New Year's Day Superstitions

I thought I'd better get this post out today - you know just in case you want to do or not do any of these things.  (just kidding folks)


New Year's Day is full of superstitions. Many differ, depending on what part of the country you live in.

Now for us, you just have to eat cabbage on New Year's Day. There's just no getting around it. The stores in our area always put cabbage on sale this time of year. I've already bought me a big head of it. When I was growing up, Mom used to put a silver coin in it (usually a dime) and the one who spooned it out with their helping was sure to come into money that year. I really think it was just a way to get us kids to eat cabbage, though. We all wanted that dime!

And, as far as my grandma went, you had to be a male or you weren't entering her house first on New Year's Day! They said she had her son who lived next door come to her house bright and early. I guess it didn't hurt that he was also tall, dark haired, and handsome, which is another superstition people had about the first footer.

There are lots of superstitions I found on the internet. Some of the more prevalent ones were:

Wear new clothes. This would mean receiving new garments throughout the coming year.
Avoid crying if you don't want to continue the pattern throughout the new year.
Be nice and refrain from using foul language.
Don't let money leave the house. Don't pay bills or loan money on New Year's Day. Or for that matter don't even take out the garbage or shake out a rug! This will ensure that nothing goes out of the home during the new year. Some soften this rule by saying it is okay to remove things if something is brought in first.
At midnight, all the doors must be opened to let the old year escape.
Make sure your wallets, purses and cupboards are well stocked on New Year's Day and it will bring prosperity.
Do not do the laundry on New Year's Day! It will 'wash away' or lead to a death in the family.
Pay your bills or loans before the New Year so you won't have any debt left for the New Year.
Make as much noise as possible at Midnight - you are scaring away evil spirits. Evil spirits hate loud noises, this is also why church bells are rung on wedding days.
Babies born on this day will have luck on their side.
 If a girl looks out her bedroom window upon rising and sees a man walking outside, it is said she will be married before the year is out.
And, be sure to kiss at midnight! This will ensure that those affections will continue throughout the following year.

So there you have it. Be sure and pay all your bills today, go shopping and stock up on groceries, do your laundry, put money in everyone's wallet or purse(even if it's just a few pennies), kiss the one you love at midnight, and then proceed to make a lot of noise!
Then on New Year's Day be sure and wear new clothing you received for Christmas, be nice and polite, make sure a man comes into your house first, then proceed to make a big pot of cabbage for dinner!

That shouldn't be too much to remember.
Do you have any more to add to my list?

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Celebrate an Old-Fashioned Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Thought I'd post my column I wrote for Two-Lane Livin' magazine's December issue.

Celebrate an Old-Fashioned Christmas 

 by: Janet F. Smart

What Christmas carol is a favorite of parents? Silent Night!

Celebrate an old-fashioned Christmas with all its sights, sounds and smells.

Add some old-fashioned Christmas sights to your house by popping popcorn and making strands to string on your Christmas tree. Hang cookie cutters on your tree, string them across your mantle or use them as napkin rings. Sprinkle powdered sugar on large pinecones and make a small grouping of ‘snow covered pinecone trees’ to set on a placemat and put it in the middle of your kitchen table.

Add some old-fashioned Christmas sounds to your house by hanging jingle bells on your front door and playing Christmas music on your radio or CD player. Light your fireplace and listen to the crackling of the warm fire on a frosty morning.

Add some old-fashioned Christmas smells to your house by baking sugar cookies, lighting cinnamon scented candles, making cinnamon dough ornaments to hang on your tree and, of course, putting up a piney smelling Christmas tree.

Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, said, “Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”

You can visit a neighbor and present them with a plate of cookies or read a Christmas story to a younger family member or friend. Some good holiday books are:

Berenstain Bears Old Fashioned Christmas, The Polar Express, The Night Before Christmas, The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving, God Gave us Christmas, A Christmas Carol, Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus, Olivia Helps With Christmas, Snowmen at Christmas and Bear Stays up for Christmas.

The spirit of Christmas lives in your heart. Give the gift of love and friendship. Make homemade gifts; share your voice by going caroling in your neighborhood. Have a family fun night each week. Pop some popcorn and watch a Christmas movie.

