Author Archives: Snickelfritz

About Snickelfritz

I am a wife, mother, grandmother, quilter, walker, reader, gardener, painter, knitter and Jill of many trades. I have two of the sweetest Labs and a wonderful husband who aides me in my addiction to fabric.

Threads of Time

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Okay, does it seem like Christmas was ages ago? We had our final family gathering last Saturday. I never get tired of seeing my grandchildren. It hit me, though, how quickly they are all growing and soon will be adults. So any time I can spend with them is golden for me and David and I hope we can do it more this year.

I always like to take pictures when we are together although sometimes I forget because we are having fun. But this time I took several pictures of the boys. My granddaughter was home feeling poorly so she wasn’t with us. Taking pictures of boys is like trying to herd cats. You can’t get them to hold still or smile. Here are a few pictures that I took.

Here they are with their Enderman and Creeper from Mindcraft. I learned more than I ever needed to know about Mindcraft while researching how to make toys for the boys. I’m still not sure I understand it, but they knew exactly what they were when they opened the packages so I breathed a sigh of relief.

Boys in motion.

I like this picture. Rather elfin looking I think. I knitted all the younger boys scarves and hats.

Eating the new sweatshirt I just gave him.

This young man is thirteen and wears size twelve shoes. Or, as he told me, he can wear eight and a half shoes also. Huh?! Just know his foot is about twice as long as mine. And he is still growing. He’s on the basketball team. His grandfather on his mother’s side played a lot of basketball and he is following in his footsteps.

My lovely daughter with her oldest. We had a grand time and I look forward to seeing them all again. My younger grandsons are already asking me when Grandma’s camp is going to be. We want to take them caving this summer.

If you live in the northern states you know we are being hit by Artic air right now. I almost got frostbite this morning cleaning out the chicken house and feeding them. I keep candles burning because it just makes me feel warmer.

I brought my sewing indoors as the dogs have taken over my shop for the duration of this cold.

I am getting ready to quilt this quilt. It’s kingsize and I’m not sure whether I will hand quilt it or do it on the sewing machine. I think it’s called Granny Squares. I pieced it a year or so ago and am just getting ready to finish it.

It’s been a nice quilt to use up my bits and pieces of fabric. Since I have quite a stash, I could make several more of these.

Each block has a different color scheme.

This will be the backing. We sold this when we had our quilt shop. I have loved it ever since and wanted to use it in something I will keep.

This week I had the joy of teaching a friend and her two cute daughters how to piece a block and learn some quilt basics. They decided to make pot holders. After a lot of cutting, sewing, tearing out a couple of times and sewing again, they almost finished them except for a border or two.

It brought back memories when I use to teach quilt classes at our store. It is so rewarding to see someone who does not know about quilting learn about it and find out it’s fun. Their pot holders show their individuality. Pam picked Christmas fabric to match some new dishes she received.

Tiffany picked bold, floral fabrics that made a beautiful pot holder.

Danielle picked homespun fabrics and I really liked how her pot holder turned out.

It was fun and made me want to teach classes again. See behind Danielle? Molly and Belle watched us continuously. This was usually their naptime and didn’t know why I wasn’t letting them into the shop.

I got this cute mug Saturday. My grandchildren and their mom and stepdad went to Cleveland where the Christmas Story house is.

I love this mug. It holds about two cups of coffee…………

or hot chocolate. If you are in the freezer this week, stay warm, drink hot chocolate and enjoy your indoor time. This, too, will pass. Bye.

Catching My Breath

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We took down the Christmas tree and other decorations today and, surprisingly, I didn’t feel sad about doing it. I feel like I have been on a roller coaster for the last three months and I look forward to one month of doing as little as possible. I won’t have to clean for company, cook big meals, hunt for gifts, or do any of the other things that come with the holidays. Our holidays seem to start at Halloween and don’t finish until a week after Christmas. I love it all, but I am ready for some slow down time. It was nice getting the house back into order and the sun is shining brightly in the window where the tree once stood.

Soon I am hoping to start a Bible study if I can get a few women who would like to join me. If not, I will study by myself. I am either going to do Beth Moore’s Daniel study which I have done before or her 1st and 2nd Thessalonians study. I have done almost all of Beth Moore’s Bible studies and learned so much, plus they are very enjoyable and fun too.

