Thursday, December 6, 2018

Snow And Ice


Well friends the weekend is almost here.
I will be working at our store on Saturday.
We are doing our Christmas
haggle deal with the vendors for our customers,
then Bob and I are having a 
Christmas party for our vendors.

Also  between 9pm and midnight,
a paranormal group will be in our store
looking for ghosts.
If you are interested in watching live,
visit the Facebook page of
Detroit Paranormal Expedition.
{I am both excited & nervous}
[We know we have ghosts]

Now for today's post.

When dragging things down from the attic,
I stumbled upon this one storage bin
with items I made in the 1980's.
It brought back some fond memories 
so I just had to create a grouping from these.


Sledding was a big thing as a kid.
Gramma H's farm and farmhouse
was located at the top of a hill on a dirt road.
So naturally when the roads were snowy,
it made for the best sledding ever!
My cousins and I would take turns 
going downhill on our sleds, while one of us
would stay at the top on lookout for cars coming.
Being on a rural road, cars came by occasionally.
When one did, we stopped to let it go by...
and we were off sledding again. 


[ Antique Skater lamp]

Besides sledding, 
we all learned how to ice skate too.
Again at gramma H's farm,
one of my uncles would create an ice pond for us.
After the crops were harvested,
and the fields plowed for next year's crops;
a square was made for us by 
building up the dirt all around.
Water was added.
Once frozen we had an instant thin ice pond.
No worries of falling through any ice and drowning.



My dad did this for us as well once
our vegetable garden was harvested.


Although we did not skate at night,
in the early days skaters would
carry these little skater lamps.
Since our early foremothers and forefathers
skated on rivers, ponds, 
flooded fields and even frozen lakes,
the lamps were a necessity to safely
get back to shore off the ice.


For groups of skaters,
bonfires were lit on land for both warmth
and to socialize around.
These were the skating rinks of the past.


For my grouping, 
the little stitched pillows I made.
The snowman pillow my mom made for me.
Whilst the mittens were once again
 knitted by my aunt.


So glad I opened this bin.
What memories it reminded me of.

Do you decorate with a memory in mind?
Did you sled, skate or ski as a kid?
Or do you still today do Wintertime activities?

Snow And Ice Blessings To All!
Janice


10 comments:

  1. Hi Janice!Such a sweet little vignette - I'd never heard of skaters lamps before so I really enjoyed hearing the history. We had a shallow ice pond behind our house when I was growing up. We had to slide under a barbed wire fence to get to it, lol. Not sure why my dad didn't give us a better way to get to it, but we all lived somehow! I learned to skate on double runners, which made it very easy. We spent hours out there. So much fun! Have a great day - looking forward to your ghostly finds. Jane

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    1. I have never heard of double runners, but I am sure it was easier than a single blade. I did have my share of tubles on both sled and skate. :-) Janice

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  2. Oh My....My computer pulled up my account to post today!! Christmas Miracle?? Today's post today reminded me of Christmas the year I was 13. I went with a friend to their family Gathering of the Greens at the family farm. There was a little pond there and some extra skates. I tried the skates on and proceeeded to skate and mostly fall down! When I got home, I told "Santa”that all I wanted for Christmas were ice skates. Fortunately, I had not asked for anything that year so Santa had me go to the one sport equipment store in town, try on skates and....well somehow those skates were front and center and the tree on Christmas morning!! Oh the fun years I had learning to skate with friends for those few times that the regional lakes were frozen enough! Your little collection really brought back wonderful memories this morning!! Thank-you!

    Have a wonderful Christmas party this weekend with your vendors at the store. It sounds like fun. Who knowsm mybe the ghost of Christmas Past will show up for the occasion!!

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    1. Let's hope Christmas Future will continue to let you post comments. So fun reading about your ice skating adventure and how you received them. Memories are such a joy to me and I love reading about them from my friend! Janice

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  3. Very fond memories, love to read.

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    1. Thank you Krishna. Always like that you take the time to visit and comment. Janice

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  4. I grew up on a small farm and we had ponds to skate on but the ice was generally rough and I had the weakest ankles!
    I just love your blue and white quilts.

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  5. Oh no! Not fun to skate on rough ice. Thank you Lauren. I have a fondness for red and white and blue and white quilts. Janice

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  6. I love to decorate with sentimental pieces, coming across things that were given to you, bringing back a trip down memory lane.

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Thank you friends for reading my blog! I especially enjoy reading your comments.