Back by popular demand...

A MOCCASIN HOLLER CHRISTMAS

     There was electricity in the air.  Every kid in the Marston grade school was lined up and down the sidewalk in front of the school.  We could see our breath in the air but we were too excited to be cold.  This was the day Santa Claus came to school.  I’m tellin’ you, the longer we stood the more excited we got...wait, are those bells?   Do you hear bells jingling?  And music, do you hear that?  “Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus lane…”  He’s gonna be comin’ round the corner any minute.

     Oh, it is magnificent…all the reindeer, with Rudolph in front, pulling the sleigh.  Okay, so they aren’t the real reindeer, but that’s because the real ones are at the North Pole.  They can’t be travelin’ all over now.  If they did they would be too tired to pull Santa and that big ole’ sleigh around the world on Christmas Eve.   So, its fine with us that the Pepsi truck is pullin’ the sleigh.

      Santa looks so grand in his bright red suit.  And, I have to admit he is the only fellow I have ever seen with cheeks that rosey.  He sure is jolly, too.  He laughs the whole time he is going by.  His bag is full of candy that he throws out to all us kids.  Most of us are being really nice about letting each other catch some of the candy.  After all, Santa’s right there watchin’ and it’s still not too late to be put on the list with the bad boys and girls.

     We watch as he travels out of sight.  Santa has gone on to see all the rest of the boys and girls in the other towns.  Although we wish he could have stayed longer at our school, it is okay because we know that it won’t be too long until Christmas Eve.  Of course, we all have plans to stay awake that night and try to get another glimpse of him when he comes to our house.

    

     That visit from Santa was the beginning of the Christmas season for us and there were lots of things to look forward to.  We would always make decorations to take home.  I’ll never forget one in particular.  The teacher asked all of us that had gumball trees to gather up some of those round, prickly things and bring them to school.  I couldn’t imagine what we would do with them but I gathered up a sack full and I finally found out what the holes in them were for.  We stuck a toothpick in each hole, the teacher sprayed them gold and silver and we sprinkled glitter all over them and they were absolutely beautiful.  I knew Mama was going to love this treasure and I couldn’t wait to take it home and hang it on our tree.

     My sister, brother and I always got a little antsy waiting for the 15^th of December.  That was the earliest that Mama would let us get a tree.  She said it was because those trees dried out really fast and if we got one any earlier it would burn the house down.  I never really knew who would set it on fire but Mama must have had someone in mind because we never, ever got our tree before 15^th and it always seemed like it would take forever for that day to arrive.

       Those trips when we would all go to town to pick out the tree were wonderful.  But, the trip I liked best was the one we made on Christmas “Eve eve” night.  This was the only time I can remember going into town at night.  It would take my breath when we turned onto Main Street.  The streetlights were adorned with decorations and the glow of the Christmas lights made things seem almost magical.  Daddy would go to do his shopping and the store clerks would usually have some candy for the kids.  The sidewalks were filled with people, all enjoying the spirit of the holiday.

     Finally, Christmas Eve would arrive.   Early in the evening we would head to Granny and Papa’s to exchange gifts and then head home.  All the way home I watched the night sky trying to see Santa and his reindeer.  I’m pretty sure I spotted them a couple of times.  For the longest time I worried about Santa.  We didn’t have a fireplace.  Instead, we had a coal oil heater and you could see the flames thru the window in the tiny door on the front of it.  It would be hard enough for Santa to get down our skinny chimney but how did he get through those flames and squeeze out that little door?  Magic!!!  Yep, that’s what Mama told me…magic.  And, she was right.  Because, even though we could never stay awake and catch him in the act, Santa always brought us gifts and filled our stockings with oranges, apples, nuts and candy.

     Waking up on Christmas morning we would find that Santa might not have brought exactly what we asked for but we always loved what he did leave…I mean, it was magic…how could you not love the gift you were given. 

     I wish you could see me now…I’m grinnin’ from ear to ear because I know the magic is still alive.  How do I know?  I just took a trip back to a special time and I “Believe"!





from "Moccasin Holler Memoirs", a collection of my memories. Copyrighted, do not copy or use in any way without my permission.   

       

Thank you's are in order...

To Deena of  Ewe n Me Printables for fixing my blog.  It sort of went crazy on me and she knew just what to do.  I think she made it even prettier!  Click on the name of her shop and see what other great things she does.  She and Bette (another OFG sister) have this great blog called By Your Hands  that you just have to visit.  You will find tutorials, featured artists, recipes, give aways and more.

Next, I want to thank all of my followers.  I haven't forgotten about the Celebration Giveaway...Christmas just sort of snuck up on me!  But, it is gonna happen so stay tuned.