I have two quilts I plan to start quilting, one by hand and one on the sewing machine. I also have two that I plan to piece. There is a shop hop in February where I will collect more fabric for these two quilts. If you don’t know what a shop hop is, it is several quilt shops who get together and have prizes and treats for the quilters who shop at their businesses on the special days. They usually also have quilt block kits which you can buy and if you buy them all you have enough for a quilt. I usually don’t do this as I like to pick out my own material and patterns. They sell a shop hop pass which puts you in the running for prizes at each store. One year I won $50 worth of fabric which was really nice for me as I don’t have enough fabric. Ha!

This week I had a friend and her two daughters over to learn how to piece a quilt block. They made pot holders. It was fun to watch them as they learned some of the basics of quilting. I was rather a work horse and made them rip out pieces that were not quite straight, but I knew they would not be happy with the finished result unless they did so. I know I have had to rip out a lot while piecing especially when I was first learning how to quilt. Anyway, they almost completed their pot holders, including quilting them on the machine and adding binding. I took pictures and will try to show them on my next post. I think they were happy with their handy work. I know I was proud of them and how much they accomplished.

Now I am enjoying just sitting here watching the snow blow off the garage roof. It is frigidly cold here with the wind blowing steadily. Have to wrap up including your nose when you go outside unless you want frostbite. If you live in a warm climate and are reading this, I envy you, just a little right now. It is sunny which makes for a beautiful day, but even the chickens are staying inside and they hardly ever do that. Belle, Bonnie and Molly Marshmallow sleep warmly in my shop when it is this cold. They are nice company when I am working out there.

Hope wherever you are you are warm and cozy and looking forward to this brand new year. Bye.

2015

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Happy New Year. Yes, I’m a day late, but I was busy New Year’s Day. I had to watch all those old Twilight Zone shows I have watched dozens of times through the years. I can remember when I was a girl and Twilight Zone just started and how we all gathered in the living room to watch it every week. Rod Sterling or is it Serling, always introduced each show and the Twilight Zone music would come on and give me the shivers.

While watching Twilight Zone I did what I have done every year since I was a girl. I made pillowcases. My mother always said we had to make pillowcases on New Year’s Day. I don’t know why. Luck? We needed them? Tradition? She just wanted me to do something? Anyway, I make pillowcases on New Year’s Day.

I made three and I also finished a new ironing board cover.

I can never find pretty ironing board covers and I iron a lot since I sew a lot and I like having pretty ironing board covers on my ironing board. They are so easy to make and I can change them out when I get tired of one or the old one gets too raggedy. I wear out ironing board covers and irons regularly as I use them so much. There are days that the iron is on all day. I am very pleased with this one. The fabric had lines I could quilt on and I finished it in a couple of days to include cutting it out, quilting it and putting in the elastic. It fits really well. Better than any store bought ironing board cover. How many times have I written ironing board covers in this paragraph? Belle keeps check on me hoping she can come in and sleep for a while in the shop. A lot of the time I have three dogs sleeping in here while I work. Belle snores. Loudly. I want to record her and let you hear her sometime.

I also painted lampshades. I read a blog where this lady painted her white lampshades to make them look like Tiffany glass when lit. I’m not that good an artist so mine aren’t elaborate, but with the shades painted, the lamps give off a softer light.

I may never have a white shade in my house ever again.

I also had to eat cabbage(sauerkraut) for New Year’s. Once again a tradition my mother started. I put a little brown sugar and some celery seed in the sauerkraut and it is delicious. Sauerkraut and sausages. Yum.

Tomorrow we are having Christmas with three of our grandchildren who were in Chicago Christmas day. My grandsons are into Mind Craft things and so they got some Mind Craft things, but then I got it into my head to make some Mind Craft dolls. This is supposed to be the Creeper. Since my grandson doesn’t read my blog, I can show him.

This is his face. His whole body is supposed to be made out of pixels, I think, but there was no way I was sewing that many little squares on fabric. Hope he likes him.

I walked around today looking at our outside decorations. We are leaving them up until January 6th for the twelve days of Christmas and then they will be put away for another year. I really loved decorating our new front porch.

It was a busy day. Oh, and I dyed my hair. What color?? You will have to wait and see.

Hope you have a very pleasant, healthy and prosperous New Year. Whatever it brings, just know there is One who watches over us all and wants the best for us. Happy New 2015! Bye.

