It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Tis the season........that phrase can mean many different things this time of year. In our house, it means a walk down memory lane. You see, each year our children receive a new Christmas ornament. It has their name and the year written on it. It could be as simple as a home made clay ornament to a sparkly store bought one. Part of our holiday ritual is finding the new ornament on the tree.
As our children have grown up and moved out on their own, ornaments were boxed up and given to them so that they could start their own Christmas trees.
But those aren't the only ornaments decorating our tree. There are very special ones that were on my tree when I was a child. For Rick, it's not Christmas until his "Santa mug" is hung on a bough.
And what tree would be complete without the ornaments that were lovingly made in elementary school and presented to the parents. They were oohhed and ahhhed over and hung proudly on the tree.
Our tree has quite a few of those.
The decorations on the tree reflect our lives over the years. In the lean years, our tree was made beautiful by alot of macaroni, glue and glitter. As we prospered, so did our tree.
There are many folks that design their Christmas tree...with the latest colors, the newest ornaments, the best and the brightest. If that's their choice to have a "magazine" tree, good for them
I'll stick with our original, one of a kind, tree of memories.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Is it hot in here or is it me?

This blog is not for the faint of heart. For the most part, it probably isn't for any of the gentlemen in the room. However........it is something that all of the ladies in the "over 50" club can relate to!
I'm talking hot flashes. Not the "I'm standing too close to the oven" hot flash. Not the "you don't start a bonfire with gasoline" hot flash. I'm talking about the one where you feel your own body heating up, from the inside out. Before you know it, you're sweating and wanting to not have on half as many clothes.
Now, if we could control these flashes, they would be wonderful! Imagine if you were outside on a cold winters day. The snow is falling sideways. The wind is burrowing into your hat, coat and mittens. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a hot flash right then? You'd warm right up!
Or, what it you were talking your first swim of the year on Memorial Day weekend? The water feels cold enough that you should see ice cubes floating on the ripples. Yet you could activate that magic hot flash and enjoy your swim.
While those are wonderful pipe dreams, they are certainly NOT the reality we women face on a daily basis.
For myself, I can pretty much go all day long without one of my personal trips to the tropics. But just wait until around dinner time. You know, when you're standing over the stove, cooking dinner, in a nice warm kitchen? Or how about when it's evening and you're trying to relax after a busy day? Perhaps you're curled up on the couch, warm blanket on your lap, hot cocoa in hand and BAM...suddenly you feel like you're about to spontaneously combust! The blanket goes flying, the cocoa is immediately replaced with a large glass of ice water and, heaven forbid, anyone is sitting near you. (That includes two-leggeds and four leggeds!) While we each find our ways of dealing with these flashes during the day, night time is the bane of my existence. We keep our bedroom windows open almost year round. It may be only an inch open, but, open nonetheless. This year? I'll probably be shoveling snow from my side of the bed. Rick said the other night that maybe I should close my window down some. (It's full open). I'm pleased to say that he's still alive. I can crawl in bed, in a wonderfully cool bedroom and snuggle right under all the covers. (A note here.....we heat our home with a woodstove, so our bedroom is quite cool this time of year) But, no sooner do I get all comfy, then BAM....here comes the heat!! Now, the quilt is sent flying, the bedspread's gone, the sheet is off and I'm literally hanging over the side of the bed, trying to absorb any of the outside air coming through my window. If there is no breeze, I've even been known to turn on my window fan to pull in the 30 degree air. The major problem with that is not the fear of falling out of bed. Nor is it the chance of frostbite. No...it's the fact that the dog then thinks that I should get out of bed and entertain her. She lets me know by licking my arm, my leg, or whatever part is hanging off the bed. On most nights, she and I get up. I go grab that giant glass of ice water. Some nights, I let her outside for a few minutes while I stand on the porch absorbing the wonderfully cool air. A good nights sleep is merely a dream.
I know that these hot flashes will eventually end. Like everything else in life, it's cyclical. Yet it gives you reason to wonder why the Lord graced us with these "blessings".