Speaking of Christmas, I am going to post my Moccasin Holler Christmas Memoir in the next couple of days.  Hope you will stop in and share some of your memories.

Congratulations...

to Donna of Brushstrokes and Stitches...her Grandma and my Mama had something in common.  They both said  those little white bumps (canker sores) that hurt so badly appear when you tell a "story".  We had to say story because the word "lie" is a cuss word...if Mama was still here she would set you straight on that.

I will share a pic of Donna's "surprise" as soon as she lets me know she has received it.  After all, we don't want to ruin the surprise.

On another note...did you notice I am up to 91 followers.  Thanks to all of you!!!  Now, tell your friends and neighbors 'cause as soon as I reach 100, I am having my first giveaway.  I'm not gonna tell you what I am giving away but here is a hint for one of the items...there is a gourd attached to it!!

Thanks for stoppin' by...

Judy

Mama woulda said I have a "story bump"

Can anyone tell me what I have?  There is a little surprise waiting for the first person who's Mama thought like mine.  So, please leave a comment and don't forget to let me know how to get in touch with you.  And, while you are here be sure and become a follower so you can participate in my upcoming giveaway!!
I'm am looking forward to what everyone has to say.  Oh, and sorry Gay...it's not a bump on my head or writer's block, lol.

THE ROOSTERS ARE LOOSE ...

That's the title to the new Etsy treasury I created...please take a look and leave a comment!!  Just click HERE

Thanks a bunch,
Judy

I'm gettin' there...

Thanks to everyone who is now following...I'm up to 86!!!  Remember, we celebrate with a giveaway at 100.

I have some great news to share.  I will be going to part time at work beginning this coming Monday.  I am so excited...I have so many things I want to get done...painting my new designs, working on my Etsy shop, photography (it is cotton pickin' time here), blogging, and on and on.  Oh, I may even do a little cleanin'.

Speaking of cotton pickin' time...how many of you are ready for another "Moccasin Holler Memoir"?

"I'm so excited, I just can't hide it..."

I now have 81 followers and am getting closer to my first giveaway!  I think that will be a great way to celebrate my 100th follower. 

Since you have all been so great, I will tell you that one of the items in the giveaway will be a gourd head baby doll.  I'll post a pic real soon...I did try to take some pics Monday but none turned out.  I have finally gotten over my aggravation and am ready to give it another try when I get home from the lumber shed tomorrow.

Speaking of the lumber shed...shouldn't your week seem shorter when you work a day less?  Something to think about.

Twenty-six...that's the number!!

Yep, the number of new followers I need to reach the magic number...100!!   I am wanting to have my very first giveaway and I have told myself I am going to wait until I reach 100 followers to do so.  So, just lettin' you know and hopin' it happens really soon.

CELEBRATING 100 FOLLOWERS...

Okay, so I don't have 100 yet...but Valerie at Yorkie's Primitives does and to celebrate she is having a giveaway!!  Here is one of the great items she will be giving away.  She will be adding more items...some she will show on her blog and others will be a surprise.  Don't you just love a surprise?  You better hop on over there and join in on the fun.  

Thank's, Valerie, for having this wonderful giveaway.

ANOTHER GREAT GIVEAWAY...

CLICK HERE

You could win this wonderful snowman make do from

The Rusty Thimble!

 

 

Songleader in the making...

Shhh...listen really close and you might just hear "Jesus, You Are My Firm Foundation" being led by Tanner, our six year old grandson.  Once a month, the congregation where our son and his family worship lets the young men that want to lead a song. 

I am so proud...I am just about to "bust"!!  Just had to share.

Ain't she beautiful?

Best of all, she can be yours (hopefully, mine).  All you have to do is go to  the "By Your Hands" blog to enter the giveaway.  You can even get 3 chances to win! 

Julie of  "Prim Country Creations" hand-crafted "Abby".  And, as one of the ways to earn an extra chance in the giveaway, you will get to go to Julie's shop and see some of her other items.  I'm tellin' ya...everyone one of them is just as wonderful as  "Abby".

The gals at "By Your Hands" showcase the best giveaways you'll find, so you will definately want to become a follower of their blog. 

And, since all of you are such sweet, sharing people, you will absolutely want to share the "By Your Hands" link with all your blog friends. 

Okay,  now I have already given you the list of things to do to win "Abby"...so, why are you still here?  Click on one of the "By Your Hands" and get busy.  :-)

The 4th of July

Moccasin Holler Style

My sister, brother and I were lucky enough to have cousins our ages. They were the "city" cousins, but we never held that against them. They lived about 40 miles from us and we spent a lot of time together. The 4th was really special. The big ole washtub got drug off the back porch and filled with ice and sodas...something we didn't get very often. And, on the 4th we got to drink as many as we wanted. Unfortunately, they usually ran out before we drank our fill.

