The magic of the Christmas season.............

I'm sure you're all busy with preparations for the coming holidays but I wanted to take the time to thank you all for visiting me here and for your sweet comments over the past year(s).  I can't express how much they mean to me and what good friends I consider you all.  I hope you are all enjoying every minute of this magical time of year!
As for me.....I've been wrestling with the USPS.  For some reason my packages make it to Des Moines, IA and then they turn around and send them from there to Memphis!  Really?  They must have a glitch in their software in DesMoines.  3 of the 5 made it to their destinations and one went to Memphis and then yesterday there was a package delivered to me and lo and behold it was the Christmas present I had sent to my little Uriah!  Evidently the address label fell off somewhere in transit so I quickly relabeled it and took off for the post office to re-mail it!  The poor man at the post office looked like he hadn't slept in days....those poor people.  It's on it's way again and I checked this morning and the one in Memphis  has been sent back to DesMoines. LOL!  Good thing I mailed them early is all I can say!    
Meanwhile back at the ranch.........I've been cooking and baking.........my fried potatoes cooked up great in my new cast iron skillet.......yummm....nice and brown and crispy just like my Aunt Bernice used to make them.  I'm pretty sure she was standing there ensuring they would turn out!

I also made a chocolate cream pie like my Aunt Alice used to make...she was the best baker!  It was very rich too.  I used the "old" recipe and I can barely take all the sugar we used to put in our recipes back in the day!  A little slice goes a long way.

The tree is up! LOL!  My Aunt Alice made this ceramic tree and although I used to get a real tree I don't now unless the family is coming.  It's just me so as long as I have lots of lights I'm good.

I put it on a milk crate so it would be in the window for all to enjoy and then I took fiberfill that I stuff things with and put it on the sides and took my little houses that I got at the thrift store for .50 each and a few bottle brush trees and there's my Christmas village.  Ha! Ha!
This village got "blanketed" in snow! :)

There was cleaning also as who can decorate when there's dust on every surface?  Plus....it was time!

Today I looked out and there was a package hanging from the mail box and I thought "Oh no, not again", thinking it was one of my packages being returned but as I got closer to the mailbox I could see it wasn't.  It was a real package for me this time!  From Diane at Lavender Dreams

A Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookbook!  I love Gooseberry Patch and I have a few of their books but not this one!  Thank you, Diane!  I will really enjoy snuggling up with this and reading it....what fun!  She also sent this so cute card from Florida where she lives...........I love the snowman made out of sand....precious!

She also included some book marks....she evidently knew I would need them to mark all those recipes I'll be wanting to make!  Diane you are a sweetie pie!

 Hope all is well in your corner of the world and say a little prayer for those who aren't doing as well this Christmas for all sorts of reasons. 
Happy Trails!

A little walk down Memory Lane...........

Many of the people who were the dearest to me are now gone but not the wonderful memories they gave me......this is a little post to honor them at this time of year........if you can hear me.....thank you all....I will always love you.............
My Mother is in the middle row 3rd from the left......my Aunt Alice is the first one on the left in the top row......... this was their graduation picture from High School 1933

 Below is my Aunt Alice and Uncle Ben who had this little restaurant called The Coffee Cup.......they lived upstairs and they owned the building and lived there all their life. 

 Below are my Uncle Homer and Aunt Bernice who I spent every summer with until I went to college.  My Uncle Homer was famous for his homemade bologna and rightly so!  They owned the meat market and grocery store in town.

 My Uncle Buck  is the tallest one in the picture below.  He had his own gas station and also drove a school bus for years.  He was a bachelor until he was 60 years old.....I still can't get over that one. 

 The man on the left is my Uncle Chuck with his business partner Mr. McCormick...they had the insurance business in town.

 I had the gentlest and kindest relatives and I learned so much from them.....the best role models a child could have.
Below are the only ones left alive today....me with the eyes looking up (probably in trouble for something lol!).  My cousin Allen is in the middle and my cousin Ellen Kay is on the right.  We have no idea where the "Creepy Santa Claus" came from but we're all glad he's not around anymore!

 And my wonderful hometown that I miss so much especially at this time of year.........

 

I better stop now or I'll be shedding tears all night..........Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy Trails too............