What a delightful week, in every way!  I am so blessed with the friends in my life, and being able to share hours and adventures with them.  Gen and Rainy came down last Monday, and on her way through from New York she stopped to visit with my parents in Albion, and took them lunch and shared her dog with them.  They had a wonderful time; Gen’s smile and gentle loving spirit enriched their lives, not only for that hour or so but with happy thoughts to keep with them.  She got to my house (The Burke Bed and Breakfast!) about 4pm and unloaded the car.  Rainy sat at the door and watched the rain, not sure if she was going to be left alone as her ‘mommy’ made trips to the settle them in. It was nice to have a quiet evening, and we had homemade chicken soup and salads for supper before turning in early. 

Tuesday night, Gen cooked a wonderful supper, and her sister Dottie shared with us.  They enjoyed time in my living room, which is full of antiques and reflects a lot of my father (who ran an antique business -Wagon Shed Antiques- in the late 60’s and 70’s).  It’s like a walk back in time, and memories were flowing.  Wednesday Gen spent the day with her mom and two sisters, and by the time she got home, Rainy was wiped out; she was happy to plop onto her bed by the heater and sleep while Gen and I talked. 

Friday I was invited to go with them to Ikea; I hadn’t been there since about 2003 and it was fun to explore the displays and the marketplace. And the Pittsburgh skyline and rivers are always a treat to see.  Gen had cut several branches of forsythia from her frozen tundra, warmed them up, and shared a sprig or two with me.  They bloomed this morning and look wonderful on my window sill! 

My guests left early Saturday morning, and I’m always sad to see them go.  But I barely had time to shower and dress before I was on the road with my friend Teresa.  We spent the day roaming Cheswick and Tarentum, browsing in antique shops and following the not-so-lazy river.  My favorite was Diamond Antiques. We didn’t spend much money, but we invested in our long time friendship and had a great time seeing all the lovely displays. 

Sunday afternoon Roger drove down and took me to lunch, a belated Valentine celebration, and as always, we talked about all sorts of things and solved most of the worlds problems.  If only they’d listen!  We had brownies for dessert, and sat at home and listened to oldies (45 rpm’s!!!) on my record player (Thanks Kelly and Matt!!!). 

I’m ready to take a break, but tomorrow starts a new week with possible new adventures and opportunities, including lunch with Diane on Thursday and a trip to mom’s on the weekend.  All I can say is my cup overflows, with friends who continue to pour generous helpings of their love and time and adventures to share with me!  Thanks thanks thanks – and we’ll do it again and again!   

I am so excited to be increasingly involved in the programs and activities and events at Historic Hanna’s Town!  For the past too many years my work and home schedule has been so full that I barely had time to accomplish the HAVE TO’s let alone the WANT TO’s.  But that is changing and I’m very happy about that. I think I have been driving Pam crazy with constant emails about being part of things and wanting to know what is next! She does such a great job, along with the rest of the staff.

This past weekend I was part of the volunteer group for the ‘Won’t you be my Valentine’ event.  It was a family fun day, with something for everyone all day.  Even though I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m not very crafty, I was helping out in the craft room.  Kids and adults alike were invited to make homemade Valentines, which they could take home or put in the shiny, heart-shaped box.  Those in the box would be distributed to local senior centers and/or Meals on Wheels.  There were two long tables set up, filled with confetti (my personal favorite), lace hearts, stickers and stickees, buttons, card stock, construction paper, plain paper, pre-cut cards, ink stamps, and craft patterns. Not to mention (but I’ll mention them anyway!) crayons and markers and glue and scissors and tape.  It was a delight to watch the beautiful creations that developed as the morning went on.  Oh, and there were little cut-outs of vintage-looking valentine images to glue on as well. 

A local vendor had a display table set up by the windows, and I’ve never seen such a wonderful variety of vintage necklaces, bracelets, rings, gloves, cards, trinkets, and decorations.  I had to hide my wallet from myself or I could have gone way overboard.  She did a great job arranging the display. 

One wall was lined with vintage Valentines from the 1950’s, ones that I remember from my grade-school days (not, of course, saying how how I am).  A glass display case held older cards, from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  One valentine was a hand-drawn and meticulously cut paper about the size of a saucer.  The detail was amazing.  A display along the back wall held more elaborate examples, with several being very detailed and three dimensional. I took a picture of my favorite one, but it does not really do it justice.

