Have to Love Homemade

This Christmas brought a few homemade gifts.... Renee

and I got together and made a personal ornament for

everybody...  Renee stuck stickers and  a picture of herself

on  paper mittens with a string to  hang on

the tree.

The dogs were happy with the tennis ball ornaments

and especially liked their bag of dog treats from Aunt Lori.

Grandma Edie shared her canned peaches, pickled beets

and more with everybody.  Hmmm!

Lineman Gal's family did a cookie exchange - they made

16 different kinds of holiday baking and she shared

with us - it was so good!

She also made these cute Hot Chocolate Jars as gifts - with

the most creative red speckled marshmallows!

Mom and Dad made and rolled Anise Cookies - just

like Grandma Arvilla made.  She had to special order

the anise oil and it came with many warnings - one

was "not to ingest" - Hmmm - a quick search of

anise cookies and none of them looked like this. 

I will have to do some more researching  :0

Mom also made some homemade Chai Tea and bottled

it up in canning jars - we used them for gifts also.

Far Side and Far Guy once again did their handmade

ornaments - I love this little carved St. Nick - thank

you so much - he is right up there towards the

top of the tree with a few of the recent years.

Far Side is the well known blogger at Far Side of Fifty.

Scarves were very popular this year - both of the

grandmas have been very busy - One crochets and

sews scarves and the other knits.

Say Goodbye to 2011  - it was a wonderful year!  I am

looking forward to following all you blogger friends in

the new year - HAPPY  NEW YEAR and WELCOME 2012.

It Is Snowing.....

We woke to snow falling {finally} - we pretty much had

a brown Christmas.

So even this little bit is nice - 2011 is

about finished.....  wonder what will

be in store for 2012?

Have a great Friday - as we head into

another long weekend!



Christmas Over and Over...

To get the entire family events in - we had Christmas

over and over - Friday, Saturday and Sunday....

It is refreshing to see a child enjoy the Wonder

of Christmas... and it brings back many memories

of when my children were so small.

My niece, Renee, waited patiently until it was time

to open presents.....

(Dad and all of his girls)

 after picture taking.... after

eating.... then it was time!

She then delivered each gift.... it is tradition to open

each gift one by one - many gifts - many gifts were opened

- food - lotions - handmade items - toys - reused

items - useful items and so on.

My family - it was a joy to spend time with each and

every one of them.... our family is very blessed we

have "love", "companionship", "friendship" and

so much more.

This ornament hangs on Mom's tree - it is beautiful...

Just "BELIEVE"....

Come Monday - after the long weekend of relatives

and friends - we were all dog tired.   Tuesday evening

is a quiet night  - a night to regroup.

We are almost done with the hustle and bustle - time to

gather the gift bags and some of the packing supplies

to put away for next year.  This weekend the ornaments

will be put away and a 2012 to-do list will be

started....  

Ready - It Is Christmas (revised)

Most everything is ready - have some cooking

to do over the weekend for our holiday celebrations

but for the most part we are ready!

My last project was "doggie decorations" for

our four-legged friends-

Kong Air Dog (tennis) balls; some ribbon, a glue gun

and some dog treats..

All gluing was done on the ribbon so as not to ruin

the ball and the treat - that will be OK too. Just

take that glue spot and pop it off.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Revised - for some reason I hadn't included all of the

pictures when I posted this - it sure didn't make much sense.

Christmas Isn't Complete

Without our Annual Dog Photoshoot - the older

dogs are getting pretty good at this - our

photoshoot happened this week during my

hour lunch - I think it only took 15 minutes!

Merry Christmas from Our Dog Family to You
and All of Your Critters!

Mailbox Surprise

This Christmas greeting arrived today.... it is special

not only because the card is just different (seems to

be heavier paper) and part

of the card pops up when you open it.

In 1981 - our family (here we are at the

Itasca State Park - Headwaters of

the Mississippi) - we hosted a foreign

exchange student from Japan through 4-H.

I was 14 years old - our exchange student

I believe was younger.



This is Mina - she stayed the summer with us.



Today we received a Christmas greeting from Mina - I

don't recall the last time we have heard from her.

It has been within the last 15 years because she

used our current address but before 911 - thank goodness

for small town post offices.

I have searched several times on facebook to see if

I could find her but I had no idea if she had ever

married and changed her name.

I will be sending her an update as soon as the holidays

are over along with some photos of her Minnesota

family...  hopefully we can connect up on facebook

or at least by email.

We often wondered how her family was after the

tsunami in Japan.

The holidays are full of all kinds of little surprises.



Weather is Easy on the Horses -

Our "so far" mild weather has made it easy going on

the horses - they are plenty plump and looking good!

An occasional apple is quite a treat for almost all

of them.   Rusty loves them and was busy smelling

for the one that fell to the ground -

I try to get them to take just a bite instead of the

entire apple at one time - they sure do get it all

juiced up - I think he is just "savoring" it in this picture  :)

These two also enjoyed their treats....

Today, Ace and Kodi got into a playing match... Kodi

wants to play but is still unsure enough not to go too

far into the pasture (which is a good thing since I am

not sure she is ready for Ace's antics nor quick

enough to react).

He kept a good eye on her from one fenceline to

another - as she would switch, run through trees and come

out on the other side...

Here I think Kodi has had enough....