Our celebration actually started on the 3rd. Daddy would dig a pit in the back yard and Mama would bring out one of the grills from the oven to make sure the pit was the right size. Mama would get some pork steaks and pork chops out of the freezer. These were  from one of the hogs that we had butchered the fall before.  We had our own chickens and I'll tellin' you, those critters knew what was comin'.  Thankfully, there were always a few that couldn't outrun Daddy!!  There was always plenty to cook over that pit. Mama made her famous potato salad, our aunt brought her delicious strawberry shortcake and between the two of them we had all the fixins. Daddy would gather in a big basket of roastin' ears from the corn field and fix up another tub of ice water for the watermelons our uncle would be bringing.

By late afternoon of  the 3rd, the city kinfolk had arrived and the games began. We had relay races around the house, played Annie Over, Jacks and snuck boloney or bacon out of the refrigerator, tied pieces to a long piece of twine and fished for crawdads in the big ditch across the road. This went on pretty much all night. Finally, when we were too tired to go on, we headed to the tent. Now this wasn't just your ordinary tent...it was special!! We gathered up pieces of rope and strung it between trees then went inside to the quilt stack and drug out enough quilts to make the sides of the tent with flaps hanging in the front and back and to cover the ground inside the tent. We lit up the old kerosene lantern and went to sleep listening to Mama and Aunt Edith talk about their lives.

We woke up bright and early, but Mama was already fixin' breakfast outside. While she had the bacon and sausage cookin', we would go to the henhouse and gather up the eggs. I think I liked breakfast better than the 4th of July dinner (that's lunch to you northerners).

Those days were filled with wondrous things...sodas, hand-churned ice cream, roasted marshmallows, swimmin' in Little River and so much love that you couldn't stir it with a stick.

excerpt from "Moccasin Holler Memoirs" (c)

A great give-away from "The Old Cupboard Door"

I have started a new list on the left side bar so that I can get the news out on some of the great giveaways that are going on.  I am happy to have The Old Cupboard Door as my first.  

To go to Willa' s blog and enter to win this beautiful and collectible piece of art just click on "The Old Cupboard Door" in the left sidebar.

Baa, Baa...you gotta see my sheep!!

Don't you just love it?  It was made by an extremely talented artist who just happens to be one of my OFG sisters, Brenda of  "The Rusty Thimble".

I stumbled upon this beauty while checking out one of Brenda's sales.  (If you have never visited Brenda's sales, you have really missed out!)  I want to give Brenda a special "Thanks"...I am so, so happy with my little lamb!

Now, FYI, you can find more of Brenda's beauties and get the info on her sales and giveaways by just clicking on these links:

http://therustythimble.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/rustythimble
http://rustythimblesalesblog.blogspot.com
http://therustythimblewholesaleblog.blogspot.com
http://therustythimblesales2.blogspot.com

Thanks again, Brenda...I can't wait until your July sale!!

A REMEDY...

Have you ever had peeling nails?  I have to the point that my fingertips were painful.  Thankfully, a nice Nurse Practitioner did some research and found that sometimes the cause can be due to a kind of yeast infection.  And you are not going to believe the cure:

VINEGAR

Yep, just soak your fingers for 20 minutes each day in a mixture of vinegar and water.  She didn't know the exact ratio of vinegar to water, so I just dolloped some vinegar into a cup of water and soaked.    

I was amazed at how fast I could tell this was helping and soon the nails were beginning to clear up.  And, as a bonus, my very soft nails are now much stronger.

Don't be afraid to give this a try...the NP assured me that it couldn't hurt, even if there was no yeast infection. 

Hope this helps someone out there!!

If you got it, you got it!!

I've always known I was a classy lady.  I just didn't know until today just how classy I really am!!!

I will be as delicate as I can in describing the events of today.  It began around two o'clock this afternoon...many of you, I'm sure, have experienced it...that mounting feeling of pressure that comes from drinking too much coffee and water.  Yep, I had to pee really bad!!  I calmly asked one of the girls to watch the registers while I excused myself...took off like a gazelle to the ladies room...it was occupied.  I went back to my work area and took the stance...you know which one I'm talking about...waited a few minutes and went back to the ladies room.  Hallelujah, it was empty. I dashed in only to find there was no TP!!  Went back up to the front, grabbed a couple of packages of  TP and got sidetracked by customers!!  Got them waited on and walked quickly back to the ladies room which was occupied again!!  Now, I'm in pain and my eyes are turning yellow as I go back up front only to get waylaid by more customers.  As I wait on them, trying not to cry and still holding on the the two packages of TP, I begin to go over the pros and cons of Depends and wonder if Ron would consider stocking them in the lumber shed...something to think about.  Finally, the customers have been waited on and I am free to return to the ladies room...here is where the classy part comes in.  As I turn and head for the ladies room in a dead run, I turn to the girls up front and begin to wave both packages of TP in the air while yelling back at them, "I'm headed back to try this one more time." 