Sleds and Santa

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This is one of my Hoosier Girl stories. Things I remember. It may not be what other members of my family remember, but I’m sticking with my story.

Sleds and Santa

A heavy blanket of snow covered Daddy’s Indiana farm. Katie looked out the kitchen door and saw drifts of snow on the sidewalk and back porch. Daddy came in the back door carrying an armload of firewood to put in the big black iron stove that sat in the kitchen. As Katie ate her breakfast of hot sweet tea and cinnamon toast, she felt warm and cozy. Daddy sat at the head of the table and Mommy sat next to him. They were discussing what needed to be done that day on the farm.

Katie’s brothers came down from the cold upstairs. Katie’s bedroom window had had frost on the inside of it that morning! She had not wanted to leave her warm nest in her bed.

“Hey, let’s go sledding this afternoon,” said Andy. That sounded like a great idea to all the children First all the chores must be done before play. On a farm the livestock comes first and all the animal must be fed and watered before anything else. The eggs must be gathered before they froze in their nests. That was Katie’s job. Soon they were all bundled to go outdoors to do their chores.

The cold wind whipped Katie’s face as she walked to the chicken house. Inside it was warm and the chickens began clucking and stirring when they saw Katie. Sometimes Katie would have to reach underneath a setting hen to take her egg. The hen would not like this, but it had to be done. Eggs were never left to be hatched in the hen house. Mommy used many eggs in her baking each week and the ones she didn’t use were carefully washed and crated and taken to the grocery store to be sold to the grocer for him to resell. Mother’s chicken eggs were especially good. Thy were always fresh and the yolks almost orange. That was because the chickens were allowed to peck and scratch outside and eat a lot of different things besides the ground corn Daddy fed them. The eggs purchased in grocery stores today have very light colored yolks and are not always as fresh as they could be.

After a good hot midday meal, Katie and her brothers dressed in several layers of clothes and snow boots and gloves and hats and went out to Daddy’s workshop where the sleds were kept They walked down the road to a hill owned by a neighbor, Mr. Bond. Sometimes he would have cows in the field where the hill was, but they never came near the children.

They climbed over the fence and trudged through the deep snow to the top of the hill. It seemed gigantic to Katie. The first few times sledding down were not very good because paths had to be made through the snow. After a few rides down the hill it became slicker and slicker until you were absolutely flying! At the bottom of the hill was a small grove of trees that had to be maneuvered through. It was dangerous, but fun at the same time. Sometimes the Clevenger boys, who lived across the road, came over and joined the fun. The boys liked to throw snowballs at one another as they sled down the hill. Katie liked it when they threw snowballs at her even though she cried for them to stop.

All too soon for Katie it was time to go back home. She was chilled to the bone but hadn’t noticed while she was sledding. Back in the warm house Mommy made hot chocolate and Daddy popped corn and made popcorn balls. After all the exercise it all tasted so good.

Sometime during the winter season Daddy and Mommy began whispering to one another and hiding things from the children. It was Christmas time, one of the best times of the year for a child. Soon after Thanksgiving the Christmas tree would be cut down and set in the front room and decorated and Mommy would put the red plastic wreaths with the red bulbs in the windows. A plastic Santa riding a reindeer was one of Katie’s favorite Christmas decorations. It lit up and looked so merry.

Katie became so excited that she was about to burst with excitement. There would be a Christmas party at school and a special Christmas program at church to celebrate Jesus’ birth. It was all wonderful.

As Christmas drew nearer Katie could hardly contain herself. What would Santa bring her this year? Then, finally, it was Christmas Eve. One year Katie wanted to stay up and see if Santa was really the one who brought the toys each Christmas. She begged Mommy to allow her to stay up if her older sister, Joanne, stayed up with her. “You may stay up, but you will be asleep before Santa gets here,” said Mommy.

That night Katie and Joanne each picked a chair to sleep in. With pillows and blankets they prepared to stay up and see old St. Nick bring their presents. Katie waited and waited until she felt her eyelids becoming heavier and heavier.