Gadget free

Recently we attended our nephew's wedding in Vermont. While that's not an un-common thing for most folks, the setting was. It took place at a beautiful campground in the Green Mountains. The setting, pastoral. The views, breathtaking.
But the most interesting part was watching people NOT be connected to the outside world for that weekend. There was no cell phone reception at that lovely spot. No wi-fi. No facebook?? No e-mail?? No texting?? For a whole weekend??
Not hard for the "older" generations to deal with, but unthinkable for the younger set. Admittedly, you could drive about a mile up the road, hold your phone just right, and get a signal. I'm sure there were diehards that did just that for their gadget fix. But, for the most part, it forced everyone to be in the here and now. People had to carry on actual conversations. Interaction was required. That weekend was spent seeing and sharing. Meeting new friends and cherishing the old. Missing those that have gone before us, yet feeling their presence in every moment. I think that was a gift that the bride and groom gave each of us.
Little by little, technology has crept into our daily lives. Most folks wouldn't dream of leaving the house without a cell phone. The advent of "smart phones" also means that we can facebook or twitter the world from wherever we roam. The question is, is that really a good thing?
For me personally, I'm more content without the gadgets.
The cabins at the campground were perfect for the weekend. Ours had two bedrooms and a greatroom area that had a kitchenette and a fireplace. In keeping with the flavor of the weekend, if you wanted heat in your cabin, you had to build a fire. Since I've spent years working in the 18th & 19th centuries, this was second nature for me. But I sometimes forget that not everyone has the same skill set.
I've often remarked that I was born to late. The simpler ways suit me just fine. I prefer to disconnect from the modern day hustle and bustle. That's not to say that I don't utilize modern gadgets and technology, just that I can live quite happily without them.
How about you?

Cleaning out

There comes a time in everyone's life when they have to re-think the clutter in their lives. I don't mean work, classes, organizations, kids events and such, but the actual clutter! As we get older, our collection of "stuff" grows. We each have treasures from our childhood. Then, we have the school years. Of course there's our young adult lives. (The first trip/vacation on your own, your first apartment, etc.) Then perhaps you get married and have children. Wow...now your home is filled with all sorts of beautiful things. I have to say things because not everything you receive is easy to categorize!
Over the past month or so, I have been busy sorting and condensing all of the treasures our house holds. I have discovered that we need a house about twice the size to hold everything we have! And this is the time in our life when we're supposed to be thinking about downsizing!
This ritual cleansing has truly been a trip down memory lane. It was spurred on by the fact that we moved Rick's Mom to a smaller apartment. She had tons of stuff and each item had a story. We knew that she wouldn't be able to fit everything into her new space, so it needed to be relegated to a place. That place could be the yard sale, the new apartment or a child's home. Just what we needed, more stuff to find a home for! But, we inheireted a beautiful antique china cabinet and all of Mom's pink Depression glass. That was the catalyst for the cleaning. In order to have a place for the new china closet, space had to be made in our dining room. Anyone who has been to our home knows that there rally was nowhere to add another large piece of furniture. So, decisions had to be made. What to keep, what to get rid of, what to "re-purpose". What a challenge!
The storage room needed to be cleaned & sorted so that there would be room for the stuff we would keep, but not necessarily display. This room was a treasure trove of memories. Everything from Matt's first teddy bear to Tiff's bag o' stuffed animals. There were board game galore (handy to have when there was no power!). Lots of treasures from the kids high school years. And photographs! Lots of photographs. Those spanned over a hundred years!! Photos from my Mom's youth through photos of our children's early years. It took forever to clean out that room. Partly for the amount of stuff in there, but more because of the memories in there.
As anyone will tell you, it's a process. There are things that don't "make the cut" and must find another life, outside our four walls. Our piano is a perfect example. over the years, it had progressed from a musical instrument to a place to put photos and trinkets. It was time for it to have a renewed life (just not in my dining room!). It went to a lovely lady who was just starting to take piano lessons and was thrilled to have an actual piano, not a "keyboard'. I know she'll treasure it for what it was meant to be. It wasn't easy to say goodbye to it, but that's part of cleaning house.
Children's treasures have been boxed up, with their names on it for a time in the future when they can take them to their homes and quietly relive their memories.
It's a time consuming and sometimes overwhelming project. It's taken years to create this mosaic of life and will undoubtedly take a while to sort it all out. But the trip down memory lane has been one I'll never forget.

