year just 3 short rows about 24 seeds in all. 2 only 2 have sprouted and grown. That is a terrible average. I also planted a lot of flower seeds, so far the marigolds, sunflowers and zinnias and windmill flowers ( that's not their proper name, but for the life of me I can't remember the name just now, and I just remember someone calling them windmill flowers years ago).
Then I also have 10 tomato plants from seeds that I grew in the greenhouse ( actually all these are ones that self grew from tomatoes in the greenhouse last year!), they are far behind the ones in the greenhouse and I very much doubt they will have tomatoes this year. It has been too cold at nights and the past 3 days are the first really warm days we've had.
Today Chad and Kaylee are getting married. The Polzin family are all down for the wedding. I hope they will have a great marriage. Chad's Mom and Dad are the people we bought this house from. It seems funny to see the young boy that lived here grown up and a man now. Even funnier that Jessie their youngest boy is graduated this year, the same as my Michale's daughter Jessica! That year must have been the year to name children Jessie's! LOL, that is strange how we go through name phases, even my Michaele, that time period everyone seemed to name their daughter's Michelle, I just spelt it different.
Yesterday was Canada day. quiet and only heard the ambulance sirens once. I hate holidays for all the accidents on the highway near us. So far it doesn't sound bad this year.
We've been cutting the wood we had delivered and I will stack some tomorrow. It will take us all summer but if we do a little everyday we will get it all done by fall for winter.

planting the garden, day 2

Another lovely day. It is reading 20C. outside, and the sun is shining! It was supposed to rain last evening, but nothing materialized, however the garden is still very wet.
I planted a row of yellow ( bush) wax beans today and ended the row with 2 hills of zuchini. Then by the potatoes I planted 2 more rows of potatoes, mainly pontiac, netted gem , and micmac( just a few of these). At least that's the names I was given for the potatoes. So lots of baby potatoes comming up, to be served , skins on with butter and dill, oh, I can taste them allready! At the end of each row I planted several corn seeds. Then to make a block of corn I planted another row of flowers and the end I planted the corn so there is a block 3 rows wide and 12 to 15 corn in each row. I figure if half grow I will have a few nice feeds of fresh corn.
So that's todays little work in the garden.