All at once there was a soft glow in the room Katie rubbed her eyes because she could not believe what she was seeing. In front of her, so close she could have touched him, was a short, round little man in a beautiful red wool suit with the whitest fur trim. He had a grand beard that covered his chest. Katie sat in silence for fear the man would notice her. It was Santa Claus and he might be angry to see her watching. Suddenly he turned around and looked directly at Katie and smiled at her and said, “Go back to sleep, Honey.” Katie felt no fear, but a feeling of love surrounded her. The next thing Katie knew she was waking up in her own bed. It was Christmas morning.

The children all had to wait until Mommy and Daddy said it was okay to come down the stairs. When they did. there was a mad dash to get to the Christmas tree to see what Santa had left them. Katie doesn’t remember what she got that year, but she does remember it was the year she saw the real Santa Claus.

The End

I remember this as though it were yesterday. It is as real to me today as it was when I was a little girl. I believe. Bye.

After the Day

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Has Christmas really come and gone already? Wasn’t it just a few days ago I was putting out the pumpkins for Autumn and decorating for that season? Seems that when October gets here the days just fly toward December 25th. I don’t know why, but for me they do. It’s all a blur.

I finally crashed today after church. I knew it was coming because I have been on warp speed for the last few weeks. I came home from having dinner and laid down on my bed and slept for hours. I am still extremely tired, almost like jet lag.

But, enough of that. We had a very pleasant Christmas. I say that because after everyone had gone home David said, “Now that was a nice Christmas.” It wasn’t gawdy or raucous and the food wasn’t all that splendid because I just didn’t feel like cooking a big dinner, but everyone seemed to enjoy the day. I must say the grandboys hit the bonanza with gifts. Their uncle gave them their favorite gifts this year.

Cincinnati Reds backpacks. But that wasn’t all. Inside the backpacks were Reds jerseys, tickets to a Reds game and a scorecard book to various other Reds’ activities. The boys loved them.

This boy put on his bathrobe I had made him and his backpack and did not take them off the entire day! Look, what movie is on television? It runs all day on Christmas.

Did I mention how tall my grandson is and that all the rest of us are Hobbits?

Yes, we are all Hobbits.

My older son had asked me to make him a quilt for his couch, so I did. I think he liked it. It’s called the Australian Bush quilt. I have made several of these. Got the pattern from a quilt magazine years ago. I use to teach classes on it.

I made our daughter a butterfly quilt and I forgot to take a picture of it. As usual. I’ll try to remember to get a picture of it when we are at her house this week.

I received some nice gifts. A new computer since mine broke a few months ago and I have been using my husband’s old one. I received this wonderful picture. Reminds me of the place where I grew up for some reason. I don’t know why, since our barn was red, but we did have several out buildings like in this picture. And there was always a snowman in the yard or barn lot during the winter months.

Remember that big mystery box I received from Santa? The one I couldn’t open until Christmas? This was in it and I love it. An antique chicken feeder. From a friend who knows I love chickens. I have never seen one with such wonderful graphics and I have plans for it already. In fact, I think I am going to decorate an entire room around it. I have wanted to redo our dining room for a while and now I have a reason. I see cream colored walls, red buffalo checked curtains from Country curtains and this as a centerpiece with dried flowers in it. I haven’t painted a room in a while and it’s about time. I also have a bathroom I am going to redo this winter. I have the curtain material for its window and know the color paint I want. I just need a new ladder as the old wooden one we have is very rickety and I don’t feel safe on it. I got a gift card from Lowes so I know what I am going to do with it. My favorite thing is going to Lowes to look at paints or to Rural King and look at farm things. I’m a farmer’s daughter and I will always be one.

Christmas Day night we saw the best Christmas movie I have seen in years called, The Secret Santa. It made me a believer in Santa. As if I don’t already believe! I think it will become a must watch movie for us, just like Christmas Story.

Closing the window on another Christmas. Next year I hope more of our family can join us, but we are scattered now and it is harder to get together. But I have hopes. Now it’s on to a brand new polished and bright New Year. We can make a new start. We can dream new dreams. We can hope new hopes. May the new year bring you health, peace and happiness.

My next post will be a Christmas story about when I was growing up in the 50’s. Bye.

