2012 Transformation

Holy cow I'm tired! I spent the entire day transforming my home back into what I call "normal."  All my beautiful Christmas decorations have been taken down and stored away for yet another long 10 plus months ... so much work for such a small amount of time, so sad.

However, it does feel nice having every surface polished and shiny, and for the most part everything back in it's place. I still have a few places I'm working on but I hope to have it all completed tomorrow! Wish me luck. I have posted a few pics for ya'll to see!

The fire place is lit and shiny!

Longaberger is stacked back in their place.

The girls have gathered for story time ....

Love my new quilted tray ...

Decided to leave the wreaths up for a while longer, love how they look.

The boss, she's glad all is back in order!

May you all have a very Happy New Years Eve. Stay safe in what ever it is you do!!

Oh!! P.S. If you haven't already, go and see War Horse the movie. Fabulous, take a box of tissues.

Looking in the Rearview Mirror ...

Well here we are looking at another year in the rear view mirror. The older I get the faster they fly by, there is something not quite right about this phenomenon. As I reflect back on 2011 overall it has been a wonderful year. My family remains healthy and inspite of a turbulent economy my husband and I are financially sound ... however, we are a bit more frugal these days!

Looking to the future I hope to see a bit more of the United States. Since I joined the ranks of the unemployed this past August I would like to take advantage of this time off work and see the states!

I would love to take a road trip to Iowa to visit long time friends Eileen and John in Lake City. From there I would like to visit Country Threads Quilt Shop and over the Anamosa to visit Gatherings, a prim shop where I bought my awesome reindeer!!

Another trip will be to Ohio at the end of April, I will be taking  a group of Longaberger Collectors Club ladies to attend a gathering at the Homestead. And finally, I hope to visit Virginia in late spring. We will fly in and stay with Joe's son in Harrisonburg. From there we will drive all over the state and see the historical sites I have longed to see! Mt. Vernon, Monticello, Williamsburg, civil war battlefields, antique stores and Notforgotten Farm, another favorite blogspot of mine! And if there is time up to Gettysburg in PA.

Staying in the Golden State of California I hope to visit my son and his beautiful family in Northern Calif. and off to the north eastern part of the state to Quincy to visit a very dear friend.

So, if I mange to get to all of these places I should have a very busy year traveling the states. If you're anywhere along the way and would like me to stop in just let me know!!

Happy New Year to everyone, may 2012 bring you happiness and joy.

Days After Christmas sale!!

Holiday Blahs

It's the day after Christmas ... the tree is bare of the beautifully wrapped gifts, dishes are done and put away and I'm pooped. I never have liked the day after Christmas, it's such a let down. I enjoy the preparations, the baking, the wrapping, shopping, decorating the whole shabang. Then poof, in a matter of hours it's over. The only thing left is undecorating my home, packing it all up and storing it away again for another 11 months. As I sit here on the couch I feel an emptiness, my eyelids are heavy, feel like I could lay down and take a long nap ... like a bear. But .... that would mean a long sleepless night. So as fatigued as I am I will push through the next few days until a sense of "normal" comes over me again ... what ever normal might be!

Perhaps if I focus on this happy little face of my granddaughter Karlee with her new American Girl Doll I will begin to focus on the beauty of Spring!

Last Batch!

Between cookie dough and visits with my grandchildren I've been buried!! The kids were in for a few days last week then down to the dunes to ride their quads for 5 days. They returned Monday afternoon and after a few mishaps they finally got on the road to head home this morning. I'm sure the adults are stressed as they have a 12 hour drive ahead of them and their Christmas shopping is NOT done! EEKS, glad it's not me.



Now I'm baking my final batch of snowball cookies, once the kitchen is cleaned up I can finish my wrapping and settle down and enjoy the beauty of the season.







Recipe for Snow Balls





Sheet 1 of 4!  Almost done.
Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas



He's here, he's here and he is sooo cute!!

While paroosing cyber space last week I found the most adorable reindeer on Gatherings Blog. I emailed Wanda and asked if he was still available ... he was!! I never dreamed he would make it for Christmas but he arrived today! I should have remembered how fast reindeer can travel. I have attached a few pics from his journey out of the box to his new home.

Here he is! All they way from Iowa, he's going to love warm California!