Two lovely ‘young ladies’ watched over the day’s activities, and fit right into the celebrations in their Valentine finery.

After browsing and creating, guests could partake of the delicious cupcakes and cookies that Alice made, along with white-chocolate drizzled pretzel hearts and Valentine M&M’s (again, my favorite!).

The craft room wasn’t the only adventure of the day.  There was a tour of the Exhibit room as well as a scavenger hunt to find specific items related to the day’s theme.  The gift shop, which is another wonderful addition to the new site, had an entire table of Valentine and love-related items for sale.  Again, it was all I could do not to buy dark chocolate candy nuggets for myself or the tiny non-perils for my sister.  In the afternoon there was a Mr. Roger’s storytime reading for the kids, which I suspect the adults enjoyed just as much. 

Hanna’s Town has been adding new events to their programs since the opening of the education center, and I hope word gets out to the community of all the wonderful opportunities presented.  Check out their website at www.westmorelandhistory.org or their facebook page.  Some of the next events on the calendar are the Antiques Appraisal Day and the Irish Genealogy Workshop. New activities are always being added so check often. 

I’m looking forward to being a regular part of the volunteer staff in the coming months, especially once summer comes.  Frontier Court Days in July is my ultimate favorite.  Make plans to attend, and if history is in your blood, maybe consider volunteering.  You won’t regret either decision!

Beef day is the best way to start out any new year.  A trip Home (in this case, Smicksburg) with family and friends is something we start looking forward to even as we drive home from Beef day.  Totally NOT typical, though, is that fact that out of all 7 beefers, Kath and I were the last to arrive.  We are always one of the first.  However, this year a spilled mug of tea and a breakfast snafu put us behind schedule.  We were a whole minute and a half behind! 

The driveway was already full,and the workers were fully engaged.  Nate and Dave were busy cutting the first front quarter;Amber and Sara and Lynn were trimming and scraping, joined by the beef owner Jason and his son Ethan who lent a hand or two and helped until mid afternoon.  Kath and I were wrapping to start with.  About 9:30am it was decided that we needed cheese and chocolate from the Smicksburg Country Store (A favorite!) right down the road.  It was Lynn’s turn to go along.  We each got several types of cheese, I got chocolate covered peanuts, cheese cubes for my sister, and a tiny bag of homemade potato chips for the ride home. Lynn got several cheeses, Scrapple, and corn mush, and chips.

That little side trip put the wrapping behind, so I jumped in to pick up the slack.  We had all pitched in to provide lunch, so Aunt Joan and Uncle Clifford would not incur the cost and labor of feeding thirteen hungry workers.  At about 11:30am I went upstairs with Aunt Joan and we put 2 huge pans of lasagna in the oven, set the table, prepared the salad, cut the Italian bread, and then worked for another hour until lunch.  We sat down to a feast!  Lynn’s baked cinnamon apple dessert, taken hot from the oven, melted in your mouth.  Before we had time to settle in and take a nap, Uncle Clifford did the dishes (haha – just silverware as we had brought disposable plates, bowls, cups!) and we all went back to work. 

Mazie the dog guarded the last quarter of cow, Kath stuck with the wrapping, I ground and re-ground and bagged ground beef for about two hours, then helped pack everything in appropriate cars.  The guys helped Uncle Clifford scrub up as much as possible and soon the work area was almost back in order.  It was such a great day, with sharing and laughter and conversations of everything from A to Z and back again at least twice.  And it wouldn’t have been a day on the farm without a drink from the natural spring pouring down from the mountain, cold and clear and pure.  We left in a caravan, creeping down the dirt road in the dark rainy night, watching for the ever present deer in the headlights. 

Everyone arrived safe and sound back home, put their plunder safely in the fridge or freezer, content with the hard work, great company, and a job well done – with dozens and dozens of meals dancing like sugar plums in our heads.  It will be twelve months until we embark on this particular adventure again – in 2021! – but we’re already calling it our annual event!  Love you guys!   PS – Sunday’s lunch was a fresh burger on homemade bread, with a meatloaf baking for tomorrow’s supper!  Yum!

Today was another super fun day at Hanna’s Town!  Since the addition of the new Education center, there are many more opportunities to have programs and adventures.  I had emailed Pam and offered to help if they needed anything, and she asked me to supervise the cookie decorating table.  I gladly accepted, with the disclaimer that I could supervise and handled crowd control, but my decorating skills were sadly lacking.  So we were in agreement and it was set. 