CHRISTmas

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WE celebrate Christ’s birth today. Over two thousand years ago he was born in a lowly manger with cattle and sheep surrounding him. His parents, Mary and Joseph were in the town of Bethlehem to be taxed and take part in the census of the time. Because the city was so crowded, kind of like Indianapolis during 500 race time, a kind innkeeper allowed them to stay in his stable because he had no beds left in his inn. In that tiny stable(some say it might have been like a cave) Jesus was born and wrapped in rags and laid in the manger of one of the animals. Can you just see it? Since I love barns and love the smell when animals are in it, I would think it would have been a peaceful cozy place on a cold night. But for a king?. What a way for the Son of God to be welcomed into the world. He had left his throne in the most beautiful place in the universe to come down to earth and be placed in a barn. But, it didn’t matter. God was pleased with the birth and His plans were going just as He had told the prophets centuries before, that a virgin would give birth, His Son Jesus Christ. He sent one angel to announce to some shepherds on the hillside the great joy that would be to all people. A Savior, who is Christ the Lord! Then God sent the hosts from heaven (and this wasn’t a little group of angels), but a multitude of angels singing, “Glory to
God in the highest and on earth, peace, good will to all men.” What a sight that must have been. A little scary, too, because the shepherds were very afraid at first. What would you do if suddenly multitudes of angels appeared to you? I think I might freak out a little bit until I knew why they were there. Then the shepherds went and saw the baby and worshipped Him. We can be like those shepherds long ago and bow down and worship Him this holy season. My heart is full of the peace and joy God has given to me. Have things gone as I would want all year? Not by a long shot, but through it all Jesus has been by my side giving me encouragement and strength to live each day as He would want me to. I pray for all of you the peace that passes all understanding through faith in God’s son, Jesus Christ. He is real, He lived on earth for thirty some years, He died on a cross although he did absolutely nothing wrong but tell about His Father in heaven and do His will on earth, He died a horrible death(crucifixion was and still is one of the cruelest ways to die) He was buried in a tomb provided by a rich man. The third day when some of his women friends were going to the tomb to anoint his body, they found an empty tomb and an angel telling them He was not there, but had risen. Now Jesus sits at the right hand of God, His father, from where He will one day come to collect those who believe on Him and have given their lives to Him. I pray you are one or will give your life to Him today. What better Christmas gift you could give to yourself and those you love. Jesus loves you. Never forget that. Enough to die for you.

David and I wish you a very Merry CHRIST-mas and we pray that 2015 is a year of health, peace and joy to you. God bless you all. We love you. Merry Christmas!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

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It is, you know. The most wonderful time of the year. The season of giving and peace and love. Oh, you look around the world and see all the evil that is going on, but what you don’t see very often because it doesn’t make a good news story, is the good that is going on. The nurse in the hospital who gives a lonely patient a little extra time and patience, the boy on your street who helps his elderly neighbor clear the snow off her walk, the man who pays the tab for a soldier eating at the next table in a restaurant, a teen-ager who calls his grandma and asks about her day. There is a lot of bad, but if you look, you will see the good also. There will always be sin in this world. Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars.

We can all make this world a little bit better. It’s the small things that count. A smile, patience for that slow driver in front of you, a kind word, a pat on the back, a hug. What if everyone decided that they were not going to be the problem, but the answer? That we would all decide we would get along with our neighbor, that we would look on the bright side of things for a change, that your life really isn’t so bad if you can get up in the morning and do something for others. It’s time to stop being so self-centered. To stop wondering when things are going to get better. You can make them better.

I decided quite a long time ago that I was not going to look at the glass half empty. My glass is always half full. If I don’t feel well one day I think I am no better than anyone else and cannot escape the trials of man and accept it. I have lived through tragedies, sadness, pain, separation, and most of the other human ills. We all must face these things at some time in our lives. It is how you face them that counts. I know people who have the most awful diseases who wear a smile on their faces in their adversity. There is one thing they have. They have Jesus in their heart. It makes a difference, you know. At this season rest in the knowledge that God loved us all enough that He came down to earth as a tiny baby and lived among us for a time. He died a wretched death on the cross and took every one of our sins upon Himself. He died but He arose the third day and now lives in heaven. One day He will come back for those who believe in Him. I believe. He makes my life complete.

I love Christmas because I can give presents to friends and family. I love making gifts and this year I went all out. I can’t show most of what I have made, but I have already given some things away so those I will show.

I made felt ice skates for the children in my Sunday school class and filled them with candy and little toys and stickers.

I have a friend who loves cats so I made her this little ornament out of felt.

DSCN9947

The lady I help in Sunday school got this because I told her she was an angel.