Let me out, let me out, Can you hear him hollering??

Hang on Rudolph, you're almost out

OOPS, no red nose! He must be Dasher!! Yikes, no antlers either!

Found um!

He's in good shape now.

And here he is, settled in the Living Room with the Christmas Tree!

Thank you Wanda for getting him here so quick, I just love how he looks. I'm heading out soon to get some more pine to scatter around his feet. Merry Christmas!

Awesome Wednesday Specials!!

Woo Hoo!! These offers are SO amazing and are only available on Wednesday the 21st for 12 hours only. If you would like to place an order for any of these incredible deals please email your order to me at Baskets4anita@aol.com or log onto my Longabgerger website at www.longaberger.com/anitataylor and place your order. FYI - The pewter candle sticks are amazing, they have a classic colonial look to them yet they will adhere to any decor style. Any questions??? Please contact me at 714-441-2669!

Customer Appreciation Luncheon

What a wonderful day. Every year I host a luncheon for my

Longaberger Home Show Hostesses to let them know how much I appreciate their continued business. This year I served a brunch of Cinnamon French Toast with spicy maple syrup, Eggs Florentine, maple bacon and sausage. For dessert we had warm gingerbread with vanilla ice cream and gingerbread Godiva coffee! Oh so yummy. Absolutely no calories in any of this!

Through the years these ladies have become more then customers, they have become good friends. We have cried together, laughed together and traveled together. In short we have created a wonderful bond. I want to thank them again for all they have become in my life and to wish all of them and you a very Merry Christmas!

Thank You - the 12th Day

This will be my final post for my 12 Days of Christmas. Thank you for sharing in my journey to yester year and my Christmas memories. I have had moments of laughter, tears, melancholy and joy. Overall as I re-read my posts I realize again how lucky and blessed I was to have so many wonderful Christmas' and to have the parents I did who gave me a warm, safe, loving home to grow in.

My husband Joe, our Boston terrier Betsy and myself want to wish all of you a very Merry CHRISTmas and a blessed New Year.

Christmas Gifts from Yester year #11

Tiffany, my daughter came by the house today searching for a missing jacket. It's actually cold today and she felt the need for warmth! While crawling into the closet under the stairs she came across my very vintage Barbie and her wardrobe.

Being a blonde my Barbie was of course blonde and we both sported pony tails. I received this iconic treasure 50 years ago this very Christmas. On the case, directly underneath "Barbie" is the actual date 1961. I remember finding her under the tree, Santa had brought her that year and I was thrilled.

Barbie and I were very good friends over the years. She new all my secrets, we grew up together, except she has never aged .... darn her anyway. This is my entire Barbie collection. She has a wedding dress, a nurses outfit, her original swimsuit, a couple of evening gowns etc. Everything I needed for years and years of entertainment.

Thanks, Tiff for bringing her out just in time to celebrate 50 years together.

Olde Christmas Movies

          Do you have a favorite Christmas movie that you love to watch year after year after year? I have several, but two of my classic favorites are "White Christmas" I just love those red velvet dresses the star wear at the end! Another is the "Bishops Wife." I like in it's original black and white version with Cary Grant and Loretta Young.

           When I'm baking I pop in the Bishop's Wife and bake my way through the movie and usually another one too. As I get all set up to do my gift wrapping in goes "White Christmas." I love to sing along with Bing and Rosemary, I'm sure they're glad they can't hear me! I can remember as a child watching the "Bishop's Wife, The Bells of St. Mary" and "It's A Wonderful Life" on our black and white T.V. There weren't to many movies available back in the early 60's, thank goodness for the few we did have. 
          As I write this blog my family and I are watching one of our favorites .... "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase ... making future memories.                       

Christmas Eve - 9th Day

          Traditions .... can't have Christmas without them now can we? My next little story is about a tradition I started for myself and continued until I was well into my teen years. You have to remember I STILL believe in Santa! Every Christmas Eve I found it really hard to fall asleep, as do most little kids I would suppose. After staying awake and out of bed watching the windows for Santa as long as I could and once I was finally tucked tightly into bed, had a drink of water and my dad made sure the monsters were out of the closet I would quietly pull out my well worn book, "The Night Before Christmas."


