Worth Repeating

To wish you all a Merry Christmas I'm repeating this wonderful post that my sisters helped me write last year.

Christmas time often makes me think of the wonderful times our parents made possible for us. They did not have much money but it was important to them that we had a bountiful Christmas. My Mom, being the industrious and hard working lady she was, came up with the idea of making Christmas candles to finance our gifts. I learned today that she got that idea from a Christmas candle my sister Theresa made at Girl Scouts when she was 10 (the year I was born) and brought home. Theresa and my late brother Roy were out selling Christmas candles probably when I was just a baby.

Our Christmas candles were made with blocks of paraffin wax. A line was scored down the center of one block and the wick laid along that line. Two blocks were then put together and stood on end on a third block and straight pins were inserted to hold them together.
The pictures were old Christmas cards that we saved and also collected from relatives. The old parchment cards were best as they were translucent, allowing the pictures to glow when the wick was lit.

The chosen card was cut to fit the face of the candle and a 'frosting' was made with cream of tartar and melted wax, which was applied warm to the candle and sprinkled with glitter. I remember using a stainless steel bowl and handmixer to beat the cream of tartar and melted wax. It was always quite a production that would fill our kitchen and get us excited about the holidays coming up.

Our father drove us all over the North Country well over a 75 mile radius of Tupper Lake to sell the candles. We'd knock on a door carrying a flat box filled with candles and when someone answered we'd say, "Would you like to buy a Christmas candle? They are only $1.00 and when you light the wick the picture glows." Theresa believes the price increased to $1.50, then $1.75 and finally $2.00. I don't remember.

Our mother (with our help) would make about 500 candles each year and this enabled our parents to give us a wonderful Christmas each year. $500.00 was a fortune in the late 50's and early 60's. We would go shopping in Plattsburgh and Burlington with our bounty. I remember shopping the Grand Way in Plattsburgh on Christmas Eve and Woolworth’s in downtown Plattsburgh (or was it Fishman’s?). I know Montgomery Ward was downtown in Pburgh.

My sister Mary was at a friend's house back in 1983 and the friend was cleaning the previous owner's belonging's out of the cellar. She pulled a candle out of a box and Mary gasped......hardly believing what she was looking at. She asked if she could have it and told the friend of the story of the Christmas candles. This candle is well over 45 years old! The candle comes out in a place of honor on Mary's sideboard each Christmas and then is lovingly and carefully packed away for another year after Christmas. If she were to light the wick - “the picture glows.” Merry Christmas!

My youngest granddaughter, Jenna who turns 8 in December, had a story to share the other day. I was visiting her Girl Scout Troop’s Halloween party in the building that used to be a school in Keeseville. The rooms still look like classrooms; the room we were in had a map of the United States on the wall. Jenna took me over to the map where it was a bit quieter so she could tell me about her chicken. Yes, her chicken...

Jenna and her mom went to Family Dollar in Keeseville to pick up some party supplies for Halloween. While they were in the store, looking at witch and goblin accessories, they noticed there was a chicken in the Family Dollar store. Yes, a live chicken walking around! Jenna’s mom, Cris, didn’t think much about it but Jenna likes chickens and has a flock of them at home she considers her pets. Jenna went over to check the chicken out. She came back to Cris and said, “Mom, that is our chicken!” Cris, said, “Jenna there is no way that is our chicken, now let’s get this shopping done, we have to get home.” Jenna, being a bit persistent in nature, decided to go get another look at this chicken. She comes back to Cris and says, “Mom, that IS our chicken, Butterscotch, I picked him up!” Cris was firm in telling Jenna that there was no way Butterscotch would be at Family Dollar - several miles from their home and kept shopping.

At this point, Jenna informed me that a man from Michigan came in to Family Dollar and took the chicken with him back to Michigan. She also told me that when she and her mother arrived home, Butterscotch was nowhere to be found. Cris realized she should have listened to Jenna. Jenna explained to me that, “Butterscotch had roosted up under her mom’s car and got the ride to Family Dollar. When she tried to get out from under the car, her wing got caught and was ripped off,” said Jenna. “The man who took Butterscotch back to Michigan is going to fix her wing and take good care of her, then we will get her back.” She even showed me on the map where we were in Keeseville and his route to Michigan (kind of).

The next morning Cris called me and I asked her about this chicken story. She confirmed almost everything that Jenna said except for the wing getting ripped off and Michigan. Butterscotch lost a couple of feathers and the man who took her home lives in Willsboro so they were going to get Butterscotch back this weekend. Cris says she will listen to Jenna the next time they find a live chicken in the store.

You might as well laugh!

It's Friday! As we jump off the dock of July into the warm waters of August, I hope you have a safe and fun weekend! Enjoy every minute! As my husband David has always reminded me, "these will soon be the good ole days!"

My dog Coco has had fun chasing frogs in our yard so these seemed "in season.

"When a lonely frog consults a fortune-teller, he's told not to worry. "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl," she says, "and she will want to know everything about you." "That's great!" says the excited frog. "When will I meet her?""Next semester," says the psychic, "in biology class."

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There once was a really cute princess who was walking through the woods. All of a sudden she heard a voice calling, "Hey Really Cute Princess!"She looked around and didn't see anyone or anything but a frog sitting on a big rock. She started to carry on her way but the frog called again. "Hey Really Cute Princess, if you take me home and let me sleep on your pillow next to you, I will turn back into a Handsome Prince!"It had been a very long and boring day so she decided to pick up the frog and give it a try though she really didn't believe the frog at all.The Really Cute Princess took the frog home with her and let him sleep on her pillow beside her. When she woke up the next day what do you think she found? There on her pillow beside her sat a really Handsome Prince.

Do you believe this story? No! Neither did her mother!

Our garden is doing great and we are now enjoying its bounty. We picked green and yellow beans to make my grandmother's "Milky Beans and Taters" and beets which my dad and I prepared for pickling. I never made pickled beets before but he remembered how from his mother making them so long ago and with his help we pickled a small jar. Tonight we will have them for our supper and we will do more as the beets are ready. I'm going to do a stir fry tonight with our peas, we planted sugar snap peas with edible pods and they are ready to pick as well.

Summer! Even though it's a bit moist, it's warm and we see lots of sun and the garden loves this weather. I'm enjoying the summer. My treat of the week was a visit to Paul Johnson's bakery on Route 9N in Upper Jay, just down the road from the Land of Makebelieve which we all miss. Paul's Bakery celebrates that and for the hour or two we spend on his screen porch eating the delightful food he offers up, it's the next best thing to Makebelieve.
Today until about 2 pm you can enjoy Paul's meatloaf sandwich on his rye bread, served with a wonderful bean salad. Then go get dessert in the bakery! My pal Alllison and I shared a tart topped with cherries, black raspberries, blueberries - I named it "Summer on Plate!" Then we had to share a piece of Paul's German Chocolate Cake. I washed all that down with a quart bottle of FIJI water. What a feast! I brought home a few treats too - there was a part of pie left - black rasperry & cherry. I bought a loaf of his bread too. To celebrate the summer there is no better place than Paul's. His mom had lunch with us again and she told me the proper name of the business which I forgot. I'll write it down next time.

I heard a news report on 17 year old Zac Sunderland yesterday. He became the youngest in history to sail around the world alone. What a great story and an amazing feat. It really captured my imagination and made me want to learn more.

Visit his website at

http://www.sailzac.com/

Summertime!

Bailey and Jenna are having a fun and busy summer. Here they are at their softball games and they had a fun day with the Girl Scouts at The Great Escape in Lake George. Now they are at swimming lessons every day too. Busy kids!