There were several activities going on, including tours of the site and a sale in the new gift shop.  The cookie station was set in the activities room in the Center, and we had several different shapes of thick sugar cookies, 12 tubes of icing, 5 cups of sprinkles — ‘and a partridge in a pear tree!’  No.  No partridge.  But we did have a flock of excited children come through, and they loved decorating the cookies.  It was very interesting.  I noticed that the older kids got  very creative, using icing upon icing and sprinkles upon sprinkles, loading up the cookies as much as possible.  The younger ones, even as small as three, seemed to be very deliberate with their project.  They outlined the shapes, used icing sparingly, and were very precise with the sprinkles.  They all did a great job and I was totally impressed with their excitement and patience. 

The whole time, in the background, a large screen computer image displayed a cozy room with a Christmas tree and a glowing fireplace.  Classic holiday music filled the room with music – everything from Bing Crosby to the Beach Boys (which of course I loved hearing!).  At noon Stage Right came in, and for 50 minutes we were absolutely delighted with their entertainment.  The voices of these young people amazed me, and the solos were wonderful.  My two favorite performances were ‘Pine Cones and Holly Berries’ (I have that song on an album by the Osmond Brothers from my childhood!) and of course the Beach Boys ‘Little St. Nick’.  The singers were exuberant and engaged and very talented, and I encourage anyone who hasn’t had a chance to see them perform to check it out.  I understand that there is a performance of Cinderella in January. 

After Stage Right was finished, several of the members and also those who had come in to watch the show decorated cookies, and we were busy for an hour with that – while in the Steele House next door there was a reading of the Nutcracker for families to attend.  The afternoon wound down with only a few more cookie decorators, and some of the other volunteers wandered in to see the displays.  If you read my post from December 14th, you’ll remember that I mentioned not taking pictures at the 1900’s presentation.  The display was still up, so I snapped a few photos.  You’ll see toys and electronics and books, and wax candles and cardboard houses, Santa Coke can, melted window decor, and a few sets of lights. 

As I left at 3:15pm, I turned around and took a photo of the wreath on the Tavern door.  It’s a great site with wonderful programs.  Keep checking the website at www.westmorelandhistory.org to see what’s happening, and in the spring all the new programs will begin.  Don’t get left out, it’s a great place to be – Where History is Present!

Kath and I parted ways with Kelly, who was going to my place to have some much needed quiet time, and Di and Shannen after the Hanna’s Town program, leaving the two of them still chatting with the presenters.  I overheard Shannen telling someone she had a Coke can with the Santa on it – so there was a lot of excited chatter.  But Kath and I headed out Home, as today was the annual Skunk Hollow Girls Christmas Party Fest.  We were going to celebrate this year at Colleen’s house, one of the further trips we make for our events.  Colleen and her husband Larry live in the old farmhouse of Larry’s family, and still run the farm with dairy cows and crops.  But I should clarify.  When I say old, that only refers to longevity of ownership.  The farmhouse is absolutely beautiful!  Every corner and facet of the place has been updated and renovated, until it would rival any magazine spread on the market today.  The kitchen/dining room has a table that easily held the 11 of us without crowding. Holly was at a wedding, and of course Susan was celebrating Christmas with the angels, and Jesus himself! 

We were blessed with a tour, where every corner held pine and candles and twinkling lights, quaint snowmen and centuries of Santas and toys and photos.  Even the framed pictures on the walls reflected and holiday and the season.  I think Beth had her eye on the one in the entrance hall that said about all roads lead to Grama’s house.  I hope it was still there when we all left….  Such a comfortable, welcoming home, perfect in every way, a great place to gather and be thankful for our blessings and each other.  Colleen’s parents, Uncle Clifford and Aunt Joan, live right up the road, and she invited them down to share the evening.  As we sat there around the table, in the waning dusk we could see light snow falling, coating the ground with a light layer of white.  I had to fight down the nervous edge about driving home, especially the first 20 miles on rural, unlit, isolated roads.  “I can’t think about that today.  I’ll go crazy if I do.  I’ll think about that tomorrow.”  (Quote from Scarlet O’Hara, Gone with the Wind.)   