But, most of all, remember what Dr. Seuss said in The Grinch That Stole Christmas. He puzzled three hours till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before, “Maybe Christmas,” he thought…“doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps …means a little bit more!”

And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day!

Merry Christmas!

Posted by Janet F.  Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch

 

Christmas Memories and Wishes

Christmas is almost here and our mind drifts back to memories of past Christmases.

We are sad at first, but we should remember them with happiness and joy. We cannot step back, even though we sometimes wish that we could. So let us try and remember with a smile while we make more memories.

I remember Grandma's cedar tree that she put in her living room for a Christmas tree and Aunt Gracie's big Christmas tree covered with icicles, put on with perfection. I don't think there was a limb on her tree left uncovered and I remember her large waxed pine cone. I had never seen a pine cone that large before and it amazed me. And we always went in the woods and cut down our tree. We never had one of those aluminum trees, thank goodness. I remember stringing popcorn and putting it on the tree.

We always had hard Christmas candy and those chocolate balls. Mom put them in her milk glass candy container. . . and the nuts! We always had a big bag of mixed nuts that was put in a bowl for us to crack and eat during the holidays.

I remember the church Christmas plays I was in. One program I remember from when I was in grade school was when the upper grades sang Twas the Night Before Christmas while other children acted it out on stage. And I remember all the Christmas programs my kids were in when they were in grade school. I am lucky to have many pictures and movies of most of them.

I remember crafting with Mom. We made Santa from Readers Digest books.

I don't remember when I stopped believing in Santa, but I always remember when I was older we opened our presents on Christmas Eve night. After I married and had children, we started opening the presents on Christmas morning.

I remember when my oldest son was three years old, we found out he needed glasses. It was during the Christmas season and when he came home and saw the lights on the Christmas tree, it startled him and his eyes got real big. Before, I guess the lights were all a blur.

Mom used to wear a Santa hat on Christmas. I have her hat now and display it during December. . .and try and remember her with happy memories, but a tear always wells up in my eyes.

I do not know why some memories stay with me and others don't. I led a normal and uneventful life, so I think the memories that stayed with me are the simple memories of the things that we always did and the fact that we did them every year made the memories stick in my mind. We never did anything or received anything spectacular, so I don't have those kind of memories. . . only the memories of the simple things.

But they were special! They were special or I would not remember with such fondness.

I wish you and your family a simple, yet special Christmas this year.
Make memories for you and your family to remember in the years to come.

Comment and tell us about some of your memories. I'd love to hear them.

God Bless you all and Merry Christmas!

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

My Book Christmas Tree

My son asked me if we were putting up a Christmas tree.
I don't think he had this in mind.

I have books everywhere in our family room. Piles of them here and there, plus book cases full of them.

I thought I'd make good use of them and make a Christmas tree.

It's different, but I like it. I just hope no one knocks it over!
It is really pretty in the dark with the chaser lights on.

Have you put up your tree yet?

Posted by Janet F.  Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

A Few Updates

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted over here.

I have been busy at the house. We are finally moved into our new dining room!
The only thing that is not finished is the trim around the windows. . . and the curtains hide that for now. But that could be a bad thing. If you can't see what needs to be done, you are more likely to put it off.

Here are a few pictures that I took about a week ago. I have since put up more decorations.

 I hang my Christmas plates every year in the kitchen. I love them, I have ones for 1974, 1976, 1978(the year we were married), and 1980 and 1981(the years my first two sons were born). They are Avon plates and I got them at yard sales for $1 each.

 My Christmas aprons are hanging on the fridge.

 This picture is taken in our new dining room. I painted the walls yellow!

Back inside the kitchen, this table sits where our old dining room table, which is now in the new room, used to sit. It takes up a lot less space. The shelves against the wall are located where the china cabinet used to be. We have a lot more room in the kitchen now and more space for my dishes, with the extra shelf space. This table belonged to Charley's mom. It is old and has two drop leafs and I love it. I think it used to have another leaf in the middle, but I don't know what happened to it. We have no chairs to match it,  but that's okay. I like how it looks in our kitchen.