Another friend keeps bees so, voila! When I found this pattern I immediately thought of her.

I was on a roll and made another ornament. I may make more before I’m done. I love working with felt.

I’ve been knitting up a storm too.

Hats and scarves for the children in my Sunday school class.

A year or so ago, a nice lady from my church gave me a big bagful of quilt blocks, embroidery floss, a whole quilt that she had cross stitched and several other goodies. She said she gave it to me because she knew I would get some good out of it since I love to quilt. There were enough of these school house blocks to make a full size quilt So, I did. I asked her who had made the blocks and she told me her grandmother. I knew I could not keep this quilt for myself. It belonged in her family so this Sunday I gave it to her. It made me so happy to see her smile. The quilt was probably started in the 1950’s and now sixty some years later it is finished and the family can enjoy it for years to come.

I think my brothers had pajamas made from material like this back in the day.

There were plaid blocks.

One block was made with a satin or crepe de chine. Is that spelled right?

Yes, I have been a busy beaver. And I have enjoyed every bit of the making.

In other news. Molly Marshmallow continues to grow and grow.

Doesn’t she look adorable here? Wellllllll. This dog loves wood. She chews on wood every chance she gets. She has chewed on our house, around the windows, the wooden deck benches. She goes out in the yard and drags up pieces of wood and chips them like a beaver all over our back deck. She climbs on top of the woodpile, I don’t know why. Maybe she is planning on working her way down it. Anyway, today I took hot sauce and a brush and painted it all over the back of our house. Molly immediately started licking it up. Finally she decided maybe it wasn’t so good. I am going to hot sauce everything I don’t want her to chew. She loves chewing the heels of my shoes as I walk so on will go the hot sauce. I hope I have found the remedy to her constant chewing. It’s not like she doesn’t get toys and rawhide bones to chew. I just hope she outgrows this affinity for wood and me. I still love her, though and get a lot of laughs from her antics. If you walk by me and I smell like hot sauce, you will know why.

I look at this face and I cannot stay angry with her. She is a puppy and chewing is what puppies do.

My Santa rests on the couch before the big day. He’s been asked at the store for stickers and other toys. Little children think he’s the real thing.

A big package came to our front door the other day. David and I had gone to a Christmas party and when we came home there was this box sitting on our front porch.

It was for me!!!!!!

Do not open until Christmas. Oh, no! I feel like a kid again waiting for the big day.

I knew it had to be from someone I knew who knew I liked chickens because this was on the package……

A rooster made out of what looks like an old quilt. Interesting. Hmmmmmmm. Well, I guess I will just have to wait until Christmas until I can open it.

Couldn’t let Christmas go by without dressing up one of the hens for the season. This is Ada and she’s the only one who will allow me to pick her up now. She got a little squirrely toward the end of the photo shoot and finally flew out of my arms, but David got a good picture of her.

Must go. Just four more days. Hope you are ready. It will come whether you are ready or not. See you on the other side. Merry Christmas. Bye.

I’m Here

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Oh, I just want to have some time to upload some pictures and get some things written down here. I have been sewing my fingers to the nubbins and baking and decorating and taking the dogs walks and trying to throw some feed and water at the chooks as I pass by. My hens haven’t had a lot of my time lately. When I go out in their yard they all surround me and you should hear the clucking, tsking, and garbled talking. I actually thought I heard a word come out of one of their beaks the other day. I looked at her and said, “Penninah, what did you say?” and she just kept clucking up a storm. I heard a bird last summer as it was swooping down and I felt like I was Snow White and the bird said something to me. It was really weird. I am sure you are thinking I am weird, but I know what I heard.

Anyway, I cannot believe Christmas is just four days away. Is it earlier this year? Seems there was no time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I want to grasp the meaning of the season and keep it close for a while. I watched the Mormon Tabernacle choir’s Christmas special the other day and it was amazing and really was filled with the true Christmas spirit. On the same channel there was a story about Handel and how he came to write the Messiah. I have never heard the entire thing. I have sung in a choir that sang the Halleluhah chorus and have heard it many times, but there is so much more to Handel’s Messiah. It is the story of the Christ and why he came to earth and died for us all. Handel gave proceeds from some of his concerts to pay the debts of those in debtor’s prison. He paid the debts he did not owe for them who owed and could not pay. Sounds exactly like what Jesus did for us on the cross. He paid our sin debt so that when we die, we won’t have to pay it. We all have sinned. Not one of us gets out of this life without sinning. A tiny babe comes into the world wanting only what it wants. Unless it is shown the proper path, it will continue a lifetime of sin because of its sinful nature. That is how we all are born. But Jesus paid our sin debt. That is why we sing Halleluhah to Him.