We gathered around the Christmas tree to take a group picture, one including both AJ and UC, and one that UC took for us of all the girls, including AJ. (Left ot right:  Kathy, Gail, Colleen, Aunt Joan, Connie, Gwen, Karen V, Karen O, Me, Uncle Clifford.  Beth replaces UC in the second photo) It was a wonderful evening with those we love most in the whole world, in a place that is as dear to us as our own home (Home!).  It’s always hard to leave, and since everyone else was local, Kath and I had to pull ourselves away from the festivities to make our way home the 60 miles to Greensburg.  Post Script:  Roads were fine, but the threat of deer and snow kept us at a pretty slow pace until Indiana!  Already looking forward to our spring event, but as for this, it was at the top of our Christmas favorites – sharing thoughts and laughs and food and faith.  Love you guys!

As you can see by the title of this post, I am a little behind schedule!  But December 14th was a big day, and lots of fun.  The morning started at Eat n Park where my daughter Kelly, my sister Kathy and I met up with my friend Diane and her daughter Shannen.  We had a yummy breakfast and spent an hour and a half chatting and catching up – and even spent a few minutes with the food service manager, Sally, who is a long-time friend.  From there we caravaned to Hanna’s Town, where we browsed around in the beautiful new gift shop looking at the books and decorations and snacks while we waited for our program.  Back in September we had signed up for their program, ‘Three Centuries of Christmas’ – and for once I was a attendee rather than a hostess.  The day was rainy and very cool, and even though the programs were inside, walking from building to building was a very chilling experience. But so fun! The first stop was the Tavern, and once we were inside we were warm and toasty, with the fire blazing in the hearth and dozens of candles glowing.  Pam and Joanna welcomed us as guests, and once we were all seated, Pam started with the 1700’s.  She gave a detailed and interesting presentation about how the Christmas holiday was celebrated (and often FORBIDDEN to be celebrated!) in the colonies. The tree was a simple pine branch, hung with common, local fruit.  It was common to go ‘wassailing’ but gifts were not a part of the celebration as such.  We met Belsnickle, who barged in on our presentation, poking people with his stick and asking them if they were good.  His determination produced either a piece of candy or a lump of coal.  He was a colorful gentleman that was full of orneriness and silly stories, and after offering us a cookie, led us to the next stop. 

The Klingensmith house represented the first half of the 1800’s, where the tree was strung with popcorn, candles,  and little handmade ornaments.  We learned about Clement Moore’s ‘The Night Before Christmas, and had a taste of cocoa with our cookies.   

The Steele house gave us a taste of the second half of the 1800’s, where we learned about Christmas celebrations during and immediately after the Civil War.  The years following the war were very prosperous, with the onset of the industrial age, and electric lights and German ornaments were very popular on trees.  Toys were introduced with movable parts, and dolls went from being ‘adult’ dolls to ‘baby’ dolls, which also introduced all and every accessory know to babydom!  Christmas cards came into the picture, which was a boon for the US Post Office as well as a new greeting card industry.   Again we were offered cookies – fruit cake and shortbread – and made our way to the new education center to visit the 1900’s and the beginning of the 2000’s. 

I didn’t even think to take pictures, but of course most of the items were very familiar – Flexible Flyer sleds, Fisher Price toys, the introduction of electronics (boom boxes and cassette tape recorders), Barbie dolls and tiny twinkle lights.  Santa became the image on the Coca Cola cans, and Rudolph and Frosty and most of the classic songs and movies were introduced. 

This was an amazing program, which is offered every year, and I heartily recommend attending.  It was fun and informative and even tasty!  I’d sign up early, like late September or early October, because even though there are several sessions over two weekends, space is limited and it fills up fast.  Set a reminder in your calendar, and join us next year.  You won’t be disappointed!  I guarantee it!

PS:  Photo credits go to Kelly!

Wednesday night was Harrold Middle School’s Christmas Band Concert.  Chrissy is part of the percussion section of the 7th and 8th grade band. 

My favorite song of the evening was ‘The Holly and the Ivy’, but my favorite performance was ‘The Polar Express’ – because our Chrissy had a Marimba solo!  We were so proud of her. 

As I sat and looked through the program, I noticed that Christina Burke was actually a Section Leader.  There she was, practically a celebrity, and I didn’t even know it!  I had missed the choral program the week before (second row from the bottom with the glasses), so I was doubly excited to attend the band concert.  And Chrissy even wore a dress, and declared that she even liked it.  She looked so grown up, confident and smiling. 