My Favorite Golden Book

Don't you think it's just the most beautiful book ever? I would slowly read every word and look at each picture intently wishing and hoping Santa's sleigh would land on our roof. Once I reached
the final page of Santa flying away I quickly flipped it back to the beginning and started all over again.

I read this over and over until I would finally fall asleep.
"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night"

   

Christmas Candy #8

The year is 1960 and it's Christmas morning. The presents are unwrapped, Santa has come and gone and now it's time to get dressed in our Christmas best and go to mass.

Mom is always the first one ready and is waiting on dad and I. While she waits she cuts a plate of her famous Sees fudge and puts it on the coffee table for our guests coming later in the day.

As we head out the door our Dalmatian dog King comes running in. I'm sure he was out checking the morning trash cans for some unattended goodies tossed out the night before. This dog had a cast iron stomach and was known as the neighborhood vagabond.



The photo is a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea!

What I remember is my mom's very unhappy voice hollering at the dog. As it turns out while we were celebrating the birth if Christ our precious family dog was treating himself to a plate of chocolate fudge. He was kind enough to leave a few walnuts where fudge used to be. Mom tossed him outside, she was sure he would be sick. As you know you should never give dogs chocolate, it can kill them!! Yikes! Well, old iron stomach was fine. He enjoyed his plate of chocolate and laid outside in the warm December sun and took a nap!

Christmas Trees and Teens ... #7

              I was probably 14 years old when my girlfriend/neighbor and I decided we were old enough and definitely big enough to go up into my garage rafters and get down the Christmas decorations. It was Friday evening and our parents had gone out for dinner leaving us to entertain ourselves. To our credit we safely got all the boxes down, including that beautiful aluminum tree. We hauled everything into the living room and begin emptying the boxes. Slowly (ever so slowly) we put together that glorious tree (my eyes are rolling!) It was time consuming since we forgot to read the directions - (remember we're 14), and we continuously put the branches in the wrong holes. Once we realized they were numbered it went much faster!
        The hot pink balls were added, the tree skirt was wrapped around the base and the final Piece De Reistance, the color wheel! It was put in the corner, plugged in and turned on! It was done --- or so we thought. While we were placing other Christmas items around the house my parents came home. Now mind you, there are boxes everywhere, it looked like a bomb hit the living room, AND we left the garage door up and all the lights on in the garage. Yep, my dad was mad as a hatter. And we were doomed. My girlfriend was like another daughter to my parents so we were both in the hot seat.
         We heard "you could have broke your neck on that ladder, someone could have gone into the garage and taken my tools, what were you thinking?" And on and on it went. We were sorry, and quickly cleaned up our decorating mess, and hid in my bedroom.
        By morning daddy had cooled off, he had draped that lovely angel hair on the tree and offered to make us pancakes. Where was my mom you ask?? She was smart, she stayed clear of the firing line until the coast was clear!
        Tomorrow, a dog, chocolate and Christmas Mass ...

A Visit with Santa #6



                        Each year when I get my family Christmas pictures out I smile when I unwrap the black and white picture of me sitting on Santa's lap. I'm about 4 years old and I have a very big smile on my face. I always think of the movie A Miracle on 34th Street. There's a scene in Cole's Department store where a little girl is sitting on Santa's lap speaking dutch and she's so happy ... she reminds me of myself in this picture.

How do you like my Pipi Longstocking braids? And those bangs! My mom was really quite the hairdresser.

When my son was small he was terrified of Santa and would scream, so embarrassing! On the flip side my daughter couldn't wait for her turn to sit on his lap and was never ready to leave. From the look on my face I must have liked my visit as well!

Ah, memories - gotta love um.

On the 5th Day of December ....

                 I love traditions, you guys probably do to. I don't know about you but sometimes as we age holding on to those traditions gets hard. Let me explain.
           Growing up I remember every Christmas my mom and dad would make Sees Fudge. Lots and lots of Sees fudge, pounds of fudge would take over the refrigerator.
           My mom had a favorite Revere ware copper bottomed pan that was her favorite fudge making pan. During candy making time mom did most of the work as well as the clean up! Daddy was always close by for the final stir and pour. Sees fudge takes about 20 minutes per batch to make, by the time the final few minutes arrives the mixture is thickening. Once it come off the heat my dad would rapidly stir in the marsh mellow cream, chocolate chips and finally the nuts. I learned later that this part makes your arm feel like a limp noodle when your done! The final step is to pour the hot fudge into trays and allow it to cool.