Speaking of animals and birds talking, when I was a little girl I heard a story about how the animals talk at midnight on Christmas Eve. I always wanted to go out to the barn and hear if our cows, pigs or dogs were talking to one another. What if I go out to the chicken coop this Christmas Eve and peek in on the girls and maybe I will hear a conversation that is going on like this….” Well, did you see the egg Ada laid today. What a show off. She thinks she’s better than all the rest of us because her eggs are larger than ours.” Another hen will answer, “Now, Jemimah, it’s Christmas and we should love one another and just try harder to lay bigger eggs ourselves.” In which Abigail will pitch in, ” Would you ladies please stop your talking? I’m trying to roost over here.” Phoebe will laugh and say, “Hey, it’s the only night of the year we can speak. Too bad there isn’t any humans out here to hear us.” I will be giggling softly to myself as I listen to them, thinking I need to teach them some grammar. Then suddenly Freedom, being the watcher and protector of them all screeches, “Zip your beaks, ladies, we have company!” and suddenly all becomes quiet in the chicken coop. Anyway, that is what I imagine I would hear. Then I would walk back to the house and suddenly my dogs would start singing Christmas carols to me. Now that would be a fun Christmas Eve!

My next post will have pictures and I still have that story about Christmas when I was a little girl. Hope you are getting things wrapped and baked and visiting with family and friends, but save a little time to give to the babe who was born two thousand years ago just for us. Bye.

Down Memory Lane

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While decorating the Christmas tree I always get nostalgic remembering Christmases past. David and I have shared so many together with children and without children. It was so much fun having children to get us up early Christmas morning and watching them racing down the stairs to open the presents that Santa had left. It’s not quite the same with two “old” people who get up later and creak down the stairs and make coffee and eat something before we open our presents to each other, but I would not want to change anything for the world. Christmas has always been special to me. I love the carols, the church services that celebrate Jesus’ birth, the Sunday school parties where grownups act like kids sometimes. I love that we celebrate Christ’s birth even though we are probably a few months off on when He was born.

Hanging each ornament on the tree reminds me of a past Christmas.

Santa on a stork. David’s grandmother gave this to us when we were expecting our first child, our older son. The son who did the 5K with me on Thanksgiving day. I have kept it and put it on the tree every year since.

This little snowman candle looks its age. It use to hang on my grandfather’s tree. One year Daddy, my brothers and I went back in the woods behind my grandfather’s house and cut down a tree and brought it back to decorate. I don’t remember my grandparents having a Christmas tree very often, but I remember this one particular year. The ornaments were few, but I loved them and when both my grandparents had passed away, I was fortunate enough to get their ornaments. I have two of these snowmen. They are probably seventy or so years old. I love them.

A friend traveled to Europe and brought back this cute little wooden doll. Pull a string and her legs go up.

Our grandchildren made both of us an ornament one year. We found one broken this year which made me sad, but we still have this one.

McDonald’s gave these away in Happy Meals one year. I kept this one and put it on the tree. A Christmas mouse.

We made a trip to Hershey, Pennsylvania one year and I bought some tree ornaments. It was the vacation when, as we were driving there, our younger son sat up and said, “I think I left the freezer door open.” We had this big freezer that had a door that was hard to shut and I was always reminding the kids to shut it tight. I guess it had been ingrained in our son’s head and he thought he had left it open and panicked. David and I just looked at each other and said, “Well, it’s too late now. If all the food is defrosted there is nothing we can do about it.” I actually even forgot about it the rest of the trip and when we got home, the freezer door was closed tightly and all the food was fine. But it makes for a funny memory.

Things our children made at school always get put on the tree.

A few years ago we went to the Virgin Islands and I bought this wonderful sailboat with Christmas lights strung on the sail.

Through the years I have made ornaments. This is suppose to be a reindeer with twig antlers.

A tiny manger scene I have had for years.

