Secret Santa at work again

                         http://jeanariespatterns.blogspot.com/2011/12/scg.html

Take a minute and read up on this special "Secret Santa" Gift..
http://jeanariespatterns.blogspot.com/2011/12/scg.html

Fun Fur Scarf & Hat Set (C)

This set has been inspired by our Precious daughter Rhonda. I made a lime green hat, she loved it and said Mom please make me one only in orange, I did, and she said she wanted a scarf that matched along with the fun fur trim. I knew I didn't want to make the entire scarf of fun fur because that would be to heavy, so this is what I came up with and it turned out awesome,

I also made a set in pink, & blue

Here is the link to the pattern:
http://jeanariespatterns.blogspot.com/2011/12/ffshs.html

Santa & Grandma

True story or just one made up, it stands for what we should do for others, not only at this time of the year, but always.

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat.

I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.
"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.
Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were -- ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.


I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.


May you always have LOVE to share,
HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care...
And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

Merry Christmas!

Blueberry Buckle

                                    Blueberry Buckle

Ingredients:
1 C. sugar
1/2 C. margarine
1 egg
1/2 C Milk
2 C. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking power
1 C. blueberies (can add more if like blueberries.)


Method:
Mix sugar, shortening, and egg. Stir in milk
Sift in dry ingredients, carefully mix in Blueberries
Pour in 9 in. by 13 in. pan


Topping;
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C. flour
1/4 C. margarine
2 tsp. cinnamon

Sprinkle over batter.
Bake at 375 degrees. F., for 35-45 min.


~This recipe is from the restaurant at Dockside Guest Quarters, :York Maine.

No Christmas This Year

    

We won't have a Christmas this year, you say
For now the children have all gone away;
And the house is so lonely, so quiet and so bare
We couldn't have a Christmas that they didn't share.

We won't have a Christmas this year, you sigh,
For Christmas means things that money must buy.
Misfortunes and illness have robbed us we fear
Of the things that we'd need to make Christmas this year.

We won't have a Christmas this year you weep,
For a loved one is gone, and our grief is too deep;
It will be a long time before our hearts heal,
And the spirit of Christmas again we can feel.

But if you lose Christmas when troubles befall,
You never have really had Christmas at all.
For once you have had it, it cannot depart
When you learn that true Christmas is Christ in your heart.

~ Verna S Teeuwissen (1911 - 2004)



Shared on FB 12/13/2011 By: Dot McEntire

Snicker Moment

               Snickers enjoying the Christmas Decorations..

Having 4 legged family members can be stressful on them during the Holidays. (any Holiday), We noticed that when Ron started bringing in the decorations he (Snickers) began to shake, dribble, and pace, I scooped him up and held in within my arms and reassured him that his little world was just fine and within a couple hours he seemed to realise that all the boxes were leaving as decorations were being put into place, He even got down to check things out for himself.... Happy Days are here again

Remember your lil ones with all the festivies going on around them, it may make sence to us as adults, but our fur babies and weee littles need extra assurance that they are loved and their world as they know it, is secure

                            MERRY CHRISTMAS

Twas The Night...

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone,
In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.
I had come down the chimney with presents to give
And to see just who in this home did live.

... I looked all about a strange sight I did see,
No tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand,
On the wall hung pictures of far distant lands.

With medals and badges, awards of all kind
A sober thought came through my mind.
For this house was different, so dark and dreary,
I knew I had found the home of a soldier, once I could see clearly.

I heard stories about them, I had to see more
So I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping silent alone,
Curled up on the floor in his one bedroom home.

His face so gentle, his room in such disorder,
Not how I pictured a United States soldier.
Was this the hero of whom I’d just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?

His head was clean shaven, his weathered face tan,
I soon understood this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night
Owed their lives to these men who were willing to fight.

Soon ‘round the world, the children would play,
And grownups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom each month of the year,
Because of soldiers like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone
On a cold Christmas Eve in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye,
I dropped to my knees and started to cry.

The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice,
"Santa don’t cry, this life is my choice;
I fight for freedom, I don’t ask for more,
my life is my God, my country, my Corps."

With that he rolled over and drifted off into sleep,
I couldn’t control it, I continued to weep.
I watched him for hours, so silent and still,
I noticed he shivered from the cold night’s chill.

So I took off my jacket, the one made of red,
And I covered this Soldier from his toes to his head.
And I put on his T-shirt of gray and black,
With an eagle and an Army patch embroidered on back.

And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,
And for a shining moment, I was United States Army deep inside.
I didn’t want to leave him on that cold dark night,
This guardian of honor so willing to fight.

Then the soldier rolled over, whispered with a voice so clean and pure,
"Carry on Santa, it’s Christmas Day, all is secure."
One look at my watch, and I knew he was right,
Merry Christmas my friend, and to all a good night!

Scones

                                            SIMPLE SCONES




Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup raisins (or dried currants)
1/2 cup sour cream (READ NOTE @ BOTTOM)
1 Tsp. Cinnamon (optional)
1 large egg

1 egg white only in separate bowl from mix


Directions
1.Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate
butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in
butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins.

3.In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.

4.Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large
dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the
bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may
not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough
will come together.)


5.Place on a lightly floured surface and pat  into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch
 thick. Use a  sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet
(preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart.

With egg white, lightly brush over scones, then sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar.

Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or
at room temperature.

*** NOTE:
Instead of using sour cream in my scones, I have used applesauce, plain no-fat yogurt,
 etc. to make them a little more healthy. They are wonderful either way you make
them up... Enjoy