Christmas Baubles - 2

Baubles = Trinkets

* More Ornaments - I don't believe that I have

a fourth of our ornaments out * simple seems to be

so much more relaxing * one of these years I will put up an

additional tree in the basement * the bright purple and green

ornament was purchased at one of the craft fairs

we took part in - very detailed and small work * I love

the colors *

* The Fisher Price ornament was a gift to Hubby by

his folks and reminds him of the Fisher Price toy

he played with as a youngster * it even "mooos when

you open door *



 

* The Littlest Christmas Tree was made by Grandma

Arvilla with a styrofoam form and pieces of material

pinned into the form * have you seen all of the varieties

of "Little Trees"? * I am intriqued by them and think

they may be my next crafting project *

*  The gifts are appearing under the tree * the shopping

is pretty much done unless I think of some last minute

items * wrapping needs to be completed and some

baking is on the to-do list *

We spent some time with family and friends this past

week *  that is the best part of the HOLIDAYS!



December Means Snow?

except not this year..... we have no snow - it was

raining, foggy and very October like yesterday. 

Had plans to go to town to the Advent Church Service

made it down the road and it was so foggy I turned around.

This was December 9th 2010 - last year we were

snowmobiling just before Christmas.   Hubby has

been searching for snow - he says we would

have to go to the State of Wyoming :)

The news is full of stories featuring those North Country

businesses that thrive on snow such as skiing,

snowboarding etc.  Usually families  spend their

Christmas break doing all of those outside winter

sports.   This year?

Maybe not for Christmas vacation - but it will come.

Good ol' Mother Nature could slam us

when we aren't looking.

So how is your Christmas weather shaping up?

This morning it is windy, may be a bit icy - looks

like November is moving in.

Christmas Baubles - 1

Baubles = Trinkets

This year ribbon around the tree * an old precious Shiny Brite
that used to hang on Grandma's tree.

Another old ornament that once hung on a tree with

silver tinsel, angel hair and was surrounded by the

old wire lights * another old Shiny Brite ornament

* Nativity set

Greetings coming by mail * hung for all to see!

And the 2011 "special ornaments" now finished and

ready to be hung and given to the kids.   Each year we add

photo memories to the tree in memory of those who have

passed and in honor of special moments in our lives. 

This year Hubby and I celebrated 25 years and we

remember the memories of Christmas' past of Grandpa

Ed and our dog, Rudy.

This Week is Christmas Decor Week

We are at the 2-week mark - in two weeks it will

be Christmas.... we started the Christmas decorating

today - a bit later than usual but it is somewhat hard

to get your mind into Christmas when this afternoon

I was out raking the front yard... not leaves or branches,

just cleaning up after the dogs (you know how it

piles up over the winter)... we have no snow.

Daughter and TJ were out and helped with the tree and

put some lights up around the deck - it looks great! 

We have a good start - this week I will show you some

more decorations and some of our ornaments.

Our main tree in the livingroom -

A second tree (very small) that we put on the end table  - I

haven't decided yet if I will put ornaments on it - I am

liking just how it is - quite simple!

Hows Your Momma?

My momma has a blog over at West Side of Straight - we

both started blogging about the same time and may have

roughly the same topics (not much of nothing but good old

country living).

We follow some of the same blogs and some of the same

bloggers follow us - there in comes the title to this entry.

Nezzie - she is a wonderful gal from the Ozarks is

wondering about my momma - because she hasn't

been blogging much of late.

You may know her as "Jo" - I call her mom and the

grandkids call her Grandma Jo.  

She is a busy grandma - not too long ago she was down to

Louisiana visiting my baby sister and her sweet baby, Renee.

Then upon returning to the frigid north - she was sick over

a week.   I am glad to say she is finally feeling better - at

least well enough to go to town and shop.   She is

always up for a shopping trip :-)

She is also the ultimate crafter and seamstress  - she can

make anything and I am not kidding!

She has been busy making things to sell at a couple of

Holiday Craft Shows we are doing.

She crochets hats, crochets the hanger for towels to be

hung on your stove - she is sewing scarves, re-using glassware

into beautiful candy dishes and more.   She just finished sewing

curtains for the entire local community center.

If you are every stumped with an idea or need some direction

you just give her a holler - she will have something up

her sleeve.  

And she also can cut hair - I didn't go to the beauty shop

until I think I was 40 - mom always did it!  Some of the

neighbors and many of the relatives stop on over at

mom's when it is time to lower the ears - I think Dad

enjoys it because then they get company :)

And if that isn't all keeping her busy - she is very busy

working on her new healthy lifestyle - for a few months

now she has changed her eating habits (no pop) and loads

of water are just a couple of things she is doing - she looks

great and certainly appears to feel much better!

Maybe sometime she will share some more info on

her healthy lifestyle - I am so proud of her!  It is definitely a

success story - 

Snail Mail

Lineman Son found this in his grove of trees - the grove which is

full of junk, steel junk....... or junque.  I see a few

items have been labeled "pretty neat" and have made it

up to the house to be cleaned up and displayed.

This is one of them -

An old steel mailbox made by  "Western Steel Products,

Duluth, Minn."  when searching for information - there

was or is  a Western Steel Products, Co. in Duluth, MN.

which manufactured steel fire escapes and sheet

metal products.

The  mailbox has a flipper door on the front which allowed

you to put mail in the box without opening the door.

The flag is still on the side, a bit worn but working just fine.

Inside the box you will find this very little box - we wonder

if that is for "coin" change.  Do you have any ideas?

If anybody has any information, please share!