So I guess this means that Chrissy will join the marching band next year at the high school:  long practices, band festivals, and sub sales.  Get ready, Daddy – 4am comes really early!  And great job, Chrissy.  I love you and am proud of you!

Today I ventured over to Barnes and Noble to story time and book signing in the Haunted Woods.  My friend Sharon Full, who writes under the name Sharon Parker, read her children’s ‘read along’ book about Grama Aggie and the dancing chickens!  The chickens loved to dance with Aggie, and by the end of the book, the grumpy farmers were laughing and dancing and eating Aggie’s rhubarb and strawberry tarts.

It’s an amazing, delightful book, with cute rhymes and colorful photos – and a captivating story.  And the children in attendance all agreed, and were spellbound the entire time.  Aggie not only read the story, but sang two songs and even taught the kids to yodel.  All the little ones could choose a sticker of Aggie yodeling or the chickens dancing, and she also had a little treat to hand out, with Aggie’s picture on the outside.  She was engaging and drew all of us in, and in addition has a very good singing voice, including the yodels! 

If you get a chance, pick up the book for a special little one in your life, and keep your eyes alert for more great things from Sharon.  I’m sure her creativity will not be stifled and we will see her all over the place.  And in the meantime, get out there and dance with the chickens.  And don’t forget to yodel!

The last time Kelly’s family was up, Chase brought along his little stuffed Giraffe.  Chase always travels with a montage of stuffed animals, but this was a newer addition.  Purple Eyes (my name for him) actually has another name but I can’t remember what it is, now.  But when he came, he seemed to attach himself to me!  So I adopted him for the afternoon.  I had chores to do, and was cleaning, etc., so Purple Eyes just jumped on and went with me.  First we dusted, and he snuggled up to me and told me where to clean.   Next we ran the sweeper, and he liked the ride!  He sat on top of the lantern above the steps and watched while we cleaned the shelves. 

He was a very good helper, but got hungry sort of fast, so I sat him down at the table and had him eat a carrot.  Chase wasn’t impressed with that, as he doesn’t particularly like carrots.  But I explained that if P. E. ate his carrot, he would get a snack.  And low and behold, he did!  So he got a little Hershey bar to snack on. (It’s a stretch – you really have to look to see it!) 

Once he’d had his snack, he joined his buddies on the bed and watched while Chase and Logan played video games.  

They seemed to really enjoy doing that.  But I could see all this activity was wearing him out, so he climbed in the little cradle (which belonged to my mom when she was a child) and took a little nap.  I think he had a good time at Grammy’s house, and feel certain that he’ll want to come back again.  But right now Chase and Logan are at Disney with their aunt and uncle, and are not thinking of visiting Grammy’s house or even about stuffed animals.  But when they get back, maybe they will come back to help clean again.  We had a great day together, and I enjoyed entertaining P. E.  Maybe some day he’ll even spend the week! 

In the meantime, I hope he has his letter ready for Santa.  I know I do! 

Today’s event was very different but equally fun to the Candlelight Open House.  The 1910 Steel farmhouse was host to two sets of twenty-four guests for the semi-annual tea.  In years past the teas were held in the Klingensmith log house, but since the renovations had been completed, the new space was the perfect setting for the Victorian tea.  Lillian, as usual, was hostess for the event, brewing the tea, which was served in heated pots (thanks to Louise’s expertise!) and placed on the tables.

The mantles and tables were decorated for fall thanks to Paul, our resident floral expert, and they looked elegant and amazing.  Our young servers, Jamie and Aleena, assisted in serving the guests and seeing to their needs.  When the guests arrived and were seated, the ambrosia was already at their place on the table.  Once Lillian welcomed everyone, the servers carried the plates to the tiered trays on each table. 

The top tier contained scones, chocolate-tipped apricots, and sugared grapes. The middle tier held the sandwiches: chicken salad, egg salad tied with chives, cucumber on wheat-bread ‘leaves’, and date bread.  The bottom tier offered Russian tea cakes, tiny gingerbread men dusted with powdered sugar, pound cake (my absolute favorite – thanks, Lisa!), and pumpkin iced sugar cookies that looked delightful. 

The ladies (and I believe one gentleman!) consumed amazing amounts of spiced tea and enjoyed the formality of the tea and getting to know one another.  Thanks to everyone who made this event yet another vastly successful and entertaining one!