"Low bridge, everybody down"

If you are from Central New York, you probably know what the title of this blog means. It's a lyric from the Erie Canal song. If you were traveling in a packet boat on the Erie Canal, you had to duck down when you went under a bridge.
I used it as my lead in today as that's where I spent my day. Well, okay, not ON the Erie Canal, but working at a local history museum, The Erie Canal Village, in Rome, New York.
I worked there about 10 years ago. It ranks up there as my favorite job.
This was the place I honed my 19th century skills. Or, as my son Josh once said "Mom, they can't hurt us if they turn off our power!".
The Village is a recreation of a small town set along the Erie Canal. In it's heyday, there were many, many small towns like this. Each had the basics. A tavern, a blacksmith shop, a general store, a church and a schoolhouse. At the ECV, all of these buildings are present. It is set on land where the canal was first created. On this land are two versions of the Erie Canal. The original one, better known as Clinton's Ditch, and the "enlarged" Erie Canal. It was enlarged when folks discovered that the first one they had built was not wide or deep enough for all of the traffic it held. Nowadays, some folks will tell you that the Barge Canal is the Erie Canal, but they would be sadly mistaken.
All of the buildings on this site were moved there from other places, to recreate a typical canal village in the mid 1800's.
The Village is a seasonal operation. They open Mid-May and close for the season after Labor Day. (With the exception of a few weekend events in October.)
In preparation for this years opening, I went to volunteer to help get the place cleaned and polished up for the 2010 season.
Melody Milewski, the site manager, threw me the building keys and told me to pick a building. I chose one of my favorites, the Settlers House. It's the oldest building in the Village, built in 1807. Back when they did a Christmas program, I spent quite a few cold December nights, warmed by the hearth fire and the smell of fresh pine boughs. This building has none of our modern conveniences. No electricity, no bathroom, no running water. Talk about "living off the grid"! But when you spend 8 hours a day, "living" this way, it changes you. It forces you to slow down and appreciate a different way of life. Would I want to go back to that way of living on a permanent basis? That's a tough question. I appreciate things like hot water when I turn on the tap, or flipping a switch and having the lights come on. A furnace is a wonderful thing too.
Yet, there is something to be said for taking a bucket and fetching your water. For going out to the chicken coop to gather eggs to make your cake. For the joy of spinning your own flax into linen to then weave into cloth.
Does this make me an oddity? Probably! But it wasn't that long ago when our forefathers (and foremothers) were doing just that.
Luckily for me, I can travel back in time and enjoy the simpler way of lifewhenever I wish. (Then head home and microwave dinner!)
If you'd like more information about the Village, visit their website: www.eriecanalvillage.net.
Maybe I'll see you there!

A story of a life

When you get to be my age, you discover that life holds more endings than beginnings. I am in the process of another ending.
My cousin David Bugbee (my mother's nephew) has stage 4 pancreatic cancer. On Sunday, Rick and I went out to Buffalo to see the family. David's sister Sylvia was there with her daughter Shereen. I've not seen them in years. David's daughters, Sheila and Luanne flew home from where they live in Alaska. The last time I saw those girls, they were just little tykes. David's wife, Bonnie, is as beautiful as the day he married her.
We were brought together because of David's illness. This makes me wonder how we can get so wrapped up in our own lives, that we just think those we love, who are far away, will always be there. Life has a way of reminding us that our time on this earth is temporary.
I guess my theme today is, let the folks you love know that you love them. No matter how far away they live, or how long it's been since you've spoken to them. Call, e-mail, send a card.....times passes too fast. To my family, I love each and every one of you!