                     For many years I watched this process and waited patiently for the pan to eat the left over warm fudge, this is just the best part! In 1981 my dad unexpectedly passed away, it was October 19 and Christmas was a few months away. As we drifted into December I asked mom if she wanted me to help her with the traditional fudge ritual. After a good cry we decided to give it a go.
That first year was tough, we cried, we laughed, we through a burnt batch down the drain. However, we persevered and the tradition continued for many more years.
                  Eight years ago my mom passed away after a long battle of COPD. Christmas arrived ... it was hard. I pulled out that famous pan and assembled the necessary ingredients and cried. I think I managed to make two batches and called it quits. Every year I struggled until a few years ago I stopped the tradition. My daughter is not happy in the kitchen and making fudge is definitely not her thing. She would do it for me, but that seems to lose the true essence of the tradition.
             It's now December 5th, next week is my time to begin my holiday bake-a-thon. I'm so torn about the fudge, do I force myself to keep the "tradition" going ... or do I let it go, bury it with my parents. The joy was the fun and memories of cooking together, not eating the finished product.
              Christmas memories can be so hard.

Sweet Christmas Treats - Day #4

       This recipe card has got to be at least 20 years old. My aunt wrote it out for me before she moved to Arizona so I would have my own copy. She would be gone for a few years and wouldn't be with us at Christmas to bake one of our favorite treats.



Overall my family heritage is Germanic. We have a long history of being good cooks and fabulous bakers! Just have an Amish meal and you'll know what I mean. Food was the heart of our home and Christmas baking was the holy grail. Even my Aunt Honey who was single and wasn't much for cooking could bake. Pecan Ball cookies were one of her specialties. My daughter Tiffany re-named the cookies snow balls when she was a tiny girl, she would eat them until she popped, they are still her favorites even today.



Meet Aunt Honey. Her name was actually Helen but my cousin couldn't say Helen and she became Honey to all the nieces and nephews. She loved it as much as we loved her. This pic was taken in the 60's, do you recognize the pink shinny balls? Oh ya, she had them too! She was never married and lived alone so a table sized Christmas tree was just her size. I have so many memories of her and Christmas and I cherish them all.

Decking the Halls - Day #3

                When most folks go to the tree lot to get their Christmas tree they pick one out, load it on top of the car and head home ... not my family. At the lot my dad would haggle with the lot owner to get all the "cast offs" along with our tree. Many times we ended up with two trees, yep two. One nice tree to decorate and one scrawny Charlie Brown kinda tree.



Here we are, headed home with our load of trees!

                At home daddy put the tree in the stand and into the house and we decorated it. These are the days of tinsel ... remember tinsel? There is only one correct way to apply tinsel according to Paul Pritts (my dad) one strand at a time. By the time all the tinsel was on the tree Christmas was over, the tree was dead and the Rose Parade was on TV. OK, OK, not that long but jeez!
             I bet your wondering about that Charlie Brown tree aren't you? All the branches were cut off and carefully stapled/nailed onto a plywood base. The bases were the size of our coffee table and the dining room buffet and another one was attached to the living room wall over the fire place. Once they were in place the decorating began. Remember those candles? The pink, blue and green ones with all that glitter?? Ya, those. They were carefully arraigned on the table and buffet, the shinny Christmas tree balls were added and finally the icing on the cake .... canned snow! Ah yes, he would spray the snow carefully all over the entire piece. That's why he needed so much glitter! So it would show through the snow storm.
Don't get me wrong, at night when the candles were all a glow and the tree lights were on there was nothing prettier in a 7 year old girls  eyes.
       Now all we need are some holiday treats ....

Candle Making 101

       It was years before I realized not everyone's dad made candles and did the Christmas decorating. The candle making process was quite an ordeal, if I was my mom I think I would have killed him for the mess he generated. Follow along with the process, you may want to make you own! Prior to Christmas mom would save large, medium and small milk cartons, as many as she thought dad would need.