Now, am I classy or what!!

Time is flying by!!

I can't believe it has been so long since I last posted.  I hope you all haven't given up on me!   

Lots of great things have been going on at the "Old Farmhouse"...a fabulous giveaway, the Spring Fling Celebration and more.


Not much has been going on on the ridge.  I've just been going to work, coming home, eating, going to bed and doing the same thing over again the next day, etc., etc., etc.    That is, until yesterday morning...I got one of those phone calls that you never want to get telling me that my brother was in an automobile accident and was being taken by helicopter to the hospital with possible head injuries.  Thankfully, the cat scan confirmed what we knew all along...his head is too hard to have suffered injury.  :)  Unfortunately, his left hand and right knee didn't fare so well.  The hand has a broken bone and the knee cap was split down the center and separated from the rest of the knee.  Surgery was done today to put the knee back together...it went well...and both the hand and knee are in casts.  Bless your heart, Tony, I pray you heal quickly and completely.


I plan to have my first giveaway soon to celebrate my second year with the Old Farmhouse Gathering group.  I will be posting more on this the first part of next week.


Talk to you then,
Judy

HANG ON TIGHT...

Let go you lose! Now, you say, “what does that mean?” Well, would you believe that was one of our favorite games on the farm? Can anyone guess what I’m talking about? I wonder how many of you have actually played this game?

You have to have an electric fence. A what? A fence that is electric…that is, an electric current runs through it putting off an electric shock when touched. It can give you quite a jolt. Also needed are a few kids. To make the game more fun, you need at least one who has never played the game. The “how to” is easy. Everyone lines up perpendicular to the fence taking hold of the persons hand on either side of them. Now, take a big, deep breath. Let it out. 1, 2, 3…the first in line takes hold of the fence leading us to the object of the game “holding on” while the electricity runs through to the last then makes it’s trip back to the wire only to begin the trip back down the line again. This is where being new to the game comes in…the new guy is always last in line where the jolt of electricity is the strongest. If he or she hangs on the longest there are lots of ooohs and ahhhs and they are king for the day. Thankfully, we had an electric fence around our pasture and I loved this game. We had lots of laughs, always congratulated one another for a good job done and made sure each others hair was slicked back down good and proper when finished.

Admittedly, I haven’t grabbed hold of an electric fence in a really, really long time. But, the concept of “hang on tight…let go you lose” has stayed with me. And, now that I’m “older” I do appreciate so much what that means. Just think of all that we have to hang on to…

Our spouse, admittedly there are times when we felt like letting go just a little,

Our kids, God love ‘em, there were times when we wished we could fence them up and never let them out. Times when we would open the gate and wonder if they would ever go out,

Our parents, we longed for the day when we could leave their “pasture” and live our own lives. Then, we grew up and learned what letting go really means.

Our God, Who will never let go even though there are times when we do.

I apologize for the rambling (not really). I just hope I’m making sense to someone other than myself. Actually, I have been to bed already tonight and this “Moccasin Holler Memoir” creeped into my head. I knew that if I didn’t get up and type something I would never remember it later on. So, this is just a rough draft to help put it all together when I am awake. This time I decided to share it with you before the fixin’ up…let me know what you think.

Nitey nite.

"MONDAY MARKETPLACE"

It's a new year and I want to begin it with another edition of  "Monday Marketplace".  I'm afraid I slacked off on this and I apologize...but, we are really wanting to make our Old Farmhouse Gathering a place "synonymous" with "handmade".  I couldn't think of a better OFG sister to start the year off with than Alice of "WillmasWimzees".   Following you will find her interview and a link to her Etsy shop, enjoy!



l. What is the name of your Etsy shop and why did you choose
that name?
Willmaswimzees, it is the name of my pattern line.  Although I
made a mistake and used two L’s in Wilma, but it’s after my grandma.

2.    How long have you been on Etsy?
Since February 2008

3.    What type of items do you offer?
Mostly prim dolls and e patterns. I have started making sweaters
for small dogs.

4.    How long have you been crafting?
About 12 years.

5.    Who or What inspires you?
If I can’t find a pattern for what I am looking for, for a
reasonable price, I design one myself.

6.    What is your favorite item in your shop and why?
Oh that’s tough.  I love the snowballs, they don’t melt.  But I
like the Santa with his list too.
 
7. Other places where you can be found (Ebay, webstore, blog)
        www.wilmaswimzees.com
        http://wilmaswimzees.blogspot.com       
http://willmaswimzees.etsy.com