A feeling of pride

When you have children, you have a proprietary sense of pride. You cheer each accomplishment....from their first step onward.
This past weekend, we burst with pride for our son Derek. He has honorably served our country in the Marines and is now back in college, going for his degree in Theater. His theater company is in the midst of their run of "Rent". We expected him to do well, but he (and the rest of the cast & crew) blew us away. While watching him onstage, I was watching "Tom Collins", not Derek, the son. I can't say enough about his performance except to say that there were two parents in the audience in awe of the talent onstage.
But, as a parent I am blessed in so many ways. Each of "my babies" is multi-talented. Matt designs remarkable things (and sings a mean Neil Young...especially if he thinks no one is listening!)
Josh has a brain I envy.....I couldn't begin to figure out how to create video games. And some of my favorite music CD's are the ones he made while in college! Tiffany has such a wealth of compassion for others (which is why she'll excel in her line of work!) and has the voice of an angel.
So much talent and so much beauty. And yes, each of them is beautiful. I love my babies, more than they know.

Green is beautiful

This time of year, my favorite color is green. After the long winter of white (or brown) it's such a treat to see everything starting to turn green.
We have some bushes (although I don't know what their name is) that we refer to as our "spring bushes". We use them to know whether we are done with snow for the season and if we can safely take the snowblower off the garden tractor! How you ask? Each spring, after they have leafed out we have no more snow. That doesn't mean that it won't get cold again, but it's never snowed after the leaves have come out.
In early spring when we take our walks, we start looking to see any signs of green on these bushes. As the tiny leaves start to emerge, we get more hopeful.
I'm happy to report that these leaves have opened and the snow is officially over! As you drive down the road, you'll see these bushes as a beautiful haze of green. I know that when I see that the worst is over and we're heading straight for spring.
Of course I also need to give a nod to the willow trees. They seem to be the first tree to open their leaves to the spring sunshine.
I'm sure that back in the olden days, that was one of the ways that folks knew winter was over and warmer weather was finally on its way.
All I know is that these are beautiful signs of spring!

Scrub-a-dub-dub

If you ever want folks to look at you like you've gone off the deep end, tell them you make your own soap! (Well, admittedly, that's only one way...)
Quite a few years back, a friend of mine taught me how to make soap. The ingredients can be as simple or complex as you choose. I've done the more elaborate but still prefer the plain and simple.
Over the years I have also discovered different methods. My latest and most favorite is "blender soap". Unlike long ago when you combined the ingredients and stirred and stirred until you thought your arm would fall off, blender soap lets the machine do all the work.
Does that make it cheating? Does it make it any less home made? I'll admit that I have a problem with the soap kits you find in most craft stores. They usually consist of a blob of glycerin that you simply melt down and pour into molds. That to me doesn't count as home made.
I still prefer the science end of it. I enjoy taking the lye and the oil, mixing them together and have the soap magic happen! (The actual word for that is saponification) And the beauty of the process is that when the magic happens, the soap has lots of glycerin in it! Nowadays when commercial soap is made they extract the glycerin. That is then turned into glycerin bars that sell for much more than "plain" soap. That helps to explain why store bought soap can be very drying on your skin.
Homemade soap contains wonderful things like olive oil or coconut oil and the glycerin that occurs naturally! And unlike storebought soap, your skin feels clean when you rinse it off, not like you have just applied a layer of something.
I suppose I should climb off my soap box for now. If any of you are interested in trying a bar, just let me know!