One year my daughter and I decided we didn’t like all the “old” ornaments so we went to Target and bought all new balls and decorations for the tree. David did not like that tree so he put up another one with all the old ornaments on it. Now I very seldom use the new ornaments we bought although I do love these particular ones.

I love our tree. We considered not putting it up this year as we had put a tree on the new porch, but it just didn’t seem right not to have a tree in the house so while I took a three mile walk last Sunday with Belle and Molly Marshmallow which became a drag me three miles walk, David put the tree together(yes, it’s a fake tree) and we decorated it and I am so glad we did. It sits in my girly room where I can see it while I work on Christmas projects.

Christmas memories are wonderful. Sometimes they make you laugh, sometimes they make you miss someone, and sometimes they just make you happy. Hope you have more happy memories than sad ones this Christmas. Bye.

Dusting Out the Cobwebs and Christmas Thoughts

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Whew, is the time going as fast for you as it is for me? My blog has a few cobwebs from being neglected for several days. I have stories to tell and pictures to show, but I have been extremely busy or at least it seems like the days are going by so fast that I think I must have been busy. While we were getting the tree set up today, David and I were commenting on how it just seemed like we had put it away. The years are starting to run together now and time is speeding up. I don’t know if God is winding the world down and getting ready to send His Son, but it seems something is happening.

I have noticed a strange, but lovely glow lately. I got up the other morning and rays of light were streaming in the upstairs windows. Not your ordinary streams of light. Very different. I went downstairs and the same thing was happening there. I just stared at it and thought to myself, God is getting ready for something.

As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth I have a fear that there are too many who don’t believe Jesus is God’s Son and that He was sent here specifically to die for all mankind as a human sacrifice for all our sins. He really lived on earth and talked about His Father in heaven and taught us how we should love one another. But, did you know Jesus talked about hell more than he talked about heaven? He does not want one person to go there, but sadly, many will. And it won’t be anyone’s fault but their own. God does not send anyone to hell, they send themselves. I know this is deep stuff for the Christmas season, but it makes me think of why Jesus came to earth as a tiny baby in a manger over two thousand years ago and though after He became an adult, He only preached and taught for three years, He made such a huge impact on the world that He is still touching people’s lives today. No man who has lived before or since has made such a difference to the world.

As we prepare to celebrate His birth, put aside the presents, the tree, the lights, the sometimes goofy Christmas movies and think about this man whose life has touched us all in some way. He even touches atheists lives because they spend so much of their time denying Him and trying to get Him out of the public arena. Funny that. To try to get a man’s name removed that they don’t even believe in. Jesus did live on earth. Many witnesses attested to that fact. Many saw His cruel death on the cross and then the empty tomb. No one ever saw His grave because you know what? There isn’t any. He rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of his Father in heaven. One day, and it could be very soon or it could be a thousand years from now,(since a day is like a thousand years to God) He will return and take those of us who believe in Him to Heaven to live with Him forever. Because of God’s timing, Jesus has only been back in Heaven for two days so it may be a few more of His days before He returns.

I am thankful God sent His only Son just for us because He loves us so much. You, me, everybody. I love the Christmas season just because of that. If it weren’t for Jesus, it would be an empty holiday for me. Some say, well, Jesus was probably born in the Springtime. Perhaps, but December 25 is when Christians have chosen to celebrate His birth and I can accept that. Some have made a mockery of the holiday. Some think it’s just about presents. But it is much more important than that. Giving gifts is fun and represents the greatest gift God gave us all. But if next year, I did not get one gift or could not buy one gift for another, I would still celebrate Christmas for its true meaning. Some say it’s a pagan holiday. Perhaps at one time it was. Some still treat it as such, but for Christians around the world it is a holy day. One to remember the greatest gift of all.

I will soon be sharing a Christmas story from when I was a girl in the fifties. Christmas has always been special to me and always will be. A light shines at this time of year that doesn’t shine at other times. Enjoy it for what it is. A special time for family and friends. A time to remember loved ones with whom you shared Christmases past. A time of joy for those who truly believe. Peace, love, joy and Merry Christmas. Bye.

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Snicklefritz

So glad you came. Come sit a spell and read about the tale of my life.

Author Archives: Snickelfritz

About Snickelfritz

Threads of Time

Catching My Breath

2015

Sleds and Santa

After the Day

CHRISTmas

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I’m Here

Down Memory Lane

Dusting Out the Cobwebs and Christmas Thoughts