There is a story behind our chandelier. We couldn't find one we liked for the longest time. I finally found this one at Lowes in Kanawha City, but they only had the one on display. And they wouldn't sell it. They searched on the internet for us and said there was one in Athens, Ohio! We just happened to have a friend who lives in Athens, and he brings his parents down every week. He was happy to get it for us and. . . it was discounted down to only $50. The discounted price in Kanawha City was around $120!

I am blogging over on my writing blog each day this month about Christmas Picture Books! Go over there and take a look. Picture books are not just for kids, parents are usually the ones who read them to the little ones. I just love them. If you aren't yet, I bet a Christmas book a day will get you in the mood for Christmas.

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Thanksgiving Wishes, Memories and Recipes

Here is wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow.
I hope you get the chance  to slow down and enjoy this day with friends and family.

Thanksgiving would not be the same without our favorite foods.

Click here to find a recipe for this cheese ball.

 
Click here to find a recipe for sweet potato casserole.

Click here for a recipe for pecan pie muffins. This is a good substitute for pecan pie. And if you can't afford the pecans, click here and try a recipe for poor man's pecan pie!

My mom passed away in 1996 and I still miss her dearly, but she still lives in my heart.

She made the best turkey dressing! I try to make it like she did, but mine will never be as good as hers. She never had a recipe she went by, she just added this and that and it came out delicious. My husband and kids loved it and my kids ate spoonfuls of it before it went into the oven. If I had my druthers, I'd eat it without baking it, too.

What did the dish consist of? Mainly bags of herb stuffing mix/croutons (she sometimes used toasted bread and sage, too), chicken boiled and stripped  from the bone and cut up and cooked celery (and maybe onions). And be sure to add the delicious broth the chicken was cooked in. Stir. She cooked it in the oven for approx. 30 minutes or so. Cover it with foil 'til the last 15 minutes or so to brown lightly on top.

As you can see, the above recipe is filled with words such as approximate, or so and maybe. My husband's best advice is to be sure and make it moist. He loves moist dressings! So I make sure I put in lots of the chicken broth.

How do you make your dressing? Do you use oysters, cornbread or something else that makes it special?

Click over to my writing blog and read my kid's column for the November issue of Two-Lane Livin'.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.



 

Turnips Anyone?

In the early summer you look forward to the first squash. In the fall you look  forward to the first turnips.

But, just like squash, you can only eat so many turnips. After satisfying your taste buds with a few raw ones and a few cooked messes, you grow tired of them.

When Daddy was alive, he always wanted us to plant a turnip patch. He'd sometimes bring out the seeds himself and we'd work up an unused section of the garden and spread the seeds. The seeds were tiny and he'd tell us to mix the seeds with sand and scatter them upon the ground.

Daddy passed away last spring, so he wasn't here to help, but we planted a patch in our garden and thought of him while we did it.  But, after enjoying them for a while, we promptly forgot about them.

Wow, they have grown!

We have some whopper turnips! 

Daddy would be proud!

I think it is kinda weird the way they push up out of the ground and end up above the earth. It is amazing how they grow.

Usually they are not good, when they get this big. But this one sure was. I brought it to the house, peeled it and cut it up. Wasn't a thing wrong with that gigantic turnip.

I think a person could make a meal out of just one. What do you think?

Are your turnips getting out of control, too?

They are good cut up and cooked, but I also like them raw. Just peel 'em, slice 'em and shake a little salt on 'em. Yum!

What is your favorite way to eat them?

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Christmas Cactus - Suggestions?

Christmas Cactus plants are so pretty!

Especially when in bloom.
Mine never bloomed last year.

Any suggestions? I need something to brighten my holidays.
Someone told me to not water them after November 1st.
Do I need to transplant the large one into a larger flowerpot or will that hurt it at this late date?

I need your help. Any Suggestions?

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch

Pumpkin Roll

For some reason, I got in the mood for a pumpkin roll today and it is not even November yet.

My cousin, Vera, has a great pumpkin roll recipe that has been around for a long time. It is in our family cookbook that I put together in 1996. I have since put together another family cookbook.
I am bragging here, but I have a family of great cooks!