Interesting projects

With the weather turning nicer (at least for a few more days!), it's getting easier and easier to come up with projects to do outside. Some are given to me by nature and others will satisfy my more creative side.
Nature gave me more strawberry plants. Runners that had cascaded over the side of the planters last year managed to grow all the way down to my lily plants. As I was cleaning around the lilies today, I discovered quite a few strawberry plants! So now, beside moving the rosebushes that the lilies were squeezing out, I need to re-pot the baby berry plants!
My more creative project is to build a cob oven. What it a cob oven, you ask? It's a wood fired outdoor oven. I've used these over the years (or ovens like them) and love the flavor of food that comes out of them. It's the same theory as using a beehive oven (which is built inside a home, right next to the hearth). It shouldn't take too long to make and the list of "ingredients" to make it is very straightforward. If it works, I'll post pictures throughout its creation. Then I can show off what I've baked in it! Keep your fingers crossed!

Networking

Just returned home after attending a "Career Connection". This was sponsored by a local television station and many local employers. There were workshops, resume building assistance, and prospective employers.
That got me to thinking.......again, things were so much simpler in the olden days. Many years ago, if you were a female, your "career" was pretty well mapped out. You grew up, learned all the skills needed to run a household, got married and applied the learned skills. If you were a male, you either took over the family farm or you apprenticed to learn a trade.
Nowadays? You'd better be well versed in all of the latest internet tools. Are you LinkdIn? Do you tweet? You DO have a web page and a blog, don't you? And by all means, don't just list your skills on your resume, list all of your transferable skills.
There's the rub. I can list all of my skills, but my primary skills aren't transferable in the 21st century!
Scotty, beam me up.

Not in this century

Having spent the day looking through employment websites, I guess it's time to admit "out loud" that I have few marketable skills in the 21st century. If you asked me what my skills are, you'd see what I mean.
Let's see......I can weave baskets. I make my own soap. I spin wool and flax into yarn and linen thread. I can cook and bake over an open fire or in a beehive oven. I can hand sew complete outfits. I can make a custom fitting corset. I can garden and "put up" fruits and veggies to use in the winter. I can work in the summer wearing a shift, 3 petticoats, a corset and a long sleeved dress. (And you bet your bum it's hot!) I can do laundry by hand (the soap comes in handy there). I can melt tallow or beeswax and make my own candles.
Definitely not 21st century skills.
In the olden days, the aforementioned skills were commonplace. Women like me would have been a dime a dozen. Nowadays, you're lucky if you can find a woman who knows what a kitchen is for!
So, therein lies the challenge. How does one parlay such skills into a money making proposition?

Signs of Spring

It only takes temperatures in the 40's and a bit of sunshine on a March day to turn thoughts towards Spring. Today is one of those days. It got me to thinking about signs that Spring is just around the corner. These signs aren't much different now than they were years ago. Spying your first robin. Seeing pussy-willows. Seed packets for sale in the store. Brown snow (ewwwwww) and one of my favorites, seeing sap buckets on maple trees!
As I was driving into the city this morning, I saw my first buckets of the season. It gives me hope that we're on the downhill side of winter. I realize that we could still get more snow, and in all likelyhood we will, but it was a sign of hope.
Rumor has it that robins have been spotted in northern Pennsylvania, so it won't be long before they're gracing our backyard.
What are your favorite signs of Spring?

Real people

Welcome to "In the Olden Days"!
In this blog I'll be discussing how things were done before there was tele-commuting, blogging and internet. (Yes, there was life before the Internet.)
Please humor me on today's topic.
Have you ever had to telephone a company, only to be met with the web of computerized choices? Press one, press two, punch in directory extension, and so forth.
Why can you rarely hear an actual person on the other end of the line? Have companies cut back so much that they have forgotten how important that "first impression" is?? It seems to me that any company that would go back to having a real human being answer the phone would be a leg up on the competition. Face to face (or human to human), a handshake and your word seem to have fallen along the wayside. I wonder what we should do to bring them back. Any suggestions?