      First step, you load up your 6 year old pigtailed daughter in the truck and head to the hardware store ... this is the only store my dad new how to find. Once there you purchase boxes of paraffin (yes, boxeS) they came 4 or 6 bars per box and dad made a lot of candles. You also buy some heavy white kite string and glitter, lots of glitter - the more glitter the bigger mess one can make.

     After you assemble your supplies you head to the kitchen, the heart of a woman's home, oh man now it's going to get really messy. You get a big pot and throw in all the paraffin to melt. Meanwhile dad's assistant - mom is spreading newspapers on every available space and setting the assorted milk cartons in position for the "pour." Carefully daddy would lift the pot of hot wax off the stove and pour it into the various cartons until it was gone. Guess who gets to clean the pot? Yep, Dort, that's what daddy loving called her. Dort he would say "here's the pot." How she got the wax out of there I have no idea, but she did, year after year!

    The kite string has been tied to cut up coat hangers the length of the cartons and dropped into the cooling wax, after all, every good candle needs a wick! Now they are ready for the fridge. In the cartons went to set up and get hard. While this is being done dad began mess #2. Remember the big pot? Ya, well it's on the stove again and he's melting more paraffin, just enough for a certain amount of candles. Once it's melted blue, red or green food coloring goes into pot, these are the colors of all our candles ... every year.
The pot would come off the stove and the whipping begins, BIG mess. It was fun for me to watch as the liquid began to turn frothy like whipped cream as the process evolved. Meanwhile mom is tearing the cartons away from the set candle blocks getting them ready to be frosted. Quickly daddy would begin frosting the candles with the frothy mixture, they reminded me of lemon meringue pies that grandma would make!
          Step #3 - While the wax was still warm the glitter would be flying and hopefully some would actually land on the candle. This was an assembly line event. Mom and dad did this dance around each other, both knowing what their roll was in making the magic happen for Christmas. I'm guessing here but I I think there were a minimum of 12 candles once they were done.
          After daddy was done and left the kitchen it was up to mom to clean up after him. Hardened wax everywhere, food coloring, torn boxes and lets not forget the GLITTER. I don't ever remembering my mom complaining about it, she just cleaned it up and got ready for the next event - cutting up the "extra" pine tree for decorative uses. Tomorrow's story, where do all those candles go????

12 Days of Christmas

                         As December enters I want to take the next 12 days to blog about my memories of Christmas' past. As an only child my parents played a huge part in my life. I didn't have siblings to fight with or to play with so they filled the void! I had a wonderfully simple childhood and I feel so lucky and blessed to have the memories. This blog will not be in any order ... just my order of memories emerging.
                        With all of that said I want to begin with the aluminum tree! I do have a picture of it somewhere and once it's located I will blog this beauty! Some back ground on my dad. He was a heavy equiptment oporator for his trade. Very much a man's man. As I grew up daddy was the decorator, yep, really funny to think of looking back. He carved the pumpkins, colored the Easter eggs made my birthday an explosion of fun (I'm a July 4th baby) and he was the Christmas decorator. Mom's job was cleaning up his messes and boy did he make a mess. This is another blog story!!
                   On to the silver tree ... the year is 1961 and aluminum trees are all the rage. I'm laughing as I write thinking of the tree and the fights daddy and I had decorating it. My poor mom was the mediator. So the 8 foot tree gets put together one branch at a time, it took forEVER!!! Then the hot pink shiny balls go on, now the tree is covered in angel hair - OMG I can hear you all laughing! I thought is was magical and that we had the most beautiful tree in the world. Oh, and lets not forget the creme d' la creme. The color wheel. Ah, the blue, yellow, red and green rotating and changing the silver as it rotated. The angel hair was spun glass and caused your skin to itch if it got on you ... just what every family should have on a tree with children, right up there with lit candles on a real tree.  Daddy loved this tree and so did I. Mom? She went with the flow.
                 Tomorrow .... candle making, you don't want to miss this.

A few final pics of the house before I move into the 12 Days of Anita's Christmas.
More fond memories of my Dad and Christmas' past. The brass bugle was from his military days fighting in WWII. He blew revale' in he morning and taps ... I love this old things. Along side the bugle is a toy wind up airplane from his days as a child. On the table is a Christmas quilt I made a few years ago, love the color combination of this quilt.