PUMPKIN ROLL


INGREDIENTS for cake:
3 eggs beaten
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup flour
1 t. soda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t.  salt
chopped nuts (whatever amount you wish to use - just a handful, 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup)

INGREDIENTS for filling:
Cream together: 8 oz cream cheese, 1 t. vanilla, 2 T. butter and 1 cup powdered sugar.

DIRECTIONS for cake:
Preheat oven to 375
Grease a 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 jelly roll pan
Line with wax paper
Grease wax paper
Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar

Beat eggs, add sugar and gradually blend in pumpkin. Add salt, soda,  cinnamon and flour. Spread batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with chopped nuts of your choice. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Turn onto thin, cotton kitchen towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Peel off wax paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool. Carefully unroll and spread with filling. Re-roll cake and wrap in plastic wrap.

Keep  refrigerated -  Freezes very well.

Doesn't look like any of those small, nice and neat pumpkin rolls 

you buy already packaged up in the store, does it?

Believe me when I say it is delicious. 

I ate two pieces before I stopped.

 I am in the process of putting together another cookbook. It is filled with recipes,stories and memories.


I have many food memories, good and bad!
Do you have any food memories you would like to share with us?

  Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch

Easy Quilting

This is a re-post from waaay back in September 2008. That was the month I first started blogging.
According to my stat counter, this post gets many, many visits. Surprisingly many of the visits are from Turkey! It seems someone on a blog over there found my post and posted it on her site. I wish I could read their language so I could read her post and the comments it generated.

I don't have the time to sew like I used to, so I hope you enjoy this re-post about my quilt and Teddy Bears.

By the way, I have a winner from my last post. FOLKWAYS NOTEBOOK. I haven't heard from her yet, so Barbara, please let me have your address so I can send your apron to you.

Gather pieces
Watch it grow
Piece together
In long rows.

Make it useful
Make it bright
Start it right now
Start tonight.

The jeans and dress
Are now gone
They made a quilt
To lay on.

When I have time, usually in late fall and early winter, I like to quilt, craft and sew.

The winter of 2007 I made a blue and pink blue jean quilt. This is the 5th blue jean quilt I have made. The other ones were different shades of blue and the blocks were smaller. I back them with flannel and you don't have to put batting between the layers. I knot them with embroidery thread. They're easy to make and durable. I like the bigger blocks, because I am impatient!

The leading character in my Middle Grade story Family Treasure (which I have received numerous rejection letters on) made a quilt just like this.

Here is a detailed picture of some of the blocks. The pink block with butterflies on it came from a jumper and the small flowers were on the leg of a pair of blue jeans. I also left the pockets on some of the blocks.



Here is another picture. The large flowered blocks came from a large skirted dress. The pink blocks came from pink blue jeans!




I also had enough material from that flowered dress to make a matching teddy bear.

The teddy bears are another story. I have been sewing since I was young. I made my clothing when I was a teenager, my wedding gown, and Halloween costumes for my children when they were young. But the hardest thing I ever learned how to make were teddy bears! When I first started making them I made many mistakes until I finally got the knack of it. Needless to say, I don't make them any more. Below is what they look like. The one on the far left was the flowered one from the left over material I sewed in the quilt. The others were made out of an old tablecloth, a chenille bedspread and a very old quilt which was too tore up to save.


As I stated above, the quilts are easy to make. They are an easy way to get rid of the old blue jeans that the kids (or you) have outgrown. Or if you don't have any you can buy them at a yard sale or thrift store. Cut out the squares, sew together, put flannel on the back, then knot them together and put on the binding. Voila! You're done.

Happy sewing!

Have you ever made a blue jean quilt before? Or maybe a Teddy Bear or two?

Posted by Janet Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Dressing up the Goose & Giveaway

UPDATE (a new prize) . . . Look Below
 
It sure has been cold outside lately.
Especially the last few days.
We've had to get our coats from the closet.

I decided it was time to dress the goose. She never had any attire for fall, except for an old, faded one that I had got at a yard sale. It was in very bad condition. I decided to take it apart and make a pattern with it.

Cut your choice of material 42" x 14"

 Hem the top and bottom of material.

 Two inches up from the bottom hem, sew on a large ruffle. 

If you want, you can also sew a ribbon on top of the ruffle, but this isn't necessary.

Put elastic through the top hem to make the gathered neck.

Fold material with right sides together and sew down the sides to make the dress.

For her hat cut an eight inch circle out of two pieces of material. With right sides together, sew around the circle, leaving a small section open to turn. Turn material, iron and go in about an inch and sew the inner circle. Insert elastic, sew together the outer circle. Cut two ribbons and sew on each side for her chin straps. 

Isn't she pretty?

As you can see, these are very easy to make. In fact, they were so easy, I made two of them.

Now my goose doesn't need two fall outfits, so I am giving one away. 

Do you have a cold goose?

Do you know anyone who does?

If so enter my contest to win the extra outfit I made.

Comment and let me know if you want entered in the contest. Post about my give a way on your blog and get another entry into the contest. If you are a follower of my blog you will get another entry. Twitter or put on face book about it and you will get another entry.

Good luck. I will announce the winner one week from today.

Well, so far it seems that no one owns a Goose. I have decided I will give away something else I have made to the winner, if they do not own a Goose. Let's see, how about one of my homemade aprons --- your choice of one of my denim aprons or one my calender dish towel aprons. I've posted about these before. But, you have to comment in order to be entered into the contest! 

You can go here and here to see these aprons.
 

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Stairway to the Stars - vintage shelf

I have learned so much by researching this vintage crescent moon shelf.

Did you know it was a pattern designed by A. Neely Hall?
Did you know there was a song by Glenn Miller called, Stairway to the Stars?
Did you know that it was thought to be a wood shop project from the 1950s?
Did you know there are many different versions of this shelf and there was usually a wooden star as part of the pattern?

Well, I didn't know any of that. All I knew was that I remembered them from my childhood. We had one hanging on our living room wall. Ours did not have a star.

This is the only picture I could find with our crescent moon shelf hanging on the wall. 

Seems Mom used it to hang Christmas cards on one year. This is not me, but my niece posing in front of our mantle.

When I saw a dilapidated one on a pile of stuff to be taken to the dump in my neighbor's pull behind trailer, I knew I had to snatch it and try to restore it. With their permission, of course. I try not to take things from my neighbor's trash without their permission, though it may be tempting at times.

It has been sitting in my garage for a number of months, with nails sticking out and the landing unattached and a dangling stairway.

this is a cleaned-up version of it. It was quite dirty and cobwebby. The nails were loose on the staircase, the landing was unattached with nails sticking out everywhere.

I found a small can of stain in the garage and stained the plywood on both sides.

Isn't it pretty? It looks like new.

I love knick knack shelves. Especially vintage ones. 

I also love new ones. . . 

My son made this scroll-saw knick knack shelf for me. I just love it.

Do you remember the Stairway to the Stars knick knack shelves?

Posted by Janet Smart at Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Fall is Here - Easy Place Mats

Fall is in the air.

The season brings with it 

the spiders, the cobwebs,

the grasshoppers, the pumpkins,

the crisp mornings and the

quick sunsets that creep up on us 

in the evening. 

Fall  is here and who am I

to try and stop it.

I welcome it with open arms!

I got in the sewing mood and made four quick and easy fall place mats.

 pick out some material 
I picked out a print and a solid

My beginning measurements were 16" x 12"
You can make them any size you want.

 I placed quilt batting underneath the top layer and sewed curly, squiggly lines all around.

They don't have to be quilted. If you want, you can leave out this part.

I pinned the right sides of the two pieces of material (printed one and gold one) together and sewed around the edges. Leave a space about 3 inches un-sewn, so you can turn the place mats. Turn, iron and sew all the way around the border about  1/4" away from the edge.

 Here is the finished product.

They will look so nice with my fall colored Fiestaware, don't you think?

I was just getting used to the fall decorations in the stores. 

I was just getting in the mood to put out my fall flowers, fall potholders and fall place mats.

We went to the store yesterday and they had their Christmas stuff out!

Boy, am I behind.

Posted by Janet F. Smart on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.